Forgotten; Worshipped (Imported from Ao3)

37

James sat alone in the bedroom with a blush on his cheeks and Alexander's unsent letters, his favourite of them, not all, sitting in a neat stack beside him and one letter in his hands. He sighed dreamily. Aaron and Hercules were in the library, leaving him to some solitude and the letters they weren't quite aware he had. There was no doubt that Aaron had his assumptions, perhaps even an inkling of a clue, but no definite proof of anything. Aaron and Hercules were in the library, Aaron helping Hercules to try and walk, at which Hercules was getting better and better with every step. He wasn't nearly as weak in the knees as the week before. In fact, he could mostly walk on his own with Aaron only nearby should his legs decide to weaken on him and make him fall, which, until now, they thankfully didn't. Aaron kept close in case he did fall, but otherwise gave Hercules the space to walk.

"Looks good!" Aaron encouraged and Hercules smiled.

"I wish James would've given me some extra of that potion he'd found. What did he call it?" Hercules asked and Aaron shook his head.

"Moon tear potion, and I haven't a clue where he got it from. I know Alexander keeps his potions in a room that switches between the west and north hall a lot, but there's no way he just stumbled into the room. It's locked with purple chains, high security, and he can't recreate those, and they were still on the door when I checked, so he didn't get in there. Makes me wonder how he got it..." Aaron supplied and Hercules carefully walked back to him.

"But you still trust him?" he asked and Aaron nodded.

"Yeah, he's trustworthy. But I can feel he's hiding something from us," he thought out loud.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that. Yeah, he's hiding something, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's another thing that's going on with him. Should we confront him about it?" he asked, arriving at Aaron with a grin at having accomplished the small way. Aaron put a hand to his chin in thought.

"I'm not sure the timing's good..." he shook his head with a hum.

"I get what you mean, I think. With how busy we are right now," Hercules gestured generally around them.

"I was thinking more his emotional status. He seems... Well, he seems fine on the outside, but I get the feeling he's not. And I feel like it's connected to whatever he's hiding from us," Aaron explained and Hercules nodded.

"Then... when should we confront him?" Hercules asked, stretching his legs.

"Hm... I suppose our timing will be off no matter when we would... But... let's do it after the next temple. I'm sure we can figure out how to express our concerns until then. What do you say?" he asked and Hercules grinned, kissing him.

"I think you're brilliant, love," Hercules grinned against Aaron's lips and Aaron blushed with a sheepish smile.

"Sweet talker, you. You know you make my face go red as blood with that," Aaron couldn't help the grin that crept onto his lips. Hercules gave his lips a quick peck with a grin.

"Who's to say that wasn't my end goal?" he asked with a grin and Aaron scoffed.

"Of course, it was, what was I thinking. Can you walk?" he changed the topic and Hercules looked down at his legs with a hum and then decidedly nodded.

"I suppose I can. It doesn't hurt, they're not weak," he gestured toward his legs, "And I don't keep falling like the first week. They're as good as new!"

"That's good to hear! Think you can handle your brethren?" Aaron smiled sympathetically and Hercules sighed, looking to the side. Aaron put an arm around him and pulled him close in a cuddle.