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 Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2024 9:15 pm
Morgan laughed again, somehow soft and yet still loud enough to be heard over the storm outside. Ariel thought it was a soothing sound, but there was something gentle in it that made him wonder if he was deliberately softening his voice. It made him rest against Casey again, and though he pet Harrison a bit and busied himself with slow bites, he was using it all as an excuse to listen.
“I’d see that you were pampered if ever we went camping. A good sleeping bag at the very least. Camping is an acquired taste. I’d want to take a few more walks out in the forest with you, first. So you can get used to the sounds. It can be a bit eerie at night.” Their first visit to the park hadn’t been so kind to them, he didn’t want to push his luck. It was probably best if they got used to the sights and sounds while the sun was up, before their imaginations could summon monsters from shadows.
“You’d be safe with me.”
It wasn't the first time he said it. Ariel believed him this time, just like he had all the others.
“Was that what you two were talking about before I came out? I want to hear about your dream homes, too.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2024 9:23 pm
Casey decided he really liked it when Morgan laughed. He really liked it when Ariel laughed, too. He wasn’t trying to be funny! He really meant that he would like for maybe one or both to volunteer to let him sleep on them but -- no? Not even a compromise?
Oh, okay, that was fine. A good sleeping bag at the very least and being pampered sounded nice, so Casey couldn’t be too upset.
Somehow, he expected Morgan to tell them they’d be safe with him. And Casey believed him. He certainly didn’t feel unsafe around a strong firefighter who could easily carry him up the stairs to his apartment.
“I guess we’d just have to sleep close to you,” he shrugged, but couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He rubbed Ariel’s shoulder as if to reassure him that everything would be okay, especially where the forest was concerned.
“Yeah, we were saying we’d like a big kitchen and a good security system and preferably somewhere close to a fire station and police station. Oh, and a backyard for Harrison. Walking trails would be nice. I like to run. Usually to just get rid of some energy but, uh… work has been doing that pretty well lately,” he sighed and lifted his shoulders to roll a bit. Hopefully without bothering Ariel. Or making Morgan want to move away from him. Or Harrison get curious as to why he was moving around or moaning and groaning about a little soreness.
“But I guess if we’re near the forest, that’s plenty of walking trails right there.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2024 9:32 pm
Neither Ariel nor Morgan made any effort to move away from him. As soon as he was done moving, Ariel almost seemed to snuggle closer. Morgan rested a hand on Harrison and ran his fingers over her fur.
“Well, if Ariel’s designing me a house, design one that looks good next to yours.”
Though Ariel had been quiet, this made him laugh softly. “I could try. Do you have so much confidence in me?”
“You’re going to school for it, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I might actually be horrible at design.”
“I doubt it.” Morgan seemed so sure of himself. “I don’t feel like you’d put so much into it if you weren’t good at it. Are you too modest to say that you’ve got a talent for it?”
“Maybe!” Ariel said, and really–he hadn’t shown either of them anything. He didn’t have his sketches, he hadn’t drawn anything since he’d moved here. “I might be rusty. Actually, I’d be terrified if I made something you hated. I’d want it to be perfect.”
“And you’d work hard to make sure that it was,” Morgan insisted.
Ariel couldn’t argue. He reached for another piece of pizza and leaned back against Casey again. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was trying to stay close to him. Maybe he grumbled something, but his face felt warm. Casey had such faith in him. Morgan, too. Sometimes, he thought about how they hardly knew him, and sometimes he thought about how it still didn’t feel like they were strangers. Old friends that he was catching up with, maybe. Of course, Ariel was also inclined to believe that he might just be desperate for anything to have meaning, maybe he was putting too much thought into it.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what you can come up with. You’re both very creative, aren’t you? I can’t imagine dreaming up a whole home. Or new meals. Do you like trying to figure out your own recipes, Casey?”
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 6:11 pm
Oh right he should probably eat some more while he had the chance. He reached over to pick up another slide, hopefully before Ariel could get too comfortable, and settled back against the couch with his shoulder once again against Morgan’s. It was comfortable like that for him. He just hoped it was the same for Morgan.
He’d managed to get a bite of pizza right when Morgan asked him a question, so of course he had to chew quickly so he wouldn’t just leave him waiting and then get bored and then not want to talk to him again.
Okay that was a little extreme, but maybe he’d experienced that before.
“Well, uh… I don’t always like to have to figure out my own recipes. It’s more like… necessity, sometimes,” he grimaced. It was a little embarrassing to admit that he only liked to make up recipes because sometimes he only had certain ingredients on hand.
“But… I like to think I make most things edible? Or at least enough that I can tolerate it. I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing how long it takes for things to cook. It’ll be a fun new experience with fish!”
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 4:25 pm
Morgan nodded along with this. “That’s fair.”
“Everything you’ve ever fed me has been delicious,” Ariel protested quietly. It was important enough to say that he spoke around his mouthful of pizza.
“I like how enthusiastic you are about the fish,” Morgan mused. “I’ll have to bring you some good ones to work with. You’ll come over too, Ariel?”
“Oh, I don’t want to intrude. But I’d love to do dinner again.” And, fresh fish? If Casey was willing to cook and Morgan was willing to bring it over–
“I can bring…What about fresh bread, and dessert? I wouldn’t be making them, there’s just a nice bakery I pass on the way home from work.”
“I like that idea,” Morgan said. Now that Casey wasn’t moving anymore, he settled himself in a bit more comfortable. And, if his hand happened to rest on the back of the couch, just behind Casey’s shoulders, well. He was just getting comfortable.
The storm raged on outside, but wind and rain weren’t so intimidating. Just loud.
Harrison was being such a good sport about it. Ariel smoothed his hand over her forehead again, but he too was distracted from the storm with pizza. “I’m really glad you both are here,” he admitted after a moment. “I don’t think I’d have slept at all with the weather like this.” He was sure that Morgan would have been fine on his own, but if Casey had been stuck at work–if he’d had to just sit through this alone?
The wind sounded like someone banging on the door, and before the parking lot lights had gone out, every sway of the trees in front of them made it look like someone was pacing in the hallway outside. Now, it was dark. He felt unprepared and vulnerable. Or, he would have, if he didn’t have the two of them. He felt drained. Ariel hadn’t worked as hard as either of them, probably, but he still felt drained. He could have fallen asleep just like this, listening to them talk.
…Maybe he could get them going about what books they were reading and sneak in a quick nap.
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:31 am
Of course Casey couldn’t stop himself from grinning when Ariel said everything he’d eaten was delicious. That was good! At least he wouldn’t be scared away by bad food! Oh, but that meant Casey had to make sure he kept his skills up and didn’t do something silly like burn whatever fresh fish Morgan was going to catch for them.
“I’m glad you’re both here, too,” Casey said with a quiet sigh and squeezed Ariel’s shoulder as he pulled him just a little closer. If that was even possible. He could also feel Morgan’s arm across the back of the couch and tilted his head back to rest against it. Hopefully it wasn’t too forward of him, or invading too much of Morgan’s personal space.
Absently, as he brushed his fingers through Harrison’s fur as she lounged across their laps, his knuckles brushed against Morgan’s thigh. When he realized it, he almost pulled his hand away, but… well, he was also curious how muscled Morgan’s legs were. Probably as much as his arms!
“Really… thank you both. I don’t know what I would have done if I was stuck at that place. And I definitely wouldn’t have had any food. And I would have been worried about you both, and Harrison. Ugh, thank you.”
He wasn’t going to cry, but he felt pretty deeply about how much he appreciated them both.
“Sorry, I’m just so tired, but I don’t want to go to sleep yet. I want to spend more time with you both,” he whined, but hopefully wasn’t too annoying about it.
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:31 am
Morgan’s legs were every bit as toned as his arms were, and if he’d even noticed Casey’s touch, he didn’t react to it. He seemed equally unfazed by Casey resting his head against his arm. “You had a hard day,” he reminded. “You shouldn’t put off sleep. Especially after tonight. With how hard you’ve been working, all that stress, and the weather? Take it easy, be kind to yourself. There’ll be other days. Don’t feel bad about sleeping.”
“You deserve a break after the last few days. And I could fall asleep just like this,” Ariel confessed. “I’m tired, too. Ready for a day off.” He didn’t want to say ‘ready for a day off with Casey’, but he felt so much more recharged when he was with him. The time without him had felt so draining. He was worn down.
It was dangerous, caring so much for someone. What had started as a trickle had turned into a stream, and how he had a river of emotions and thoughts. He couldn’t stop them. He knew he couldn’t. In the haze of sleepy and wake, he couldn’t lie to himself, but he was too tired to be bothered by the thoughts.
In an ideal world, he’d tell Casey how he felt, and they’d live happily ever after. He knew it sounded foolish, but as long as the thought stayed private in his mind, no one could judge him for it. Maybe it was pathetic, to have such strong feelings for someone he’d known for such a short period of time. Maybe it was worse because he was using some dream to pretend like he could escape his nightmares.
“Do you need me to carry you to bed?” Morgan offered. Even if there was a part of him that seemed to be teasing, he always seemed to be serious about his offers.
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:27 pm
“Sure!” Casey laughed at the offer, but snickered as he shook his head. “I’m okay, but you should carry Ariel so he has the experience, too!”
He gave Ariel’s shoulder another little squeeze as he finally made himself sit up. Harrison wiggled and whined about being moved, but she also seemed like she had some busy days. Morgan clearly wore her out with whatever running around they did.
Reluctantly, both Harrison and Casey got up from the couch, but he offered his hand to Ariel to help him up if he wanted it.
“I’m going to leave the bedroom door open. Oh, I should get you a key if you’re going to be leaving in the middle of the night. I hope you don’t have to. But if you do, you can lock the door that way,” Casey explained, hoping that Ariel was proud of him for thinking about something like that.
Or would he be upset that he was giving Morgan a key to the apartment.
“Uh… Ariel has my spare, so just take mine,” he said as he moved over to the entryway so he could dug through his jacket pocket. “I feel like no matter what, one of you will be with me, so it’ll be easier like this until I can get another one made.”
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:42 pm
Ariel was proud of Casey for thinking about their safety, even if he was still a bit flustered from Casey trying to get him in Morgan’s arms. He took Casey’s hand and pulled himself up. It made sense for him to have a key. Well–
Practically speaking, it didn’t. They hardly knew him.
But emotionally speaking? Metaphysically speaking?
He found himself with no freshly roused worry, no doubt. Logically, he should have been going through a mental list of all the reasons why that was a bad idea. Instead, he just nodded. He couldn’t think of any real reason to deny. He was already doing such a good job with Harrison, and he’d gone out of his way for them, hadn’t he?
Ariel didn’t want to drop Casey’s hand but he let him go. Oh, but–should he really be giving away his key? He opened his mouth to protest, but Morgan beat him to it.
“If I have to leave tonight, I’ll borrow your key. But if things go well, I won’t be gone for long. You both are off tomorrow, if I have to go out, I’ll drop back in.” He didn’t mention copying the key; he was comfortable having one or not, but he didn’t want Casey to offer just because he thought he had to.
Ariel began to pick up the leftover pizza; he could get it packed up and stored and they could have some for breakfast. And, of course, he’d have to stay with Casey all day since he wouldn’t have a key.
…Honestly, he breathed a little sigh of relief at that. It felt so tacky, so clingy, so needy. He would have felt bad about it if he wasn’t looking forward to it so much.
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:53 pm
Casey supposed Morgan’s compromise was okay. He knew he needed to be careful, especially for Ariel’s sake, but he knew he could trust Morgan. Well… they hadn’t known him for very long, but there was just something about him that made him easy to trust.
“Hopefully you’ll not have to leave at all. We could uh… I think I have some board games hiding somewhere. Maybe if the power still isn’t on tomorrow we could play something. Or just talk. Or whatever you want to do,” he shrugged, feeling a little silly for being excited about having a sleepover with both Ariel and Morgan. Sure, there was no power and it was getting cold…
Which meant Morgan was going to freeze if he didn’t have enough blankets. But Ariel brought some over, and Casey had a few.
“You good if Morgan borrows these?” Casey asked, not wanting to just give away Ariel’s blankets if he was super attached to them and wanted to have them on the bed. “Although I bet we’d be warmer if we all piled into bed together. I’m just kidding,” he quickly added with an awkward little laugh. He didn’t want either of them to feel weird, but he also felt bad about leaving Morgan on the couch, despite his insistence that he was fine.
“We can leave the door open, if that’s okay?” he asked Ariel, since he definitely wanted Morgan to be able to get to the bathroom, and Casey had spent many nights without that luxury and didn’t want Morgan to have to go through that.
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 8:00 pm
Ariel had made mistakes, trusted the wrong people–person–before. Casey didn’t have that baggage, or if he did, he carried it in such a different way that it seemed a bit foreign to Ariel. He wouldn’t have changed anything about Casey, though. The blankets were meant to be shared so he nodded, and he found that he didn’t even mind the open door. “Of course. Have as many blankets as you need. And if–”
His face was burning. “If it is too cold, we’ll make room for you in the bed. Since you’re so worried about Casey getting sick, we don’t want you to get sick, either.”
Morgan was quiet for a moment but he smiled at the offer. “Well, thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” He didn’t want to intrude, but their offers were so sweet and genuine. Ariel seemed a bit more reserved in the offer, and Casey always laughed, so Morgan wasn’t sure if he meant it or if he was just being polite. “If you get too cold, you can call me in. We’ll figure something out. I haven’t played any board games in a while, you’ll have to teach me.”
Or they could talk, he didn’t mind. Honestly, he hadn’t been this social in a while. It was rejuvenating. He lived a solitary life, he was happy that way.
…Except, he was happier like this, so maybe he was going to have to get out more.
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 9:47 am
Casey nodded once he was sure that Morgan knew that he had an open offer. Maybe Harrison would want to sleep on him and keep him warm. Or she would get on the bed with him and Ariel and then Morgan would end up wanting to join too.
“Make yourself comfortable. If you need a toothbrush, there’s a new one in the bathroom,” he said as he reached for Ariel’s hand once the pizza had been put away and the blankets were organized over the back of the couch for Morgan. They had a good number of blankets on the bed already, so once they were done with their teeth and getting ready for bed by turning off the flashlight (they left the lantern for Morgan), all that was left was to climb into bed.
Which was what Casey did, and held back the covers for Ariel to join him. He even held open his arms to him so that once he was close enough, he could pull him close.
“Come on, it’s so cold. You were going to keep me warm,” he reminded Ariel with a cheerful grin. Harrison hadn’t joined them in bed yet, so she was probably bothering Morgan or eating from her food bowl now that the pizza had been put away.
“Thank you for being with me, Ariel.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:24 am
Ariel crawled into bed immediately. Morgan seemed to have his own toothbrush in that bag he’d brought, but it seemed like he was prepared for anything. Morgan had kept the lantern on, and though he’d dimmed the light a bit, it was still enough that they’d have been able to see to get around if they needed to.
The light made him feel a bit more at ease, and being in Casey’s arms did, too.
“It is chilly. I should have heated up some water bottles or something to keep us warm. But it’s okay, we’ve got a lot of blankets.”
He wouldn’t have minded if he woke up tangled with Casey, either.
He wrapped his arms around Casey, and gently rubbed at his back when he did so. He’d seen him roll his shoulders earlier and might have offered to rub his back if he wasn’t worried about that seeming weird in front of Morgan. “Thank you for being with me, too. Have good dreams, Casey.”
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