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Ever since the bookshelf had given Aidan a copy of Leaves of Grass he had been spending most of his free time at home reading it. He had always liked Whitman, finding the man good company and an excellent poet, if a bit misunderstood. Reading his book was a little like reconnecting with the man, something he appreciated on the island. It was like connecting with some of the better parts of his life from before.

He wished that he could have something like that from here if or when he went back. There were more good memories associated with this place in the short time he had been here than there were in almost all the hundreds of years he had lived back on Earth. He'd have to settle for just enjoying it as much as he could while he was here.

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"I see," Henry said, still in that same calm, even voice. Eighty years in exile had taught him the lesson of patience Aidan had failed to impart upon his eager and young mind. "So that's working out pretty well for you, then?"

"It's working just fine for now."

Aidan knew this wasn't the sort of thing that could be kept up long term. Nor did he want it to. Living a life of casual sex with multiple partners wasn't something that he wanted. The problem with being madly in love with someone was that once he got over them being gone, he knew he wanted that feeling again.

"For a while here I was... with someone."

"Oh?" That was something Aidan hadn't told him before, and Henry sat up slightly, curious. "What happened with that?"

"She was from London. Modern day. She arrived on the island pregnant and we ended up dating," Aidan explained. "I actually delivered her son Alfie. He was... a very beautiful little boy. A few months after that though, one day they were just... gone."

It had torn him up, to lose another family. Even if they had only been together a short time, it was still heart-wrenching to go through. Centuries of experience at it never made it easier, it just gave you the knowledge that eventually it did get better.

They had both experienced loss, many times over. It was the price you paid for being immortal. And just because they had to go through it over and over, that didn't mean they ever got used to it.

"I'm sorry, Aidan," he said sincerely. "I know that couldn't have been easy."

"I've... learned that you take your opportunities when you can."

Otherwise, they might end up buried in the ground for 80 years. Or you might have to kill them. Or they just disappeared for several decades. Love and happiness never came without a steep price.

That was definitely something Henry could understand, and he nodded. "So is that why you're sticking with casual these days?" he asked. It seemed that way, but he wanted to hear the confirmation from Aidan.

"Casual is... what seems to be the most convenient option right now," Aidan said. Maybe it wasn't the best one in the long term or the most normal one but it seemed to be working so far.

"What about you?"

It was a bit of a loaded question. Aidan wanted to know if she had learned her lesson after 80 years.

"Me?" Henry chuckled. "I've only been here a couple months, Aidan. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I'm human again, that I have to eat real food and breathe air and I can't hear the blood rushing through the veins of someone fifty feet away."

Aidan decided not to mention that it had taken him less than a few months to find someone to hook up with, but that was him and he didn't want Henry to think he was comparing the two of them. That was the last thing he wanted.

"How have you been dealing with being human again?"

"I'm managing," said Henry. He knew he probably shouldn't have been complaining about the adjustment, considering Aidan had been a vampire much longer than he had, but it wasn't all that easy. "It's weird, not having the cravings, but it's...not bad, exactly."

"But you'd go back to being a vampire if you had a choice," Aidan said. While Henry wasn't as angry about losing his vampirism as some people might be, he wasn't quite embracing his humanity like Aidan was.

"I would," Henry said, without hesitation. "Unlike you, I wasn't trying to get away from it. But I'll manage. Guess I don't really have any other choice, but I've spent enough time being miserable. I don't really want to keep that up here."

He should have been. Aidan took someone with a good life, who could have lived happily, and made their life hell. Henry didn't see it that way, but it was the truth all the same. Henry was a regret of a different sort.

"I hope you find some happiness, Henry, I really do."

Many years ago, Henry'd thought he'd found the path to happiness. Turned out, he'd only found part of the answer. The other part had taken him eighty years to discover. "Thanks, Aidan," he replied, and he meant it. "I appreciate that. Who knows, maybe being stuck here and being human will end up good things."

"At least it can't turn out as badly as back home did," Aidan said.

He still hadn't asked exactly what had happened with Henry, but 80 years ago he lost the woman that he loved and his son. That was the second time it had happened to him and it hadn't been any easier than the first.

"We're together again."

"That's for damn sure," Henry agreed. Without Mother and Suren around, the possibilities for what could be just seemed a lot better, even with the downside of what they were having to deal with. "And I'm really glad about that. I spent too long in hiding, I'm glad it's over."

"I'm glad it is too," Aidan said. He knew that back home it was far from over, not with the shape he arrived in, but they could take what happiness they could get here.

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