Chapter 2
I own nothing of Happy Tree Friends except the kids. All credit goes to Mondo Media
Russell scrunched up his face before nuzzling into the figure underneath him, eventually opening his eyes and lifting his head to see the few hickies he left on Lumpy's neck the night before. He sat up slowly and yawned, rubbing sleep out of one of his eyes and making his way off of the bed. He winced at the slight pain in his backside, reminding himself how much he hated the aftermath of sex, especially if there was no preparation. Russell slowly grabbed his jacket and slightly wobbled out of the room, stepping carefully down the stairs into the kitchen to fix breakfast.
About an hour later, he heard a yawn from the bottom of the stairs and turned around to see his daughter clutching one of her plushies and rubbing an eye. "Sleep well?" Umi nodded as she walked into the kitchen, climbing into her chair and setting her plushie on the table. Russell soon set a plate of french toast in front of her and sat in a nearby chair. He lowered his head with a sad gaze before speaking. "I'm sorry about last night. You must have been scared." Umi lifted her head with the fork still in her mouth. She almost didn't understand what he was talking about until she thought back to the fireworks. She held her plushie close and took the fork out of her mouth. "I was scared, but I knew Mama and Daddy would protect me, so I wasn't scared anymore."
"Well I'm glad you were brave, even when you were crying." Umi puffed her cheeks and pouted, muttering that she was crying. Russell couldn't help but smile before noticing Lumpy make his way into the room trying to fix his messy bed hair. He yawned and sat next to the toddler, gently ruffling her hair with a smile. He pecked Russell's cheek before sitting between them with a head resting in his palm. "You feel okay?" He referred to the fading pain in Russell's backside, and the former pirate nodded in response taking a sip of the tea in front of him. "Yeah. I'll recover."
"Is Mama hurt?"
"I'm fine, Umi." Russell stroked her cheek in response before standing up with a slight wince before heading upstairs, muttering that he was going to take a shower.
When the former pirate returned, he found his husband and daughter on the couch watching the early morning cartoons. Umi giggled whenever the character's plans went to ruin, and it reminded Russell of the good old days before he took to the sea. He slightly frowned in response before staring down at the amulet around his neck with a quiet sigh. That life is over now, He thought to himself. There's no sense in dwelling on the past.
Yet you do anyway.
Russell's head snapped open at the response as the voice continued. Lad, that look on yer face screams that ye want to be back at the sea. There's no denying it.
I'm not denying anything. I have a life here now, so there's no point in going back.
But ye not be satisfied, Russell stayed silent and curled his hands into fists, keeping his gaze lowered to the ground with closed eyes. Ye have this look of regret whenever you think about yer crew, and I know ye think about what ya coulda done to stop 'em from betrayin' ya. Do what ya want and sail again. No one would know you were gone.
"That's not true." The not so silent mutter reached Lumpy's ears, and he turned around with a lifted eyebrow. "Say something?"
"N-No. Nothing at all." Russell gave him a fake smile before heading upstairs to the bedroom. He closed the door behind him and fell face forward on the bed with a slight glare. "You see what you did?"
Nah, mate. That was all you. Ya let him know, and any minute now, he's gonna waltz in here like the worrywart he is. The bedroom door open, and Russell's inner thought scoffed in confirmation as he sat up. Lumpy closed the door behind him and gave his husband a look. "Alright, tell me what's up."
"It's nothing." A moment later, the older bluenette had an arm on each side, caging him in place so he wouldn't get away, and leaned in close with an unconvinced gaze. Russell slightly leaned back in response and averted his gaze. "You know I have ways to make you talk, Russell, and I know you don't want me resorting to that," The former pirate was immediately reminded of the last time he had kept something from the other, and the memory gave him a slight shudder. Lumpy cupped one of his cheeks with a loving gaze and forced their eyes to meet. "Hey, we're supposed to be partners, remember? You have to tell me what's making you upset, or else I won't make you happy."
After a quick peck on the lips, Russell lowered his head with a sad gaze before speaking. "Ever since I settled on land, I've always thought about sailing again because I loved it so much, but at the same time, I wanted to stay where I was. It scares me whenever I think about leaving, cause I would be by myself at sea and I don't want that. Then there's a thought in the back of my mind that's saying screw everything and go back to my pirate days. "But-"
"You don't want to leave us, right?" Russell nodded with slight tears swelling in his eye, keeping his head lowered and waited for his husband to say something else. Instead, he was pulled into a deep kiss as Lumpy's hands slowly gripped his waist tightly. Russell wrapped arms around his neck to try and deepen the kiss, pulling himself closer to the other and running fingers through his hair. Their lips separated for air, and Lumpy held him close in a tight hug. "I get it," He muttered. "You want to sail, but you know that Umi and I would be lonely without you. Normally, I would say to follow your heart, but there's gonna be a consequence no matter what choice you go with." The former pirate began to imagine what would happen if he decided to leave: He would give a final hug and kiss to the two of them, and as he walked towards his ship, Umi would be sobbing and shouting about why he shouldn't go while Lumpy would have a pain-filled smile on his face as he held her back from chasing her mother. He could also imagine him coming back only for Umi and Lumpy to resent him for leaving.
Russell leaned back so he was on the bed with his husband hovering above him. Lumpy's eyes slightly widened before the former pirate cupped one of his cheeks with a smile. "I'm sure I'll work something out."
"Russell-"
"I do want to sail again, but I'm not so desperate to if it means leaving my husband and daughter behind." Lumpy smiled in response and leaned down to kiss him again. Russell happily complied with a giggle, mentally flicking off the voice inside his head who was spouting some nonsense he didn't bother paying attention to. Lumpy pulled away and gently peppered kisses on his jawline and neck, causing the other to gently tilt his head back into the mattress before speaking. "You know Umi's gonna walk in here cause she's lonely."
"She has Tom and Jerry keeping her busy. She'll be fine."
"Doesn't mean she won't walk in here." Lumpy pulled away with a lifted eyebrow, knowing that the smaller bluenette was right. He paused for a moment before latching his mouth onto his collarbone, causing Russell to yelp in surprise with a blush. The older of the two pulled away once there was a noticeable mark, and he smirked at the sight. "That's only to remind you what I'm doing to you later."
"Can't wait." Russell sat up with a purr, giving the other a light pat to the crotch before leaving the room. Lumpy shook the light blush off of his face to follow him back to the living room to join their daughter.
After dropping off their daughter with Handy and Petunia, Russell had requested to go back to the beach to see the aftermath and damage from the fireworks the night before. Lumpy agreed, mainly because he wanted to see how much charred sand he would find, and he wouldn't want the former pirate going alone.
When the two arrived, they saw the area deserted, and Lumpy wasn't surprised to see some charred sand. He had a feeling Sniffles had collected a sample for some weird experiment, and he sighed at the thought with a hand on his hip. He glanced over to see Russell staring towards the ocean, and he lifted an eyebrow. The former pirate seemed to be in a trance, and he waved a hand in front of his face to try and snap him out of it. "Hey, what's up?" Russell only pointed to what he saw, and the older bluenette turned around, his eyes widened when he saw a ship heading for the shore. He automatically recognized it to be a pirate ship, although that wasn't what was bothering him.
It was the same pirate ship Russell used to command years ago before that fateful night.
