Time Warp: Worried Mother Hen (Oriel)

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Fall 2036

"How old is he? What's his name? What's he like?" Phoenix churned out question after question as he trailed after his sixteen-year-old daughter, his hands clutched worriedly in front of him. "Does he do drugs? Does he have tattoos? What are his grades like?"

"Oh my God, dad, stop with all the questions," Devi groaned in exasperation as she turned the corner into the bathroom to finish putting on her makeup. The baby girl whom Phen had held in his arms what seemed like not so long ago was growing into a beautiful young woman - she was slender, tall, and looked older than she was, which was concerning to the anxious pixie. Devi was his little angel - he didn't want to think about her finding someone to potentially settle down with eventually so soon!

"We should have waited until you were eighteen to let you start dating," he mumbled, hovering just outside the room. "Can you at least tell me what his name is?" Phoenix asked again after a moment. "And... He doesn't do drugs, right?"

Devi rolled her eyes and spared her father a glance. "His name is Henry," she finally replied. "And, no, of course he doesn't do drugs, do you think I'm an idiot?" Phoenix didn't feel all that relieved. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering where Oriel was with all of this happening.

"Well.... Okay. You know I can't promise your dad won't do his best to scare him off, though," Phoenix went on, his voice raising slightly in pitch. Devi scowled.

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Oriel felt about as old as he looked. Actually if he were still the ornery kid he was twenty years ago, Oriel would say that he looked like a bad excuse for a 80s hair band. He kept it long, often pulled back into a long tail-whip of a thing, or braided like a fucking Rapunzel. Wasn’t blonde though. It had retained a lot of it’s dark color over the years, but was still streamlined with streaks of white and dark grey. Oriel didn’t think it was a bad look. Attempts to keep his facial hair trimmed and smooth were usually futile, so he’d given up on that a while back, letting it grow long and often keeping it tied up as well(like this).

He’d long since dropped his job at the burlesque club and opened a tattoo parlor alongside his husband. Phoenix would do the artwork while Oriel applied it to the subject. The lack of needles made it a very popular means of getting inked.

The 39 year old man was seated in the armchair while Phoenix worried and wallowed over their quickly growing up teenage daughter as she prepared for her first date. First date…right. As if Oriel was going to let that happen. Well, if the kid, what was his name, Henry? If he didn’t go running for the hills upon laying eyes upon the burly bearded man, then she wasn’t going anywhere. If Henry was a degenerate lowlife who obviously did drugs, she wasn’t going anywhere. Hell, if Oriel just didn’t like how the bastard looked, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Phoenix…quit hovering and let her get dressed at least. She’s not leaving yet.” Or ever, if Oriel had anything to say about it. He flipped through the television and leaned back in the cushy recliner.

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"Yeah, dad. Let me get changed, jeesh." Devi shut the door in Phoenix's face, and the rustle of cloth could be heard from within.

"If you picked somethin' too short, you're goin' t'have to change!" he warned through he door. He heard an incomprehensible grumble in return.

Phoenix sighed and finally turned away, shuffling over to where the bearded man sat in his chair. Anxiety was clear in his dark eyes. "I never thought this day would come," he said, settling down on the arm of the furniture. He stared without seeing at the television, his hand automatically clasping over Oriel's own. "Maybe you can scare him enough t'keep any guy away from her for another couple years. Then we wouldn't have t'worry anymore."

He was aware that he was likely taking all of this way too harshly, but... Phen couldn't help it, he was protective! He looked down at his husband, lifting a hand to toy with a scraggly beard hair. "I didn't mean the comment about the tattoos," he mumbled, managing a tiny smile. "I know not all of you guys with full sleeves or neck tattoos are dangerous or scary." Despite his occupation, Phoenix had only gotten a couple small tattoos throughout his years working; the promise tattoo he'd gotten younger, the date that they'd taken Devi home written on the side of his chest beside his heart, and a couple other ones sprinkled around. ".... You know, if anyone like me or you when we were teenagers walks through that door, I'm gonna expect you t'kick him right out."

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Oriel snickered behind his beard as he heard Devi tell off her father. And then again when Phoenix asserted his warning. He couldn’t help but be utterly amused at how enforcing Phoenix was being about being “proper” and “modest”. Granted, Oriel felt the same way, but it was simply amusing considering how utterly shameless the two boys had been at her age.

“Give her a break,” Oriel muttered to his husband once he came to his side. “You remember some of the things I forced you in?” It really wasn’t their place to talk. They’d be hypocrites otherwise…well, it was okay to be hypocrites in this case. After all, this was their daughter they were talking about. And that made all the difference! “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s going to be fine.” They’d raised her right, right?

Didn’t mean that Oriel wasn’t going to scare the pants off of whomever walked through that door. He’d definitely make them think twice about doing anything with Devi. Yup, Oriel wanted to drill it into “Henry’s” skull that if he valued his life, then he would maintain a good biblical distance away from his daughter. No if, ands, or buts, he was going to do it!

“Phoenix, I’m hurt you would even suggest such a thing about us.” Oriel feigned a pained look as he brought up his [very] tattooed arm and clutched at his heart. Of course, as a tattoo artist, Oriel was covered in them, though he kept an empty spot on his wrist where the promise tattoo was. The one that he’d gotten with Phoenix back in high school. Oriel gave Phoenix a big bearded grin. “Of course I will,” he promised. “Just let me answer the door.”

Speaking of doors, there it rang. “Heh heh…Showtime.” Oriel was going to have fun with this. He moved to get up from the recliner, but before he headed to the door, Oriel pulled in his beloved and stole one quick, but passionate kiss. “Why don’t you go check on her while I get the door?”

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A dark blush rose on Phoenix's cheeks as Oriel spoke. "You mean some of the stuff you still dress me in when Devi's not home?" he retorted, trying to hide his embarrassment. He knew he was being hypocritical but... Dammit, it wasn't the same, Oriel was his spouse and they had spent the majority of their lives together! This guy could drug her drinks and take her somewhere alone and and and... "I hope you're right," he mumbled worriedly.

Fortunately, he had confidence that Oriel could make the kid afraid to make a single step out of line. Phoenix still thought his husband was the most handsome man in the world, but there was no denying he had an intimidating aura about him now. And that was when he wasn't even trying to be scary.

Phen managed a small grin as Oriel teased him, and he lifted his hands a little in apology. "I mean, I wouldn't blame her for goin' after a tatted guy. Those things are hot." He gently reached for Oriel's arm and flipped his wrist up so Phoenix could press his lips to the promise tattoo. "So.... We'll see." His smile widened and he nodded at the man's words. "Okay, I'll play the worried mother hen," he replied... Because it wouldn't need any acting. That was what Phoenix was.

He jumped as the doorbell rang, and shot to his feet, heart leaping in his chest once again. "Do your best... Uh, worst," Phoenix told him. He wasn't expecting the kiss, but he gladly melted into it, his small, slender frame pressing tight and familiar against his love before he let him go. "Yeah, I'll... I'll do that," he breathed, taking a moment to recooperate before he went and knocked on the bathroom door. "Honey? Your date is here," he told her through the door. "Oriel went to answer the do-" He didn't finish speaking before Devi burst out, eyes wide. "You let him meet Henry!?" she demanded, obviously horrified by this. "No, he'll scare him off..."

Exactly the point, Phoenix thought. Devi, dressed in a cute little black and silver number that he grudgingly deemed appropriate, if not a little flashy, darted out of the bathroom and towards the front, obviously hoping she could cut off her younger father if she was fast enough.

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Oriel merely smiled. Yes, even twenty years later they still shared a rather colorful sex life. Not as frequent as when they were kids, mind you, but definitely more often than when Devi was a baby. And with lots and lots of resources behind their ‘activities’.

“Oh, are they now? You trying to tell me something?” Oriel smirked suggestively at Phoenix, giving his eyebrows a playful little waggle. It was always like this with the two of them, especially when Devi was too preoccupied with something else; friends, schoolwork, or in this case, getting ready for a date. The flirted shamelessly, like they were still young teenagers. Devi, no doubt, had caught them being ridiculous on occasion and probably thought her dads were downright gross. Not in a bad way, just in the ‘omg my parents are flirting and making out with each other, gag me with a spoon’ way.

At least, that’s what Oriel assumed. He’d never gone through such a thing in his youth.

“You go do that,” he told Phoenix with a laugh. He sent Phoenix one last kiss through the air before finally lurching to the door to see exactly who this “Henry” was. And what he saw, much to his dismay, was someone who appeared to be exactly what they feared.

Henry stood up straight before the doorway, standing a good number of inches shorter than the man who answered the door. He was fidgeting slightly and seemed to lose his train of thought in the face of Oriel, a large, muscled man who’d recently been compared to an oversized dwarf straight out of The Lord of the rings.

Oriel wouldn’t know. He never read the books. Or saw the movies.

Either way, it was clear that Henry was realizing that all those warnings that Devi gave him about her overprotective father weren’t just her overreacting and worrying about nothing. He took a moment to swallow and regain his composure, before reaching forward for a handshake, offering up a very bright white smile. “Hi! Uh…you must be one of Devi’s dads.” Was he allowed to say it like that? “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Henry Park.”

The longer Oriel refused to take the boys hand, the more it began to shake in nervousness. Oriel heard some commotion in the background, the sound of Devi booking it to the front door actually, as he finally reached forward and gripped Henry’s in his own with a very firm squeeze. “Come in,” he offered “pleasantly”.

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“Maybe,” Phoenix replied with a wry twist of a smile. His fingers traced along the lines of ink decorating his own lover’s arm, which he knew probably better than his own. Poor Devi just had to deal with the two of them still acting like lovestruck teenagers sometimes; Phen couldn’t help that his lustful feelings for his husband had only settled a tad with age. Hell, he was thankful they were still both up for such endeavors.

Phoenix trailed after their daughter as she ran towards the doorway, hiding a snicker as he peeked around the corner to watch the interaction between his husband and the kid in the doorway. He groaned inwardly as he saw the tattoos, the hair, the… Everything. He knew this would happen, he just knew it! “Ooh, honey, where did we raise you wrong?” he mumbled worriedly to himself.

Maybe she took too much after Phoenix’s example. After all, Oriel had never been the type of boy a father would want his daughter to go out with, he knew… Not that that had ever stopped him.

“Henry!” Devi gasped as she reached the door, hovering behind her younger father. She offered an apologetic grimace of a smile to her date from under the tall man’s arm, hoping he didn’t despise her for making him come over. He would have to meet them sometime, right? So might as well get it over with…

And he looked hot. Seriously hot. She did a faint fanning motion and then pointed to the teen boy with a wink. Phoenix glared murderously from his spot around the corner. “Yeah, come in, we’d love t’get t’know you,” he called out, finally stepping out so he could be seen more clearly. “Honey, why don’t you show Henry to the living room?” he asked Devi, giving her a smile with a hint of malice behind it.

They were such good parents.

Devi glared at him, but nodded and turned back to her date, snagging onto his hand and leading him towards their living room. “Just act cool, they’re putting on an act I swear,” she whispered to him under her breath.

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Oriel thought they’d actually done a good job in raising Devi to be the beautiful young woman she was. They were both attentive. They worked hard at their jobs. They gave her…well, pretty much everything that neither of them had….

Maybe there had been a lack of discipline sometimes.

Maybe there had been a smothering of attention sometimes.

And then there was the crossdressing that Oriel engaged in during her elementary years. Oriel was the one, incidentally, who taught Devi how to wear makeup when they deemed her old enough. And how to walk in high heels. And how to dress like a movie star.

Maybe having an unconventional family had had an effect on her…not a bad one, Oriel was still convinced that Devi was smart enough to make smart decisions, but…well, Oriel couldn’t say he was surprised to see her wanting to break out from the “good girl” image, if she ever had one in the first place.

Or Oriel could just assume that she loved him so much that she found a boy who reminded her of her “mommy”….which was, arguably, a little disconcerting.

Or a lot.

“Right,” Oriel replied to Phoenix’s suggestion. He released the hand and stepped back to let Devi pull the young boy into the living room. “Why don’t you have a seat?” Oriel offered as he followed behind, indicating the recliner he was just seated in moments ago. Henry nodded nervously, looking to his knockout date for some hint of what he should do or expect. No matter what she said, they were scary! Maybe not the smaller one, but the burly guy(not guy, this was Devi’s father, well, one of them) was just as intimidating as she’d described.

“Okay…” Henry took the seat, feeling like he suddenly was in the middle of an interrogation, being grilled by the “good cop/bad cop” duo…only he couldn’t tell which was which. Maybe they were both the bad cop? “So…you’re Devi’s fathers, right? She’s told me all about you and how you used to…uh…” Was there any delicate way to say this? Henry shut his mouth and decided to not finish the sentence. “You’re home is nice,” he tried again, looking up at both men with a nervous smile.

Oriel crossed his thick arms over his chest and glared. He wondered how long it would take for the boy to melt completely under his gaze. Or maybe he’d just run away? Oriel would be okay with that too.

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Phoenix had only encouraged the interactions between his husband and daughter, so he was as much to blame as Oriel. It had just been so cute to see them together, bonding over unconventional means and not giving a single care what other people might think. He'd been more the person Devi went to when she wanted to do quiet things, like artsy stuff or reading or the like. And it worked, even though he thought Devi had always been someone that would want to own the spotlight someday, just like her musical-loving father.

He slid in behind Oriel as the younger man moved out of the way and subtly slipped his hand into his husband's, watching the two pass by them with such intensity that he wouldn't be surprised if Henry felt like he had two holes boring into his back. Phoenix followed after them with Oriel, almost feeling bad for the young man. Unless he liked Devi a helluva lot, Phoenix doubted they would be seeing him again after this.

When Henry sat, Devi perched on the arm of the chair beside him, putting her hand on his forearm for support. She appreciated his attempt to make conversation, but when Oriel just glared at him in silence, she rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Dad, come on! It's not like he's a criminal or anything!" Henry was a good guy, she'd known him long enough to know such; it just took a little bit to get past the tattoos and such.

Phoenix, feeling a slight pang of sympathy, smiled half-heartedly at his daughter before finally speaking up. "Thank you," he told Henry. He patted Oriel's arm. "You, ah, have a lot of tattoos," he mentioned. "My husband and I own a parlor." He looked up at Oriel, surprised at his own attempt at conversation. "Isn't that right, sweetie?"

At least they would see how he reacted to their relationship. If he seemed off-put by their affection, then no way was this going to work.

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Henry was definitely intimidated by the larger man, but the smaller one looked like he was capable of scratching the boy’s eyes out if he didn’t get an answer he liked. “Uh..Yeah! Devi told me about that. She said you don’t use needles at all so it’s completely painless, right? I mean…” He means what? Henry took a second to figure out what he was trying to say. “I mean…there’s a lot of people like me who like the idea of body ink, but, unlike me, a lot of them are too sensitive to pain to go through with it.” He reached up to scratch an itch on the back of his neck. “I think it’s really cool that you guys do that.”

As the boy spoke, Oriel shifted his eyes up to meet with Devi’s, surprised by how she defended the boy. Not that she’d defended him at all, but with her word choice. A tiny scowl/pout appeared on his lips. If Devi knew her father at all, then she could probably predict what happened next.

“Dad…” he repeated, somewhat forlorn. “Dad…oh, my poor girlish heart.” He rose his hand to tap his fingers across his cheek. Oriel had every intention of playing this up as much as he could. “How much you’ve grown, bringing home boys and going out on dates. Talking back to your “dad” like some rebellious teenager.” Oriel bit his lip to keep himself from ‘crying’. He looked off dramatically to the far side of the room. “Where, oh where have the days gone when you would follow me around like a baby duckling? Where is the little girl who ran off with my Prada heels and silk blouses?” And now for the finale. “Where’s my little baby…who used…to call me mommyyy!!” Oriel cried, taking his husband in his arms and burying his woeful face into the asian man’s shoulder.

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Phoenix smiled thinly, seeing how hurried Henry was to keep up the conversation. "Yes, that's right," he replied, still with his fingers laced into Oriel's. "I'm the artist, and Oriel does the dirty work." Not that there was much mess involved, usually; it was a rather clean business, and one that people from quite some distance away came to experience. He smirked as the young man blabbered on, his eyebrow raising at just what Henry was saying. "I see. So you're too tough t'do anythin' but needles," he said, letting this soak in. "I hope you are more sensitive with our daughter." The last thing he wanted was some testosterone-filled, prideful masochist dating their precious Devi.

Devi's hand was shaking a little as she turned her glare to her older father. "He is," she said firmly, squeezing Henry's arm. She looked back at Oriel only to see the expression that had come across his face, and her heart sank. Oh, no, what was he going to-

"No stop," she demanded immediately, scowling even as her cheeks flushed a deep pink. "Oh my Gooood...." This was mortifying. She never should have told Henry to come over, she should have known this would happen!! "Stop embarrassing me, dad! You're doing this on purpose!" Devi looked over at Henry to see how he was reacting. "I didn't.... You never...!" All she was getting out were flustered half-sentences. "Okay, that's it, we're leaving."

She snagged Henry's hand and pulled him up, prepared to run out with him in tow. Phoenix had wrapped his arms around his husband's shoulders when he 'broke down' against him, trying to keep from snickering too loud at the melodramatic display. "Shhhh," he murmured, patting Oriel's back. "And you, young lady, you're not goin' anywhere yet!"

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”Too tough to do anything but needles.”

Oh, no! That’s not what Henry was trying to say at all! “No! I mean, yes! I mean, I don’t mind them, needles, is what I mean. You know how they say, after you get one…yeah, they’re really addicting, when you think about it.” How was he going to get out of this without making himself look like a no-good punk? “My mom let me get a small one for my birthday last year, and I kept thinking, “I want another one” but this time I wanted something bigger and more artistic, you know, because—“ Henry didn’t get to complete his sentence because that’s when the bigger, scarier father went on his dramatic tirade.

Henry just watched with wide eyes throughout the whole monologue. “‘Mommy’?” he repeated, a little shocked to hear…well, pretty much everything the man was divulging. He couldn’t picture Devi calling anybody, ‘mommy’.

The boy let himself be dragged away by the teenage girl, presumably to leave the two men behind to their own theatrics, when they were stopped by the sound of the smaller dad’s voice. “Hey, wait…Dev, we don’t have to…yet, do we?” He was actually enjoying hearing about her when she was younger.

Oriel, on the other hand, was still ‘crying’ into his husband’s shoulder, his sobs echoing throughout the house like a spoiled child. When Henry too tried to stop the girl from leaving, Oriel snapped his head up, completely recovered, and stalked over to the with wide, excited eyes. “Do you want to hear more?” he asked with a serious enthusiasm. “I have so many stories, you’ll love them.” This was Devi’s punishment for bringing home a tattooed guy…an eventing of embarrassing stories. Either Henry would find out something that would make him not want to date her anymore, or Devi would be so mortified that she would dump him herself out of pure shame. Either way, it was win win.

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Phoenix just stared down the young man as he stammered on, feeling a small smug feeling in his chest as he watched him squirm. It made him feel... Powerful. Hee. Phen still wouldn't hurt a fly, but Henry didn't know that. "I see," was all he said, putting in just the right amount of 'disbelief' to make the boy uncomfortable. He didn't have time to do much more until the whole tirade began.

"Henry, don't listen to a word he says," Devi snapped, glaring at her over-dramatic father. She was so going to make him pay for this later. "Yes, we have to! He's gonna say something embarrassing and I don't want you to think I'm..." Weird? Stupid? Devi wasn't sure, all she knew was that she didn't want her first date to be ruined because her dads were too worried to let her go without messing things up first.

She let out an angry huff as she was stopped, shooting her death-glare back at Oriel. Phoenix chuckled into his hand and followed after his husband, amused with the way this was going. "Yes, Devi, I'm sure Henry would love to hear-"

"No. No. We're not staying, and you can't make us." Devi tugged on Henry's hand again, practically dragging him to the door. "We're going out to have a nice dinner and seeing a movie by ourselves and you two are not invited." She threw open the door and stormed outside, waiting for her date to follow. If he didn't, she would sulk and stay outside anyway. Phoenix shot a slightly concerned look at Oriel; he didn't want to make their daughter too upset with them. It had all been for fun and games, but she obviously wasn't taking it that way. "... Just keep her safe, alright?" he told Henry with a worried sigh, finding Oriel's hand to hold again. "She means everything to us. We'd be devastated if anything happened." Something glinted in his eye. "And we'd make sure whoever let it happen paid."

Did he just threaten their daughter's date? Whoops.

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Henry continued to stare up at the two men. Was…that not the right thing to say? OH GOD, they didn’t believe him, they thought he was a thug! “I-I promise, I’m not—“ he stammered out, holding up his hands, but he didn’t get much more out as Devi interjected and pulled him away, insisting that they finally take their leave.

“Think you’re what?” he asked honestly. “Adorable?” Now Henry was the one teasing. He really did think that the things her fathers were telling him were adorable little qualities that he probably would never have been able to hear about from the girl by herself. He gave the girl a playful smile.

As Devi stormed out, Henry turned back to her fathers and gave them a nod. “I’ll take care of her.” Then he followed her out, leaving both Oriel and Phoenix alone in the house they raised their beautiful daughter in.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Oriel said, pulling Phoenix into his side. “She’s a lot more responsible than…well, than either of us were at that age. More together too.” Oriel wasn’t worried. A little sad, though, to see their little girl so grown up already. It really did seem like yesterday that she was only a little girl. “Oriel looked down at his husband. “You okay?”

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Devi's cheeks were flushed bright pink. "He's not going to make me sound adorable! He's going to make me sound weird!" she insisted despite Henry's teasing. She knew what his dad had planned if they stayed and she was not going to have her first date ruined by her overprotective fathers.

Phoenix nodded slowly back at Henry, feeling a faint sense that... They could trust him. He seemed like a good kid, despite his appearance.

He turned his attention up to his husband. He was still a bit anxious, but that was just in his nature. "Yeah... I'm sure she will be," Phoenix agreed slowly. "... I hope she still has that pepper spray in her purse though." Just in case. He nuzzled his face against Oriel's thick arm, nodding shallowly and a tad sadly. "Yeah, just... She grew up too fast." In two more years, they would likely be sending Devi out on her own. It was a weird thought.

Still... Now that the teens were gone and they had the house to themselves, another mindset started settling over the pixie. A slow smile crawled up the side of his face, and Phoenix peeked up at Oriel again. "You know... We should have a couple hours to ourselves," he told his lover, raising his brows suggestively. "When was the last time we didn't have to worry about her comin' home and walkin' in on us?" Phen looped his arms around Oriel's neck and pulled him into a gentle kiss that slowly grew deeper. "What do you say?" he gasped softly when they broke apart.