Who's your daddy? (Milo)

[Milo Thatch]

Had Milo possessed more of a flirtatious nature, he probably could have come up with several things to say about how else Apollo might be able to help by touching, but he was Milo, and even the idea of saying something like that would probably have sent him into a fit of embarrassment.

He was acutely aware of Apollo's presence behind him, and it made him feel...electrified. Like there was some kind of current of energy in the air between them, leaving him feeling a little breathless and a lot alive. He could feel Apollo's breath on his skin as Apollo lingered over his shoulder, and he had a hard time focusing, lost for a moment in the urge to lean back against the god behind him. But...he didn't want Apollo to think he wasn't taking this seriously, so he shook off the jitters and went back to inspecting the object in front of him.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "There doesn't seem to be nearly enough repetition for either of them to be alphabetic, but they're definitely two different scripts. But for what it's worth, I don't see Loki mentioned anywhere yet," He glanced back at Apollo, shooting him a quick grin. He took a step to the side, moving slowly as he scanned over the three little lines of writing. "I'm gonna try something," he warned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his handkerchief, shaking it unfolded. "I'm just wondering if it's resistant to being touched by anything, or if it has some kind of safeguard against being touched by a living being." He held the handkerchief out between both hands, managing to hold both the corner of the cloth and his new magnifying glass in one hand, and tried to drape it over the sphere...

[Apollo]

Apollo was enjoying being this close to Milo again, and the electricity that Milo was feeling was coursing through him as well. There was something about the curve of his neck, where his hairline ended and that soft smooth skin began. He wanted to reach out and touch, his hand was almost there when Milo side stepped away and the sub god quickly snatched his hand back.

Oh but that grin, he hadn’t wanted Milo to move away, but that grin he gave him…he wanted to reach out then and there and pull him back to him…however he held back…

It was perhaps a little too much too soon. The chase had just begun again, there was no need to move too quickly, enjoy the moment, savour it. He would limit the touches, force himself only to give it a few, just teasing enough to leave the young man wanting more…or more likely…leave Apollo wanting more.

“Be careful,” said Apollo, giving him a worried look as he approached the orb with the handkerchief.

‘You don’t have time to savour the moment, look how fragile he is, one wrong move and he could be gone forever,’ said a voice in his head.

“Wait!” he said quickly and reached forward to grab one of his hands in his own, “it could be dangerous, why not let me put the handkerchief on it?”

So much for limiting the touches, he was holding his hand now.

[Milo Thatch]

If Milo thought about this whole situation with Apollo too hard, he was probably going to strain something. As it was, he already felt a little lightheaded, like a whole flock of butterflies had taken up residence in his chest and were making his heart confused about where it was supposed to be sending blood. Apollo sounded genuinely concerned for Milo's well-being, and...it wasn't that Milo had thought Apollo didn't care whether he died, it was just that...well, this was all so surreal still. Every time he tried to figure out what was going on here, he just made himself dizzy. Apollo was clearly interested in him, and Milo was was still not sure what direction that was going to go in.

Part of him might always be certain Apollo was just flirting because it was a challenge or something, because Milo hadn't thrown himself into his arms immediately. And maybe Milo would have, if he'd had any more experience than he did at throwing himself into anybody's arms at all, but as it was, he had spent the last ten years working through the things he'd just started to feel before they'd all been sent home.

He had always imagined he'd meet and marry a nice girl, maybe a princess, maybe from Atlantis, but when he thought back on the things that had been occupying his mind for the past ten years...it had not been Kida's face occupying his mind, it had been...well, not this exact face, either. Apollo had looked different then. But the things Milo had been feeling, those weren't about Apollo's face, they were about something entirely different, the way he felt when Apollo raved over some little thing Milo was studying, or...the way it felt when Apollo suddenly grabbed his hand.

Oh. Oh, that was...

Milo curved his fingers around Apollo's hand, letting go of the handkerchief with that hand and stopping in his tracks, looking down at Apollo's hand on his. "I..." He tried to put together a sentence, but couldn't seem to find words. Instead, he looked up, meeting Apollo's eyes, and pulled him closer.

[Apollo]

Apollo watched as Milo’s fingers wrapped themselves around his hand.

It was warm, it was so warm, and as the Sun God he knew about warmth, this was something even warmer than that. A shot of electricity was running through him and he found his own hand clasping a little more firmly, but gently, always gently, mortals were fragile after all. However not so fragile that they didn’t have the strength to pull a god towards them it turned out. Apollo grinned as they know stood only a breathe apart.

His eyes were blue…had he always known that? Somehow they seemed…even more…

Less touches, savour the moment…resist…

But how could he resist this?

Apollo closed the gap between them, with his free hand he reached up to touch the side of Milo’s face, gently, carefully…before slowly moving his hand to the back to run his fingers through his hair…his lips hovered over Milo’s not quite ready yet to make that final contact…despite what they said about him he never took what wasn’t offered, what wasn’t asked for…no matter how much he wanted it…

And he wanted it…

“Yes?” he whispered, enquiringly…almost…pleading…

[Milo Thatch]

Milo felt like he couldn't breathe, like he had completely forgotten how to breathe, like his skin was on fire beneath Apollo's touch, and he supposed if Apollo had wanted to, he actually could have touched him with fire, but just the touch itself felt like it might stop his heart, and all he wanted was more.

He had always hesitated. He had hesitated because he didn't know what he was doing, he had hesitated because he couldn't believe Apollo was actually interested in him, he had hesitated because it was Apollo and Milo knew the long list of Apollo's conquests as well as the next guy, and most of all, he had hesitated because he was afraid that if he got involved with someone physically, it would involve inevitable emotional entanglement that had the potential to destroy him.

But in that moment, Milo didn't want to hesitate. He didn't want to think about anything except for the way he could feel Apollo's breath on his lips, the sensation of Apollo's fingers in his hair, and how many times in the last ten years he had wondered what this exact moment would be like. This didn't have to be about feelings or all of Apollo's young men or how Milo wasn't exactly young anymore...it could just be about what he wanted in the moment, and right now, Milo wanted to be kissed.

He leaned in the rest of the way, closed the distance remaining between them, and pressed his lips against Apollo's.

[Apollo]

‘Yeeeeeeesssss’

The invitation had been given and Apollo was more than willing to accept it.

He let go of Milo’s hand, but only so that hand could be placed on the small of his back, pulling him closer so that Apollo was flush against him. The hand that was in Milo’s hair grasped the strands gently as they held his head in place. The heat rising, Apollo deepened the kiss, hungry for more, hungry for what he had wanted the minute he clapped eyes on the young man all those years ago. He knew he should be more gently, he knew that too much too soon could have Milo pulling away from him, but he wanted this, he needed it…he didn’t want to lose it…

It wasn’t that he had spent the last so many years chastely, but he had spent a great deal of time thinking about this moment, this kiss, this smart and interesting scholar who had only got more handsome with age…and more confident too…Apollo smiled against the kiss and ran his hand up from the small of Milo’s back up to the top and back down again…he liked this new backbone in his little Apple…he wondered what else he could entice it to do…he allowed his hand to drift lower…

However…that thought was cut short when out of the corner of his eye, he saw something getting brighter…reluctantly he opened one of his eyes, only to see that the orb that had been floating in the middle…appeared to be opening…

‘Ignore it…’ went the thought in his head, ‘Please, just let him ignore it…’

[Milo Thatch]

Milo had never been in space, but if he had to imagine what zero gravity would feel like, this would have been it. He felt like he could fly, like he was flying, like his feet had left the ground and he was suspended in mid-air. Milo had kissed and had been kissed before but he had never been kissed like that, and for a moment, he wasn't sure he wasn't dying. And if he was dying, he would go happily, he would walk right out of this world and this memory would be enough to get him through the rest of time.

Apollo's hands on his body, that was something different entirely, that was new, and it was not unwelcome but it was unfamiliar, it left him trying to think, think, what was he supposed to do during this part? He still had one hand wrapped up with Apollo's, and the other one had been holding his handkerchief, but he let that fall to the floor and moved his hand to Apollo's side instead. Not for the first time, Milo wondered what it would be like, going to bed with an actual god. He was all but certain it would ruin his ability to appreciate having anyone else in his bed, although it wasn't as if he had any basis for comparison.

And then, just as he was thinking should I take my glasses off and is he going to create a bed right here if this gets too hot and heavy, he caught sight of the orb he'd been investigating a moment earlier, doing...something. Milo's eyes widened, even in the midst of the kissing he was doing, and he pulled back hastily, gesturing at the orb.

"Oh my gosh," he said, breathless. "What's the...what's it doing, it's doing something." He knelt down quickly to pick his handkerchief back up, keeping a careful distance from the orb. "It's got to have some kind of triggering mechanism or magic that would have made it do that, but...I wonder if...gosh, that's fornicating. Fascinating, it's fascinating, I'm fascinated."

[Apollo]

…But of course his intelligent and inquisitive little Apple could not ignore it.

He couldn’t even bring himself to feel irritated about it because it was one of the things he loved about him, how eager he was, how excited he could be. Although that did not stop Apollo from pulling one of his pouts as Milo abruptly pulled away to give the orb his full attention. It quickly morphed into a grin as Milo knelt down to retrieve the handkerchief and he just about managed to stop himself from saying ‘whilst you’re down there…’

However it would appear that he wasn’t the only one whose mind was in the gutter as his precious little Apple had a little slip of the tongue. His grin widened further.

As Milo continued to investigated the orb, which had now opened up in the same way a flower might bloom…or Terry’s chocolate orange opened after being pounded against a hard surface, Apollo moved in closer to stand behind him, looking at it over his shoulder, placing his hands on Milo’s hips.

“Yes,” he whispered and dropped a lingering kiss on Milo’s neck, “fascinating.”

He then proceeded to leave a line of them along his neck.

The Orb started to glow a strange blue colour.

“What do you think it’s doing,” he muttered as he switched sides and started to give the other side of his neck a bit of attention.

[Milo Thatch]

If Milo had felt like he was floating above the earth before, Apollo's hands on his hips somehow made him feel grounded, like he might be flying but he wasn't going to fly away, he was secure here. He leaned back into it instinctively, even as he fixated on the orb, which was now changing color for reasons Milo couldn't begin to fathom.

"I...ah, I don't..." How did Apollo expect him to put together a coherent sentence when he was doing what he was doing? Maybe this was some kind of test, to see if Milo could focus under stress? If it was, he was failing miserably, because every time Apollo kissed him, he felt another little bit of his will to think about anything else float off into nothingness. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he reigned in his concentration and looked back up at the now-blue orb.

"It's turning blue," he said, although that was fairly obvious. "I wouldn't even have thought it could...hmm...do that. 'Pollo, please, that's..." He had meant to ask Apollo to give him a little bit of space to concentrate, but somehow it came out sounding much more like a plea of an entirely different sort.

"I hope it's not about to explode," he said, wryly. "Because if it is, I am uh, in no condition to even try to diffuse a bomb right now." He reached up and back with one hand behind him, threading it through Apollo's hair and tilting his head to one side slowly. "Maybe we should tell somebody about it, huh?"

[Apollo]

As Milo leaned back against him Apollo let out a low satisfied moan, enjoying the heat of the mortals body against the his own. He had always been told that he ran hotter than most, which is to be expected from the God of the Sun he supposed, but the warmth of a mortal against him, especially one as handsome as this one in front of him, nothing compared to that. He allowed his hands to wander further, one hand exploring these new abdominal muscles that had appeared in their time apart, tracing over the indents of them with his fingers, as his other hand wandered over his chest to feel just how much Milo had been working on his pecs.

He barely heard what Milo was saying about the Orb as he continues the trail of kisses up his neck to his ear, which he absolutely had to give a little nibble too. What he did hear however was the pleading in his voice, and well if that didn’t send excited shivers through him.

It was getting harder to resist...harder being something that would probably be quite obvious to Milo about now.

He let out another happy moan when Milo started threading his fingers through his hair, and murmured in his ear, “Well I’m sure you could quite deftly defuse something else.”

Stopping for a moment but not daring to move away, he wrapped his arms around him and rested his head on his shoulder, looking at the orb and whispered, “yes, tell someone else...then we can go...somewhere el-“

What was he saying?! He quickly turned Milo around to face him, his hands grasping the he top of his arms and said, “this could be one of your greatest discoveries and you’re just going to tell someone else?! No! I cannot let you! This moment belongs to you because only you are worthy of such a thing! I will not let anyone else share your discovery, not even me and if that means...if that means I...take s couple of steps back...then...for you, my dear one...for now...I will...”

He grinned, “though it will be...very...very hard.”

[Milo Thatch]

Milo had never made another person make a sound like the one Apollo made there, and at that moment, the rest of the world fell away. There was nothing else but Apollo - the sound of Apollo's voice, the heat of his body pressed against Milo's, the sensation of his lips against Milo's skin. He couldn't focus, didn't want to, didn't want anything except to make Apollo make that sound again.

As Apollo's hands moved over his chest and stomach, Milo found himself infinitely grateful for every single time he had gone to the gym in the past ten years. There was a little voice in the back of his head saying irritating things like this is so absolutely uncharacteristic of you, Milo, when has anyone or anything ever come between you and a mysterious artifact? but Milo wanted nothing more than to ignore it, push it back to the back of his brain where it couldn't interrupt. It made even more sense, suddenly, the long list of Apollo's conquests, because how could anyone resist him, ever? Milo certainly didn't want to, and on the list of things he did want, Apollo stepping away in favor of academia was not even in the top ten.

The way Apollo grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around, though...that was something else. That was something Milo would definitely not have been uninterested in if it weren't for the distance it created between them - distance that gave him just a fraction of his sense back, just enough of a little break in the haze of wanting for him to remind himself who he was and the things he believed in (namely the pursuit of knowledge at all costs, except human life, etc).

He looked over at Apollo, meeting his eyes, and took a deep breath - or at least, he tried, he was discovering that he had very quickly gotten out of breath and it wasn't as easy as he thought. "I need to..." What did he need to do? Right. He needed to...contain the orb...or at least figure out what it was doing, and he really wasn't sure how to go about either of those things. He turned back around slowly. And maybe it was the heat of the moment, but something brave and reckless overcame him. "I'm just going to..." He trailed off as he reached out and put his hand directly into the glowing blue light.

[Apollo]

Maybe he had made a mistake here.

It certainly did not, initially, look like Milo had any further interest in the glowing orb and for the briefest of seconds Apollo was about to go back on it and pull the man towards him again. Milo was speaking, he needed…he needed…and there it was; attention back on the orb. As disappointed as Apollo was at the pulling away, he knew it was for the best. His Apple loved knowledge, and if he cared for him as much as he said he did then he would not get in the way of that…besides…how excited and happy would Milo be after he had finished with his discovery…then he could have Milo’s full attention.

Although…a nagging thought was prodding at him, begging to be noticed…Did…did Apollo just give up on the chance to finally claim his prize…because…of what someone else wanted…A cold chill ran through him…he could make all the excuses he wanted but that…that could not be ignored. Which was why by the time he realised that Milo was reaching out to touch the orb it was too late.

The orb lit up even more as Milo touched, glowing brighter and brighter…Apollo reached forward to pull Milo off it but a large white force field burst out of it, throwing him backwards and expanding throughout the room and then beyond. Milo’s hand was glued to the orb, he could not remove it if he tried…but then…did he want to try? It was warm to the touch, but it did not feel wrong, it did not feel like it was trying to repel him…it was inviting him in. It was making him see. In his mind’s eye he could see the force field spreading out to cover the school, invisible now that it had left the room the orb was in, but Milo could see it…he could definitely see it. He watched as is it spread out over the people in the castle, stopping just at the outer wall of the castle and resting there…making a faint humming noise…

…but there was more than that…there was a connection…something…connecting him to the school…any part of it…he could see it…he knew where everyone was, he knew what room they were in, he knew where to find them…he could not hear them or even really see what they were doing but he just knew instinctively where they were…it was like his very own map in his mind…If ever he needed to find a teacher or a student…he could…if any ‘unwanted guests’ arrived in the school…it was likely he would know about it.

The orb…had connected him…to the school…

The light faded a little but the orb still hovered, if Milo wanted to remove his hand now…he could…Apollo scrambled to his feet and rushed over to him, panic and worry etched on his face, wrapping his arms around him, “MILO! Milo! Are you ok?!”

Apollo was worried…he was using his real name…

[Milo Thatch]

This was a mistake. That was Milo's first thought, just before he found himself fused to the orb, unable to pull his hand back. He had teetered towards academic negligence, and he had swung back so far in the opposite direction that he had done something terribly reckless and possibly suicidal. He saw Apollo reach out, out of the corner of his eye, and then a rush of something pushed outward from the orb, somehow bypassing Milo completely and pushing Apollo back away from him.

"Apollo!" he said, but he seemed to hear his own voice dimly, in the distance somewhere, as he was suddenly aware of what felt like everything all at once. The school was in him, or he was the school, something, something huge and living and connected, like the school itself was alive and he was communing with it. It was one of the most intense experiences he'd ever been through, and even when the light dimmed a little and he felt less bound to it, he was still aware of so much.

He felt a little dizzy, as his hand dropped to his side from the orb, and suddenly Apollo was there, wrapped around him, saying his name, his actual name, with so much concern in his voice that Milo felt renewed worry himself. Was he alright? He wasn't even sure. His head was spinning, and he went into Apollo's arms willingly, leaning to rest his forehead against Apollo's shoulder. "I think I'm alright," he said, a little unsteadily. "I...something happened, I can see...I feel like I see what the school sees. Does that make any sense?"

He lifted his head and looked around, dazed. "I should...write this down, where did my notebook go, did I bring a notebook?" He couldn't remember what he might have brought or not. He didn't move away from Apollo; the closeness was comforting, and he wasn't sure he trusted himself to walk around as quickly as he really wanted to right now. Leaving one arm wrapped around the god's waist, he turned a little, looking back at the orb. "What is this? Who do you think would put this here, did someone want us to have this? Want me to have it? Or was it meant for you, maybe..."

He wasn't sure at all, and he didn't know if Apollo would have answers to any of these questions, but asking them aloud was how he worked things over in his own brain, and it was already helping him sort things out. If the orb had been intended for Apollo, it wouldn't have pushed him away when he first touched it, would it? But surely it wasn't specifically meant for him, Milo Thatch, maybe it was...for a mortal person who touched it?