Parallels- an MCSM AU [COMPLETED]

TWO- the Wrong Kind of Nostalgia

and thus, i am suddenly reminded why i don't do chapter titles. goddammit.

is this a filler chapter?? probably.

also, rip my entire sanity, when i wrote this i hadn't played s1 in over a year and i couldn't actually remember what the Order's temple looked like. kill me.

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I dismounted Inara, pulling a lead from my inventory and quickly securing her bridle to the fence outside Lukas's house. My inventory was full of supplies, and I was more than ready for the journey.

Now, I just needed my travelling partner.

The night before, Lukas had stopped by Beacontown just like he usually did every few days. He'd become quite the little hermit out there, holed up in his woodside cabin, but he still visited often enough.

I had already explained the map and the false town to him, and he didn't seem surprised that my search had taken me nowhere. When I told him about Petra's letter (which I had not burned, contrary to her wishes) and what she'd said about the Order's old temple, he'd immediately volunteered to go with me.

He'd nonchalantly mentioned that he didn't have anything else going on and that he could do with an excuse to get out of his house, but his expression said it all: He was hoping for a new adventure.

I made my way quickly up the small steps and knocked briskly on the door. Something rubbed against my leg, and I glanced down to see a young ocelot looking up at me, purring quietly.

Typical Lukas. It was just like him to have managed to domesticate a wild cat.

The door opened, but to my surprise, it wasn't Lukas who looked out. It took me a few seconds to recognize the tall, brown-haired man, and once I did, I couldn't hold back a small glare.

Aiden. The same man who, seven years earlier, had wreaked havoc on Sky City, which included sending me falling to what he believed would be my death. 

He looked very different than when I had last seen him. His hair had gotten significantly longer, the messy brown waves gently brushing his shoulders, and his pale green eyes seemed...calmer, somehow. The largest different was that he wore a simple blue t-shirt and jeans- there was no pretentious leather jacket in sight.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I was surprised. I knew he was in Beacontown. I knew he and Lukas were together. Yet his appearance that morning still managed to catch me off-guard.

Several months prior (four or five before the whole Admin adventure), Lukas had decided to pay a visit to the new Sky City civilization. I'd turned down the opportunity to go with him, for really no other reason except that I'd had something else going on at the time. While he was there, he'd apparently been able to finally mend things with the Blazerods, and began exchanging letters with Aiden once he returned home.

He'd gone back there several times since, and at some point, his views towards Aiden had...changed, shall we say. I don't know what actually happened and I don't plan on asking, but ever since then, they'd been far more romantic than platonic.

Needless to say, everything about their relationship bothered me. For one, I wasn't too keen on having Aiden back in my life, especially not as a best friend's significant other. I didn't care if he'd 'changed' or whatever; it did not alter the fact that I didn't really want him around.
Second, I didn't know Lukas was interested in guys at all, until the day he'd told me that he and Aiden were together. It wasn't that much of a problem, but I'd felt slightly hurt that he'd never said anything about it to me.
Third, Aiden. Just...Aiden. Of all the men Lukas could've chosen to go out with, it just had to be him?