bridgescribble | The difference between a good friend and a great friend

"I didn't say you didn't have to care, I said you didn't have to get involved," Ganymede said back, with more than enough snap in his tone to command attention; he didn't like being ignored or shunted aside, even though logically it was most definitely the calmer choice to talk later.

They were both angry, at each other and at the others who'd started the fight, they might as well get it all out now. "Don't give me that 'later' bullshit. I'll say what I want to say here and now. What did you joining in get you? Sitting in a jail cell with me? You could have kept your fucking head on straight and been able to let me go home before noon when I've been up for twenty-eight damned hours, but since you didn't now we're both in here."

"I could have kept my head on straight? And you could have let me take care of it and it never would have gone this far." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his scruffy jaw. "I know you can handle yourself. I know. But you ever think...I don't fucking know, maybe I could protect you? Shit, even if you just used me to make a threat?" He smacked his hand against his own chest. "Look at me! I'm fucking big, intimidating, can make people feel afraid....why not use that instead of going to blows? Just fucking say 'hey that's my scary husband back off.' Why does that bother you so much?"

Edited 2023-08-15 14:09 (UTC)

"Because that's not your damn job!" Ganymede snapped. "You're not my bodyguard, I had enough of that shadowing bullshit with the last stupid motherfucker who thought I couldn't handle myself in a fight." Adrian had been tasked to do it, yes, but the silent brooding presence wasn't difficult to miss and Ganyede had chafed at it the entire time.

"Your job is to be my husband. That's it. Get offended or possessive if someone grabs my ass, fine. Flirt with the bar staff, drink all night, whatever. But I am not so fucking useless that I have to depend on someone else to be intimidating for me."

Ashley was quick to back off in the face of Ganymede's temper. Because he understood this wasn't just about what he said. Or that he had joined the fray. And this was anger he had not seen in the other man before. But, it still hurt.

"We're going to have a talk about what my damn job is. At home." He took a deep breath. "I never said..."

It wasn't the time. He wasn't in the right frame of mind for this conversation.

"That's what I was doing. Being your husband."

When he heard their names called telling them they met bail he stood up.

"Don't ever fucking compare me to that prick again. There's a car out front. I'll see you at the house."

He followed the bailiff out. Grabbed his things. Signed the papers. Tucked his bloody shirt in his back pocket like a dirty rag. He glanced back at Ganymede as he walked out of the doors.

"I'll see you at home." He walked away. That walk turning into a run. And when he could he vanished into the Umbra.

A couple of hours later he walked through the front door of their home.

"Ganymede?" He called out.

"I got dinner," Ganymede called, though he was currently parked on the couch with Ameera in his lap, Maelie in the foor by him watching the rapidly-growing babies snoozing. He'd obviouly showered and cleaned himself up; his lip was clean of the evidence of a nosebleed, and his hair was damp and twisted up in a knot, the scratches cleaned and the deeper ones covered with a bandage.

"Come sit down first."

Ashley was still a sweaty bloody mess. His nose had healed but he hadn't bothered to stop and clean any of it up. He had just gone for a run. Found a way to put his anger to a purpose that would drain it from his body.

He scooped up Felix and Ripley, nuzzling his face into their fur. Then plopped down on the chair with the dogs on his lap.

"I'm not hungry. But I'm listening." That is telling, Ash could almost always eat. It wasn't often that he turned down food. While his anger had been curbed his stomach was still a mess of knots over what had happened between them.

Though the blackeye on his loves face had a way of immediately causing his anger to spike.

Edited 2023-08-16 13:56 (UTC)

"I know you're not hungry, but neither of us has eaten anything since at least ten last night. And it's now...four in the afternoon," Ganymede said gently, shifting over to reach out a hand to his husband, letting Ameera huff at him for daring to move his lap and displacing her. Now that they'd had several hours away from each other, at least Ganymede could sit calmly, or listen--that hadn't been the case in a holding cell.

"Let me get you food. Eat with me, then we can talk." He'd gone to the Rat, made his way over to Han's restaurant after he'd cleaned himself up enough to not raise questions. He knew the noodles were Ashley's favorite, hence why they were on the kitchen counter in a bowl with an ice lid on it to keep them cool. He came back to the couch with them, sitting as near Ash as he could with Felix and Ripley occupying his lap. "I'm sorry I snapped at you when you didn't deserve it." Ganymede wanted his love to understand that first and foremost.

As soon as Ganymede came back with the noodles he deflated. Any remaining anger dissipated. He couldn't stay mad even if he wanted to. Ash gave the two puppies a quick kiss and set them back down with Maelie, muttering something to them about how he needed to talk to daddy.

For a few minutes he sat there staring at Ganymede not saying anything. Just thinking about what he should say. What he realized was that he didn't want to say anything, not yet. First he needed to do what he should have done immediately upon seeing him in that holding cell. Ashley pulled him into his lap and kissed him softly.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly as he looked over his wounds.

"I will be," he murmured against Ashley's lips, soft and gentle; he'd be fine physically no matter what happened, and there were tricks to speed along a healing bruise. And everything else would come with making the fight up to Ash. He set the big bowl aside, and cupped his hands around Ash's face softly. "You're here." That was all he needed.

Ganymede shifted on Ashley's lap to settle down more comfortably, leaning in close and laying his head on his love's shoulder. "I love you."

"Of course I'm here." They could fight and get angry. He didn't expect that a lifetime would come and go without having disagreements. Ashley promised he would always work to fix their issues and he meant it.

His arms are around Ganymede, face turned into him where he rests on his shoulder. "I love you more." He said back softly. "You got me noodles." It was cute that he had gone to Han. Ashley knew he had before he even got home. Han had sent him a text.

"I want to talk, Ganymede."

Ganymede nodded gently, tucking his feet up on the couch and relaxing into the easy warmth and love. It was comforting, the way Ash held him and wanted to touch; he'd never known a man so physical and so prone to wanting cuddles. He loved it. "I did. You like them, and...about three minutes after you left I remembered we hadn't eaten, because we were going to have dinner here." And then the fight had broken out, and all those plans for pizza and a movie in with the dogs had gone out the proverbial window.

"Talk to me, Ashley."

Ashley is a very physical creature. He is comforted by touch and affection. Craves it. Needs it. You can't be near him and not be touched in some way. A hand on the head or shoulder. A bump from him hip. A hug that will envelope you wholly. Comes from a very solitary childhood as an only child. His parents were concerned about him holding up a certain image. There wasn't a lot of coddling him or cuddling him. Now? He needs it like he needs air. Want to punish him? You never need to raise a hand and hit him, just withhold affection. Everyone thinks his love language is buying shit. It's not. It's physical affection. "He text me. Told me you were there."

They took care of each other. And they took care of their families.

Ashley sighed. He brushed his fingers up and down Ganymede's spine.

"I don't know how to explain it in a way that won't make you feel like you are less. Because you're not. Not at all. I have never thought of you as useless or weak. Never. I know how capable you are." Ashley motioned to his own face. Which was healed already. "But I can heal. Fast. I have gifts that let me soak the pain so I don't feel that it hurts. Someone caused you pain. Hurt you. And if it had been me? That hurt never would have been felt. The wound would be gone. Why does it bother you so much that I just want to shelter you from the pain? That I want to keep you from being hurt? That's all it is. It's not me thinking you aren't capable. Just wanting to protect you because you're my fucking heart."

Ganymede would never withhold that from his lover, and couldn't even contemplate it at all with Ashley: he needed the touch and the affection and reassurance as much as his husband did. He loved the ease of it, he never had to ask to be held or hugged or touched.

"I know, baby. But...it's not about how it looks, my face or a black eye. It's not even about being capable. I know you know I am." They'd been over that enough. And Ganymede believed Ashley whe he said it.

"When the one guy hit you, and broke your nose...I was ready to kill him. I stabbed him with a corkscrew, Ash. Long enough to puncture intercostal muscle. I know the legalities of bar fights in almost every place I've ever been, and the minute I saw blood on your face from that man's hand it all went away. I would have killed him if he'd hit you again."

"But I can heal fast and I don't have to feel the pain. I was born to fight. It's like...my...devine fucking purpose."

He touched Ganymede's cheek under his bruised eye. "I can heal the damage. I have gifts to soak the pain. You don't have to feel the pain if you just let me take it. Baby, you're mine. I don't need to defend your honor. Or stand up for you. But I can take the pain and I can heal the wounds and you won't let me. That's all it's about for me. I was given a body with abilities yours doesn't have. That's all."

Ganymede let out a soft and shuddering breath at the gentle touch under his eye, just at the edge of soreness. It didn't hurt much at the moment, because he'd taken painkillers as soon as he'd had water to swallow them with. He leaned in, seeking the touch and closing his eyes against the swell of fear that all of this had come from that wanted to have tears welling up in his eyes.

"You can also die. Another ability I don't have. I can't risk that, Ashley, not now. I don't know if I can think about it ever. And I've seen you hurt badly, Ash." Yes, logically it was only a bar fight, it wasn't serious, and he knew that. But he'd also felt the spur of concern melting rapidly into fear before he'd seen Ash be fine. And then had come the anger, at the man who'd decked him and at Ash, and at himself.

"It won't always get me that badly. I promise."

"Ganymede. That was different. That was silver." Ash knew that night would haunt him. That it would be impossible for him to stop seeing Ashley vulnerable, bleeding out. And he hated himself for letting it happen. He wanted to prove to Ganymede that he would be okay. "Go get a knife. Don't ask questions. Just trust me. Please. Go get a knife."

He stared at Ashley for a good ten seconds, unblinking and trying to figure out if the man was serious. But...he did appear to be. So Ganymede went and fetched a knife--a shorter one, just in case, but every one of them was properly sharp and well-honed.

"What are you going to do with that, Ashley?"

"Make a point." He flipped the blade over in his hand and before Ganymede could do anything to stop him he stabbed the blade into the center of his thigh.

The entire time he didn't break eye contact. There was barely a flash of pain in his eyes before his gift took over and he soaked the pain, leaving him feeling nothing. Pulling the knife out his expression didn't change. Blood dribbled from the wound before it rapidly started to heal.

Ganymede jumped at the suddenness and when he glanced down at the knife sticking out of his husband's thigh there was absolutely no avoiding the knowledge that he wasn't hurt. Especially considering he was still breathing deep and even, his color had not changed, he wasn't even twitchy. But Ashley still definitely had a knife in his leg, until he pulled it free, coated in his blood. Ganymede waited a moment, swallowing against the hard, dry lump at the backof his throat that had been there since he admitted to why he'd been so angry and worried.

"Ashley Ira Cromwell Savery! What the...fuck..." He could see the skin knitting itself back together, and didn't bother finishing the rest of that sentence, reaching out with fingertips ready to be snatched back if this was some sort of hallucination and he felt blood. But it wasn't, it was solid skin, if a little smoother than what he'd expected.

He almost laughed. Almost. Instead his finger was caught under his chin and he tilted his face up.

"It's really fucking sexy when you scold me like that."

The comment and the gentle touch absolutely stunned Ganymede, and any frustration or worry or anger he'd had left vanished like a wisp of cloud the moment Ashley's fingers tilted his chin up. He felt off-balance, like he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to feel other than drawn to Ash like a magnet following a lodestone. Over anything else, he just wanted them to be okay. To be at ease again with each other, like they were supposed to be. And they would be.

"Ash...sweetheart," he murmured. "I'm sorry, baby boy."

"I'm sorry too, baby. I'm sorry I snapped at you." His hand stayed there, cupping his chin, keeping his face tilted up toward his. Ashley stared into his eyes. His unwavering, intense, every emotion visible to the man he loves. Ashley's other hand toyed with one of his braids.

With out another word he did what he always did when Ganymede came home from work. Ashley started to carefully undo the perfectly formed braids his lover had crafted. "Everything I do for you...or try to do...it all comes from a place of love. Loving you is like watching my heart walk around outside of my body. Don't get upset with me for wanting to protect you."

Before he even said anything, once Ash reached for the knot of his wet braids he hadn't bothered to take down--he'd just wound them into a messy bun at the back of his neck--Ganymede shifted closer, settling on his heels on the floor with the dogs all around him. His head was laid in Ashley's lap for easy reach.

"I know, honey. I do, I promise. I just...I've always been bad at letting people do it." He was working on it with Ash, because he felt safe in letting Ashley protect him, it wasn't something that would be thrown in his face later to make him feel like an incapable child. But six thousand years of habit wasn't going to be undone in a day. "Know that I love you, with everything I have."

"I'll work on being more patient. I'm sorry." Ashley wanted things now. He didn't like to wait. They both had habits to unlearn. Tracing his fingers over the tightly woven braids he smiled softly to himself. One thing he knew with absolute certainty, when Ganymede said he loved him, Ashley knew it was true. Never once did he feel doubt. He kissed the back of Ganymede's head.

Before he started on undoing the braids he dug out a joint and lit it up. Smoke hanging from his lips he set to work, first removing the metal clamps that Ganymede used to secure the braids. As he worked each braid free he paused to gently massage his scalp with deft fingers.

"We both have work to do," Ganymede murmured, shifting his head so he could speak easier. He loved Ashley's hands in his hair, and rubbing his scalp made him sigh gently, though he smiled as he smelled the joint. "If you're smoking that, you better be sharing," he chuckled, though unmoving from his spot. He just turned to make the unweaving easier, and to accept one of the puppies on his lap, getting fluffy snuggles from Patch and Robin soon after. He danced his fingertips over each wet little nose, watching as Robin tried to wind himself around Ashley's ankle to be touching both of them, whining as he stretched out and wiggled.

"You like undoing my braids."

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