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All in all, eight days in the hospital wasn’t the end of the world. Priam had the luxury of sleeping through most of it, and when he wasn’t sleeping, he was never alone. Jarvis had rummaged around back home and found a pair of replacement glasses for him, and his brother had done everything in his power to make sure he was comfortable.

Sterling and Yu had been invaluable in keeping him sane, and he found himself genuinely touched by their willingness to look after him. They had gone home earlier to prepare the house, and Jarvis stayed to help Priam and his discharge from the hospital.

The hospital was discussing things with his insurance company. He had heavy assurances that this was going to rule in his favor, and the hospital had assured him they wanted him back as soon as possible.

A part of him was grateful that he wasn’t being fired or let go for being a walking disaster, but a part of him was terrified that if he came back, something worse would happen.

Either way, he had been tasked with ‘taking it easy’ for the next few weeks, and he was looking forward to a bed that didn’t smell like cleaning supplies, and food that didn’t taste like plastic.

Getting to the car had been easy enough, Jarvis wheeled him down, and then settled him into the front seat--which had been layered with pillows and blankets that Priam recognized as his bedspread back home. Jarvis helped him in, and buckled him up, and placed pillows atop of him, like he needed to wrap him in some sort of bubble wrap to make sure he could handle the six minute drive to Sterling and Yu’s place.

Jarvis had chattered the whole ride home, and Priam didn’t even mind. He was on heavy aspirin, and while he had a bottle of painkillers in his bag, he didn’t anticipate having anymore than what he’d been given in the hospital. The last thing he needed was to come out of this with an addiction, and he was already weak to so much. Jarvis drove nearly ten miles under the speed limit the entire way there, and had absolutely no shame in inching over and around every single pothole and bump.

He closed his eyes--certainly for only a second--but when he opened them again, Jarvis was leaning over him, unbuckling him. He was tired, but the sight of the house gave him a second wind, and he helped himself out of the car with his brother’s gentle fussing. It wasn’t too bad to get up the stairs, especially with Jarvis’ support, but he was tired and leaning against him by the time they made it to the front door.

Jarvis knocked, a steady, constant rap, and Priam smiled when he heard the familiar barks of his puppies as they ran through the house to wait by the door. Jarvis looked a little worried that they might be too rambunctious and kept a gentle arm around Priam, whose back was already aching from being upright for so long.

They had already made a plan; Jarvis had managed to work things out so he could get some work done today in Destiny City, and he would be leaving either tomorrow or the day after, after he was certain that Priam was settled in and had everything. He was going to leave him here with Sterling and Yu and do another pickup of necessities later tonight when he was done.

It was going to be a quick dropoff, he just needed to make sure that Priam was in and safe before he headed out again.

The adjustable showerhead of all things had been the thing that made Yu swear the most, as it had canted down and smacked him on the head while he was trying to attach it. But there was a strange sense of pride in making the space work, seeing it finished and clean.

Knowing too that it was all to help Priam, not just make the house better. It felt… good. He was sore from all the hard work but it was wonderful having shared it with Sterling.

Priam’s things… looked like they belonged, and he hoped very much that Priam would feel the same way.

Better was that working on the bathroom and the bed frame had kept him from feeling like he had to finish ripping apart the backyard.

He fidgeted in the door to the kitchen, watching nervously to see how Priam reacted. He would have felt strange in a way to have people moving ‘his stuff’ and even knowing it was for Priam’s comfort he was worried. Or maybe it was just… worrying that Priam would balk at what they had to say about how they felt.
He’d be well within his rights to balk or to like only one of them in return.

“Your horses missed you!” He called.

Sterling smiled softly and began walking with Priam to the room they had gotten set up. “It’s not a burden at all. We’re happy to have you. We love sleepovers when you’re here...and this is just going to be a never ending one, so it’s great. Plus, it spurred us to get some more renovation done. It was planned anyway, we were just being super lazy about it.”

He moved slowly, nodding for Yu to come help if he could, just to take as much of the weight off of Priam that they could. “We fixed up the bedroom down here just for you, I grabbed some things from your house so that you felt more comfortable, I know the impersonal hospital room isn’t what you want while you’re finishing your recovery at the home of your two best friends in the world.”

Giving a slight chuckle, Sterling carefully took the male into the room, grinning now. “...I didn’t steal the stuff, I promise. Obviously, it’ll go home when you do but...I wanted you to know that this can be home too.” There was the pictures of him and Doggie on the dresser, right in the middle, and Doggie’s collar hung off of the mirror.

A small television stood on a stand against the wall, and all in all, the room seemed cozy. “Do you like it?” He asked softly, the unspoken will you stay? trying desperately to leave his heart. He didn’t let it though.

“You know that you aren’t ever any trouble. We love you.”

Priam seemed apologetic, but relieved, to have extra help. He was sore, but the two of them had spent enough time with him that he figured they had a good idea of where he was the most fragile. He was visibly impressed with the work they had put into making the room his; it had so many touches of home that it felt safe--although, he had the briefest embarrassment at the idea of them collecting things from his room.

His eyes lingered on the photograph of him and his giant great dane, and his eyes instinctively misted over at the collar--at the thoughtfulness of all of this.

And they loved him. It was such a sweet gesture, to offer him such tenderness. He knew they didn't have to; he knew they were busy with their own struggles, busy with their relationship. He knew he was intruding on their house, but they were willing to make space for him, to let him into their home and help him.

"No, I couldn't need anything else," he insisted, still captivated by everything they had done. The dogs had followed them in, sniffing at the room like they hadn't already been rolling on the bedspread. "Really, it's perfect. I think you made it look nicer than I did back home."

He was relaxing on the bed that they had helped him into, and seemed grateful that there were so many pillows that he could prop himself up without any real strain.

His stomach growled in the process and, while he looked a little embarrassed, he was truly genuine when he said, "Yu, I cannot wait to eat your cooking. I'm glad you didn't kidnap me, I would have been miserable without that morphine. But I am so happy to be here now. I feel like I can breathe again."

And he didn't want to be alone. Even though he knew he was going to be a burden, he was happy to be here. Sterling and Yu were optimistic, enthusiastic. They had no idea what they were in for, but he knew he was going to try his hardest not to be too much trouble.

He exhaled, like another wave of stress rolled off of him.

It didn't feel like he was intruding. It did feel like coming home.

"But please. I hope you don't push yourselves too hard. I don't know what I'd do if either of you got sick."

There was concern in his voice--a deep, almost palpable caring. There was no denying that they were Priam's best friends, and that he would have done anything for them.

He was just completely oblivious that 'love' meant 'love', and it had been too long since anyone said it and meant it that the meaning slipped into obscurity.

“Can like, neither of you…actualllyyy die though?” Yu said feeling his cheeks be added to the ‘feeling like fire’ emotional scale.

“Cause, I mean, yeah we got to think about big things like -feelings- and how awkward my name gets for this kind of conversation, but um… Yeah. He’s better at words than me on this, we, we both…” He waved hands back and forth between sterling and himself.
“Love… you, care about you… would like, try and stop a car for your kind of things. But um… yeah, when you take some time and think about it, we can see how you feel and what if anything you’d be comfortable with. Which like, could be nothing, I’m still gonna cook for you guys regardless and stuff.”

He was rambling hard.

“Uh… when you’re less tired we should show you the shower too…. eh?” He offered a nervous grin, sharp teeth, and shyness.

It was taking so long for him to answer, and Sterling felt his heart begin to break. Just a few small cracks, but they hurt. Terribly so. And Priam’s initial reaction made the cracks deepen and Sterling’s smile began to fall, his eyes lowering away from Priam. He didn’t want to be with them. He was rejecting them he…

Sterling swallowed and glanced back up, hesitating slightly. Or maybe he was just confused. “Of course we are sure. We’ve talked about it a lot. It’s not out of any sense of guilt or obligation. The only thing this accident has done is make us both realize that we wouldn’t know what to do without you. We would be missing such an important chunk of our lives and...it would just about kill us. Or at least me. And I know Yu...he has...he gets attached to someone so quickly even though he always tries to play it off...we love you. We wouldn’t tease you. Not about something important like this…”

Reaching out, he stroked Priam’s forehead, trying to gently have him lay back down, not liking the fact that he looked as though the movements that he was making were utterly painful. That went against everything that they were trying to do.

“Priam, we’re sure about this, and you’re not old, that’s really dumb. Even if you were, do you think we’d care? We’re stubborn and...we don’t want you to ever go away. Our life can be so happy, I think...You’re so good for us. For both of us so please, please say you’ll give us a chance

Priam listened in earnest, but it seemed like it was still taking him a few seconds for everything to settle in. And then, he laughed. It was a confused noise, like he wasn't even sure how it had bubbled out, but after a few seconds, he laughed again with less uncertainty. "I--really? Both of you?" His brows were knit but he didn't seem unhappy and the smile seemed sheepish, almost giddy, on his face. He looked younger, suddenly, and tried to reach up to adjust his glasses but fell short and just had to let Sterling coax him into laying back against the pillows. He felt odd just lying there, strangely vulnerable, but he didn't feel threatened.

"I--I have to think about it. It isn't a no."

No, how could it be? He realized in that moment that there was no way he could think of any sort of happiness in this world without them. Maybe their youthful pining was rubbing off on him, but it took seconds for him to organize and sort his thoughts.

They were platonic. They had been since he'd met them. Sterling and Yu had been in a relationship for almost as long as he'd known Sterling, and it was with that safety that he had managed to bond with both of them. There was no pressure, no expectation, when there wasn't a relationship to consider.

Except, now there was a relationship to consider, and he found himself surprisingly un-pressured. The only expectation they kept pressing was for him to feel better, to let them help him.

He wasn't used to people asking for him to let them help. Usually he was the one giving.

But.

He replayed the scenes in his head; they flashed in fragments of second, like a fast forward record of his life since they came into it. If either one of them had been single, would he have felt differently? If he'd been younger--or them older--would he have entertained the thought of a relationship? Would he have figured himself ready to move on from his last relationship?

...Was he ready now?

......Would he ever be?

Or, could he push this off forever. Could he reject happiness when it was two feet away from him, gazing hopefully at him?

"I'm sure...neither of you will be offended if I ask if--whatever we do--we take it slowly?" he chanced. "I'm not as caught up with the times as you two, I don't even remember how to date. Is that--that is what you mean, right?" he pressed again, making himself dizzy with uncertainty.

“Slow is fine, it… it’s not like I have a lot of dating experience! Sterling was the first person I’ve dated.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“B-besides, I traded some shifts to be here so I’m gonna have to make up for that. Expect to be perfecting your aim if I fall asleep somewhere and start snoring.” He teased “it can be like… um, therapy or something and good practice or something for like… darts as date night.”

He glanced between the both of them and then asked carefully.

“Should we… get stockings?” He asked cautiously. “To hang up I mean, not wear. That’s like… a whole other conversation. Like… a not now conversation, for reasons.”