𝔸𝔻 𝔸𝕊𝕋ℝ𝔸 ✰ 𝕀ℕ𝔹𝕆𝕏;

[roseapothecary]

@ DAVIDROSE
text ✰ voice ✰ holovid

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in person

[buttonface]

Hey.

[ It's the morning after the Christmas party, and though thankfully neither of them are suffering hangovers, it's been a lazy morning all the same, Patrick stretched out in bed with David curled into his side. He has an arm wrapped loosely around David's shoulders, and gives him a quick squeeze as he remembers what he'd been meaning to tell him. ]

I met someone at the party last night.

[roseapothecary]

[ That specific phrasing shakes David the rest of the way awake like nothing else but the smell of a full breakfast could. Instantly he feels like he's back in New York, waking up after a crash to hear the very first refrains of You're Being Dumped being played in Asshole Minor.

But that can't be the case here, David reminds himself firmly, so he winds his fingers into Patrick's t-shirt idly (definitely not to hold him in place against his will) and squeezes him a little more tightly in return with the arm draped over his middle. All very casual. ]

You... what?

[ That's right, keep the tone neutral even if the pauses that give him away can't be helped. ]

[buttonface]

[ Okay, that's...not great. He feels a sudden spike of anxiety through the bond, but David's careful not to let it show in his voice, and Patrick doesn't want to push. He shoots him a quizzical look, but just draws him a little closer, settling back into the pillow again. ]

Yeah. His name's Nicky?

[ He pauses, waiting for some sign of recognition, just in case. It's not like it had been a large party. Or like it's a large ship, for that matter. It's not out of the question that David's already met Nicky, or Joe. Or both of them. ]

Have you met him?

[roseapothecary]

Nope, um. Nope.

[ Being held feels good so David doesn't prickle too much, and even though he isn't the best with names (he's much better with faces, at least, he's not completely dismissive) he's sure he hasn't come across a man that goes by 'Nicky'. He knows he'd have remembered that. ]

What's, uh... Special? About him?

[ He has to ask because Patrick clearly wants to tell him, though he can't think why it's coming up out of the blue. ]

[buttonface]

Special?

[ Well. He guesses. Otherwise he wouldn't have bothered telling David about him, right? It's still kind of a weird word choice, though. ]

He just -

[ He hesitates. It's kind of hard to explain, is the thing. Because so much of what they'd talked about had been David. David, and the bond, and the struggles of navigating everything life had thrown at them lately, so early in their marriage. He doesn't want David to think Patrick had been complaining about him. Or that he's unhappy. It's just...hard, sometimes, everything that they've had to deal with, and it had been nice to talk about it with a third party who got it. ]

We just really hit it off, you know?

[ And that had been nice, too. Making friends, or at least a potential friend. He still doesn't have too many of these here. And he's so pleased about that, still, that he pushes right on without really picking up on whatever emotional reaction David might have had to that inadvertently vague, potentially misleading statement. ]

Anyway. He's - he's here with his husband. We were thinking it might be nice if all of us had dinner sometime.

If - if you want to, I mean. There's no pressure.

[roseapothecary]

[ It's a good thing that David is actually good at staying quiet and listening when he's overwhelmed because Patrick's long moment of hesitance and then his unfortunate choice of phrasing immediately after continues the pileup of those old anxieties like dominos. His face is slightly turned away from Patrick so his growing grimace isn't as obvious, but their connection probably feels like the empathetic equivalent of an angry bee hive. ]

U-uh huh?

[ His mind has gone right to the stumbling dance they'd done around Jake and even before that, the bad communication they'd had around Ken and David's misguided urge to try and keep Patrick by self-sabotaging their unspoken monogamy, but thankfully none of those thoughts have settled properly before Patrick finally gets to his point. ]

Oh. Oh! [ David can suddenly feel his face again and it's very, very hot. ] His husband.

[ David's assumptions have just been flipped like a pancake, but it's unclear how the information is reworking itself in his head. What the hell is going on here, exactly? ]

Pressure? [ Why would he feel pressure about anything concerning free food? Unless... ] Oh, um. Just to be clear? Is this... is this 'dinner' anything like the old 'whiskey' metaphor? Or...?

[buttonface]

[ But Patrick's gone quiet, because now that he's said what he needed to say, the mess of emotions he's feeling through the bond has become impossible to ignore. He's just still not sure quite what the problem is, at least until David asks about whiskey and the memory of that quickly-abandoned evening with Jake comes flooding back. ]

What? No!

[ How the hell had he gotten that? Patrick stares at him, or at least at the top of his head, utterly bewildered. ]

It's - it's dinner. Just dinner.

Did you - did you think - [ Wait. No. Is that even the right question? ] Did you - do you want it to be - whiskey?

[ Not that it's going to be. It's not going to be. It's just dinner. ]

[roseapothecary]

No!! I haven't even met them!

[ And yet it's times like these that David is glad for their new empathy bond because he can instantly tell that Patrick isn't just putting him off the scent or trying to deny anything. Quickly, David squirms up so he can look at Patrick but he can't wipe away his own wide-eyed, slightly defensive expression. ]

You were the one making it sound so weird and serious! [ His head bobbles a little with the following because he's too warmly bundled up in their blanket to use air quotes properly: ] You just 'met someone' and 'really hit it off'?

[ And now that he's saying his collected evidence out loud, it really does sound a little hysterical and flimsy. Maybe. He presses his lips together and his cheeks puff out for a second before he goes on. ]

Why else would I turn down dinner? Um, have we met?

[buttonface]

[ All Patrick can do is stare, slackjawed. Okay, yes, he can see how his words could have been misinterpreted differently. In a different context. In a different world, where he was single and looking and not married to the person he'd been telling the story to.

It's a while before he can even speak, mouth working silently as David gets out what he wants to say. When he does answer, his voice is low and intense. ]

I didn't go to that party to pick up guys. I wouldn't - I'm not going to - you're my husband.

[ This is going great. He pauses, long enough to close his eyes and take a breath. ]

I met a person. At a party. Because that's what you do at parties. And we were talking, and he brought up his husband, and I thought - I thought it might be nice to have - for us to have some friends here, David. Another couple. Like us.

sometime during network fuckery

[buttonface]

Could you pick up Henry from school? I'm still at the doctor's with Liza, she thinks it's an ear infection. Ugh

Love you xx

[roseapothecary]

[ David stares at that message. For a long time. He hasn't yet had the chance to learn that not all the mysterious future texts flying around the network come from a future he'll experience. In fact, it takes him a while to figure out that this is from the future at all.

When he does, it's... upsetting? Terrifying? Sort of... adorable?

It's all of the above and thanks, he hates this strange misfire the most out of all of them. ]

Patrick.

Who are these people.

[buttonface]

[ unfortunately the disadvantage of being Present Patrick is that he has no idea what kind of chaos Potential Future Patrick is currently wreaking on his husband's mental state. ]

Who are what people, babe?

[roseapothecary]

These!

These people!

[ He doesn't want to use the word 'children', so he just sends a copy of the message back to Patrick. ]

Are these... what I think they are?

[buttonface]

[ Ah.

At first all he can to is stare at the message in utter bafflement. It says it's from him, but it doesn't make any sense. He doesn't know a Henry, much less a Liza.

But despite David's insistent question, it's actually secondary to the context. School. Ear infections. It's easy to see why his husband's freaking out.

So it's Patrick's job to not freak out, to keep as calm and collected as possible. ​]

I don't know, David.

I didn't send this.

[roseapothecary]

Well, someone did!!

Someone who... knows that if I had to pick a girl's name, it would be Liza.

I mean, that's just classic.

[buttonface]

[ Classic. Only David would say that, and Patrick's lips twitch up in a fond smile despite...whatever this is.

Wait. ]

My dad's middle name is Henry.

David, don't panic, okay? Where are you?

[roseapothecary]

Don't panic???

We're naming children after parents and cabaret stars in the future and you're telling me not to panic?

post-thor's dick

[buttonface]

[ Losing his mind and self-control to aphrodisiacs once had been unlucky and unfortunate. Twice, and it starts to seem like a personal failing.

He can't get the memory of it out of his mind, the mental image of David's expression when he'd entered the room to find Thor sucking Patrick off, the utterly shameless way Patrick had acted towards both of them. Yes, David had been just as enthusiastic about the whole thing almost immediately, but...that's not the point, is it?

He can't think of what to do. What he could possibly say. How to work up the courage to even look his husband in the eye, much less share a room and a bed with him at the moment.

Which is why he's shoving his few possessions in a small bag in their quarters, still without a plan for what to do or where to go, just knowing he has to get out. At least for a while. ]

[roseapothecary]

[ After finally experiencing it himself, David understands why Patrick had been so distraught the first time, but he still can’t exactly say that he’s been as affected by the entire ordeal. His past certainly plays a huge part in that, he’s aware enough to realize, but especially in retrospect it’s been clear to him what happened. He understands why he’d walked in on what he did and why none of them had had the sense to stop and have a discussion about it first, and since absolutely nothing about the memories that have resulted from that day are bad, David hasn’t exactly felt the need to rush into a conversation about it. It was fun, it’s over, and it probably(? he’s just assuming but with what he knows about his husband, he can’t imagine there’s a chance it will become a regular occurance) won’t happen again.

And honestly, he’s been in a pretty good mood since.

So when he walks into their room to find Patrick packing a bag, his eyebrows shoot up his forehead but not at all for the correct reason. He’s made an altogether different assumption. ]

Oh, are we moving? Have they finally switched us to a bigger apartment? Oh, thank god. This was like being trapped in your studio all over again.

...Cute as it was, I mean.

[buttonface]

[ Patrick glances up at him, his expression so serious it's like it's physically leaching fun out of the room, but he looks back down at the toiletries he's tucking into his bag again almost immediately, still unable to maintain eye contact. ]

We're not moving.

[ A fractional pause, and he sighs. ]

...You're not moving.

[roseapothecary]

[ David immediately feels the chill in the expression and he checks himself, pausing in the middle of the room to glance around like there's something to see that will clarify the situation for him. But there's nothing, except the noted absence of some of Patrick's things (little that they have). ]

Huh?

[ And then, unsure, as though it can't possibly be right: ]

Wait-- we're being split up? Why?

[ Because it couldn't possibly be Patrick making that decision, could it? ]

[buttonface]

[ Of course this can't be easy. Even so, Patrick hadn't expected to have to spell things out to quite this extent. Why is David acting so clueless, after everything that had just happened? If anything, he should be surprised to have found Patrick still here at all.

He shakes his head, still staring down at his bag rather than looking at David. ]

No. They're not - no one's splitting us up.

I just...

[ Despite everything, despite how he hardly feels worthy of being in the same room as David at the moment, he doesn't actually want to go. Just the idea is making him miserable, and he sighs again, fingers tightening on the canvas of his bag as he stares sightlessly down at it. ]

I just thought I'd...find somewhere else to be for a while.

Give you - give us both some space.

[roseapothecary]

[ The longer Patrick takes to clarify what he means, the more the sense of dread has time to build inside David. He's drifted a little closer to Patrick inside their room, just on the instinct of wanting to be close to him, but when he finally explains what he's doing, it's like the bottom of David's stomach drops out. ]

Why...?

[ Instantly David starts running recent events through his mind and although he sticks on that day, he can't figure out what's caused this. Was it because he'd shown up and interrupted Patrick and Thor? Because he hadn't somehow found a way to stop it? Was it something else entirely? Was he being dumped? ]

Did I do something!?

[ He sounds hopelessly and desperately confused and he just stands there, mouth hanging open, waiting for a better explanation. ]

[buttonface]

[ Why? Why? It's too much. Patrick drops the socks he'd been holding and turns to face David, a pained, unhappy expression on his face. ]

I did something.

[ Which both of them know. He stares at David, disbelieving, trying and failing not to hate himself. ]

I - You found - you walked in on me with another man, David.

I was getting a blowjob from our neighbor.

[ Remember?? When that happened?? Patrick sure does. ]

[roseapothecary]

[ Oh. Ohhhhh.

...Fuck.

David's stomach sinks again, but there's a coiling panic there too that he resolutely ignores for the time being. ]

Um. Yeah? So?

[ David crosses the rest of the room in a little rush but doesn't presume to reach out to Patrick. He can tell that his husband doesn't want to be touched at the moment. ]

I mean, it would have been nice if you'd warned me, but--

Have you forgotten everything else that happened!? It's not like you were alone.

[ And it isn't like David could have stopped any of it if he'd tried, so he has to assume that it felt much the same for Patrick. ]