#and lil bro never walked away from the tv.. it made funny noises and had pretty pictures...

[todayisafridaynight]

ichinyan still likes dragon quest. by the way.

[thewalkingfanfictions]

I’m Not Gay -- Sam Winchester x Male!reader

I'm Not Gay — Sam Winchester x male!hunter!reader

Part One / Part Two

Description: Forced out of his motel room by his sister when she and a stranger burst through the door playing tongue wars, (Name) decides to go for walk, where he runs into Sam, tall, handsome, smart, and no, (Name) definitely doesn’t like guys, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Warning: Some internalized homophobia, references to sex, and some cussing. Supernatural-themed gore and violence (they fight vampires)

Genre: Fluff, I guess? A bit of angst in there somewhere probably, too, since I have no self control.

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Male!Reader

A/N: I have no idea what the fuck this is. This is such a crack fic. Reader has a sister named Lidia, for reasons that I do not know.

Words without A/N: 2483

Masterlist

<———————>

"You sure you don't wanna come with, (name)?"

"No, Lidia, I'm just gonna stay here and research. 'Sides, socializing is for psychopaths."

Lidia (Last name); ninety-three pounds of redheaded sarcasm, anger issues, and badassery. Also my sister, senior to me by four years ("and three months, (name)!") Also, also, a total extrovert with a thing for trying to force her introverted little brother to socialize. Disgusting.

"C'mon, (nickname), you need to get laid! I could totally find you a pretty, butch boy and—"

"Lidia, for the last time, I'm not gay!"

For the last several years, my darling, amazing, delightful (taste the sarcasm?) big sis has been living under the (totally unfounded) belief that I am a homosexual. I don't know where she seems to have gotten that notion, as I am not. (Summer camp doesn't count, dammit!)

"Mhm, keep tellin' yourself that, lil' bro. But, fine, if you won't come with me–" she dramatically picked herself up from the seat where she'd been fancying up her makeup–"I guess I'll just have to go without you. How terrible, little old me, scared and alone, walking down the road after dark without someone to protect me," she pouted.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny. We both know you could kick anyone who tried to bother you's ass without even looking."

Giggling, she picked up her bag (and a few blades) and turned towards the door. Looking back at me one more time, she gave me a middle-fingered salute before about-facing and heading through to the outside.

"See ya later, loser," she called back before the door closed all the way.

Even though she was already gone, I still mumbled a quiet "punk" under my breath after her, before setting off to start my research.

————

Three hours, several coffee refills, a few dead ends, and one (minor) mental break down later, I was really no closer to finding the thing we were hunting, and there was a crash outside the hotel door.

Lidia had been out for a while, there was a chance it was just her returning from whatever bar she had gone to, shit faced and unable to walk correctly, therefore knocking something into the door or the like, or, my least favorite option, it was something supernatural or other here to kill me.

Moving to grab a gun, I silently stalk towards the window beside the door. There's a few more dull thuds on the door, and some odd, wounded-animal type noise comes through the wood. Cautiously, I move the curtain a few centimeters, just enough to peer through without being spotted.

There, pushed up against the door, is my sister, some idiot attached to her at the lips, with hands going places I'd rather not think about when it comes to my sibling.

Grimacing, I turn around, shove my gun into the waistline of my jeans, and move to quickly grab my laptop and a few books. Maybe if I hurry I can get out of here before they actually start fucking, this time.

Hurrying towards it, the door suddenly opens, and in spills a very shirtless (and totally not attractive, what?) man, and my sister, who was now working on pulling her bra off. They shuffle towards one of the beds, and somewhere in the back if my head I register that its my bed that they're going towards as I awkwardly move around them, trying not to alert them of my presence. I didn't wanna deal with that conversation again.

Finally getting all the way to the door, I carefully pulled it open as not to bother the two, and backed out of the doorway. Glancing up, I got a full view of Lidia's tit before I managed to actually get out of the door.

I quietly closed the door, making sure that the click of the hinges was quiet enough that it wouldn't disturb the couple inside.

Pausing for a second, I couldn't help the dramatic shiver that rattled my body.

"That is-- that is far more of her than I ever needed to see," I winced.

Turning to go find a place to settle down while my sister and the stranger... did their thing, I came face-to-face with a brick wall. Well, more face-to-chest, actually, and brick wall wasn't quite right, I guess. He was closer to a tank. Even at the few paces away from me that he stood, he still seemed incredibly tall. Long-ish brown hair curled around his ears, and his face was undoubtedly attractive. A small smile (that I definitely did not find adorable, I don't know what you're talking about, I'm totally, definitely, one hundred percent straight) tugged at full lips and his eyes stared down at me questioningly. I could feel an ugly blush climbing up my neck.

"Uh– heh, uhm, my, my– uh my–" my awkward stuttering was cut off when the man huffed a small laugh, and spoke.

"You must be the brother."

...

"Heh?" His smile only broadened at my perplexed stare and he took a few steps closer to me. I couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by the guy's humongous stature, though his face seemed innocent and kind enough. Still, in my line of work, you can never be too careful. I instinctively felt my hand reach for the gun still hidden in my waistband.

"In, uh, in there," he pointed lightly at the door I'd just come out of, "my brother, he's the one with your sister. She was talking about a brother at her motel, I, uh, I guess that'd be you," he finished off, trailing out slightly as he realized he had nothing more to say. It was his turn to blush.

I let myself relax slightly, I didn't think he was so much of a threat anymore.

Smiling slightly, I couldn't not let my eyes glance over him.

Uh, in as purely heterosexual way, obviously.

His shoulders were stupidly broad, and under his denim coat I was sure there had to lay muscle. Before, when I said he was tall, I don't think you really got the full picture. The awning thing that came off the front of the hotel to protect anyone on the sidewalk was probably your standard seven foot high roof; this guys head was only a few inches under it. He was huge. His face was young, but had a whisper behind it that said that he'd seen some things someone his age generally didn't. The dimples on either side of that blindingly bright smile made him just so much more attractive, and I couldn't not find him cute. (Once again, in a totally hetero way, I'm really, definitely, completely Not Gay.)

Figuring that I couldn't stand there and gawk any longer without coming off as creepy, I finally spoke up.

"Uh, yeah, Lidia. And your brother. That was–" I shuddered slightly, "–that was a sight I never needed to see."

He chuckled slightly and took a few steps closer to me. I was still a bit wary, but I let him come closer without pulling a gun on him, anyway.

"Yeah, no, it's not pleasant. He's done the same thing to me before."

I blanched up at him (damn, he really is tall) and thought to the scene that was unraveling right inside the door. Didn't he say he was his brother? I mean, to each your own, but damn—

"No! No, not—" he cut off my train of thought, growing redder by the second. He took a few more steps forward until he was right in front of me, holding his hands up in surrender. "I mean— I meant barging into the room with a partner while I was still there like that, not-not that he's—not that he's done, done that—" I cut him off, wanting to end the poor babbling disasters misery.

Cracking a smile, I laugh gently at him and reach out to touch his arm and make him pause.

"Oh-oh, its okay, calm down man, I getcha, I getch—"

MOAN

My sisters pleasured voice cut me off and made me freeze up, my face burning red.

"Nope, nope, nopety nope nope nope, can we please go anywhere else and continue this conversation? Literally anywhere, oh my fuck, oh my—" I started walking before he could say anything, not wanting to have to suffer through another sound like that.

He chuckled again as I passed him and quickly caught up to me, reaching out to gently grab my arm before I got to far.

"My, uh– we could hang out in my room for a while. 'Till they're, ya know, done," he grimaced and nodded his head towards the room to the direct right of ours. He hadn't seemed dangerous so far, so I mean, why not?

I nodded hesitantly and let the man lead me into the room, noting the fact that his hand didn't leave my arm until the very last second.

He let me in first and closed the door softly behind us. I have never been so thankful that these walls were thicker than any other motel's walls in existence. If I focused hard enough, I could almost imagine that the faint moaning was just sound coming from the little box TV.

The room was set up pretty much the same as ours. The same, mildewy wallpaper, two twin sized mattresses on either side of the room with the same pale comforter tucked around a paper pillow. A few littler things did stick out to me, though. The pre packed buggout bags sitting right at the end of both beds, the laptop that sat on the bedside table with a bunch of papers laying haphazardly around it, a half-drank coffee cup sitting beside it. The scene seemed oddly familiar.

"My, uh," the man's voice cut off my searching eyes, "my name's Sam, by the way. I don't think I said that before." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and I definitely didn't find it cute. At all. Nope.

Sam. It fit him. I like it.

Smiling up at him, (and totally not noticing how his frame would almost take up the entire door frame that he stood beside) I opened my mouth to respond, only to be cut off again by a crash from the room next door and an even louder moan. I grimaced, the awkwardly smiled up at him once again.

"I'm (name), it's, uh, it's nice to meet ya?" How do people socialize again?

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, too." Well that's reassuring, at least he seems just about as nervous as I am.

He stepped forward a bit and awkwardly held his hand out to me, which I accepted with a small, close-lipped smile. The moment our skin made contact, I genuinely didn't want to let go. The warmth of his overly-large hand was intoxicating, and his touch made me oddly giddy.

Looking up into his eyes, I found, was a total mistake. A stunning mixture of smokey hazel and green, small flecks of honey dotted his iris'. His eyes seemed so deep. Seemed so much older than they really were, once again, like he'd seen far more in his life than an average man his age could ever claim. Not to be dramatic or anything, but he was absolutely captivating.

I don't really know how long we sat there and stared at each other, but by the time I finally realized how weird it probably was, and forced myself to look away, I was starting to feel a bit light headed. Let's blame that on lack of sleep and an excess of coffee, and not on whatever was causing my stomach to flutter so dangerously as it was.

"Heh," I looked down towards our feet, my face flushing dramatically. I'm sure by now I'm about as red as a baboons ass, and only flushing redder as I realized that he was still holding my hand.

"Uh-uhm, so, uh, Sam--" I stuttered pathetically, focussing on the hand that still held mine until he awkwardly let go. "--what, uh, what do you do for a living?"

And so the night kicked off just like that. Soon enough, we were both sat cross legged on the bed, sharing stories (all the ones that I could think of that didn't involve murder or monsters) and trading memories. I learned that he had planned to be a lawyer, and was almost done with his course when some unmentioned family drama popped up, and he had to take a sudden leave. I found out that he traveled for work with his brother (a sentence that seemed suspiciously familiar) and that he loved to read. He told me how his girlfriend had died in some terrible house fire only a few months before (my heart definitely didn't freeze up at the fact that he had a girlfriend, shut up) and that he still had nightmares about her. We talked for hours, and, unlike with most people, I never once got bored of it.

I really don't know how long we sat there and chatted, but, by the time the doorframe to the room was vomiting up a sweaty and slightly-drunk older brother, my eyes had started to sag with exhaustion.

"Wa-Sam-Who's this?" Dean (Sam had spoken of him frequently over the evening) slurred slightly, gazing at me with an almost accusatory look. Before I had the chance to respond, Sam was already up and talking, standing between us almost protectively.

"(Name). He's, uh, he's the little brother of the girl you...were with, tonight." He seemed uncertain at exactly what he was saying, but he got the point across.

Being as he was still standing guard in front of me like he was (why on earth was he doing that?), Dean had to lean around him to look at me, which made Sam fidget nervously, for some reason.

"Dean--"

"(Name), you should probably be headed back, it's getting kinda late and I'm sure your sisters wondering where you're at," Dean cut his brother off, leaning further around Sam to look at me. Not gonna lie, he kinda scared me. Standing, I moved to grab the things I'd escaped the room with earlier, and headed for the door, turning back to beckon Sam a good night, I caught sight of them staring at eachother like they were having a silent argument, and just darted out the door, instead of saying anything. Maybe we'd meet again one day.

The air was cold, and it had gotten very dark in the time that I was hidden away in the room with Sam. I walked briskly back to my own room, opened the door with my key, and hesitantly poked my head in, not wanting to wake my sister if she'd fallen asleep.

"So there  you are, (nickname), out getting some dick, were you?"

Ugh.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: That Place Where You Can't Remember and You Can't Forget

Summary: Red is back and things are going swell.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Brotherly Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, More Angst

Warnings:  Implied underage pregnancy. Implied miscarriages. Past Trauma.

~~*~~

Chapter List

What Will Be, Will Be

Something To Say, But Nothing Comes

Can’t Go On, Thinking Nothing’s Wrong

Seldom All They Seem

Voices Are Heard But Nothing Is Seen

Winter Makes You Laugh a Little Slower

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

It was deep into the Underground nighttime when Rus wandered downstairs to get something to eat. He still felt a little achy and not all of it was from being stuck in the cold the day before.

Waking from his post-dinner nap left Rus restless enough for Blue to notice, teasing him about being a squirmy wormy, but there was no good way to tell his bro that the real problem was he was horny, plain and simple, and could he please get the fuck out for a couple hours so he and Edge could make some squelching noises?

Planning wasn’t exactly Rus’s strong suit; the evidence of that preceded him whenever he walked. So it was lucky that Edge more than made up for it. He owed Edge big time for asking Blue if he couldn’t go over to the Librarby for him in search of a particular puzzle book he’d heard was there. It was pretty good as excuses went; they all knew books were in short supply in Underfell. Blue agreed happily, and if there was a certain knowing gleam in his eye lights when he left, eh, Rus wasn’t much of a planner, but he was pretty good at pretending not to see things he’d rather not. It was a gift.

The moment the door closed behind his bro, Rus was on his feet and headed towards the bedroom at the fastest waddle he could manage. Ungainly as he was, he didn’t exactly feel like much of a seducer; his heavy belly was pretty much front and center, not exactly what he thought of as a turn on.

Somehow, Edge didn’t seem to mind. His hands and mouth were as eager as when they were only fucking around, hell, more so, he seemed happy to worship every part of Rus, from his toes to the very top of his skull, wringing out orgasms until Rus could only lay back weakly, trembling against the sheets. He wasn’t an innocent by any definition of the word, but some of the heated things Edge whispered to him in the darkness of his (their?) bedroom left him blushing and craving even more.

That was hours ago, now, Rus had drowsed off while Edge was gently washing him with a lovely, warm washcloth. Now horniness was taking a backseat to hunger, it was always something, wasn’t it?

Rus squirmed free of Edge’s arms as carefully as he could, slipping on his robe as he crept downstairs. He paused at the door, watching as Edge slept on, his sockets closed, the sharp angles of his face relaxed in sleep.

Seeing him made something unnamed in Rus’s soul stir, squeezing so tightly he could hardly breathe. He turned away, letting it ease. Whatever that was would have to be a problem for Tomorrow Rus, because tonight, all he wanted was something to eat.

It was good that he closed the door when he did, because the baby chose that moment to wake up, too. Rus bit back a groan as the baby shifted around, settling right into his pelvic cradle like it was a damn lounger. It didn’t hurt exactly, but it was uncomfortable and the way the kid was wriggling made it feel like they were going to fall down and dangle somewhere between his knees.

“wish i knew when you were gonna put in an appearance, kid,” Rus muttered. “it’d be nice to stick a pin on a date.” He curved a hand under his belly and gave a hopeful nudge, trying to urge his little skitten to move up a little higher. No dice, the baby only shifted and then settled back in with another demanding squirm, the one that meant on no uncertain terms, ‘feed me!’.

Rus sighed and started down the stairs. “yeah, i’m going.”

Seriously, the most frustrating thing about this was dealing with all the unknowns. Undyne did the best she could, but she didn’t know much about skeleton pregnancies. Everything she had she was pulling from old medical journals, but it was looking like they were a little incomplete. For one, she hadn’t known the souling descending would hurt. It didn’t for other Monsters, but then, other Monsters were different. The cost of magic was a lot higher for a skeleton pregnancy, they didn’t have a uterus laying around waiting to get used. On the other hand, they did have the added perk that any skeleton could have a kid since they went with ‘bring your own’ when it came to a body.

Thinking about it made the niggling memories at the back of his mind perk up a little. Undyne hadn’t known it would hurt, sure, but Red had. Red knew an awful lot about soulings and how they descended and--

Before that thought could connect, Rus’s slipper caught on the last stair, tripping him. Even as he started to fall, he flung out his arms to catch himself, split-second thoughts of ‘fuck’ and ‘no’ and ‘not after everything’ swamping him.

But the rush of the hard floor to meet him stopped abruptly, blue magic engulfing his soul, cradling him gentler than he thought possible.

“careful there, mama.”

“red?” Damned creature of the night. It was like Rus thinking about him summoned him up from whatever hole Red crawled into. The living room was dark, but Rus could see the faint gleam of bluish light from the sofa, coming from a darkened lump sprawled across the well-worn cushions, buried in the blanket Rus left there for emergency naps.

“who else?” Red made a hoarse, chuffing sound that might pass as a laugh. “no one else is gonna get past the spells my bro put on your door locks.”

Wasn’t that the truth. He and Blue were both shocked at the layers of protection that Edge insisted on weaving into the door locks, warnings, shieldings, the works. But neither of them protested it; hey, if a little extra protection made Edge feel better about sleeping over, Rus was all for it. Looked like stopping shortcuts wasn’t included in the package, deliberately or not.

The floor was still a couple of inches from his dangling slippers and his soul was starting to get that faint achiness from being gripped for so long. Rus waggled his feet, but Red didn’t seem to get the hint. Heck, he wasn’t even sure how Red managed to catch him before he could fall, anyway.

“hey, unless you’re gonna carry me around like a living backpack, you can let me down,” Rus called. Red made a low sound that seemed to be agreement, because the light pressure on his soul faded, renewed gravity easing him to his feet. The kitchen beckoned, all the delicious leftovers from the enchiladas that Edge and Blue made last night calling to him, but Rus still hesitated.

Something didn’t seem right about the local gargoyle.

Rus made his way over to the light switch and turned it on to the dimmest setting. Even so, a pained hiss came from the sofa, Red slinging an arm over his sockets. Like bare bone was gonna work as a mask? Closer to the sofa, there was a familiar green stink in the air, one that Rus knew very well, indeed.

Okay, yeah, if he had a guess, he was gonna say Red was stoned out of his melon.

“where’ve you been?” Rus asked, amused. The crumpled paper bag on the coffee table offered a clue, even if there were nothing but crumbs inside. “over at muffet’s? please tell me you behaved.”

Red offered another laugh, his arm sliding down to let him peer lazily out. “relax, mama, boss would have my ass if i caused trouble over here in your pretty lil’ world.”

If Edge could pin him down long enough to talk to him, maybe.

But that was a problem those two were gonna have to fix on their own. “didn’t happen to bum a smoke off bunno while you were there, did you?”

That sharky grin of Red’s widened. “mebbe. that a problem, mama?”

Yeaaasssh. A while back, Rus helped Bunno rig the hydroponics for his weed farm and every one of those little plants was babied into maturity. Even half a blunt usually put Rus down for the count and Bunno could be pretty damned generous with his stash.

Ignoring the ‘mama’ thing seemed easier than trying to argue about while Red was blazing trails. “you hungry?”

Sockets slit open, reddish eye lights rolling in his direction, “you offerin’?”

“yeah. let me go warm it up. don’t run off now.” If he was even half as messed up as Rus usually got from it, he probably couldn’t even get his feet facing the same direction if he wanted to.

Red seemed like he knew it, too. That sharky grin of his tipped higher and he closed his sockets again. “do my best.”

The enchiladas were neatly put away in the fridge, just like he’d known they would be. Blue always made a little extra for dinners these days; there was no telling how many might be at the table, plus leaving plenty of leftovers for growing skittens.

Rus was never gonna earn a chef’s hat, but he could manage warming up the goods and dishing it out. The smell was making him drool and the baby was doing a tango up his spine by the time he brought the plates out. He plopped Red’s on the coffee table with a thump and sat on the sofa with his own, ready to dig in. His belly made for a decent tv tray if he kept a hand on the plate. He was still mourning the loss of an entire bowl of oatmeal from an enthusiastic kick sending it flying.

Blue thought it was funny as hell and even Rus bursting into stupid tears hadn’t stopped him from laughing. It was pretty hilarious now and little embarrassing, but at the time, losing that oatmeal had seemed like a devastating blow to his hunger.

He refused to let his enchiladas suffer the same fate.

The blanket was stirring, Red slowly emerging like a creature from the deep. Rus couldn’t hold back a groan of pleasure as he scooped up his first bite, holy shit, when Blue and Edge combined their culinary powers, they made some damned good eats. Red seemed to be in agreement if the way he started chowing down meant anything, slurping down noisy mouthfuls.

The kid probably liked their secondhand version of it, too, given the way they were squirming. Rus winced, rubbing at his roiling belly. Seriously, it was weird watching it. He’d seen other preggers Monsters a time or two and they always seemed to have cute, round little tummies brimming with baby. Meanwhile, Rus’s always looked sort of lumpy depending on what side the baby was leaning on, and seeing it from the outside when a little hand or foot decided to push out was like watching some creepy B movie about alien infestations. Wasn’t exactly comfortable, either.

Through a mouthful of tasty, tasty enchilada, Rus mumbled, “i tell you what, when this kid makes its exit, i got a whole bucket list of things to do. whenever they decide to stop loitering, anyway.”

He wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the lack of scolding brothers. Red was shoveling in the food, wiping his mouth against his shirt as he chewed thoughtfully. “been about twelve weeks now altogether, yeah?”

“yeah.” His thoughts were sort of tired and jangly lately, but that was a date he could calculate to the minute.

Red only nodded, grunting out, “shouldn’t be much longer, then.”

Again, that confident knowledge. Rus wasn’t sure what to do about it, past trusting that Red was right. He tugged up his shirt, pulling it overtop the bump. The bright orange of the ectoflesh was opaque, hiding the little babybones curled up inside.

Those tiny bones getting solid and strong, using up all the tasty magic the food generated as they got ready to come out to the world. Would they look like him or Edge? A combination of the two? They were both tall, so the kid had that going for them, but maybe the kiddo would have crimson eye lights and wee little sharp teeth, all ready to gnaw at the table legs when they started crawling. Maybe they would smile with all the delight Edge struggle to show. Maybe, maybe…

Rus couldn’t wait to meet them.

He stroked a hand over the swollen curve of his tummy contemplatively, “if it’s soon, guess we should start thinking about names.” Edge hadn’t even mentioned names yet, they pretty much stuck with skitten or baby when they talked about them.

Red only snorted, “don’t bother.”

That made Rus raise some mental eyebrows. “why, you have a suggestion?”

“heh, nah,” Red licked his plate clean, something that would have gotten him a sharp knock on the skull if Edge saw him do it. “skeleton babies are born knowing their names. makes it kinda weird that we all go by nicknames now.” His mouth twisted sourly. “well, most of us. but if you run a check, i'm still sans. can call me whatever you want, it’ll always show me as sans. my soul knows what it wants to be called.”

Red rolled his head in Rus’s direction. His eye lights were hazy, diffused, crimson muddied with flecks of green, and Rus wondered again how much he’d had to smoke. “y’can usually do a check on their soul, see what the kiddo’s name is. might be able to do it by now.”

Okay, that was some seriously unexpected news, every damn word of it. Rus didn’t really remember his own childhood much, it was weirdly blurred and by the time his mental film got back on track, Blue was a toddler, already fully cooked and walking on his own. Rus didn’t remember ever checking him to see his name. His bun was still baking in the oven, but here was Red telling him he could check the baby. He hadn’t even thought to try it.

It was tempting, so tempting, but.

Edge was upstairs sleeping with no idea that Rus was down here getting maternity tips from his stoned brother, and Rus could only imagine how hurt he’d be if Rus did it without him. He’d been freaked out at the beginning, but these days Edge was all over the baby, whispering secrets to the little bump that Rus strained to hear, resting gentle hands on the roundness of his belly in the hopes of feeling a kick. The first few times Edge asked, always so stiffly polite cause he didn’t want to presume, and it was so damned precious that Rus finally gave him blanket permission for belly fondling.

So long as he threw in plenty of foot rubs, Rus was on board.

Might be the hardest thing Rus ever did, but he regretfully set that new knowledge aside for sharing time. With any luck, he could catch Edge before he headed off to patrol, give him something to glow about while he was over in Underhell.

Thinking of which...“where’ve you been, anyway? you missed napstatton.”

His needling backfired unexpectedly as Red chuckled darkly, “was here earlier but you and the boss already went to bed. sounded a little busy, so i decided to take in the sights outside.”

Well, that wasn’t horribly embarrassing or anything. Rus could feel his cheek bones warming. “sorry about that.”

Red only shrugged. He sank back against the sofa cushions, propping one sock-covered foot up on the coffee table, his toes curling over the edge. “eh, it’s part of the deal. your magic is all out of whack, making you horny as a moldsmal in pollen season. may as well enjoy it while you can, ain’t gonna be doing much once the kid is here.” He laced his hands over his middle, tipping his skull back, eye lights examining the ceiling. “went to see my alphys today. me and ol’ al go way back. thought she might like a chat.”

That...sounded weirdly ominous.

“yeah?” Rus said, cautiously. He’d never met any of the other residents of Underfell, wasn’t even allowed outside to smoke whenever he’d been there. He knew they were more like their alternates in Undertale than here, in that Undyne was Captain and Alphys a scientist. Given what he knew of Underfell, Rus was pretty sure that’s where the similarities ended. He didn’t know why Red felt the need to talk with his Alphys or why he was bringing it up now. Could be that his pot-swirly skull was just yammering. Sure. Could be. But that wasn’t a bet Rus would put a G against.

Those crimson eye lights slid his way, sharper despite that lingering haze, “you stay out of underfell, you hear me? ain’t no time for picnics or movie nights or whatever shit you all think up.”

Um, yeah. Not a problem. Even if he wanted to take a trip through the void, which he really didn’t, Underfell wasn’t exactly his fave vacation spot; he’d barely ever been there even before the baby bump. Red was still glaring at him, looking for all the world like he was about to drag Rus upstairs and lock him up like some new bald version of Rapunzel.

Hastily, Rus nodded, adding for good measure. “yeah, of course. we’ll keep any picnics local.”

That seemed to be enough. Red relaxed back, his sockets sinking closed again and Rus made a mental note to ask Blue and Edge to maybe not mention his recent storm chasing. He didn’t really want Red to take his bodyguard tendencies to the next level.

Protecting.

“soulings are fragile until they descend.”

“it’s like getting touched with happiness.”

“my baby grew up just fine. little stupid, sometimes.”

Almost-memories churning through his mind, finding each other and connecting. Maybe in the light of day, Rus wouldn’t ask. But here in the deepest part of night, with Red pliable next to him, questions were easy to offer.

"red?" Rus asked, very softly. "how old are you?"

He didn’t open his sockets. “you already know that. same age as you."

"yeah. about fifteen years older than edge, give or take."

That got him a low chuckle. “afraid you're too old for him? don’t worry, he’s older than he should be and you didn’t age past twelve.”

“my sense of humor is my fountain of youth.” Rus hesitated, searching for words that weren’t land mines, "i was still in stripes when blue was born."

"i expect so."

"so were you, weren't you. when edge came." There. Now it was out there, the words hanging between them like glass ornaments and just as delicate. He didn’t know what he expected to happen, anything from Red shortcutting away to him screaming out abuse, offering his own words, these ones designed to cut deeply, damaging not the body but the soul.

He expected that and anything in between. But Red didn’t move, didn’t shout. His expression, smoothed by the best weed Underswap had to offer, didn’t so much as twitch. The only reason Rus even knew he heard was when Red finally spoke, low and gruff.

"papyrus," Red said, deliberately. "don't. let it go."

"'kay," Rus agreed, softly. That was as far as he was willing to pry, anyway. All things considered, he was getting off pretty light. But then Red shifted restlessly, sharpened fingertips scratching at the sofa arm in long, agitated strokes.

“’s why i was so mad, you know.” So softly, Rus straining to hear that raspy whisper. “that he got you knocked up and all. thought he might be like his old man, after all, got some sick fucking need ta spread his seed or some bullshit, and don’t care who it hurts.” His voice thickened, that familiar Hotland accent of his fading back, “the doc tried so many times, so many little soulings that sputtered out, didn’t even get a chance to descend. then there were the other ones, ones that made it further. not far enough, nothing but little bones left to dust. paps was the only one who came out okay.”

For one sickening second, Rus didn’t understand, trying to put those words together in his head in a way that made sense. Having it come into focus didn’t help; his imagination stalled, trying not to picture what Red was telling him. and all he could do was stare at Red in silent horror.

Red only chuckled hoarsely. His jacket was cast off on the floor by the door, a wilted, empty shell, and without it Red seemed smaller, frailer, his thin t-shirt offering little protection. “heh, don’t need to look like that. it wasn't that bad. doc couldn’t do it the old-fashioned way. barely wanted to touch me at all, much less fuck me.” He shook his head, a wobbly roll of his skull atop his neck, “fun fact, you don’t actually need to have sex to make a souling. it’s the buildup of magic you need, some energy to work as baby batter, lots of it. sex is a good way to build it up, is all.”

“that fact isn’t very fun,” Rus said, thinly. He shivered, curling his arms around his belly where his baby rested, still safe inside. His soul felt cold, colder than it had out in the woods.

How Red found another laugh, Rus couldn’t begin to guess, “guess not. anyway, the doc had his own method. and who was i, anyway? stupid kid, that’s who, believing a bunch of bullshit promises cause i wanted off the streets. ended up right back where i started, only with a special toy surprise inside.” Red’s smile softened, his gaze distant, “kid was a pain in the ass. used to get so angry over nothing, scream until he was red in the face if he even got his fucking hands dirty. but he was mine.”

His voice was fierceness itself, tempered with bitter nostalgia. “called him brother. it was easier that way. plenty of orphans on the streets, but me with a baby of my own was gonna raise some questions as to who was knocking up the stripers. brothers were better. safer. doc was gone by then, anyway.” Red tipped his head, slanting an unreadable look Rus’s way and he was a fucking Judge, he could read any expression. “you gonna tell him?”

It took a moment for that question to even register. Rus’s head was busy trying to wrap itself around Red having a baby, having Edge, still in stripes while he lugged around a belly like Rus’s, only without anyone making enchiladas or wrapping him up in cozy blankets to nap, or even having a roof over his head. Red on the streets with his baby, calling him brother until it was believed, until that was the only truth out there.

Tell Edge? Tell him that his fa—brother had been lying to him his entire life. Like Red deserved another weight to shoulder, burdened with possible hate from the one he cared for most for being a scared kid making the choice he thought was best, a choice he never should’ve had to make? Not a fucking chance.

“no,” Rus said at last, “no, i won’t say a thing.”

A flicker of relief crossed Red’s face, his sockets drifting shut again. “thanks.” He laughed again, a low slur of sound, “you know, for a long time, thought you all might be the same with your bros. couldn’t be sure without askin’. guess not, pretty sure by now you’ve never done this before.”

Rus tried on a laugh of his own, weak and watery, but it was there. “nope, this is my first go-around, probably my last, too.”

“heh. yeah. one skitten is good enough for anyone.”

They both fell silent at that, Rus still trying to absorb that unexpected info glut. He didn’t know if confession was good for the soul, but it sure was exhausting and soon enough Red’s skull was drooping to the side, his breathing going slow and even.

Rus didn’t quite dare try to move him to a more comfortable position. Instead, he carefully shook out the blanket and let it drift down over him. In his sleep, Red twitched, burrowing into the soft folds with a drowsy grunt.

Good enough.

He left their plates where they were, ready to beg forgiveness from his bro for the mess rather than risk waking Red by shuffling around too much. He went back upstairs to his room, careful to avoid the creaky stair.

A quick peek showed Edge was still in bed. He’d moved into Rus’s spot, close to the wall and rolled on his side to face it. Rus stripped off his robe and slipped beneath the sheets in his bare bones and belly to curl up behind him. But the expected comfort did not come. Those strong, scarred bones were cooler than to be expected from someone curled up cozy beneath the covers. His breathing was maybe a little too even, playing false.

Fuck.

Very quietly, Rus murmured, “you shouldn’t listen at keyholes. might not like what you hear.”

His soul sank as Edge shifted, proving Rus’s suspicions. He sighed heavily, still facing the wall as he said, evenly, “That is true. Or you may simply hear things you already know.”

Getting rendered speechless was a new trend that Rus couldn’t say he was enjoying.

Whatever Edge thought of his silence, he finally rolled over, his eye lights bright in the darkened room as he studied Rus’s face. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You didn’t sign on to be our secret keeper.”

“no,” Rus blurted, “no, it’s okay, it’s…it’s okay.” It’d be even more okay if he did ask, that was a promise Rus would be more than happy to give. So many secrets and all of them burdened with old hurts. But Edge only nodded slowly, his eye lights drifting down, resting on Rus’s belly.

He reached out, the bed creaking as he shifted, and his hand paused in mid-air, “Would it be all right if I—"

Rus didn’t wait for him to finish, already nodding along as he blurted, “yes.” He wasn’t sure what Edge wanted, but he was good for it. Anything to help settle the ache in his chest; he didn’t want to think of Edge as a child and couldn’t stop. A little baby bones crying over dirty hands while a too-young Red tried to soothe him however he could.

Edge moved closer, curling the lanky length of his body around Rus so that his skull rested on his belly. Like always, the baby seemed to sense Edge was close, wriggling happily as Edge lightly petted the taut ectoflesh, crooning out soft reassurances until the baby settled, calming.

They could probably sleep like that, they’d done it before. Except, maybe they needed something else. Something better, a distraction of goodness. Rus swallowed hard and managed to say, “red said that if we might be able to check the baby by now and...and if we did, we could see their name.”

Edge stilled, his startled gaze flying up to meet Rus’s. “Did you want to—”

“you do it,” Rus said, softly. Edge nodded jerkily, his gaze refocusing on Rus’s belly. When the feeling of being checked came it was distant, a brush-by instead of ticklish focus. Edge made a low, choked sound, and Rus couldn’t take it anymore, bursting out, “well?”

“Lucida,” Edge said. The soft wonder in his voice made Rus’s soul clench and just because he didn’t want to name that emotion didn’t mean he didn’t know what it was. “Her name is Lucida.”

The baby kicked hard as if responding to the name.

Her name. Her.

Their skitten was a her. Rus let out a laugh, uncaring that it nearly sounded like a sob, tasting his own tears as he whispered, “our baby’s name is lucy.”

“Lucy,” Edge agreed, and Rus barely noticed him moving until his mouth was pressed to Rus’s, a fierce kiss tempered by unbearable gentleness and broken only when Edge began scattering those soft kisses over his face.

Their baby, theirs. And she was gonna have daddies and papas and uncles, everything Rus could possibly offer to her, she was gonna have. All of it, safe and warm and loved.

That was a promise.

tbc

[thehyperkraken]

The Suffering of John Marston, 13

A/N: just a cute lil slice o life fic about modern husbands dutch & hosea and their 2 dumb sons and all their sons’ dumb friends :^) warnings include MILD DESCRIPTIONS OF KISSING and ME MERCILESSLY EMBARRASSING JOHN MARSTON and WALKING IN ON YOUR PARENTS MAKING OUT WHEN YOU’RE THIRTEEN and KIDS GIVING OVERSIMPLIFIED EXPLANATIONS OF BEING TRANS

-x-

Arthur and his older, cooler friends preferred to sit beside the pool and gossip instead of ever actually getting in the water. That suited John fine, since he had absolutely no interest in giving Arthur yet another opportunity to try to drown him, but he didn’t understand why they couldn’t all just go inside and play video games or watch a movie or something instead.

There was nothing more boring than listening to his brother’s high school drama. John didn’t give a shit about what boys Arthur and his friends liked, or what Micah said about who at lunch, or the latest episode of that TV show everyone was watching, or whatever else older kids talked about. John wanted to talk about Super Smash Bros. More specifically, he wanted to talk about Super Smash Bros while playing Super Smash Bros. Most specifically, he wanted to talk to Abigail Roberts about Super Smash Bros while playing Super Smash Bros with her, so maybe she would teach him some moves and he could finally stop losing at Super Smash Bros.

But Abigail wanted to hang out by the pool with everyone else. If she were having as miserable of a time as John was, he would have suggested they desert the “party” to play video games an hour ago. But Abigail got along with Sadie and Charles just fine. She even seemed to like Arthur, which was the ultimate betrayal in John’s eyes. So John kept his mouth shut for once and sat on the edge of the group, hugging his knees and sulking, because he didn’t want to be the one to pull Abigail away while she was having fun.

John met Abigail in his special needs class. She had dyslexia, he had attention deficient something something disease or whatever. John had invited Abigail to the party because he thought she was funny, and smart, and pretty, and he really, really liked her, and Arthur was bringing friends over, so John wanted to bring friends over too, but he didn’t really have any other friends.

Well, except Javier, of course. But Javier was Arthur’s friend first, and Arthur had already invited him, but Javier couldn’t come because he was out of town over the weekend for his abuela’s birthday. And anyway, John had been hoping Abigail would be equally as bored by the older kids as John was, and they could spend some time alone together.

But no. Abigail was happily talking to Sadie about a band they both liked. John tried very hard not to begrudge her and instead pay attention to her interests but oh my god he was so bored.

It was a lovely afternoon, at least. Warm enough to make the idea of swimming seem almost appealing, but not hot enough to make it a necessity for being outside. Charles had rolled up his pant legs to dip just his feet in the water. Arthur had even deigned to remove his cool coat he never left home without. Their dads, Dutch and Hosea, were both celebrating the arrival of spring by wearing cargo shorts, and in Dutch’s case, an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt.

Dutch had grilled hotdogs and hamburgers for everyone, while Hosea set out chips and drinks and condiments and paper plates on the patio table. After everyone was finished eating, Hosea settled into one of the patio chairs with a book. Meanwhile Dutch cleaned up the grill and put the leftover food away.

When he was done, Dutch stood in front of the sliding doors to the house with his hands on his hips and loudly announced, “Well, I think I’m gonna head on in now. Lots of work to catch up on.”

He was looking at Hosea, so none of the kids responded. Hosea hummed neutrally without taking his eyes off his book.

Dutch cleared his throat and tried again. “Yep, gettin’ too hot out for me. Think I’ll go in and have a sit-down.”

Hosea turned the page.

Dutch kicked the leg of the patio table, rattling it and making Hosea jump. He finally looked up from his book, and Dutch caught his eye.

“Huh?”

Grinning, Dutch murmured, “I said, it’s gettin’ kinda hot out, ain’t it? I’m thinkin’ about goin’ inside and coolin’ off. Gettin’ some emails sent.”

Hosea carefully closed his book and laid it flat on the table. “Yes. Now that you mention it, it is becoming a tad warm.”

“Bet that’s playin’ hell on your joints, huh, old man?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

“Well! Maybe you should get yourself inside, then.” Dutch clapped his hands, rubbed them together, and started walking backwards into the house. “You kids have fun! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Hosea stood up and said, “Y’know, I think I am gonna head in as well.” He followed Dutch, the book tucked under his arm like a football. In the doorway, he paused and called out to the teens, “Help yourselves to anything in the kitchen. Arthur, you’re Lifeguard On Duty, so don’t let anybody drown, alright?”

Arthur nodded and waved his hand dismissively. No one else was paying attention to what the adults were doing.

Charles brought out a pack of cards and asked if anybody knew Old Maid. John said no. Everybody else said yes. Charles patiently tried to teach him the basics, but John didn’t understand it, so he said he hadn’t wanted to play anyway, embarrassed.

About fifteen minutes after their dads left, Arthur said with a sly smile, “Hey John, why don’t you go in and check on pops?”

John looked up, having zoned out thinking about video games again. “What?”

“Hosea said his joints were acting up. Why don’t you go in and check on him, see if he needs help with anything.”

“Why don’t you do it,” John said petulantly.

Arthur gestured to his cards. “I’m busy.”

“That’s—“

“Besides,” Arthur interrupted, and grinned at Abigail. “I bet Miss Abigail would like another coke, right?”

“Oh.” Abigail glanced at her coke can and shook it. It sloshed emptily. “Yeah, I guess so. If it’s not a bother.”

John was already on his feet. “No, it’s no bother! I’ll be right back!”

He restrained himself from flat-out running into the house. John looked for Hosea first, since he was worried he’d forget, and Abigail probably wouldn’t appreciate him letting her drink get warm while he carried it around.

Hosea wasn’t anywhere on the ground level. Figuring he was probably in his and Dutch’s bedroom resting, John went upstairs, once again moving as fast as possible without it being considered “running in the house.” He made a beeline for the closed door at the end of the hall and swung it open without knocking.

There, John found Hosea. And, unfortunately, Dutch.

They were on the bed. Hosea was lying on his back, with Dutch on top of him, his legs wrapped around Dutch’s waist. John couldn’t see much more than the back of Dutch’s head, but he could hear soft kissing noises coming from that direction. They were thankfully both still fully clothed, though one of Dutch’s hands was on Hosea’s thigh and rapidly disappearing up the leg of Hosea’s shorts. And there was absolutely no mistaking the slow, steady rocking motion of their hips.

John barely managed to stop himself from screaming in horror. He silently jumped back out of the room, and then not-so-silently slammed the door so hard that the resulting bang echoed throughout the house.

Ha stared at the door stupidly, frozen in shock. John’s heart was pounding and his face was so red he felt like he could scramble an egg on his forehead.

There was some shuffling from inside the bedroom, and quiet voices. John heard Hosea say “no, you,” and then a couple seconds later, Dutch opened the door. He was rumpled, his hair falling out of place, the top few of his shirt buttons were undone, and that was definitely a bruise on his shoulder. He only opened the door wide enough to lean his torso outside.

Dutch spotted John and blinked at him in surprise. “John?”

John avoided looking at him as if he was completely nude. “Uh, hi,” he said weakly to the ceiling.

Dutch sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Did you... need something...? Or...?”

“N-No. No, I just,” John gulped, “was comin’ to check on papa is all.”

Hosea called from inside the bedroom, “Didn’t your daddy ever teach you to knock?”

Dutch turned and yelled over his shoulder, “Didn’t your daddy ever teach you to lock the damn door?”

“I was a little preoccupied at the time, dear.”

Even though it was almost always in good fun, hearing his parents yell at each other still set John’s nerves on edge.

“S-Sorry, I’ll just, um. Arthur told me to see if y’all needed help with anything, and, obviously not, so, I’ll just go then—“

Dutch narrowed his eyes and said, “Arthur.”

John gulped. “Um, anyway. I’m gonna... go. Uh.” He started walking away backwards. “Bye. Uh. Sorry. Bye.”

John turned and sprinted down the stairs, slapping his hand to his forehead. He was so distressed that he completely forgot about Abigail’s drink in his desperation to get away.

John walked back out into the yard and stopped in front of the sliding doors. Arthur glanced over, and as soon as he saw the slope of John’s shoulders, he jumped up and started running. John ran after him, screaming threats and obscenities.

“You son of a bitch! I’m gonna kill you! Get back here you big fucker piece of shit!!!”

Arthur didn’t actually have to run so much as jog, because his legs were much longer and stronger than John’s thanks to his most recent growth spurt. He jogged several laps around the pool, laughing, before he let John catch him. John jumped up, grabbed him by the collar, and screamed in his face. John was so angry and embarrassed that he wasn’t sure anymore if he was saying words or just making noise.

Arthur easily pried John’s hands off of him and chuckled, “Calm down, kid.”

“Calm down?! Calm down?! You set me up for the worst experience of my whole damn life, you asshole!”

“But did you die, though,” Arthur said.

“IN EVERY WAY BUT PHYSICALLY, YEAH!”

“Sorry... What happened?” Charles said.

John turned on him and yelled, “I saw dad and papa makin’ out and it was awful and it was all stupid Arthur’s fault!”

Arthur put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey, you’re old enough now that it’s time you started learnin’ ‘bout the birds and the bees. So you’re welcome, really.”

John scowled and shrugged the hand off. “I learned too damn much already from you bringin’ over that Albert guy.”

Charles started “oooh”-ing. Sadie put her fist under her chin and said, “Albert, huh?” Abigail was glancing between them and Arthur with wide eyes.

Arthur’s smile fell and his face went stony. “Albert is my friend,” he said to John, voice dangerously sharp.

“Awful strange sort of friends who put their hands up each other’s shirts,” John said before he could stop himself.

Arthur shot him a look, and John started running, yelling his head off the whole way. Sadie and Charles were also yelling, rooting for John. But unlike before, when he moved at a leisurely jog, this time Arthur broke into a dead sprint and caught up with John almost immediately. He grabbed John around the waist, picked him up, and tossed him, kicking and screaming, into the pool.

It was only the shallow end, but still. John could have died.

Or at least, that’s what he told Charles and Sadie over and over again as they fished him out. He told Abigail, too, but she just replied, “Stop whining, you’re fine.” She wrapped one of their unused beach towels around him from behind and held him in a brief hug. John thought maybe that was worth risking his life for, so he shut up about it.

Shortly after that, Abigail had to leave because she had promised her parents she’d be home before dark. Sadie offered to drive her home, and Charles was also depending on Sadie for a ride, so that was the party over, then.

Within twenty minutes, John was curled up on their couch watching a movie with Arthur, and he’d almost completely forgotten about his previous embarrassment. He was still damp and wrapped in the beach towel, only because he was too lazy to change clothes and not because it smelled a little like Abigail.

“Your man-tea you drink is givin’ you an unfair height advantage, otherwise I could totally take you,” John said through a mouthful of popcorn. Arthur had made some for himself and set the bowl between them on the couch. Arthur ate pieces one at a time, whereas John ate as much as he could physically fit in his fist.

“My man what,” Arthur said.

“Your tea medicine stuff you take that’s gonna make you a man.”

“Oh.” Arthur hesitated. “You mean ‘T,’ as in the letter T. It’s short for testosterone, and it ain’t gonna ‘make’ me a man. It’s just a hormone that makes you grow a beard and stuff.”

“Oh. D’you drink it?”

“Nah. It’s a shot.” Arthur stuck out his finger and pantomimed giving John a shot in the leg with it. John, who was maybe a little (rightly!) nervous about needles but definitely not afraid of them, squirmed away.

“Don’t that hurt?”

“A little. Y’get used to it.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment, watching the movie. It was some horror movie Arthur had mentioned wanting to see once. They were only a few minutes in and John hated it because like three people had died already. The movie had been his own choice, wanting to prove that he could watch grown-up movies with Arthur and not get scared, but now his confidence in his own willpower was waning more and more with every gruesome blood splash he saw.

“The T ain’t what’s makin’ me taller than you, though,” Arthur said. “You’re just short ‘cause you’re still a kid.”

“You’re a kid, too,” John snapped, highly offended. “A really big and boring kid, but still.”

Arthur grinned and shook his head. “I mean, you ain’t done growin’ yet. You’ll get big and boring too one day, I promise. It just takes time.”

John didn’t answer, crunching his popcorn loudly to pretend like he didn’t hear Arthur.

“Who knows?” Arthur continued. “Maybe you’ll grow up to be even taller than me, eventually.”

John perked up. “Really?”

“Yeah, maybe. Or maybe even taller than Dutch.”

John always thought it was really weird when Arthur called their dads by their first names. He knew that they had gotten Arthur when he was older than John was when they had adopted him. He figured maybe Arthur had more solid memories of his birth parents than John did, and having three dads in his head was too confusing. Maybe that was why it took Arthur almost a full year to call either of them dad instead of Mr. Matthews or Mr. Van der Linde. Maybe that was why he still slipped up sometimes, even now. But John thought it rude to point it out, so he didn’t bring it up.

“Dad’s really tall,” John said, doubtfully.

“Yeah. But pa said so was Mr. Marston. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

John didn’t respond. He silently appreciated Arthur’s refusal to use any fatherly words to describe the man he shared DNA with.

“Then again, I don’t think height is your problem, either,” Arthur said. “You’d just keep stretchin’ out like a stringbean. I’d still be able to toss you around.”

“Nuh-uh...”

“You gotta get some fat and muscle on them bones.” Arthur pinched gently at John’s skinny bicep. “You eatin’ the lunches pa packs for you, boy?”

John shoved Arthur’s hands away, and they had a slap fight for a bit before they lapsed back into silence. John didn’t want to think about the movie he was seeing, so he thought about Abigail instead.

At some point, Dutch and Hosea came downstairs, and John only noticed when Dutch leaned on his elbows against the back of the couch. He could hear Hosea cleaning up in the kitchen.

“Hello, Arthur,” Dutch said, eyebrow raised. “Have a good laugh earlier?”

Arthur’s face remained blank, and he didn’t look away from the TV. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Mhm. Well maybe I’ll start checkin’ up on ya when you and that Mason boy disappear into your room to ‘listen to music.’”

Arthur, to his credit, kept his poker face. “Fine. Absolutely fine.”

Dutch snorted and moved away into the kitchen to help Hosea. “I for one can’t wait until spring break is over and you heathens gotta go back to school.”

-x-

The next day, Hosea cornered Arthur in the living room after breakfast and handed him a couple bills and said, “You’ll be taking John to the movies.”

Arthur looked at the money, startled, and protested, “But Charles and I were gonna get Sadie and—”

“I didn’t ask,” Hosea said, impatiently. “Take them too, if ya want. Or go to the mall or the arcade, or go ridin’ around causin’ trouble, hell, do some graffiti, whatever it is kids do these days, I don’t care. Just don’t come back until lunch time, for the love of god.”

Arthur glanced back into the kitchen, where Dutch was scrubbing a plate with unusual grumpiness. In fact, everything he’d done that morning had been with an irritable energy about him.

“Yeah, alright,” Arthur muttered, and took the money. He figured he owed them one.

John was more than happy to go to the movies, especially when Arthur told him it was his choice. He picked a funny animated adventure movie about cowboys sailing to a tropical island.

Afterwards, they walked around the mall with Sadie, Charles, and Charles’s little half-brother Lenny. Lenny was even younger than John but seemed to be way smarter, somehow. Lenny was kind of shy, but he was also nice and funny and played video games, so John liked him well enough.

They all went to the food court and ate greasy pizza, and Arthur video-called Javier on his phone. Arthur said it was so Javier could see how much fun everyone was having without him, but Charles said it was because they missed him.

When it was John’s turn to say hi to Javier, he snatched Arthur’s phone and ran with it, excitedly telling Javier about how Abigail hugged him, and how she texted Sadie to ask Arthur to tell John that she wouldn’t mind hanging out with him again, and wasn’t that cool? Javier laughed and agreed that it was very cool, but then Arthur wrestled his phone back and called John a shithead, so John stole Arthur’s last pizza slice in retaliation.

-x-

Arthur made sure that they didn’t get back home until it was well after lunch. And if he noticed that their dads had hair still damp from a shower, or that Dutch had a certain spring in his step and wouldn’t stop whistling, or that Hosea kept bumping Dutch with his shoulder every time they passed each other, then Arthur had the good sense not to mention it.

[hypnomule]

THE BODYBUILDERS

Chapter 1

Sam walked into Michael’s room, he wasn't really good friends with his older stepbrother they were complete opposites. Sam was a small hunched nerd; he was a freshman this year and was struggling to make friends in his grade. His brother Michael, who had graduated last year, was a tall muscular bodybuilder who had no trouble getting anyone or anything he wanted. Michael looked up as Sam entered the room.

"What's up little bro?" Michael said as Sam shut the door behind him. Sam looked around nervously for a minute or two before softly saying.

” I want you to train me so I can become strong like you." Michael perked up he had been waiting for something like this to happen for years, but he was concerned at the sudden change of heart.

“Why what is the matter lil bro?” He asked sitting up in his bed. Sam looked down with a sad look on his face.

“These kids at school are bullying me.” He said starting to cry.Michael saw how bad his little brother was hurting, and couldn’t help, but to remember when he was bullied in elementary school.

"I can train you little bro, I can make you a whole new person if you want." He said grinning.

"That would be awesome!" Sam exclaimed wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"Good we will start next weekend after you get home from school." Michael replied.

Sam excited for tomorrow night ran out of the room, Michael waited a few minutes before going down to the basement. The basement was old and dark so his family never used it; he had converted half the basement into his private gym. He walked into his gym, and began to adjust the equipment so Sam would be able to use it, he couldn’t wait to have his brother like him.when he finished he grabbed a box out of his equipment storage, and smiled.

"So I finally get to use this." He thought to himself as he peered into the mysterious contents of the box.Putting the box away he began to lift some weights, feeling the need to workout again because of his excitement. Michael left his gym around midnight his body covered in sweat.Sam watched Michael sneak upstairs, he couldn’t wait for the next weekend to come. Michael noticed Sam staring as he went up the stairs.

“Hold on lil bro soon you will be just like me.” He thought to himself as he walked upstairs getting on his laptop.He still needed to buy a few things before he was ready for the next weekend, but he was sure that Sam would love the new him.

Chapter 2

Sam woke up marking off another day on his calendar. His big day was only a day away, but michael had already been making changes. His old room filled with action figures, and video games had been completely redone.The walls were covered in posters of sports teams, and famous bodybuilders. His gamecube had been replaced with a new Xbox One with call of duty games.

“it will get you in the mindset for your new self.” Michael had said when he was redecorating the room. Even though Sam had cried when his stuff was thrown away, he now understood what he was talking about, and each day he was looking more, and more to the weekend.

Sam walked into the school. This was the only part of the day he couldn’t stand. He walked into the school, and was surrounded by a group of kids.

“Heard you are gonna get it today freak!” One of the kids shouted.

“Yea Danny is gonna kick your ass!” Another one shouted.

Sam broke free of the group running to the bathroom to cry.He eventually went to homeroom, his teacher excusing his tardiness. He made it through most of the day perfectly fine, even lunch came with nothing bad happening.Seventh period, which was the last of the day, began.

“This is our new student Tyler.” His teacher said. Sam looked at the new kid, he had a light athletic build, his hair a mahogany color.

“Hi all.” He said a slight accent coming through “I’m tyler, my family just moved here from canada.”

“Everyone make sure to make him feel right at home.” His teacher said. “Now you can sit in that open desk over there.” She said pointing to the empty desk in front of Sam. He sat down as the teacher began the daily lesson.

“Hi, I’m Sam.” Sam whispered to Tyler.

“Nice to meet you.” He replied. The two spent the rest of the period getting to know each other. He learned that Tyler had moved from his old school because of a new job offer his dad had. He liked his school a lot, and was very popular. They made plans to meet after school on friday. School ended, and sam started to leave. He saw Danny sitting outside the school in front of Sam’s bus. He gulped knowing that if he went out the door he would be beaten into the ground. Sam turned around walking against the mass of students trying to leave the school.

He walked down the hallway to the old half of the school.This part of the school had been shut down years ago after the school got funding to built a new high-tech wing.He walked down the twisting hallways that the old half was famous for. He passed by a room filled with kids making art, and another with kids smoking.As he passed by a room filled with goths, he began to smell the odor of hard work, and dedication.He peered around the corner into a huge room filled with guys most of them lifting weights or doing some other sort of rigorous activity, of all the activities that took place in the old half this was seemingly the most innocent. Sam looked around at all the muscled jock guys, they came here every day, and worked out some of them graduated years ago but they didn't seem to care, they came every day just to work out. He watched them for a few minutes before walking in.He walked around trying to find his brother.Most of the people exercising didn’t notice him at all as he walked among them looking for his brother.

Sam stopped when he found Michael, he was benching weights in the weight room. Sam sat down on a bench he knew Michael would be unable to focus on him until he was done working out.  

Chapter 3

Sam woke up as the engine started. He was in Michael's car in the parking lot behind the school.

“Hey lil bro glad you are up.” Michael said looking over. “You fell asleep when I was working out,”

“Oh, I don’t remember that.” Sam said as he yawned.

“Yea. Hey! bet your excited for tomorrow night” Michael exclaimed as he drove home.

“Yea about that.” Sam began seeing the sadness instantly fill his brothers eyes. “I am still doing going to do it don’t get me wrong, but I may be late.”

“Late?” Michael asked in confusion.

“Yea after school I am....” Sam started before he was cut off.

“Do you have a date? Does my little brother have a date?” Michael questioned in happy tone.

“No.” Sam started in a sad tone.”But I made a friend in class today, and we are going to eat.” He finished in an excited tone.Michael smiled, and nodded his head. Even though he was sad he was going to have to postpone helping his brother, he knew a friend is just what his brother needed.

“Thats fine, just let me know when you get home, and take this.” Michael said throwing a condom at Sam.”You never know what is going to happen.” Michael joked as the reached home.

“Very funny” Sam said as Michael left the car. Sam out the condom into the back pocket of his backpack not knowing what to do with it.

Chapter 4

Michael woke up yawning, he checked the clock it was 12:34 in the morning. He got out of bed slipping on a pair of briefs, and walked downstairs to the basement. He didn't have to worry about dressing appropriately or making a lot of noise, his parents went on a mission trip to Chile, and wouldn't be back for a few months.. Michael checked himself out in the mirror outside of his gym. His bronzed skin and muscled body only complimented the tight yellow briefs he was wearing. He never was fond of clothes other than underwear, and always worked out in his briefs. He brushed his hand down his chiseled abs, that seemed to glisten under the little light visible in this part of the basement. He sat there for a moment admiring his body before remembering he had work to do. Michael began to workout, his body becoming sweaty, and filled with endorphins.

He finished his nightly workout around 2:30, he walked up the stairs seeing a light coming from the tv room.Sam sat up watching ESPN. He smiled knowing his messages were beginning to work. He walked up to Sam’s room flipping on the lights. He walked over to his computer downloading a file to it. He began to play the file on a loop. Sam’s room was filled with a low barely audible sound. It was a special binaural beats file that encourage the brain to gain muscle, and workout. Michael went back to his room until he heard Sam coming back upstairs, and going to bed. Michael smiled heading to sleep.

Chapter 5

Sam went to school waiting for seventh period to roll around. When it finally did he, and Tyler began to talk, waiting for the teacher to arrive.

“So right after school at the cafe a few blocks over?” Tyler asked.

“Yea just meet up with me, and I will show you how to get there.” Sam replied excitedly, as the whole class groaned.He looked up to see the substitute walk into the room.

“Who is tyler?” Tyler whispered

“Mrs. Fichburn” Sam started as she sat down at the desk. “She does nothing at all, and makes students do things for her, unless she falls asleep first.” The pair looked over at the overweight sub as she took out a pillow, and closed her eyes.The class remained silent knowing when she fell asleep they could get away with anything.Within minutes she was dead asleep, and the class was alive with chatter. Tyler, and Sam chatted as Danny walked up to them.

“Hey loser you didn’t show up for your daily beating yesterday!” He shouted spraying his spit into Sam’s face.

“Whoa, say it don’t spray it.” Tyler shot back.

“Shut up you canuck hoser, how about you go back to canada, and we will consider making your pathetic excuse of a country a state.” Danny shot back smirking, proud of himself.

“Danny, stop it!” Sam shouted back in surprise to himself, and everyone around him. “Its me you want not him.” He said in a quieter less sure voice.

“Oh yea! You earned this you little nerd!”Danny exclaimed punching him the face. Danny wailed on Sam delivering punch after punch.Mrs. Fichburn woke up in her chair watching the sight.

“Don’t just sit there! Help him!” Tyler shouted. “You are a teacher, you are supposed to protect him!” Mrs. Fichburn slowly got up yawning.

“Danny stop punching him, and wait until after school.”She said “And go clean yourself up Sam.” She finished readjusting her seat, and sitting back down.

“This is over for now” Danny said looking at the sub. “But your dead after school. “ He walked back to his seat, and Sam ran out to the bathroom. Sam rubbed the blood off the face at the sink.

“Hey are you ok?” Tyler asked running up behind Sam.

“Yea, I just...” Sam stuttered through his tears. “It will be fine my brother is going to help me.” He finished as the bell rang. “Come on lets get out of here.” Sam said leading to Tyler to the old part of school.

“What is this place?” Tyler asked as they walked down the hallways.

“its an old wing of the school.” Sam said hurrying past the various rooms, and groups. Sam looked behind him, saw tyler was stopped at the art room. Sam walked back to get him looking into the room. They were painting based off a nude model, who he recognized as the star quarterback. Sam pulled Tyler forward reaching the gym.

“Wow.” Tyler said as they entered. “There are so many people here!”

“Yea it is one of my favorite places in the old wing.Now hurry up we have to get to cafe before my brother gets here.” Sam, and tyler ran out of the school past the football field. The two arrived at the Cafe quickly ate, and hung out for hours.

Chapter 6

It had become late at night, and the pair were still talking.

“So your brother works out there everyday?”Tyler asked as he sipped his third milkshake.

“Not everyday, but he is there most days.” Sam replied watching his friend. “I don’t want to sound rude, but what was up in the art room today?” He asked.Tyler looked down twirling his straw nervously.

“I...um....” He started. “I am gay.....” Tyler finished nervously fliniching.

“Oh ok” Sam said surprised. “thats cool.” His phone rang  “Hey its my brother. I gotta take this real quick.” He told tyler running to take the phone call.

“Ok I will....” was all Tyler managed to get out before Sam ran off.

Sam paced in the parking lot, he had missed the phone call, but his brother had left a voicemail. He opened up his phone playing it.

“Hey lil bro, time is running out if you really want to this you need to get home soon.” He heard his brother say. The subliminal messaging programed into his brain activated, and he texted his brother that he was on his way. Sam ran down the streets towards his house leaving Tyler alone at the cafe.

Chapter 7

Michael saw the text arrive on his phone. He knew he only had a matter of minutes to set up everything he needed.He walked upstairs to Sams room grabbing a pair of under armour underwear their grandparents had bought for him. He wanted Sam to see how good he would look after his transformation.

He walked down to the basement opening the box he looked at earlier pulling out a jockstrap. He had bought a pair of jockstraps online years ago, and he was excited to finally get to use the second one. He sat down on the bench waiting for Sam to arrive, and his own experience.

Michael was fifteen when it happened.Every guy in school had become obsessed with bodybuilding, and he too had become obsessed with it.He wasn’t willing to put in the work for the muscles every other guy was starting to develop so he looked for quick ways online. After searching for hours an ad popped up from Daemonsports.com. He looked at the ad offering quick, and easy muscles for the price of $20. He bought the item without even seeing what it was, weeks later a package arrived at his door containing two jockstraps.

Michael was confused, and mad that he got ripped off.He sighed taking them into the basement. He walked into his man cave, a room for him to get away from his little brother, and parents. The room contained a television, a pool table, and a small workout bench.There was also a mirror on the wall, seeing it he decided to try on the jock strap. He looked at himself in the mirror he thought he looked good in the jockstrap, and felt good wearing it.

Michael was overcome with a serious need to workout. He felt his legs walk over to the bench, and felt his arms begin to lift the weight without his need to tell them to. Michael spent the night lifting in his jockstrap before he blacked out.He woke in the morning body sore, and filled with pain. He got up stretching, and saw himself in the mirror. His muscles had already grown quickly, and his abs were more defined. He also felt a need to workout more, and from that point forward the new michael existed, working out everyday and loving it.

Chapter 8

Sam ran into the door panting, he had ran all the way from the cafe to his house. He entered the basement walking to Michael's gym.

"Good you are here put these on." Michael said handing him a jockstrap, and under armour boxers. Sam looked around for a moment.

"Right here?" Sam asked uncertain. Michael rolled his eyes.

"I will leave the room, I guess." Michael said leaving the room. Sam undressed naked putting on the jockstrap. The room was surrounded with mirrors making it impossible for him to avoid looking at himself.He saw himself in the mirror surprised his he looked kinda good in the jockstrap. He put the underwear on over the jockstrap, and signalled for michael to come back in.

“You look great!” Michael said as he saw sam.

“I honestly feel good.” Sam said looking at himself in the mirror.Michael took him to a bench in the center of the room.

“Just left when you're ready. It will all come naturally.” he reassured stepping back. Sam began to lift, he was surprised he could even lift that much his muscles already in pain, and a tingle from the jockstrap. It wasn’t long before he blacked out.

Michael watched amazed he knew the process, but had never seen it.Sam’s body kept lifting, his muscles growing faster than any humans should possibly grow. His flat chest becoming ripped, with larges pecs and abs chiseled by gods. Michael sat up for almost an hour watching this take place, before finally drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 9

Michael woke up the next morning seeing Sam already awake.He was flexing in the mirror checking out his new body in just the jockstrap.

“Hey bro.” Sam said not able to take his eyes off the mirror.

“You look great little bro.” Michael said. “But why do you still have the jock strap on?” Sam looked down.

“Highlights my package.” He said continuing to flex.Michael remembered this phase, being completely obsessed with how you looked, and your fitness.

“Well come on it's time to workout again isn’t it?” Sam asked walking back over to the bench. Michael joined in working out with his brother feeling like they were truly brothers for the first time in a long while.

Monday came quickly again, and Sam went back to school.Everyone was whispering about him, half of them didn't even realize it was him. He smiled knowing he looked great. The school day went quickly, and soon it was seventh period. Tyler turned around ignoring Sam’s change in appearance.

“What the hell man!” Tyler screamed furiously. “You left me alone there! Is it because I came out to you?” Half the class was now staring at the two, half of them recording it on their phones. Sam looked up, he had been staring at his arm muscles.

“No, something just came up bro.” He said in a calm manner.

“Oh.” Tyler said silently realizing all the people watching. “well want to do something later?”

“Can’t really”Sam said. “unless you want to work out with me.”

“Sure that sounds good” Tyler said.

“Cool come to my house after school.” Sam said going back to staring at his muscles. The school day ended, and tyler got on the bus with Sam. They rode in silence to his house. Sam took Tyler down to the basement, where they began to work out, after twenty minutes Tyler stopped.

“This is boring.” Tyler said sitting up on the bench. Sam stopped working out annoyed by the interruption.”Can we do something else?” Tyler finished. Sam looked up annoyed, he wanted Tyler as a friend, but could not stand him like this. He thought sitting at the bench before reaching an idea.

“I can make it fun.” He said with a wicked smile. “But you have to trust me.”

“Sure I will do anything.” Tyler said flopping out of the bench.

Chapter 10

Tyler looked at the object sam held in front of him.

“That’s yours?” He questioned. “and you want me to put it on?” Sam held the jockstrap in front of Tyler, looking at it.

“Yea, pretty much.” He said without hesitation. “Trust me they work.” Tyler looked at them for a long minutes, before grabbing  it out of Sam’s hand.

“Fine on one condition.” Tyler said looking at them. “While I wear them you will go naked.” Sam shrugged, and stripped off his clothes. His full naked body visible, Tyler couldn’t help staring.

“Your turn.” Sam said smiling. Tyler shook his head trying not to stare. he stripped down naked pulling the tight jockstrap onto his body. Sam stopped in place, Tyler suddenly looked attractive, sam naked could not hide his erection. He had to have him, but first he need to make sure Tyler was like him.

“Just left some on the bar now.” Sam said.

“o.........................k” Tyler said getting distracted by Sam’s erection. He began to lift on the bar feeling his body taking over. Sam watched from the other side knowing it could only be matter of time now.

Chapter 11

Michael returned late that night having been at his girlfriend’s house all day. He walked down to his basement ready to get in his daily workout. what he saw surprised him. Sam naked on the couch cuddling against a fairly muscular boy wearing Sam’s jockstrap. He smiled covering the two up. He knew he should be mad Sam used it on someone else, and they couldn’t be sure of the consequences, but was happy his little brother had someone he loved.

Day came around again, and Sam woke up. Tyler was staring into the mirror checking out his body. Even though he wasn’t as muscular as Sam he was pretty impressive for his size. Sam walked up behind him kissing his neck.

“Damn you look sexy.” He said feeling Tyler’s muscles.

“Thanks, bro.” Tyler said treating each touch like it was a gift. The two sat in the basement flexing all morning. After working out together, Tyler had to leave to go home.

“So working out together tomorrow bro?” He asked wearing normal clothes again.

“Yea, bro just hit me up in class.” Sam kissed Tyler, and watched, staring at his firm ass, as he walked away from the house.

“So it was a date lil bro.” Michael said from inside the living room.

“No bro.” Sam said disgruntled. “Wasn’t till I saw his sexy ass in that jockstrap last night.” He finished smirking at the thought. Sam highfived his brother, and laid on the couch watching ESPN. He couldn’t wait to work out with tyler again, maybe they could both work out nude next time.

Chapter 12

Several months had past when michael realized it was almost time for his parents to be back from their mission trip. He walked down to the basement where his old gym was. He had given it to Sam for him, and Tyler to use, while he worked out at the gym, or his girlfriends house who he was staying with more, and more. He knocked on the door before opening it to prevent seeing anything he didn’t want to see. Tyler, and Sam stood at the mirrors flexing both of them already being much bigger than the jockstrap had allowed to be. They still wore jockstraps each time they were in the basement, and never got completely out of the self obsessed phase.

“Sam I need to speak to you.” Michael said. his own obsession with muscles had decreased since Tyler became obsessed with them. He still worked out to maintain the muscles he had, and let Tyler have his old jockstrap to help him grow.

“What’s up bro?” Sam said staring at tylers muscles in the mirror.

“Mom, and dad will be back from Chile soon.” Michael said. Sam looked over with sadness filling his eyes, he knew once his parents were home he wouldn’t be able to maintain this new lifestyle the way he had for the past few months. He needed to find a way to keep them there.

“How long do we have?” Sam asked already trying to plot a way to keep them away.

“About a week.” Michael said sadly before leaving the room. Sam sat down on one of the benches. He needed things to be like this for him, and Tyler they worked so well together.

“We could run away.” Tyler said flexing in the mirror.

“Where?” Sam said interested in the idea.

“ I don’t know find a place.” Tyler said walking over to one of the benches to lift more. “ A place with people like us.” He finished as he lifted.

“People like us....” Sam said thinking hard. “What about the place where these jockstraps are made? I am sure there have to be people like us there!”

“Sounds cool bro.” Tyler said completing another set. “Where are they made at?” Sam walked over to Tyler pulling his jockstrap to look inside.

“Cedar Falls, and it has an address for the company.” He said sliding his hand down from the jockstrap to Tyler’s ass.A wicked grin covered Tyler’s face.

“Never heard if it. It will be perfect.” He said tackling Sam to the ground wrestling him.The pair wrestled for some time before Sam pinned tyler to the ground, and kissed him passionately.

Chapter 13

Sam woke up early in the morning leaving a note on the table. He met Tyler at a train station in a town a few miles over.

“Great morning for a jog.” Tyler joked as Sam arrived at the station.

“Very funny.” Sam said rolling his eyes. “So which train is ours?”

“This one Tyler said pointing to an oncoming train showing no signs of stopping. “Come on!” He said running down the platform into an empty cargo car. Sam followed behind jumping into the car.

“This will take us right outside of Cedar Falls.” Sam said putting his bag in a corner. “But its a long ride so get comfortable.”

Michael woke up late that day, bummed his parents were coming back.He went downstairs grabbing the jug of milk, and drinking what was left of it burping loudly. Noticing the note, he walked to the table picking it up. He opened the letter reading it aloud.

“Bro, me and Tyler have left to find cedar falls a place we believe is filled with people like us. Tell mom, and dad you have no idea where we are. We hope you join us one day- your lil bro”

Michael finished reading the letter when he heard the door open. His parents walked through the door, home earlier than they should have been.

“We are home!” They exclaimed running into the kitchen hugging him.

“Where is Sam at honey?” His mom asked with that worried look all mothers have.

“Not sure mom, he was staying at a friends last night.” He said crumpling the note in his hand. as the day passed by their mom became, more and more scared. Michael gave her Tyler’s family’s number hoping it would calm her down, and that she wouldn’t call it, but she did.

“They say they haven’t seen their kid either!” She said crying at the table as police took accounts from Tyler’s parents. They had filed a missing persons alert, and since they were kids they became a top priority.

“It will be fine mom, they will find them.” Michael comforted his mom. He felt him secretly wishing no one would find them, and they found the place they were looking for, but he couldn’t tell his mom that. His dad comforted his mom as he walked down to his gym.

Sitting in his gym in was a box labeled Daemon Co. He opened the box checking its contents. Inside was a note, and another jock strap this one a shiny golden color. Michael took the note out reading the words imprinted on it.

“For your years of service, and service to come-Daemon Co.” He shrugged off the note pulling on the jock strap. The cool fabric felt good on his body as he felt energized, and ready to work out. Before he could think he felt himself working out again, his muscle increasing, and thoughts about building muscles also increasing. He was back better than before ready to complete his new goal of being a bodybuilder.

Chapter 14

Sam , and tyler hopped off the train, following an old cracked road for miles when they reached a sign.

“Cedar Falls, one mile.” Tyler read out loud looking at Sam. “I’ll race you!” He screamed taking off down the road Sam following behind, and catching up quickly.It had been almost a week since they left their home, and tensions were running high between the two. A large manhunt had started across the nation from them labeling them as missing. At one point Tyler losing hope suggested they went back, but seeing the sign now he was filled with hope of a new life all over again.

The pair stopped in front of the sign welcoming them to the town.

“New record.” Tyler managed to cough out laughing. Neither one of took a step forward. Even though there was nothing in front of them they both knew there was line in front of them, and crossing it would change their lives forever. Sam grabbed Tyler's hand, and the pair the pair crossed the line together.

Epilogue

Almost a year has passed since they crossed that line, and much has changed. After crossing the line almost everyone who knew the boys forgot about them, everyone except Michael, and Danny. Michael has spent the last year traveling the country participating in bodybuilding contests. He is known as the golden boy for the golden jockstrap he always wears in contests.

Danny, who was insistent on convincing people the boys were real, is now seeing a therapist two times a week to help him get over his delusions. The parents of the two boys became great friends. They are vacationing in italy this summer.Mrs. Fichburn was fired after Tyler made a fake call to the school about her receiving a DUI.

Sam, and Tyler found it easy to live in this new town living in an house that was abandoned. They often stayed in the town gym everyday where the owner had given them free lifetime memberships. Their muscle building became the center of their lives as the two lived in harmony together, but their journey was just beginning.