pocketpretzels | MHA #14, Saturday Morning

Yes, something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Or, well, maybe not wrong, because again, she had every right to be there, but the problem was she was there, and he was also here, and Watts was just gonna-

Just gonna make a wordless noise of distress and finally, actually move to scoot behind Steven and in to relative safety.

Well not that Steven objected to having his shirtless boyfriend near. Nor did he mind that Llewellyn clearly had an instinct to treat standing behind Steven as something to do to keep safe, since frankly that was correct and should be encouraged. (Did Steven have a tiny bit of an ego about knowing he could protect the people he cared about? Yes. Completely. Not even tiny, frankly.)

But the issue was who Llewellyn was worried about, which had Steven confused. He wondered if this might be some sort of strangeness, like the reunion weekend. "Llew, it's Nell."

Then Steven realized that if it was island strangeness, perhaps he was assuming incorrectly. "You are Nell, yeah?"

(Llewellyn was shirtless. Steven could bloody well tell he was the correct person.)

"Mmmhmm," Nell managed, eyes still glued to the floor. And unfortunately Steven was still in the middle of the doorway so fleeing continued to not be an option.

"I... yes."

Sorry, Stevn, that's all you're getting.

Right. Now Steven was looking between the both of them with confusion. "Have I missed something? We're all friends here, yeah?"

Nell managed to drag her eyes from the litchen floor to give Steven and utterly horrifed/terrified/something Look before her eyes went back to that lovely spot that she was completely memorizing.

That was a look, to be certain. Lots going on there. Not nearly enough for Steven to be able to decipher what was going on. So he was left trying to make a guess. Nell was upset, Llewellyn was hiding from her...

"Llew, did you hurt one of her plants?"

Watts looked at Steven, his own expression… quite frankly a mirror of Nell’s.

“No,” he managed to croak out. “I- I- she-“

She’d seen him here and she knew.

And hadn’t they just touched on this topic, the other day, the difference between people knowing in the abstract thanks to something like the radio broadcasts and actually seeing the two of them together?

Which, his presence in the apartment now was certainly some irrefutable proof now wasn’t it?

Oh. All right. This was enough like the first time Llewellyn had stayed over that Steven suddenly understood the problem from his end. He turned around to face Llewellyn, giving him his full attention (though not moving away from the doorway, sorry, Nell). He put his hands on Llewellyn's arms to give him something to draw his awareness elsewhere. "Hey. You're fine. It's all fine. It's only Nell, yeah? No harm at all. You're safe."

He tensed, slightly, at the touch, but didn’t pull away.

“It’s fine,” he echoed, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than actual agreement.

Steven had anticipated some sort of reaction to the physical contact, but he knew from personal experience it could still help to be reminded of something outside of yourself. So he left his hands where they were. "We're all fine. Everyone's friends here, yeah? No different than if Marc were here as well, is it?"

It was a little different but Steven figured baby steps.

(Marc, for his part, was more than happy to let Steven handle a mess that was, by Marc's way of thinking, Steven's own making.)

Oh, it was a lot different. Marc wasn't standing here without a shirt. And if he had been, well, at least Nell might have been prepared to at least see him and she could ignore.

"All fine," she whispered, eyes still locked on her new favorite spot, just waiting for the doorway to clear.

It was absolutely a lot different, agreed. And not just because Marc had been the one who’d been trying to clue Steven in to how Watts had felt about him once upon a time.

Watts’s gaze drifted down to Steven’s hands. “I should- go?” he said, still not sounding really sure of anything.

"You should do no such thing," Steven said, gently. Because if Llewellyn needed to go that was one thing. But feeling he should was incorrect as far as Steven was concerned. "We haven't had breakfast yet, have we?"

And then, just so it was clear all around, Steven added, "Nell? Have you eaten?"

"No!" Nell had said loudly over Steven. "He's fine. It's me."

Detective Watts should absolutely not leave because of her. He belonged there.

She almost missed what Steven said, but she'd gotten out about as much as she could manage easily, so she just shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Good," Steven said. He turned around enough so he could look at her. "Are you hungry? We can get some food in."

Steven had missed the part where Llewellyn had already started doing an order so he assumed that needed to be taken care of.

Nell just gave him the quick panicked eyes before shaking her head. A little further and she could make a break. She could climb up the fire escape to get her plants later, right? Or barter with that guy again to pick them up later?

Right. One person's panic attack at a time. Also possibly a little tag teaming with the one who could stop laughing at him any time now, Marc.

"Just a tick," Steven told Nell. He faced Llewellyn again, rubbing his hands lightly against Llewellyn's arms. "Do you want to put something on while Marc and I handle this?"

Steven belatedly remembered the reason why Llewellyn might not be wearing a shirt. Specifically the moment when some buttons had gotten lost on the way to bed. "Erm, you could borrow something of mine if you'd like? Shirts should fit you, I think. Right hand side of the wardrobe."

As though Steven and Marc's different fashion senses didn't make the divide between the two obvious. Luckily Steven wore his clothes baggy enough that a t-shirt or sweatshirt would probably fit Llewellyn without issue.

Steven's suggestion was the right one in multiple ways. Not just because it took care of the modesty issue, but also because the gentle suggestion gave him a task to focus on, which was enough to free him from the spot he'd been frozen to.

He nodded, turning on his heel and bolting towards the bedroom door, closing it with perhaps a bit more force than strictly necessary before going to the wardrobe and pulling on a dark blue sweatshirt with a logo he didn't recognise (which wasn't that unusual, he didn't recognise a lot of modern brands).

You were absolutely never getting that shirt back, Steven. Just so you know.

Even with the shirt taken care of, he was in no rush to go back out there. He sat on the bed with his back against the wall, knees pulled up to his chest. Best to give Steven and Marc a chance to talk to Nell and he'd just... take some time to regain his composure and maybe a shred or two of dignity.

Steven saw the speed which Llewellyn moved and resolved to make sure he was comforted one on one later. But given the situation they were in it was better to push through and not let fear chase him away.

That left Nell, and if Marc was going to be a smug arsehole about how Steven had nobody to blame but himself for letting this situation happen then he could bloody well help.

(And if everyone could please ignore how Marc wasn't wrong exactly, but it was hardly Steven's fault Llewellyn had been so distracting now, was it?)

Anyway, lean back against the kitchen doorway, deep breath, and then Marc asked Nell, "Having fun?"

Nell closed her eyes and her shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have come."

At least there wasn't a half naked man in the kitchen anymore.

And the doorway was free.

"Fuck don't you start," Marc told her. He stayed where he was in the doorway. Which yeah, did leave room for her to move if she wanted to. But he didn't convey anything suggesting she needed to. "You're fine. This is what happens with roommates. It's hilarious."

Not the nervous breakdown parts. Marc wasn't that much of an asshole. But Steven being a dumbass was never not funny. Provided Steven wasn't hurt, of course.

"I intruded and then I made Detective Watts feel bad when I panicked," Nell said firmly. "I just... he didn't have a shirt on and I'd thought it was you or Steven and... I panicked. I should go so he can have breakfast with Steven."

She didn't think it was particularly hilarious that she'd hurt someone. Someone who had even more right than she did to be there.

Marc was just gonna let the "shirtless" = "him or Steven" thing go without question because honestly he didn't want to know.

"You're fine," he told her. "They were supposed to go to his place. They got horny and forgot. You were actually supposed to be here today. I know between you and him on the morals thing none of this was great but nobody died. It's okay."

"Of course I'm fine," she said. Now at least. "Just mortified. But I hurt Detective Watts and that is not fine. There's no morals thing, for me - just the suprise of a nearly naked strange man. Well not strange, just not well known to me."

She was totally ignoring the horny thing because she had no idea what he meant.

"And Steven shouldn't have to leave his own apartment. I should have just waited. Or stayed in your room. Or on the balcony."

Marc could see Steven's reflection in the fridge door, so he said, "He's got his own opinions about that" and indicated a potential switch to make sure Nell was okay with it. After the morning she'd had they didn't want to hit her with more surprises.

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