#Polycule: Come Kiss Me Sweet and Twenty

[luxthecreator]

—𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 01: 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖇𝖊 𝖆 𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒

𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟸.𝟽𝚔 𝚊𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚡 𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚜: polycule lads, reader-insert, LADS men x reader, SFW, romance, fluff, comfort, self-aware LADS men.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝙰𝙾𝟹

You were at the grocery store looking for your favorite drink and ready to grab an extra pair of cans for your friends waiting outside, talking and chilling as your usual hangout went, that doesn’t discard the craziness though.

While looking for the flavor you were craving the sound of something falling from the shelves behind you disturbed your thoughts. Turning around you spotted an old man trying to grab the can of food that had just fallen. You approach him and grab the can and extend your arm towards him and give him a small smile.

“Here you go si-”

“Always helping everyone in need right, kitten?” your smile freezes.

The man takes the can smiles back and goes his merry way while you stand frozen in place.

“That voice…It couldn’t be, right? Am I hallucinating? Because that would be the only explanation”. You thought to yourself.

“What? another cat bit your tongue, sweetie?” and you turn, thinking that you might faint in that instant.

“Sylus…” you whisper almost out of breath because: what the hell is going on?

“Yes…but don’t use it so casually. You’ll make it go to waste. What was that cute little pet name you called us? Oh, right. Cuore, caro, love, my darling, my…beloved, and all the ones you could name on the earth. You really are cute. Caleb may have been right in the idea of just snitching you. Whenever eyes befall upon you, everyone ends up wanting you, kitten” he sighs “Oh, what to do with you, hmm?”

While he had his monologue, you still couldn’t understand or believe what was going on. But your feet and the rest of your body moved towards him. Your hand gently went beside his cheek waiting for his consent. He looked at you with those gorgeous red eyes. At first with a laughing smirk, he always got when saying something he found amusing, but then he tenderly inclined his head towards your hand nuzzling it and then grabbing your forearm and kissing the palm of your hand.

“You are here. You are real…I— Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Do you still have your evol? Where are the others? Is this your blood or some—” before you could finish his hand was over your mouth and his eyes had a spark you couldn’t catalog right there but it seemed fond.

“Kitten, you just made me lose two hundred dollars. You couldn’t wait just twenty more seconds to be the worry and warm person you are, huh?” He kissed your forehead and whispered over it. Something about our dear doctor going to be a bitch about knowing you more than the others.

“C’mon sweets. Everyone is okay and waiting outside the store with your…friends.” that last part got you.

Oh lord, my friends.

How would you explain this madness to them. How could you even begin. Before your mind could spiral more Sylus grabs you by the cheeks squeezing them till you are pouting and making you look into his beautiful red eyes. “Nah uh, kitten. There are no spirals this time around. We got this. Let us handle everything, okay?” you could only nod no words coming from you, but he took the answer and looked around as if to see if someone could be watching you both. Once the area seemed clear: he just got closer giving you an eskimo kiss just like the ones you loved so much to do and with that you just smiled back at him. He really did know you. You just couldn’t figure out how so…

“What where you up too, sweetie?” he looks towards the shelf were the frizzy drinks you were fascinated with were displayed.

“Oh,” you suddenly remembered why you were here to begin with “I wanted to buy some drinks for me and my friends. One of them had felt a little down and dehydrated so I thought these ones could be good for her.” You explain while taking your two favorite flavors in your hand. Your brain is still trying to get a hold of what was happening.

You feel his arms surrounding you, the butterflies feeling in your stomach feeling like a war. You tense for a second before leaning on him.

Fuck it. If it’s a dream this one is the best ever and I’m going to enjoy it. And if it turns out this is all real, I can panic tomorrow.

“Very you, my heart. C’mon let’s put this on the basket.”

“But we don’t have a—”

Before you could finish the sentence the familiar black-red mist appeared and with it a basket was now in Sylus’ hand.

“That’s cheating!” you whisper fauxing indignation. Almost making the motion of clutching your pearls. “Mister, what if someone saw you doing that?” He just laughed back and when his eyes opened back, he just whispered “fuck it” before kissing you tenderly. Normally you don’t like kisses, but this one felt different. You liked it. For the first time you didn’t want the kiss to end.

“Caleb is going to want my head when he realizes he didn’t get your first kiss out of us.” he whispered again a sly grin on his lips and mischief glittering his eyes and yours widen with realization.

“Are the others here too? Are they okay? Please tell me all of you are okay and not hurting by whatever madness brought you here”. You were worried. What if Caleb’s arm was hurting him more or Zayne. What if his evol was hurting him and the others Xavier and Rafayel.

“Kitten, I adore you, but you just made me lose two hundred dollars. No that I really care about the money, but the pride is different.”

You tilt your head asking as to what the man was referring too.

“You couldn’t wait one more minute for me to win couldn’t you, kitten?” He looks at you fondly. Almost like he wanted to suppress a laugh.

“You betted on me?”

“Not you per se, but in how much time it would take you to ask about if we were okay. Safe and sound, or whatever”. His hand without the shopping basket made a movement like lessening the importance of what he said.

You slap his arm softly even if he let a sound and made a face like you were the strongest person alive and had just slapped him with all force. What a fox. You thought but it was as if you had said it out loud because he let out that characteristic chuckle of his.

After laughing he said:

“C’mon, sweetie. They must be buzzing with excitement to see you and your friends must have a lot of questions”.

“Why did you say friends like that?” You asked almost laughing as his face micro contorted. “Oh, I see. You are still testing them. What… Are you going to ask Mephisto to follow them?” there was a pause and then the realization hit you. “Oh my god. You totally are!” he just shrugged his shoulders while you just wanted to burst out laughing. “You won’t find much, my love”.

A quick kiss was put on your forehead after that. “You will drive me crazy if you keep being you. C’mon select your favorites and let’s go before they send our dear doctor to find us”.

You took the cans and you both went to checkout. Once it was your turn you smiled at the young lady working there.

When her eyes went to Sylus her smile widened.

“¡No puede ser! ¡Tu cosplay está increíble!” Sylus looks back at you with a superiority smirk on his face.

“Thank you, kitten. I only wear the best”. His eyes never left yours but when you start blushing you turn your head, quickly realizing there that the poor girl was also in the same state as you.

Oh, Sylus the effect you have on people.

With that thought in mind, you start to take out your wallet and credit card, but before you could pass it Sylus had already passed through his.

“Hey, I was going to pay for that! And also, how do you even have that?”

“C’mon my heart. You really thought any of us would let you do that?” You were totally gonna have a comeback to that but really thinking of their personalities the answer was clear.

They wouldn’t let you pay if they were with you and even if they weren’t they would find a way to make you not pay. Sylus being the number one in the list.

The other query remained unanswered, but you thought you would bring it back later.

“By the way, kitten. This is yours to keep, you still have space open in your wallet of yours. What a perfect coincidence isn’t it?” You weren’t sure if he was mocking you or if that was just Sylus’ modus operandi.

You just sigh and take the card. You knew you wouldn’t win that battle. But the war… maybe for that, you still had a chance if you played well with your cards. You would try, at least.

***

Once you were out of the store you spot them instantaneously as if you knew where they would be or as if you could sense them. As weird as that may sound.

You run to them. Caleb being the first to react, almost shoving Rafayel, who was also quick to spot you back.

“Hey there, pipsqueak” he says while he gives you a massive bear hug. And every worry you had melts aways. You sigh contently.

This feels like home, this is home. you thought.

“Hi, I’m home”. You don’t know where that sentence came from, but it felt good to say it in the moment.

“You always were” he answers kissing where your jawline meets your cheek and neck. You laugh with the tickles it gives you.

“I see”. He whispers at your reaction with a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Hey! Don’t keep her all to yourself. I’ve been waiting ages for this moment. Hey there, miss bodyguard or in this case you aren’t one in the same way that you know…but cutie still suits you perfectly. Maybe hottie, too much? I’ll find one don’t worry” he ponders with that sassy little pose he always makes for only him to turn back towards you and wink at you while smiling. “Welcome home, my beloved wife.”

“Hey! How come she is your wife only?” Caleb asked more like he wanted to object to that statement.

“I never said only mine, you stupid apple”. Rafayel retorted almost looking exasperated.

Before they could continue with their shenanigans you pull everyone in for a hug. You couldn’t be happier. This was real. A dream come true.

Thank you, thank you. You thought almost wanting to cry with happiness.

“Wait. I still want to know how you got here. Are you all okay? Caleb, your arm, does it hurt?” you take the hand he can’t feel you with and you hold it tenderly before bestowing a tender kiss on the palm. “I hope it doesn’t hurt, but if it does… that this kiss makes you feel better”.

“You are making this very difficult, pipsqueak. Can’t we just get home already? We could just take her in bridal style and get out of here, you know?”

“Caleb!” Zayne admonishes. “Not the time or place. Her friends are here too” he reminds everyone.

Oh gosh, your friends. They saw all of this. Now you swore you would look like a red tomato when you pulled out of the hug. How would all of you explain the situation. One of them knew your love for these characters. But the others were clueless, at least to your understanding, they were.

“Let us do the working, love” Zayne whispers into your ear as if he could sense what you were going through.

“We were going to get some bobba tea. Maybe we could talk over that?” your friend proposes, the one that was more aware of how weird this situation was.

You don’t know from where they came from, but Luke and Kieran almost spooked you to death by screaming:

“Hell yeah!! Please, boss. Can we get bobba tea? Look, even mistress wants one”.

“Mistress?” You ask, but you are presented with Sylus being in-between blushing and wanting to kill the twins”.

“Hey, don’t go killing our kids now”. You joke seeing the tender exasperation come into his features.

“Let’s go before you two keep embarrassing me more”. A wave of happy exclamations came after that statement.

You waited till everyone was occupied marching towards the bobba tea shop to take one of Sylus’ hands and one from Zayne. You smiled at them both, knowing you could relax because they had everything under control. And as a thank you, bring both hands to your lips and kiss them, murmuring a small thank you in-between kisses.

“No thanks needed, my heart”. Zayne said looking at your eyes. You were undecided between losing yourself in them or shy away from the intense look of a man who seemed to love you dearly.

“Not time to get shy, kitten. We owe you an explanation before you get into crazy ideas in that pretty little head of yours”. Sylus said before kissing both you and Zayne and leading you three towards the store where Luke and Kieran seemed to be torturing with talk to the poor cashier. You still wondered how could they know your native language, but assumed you could add that question to your list of how, why and when that you would pull later on.

Before entering to save the poor worker, you remembered something important you needed to ask the other questions could wait but not this one so you stop your steps making them come to a full stop and look back at you.

“Where’s Mephisto? I know him being here would be weird but is he here or did he stay you know…on the game”. You ask almost shyly.

Sylus grabs you by the shoulders, turning you towards a tree at the center of the mall where two shiny and familiar red eyes looked back at you.

“Hi, Mephisto!” you wave at him small and shy not wanting people to notice. Even your exclamation was just a whisper that only you three heard.

“Now that you know the bird is okay, can we go and get that damn drink before they get us betted from this place? Not that I would necessarily come back here to shop”. Sylus said scrunching his, looking cute to your eyes and Zayne’s “Too noisy”.

You laugh tenderly before answering him: “Welcome to a mall, my love” you say semi mockingly. You hear Zayne trying not to laugh beside you.

“You are such a brat. C’mon, let’s get that bobba you’ve been craving. Tigers brown sugar, correct with the lowest of ice and sugar?” Sylus isn’t even looking at you while he opens the door for you both.

“How do you—” you cut yourself from completing the question “Have you been spying on me? Sylus, have you seen me every hour of the day? That’s so Edward Cullen of you. I hope you stopped when I was in the bathroom or changing, you psycho”.

“Edward who?”

“As punishment for spying on me we are totally gonna watch the movies” You smile leaving him at the door with the word stuck in his mouth.

You totally got the last word on that one and knowing that a bratty little smirk appeared on your face while you took a seat at the two tables that were functioning as a big one for your not quite small group anymore. You sat between Rafayel and Xavier taking one hand each and caressing them smiling tenderly when they looked back at you.

“Even if this is weird. I’m glad you are all here, thank you for being here” you whisper, knowing that all of them heard you for the way the hands you were holding squished yours back softly.

---End Chapter 01---

𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃 𝚄𝚂 𝙱𝚈 𝚃𝙸𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰 𝙲𝙾𝙵𝙵𝙴𝙴!

[johannstutt413]

(requested by calligomiles; continuing from this post)

“Hey, Zima?” Gummy called from the kitchen. “Should they be here by now?”

“I dunno what the Doctor’s hours are. They’ll get here when they get here.” The general was reclined on their double-wide futon, a book balanced in her lap and one earbud blasting Ursan rock music.

She shrugged, busying herself with casing sausages. “As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.”

“Do you think she’ll share better than I do?” Zima closed her book and got off the futon. “Or do you think she’ll like the Doctor more than us?”

“Why do you say that?” The master chef wiped her hands on a towel to get the worst of the meat residue off and met the general as she was walking into the kitchen.

Once she was in grappling range, Zima wrapped both arms around her and sighed. “You saw how happy she was with the Doctor’s attention. I’ve never seen her like that.”

“I haven’t either,” Gummy admitted, squeezing her closer, “but I’m sure she’s happy for us, not just herself. Don’t worry about it too much, dear; they’ll come home, we’ll have a nice dinner, and then we’ll show the Doctor we play as hard as we work. It’s all gonna be fine, ‘kay?”

“You really are a teddy bear...Thanks.” The general honestly didn’t want to let go, but she was hopeless as a cook and dinner wasn’t that long from now, so she reluctantly left Gummy to it after a drawn-out kiss.

She’d always worried about Gum feeling left out, since at first Istina had paid Zima substantially more attention, but now she wondered if she’d overdone it and accidentally left Istina feeling left out. Since they’d made it to Rhodes Island, their doting defender had done her best to make them all feel at home with the organization and keep their spirits up, but much like her own tough shell, the general knew their time in Chernobog had taken its toll, and on top of that, she still had her parents to fret for. The girl was a ball of all of the USG’s anxieties wrapped up in kitchen grease and grins, barely keeping it together on especially hard days but never cracking. Hopefully, having the Doctor around would give her a chance to let go of some of that...for all she did for them, she deserved all the love she could stand.

And then there was Istina. There’d been a real fire there before, a passion Zima now tied to the fact that she’d been their rescuer during their first meeting, but as time passed, for one reason or another, that passion had smoldered into something more complicated. Istina was self-contained, thoughtful, concerned with questions of philosophy that sometimes got in the way of the fiery revolutionary spirit that dwelled in the general’s very bones. Whereas all Zima cared about was getting rid of the corrupt government that controlled Ursus’ settlements, Istina wanted to be sure they could replace it properly and swiftly after crushing their opposition, which meant having discussions about topics she’d rather not have to think about...But she was the Winter General, after all. Nothing should be impossible for her, and so she read everything she could that could make her the leader her friends - no, her nation - needed her to be. It was a lot of pressure, and oftentimes it was the two people she loved most dearly that were the victims of that pressure, something Gummy simply shrugged off while Istina fanned the flames with contrarian argumentation meant to “make her a better debater.” If only she could do a better job at timing.

Speaking of timing.

“And we’re here.” Istina walked through the door, the Doctor behind her. Was it Zima’s imagination, or did they both seem a little less put together than when they’d gone to the Doctor’s office? “Gummy’s cooking - that’s the amazing smells in the air right now - and Zima- well, there she is.”

“Evening. Make yourself at home.” The general’s mask fell into place as she went back to her book, tilted on the futon so she could watch the pair go about things.

The first thing to happen was that Istina walked over to her for a welcome-home embrace. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Well, that was disarming. Zima rested her head on her right-hand’s shoulder. “How’s the new job?”

“We um...we didn’t get a lot of work done.” The heat from her blush said as much. “I was going to wait until we all could together, but one thing led to another, and-”

The general sighed. “You don’t have to explain, it’s fine. Gummy, how long do you think dinner’ll be?”

“Twenty minutes, give or take?”

“Thanks!” She held her gaze for a dragged-out second. “After we eat, the four of us need to have a talk.”

Istina nodded. “I thought as much. In the meantime, I want to try and finish Gyle’s Pauldron before dinner.”

“Um, hey, where should I put my jacket? And my shoes, while I’m at it. This carpet looks soft.”

“I’ll show you.” Zima’s left hand lingered for a shoulder squeeze before she went to help the Doctor settle in. “Shoes can go wherever so long as we aren’t going to trip. Jacket can go on one of those hooks or on the back of a chair. We don’t care much about keeping the place neat outside of meetings with our backers.”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “Backers? As in the people supporting the revolution?”

“Revolution isn’t the best word for it,” Istina mentioned from her perch on the futon. “Ursus’ governing body lost its right to rule some time ago, so we don’t recognize its current facade of governance as anything but a surface-level deception while those in ‘power’ enjoy its privileges.”

“...Basically, you’re right, but like she said, they sucked way too much at their job by the time we were born for us to give them a modicum of recognition beyond threat analysis. Speaking of, Doctor, I need you to tell me something, and be completely honest with me when I do.”

She nodded. “I’d never dream of anything but.”

“Did you join this polycule for a relationship with all three of us?” It stung, but she had to know. “Or just for Istina?”

“General!” Her right-hand looked up from her book, stunned.

The person with the unenviable task of answering that question thought for a moment. “I don’t know, Zima. She convinced me with her rhetoric, and I may find myself drawn more to her than you or Gummy, but I haven’t spent enough time with you all to know for sure.”

“Spoken like a politician.” Zima nodded to herself. “Or even a general.”

“Hey, Doctor, can you come here for a second? I want you to try something!” Gummy called from the kitchen, presumably for a taste test.

She took a step towards the kitchen, hesitated, and then turned back to Zima. “I’ll be right there, Gummy. Just one thing before I do...”

“Hmm? Why are you loo-” She’d closed the gap and, with a twinkle in her eye, kissed her cheek. “Ah...huh?”

“Hehe.” The Doctor booped Zima’s nose with a triumphant grin and went to the kitchen to join Gummy.

Istina giggled. “She turns on a dime when she wants to. One minute she’s shy, the next she’s tricksy, and right after she’s sweet and tender...If she’d said she was only here for me, what would you have done?”

“...I don’t know.” She sunk into the couch next to her. “I don’t wanna think about it now that it’s resolved.”

“You would’ve missed me that much?”

Zima managed a nod, but nothing further for a minute or so, before giving in and sitting next to Istina, pulling her into her lap and kissing her cheek. “More, even.”

“I see.” Istina leaned back, smiling as her head met the general’s shoulder. “Hey, um...I’m sorry if-”

“Shush. No think, just cuddle.”

“...Okay.”

A few minutes later, the Doctor carried Gummy out of the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready! Aww...Hey, Gum, can we join the cuddle pile before we eat?”

“Yeah, but just for a minute!” She kept talking as her courier tried running with an entire Ursan in her arms. “It’ll cool down really quickly-”

“Incoming!” She turned her forward dash into a backward stumble, landing next to the other pair with a smile on her face.

Istina and Zima shared a glance before nodding to themselves. “Gum?”

“On it!” Gummy shifted her weight and knocked the Doctor on her back before making space. “Ready!”

“Wait, did you three plan this out?”

They joined the pile, the general kissing the Doctor’s cheek as she settled in. “We wanted to be ready. Just a couple minutes, Gum?”

“...Maybe longer.” Her head was quite comfortable against the Doc’s chest. “I can reheat it if we need to...Zima, you have to try this. She’s like a pillow.”

“Alright, scoot over, then...Istina, I’m guessing you knew about this?”

She smiled, content with an arm each from the Doctor and Gummy around her, hers around the Doctor’s neck. “Mmhmm.”

“...I’ll reheat food later.” Gummy yawned. “You’re so comfy~”

“And you’re all so warm. I’ll never have to worry about the AC ever again. Ahh...Hey, Zima? Wasn’t there something you wanted us all to talk about?”

Zima shook her head, giggling under her breath at the resulting jiggle. “Not anymore.”

“Good, because my brain is fried.” She sighed. “Wake me up when we’re ready to eat, okay?”

“Aye~” They chorused, each with something entirely different on their minds...