[CLOSED LOG] An important matter to discuss

[fiddlestick]

WHO: Elliot Craig, Jusis Albarea, Rean Schwarzer
WHERE: Elliot and Rean's House
WHEN: August! Post Krusnik stuff
WHAT: Having a talk, probably gay stuff.
WARNINGS: Probably none

[It was a relief to have the Krusnik troubles finally resolved. No more watching over their shoulders, or having to be careful at every turn. But with that mattered resolved, came another matter: the dinner and talk that the three of them had agreed to have once everything was over.

Elliot and Rean gave Ash some money to go to see a movie with his boyfriend ("go see the Barbie movie I hear it's good"), even saying it was fine if Ash wanted to spend the night at Jusis's place. Then despite the fact that Jusis has been to their house numerous times, Elliot still felt compelled to scrub the common areas clean.

It was a good outlet for his anxiety, at least, though...he sure has been fluffing the same pillow for like 5 minutes now]

Do you think this looks okay?

Comments

[noblerise]

[Pepperidge Rean will never forget.

Their confidence in his abilities has him scoffing softly.]

Naturally. I'm interested to see what the defense brings to the table, but I'm not about to make it easy for them.

[Jusis prefers to get a guilty verdict on the person who truly did the crime. He works hard to minimize his mistakes in that regard. He just can't cover both his mistakes and the defense's mistakes.]

Ah, thank you. I don't mind waiting.

[All things considered, at least one of them probably is too nervous to eat right this second anyway. Jusis will take a seat at a chair in the living room. Time to rip off the bandage.]

So... should we have that talk?

[fiddlestick]

Hah, well that's on them if they actually thought they could take it easy.

[Especially with Jusis as the prosecutor. Jusis never gave anything less than his best, which was one of the things that Elliot liked about him.

Speaking of...yep, we're going right into it. Elliot will take another deep breath as he sits down in a chair in the living room]

Y-Yeah, probably. There's only so many ways to beat around the bush.

[God he's nervous]

[motiv8]

And we haven't even covered half of them! What, no going on about what the weather's been like today?

[Rean's just trying to keep up an air of levity in the room, but he too takes a seat with a soft smile.]

Yeah, though, you're right. [He laughs a little, looking to Jusis.] As always.

["Naturally," as Jusis himself would put it.

Rean takes a second to take a breath, composing himself, before breaking the ice. Someone has to, after all.]

I'm not going to speak for anyone else, but I know how I feel. Obviously, Elliot - I love you, you know that. But, Jusis - I also can't say in good conscience that you're just a friend, to me.

[noblerise]

I already talked to a coworker about the weather. I would rather not do it again.

[Jusis sounds dryly amused, though, so it's worked on him!

It feels only right for Rean to break the ice first. His expression becomes a bit warmer to hear that. He kind of got the feeling from how Elliot spoke about it earlier, but it's a lot nicer to hear it from Rean himself.]

If I'm being perfectly honest with all of us, I've harbored feelings for you both since our previous lives. In this life, I couldn't help wondering what drew me to you, as my memories weren't the most complete before coming here. When I met Elliot, and then later Rean, for the first time, that was when it clicked for me almost instantly.

[Ah, heck, he's making a speech. Jusis has the grace to look a little embarrassed, so he's going to try to rein himself in.]

All that to say... the feelings are more than mutual. And you've both proven to me that neither of you will let my father's side of the family get in the way of that.

[At least, Jusis hopes that's the case and he hasn't misinterpreted them after the April Incident.]

[fiddlestick]

That must've been torture for you.

[He'll say with a bit of light teasing. As nervous as he is, there is something always calming when he hears from Rean. If Rean can handle this, so can he. And hearing Jusis say those things is even more comforting, even if they had already spoken about this over the phone.]

Of course we wouldn't. Your father's side of the family didn't even enter into my considerations, honestly.

[Elliot didn't care about where people came from. It wasn't like his own background was stellar. The only Albarea that really mattered to Elliot was Jusis at the end of the day]

I...know how you both feel. I've already told you guys how much I care about both of you, but... my feelings are the same. I love both of you. When I'm with you guys, I feel like I'm home.

I don't want to give that feeling up, or choose between you two.

[motiv8]

Haha, no kidding. I'm not great at small talk, either, so I can't blame you.

[As for what's being said...

Rean stays quiet and listens to them both, taking in what they have to say. There's honestly nothing he doesn't wholly agree with or relate to, but he does feel his cheeks flush at Elliot just casually saying "love" for both of them.

Leave it to Elliot to break that out so fast and so easily, really. But, well, it's true, isn't it? For all of them.]

What Elliot said, as far as your father's side goes. But, also: [And he has to take the briefest pause, because as easy as it is for him to be a sap, this is a Lot, so:] I'm in love with you, Jusis. You've always worked so hard— in both lives, as far as I can tell— to be your own person. You didn't choose your blood, but you did make the choices that made you who you are— and that's the person I care about.

[Huh. Saying it was actually easier than he thought. It was always easy with Elliot, everything has always been easy with Elliot, but Jusis is a lot sharper around the edges, and he kind of thought "love" would be less soft of a word with Jusis, too. It isn't, and he's kind of happy about that.

Thanks for opening those floodgates, Elliot!]

But I feel the same, too. My past life... there's a lot I still don't know or understand about all of it. I'm pretty sure I was somehow even less aware of my own feelings then than I can be now, which. Haha... I think you all have raked me across the coals plenty for that. But I do know I always felt like I was meant to be by your sides, that I was empty without you.

I think "home" is a good word for it, for how I feel now. No matter where we are or what we have to face, if I have you two with me, I know I'll be okay. And that's a feeling I never want to let go.