When Joel flicks his fingers and the cup doesn't move, Spencer is certain that he must have blinked. He must have blinked, or he hadn't been paying attention, or it had only been a trick of his mind because the cup should have moved; but then Joel does it again with the same result, and Spencer huffs a short, incredulous laugh. That Joel had been able to access that kind of power at all hadn't necessarily frightened Spencer, not until the demon had crawled its way to being in control, but he knows how weary it had made his husband. There's a price that comes with a power like that, the price of knowing that one day, it could get out of hand. Both times Joel had used it in the time Spencer has known him, he'd used it to protect Spencer and that guilt nudges the back of his mind again but he buries it.
That power is gone, it hadn't ever been Joel's in the first place, and it makes so much sense. "You're a good man," Spencer tells him, eyes still fixed on the cup that hasn't moved. "Even with that demon inside you, you were always a good man but that thing has no hold on you anymore. It's done, we beat it." Joel's free. His husband is free, and Spencer has to bite down hard on his bottom to lip to keep himself from crying because he's so utterly relieved that this is over.
He lets himself fall back against the pillow again, grunting from the pain of his bruising and shoulder, but he'll take all the pain in the world for Joel's freedom. "This earns us at least fifty years of peace, right?" he asks, laughing again as he lets his eyes slip shut. He feels so drained but it's nothing compared to how happy he is to be here with Joel and only Joel. The worry, the dread that's been plaguing them both since Joel had started having those nightmares, it can be forgotten now. They can rest, and he's beyond thankful for that because he's so tired of fighting.
But if they have to fight, Spencer can at least take great comfort in knowing that he has a partner in this. Joel won't leave him, they won't leave each other. They've seen each other through some awful experiences in the time they've been together but Spencer reminds himself of what their future holds. "Is it strange that we're going to be replacing fighting demons and surviving psychopaths with setting up a nursery and picking out new furniture? Because after everything we've been through over the last few months, I'd really, really like my biggest worry to be what to keep our liquor in next."
He knows it won't be that easy. Spencer still sees Mark when he closes his eyes, and he hardly expects Joel to be fully back to himself after what the demon had done to him; but they're a step closer now. They have a lot to distract them, after all, and it doesn't matter that the demon is the reason they'll be fixing up the house because the demon doesn't exist anymore. It's gone, it's out of their lives, and Spencer would be content to never have to think about it again. He's sure that when he gets home and sees those two holes made by Joel's fists that had slammed on either side of his head, Spencer will feel sick to his stomach because it'll only make him remember watching the demon throw Joel's body against the wall, burn Joel's skin with that lighter. He'll dream that he hadn't been able to save Joel at all, that he'd been left alone again after sentencing his husband to a lifetime of hell trapped in his own body.
But when he wakes up, he'll feel Joel's arms around him and know that in the end, they'll be okay. They love each other too much to be anything else. They have too much to look forward to in their lives to let what had happened today consume them.
"Things are going to change," Spencer agrees, opening his eyes against so he can look at Joel. "But I think maybe it's going to be a good thing."
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That power is gone, it hadn't ever been Joel's in the first place, and it makes so much sense. "You're a good man," Spencer tells him, eyes still fixed on the cup that hasn't moved. "Even with that demon inside you, you were always a good man but that thing has no hold on you anymore. It's done, we beat it." Joel's free. His husband is free, and Spencer has to bite down hard on his bottom to lip to keep himself from crying because he's so utterly relieved that this is over.
He lets himself fall back against the pillow again, grunting from the pain of his bruising and shoulder, but he'll take all the pain in the world for Joel's freedom. "This earns us at least fifty years of peace, right?" he asks, laughing again as he lets his eyes slip shut. He feels so drained but it's nothing compared to how happy he is to be here with Joel and only Joel. The worry, the dread that's been plaguing them both since Joel had started having those nightmares, it can be forgotten now. They can rest, and he's beyond thankful for that because he's so tired of fighting.
But if they have to fight, Spencer can at least take great comfort in knowing that he has a partner in this. Joel won't leave him, they won't leave each other. They've seen each other through some awful experiences in the time they've been together but Spencer reminds himself of what their future holds. "Is it strange that we're going to be replacing fighting demons and surviving psychopaths with setting up a nursery and picking out new furniture? Because after everything we've been through over the last few months, I'd really, really like my biggest worry to be what to keep our liquor in next."
He knows it won't be that easy. Spencer still sees Mark when he closes his eyes, and he hardly expects Joel to be fully back to himself after what the demon had done to him; but they're a step closer now. They have a lot to distract them, after all, and it doesn't matter that the demon is the reason they'll be fixing up the house because the demon doesn't exist anymore. It's gone, it's out of their lives, and Spencer would be content to never have to think about it again. He's sure that when he gets home and sees those two holes made by Joel's fists that had slammed on either side of his head, Spencer will feel sick to his stomach because it'll only make him remember watching the demon throw Joel's body against the wall, burn Joel's skin with that lighter. He'll dream that he hadn't been able to save Joel at all, that he'd been left alone again after sentencing his husband to a lifetime of hell trapped in his own body.
But when he wakes up, he'll feel Joel's arms around him and know that in the end, they'll be okay. They love each other too much to be anything else. They have too much to look forward to in their lives to let what had happened today consume them.
"Things are going to change," Spencer agrees, opening his eyes against so he can look at Joel. "But I think maybe it's going to be a good thing."