Chapter Text
Recovering from the infection was... strange.
It wasn’t like those infected remembered much of it. Most of it was a haze and Ren never truly had a handle on what was happening. When he was infected, it was as if his body had a mind of its own. They were only a spectator while the infection sought to claim more victims.
Skizzleman and Phoenix had their target, and they had both succeeded and failed at the same time. Skizzleman became infected, but he had jabbed a needle into Ren’s shoulder. After that, he remembered nothing. The hospital he was taken to kept him unconscious until he was healed. He vividly remembered the disorientation he experienced when he first woke up. It was a sensation they wished they could forget, but likely wouldn’t for a long time.
Ren’s ears twitched uncomfortably, his soul feeling like it was being separated from his body. Their nerves felt as if pure static electricity was being pumped through them. His body contracted wretchedly as he practically vomited slime. A wave of dread overcame him and squeezed him so tightly that he thought he might pop like a balloon.
Suddenly, without any real indication, the pain was gone. It was as if someone flicked a switch, returning Ren’s consciousness to them. His body shot up so rigidly when the switch was flipped that something in his back cracked. Ugh, his body felt tight and angry. “What was that, dude?”
“He’s actually speaking a language!” a voice rejoiced, clapping their hands loudly. “Oh, I don’t think seeing them recover will ever get old.”
Ren winced at the sudden loud noise, eyes squinting at the light as he tried to see what was around him. There were three people dressed like doctors or nurses, and another dressed like a patient. Two of the medics were beside him, an avian and a human, while the other medic was checking on the patient.
The patient was shaking violently, crying purple tears that trailed up her face instead of down it. The tears thickened into some sort of slime the closer they got to the broken antlers and her floating ginger hair. The slime worked its way to wrap around the antlers, much like it was trying to eat them. There was an IV in her arm and the medic beside the patient was coaching her to drink whatever substance was in the cup.
Ren’s attention was pulled from the deer hybrid when the two medics next to them started to talk again. Their words were hard to focus on at first, but he was slowly regaining his senses. They tried to get up to stretch properly, but they were met with resistance. What was this? Why was he restrained? Ren began to thrash against the restraints, wanting to be released from them. “Where am I? Where’s Martyn? What did you do to him? What do you want?”
“We’re here to help you. You’re okay,” the avian medic promised. “You’re safe here. You’re at Third Chance Hospital in Traffic City. You were really sick, but you’re better now. The restraints were just a precaution, but we can remove them, okay? We can do that only if you promise to calm down.”
Ren stared at them for a moment before nodding. He forced his body to relax, which gave him time to process the memories that were shoving themselves to the forefront of his brain. “I’m calm, dude. So calm. Can you remove them now?”
“Yes, I can. Martyn is your husband, correct?” the human medic redirected the topic of conversation as she removed the restraints. “He was on your emergency contact information, so we have been in contact with him.”
“Since you have been successfully cured, I have called to get you some actual food to eat,” the avian interrupted them unknowingly as they made their way back to the hospital bed. They directed his attention to the IV. “We’re going to keep this in for now so please don’t take it out. We will remove it when we are certain we don’t need it again. Make sense?”
“Yeah, sure, dude.” Ren nodded as their stomach grumbled at the mention of food. He hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until they said something. “When can I leave?”
“Gem has gotten efficient at thoroughly extracting the infection, cleansing the body of any remnants, so it shouldn’t be much longer.” The avian gave him a smile, but didn’t explain what exactly that meant.
Was Gem the other patient he saw earlier? Was that her ability? She must have some sort of healing or detoxifying power. Whatever, it didn’t matter. Martyn could fill him in later if it mattered.
“We have a psychologist that,” the human glanced at the clock for a moment, “should be off of her lunch break anytime now. She’ll come here and give you a psych eval– a psychological evaluation. Once she deems you of your right mind, you are free to go.”
The psychologist was not as quick to get to him as Ren was led to believe, but at least the hospital had brought him decent food. By the time he finished his meal and the psychologist introduced herself, Ren was fully alert, aware, and ready to get the hell out of there.
The moment they retrieved him to leave was eerily similar to how it felt when one of the front office people would come to tell him that his father was picking him up early from school. Much to Ren’s delight, however, the man waiting for him was not his father.
“Ren!” Martyn called his name the second he stepped foot on the ground-level tile. He barely had time to think before Martyn’s arms were wrapped tight around him and buried his face against Ren’s neck. “Fuck, I missed you so much. Don’t you fucking dare do this to me again or I will kill you myself.”
Ren simply laughed at Martyn’s empty threat as he returned the hug, his tail wagging happily behind him. He placed one hand by the small of Martyn’s back while he tangled his fingers into Martyn’s blonde locks. His voice lowered into a rumbly mutter, “I missed you as well, me hand.”
He could feel Martyn smile against his skin which only caused his grin to widen. They were standing so close to each other that Ren felt every rise and fall of Martyn’s chest as he breathed. Ren enjoyed the contact, wishing for more but being unable to do much in such a public space. Instead of focusing on that, he turned his attention to appreciation that they were together after being apart for so long.
After a bit, Ren gently tugged on Martyn’s hair, nonverbally urging him to move his position. When Martyn obeyed, Ren leaned in to kiss him. Martyn eagerly met him for the kiss, their kisses long, but well-deserved.
When they parted, Martyn laughed and it was like music to Ren’s ears. Still, Ren had to ask, “What’s so funny? Do I have something on my face?”
“In a way.” Martyn brushed his hand against Ren’s untrimmed beard. “I haven’t seen you grow your beard out this much in years.”
“I thought you liked me hairy,” Ren chuckled, recalling the many times they’d flirted together when Ren was shifted into a weredog.
“I never said it was a bad thing, my liege,” Martyn smirked before placing another kiss on their lips. He took Ren’s hand in his before pulling on their arm. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to see you in this hospital a second longer.”
Well, Ren certainly wasn’t going to protest that request. He allowed Martyn to lead him, not caring where they ended up as long as it was with Martyn. Ren may be The Red King, but what was a king worth without a knight to fight for and to love by his side?
-`♡´-
Etho knew it wasn’t their fault, but they felt guilty for it anyway. It was their fault, in a way. They had tried to resist the urges, they had tried to get Joel to stay away, but it didn’t work. Etho had infected Joel, leaving Lizzie without them.
This left Lizzie clingier than normal when they returned to their senses, not wanting to be left alone for more than a few minutes. Joel and Etho had tried their best to keep her company and shower her with affection, but something was still off. Lizzie responded well, but she always looked as if she expected them to disappear at any moment.
Etho’s concern didn’t stop at Lizzie; they were worried for Joel, as well. Etho knew Joel well enough to recognize when he was beating himself up for what he saw as failures and weaknesses. He was angry at himself for getting infected and leaving Lizzie alone. None of them took to their forced parting very well, even after they recovered and the thing that kept them apart was no longer there.
They saw both of their spouses’ pain and they tried their best to comfort them, promptly ignoring their own issues. Etho was the one who brought the infection into their marriage (even though they fought to keep it away and keep people safe), so they were responsible.
Etho pushed away their own feelings, taking more time than they would otherwise to pick up chores that had been neglected or to sit with one or both of their spouses just to hold them. It was the least they could do.
Currently, Etho was deep cleaning the kitchen. Again. Their last time deep cleaning the kitchen left it with minimum gunk, but what could another cleaning do to hurt? It was productive (busy work) and it would give Lizzie a fresh kitchen in case she wanted to bake again. Maybe they could suggest that to their spouses as a group activity. Etho was sure Joel and Lizzie would enjoy baking and decorating cookies together, especially Lizzie.
“Etho, what are you doing awake?” Joel asked, voice low and demanding, but not cruel. “It’s, like, four in the morning. It’s too blummin’ early to be doing all this.”
They hadn’t expected anyone else to be awake so their head snapped up to look at him, somewhat startled. They were pretty good at hiding it, especially with a mask covering the lower part of their face. “I’m cleaning.”
“I can see that.” Joel was far from amused, raising an eyebrow at them with a soft scoff. “You already deep-cleaned it earlier this week. Are you even finding any crumbs? It was touched up after dinner. I would know, I did it myself.”
Etho stayed silent, averting their gaze to the countertops. There wasn’t much of anything to clean just looking at it, but germs existed that weren’t visible, so they were justified. Despite being “justified”, they didn’t respond.
Joel sighed heavily, walking to them and taking the rag they had in their hands. He set it on the counter before taking Etho’s hands in his and pulling them up to their feet.
“How did you know I was awake?” Etho asked, allowing Joel to move them as he wished. “I didn’t sleep with you and Lizzie tonight so I couldn’t have woken you that way.”
“I can smell the cleaning product you’re using. It’s very strong.” Joel gestured to the green antennas that poked out through his hair, the reason behind his enhanced sense of smell. “It woke me up.”
“I’ll do something else next time,” Etho promised, inwardly cursing themself for not thinking about Joel’s senses. The scent of the cleaning products was already potent to someone with typical senses so Etho could imagine how much worse it would be for Joel.
“Uh, no,” Joel declined, rolling his eyes. “There won’t be a ‘next time’ because you need sleep. You force me to stop my projects to sleep, so why would I let you do unnecessary projects instead of resting? You need to take care of yourself.”
Etho didn’t respond, understanding the hypocrisy of their actions. They’ve been trying to make up for their infected actions despite the multiple times Lizzie and Joel had told them not to. The three of them had talked through it extensively, but it affected Etho more than they were willing to admit.
They sighed, knowing they should let it go. It wasn’t their fault; it was the infection’s fault. No one who had been infected was in their right mind; it was like a parasite that took over their thoughts and actions. Etho knew that on a personal level, remembering how difficult it was to hold back when coming into contact with Joel in that wasteland.
“You’re right,” Etho gave in to their husband, approaching Joel properly and resting their hands on his hips.
A small smirk grew on Joel’s lips at being told he was right. It was somewhat cocky, but Etho found it endearing. Joel’s blatant confidence, while sometimes unwarranted, was admirable. “I know I am. I’m always right.”
Etho leaned against Joel, forehead pressed against his shoulder. The weariness that they had been pushing away was taking over their brain now. They could feel Joel’s arms wrap around them and it felt wonderful. They often took the position of holding their spouses, but it was always nice when it was the other way around. Etho turned their head to press their masked lips against Joel’s neck. It simply stayed there, the notion behind it clear.
Joel gave them a soft, sputtering laugh in response, fingers gripping Etho’s sleep shirt. He whispered into Etho’s ear in a low rumble, “I can help you take care of yourself and show you just how right I am. Would you like that?”
A chill ran down Etho’s spine and their breathing hitched almost too soft to hear. They closed their eyes, mind wandering far too many places. “Yes.”
“Good.” Joel’s hand slid down Etho’s arm until he was able to link their fingers together. Once their hands were intertwined, he pulled on Etho’s arm to direct them toward the stairs. “But, first, you need to sleep. Properly. I would like it if you got a few more hours.”
Etho groaned, not wanting to return to bed, but knowing they needed it. Their sleep exhaustion weighed heavily on their eyelids and limbs. “You’re no fun when you’re being responsible.”
“Nah, you love it when I get bossy,” Joel smirked, dragging them up the stairs. He knew them extremely well at this point. “Which room do you want to sleep in?”
Etho thought about it for a moment. They remembered that Joel and Lizzie had gone to Joel’s room to sleep, so that meant Lizzie was still there. They didn’t want Lizzie to wake up to a cold bed, for they loved Lizzie as well and wanted her to be comfortable and assured. Cuddling with both of their spouses for the next few hours sounded peaceful and sweet. They knew they had their answer once that thought crossed their mind. “Your room. We’ll all be together then.”
“Good choice. You’re so smart, considerate, and sexy,” Joel complimented them, kissing their hand. No more words were exchanged between them, though Etho chuckled at the “sexy” comment, as they entered Joel’s room. Lizzie was still asleep on the left side of Joel’s bed, so Joel let go of Etho and climbed in from the right. He patted the space next to him, beckoning Etho to lay down beside him.
Etho obliged, getting under the blankets and cuddling up against Joel. They buried their face against Joel’s chest and Joel gently scratched his fingers in their hair. Etho heard and felt Lizzie shift in her sleep, her end point making her the big spoon against Joel. Her arm laid around their husband, pressing her body against his back. Etho felt her hand against their arm and smiled, content with their sleeping positions and the contact with their wife.
Etho found themselF quickly surrendering to sleep, but they welcomed it. They were safe and warm, all together just as they should be. Honeybees, I’m home.