8 - True friend(s)?

Horknath was all dressed, soon enough - even though it was a difficult task with an overly enthusiastic dog bouncing around him impatient for his morning walk. He did throw a couple of shy glances at Carleen as she got her clothes on, admiring her silently, and nearly almost gushed when he noticed she would wear the sweater he had gifted to her!
As soon as they were both ready to go, they would get outside the apartment complex and make a couple of laps around the block to properly wear out Spike before stopping somewhere to have a nice breakfast.

"We shall share a bed more often then. I would prefer for you to have a healthier sleeping schedule", Asterius chuckled again, shaking his head. "We'd better take it easy, and abstain from having this kind of intercourse too many consecutive times", he advised him then, gently cupping his cheek. "You will end up getting used to it, but until then. It's better to be safe", he added in a murmur, kissing him on the lips.

Carleen had a good time with Horknath, but she was obviously going nervous over the events of the previous day, now that it was obvious they would need to talk about them with her mother. She smiled, however, upon reading one of her text messages. "Oh- my mom says my father is out for the weekend, and she asks if we'd like to bring Spike over and have him run in the garden. What do you think?" The thought already made her feel a little better. It'd make the whole situation a little less awkward.

Theseus scoffed, even though he kissed his boyfriend back. "Asterius, this was the best sex I've ever had. How bold of you to assume I won't ask for it again anytime soon." He grinned at his boyfriend, and kissed him again.

Horknath blinked and beamed. That suggestion made him feel a lot better too, and way less nervous - he had been fidgeting for a while now, thinking about the unpleasantness that this conversation would have brought on the table. He bent towards Spike, making the chair of the little bar where he and Carleen had stopped to have their breakfast at shift noisily. "What do you say, Spikey? Wanna go ruin some priceless azaleas and get your muddy little paws all over metres and metres of clean floors? Yes you do! Oh, yes you do!", he cooed jokingly, scratching the dog's belly (who had an automatic 'roll on back for pets' setting for whenever someone started to sweet talk him). He straightened up, smiling at his girlfriend. "I think it's a good idea. That way I won't have to bind Asterius to our place for the whole day!" He took out his phone to write a brief, explanatory message to his brother - carefully avoiding too many painful explanations. Those would be for another time. "... I was joking about the azaleas", he sheepishly added then on a second thought, worried that Carleen could have taken him seriously.

Asterius let Theseus kiss him again as he rolled his eyes - but it was with fondness.Always with fondness. "Don't strain yourself", he repeated though, bashfully ignoring the part about how that had been the 'best sex' Theseus had ever had. It had been the same to him, and it could be read without fail on his face - at least, it could if one knew him as well as his boyfriend did by now. "I doubt I'd ever be able to say no if you attempted to seduce me into it, even for your own sake."

Carleen laughed kindly and shook her head. "Oh, don't worry. Our gardener might be a little grumpy if that happens, but it'll never be worse than what Theseus' horse once did." She held back another laugh. "Just imagine- My brother, yelling at his horse to try to reason it, the bridle gone, his feet out of the stirrups, and his horse, furious because Thee wasn't falling off his back." She snorted. "Mars - that's the horse's name - kept on kicking for a good fifteen minutes while stomping around on the flower beds. In the end, we had to ask Theseus to please forget about his pride and jump to the ground, or Mars wouldn't calm down. Our gardener yelled at Thee for five minutes straight." There, she was wheezing.

Theseus chuckled, and grabbed Asterius' chin, to guide him down and kiss him. "Well! I guess this means we're having sex again some time soon." He winked at his boyfriend after one last peck on his lips. "But as for now- I'm starving. How do you feel about breakfast, love?"

Horknath laughed. Oh, he could almost see the scene! Theseus definitely was the type to not give up on something out of sheer pride. "Well- ok, alright, I don't think Spike would manage to make that much of a mess", he admitted, still chuckling. "He's a good boy. He'll probably run around for a little while, bark at some butterflies, get tired and fall asleep somewhere warm." He looked fondly at Carleen, loving everything about her laugh.

Asterius snorted again, but couldn't hold back a smile as he let Theseus kiss him to his heart's content. "I feel like I'd like some breakfast", he answered honestly, before raising up from his position so that he was sitting on the bed. The blankets fell aside with the movement, revealing his nakedness, and he looked down at himself. "Maybe we should get dressed first", he added on a second thought.

Carleen smiled back at Horknath. "I could introduce you to Mars too, this time. Don't worry, he's only got a bad temper whenever Theseus mounts him and tries to order him around. Otherwise, he can be quite affectionate and kind." She fished her phone out and showed him a picture of Mars pushing against Theseus' face with his snout.
And on the next picture he was trying to nibble at Theseus' hair.

"We're not expecting anyone, are we?" Theseus replied with a grin, as his gaze drifted shamelessly down. Oh, he could fully appreciate his boyfriend's body without feeling self-conscious about it, now. Even when it didn't stir any particular hunger in him, he couldn't help but find Asterius insanely attractive.

Horknath snorted, trying not to laugh at the picture of Theseus visibly pouting and upset as he tried to shove the horse's long muzzle away from his precious hair. "If you want to, sure", he answered, before smiling apologetically. "I'm afraid horses don't usually like me a whole lot, unfortunately. Unlike you, they don't tend to appreciate awkward and nervous giant men who struggle to interact with them", he joked with a little grin.

Asterius cocked a brow in front of Theseus' batlant staring - but he wasn't shy. Not anymore, at least. At this point it would have just been silly. "We aren't ", he agreed, holding back a smirk. "But, since you don't live here on your own, I feel the tiniest bit self conscious in invading the kitchen without wearing my underwear. It's not very hygienic." He leaned in to brush his lips against his boyfriend's. "I can forego a shirt, if you wish."

Carleen chuckled. "Oh, but you're not always awkward and nervous," she kindly chastized him. "You just need to get used to new people. And trust me, I might not look like it, but if you hadn't been a cute boy, I wouldn't have pushed myself to not be too awkward around you when we met." She let out a kind smile. "I felt that if I didn't go for it, I'd regret letting you go for my whole life."

Theseus chuckled. "Forego the shirt, then." He got out of bed as well once Asterius got dressed - he could get up without having his boyfriend seeing him wincing under the strain - and grabbed a clean underwear as well. Thankfully, he could get used to the feeling, and he felt confident that he wouldn't feel any more pain within a few hours!

Horknath blinked - and then flushed, a little, pleased smile on his face. "You really know how to talk to a boy", he joked weakly as he briefly averted his gaze, even though he looked clearly struck by her nice words. "You always look so sure of yourself. But in a way it's- it's a little comforting to know that we're a bit similar in that." He looked at her once again, smiling softly. "I will be always grateful that you decided to be brave enough for both of us."

Asterius had ended up wearing his underwear and a soft, comfortable pair of pants - and had politely pretended not to notice Theseus' face briefly scrunching up in discomfort a couple of times. He invited him to settle down in the kitchen, offering to get everything they needed for breakfast by himself.

Carleen smiled softly at Horknath. "Truth be told, I might even be as anxious as you are sometimes." She kissed his cheek. "But-... Thankfully, I've got friends who always encouraged me to go for things I wanted. That, and... you know my brother." She grinned. "He's fake confidence incarnate."

Theseus didn't really oppose to Asterius spoiling him on that morning. Hell, once he was sat in a comfortable way, he didn't feel like getting up again. "Actually, Asterius- I wanted to go mountain climbing with you this morning, but I realize it's rather late. How would you feel about going this afternoon?"

Horknath sighed happily when Carleen kissed his cheek. He loved when she offered those sweet, spontaneous gestures of affection. He chuckled when she mentioned her brother, though. "I have to admit that all that yelling out loud did make me think that he was over-compensating for a lack of actual confidence, but I didn't actually think I was right", he observed with a smile. He leaned in to rest his hand on top of hers. "You are definitely a good incentive for me to try and be a bit more confident, though."

Asterius was preparing the table for breakfast - asking Theseus what he would rather have - but he stopped midway towards the fridge when his boyfriend talked. He turned to look at him, raising a brow at him. "... well- I'd love to", he started, completing his motion and fully turning to face him. "If you aren't too much in discomfort, of course." He was a little worried that Theseus could try to overdo it.
And knowing Theseus, his worries were definitely well-placed.

Carleen smiled at Horknath fondly. "Well. I'm glad if that helps you. And you're helping me too, just so you know. Thanks to you, I was able to feel more confident when I'm talking about things I enjoy!" And she went on chatting merrily with Horknath, until they would take his car to drive to her parents' place.
She didn't own a car herself - well, she hadn't needed to get one yet, given that she already had either Theseus or Dean who could drive her around at all times. And now she had Horknath too!
... Alright, she'd need to get her license someday too, but that could wait.

Theseus scoffed. "Oh, Asterius, the reason for which I've trained for our first time together was so I wouldn't feel any discomfort on the next morning! And I don't."
He did, though. But his pride always got the best of him.
"I merely feel like I'm missing you already and could get back to it, but I could wait until tonight," he purred as he crossed his arms over the counter.

And in the meantime, Horknath was more than happy to drive her around wherever she wanted - even though this particular visit wasn't exactly out of pleasure.
One could be fooled, seeing how enthusiastic Spike was once he finally got off the car (he really didn't like car trips) and started running in circles around his daddy, all too curious to explore this enormous new place!

Asterius snorted lightly, throwing an amused glance at Theseus as he finally sat down. He tried hard not to feel flustered for his boyfriend's words, and failed a little bit. He had been right: if Theseus was to ask him anything with that sultry purr, he would have never been able to resist him. "You don't feel any discomfort, then", he repeated casually, mirroring his position and resting his arms on the counter. "Then maybe tonight I should put a bit more of my back into it. A little more effort. Think you can take that, King?", he asked purposefully using Theseus' precious, team-given nickname, lowering his voice towards a rumble.

They were greeted by Alfred on the front porch, who chuckled and hugged Carleen back as soon as she trapped him in his arms, before he offered to park their car in the garage.
Carleen then suggested she and Horknath brought Spike along with them around the house, so that he wouldn't get any hair inside that might get her father's allergies all worked up as soon as he got back home.
She lead Horknath all of the way to the veranda, where she opened one door to go find her mother who was there inside, sitting on a couch, with a couple of law books in front of her. She smiled kindly upon seeing them, and took her daughter in her arms as soon as she was within arm reach.
Carleen didn't complain.
"Hello to you too, Horknath," she greeted him politely. "I hope you two managed to cool down a bit after what happened yesterday night?"

Theseus shivered, clearly flustered by Asterius' suggestion. But the smile that escaped his lips told just how much he liked that idea. He was actually about to reply to his boyfriend, with a playful grin of his own, when there was a quick knock on the door.
Now that was unexpected. He straightened up on his chair, and looked at the door again, as the knocking began once more.
"I didn't know we made that much of a noise last night-" he began with amusement in his voice, before he went to open the door. He was actually proud of himself for not wobbling on his feet nor showing any clear signs of discomfort.
As soon as he opened the door, Piritoo barged in.
"Thee, I need to talk to y-" He froze on his spot, eyes wide when he caught sight of Asterius. Since the apartment opened right away on the living-room/kitchen area, it would have been difficult for him to miss him there. His upper lip twitched a little as his gaze drifted down, taking his lack of clothes in. And the twitch only grew a little more when his attention was brought back to Theseus' own state of clothing.

Horknath looked a bit sheepish still when he was in Ashanti's presence - she was so different from his own mother, and looked like such a classy, refined lady that he almost felt under examination! He shuffled a little on his feet. "Yes, thank you", he answered then, smiling a little. "We got to pass a nice evening together. That helped to shrug the tension off a bit."

Asterius would have commented over just how noisy they had been - well. How noisy Theseus had been. Oh he loved it, it's not like he would have ever complained about finally having a partner so openly vocal - but the door was opened before he could speak a single word. He blinked, encountering the other man's stare with a mild curiosity - recognizing their sudden visitor from Theseus' team surely helped to make this feel a little less weird. Still - he felt a little exposed, and being stared at like that surely wasn't helping. Thankfully he hadn't listened to Theseus when he had suggested not to get dressed, so he was at least wearing pants. He nodded awkwardly at the newcomer and kept sipping on his coffee, politely looking away.

"Good," Ashanti replied with a smile, before she gently got Carleen to let go of her, and looked at her daughter with a soft gaze. "Alright. Let's get rid of the itch. But first- Carleen, would you boil us some water for tea? I forgot to ask Alfred."
Carleen sighed, but nodded. "Alright." She threw a short smile at Horknath and then went out of the room, into the kitchen.
Ashanti gestured for Horknath to sit down on one of the couches, as she sat back down as well. "I didn't want to discuss it with Carleen in the room, but let's get straight to the point-" Her expression was suddenly cold. "So is it true? He was stalking my daughter?"

"...Anyway," Piritoo said eventually, disdain clear in his voice. "I need you to call your sister for me," he imposed to his best friend.
Theseus made a face himself, clearly not thrilled by the idea. "Pirit-"
"The b-" Piritoo took a deep breath in, realizing he almost made a mistake. "She's got my cell phone, I can't do it myself. I need to retrieve it. Please, Theseus? It's a long story, I'll explain later."
Theseus raised his eyebrows, and eventually shrugged. "Alright." He grabbed his phone and dialed Carleen's number, fast as ever. In fact, Piritoo started to panic, and threw an alarmed glance at Asterius.
"Not here- Actually, give me the phone, I'll go into the corridor or some-"
"Hello Carleen," Theseus cut Piritoo, who he was by this time keeping at an arm's length. He was actually grinning, completely oblivious as to why his friend could possibly be panicking. "Guess who's visiting me this morning! I think he lost his phone and won't tell me the embarrassing story behind it. How-" His smile died down slowly. "Yeah, It's Pirit-"
It went fast from there.
One second Theseus's eyes widened in horror, and the next he grabbed Piritoo by the collar to prevent him from going anywhere, his gaze mad with anger.
Carleen's upset voice was the only thing that could be heard for the next two seconds, right before Theseus dropped his phone and landed the first punch into his friend's face, right where he had an ugly bruise from the day before.

Horknath awkwardly sat on the couch Ashanti had pointed at him, and nervously adjusted his position. He bit on his lip when he was asked that question, and felt his throat tighten at the memory of Carleen almost crying in his arms and trembling upon making that discovery. "Yeah", he answered, absent-mindedly looking down at his hands, folded over his knees. He noticed that he had tightened them into fists, his knuckles paling with the force behind his grip, and he forced himself to release that. "I... one of his teammates decided it would be better for me to have his phone. He told me there were pictures on it." He ran his hand over his face. "I didn't look myself. Carleen did, and-" He made a weak gesture with his hand. "Apparently, he's been stalking her around campus, and in her outings with friends. Even in her own apartment when he went to see Theseus."

Asterius took a second to realize what was happening.
Of course he hadn't heard what Carleen was saying, and couldn't know just what Theseus was so upset over - but judging by his reaction, and by what he had proudly told him about how he had messed up the guy who had called her sister a slut once, he could easily guess it was nothing good. Nonetheless, he immediately raised from his seat and ran to keep Theseus from hitting Piritoo another time.
"Theseus, what is going on!?", he exclaimed, locking him in a tight grip. "What happened?"

Ashanti's expression grew even colder, and she nodded slowly. It'll be hard for me to refrain from suing him, but-" She took a deep breath. "I want to avoid any needless pressure on you and Carleen, so I'll try to settle things down quietly with his parents. Especially because I think you respected my daughter way more than he did by losing your temper around him." She held back a smile... that didn't last long, since she could suddenly hear Carleen's voice a little further away into the house, calling for Theseus' name on the phone.

"What happened? That pig came to me, and tried to use what I thought to be our friendship to ask my sister to give him his phone back? Phone that is apparently filled with pictures he took of her without her consent?" Theseus was furious, and yelling, and probably trying to wriggle free from Asterius' grip - although to be fair, he'd have put up more of a fight had it been anyone else holding him back.
"Dude, you'd believe that bitch over me?" Piritoo asked moodily, while rubbing his sore cheekbone, that was swelling even more than before.
Upon hearing that 'B' word, Theseus tried to surge towards him again for another blow, fuming with rage.

Horknath nodded, silently agreeing with Ashanti. He'd hate for Carleen to have to face that piece of garbage again. If they could avoid it, it would have been the best thing for everybody. He was about to comment over him losing his temper with Piritoo, but he grew worried when he heard his girlfriend's voice calling out for Theseus. He instinctively raised from his seat. "Carleen?", he called out worriedly.

Asterius, for how strong and physically larger than Theseus, struggled quite a bit to keep his boyfriend from freeing himself and just straight up murdering the other man. He grimaced when Piritoo called Carleen a bitch - and not only because that made Theseus thrash around even harder in his arms, making his elbow collide painfully against his ribs. He regarded the other, wounded man with a cold stare. "I think you should go", he said, his voice not admitting any negative answers to that suggestion.

Ashanti got up as well, and gestured for Horknath to follow her into the kitchen nearby, where Carleen was gripping her phone tight and wheezing, still trying to call out to her brother in a panicked voice. She had heard the phone falling, and all she could hear now were vague bits of his angered voice.

Piritoo clearly hesitated for a split second after Asterius told him to go, but one last look at Theseus trying to go for his throat convinced him to run out of the apartment, without looking back once.
"IF I EVER SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN YOU HAVE FAR WORSE TO FEAR THAN MY FISTS," Theseus roared at him, before he finally - gradually calmed down thanks to Asterius still holding him. That, and he was starting to hear a faint noise coming from his phone.

Horknath followed Ashanti and worryingly reached for Carleen as soon as they reached the kitchen, gently resting his hands over her shoulders. It was clear that something had happened at Theseus' place, and that whatever it was had made her panic quite a lot.

Asterius watched as Piritoo scrambled out and away from the apartment like a scared rabbit, still holding Theseus tight and ignoring the dull pain to his side. His gaze fell on the phone that had fallen on the floor, ears finally catching Carleen's scared callings of Theseus' name. He bent down to pick it up, holding back his boyfriend with just one of his arms - he could allow himself that, now that he felt he had calmed down at least a little bit. "Carleen? It's Asterius", he spoke, keeping his voice calm and steady. "Don't worry. Theseus is alright." He threw a glance down at his boyfriend, raising a brow as if to silently ask 'are you?'. As soon as he had assessed that, he offered him back his phone.

Carleen was shivering in Horknath's arms, until she heard Asterius' voice. And then she broke down, and choke on a sob. She didn't protest when her mother silently asked for her phone, to talk to her son in Hindi for a bit.
"He was at our place," she whispered to Horknath. "He- Thee said he came to retrieve his phone." She could have been there too, and he would have asked to see her. And it made her feel so angry and scared at the same time. It was like living through the same hell she had known with Brad all over again.

Theseus had nodded a bit numbly at Asterius' silent question, and he took his phone back as soon as his boyfriend gave it to him. "Carlee- Ah. Hello, maan." He replied a few words back to his mother, winced, and eventually agreed to something with a sigh, after a slight protestation from his part. After a while, he finally closed the call. "Yes, alright. I'll come tomorrow. Bye." He sighed, and looked at Asterius, before he went to close the apartment door. His fist was closed tight around his phone.
"The fiend," he spat eventually. "I can't believe he'd do this to Carleen! To me! I trusted him! Heavens, I don't even know how many times I indulged him and set him up on short meetings with my sister-"

Horknath didn't say a word at first - he just held her tight, gently rocking her in his arms, hushing her as he softly kissed her head. He hesitated a little. "Listen... would it make you feel safer if you stayed at my place for a bit? Until this whole situation is solved, I mean", he murmured as he cupped her cheeks. "Your brother was yelling before, so I'm guessing he won't be really welcome there anymore anyway, but... until everything is officially settled down, I mean." He had briefly remembered Ashanti's words about wanting to solve this directly with Piritoo's parents.

"Theseus", Asterius gently interrupted him, taking some careful strides towards his boyfriend to take him back into his arms - in a much more gentle hold this time. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known what kind of person he really was", he said, very matter-of-factly. "If he took pictures of her without her consent, he will pay for it. I would just rather not have you end up in a police station for this." He hesitated. "But I would have reacted the same way, in your place." To be frank, he had done so for way less, and Theseus knew it quite well by now.

"I- I'd feel much safer if I stayed with you, yes," Carleen admitted in a low voice, still shaken, while her mother had gone into the corridor to speak with Theseus on the phone. "I just- I wouldn't feel safe at our apartment for a while." Theseus had lent his keys to Piritoo once- who knew if he had been able to make a double? Oh, the thought terrified her.

Theseus calmed down thanks to Asterius, and wrapped his arms around him in return. "You're right. You're right, Asterius, I-" He sighed, and rested his forehead against his boyfriend's torso, remaining silent for a few seconds. "My mother told me the bruise he had was a courtesy from your brother. Apparently he hit him yesterday in the locker rooms after practice."

Horknath leaned in to leave a gentle kiss on Carleen's forehead. "We will do that, then. I'm sure Asterius won't mind." He was certain his brother wouldn't have protested once he'd get the situation explained to him. Knowing him he would probably even offer to stay at Theseus' for the time being, to leave the two of them be. "It will be alright. I promise."

Asterius stiffened for a brief second. "... ah. So that's why they're at your parents' place today", he observed in a low voice. Making Horknath snap was by no means an easy feat - he was quite sure the photos only would have made him call the police at the very least, but raising a fist to attack? Now he wondered what had Piritoo said to him. "Well. I understand why he did that. What this other man did- I doubt anyone in a police station would ever try to spin this as an actual assault."