Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say.

Magni Dezmond knew this well as he stared at the being inside the tube in front of him. Soft blonde hair that gently floats in the fluid, gentle lashes that hide the closed eyes, and a slender body bereft of any clothing…yes, this is what he looks like. He knows this. And yet the mere sight of his clone in such a relaxed state is enough to make his heart flutter.

How would it react if he just…pulled it out right now? If he took it from its chamber and hid it away from the world. Forget Tempus, forget Elysium…he could sneak them out through the underground tunnels that he had made underneath the halls of this building. There’s a small patch of land in the countryside that Magni owned – he could go there with the clone, and they could have a life together.

The alchemist trails his fingers down the glass, scenario after scenario coming to his mind. How would it look as it began to learn about the world, how would it look upon learning the feeling of intimacy? Right now, it is a blank slate. But it could be guided by Magni into a gentle life away from the world. Why would other people matter when the clone never had to see them? They could sit in that little house all alone, with only each other for company…nobody would disturb them, and after a while, people would forget about the alchemist known as Magni Dezmond.

He smiles to himself, briefly brushing his fingers over a little button that would release the clone. He really does consider it. The feeling of his own flesh against his own…it’s a temptation that settles deep in his stomach, and in other places as well.

But, reluctantly, he tears his hand away.

There is more to be done, after all. More formulas to discover, more ingredients to find, more ways to improve the perfect being that’s separated from himself by a thin tube of glass.

The time will come where he can make his escape.

But for now, he walks out of the room, the burgeoning desires being buried into his psyche.