Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The review wasn’t quite the nightmare Harry remembered it being. Perhaps it was having a success like Amelia under his belt, but Arthur found little fault with him. He found little fault with him for what amounted to two days earth-time in his large office at HQ; through it all, Arthur’s eyes were narrowed and his expression was suspicious, as if he thought Harry was probably trying to put one over on him by having done nothing wrong.

Harry enjoyed riling Arthur. Until he met Eggsy it had been one of the primary joys of his life. That said, he also spent every minute of the review waiting for Arthur to gleefully bring out Eggsy as his final weapon, because all the Amelias in the world couldn’t make up for that.

But Arthur never did. Harry wondered if it was possible that Merlin and Valentine and Percival and Lancelot and all of the other people who according to Percival knew the whole story were covering for him; it was flattering but ultimately foolish if they were. Harry didn’t want Eggsy to be given to another cupid, he didn’t want to be given another charge, but it struck him as very likely that that was exactly what was needed. He was failing with Eggsy, and every time he resigned himself to do better he forgot again because he liked being around Eggsy better than he liked doing his job.

“So everything appears to be in order,” Arthur told Harry like an accusation towards the end of the review.

“Not quite,” Harry admitted.

He had never seen his superior perk up so fast.

“It’s my current charge, Eggsy. I’m having trouble with him and I believe drastic steps may need to be taken.” Harry said the last part quickly, sure he would lose his nerve otherwise. “Someone else should probably take over his case.”

“What problems are you having?”

“The most basic one can have. I’m finding it impossible to choose a match for him and engineer a meeting between them. I suspect that he’s found someone on his own, but I have not yet seen this person to judge their suitability.”

“How is that possible? Does he spend no time with this person?”

“He must.” Harry’s personal frustration with the situation came out in his voice, turning it sharp and low.

“Then how can you not have seen them?”

“You really haven’t been told.” Harry took a long breath. “He can see me. I cannot follow him unnoticed. We’ve developed… a relationship, but there are only so many accidental encounters that I can engineer. If he does not choose to introduce me to someone, I do not meet them.”

“My God.” Arthur had gone very pale. “Go home, Galahad. You will be briefed on this matter in due course.”    

That was all Arthur said, and eventually- reluctantly- Harry did as he was told and went home. He had not been told he couldn’t see Eggsy, which was something, but still Harry told himself that he wouldn’t visit, wouldn’t call, in case Arthur separated them, which Harry was sure he would do. Harry had always known that there were things about this situation that Merlin wasn’t telling him. Judging from Arthur’s reaction, though, they were worse than he had feared. For the first time, Harry wondered if they might move him on for this.

It was late by the time Harry reached home, and it was with decidedly mixed feelings that he found Eggsy sitting on his doorstep. “I wasn’t sure you’d be back,” Eggsy said.

Harry looked him over. “You’re soaking wet.”

“I fell in a fountain.” Eggsy took a breath and stood, looking at his shoes- which were as wet as the rest of him- and said, “It’s been an awful day and I just really wanted to see you.” He met Harry’s gaze at last, eyes stormy. “Is that okay?” Something in his voice and his posture told Harry that he half expected Harry to tell him it wasn’t.

Two seconds looking at Eggsy’s face and everything Harry had told himself about staying away from Eggsy flew out of his head. “Of course it is. Come inside.”

He unlocked his door, held it open, and Eggsy did exactly that.

Harry went directly upstairs and found something for Eggsy to wear- pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt he hadn’t even known he had- and then went back downstairs to send Eggsy in the direction of the shower. “Thanks,” Eggsy murmured, holding the clothes in his hands and looking somehow younger than usual.

“Are your mother and sister back yet?” Harry asked.

Eggsy shook his head.

“Would you- would you stay the night?” Harry wasn’t sure he wanted Eggsy to be alone in this mood- but more than that he had just realized that- whatever Arthur meant by ‘briefed’ or ‘this matter’ or ‘in due course’ Harry was going to spend whatever time remained with Eggsy. He was a fool to have ever tried to do anything different.

Eggsy froze, and then he smiled. It was slower and smaller than most Harry had seen on him, but compared to the look he had worn just a moment ago it was like the sun coming up. He nodded so hard his head practically rattled. “Yes,” he said, as if more was needed. “Yes, Harry.”

Harry squeezed his shoulder. “Good. Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“Then I’ll prepare us something while you get cleaned up.”

Eggsy looked appropriately horrified.

“Trust me, darling, I know my limits. It will be fine.”  

Eggsy’s smile was a little wider, a little stronger that time, and Harry left him to it. In kitchen he cut some slices of bread, found some cured meat and cheese and olives and arrayed them on a plate. It wasn’t the most balanced meal in the world, but Eggsy would be all right for just one evening, and since Harry had only bought the food for his benefit in the first place he supposed it was now or never.

Eggsy showered for a very long time. When he finally came out and padded through the dining room, Harry turned to him with every intention of making a joke about having considered sending out a search party, but the remark died in his throat.

With his hair ruffled and his whole body relaxed, wearing Harry’s pajama bottoms cuffed several times and still dragging on the floor and in Harry’s likewise oversized t-shirt, Eggsy looked lovely. Softer than usual, more vulnerable. But it wasn’t that which most completely caught Harry’s attention. It was Eggsy’s aura. How could Harry have possibly missed Eggsy's aura turning fully purple, let alone blue from there- and that blue lightly tinged with a green that meant there was someone in his life who he could see spending the rest of it with? Whatever Arthur was doing, Harry realized, it was richly deserved. He was failing Eggsy in every possible way.

When Eggsy fell, he clearly fell fast and hard. It was like that sometimes, of course- Romeo and Juliet turned from red all the way through to green, even yellow, in just a few days, which didn’t exactly recommend it. This person meant so much to Eggsy and Harry had no earthly idea who they were or if they would fully appreciate what this wonderful boy was offering, how dear it was.

Eggsy caught him staring and flushed, but it looked easier, warmer than usual- as if he liked the regard. “What?” he asked, all the same.

“I just realized something,” Harry whispered.

“What?” Eggsy asked again.

Harry swallowed and looked down, carrying the plate to the table for something to do with his hands while he searched for a sensible response. “I didn’t ask you how you ended up in the fountain.” He hardly recognized his own voice.

“It was a shit day at work. When it was over, Jamal and Ryan and this girl I work with, we went out, we drank. There was a dare, it was stupid, but I wasn’t in a very good place. By the time you got here I was pretty much sobered up, but it wasn’t a fun night for anyone.”

Harry accepted the answer since Eggsy clearly didn’t want to go into detail. “This girl.” Harry hesitated, wondering if this was the moment. “Do you see a lot of her?”

“I guess.” Eggsy eyes narrowed as he sat down at the table. “Is that a problem?”

“Quite the opposite,” Harry said automatically, even though he was realizing that he did have a problem after all. He didn’t want to do his job, he didn’t want Eggsy to be in love because Harry could hardly believe that- whoever they were- they would deserve him. Not that Harry deserved him, but Harry was good to him, would always be good to him, and Harry wanted to be around Eggsy for as long he could- for as long as Eggsy lived, were that possible.

Eggsy was looking at Harry as though he was making up his mind whether or not to be annoyed with him and Harry knew he needed to explain. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to tell Eggsy what had suddenly become a lie, that he had been wondering if Eggsy fancied someone, and hoped she was the one. So he had to tell Eggsy something else, something that was truer but might still pacify him. He reached out, brushing his fingers over Eggsy’s cheek, and his expression softened a bit, buying Harry more time to think.

“You have a very small circle,” Harry said at last. “It’s your business, obviously, who you let into it. It’s only that you are… wonderful.” It was Harry’s own fault if- in combination with his touches- it came out a little too reverent, but it at least thawed Eggsy further. “And I should think that if there were more people in your life who could see that, it would be easier for you to see it in yourself. That’s all I meant.”

Eggsy’s eyes looked worryingly glossy for a moment. He put his hand over Harry’s hand and then turned his head, kissing Harry’s palm. “Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

Harry withdrew his hand to let Eggsy eat, and helped himself to a little as well.

The silence that followed was more comfortable than Harry had feared but more awkward than it could have been. Especially because, as Eggsy finished his meal, he kept giving Harry these odd looks, as if he expected Harry to say or do something more than he had, and Harry had no earthly idea what Eggsy thought he ought to do or say.

He washed the dishes after Eggsy was finished eating. Eggsy helped, and then continued to hang awkwardly at Harry’s side as if he was still waiting for something. “You seem tired,” Harry remarked at last.

“I guess I am.”

“Go on then,” Harry said, resting a hand on his arm. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Eggsy blinked and then pulled the strangest face, half annoyed and half charmed. He opened his mouth, hesitated briefly, and then sighed. “Yeah, all right,” he finally said. He made his way upstairs without looking back.  

Harry followed not long after. The guest room door was closed and Harry could hear pacing from inside. Harry thought about knocking, about speaking to Eggsy, but he no idea what he would say, so he went to his own room instead. He changed into his pajamas and settled into his bed with the book Eggsy had convinced him to start reading. He didn’t much care for it, but he had every intention of giving it a fair shot. He’d barely gotten into it when he heard a light knock on his door. “Yes?” he asked. The door opened and Eggsy hesitantly poked his head inside. “Come in,” Harry said.

Eggsy did so. He bit his lip and then smiled softly, shyly, and crossed to Harry, perching on the side of the bed right next to him. “You been so nice to me,” he said quietly. He took the book out of the Harry’s hands gently and set it on the bedside table. Then he ghosted his fingertips across Harry’s face, leaning close. “But it’s possible to be too nice.” His lips pressed up against Harry’s, warm and light.

It took Harry a moment to even realize that he was being kissed, and when he did his first thought was, Do I really not even remember what it feels like to be kissed? His hand found Eggsy’s shoulder and held it. He didn’t pull Eggsy closer, but- damningly- he didn’t push him away either. Why wasn’t he pushing him away?

Eggsy drew back finally, but he didn’t go far. “C’mon, Harry,” he murmured. “Please.” His hands still cradled Harry’s face, his thumbs brushing over his cheekbones.

“Eggsy,” Harry finally managed to choke out. “You can’t- you can’t think that just because I’m… kind to you that I expect-”

Eggsy rolled his eyes. “Harry, that you don’t expect me to just fall into bed with you is the single most obvious thing in the world at this point. But six months of dating is a long damn time to wait.” He pulled himself onto the bed gracefully, straddling Harry’s hips, and pressed his mouth to Harry’s jaw. “I’m tired of waiting for you to kiss me.” He kissed Harry’s temple. “I’m tired of waiting for you to take me.” He kissed Harry’s lips, lingeringly. “Please.”

Harry was paralyzed- by how warm and perfect Eggsy felt on top of him and against him, by the horrible clarity that was suddenly cast all over everything that had confused him about Eggsy’s behavior when he looked at it over again thinking that Eggsy thought Harry wanted him. That when he had said, I’d like to see more of you and Eggsy had agreed, he had thought that it meant they were dating. Harry sucked in a breath and made himself move, tightening his grip on Eggsy’s shoulder and pushing him back. “Don’t-”    

When he had first kissed Harry, Eggsy had looked shy, certainly, but not genuinely unsure of his welcome. Anxiety was finally creeping in behind his eyes. “You keep saying you don’t care about what I used to do. But unless I done something that made you not want me no more, I don’t get why you keep walking away.”

“You’ve misunderstood,” Harry said, and regretted it immediately. The misunderstanding was Harry’s fault, not Eggsy’s. How many times had he thought they could have been mistaken for lovers? By the girl at the coffee shop, by strangers the time Eggsy had shared that cupcake with him, by Charlie Hesketh? Hadn’t he known how odd it looked, a man of his age paying so much attention to someone like Eggsy? Buying him things? Taking to him to a wedding, for fuck’s sake?

It’s possible to be too nice. Christ.

“I’m so terribly sorry, Eggsy. I was aware, I suppose, of how it looked, but I swear on everything holy that I never thought for one second that you might think I was interested in anything other than your friendship.”

Throughout this speech Eggsy had been drawing away, physically and emotionally. By the end of it he was seated on the side of the bed, face eerily blank.

“And I never was,” Harry finished.

That got a reaction. Eggsy’s face contorted, crumbled. Harry might not have been able to remember much of his life as a man, but he knew that he had never made anyone look quite that unhappy since that time, and he doubted he could possibly have done so during it. Eggsy clapped a hand over his mouth and held it there for a beat, then two, as a soft whining sound came out of his mouth and was muffled. When he finally lowered his hand his expression was almost clear again. “Of course not,” he said softly, as if uttering a realization aloud as it came to him. His face contorted again. “Of course not.” He sounded like he was angry at himself rather than at Harry, which was so horribly wrong.

It was automatic, after everything. Harry reached for him. Eggsy flinched away- of course he did, what did Harry expect?- and stood quickly, fairly running out of the room. Harry wasn’t genuinely worried yet, but that was probably because he wasn’t thinking very clearly. It was a few moments later, when he heard a step on the stair and the outer door open and shut, that he realized how very wrong things had gone so quickly- and how much worse they might still get.

When Harry could move again at last, he pulled on a robe and made his way to the spare room. Eggsy’s wet clothes and wallet had migrated there from the bathroom, and though he had taken his phone, perhaps to call a friend, everything else was there still. Harry wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that Eggsy had been sufficiently distraught to leave so many of his things behind.

On the one hand, Harry was terribly worried for him out there in borrowed, ill-fitting clothes. He was worried enough, in fact, to consider calling Eggsy and telling him anything he might want to hear just to get him back into the house.

On the other, it meant that Eggsy would have to come back eventually, and they would be able to talk.

But what- Harry thought miserably- did they really have to talk about? What had happened was already very clear. They both fundamentally misunderstood the relationship they had; neither of them would ever see the future they had imagined or retrieve what they had believed the two of them had shared in the past.

Harry leaned against the wall beside the bed, feeling like such a fool he could hardly believe it. None of this was Eggsy’s fault. Of course he had misunderstood Harry’s interest- how could he not? The question Harry couldn’t answer was how he had misunderstood Eggsy’s. For a while, Harry had managed- even with Eggsy pressed up against him, kissing him- to believe that Eggsy still saw him as a friend, even a father figure. He had managed to think that Eggsy was merely giving Harry what he thought Harry wanted. But the broken look on his face before he ran… That was not the look of someone who was offering sex to a person they believed expected it- and it showed that Harry was more hung up on Eggsy’s past than he had believed that he had thought so, even for a moment. That was the look of someone who had just realized that the person they were in love with was not in love with them.

Their entire relationship replayed behind Harry’s eyes in brilliant Technicolor, and what an idiot he had been. If he had not been himself, but an outside observer, he would never have thought for a second that the person he had spent so long trying to identify- the person Eggsy wanted- had been anyone other than Harry himself.

When Eggsy’s aura first turned red- open, interested, ready- it had been Harry he looked at first, Harry he said hi to in that faintly awed tone, as if he had come out of a fog and seen him for the first time.

When Eggsy’s aura began to turn purple- the start of strong affection for a person in particular- it had been when Harry accepted that Eggsy put Daisy first without question, when he was so good with her himself.

When Eggsy’s aura turned blue- affection turning into something stronger, deeper- it must have been at some point after the wedding, after all of Harry’s assurances that all he cared about was Eggsy’s happiness.

When Eggsy’s aura began to turn green- wanting a relationship to last, believing it really could- it had been when Harry let him in despite his mood, asked him to stay and he must have thought-

When Eggsy had smiled like that he must have thought-

Harry put his head in his hands, eyes almost prickling, and slumped against the wall before he slid down it and hit the floor.

Stay.

You really didn’t have to sleep on the couch.                  

All I’m saying is that I got the house to myself. You could- you could stay.

Six months… had it really been that long? Harry supposed it must have. And six months of dating was a long time to wait for a kiss- because Harry could remember, now- especially after Harry had made a more… sweeping declaration- all the times Eggsy had expected, and wanted, Harry to kiss him. Six months was a long time to wait for more.

Harry’s lips were still tingling from Eggsy’s kiss. He could still taste him there. Harry rose, gazing down at the bed. Before he went to Harry, Eggsy had- at some point- lain there long enough to leave a very faint depression. Harry thought of the way that Eggsy had looked when he came to him, all ruffled hair and soft smiles, never really doubting that Harry wanted him, only wondering why he was taking so long about it.    

Of course not, Eggsy had said when Harry explained that no, he had never seen him that way. Of course not. Like he had been a fool all this while to think otherwise.

Harry’s legs seemed to give out underneath him, so he lay down, face pressed into the pillow. It hardly smelled like Eggsy at all, just the shampoo Harry kept in the spare bathroom. But he strained and he managed to find traces. How dearly he had loved Eggsy’s scent. How he had loved holding Eggsy in his arms. How he had loved to be the one to remind Eggsy how it felt to be touched gently.

And how he had loved seeing Eggsy’s beautiful heart unfolding for him.    

His hands curled into fists. How Eggsy felt about him wasn’t the only thing that would have been as clear as day to Harry under different circumstances.

Under different circumstances- if Harry hadn’t been what he was- Eggsy would perhaps not have been wrong about him. Harry didn’t know how they would have met- how they could have met- but how could he have failed to want him? And even if he had intended only friendship, how long would it really have taken for him to kiss Eggsy’s lips rather than just his forehead or his hand- once he knew that that was what Eggsy had wanted? And if Eggsy had invited it, how long would it have been before he pressed that beautiful body into this bed and done everything, everything Eggsy would permit? Surely not six months. Surely not as long as that. Not if he had known.

Harry wasn’t even sure that Eggsy was wrong about him now. Oh, he had never for a second considered that there was more than friendship between them- but now that he did he would be lying if he claimed not to want it.

He hadn’t known, until Eggsy, how much he ached to touch and be touched. Just the same, he’d more or less forgotten about sex, hadn’t put desire and himself in the same thought, until Eggsy had reminded him. After all, the necessary equipment was still there, and judging by how every part of Harry pulled taut as bowstring at the thought of having Eggsy touch him as a lover- and touching him in return- it was all in working order. That warm, lovely body had been on top of his, those soft lush lips pressed to his face, and he wanted them back. More than that, he just wanted, anything- everything- Eggsy might be willing to give.          

As he realized all this, Harry’s first thought was that he should keep it to himself, allow the wall that had sprung up between them to stand. He would be taken away from Eggsy, either assigned another charge or banished altogether- and surely, if Eggsy had to get over Harry- and he had to- wouldn’t it be easier to do that not knowing that Harry had felt the same after all?

Harry dismissed the thought almost as soon as he had considered it. He remembered again how Eggsy sounded saying of course not like that. No. No matter how much it could hurt both of them in the long run, he couldn’t bear for Eggsy to doubt even for a moment that he deserved everything Harry could give him and more.

Harry sat bolt upright on the bed.

It was so forbidden it didn’t even bear mentioning. It was so impossible that Harry had never considered the option. But he had fallen in love with Eggsy- he just hadn’t realized it until now.    

He went back to his own bedroom, retrieved his mobile, and returned to the spare room, lying back on the cooling sheet as his call went to voicemail.

“Eggsy,” he said, looking at the ceiling above him. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t get it wrong, I did. Please come back. Please.”

*   *   *

Time slipped away from Harry after he left the message. He didn’t know how long he spent lying there, but he didn’t think it was too long before he heard a sound at the door. Eggsy had taken a key too, which made Harry smile. The smile faded quickly as he heard steps up the stairs that sounded utterly exhausted. He sat up again but put his face in his hands. He didn’t want to look at Eggsy; he was terrified to see that broken look still on his face, to see his aura the way it had been when Harry met him.

He listened to Eggsy come to a stop, leaning in the doorway. “Hey,” he said, sounding as tired as his footsteps did.

“That was quick,” Harry remarked, to fill the silence that followed. “I was afraid-”

“I didn’t get far. I listened to your message. And it occurred to me that you might get so worried about me out there that you’d say anything to get me to come back.”

Harry finally looked at Eggsy. He didn’t let himself take in Eggsy’s aura yet, just the rest of him. He was in profile, leaning against the doorway and looking at the ground. He was all hard lines and rough edges, the way he had been when they met. It hurt to see him like that. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it,” Harry admitted.

Eggsy hissed and turned as if he was leaving, back to Harry.

He stood and crossed to Eggsy quickly. “But what I said was true.” He settled against Eggsy’s back, close enough to feel his heat but not actually touch him, and braced his hands in the doorway. “It’s so wrong I didn’t even let myself think it. But I do…” Harry let out a long breath. “I do.”

Eggsy slumped back against Harry’s chest, still so warm and perfect. “It’s not wrong,” he said fiercely, turning to press his face into the crook of Harry’s neck. “Being with you has been one of the most right things in my whole life.”

Harry couldn’t stop the soft whining noise he made. He loosened his grip on the doorframe, letting one hand fall. He ran the backs of his knuckles across Eggsy’s neck and then touched his face. Eggsy rubbed his cheek against Harry’s hand then, like he was as hungry for Harry’s touch as ever.

Eggsy leaned his head back to look at Harry, and Harry’s palm settled against his throat, cradling it. “When I was out there, I was thinking. I realized that you was trying to set me up with people all this time. That girl in the café. The ponce at the party.”

“Hugo.”

“Hugo.” Harry stretched out his fingers and he could feel Eggsy’s wry smile beneath them. “Asking me if I saw a lot of that girl I work with.”

“Yes,” Harry admitted, to all of it.

“And here’s me,” Eggsy continued, kissing Harry’s fingertips with every word. “Thinking you was my boyfriend, trying to figure out if you was a jealous bastard or the least jealous person on the planet.” He shook his head and Harry’s hand slid to his cheek. “How would you feel, having people hit on you when the only person you actually want is right there acting like there ain't nothing odd about it? I guess I thought we was taking things so slow because you wanted to give me all the chances in the world to back out. Because you thought I would back out.”

Eggsy turned against him and Harry’s fingers knitted themselves into Eggsy’s hair.

“I ain’t wrong about that either, am I?” Eggsy asked softly. “You still think that I oughta be with one of them.”

Harry let his other hand fall from the doorframe to cradle Eggsy’s beloved face. “Yes,” he told him. “And no. I don’t know. I find it difficult to believe anyone could deserve you. That doesn’t mean that we could ever-” Harry couldn’t finish. “You should be with someone-”

“What if I don’t want whatever kind of person you decided I should be with? I want you. I saw you that day when I first looked up and thought it might be okay to want something for myself and I have never once regretted it, not even tonight. You’re the one who made reservations at one of the nicest restaurants in the city and then cancelled and watched Disney movies with me and Daisy all night instead because the babysitter fell through. You’re the one who always helped me cook even though you’re a disaster in the kitchen. You’re the one who went out for medicine at 2 am because Daisy had a fever and I was terrified. Who else was I gonna fall in love with? You think anybody else was gonna do all that for me? You think anybody else was gonna love me as well as you do? Because you do love me, Harry. I may’ve been able to believe that I was wrong about how you loved me, but I ain’t ever gonna believe that I’m wrong about that.”

“Of course I love you,” Harry whispered. Eggsy had to get on his tiptoes to rub his nose against Harry’s, his mouth suddenly unbearably close. Harry’s thumb dragged over his chin, Eggsy’s lips parting beautifully. “Of course I do.”

“Please, Harry.” Eggsy got impossibly closer, his lips fluttering against Harry’s skin every time he spoke. “Please.”    

Harry’s fingertips played along Eggsy’s scalp. “Eggsy,” he whispered. “I want- I want to be with you, I do, but… There are things you don’t know.” It wasn’t as though anyone had ever told Harry he couldn’t tell Eggsy the truth. Perhaps the assumption had been that it went without saying, but Harry couldn’t keep this from him, not if they were about to… “There are things you have to-”

“Tell me.”

“I’m not… strictly… human.”

Eggsy was silent for a long moment, then he turned his head, his lips grazing along Harry’s jaw. Just when Harry thought Eggsy might be done surprising him, he said, “Kinda knew that.”

Harry stared at him. “How?”

“I never got why I wasn’t beating people off with a stick to keep you to myself.” Harry laughed and Eggsy lightly punched his chest. “I mean it, you’re fucking fit. And I didn’t think men like you really existed, so that was another thing. Once or twice I could excuse, but it was all the fucking time, people seemed to just look right through you. At first I thought that maybe there was something… wrong with you, or that it was rose colored glasses or some shit, and that was why you was hanging around me ‘cos for some reason I couldn’t see it, but- it happened too much, yeah? And you… well… sometimes when you’d been alone for a while, or sleeping, you’d go a little…transparent. And…” Eggsy lifted a hand, tracing the line of Harry’s face. “I think you been getting younger since I met you. I dunno what that’s about. Do you believe me?”

“Under the circumstances, I’m going to take your word for it.” Most mortals, even if they could see Harry, would have either not noticed those things or subconsciously dismissed them. Just another thing that made Eggsy special, then. That he had not only seen, but also accepted.   

“So what are you?” Eggsy tongue flicked over his lips. “Are you like a vampire or something?” It was difficult to tell if he was joking or not.  

“I’m… closer to an angel. Technically.”

“You my guardian angel?” That was definitely a joke. And the way Eggsy’s eyes looked up close when they sparkled like that… How had Harry never realized how much he felt for this boy?

“I’ve often wished I was. Wished I could do more for you than is technically in my purview. Although I did engineer a lot of the changes in your life, usually in a roundabout way. Perhaps you suspected that as well.” Judging by the look in Eggsy’s eyes, he had. Probably, once he had realized Harry that was more than human it had been difficult to believe everything else could be coincidental. “It seemed necessary, to do my job. I’m... a cupid.”

“That’s a real thing?”

Harry moved, slumping against the doorframe. Eggsy went with him, Harry’s thumbs slipping over his cheekbones. “When I tried to set you up with people before, I was doing my job. I actually got your parents together. It’s probably strange for you to know that. My kind live in the world, for the most part, though our headquarters is technically beyond it. People… can see us, because sometimes our jobs demand it. Like the story I told you about bumping into Roxy that day. I did it so she’d meet Amelia because I knew Roxy would be good for her. Amelia was my charge at that time. The next one was- or rather is- you. But while people can see us, they don’t notice us, and when they’re forced to acknowledge us, the brain tries to explain away how difficult it is to pay any attention to us by making us seem boring. It’s why when I introduced you to my ‘friends’ from work you found them so dull. And it’s why your friends and even your mother never took an interest in me. Children are an exception. In theory, we can learn about our charges and go almost completely unnoticed that way. But you could see me. I still have no idea why.”  

Eggsy eyes were wide, but he didn’t draw away.

Harry pressed on. “I need you to know that I had no idea that this was even possible. That I haven’t done anything to manipulate your life in quite some time. And that I never did anything to make you fall in love with me. That’s not how it works. I can see interest and compatibility between other people, and steer them toward or away from each other, maybe strengthen or weaken that interest a bit- but I can’t make feelings that aren’t there, and I genuinely had no idea that you had feelings for me- or vice versa- until tonight. This was not the plan.”

“Yes, you did,” Eggsy said quietly.

Harry stared into the beautiful face held between his hands. “What?”

Eggsy pressed closer, resting his cheek against Harry’s jaw. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe you. I never thought for a second that you would have forced me into this, whether you had the power to or not- not that it isn’t a comfort to know that you can’t do that. I just mean that you did make me fall in love with you.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

Eggsy smiled, and it lit up his whole face. “That’s why you’re the one, innit?”

“Don’t say that,” Harry whispered.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know if I can stay. None of this is supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to be able to see me. I wasn’t supposed to fall for you and you certainly weren’t supposed to fall for me. I don’t know if they’ll let me-”

“I don’t care.”

Harry swallowed. “You don’t?”

Eggsy’s face contorted, expression going oddly tender. “I mean- I do care. I don’t know what I’m gonna do if I can’t keep you. But right now, tonight, I don’t even give a fuck what’s gonna happen in the morning as long as you touch me.”

“Eggsy,” he whispered, and stopped. He had been right before, even if he had been wrong about what he felt for Eggsy. And Eggsy was right now. Whatever time they had left, even if it wasn’t much, they should spend it together. “Stay the night.” This time it was loaded with everything that it hadn’t been before.

If Eggsy’s smile turned a little bittersweet, it was still beautiful. “Yes, Harry.”

Harry kissed that smile, slow and a little bit messy, Eggsy whining sweetly beneath him. Harry would have been happy to just kiss him like that for hours- taste him properly, learn the curves of his lips and the strong line of his teeth- but Eggsy couldn’t have been comfortable craning up like that, so Harry wasn’t surprised when Eggsy took control, grabbing Harry by the collar of his robe and tugging him towards the bed.  

Harry stopped him, catching those hands as they wandered downward and undid the belt of his robe. “Harry,” Eggsy said, pressing up against Harry’s chest again as Harry’s robe fell open. “If you say that you want to take this slowly after everything, I ain’t gonna be responsible for my actions.”

Harry laughed and pressed a reverent kiss to Eggsy’s temple. “No,” he said. “I only meant to say that I’d rather have you in my bed.”

“That so?” Eggsy asked. He was keeping a straight face but his eyes were dancing.

“It is.”

Eggsy’s lips twitched. “Okay,” he said. Harry released his hands, but neither of them made a move for the door. Despite his words, Eggsy seemed content to take his time. His fingers trailed along the hem of Harry’s shirt. “What was you doing in here anyway?”

“I came in to check if you’d taken everything with you, if you’d have to come back.”

Eggsy’s fingers slipped underneath the shirt. “I was always gonna come back.”

Harry sighed, oddly relieved to hear it even though the worst was already over, and then his breath hitched as one of Eggsy’s hands trailed over his stomach. “I stayed because I could smell you on the pillow.”    

“You fucking freak,” Eggsy said, voice all helpless affection, eyes wide. “I cannot believe you ever thought that we weren’t-”

Harry cut him off with hard kiss, fingers tight on his chin. “Yes.”

Eggsy wasn’t done. The moment Harry released him he continued. “The way you would hold me,” he said, settling closer. “And kissing my hand.” His hand slid over bare skin up Harry’s torso, a nail grazing Harry’s nipple and making him hiss. “Calling me darling.”

Harry stroked up Eggsy’s jaw and pressed his fingers into Eggsy’s hair, drawing him to his chest. Eggsy’s rested his head there without complaint as Harry reached down and found Eggsy’s free hand, lifting it to his lips. “Darling,” he said, kissing Eggsy’s knuckles. He let his tongue slip between them, and heard Eggsy whimper softly. He looked and saw that Eggsy’s eyes had gone positively black.

“Take me to bed,” Eggsy grated out.

“Yes,” Harry replied, and did.

Stumbling down the hall between the spare bedroom and Harry’s, Eggsy pushed Harry’s robe over his shoulders between long, wet kisses, and it fell to the floor forgotten. Pressing Eggsy against the wall by the doorway to his bedroom, Harry slid his hands under Eggsy’s t-shirt and peeled it over his head, moaning at the way it felt to hold Eggsy in his arms when his skin was bare, so warm and soft and smooth. Backing up until his knees hit the bed, Eggsy unbuttoned the top of Harry’s pajamas, slow, and reached underneath again, palms dragging over Harry’s chest.

Harry pushed Eggsy over, pressing him into the mattress, and his breath caught when they were skin to skin at last.

“Am I too heavy?” he asked against Eggsy’s lips, smoothing a hand over his forehead and into his hair.

“Fuck,” Eggsy breathed. “No. You’re perfect.”

“Darling,” Harry said again before he crushed their mouths together. He repositioned himself until his thigh slotted between Eggsy’s knees and pressed up until he could feel how hard Eggsy was, and he was so very hard, whining into Harry’s mouth and rutting against him. “My darling.” He caressed Eggsy’s hair with one hand and touched his chest with the other. His body was so warm, so pliant. He arched, unfailingly, into Harry’s touch, giving himself over. Harry had always loved having his hands on Eggsy too much, hadn’t he? And Eggsy had always leaned into him too eagerly, hadn’t he? This had never been about friendship alone; when Harry’s hand slipped under Eggsy’s waistband it felt too good for this to be anything but right.

Eggsy was naked under his pajama bottoms, and Harry’s fingers slipped down the hard length of him. “Harry,” Eggsy choked out. Whatever he might have said next turned into a groan as Harry gripped a bit more firmly, jerking him under his clothes.

When Eggsy was sprawled underneath him and keening, Harry slowed down, passing his thumb over the leaking head of his cock once more before withdrawing. “Up,” he said, and Eggsy lifted his hips, letting Harry pull his trousers down and toss them away. Harry pressed a kiss to Eggsy’s kneecap, then settled between his spread legs, taking in the mouthwatering sight of his completely naked body.

Though he was still on the thin side, Eggsy had put on more weight than he’d had when Harry met him. He was all angular lines, but Harry couldn’t see his ribs, which he would have worried about had he ever let himself think it might come to this. His skin was pale and lovely, a trail of light hair leading down the flat plane of his stomach to the thicker patch beneath his hips, his cock- not too long but thick and gleaming where Harry’s touches had spread his pre-come around- standing stiff between muscular thighs.

Eggsy made a soft sound and Harry flicked his eyes up to Eggsy’s face, taking in the flush high on his cheeks. “What is it?” he asked. Eggsy was beautiful when he blushed, but Harry didn’t want him embarrassed.

“Nothing,” Eggsy said, half shaking his head. “Just feel… different. When you look at me like that.”

“Different,” Harry repeated. He kissed Eggsy higher on his leg. “Good?”

Eggsy reached out, touching Harry’s face, his hair. “You always make me feel good.” His fingers trailed over Harry’s lips. “And I’m gonna be so good to you.” His hand went down Harry’s shoulder, tugging him up to his mouth.

Harry went, saying, “I believe you,” between kisses.

Eggsy grinned against his lips. His hand slid down Harry’s back and then further, pushing his pajama bottoms down as far as his position would allow and squeezing his arse. Biting back another groan, Harry moved to help, stripping them off awkwardly. He laughed breathlessly and barely had time to toss them aside next to Eggsy’s before Eggsy was kissing him again, this time pressing Harry’s back into the bed-clothes, straddling him as he had earlier that night. Harry froze, eyes snapping shut as he remembered and thought of how very differently things might have gone if Eggsy hadn’t come back. How very close he had come to never having this. He felt Eggsy go still too. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” Harry managed. He hadn’t let himself think it, but having Eggsy on top of him aroused him then and it aroused him now. He opened his eyes, letting Eggsy see just how much. “It’s perfect.” He put his arms around Eggsy’s waist to keep him close and remembered what Eggsy had said to him. “You’re perfect.”

And he really was, draped warm and naked over Harry, kissing him over and over again. He carded his fingers through Harry’s hair, moving expertly down to his jaw, kissing him there. Several times Eggsy repositioned himself until he was lying over Harry, Harry’s cock trapped between them. The drag of Eggsy’s stomach over his cock every time Eggsy rocked up to kiss him felt almost unbelievably perfect. He groaned, his head rolling back.

When Eggsy found a rhythm that drove Harry out of his mind, he gripped Eggsy’s hips almost too hard, unable to decide whether to try to stop him or keep him going. “Eggsy,” he choked out, still not sure.

Eggsy tugged on his hair, lifting Harry’s head to kiss him, and Harry kissed him back, all tongue and teeth and desperation, and he came, wanting to hold back but not at all able to.      

Harry didn’t know how long it lasted. He’d forgotten what this felt like, how it seemed to crash over him like a wave- and this particular wave just kept coming. He only remembered snatches- Eggsy gasping against his lips, the smooth slide of their bodies against each other getting slicker as Harry’s come splashed between them, the heat of Eggsy’s skin under his hands and the strength of his muscles. Harry had also forgotten how it felt when it was over. Some people turned lazy and lethargic but Harry didn’t; he felt only sharper and more focused.

He tightened his grip on Eggsy and flipped them over so he was on top. The surprised noise that Eggsy gave turned quickly into a groan as Harry pressed kisses down the line of his throat and then his chest. He loved the taste of Eggsy’s skin and the trim planes of his body, but he didn’t spend too much time on them. He knew he had come sooner than Eggsy had expected, but in the heat in his eyes and the twitching of his hips Harry could see that Eggsy was close too. Maybe Harry’s reaction had driven him there; he didn’t know, all he knew was that he didn’t intend to make Eggsy wait for much longer.

Harry moved down further, putting his hands on Eggsy’s thighs and then wrapping one around the base of Eggsy’s cock. He stroked carefully at first, then a little firmer as Eggsy whimpered and his hips stuttered. Moisture beaded at the head of Eggsy’s cock and Harry bent, licking it up, tasting him. “Harry,” Eggsy whispered.

Taking a breath, Harry wrapped his lips around him and sucked, feeling the muscles in Eggsy’s thigh tighten under his hand, hearing him moan. It took Harry a few moments to remember how to do this, how to take him deeper, and even so he didn't have a great deal of finesse at his disposal. It was wet and sloppy and Eggsy didn’t appear to care. Harry looked up at Eggsy, and the way Eggsy was looking back at him would have taken his breath away if that hadn’t been a bit of a problem for him at the moment anyway. Eggsy reached down, touching Harry’s face and his lips where they stretched around his cock, and Harry didn’t think anyone had ever looked at him with that much awe in his life.

“Harry,” Eggsy said again. “I’m-”

Harry moved his tongue along the underside of Eggsy's cock and sucked again. Eggsy groaned, head rolling back, hips working up, and came. Harry choked a little and then swallowed, taking it all in.

It was after that that Harry needed a moment to catch his breath and collect himself, and Eggsy appeared to need the same, collapsing back onto the sheets, hand still cradling Harry’s face oh-so-gently.

Slowly, Harry roused himself. He kissed Eggsy’s inner thigh and moved to get something to clean Eggsy up with, but Eggsy- still a little boneless and sated- clung to him. “Stay,” he whispered, fingers digging into Harry’s bicep and pulling him closer.  

“I’m just going to get-”

“Stay.”

Pressing his lips into the sharp curve of Eggsy’s shoulder, Harry nodded. “For a little while,” he agreed.

He kissed up the side of Eggsy’s face and buried his nose in Eggsy’s surprisingly soft hair. Eggsy still smelled like Harry’s shampoo, but he smelled like himself too and Harry liked the mix. Harry held Eggsy close and slowly relaxed against him. He stilled when his fingers dragged through come across Eggsy’s stomach. In an impulse Harry chose not to examine too closely, he traced the sigil for forever and- for the first time since he was mortal, if that- prayed that he would get it somehow.  

Eventually he flicked his gaze up to Eggsy. His charge looked contented, certainly, but his brows had drawn together and he was worrying at his bottom lip. “Was that… weird?” Harry asked him.

“A little,” Eggsy said. “But I don’t mind.”

His cheeks carried the faintest touch of pink and Harry kissed them. “Then what?” he asked.

Eggsy hesitated. “I ain’t complaining,” he said slowly. His flush deepened. “I like that I- uh-” he coughed- “affect you that way. But… you know… I always thought that…” Eggsy shut his eyes tightly. “You know what they say about older men and stamina.”

“Ah.” Harry coughed himself. He pressed light kisses to Eggsy’s eyelids. “I’ll do better next time,” he said, wishing he knew that there would be a next time. Wishing he’d done better this time in case there wouldn’t be, so he could have made love to Eggsy all night. From the slightly sad look in Eggsy’s eyes, he had just realized something similar. “It’s just been such a very long time since I was… with anyone.”

Eggsy opened his eyes, the look in them uncertain and a little sad. “Like… years?”

“Yes, Eggsy.”

Eggsy hesitated, clearly remembering that Harry wouldn’t be like anyone he’d ever known before. “A lot of years?”

“Decades, actually.”

Eggsy blinked comically wide eyes.

“Since the automobile was known as the horseless carriage, at least.”

“Fucking hell, Harry!” Eggsy reached up and touched Harry’s jaw with trembling fingers and awe in his eyes. “Sorry,” he said at last, thumb sliding over Harry’s lower lip.

Harry’s hands went to his shoulders, gripping him tightly. “Whatever for?”

“I don’t know, I just coulda…” Eggsy ducked his head until Harry lifted his hands, framing his face and making Eggsy meet his eyes. “That’s a long fucking dry spell, yeah, and I coulda-”

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “Whatever you’re thinking, no. There is nothing you could have done that would have made being with you any more perfect.” His fingers dug into the smooth skin at the back of Eggsy’s neck and he pulled him into a hard kiss. Eggsy’s fingers were like bars between their lips until, with a soft whine, Eggsy pushed them into Harry’s hair and kissed him back. Harry left his face fitted to Eggsy’s when he spoke again. “I love you.” He pressed his mouth to Eggsy’s over and over. “My god, how I love you.”

He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t known that when he arrived back here tonight. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t known all this while, how completely he belonged to Eggsy. How completely they belonged to each other.

The thought- the realization, more like- shook Harry to the core. His eyes had drifted closed but he tore them open. They were too close for him to look properly at Eggsy’s face- but Eggsy’s aura was another question, and Harry forced himself to take it in for the first time since dinner.

It was so beautiful. Harry held Eggsy close, lacing his fingers together in Eggsy’s hair and cradling his skull, and pressed kisses all over the blissed-out look on his face, keeping his own eyes stubbornly open. Eggsy’s aura was such a lovely light turquoise-blue, running together with a pure sea-glass green. Harry discovered that he was shaking and pressed a final kiss to Eggsy’s lips before he said, “Let me clean you up.”

Eggsy only hummed softly, but he let Harry slip away from him this time.

Harry wet a cloth in the bathroom, lost in thought. Eggsy’s aura was not yet a true green, he told himself- and he thanked whatever power higher than he that ruled these things for it, because it meant that Eggsy would eventually recover when Harry was ripped from him- because he would have to be. Harry wouldn’t go peaceably, not after this. They would have to drag him away. Eggsy’s aura might not be fully green yet, but Harry was sure that if he had one his would be.

Before he went back into the bedroom, Harry forced himself to look at his reflection in the mirror. He felt sure that he had been remade somehow in the last few hours, and he was afraid to see it- but he had to check if Eggsy was right.

He was.

Though he had carried certain vanities on from his former life- Harry liked to look good even when he knew that no one was going to appreciate it- he hadn’t really taken in his own face in a very long time. The last time he’d checked, though, he’d looked be to be at least fifty. Now he looked barely over forty. Some of the wrinkles around his eyes and most of the grey at his temples had faded. “My god,” Harry said, examining his neck.

“See?” Eggsy called sleepily from the other room.  

He made his way back to the bed and tenderly wiped Eggsy down. Eggsy smiled up at him, the adoration in his eyes unlike anything Harry had ever seen directed at him before.

“I’m tired,” Eggsy said softly.

“Then sleep,” Harry murmured, kissing that smooth forehead as he had back when he hadn’t known what the tight heat gathering in his chest meant.

“Gonna be here when I wake up?” Eggsy murmured.

Harry kissed the side of his face. “I’m going to try, my darling.” He lay down beside Eggsy and stroked his hair until he slept.

Once Eggsy had dozed off, Harry considered getting up, perhaps making himself some tea. He considered, too, simply lying there and watching Eggsy sleep, memorizing his beautiful face for whatever was to come. He hadn’t yet made up his mind which when he noticed a slight flutter of movement on the balcony. He sat up, thinking to go to the window, but he was suddenly frozen in place. He felt a flush of something he couldn’t identify, a shock starting in the top of his head and barreling straight down to his toes.

When Harry could move again he rolled out of bed quickly- but gently enough not wake Eggsy- and made his way to the window on unsteady legs. There was no one there, though he thought that maybe he caught a glimpse of dark hair and the familiar half pleased, half put-upon twist of a lip. It was hard to remember, because suddenly Harry felt tired.

He was actually, genuinely exhausted- so much so, in fact, that he hardly thought about how odd it was. He returned to bed, wrapped himself around Eggsy, and slept.    

*   *   *

When Harry woke up, he woke up because of a knock on the door downstairs. All he could think was, not yet. He didn’t know who it was or why they had come, but only Harry’s coworkers ever came to his house, not that they knocked for any reason but politeness, so this- whatever it was- was what Arthur had been talking about. He seriously considered pretending not to be at home, but he knew it wouldn’t do much good in the long run. He disentangled himself from Eggsy carefully, pressed a final kiss to his forehead, and went downstairs to meet his fate.

His fate turned out to be Lancelot already inside and lounging in an armchair in Harry’s sitting room with his feet up and a glass of scotch in his hand. When Harry glowered at him, he smiled back innocently. “You look good, Galahad,” he said.

“Thank you,” Harry replied. The words were automatic, but he was still annoyed, so they came out sourer than Harry had intended.  

“Have a seat.”

“Thank you,” Harry repeated, taking a seat in his own house and entirely meaning the sarcasm that time.

“So.” Lancelot took a sip of his drink. “You’re wondering what’s going to happen to you.”

“I’m wondering how you plan to keep me away from him.”

“If you mean me, I don’t plan anything. As for the organization at large, they don’t. We’re in the business of a great many things, but keeping two people who love each other apart is not, in fact, among them.”

“But I’m not supposed to love him.”

“Actually, Galahad, you are. If you could only see your aura right now, you’d know it.”

“We don’t have auras.”    

Lancelot rolled his eyes. “Merlin’s policy to tell us as little as possible so we don’t upset the natural order of things is understandable, but it really causes trouble now and then. You do, I do, we all do.”

“But I can’t see yours.”

“If you really concentrated, you would.”

Harry concentrated accordingly, and after a while, he saw it. Yellow, so intense it was almost white, surrounding him like a halo. He mentioned as much.

Lancelot smiled. “You’ve never seen it before because you’ve never looked. Percy saw yours, but because he still believes in going through the proper channels his report didn’t reach anyone until after your run-in with Arthur.”

“What-” Harry swallowed- “what does it look like?”

“It’s yellow. Just like mine. Just like your boy up there’s will be in not too long, though by then you won’t be able to see it.”

Harry’s mouth was dry. He should have known last night that he wouldn’t be green after all, but yellow. There would be no one else for him after Eggsy, not ever. But if Lancelot meant what he said about not separating them, why wouldn’t he be able to see it when Eggsy came to feel the same? “Why-”

“Do you know what happens, Galahad?” Lancelot asked. “After we move on?”

“An afterlife, I suppose,” Harry said. He tried to act more indifferent to the prospect than he actually felt as Lancelot eyed him curiously. “I don’t really think too much about it.”

“You do!” Lancelot practically crowed. “You think about hell.”

Harry considered that. He remembered so little of his former life, but rosary beads and stern lectures about sin and the general sense that he had not always been a good man featured prominently. “Yes,” he admitted. “I do.”

“Well, here’s something that you should think about: more often than not, souls go back into circulation.”

“Reincarnation?”

“Yes and no. It’s complicated.” Lancelot rolled his eyes as if he felt personally victimized by the fact that he had to explain this. “The point is that some souls- not all, not even most- are tied to another. Destined, as it were. For one very particular person. But occasionally it goes wrong. Souls get born into bodies too early or too late, somebody dies before their time… it all depends. The point is, you end up anchored to the world in a way that people who finished everything they were meant to do aren’t. That’s what people like us are, Galahad. We stay because some important part of our lives has remained unfinished. Some people- like Percy and me- meet as cupids or in whatever job they end up being given. Some people- like you- meet the person they’re supposed to be with when they’re assigned them as charges. I’m sure you can imagine how dangerous it could be if we knew the truth, which is assumedly why Merlin doesn’t tell us these things.”

“And that’s why Eggsy could see me,” Harry said as he realized. "Because we're... connected." It explained, too, why Eggsy noticed things about him that no one else probably could have.

Lancelot nodded. “That, at least, was news to Percy and me when Merlin explained it. We’re only allowed to know because we’re… out of the running, as it were. I trust you agree that you would have behaved differently if you knew it was possible. He felt it would be better for both of you if it happened… organically.”

“I suppose he wasn’t wrong about that,” Harry admitted, annoyed anyway.

Lancelot reached out and patted his knee.

Harry hesitated. “I can really… be with Eggsy?”

“Oh yes,” Lancelot replied. “Merlin finished updating both your files this morning, though Arthur officially kicked you out last night. You, sir, are matched.”

“Merlin updated our files?”

“He passes out assignments,” Lancelot said. “But it’s also his job to watch over our matches. You can think of him as your cupid, if you like.”

Harry preferred not to, frankly. He was still trying to wrap his head around the thought that this… just happened sometimes. “But what does it all mean? How can Eggsy and I really be together?”

Lancelot looked thoughtful. “There’s a… missing piece, as it were, in all of us. A kind of… humanness. Not having it allows us to see auras and manipulate whatever circumstances are in our particular purview- and of course the fact that we aren’t mortal means that we don’t need to eat or sleep. But that little bit of humanness and mortality go hand in hand. We lose it when we die, but it doesn’t just disappear. It goes to a kind of... vault somewhere.”

“I could… have it back?”

“You already do,” Lancelot said, smirking. “Gazelle delivered it last night. It’ll take a while for it to settle, as it were- so your powers will leave you slowly as your mortality returns.”

“And then what?”

“Have you thought much about the people who work in the shop? Or who help us buy houses and rent cars and do all the things that aren’t exactly easy when no one can remember who you are? The people who can see cupids and remember us but also live as part of the world?”

“I suppose I haven’t,” Harry admitted. “Thought about it much.”

“Those are people who have met their match and been sent back into the world. You will lose your ability to see auras and most of your other powers. You’ll never be quite a normal person, Galahad- Harry- but you can have a life with Eggsy. A full one.”        

*   *   *

Lancelot left to allow Harry to process what he had learned in peace. He half expected Eggsy to come down looking for him at some point before he was done, but he never did. Eventually, Harry went upstairs to him instead, and found him still in the bed. He wasn't quite asleep, though, judging from the way he mumbled, “Harry?” softly as entered the room.

Even not fully awake, Eggsy turned his turned his face up obligingly for Harry to kiss, and once he started Harry couldn’t seem to stop.

Slowly Eggsy woke properly. He gripped Harry by the shoulders and looked him over, reading Harry’s elation in seconds. “You can- you can stay?”

Harry kissed him hard. “I can stay.”

*   *   *

Harry went back to HQ the next time he was willing to let go of Eggsy for long enough to do so, and Eggsy went home after securing Harry’s promise that he would come by as soon as he was finished. Harry didn’t plan to be there any longer than he had to be to get whatever his new job was in his new capacity, and he didn’t expect it to take too long.  

Harry had worried, faintly, that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the standard of living to which he had become accustomed, and to which he would very much like for Eggsy to be able to become accustomed to as well- but only faintly, because he would live anywhere if he could live with Eggsy. But on his way out Merlin had passed him his first paycheck for his new job as a tailor, and if those were the starting figures Harry needn’t have worried at all.

He was at Eggsy’s flat in just a few hours. Eggsy was packing a few things to leave at Harry’s house now that he probably would be there much more often. Jamal was there too, having a conversation with Eggsy as he flitted around the flat packing.

Eggsy looked between them and smiled just a little tightly. “Jamal,” he said. “You remember Harry, right?”

Jamal looked at Harry vacantly. Merlin- after Harry had told him that he understood why he did what he did but reserved the right to be annoyed about it- had told Harry that people would be able to see him now, remember him now, and that for those who had met him before it would be a little disorienting as they tried to figure out why they had never paid him much mind before.

“My boyfriend?” Eggsy added.

Jamal’s frown deepened. “Yeah,” he said at last, looking Harry over. He was still trying to figure out why he hadn’t given more thought to Eggsy’s boyfriend before now, and searching for something to say at the same time. “Thought you was older,” he said at last.

Harry glanced at Eggsy, whose aura seemed to be getting greener by the hour. When it settled it would probably be the last aura Harry saw before he became fully mortal again. According to Merlin, when that time came his body’s age would also settle, probably at about thirty- he would still be the older of the two of them, but he would be at a good age to spend the rest of his life with Eggsy and vice versa. Until that happened, however, the people in Eggsy’s life would justify it the way mortal minds typically justified magic- by assuming that they had just been mistaken. It would be Harry’s job to help them come up with an explanation. “It’s the suit,” Harry said. “I gather it adds years.”

“Talking like that probably don’t help.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.”

Jamal rolled his eyes but looked amused. He leaned close, again talking to Eggsy like Harry wasn’t there, but this time it was on purpose. “You really like this guy, Eggsy?”

Eggsy didn’t once take his eyes off Harry as he smiled and said, “Yeah. I really, really do.”

“Right,” Jamal said after a moment. “I’ll just…” He pointed at the door, and Eggsy saw him out. Harry lingered in Eggsy’s room to give them some time alone, and when he made him way out Eggsy had closed the door behind Jamal and was leaning his back against it.

“So is that gonna be it?” he asked Harry. “You’re just always gonna be my weird boyfriend who no one paid any attention to for the first six months we were dating?”

No, Harry thought impulsively. Eventually I’m going to be your weird husband. He didn’t say so though; there would be plenty of time for that. There would be time for everything. “I suppose it is,” he said, crossing to Eggsy and then resting a hand next his head on the door. “Regrets?”        

Eggsy shook his head, eyes glittering. He reached out, gripping Harry by the lapels, and pulled him even closer. “No. I am thinking it’s gonna be awkward when you properly meet my mum, though.”

Harry laughed quietly, touching Eggsy’s neck and pressing their foreheads together. “You’re not wrong.”

Eggsy laughed.