Daniel will come pour himself a mug - an incongruous cheerfully cute one he got from Peony's shop. It's got a cat on it. He drinks it black, sinking down at the kitchen bar. "No, no allergies. And like someone came in the night and hit my head with a bag of hammers."
He doesn't apologize for the day before, though he's tempted. He's sure Michael would brush it off the way he would. Still, he feels like he should acknowledge it. "Ah... thanks. For coming by yesterday. It was good to see a friendly face."
"Did you piss your elves off? Maybe they did." Sneaky little jerks. Michael isn't sure what the source is of Daniel's feud with them, but it seems to be mutual.
"I wanted to make sure your present got here on time." They don't have to talk about the...feelings. He sets Daniel's omelet down in front of him on the island, next to the boxes of leftovers. Daniel can have a brownie once he's had some protein.
"So," he leans his elbows on the island, sliding his hands together in what might be seen as a nervous wring. "I actually came by yesterday to talk to you about something."
"They did take offense to me offering them Santa hats," Daniel muses... then chuckles. "No, I think it's just the moonshine."
He takes a bite of the omelette, making an appreciative noise. He wouldn't eat brownies for breakfast anyway, they're far too rich. The omelette feels like he might be possibly making up for yesterday's idiocy.
"Oh?" He looks up at him, waving his fork in a 'go on' gesture. "Is everything all right?"
"That might have been culturally insensitive," Michael points out. "Or just really, really ugly." He's still gonna wear the santa cowboy hat but he's doing it under protest.
The sight of Daniel enjoying his breakfast makes him smile. He can't cook much, and he doesn't love it as much as Max seems to, but he can't deny the enjoyment he gets out of nourishing someone.
"--Yeah." He glances down at his hands, rubs the tattoo on his forearm hidden now by his sleeve. "There's something I haven't been telling people, cuz it's nobody's business, but it's come out a few times and I'm thinking about making it less of a big deal. Telling more people." He starts tracing the design through his sleeve, glancing up at Daniel. "And it's probably shitty timing, but I wanted to start with you."
"So is kidnapping us," Daniel grumbles. And he knows Michael loves the santa cowboy hat, deep deep down inside.
He looks up, furrow between his brows increasing as Michael builds up to it but he doesn't interrupt him, taking a sip of his coffee instead. Which turns out to be poorly timed as it turns into him choking on it.
He clears his throat with a cough, shaking his head. "You don't - you don't look like one."
This is probably the most inane thing he could say, but it's true. When Daniel thinks of aliens he thinks of nightmare sea urchins or heavily armoured thugs. Not... Michael. He's seen Michael's dick, for Christ's sake.
Maybe hungover Daniel is the best version of Daniel for Michael to tell after all--everything's a little bit dulled.
"Maybe you look like us," he points out in a weak attempt at biting humor. "Maybe evolution was like 'mostly hairless bipeds, yeah, let's stick with this' all over the universe." He doesn't really know enough about his own biology, which is great really.
Still! At least Daniel doesn't seem angry or scared of him. "Do uh, do you have any questions?"
Daniel is processing. "Bloody hell." He drinks some more coffee, careful to make sure it goes down the right pipe this time. "Uh. How did you end up on Earth, then?"
Everything Michael's said hadn't sounded like he invaded, but after Daniel led with having his Earth invaded by aliens, he couldn't really, could he? But he doesn't want to think that of Michael. He wants to trust him, especially after yesterday.
Yes please don't choke and die while Michael is spilling some of his deepest secrets, he'll take it personally.
"I was on the ship that crashed in Roswell in 1947." He'll tell Daniel what he knows. "I don't know where they--we--I don't know what the original destination was, or why they were leaving our home. I don't remember anything from before." He looks back down again, cuz the description's going to get pretty weird. "They put us in these pods to protect us," he describes them to Daniel, the stasis-like protection they offered. "And me and two other kids didn't come out of them for fifty years."
Yes, the stasis pods do sound weird - some kind of advanced technology, it must be. That makes him uneasy, but there's not much he can do about it. "Was there anyone else on the ship? Were the three of you the only survivors?"
Three kids alone makes him feel sad for them. One ship doesn't exactly sound like an invasion force under any circumstance - but especially not if it was carrying children. No one's ever even heard of a Legislator child - if they have them, they didn't bring them to Earth.
"There were a lot of us." Now Michael looks down at his hands, blinking his eyes quickly. Mom....
"They were found by the army pretty quickly." his voice is clipped, sharp. He doesn't want to talk about what happened to them. "I don't know why we were on that ship. We could have been refugees, but we could just have easily been invading. I don't think Earth was their goal though." He doesn't know. His mom had been peaceful, from all the stuff he'd learned, and so was Isobel's, but that didn't mean anything.
Daniel pushes his chair back and goes to put his arms around Michael. He isn't going to hesitate to offer comfort when it looks like it might be needed - Michael might sound sharp, but his body language looks... well, probably not much different than Daniel's did yesterday. He can imagine how it went with the army - they may have rolled over for the Legislators, but for anyone with less power...
"Most invasions don't bring children along," he points out. He's not sure what to say to be helpful, but he's reasonably sure on that point.
Ughhh what's this, how dare he, Michael can only occasionally give comfort people don't offer it to him.
He doesn't think that his body language--hands clenched, shoulders hunched, head down--might mean anything other than defensive. He tenses when he feels Daniel's arms around him, and then he leans into him, head turning to press his face against his arm.
He doesn't know why what Daniel says makes his eyes fill, but it does, and he has to take a slow shuddering breath to stop himself from actually crying. He doesn't speak again until he's sure his voice is even. "Unless they're planning on colonizing after."
"Too dangerous. Children are valuable, loved. You don't send them unless you're sure they'll be safe, or you're desperate." He strokes Michael's back, the way Michael had done for him. In some ways he might be convincing himself too - that Michael and his people weren't the Legislators, weren't coming to wreck humanity and ravage the Earth for resources.
Whether they were or not hardly matters. Michael was a child, not responsible for his people. And if they were planning an invasion, it didn't happen and something awful happened to them... not that that would be justice, even if they were.
That's what Michael has been arguing with himself since he started learning more about his people, about the ship his mother had been on. He could still argue, that what if his people were that warlike, that they'd send children into such a dangerous situation?
He doesn't know if they were the only ones either, if it had been him and Max and Isobel or if there'd been more they'd been unable to save.
...He thinks they'd been brought for safety, not for anything else. That's why they took Max, wasn't it?
Michael slides his arms around Daniel's waist and presses his face into his shoulder, letting some tears seep through. He's relieved that Daniel still sees him as him, and thinking about the loss of his people are both a bit much for him and his feelings are coming out of his eyes.
Daniel can feel the dampness on his shoulder through the thin fabric of his t-shirt and he squeezes a bit tighter. He hadn't expected the tables to turn this quickly, but it feels good to be able to be here for Michael the way Michael was for him. It feels... warm.
God, mutual support and understanding. Who would have thought?
"I've got you," he murmurs. "It's... fucked up and I'm sorry. But I've got you."
It does feel good that Daniel is holding him like this, the way that he held Daniel. Raleigh's got his own problems, and Michael hasn't told him about what happened to his people, but this feels...good.
Ughhh mutual support and understanding it feels so nice.
"I didn't ask you to," he mumbles quietly. Note how he isn't pulling out of Daniel's grip.
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He doesn't apologize for the day before, though he's tempted. He's sure Michael would brush it off the way he would. Still, he feels like he should acknowledge it. "Ah... thanks. For coming by yesterday. It was good to see a friendly face."
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"I wanted to make sure your present got here on time." They don't have to talk about the...feelings. He sets Daniel's omelet down in front of him on the island, next to the boxes of leftovers. Daniel can have a brownie once he's had some protein.
"So," he leans his elbows on the island, sliding his hands together in what might be seen as a nervous wring. "I actually came by yesterday to talk to you about something."
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He takes a bite of the omelette, making an appreciative noise. He wouldn't eat brownies for breakfast anyway, they're far too rich. The omelette feels like he might be possibly making up for yesterday's idiocy.
"Oh?" He looks up at him, waving his fork in a 'go on' gesture. "Is everything all right?"
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The sight of Daniel enjoying his breakfast makes him smile. He can't cook much, and he doesn't love it as much as Max seems to, but he can't deny the enjoyment he gets out of nourishing someone.
"--Yeah." He glances down at his hands, rubs the tattoo on his forearm hidden now by his sleeve. "There's something I haven't been telling people, cuz it's nobody's business, but it's come out a few times and I'm thinking about making it less of a big deal. Telling more people." He starts tracing the design through his sleeve, glancing up at Daniel. "And it's probably shitty timing, but I wanted to start with you."
And, deep breath. "I'm an alien."
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He looks up, furrow between his brows increasing as Michael builds up to it but he doesn't interrupt him, taking a sip of his coffee instead. Which turns out to be poorly timed as it turns into him choking on it.
He clears his throat with a cough, shaking his head. "You don't - you don't look like one."
This is probably the most inane thing he could say, but it's true. When Daniel thinks of aliens he thinks of nightmare sea urchins or heavily armoured thugs. Not... Michael. He's seen Michael's dick, for Christ's sake.
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"Maybe you look like us," he points out in a weak attempt at biting humor. "Maybe evolution was like 'mostly hairless bipeds, yeah, let's stick with this' all over the universe." He doesn't really know enough about his own biology, which is great really.
Still! At least Daniel doesn't seem angry or scared of him. "Do uh, do you have any questions?"
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Everything Michael's said hadn't sounded like he invaded, but after Daniel led with having his Earth invaded by aliens, he couldn't really, could he? But he doesn't want to think that of Michael. He wants to trust him, especially after yesterday.
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"I was on the ship that crashed in Roswell in 1947." He'll tell Daniel what he knows. "I don't know where they--we--I don't know what the original destination was, or why they were leaving our home. I don't remember anything from before." He looks back down again, cuz the description's going to get pretty weird. "They put us in these pods to protect us," he describes them to Daniel, the stasis-like protection they offered. "And me and two other kids didn't come out of them for fifty years."
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Three kids alone makes him feel sad for them. One ship doesn't exactly sound like an invasion force under any circumstance - but especially not if it was carrying children. No one's ever even heard of a Legislator child - if they have them, they didn't bring them to Earth.
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"They were found by the army pretty quickly." his voice is clipped, sharp. He doesn't want to talk about what happened to them. "I don't know why we were on that ship. We could have been refugees, but we could just have easily been invading. I don't think Earth was their goal though." He doesn't know. His mom had been peaceful, from all the stuff he'd learned, and so was Isobel's, but that didn't mean anything.
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"Most invasions don't bring children along," he points out. He's not sure what to say to be helpful, but he's reasonably sure on that point.
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He doesn't think that his body language--hands clenched, shoulders hunched, head down--might mean anything other than defensive. He tenses when he feels Daniel's arms around him, and then he leans into him, head turning to press his face against his arm.
He doesn't know why what Daniel says makes his eyes fill, but it does, and he has to take a slow shuddering breath to stop himself from actually crying. He doesn't speak again until he's sure his voice is even. "Unless they're planning on colonizing after."
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Whether they were or not hardly matters. Michael was a child, not responsible for his people. And if they were planning an invasion, it didn't happen and something awful happened to them... not that that would be justice, even if they were.
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He doesn't know if they were the only ones either, if it had been him and Max and Isobel or if there'd been more they'd been unable to save.
...He thinks they'd been brought for safety, not for anything else. That's why they took Max, wasn't it?
Michael slides his arms around Daniel's waist and presses his face into his shoulder, letting some tears seep through. He's relieved that Daniel still sees him as him, and thinking about the loss of his people are both a bit much for him and his feelings are coming out of his eyes.
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God, mutual support and understanding. Who would have thought?
"I've got you," he murmurs. "It's... fucked up and I'm sorry. But I've got you."
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It does feel good that Daniel is holding him like this, the way that he held Daniel. Raleigh's got his own problems, and Michael hasn't told him about what happened to his people, but this feels...good.
Ughhh mutual support and understanding it feels so nice.
"I didn't ask you to," he mumbles quietly. Note how he isn't pulling out of Daniel's grip.