collision

chapter 21; the forest

It takes Marc three days to get better. The boys don't really mind staying.

It's quite nice, to be honest. It's a happy time to be there, Thor and Sif young and alive and healthy and beautiful and always so, so very grateful—soon joined by the other gods too, even Loki after a while (though things are slightly stiff between him and Jacob and Adam). They all throw a big celebration the second night, inviting all of the now recovered gods and goddesses, and Troye has positively never been more starstruck than he is during that dinner. His self-esteem has probably never skyrocketed more than it does right then, either—because that's what being heartfeltly thanked by god after important god will do to you.

Troye also ends up spending a lot of time with Jacob—it just kind of happens that way with them sharing rooms and everything. They talk about everything and nothing until the early hours of the morning, they shower together—an amazing concept that Troye is not opposed to at all—and they go exploring the castle and end up getting horribly lost. Which, of course, is Troye's idea, and also something Jacob will not stop pestering him about for the remainder of their stay.

It's overall both the most amazing thing ever because Troye is constantly overwhelmed by how well they actually fit together after spending so much time thinking they would never be able to agree on even the smallest of things, and it's also the worst thing ever because. Well. Troye kind of constantly wants to scream out how gone he is for this boy, and he can't. He's never been one to keep any sort of feelings to himself, and it's extremely draining to do it now, especially with how strong they are.

In general, they all have a great time, and it's with slight dejection and some urging on from Thor, they finally leave on that third day to spread their newfound information about the portals along.

When the boys finally have their stuff packed and are entering Thor and Sif's portal, Troye sighs wistfully, because he thinks this has most definitely been the high point of this adventure and he's pretty sure it won't really get better than these three past days have been.

~

As it turns out, Troye is wrong. And he's... Never been happier to admit so in his life.

He feels it in the air before he even opens his eyes. There's only one place he knows where the air is this crisp and the scent of nature this sweet.

He puts his hands down in the grass, feeling flowers break through the earth and blossom in the spaces between his fingers, and a massive, bright smile is making its way onto his face as he flutters his eyes open. Leaves from the big oak tree where his mother used to tell him stories every sunset are rustling quietly above his head, and it sounds like a "welcome back".

The meadow is sparkling and bubbling with life and colors, the sun is in their eyes, the sky is the brightest of blues, and Troye?

Troye is home.

He knows this place better than he knows anything else and he feels like crying from pure joy, the weight of traveling and risking his life and being away from everything he's known so far finally making itself known. He hasn't even realized how heavy that weight has been until it's now lifted from him, ascending somewhere else, leaving Troye so light and feather-like he feels like he could just catch the sun in his palm.

"Is this..." Marc starts somewhere next to him. "Is this the Forest?" Troye is pretty sure a genuine tear actually slips through.

"Yeah," he confirms. "Yeah, it is. I'm home."

A laugh slips out of him, and he turns to look at the other boys, checking if any of them are also feeling the immense euphoria he's feeling.

They don't really seem to. Cory just looks relieved, Adam is still spaced out, glove clad hand clutching Marc's really tight—evidently not quite used to the whole portal travelling thing yet— Marc just looks kind of awed, and Jacob—well. Jacob is looking at Troye with a small smile. So small you barely notice it if it weren't for the slight deepening of his dimples and even smaller glint in his eyes, but by now Troye feels like he can tell exactly what signifies Jacob's happiness.