Page 3 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 1-4
“Oh?” Collin twisted around. “Are they playing?”
Alice raised both eyebrows. “Hypatia didn’t tell me what she was planning. She just said that a little privacy would be nice, and I was the only one that felt a need to leave.” She glanced toward Dana, clearly signaling she was keeping her explanation G-rated. At nineteen, Alice was not part of the many interwoven romantic or kink relationships surrounding them.
“I think I’ll take Collin down and see if they need any help.” Damian reached for his kink brother right as his phone chimed. He paused, looking at the screen.
It was Dalia, his sister.
He dropped back down onto the couch and stared at the message. Then back to the amount of money he had sent. No, that was the amount he sent every year. He even checked inflation every three years and adjusted the amount to reflect it.
He texted back:
Dalia:
Damian counted off names on his fingers. Even though he’d never met most of Dalia’s kids in person, he had their names memorized: Armada, Betti, Howser, Kimbo, and Rue. That was all of them, and then he’d included his sister as well.
Damian texted back, writing out the names.
Dalia:
Damian:
Angry emojis flared across his screen, then more words:
Damian dragged in a long breath. Collin was giving him space, just sitting on the couch, and Alice was holding her peace,though she was watching. “Sorry about this. My sister is being my sister. One sec.”
He texted Dalia back:
Damian:
Three little dots appeared, showing Dalia typing, then disappeared, then came back.
Dalia:
Damian: He put another two hundred dollars into the text string and sent it with the note
Finished, he closed his phone and turned off the sound. If his sister said anything else right away, he was going to snap at her and say something he didn’t want to. Six fucking kids. And he doubted she was providing for them any better than she’d provided for Armada when it had just been the one.
Collin crawled into Damian’s lap and hugged him. Damian dropped his forehead to Collin’s shoulders and breathed through his nose. Dalia was hard. Every time he talked to her, old coping mechanisms tried to resurface, but that wasn’t who he was anymore. He was here. He was part of The Residency. He had people who mattered to him, and he mattered to them. Home was safe now. He hugged Collin and breathed in the smell of everything familiar and dear and comforting.
Just to make it feel more real, he squeezed Collin tighter and kissed his neck. Only then did he remember Alice. He looked up. She was half watching but half pretending to be looking at her phone again.
“Not too much?” he asked.
Alice shot him a wry look. “Dude, I think we’re close enough I can see you two hugging. It’s healthy and all that. Like, guys need love too, you know. Besides, this way I know he’s being treated right and I don’t have to….” She let her voice trail off and mimed shooting Damian with her thumb and forefinger.
“That joke was funnier before you shot a man,” Collin muttered from Damian’s shoulder.
Alice snickered. “He had it coming.”
“Okay, before you start singing Chicago, Collin and I are going to go crash the party in the kitchen.”
Alice held out her hand. “Leave your phone here.”
“Why?”
“Because that sister of yours doesn’t get to crash a good party.”
