[IC Scene w/Vince]

[asher_embry]

"Puppy!" Vince greeted the moment he stepped inside Ash’s apartment. The small, fluffy Pomeranian tapped its front paws on the ground over and over, excited little tippy taps as the two men slipped inside Ash's apartment after closing up at their retail job. Supplementing their income working at an alt clothing store was an unfortunate necessity

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[pallor_m0rtis]

The things Hector feared were not ones a normal person could understand, because Hector lived outside the confines of a normal life. There was no way he could explain that to Ash, no way he could betray the veil that the mage wanted kept so firmly in place.
The human just had the bad luck of getting involved in things far beyond his scope to understand; it wasn't a world Ash could be a part of and that was sad, in a way.

Trying to put himself in place was impossible, Corbin recalled so little of being human aside from one person. That person was dead and life had moved on, had to, and with it came other possibilities; was it a trade-off from one person to another? No; it was living and having reasons to in spite of loss.

Maybe that was easier for someone who would be around through immortality; if he'd only had a single lifetime to live he might not have ventured into the idea of getting close to anyone again. People clung to those they cared about because time was so very short, he cared no less for Hector than if he had only a small amount of time to do so but there was still an ease in knowing time stretched on for the both of them.

Corbin sighed, head tipped back against the couch while he mulled over it.

You didn't have to do anything. Let's face it, Hector has a handful of people in his life and that kid is family.

What it came down to, he supposed, and didn't want to venture into the thought of where importance was with Hector; he liked to think the mage would at least pause to weigh it before he sacrificed everything else for the sake of that kid, himself included, but who really knew.
It was a strange place to be in when that was how he felt about Hector.

Look, you're tormenting yourself. You didn't do anything but you ended it, right? Because you can't deal with how things are there. Those things aren't going to change though, not for a long time; Hector doesn't make the kid stay there, he's there because that's home for him.

There was another long pause as he debated how circular life truly was, then dropped his eyes back to the phone.

Not telling you what to do but whatever you're debating? Some things will never be easy or normal. And you did probably burn some bridges, I don't know.

[asher_embry]

I left because I thought it'd hurt him even more later on if I didn't. Does that even make sense??

In his mind, Hector would never accept him, and without that, what future did he and Lacroix even have? What if they dated for years but couldn't even live together because Hector forbade it? Part of him felt like he should have been angry with the power that Hector held, but he couldn't muster it given how much Lacroix cared about him. To Ash, it had felt like Lacroix would eventually have to choose between one person or the other. Selfishly, Ash had hoped he would be that person, but deep down he knew whatever bond Hector had with Lacroix was far more solid.

"You okay?" Vince asked, tone concerned as he gathered up the empty food containers to take them to the trash.

"Drunk," Ash replied with a little shrug, not really giving a straight answer.

Vince curled back up on the couch a moment later, reaching down to gather up Zoey from the floor so she could sit in his lap. "He reply yet?" came his curious, hopeful question.

"No." He still hadn't even texted Lacroix, but Vince seemed so earnest to help that Ash felt compelled to keep up the white lie, especially after he'd ruined Vince's enthusiasm earlier. All the redhead had wanted was to gush his happiness about Kori returning, and Ash couldn't just be happy about that. Fuck, he was a killjoy tonight. "...Hey, I'm really sorry."

But Vince was the forgiving sort. "That's dumb, don't be sorry," he said as he scratched behind Zoey's furry ears.

Ash stared as his phone a long moment, trying to weigh the pros and cons of bothering to contact Lacroix again. If he hadn't had this sudden swell of emotion with the news that Kori was back in Vince's life, and if he hadn't consumed any alcohol, or dredged up old memories with Corbin, he might not have made the effort. But this whirlwind of events had come together and made him more inclined to follow the painful, longing feeling in his gut.

He planned his words carefully, dropping Lacroix's real name in the message -- just in case Lacroix had deleted his number, he'd realize just who was texting him when he read that.

I messed up, Ross. I miss you. You probably don't want to hear that. You can tell me to fuck off and I'll just leave you alone forever. I just wanted you to know.