Jas paused, fingers tapping against the table. "not right now, heart. Suni can I speak with you please." He said distractedly, not waiting for the fox to follow before he yanked on a jacket. "I'll be back soon, make yourself comfortable." He called, opening the door and letting suni trot through before following behind. "I'm going crazy right? Too long on earth or something." Suni spluttered on, running a shaking hand through his hair. Jas shook his head and, as painful as it was to resurface old memories, told Suni everything from the beginning ehen he had met Connor in this life. By the time he finished they were in the shrine and the sun was settling. "So he doesn't remember anything. Not you or your life together because of his husband Jake? And because of this asshole he's slowly forgetting everything else too? Me, Damion?" Jas nodded, holding back years worth of tears. "But you've found someone, right. Winston's great great great nephew? And his friend. They can help right?" Has sucked in a Shakey breath and nodded again, whipping away stray tears with his shirt sleeve. "Yeah, at least I hope they can. We leave tomorrow morning. The flight got delayed until then." Suni nodded, "he'll remember you Jas. He loves you. There's just something Jake did to block that." He reassured, wrapping his arms around his brother. "We'll be with you the whole time to make sure everything goes right."
Connor only shrugged. "You two kids eat. I have to use the bathroom. That does not mean you get to eat my share, okay?" The two only giggled and continued eating. Connor shook his head. "I don't trust them one bit…" He went into the bathroom just when the headache returned, but worse this time. He groaned as he held his head. "What the hell is happening to me?!" Connor gritted his teeth, and when it finally stopped, he was out of breath. "Holy, what just happened. How did I…where…?" Connor only became more confused. "What is this place. Why does it feel like I've come here before? He came out of the bathroom. Charlotte and Ash, where are we?" Charlotte and Ash just looked at each other confused. Ash stood up and walked to Connor. He held his hand and walked Connor to the couch. "Um, Dad, we're at Jas's house. Are you okay?" Charlotte went to get Jas. She reached the doorknob and tugged on Jas's jeans. She pointed to the door. "Something is wrong with dad."
Jas lookes down in surprise as he opened the door to his apartment, Suni close behind him. He crouched down, brows furrowed in confusion before he realized Charlotte was talking about Connor. "Suni can you watch the kids please?" He gently picked Charlotte up and handed her over to his brother. "He'll be alright princess, just stay with Mr fox, okay?" He reassured, even as panic coursed through his body. Jas entered the kitchen, already finding Connor and Ash. "Connor, everything alright, heart?" He asked, searching his face for any signs of pain or discomfort or even recognition, maybe Connor had remembered something? Jas frowned slightly when he remembered what had happened an hour ago. Maybe Connor was getting worse.
Connor was more scared than confused. So many things started taking less and less sense. "How did we get here, Jas. I don't understand. When did you have a place like this?" He looked up at Jas with fear. "What is happening to me. I don't understand." Charlotte was more than worried. She always thought her dad was perfect, but seeing himself like this filled her with panic. Asher chimed in so Connor could have a few seconds to think. "I don't know what happened, but he came out of the bathroom and asked where we were. He didn't forget us or, I guess, anything that happened within the past few days, but I wonder how long it's going to take him to forget everything. I'm going to go get him some food he still hasn't eaten yet." Asher got up just like he said and went to grab Connor's share of the goods Jas had bought. Connor was tangled up in his own mind. It felt like someone else was pulling the strings on his life. "Jas…my head hurts, and I don't want to forget Charlotte, Ash, or you. I don't want this…"
"I've ways lived here for this life love, you've been here before, it's safe." He explained, voice soft even as he screamed on the inside. He wanted so desperately to reach out a gather Connor to himself, to protect him from whatever was eating away at his mind and torturing himbut Jas held back, at least long enough to let Asher explain what had happened. He nodded and tried offering a reassuring smile but it felt wrong to decieve the children of what was going on. "Thank you, Asher." He said softly, watching as he went to retrieve the food. He turned to Connor and gently took his hands in his, "are you in pain? Is there anything I can do to help? We're going to Italy tomorrow morning so we'll be able to see Finn soon. Maybe he'll have some answers for us."
Asher returned to the tray of pastries before distracting Charlotte for a while. Connor's hands were shaking, and he was on the verge of tears. "Tomorrow morning…okay. I just have to wait till then. I need to stay here for a little longer, I…" The house that once felt the same and like home to Connor now felt distant and cold. The memories that made this house so warm were gone completely. Connor rested his head on Jas's shoulder. "Why do I have to forget the good ones? Why not the bad ones…" He took a pastry from the plate and shoved it in his mouth. "Jesus, this is so good; I hate my ADHD sometimes."
Jas gently wrapped his arm around Connor's shoulder, gently pressing a kiss to his hair. "I've asked myself that all of this life, my heart. Fortunately, it gives me a chance to brush up on my flirting skills." He gave a teasing grin and nodded. "I'm glad you like them. We can pick some more up tomorrow before we leave." He said, reaching over and taking a a pastry filled with jam. "Just a few more hours, dear." He reassured, gently tugging Connor towards the living room. "Come on, I'm not sure how how much longer Suni can handle Charlotte's tight hugs." He winked and led Connor to livingroom, smiling when he saw Suni back in his fox form, and playfully nudging the kids, a series of yops and little barks coming from as he tried his best to cheer them up.
"Oh? Well, if you were flirting with me, you weren't doing a very good job of it." Connor scoffed but smiled when he saw Charlotte and Asher. "Come here, you two. I'm sorry to worry you both." Charlotte put Suni down gently before running over to Connor. She gave him the tightest squeeze before letting him go just to ask questions. "Are you going to be okay? You seemed stressed. I could feel your fear." She explained. Connor nodded, "Yes, princess, I'm going to be fi-" He looked at Jas before looking back to Charlotte. "You're an empath. Ay Dios mío, you're an empath. This is great! This is not the best way to discover your powers, but I'm happy you figured them out." Asher walked up and hugged Connor gently. "Will you be okay?" Connor nodded again. "Yes, yes, I promise I'll be okay." Connor stood up and looked over at Jas. "Thank you for going through all the trouble to find someone. I asked you to, but I bet it was still hard." He felt a blush crawl to his cheeks which made him look away. Why am I getting all flustered just looking at him. He's just standing there. I mean, even though he is standing there, he's hot just standing there… "Pap, why are you thinking that Jas is hot? Aren't you married to Dad?" Connor's face turned redder than before. "Charlotte! It would help if you kept my thoughts inside my mind. You can't just…sorry, she, I guess she's a telepath too…lucky me." "Why is your heart beating so fast, and why are you so nervous and flustered. Pap, your emotions-" Connor put a hand over Charlotte's mouth. "Okay, how about you go play with your brother Ash. I'm sure Jas brought home some toys for you; run along now." Charlotte and Ash did as they were told, making Connor breathe easily and relax.
"how could I when we lived a whole ocean apart? Before that you wanted nothing to do with me." Jas shrugged, leaning against the threshold of his kitchen and living room. He scooped up Suni when Charlotte put him down, putting him back on his shoulders. He smiled proudly at the kids. "Seems like you now have the fasted kid on earth and an empath on your hands. How will you ever survive, dear?" Jas teased lighyly. His smile grew soft as the kids ebraced Connor. He was glad that Connor had people who adored him, even if his husband had done so much wrong. He ocked his gaze to Connor and nodded. "of course dear." He replied. He tilted his head curiously and gave a surprised laugh. "Oh no, please don't apologies dear. In fact let her keep going, I'm quite intrigued." he chuckled lightly and gently ruffled Connor's hair. "How scandelous dear, after all you are still legally married." He teased before going to help the kids with the bag.
"No, she should not continue, and I don't want her to continue-hey. Don't ruffle my hair shorty. That's my job." Connor followed behind, planning to pack their bags with the clothes he had brought as well as other things. "So, is now a good time to ask what happen at the apartment. You were gone for pretty long; I started to get worried. I also get that maybe it's time for a divorce. I assume you took him to the institute like you said you would. I should get the papers ready and meet him before we go to Italy. I was planning on divorcing him regardless of whether you came along. I just hope he'll sign the divorce papers…" Connor took out everything that wasn't the clothes he picked up. He zipped the bag and hooked it onto his shoulder. "Mind showing me where your washer and dryer are."
"I see you're getting used to being the tall one in this life." Jas teased as he set suni down. "Stay with the kids, we're just going to wash the clothes." He explained. Suni nodded and trotted happily back to two kids, yipping happily. "I didn't mean to worry you dear, I'm sorry." Jas apologiesed from the doorway, nodded and leading Connor out of the apartment to the first floor laundremat. "Well, I just went to talk. More or less. To put it simply, I said some things, he replied in a way I disliked so I promised if he ever reached to you or the kids, I'd make his one life a very short and very painful one." Jas said as they made it to the ground floor. He nudges open the door and helped Connor with the clothes. "We may have a change of plans." He chimed in, glancing up and taking a deep breath. "I was planning on taking him with us. Of course not on the plane, I'm sure the institution can arrange something but I think we'll need him to retrieve your memories. Not just from this life but from the other one as well." He said, pausing and looking up at Connor. "Would that be okay with you?"
"Listen, in all my lives of knowing you. I've never been shorter than you. So, I'm going to milk this for as long as possible." He whipped his head up to Jas and waved his hand around. "No, no, it's okay. You don't have to be sorry. I just want to say that it felt like forever until you came back. That's all. Don't be sorry." He stiffed when he heard the plans change. He played with his fingers nervously about his thoughts on Jake coming. "U-Um, yeah, I guess that's cool with me. If he's not with us on the plane, then I'll be fine. I still want those divorce papers, though. I'm not leaving this place without them." He put the last of the load inside the washing machine. After he put in the soap, he pressed that start button and headed back on his way upstairs. "Do you mind coming with me? When do I have to have Jake sign the papers?"
Has slowly nodded and offered a reassuring some. "He won't even leave the same time as us, just in case proximity is a part of his ability. We'll leave tomorrow and Jake will leave a few days after. We won't know where he'll be held and he won't know where we'll be." Has promised gently, not knowing if the institution would be willing to plan another location for a holding cell but has reasoned they would have to if they didn't want a very vivid reminder of their failure to keep Connor alive from Jas himself. Jas nodded "we can go now if you'd like. Divorce papers can't be so hard to obtain. Would you like to get the kids? I'm sure suni would be more than happy to watch over them. If not I don't mind bringing them as well." Jas offered, slinging the bag over his shoulder and following Connor back up the stairs.
Connor nodded slowly. "Okay…that's okay with me. I'll be fine." He thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, I don't think they should come. I don't want them seeing their father behind bars this young. Especially when they only remember the good things about him. It's best that you and I just go. I can just get Divorce papers online. The internet is so useful these days." Connor entered the apartment again and went to change his clothes into something other than pajamas. "Since my clothes are in the wash, do you have any I could borrow? Of course, that won't be too small since you are short." Connor smirked, walking to the bedroom.
Jas nodded slightly, flinching when he remembered what Jake had said when the kids had been locked out of the apartment. They meant nothing to him. His kids he had raised together with Connor meant nothing to Jake. In that moment Jas wanted to pop into the holding cell and make Jake his new scratching post for Whisp. "Probably for the best, yeah." Jas agreed distractedly, following Connor back up the flight of stairs and into the living room. "I'm not that much shorter than you sweetheart. Besides you seemed perfectly fine in my clothes last night." Jas teased back, find an old sweatshirt and some leggings that were slightly too long onnJas
"Even though you're not that short, you're still shorter than me. Like I said…" Connor pinned Jas against the wall, his hand next to Jas's head as he looked down. "I'm going to milk it for all I can." He smirked and took the clothes gently from Jas's hands. He walked away from jas and started to change his clothes. When he took off his sweatshirt, he combed back his hair to keep it from getting frizzy while he put on the clean one. He switched his pants quickly. Connor turned back to Jas with a fist full of dirty clothes. "You're right, I wasn't complaining, so I never said it was a bad thing." He shrugged playfully and raised the clothes. "Where should I put these?"
Jas gasped in surprise when he was suddenly against his bedroom door. He looked up at Connor, laughing to himself at the fact that he actually had to look up him. "I remember when this was reversed. Countless time had I pinned you to a wall and," he paused, a fond smile crossing his lips as he gazed up at Connor. "I teased you to no end like you're doing now." He breathed a laugh, letting Connor take the clothes from his hand. Even when Connor had stepped away and started to change, Jas stayed by the door, partly because he was still dazed by their interaction and the memories it had stirred up for him. "I'm glad your feistyness hasn't diminished over the lives, dear." He noted softly, pushing off the door and taking the clothes and tossed then in a backet next to a desk.
Connor chuckled. "Oh, I know. Way back when you were pushing me against walls when we were fighting. Whenever something didn't go as planned, you would also use my ability to be flustered easily to your advantage. I would lay awake at night trying to erase the way you made me feel. Other times I would think about was to keep calm. Sadly, you kept finding new ways to make my knees weak. That's why I always give you that don't-fuck-with-me glare. Not that even worked. You still find ways to make me flustered. Honestly, it's offensive how you keep me on my toes." Connor shook his head with a dopey grin on his face. "Of course, who would I be without it.
"ah so that's what those heartbreakingly cold glares were for." Jas realized with a laugh. "Be glad your kitty is so resilient, otherwise you'd become bored and we wouldn't want that." Jas teased, smiling a bit to proudly knowing even if Connor didn't quite like him back then, he still made him flustered and weak at the knees. He glanced up at Connor, his grin softening as he gently cupped his cheek. "You'd still be the Connoe that I love." He replied softly, nodding his head back towards the living room. "I'll tell suni we'll be gone for a bit and to care for the kids. Is there anything else you want to do while we're out or just the papers?" He asked, ears flicking in curiousity as he took a step back. His hand now back by his side tingle with familiarity. Despite all that's happened this life, Connor still felt right to Jas. Whether Connor felt the same, Jas didn't know but he was at least glad they weren't at each other's throats now.
"You're right. I would be very bored if you were to stop being a villain." He chuckled. He relaxed into Jas's hands. It was such a warm feeling. Even though Jake had done this to him numerous times, it didn't feel like how it felt with Jas. He felt love for the first time from someone that wasn't his family. However, he was sure if he could return it. Connor's cheeks started to heat up. He got even more embarrassed when Jas was able to feel it. His hand was subconsciously reaching up to Jas's hand. However, when Jas pulled away, snapping him out of his daze, he made it look like he was grabbing his own arm. "Yeah-yeah, that's…that's all, just some papers, and can we stop by the coffee shop. I need some energy before I go and talk to Jake." He flashed a smile.
"considering what Jake has done to you, I think we can safely say my good behavior these past few lives is going to put on pause until Jake is out if the picture." Jas gave a short laugh, shaking his head and grinning. He grabbed a small backpack from the corner of the room and sling it over his shoulder, offering his hand to Connor as his other hand grabbed the knob of the bedroom door. "We'll definitely need coffee before we go see him if he doesn't immediately want turn to shreds." Jas muttered with a muschevious glint in his eyes. "Suni, we're going out again," jas called "we'll be back later, take care of the kids please. I'll get you the orange biscuits you like from the coffee shop when I get back." He promised, earning him a sting of happy yips.
"At least it will never be a dull moment for me. Don't worry. I'll be there to stop you. I figured I should start picking up being a hero again. Even though it's a lot of work, if there are people like Jake in the world, then…I don't think I can just stand here and do nothing." Connor hesitated before taking his hand. He wasn't sure why Jas was offering his hand, but he wasn't complaining. "By you two. Behave. When I get back, I better see Suni in one piece." He kissed both of them on the forehead. He waved goodbye before exiting the apartment room." He looked down at their hand, and a small smile spread on his lips. He didn't say anything. He just squeezed Jas's hand.
"luckily for you, we won't be against each other. At least I hope not." Jas frowned slightly when Connor mentioned going back to being a hero. He remembered when he had told Jas he would take a break from that to be with him and raise a family. He had that too, until Jake revealed his true intentions at least. "You don't have to, you know. Let the institution handle it. You're not the only hero in the city, Connor." He scratched Suni chin when he trotted up. "And you be good. No raiding the fridge while I'm gone, I'll bring you good food." Jas reassured before he followed Connor through the door. He fkancwd upnat Connor, still surprised that he was holding his hand for this long. Jas didn't know what possessed him to do so but he gently intertwined their fingers together and gently squeezed gently. "It's going to be alright, heart. He won't hurt you, not while I'm there, I promise." He reassured softly
"I know, I just, I would hate for my kids to live in a world where there is a chance that what is happening to me could happen to them with just one snap or one look. It scares me, Jas. Maybe your right too. I should be there for my children, not saving the world. I just love them so much. I want them to have a good life. I never knew I wanted it until I saw them as babies for the first time. If only you were there. Having them in my arms was like a dream come true. We adopted because last time I checked, men can't give birth, but I never wanted to protect some more in life than those two…" He grew silent. He enjoyed the silence between them. It gave him time to just be in the moment. Connor looked up abruptly before him when he felt their fingers intertwine. What was he doing? He shouldn't be doing this with Jas, but he couldn't find the strength to pull away. It felt so calming, and his nervous beating heart slowed, a wave of pure relaxation going through him. He gulped and looked towards a wall away from Jas. His ears were still red, so he couldn't hide much. "Y-Yeah, thanks Jas."
Has couldn't help but smile whenever Connor talked about his kids. While he had never had any himself, barely being able to marry and love Winston, let alone raise children with him, Jas had still wanted that for them back then. "I think that's natural for any parent to want to be the hero, keeping their kids safe from any harm the world poses for them. But I don't think you need to be a hero for everyone else Connor. You've been that for all our lives and look where that's gotten you." Dead jas wanted to add on, mind flashing to the beautiful nightmare of Connor in a red dress, bleeding out in the casino floor, a nightmare that had chased him this life. But he didn't mention that, not that Connor would remember that anyways. Instead he gave a soft smile. "They'll have a good life, dear. They've had a great life so far because you are their father. They've had Jake until now but he made the mistake of hurting you. Now he'll have to deal with that. You focus on your life and your two beautiful kids. The world can do without you for a life or two or three. Live a life of your own now." He encouraged, tilting his head in curiousity when Connor looked away from him. "You're welcome, dear." He said with a laugh, gently shaking their linked hands. "So you can pet me and touch my extremely sensitive ears, yet I hold your hand and you turn cherry red?" He teased with a growing smirk
