Page 83 of Missiletoe
I was just glad Apple was with Adam. If he wasn’t, Adam probably would have been joined by an avalanche as his plus one.
“Makes sense,” Apple said as he fed Adam another snack. This time it was a cheese and fruit combo.
Trixie would have snatched it up because she was obsessed with cheese, but it had a grape mixed in and she was smart enough to know grapes were bad for dogs. I wasn’t that smart, but Paris had taught me a lot of things about dogs ever since he’d given me Trixie as my service dog.
Wait. Are magic dogs affected by grapes? Maybe she was afraid the cheese would make her fart. Trixie had gassed me out of a room the day before and felt really bad about it, so maybe she was just trying to be polite.
Anyway, I think Trixie was less of a gift to me and it was more like Paris had asked her to help out, and she’d agreed.
Paris is huge on consent and communication. He’s also a big fan of freedom. Like everyone else in my life, he’s obsessed with making sure I don’t get hit by a car or stolen away by bad guys, but unlike everyone else, he doesn’t want to limit me.
So between me, him, and Trixie, we’d come up with a way to make everyone happy.
Now I get to leave the house whenever I want. Trixie told Paris she has a deal with the shadowfolk (I guess they live in shadows or something, so they are pretty much everywhere.) where they will tell her any time I need help or am in danger, so I don’t have to worry about fitting my outings into anyone’s schedule anymore. I can just go.
It. Is. Awesome.
Gareth had been the only sticking point, but after Trixie had joined him on a mission, he’d stopped arguing and given his blessing.
After that, Gareth and I had a TALK. I was terrified because no one talked back to Gareth except Apple.
Aaaaand maybe Baz when he wants to get properly wrecked. Heh.
Don’t get me wrong. Gareth isn’t abusive. Any punishment he inflicts is fair and something we’ve all agreed to individually before signing on.
Baz and I were the only ones who chose getting spanked, and I don’t get spanked anymore. Paris made a huge deal about it when he’d found out, so he made Gareth change it. Now I get fined a huge amount when I break the rules.
Baz still gets spanked. Pretty please never tell Gareth that he likes it, okay?
So no, Gareth doesn’t do bad things to his family, but he’s still scary as hell.
He has this thing where he projects an intense, aggressive vibe when he’s stressed out without even trying, so me needing to tell Gareth that his services as my guardian were no longer needed had my panties in a bunch.
If Paris hadn’t been with me, I doubt I would have managed it.
The whole thing went like this:
Me, using Paris as a human shield: “Gareth, I don’t want you to lock me up in the house anymore.”
Gareth, looming over me and being bigger than he had any right to be: “Okay.”
Me, coming out from behind Paris a tiny bit: “Um…also, I don’t think it was okay that you did so in the first place. I agreed to you being my guardian, but I didn’t consent to you locking me up.”
Gareth, doing something I couldn’t see because I was fully hiding behind Paris: “…”
Paris, being wonderful: “That was really good bunny, I’m proud of you.”
Gareth, sitting now and leaking out his scary mojo, which I could see because I’d poked my head out from under Paris’s arm: “No. You didn’t, did you?”
Also, Gareth, but this time frowning and looking just the tiniest bit sad: “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry, Vix.”
Me, yawning and clinging to Paris: “It’s okay. I forgive you. I have Paris now, and he’s going to take care of me.”
Paris, staring hard at Gareth: “Yes, I am.”
Gareth, letting him stare: “Okay.”
See? It was terrifying, right? I honestly don’t think I would have survived if Paris hadn’t been there for moral support.
