#fulton:finn

[ofviolentdeath]

"Ooooh, okay, yeah, mom's mentioned him. Said he would likely be around. She likes him. Wouldn't be surprised if she's already offered to let him just move in, honestly," he mused, knowing it would be a bigger surprise if she hadn't. It was just the sort of thing she did.

"So, how did that happen? Like, was this one of those immediate connection things that seem to happen in our family or was it more of a lead up?"

Finn could have also included the relationships he'd technically been part of that involved Cypress, Mason, Ilias and a few others that Nik had casually been involved with, but he was choosing to only focus on the relationships he'd had that only involved him, which was fair, given his previous circumstances.

"Yeah, she knows. Already met him, actually," he informed Fulton with a grin, though it was accompanied by a slight blush that said he was still very much in the honeymoon phase and still adjusting to everything.

"His name is Reed, and he's technically Izzy's uncle 'cause he's Dimitri's twin's kid. Dunno if you were aware of any of that already..."

[ofviolentdeath]

He let the moment turn back to humor with an easy smile, relieved by the way Finn was handling that. Marissa's reputation was fairly known within the family, but he doubted most them knew his personal issues with his sister.

"Ahh, yeah, I can count serious relationships like that." Mostly because it was really just the two and, well, Marissa had murdered the first. Fulton had done a pretty good job at keeping Howell off of her radar, even if that had turned messy in a way he still didn't know how to handle.

"New boyfriend? Ooh, do tell! Does mom know? If not, totally cool, I just don't wanna go spilling your business on accident if she doesn't."

"I will take your secret to the grave," Finn replied with faux solemnity before breaking into a smirk, but he genuinely would keep his mouth shut when it came to Marissa, since Finn himself generally stayed out of her way anyway.

Aside from that, Finn could also understand wanting to keep the diner off Marissa's radar in general, since it wasn't just a safe space for Fulton, but also Finn, Izzy and a handful of others that showed up frequently when they needed a place to bolt to away from whatever drama was going on at home.

"I can count my relationships on one hand and have fingers to spare, so it's not like I have a whole lot of frame of reference on that front, but I do at least have it on good authority from my new boyfriend that they seem to be doing a lot of good for each other."

[ofviolentdeath]

"Ugh, yeah, no thanks. I get enough headaches from Marissa," he groaned, catching onto what Finn was trying to do and playing along. If he wanted to lighten things up a bit, Fulton was more than happy to go with it.

"Speaking of, she has no idea I work here so if we could keep that between us, I'd appreciate the hell out of it."

The last thing he needed was for his twin to show up at his job and start shit. While Fulton didn't need to work, he enjoyed it. The place was comfortable to him, sort of like his safe space, and it was important to him.

"Ya know, I don't think I've ever had a relationship that didn't end horribly, so I might just be a little pessimistic. I wish them nothing but the best of luck, really. Sorry you've been dealt a shitty hand in dating too though."

"Honestly, I wouldn't want you to try. It'll give you a headache for sure," Finn joked gently, trying to keep the mood light with some humour.

It was still far too easy for Finn to start slipping into a darker headspace or low mood if he thought about what had happened for longer than a few seconds, so he had been trying to practice sidestepping the subject when it came up and diverting his attention in another direction.

It was still a little hit and miss, but his therapist said it would take some time for him to get the hang of it.

"I mean, Andreas is at least half wolf, right? Even with the stuff that he went through, I'm guessin' there's a decent chance he can still develop attachments to people and be, like, super loyal and shit, so I think it'll work out for them both. Better than how my last relationship went, anyway..."

[ofviolentdeath]

"I can't even begin to imagine."

Fulton was aware of the situation because Bells had always chosen to be open and honest with the family whenever she brought someone new home. Really, the only thing Fulton would change if he could was Finn being being brought home sooner, even though he knew it wasn't exactly feasible. Still, if mom had known sooner, things likely wouldn't have gotten so bad for Finn in the first place.

"That's pretty fair. I've been in the boat of liking someone more than I wanted to admit, so I get that. Hopefully, it turns out in his favor though."

"I know," Finn replied in acknowledgement. "Makes a change, honestly, even if it takes some getting used to."

Finn's situation was no secret to Fulton. Neither was the fact that Bells had filed all the paperwork to formally adopt him, so him being accepted into the family by his adoptive siblings with very little friction helped ease a fair amount of his anxiety.

"Probably. Haven't really had much of a chance to get to know Andreas myself yet, but he definitely fits the type. I think Izzy likes him more than he'll admit to right now though, so I didn't want to get in the middle of that when I know they both have stuff to work through like that."

[ofviolentdeath]

"You know how she is," he laughed, shrugging one shoulder before turning to grab the bin of silverware that needed rolled for the night.

There had been no real learning curve for Fulton when it came to Finn. As far as he was concerned, the other was just as much his sibling as the rest of them were, even if Finn was, technically speaking, his uncle.

"Ahh. He has mentioned Andreas in passing. Mom's met him too. Briefly. If he wasn't with aunt Cate and uncles Moros and Hypnos, I think mom would have tried to adopt him too."

"Of course she did," Finn murmured, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth at Bells fussing over him again.

Admittedly, he was still getting used to someone actually trying to mom him for once in his life, but Finn wasn't put off by it any, nor did it make him uncomfortable as he'd just wanted to feel that kind of parental love his whole existence.

"He's with Andreas," he answered with a shrug. "Didn't really feel like playin' third wheel there anyway."

[ofviolentdeath]

"Mom called to see if you were here. Wanted to make sure you ate something," Fulton stated as he slid a plate in front of Finn. He had made it a point to know what Finn liked foodwise and had prepped it himself before shutting the grill down for the night.

"I take it Izzy had other plans today?"

@ofviolentdeath

It was Izzy's night off and he'd gone to hang out with Andreas, so Finn was at a bit of a loose end and had gone to the diner near closing time regardless, since Fulton was working anyway, so it wasn't like he'd just be there on his own.

He didn't mind waiting around for Fulton to finish work, and it wasn't like anyone would try to hurry him outside anyway when they knew he was family, so he just sat at the counter, nursing a coffee and idly playing with a sugar packet, half-zoned out for a bit.