(400!!)
Felix nods sagely as the twins express their enormous aspirations for their bright futures. "Vampire hunter is a lofty goal," Felix notes as he takes a sip of his water. "I have a friend who used to hunt vampires. He owns a plant shop now." Abel's history in knife throwing competitions counts as vampire hunting, right? Well, it does now. If the twins desire to see it, Felix will simply force his friend to cooperate and call it payback for earlier in the day.
At the returned question, Felix takes a moment to think. "I'll be a magician." As soon as he says it, he materializes a metal spoon. It's no real magic, just a pickpocketing skill he picked up while living on the streets. Pickpocket is magician adjacent. They both rely on diversion and escaping someone's attention. "And I'd be happy to help you fight vampires. However, if your dad gets turned into one, I don't think I could fight him. He sticks his bottom lip out in a mock pout. "He's too handsome to fight."
(whoop whoop!)
All three Maes were quiet. It was the little two who reacted first with their oohs and ahhs. "That's fun!" Adonis beamed, "Mina, are you going to do that too?" His sister was preoccupied with her sippy cup. Once she the down the cup, she shrugged. "I think I will just stick to hunting vampires…," She yawned while reaching over for a chip, "Maybe the mafia too…mafia vampires!"
Meanwhile their dad spent the last minute or so trying to figure out who Felix was mentioning. So much had happened within the last few hours that his memory became murky. But eventually, with the power of context clues, he figured that it was Abel. He isn't sure why Felix called his friend a vampire hunter, yet he assumed it had to do with knives. It made the twins ecstatic and that's all that matters to him. Although, it wouldn't be the end of the little beasties' excitment.
The moment they both saw that metal spoon appear, it was like they saw a real life unicorn. The little ones had wide eyes as they both shrieked in amazement. Mina tried looking at Felix's hand and arm, wondering how he got that spoon to magically appear. Adonis was impressed and gave a thumbs up.
Damian used his minimal acting skills to pretend like he was also shocked by magic trick. Making his jaw drop always made the little monsters giggle, but he stopped pretending. He froze just as his cheeks began to blush. Of course being "too handsome" was probably just a joke. He rolled his eyes then played off the blushing by laughing. "Give me a break. You're just saying things."
The children completely in awe of Felix's parlor tricks delivers an odd boost to his ego (not that he needed one, but the boost is still nice). With a showman smile, he sets the spoon down and takes another sip of his water.
"I am not just saying things, and you know it," Felix says with a note of finality as he takes another few chips and dunks them in the salsa. "I could never hurt you, even if you were actively trying to drain all of the blood from my cardiovascular system." He laughs into his quesadilla. Even thought the entire scenario is an entire joke, Felix's words ring true. He hasn't known Damian long–and even at first all he wanted to do was see the man crack. But something happened and Felix isn't exactly sure what, but it all lead to here: eating dinner in a startlingly domestic scenario.
Batting his eyelashes, Felix looks over to Damian. "You wouldn't hunt me if I were a vampire, would you?"
Damian wondered where all this "handsome" stuff was coming from. To be honest, he has no idea how they went from him being glad Felix leaving to them having dinner with his kids. It is a very confusing pipeline he will be looking into. And yet, the kids are having a good time while eating food that Felix made for them. Not to mention the fact that he is trying to not look like a flustered mess in front of them. Those two may be four years old, but they are really good at reading people, especially their dad.
Crossing his arms, he gently reclined back into the chair. He tapped his fingers against the side of his arm while softly humming in thought. "No, I don't think I would. I like vampires and I like you. It's the best of both worlds." Damian smiled before mimicking Felix's pout. "You're too handsome to fight anyways."
The kids giggled while finishing their food. Damian looked over at them then gave a wink. "Let's not forget the two vampire hunters in training."
"We can't fight Felix, silly! We're four!" Mina laughed. "Maybe he would be a good vampire, right Daddy?"
Damian gave a shrug then glimpsed over at Felix. "Yeah, I don't see why not. Good vampire…bad vampire…still a handsome one I wouldn't fight."
Felix laughs and shakes his head, finishing the last bit of his food. He has always been a fast eater, never sitting around the table for long before disappearing to his own devices. "Doll, I don't think you'd be able to fight me. I'd simply run away." Since the ripe age of twelve, Felix has been evading various law enforcers. He's rarely caught but he always manages to get away with a good lawyer and a better alibi.
He grabs his plate and stands, heading to the kitchen to dispose of it in the sink. He'll wash them when everybody's done. He takes the brief moment to check his phone. Ana texted, asking for some assistance on her criminology homework. You're a criminal. Help me. She had said after being emitted into the University of Texas's criminal psychology program. Felix snorts and responds, telling her that he'll be available later. Maybe. Depends on how much wine he drinks after the twins are in bed.
(Would it be alright if I did a timeskip to after the twins are in bed and it's just Damian and Felix?)
(alfhjsks yeah that's fine!)
(askzgzkfla dope, thanks!)
Getting the twins to bed is a long and complicated process. It has taken Damian five years, yet he still hasn't mastered it. Adonis was easy to put to bed thanks to him finally crashing after being on his energy high for God knows how long. It was Mina that Damian had always struggled with. The little one might as well be a vampire. Either that or she was possessed by a lawyer. Regardless, it took him twenty minutes to get the mini vampire hunter lawyer to rest. Thank fucking God.
He pulled the door shut. After letting go of the door knob, he tip-toed away into the kitchen. Only after he got behind the counter did he let his shoulders relax. Damian didn't waste any time looking for the wine. Yes, it is a known fact that he isn't the best at handling alcohol, but a glass of wine shouldn't hurt. And after everything the both of them have gone through today, it's worth getting a bottle out. It's least he can do to say thanks to Felix.
Damian held the bottle in his left hand while holding two glasses in the right. "Come on, this way," He whispered while making his way out of the kitchen. "Could you open the door for me?" There is a little backyard behind the house. It has a nice porch where he usually spends his evenings. Something about the cool evening Las Vegas breeze made things better.
While Damian takes care of the kids, Felix busies himself with cleaning up the kitchen and dining room. He collects all the dishes first and sets them beside the sink to rinse and place in the dishwasher. With any leftovers, he packages them in plastic tupperwares before setting inside the refrigerator. Cleaning has never been anything that Felix has ever minded. His own kitchen back home, though fairly bare, is always well-cleaned. He's just finishing up when Damian comes around the corner for the wine.
Felix smiles, wiping his hands on a cloth before following the detective outside. From the glimpse of the label Felix caught, it's nothing too fancy but still a few steps above boxed wine. The gestured door creaks as Felix pushes it open, leading to a quaint porch on the back of the house. The evening outside is still warm, but not hot. The sun is setting, the bugs are chittering, and a cool breeze is beginning to come through.
With a satisfied hum, Felix takes his seat in the farthest chair, sliding into the warm wood of the deck chair. "This is nice," he says, an observation rather than a compliment. There's not much to look at outside, just a greenish backyard with a few children's toys scattered through the lawn. "I bet you spend all your time brooding back here."
He hummed in response. It is nice, sitting back here after a long day. Damian spends a lot time on this little porch either reading a book or just enjoying the silence. Sometimes he'd go back here just to have a glass or two of wine while enjoying the evening. It's the least he can do after spending his days running around.
Shaking his head, he sighed. "Brooding, pondering, and all other things," He chuckled while pulling the cork out. Damian sat one glass on the chair arm in order to pour the wine into it. "A lot of contemplating too. What better way than doing so over a drink?" Damian handed the glass over to Felix then poured one of his own. Letting it stay on the chair arm, he slouched back into the seat.
The sleeves of his pullover were slowly sliding down. Without looking, he yanked them back up. He knew that he was doing all of this to talk, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Damian just stared ahead at the sky.
Felix smiles softly, thanking Damian for the wine and taking a small sip. He holds it for a moment before swallowing. The wine isn't fine, but at least it's a step above boxed wine. Felix wouldn't mind getting drunk off of this moment–a family home with children asleep in bed and sharing a drink on the porch with a man he found himself unbelievably attracted to.
He looks out to the setting sky. It's a beautiful shade of lavender, with only a few clouds lingering near the horizon. Over the wooden fence, there's another backyard and over that fence is a road. The pattern repeats and repeats and only reminds Felix of his domestic environment. There's no golden bells and whistles, no fake flashy smiles and a hand of cards, no smell of smoke and tobacco, no addiction eating away at Felix's insides. (His friends at least called it an addiction. Felix never considered it one. He kept winning, after all. Is it really an addiction if he's that good at what he does?)
"So," Felix starts, taking another sip. "Should we start at the beginning?" Another sip. "How did you meet her?"
"Sure. Just give me a moment…" It took him a while to speak though. He lightly rubbed his chest because it started to get tight. While he knew exactly what to say, he didn't know at the same time. To be honest, Damian was also preoccupied with watching the wine as he lightly moved the glass in a circular motion.
His memory is not the best when it comes to what he ate for breakfast yesterday or what conversations he had with colleagues last week. Sometimes he'll forget what he's doing or some life-altering event too. When it comes to Areum or their kids, he remembers almost everything. It's been eighteen years, and he still remembers October 13, 2005 at 4:15 pm: the moment he met Areum.
"Well, I always say that she met me first before I met her," He sighed. His eyes still watched the wine in the glass. "I was in this cover band with some friends. They needed a drummer for a school event since their last one bailed. I only knew how to play because I watched others in high school. We played all different kinds of songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s…" Damian yawned while waving his right hand.
"Anyways, the following week, I worked at our university's library. Areum came to pick up a book and her face lit up the moment she saw the 'cool, cute, awesome Korean drummer' whom she wondered about. She talked a lot whenever she got excited so the moment she realized why I was so familiar, we ended up talking till my shift ended. And we talked on the way to the dining hall, while eating dinner, and before we went to our dorms. I don't why I ended up talking to her for nearly three hours about things like David Bowie or our lives…She was a huge David Bowie fan. My friends and I preformed Let's Dance at that event. It was one of her favorites."
"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," Felix responds, almost gently. He looks down to his wine, then to the sunset, then to Damian right at his left. How long has it been since Damian's been able to talk about this? Granted it took so much effort to break open his armor, Felix has to assume it's been forever–or never. Felix could suggest therapy, but he's no hypocrite and it would hardly send the right message.
Quiet for once in his life, Felix curls his legs up to his chest as he listens. At some point, he draws his bottom lip between his teeth. If the situation wasn't so… somber, Felix could have laughed at the thought of Damian as a drummer in a cover band. Hell, Felix's roommate is a drummer and he knows how aggressive she gets in the midst of a set. He also tries to imagine a Damian, much younger, working at a library and meeting a talkative young woman who took a swift interest in him. Damian without the eye bags and the tired stare and the slightly slumped posture and sense of unease about him.
He can't help his smile at the mention of Bowie–how Damian and his friends all got together to play one song, just for her. "I see she was a woman of good taste." In music. In men. "That's an adorable meet-cute you had there." Felix stares at his wine, swirls it around, takes a sip. "What happened afterwards? If you're still comfortable talking about it, of course."
The more he thought about it, the more surreal it was. One minute he was sitting in a library wondering what his life would end up being and the next he is sitting on a porch with a glass of wine, talking to Felix. On another note, he's raising two kids alone. Two crazy energetic little humans whom he hoped are fast asleep. He took a glimpse around them. How the hell did he end up here?
"It's fine. I just need to think." Damian gets asked to talk about Areum a lot. The twins always ask him to tell them more about their mom. Sometimes bedtime stories are one about Areum or the three of them will go through pictures and videos Damian had saved over the years. He would show Felix, but he didn't want to hold him up. He doesn't want to bombard him about his late wife.
"We remained friends for a while, but we started dating when I got back from Spain. For the record, she asked me out first. She also insisted that I would join her in visiting her brothers back in Korea while they were on break from their military service. Areum's American, but both her brothers decided to go back when they were eighteen. Uhh…We started living together junior year…Then we eloped a week after graduation. She was never into any big gestures. Areum was just happy no matter what. I knew she was going to try to propose to me, so I beat her to it. I did ask her brothers a year before; I had a gut feeling to ask then. And when we got back, I asked her aunt and uncle since they're her adopted parents. I took Areum to her favorite bookstore and hid the ring box in the horror section because it's her favorite genre. The light in her eyes…The excitment…Mina and Adone have it too…" Damian sighed while lowering his head. "I don't know. I can go on forever about her….There's so much." He shrugged before taking a sip.
He listens. God damnit Felix listens to every single word that Damian says. He tacks mental notes to his mental corkboard to revisit later–going to Spain, visiting Korea, living together, their favorite bookstore–all of it. He connects it with a red string, detective style. Felix wants to know everything.
Felix mirrors Damian, taking another sip of his wine. It'll take a whole lot of this stuff to get Felix even buzzed–maybe even the whole bottle and then some. That's what a slight drinking problem will get him, he supposes. Felix sighs, then takes another sip, a longer one. "That's suffocatingly sweet," Felix responds, a bittersweet smile pulling at his lips. The math he does mentally is quick–Areum didn't live long after the twins were born. The question of how she died begs to be asked, but Felix represses it. For once in his damn life, he knows that his provoking questions are better left unsaid.
"I'm here for as long as you'll have me," Felix says. A somber smile. Another drink. "I'd listen to you talk about her all night if that's what you want."
Setting the wine glass beside him, he crossed his arms. He isn't good at this: talking about things that he has tried to come to terms with for a while. It's a Herculean task everytime anyone asks, including his kids. On the other hand, it is true, he could talk about Areum forever. And while it may sound cheesy, she was everything to him. He married her fifteen years ago thinking that they would spend eons together. They moved out to Vegas to start a new life together and have kids to add to their family. Now here he is, living in the remnants of their plans. It's been five years and he doesn't know if he has moved on.
He tried giving Felixa a faint grin. "I am not good at talking about these things. Work or how to make the twins' favorite foods, that I can do," Damian dryly chuckled. He shook his head at himself. "How about this…" Damian turned in the chair to face Felix. "Do you have any questions about her or me? You can anything or if you just want to sit here…I am fine with either or."
Felix returns the smile. "Yeah, I'm not good at talking about this kind of stuff either." It's been months since he the last genuine relationship he was in ended, and his friends still don't even know the details. It's been years since he was kicked out to the streets and he still hasn't entirely cleared the air of what happened with his sisters.
He sets his own glass down as he readjusts his position, watching the sunset for a few moments. If he wasn't a master at hiding his nervous ticks, Felix would be gnawing on his bottom lip, perhaps picking at the skin around his nails too–but he's still. Relaxed-ish, swimming in his own thoughts, and trying to be responsive. Yikes, Felix is going to need more wine.
"If you don't… well, mind me asking," Felix says, keeping his voice soft. He turns, facing Damian. "What happened? How did Areum…" He trails off purposefully, unsure if he can bring himself to say it or force Damian to hear it.
He sat there for a while, staring while trying to pick up on the context clues. "Ahhh…ah…" Damian attempted to give an assured smile. "It's okay. I know what you're trying to say. It's okay." He knew that the topic would come up eventually. Everyone always asks him.
The twins ask the same question all the time. It used to be at random moments throughout the day, but now it's only whenever they talk about their mom. Damian finds it difficult to explain it in terms for the twins to understand, but they seem to understand well enough for only being four. They are comfortable with the topic and with themselves, and that's all that matters to him.
"Areum died about an hour or so after Adonis was born. It was amniotic fluid embolism…a birth complication." Damian's face tried to cover the wheel of emotions he felt. The inner corners of his eyebrows perked up. He rubbed his bottom lip while looking off to the side. There was an urge to pick up the glass and down the whole thing, yet he remained still. He wanted to apologize for everything, for talking and keeping Felix here longer than he probably should of. And yet, he stayed still.
Felix nods, immediately understanding what had happened–practically an allergic reaction to birth. He remembered feeling am incomprehensible sliver of dread when his brother-in-law called to inform that Felix's sister barely managed to pull through three consecutive births. It's a small world. A small, terrifying, mortal world.
Yet Felix knows that there's always something good about it. Felix transfers his glass to his right hand and reaches over to grab Damian's hand in his own. "I'm sorry," he says quietly, offering his half-smile. He can see the emotion struggling to break free–every quirk of his face and every dip of his voice. "She sounded like an amazing woman."
Sighing, Felix turns again to the sunset, which is practically below the horizon by now. "I know you have hoards of pictures of her," he notes, a light tone ebbing into his voice as he smiles. "I'd be happy to see them if you'd be willing to show me."
Damian was never really good at receiving a lot of things: compliments, apologies, condolences…you name it. In the following weeks after Areum passed, he would just hum then nod his head. So he did the same to Felix, but he found himself to grin a little. "She was," He murmured. "I hope those two end up more like her than me. They already have her smile…It's beautiful."
Felix holding his hand evoked an emotion that left Damian confused. He's sitting here with a man whom he is attracted to, talking about Aurem; his late wife that he isn't sure if he is anywhere near done grieving over. He doesn't even know where he is grieving wise. While he loved to show pictures of Areum to others, it feels strange to now.
"Do you really want to see some? My whole phone gallery is just her and the twins. I'm surprised I still have storage on this. I even scanned photos from when we were in college." He rambled on before suddenly stopping. Damian lowered his eyes. "I can show you some still. There's always next time too."
"If you want to show me, then I'd be happy to see them. If not, don't worry, doll, I understand. You've already told me a lot tonight." As he says it, Felix notices that the sun is entirely gone–dipped beneath the horizon. Felix knows from many evenings out on his balcony that the chill of the evening will arrive soon.
He stands, still keeping their hands entwined. "As much as I love sitting out here with you, darling, there will me mosquitoes out and they love my spicy blood." With a showy, sheepish, and somewhat friendly smile, Felix nods his head to the door going back inside. Damian mentioned a next time. Felix would very much like it if there were next times, and then times after that and then maybe a couple more times again. Unlike what Felix six months ago had believed, Felix definitely wouldn't mind spending a lot more time around Damian Mae and his small family.
It's starting to get late. He barely focused on the growing night sky. Most of it was covered in black, but Damian could see faint hues of blue and orange on the horizon. He blinked, gazing over at Felix. "Okay." It has been a long day, and he wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't talked Felix's ear off. If there is another time, he could show some pictures, but there's some on the walls by the kitchen and living room.
His eyes never left Felix. They glistened despite his lips remaining flat and still. Damian chuckled. "Alright, hold on a second." There wasn't much left in the glass, but he tilted his head back to down the rest of it. He bit the inside of his cheeks before picking up the bottle; it clicked against the glass. After standing up, he took a step closer towards Felix. He motioned towards the door, "Would you be a doll for me?"
Felix laughs, reasonably overjoyed that Damian called him a doll. Knowing him, it was likely extremely sarcastic and moderately mocking, but that still doesn't prevent the nickname from causing his heart to do a little flip. With his free hand, he opens the door leading inside and grabs his own empty wine glass before leading them both by their linked hands inside of the house. He lets Damian close the door. After all, Felix was nice enough to open it.
When they get to the kitchen, Felix sets his glass down beside the sink and looks to the attached living room. There are photographs set up on shelves and side tables–ones that Felix has definitely noticed but hasn't had the interest to fully look into until now. "Do these have her in it?" Felix asks as he practically drags Damian over to the living room to stare at a small cluster of photos.
The door clicked shut behind him while the glass and bottle clinked together. Damian did his best to tip-toe over towards the kitchen. He placed his things down by the sink, hoping that he would remember to take care of it soon. But by the time he tucked the glass back the glass Felix used, he was whisked away.
After momentarily frowning at Felix, he glimpsed at all thr pictures in front of him. He nodded, "Most of them do. It's either her, the twins, or other family, but mostly Areum." There are tons of pictures. Every now and then, him and the twins will go through and pick which ones to display. Damian pointed out to one of Mina's favorites: their elopement with him in a white tux and her in a long black ball gown in front of a pillar at the court house. He stood behind Areum with his arms around her waist, kissing the side of her cheek while she laughed. "It's not hard to find Areum in these. It's harder to find pictures of me here."
Felix leans in close to look at the picture. A wedding? At least something like that. Damian looks… very happy to say the least. Even though his face is semi-covered from where he's leaning in to kiss Areum's cheek, Felix can see it all over in his posture. Hell, even the way his hair is styled. "She's beautiful," Felix notes before leaning away. He then turns his attention to the other photographs hanging around their marriage. Like Damian had said, it's hard finding pictures with him in them.
As he stares at the pictures, something curls inside of him. Pain for Damian? Relief that he's never lost anyone this close to him? Regret that he never got a chance to meet the woman? Felix isn't sure. His entire file on "Felix Emotions" is entirely deplete. Maybe he should work on it. It's easy to tell what other people are feeling, but his own are just a tangled, jumbled, unintelligible mess.
"Thank you," he says quietly as he turns to Damian. "Y'know. For everything."
