bsumone | ❝ Oh loneliness, oh hopelessness ❞

Being plucked away from his life to land in Nippon had been jarring. How many months had he spent there basically alone? Moping that Tobias or his mother hadn't found him, lost in his studies of the local flora and fauna when he could be bothered to engage in the work.

Five.

Five long, lonely months before he met Gaura and everything changed. Their affection grew instantly and within a matter of weeks they were decidedly in love. Hopelessly, even. And it only grew from there. An engagement and a marriage within a year. So much happiness that Henry never expected for himself. Gaura kept him from giving in to his more selfish side. He encouraged Henry so he didn't fall into his dark moods. Their life was one that was full of plants and music and learning and love.

And then it was gone.

Just as quickly as he'd found himself in Nippon, he was whisked away again. Back to London, but... Not the London he knew and remembered. No, this was the London of 2023. The changes left Henry equal parts baffled and awed. It was much noisier, the streets even more crowded. For the first few days, the cars startled him as they drove by. And all the new technology?

Thankfully, Henry's a bright young man and something like a computer and its internet weren't difficult to master. Let's not ignore how silently grateful he was that his mother insisted he learn to type on her infernal typewriter. With a little help (thank you reference librarians of the world!), he discovered a few important facts:

Adela Silver set up a bank account for Henry shortly after he vanished that's been accruing interest for the last hundred and thirty-ish years.
She also left her house in the city to him... So he had a place to stay!
He learned that getting to Los Angeles would take less than a day by air -- by air!

Gaura once told him that he lived in Los Angeles. And if Henry had been deposited back in London, surely it made sense that Gaura would be back in Los Angeles, right? Of course, Henry had no concept of how big Los Angeles was. In the weeks it took him to get his papers sorted out for travel, he worked on securing some kind of lodging. A small condo, as these modern people called them, would serve as his base of operations. He filled it with plants to remind him of Gaura and even bought a star-shaped lamp to put in the window to beckon his beloved home.

And once he was in Los Angeles? Well, that's where all his planning began to fall apart. He had no other clues to go on to find his husband. It was almost a month before he began to lose heart. In a city this large, he might never encounter the sole person he sought.

Loneliness began to creep in. Doubt filled his heart. Until one day he was out and saw a familiar thatch of pink hair walking out of a grocery store. He'd certainly seen others with that color, but as his eyes honed in, he recognized the face that went along with it. All decorum forgotten, Henry rushed closer, bumping people in his way as he all but ran toward the man he'd been seeking.

"Gaura!"

Edited 2023-05-05 17:46 (UTC)

Though Gaura had clung to Henry's hand as hard as he could when they'd been sent back it hadn't worked. He'd still ended up in his very tiny apartment in Los Angeles alone. It hurt but he was grateful for the memories he was able to keep. It helped him to keep moving forward to be utterly alone again. Gaura found it painful and there were nights he cried himself to sleep as he thought about all that happiness but he knew he would never regret it.

Life went on and he kept living. Barely surviving once again but still surviving. He'd just lost another job but he was used to that. At least he had enough to get through the month for groceries and rent while he looked for another job. That was something that he could be grateful for as he gathered everything he needed into bags to carry out.

It was a long walk back to his place and through a dangerous neighborhood but that was also something he was used to. It was how he'd lived his life from the age of 16 onward.

But the last thing he expected to hear was his own name. Or the one voice that he'd come to know above all others. The ring on his finger suddenly felt so heavy and he wondered if he was dreaming this. Freezing where he stood on the sidewalk, he looked around past the people in the hopes of seeing the only face he'd ever known in his entire life, praying that he would still know it. It would be too cruel if that had been taken away from him.

And then he saw him. Dark curls and expressive grey eyes. Gasping, he felt tears form in his eyes and the bags fell from his arms to the ground. But he didn't care about that at all. He didn't even notice when the tears fell down his face as he ran over to the love of his life and threw his arms around him. Though he knew that PDA wasn't Henry's style none of that was in the foreground of his mind at the moment. It couldn't be.

He was too busy crying and clinging to this man he'd thought he'd never see again. "You're here. You're really here. Henry..."

The entire world vanished for Henry the moment Gaura turned toward him. It was him! It was really him! He pushed by anyone between them and all but launched himself at Gaura. By the time Henry reached him, Gaura already dropped his bags. So his arms were completely free to catch Henry, who also threw his arms around his husband.

He pulled Gaura against him with all his strength, one arm looped snugly around his shoulders and the other moving to tangle his hand in that pink hair he'd come to love so much. When Henry finally pulled back to peer at Gaura's face, he, too, was crying with joy.

"I thought I might never see you again!"

There were people around them who were so touched by the reunion. Clearly they had no idea what was happening here beyond that but it was clearly touching to them. But Gaura only had eyes for the one face that he could see and remember. Breaking into a smile, he ran his fingers along his cheek and laughed. The tears weren't stopping but he didn't care about that. He only cared about this man right here.

"How did...?" He didn't even know what he was going to ask really and it didn't matter that much in the end. Instead, he cupped his face and kissed him right there, absolutely needing to do so even though they were truly causing a scene.

"You found me."

As long as people don't start clapping for them, Henry probably won't notice they made a scene right there on the street. Yet.

Henry moved to cup Gaura's face in his hands. It's only been a short time since they were parted, but with the fear of never seeing Gaura again, it felt so much longer! He's so relieved and happy.

"I'm sorry it took me so long."

Someone did end up cheering and Gaura flushed, having forgotten people were around. "I'm sorry. Maybe we should go somewhere private."

His groceries were long since forgotten. As long as he had Henry now anything was possible. That was how it had felt in Nippon as well. So what if he lost some of those groceries? He had what mattered most in the world to him.

Oh, yes... people were watching. Henry felt his face flush and he quickly dipped his head. Which brought the fallen groceries into sight.

"Let's pick these up," he offered quietly. Something mundane might make these passersby lose interest and they could then walk away in peace.

"Do you live near here?" Henry inquired even as he crouched to start gathering the items that weren't ruined in the fall.

"I do. Though it isn't as nice as our home was in Nippon."

Crouching down, he picked up the groceries then sort them back into the bags they belonged to. Offering one to Henry, he smiled so fondly at him. "I'll take you there and then make you can dinner. You can tell me about your time here then."

He took the offered bag with a warm smile. Ah, but even the most mundane of things felt wonderful with Gaura beside him once again.

"We can start again," he mused, following wherever Gaura led. His home in this strange, bustling city was certainly not like their home in Nippon either. But what's stopping them from rebuilding that sort of dream here and now?

"My mother left me some money..." So he's not terribly poor.

Leading the way, he looked over at Henry with wide eyes. Before long it was clear they were not going to a good part of town. Of the two of them? Henry really stood out. "Really? That's wonderful. Is that how you were able to find your way here?"

Fishing into his pocket, he got out his keys and took them to a basement apartment of a building that looked like it had seen better days. Opening the door, he let them inside. It was warm in there, the place had no air conditioning. Just concrete for the flooring barebones furniture too. But it had electricity right now and he turned that on as he led the way to the tiny kitchen.

"It took longer than I had hoped," he admitted ruefully. "Navigating this new world proved somewhat... difficult. And this city!" Henry cast his gaze around, looking up and around with no small amount of wonder. "I've never seen such a place as this!"

But all that mattered was that he and Gaura were together again. Even if they struggle a bit (which they might not with what Mrs. Silver left), they're together. Together they can face any obstacles, Henry's sure of that!

Edited (typo) 2023-06-01 01:21 (UTC)

"Los Angeles is very big. The one I was born in also is actually." Rolling up his sleeves, he washed his hands then started to work on their meal. "Where are you staying? Oh and if you get too warm please feel free to take your coat off. It gets very warm in here since I have no way to cool it down easily once the stove is turned on."

It was unfortunate to not have air conditioning but he was generally a luxury that he simply couldn't afford.

Henry did, indeed, shrug out of his suit coat, draping it gently over the back of a chair or the couch if there wasn't a chair. As he did so, he rattled off the address of his flat. It was in a better part of town, to be sure, and it also had the air conditioning (Henry still hadn't mastered it so the agent who sold him the place set it for him).

"It's, um, I think the agent called it a townhouse?" It was an end unit that only shared one wall with another. "You could stay there with me if you wanted." It had more space than Gaura's place seemed to have at first glance. "I made sure it would be big enough for us both."

Oh. That was quite a nice part of town. Henry really had been left money. He blinked even as he kept preparing their meal. Luckily his bad habit of making too much food would benefit them here since he'd be able to feed them both despite buying only food for himself.

But then Gaura paused and looked back at the man that he'd married in that other world. (God but he could marry him again here too.)

"Really? I would love that. Living without you hasn't been the same."

He’d been determined to find Gaura in this strange new world. Luckily, Mrs. Silver had the forethought to prepare for her son’s eventual return. Maybe later than she would’ve hoped…

“There’s even a little space in the back for a garden…” It would be nothing like their garden in Nippon, but something was better than nothing, right? “I would very much like to live with you again, Jisu. I’ve missed you terribly.”

Gaura smiled and then nodded for his husband to come join him, even offering him a bowl with a spoon so he could stir ingredients together. After all, he'd missed having him help in the kitchen.

"You know...it's possible for us to get married here too," he murmured softly a moment after telling Henry what to do.

Henry’s eyes went wide. Not only could they marry (again) in this future world (future to Henry anyway), but Gaura wanted to marry him again. He could’ve melted in that moment and it wasn’t from the lack of air conditioning in the hot flat. Warmth filled his chest and spread through him with every beat of his heart.

Rising from his seat, he moved behind Gaura and slipped his arms around Gaura’s waist. He pressed close and leaned his chin on Gaura’s shoulder, smiling so broadly. Tears of joy prickled in his eyes.

“I would love to marry you again.”

This wasn't helping and he didn't care at all. He just leaned back into him and closed his eyes. Cooking could wait another moment because he was so happy right now. So very in love.

"It would be a more private ceremony than what we did before since we don't know anyone here. I hope that's alright."

But he knew he wouldn't mind himself. As long as he had Henry he would always be so happy.

“You’re the only person I need there,” Henry assured. Henry couldn’t claim to know a single soul in this time and place other than Gaura, so he wouldn’t be sad if they have a small wedding with just the two of them.

“How would that work here? In my time, something like what we’re discussing would be considered an elopement. They weren’t terribly uncommon, but people always wondered why a couple would run off or marry in private. It was often assumed something untoward had happened.”

Then he realized that might sound like he didn’t want to do something like that. “I don’t mind though! As you said, it isn’t as if we know anyone. I’ve always felt that a wedding is primarily for guests. A marriage is for the couple.”

Gaura giggled softly and rested his head back against Henry's shoulder. He felt so nice behind him again. All this time without him and he was realizing how badly he'd needed him. Everything felt so perfect finally. A soft sigh and he smiled again.

"We can go and just get the license, have a judge marry us. Or we could go get the license and then go somewhere to have someone else marry us. Either way once we have the license we'll be married but what the ceremony is like will be up to us to decide. It's all about what makes us happy."

Turning in those arms, he wrapped his arms around Henry's neck and gazed into his eyes. "We could get married in a filthy alleyway and I'd be so happy. I don't care where the ceremony portion is as long as I can say I do to you again."

“Let’s not get married in a filthy alley,” he insisted before leaning in to press his lips to Gaura’s. His hold tightened by degrees, as if in fear that they might, once again, get torn apart. This is home to Gaura, but for Henry, it’s another strange, new world. Gaura was the familiar star shining in an unfamiliar sky to him.

“The judge is fine. I only want to be your husband in this world as quickly as possible.”

"I really want that too."

He smiled so warmly at him, running his fingers though his hair. "Let's eat and then see if anywhere is open. Otherwise we can go first thing tomorrow."

Either way would have him practically vibrating with excitement.

Tomorrow? Yes, he would wait until tomorrow if necessary. Henry could wait as long as he needed to for Gaura. They've been apart long enough, what was one day more?

Henry bowed his head to press their foreheads together, the happiest of smiles curling his lips. "Shall I set the table for us?"

"Please."

Eyes sparkling, he cupped that handsome face for a moment then pressed another kiss to his lips. Whoever was out there who had decided to let him have Henry again? He was beyond grateful to them. Magic or god or whatever. He would always thank them for this. Another kiss and then he stepped back to let his husband actually set the table like he wanted to.

Unfortunately, Henry needed a little direction. Namely, where he flatware was. He looked around cluelessly for a few seconds before exhaling.

"Plates are where, my dear?"

"Over there." He nodded his head in the right direction. Then he smiled as he watched Henry get things. It felt so good to do things like this with him again. "Thank you for helping."

His time in Nippon taught him to be a little more self-sufficient. Only a little because he lucked into meeting Gaura shortly after arriving. Getting the plates, he took two to the table and laid out two places for them.

"May I say, this world you live in is quite amazing." At least it is to someone from the Victorian era. Microwaves are like magic!

Edited (small typo) 2024-02-02 18:10 (UTC)

❝ Oh loneliness, oh hopelessness ❞

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