TRP: Goro, Hansel, and Mishka (Stay)

January 26, 2019

**Lina:**

 [Setting: Evening 173, the castle.]

Goro put Hansel to bed--well, he let Hansel believe he was
putting himself to bed, but really Goro was overseeing it--and told him he'd be
back once he had Mishka in tow.

Finding Mishka was proving more problematic than he'd
expected, though. Wasn't in the kitchen or dining room, wasn't in his study,
wasn't in the workshop. Goro tried the library and the war room, and in a last-ditch
effort the second-floor sitting room, and that was where he found him, popping
out of the servants' quarters. Mishka was all suited up like he was ready to
head out for the night.

"Going somewhere?" Goro asked.

**Coyote:**

 "Yeah. Just, ah." Mishka was too uncomfortable to
finish that thought. I'm losing my shit for no particular reason over some
fucking dumb letter Roddy half-wrote. Gonna go fuck a whore to clear my head.
Easier than explaining to you-- or my husband-- that I'm being a psycho again.

He didn't used to have these problems aboard the Red Blade.
He supposed he'd been more repressed then-- more emotionally dead, more in
denial.

"Yeah. Probably gonna be gone for the night,"
Mishka said. Then changed the subject. "Hansel doing good today? I heard
thunder earlier."

**Lina:**

 "Uh. Fuckin' no. He--" Goro was reaching for
Mishka without really thinking about it, meaning to grab his arm. No, you can't
leave. But he caught sight of some brown flecks on Mishka's sleeve, near the
hem, and he froze. He snatched Mishka's hand and started to tug his sleeve up.

**Coyote:**

 Mishka didn't think any of it. Goro grabbed him all the
time. What did it matter?

Then he caught sight of what Goro had noticed, and he remembered,
sharply-- two or three months ago-- agreeing he wouldn't do that shit if Goro
stopped, and he thought, Ah shit, tearing his arm back away again and taking a
step back.

**Lina:**

 "The fuck was that?" Goro demanded, grabbing for
Mishka's hand again and missing. "Hey. Give me your hand."

**Coyote:**

 Ah, shit. Ah, shit. Mishka obeyed without really thinking
about it, holding out his hand. A beat too late, it occurred to him he could've
just, y'know, fucking refused, or cracked away, or walked off or something.

**Lina:**

 Goro took his hand and none too gently yanked his sleeve up,
revealing the scabbed-over fingernail marks on Mishka's wrist, and the bruising
on his forearm. Goro's face turned hot. He looked to Mishka in disbelief.
"What the fuck happened?" And he didn't voice the following thought,
which was I'll kill whoever did this, because it was possible--he had a bad fucking
feeling--(edited)

**Coyote:**

 Maybe if Mishka ignored the question, he wouldn’t have to
answer it. His jaw clenched. He tried to yank his arm away, but Goro had a
tight grip on it.

Goro had said no a moment ago when Mishka asked if Hansel
was okay. “Hey, ah—listen, I hate to ask this, but can you look after Hansel
for me tonight?” Yeah, that was a good distraction. Frame it as a favor, then
Goro could feel good about leaving. He started to explain: “I’m—”

I’m having a bad fucking day. If I go in there to try to
comfort him, he’s going to notice I’m fucked up again, and then he’s going to
ask me what’s wrong, and then I’m going to burst into fucking tears the moment
he hugs me. And then he’ll insist on looking after me instead of fucking taking
care of himself. And then it’s going to be about me, again.

**Lina:**

 "No. No, I fucking can't. What the hell is this about,
Mishka?" Goro gave his arm a shake. "Did you do this to
yourself?"

**Coyote:**

 “Ha. Yeah, I s’pose I did. It’s fine now. Gotta talk to
Roddy tomorrow, though. Are you okay?”

**Lina:**

 Oh, what a fucking day this had been.

Goro might snap. He really thought he might just snap.

He didn't really think--was too fucking exhausted for it, at
this point. He pulled Mishka's hand to his mouth and kissed it, stepped closer
to Mishka and hugged his arm, like it was some wounded animal he'd picked up to
hold close to his chest. He closed his eyes.

"Why," he said. "Why." Not really
expecting an answer, and not waiting for one. He lifted Mishka's arm closer to
his face and started kissing his way across it.

You know, you've got actual spells for this, said some
distant voice in his mind, which didn't seem very important.

**Coyote:**

 Goro looked exhausted, all of a sudden. Mishka hesitated. He
hadn't really been around much today-- he'd been working on things in town--
and... he wondered, for a moment, what exactly had gone on.

Mishka had panicked when he'd heard the thunder; but he'd
looked through the earring, and Goro had been with Hansel, and they'd seemed
okay, so Mishka had quickly dropped it and stopped looking. Didn't want to invade
anyone's privacy.

What the fuck had happened? Had it been-- worse than that?

Mishka hesitated. Then he pulled Goro close, wrapping his
arms around Goro's back, and just held there a moment. He rested his face on
Goro's shoulder, still tanned from his vacation in Calimport. It blew his
fucking mind he was allowed to do this, now. Just stand here and hold Goro, the
most prickly motherfucker he'd ever met.

"It's fucking stupid," Mishka said. "Are you
okay?" he asked again, more quietly. More gently.

**Lina:**

 "Stop doing that." Goro held him fiercely tight and
kissed his cheek. "Stop it. I'm fine. Tell me what happened. What
happened?"

**Coyote:**

 “I read a letter. Then I made a bad joke and Roddy snapped
at me and I had a fucking panic attack for some reason, I don’t goddamn know,”
Mishka said. “I sat on the roof for a couple hours. Fuck off, you’re not fine.
You tell me what happened, motherfucker.”

**Lina:**

 "Hansel... angry... I got punched in the face... look,
it's a long fucking story, but it's fine now, but Hansel's fucking tired and so
I came to find you and you're not okay either and you
fucking--just--fucking--" Goro had to stop to suck in a long, wheezing
breath. "You don't get to just fucking hurt yourself."

He knew he should probably be... gentler, or something, not fucking
pissed off, but he was. This must've been why people got so grouchy about him
refusing to heal his rib. Fuckin' hell.

**Coyote:**

 “Hansel punched you?”

**Lina:**

 "Oh, no. No, no, no. God no. Some other guy punched me,
and Hansel got mad, and... well, did a lot more than punched him. It's fine. It
worked out. You need to stop fucking... changing the goddamn subject,
and..." Goro pulled free of the hug, took Mishka's good arm--at least he
hoped it was fucking good--and dragged him over toward the couches. He'd get a
fucking story out of him, and fix it somehow.

January 27, 2019

**Coyote:**

 Stubborn motherfuckers. Mishka had changed the subject—
what, four times now? And Goro caught him every time. Apparently he had a type,
and it was “relentless.” And... prickly, and foul-mouthed, and... tenacious...
fucking bossy, too...

“Look,” Mishka said. Once he explained, Goro would stop and
let him go. “You don’t need to act concerned like this.” He searched for the
words. “I’ve been going to this brothel.” Hm, this felt weird to explain. “You
and Hansel have been— busy. Infatuated, I know. It’s always like that when you
first fall in love with someone. Y’want to spend every moment together. And
I’ve been... trying to leave you both alone. I don’t want to intrude. I know
you don’t fucking want me there. I’m trying to back off. I’m sorry.”

Yeah. Okay. This was going well. “But sometimes I just need—
someone to fucking hold me and tell me things are okay. I need somebody to tell
me— to fucking sit down, and to fucking breathe, and calm down, so I can... sit
down and breathe and calm down.” It was easier to do those things, somehow,
when someone else told him. “But Hansel— he’s busy, and he doesn’t fucking have
time for it. He’s with you. So. So I’ve been outsourcing. Smart, right? So.
I’ve started going to this brothel, sometimes.” Mishka looked elsewhere, still
tense, still jittery.

“So that’s what I’m doing,” Mishka said, calmly, and gently.
“I’m going to go to this brothel to get fucked and calm down. You don’t have to
deal with me. You don’t have to act concerned. Alright? I just don’t want to—
fucking inconvenience you.”

God, it felt so good though. Standing here. Having Goro
interrogate him and push the issue and swear at him and kiss his arm. So
fucking good. He wished it was real.

**Lina:**

 Goro stopped in front of the couch and pointed at it.
"Sit down."

**Coyote:**

 Mishka frowned politely at him, then sat down.

**Lina:**

 Goro sat next to him and pulled him into his arms. He held
him tightly and kissed his hair. "Breathe."

**Coyote:**

 Nine Hells. Yeah. Mishka would sell his fucking soul for
sixty seconds of this.

He tried to pull away. “I just said you didn’t have to act
concerned, you can go back to bed—“

**Lina:**

 "I said breathe, asshole." Goro held him even
tighter. He could fucking mercy his way out, if he wanted. "Breathe, in
and out, without talking. Seven seconds."

**Coyote:**

 Mishka almost said something. Fine, if you say so. Or: You
want me to stop talking? You realize that’s torture, right? There’s more fun
ways to torture me than that.

Instead, he made a small noise and pressed his face to
Goro’s shirt. He shifted so they got a little closer. He always fucking loved
the way Goro smelled: a little like incense, and a little metallic, like steel.

He shifted, pushing Goro back on the couch, and lay on top
of him. He supposed if they were going to lie here (and apparently they were)
he might as well be comfortable.

God. He wanted to fucking believe shit like Ah, he does care
about me. Neat. But Mishka was too sensible for that. There were other explanations.
Options. He didn’t want Mishka visiting brothels because then Goro might lose
his grip on him if Mishka was getting his needs met elsewhere... this theory
had some holes, sure, but that could be it. Or Hansel was too fucking tired to
take care of Mishka, so Goro was doing it for Hansel.

Yeah.

Mishka really fucking wanted to believe this was real.
Wanted to believe it was as simple as: He cares about me like I care about him.
Fucking unlikely, though. Mishka was a psycho.

He closed his eyes and breathed.

Felt... so good, though. He could lie to himself for a few
minutes, right?(edited)

**Lina:**

 He was settling in. Good. Goro kept kissing and stroking his
hair. He tried to remember what else Mishka had said, what exactly he needed.
Someone to tell him to sit down and breathe-- check. Someone to hold him and
tell him everything was okay.

"Shh. It's alright. Everything's okay." He waited
for Mishka's breaths to even out, and then he kept talking, softly. "Well,
you're fucking right, sometimes I do want it to be just me and Hansel. But
sometimes I want it to be just me and you. And sometimes, you two want just
each other, and sometimes, we all three want all three of us. Is that so
fucking far-fetched? I'm fucking new to this shit and it makes sense to
me." More kisses, to soften his words. Then he couldn't help a little
scoff. "Going to a fucking brothel for this. It should be someone who
loves you doing it. You come to me next time."

He took Mishka's hand and squeezed it. "I know, I
wasn't around earlier. What'd you have a panic attack about? Tell me."

**Coyote:**

 God. Yeah. Mishka’s heart squeezed in his chest.

He checked the exits automatically. Balcony— ladder—
servant’s quarters. Samantha was out for the night, it seemed; she’d left a
note in her quarters saying she was staying with a boy in town. It was unlikely
anyone would pass through. Maybe it was... maybe it was okay. Maybe it was safe
to have emotions right now. Nobody was around to see them except Goro.

Mishka grabbed the quilt that hung over the couch and
settled it on them. He curled up beside Goro— still half on top of him— and
closed his eyes again.

He felt... still.

And— quiet.

Quiet, the way he did with Hansel.

Maybe this was just how Goro expressed affection. Sharp
interrogation and snapped commands. Cursing and cuddling. If so, Mishka...
really fucking liked it. Felt good. He really fucking liked how direct Goro
was, sometimes.

Mishka usually expressed affection through flowery words and
fucking. He’d written Hansel dozens of love letters. Poems, sometimes. Listing
everything he liked about Hansel— his black eyes, his grumbling, his grabbing.
Mishka’s favorite thing about Hansel were his hands: so strong, so calloused,
so rough, and so deadly. And yet so fucking gentle.

He supposed he’d been waiting on Goro to do that to him.
He’d been waiting for Goro to get... flowery, and sweet, and nice.

But— now that he thought about it— Goro wasn’t flowery or
nice. And that wasn’t fucking why Mishka loved him, anyway. He loved the
bossiness... and the cursing... and the dragging... and the grabbing. This was
who Goro actually was, and it felt fucking great.

“Okay,” Mishka murmured. “I’ll come to you next time. Can we
just lie here a moment first, though?” He kissed Goro’s collarbone. “This
feels... god. Way fucking better than I expected. Maybe you’re right about things.”

**Lina:**

 "Mhm. As long as you need." Er... well. Hansel was
waiting for them, and didn't know where they were. But Goro really didn't want
to rush this. He carefully tugged at Mishka's scrying eye pendant, freeing it
from between their chests so he could look into it. Nothing but pillow, from what
he could see. Maybe Hansel had fallen asleep. Goro draped the pendant so it
rested on Mishka's shoulder, and Hansel would see Goro if he woke up and looked
through it. There.

He kissed Mishka's head again.

**Coyote:**

 Okay. Game plan. If he talked about it now, then he could
get it over with and go to bed with Goro and Hansel. Like a reward for good
behavior.

Mishka spoke carefully. “I found this letter Roddy wrote.
About him joining the Sanguines. Apparently he’s in—regular correspondence with
Jonn? And working with Jonn. They killed a maid, apparently.”

He traced the odd marks and scars on Goro’s arm. “Just
fucking set me off, I s’pose. I didn’t realize Jonn was in the Sanguines—s’pose
I wasn’t paying enough attention to pick up on that. I certainly didn’t fucking
realize Roddy was in… regular correspondence… with him. Much less murdering
maids with him.”

Mishka tightened up a little. “It’s just—god. I thought Jonn
was fucking adorable, you know? I didn’t consider him a threat at all, not one
fucking bit. I met Diva once. For five minutes. I still have no fucking clue
why she was so set on me. And then—out of fucking nowhere—the instant I let my
guard down—that thing used to Jonn to—to do what he fucking did to me.” He bit
the inside of his cheek until it stung, then made himself stop.

This was just going to upset Goro. Goro didn’t fucking want
to hear about… Diva, or the sixty seconds, or getting hosted.

**Lina:**

 Weird, because Diva had also very much used Goro to do what
he did to Mishka, and yet Mishka was here cuddling with him like he'd
completely fucking forgotten. It gave Goro a crawling feeling in his stomach,
but he tried to ignore it. "You really don't know why Diva went after you?
Someone should've told you. I thought you knew."

**Coyote:**

 "No. I... s'pose she wanted me because I'm good at
getting into places. No clue, beyond that. She didn't fuck with Joan the way
she fucked with me," Mishka said.

**Lina:**

 "Nah, it was more than that, there was..." Goro
hesitated, not sure if explaining would really help. Apparently it had been
bothering Mishka, though, not knowing why he was a target. "The dwarven research
notes that Ombre translated for us. It said the hivemind used something called
primaries, which were the more powerful hosts. The kind that could become the
new queen if the old queen died. A host had to be really fucking powerful to be
a primary, and there weren't very many candidates. You were one. That was all.
I don't know why she didn't pick on Joan, 'cept that Joan's probably not very
fun to pick on. Fucking stoic as a rock, and shit."

**Coyote:**

 "You that-- that makes sense. The thing about Joan, I
mean." Mishka was easy to provoke, easy to fuck with, if you got inside
his head and need where the weak spots where.

He scrubbed a hand across his face. "Anyway-- point
is-- fuckin' Roddy. I kept looking at him and thinking-- What if he's like
Jonn? What if I'm going to wake up one day and there's another larvae in my
mouth and Roddy is standing over me? I like the kid, I guess. Suppose he decides
I need to suffer for what I did to his dad. Suppose Jonn talks him into taking
me down, since Jonn can't get close to me anyone. Suppose..."

**Lina:**

 "Roddy? God, no, hah, listen." Goro ran his hands
up and down Mishka's back. "Roddy wouldn't. Look, if there's one thing I'm
fucking good at, it's reading people. My instincts, they're never wrong. I
don't know what the fuck kind of drugs you were smoking that made you think
Jonn was adorable, but I never fucking thought that. I knew that little shit
was trouble from day one. There's something fucking missing with him. He's...
he's sick. Roddy's not sick, Roddy's just fucking dumb. He's not gonna pull a
Jonn on you, alright?"

**Coyote:**

 "I'll take your word for it. You probably know."
He kissed Goro's hand. "You probably learned real fucking fast who was
dangerous and who wasn't when you were growing up on the street, huh.” That was
probably the wrong thing to say. Reminding Goro of his bad past while they were
supposed to be relaxing.

What Mishka wanted to say was: I’m fucking fascinated by
you. I trust you.

He wanted to say… soft things.

Would Goro like it if Mishka was… soft, or flowery, or sweet
towards him? Maybe he ought to try it. Maybe Goro could express affection like
this: by cursing at him, dragging him around, bossing him about, and kissing
him—and Mishka could express affection his own way. He could tell Goro: I love
you. You’re fucking adorable, you know.

“Sorry,” Mishka said. “I know I shouldn’t bring up difficult
shit the way I do. I just—I’m fucking fascinated by you, y’know. The way you
are. The way you act. Sometimes I wish I knew everything about you. But then I
think, no, I don’t, because it’s just so… fucking fascinating, not knowing.
You’re like a book I can only half-translate.” He kissed Goro’s neck. “I trust
y’judgment. I trust you. I’m real fucking bad at knowing who to trust, but… I
trust you.”

**Lina:**

 You shouldn't, Goro almost said out of habit. Seemed like
that might upset Mishka, though. And honestly, at this point, Goro wasn't sure
there was any point in objecting. Of course Mishka could trust him. What was
Goro gonna fucking do, rob him? Slit his throat?

He guessed he just... had people who could trust him, now.
And people he could trust.

The other shit Mishka was saying--about Goro being a book he
could only half-translate--reminded Goro of a letter he'd started to write
Mishka, but given up because it sounded stupid. That had been his plan, after
Hansel talked to him: leave Mishka little love notes everywhere, saying what he
loved about him. Turned out Goro was shit at love notes, though. They sounded
more like some researcher's notes on a strange new creature he was studying.
Not fucking romantic.

He'd have to keep thinking.

So for now he said nothing, just made a soft grunt of
acknowledgment, and kept petting Mishka's hair.

**Coyote:**

 Mishka kissed his wrist. Then he held out his arm. "Can
you...?" He pulled up his sleeve so the bruises were visible again.

**Lina:**

 "Kiss them better?" Goro touched his lips to a few
of the bruises. "That help? Or you need something a little more
intensive?"

**Coyote:**

 Mishka shot him an amused look. He shivered a little at the
feel of lips on skin. "Sure. That works well enough." He let his arm
drop.

It seemed like the talking-- saying shit like You fascinate
me-- didn't have much of an effect on Goro. He'd try it again some other time,
more gently.

**Lina:**

 "Ah, gimme that." Goro took Mishka's arm again,
kissed it once more, then pulled out his Foxtail wand. Didn't take more than a
charge to clear it all up, which was good, since Goro had used half the power
in it already. First on that woman's leg after Larkin shot her, then on his own
face. And he'd used up a good chunk of his own healing magic on himself and
Hansel.

Fuck's sake. Not a single one of the injuries he'd healed
today had been unavoidable.

"Thought we had a deal," Goro said quietly, as he
tucked the wand away.

**Coyote:**

 Mishka's throat closed up. "Yeah," he managed.

**Lina:**

 "So? What the fuck happened? Deal's off?"

**Coyote:**

 Mishka’s fingers dug into him. “What? Fuck no. Look, just
because I… one time… I didn’t fucking—mean to, I just didn’t think… I just
needed… you were both gone…” God damn it. “You’re not fucking allowed to hurt
yourself.”

Mishka was losing this argument. Should've fucking had Joan
heal the injuries before anyone saw.

**Lina:**

 "You needed what?"

**Coyote:**

 Mishka grit his teeth. "I don't fucking--"
Exasperated. "I don't know. I needed to settle down and I couldn't.
There's probably... other... coping methods. I haven't had problems with Diva
in months. I wasn't fucking-- I wasn't thinking about it."

**Lina:**

 "Deal's a deal, Mishka." Goro was somehow
simultaneously fucking pissed off, and fucking sad for him. Squeezing him
tighter seemed to be the way to go, so that was what Goro did. "You're
right, there's probably other coping methods. So come on. Let's list 'em.
Either one of us, next Diva-induced panic attack, what do we do?"

January 28, 2019

**Coyote:** at 7:45
AM

Mishka pulled back. There was a tight feeling in his gut. Just...
being around someone helped— if someone just sat quietly with him and held him.
That wasn’t helpful, though. He could go to Hansel or Goro— but he’d have to
track them down in the middle of a panic attack.

Next time he could just... pinch himself, then get Joan to
heal it to get rid of the marks.

“I’ll think of something,” Mishka said.(edited)

**Lina:** at 8:13 AM

Psh. Thought he could weasel out of this. "Yeah, I know
you're gonna think of something. That's what we're doing right now. Making a
plan. Ten things to do besides hurt ourselves when we think about Diva, or
whatever. Unless you're saying the deal's off after all?"

**Coyote:** at 8:27
AM

“You’re fucking persistent,” Mishka groused. “No, the deal
isn’t fucking off.” He lay back down again and closed his eyes. Ten things.
Then they could go to bed, maybe. He started thinking.

**Lina:** at 8:34 AM

Goro took Mishka's hand and kissed each of his fingers.
"Seems like you need something to do with your hands, right? You've got
that fidgety thing Roddy gave you. That one won't work for me, but sometimes
I've just... grabbed one of my wands, and squeezed them tight. Almost like I'm
trying to break them."

**Coyote:** at 8:54
AM

“Huh. Yeah, that’s... that’s true.” Mishka’s eyes were
unfocused. “There is that spinner thing Roddy gave me, yeah.”

Which made him feel... oddly better. “There’s other things,
too. Sometimes it helps to go spar with someone. Or... I used to have this
burned-out area in the woods where I’d go and burn a tree down.” Mishka fiddled
with the spinner in his pocket. “I could go somewhere to sit quietly and watch
through the scrying eye to see what Hansel’s doing.” That’d make him feel
better— like Hansel was there with him— even if he didn’t go find Hansel.
“Or... I suppose I could come find you. Or Joan.”

None of that was helpful to Goro, though. Mishka rubbed his
face.

**Lina:** at 8:03 PM

"Good. Good, now you're talking. Let's see, that was
what... one, two, three, four five..." Goro ticked them off on his
fingers. "We'll call that good enough." He kissed Mishka's head.
"I'm satisfied. You feeling better? Not gonna run off to that fucking
brothel, are you?"

**Coyote:** at 8:07
PM

"Mm." Mishka kept his eyes closed. Now that he was
calm, all his exhaustion crashed into him at once. "Not if you tell me not
to." He dragged himself upright, then pulled Goro up too. "You ready
to go?"

**Lina:** at 8:13 PM

"Yeah. Or I can tell you what happened with Hansel, if
you want. I don't think he'll want to talk about it, though. We just gotta
cuddle him real hard, one on each side."

**Coyote:** at 8:18
PM

"Nine Hells. Yes, tell me." Sometimes-- when
Hansel was badly upset-- he wouldn't tell Mishka what had happened at all, or
it took him hours to calm down enough to get it out. Which was fine; however
Hansel needed to process it was fine. But it was fucking alarming, not knowing
what had happened.

"I looked through the scrying eye," Mishka
admitted. "I heard thunder. I saw he was with you, and things seemed...
fine. I didn't want to-- intrude. Did something... else... happen?"(edited)

**Lina:** at 8:34 PM

"Yeah. Well, alright. Long fucking story." And
Goro wasn't feeling up to telling all the parts involving some lady fucking
telling him she was his mom. Mishka would have to do without. "There was
an incident with one of the town guards. He punched my face in pretty good.
Hansel saw, got pissed. Said he was going to go give the guy a talking to, but
that was not... ah... what happened."(edited)

**Coyote:** at 8:37
PM

Mishka started to snicker, but managed to turn it into a
cough. "Yeah? Good."

**Lina:** at 8:54 PM

"Uh. Yeah. Well." Goro wondered how much detail he
ought to include. Like the part about how Hansel took a bite out of a guy?
Iffy. That might be need-to-know-basis kind of information. "I mean, it
didn't turn out so good. He was taking on these three guys, and then... well,
this storm came outta nowhere. It turned out alright, though. He fought it off.
The guys ran, and it was just me and Hansel, and I talked to him and he fought
it off. So it wasn't as bad as it could've been, that's for sure. But he was
still pretty shook up after."

**Coyote:** at 9:10
PM

Mishka froze. He stared at Goro in horror as Goro talked.

He-- had gotten possessed? The rest didn't quite process;
there was something about Goro talking him down; that was interesting; but then
Goro said he was still pretty shook up, after and Mishka stopped fucking caring
about the rest of it.

He yanked Goro into his arms, held him tightly, and silently
cracked into Hansel's room.

**Lina:** at 9:14 PM

"Don't--fucking--jeez, fuck." Goro kept one hand
on Mishka, leaning heavily on him for balance, and rubbed his face with the
other.

**Izzy:** at 9:18 PM

Hansel heard Goro's voice coming from the other room
abruptly. He was drowsy, but he didn't think he'd actually fallen asleep --
Mishka must've teleported them up. Fuckin' Mishka. Thank god for him, honestly.
He shifted to stop hugging a pillow to his chest, figuring one or the other of
them would be there to take its place soon enough.

**Coyote:** at 9:32
PM

Mishka let go out Goro, a hand trailing reluctantly on his
hip-- but he supposed he'd have to let go of Goro to go check on Hansel.
"Hans?" he murmured.

He bent to kiss Hansel's ear, resting his fingers on
Hansel's pulse. Hansel looked... fine. Yeah. It was fine. He was wearing a new
ring on his finger, but nothing else had changed. Mishka pulled aside the cover
and started checking over the rest.

**Lina:** at 9:33 PM

"Hey. Hey, I already fucking healed him, alright? You
questioning my competency or what?"

**Coyote:** at 9:36
PM

"No." Mishka was completely fucking certain Goro
had healed every inch of Hansel. He kept checking anyway, though.

**Izzy:** at 9:37 PM

"I'm fine," Hansel grumbled. Fine enough. He
pulled MIshka down to hug him to his chest.

**Coyote:** at 9:39
PM

"Hans, one time you told me you were fine with a
fucking harpoon sticking out of you."

**Izzy:** at 9:39 PM

"Yeah, well ... I was fuckin' fine."

**Coyote:** at 9:42
PM

"That is not what Serena sai-- you know what? We've had
this conversation. We've had this fucking conversation, Hans. We have this
conversation every fucking battle..." Mishka starting muttering curses in
Elvish.

He tugged, checking to see if Hansel would let him go.
Hansel would not. Mishka started kicking off his boots without his hands,
because apparently he wasn't allowed to use his hands.(edited)

**Lina:** at 9:43 PM

Well. Looked like they were... settling in, then. Goro slid
towards the door.

**Izzy:** at 9:46 PM

"Goro, where the fuck d'you think you're fucking
goin'."

**Lina:** at 9:47 PM

"Just grabbing a couple things."

**Izzy:** at 9:47 PM

Hansel sighed. "Mishka."

**Coyote:** at 9:49
PM

Mm. Maybe Goro actually was going to get some things.
"I'll come with, chaveri. Help you grab them. Then we're coming
back?"

**Lina:** at 9:49 PM

"Nah. You gotta stay with Hansel."

**Coyote:** at 9:57
PM

Yeah, no. Goro was tense again. He wasn't looking directly
at them; he was looking off to the side. His hands clenched like he wanted to
grab one of his wands and squeeze them tight enough to break them.

Mishka finished taking off his boots.

Then he went to Goro. He took Goro's arm and pulled him
close, again. More gently this time. He cupped Goro's face and just... held him
there a moment, breathing his air. "It's okay if you go," he
murmured. "I'd just rather you came back."

**Izzy:** at 10:01 PM

Hansel pushed himself up to lean back against the headboard
and give Goro a look over Mishka's shoulder. He wasn't even sure what kind of
look. Just fuckin' ... sad, maybe, because he didn't want Goro to fucking go at
all, even if it was just to grab something and come back.

**Lina:** at 10:09 PM

Ah, jeez. Goro didn't know there'd be a fucking army trying
to keep him from leaving. He weaved around Mishka and climbed onto the bed.
"Fuckin'... fine."

**Izzy:** at 10:15 PM

Satisfied for a moment, Hansel pulled Goro back to one side.
Then he realized Mishka wasn't joining them. These goddamn fuckers, honestly.
"Khochav."

**Coyote:** at 10:19
PM

"Hans. Sometimes you need to wait a moment before both
your husband and boyfriend will cuddle with you." He locked the door in
the other room, then unbuckled his belt and pulled off his soft cashmere
sweater. Folded it, set it aside, then crawled into bed, mostly naked.

He wrapped his arms around Hansel's back so he could hold
Hansel while Hansel held his boyfriend. He snapped his fingers and put out the lantern,
leaving them in the dark, and closed his eyes.

**Izzy:** at 10:31 PM

Hansel shifted, wrapping Goro up against his chest more
firmly and arching his back into Mishka. Much better. No amount of healing
could ever made all of the aches in his body go away, but this -- this did
pretty goddamn well.

He laid quietly for a moment and enjoyed it, then thought to
sleepily ask, "Hey, why'd Larkin fuckin' ... shoot someone, anyway. The
fuck happened today."

**Lina:** at 10:34 PM

Goro briefly wondered if he could get away with either
pretending to be asleep, pretending he hadn't heard, or pretending he didn't
know the question was directed at him. But god, with the fuckin' two of them
ganging up on him, probably not.

He took a while answering, anyway. His hand twitched against
the bedsheets, wanting to make a fist even as he tried to relax. "She shot
someone 'cause I told her to."

**Coyote:** at 10:38
PM

Mishka lifted his head up to squint at Goro in the dark.
"Why'd Larkin need to shoot them for you? What'd they do?" More fucking
trouble-makers on his fucking property. Causing problems. Harassing his
boyfriend.

**Lina:** at 10:42 PM

Well, of course they'd fucking want to know that. Goro
locked up, his muscles tensing, jaw tightening, damming up the words.

He managed to squeeze one out. "Scammers."

**Izzy:** at 10:44 PM

Huh. Weird for Goro to be all tight-lipped. He'd gone all
tense, too. Hansel frowned and squeezed him tighter for a moment, then drew
away to look at him. "That it?"

**Lina:** at 10:46 PM

"Gist of it, yeah," he said through his teeth.

**Izzy:** at 10:54 PM

"Mmhm." Hansel narrowed his eyes at Goro.
"Listen, fucker, if I can make myself talk about the fuckin' evil god that
gets all inside my head and how much my parents fucked me up, then you can
fuckin' tell me what's going on with you. Don't make me goddamn drag it out of
you. I'm too fuckin' tired."

January 29, 2019

**Lina:** at 9:21 AM

"There's nothing fuckin'--" Goro snapped his mouth
shut, sealing his lips and grabbing a fistful of the sheets. He closed his
eyes, not looking at Hansel.

"Some lady came to the castle. Said she was my fucking
mother. She'd come from the Sanctuary and said Amari was talking about me, and
she thought I was her son. Such fucking bullshit. I thought it was a scam. I
freaked her out and she fucking bolted, and I told Larkin to shoot her in the
leg so she wouldn't get away. She had a kid with her, you know, and I thought,
who knows what she's doing to that kid. That, and... I thought..." He
tensed even further, teeth sawing together. "What if she really was my
mother, and she was just... fucking... leaving. I couldn't..."

I couldn't just watch her leave.

He was fine. Hard and solid, like a plank of wood, or a
rock, or a knife blade. No feelings in him, just rocks and knives.

"Guess I'm the kind of guy who'll shoot his own mother
to make sure he gets to talk to her. I mean, I fucking healed her, but guess
what, people get sore about it when you shoot them. Anyway, she was lying,
turns out. No surprise. She did have a son she lost, but it wasn't me. She was
just some lying bitch who heard I lived in a castle and wanted to see if she
could get a piece of it. I gave her some gold, though, for the kid. And I tried
to help her more but she just... told me to fuck off, in no uncertain terms. So
what's what happened."

**Izzy:** at 9:45 AM

Hansel didn't have the energy to get angry again -- probably
for the best, really -- but there was still a quiet burn in his gut over it.
Fucking bullshit. Some asshole using Amari's name and the promise of Goro's
birth mother to get to him. Motherfucker. He'd've fucking shot her too. He'd've
--

He'd've done something fucking unforgivable to someone who
could have honestly been Goro's mother. Really fucking made her leave.

He pulled Goro back in, tighter than before, trying to crush
the tension out of him, and kissed the top of his head. He wanted to say you've
got Amari, you don't need the bitch that left you anyway, but that wasn't
really the point, here. Or maybe she's still out there, maybe she just hasn't
found you yet, but that didn't feel helpful, either.

So he just said, "That's fuckin' awful," and
kissed Goro's hair again. "I'm sorry."

**Lina:** at 1:22 PM

Goro's instinctive reaction, when Hansel touched him, was to
jerk away. Warn him off. Don't touch me. I'm made of knives. You'll get hurt.

But that was the thing about Hansel. He always grabbed Goro
so tight, held him so close, he didn't have time to hear the warning about
knives before Goro turned soft again. Hansel held him so tight it made all the
fight drain out of him, because there was no use in fighting anyway.

He could rest, instead. Be protected instead of protecting
himself.

Goro still didn't quite understand it--didn't get how it
could be true. But he gave in anyway, easing into the touch, letting his tension
drain away.

He was, really, actually, fine.

**Izzy:** at 1:42 PM

Hansel held him there, for a moment, nuzzling against his
hair. He didn't say anything, but there wasn't much left to say, Hansel
figured, and he did relax in Hansel's arms, so mission accomplished, there. He
might have more to say in a little while. Usually did.

Until then, though, Hansel shrugged Mishka away, just long
enough so that he could roll over, putting Goro between them and loosening his
hold on Goro just to pull Mishka back in close again, wrapping his arm around
both of them. He really fucking liked having Mishka against his back -- made
him feel safer -- but sometimes he felt like he couldn't hold Goro tight enough
even if he fucking snapped him in two doing it. It was easier if Mishka was
there too, if he helped.

Either way, in this position Hansel got to hold them both,
which was also pretty fucking great. Maybe he should find someone else to watch
his back. Nah. Definitely greedy. Plus, then he'd just want to hold them, too.
Ah well.

**Coyote:** at 2:14
PM

Mishka sat there quietly as they talked.

He wanted so fucking badly to do something… good, or
helpful. He just had no clue what.

It was uncomfortable, being here. It was uncomfortable,
knowing what had just happened between him and Goro: Goro had insisted on
comforting him on the on the couch, insisted that Mishka take it from someone
who loved him rather than a whore in a brothel, and Mishka had given in... and
it’d be amazing, for ten minutes. And now Goro needed reassurance and Mishka
wasn’t allowed to give it. Goro wouldn’t take it from him.

It felt like nothing he did was right, sometimes. Nothing he
did seemed to earn him any kind of positive reaction anymore.

There was an old joke about a doctor Mishka liked to tell. A
patient went to the doctor and said, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this,” and he
twisted his wrist. And the doctor said, “Well, then, don’t do that.”

The joke used to amuse him. It was good advice, too; don’t
do things that hurt. The problem was, the list of things he was doing wrong had
gotten too long to manage, and… he still didn’t have anything on the “good”
list. Nothing Goro seemed to like, nothing he enjoyed. He wasn’t sure how to
interact with Goro in a positive way, anymore. If Goro didn’t need him for
comfort, didn’t need him for companionship, didn’t need him for fun, what did
Goro need him for? He wasn’t even sure what Goro liked about him.

Then Hansel shifted Goro between them. “Hans, don’t,” Mishka
murmured in protest. He wanted to explain: I don’t want you to keep handing him
over to me. I want him to come to me.(edited)

**Lina:** at 3:21 PM

Yeah, Hans. Though Mishka could at least be a little less
fucking blatant about it. Have some goddamn manners. Goro squirmed against
Hansel's hold, intending to fix this if Hansel wouldn't himself.

**Izzy:** at 3:29 PM

"What? No. Goro." Hansel held him tighter, gently
saying, "Goro. He didn't mean he didn't want you, jackass. Shh. It's
okay."

**Lina:** at 3:34 PM

"Yeah, 'course not, he just wants you in the middle.
And who can blame him? Everyone should get a piece of Hansel."

Hansel had seen right fucking through him, though, in truth.
Rude. Leave a man to his insecurities in peace, why don't he.

**Coyote:** at 9:34
PM

Mishka rubbed his face. He wished he could—fuckin’… stop
being… insecure about this. He just wasn’t sure what to do.

It made him think about what Hansel said, before. You pull
away. That's real fuckin' scary. I know it's not your fault, my love. But it
probably made him think you didn't care about him. He doesn't want to fucking
be vulnerable, either.

If you both get spooked and pull away you're just gonna both
be goddamn lonely.

Mishka slipped out of bed. He grabbed his sweater, because
he was cold, and pulled it back on.

It broke his fucking heart, seeing Goro this upset. Fucking…
woman, fucking with his fucking boyfriend. Fucking Mishka, opening his fucking
mouth and saying shit without thinking about it. “Helvete,” he muttered. “I
don’t want Hansel in the middle. I just—it upsets me when—” He gestured. It
sounded fucking dumb now that he had to say it out loud. “I didn’t want Hansel
t’set you down next to me. I didn’t think you wanted to be there—Nine Hells,
it’s stupid, I know, I just…”

He kicked the bed. That made him feel better. “Forget it.
Chaveri, sometimes, yes, I'd like Hansel to lie in the middle, but other times,
I'd rather have you in the middle, or me. Right? I want to lie next to
you." Maybe he'd just fucking lie on top of Goro. That'd settle
it.(edited)

**Lina:** at 10:07 PM

"Get back in the fucking bed, then." Goro reached
for him, grabbing aggressively at the air.

**Coyote:** at 10:11
PM

Mishka checked around automatically, then decided, yeah, all
good. He crawled back into bed. "D'you wanna hear about how fucking stupid
I think that scammer is?"

**Lina:** at 10:12 PM

"'Kay." Goro pushed his back against Hansel as
snugly as it would go, and dragged Mishka against his chest to hold him tight.

**Coyote:** at 10:22
PM

"Look, I pull scams like that all the fucking time, so
I just want to say," Mishka said. "First of all-- fucking come on.
Imagine if you, Goro, went up to somebody and pretended to be their long-lost
dead son. Imagine that. Would you be mad if they figured it out and shot you?
No. You'd think: ah, fair, I was pretending to be their fucking dead son,
understandable they're a bit salty and/or fucking suspicious. Fuck's
sake."

He scoffed. "Second of all... fuck, now I can't
remember the second point. It was important, though. It'll come back to
me." He dug a little deeper into the covers. It was freezing outside the
castle, and pretty chilly in the room.

**Lina:** at 10:26 PM

"Mm. Mhm." Goro's eyes had drifted closed while
Mishka talked. He grinned and pulled Mishka even closer, trying to wrap his
arms and legs around him to cover as much area as possible. "It better. I
like the way you think."

**Coyote:** at 10:34
PM

Mishka grumbled. It was hard to think with Hansel and Goro
around. He paid too much attention to them. They were too interesting, he
supposed. "Larkin's a good partner," he muttered. "Don't fucking
get her, but... I'm glad you have her, y'know. Good for her." Chaver was a
multi-purpose word; it meant partner, boyfriend, comrade, compatriot. He
supposed Larkin was Goro's chaver, too.

"Clever of you to pick up what was going on so quickly.
Fucking woman. I can't imagine if someone came to the door pretending to be...
fucking Asenka or something." He shuddered.

**Lina:** at 10:39 PM

Goro snorted. "You say clever, I say paranoid. Guess
there were some... off things about it from the get-go, though. But that's...
ah. Assuming I know what the hell it'd be like to have my real mother show
up."

**Coyote:** at 10:47
PM

"Well, if she's related to you, she'd probably talk
your way into your house and steal your silverware. So probably not much
different than how the first round went."

**Lina:** at 10:54 PM

He snorted again, and it turned into a full laugh. When that
faded, he was quiet for a minute.

"I used to imagine it all the time." It slipped
out before he really had a chance to reconsider, and once he started he felt
the need to clarify. "My parents coming and finding me. But usually, in my
daydreams, I recognized them right away. Even though I don't remember what they
look like."

**Coyote:** at 11:03
PM

Mishka kept quiet. He slid his hand under Goro's clothing, though,
rubbing his hand down Goro's back. He didn't have anything to say here; he just
held Goro, feeling... oddly privileged he was now someone, apparently, Goro
would say this shit to.

**Izzy:** at 11:20 PM

Hansel considered whether he should say something about how
he used to think the same thing about his orc father -- about how he might just
show up one day, and it'd fuckin' solve all of Hansel's problems, somehow.
Didn't even know the man. Never had. His mom never said anything about him. The
daydreams had never come true, and now -- even if he hadn't been killed or
something -- he'd probably have died of old age by now.

Seemed like a fucking lot to lay out, though, and Goro would
probably just get sad for him again, then, like he had when Hansel had brought
up his mom and stepfather. Don't make this about you, Hansel.

He kissed Goro's head and tried to think of what else he
could say that might be ... comforting, or something. Mishka was supposed to be
the one who was good with words, goddammit. "Yeah," he said finally,
hesitantly. "I mean, I used to think the same kinda thing about my orc
dad." There was a way he could do this without making Goro feel bad for
him. "But, y'know. You're gonna fuckin' have Amari regardless. So ...
it'll be okay."

January 30, 2019

**Lina:** at 11:23 AM

Goro found it weirdly comforting, knowing he and Hansel had
shared the same kind of daydream, depressing though it may have been. He didn't
say anything, but he wiggled around enough that he could reach Hansel's mouth
for a few kisses.

Then he shifted back to where he'd been, settled between
Hansel and Mishka. He tugged some limbs here and there, repositioning them
until he was perfectly warm and comfortable. "There," he said.
"Now, neither of you is allowed to move until I say so."

**Coyote:** at 11:58
AM

“Mm.” Mishka sighed. So odd to think that he used to shy
away from this touch, and now he was letting Goro manhandle him about the bed.
“As you say, as it is, koshka.”

Hansel was wearing a familiar ring on his finger. The ring
of mind shielding, it looked like. Goro must have given it to him. Mishka
rubbed it with his thumb, feeling… oddly pleased. Maybe it would block
Gruumsh’s voice. That was clever.

Maybe they ought to get Goro a ring, too, so people knew he
was theirs.

Nah. What a weird fucking thought. Mishka brushed it aside.
Still, though. Maybe a collar or something. A collar from Hansel, obviously.
“We ought to get you a shirt that says property of Hansel Granger and Mikhail
Haeth,” Mishka mused aloud to himself.

**Izzy:** at 12:00 PM

Hansel snorted.

**Lina:** at 12:01 PM

"Oh, so you own me now, huh? You'd better take real
good fucking care of me, then. If I'm even the slightest bit disheveled, people
won't look kindly on you."

**Coyote:** at 12:03
PM

“I’ll have you know I take excellent care of my pets.”

**Lina:** at 12:04 PM

"Hey! I'm a fucking person."

**Coyote:** at 12:09
PM

Mishka snorted in amusement. He wanted to say: You are?
Funny. I thought you were our desperate little bitch. But right before bed was
probably not the time for weird flirting.

“Of course you’re a person,” Mishka said. “And I will treat
you with the utmost respect, care, and consideration when I leash you to the
bed and do filthy things to you.”

Ah, that was still flirting. Oh well. He’d... tried. Sort
of.

**Lina:** at 12:15 PM

"Fuckin' better. Or I'll bite you."

**Coyote:** at 12:20
PM

“It’s not a threat if I secretly like it, koshka.”(edited)

**Lina:** at 12:23 PM

"Oh. Were we supposed to be threatening each other? I
thought this was sweet talk."

**Coyote:** at 12:24
PM

“It can be both,” Mishka said. “Hey. I never got my third
honest question the other night at the bar. There’s something I’ve been
wondering—“

**Lina:** at 12:25 PM

"Mm. Yeah, what is it?"

**Coyote:** at 12:26
PM

“What’s your favorite color?”

**Lina:** at 12:27 PM

"Eh? The fuck kind of question is that?"

**Coyote:** at 12:28
PM

“You’re right, it’s too personal,” Mishka said with a
straight face.

**Lina:** at 12:28 PM

"Damn straight. Not even my own mother knows. Hey,
what's your favorite color? I bet I can guess."

**Coyote:** at 12:31
PM

“Huh.” Mishka lapsed into silence a moment. “I s’pose I’ve
never thought about it. I usually wear whatever looks good on me, which is...
greens, and blues, and golds.... I suppose it’s purple, actually.”

Huh. Why didn’t he have anything purple?

**Lina:** at 12:33 PM

"Dang. I was gonna guess green. Y'know, I kinda like
green, myself." He walked his fingers along Mishka's back, feeling through
his sweater along his shoulder blades, where the scales were.

**Coyote:** at 12:36
PM

“Mm.” That felt good. Mishka took Goro’s hand, slid it under
the sweater so he could feel Mishka’s skin without the cashmere in the way.
“Hey, how come you didn’t answer my question? Or is it green? Do I have to tie
y’to a chair and interrogate you?”

**Lina:** at 12:37 PM

"I don't have a favorite color, 'cause I'm not fucking
ten years old."

**Coyote:** at 12:39
PM

“Oh. That’s a pity. I suppose when I tie you to the chair,
then, you won’t have an answer to give me. S’pose I’ll just have to keep you
there and keep fucking with you as long as I like.”

**Lina:** at 1:30 PM

"Pff. I'll just make something up. My favorite color is
black, like my heart. There we go."

**Coyote:** at 1:46
PM

Mm. Maybe Mishka would gag him so he couldn’t respond.
That’d be nice. He’d spend a long time strapping Goro to a chair, then gag him
tight so all he could do was moan and half-beg while Mishka fucked with him.
Then Mishka would whisper in his ear: What’s wrong, darling? You got something
to say? Poor baby. You can’t talk back now, can you?

He’d have to ask Goro if he liked gags. It might be weird,
since Goro has spent so long gagged when he was possessed by Diva. Might
trigger some bad memories.

Mishka kept staring into the dark. His eyes fell on the ring
Hansel wore, and that reminded him: Ah. He had a ring to give Hansel, too.

Mishka toyed with the ring in his pocket. It was Hansel’s
old wedding ring. Finding it hadn’t been easy; he’d used a mushroom to ask the
scrying pool where the ring was, but the trouble was, all the scrying pool
showed him was some generic, cluttered weapon’s shop. Mishka had been forced to
check every blacksmith and pawnshop in Skyport for weeks.

Eventually, he’d found it in a blacksmith’s shop in the
Gilded District. The ring had obviously passed through a few owners since
Hansel sold it months ago. Dented… scratched… the letters pried off… the owner
had intended to melt it down and use it as scrap. So Mishka had bought it, and
gotten it reforged. It was still the same ring-- still the same metal-- but now
it was stronger now, more resilient.

Mishka slipped the ring onto Hansel’s finger— gently, so
Hansel could stop him if he liked.

“I found your ring,” Mishka said, pleased with himself. “It
was missing some of the metal, so I gave them mine and had them melted down and
reforged together.”

**Izzy:** at 2:13 PM

Hansel had been dozing, amused and comforted by their
bickering. He could've probably already fallen asleep if he didn't fucking like
listening to them so much -- as it was he wasn't really tracking the
conversation that well, so he was a bit startled when Mishka took his hand, not
sure where it'd come from.

It felt familiar, though, immediately, the way he imagined
it'd feel if he got his finger back. His thumb slipped over instinctively to
touch it.

"Oh." He didn't know what to say. Mishka would
spring this on him when he was too sleepy and exhausted to react properly,
scoop him up and kiss him hard and remind him of why they'd gotten married in
the first place. He just grumbled and squeezed Mishka's hand, then leaned
across Goro to kiss him gently, instead, and whisper, "Thank you, my
love."

As he resettled, he kissed Goro's hair, too, and rested
against him -- eyes closed, playing idly with both rings. That was real fuckin'
nice. He liked that.

**Coyote:** at 2:19
PM

Ah, this was good. Mishka liked it. It was quiet. Low-key.
Intimate. Just shared between the three of them...

Oh. Hm.

“Sorry,” Mishka murmured to Goro. “S’pose this might be
weird for you. Sometimes I just do things, y’know. Impulsively. Without
thinking them through.”

**Lina:** at 2:24 PM

"Ah. Uh. Huh? Why would it... should it be weird?"
Shit, maybe that was a veiled way of saying get the fuck out so we can have our
moment. "I can... I can step out for a minute."

**Izzy:** at 2:25 PM

"No," Hansel murmured, not moving from using
Goro's head as a prop.

**Coyote:** at 2:35
PM

Something inside Mishka relaxed. That nagging fear in that
back of his head-- He hates seeing us together, he’d rather have Hansel alone,
he’s always going to look at me like I’m stealing something from him-- got…
quieter.

“You do not have permission to leave,” Mishka said. “You
live here now.”

**Lina:** at 2:35 PM

"I mean, you fucks didn't have permission to move once
I got you how I wanted you, but then you fuckin' did."

**Coyote:** at 2:38
PM

“Oh,” Mishka said. “My deepest apologies, Prince Goro. I had
to propose to my husband, you see— a trifling matter, but it was important to
me. Can you ever forgive me? However shall I make it up to you?”

**Izzy:** at 2:40 PM

"Hey. Fuck off. I fuckin' proposed to you already,
jackass," Hansel said sleepily. "You don't fuckin' get credit this
time." Then he snickered and kissed Goro's head again, and mumbled,
"Prince Goro. Cute."

**Lina:** at 2:42 PM

"God, the fucking two of you. Oh, we're getting married
again. Oh, I had to propose again. You do this once a fucking week, or
what?"

**Coyote:** at 2:43
PM

“Maybe. Hans, y’wanna get married again next week?”

**Izzy:** at 2:44 PM

"Yeah, sure."

**Lina:** at 2:44 PM

Goro scoffed and shut his mouth.

**Coyote:** at 2:47
PM

Mishka wanted to make a joke: If we both marry him enough times,
he won’t be able to marry anyone else. Felt weird, though, joking about Hansel
marrying Goro.

“You know, we could all die tomorrow,” Mishka said. Then he
realized the remainder of that thought was: Maybe you should just get married,
too, y’know, before the next inevitable disaster, and shut his mouth before it
could come out.

**Izzy:** at 2:50 PM

"Yup," Hansel agreed, and yawned. He shifted down
a bit, pulling Goro closer against him and leaning his head on Goro's shoulder.
"Wake me up if we're about to fuckin' die, all right."

**Coyote:** at 3:19
PM

Mishka waited a few minutes in the quiet. No one else said
anything. Maybe Hansel was asleep.

“You know,” he said. “Since we all could die... I’d hate for
you to die a virgin, you know... be a shame...”

**Lina:** at 3:20 PM

"Who the hell are you talking to?"

**Coyote:** at 3:30
PM

Mishka laughed. “You, obviously. I mean, sure, you’ve done
some things, but from a certain perspective, there’s all sorts of
virginities... maybe you’ve had whiskey, y’know, but not vodka... ah, never
mind. You’re right, it’s foolish. You’re already plenty corrupted.”(edited)

**Lina:** at 4:35 PM

Huh. Mishka must not know about Goro letting Hansel fuck
him. Because, at least in his own mind, that was the moment he ceased to be a
virgin by any stretch of the imagination. Not that that meant he'd tried
everything under the sun, obviously. But Mishka... well, Mishka was fuckin'
weird, that's all there was to it.

"Yup," he said slowly. "Pure as the driven
snow, before you two came along. Thank god I didn't die at age
thirty-one."

**Coyote:** at 9:41
PM

"Well hopefully you won't die at age thirty-four,
thirty-five, or thirty-six, either," Mishka said. Then he kissed Goro's
nose. "Thanks. For... stopping me, earlier. I really--" I really love
that about you. How fucking relentless you are. "I really appreciate
it," Mishka said, deciding not to make things weird again.
"Thanks."

**Lina:** at 9:59 PM

Goro kissed Mishka's nose back. It was kind of annoying,
kind of endearing, the way Mishka always did that. He'd get used to it, he
guessed.

"Don't thank me. I fuckin' wanted you
here."(edited)

**Lina:** at 11:57 PM

[end]

Title: Stay. Summary: Goro discovers Mishka's been
self-harming again and is not pleased. They make a plan for Mishka's next panic
attack, then go cuddle Hansel. Much comforting is had all around.