Page 90 of Gates of Tartarus

“Ilentyouthe Blueberry?” I gasp, and all three men grin, then completely ignore my question. Hideo rolls his eyes and finally closes the door on his way to grab some pizza.

“Just the margherita, Kai?” he asks.

“Yup! Thanks, Deo. Well, maybe one piece of Lachy’s, if that’s okay. And maybe a veggie too. Oooo, and a brownie please. They’re in the fridge.”

All three men grin at me in unison, and I flush again.

“What?” I ask defiantly. “I’m hungry!”

“You’re adorable, is what you are,” says Jonah, and I know I turn beet red. “So what are we doing?”

“Christmas movies,” Lachy replies. “I think the next one is ‘Christmas in Connecticut’?”

“The original!” I stress. “Not the remake!”

Hideo rolls his eyes unexpectedly, causing me to break out into giggles. “Yes, God forbid we watch a remake,” he mumbles in a faux-affronted tone.

All the guys move at the same time towards the couch where I’m sitting. They stand awkwardly for a minute before Lachy takes charge. “Throuple only,” he says firmly, pointing to the couch. Jonah raises an eyebrow but smiles good-naturedly.

“Not a problem,” he replies, dropping to the floor in front of me and leaning his head back against my crossed legs. “I’ll earn my place on the couch.” Hideo’s face tightens slightly, and Lachy rolls his eyes, but both settle in beside me again. As Jonah moves to pick his plate up, he knocks his drink, and it spills a bit.

“Shit. Sorry, Kai,” he mumbles, wiping it up, and I frown jokingly at him.

“Andwhy’sthecarpetall wet,Todd?” I snark and am rewarded with his blinding, sunshine smile, causing my face to squish up into an answering grin. Lachy passes me my plate, loaded with pizza, as Hideo cues up the movie, andI snuggle in between my two friends, still feeling strange, but… happy. Lachy makes a funny R2D2 kind of sound. “Beep boop beep boop! Shields going down in 3… 2... 1…” He looks at me expectantly and I nod, then hesitantly lower my barriers. Again, like waves of the ocean, Hideo’s and Lachy’s feelings wash over me, then recede and settle. Jonah’s shoulders tense briefly as he takes a deep breath and holds it before letting it out slowly and asking cautiously, “Still good?”

“Yes…” I say,unexpectedly hopeful. Out of nowhere the bridge of my nose stings, and I fight against unexpected tears. “Yes,” I whisper again, and Jonah looks up at me, a sympathetic look on his face, then turns his head to my knee and drops a small kiss on it.

And there we sit the rest of the day, watching old movies in a surprisingly comfortable silence, with the glow of the Christmas tree beside us. Sometime during “Miracle on 34th Street” I fall asleep, warm between Deo and Lachy with Jonah still in front of me. As I drift off, pure happiness wraps around me like a lover’s arms, safe and soft.

Tea and Lace

Sunday, 25 November – Kailani

Happy noise from the kitchen wakes me, and it takes a moment to figure out where I am. Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I blink slowly and focus up on Hideo’s sweet, affectionate face.

“Hey D,” I mumble, head still on his lap.

“Hey, kitten,” he says softly, smiling down at me. “You wereout. Lachlainn and I debated moving you, but we didn’t want to disturb you.”

Stretching my neck a little, it suddenly hits me. “It’s morning? You sat on the couch the whole night? Jesus, Deo! I’m so sorry.” Scrambling to sit up, I try to disentangle my legs from... Lachy’s arms. He exchanges an amused glance with Deo, and I groan. “You too, Lach? Geez, guys. Seriously! You should have woken me!”

“How were they going to wake you up?” Gemma’s laughing voice calls from the kitchen. “You were snoring. Like a wildebeest. I think you scared them.”

Frowning, I sit up, looking for her. She’s by the stove with a smiling Jonah, making breakfast sandwiches. “Why are you home?” I ask, puzzled. “Are you okay?” Pushing off Deo and Lachy, I move to the kitchen, giving her a careful once over. “I thought you weren’t due back until Tuesday. Did something happen?” My words are mumbled, voice still heavy with sleep, and she grins at me.

“So you thought, ‘Gemma’s gone, this is a good time to have an orgy.’ Hmmmm? Dirty bird.”

Jonah, who has just taken a rather large sip of tea, chokes on it, and while we wait for him to calm down, Gemma shoots me alook. A look that says, “you’d better know that you’re not sleeping tonight until I getallthe information I require. Because there is someshitgoing on that you haven’t told me about.” I send back my own, silent, “I’m sorry and I’ll fill you in as much as possible but I’m completely confused and have no idea what’s happening.” Her face softens, and she shakes her head slightly, as Jonah asks, having stopped coughing, “Sausage, egg, and cheese, Kai? Or bacon, egg, and cheese?”

Gemma levels a mischievous look at me and answers for me, “Oh sausage, Jonah. You know Kai loves sausage. Can’t get enough.”

“Excuse us for a minute!” I say quickly, and I grab her arm. “Just going to get ready for the day!”

When we get to my room, she slaps the door shut behind her and turns to me with wide, excited eyes. “What theHELL, Kai?!? I leave for the weekend and come back and you’re literally asleep on the couch with two men and a third is making you all breakfast? What is goingon?”

Explaining the strange weekend to her as quickly as I can, we get dressed. Gemms is wearing a black top that says, “Chill (also psycho, but mostly chill)” and torn, black jeans covered in crazy art splatters, and I’m wearing a black shirt that says, “Well-behaved women rarely make history” and black biker stacked skinny jeans with holes at the knees. She convinces me to let her do my makeup and at least put my hair up in some space buns. Looking me over critically, she nods, then rapidly does her hair and makeup to match mine. Reaching into my jewelry box, she passes me a necklace, smiling softly.

“Final touch, yeah?”