[R] Well-Spent Day [Trey/Aelius]

[Kolina]

The apartment was clean. Freshly leaned, actually. While Aelius was never one to let his place get dirty, the prospect of company coming over was always a kick in the a** to get him to do a deep cleaning. So the fresh scent of citrus cleaner filled the apartment and everything was neatly placed where it should be. Well, everything except his duffle bag for dance. It was freshly packed with his clothes for tomorrow class and stashed just under his small coat rack. It made things a bit tight, but it was the best place for a rushing young man to not forget it in the morning.

So it was merely a waiting game now. A waiting game that resulted in Aelius brewing some coffee in his French press. The days and nights were long. Too long as of late, and Aelius began leaning more and more on the caffeine boost. He hadn't let himself fall into world of energy drinks, too worried about the possible risks with them, but honestly, he should have worried about his coffee consumption.

He just set the timer to let the coffee brew when a knock on his door came. A bit of excitement welled up as he slipped from the kitchen to the door only a few steps away. As small and as far as it was from where he'd one, Aelius was proud of what he'd accomplished. So this meeting had stakes even he hadn't fully realized until he began cleaning that morning.

Unlocking the bolt, Aelius flipped the lock on the knob before pulling the door open a smile on his face at the sight of Trey. "Glad you found it!" He held the door as long as he could before relinquishing it to Trey so the other man could enter. The tiny entranceway wasn't an area for gathering, so Aelius retreated to the nearby kitchen. "You can hang you coat up there." He said gesturing to the small rack hung on the wall.

"I've got coffee brewing if you're interested."

Whimsical Blue

LMK if this works for you!

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Every minute detail from the street Trey parked on to the door of the apartment building, to the hallway and elevator, had been avidly consumed as he'd made his way up to Aelius's apartment. It was only once the door opened that he masked that curiosity and plastered a bright smile onto his face for his little-brother-in-disguise. It was only partly feigned and mostly genuine, filled with that sense of disbelieving joy that his brother had been returned to him.

It was bizarre to think that other people would see this familiar, obvious face and not recognize it. That their own mother could meet him and not know it was Rowan.

"Hey!" He said as he sidled inside, turning to close the door behind him. The entrance felt... cramped, but he was not going to comment on that. Coat on the rack, he stepped out towards the kitchen and finally reached out for his brother, pulling him into a hug that had been far too long delayed. His shoulders felt a little broader, a little taller, but it was hard to say if that was imagination or not. Trey tried not to glance about the small kitchen as he did so, trying to focus instead on their reunion.

Trey and Rowan. He'd given up thinking it was possible.

"Its good to see you again."

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Aelius was surprised by the hug, but recovered quickly enough to return the gesture. It felt good. Really good. It was still pinch worthy to have his brother here with him. Actually, truthfully, here and not be some dream turned nightmare for him to wake up to. So, he let himself enjoy it. Enjoy hugging his brother and being hugged in return.

"It took some time, but here we are." He agreed with his brother. "I am really glad you could come over." He gave it another moment before finally disengaging from the hug. He stepped back and gestured to the living room. "Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you a drink at all? The coffee will be done in a few more minutes if you would prefer to wait for that." Coffee. His life saver the past few weeks.

The smell of the coffee in the French press began seep into the air. An added level of comfort to the small apartment that helped ease some of the tension in him. Nothing was going to fully erase the exhaustion he had except a good long rest, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"How have you been? Keeping busy?" Knowing Trey he was always keeping busy but it was difficult to find things to talk about since Aelius felt somewhat a stranger in Trey's life now. The years separated had stolen more than time together. So finding topics to discuss was...difficult. Aelius could only hope he would settle and things would begin to feel natural again.

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Trey released his brother when he showed the first hint of pulling back and let his arms drop. He might not have been overly prone to displays of affection, but this seemed like a good enough excuse to break that habit, for now. They'd been apart for too long. He felt like he needed to touch Aelius just to reassure himself he was solidly there.

"Coffee is fine." He said as he stepped out of the small space into another, only slightly larger, space. Trey couldn't help evaluating everything from the square footage to the floors to the items Aelius had filled his home with. With a whole new life to build from the ground up, what parts of his past had he reconstructed and what parts had he left behind? What had he chosen to replace them? His curiosity was endless. Both the trauma and the freedom meant Aelius could have blossomed in so many different and unexpected ways.

"I'm always busy." He said with a half smile, echoing what Aelius was probably thinking. "Busier in many ways with after-hours projects, but that's fine. Mother has been pulling me into more meetings at the agency lately as we prepare to shift me into a more prominent role. She's promised to step back and let me have more control, but we'll see if she actually manages to do so."

It felt awkward avoiding mentioning the Negaverse, but it did feel right to play things cautiously when his brother was involved. Who knew what other ears where there to hear things they talked about.

"Did you mention living with a room mate...?" He asked, casting back to see if he remembered any such mention.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Aelius smiled broadly as Trey began to fill him in on what was going on his life. Sure, it was safe talk right now, but Aelius felt like they were still feeling each other out. Still trying to understand how they both fell into each others new worlds. It had been years, literal years, and frustrating as it was it would take timet o grow completely comfortable. For that awkwardness to dissipate.

"I am glad she's finally starting to let you be more involved and take more of the company on." He said as he turned to the coffee that had been steeping in his French press for a good ten minutes or so now. The vessel was filled with the dark, delicious liquid. Coffee was the go-go juice that helped him cope, especially recently. "Are you happy with it all? You were always interested in the company from what I remember. You always threw yourself into it."

Reaching into the cabinet he pulled out two dark blue mugs. With care, he pressed down the coffee before pouring two cups. "I don't have a roommate. It's just a one bedroom. I...prefer my privacy. Plus my own after-hour work projects aren't conducive to living with anyone else with the odd hours I keep." Reaching on top of the fridge he pulled down a green and white box and divested from packets of stevia from it. A single packet found its way into one mug. "Do you want any milk? I don't have creamer since I don't use it. I've got sugar or stevia for a sweetener."

He looked over his shoulder to Trey when he asked about his preferences, to find his brother carefully inspecting the space. Aelius smiled. "It wasn't easy at first." He remarked. "Adjusting." He nodded his head towards the room, eyes glancing around the small place in reference. "At first I hated everything and loathed anything that was different."

whimsical blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

"A little milk, if you don't mind." Trey said as he pulled his attention away from the room. It was good to know he lived alone, at least for privacy's sake. They wouldn't have to be as careful here about pretending they weren't related.

"I'm pleased with the progress I'm making. I've worked hard enough, its about time I got rewarded for my efforts." It would remain unspoken that he'd done it for their mother, and for Rowan, not for himself. It was not the choice he would have made for himself, if there had been other choices. But, now that his work was reaching fruition, the new title and powers were truly only his due. He would not have willingly given them up now, after everything he'd done to get here, even if there had been some miracle that opened a new path. "Mother will be able to focus on her design work with less worry about the state of the company that supports her, and I will have the control that I've wanted for a while now. There are things I'm infinitely more suited for than she is, and I think the rest of the board will realize that when I'm finally holding the reins."

The old buzzards. Too many that were too self-interested to see a man half their age take a place above them. They'd learn quickly, or he would deal with them the same way he'd dealt with the loudest protestor. He would recover from his bout of exhaustion, of course, but older bodies were always slower to recover than young ones, and that was all to Trey's advantage. He hadn't truly done him any harm, so no foul.

"I imagine it wasn't terribly easy to have your entire life uprooted." He said with true feeling this time as he came to take his coffee and retreat to the sofa. Long legs crossed, he reclined into it, balancing the mug on his knee. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to support you. Were there others, who helped? Faustite told me, ah... that you were engaged."

Awkward transition there, but it was an awkward subject. Not just that his little brother was engaged, but who he was engaged to.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Aelius passed off the coffee when Trey came for it and turned his attention to his own. While his brother preferred a lighter tone to the caffeinated beverage, Aelius took his dark, only the stevia he had added helped to alleviate the bitterness of a the coffee. His love of black coffee has blossomed when he was abroad. It was bracing and helped him keep moving on those hard days where nothing, beyond him awaking each morning, seemed to go right during the initial transition abroad. "Good." He said sincerely, as he sipped at the drink that he filled a bit too close to the brim of his mug. With his drink at a safe level for travel he joined his brother in the living room.

The small space meant all he had was the sofa, so he joined his brother there keeping to the opposite side to give them both that small barrier of space. "I won't be surprised if the company begins to flourish with Mother's focus being able to go back to design and you taking over the rest. I won't say that I've ever taken much interest in what goes on in an actual business, but I know Mother always did prefer the more creative side of it. The board will come around." He offered a supportive smile. If there was one thing Aelius had was his confidence in his brother's capabilities. Trey had always been the stone, the one that could be relied on to be there and stand against any storm. It was why Aelius had looked up to him to much.

The change in conversation back to Aelius caused the young man to shift a bit uncomfortably. "There's no way you could have been there. Honestly, I am glad you weren't." He turned his focus to his coffee and sipped it. He wanted this train of conversation to end, because he was far from proud of how he had acted back then and did not want to dive down that road. He wasn't ready to divulge those dark days of himself, especially to his brother. Thankfully, Trey was more than willing to create an open door.

"I thought he would have left me tell you." He said, not at all upset. Faustite had as much right to tell Trey considering how many viewed marriage and bringing others into the fold of a family. In a way, Trey would be a future brother. Brother-in-law to be precise.

"Faustite had been my anchor during the transition and initial training." The coffee he lowered to his lap, cupped carefully in both hands as he reclined into the corner. "If it wasn't for him, I honestly don't know if I would have survived." He said with dead seriousness.

"But I can honestly say the engagement has been a long time in the making between the two of us.." A smile graced his face with those words. "I am excited to see what will come."

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

"I asked Eion, actually." Trey said as he balanced his cup on his thigh, a forefinger tapping the rim lightly. "I knew he was involved with Waru and guessed that there were others, so I asked for the full list after you mentioned the proposal at Jadarite's place."

His whole body felt like it was tingling with nerves, leaving his fingertips cold. Trey hated that he had to have this conversation with his younger brother, but there was also no way he could not broach it. Clear the air between them. Their relationship was still so new and fragile, he was scared for both what this might do to them, and what it would do if he kept it a secret. They'd already seen how things turned out when secrets were kept.

Lifting his eyes, he watched his brother's face, his own carefully neutral and attentive.

"With your particular relationship with him, I feel obligated to tell you that him and I were... sleeping together. Only casually..." He rushed to add, his blue eyes studying Aelius' face for every nuance of expression. "There is nothing between us other than friendship, at best. And I am willing to keep things purely professional between us from this point forward, if that is what you want."

It wasn't, really, what Trey wanted, but Aelius... his brother was far more precious to him than any amount of bedroom play with anyone.

"I would never, knowingly, do anything to hurt you." He said softly.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Aelius went still at Trey’s words as his eyes roved over his elder brother’s face. This had been a bomb that Aelius hadn’t anticipated. There was no indication. No…anything. It blindsided the young man and he honestly didn’t know how to react. What to say. After all, it wasn’t like Faustite was exclusive with his relationships. Oh, it bothered Aelius to no end. The amount of rings on those slender fingers were a constant reminder to Aelius that there were others, that he wasn’t enough as himself. But…his brother?

“How long ago?” He questioned quietly as he mentally sifted through his emotions. “Doesn’t matter.” He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and pushed back at the anger that began to make the room feel warm. Rising from his spot on the couch, Aelius turned to the kitchen where he deposited his mug on the counter and began to busy himself with cleaning up the makings of the coffee. That French press wasn’t going to clean itself.

“It’s fine.” He eventually said as he flipped the faucet on. “Everyone knows Faustite isn’t the monogamous type.”

Aelius hated it.

But gods, my own brother? And Faustite hadn’t even said anything? That bit hurt the most considering the conversations they had been having about being more open with another. Perhaps it was an old affair? Before Aelius returned? He couldn’t really argue that but it still felt…he didn’t know how it felt besides weird. Thinking about his own Finacee being with his brother…

He grabbed the sponge from the sink ledge, threw some dish detergent on it and began furiously cleaning the French press, letting the grounds slip down the sink with the water. “You didn’t know about us, so I can’t be angry at you.” Except he was. Despite how he damn well knew there was no reason to actually be angry he couldn’t stop it.

“Do what you want.” He finally ground out as he worked at cleaning every single ground off of the press as if it was the most important thing he could do at that moment. And honestly, it probably was as he continued to temper the outburst that was barely being contained.

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Trey could see the emotions shift across his brother's face. Surprise, betrayal, anger. All things he had expected, and dreaded, when he'd realized he'd need to tell him about their relationship. What little there was... Would that make it better, or worse?

Watching Aelius distance himself and busy his hands with washing spoke volumes about how he felt about the whole thing. It was a rejection, of sorts, and that hurt, quite unexpectedly. They'd never fought over anything like this before... usually their inclinations ran so different that there was little overlap and thus little to compete for. Trey didn't like it. He felt that distancing like a physical shove and for a moment, he had to gather himself before he put down his cup and rose.

Following his brother into the kitchen, he reached out to grab his wrist, stopping his furious scrubbing and tugging his brother towards him.

"I'm sorry." He said, searching what he could see of Aelius' face. "I never would have gotten close to him, if I'd known you were in the picture. He's the first person after Chase that I... felt I could trust. With that. But you are more important to me than any... recreation, with anyone."

As much as he'd regret not having that with Faustite... he'd survive. Sex was easy to find, he never lacked for willing partners. It was just... the intimacy, and the trust, that he would miss. But what was that to having his brother back?

"Eion might have other partners, but for me, there is only one you."

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Aelius placed the French press down into the sink as Trey interfered with the attempt to distract himself. He didn't want to have this conversation. It was yet just another reminder that Faustite's preferences ran to multiple partners. That one just wasn't enough. Aelius wasn't enough. It was a mountain he still was trying to scale and understand. Trey being a part of it ********. He hadn't been prepared. He didn't know how to deal with this beyond giving himself some space to figure it out and Trey wasn't willing to let that happen.

"I wasn't in the picture." He remarked a bit bitterly. "For a few years. So I can't be angry at anything that happened then." He hadn't asked for a timeline on when Trey and Faustite had been together. Honestly, he didn't want to know and was better off just assuming it was while he was gone. He still had his own self loathing for those missed years. Wondered if he had been around if things would have been different.

"Faustite can make his own decisions. I have never attempted to tell him who he should or shouldn't be seeing. It's not my place." He gently pried his wrist from his brother's grasp as he finally turned fully to Trey.

"As frustrated as I am I can't be angry at you. Not when you didn't know." He heaved a heavy sigh through his nose and turned back to the French press which he rinsed off and placed on a towel alongside the sink to dry. He grabbed a tea towel and began drying his hands. "I am just upset at the whole situation." Anger still simmered, and leaked into his tone.

"How would you have felt if the tables had been turned? Been blindsided with that bit of news? Found out your now fiancée had 'recreation' with your brother?" The question was out before he realized that Trey, being Trey, probably would have dealt with it with grace. Like always. Trey had always been the more suave and level headed of the two.

whimsical b1ue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

As much as Aelius said he couldn't be mad, his voice and his manner very clearly said otherwise. Trey understood sometimes feelings didn't follow logic, but it left him in a very sticky place. His brother said he and Faustite could do as they pleased, but it was obvious he wouldn't not be happy about it. With their relationship so fresh, this meant there was no way Trey could feasibly go against his wishes.

And there was a part of Trey that was both disappointed and resentful.

He watched as Aelius went back to his cleaning, finally setting everything aside. At least he wasn't shutting him out now. The hypothetical gave Trey pause and he had to think through it, trying to put himself into his brother's shoes. If he had been engaged to Faustite, would he have been upset to find out Aelius was sleeping with him? The idea was... hard to truly grasp. What if it was some faceless future partner? Well... he wouldn't have gotten involved with someone as promiscuous, for starters, but that wasn't something he could say outright. Would he have been mad not to know it was happening? Yes. He was already annoyed with Faustite for not telling Aelius to start with, but that had nothing to do with his brother and everything to do with Faustite. But would he have been upset to share someone with Aelius? Trey wasn't really sure... the possibility seemed so remote. He'd never had a partner he was as bonded to as Aelius seemed to be with Faustite.

"Your feelings are valid. You have every right to be upset. I could wish that things were different, but they aren't, and I don't know how to make it up to you." He said gently. "There should have been better communication, and I regret that I waited so long to sort that out."

He didn't say 'Faustite should have told you', or 'If you're so angry about Faustite's partners, you shouldn't be with him'. None of that would be anything Aelius wanted to hear. 'Learn to accept it, or get a better partner.' Maybe, if this had been a few years ago, before Rowan had disappeared, Trey would have told him something like that. Played his brother's keeper and pushed him to find someone else, but now he didn't think their relationship could handle that. Too delicate, too new.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

This was all so terribly exhausting.

He didn't want to deal with it.

"What's done is done." He snapped a bit more harshly than he had intended. He caught himself, took a moment, then lowered his tone. "You don't need to make anything up. There's nothing to be made up. Like I said, I can't be angry at you since you were in the dark about me as much as I was about you." Something he had forgiven Faustite for months ago, but it seemed there were more layers to it all. More things that he needed to talk to Faustite about or just suck up, call it done, and sweep under the rug to join the ever-growing pile of dust there.

What Aelius wanted to actually do was rage. Rage until he had nothing left inside of him before he could civilly deal with all of this. But, the fact that he was so terribly uncertain about his standing with Trey and feared pushing the only remainder of his biological family away was what iced the hot rage down to simmer.

"Just...let's just...stop now. There's nothing else to discuss about it." He waved a hand as he slipped past Trey, placing hands on his brother's shoulders as he sidled by to return back to the living room area. There he flopped back onto the couch, before pinching the bridge of his nose as he sucked in a few deep breaths of air.

Slow, steadying breaths.

He grasped for something else to steer the conversation into a different direction. He came up clank. Where was there to go after....well, after that? He sure as ******** wasn't going to ask if there was any romantic interest in Trey's life, but that's what his brain kept falling to, in hopes that he'd hear that Trey had found someone else of interest.

Stirring the pot right now though was not a good idea.

Then...

"So, are you intending to build or buy your own place anytime soon? Move out on your own?"

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

The flash of temper directed at him cooled Trey's expression and he closed up, blues eyes going opaque and dark. He leaned back into the counter as Aelius squeezed past him and remained there as his brother moved into what passed for a living room in this dinky scrap of an apartment.

So Aelius wanted to just stop talking about it, hmm? Trey was willing to let it go, for now, but he knew, deep down, that it was no where near resolved just because he didn't want to face it any more. It would never be resolved, as long as it was avoided, as long as their feelings were kept concealed. Trey had been willing to talk about it, to listen, but if Aelius wasn't, then there was no more he could do about it. Spoiled child... Did he think he was the only one upset over this, the only one adversely affected?

It wasn't charitable, but in the solitude of his own thoughts, Trey could think it.

"No." He said, his voice breezier than he felt as he allowed the change in conversation. "The house is more than large enough for two people, and staying allows me to avoid paying rent elsewhere. Joellen travels enough that we don't see each other often with my work schedule. She has a condo downtown she often stays at as well, so the house might as well be mine already."

The conversation turned to safer routes, things less consequential and more mundane. Trey let it, even though the issue between them still hovered like a spectre in the room. He tried to enjoy it, but whatever enjoyment he might have found before had cooled to polite interest.

There would be a time when they would have to face this issue again. It was not solved and would not be forgotten, at least not for Trey. He suspected, neither would it be for Aelius.

Kolina

wanna wrap?

 

[Kolina]

"Well that certainly works in your favor then." Aelius offered a tentative smile. The conversation had gone from fairly easy to painfully awkward now. It wasn't lost on him, and he was certain Trey felt it too for how well his brother had always been at reading a room. It didn't mean that Aelius liked it though. In fact he hated what it was between him and Trey.

Absently, he couldn't help but wonder if things, as a whole, would have been different if they'd been able to reconnect years ago? The option had been there. It could have happened! Perhaps not at first, no. Considering they'd both been such new recruits and Aelius himself was stuck learning to live a completely new life, but...

It didn't matter. It hadn't happened and pondering the what-ifs of that time didn't help here.

He just needed to be patient. To temper himself and weather this new change in his life. The new dynamic that he and Trey would need to figure out.

For now though, they just needed to get comfortable again, and that meant just conversing. and learning. So Aelius continued on about Trey's work, hobbies, and anything else that he truly did want to know about while letting Trey ask his own whenever he deemed fit.

Perhaps it wasn't a perfect first visit to the apartment, but Aelius was hopeful that things would start to look up between them sooner rather than later. Because, even if Helio didn't need his big brother around, he certainly did want him to be.

Whimsical Blue

Fin?