8 - True friend(s)?

"MOUTAIN CLIMBING INCIDENT," Theseus replied at first, before he frowned a little upon reading Dean's words.
Then, his face lit up with understanding. "OH, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HORKNATH. CARLEEN MENTIONED IT THIS MORNING- HE WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND OUT THIS FILTHY WORM HAD BEEN STALKING CARLEEN. I WOULD HAVE FETCHED YOU TO WARN YOU ABOUT IT, BUT SHE SAID SHE WOULD RATHER KEEP IT DOWN UNTIL SHE SAW YOU ON MONDAY. I AM NOT TO TELL YOU ANYTHING UNTIL THEN."
Something wasn't right. What was it?

Dean had froze with his phone in his hand. He read the message once, twice - and then once again, his grip tightening on the screen so much he was sincerely surprised, in the back of his mind, that it hadn't cracked.
"... he did WHAT." He took a deep breath. Read the message again. "Listen- I'll pretend I didn't read that. I'll pretend you didn't tell me", he added, deciding that respecting Carleen's will to keep it a little private at least for now was more important than his sudden need to punch Piritoo's stupid face until there wasn't a face anymore to punch. "Just- rest up and try to wear off those painkillers, 'kay?"

Theseus was a little confused by Dean's answer, but he replied with a round of thumbs up and sparkles, before he actually fell asleep in the car as soon as he closed his eyes for a moment.

There was someone however how had noticed just how tense Dean was, and that someone was Castiel, who had put his pie in the oven a minute ago. "Dean, is everything alright? you seem tense." He brushed his fingers against his shoulder - things were still quite new between then, and he was just learning how to test Dean's boundaries when it came to physical displays of affection... Or concern, in that case.

As soon as Asterius had fetched his belongings he was ready to go - and he was very careful not to wake Theseus up, since he was finally resting!

Dean was almost startled when Castiel spoke to him - but he relaxed soon enough and lifted his head to look at him, forcing a little smile. "I'm okay. It's just-" He sighed, actually leaning into that fleeting touch. He did like when his boyfriend touched him. "It was Theseus. He's let something slip that I shouldn't be knowing, about a. Situation, let's call it, that Carleen is having." He shrugged lightly. "I should wait for her to speak about it with me before mentioning it, though."

Sakrish smiled to himself when Asterius came back, and chatted quietly with him on their way to his mansion. Once there, he'd ask Asterius to bring Theseus to the living-room so that he might see his mother and sister
Carleen was of course glad to see them both - even though she let out a frightened gasp when she saw Theseus in a cast. Thankfully, her mother told her that she knew about the injury, but didn't want to alarm her - and that it definitely had nothing to do with their own 'issue'.

Castiel frowned slightly, but rested his hand on Dean's shoulder for good, rubbing small circles with his thumb. "I see." Well, he knew that Carleen was basically like a sister to Dean, so he understood why he might have felt so upset about something anything to her. "I hope it's not anything that might weight too heavily on her." One, because he liked Carleen, and two because she mattered to both his best friend and his own boyfriend.

Horknath and Asterius greeted each other, had a little chat among themselves - in orcish, mostly because Horknath didn't want to upset Carleen again by talking about the Piritoo issue in front of her as he explained it in more detail to his brother, who mostly froened and nodded. When Horknath asked in turn about Theseus' foot, Asterius rolled his eyes, holding back a smile. And he answered with few words that made Horknath both make a face and laugh. "I'm sorry", he said finally, getting back to English. "I hope he will be alright", he added looking at Sakrish.
Spike had been momentarily closed in the veranda, and was now looking at them from a glass window with big sad puppy dog eyes.

Dean smiled again at him, a little less forced now. "Well- it's definitely not an easy thing to digest", he explained. "I don't know many details, I'll be able to tell you more about it on Monday when I see her. But at least she's surrounded by good people that will help her with it, so I'm positive it will be alright." He rested a hand over the one that was rubbing soothingly into his shoulder.

"Oh, he should be," Carleen sighed. "But I hope this will teach him to not constantly overestimate his capabilities." She made a slight pout, but snorted when Theseus scoffed.
"Tis but a scratch! I'll be back on the field in less than three weeks." He grinned and looked on the side, until he gaped at Asterius. "Whoa. Damn me Carleen, my boyfriend is the most handsome man I've ever seen."
"He's high on painkillers," Carleen whispered to Horknath with a chuckle.

Castiel nodded, and smiled softly at his boyfriend. "She will be. Whatever it is, I'm confident that Horknath will be able to comfort her and protect her if needed." He took a look at his watch. "The pie should be ready in a little more than thirty minutes. We could perhaps get on the couch, and try to actually watch some series?"

Horknath snorted, trying hard not to laugh. "I see. I think something like this happened to me at the dentist's once", he whispered back to Carleen. "I apparently started crying because I saw the picture of a snake and realized they didn't have arms."
Asterius rolled his eyes, but shot a fond smile at Theseus. "You're being dramatic again", he observed, chuckling and shaking his head. "I do appreciate the sentiment, though." He gently caressed Theseus' head for a little while, then he lifted his gaze to look at Sakrish and Ashanti. "I think I should bring him to his room, so he will be able to let those painkillers wear off naturally - and maybe take a good rest."

Dean smiled back at Castiel. "Yeah - I know you're right, I do", he answered gently, before snorting, his smile morphing into a more mischevious one. "You mean without getting distracted in the middle of an episode and make out for the rest of it?", he only half-joked, looking at his boyfriend through half-lidded eyes. "Not sure I can promise that."

Carleen couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Oh no!" She hugged Horknath and kept on laughing at the idea he might cry about snakes' missing arms. "How old were you?"

Sakrish nodded at Asterius, with a smile. "Thank you, Asterius. If he's still too tired around dinner time, do feel free to come back down so you might eat something, alright? I'll ask our chef to prepare a plate to be brought upstairs, should he need it."

Castiel rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly at Dean. "I wouldn't doubt it. You've been regularly distracted, lately." Oh, but he wouldn't complain. Now that he knew what kissing Dean felt like, he was ready to allow him to kiss him to his heart's content, even if it took hours.
Thankfully, he had put a timer on for his pie.

"I was eleven", Horknath answered, feeling embarrassment heating his face up - but finding genuine contentment in hearing Carleen laugh so genuinely at the same time. He wasn't too displeased about uncovering one of his shameful kid memories in the end! "They still keep on telling that story every year, back at my place. If I hadn't told you about it, my mother would have soon enough. It's one of her favorites." He gently hugged her back.

Asterius nodded. "Thank you", he answered. "I'll see you later then." He pushed Theseus' chair away - but ultimately needed to pick him up like a princess again, to bring him upstairs to his room. He had gotten hold of his crutch though, in case he needed to move around upstairs for any reason. "There we go", he murmured when he could finally lay his boyfriend in his bed. "Are you comfortable?"

"Well, the times it happened you were never too much against it if I remember well", Dean observed smugly, with a grin on his lips. "But, well- let's try watching something anyway, yeah. The serie we were seeing the other day seemed interesting enough", he added, getting up from the kitchen chair he'd been slumping on.

Carleen chuckled, and smiled at him. "Aw, don't worry. Thee might be the best - or worst - in that field in our family, but I've got my share of embarrassing moments too. I'm sure you will hear about some of them."

"Could be better," Theseus sighed. "Would you canoodle with me, my love?" He grinned and reached for Asterius sleepily - he probably would nap almost instantly by his boyfriend's side.

Castiel nodded with a smile, and went to slump on the couch with Dean. And they spent probably more time smooching that watching their episode anyway, even if it didn't fully prevent them from following the plot.

Horknath chuckled. "I have to admit I'd really like to listen to those", he answered, regarding her with yet another fond smile. "Maybe I should ask your parents over dinner", he added in a more teasing tone.

Asterius snorted, and rolled his eyes a little - but he really couldn't deny Theseus, could he. "Fine", he answered with a little sigh - and laid at his side, careful not to touch or bump against his boyfriend's wounded foot. He would simply smile when Theseus would fall asleep soundly against him, and would nap at his side for the time being.

(cutes uvu)

"Hey! That's unfair!" Carleen protested, with a chuckle.
"We have plenty of embarrassing pictures in our family albums... as well as family movies," Ashanti suddenly said with a smile. Truth be told, she was glad to see her daughter laughing so freely after the recent events, so she would love for them to keep her in that state of mind.

Theseus indeed fell asleep soon after, his face pressed against Asterius' torso!
Those two are cute.

Horknath beamed in Ashanti's direction. "Really! Well now that's interesting!", he exclaimed, grinning down at Carleen - who was still trapped in a hug, by the way. "I can't wait to check those out. I can't miss out!" Well, she had already seen his pictures as a child back at his parents' place, when she had come by for Christmas - it was time for him to get his rightful revenge!

Carleen let go of Horknath to throw a look at her mother, that was only half offended. "Mom! I expected dad to betray me, not you!"

Sakrish rubbed his hands together. "Oh, that makes me think I had everything organized on my laptop recently, settle down, I'll get this started!"

Carleen sighed dramatically and looked at Horknath with half a smile. "Oh, well. That'll keep us busy until dinner, I suppose."

Horknath grinned at Carleen, raising a brow. "Until dinner even? Are there that many pictures to see?", he asked, sounding amused - but regarding her with fondness in his eyes. "Don't worry, though - my mom will probably break out the baby pictures next time you come over for lunch. You'll get your payback", he promised.

Carleen chuckled. "Oh, I can't wait to see these! You were so cute on the ones I've seen so far!" She sat down on the couch with him, and had to go through a series of cute and embarrassing photos.

On multiple of them, they were in India, so she was wearing saris. She of course looked radiant in each and every one of them.
She regularly was on pictures with a young Theseus whose hair was brownish instead of blonde, but he had that same wide grin and proud attitude he still wore on that day.
And oh, there were a few old videos Sakrish couldn't resist to share.
"This one was at my uncle's," he explained with a bright smile. "He works in an elephant reserve - they collect the elephants that have been exploited all of their lives and tend to them. They get tourists to pay to come and pet them- Carleen was excited to try!"
Carleen was probably barely seven on that clip, and was wearing a tee and a pair of shorts as she stood in a small pond next to an elephant, whose leg she was trying to scrub clean with a brush. And she suddenly screamed when said elephant just splashed water all over her.

"If my horse gets you nervous, can you imagine how I felt there," Carleen explained with a chuckle, as she watched herself run towards the camera, that got tilted to the side for the time it took Sakrish to lift her in his arms. It took a few words from him and his terrified girl was giggling.
The shot stopped after past Sakrish went 'THESEUS NO, DON'T CLIMB ON BERTHA-'

Horknath didn't exactly know whether to feel bummed about the lack of actually embarrassing pictures (he was quite sure his mother had some where he, as a six years old, was wearing her bra on his head, had painted himself with her lipstick and was wearing his father's summer shorts that made him look like he had been shoved into a sack of potatoes - all because he needed to play wrestling with Asterius and wanted to dress up for the occasion) or awed because Carleen had actually always looked very cute and pretty, and seeing her in sari made him strongly wish he'd be able to see her dressed like that one day.

He smiled at Carleen when she made a comment about how nervous elephants were making her. "I do understand", he nodded with a chuckle, just to burst out laughing when Sakrish's video abruptly cut off with him yelling to Theseus. "Oh no, did he end up climbing on Bertha?", he asked, still laughing. He really hadn't changed one bit, had he. Still the reckless adventurer.

"Thankfully no," Sakrish replied with a chuckle. "But Bertha had caught him with her trunk and lifted him up in the air. We were terrified." He chuckled some more. "But we'll embarrass him later, when he's awake and Asterius is there. Now it's Carleen's turn, I've been too kind with her so far!"

And despite his daughter's protests, he gave Horknath all he could have wished to see. Carleen and Theseus covered in mud ("They dug in the pond and Carleen started throwing vase at Theseus"), Carleen grinning next to Theseus, with scissors in her hands and their hair a complete disaster ("We prohibited scissors for a while after that"), Carleen next to Sakrish whose face was covered in way too much makeup, and finally, a pouting Carleen curled up against Theseus and sucking on her thumb ("Alfred washed her blankie and she pouted at him for a week.")

That was indeed everything Horknath could have ever wished to see. He could barely keep himself from either cooing at cute little Carleen being a little terror and not her usual princess-like self and laughing whenever she was picture pouting or doing your typical kid 'thought-it-was-a-great-idea' stuff. "Aw, you were adorable", he commented with a large smile, gently poking at Carleen.

"Please, I was adorable on the previous pictures. Here I only look like a gremlin," Carleen chuckled.

"I'd argue you were the most adorable gremlin there is," Ashanti protested with a fond smile. "And if Horknath still finds you adorable, well-" She leaned towards her daughter, and stage-whispered to her. "He's the one. Don't let him go." She earned herself a giggle from Carleen, who grinned and wrapped her arm around Horknath's.

Horknath flushed slightly, evidently pleased with how well-liked he seemed to be by Carleen's parents, and chuckled when his girlfriend wrapped her arm around him. "I always find her adorable", he argued with a large smile. "I guess that will eventually play at my disadvantage when she will want something and to get it she'll just need to pout at me for a second."

Ashanti's smile widened. "Oh, she got that from her father, yes. I see exactly what you mean."

Sakrish put a hand on his chest, dramatically - in a way that wasn't too different from Theseus' antics. "Now you wound me, love!"

"Thankfully for me I am quite hermetic to his pouting face," Ashanti concluded, earning another laugh from Carleen.

"Oh, but I won't use my charms to bully you, Horknath," she promised him with a smile. "Alright. Not too often," she added on a second thought, and with a playful tone.

Horknath laughed. "I'm too weak to her charms. I'm afraid I'll never be hermetic to anything she could pull off", he answered to Ashanti with a little smile. He threw a glance at Carleen and scoffed lightly, clearly not meaning it. "We'll see about that when Spike will try to wake you up early in the morning to get his walkie", he commented, even though his smile softened as he remembered about how she had accepted to come on a walk right on that very morning.

Carleen made a slight pout. "Aw come on, I'll always get up for Spike. He's our son! ... Well, unless he needs to get out before 7, then I'm afraid he'll only be your son." She winked at Horknath, and then chuckled.

"Oh! Speaking of that little boy, where is he? He must be cold if you left him out there!" Sakrish exclaimed suddenly.