Hex and Aubrey, pt 2
Aubrey glowered at Hex. “You don’t want to see me?” he hissed.
“Marley doesn’t like you, and I have to make this work,” Hex countered, not keeping any sort of rein on his voice, so he was nearly shouting.
“You’re getting rid of your family in favour of a woman who will never know who you are! She doesn’t believe that that was you on the television. You’re keeping us from her like a dirty little secret. Like you’re ashamed. Of your family.” Aubrey drew himself up and shook his head, his hair falling over his shoulders around his face. “You know what? If you don’t want to see me, you won’t. I’ll do you that favor and I’ll disappear.”
And without a chance for a retort, or even enough time for Hex to truly process what he’d said, Aubrey had stalked out of the lair and out into the winter sunlight.
“Wow. Just, wow,” Saoirse observed, walking into the living room after the door slammed shut after Aubrey. “You really screwed that up, you know.”
Hex glared at her. “Don’t you start, too, kid.”
“I can start all I want,” she informed him. “You did just rip my first and only family that I care about to shreds,” she added, the lights flickering slightly in time to her words.
“Why is everyone putting this on me?” Hex demanded, voice rising.
“Because it’s your damned fault for-” Saoirse shouted before cutting herself off and running to her room, slamming the door behind her hard enough for the pictures in the hall to rattle. Even then, Hex still heard the petulant, I’m not talking to you this way, either, in his mind.
Hex collapsed on the couch, clenching his fingers in his hair. He knew he’d fucked up. He just didn’t know why now all of the sudden. They’d, if not killed, at least severely inconvinienced Bob, the city wasn’t about to be finding out about them soon, the museum didn’t know who stole their artifacts, and he was actually still married, a year after finding out he was a dragon. Ah, right. He was still married. It was hard to remember when he was surrounded by the feel of his brood. He loved Marley, and he loved Aubrey.
That was the problem in a nutshell. He loved both of them, and could only have one of them.
Thanks to years of training, he didn’t flinch when a hand was put on his shoulder. “Come on,” Sumner said in that quiet, calm way he always had. “You need gumbo and a stiff one.”
Hex swallowed and nodded, rising jerkily to his feet. “Sounds good. Especially if that drink has friends.”
“If you’re lucky and ask nice, it might bring its friends Mistress Umbrella and Mister Lime,” Sumner replied with a faint smile.
Hex snorted. “So. Heard all of that, I take it?” he asked.
Sumner shrugged. “I have a good range and you two are… loud.” He dished out some gumbo from the pot on the stove. “So I got the important parts.”
“What? Not going to ream me for running off our family?” Hex asked, head thunking on the table.
Sumner set the bowl down next to his head and slid a spoon across to him as well. “Why should I? You feel remorse about it, and Aubrey won’t be able to stay away forever. We’re a brood, which is another word for family. And families fight, especially in the teenage years.” He got out two tumblers and the decanter as well. “It wasn’t so bad when Bob and the uglies were running around; they gave us a clear goal to focus on.” He poured. “No, peace is wonderful for giving us plenty of time to think and worry.”
“So I’m getting yelled at because everyone’s not used to playing happy families?” Hex asked dubiously.
Sumner sighed, and leaned back in his chair. “Let’s put it this way. Remember back when you first met Marley and you swore she could do no wrong? She might not be able to fold clothes quite like you were used to, or she seasoned hamburgers differently, but it didn’t matter. In your eyes, at that point in time, she could do no wrong.”
Hex took a long sip from the drink and had a slow smile. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“That was our brood a year ago. It’s the honeymoon phase. We were just so happy to have found each other that we were content to let things happen at their own pace.” Sumner seemed more interested in watching the swirl of the alcohol in the tumbler than his friend. “Now, we’re at that stage in the relationship where we’ve been too close to people who are, relatively speaking to our human brains, strangers. It doesn’t matter how long our souls have known each other, our brains still think human, at least a little. Everything is grating on our nerves, even little things that you know don’t matter. It’s the same as blowing up at someone when the mustard is on the wrong shelf of the fridge and you don’t even like mustard, or your socks being folded inside out. It’s tiny and inconsequential, but you can’t help but scream over it.”
“That’s… been the last eight years of marriage, on and off,” Hex said morosely. He took another much longer drink and held the glass out for a refill. “So you’re saying that life is fucked and it goes from honeymoon period to honeymoon periods with long periods of clusterfuck between them? Joy.”
“What I’m saying,” Sumner interrupted, “Is that it’s not personal, even though it feels like it. Everyone’s personal bubble needs time to reset. Aubrey was practically a hermit before this, and Saoirse was used to being on her own with only a couple of people to interact with. That honeymoon phase of ours has worn off, we’ve had our first big fight, and now some of us are off to that metaphorical pub down the street to have the good stuff.”
“Pour me another?” Hex asked quietly, still slowly eating the gumbo.
Sumner poured him another. “Have you even tried to tell Marley about the supernatural changes in your life?” He kept his voice neutral.
“How? She was raised a skeptic. Any start to that conversation is doomed.” Hex downed a third of the tumbler.
Sumner sighed. “How can she start to accept this when you don’t tell her anything about it?”
“What? You’re not going to chew me out for not dropping everything for Aubrey too? I’m not sure I know what to make of this change.” He knew he sounded petulant, but he was seriously sick of this conversation.
“Have I yet?” Sumner asked reasonably. He had kept out of that perpetual argument as best he could. Sumner waited until Hex had finished his second glass of alcohol, and was losing the edge on his careful coordination. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to call Marley up, tell her you’ve been thinking a lot over the past week, and there are some things she needs to know that you can’t tell her. Then you’re going to invite me over to your place for dinner and I’m going to sit down with her and explain this mess that’s been made.”
Hex blinked and turned that over in his mind. He wanted to claim that he was no coward, that he would explain to his own wife what’s happened, but he was tipsy enough to know better. He was enough of a coward to take Sumner up on this. Words had never been a battleground he was comfortable with. “Great. Get the honorable boot from the military, move across the country, turn into a dragon, let best friend tell wife I’m a bisexual dragon. How much lower can my life go?”
“Just finish your gumbo. You can call her tomorrow morning,” Sumner said, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll get at least part of this straightened out then.” He leaned back in his chair to plot.
“Marley doesn’t like you, and I have to make this work,” Hex countered, not keeping any sort of rein on his voice, so he was nearly shouting.
“You’re getting rid of your family in favour of a woman who will never know who you are! She doesn’t believe that that was you on the television. You’re keeping us from her like a dirty little secret. Like you’re ashamed. Of your family.” Aubrey drew himself up and shook his head, his hair falling over his shoulders around his face. “You know what? If you don’t want to see me, you won’t. I’ll do you that favor and I’ll disappear.”
And without a chance for a retort, or even enough time for Hex to truly process what he’d said, Aubrey had stalked out of the lair and out into the winter sunlight.
“Wow. Just, wow,” Saoirse observed, walking into the living room after the door slammed shut after Aubrey. “You really screwed that up, you know.”
Hex glared at her. “Don’t you start, too, kid.”
“I can start all I want,” she informed him. “You did just rip my first and only family that I care about to shreds,” she added, the lights flickering slightly in time to her words.
“Why is everyone putting this on me?” Hex demanded, voice rising.
“Because it’s your damned fault for-” Saoirse shouted before cutting herself off and running to her room, slamming the door behind her hard enough for the pictures in the hall to rattle. Even then, Hex still heard the petulant, I’m not talking to you this way, either, in his mind.
Hex collapsed on the couch, clenching his fingers in his hair. He knew he’d fucked up. He just didn’t know why now all of the sudden. They’d, if not killed, at least severely inconvinienced Bob, the city wasn’t about to be finding out about them soon, the museum didn’t know who stole their artifacts, and he was actually still married, a year after finding out he was a dragon. Ah, right. He was still married. It was hard to remember when he was surrounded by the feel of his brood. He loved Marley, and he loved Aubrey.
That was the problem in a nutshell. He loved both of them, and could only have one of them.
Thanks to years of training, he didn’t flinch when a hand was put on his shoulder. “Come on,” Sumner said in that quiet, calm way he always had. “You need gumbo and a stiff one.”
Hex swallowed and nodded, rising jerkily to his feet. “Sounds good. Especially if that drink has friends.”
“If you’re lucky and ask nice, it might bring its friends Mistress Umbrella and Mister Lime,” Sumner replied with a faint smile.
Hex snorted. “So. Heard all of that, I take it?” he asked.
Sumner shrugged. “I have a good range and you two are… loud.” He dished out some gumbo from the pot on the stove. “So I got the important parts.”
“What? Not going to ream me for running off our family?” Hex asked, head thunking on the table.
Sumner set the bowl down next to his head and slid a spoon across to him as well. “Why should I? You feel remorse about it, and Aubrey won’t be able to stay away forever. We’re a brood, which is another word for family. And families fight, especially in the teenage years.” He got out two tumblers and the decanter as well. “It wasn’t so bad when Bob and the uglies were running around; they gave us a clear goal to focus on.” He poured. “No, peace is wonderful for giving us plenty of time to think and worry.”
“So I’m getting yelled at because everyone’s not used to playing happy families?” Hex asked dubiously.
Sumner sighed, and leaned back in his chair. “Let’s put it this way. Remember back when you first met Marley and you swore she could do no wrong? She might not be able to fold clothes quite like you were used to, or she seasoned hamburgers differently, but it didn’t matter. In your eyes, at that point in time, she could do no wrong.”
Hex took a long sip from the drink and had a slow smile. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“That was our brood a year ago. It’s the honeymoon phase. We were just so happy to have found each other that we were content to let things happen at their own pace.” Sumner seemed more interested in watching the swirl of the alcohol in the tumbler than his friend. “Now, we’re at that stage in the relationship where we’ve been too close to people who are, relatively speaking to our human brains, strangers. It doesn’t matter how long our souls have known each other, our brains still think human, at least a little. Everything is grating on our nerves, even little things that you know don’t matter. It’s the same as blowing up at someone when the mustard is on the wrong shelf of the fridge and you don’t even like mustard, or your socks being folded inside out. It’s tiny and inconsequential, but you can’t help but scream over it.”
“That’s… been the last eight years of marriage, on and off,” Hex said morosely. He took another much longer drink and held the glass out for a refill. “So you’re saying that life is fucked and it goes from honeymoon period to honeymoon periods with long periods of clusterfuck between them? Joy.”
“What I’m saying,” Sumner interrupted, “Is that it’s not personal, even though it feels like it. Everyone’s personal bubble needs time to reset. Aubrey was practically a hermit before this, and Saoirse was used to being on her own with only a couple of people to interact with. That honeymoon phase of ours has worn off, we’ve had our first big fight, and now some of us are off to that metaphorical pub down the street to have the good stuff.”
“Pour me another?” Hex asked quietly, still slowly eating the gumbo.
Sumner poured him another. “Have you even tried to tell Marley about the supernatural changes in your life?” He kept his voice neutral.
“How? She was raised a skeptic. Any start to that conversation is doomed.” Hex downed a third of the tumbler.
Sumner sighed. “How can she start to accept this when you don’t tell her anything about it?”
“What? You’re not going to chew me out for not dropping everything for Aubrey too? I’m not sure I know what to make of this change.” He knew he sounded petulant, but he was seriously sick of this conversation.
“Have I yet?” Sumner asked reasonably. He had kept out of that perpetual argument as best he could. Sumner waited until Hex had finished his second glass of alcohol, and was losing the edge on his careful coordination. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to call Marley up, tell her you’ve been thinking a lot over the past week, and there are some things she needs to know that you can’t tell her. Then you’re going to invite me over to your place for dinner and I’m going to sit down with her and explain this mess that’s been made.”
Hex blinked and turned that over in his mind. He wanted to claim that he was no coward, that he would explain to his own wife what’s happened, but he was tipsy enough to know better. He was enough of a coward to take Sumner up on this. Words had never been a battleground he was comfortable with. “Great. Get the honorable boot from the military, move across the country, turn into a dragon, let best friend tell wife I’m a bisexual dragon. How much lower can my life go?”
“Just finish your gumbo. You can call her tomorrow morning,” Sumner said, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll get at least part of this straightened out then.” He leaned back in his chair to plot.