Chapter Text
“So, are you ever going to tell the boys?”
Rusty glanced up from the microscope he had been absorbed in, he gave Brock a questioning stare only making his expression harden.
“About what you have been up to with Orpheus.”
“The boys don’t need to know about Daddy’s sex life,” he said in a dismissive tone, trying and failing to wave Brock off to go back to his work.
“Sex life,” Brock grumbled sarcastically making Rusty turn a glare to his body guard, dropping his work entirely now, grumbling under his breath as he got up in a huff.
“So, what are you going to just keep them out of the loop and hope they don’t walk in on you holding hands with another man?”
“You should be a little bit more worried about it being walking in on something dirtier,” Rusty said with a raise of his eyebrow and a playful meow at the end of his sentence. Brock looked less then convinced, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, taking a deep breath.
“No, I doubt they will walk in on anything like that.”
Rusty scoffed loudly at Brock folding his arms and pouting as they left the lab together, Rusty knew he would have to tell the boys eventually. He would have to let this cat out of the bag eventually, but he didn’t know if he would ever be prepared for any of the backlash that might come.
---
“You being gay, saw it coming but was Venture really your first choice?”
Orpheus glared towards his friends having their laugh at his choice in relationships. Al was snickering so hard his tea was splattering all over Orpheus’s couch making him glare harder at the man. Jefferson seemed more composed, but it was clear he hadn’t worked through his initial confusion and shock at his news to his team.
Orpheus would be turning fifty within a year, that was far too old to be hiding someone he loved. It was too old to be sneaking around with another man, hiding him from friends and family alike. He had told his Thaddeus this and he didn’t seem ready but Byron was ready. He was going to ease the news on everyone, gently coax his lover into doing the same. He hadn’t told his pumpkin yet, he hoped to tell them when Thaddeus got his boys involved, he hoped to bring their families together.
He and Thaddeus were much closer after months of this hidden relationship but Orpheus felt they should bring their children on it now. They couldn’t hope to hide it forever from the people they loved.
So far only Brock knew and now his friends would know, hopefully soon it wouldn’t be a secret from anyone.
“You went from chasing around fine women like Tatyana to just settling for him?”
Jefferson shook his head setting down his beer (without setting it on the coaster provided to Orpheus’s chagrin), he didn’t seem particularly opposed to the idea of his friend and colleague dating another man, his confusion stemmed from him being attracted to Thaddeus.
“The man isn’t even nice to you, he doesn’t have looks or class, is this some kind of weird midlife crisis?”
“Maybe he wants to get his money before he swindles the last of it on get rich schemes,” Al continued to snicker and Jefferson finally broke, snickering as well but Orpheus was far from amused.
“Gentleman, please, can we be adults about this?”
He tried to speak evenly but the words came out like a crack of thunder, echoing through his home making his cat hiss loudly in annoyance bolting from the chair next to him.
“Come on Orpheus,” Al bemoaned leaning forward and staring his friend in the eyes, “You can’t just jump into relationships because your land lord is lonely. How is this a good idea? Do you know how much baggage that guy is carrying?”
“You sir are one to talk! You got with your current beau because he was and I quote your words, ‘easy on the eyes and easy in the bed’.”
Al took a deep breath falling backwards on the couch once more, “So what, is this just a physical relationship?”
He paused a moment a smarmy smile gracing his lip making Orpheus’s blood pressure rise, “Has he given you a Rusty Venture yet? Please tell me he’s done that.”
“Do I even want to know what a Rusty Venture is?” Orpheus grumbled pinching his nose in frustration.
“Oh, you will know when you get one and he would know what it is.”
“Do I even wanna know what yer talking about?” Jefferson growled out side eying Al, he had learned long ago their friend was an encyclopedia when it came to foul sex acts.
Orpheus began tuning them out as they began bantering back and forth, glancing at a framed picture of his daughter and him on the wall, so far it wasn’t going as well as he would have hoped with his friends, he could only hope it would go better with his pumpkin. She tended to be more mature then his team mates.
---
A seedy hotel off the highway was hardly the place Orpheus wanted to meet up with his lover for the evening, especially considering they lived in the same facility, but it would have to do for now. He hoped this would be the last time they did this, he would make certain it was tonight.
Thaddeus had arrived earlier then himself and had graciously paid for their room ahead of time, Orpheus couldn’t help but feel shame walking up the creaking steps, his grip tightened on his key to the room. It was degrading to meet up with someone he loved like this, to know his friends were probably still having a laugh about it, their love shouldn’t be something they needed to hide and something others poked fun at.
He took a deep breath to collect himself before opening the door, frowning not seeing Rusty in the one bed hotel room, the old beat up TV was picking up nothing but static making the scene more ominous then romantic. Orpheus walked towards the bathroom door and gently rapped on it with his knuckles resting his hand on the door and listening to the small splash of water, smiling knowing Thaddeus had gone straight to clean up after arriving.
“Oh, don’t bother knocking!” he couldn’t help but smile at his lover’s annoyed tone, “Just come in!”
“I would rather not just barge in while you are indecent,” Orpheus reprimanded him with a gentle smile as swept into the room, locking the door in case anyone else came in behind him.
“Its nothing you haven’t seen before,” Thaddeus almost purred sitting up in the water, his look inviting but Orpheus chose instead to sit on the toilet seat and not look directly at the man he loved in what was a private moment.
“I thought you would never get here,” he groaned out sinking into the water again, Orpheus turned a concerned look at him hearing the creak of his joints.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” he began but chuckled as Thaddeus flicked his wrist towards him, swatting away his attempts at excuses.
“Don’t you throw those excuses at me, I had a million things to wrap up, two smart mouth boys to get in their learning beds and I had to deal with Brock who thinks it’s a ‘dumb idea for me to leave the compound to be with my boyfriend’ and you couldn’t even hocus pocus right here?”
“My powers are a bit more complex then that,” Orpheus chuckled, taking in the other man too enthralled by him to be frustrated with him, “I don’t ask why you can’t science a solution why we can’t just meet in our homes.”
Thaddeus shot him a glare but it wilted as he sank his head a little deeper in the water, his knobby knees surfacing and bobbing nervously. Drifting into deeper emotions often left the other man adrift. He was afraid of change and dealing with anything different emotionally.
Gently he placed his hand on the other man’s knee and squeezed it. He smiled feeling Thaddeus shift in the water, placing his hand on top of the other man’s and squeezing tightly.
“It didn’t go so smooth with your team did it?” he grumbled turning his head towards him, squinting at what must have been Orpheus’s blurred form without his glasses.
“It could have been better,” he sighed out.
“Uh huh,” Thaddeus sighed out pulling at his hand, “Just join me before the water goes cold.”
Orpheus smiled bending down to give the other man a kiss on the lips. They were men who had made it through worse, slowly bringing their closest friends and family into their relationship shouldn’t be that hard.