#moonlightadromache

They know who we are, they know what we are.

I’m going to happy au this one 

Rows of kitchen gadgets gleamed under fluorescent lights, varying in every color Joe could imagine. He stood there trying to imagine what Andy and Quynh would even want in their new kitchen, he couldn’t add a color on top of that. Especially when he wasn’t even sure if they would use a spiralizer if he were to buy them on, even if it was in Quynh’s preferred red color. 

Sighing he moves to a less intimidating section of the home good store, away from colored anomalies in brands he only heard on cooking shows, and towards decorative items. 

Andy and Quynh had recently purchased a house, an old gut job of a place that Joe would probably assume the local children whispered to be haunted. The dramatic victorian exterior had Quynh sold on it, and they had purchased the house without an inspection. That had ended up being a disastrous decision, and their timeline for a seven-month renovation had leaned into almost two years. When he had gotten a formal invitation to a house warming party, Joe had called and asked if they were joking, but Quynh’s laughter and insistence that it would be a nice dinner party and that Joe was not to wear his baseball cap. 

His searching leads him to a small display of glass apples, all of which were green but one shining red one. It was dramatic and so perfectly Quynh that Joe practically had a skip to his step as he made his way towards the last apple.

Joe reached out but pulled away when instead of glass his fingers met warm skin instead.

“Scusi,” Excuse me. Italian? Joe blinked and looked up from pale hands to look into a pair of stunning eyes instead. Joe blinked once, studying the man briefly. A strong nose, hair long enough to be tucked behind pierced ears, and a shy clean-shaven smile greeted him. 

“It’s alright,” Joe replies in Italian, making the other man’s beautiful blue eyes widen even more. “I can find something else-” 

“No no, I insist.” The man says, shaking his head and Joe pretends not to look at the way the handsome stranger tucks his hair back behind his ears. “This was just my second choice anyway.” 

“It was the glass watermelons right?” Joe jokes, taking the offered apple from the other man and enjoys as he bursts into laughter, his head leaning back to expose Joe to a long, kissable neck. 

Fuck. Now was not the time to be flirting with a stranger, no matter how handsome he was.  Joe still had to pick his suit up from the cleaners and get a bottle of wine for the dinner party that night. Briefly, he mourns his plans, there was something about the other man’s warm smile that told Joe he would at least had an interesting night if he were to continue this. 

The man excuses himself in the way all strangers do and Joe pretends he doesn’t watch a missed opportunity walk away. 

...

The dinner party was small, an intimate gathering despite the drama of the invitation. Quynh and Andy had not spared expenses though, and Joe enjoyed every moment of the grand tour he had got when he arrived. Quynh's red dress complimenting Andy’s black suit. The work they had put into their house shown in every detail, and while Joe had been a little annoyed that they had kept friends away from it, he was delighted with the final reveal. 

 Joe’s talking with Lykon over the struggle he had finding a dog sitter for tonight when the doorbell rings. Curious Joe leans to look past Lykon as Quynh flings herself into unknown outstretched arms, laughing as she’s twirled briefly. 

by nicolorenaldigenovia on a03

written for @laylahassan prompt: “a modern day au where nicky & quynh and joe & andy are best friends and they meet because lykon introduces them to each other and the MUTUAL GAY PINING starts.” i ran with your prompt, my dear Lyra. I hope you like it.“You like him,” she whispers.

“Joe will be back soon,” Lykon says softly, in that knowing smile, and Nicky nods, bowing his head slightly. He notices his hair then, probably too long, falling against his eyes.

“I miss him when he’s gone,” he says, watching as Lykon takes one shoe and starts to slowly loosen the laces, his movements slow. “And I know that I’ll be happy when I see him back. I know that he’d been in my mind the whole time before then.”

“That sounds like love, Nicky. You’re in love,” he hears softly, and he nods.

Yeah. He definitely is.

by nicolorenaldigenovia

written for @lyrasbelacqua prompt: “a modern day au where nicky & quynh and joe & andy are best friends and they meet because lykon introduces them to each other and the MUTUAL GAY PINING starts.” i ran with your prompt, my dear Lyra. I hope you like it.“You like him,” she whispers.

“You like him,” she whispers.

Joe just smiles, and nods. “He does my heart well,” he says, so simply, and yet, so fully.

Then she remembers what her uncle said and smiles weakly. A like, or love, that does the heart well. That gives a chance for one to take care of themselves.

She thinks of this kind of feeling, and sees Quynh in her mind’s eye.

Just like she knows that Joe sees Nicky in his.

by nicolorenaldigenovia on a03

written for @lyrasbelacqua prompt: “a modern day au where nicky & quynh and joe & andy are best friends and they meet because lykon introduces them to each other and the MUTUAL GAY PINING starts.” i ran with your prompt, my dear Lyra. I hope you like it.“You like him,” she whispers.

At first, Joe hears blinding noise in the dark, but he squeezes his eyes tight and tries to focus. It’s almost always like this, every morning. And usually, he deals with it alone. And like always, soon enough it fades, and he focuses on what grounds him.

His mother’s face flashes first, like it always does. Mama. Then Baba. Then Andy. Then Lykon.

A tinge of pain comes to his chest, when he sees Lykon now, but he’s so glad to see his face. There’s pain there, yes, but he’s knows himself enough that it’ll be there until he gets a chance to actually say what he wants to say. For he knows he’s failed his brother too. And he needs to address it. He just needs to come home first, to be fully home first.

Joe has to make a concerted effort to put the thought away, and continues to focus. And as he does, he sees Quynh, and she’s new.

But welcomed. Definitely welcomed.

this is an honour and privilege! thank you abby!