Chapter Text
The sun is sinking lower in the Arkham sky, painting the surrounding area in picturesque orange sierras and rich salmon pinks, buildings jut up from the ground, full of warm lights and busy people, the roads bustle with traffic and people walking along sidewalks, parts of the sun are blocked by the stripes of clouds that drift lazily across the sky, seemingly in no rush to get to their destination. Groups of birds glide with them in effortless synchronization, in all meanings of the word, this seemed like a perfect evening, a purely cinematic end to a long day.
Arthur sighs a long, weary sigh, as if instead of the beautiful sunset in front of him, there was instead a gloomy, drizzling, and humid mess outside. He turns slightly from his spot sitting along the cove of his office windowsill and glances idly down at the old and stained carpet that had come with his office, attempting to memorize all the small bumps and fuzzes and imperfections to be seen across it. God, had there always been this much to see? Even before John and that damn book showed up at his door, he had never noticed, or more so, simply didn't care about all the tiny details around him, like how there was a line across his office that was a shade lighter than the rest of the carpet where he often paced back and forth when pondering the details of a case, or how raindrops flowed and joined together as they ran down a window pane.
Ever since John and him had gone to that abandoned church in the woods outside of Arkham and managed, after so many years, to perform the separation ritual that they had been working towards and actually have it succeed, John has had his own human (mostly) body, and Arthur had had his eyes.
~
After the smoke had cleared (and Arthur had confirmed with himself that he did in fact SEE it clear) Arthur's gaze had settled not on the intricate painted ceiling of the abandoned church, not on the rays of sunlight being warped and colored different pastel shades as they flowed through the stained glass murals and shone is their ethereal splashes of life on the cracked and splintering wooden floor, and not on the towering statue of Jesus at the back of the church itself, looming over, covered in twisting vines and mosses and draped in a tattered blue cloth as a robe, no, the first thing that Arthur truly saw from his crouched position on the church floor with his newly returned eyes, was his passenger and friend of these past few years of turmoil, the man that was standing in front of him might as well have been a complete stranger to anyone else. Still, to Arthur, It was unmistakable his John.
The man in front of him was kneeling on the floor of the church, head hanging low, forearms resting on the ground and holding his upper body up; his body was rattling with shaky, full breathes, like a person who had just been rescued from drowning and was relearning how to breathe and circulate oxygen through their system again. He was dark skinned, like freshly ground espresso, inky black hair draped down in front of his face in shiny curtains. Though cowering at the ground, Arthur could still immediately tell that he was big (an understatement truly), strong muscles flexed with every shudder that ran through him, as if his body was testing its new found estate.
The head of the man slowly raised itself from its previous place hung between his shoulders and immediately, Arthur's stare was met intensely with bright yellow-hazel eyes, round with shock and slight fear, Arthur felt himself stand before he had even realized what he was doing and sprinted over to where John was knelt, throwing himself on him and holding on like John might float away if he didn't.
Arthur held John, this voice that had been inside his head for years and was, what often seemed like, his only true friend in this uncertain world, newly materialized into something tangible and real (not that he wasn't before, but now Arthur could actually TOUCH him). Arthur held him, weaving his fingers through this new shiny black head of hair and pressing it to his shoulder as he pressed his own face to the top of it and cried, not tears of sadness, but tears of relief and profound reverence for this being in his arms whom he had survived so many terrors with and came out of the other side.
John shook with those same tears as if they still shared the one pair of eyes and wept into his shoulder, gripping the back of Arthur's shirt like a lifeline, like he believed that he might just float away as well.
They sat like that for god knows how long (haha get it, church), holding onto each other with unrelenting might.
Eventually, Arthur did muster up the will to let go of John's head long enough to lean back and cradle his face, utilizing his newfound sight to memorize every line of this man.
He had not been wrong at his first impression, John's eyes were in fact a bright yellow-ish hazel, a slightly unnatural color for a human but not abnormal enough that they couldn't be brushed off by the average person, but not by Arthur.
He had a strong hooked nose and full dark lips that looked slightly chapped. As if hearing Arthur's thought, John's tongue darted out to lick his lips and his bright eyes darted all along Arthur's own face, as if also memorizing every detail of him from this new angle.
His face youthful in a way that could not be mistaken but if Arthur had met this man on a normal occasion, he would have guessed he was in his 30’s, maybe 40’s based on his sheer size but his face had so much shine to it that he could be mistaken for someone younger simply from the sheer lack of wear and tear you would typically see in someone Arthur's age, he had no eye bags, no creases at the corners of his eyes, no noticeable scars, nothing.
Still, Arthur looked at him with indisputable surety, this was his john.
Arthur let out a gasping laugh through his tears, smiling at John with the purest kind of love that can only be earned through the tests and trials of life. He leaned his forehead to rest against Johns and looked at him through wet eyelashes.
“Hello my friend”
He whispered though shaky and breathy laughs.
John's mouth parted slightly, as if testing to make sure it could open and then, softly, a deep and familiar voice rasped through.
“Hello, Arthur”
They both smiled at each other dumbly for a while longer, eventually Arthur realized that he felt trembling under his hands, and noticed that John was shivering. On;y then did he fully grasp the fact that John was, in fact, completely naked.
Arthur's hands slap over his eyes before they could betray him any further and begin to stand up while rambling.
“Oh, oh dear John, I'm sorry I completely forgot- how could I have assumed?-to think that someone would be spawned in a fresh pair of clothes, so sorry- gosh I really am a twit-”
Arthur looked around the disheveled church for something, anything to give John to cover up, he could hear John in front of him, still on the floor, speaking softly and repeating that he was fine. After a couple seconds of looking, Arthur's eyes land on the statue at the front of the church, a tall figure, covered in vines and moss, and draped in a blue cloth. Arthur walked forward briskly and with a solid yank, tore the blue cloth down from the statue without a seconds hesitation, he hurriedly brought it back to the crumpled body on the floor and began to drape and tuck the blue cloth around this man with such care and fondness that it made John's eyes begin to water anew.
Once John was fully covered to Arthur's liking, he was helped to his feet. He stood shakily and weak until Arthur grabbed his arm and slung it over his back and wrapped his own arm around John's midsection firmly. Together they walked out of that abandoned church and back to Arthur's car, newly separated, but still together. Always together.
~
It had only been about a month since the separation, one of the longest, strangest, best months of Arthur's life (and that was saying something). John was so new to all the sensations he was experiencing and Arthur got the honor of helping him through them and introducing things to John that he himself often took for granted; like ice cream (John had gotten his first brain freeze and Arthur had almost wet himself laughing from how shocked and confused John had looked, John had been very mad at him for the rest of the day until Arthur apologized for not warning him about the dangers of cold foods) and movies.
Taking John to the movies after so long was truly worth the wait so that Arthur could watch the amazement on his face. Of course, people were not very kind to John in the theaters and Arthur had to explain to him that it was because it wasn't polite to talk through the whole movie, explaining every scene and asking Arthur how it had been accomplished.
Although Arthur was never one to talk through a movie, he truly couldn't find it in himself to care very much, John was just so happy,
his light eyes shone so brightly in that dim theater and Arthur found that later on when he tried to recall details of the movie they had watched, he could not think of many, However, if asked, he could have talked in great detail about how the light from the projector reflected in the golden irises of John's eyes and how John's body tensed during climactic scenes and how he relaxed when Arthur placed a hand on his shoulder, even if it was quickly removed out of fear of other movie goers prying eyes.
Their lives since then had become shockingly domestic, living in Arthur's already small apartment together was an adjustment to say the least but neither was complaining since both were still getting used to being alone in their own bodies once more.
It shocked Arthur to his core how much emptiness he felt within himself on a daily basis, like John had filled a physical part of his body that was now an open, cavernous hole; although he was never truly alone for long. Even with their separate bodies, they were both often no more than 5 feet away from the other at all times. It also surprised Arthur to discover how much of a physical being John had turned out to be, always coming up behind him and embracing him or leaning his body against Arthur's side; It shouldn't really have surprised him, seeing as John used to do little things like play with Arthur's hair at night or slide his fingers back and forth on Arthur's legs when they had preoccupied the same body, but Arthur had always chalked those things up to absentminded boredom killers, but to now adjust to a being the size of a fully grown man with separation anxiety always glued to Arthur's hip was something else entirely.
This is not to say that Arthur was uncomfortable with John's touchiness at all, quite the opposite actually, he simply felt like a proper man should be; the truth was, Arthur was in a state that differed very little from Johns own, he wanted hold John against him like he had in that church and to keep him there until they were one again;
but the voices that lurked constantly in the back of Arthur's conscience, the ones that were not kind and soft like his John, the ones that sounded suspiciously like the religious fodder he had been constantly fed as a child, they would never be quiet.
And they would never let him be happy.
~
Arthur is shocked out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder, the same warm hand that he had just been pondering.
John's kind eyes crinkle slightly as he smiles at Arthur from his position next to him, the hand on his shoulder squeezes slightly and then slides off.
“Arthur its getting late, lets go home”
Arthur huffs at this and turns his face back to the window sill, feigning annoyance but really was embarrassed that John had caught him being so unproductive. John had been in the room over working on his writing while Arthur was working on finding them a new case to get hired for, or at least that's what he was supposed to be doing.
“No John, not yet, I still have some work to finish up on, so you’ll just have to wait”
Arthur huffed flatly, standing up from his spot on the window sill and stretching like a cat after taking a nap, groaning softly as he did.
“Work? Arthur, unless you think sitting at that window and daydreaming is going to find us work, then I think it would be a better use of your time to be resting and letting your mind take a break so that you can be more focused tomorrow. Have you even eaten anything today besides coffee?”
Arthur scoffs indignantly and looks back to John's judgemental eyes, scowling slightly in a way that might have been more intimidating if he actually thought that the man across from him was wrong.
“I was not daydreaming, I was…thinking over our last case, and for the record, yes, obviously I've eaten something today besides coffee, y’know I've been human for longer than you have I think I know how to take care of myself John”
John stared at him with one eyebrow raised looking very unimpressed, walking over to the coat rack next to the office door and beginning to pull both his and Arthur's coats down.
“Well regardless of what you were or were not doing, it clearly wasn't getting us any closer to a job now was it?”
John looked at Arthur with a glint of amusement in his eyes, extending the hand holding Arthur's coat for him to grab with a look that said ‘I'm not taking no for an answer’.
With an exaggerated huff and an attempt to hide his grin, Arthur accepted the coat from the man across from him and slid it on with practiced ease, taking the time to straighten out his collar and suspenders before giving John a final look of fondness.
“Alright then you pill, lets go home”