Invitation To A Family Dinner

[Existentially Odd]

Harm was distracted enough to relax and gush over Gia's business acuity, giving her genuine compliments about her cleverness while silently marvelling that she'd managed to help Trick turn his passion into money. Not everybody got so lucky as to get paid for doing what they loved and Harm was happy for him. And for Gia, too, he supposed, because she got to flex her programming muscles on something useful and tangible, which would surely help her resume when it was time to think about college.

He thanked Gia for her time and followed Trick into his room, his head slightly spinning with everything he was trying to remember about photography, selling points and spruiking on Instagram. Apparently, he was part of the brand now and needed to download... everything. He was intimidated by the thought of using Instagram. At least he had an expert to train him to do it.

Watching said expert gnaw on his lips, Harm perched on the chair or the desk, whatever was opposite him and allowed him to watch Trick from a distance. If he was sitting in the window, he clearly wanted space and Harm was willing to give that to him. He just wasn't willing to let him keep his silence any longer. It was knotting up Harm's insides something fierce and he wanted to unravel it before it left him twisted for the rest of the night. Trick didn't seem to share his opinion on that, however, which only made Harm feel knottier.

"So. Remember that time you accidentally lied to me about your mother and then forgot until I made an idiot of myself in front of your father?" he asked quietly, his voice neither playful nor angry, the monotone bland enough to hopefully prompt a favourable reaction from Trick. One of his hands made a rolling motion in front of his stomach, indicating Trick should continue on with the story and fill in the rest. He'd be able to avoid it by clapping back about the time he was stupid enough to imply Trick was a kept man, Harm supposed, but he really hoped that didn't happen.

[Pocky]

When Harm made his comment, Trick's lips made an appearance before they pulled back in a grimace as he lowered his eyes and then his head. He looked like a small boy in trouble with his parent for stealing cookies before bedtime. The vision was only enhanced when he shrugged, shoulders lifting minutely but enough for the gesture to be observed.

"Yeah, sorry," he replied quietly before lifting his stare. "I don't, um, talk about her. It's not, I've never--" He cut himself short and shook his head. Trick abandoned his perch on the window sill and moved a few steps closer to his boyfriend, still keeping a metre's distance between them.

"First of all, I never meant to lie to you, I was lying to them, and I wanted to set the record straight in the car but every time I thought about how to bring it up I couldn't spit it out. Then the longer I left it the harder it became. Second of all, she might as well be dead. It's not like she keeps in touch or anything," Trick grumbled at the end.

He took a deep breath and released it before continuing. "I don't like saying she left because you only get a few sympathetic stares and the conversation moves on. Just because absent parent syndrome is a common one it doesn't hurt any less. She left suddenly and completely and I fucking grieved because I was a kid until years later when I worked out from remembered overheard conversations that she left the moment she saw Gia's hair coming in blue. And so I say she died in as many stupid ways as possible every time I get asked about her because that's the way I decided to deal with it. I'm not going to stop doing it but I'm sorry you got caught up in my shit."

At first there was a challenge in his gaze but then Trick hung his head again and sighed.

[Existentially Odd]

An explanation and two apologies. Harm counted himself a lucky man and his smile was soft because of it. He got up and wrapped his arms around Trick's waist, nuzzling his face in against his throat and feeling like he was handling something precious and fragile, even though Trick was so much stronger and bigger than him.

He wasn't, on the inside; inside he was still a bewildered little nine year old boy whose mother had chosen to leave him when things got too hard for her to cope with. As an adult, he might begin to understand there were a tonne of factors involved in a mother making such a decision but as her child, Trick would only ever be that abandoned boy, wondering how she could do it. Harm felt the same way, though he understood how life could sometimes become too much.

"Thank you for telling me. I understand now," he murmured, his lips moving against Trick's skin because he was snuggled so close. He just wanted to take Trick inside himself and keep him safe forever when he was vulnerable like this. As much as he was reluctant initially, Trick was fucking amazing at being vulnerable and Harm's heart squeezed with the power of his feelings and appreciation for this man. "Was... is she not a water nymph?"

[Pocky]

"No." Trick's answer was brief as arms raised to hold Harm against himself. He smiled then frowned before smiling once more. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?" he asked in a small voice.

[Existentially Odd]

Despite his earlier angst, Harm was able to smile now, the curl of his lips becoming a kiss upon Trick's throat. Considering how worked up he'd got, he was surprised by how relaxed he felt. Understanding Trick's situation had calmed him immediately and he sympathised with his boyfriend's pain.

It wasn't right that he spewed lies and killed his mother off in extraordinary ways - nor that he'd shared one of them with his family and not told him the truth straight away - but Harm could understand why he did it. It was actually pretty funny, now that he knew it wasn't true, and Harm had to give Trick kudos for his creativity. Fell from the top of a ten person waterskiing pyramid, was it? He was nuts. But he was Harm's nut and affection had him squeezing him a little tighter.

"Mmm," he sighed, pulling back to look up at him and show him the expression he'd no doubt felt against his throat. "I get it - I think you're a little crazy but I get that it helps you heal so yes, I forgive you. Just... try not to lie to me in future," he murmured, laughing because Trick hadn't meant to do it in the first place so it was a pointless instruction. Eyes twinkling, he shifted his hold on Trick down to one hand in order to tug him out of the bedroom. "Now c'mon. Let's go see how much trouble you got your sister in and find a game we can beat your dad at. We need to family time the shit out of these people while we still can. Someone's gotta miss us!"