1 - Party Crashers
Alex had thought it a million times over.
No matter how insane a certain portion of your life may seem, no matter how wild, fast-paced, or explosive a few moments in time could feel, inevitably, the world slowed down.
So much had happened after months of inactivity that it took Alex probably longer than was necessary to realize that he had fucking made it.
He had made his year mark one hundred percent alive in the midst of the flippin’ Apocalypse, and it didn’t matter how the hell he had gotten there. The only thing that mattered was that he had made it fair and square.
The December leading up to his arrival in camp had felt like an eternity in the making and yet also flew by in the blink of an eye.
While January had gone through its paces, it was safe to say he had had a whirlwind of life smack him after a very brief reprieve from bullshit the new world could so infamously could toss a man’s way.
He had met Cris and the boys; he had kind of rescued Gary and hooked him up with two titans who were more than able to smack the rest of the population back a peg or three. He had made friends, solidified his place in the camp pretty fucking well in his opinion, and fuck it if people didn’t like it.
If people didn’t like him or know him yet, that was not his problem, nor did Alex give any kind of shit if three or four thousand dudes wanted to love him, hate him, or leave him at this point in the game.
He had found his people, as Tel so aptly put it, and that was his important takeaway.
In the biggest kind of mindfuck, he had found lovers that actually seemed to love him; people that took amazing care of him on all sides while he fumbled his way through his new reality like a blind bull in a China shop.
Everything had finally kind of settled for him. Now the hope was that whatever was out there threatening his new life and the new family he had been creating would also simultaneously be the thing that healed the rift between two bloodthirsty factions warring over the territory of Planet Earth.
The day the Sect arrived at Camp Midway was the tensest day Alex had had in a long time.
It was second only to the day of Arrival when these assholes had zipped in with mega-weapons blazing. Considering the long line of really shitty moments in the aftermath, Alex was impressed that Team Silver’s show-up had officially knocked off the many other contenders of shitty things he had gone through out of second-place consideration.
It would either be an epic disaster with guns pulled on all sides, with the enemy already inside one of the most populated encampments in North America, or some healing thing between their people that would let them all prance around weaving daisy chains and relating strongly over their shared love of pot and liquor.
Alex had no idea which way it was going to go, and frankly, no one else did either.
It was a full week later after the Sect of Amin’s tentative integration, and apparently, from what Alex could tell, it was going okay. He said that with the most optimistic tone he could manage to say that with and keep a straight face while doing it.
So far, the Amin boys had started getting bagged and tagged with the burn marks of Talmok and had been tactically moved to a section of the camp that the officials on deck could keep an eye on.
It was a spot selected on the map where the Sect was pressed on all sides by either the wall or the camp itself, with a clear divider between the two groups in the form of a short mini barricade to keep them all nice and apart. The officers from Silver-side were in the big dome where Pheryn lay his head at night, and the soldiers themselves were pinned in and all but ostracized during their processing.
When the Sect boys were called up, they were in groups of ten and always accompanied by a supervising officer. They always went up the back hill away from the main track, and Faro said it was for two reasons.
One, if one of them was Other, as in some freak wearing people skin, the blatant segregation would cut down on casualties. For two, it prevented mingling out the gate while paranoia was rampant. At the very least, no one could use proximity as an excuse to start killing each other.
And Alex could feel that itch on both sides.
He had never, never seen two groups, not just hostile but hateful of their own kind.
It was like some bristling warhead waiting to ignite, and Alex knew that had there not been official personnel with eyes on the Sect boys, those feral sons of bitches would have charged headlong into a group of hundreds and started a mini-war right then and there inside the camp.
The catcalls were lacerating; the blatant callouts and threats on both sides between the soldiers on the ground made Alex sincerely doubt for even a second that they would ever just sit around a bonfire cooking up s’mores and being friendly and chill. It was clear that bad blood ran deep and that they all had a long, long fucking memory.
Honestly, it made his respect for Andris and Enzo about quadruple seeing it. Seeing their brethren on that side of the fence, Alex suddenly understood what the boys in the Black Guard were talking about.
They were wild in a manner that you could actually hear and see. Suddenly knowing how Andris was made a hell of a lot more sense, seeing his cousins from across the water make their debut.
Alex had been officially banned by every single person he knew from approaching or being remotely near that side of the camp. He only ever saw the guys in the Sect while in their glittering silver armor on their way in and out spitting caustic threats from afar, and no one, and Alex meant no-fucking-body went anywhere unarmed.
Even in street clothes, the Black Guard boys were strapped and ready to rock on the drop of the dime, and from the feral-eyed heat coming from Team Silver, Alex was thinking that was a mutual fucking requirement.
While all this was happening, they were shuttling in supplies for the long haul for more bodies, but even that was done separately and apart.
Beyond moving in and out to get seared by the hands of hell and metal, so far, Alex would personally notate that those boys were locked up tight for those first days in. No one moved a muscle without having one of their officers so far up their asses on both sides it was a miracle anyone in camp could walk straight by the end of it.
All of the tension and blistering rage bombs aside, it was in his personal life where Alex was feeling the real sting of it all.
Enzo was all but MIA playing hostess with Pheryn, and Alex was worried about him every damn second. He was gone about fourteen hours a day, every day, came home and slept, and to make it worse, Faro was right there with him and Pheryn on it.
The reality of their positions kind of hit Alex big time that week, especially regarding Enzo.
Not only was the redhead bridging that gap between the two sides, but the only reason, literally the only single one and only reason the Sect in Silver was there, even considering sitting down, or even remotely believing Pheryn’s claims that there was another presence on the planet, was because of his redheaded dream beau.
Apparently, Enzo wasn’t just big shit on his side of the fence. His family was like...mondo big shits, and it blew Alex back thinking about his mellow, book-loving, giant boyfriend being someone that was single-handedly managing an entire military by the skin of his serrated teeth.
Enzo was in and out of both camps all day long and watched like a hawk on both sides to the point that Alex was actually a little worried about him being in the main drag of camp.
Tel and Cris were in and out, in and out, called up to testing, called into the rooms to stand guard with those allowed to vet the new arrivals. Andris had been pulled off any kind of visible duty on the off chance someone were to recognize him from Team Not-Black-Gaurd. He had been replaced by Tristin, and every ranked man in Midway was suddenly up to their eyeballs on guard dog duty, ready to pull a trigger if anything black-eyed made an appearance.
They were all tired, paranoid, and running themselves ragged. In turn, it was making Alex so beyond fucking agitated it was a miracle he didn’t light the goddamn camp on fire and just walk out in a blaze of glory while throwing a peace sign over his shoulder.
Alex finally snapped out one day and told Cris that when he got off, he had to just come to their big tent instead of trying to navigate back to his place, where he was managing alone. Cris, before that point, was constantly pissed off, rolling in some level of anxious PTSD that made Alex concerned he was going to band up with some boys and start breaking necks.
On top of that, Alex kept missing him on his way out and never caught him on his way in, and told all four of the assholes he shared his time with that that was what it was going to be until further notice.
Frankly, not a damn one of them had the energy or fortitude left in them to fight him on it, and Alex knew secretly that Cris was grateful that if nothing else, he was being taken care of and wasn’t by himself.
That left Alex with a plethora of nothing better to do, so he did what he was secretly really good at, which was to cater like a fucking nursemaid to four tired, crabby, high-tension, bitchy fucking men who tested him every second. He bit his damn tongue and let them make his life ridiculously high-strung because that was what you did for people you cared about in times of crisis.
But he did very well, he thought.
Alex cooked, did their damn laundry, made sure the beds were made, and swapped out their nasty ass sweaty sheets. He made coffee every morning, and when they came home or got ready to leave, he made damn sure they got the fuck off because it was about the only thing that made them all less monstrous and at all manageable day-to-day.
Sure as hell every last one of them always had time to fuck or get a nice BJ before running off out the doors.
They were lucky, is what they were.
Alex was one fucking person, but in reality, he also had a lot of downtime even when he factored in all the house-bitch chores he was taking on. Most of the time, he whittled the day away reading, making sure shit didn’t burn down, and shopping on his com.
A lot of that last one.
He had probably done more shopping at this point in his life than at any other time in his total time alive combined.
No lie, but he was more than happy to lie in bed naked, delighted to be alive, and fuck if he didn’t get all the things. New sheets, and comforters, he ordered couch cushion covers and new throws. He found an antique maple table to replace the ugly ass construct from IKEA they had prior, and one big enough to actually function with. He got a nice little compact kitchen island and all kinds of shit for the bathroom, and if it was clothing?
No one bitched about that.
Alex was prepping for the summer and spring, and he commed them all the time about things they wanted for the incoming warmer weather.
Contrary to Faro’s nightmares about him abusing the power of a cell phone, he knew damn well that the little liar was thrilled to hear from him. Faro replied every time, and always ended it with: -Thank you, I love you.-
Alex knew it made him happy that he was being thought of and catered to like the little rich pretty boy he was at heart.
So yes, Alex was a good little housewife and was a little proud of his ability to juggle the four of them at their damn worst while still wanting to see all of them at the end of their days. Mainly, he was proud that his first inclination was not to stab them all through the jugular as soon as they turned their backs for being royal pains in his dick.
Alex filled the rest of his hours by reaching out to Sansi, and all the boys, checking on Kine’s adorable collection of house plants, and he would go to Finah and Veriet’s tents to grab their laundry on the way to do his own, namely because they were horrible at doing it.
He had started rolling joints out for when they got back in, and he’d always go by and check Duarte’s crockpot to make sure he didn’t burn whatever it was he started in the morning.
Since they were neighbors, he’d go right across the way to start coffee for Andri since he had volunteered for double duty at the cells and came home for about two hours midday between shifts at two p.m.
He now had all their personal accounts and was sure as hell glad they trusted his ass with their money because he didn’t know what the hell he was doing most of the time. All he knew was they’d give him a list of things in a text they needed, and he’d find it and have it sent for.
It was like having ducklings. Many, many uselessly defunct giant ducklings that couldn’t take care of themselves, but honestly, Alex felt so goddamn bad for them all. They were all so tired and stressed out that he felt it was the least he could do in thanks for their friendship and acceptance of him into the fold.
So that filled the majority of his days for those two weeks, and really, he still had plenty of time to take care of his own damn self and plenty of free time to do it all in.
He hadn’t seen Gary, Les, Hyn, or anyone else beyond his little sphere in so long that it felt like a century had passed him by, but he had reached out a few times to the other human man.
Alex found Gary was much in the same boat, and sounded really happy with Les and Hyn, but he was also sort of relegated to staying in. Unlike himself, Alex was positive that it just tickled his human counterpart to no end. Gary was about as sociable as a mute clam wedged under a rock, and the man’s only true Hell was when he got dragged out with his lovers to have a good time out.
Still, God-for-fucking-bid he or Alex move around the camp without someone attached to them knowing every damn step they planned on taking.
To say their people were being overprotective was not in question. It made his four sweat every time he even went to shower. The whole time his com went off from one of them checking in, and he was sure Gary was no better off in that with his pair of gentlemen callers.
Finally, after the longest weeks of all time, Alex almost felt the tension palpably break in his atmospheric prison bubble.
It was in the form of his com tearing to life with another alerting scream of alarm.
The last time it had made that sound, the Sect had shown up and thrown everything into chaos. Alex could hear it blaring off on every tent with someone in it and scrambled from the kitchen to where he had tossed the stupid thing on the couch not five minutes before.
Thank God, but it was a call for everyone to come at 1 pm to the Main Hall of the Headquarters Big Dome. They were literally to drop everything, abandon ye posts, and they were to file in for an announcement from the good General himself, and all needed to be present and accounted for.
So because Alex was special, he commed the big man himself with: -Can I come?-
If there were a fucking God, then the answer would be yes.
A second later, Pheryn actually called him.
He almost dropped the stupid phone thingy in surprise because he hadn’t been aware that it did that, and could only assume that he connected before he answered with a startled, “Yeah, hello? Pheryn? Can you hear me, baby? How the fuck do I work this damn thing? —Hello?”
He heard Pheryn laughing on the other side of whatever speaker he couldn’t see. “Alex, you do not need to scream. I hear you.”
“I don’t know how this thing works, Pheryn!” He immediately bitched like some ungrateful pissy mongrel. “It’s annoying and your translator can’t even tell the difference between a minute and an hour. I feel like you did it on purpose just to fuck with me.”
Pheryn just chuckled, and it was so good to hear his stupid, handsome voice, Alex wanted to cry.
“I know you will figure it all out in another week. And yes, you come as well.” He paused, “Everyone comes today from both sides so you be very wary, you understand? But, all checked out on their end.”
“Thank God.” Alex rubbed his forehead and stood to get his pants on at least. “Do I just walk in?”
“Sure. Use those lovely legs and just don’t start a fight and all is well.” He sounded so amused that Alex grinned. “Stay on our side though. Do not, and I can not stress this enough, Alex, do something unruly in there.”
Alex laughed brightly, tickled over his concerns. “So, I should leave the party poppers at home, and not do this line of coke, is what you’re telling me?”
Pheryn burst out laughing, and Alex could almost visualize those pale eyes brightening by his tone alone. “That would be good, yes.” He was still chuckling.
“Pheryn?”
“Yes, kitten?”
“Are you wearing your sexy armor today?”
Pheryn was clearly having a good time, and it made Alex happy to do it for him.
“I should be.”
“Good. You look smoking hot in that stuff. Will you do me a favor? While you’re up there, just gradually start taking it off... and let your hair down…and put some swing in your hips while you’re at it.” Alex was giggling while Pheryn just laughed his sexy ass off.
After a minute, Pheryn got it together enough to say, “I will later for you privately, yeah?”
Alex paused and grinned to himself with delight. “Sure. I mean, I’m sure I can find out where you’re at.”
Pheryn paused. “Yeah?” He sounded genuinely delighted, so that was good news.
“Pheryn, I would happily take that bullet for the team, baby. You know I love you, and you know,” Alex shimmied into his jeans and was thrilled to get to break the monotony of his end too. “-I wouldn’t mind every now and again jaunting into your big office, and throwing all your papers off your desk onto the ground while you take advantage of poor little human Alex.”
Pheryn, on his end, was thrilled to hear it.
It took a lot to battle back the sound of real want on his end for that clear abuse of power in his life and role within it.
He looked around said office and thought, to fuck with it. “Any time you are inclined. I’ll put your name on the list for cleared entry. Just com ahead so I can throw these other assholes out ahead of time.”
Alex grinned. “I knew you still wanted me. Why are you avoiding it?”
Pheryn sighed. “Baby, I am a busy man. I do not want you to trip up your own life trying to juggle into mine. You are very happy right now, and that’s all I wish for you in your lifetime.”
“Yeah, but you’re also stressed out all the damn time, babe. I don’t need a ring from you just to come over and have a conversation or have you put me face down on a mattress, you know what I mean? I miss you, and I want you to be okay.” He hesitated, running his shirt idly through his hands. “Even if it’s just as friends or whatever, I still want you to know I love you to death.”
Pheryn felt his chest sort of constrict on that one and rubbed his eyes with tight fingers.
Fuck if Alex wasn’t right. Frankly, he could use those lovely hands on his skin or watch Alex’s amazing eyes shining up at him one night in the near future.
All that aside, Pheryn also missed Alex endlessly, and this exact energy he exuded. Even now over a com, he felt ten times lighter in his life just having this random, very easy conversation. “Yeah. I would probably like that as well.”
Alex culled a big goofy smile and knew Pheryn wanted something from him, whether someone to talk to or fuck or whatever was all the same when you were the big man on campus. How could he not, while being in his fucking position after this hellish week, was the better question?
It stood that in camp right that very second, it was about him and Gary alone who didn’t have a hand in any of the shitshow going down between his people, and that made him neutral-Alex and the best kind of friend to have. Plus, Pheryn was intense and amazing in bed and liked filthy shit, so Alex was so game if that’s the way that cookie baked too. “Good. I’ll come by tomorrow night.”
Pheryn laughed in surprise. “Tomorrow?”
“Yep,” Alex was grinning again. “Clear the calendar, General. If you’re a really good boy, I’ll even sit on your face for you.”
Pheryn wasn’t sure how “good” he was in his life, but it was a good offer, and one he was about to take Alex up on. “Fine, this sounds very fun for me, yeah?” He couldn’t really contain his grin at this point. “Now get off the com and get here in forty-five minutes.”
“Alright, babe. I’ll be there with bells on.” Alex was thrilled to death, a little half-hard thinking of crawling all over Pheryn again, and had to think about his grandmother and her numerous wobbly chins to get that reaction under control.
On Pheryn’s side, he was already feeling better about life in general.
Thank all the gods for this wild fucking creature in their lives.
