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It was late, after midnight, when Mitchell let himself into Anders‘ apartment. He’d worked a late shift tonight and had come here straight afterwards. After the whole Idunn/Gaia catastrophe he’d distanced himself from Anders for a while. A while being… about a week.
Mitchell had told himself that he needed a few days to clear his head about everything. To be sure what he wanted. But it was stupid, really. It wasn’t Anders’ fault and he knew that. If anyone knew what it was like to have a part of yourself that you weren’t able to control, it was Mitchell. That, and he’d actually missed Anders. Despite all his flaws, he’d missed him. He wasn’t about to let Anders know about that, but it was the truth nevertheless.
Mitchell peered into the apartment and noticed the TV was turned on… and Anders asleep on the sofa. He closed the door quietly behind him as not to wake Anders but then ruined his efforts by tripping over a pair of shoes that Anders had obviously just toed off right next to the door.
Anders jerked awake, sitting up on the sofa bolt upright. He looked terrified for a moment and Mitchell could feel his frantic heartbeat all across half of the apartment. Anders relaxed slightly when he saw Mitchell standing in the hallway.
“Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack…” Anders said, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
“Sorry… I tried to be quiet but these were in the way.” Mitchell gestured towards the shoes and then walked over to sit down next to Anders, careful not to breach his personal space.
“Which would have been so much less creepy,” Anders commented, “How did you get in?”
“You gave me a key…”
“Oh… yeah, right.” Anders pinched the bridge of his nose and Mitchell looked at him properly.
“You look like shit,” he said. He had never seen Anders look so tired and worn out. Not even after a rough night when he was hungover as hell.
Anders snorted. “Charming. Did you come back just to insult me?”
Mitchell rolled his eyes at the comment. “No, I didn’t, you prick. I was worried about you,” he admitted.
Anders glared at him. “That was another insult,” he stated, “And I don’t need anyone to look after me. I’m perfectly able to do that myself. Did one of my brothers tell you the coast was clear? Is that why you turn up now?”
Mitchell fought the urge to punch Anders, he could be such a dick when he wanted to be… “Give me some credit, would you? Why is it so hard for you to believe that I actually care about you?” he asked.
“Maybe because no one else does,” Anders muttered and then only resisted for a moment when Mitchell pulled him into a tight hug.
“While I don’t think that’s true… I can assure you that I do. I really do.”
Anders sighed. “So you were worried and decided to check on me… is that all?”
Mitchell hesitated shortly before he said: “Actually… no. I wanted to apologize. I acted like a wanker.”
“You did,” Anders agreed, “And just for the record, the Idunn situation is solved for the moment. Gaia’s gone. She left the country. One thing less to worry about.”
“Oh… I see,” Mitchell said. He hadn’t expected that. If anything, he’d expected Gaia and Axl to run off together. “What else did I miss?”
“Hmm… let me think… Well, of course Axl blames me for the whole mess. And then I learned that god spirits really can be pushy bastards. Because Odin… and it was Odin, not Axl, nearly killed me.”
Mitchell’s eyes widened as he progressed what Anders had just told him. “What?!” he exclaimed.
“Don’t freak out, I’m alright,” Anders continued, “Apparently, the yggdrasil is some sort of weird super stick for the goddesses and gives them certain powers. Michele kind of… healed me like that? I don’t know really. I mean, I was passed out when she worked the magic.”
That only reassured Mitchell a little. “And that happened… when exactly?” he asked.
“Yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t your brothers call me?”
“Mitchell… I had no idea where we stood. You said you needed to think about us. We hadn’t spoken for a week. For all I knew, you could have decided to go back to England and leave this all behind…”
Anders looked pointedly at Mitchell and Mitchell winced inwardly. It wasn’t like Anders wasn’t right. He was. But to lay it open like that… it stung. But Anders had never been one to beat around the bush. “Sorry, you’re right,” he said quietly.
“Nevermind.” Anders shook his head slightly.
“But you’re alright now? You’re not hurt?”
“Stop fussing, Mitchell! I feel like shit because I lost a shitload of blood before Michele got the magic stick… but I’m alright. Really. No need to worry.”
Mitchell nodded. It was weird how Anders seemed less fazed about nearly dying than he was about Anders nearly dying.
“Speaking of blood,” Anders added, “You probably shouldn’t go into the bathroom just now. I left the clothes I wore yesterday in there… and they’re kinda… bloody. I haven’t gotten around to throwing them away yet.”
“I thought I smelled something when I came in… but I wasn’t sure,” Mitchell said. The scent of the blood was subtle, but it was there.
“Is it triggering?” Anders asked curiously.
“No, not really.” Mitchell shook his head. “It’s dried already. Doesn’t smell as strong.” And not as inviting, he added mentally.
“Hmm… so… are you staying with me again?”
“If you want me to,” Mitchell said cautiously.
Anders nodded. “I want you to.”
Mitchell smiled at him in return. “Then I’ll stay. And make sure you won’t have any near death experiences again.”
Anders huffed. “I don’t need a babysitter, Mitchell.”
Mitchell chuckled before he moved in to kiss Anders, the other man kissing him back eagerly. “I know,” Mitchell clarified when they broke apart, “But it makes me feel better. It’s a bit selfish, really.”
Anders kissed Mitchell once more, this time only a short peck on the lips. “You have issues,” he said.
“I think you’ll find that we both have,” Mitchell answered. It was true. Out of all the people he’d been with in the past hundred years, Anders was probably the one that ranked closest to himself when it came to being fucked up. But two negatives made a positive, right?
“You know what I really dislike about you? How you always seem to be right.”
Mitchell grinned. “I know,” he said.
“Smug little shit,” Anders said, but his voice lacked any real bite. “Thank you, though…” he added after a while.
“For?”
“For coming back. For caring. I know you would’ve had enough reasons to stay away from me. To stay away from this whole gods madness,” Anders explained.
“I think you’re worth the trouble,” Mitchell answered honestly.
Anders didn’t disagree but Mitchell knew he wanted to. He could read it in the look he was giving him. “I hope you’re right,” was all Anders said instead.
Mitchell decided not to start arguing. Instead he just pulled Anders into his arms and knew he had won when he didn’t protest. “Sleep,” he told him and kissed his brow, “You really look like you need it.”
“You’re doing it again,” Anders stated.
“Doing what?”
“Fussing about me. Stop it,” Anders replied but closed his eyes and snuggled closer against Mitchell anyway, “Oh and by the way, apology accepted.”