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[sup][color=dimgray]Collab with [@Universorum] & [@Silent Observer]
(Previous day in IC)[/color][/sup][/center]
[indent]Did the boys forget there was a [url=https://homeideasblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/10-classy-kitchen-windows-for-your-home-interior-exterior-ideas.jpg]wide window[/url] above the sink that gave [url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/75/58/ce/7558ceb292ecff7ec901bb38eae8c8b8--dan-stevens-a-walk.jpg]Remy[/url] a perfect view of the backyard? This included the treehouse, which was not too far away from the vegetable garden. He saw JD climb up to presumably nap until dinner. He saw his youngest and broodiest son shuffle his way to his safe haven, probably to contemplate his existence. He saw his eldest and honest son, with battle scars it seemed, which would be brought up at the table, seek out his brother, probably to talk about said scars. And Damian came to him, said he’d be sleeping over for an undetermined amount of time, and also went to that treehouse. 

These boys love that treehouse. To the point that his sons would go there first before saying ‘hi, dad, i’m home’. Thank you, Damian, for making your presence known. For saying HI.   

This was a normal afternoon at the Wells’ residence.  Remy chuckled to himself as he held a rustic tray with drinks for all his boys. The kitchen was massive — light colors and wide windows to keep things bright, spacious so he didn’t feel claustrophobic while he cooked, rustic furniture and knick knacks for a more homey feel, and magazine-esque decor — like perfect-looking fruit in a bowl, because, why not? The kitchen was HIS PLACE and he liked things a certain way.  The flowers here and there were just pretty and smelled nice. Humming to himself a song that his husband had wrote for him years ago, Remy entered the small [url=http://hgtvhome.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/hgtv/fullset/2011/3/31/0/DP_Joel-Snayd-white-country-dining-room_s4x3.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.462.suffix/1400958734019.jpeg]dining room[/url] area, strictly for immediate family, which was by the back entrance, and placed each drink down by the suspects’ usual seats. Starting at the end, and going counter clockwise. Red moscato for himself. Yummy! Milk for his charming and always smiling Trevor. Water for (the spitting image of his father) Damian. Warm tea for the night to his day, moon to his sun, and apple to his cinnamon, Jareth. One of the many homemade, [i]healthy[/i] juices that JD surprisingly takes a strong liking too (not because of white lies or anything). Today it was Remy’s green juice with parsley, spinach, pears, and celery. Absolutely delectable. And last, but not least, chocolate milk for his sensitive son with far too much on his mind, Riley.  

Taking a step back, hugging the wooden tray now, the feminine father scanned the table. It was the start of the second semester, which meant spring was just around the corner, so he let green and yellow be the aesthetic of the table placements. He even put daffodils at the center in a small vase! He loved when all his boys were home, so this was a special occasion. [i]Every[/i] night was a special occasion, and the table’s “aesthetic” always changed in color.  He couldn’t decide what type of cuisine to make. Italian? French? Indian? Chinese? There were too many options, but he settled with southern comfort food. You could never go wrong with pan-fried chicken, sweet heat cheerwine baby back ribs, bbq pulled pork, hush puppies, Brunswick stew, pot pie, country-fried corn sprinkled with bacon, a bunch of greens, mashed potatoes, cornbread, biscuits, gravy, pimento cheese, deviled eggs, peach cobbler, fried green tomatoes… and just know that he spent most of his day cooking. Yes, he did have work, but that doesn’t mean dinner needs to be dull. He had an army to feed, so Remy made time to cook a feast. He also had a section for Damian, just in case today was not a cheat day, but it was a very tiny section with greek yogurt, some oats and almonds, and a baked chicken breast. A tiny baked chicken breast. The fried chicken was placed very close to the tiny baked chicken breast. Remy was not a bad influence! He simply liked seeing people enjoy his food. 

Speaking of the army…

Riley was the first to enter. A small smile, but not very genuine. [color=426f6f][b]“Hi, dad. Here, I’ll take that. Sit. You did a lot.”[/b][/color] Riley took the wooden tray from his father, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then disappeared into the kitchen. 

Next came JD — Dixon, as he preferred to be called — with his fists balled up the front pocket of his hoodie. He looked angry, and tired, but mostly angry. This wasn’t unusual. When he looked to Remy, however, his face softened slightly. [color=0073d8][b]“Hey DadWells!”[/b][/color] JD greeted before taking his seat at the table, in front of the green juice. He leaned over and peeked into the cup to inspect it, even going so far as to sniff it. As a kid, when he had originally told Remy that his favorite drink was juice, he had meant like… apple… or orange… but that wasn’t really Remy’s style. It was homemade [i]everything[/i] in the Wells household, but JD was used to that by now.

Following Dixon, were Trevor and Damian, walking side by side. A package deal. Damian was running some serious defense on this play, at least, that was the hope. Trevor was doing his best to act natural, and not bring attention to his busted face, if that was at all possible. When the two teens reached the door, they couldn’t very well both fit through it at the same time, so there was a bit of an awkward pause as they decided who went first, bumping into each other like goons. Trev went first, finally hazarding a glance towards Remy. Smiling, he spoke: [color=c66600][b]“Hi Dad, need any help?”[/b][/color]

Damian was hungry. Now, he was almost always hungry, on account of all the muscles, and the sheer size of him (absolute unit), but he was nonetheless hungry. He knew his numbers well; how many calories he burned a day, how many he had to intake, how much protein he needed (he was pretty much always on a bulk, so it was a lot of protein), and how much good food he could eat. The truth was? Not much good food, really. Whenever Mrs. Wells, head chef of Captain Cuddles, laid out a spread, Damian was left saddened by all the delicious food that he [i]couldn’t[/i] eat. Life was hard, but he wanted to stay really fucking jacked. He was happy to see the tiny spot set aside with food for him, but he knew damn well that Remy wanted him to cheat on his diet.

[i]Bastard.[/i]

Damian scooped some of the greek yogurt into a bowl, before adding a generous helping of oats and grabbing the chicken breast. Then, he turned his attention to Remy, [color=309b75][b]“Maybe… two chicken breasts next time? Look, Mrs. Wells, it ain’t easy stayin’ real jacked.”[/b][/color] Damian helped with dinner most of the time, but right now? He was hungry and mentally burned out. It’d been a long day and he hadn’t even gotten his dick wet.

Well, he kind of had, but that was just because Joy’s shorts were thin and it was only on jeans which reminded him… [color=309b75][b]“Hey, I just remembered I need clean clothes for school tomorrow. Do I got clothes here? Uh…”[/b][/color] Damian sniffed under his arm. [color=309b75][b]“Shirt’s good, I guess. Also, by the way, Mr and Mrs. Wells, I’m gonna be stayin’ here for, uh, the foreseeable future.”[/b][/color]

[color=181313][b]“Is that so?”[/b][/color] Inquired a voice from behind the squad of boys. [url=http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/andybiersack.png]Jareth[/url] brought in the rear and shut the back door gently after himself. Jar walked over to his husband, kissed his cheek, and rubbed his shoulder softly as he walked around the other side of him to take his seat. He looked back to Damian. [color=181313][b]“And why might that be?”[/b][/color]

[color=309b75][b]“My mama gonna beat my ass with a shovel.”[/b][/color]

Remy gave Damian a narrowed side glare, before brightly smiling at his husband, [b][color=ffff99]“[i]Regardless[/i] of the reason, Damian’s always welcomed here!”[/color][/b] And then directed everyone to the table, [b][color=ffff99]“Now everyone take a seat, I didn’t make all this food for nothing — except you, Trevor.”[/color][/b] Remy beckoned his son with his finger to ‘come here’. 

And there it was. Trevor swallowed hard. He wasn’t scared of his father, Remy was probably the least scary person in the world, but Trev [i]was[/i] pretty terrified of disappointing him. Disappointment was way, [i]way[/i] worse than anger. The tall ginger boy walked over to his father and immediately started trying to explain it. [color=c66600][b]“It was at football practice. It’s fine, Riley helped me clean it.”[/b][/color] Half truths, no lies, all was well with the world.

[b][color=ffff99]“... I just wanted my kiss on the cheek.”[/color][/b] Remy gave a playful wink and offered his face, but first he gave a kind, soft beam, and a forgiving stare. [b][color=ffff99]“I trust you. If it isn’t something you think I need to be involved in, then I won’t, but if you come home with more bruises, then that’s when it becomes a problem. My problem. Okay?”[/color][/b]

 [color=c66600][i]Oh.[/i][/color] Did Remy just bait his son into an explanatory apology? If so, it totally worked, Trevor was gullible enough when it came to the people that he cared about. Which was most people… so... he could be pretty gullible. Internally and metaphorically breathing a sigh of relief, Trev closed the distance between himself and his dad, and kissed his cheek. [color=c66600][b]“Yeah, it’s fine. No bruises, just the lip.”[/b][/color] And the back of his head, but thankfully his hair covered that.

[color=0073d8][b]“At least you don’t have lip rings. That shit would suck.”[/b][/color] Dixon quipped before taking a sip from his cup of green juice. He peered over the rim of the glass, testing the waters of using a swear. His parents cursed like sailors, and PopWells did too, but DadWells was a little bit more sensitive. JD was fourteen now, he could say as he pleased. Shit was probably fine... at least it wasn’t [i]fuck[/i]. He’d work his way up to that one. JD was rewarded by a furrowed brow from Remy, but the father decided to ignore the curse word and give his eldest boy a dismissal nod, to signal that he was free to sit down.  

Jareth chuckled at that, seeing a whole lot of his bandmate, Lucas, in the young emo dining at their table. The Piccoli’s were a terse, uncouth bunch — but good people. He wouldn’t trade them for the world. Jar looked over to the son that took most after him now, and smiled. [color=181313][b]“You’re quiet, Rye. Was school okay?”[/b][/color]

Of course Pops would bring him into the conversation from the get go. Riley circled the rim of his cup with his finger and gave Jareth a half-hearted smile, if it could even be called a smile. [color=426f6f][b]“It was eventful. Especially during my show. Met Evelyn Green for the first time. She’s… intimidating. Not gonna’ lie.”[/b][/color] Yeah, Riley would focus on the show, which was primarily about Damian and Henry. Nothing too personal.

[color=181313][b]“Hah!”[/b][/color] Jareth grinned at that. He reflected on his first encounter with Evelyn. He was just a teenager from Colorado then, visiting California for the very first time. His new friends had gotten him high as fuck and all of the sudden rock music idol Evelyn Harding (pre-Green) was standing right in front of him. It was mortifying, but that day was the start of everything — his music career, this fancy roof over their heads, having a family. So worth it. [color=181313][b]“Yeah… she always has been. Why… why was she at the [i]school[/i]?”[/b][/color] That seemed odd.

Suddenly, Trevor’s phone started going off. The ginger looked down at the screen, read the contact [color=2e8b57][b]Ma[/b][/color], and immediately looked over to Damian, his eyes wide. He tilted the screen towards Dames to emphasize the point. [i]Speak of the devils…[/i]

Damian, his mouth full of yogurt and oats, stared at the screen, and considered his options. Damian considered them carefully, as he did not have many. After a few moments, he reached out with a single, silent finger, and hit the red button. 

The phone went off again. This time Remy looked at both of the boys, [b][color=ffff99]“Damian, you can’t run away from your mother. You’re only going to make things worse.”[/color][/b] 

The ringing kept going and then Riley stood up and reached over the table, ripping the phone from them, [color=426f6f][b]“Jesus Christ, that’s so fucking annoying.”[/b][/color] 

 [b][color=ffff99]“Hey!”[/color][/b]

Green button. Speaker.  [color=426f6f][b]“Sorry, dad…. Hi... Mrs. O’Connor, it’s Riley!”[/b][/color] 

[color=2e8b57][b]“Riley? Where’s your brother?”[/b][/color]  

Damian frowned. He'd ignored the call! Why was she so bloody persistent? Looking across the table at the little brother they all shared, Damian made his call. [color=309b75][b]“JD, get the phone and pass it to me! Sorry, Trev,”[/b][/color] he said sadly, glancing over at his friend. If the phone broke, Damian would buy him another.

Dixon snatched the device off of the center of the table, as if this were sport. Jesus, who knew the kid could move so fast? It must be all of those lessons at the combat club with Troy. As he grabbed the phone, Damian’s mother’s voice echoed from under his palm ([color=2e8b57][b]“DAMIAN, I SWEAR TO GOD!”[/b][/color]), and he chucked the thing full force at Damian. [i]Yikes[/i]. Trevor dodged out of the phone’s path, just in case JD missed Damian entirely. [color=2e8b57][b]“Do you not think about anyone but yourself!?”[/b][/color]

Damian snatched that bitch out of the sky like it was the game winning pass of the most important game in his lifetime. [color=309b75][b]“We'll talk later!”[/b][/color] Then, using his expert quarterback skills, Damian pitched the phone through the air with expert, precise aim. [color=2e8b57][b]“What do you mean later?!”[/b][/color] It sailed over all the heads and above the sink — [color=2e8b57][b]“Your father is going to be home in like an hour!”[/b][/color] — through the just barely cracked window, spiraling all the way. His mother was the birds' problem now. Satisfied, Damian ate some more yogurt. 

And then, when they thought the war was over, Remy’s phone started to ring. Jareth looked over to Remy. Remy glanced at his sons, JD, and then locked eyes with Damian. JD laughed. Trevor cringed. Riley dully blinked. Damian returned the stare, simply shaking his head. Don't do it, man. Think of the children.

Do not tell him through a stare that he doesn’t think about the children! Remy rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. Standing up, he looked down at ‘Melody O’Connor’ and the picture he took years ago of Connor wrapping his arms around her and she staring up at him with doe eyes. Where were they again? A trip to a waterfall if he wasn’t mistaken… either way! 

He did it. He picked up the phone, but he didn’t put it on speaker. [b][color=ffff99]“Hi Mel, yes, yes your son is here… no! He isn’t avoiding you. I actually invited him over because you know how bad I’m at fixing things and Jar is too lazy—”[/color][/b] Jareth’s fork stopped midway to his mouth as he gaped at his husband, taking offense to the implications on his character as part of this lie. Remy gave the hubby an apologetic stare and if he could, he would make a heart with his hands, but one was holding a phone.  [b][color=ffff99]“He also has this huge project with Trevor. Even with everything that’s going on, he absolutely has to put school first…. mhm, yeah, I get it. I know. I KNOW. Here, how about this. Why don’t you tell Connor? Soften the blow. You know, do that thing you do that always makes him smile…. what if it doesn’t work? Come on, Mel. Really? You’re [i]talented[/i] and Connor can’t deny you.”[/color][/b] There was a brief pause, before Remy chuckled,  [b][color=ffff99]“Do you remember our first party together? It was wild. [i]You[/i] were wild. If anything, you should be proud your boy threw such an awesome bash! You are! That’s great… yes, I know ‘but Connor’, I’m sure you’ll handle it. I’ll even give Damian a bunch of food for you to share with him. Doesn’t that sound great? Oh! He’s home early? You’re nervous? You’ll be fine. I believe in you. Now go do your thing. If you need a pep talk, call Belle. Talk to you later, sweetie. Love you too.”[/color][/b] Click. Remy sat back down, tossing his phone on the table, and immediately went to putting food on his plate. It was probably getting cold. Hmpf. 

[color=0073d8][b]“Wow.”[/b][/color] Dixon commented, happily chewing on a piece of fried chicken. He was impressed by all of that. The phone call, Damian’s expert toss, DadWells’ perfect speech. JD clearly enjoyed all of it, and was very glad that he had made it to “family” dinner.

Damian looked across the table at Remy, his mouth full of food, and gave a thumbs up, before talking, his mouth still full of food. [color=309b75][b]“Thanks, Rem. Really appreciate it.”[/b][/color] Damian said, munching down the food in his mouth, before he turned to look at Trevor, [color=309b75][b]“I think Trevor has some news.”[/b][/color]

Trevor cleared his throat after swallowing a bite of food. Time to take the heat back off of Damian, because that’s what bros do. [color=c66600][b]“Uhm, yeah… so, I have a date on Friday.”[/b][/color][/indent]