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The nap had done Sterling a world of good, and he had been able to get back out of bed, setting some cookies out again, and even managed to make come whipped cream for the pies. It was almost time for Yu to come home, and the male was sitting in the corner of the couch, a blanket tucked around him and Penny curled up on his lap. Odie was at his feet, and Oreo was laying on the back of the couch, her tail twitching and making his ear tickle.

He was still tired. Still drained from the panic attack but...the fact that Priam was still there, sitting beside him, close enough to flop over on if he so chose was very reassuring.

Priam had gone to speak with Ilya, and Sterling was forever grateful for that, he had even sent over a few cookies for his ex boyfriend turned next door neighbor. Three cookies. He didn’t deserve any more than that, but...well. Ilya hadn’t been able to have any when he had been over here so. It was a nice gesture that he only regretted a little.

His eyes flickered to the door and Sterling let out a soft sigh, his lips curling into a slight pout. “I’m hungry. And I want Yu to be home...Priam...what time is it? What movie should we watch tonight?"

It was faint enough, but a car could be heard clunking its way into the driveway. Yu’s ‘car’ had a particular quirk, especially when turning that made an ominous clunking rhythm like at any moment it was prepared to spew some vital piece of the engine into the hinterlands. Thankfully it hadn’t done that yet and had only continued to make the ominous sounds, occasionally throwing in new and temporary ones that vanished whenever anyone tried to find the source.

The Car door slammed almost before the engine was cut, and he clearly skipped a few steps on the way to the door, minimal but heavy treads of expedience followed by fumbling open the door, slamming it behind him, and hurrying down the hall.

“I know you said you’re ok, but are you ACTUALLY ok?! I’m sorry I didn’t get your message right away. I was online, and then I got it, and I wasn’t there, and I swear we can find a way to hide the body… tell me which neighbor.”

The words were a rush even as he set the garlic chicken down along with the deserts he’d gathered and a brown paper bag that clunked.

Priam just smiled and took Penny without any sort of complaint; she protested with a heavy sigh but he just held her gently. Her head lolled over his arm and she opened her eyes halfway to look at Yu. Her tail thumped sleepily a few times before she just nuzzled into Priam's arms when he rose to vacate some space for Yu. "Ah, welcome home," he greeted, not wanting to be rude about any of it.

He was the intruder in their scene, he knew this; he'd had hours with Sterling and he wanted to give them whatever time they needed. Penny seemed ready to sleep anywhere, and Odie was excited by Yu's presence but merely thumped his tail loudly on the ground as he looked up at him. And his chicken.

If Priam thought it smelled good, he could tell what Odie was thinking, but the dog didn't try to get into the bag, just rolled over onto his back and exposed his stomach as he looked up at the two.

There was visible relief on his face when Yu made it; he knew there was only so much he could do for Sterling, who had been pining for his boyfriend since Priam had arrived, and he hoped now that Sterling could find that last bit of piece that he needed to calm down.

Priam stood a bit out of the way and busied himself with petting Penny, who still fit in his arms, but it was only a matter of time before he wasn't going to hold her like this again. He pretended like he was fixing her collar while he gave them a moment.

Priam was literally a godsend and Sterling knew that. He stood up slowly, careful of Odie, though leaned down to rub the puppy’s stomach for a moment before hugging Yu tightly. “Titanic it is...ah. It’s a good movie, but if you don’t want to, or you have something else that you’d rather...or. Um.”

He relaxed against the other male and sighed. “Priam talked with him, and I’ll talk to him later. Tomorrow. Or the day after. I wasn’t expecting it. I. He wasn’t abusive or anything, I swear...that...Priam was worried about that.” Sterling’s voice was soft when he spoke of Priam, and there was obvious affection.

“...He just left me. And I have...some abandonment issues. It. I wasn’t prepared to see him, or I know this wouldn’t have happened. If I would have had warning, I’m sure I would have been just fine. A little angry, but just fine. I thought it was Priam! I seriously thought he was dropping by to say hello and I opened the door with a plate of cookies...ah. I ended up breaking one of the plates.”

Sterling felt a little guilty for the admission, even though the plates had been his. “...We can just go out and get more sometime if you want. I’m so sorry for worrying you. I love you.”

Sterling paused and his face flushed as Yu’s words penetrated through his mind. He snorted softly and drew away. “Goodness! We...we have company! You’ll scare Priam away with words like that, and then I’ll have to deal with the overwhelming trauma of losing my best friend!” He began laughing, softly at first, then so much that tears began to prickle in his eyes.

It felt as though all of the stress from the day was leaking out of him...and that he could get a true deep breath way down into his lungs. “Ah...I think...I needed you to say that though…” Sterling hesitated and kissed Yu’s cheek, before leaning closer and biting his earlobe, whispering so that there was no way Priam could hear. “...Maybe tomorrow, after Priam goes home? I...might like to see you in the collar again.”

And with that, he scampered over to Priam and tugged his hand. “...Sit with me back on the couch? I want to be in the middle of you two, Yu can bring us dinner and pamper us, since you worked so hard to help me, and I had a bad day, and all he had to do was go to work and deal with cranky people! A walk in the park!”

He couldn’t remember his heart ever feeling so full.

“I brought food, I just have to warm it up a bit because I stopped and got uh…” He pulled out a bottle wrapped in gold foil with a chocolate brown label that said ‘Mozart’ in the most clearly legible letters and held it up for viewing.

“There is also chocolate mouse, I didn’t stay to try and fight over the lava cakes, but I… I wanted to get home as fast as I could.”
He scratched at his arm distractedly, setting the bottle down.

“So, if you don’t mind reheated food we’re basically all set, I just gotta set the oven to warm it so the microwave won’t wreck it. If you don’t mind listening to it, for like… excessive sizzling I’ll change out of this grungy shirt and be back…. probably before it's done warming?”

He pulled free the to-go cups of Mouse and slid them into the fridge, glancing over his shoulder.
“Or like, mixing something like chocolate milk for Sterling, I’m…not picky. I’ve put things that tasted like rubbing alcohol in my mouth before.” He laughed softly even as he said it.

“Maybe I’ll throw on some goth club scene accessories, just to make tonight a little more light-hearted.”

He absolutely meant the collar.

Priam glanced between the two of them at the mention of goth club scene and, for all he’d seen of the world, he wasn’t sure if he was missing some joke between them. He didn’t comment on it, but smiled in response anyway. “No fighting,” he assured. He promised Yu, “I can make some chocolate milk and listen for the food while you both change. I’ll change when you’re done. I don’t know what I have packed in my car,” he confessed. “I think it’s just some spare work clothes, but--really, it’s not much trouble, I don’t mind wearing that! Unless you’re worried it’s going to be uncomfortable for you. In which case, by all means, I won’t protest. I want you to be comfortable tonight. Both of you. I already feel horrible for intruding,” he said, more to Yu than anything else. “So I’ll try to be as little of a burden as possible.”

The last thing he wanted was for Yu to think he was trying to make a move on his boyfriend. Truthfully, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to any sort of sleep over that wasn’t in a hotel room, and even then it had been with his brother and in separate beds.

This? This was new. He hadn’t even gone to a sleepover in his youth, and it wasn’t until that moment that Priam realized he was woefully unprepared for this evening. His ears burned with sudden embarrassment and he was grateful that his hair was long enough to hide that. He reached up to adjust the glasses on his face.

Okay. This was fine. He could just fake it.

He cleared his throat, and then smiled again. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be any good at cuddling. But I can guarantee that Penny and Odie are, and they would just love to pile on top of you. --I hope that’s all right, Yu,” he said. “I took them out to the park earlier and they’re both still pretty pooped, so I don’t think they’ll make much of a fuss.”

He liked the two of them, but he wasn’t sure if him being there was going to be an unwilling stressor--especially if he was curled too close to Sterling. Earlier, Sterling had mentioned that Yu might kill Ilya, and there was a part of Priam that was very much concerned about earning his ire. He liked the comfortable friendships he’d settled into here and didn’t want to damage it, and though he kept his hopeful smile on his face, there was undoubtedly a trace of worry as he tried to figure out how best to settle into tonight’s arrangements.

Horses...ah...that was funny. Sterling laughed softly, looking between the two. “...He’s right, you might do better in Yu’s pajamas...but, they’re not horses, love. They’re puppies, and I’ll keep their paws away from your butt. Don’t worry about that.”

He was happy. He was very happy right now, it was almost as though this afternoon was nothing but a bad memory. Which...he supposed it was.

Sterling paused and bounded to kiss Yu’s cheek, and then Priam’s, and then disappeared into his own room, hiding his cheeks which had turned pink. “Give him your pajamas, Yu. And clean up...and we’ll go from there. I’ll get the movie set up...Priam, you can...I don’t know...find drinks? Or...or just...follow Yu to get pajamas?”

He gave a laugh and disappeared into his room, closing the door and leaning against it for a long moment. Yeah. No. This was good. This was...wonderful.

“You guys are literally the absolute best. I hope you know.” He called, going to pull on his own pajamas, feeling warm and very content.