MULTI MUSE

After putting herself between them, making sure he wouldn't be able to reach Robby without making it past her first, she grins at the guy. All teeth, her lips upturned but radiating with malice and the threat in her eyes is clear. Back off.

"Yeah, it was starting to get a bit unpleasant over here." Her arm hooks around his waist in turn, holding him tight as they leave the bar.

As soon as they're out of sight she looks up at him with concern in her eyes. "You okay? You want me to go back and punch him, cause I so totally will."

“I’m okay.” Robby is quick to reassure so that she does not go and punch the guy. He’s never been fond of violence, and all it will do is make Robby’s doctors instincts kick in, and then they’d be back to square one because Robby would be at his side to tend to whatever injury he’d gotten. “Don’t punch anyone on my behalf. It’s fine. He’s backed off now.” That’s what matters right now. 

When she says boyfriend, it surprises him. Is that what he is? Robby has known for a while now that whatever is going on between them isn’t just sex anymore, but he’s been fighting against that notion when he has such commitment issues. 

The last thing he wants to do is hurt her or end up getting hurt himself by her eventually taking off because she can’t handle a boyfriend who’s as much of a mess as he is. 

He just can't maintain a joke for long in favor of beaming at her like she hung the sun in the sky.

❝M'Gonna have to plead the fifth, ❞ he says, unable to adopt even a shred of his usual deadpan delivery, he's just grinning too damn much for it. ❝So, it's a yes? We can pack some wine and snacks and I loaded up some audiobooks of cool shit and podcasts we can listen to up there. Or we can watch a movie with the view of the city all lit up below. It'll be the best movie auditorium of all time.❞

Plead the fifth, huh? Okay. She’ll let him have that, especially when he looks at her like that, in a way that makes her forget all about what she’d been teasing him about to begin with. He looks at her in a way that takes her breath away every single time. 

His smile is contagious, infecting her with that same happiness that curls her lips upwards in a smile that beams just as much as his does. He seems so eager for this and how can she not share his excitement? Anything she does with Robert fills her with a happiness that seems to spread warmth throughout her entire being. 

With him, the rest of the world fades away. 

“Ohhh, audiobooks and podcasts? You’ve really come prepared, huh?” It’s sort of nice to have him come prepared with that, though. Dates don’t need to be fancy, sometimes all they need to be is wine, snacks, a couple of audiobooks, and two complete dorks enjoying themselves. 

In fact, she’d prefer dates not be fancy. He gets that, he understands that, and she’s certain he’s picked up on how fancy just feels like she needs to be performative. 

What exactly does Robert Robertson actually listen to? Whatever it is, Mandy is certain she’ll enjoy it just as much.  

does the idea of family make her extremely nervous? absolutely it does. she lost one family already and she really doesn't want to lose another. she can hear oddie and dana talking, hears robby and avigail and everything feels right. like this was the life she was meant to have. the only person missing was maddie.

she wonders how long they'll have that. how long they'll be able to be happy before it'll go away. she doesn't want it to go away, but she's terrified that it might.

there's a moment where she just stands there hugging him and she feels herself relaxing a little more. "you know i can read your mind still right?" she laughs a little. "i'm glad that i can be here for you, help you." she smiles. maybe taking time off wasn't the end of the world, being part time, being able to be there for robby, for him and avi meant a lot.

"i mean if it makes you feel better, technically the story that most people know is that i had her when i was sixteen. even if we are both older than you." she says it in a way that's supposed to be placating, but the smile on her face is mostly trying to be convincing. "i mean if it makes you feel any better, mom really likes being considered a grandma." she peers behind him to the two of them in the living room.

the thoughts that he has next make her chest hurt. she knows all too well how it feels, to be like this to think that things would be better if the pain stopped, if you could end it. that's why she's around, probably driving him crazy, probably being the most annoying person in his life, but she can't just let him go. she can't let the darkest parts of his mind win.

"avi's lucky to have you as her dad. we both are. and i know that sometimes it doesn't make a difference when your mind is loud, but you're so loved by so many people. not just the people in this house. do you know how many times i get asked about you when i go in to work? i get asked about you more than myself, it's a little insulting i won't lie." she shakes her head.

"i think we're going to have a hard time getting modi away from her. and maybe goose too. cheese can be distracted by just... turning him around." she's only had the cats for nearly a year but she's well aware of how they operate. and goose? well he's protective of everyone currently in the house.

"uh yeah, actually if you want to help me, dinner's almost ready i just need to plate it all up. i did make avi some baby food, i made sweet potatoes, spinach and chicken and bananas and mangoes. they're in the fridge. it's been a minute since i made baby food but the internet is a great thing." she heads towards the cupboard, grabbing four plates from the cabinet and setting them on the counter.

As Evvie hugs him, Robby begins threading his fingers through her soft hair, stroking her hair in slow repetitive movements as he tilts his head down and lets his chin rest gently upon her head, inhaling and exhaling a soft content breath. 

This is exactly the life he’s always wanted. Well, sort of. He didn’t want a life full of pain and loss but that is the hand he’s been dealt and people die, it’s the way of life. He wonders how Adamson would feel if he were still here, witnessing Avigail, witnessing this whole family. He’d be a part of it, Robby would make sure of that. Wherever he is, Robby hopes he’s happy. 

“I know.” He forgets to put his charm on most days, and a lot of times he doesn’t even want to. Having her be able to hear his thoughts has helped in keeping him stable for Avigail, even if he wishes she didn’t have to hear all the ugly thoughts his mind screams at him. 

For now? There are only happy thoughts. He hopes it stays that way for the rest of the day and night. The last thing he wants is to ruin this day with how cruel his mind can be to him, but surrounded by love and family? He can’t imagine how this day would turn bad. Robby is hopeful that the day will go by smoothly. 

Robby laughs. Yeah, he’s noticed that. Good, Dana deserves to be happy to be a grandmother. As long as she’s happy, as long as his family is happy? Right now, that’s all that matters to Robby. 

“They miss me already?” Robby asks, like he’s surprised, and truthfully he is. He hadn’t been nice when he left. He’d been an asshole, bordering on cruel at times. He didn’t mean it but it was like he was unable to stop himself. They miss him after all of that? 

“Can’t really blame Modi. It’s hard to tear yourself away from her.” Human or animal, Avigail is someone that everyone wants to be around. She may not even be a year old already, but she radiates joy, and Robby is sure the animals sense that too. 

“You made baby food for her? You should teach me how to do that.” He doesn’t mind at all and it’s probably a lot healthier than all the stuff you buy at the store. Robby sets it upon himself to go to the fridge and get some of the jars out to feed Avigail, bringing them over to Evvie. 

Once the food is put on the plates, Robby begins to put the plates at the table for each of them. Sitting at the table sounds better than sitting in the living room. A meal at a table. God, how long has it been since he’s done that? 

she watches him when she stands up and waves her hand. "i'm fine, long day my leg would be just as sore if i hadn't sat down with you." she shrugs, which is true. the longer days had her relying a little more on magic but she was always so tired by the end that the pain just caught up to her anyway.

"you know even with everything today, you pushing everyone away or pushing them probably a little too far..." she begins, clearly putting less weight on her right leg as she makes her way over to him, "everyone here still cares about you, we want you to get help, and you need to get help." she was probably being a little more than direct but she was so wrung out from everything from the day and the past... however long they'd been outside.

"well you're learning." she shrugs when he says there's no point in fighting her. she plans on taking the very large detour to get goose and also check on the cats before they go to robby's. goose would be good for robby right now, and she really needs to remember to bring him the next time she works on a fucking holiday.

when they're back inside she watches him make a beeline for pedes and picks up the emergency placement paperwork that dana left on the desk. she follows him, a lot slower given her limp now but she stands outside pedes, listening to him talk to her, listening to his thoughts about her.

turns out she was right to grab the paperwork dana left.

she feels her own sense of ache in her heart. how baby jane doe seems to just fit into the hole in robby's heart and honestly she has a little bit of envy. there was never a point in her life she was chosen by her own parents once they discovered how useful she was and that was all anyone wanted wasn't it? unconditional love from a parent?

that's all this baby would know. all she would know is unconditional love. was she seriously jealous of a baby? that seems to be the case. but again it was because it was just something she lacked, something she wanted so bad. of course while she's thinking about this she's placing an amazon order to have stuff delivered to robby's house overnighted so that he could take care of the baby. she'd just have to figure out how to get a carseat to the hospital and put it in her car. she can just use magic for that right?

"i have the paperwork she left on her desk. think she figured someone would come in at the eleventh hour and take baby jane doe home." she says quietly as she walks into the room after giving him some time with her. "i filled out most of it for you, you just have to sign it. and fill out whatever i missed." it's also definitely an excuse for her to hold the baby.

she tips her head to the side, looking at the baby as she started to doze a little against his shoulder. "you're going to be good for her. she's comfortable with you and you're clearly comfortable with her."

"i know that you know this, but you need to talk to someone still. i'm sure caleb's offer of zoom therapy will stand even if you don't take off on your bike up to canada. i also have a list of therapists that were vetted by maddie to be okay for me." she doesn't want to dampen the mood but she was so sure that he was going to just leave and she would never see him again just half an hour ago.

she can't just take his word or his thoughts that he's staying and just let that be enough anymore. she refuses to add to the journals she has of final thoughts she's heard from doctors before they died. she also refuses to go to another funeral.

she looks down at the paperwork on the clipboard in her arm, her eyes blurring as she pushes back her own tears. "i just want you to be okay... not for me, or dana or even baby jane. dad i want you to be okay for you."

As Evvie comes over to hand him the paperwork, Robby does not hesitate to hand her over to take the paper and pen. There is no hesitation when he signs his name and makes sure the rest of the paperwork is filled out, he wants to foster her. She deserves all the love she could ever have and he’s determined to give it to her. 

Robby pauses when she mentions therapy. It’s not what he wants to think about right now. In fact, Robby rather put it off for as long as possible and focus on baby Jane Doe but he knows she’s right. 

 “I know.” Robby admits softly, glancing at her. He knows she can still hear his thoughts, so she’ll know how sincere he is when he speaks up again. “I will look into it. Just – not tonight. Maybe not even tomorrow. But....soon.” He can’t say for certain how soon, he needs to prepare himself for any sort of therapy, but he’ll make an effort at the very least. 

For this little girl, for Evvie, for Dana and maybe, eventually, with time? Maybe for himself, too. He knows he has to want help for himself to really heal but using other people as a reason to get help will have to do for now. 

“Maybe one day I will be doing it for me. But....it’s not going to happen overnight. We’re both trained professionals – we both know that. So, for now.....I’ll do it for other people.” For everyone counting on him to survive instead of follow through with his plan.  

evvie looks down at avigail and smiles when she sees her big eyes looking back at her. "hi little bird…" she whispers as the baby continues to coo at her. "you have the biggest eyes. that's kind of a thing around here." she laughs softly, already knowing that they're going to get avigail whatever she wants from evvie.

"you are going to be very lucky, little bird. i wish my father was just like our dad." she knows it's different, that robby isn't her dad in the same way that he will be avigail's dad, and there's a weird lump in her throat about it that she absolutely doesn’t want to talk about. "and you have so many people where we work with that already care about you. i've told so many people about you." she clears her throat as she speaks, her eyes never really looking away from the baby.

"lucky for you, between mom and i we've raised five kids. hers a bit more recently than mine but still." she looks up at robby for a minute. "you've got this. i raised three kids and most of it was "winging it"," she does her best to do air quotes while holding the baby, "because i mean there were two parenting books and neither talked about parenting vampire hybrids." she pauses. "okay well there is but it's all very... loose research like a very bad game of telephone." trying to raise any human kid is a lot but one like her? let's just say that evvie's glad robby doesn't have to raise a kid like her.

Robby’s heart melts as he listens to Evvie talk to Avigail about him. He may not have raised Evvie, but she’s still his daughter, and this doesn’t change that. All it changes is that Evvie has a sister now instead of someone to raise. 

“Hey. No. You’re not raising her, okay? You’re her sister. All I need you to be is a big sister.” Helping raise Avigail is out of the question, he and Dana can handle that, but Evvie deserves to have a chance to be a big sister. To be the sibling she should have been but never got to be. 

Though, if he needs help, he won’t turn it down if it’s not something that requires a lot of parenting. He won’t let her be her parent in any way, but he understands that for Evvie it will be hard when she has done nothing except raise kids. 

“It does help, knowing I’m not doing it alone.” God, he’s thankful for everyone around him that is going to help him. He’s thankful for the village he knows he has, everyone will pitch in, and everyone will come visit her. Robby knows this to be true already. 

yeah okay she's definitely full of shit about that but she doesn’t like the idea of maddie spilling her guts or worse, showing robby her journals. no now she has to keep maddie out of pittsburgh for the rest of forever. at least for the next year until hopefully robby forgets that they had this conversation. whichever comes first.

"no i know." she nods, and she does. that's why she feels safe to be honest because she knows he won't make fun of her. when she hears what he thinks about time travel her chest aches. not in the pitying way, in the 'i know how you feel i've had the exact same thoughts before,' kind of way. "i mean even witches haven't figured out time travel yet to be honest." she admits with a shrug. "but then you have to think of the butterfly effect, if we could go back in time and change things what would happen to the future?" she’s clearly thought a lot about it. "i mean if i went back and changed what i wanted to, i never would've moved here. never would've met you, or mom or anyone."

if she's completely honest about it she'd still be in new orleans, maybe she wouldn't even have oddie. so many variables that she doesn't dwell on right now.

she studies his face as he looks at her, she doesn't have to but it feels a little more polite than just immediately acknowledging the unsaid thoughts in his head. "i…" she truthfully has no idea what to say. she's been around for nearly fifteen years and if she tries she could probably on both hands count the days off he’s had that he voluntarily took. "huh." is all she continues with, like something in her brain has just snapped.

"no one's ever just… offered to do what i want to do." even before her parents became who they ended up being, most of the time she was stuck learning how to be a vampire or how to lead a coven. she was never really just evvie. "of course there wasn't really much to do until i was in my thirties. that's when they opened the art museum and i was there so much that the staff knew my name. every day off, every chance i had i was there. that was before my life became just about working and somewhere along the line i stopped letting myself enjoy things." she has a point to this, maybe.

"if we do this. this day of you being dragged around the museum and painting and whatever else for me, then i want to do a day for you too. i know you don't talk about it ever, but i know you know how a," she pauses, thinking for a moment, "less than ideal childhood can be and i think that you deserve the chance to do what you always wanted to do too. plus i think we both need to work on that whole work-life balance thing."

He doesn’t want to think about the butterfly effect so he lets that train of thought fade away. It’s probably for the best that time travel doesn’t exist. Who knows what kind of things could get fucked up? It’ll give him a headache if he thinks about it too long so he focuses on the here and now, this peaceful moment shared between the two of them sitting on this bench at who knows what time. 

“I know. They should have.” Her parents should have given her everything she needed as a child. She should have been asked how she felt instead of placing an overwhelming amount of responsibility a child should not have on their shoulders, on her. It wasn’t fair and if he could, he’d kick their asses for it. 

She turns it on him and Robby has to admit, that isn’t something he’s expecting. For a moment, Robby goes silent because truthfully? He doesn’t know what he’d do if he had an entire day to himself besides sleep. But that’s not what she’s wanting for him. 

She’s right, his childhood was miserable, even after his mom left. She’d been abusive but there had been this overwhelming loneliness that he couldn’t shake, no matter how much his grandparents tried their best with him. 

“I don’t know what I’d want to do.” Robby says with a shrug of his shoulders. He isn’t sure who he is outside of working. He likes reading and drawing but beyond that – what hobbies does he even have?  

That is something he’ll think about later, because she speaks again and all he wants to do is focus on her. 

Courtney can’t help the laugh that manages to escape between moans that fill the room as she looks down and sees the mess of papers and pens and a lamp swinging from the desk. 

Despite the place being dark and empty, there’s still a chance someone could come back if they forgot something. There’s still the chance of being caught and she can’t deny that the thought turns her on more, causes her juices to soak Robert’s cock as he begins moving in and out of her and a steady and deep pace. 

She can feel him so deep at this angle, so deep inside of her that it makes her feel so full. It’s exactly the way she wants to feel, and every time he picks up the pace her body responds in louder moans and the way her back arches off the wall. 

Her arms wrap around his shoulders as if she can’t cling on to him tight enough, using her grip to help her lift herself closer so she can busy herself with biting down on his chin, jaw, and neck. Only when she gets to his neck does she bite a little harder, sucking at the skin to create a mark, watching as the mark blooms on his skin purple and sure to be throbbing. 

She’ll have to build up stamina, it seems.  He’ll have to train her, that much is very clear. While the Princess is far from innocent, it’s not as if she’s had much sex in her life. It’s not as if she fucked random strangers, or anyone she wasn’t in a relationship with. 

This is a first. Fucking strangers for porn will be a first, too. Charlie has never done anything so bold in her life and yet.....there is a thrill that comes with this that she can’t deny. Her walls had clenched around him so hard as her juices flowed over his cock fast and hard. 

She had cum harder than she thinks she’s ever cum before and this is only the start, she realizes, as she collapses against his chest. He’s not done with her, not by a long shot. It’s going to be a very very long night, she needs to prepare herself for that. 

Charlie whimpers as he pinches at her nipple, just barely managing to keep from crying out as her sensitive body still trembles against him. Her chest rising and falling with every heaving breath she takes.  

Another cry as his fingers painfully dig into her face, forcing her to look up at him. Half-lidded eyes meet his and she swallows the lump in her throat, unsure if she can keep going. But she has to try, right? Because if she doesn’t do this, her hotel will never see the light of day and that is not a risk she is willing to take. 

She’s caught her breath by the time he asks his question. She doesn’t want him in her ass, not yet anyway, so there’s only one other option. She hasn’t gone down on many men, she’s certain to end up gagging as he fucks her throat, but she’ll take that over fucking her ass right now. 

“Forgive me for thinking El Jefe got wise wisdom somewhere behind his trifocals...” There’s a rather pathetic sounding groan to that, though the comment catches her with a slow, almost owlish blink. Night? Right—shit, what time was it again? 

A glance over at the breakroom clock was definitely not giving an answer that Trinity was happy about. “... Fuck, that means the next train’s not for another hour.” Stupid busted car, stupid bus, stupid Denis needing to go out for two damn days— 

Train? IIs that how she’s been getting back and forth to work? Not that he’s judging, he either walks or takes a bus so he understands. It can be a real pain in the ass when there are delays. Especially when all you want to do is get home so that you can go to sleep and forget about the world for a little while. 

Santos looks exhausted, he’s sure she could fall asleep at any second by now. She needs some coffee in her and luckily for her, he’d already made a fresh part before he woke her up. If he didn’t, he likely wouldn’t have made it as long as he has either. 

“I can pay for an uber for you.” Robby says. It’s no big deal, really, as it won’t hurt his bank at all. He doesn’t want her falling asleep and spending the night here. After the day she’s had? She deserves to go home and sleep in her own bed. 

Maybe he ought to show her his favorites? She might get a big kick out of it and take advantage, heh. Or maybe she would wanna find them herself?

Watching her face as she pops one of the grapes in her mouth is delightful. Her expression cycles swiftly from disbelief, to surprise, to content, looking quite pleased with his tasty grape offering.

"They'd better be good." Sonar remarks with a sly little grin, taking a grape for himself. It's sweet and juicy, and she's right in saying they're one of the best grapes she's ever had because they're the best he's ever had too. "I spent $2k on them."

And those weren't even the most expensive piece of fruit in this household.

If she hadn’t already swallowed the grape, she’s pretty sure she would have choked on it as her eyes go wide and she freezes. Did she just....did she hear him right? Two thousand fucking dollars for some fucking grapes?  

He just has that kind of money laying around? There is so much she could do with 2k and it wouldn’t be spending money on grapes. She cannot even begin to imagine where she would start with that kind of money but damn, it must be nice. 

“I’m sorry – what? You spent two thousand dollars on some fucking grapes?!” For once, there’s no harsh edge to her voice, no bite, just pure and utter shock and disbelief. Is he joking? He’s got to be joking, right? 

Holy shit. 

She doesn’t even know what to say, honestly, because then he goes on to talk about buying apples that total two hundred bucks. “They better be the juiciest fucking apples to spend two hundred bucks on them.” She shakes her head, as if trying to shake the surprise away. “Didn’t realize you were so fucking fancy, Sonar. Let me guess – you have all kinds of expensive ass shampoo for your fur? Do you have an entire routine?” Not that she’d blame him for that, it’s a lot of fur and she certainly doesn’t mind how soft it is. 

They are both men who suffered greatly at the hands of Tevinter mages, both men who had little say in how their lives were lived. True, Lucanis grew up with all the privileges of a noble, and he could never imagine what it was like to be enslaved as Fenris was, but he still feels like he can relate to the other's experiences.

The compliment, though, had slipped out before Lucanis even thought about what he was saying. Fenris had said something that made him feel the need to say it, and now he feels he needs to further clarify what he means by it.

Fenris is so used to people trying to butter him up for some reason that he can spot it a mile away. Lucanis carries on, telling him how he’s beautiful and how it has nothing to do with the lyruim in his skin, and Fenris can tell that he means it now. 

Especially when he focuses on his strengths and not his looks. It surprises the elf, he glances at Lucanis in his surprise but quickly looks away, as if looking at him any longer will give away how awkward Fenris feels right now. 

He is not used to such genuine compliments. 

“I am not sure what to say.” Fenris admits after a long moment of silence that seems to stretch on longer than it actually is. He finally looks back over at Lucanis, tilting his head at him. He’s a beautiful man, too.