Chapter 326: The good kind of support

Brent shouldn’t have been surprised when he stepped out of the room that both Sergei and Kellen were there. They were silent too. Both men clearly not speaking to each other, but comfortable in the silence.

Brent had pulled on his clothes after he finished speaking to Taylor. He wasn’t as shocked as before, but having Taylor on the line as he changed out his prosthetic for the first time was a good feeling.

He knew what he was doing, of course. He wasn’t a newbie to these things, but it was nice to have her there. She was the mind behind it, even if it appeared everyone at the Guild had helped her complete this task. It meant that he took it slower, was able to follow her instructions for putting it into place, and learned that he had been unintentionally adding more stress to his prosthetics this whole time.

It was liberating to be able to dress without needing help, even if he had liked asking Sergei to help.

It was also great to see the pure delight the man had in his eyes. He watched as they flickered towards the colour of his powers. It was something that happened when Espers were emotional, and while the rest of his face stayed rather neutral, his eyes showed just how deeply he was feeling.

He reached for Brent, taking his hand in his own and giving it a squeeze.

"You look great." He told him quietly and Brent had to look away from him the moment he spoke. Holy shit. Just hearing his words made him emotional. Fuck. There was so much love in his voice, and so much pride.

Brent let out a harsh breath, trying to control himself. He’d barely controlled himself now that he was off the phone with Taylor, and now he’d forgotten what being faced with Sergei would feel like. And Kellen.

Damn it, he had to worry about Kellen too!

Thankfully, as if able to read his mind, Kellen shot his hand out towards Brent. Brent stared at the hand blankly for a moment.

"My phone, please. Rhys doesn’t like it when I don’t have it." Kellen told him seriously and Brent let out a bark of laughter. Thank god Kellen hadn’t changed. "Are you ready to go back?" Kellen asked as Brent reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"I suppose. I just also have something I want to do now." Brent told them as Sergei slipped his hand into Brent’s. Brent blinked, surprised as Sergei squeezed his hand.

"I didn’t want to do it when you needed your hand." Sergei admitted quietly and Brent had to curl his lip up to prevent himself from getting too emotional. Damn this man.

"That’s sweet." Kellen said, not even flinching. He would have blushed only a couple of months ago, but now here he was, the expert. Engaged to the man of his dreams, probably not phased by anything because Rhys was just as much of a freak as Sergei, but different. "What is it that you want to do?" Kellen asked, meeting Brent’s eyes head on. With his eyepatch on, and his face flat like Sergei’s, Brent would have almost assumed that he wasn’t affected.

If it wasn’t for the fact that his eye was a little puffy and his eyepatch looked damp, Brent would have thought he was unaffected. He knew better. Kellen was probably just as excited for him as Sergei was.

"I want to deal with Colby." Brent said. Sergei squeezed his hand.

"We’re still in the middle of discussing the lies we want to feed the spy, if there is one. Can you wait until this discussion is over?" Sergei was being sweet to ask him if he could wait. Brent had waited this long, what was another hour at this point?

"I’m fine waiting till after. I just want to put the prosthetics away safely then, while they continue the conversation." Brent said. Sergei nodded, understanding, and Kellen sighed.

"Now who goes with you? Sergei or me?" Kellen muttered, looking rather thoughtful. Sergei chuckled.

"That is the question. Only one of us can go." Brent watched as the two men stared at each other, competitive, but not malicious. It was nothing like how Sergei and Rhys were and Brent found it a little surreal that they were fighting over him.

"Neither." Brent interjected into the middle of whatever the hell they were doing. "I have guards, and you two are too important to be missing. No one really knows how important I am outside of my name, so I can take a break. Plus, it’ll make a bigger impact if I enter later with two arms." Brent said, unable to fight the grin that was threatening to spread across his lips.

He probably looked like a fool, but neither of the men with him commented. Instead, they smiled, staring at Brent as if they were just as delighted that he was happy as he was. That was a touching feeling for him, and one that he had a slightly hard time grappling with.

Sergei raised his hand, catching Brent’s eye as he did so. Brent watched as the man raised his hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss there. Brent stared, his face warming as Sergei met his gaze. There was so much love there that it made Brent warm from the inside out.

"Whatever you desire, zaichonok. I’ll wait for you." Sergei told him. As if he hadn’t already been waiting for him. Damn the man. He was going to make Brent cry again.

Kellen huffed, turning away from the couple to give them a moment.

"I’ll go grab your guards to help." Kellen muttered, leaving Brent alone with the sweet Sergei. It was a small moment of privacy that Brent appreciated. Kellen was learning, and while he was proud, he was also a little flustered.

"I’ll be fine." Brent told the man who, when Brent met his gaze, clearly wanted to sweep Brent into his arms and hold him tightly. There was so much emotion in his gaze, so much heat and love that Brent’s face felt like it would never calm down.

"I know you will." Sergei said. "I will still wait for you." He said and Brent wanted to scold the man while at the same time he wanted to reach for him and smother him with a deep kiss. Then, Brent thought, why was he holding himself back.

He reached for him with his new hand and carefully, so damn carefully, he reached for Sergei’s face. He flinched when he cupped Sergei’s cheek and watched as Sergei turned his face into it. Like it was his hand. It was his hand. Brent exhaled slowly, his emotions fluttering as he leaned forward. Sergei didn’t fight him. He let their lips meet, the now familiar feeling of Sergei’s piercings on Brent’s unpierced lips and god, Brent was so grateful for that simple thing.

They were familiar, they were Sergei’s, and it was so nice to be able to do this. Sergei’s hand tightened on his own, clasping it tighter as Brent leaned in closer. Demanding more, pushing for more, but it was Sergei who kept the kiss chaste. Pure. Brent wanted to growl at the man but he knew he was right.

Kellen would come back soon, this was just a taste.

Brent pulled back, tempted to tug on his piercing, but he didn’t. When he put enough distance between them that Brent could stare into Sergei’s eyes, his flew open. Sergei stared at him for a long, quiet moment, before he let out a sigh.

"You’re glowing." Sergei whispered. Brent startled. Before he could even get a grasp on what Sergei had said, Sergei cracked a small smile. "Good." He said, nodding as he squeezed Brent’s hand again and then turned before he heard Kellen approach.

Brent glanced over, finding two guards he was familiar with and knew he would have to ask him later. That was fine. Now, he just needed to be patient.

~

When Brent entered back into the main meeting hall, most people didn’t notice at first. Even his guards hadn’t noticed until he’d picked up the box the prosthetics came in. It had been exciting to see their reactions, and the excitement they had had for him.

Brent was thrilled that the first people who noticed were the most important.

Eleanor, Henry, Aunt Dina and Lieutenant Parker were the first to notice. Eleanor and Henry did a double take, while Aunt Dina frowned. It was Lieutenant Parker who gave the most outrageous reaction out of them. He gasped, his hands flying to his mouth as tears filled his eyes.

That was what drew everyone’s attention to Brent and then began the domino effect of everyone realising what was going on.

Brent would admit, he didn’t hate being the center of attention. Not when this was the reaction. He soaked it all in, Sergei behind him, a shadow ready to protect him and Brent beamed. He didn’t have to worry, because his shadow had a shadow, and that shadow had a shadow. Brent was safe. It was almost like he was showing off an engagement ring instead of a prosthetic, but he felt that for this crowd this was the equivalent. He even got to explain the functions because he’d spoken to Taylor.

All of the Espers were over the moon for him.

Rhys wasn’t one of the few that fawned over him or showed much of a reaction, but Brent didn’t mind that. He was pleased for him, but he was also busy. He had a lot to plan. Brent got a smile, a nod, and that was it. How very Captain Thatcher of him, but Brent didn’t mind. He had probably known about it as soon as Kellen decided to do it.

Things got derailed for a few minutes before they got back on topic and Brent took his seat next to Sergei again. He’d have to wait to bring up his topic, but that was fine. He could wait his turn.

He’d already been thinking about who would want to be with him and he knew that he was going to have to ask Vance to be there. He didn’t think the cute obsessed Healer would mind. Eleanor and Henry would probably want to be there, Kellen for sure, Sergei a no brainer, and Aunt Dina. That was probably the max amount of people he could allow.

He hadn’t visited the holding cells where Aunt Dina kept her bad people, but he didn’t think they were that big. Unless she had a wet room and Brent just felt a silly smile touch his lips. He knew Kellen would have a wet room in his Guild, so Rhys probably already had one. Sergei might have a wet room, Sakura for sure did. Brent just didn’t know if Aunt Dina did.

It would be an interesting discussion to have later, for sure.