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quirkle2 · 2 years

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Okay! Actual ranch au question time - until the ranch is expanded, who is sleeping where? Because that seems like absolute chaos. Also like. Which of them struggle the most adjusting and in what ways? Not just the why, but the little things they do that make it obvious. I guess maybe even what little things all of them carry over from their befores? (Sorry just... rambling whatever things that came to mind)

just like when they were adventuring, they pretty much settle wherever ! most of the time that involves a big cuddle pile in the living room <3 it's basically turned into a glorified guest bedroom for a while until time can get to planning the expansions and getting help from all of them to build them. the boys r used to sleeping like that anyway, so they don't mind it at all—they missed each other after being separated, so cuddling is always nice

it Is chaos though. a living room is smaller than an entire clearing they might've set up camp in during their journey. their bags and shoes take up like an entire fourth of the kitchen where the front door is, and u better believe the kitchen is very crowded during meal time GVIEAGYV they basically have to remodel the Entire house—they're accommodating for 8 extra people after all! plus,, time and malon only have one bathroom when the boys first start living there . winces in sympathy

all of them struggle to adjust a little, some more than others. legend is So very not used to just,,,, lounging around. he's not used to staying in one place, and he's Definitely not used to not spending all of a precious break preparing for the next day of traveling. he struggles to sit still and get into that mindset of just,, relaxing and living. he seems rly tense and unwilling to let his guard down for a while before he's able to truly let himself lounge around

it's a bit jarring for wars to not have Anything pressing to do as well. he's,,, Always doing smth, whether that be tending to his troops back "home," finishing up paperwork, going to meetings, makin sure the chain is alright,,, u name it. he's a rly busy guy. so now that he's just....... sitting here ..............................doing fuck all, it's very odd for him. he's almost Forgotten how to relax

wars sticks himself to odd jobs around the ranch; old projects time had that never got done, touching up the house, Cleaning the house, helping w the horses. time Knows what he's doing (the fear of being thrown out is still fresh in wars' mind,,, time hates that that's been drilled into him so ruthlessly growing up). and he Knows that wars will lose his marbles if he has nothing to do, so time ends up givin him,, Simple jobs . jobs that won't utterly destroy his still-young bones, but will still occupy him

after a Long while—many reassurances and the chain being ever so patient— wars manages to,, unlearn that lesson, at least a little bit. he stops being paranoid abt abandonment when he takes a day to just relax, and even though it's not a straight shot to recovery and wars definitely has days where he buries himself in work and acts like they'll instantly kick him out if he doesn't do the dishes, he's getting there. he takes up reading a lot again :) and even starts writin that book he'd always wanted to

sky has to adjust to living On Ground . he walks outside and surprisingly isn't in vague danger from falling off an island and to his death, and that's . an adjustment GVIYEAGV he misses touching the clouds. his favorite spot to hang out is on top of the roof where he can feel the wind a bit better. he naps there

wind misses the sea and his family, but rly he takes the change quite well. he's finally back to Being a Kid and,, sliding down the hall on socked feet and stealing cookies from malon's trays and annoying (/aff) his brothers relentlessly <3 a chunk of his childhood was kinda stolen away right along w his sister, but maybe bein here will allow him to make up for at least some of it

another who takes the change in stride is twi :) living on a ranch is definitely in his comfort zone and he loves staying there—absolutely adores giving a helping hand and tending to the animals. i think the strangest part for him is Living With Time . he's past the shell-shock of it by now, of course, but he's still aware it's so so strange . if Future Twi had come to Past Him during his journey and pointed to the Hero's Shade and said "that'll be ur father figure and you'll live on a nice lil ranch together w all ur homies" twi would have thought the weird fog permeating the realm he'd been put in was eating away at his braincells.

can't think of anything else for the other boys atm, but i do know that it's an adjustment for All of them to see time so,, peaceful and happy. once he has everybody together and settled down, no more dangers threatening the lives of his kids, he'sSo fucking relieved. the first morning after everybody is there is such a surreal experience. it's their first breakfast in a home that may just be permanent for once, and hearin all the chaos of 10 people in a small kitchen and his family playfully shoving each other to get to the ketchup, he just Smiles . it's the noisiest breakfast him and malon have ever experienced and yet they Cherish the sound

#qktalks #factorialrabbits #suncaster au #they Would use wild's slate to store all those bags and boots but #then they'd have to track down wild Every Single Time they need smth from their bag or need to put on their shoes #so they just deal w the space they take up until the remodeling #ONE BATHROOM TO 10 PEOPLE IS . SOSO BAD #i've been in a house wiiiiiiiittthh 9 people before and only one bathroom #(technically another bath in the basement but the Basement Dwellers spent more time upstairs)#and it is . hell #hell on earth #especially if SOMEBODY (looks at my cousin .) hogs the bathroom to put on make-up and do her hair every fucking 20 minutes #sorry i didn't have much for the other boys imsleeby

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dragonmuse · 1 year

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For the Prompt of Choice... Maybe something focused on Roach, Pete, & Frenchie for Mainverse? ~Lem

(You got it! Lucius sneaks in here at the end, hope that's okay!)

Visiting the doctor was a nerve-wracking experience these days. Pete knew he was fine, and his doctor was a lovely woman, but still. He worried the days before, because what if this time it wasn’t okay? It never used to to be like that, but since rounding on fifty, the thought was just in his head.

It had been fine, of course it had, he was in excellent shape, she said. They had tweaked his cholesterol medication last year and now his numbers were perfect. All was well. He still walked home a little faster than usual, eager to return.

“PETE! HELP!” Frenchie cried from the floor as soon as he crossed the threshold. So that was distracting.

“What am I looking at?” He asked, baffled. Frenchie was tangled up, holding his hands out pleadingly while Roach apparently tried to lasso him back with a lot of very bright cords.

“He’s being a baby,” Roach rolled his eyes.

“He’s trying to kill me with bad fashion,” Frenchie wailed and then was jerked back again. “And terrible construction.”

Pete hung up his coat. “Are you making something with a plan or experimenting?”

“There’s a plan,” Roach protested. “He just won’t stay still.”

“He wants to make a corset out of bungee cord and he’s using me as his victim/model.” Frenchie grumbled, subsiding a little. “And now he can’t get me out of it. Or won’t.”

“I have it figured out,” Roach scoffed, but then glanced at Pete a little nervously. “Mostly?”

“Okay, okay, let’s see what we’ve got.”

Pete kneeled down beside them and found one of the clips had hooked into Roach’s crocheted shirt. Another was locked around Frenchie’s belt loop.

“Were you two wrestling with this or something?”

“He kept wiggling,” Roach sighed. “And it got a little out of hand.”

“John said we were being too loud and left to get lunch. That was like forty minutes ago, so I don’t think he’s coming back anytime soon,” Frenchie heaved a sigh. “I’m hungry.”

“Okay,” Pete carefully unhooked Roach from the mess and got to detangling. “Let’s free him, eat lunch and go back to the drawing board on this one cause it looks like you’re trying to make a mess.”

“Fuck off,” Roach grumbled, but did stay still long enough to be freed from the morass. “I’m making soup out of whatever you people have in the fridge.”

“Best of luck,” Pete agreed and started unraveling Frenchie. “John tie these knots?”

“Yes.��

“We’re going to be here a while.”

They were on the floor long enough that Roach delivered up steaming bowls of something that smelled really good. Pete tugged the last knot free and Frenchie got to his feet, bolted to the bathroom, then came back to snatch his bowl and take it covetously to his seat.

“I don’t think knots are the way to go,” Pete said into what was startlingly good soup considering the state of their fridge.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Roach growled.

“I don’t have to help,” he shrugged.

“Don’t help him!” Frenchie said from his chair.

“Wow,” Roach rolled his eyes. “Like half of that wasn’t your idea.”

“The better half.”

The two of them sniped at each other as Pete finished his food. He wasn’t particularly concerned about it. As soon as Frenchie looked actually wounded by one of Roach’s verbal blows, Roach collapsed like a house of cards into mumbled apologies. The two of them had these spats in long cycles, going months in harmony then tearing at each other until inevitably Roach was the one that cried mercy.

Pete hadn’t actually noticed that pattern, it had been Lucius that spelled it out when Pete complained about one of their fights.

“It’s just how they go. But then they make it up to each other, it’s okay,” Lucius has shrugged. “Annoying for a few hours, but I bet we are too sometimes.”

“Never,” Pete insisted. “How could we be annoying?”

“You’re right,” Lucius laughed and kissed him. “We’re perfection. Never the least bit grating. Definitely never ever make Frenchie and John throw socks at us.”

“I can smack your ass in my own kitchen if I want to,” Pete pouted. “I’m not doing it AT them.”

“I think it’s really more what comes after that annoys them,” Lucius cuddled in closer. “But you don’t have to convince me, I like it.”

So these days, Pete let it happen, the same way he observed John and Frenchie’s occasional spats from a distance. Roach sat down in John’s chair and Frenchie listened to his whispers then pat him on the knee and they talked for a few more minutes, before Roach turned to Pete and said:

“Okay, how would you do it?”

“Oh, am I getting cut in on commission now?”

“I don’t have to feed you, you know.”

“...Fine,” Pete conceded. “Let me show you what I think.”

He picked up a few cords and started weaving them together like a basket. Roach moved to sit beside him, watching.

“I’m going to need a lot more if we do it that way.”

“Yeah, depends on how much you want to make. Full corset?”

Roach touched the smallish panel Pete had made. “Mm, I like how it looks. What if it were a whole dress?”

“A lot more cord.”

Going to the hardware store with them was a new and interesting experience. Frenchie and John usually left the purchase of such materials up to Pete, so he’d never walked in the door with Frenchie at his side, in skinny jeans and a crop top. Definitely never with Roach, who had opted for a mangled dress barely held together with safety pins and mismated Converse today.

“You know this is the first time every salesperson in the place as left me the fuck alone?” He mentioned as he picked up cord. “Like fuck them, truly, but uh, can you guys come with me every time? They are annoying as hell.”

Roach cackled while Frenchie sighed.

“I thought you’d want to bond with your people,” Roach teased as he picked out colors. “All these grunting hypermasc types.”

“You think I’m hypermasc?” Pete considered that. Ten years ago, he would’ve been thrilled with that as a compliment, back when he’d considered drag a very occasional hobby that had little say over his day to day choices.

Now...well. You could only work at the Revenge for so long before the entire concept of gender started to seem a little like silly putty. Maybe when he and Lucius were out, people slotted them neatly into that kind of category. Lucius certainly projected some things that weren’t hard to pick up and Pete couldn’t really help being bald and built a certain way.

“Only when you get really into some things,” Frenchie assured him. “We all know what you’re really like. But you do have the second best camouflage.”

“Who’s got the best?” Pete asked, affronted. He knew it didn’t make any sense. He didn’t even want the best camouflage, but second best was just mean.

“John,” Frenchie and Roach said in perfect agreement.

Which was fair. John didn’t want it either, but if Pete’s body made a statement without his consent, John’s pretty much screamed it.

“Yeah, fine,” he grumbled in resignation.

“You can be our bear anytime,” Frenchie popped a kiss right on the center of his head. “Grr.”

“Fuck off,” Pete laughed and pushed him out of the way gently. “Okay, I know white isn’t on the color list, but do you think it’d hold dye?”

“No way,” Frenchie wrinkled his nose, touching the cord. “Plastic, I think.”

They debated and left with several more bags of cord. Back at the apartment, they experimented and when they found a weaving technique that worked, they started measuring and cutting. Pete had to get out his hotknife and some duct tape to cut the edges so they’d stop mushrooming out and fraying. Roach, predictably, fell in love with the hotknife so that was his next birthday present done and dusted.

“This is going to take a few days,” Frenchie determined. “And like a lot of measuring.”

“Yeah,” Roach touched the weave. “I’m going to pay you the going rate to finish. Didn’t really expect to be this involved.”

Pete almost argued, but then bit the words back. If Roach thought it was worth paying for, then it was. Money between friends could be sticky, but they charged everyone else for costuming and no one had gotten miffed so far. Sometimes they even took it out in trade. Oluwande’s styled wigs for a gown had kept Frenchie and Ethel in hair for years.

“Gotta to prep for tonight,” Frenchie got to his feet and held hands out to help Pete up off the floor. “You want the shower first, tool man?”

Now that he mentioned it, Pete did feel a little tacky and gross. “Yeah, thanks.”

With one bathroom, they had all agreed early on not to lock the door during a shower. You knocked if you needed the bathroom and you used it as quickly and efficiently as possible. This also had the very lovely side effect that halfway through his shower, Pete was joined by his very naked husband.

“Hi, babe,” Pete said giddily, welcoming him with soapy arms.

“Hiya,” Lucius grinned and kissed him thoroughly. “I’ve been told that you were getting handy when I couldn’t even be here to watch. Naughty.”

“I’ll do it again soon,” he promised, sliding his arms around him. “Doc says I’m perfect.”

“You don’t need to be charged a copay to find that out. I would’ve told you for free,” he kissed him again, then reached for his own soap. “But I’m glad to hear it.”

“You have a good night?”

“Yeah, saw a decent movie. You’d hate it. Izzy took me to look at knives. He wants to replace his kitchen set. I told him he doesn’t need to be more deadly, but you know how it goes.”

“What’d you do while he looked at blades for I’m gonna guess fifteen hours?”

“It was an hour,” Lucius groaned. “And I found a new app for remixing, so I got Leda’s new number done. It sounds pretty good.”

“Play it for me later?”

“Sure, you can tell me if the last blend is okay, still isn’t quite working for me.”

There wasn’t time to have any more fun than that. Frenchie would be waiting his turn and John would probably want to shave before they headed out. Still, it was nice to have that handful of minutes in steam and freshly cleaned skin. Back in their bedroom, Pete packed his look for the night while Lucius put away the last basket of laundry that he’d left behind the day before.

“Hey,” Pete touched his elbow as Lucius slipped past him to put something away. “Am I too masc sometimes? Or like...I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’m asking.”

“Not for me. I’m into your whole thing,” Lucius stopped in his tracks. “What brought this on?”

“Just had a weird moment in the hardware store.”

“Ah, the place for all existential panics.”

“Roach and Frenchie were with me.”

“Okay, sarcasm retracted, I don’t know how you wouldn’t have some kind of panic with the two of them near power tools. I’m impressed you all came back with all your limbs.”

“I guess I’m used to like...passing? Some anyway. And I don’t think about it much anymore. It doesn’t matter what people assume about me most of the time, but I dunno. Felt weird today.”

“You can always camp it up,” Lucius nodded. “But babe, you’re pretty great just the way you are.”

“Does it bother you when people assume shit about us when we’re in public?”

“Well...” Lucius got a distant look for a second. “Honestly, I’m usually happy when they get that far. Most people don’t even think we’re a couple unless we’re like making out. That bothers me more.”

“Yeah,” Pete frowned. That came up a lot for a lot of reasons. “Me too.”

“People assume things all the time about everyone. Let ‘em,” Lucius shrugged.

“Yeah, fuck ‘em,” Pete decided and returned to packing. It was only when they were nearly ready to go that he floated. “I think I might put my earring back in.”

“Yeah?” Lucius lit up. “Want me to go with you to the parlor? Cause I think the hole closed up.”

“Will you faint?”

“Shut up, I won’t watch. I’ll be on handholding duty.”

“Then yeah, I’d like that.”

One earring wouldn’t change much, but Pete didn’t need to change for the world. Just a little bit for himself, he decided. A reminder in the mirror.

#leda house and the kraken verse #ficlet #pete black #frenchie chery #roach feldman #apartment dwellers #lucius black

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