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Funkita - If you feel like the feels are heavy already - FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT - lemme tell you, xD Thanks for reading as always :)

Ouch.


Scarlet wiped a falling tear away discreetly and she turned her attention back to Barkley. "When Medusa showed up here earlier... it's the first time she's stepped on this property since Sawyer's death. She cut all contact with us."

That's precisely why arguing with Medusa for the first time in a long time made all of these feelings resurface and hit him at once. "When they couldn't get ahold of her… they got ahold of us… they needed someone to identify him. So I went…" Barkley choked for a moment, this was so hard to go over again.

Deuce stared straight at Pops, now it made sense why the elder male wolf was having a hard time with all this. "I think, I remember spending my birthday that year in Greece with my aunts and cousin." The gorgon stated, thinking back to his fifth birthday. Well it was more like she dropped him off for them to look after him while she disappeared for a couple weeks.

He did his best to regain his composure, he had to tell Deuce the proper story. "The car was crushed, absolutely totaled. It looked like smashed up tin can. It was horrible and the blood, fuck… there was blood everywhere." Barkley picked at the label on the water bottle which had been placed on the kitchen island. "I couldn't even see all of him… the only part of Sawyer I saw was from his left forearm down… even that was battered and bloodied. But he had a tattoo on his left wrist, it said 'My Dusa' in Greek lettering and the date they were married on." The wolf shuddered. "That fucked me up for months. Every time I'd try to sleep, images of the crash and what I saw left of my best friend were on a fuckin' repeat cycle. I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat-"

Scarlet nodded. "He had to be hospitalized at one point for both dehydration and malnutrition." She busied herself as she grabbed the broom and dustpan, sweeping up the shattered shot glass.

Barkley lowered his gaze. "Sometimes the images flash back to me still. Deuce… when you said I could chat with you and that we normally shared everything, it was like I didn't hear you, I heard Sawyer because that's exactly what he'd say to me. When I looked, I swore I saw him for a split second and that's why I got spooked. I'm so sorry bud, I didn't mean to dump this all off on you. I wanted you understand how much I love your father and how dear he was to me - all of us." He took another sip of water. "There's so many parts of him that live on through you. He loved rock music both modern and classic. He loved his casketball… he cracked his knuckles when he was nervous too. He had piercing green eyes…"

Clawd nuzzled into Deuce's cheek briefly, he'd been privileged enough to see his boyfriend's up close once and they were certainly a beautiful piercing green in hue.

Deuce clenched his stomach, he honestly felt like he might throw up. Here he was learning about his father, finding out about how similar they were yet he couldn't even remember him.

Clawd hummed in thought. "If no one could get ahold of his wife… where is he? What was the aftermath? Like… was there…" Clawd looked away from Deuce, rubbing the small of his back. "enough of him to put to rest?"

Barkley nodded. "They got experts in there that could find all of his remains, yes. Obviously we couldn't have an open-casket… or any casket at all… it was a straight-to-cremation process." He shook his head. "I had no idea what to do… it was all so fresh and I woke up in a panic the moment I had drifted off to sleep, I came downstairs and I grabbed the phone, I dialed… I think I was on auto-pilot because anything I did I don't really remember doing?" This must've sounded like a confusing mess to these poor boys. "It wasn't until Elliot Where picked up, that I looked at the clock and I realized I called him at a seriously ungodly hour… we all should've been asleep still. I couldn't even make a sound to begin to speak. I just… I fuckin' bawled my heart out. Where told me that he'd be right there and sure enough he drove all the way here just to sit with me and talk things out."

Scarlet put the broom and dust pan away. She grabbed 2 other shot glasses and poured the whiskey into them. She took one and tipped it back for herself. This was so hard to hear all over again.

Barkley stayed put. "Elliot asked all the important but real hard questions. 'Did Sawyer have a will?' Of course he didn't, Sawyer didn't like the topic of death, nevermind actually plan for it. I couldn't even get him hammered enough to talk about it. He just wouldn't. 'What do you think he'd want?' I didn't know right then and there. So we worked through it together, he knew Sawyer pretty much as well as I did." The older wolf gave a soft smile. "If you ever need a friend to come to your door anytime day or night for whatever reason… Elliot Where's that true friend that will actually show up."

Deuce went cold, he couldn't picture having to make choices. The young gorgon snaked the already poured shot in front of Scarlet and poured himself another. Just a couple wouldn't hurt, right?

The she-wolf poured herself another as well and tossed it back. Scarlet then nodded as she wet a cloth in the sink and began to wipe the counters down despite the fact they were already clean. Distracting herself was the best thing she could think of to do.

Elliot Where was more than just a good friend to her. He was her confidant. After Medusa dropped all contact with them… even before, he was always someone she could trust. Hell, he even tried to talk her out of committing suicide - which she ultimately attempted at least once.

Clawd kissed Deuce's cheek and headed over to his mother. "Mom, are you-"

"Clawd… please." She growled lightly.

Memories of Elliot Where walking in on her first suicide attempt were becoming more prominent within her mind. He never kicked down the stall of the ghoul's washroom so fast, He pulled her out of the stall, her blood was all over his designer clothes and he used his own bandages to wrap up her bloody arms. She was so mad at him for coming in while she was clinging to life in the bathroom of Monster High.

Deuce slightly stared at Pops, then shifted his gaze to Ma. "Pops?" He inquired, the young gorgon didn't know if he had the right to ask what was on his mind.

Clawd wanted to so badly hug her but he knew she didn't want to be touched right now. His ears flattened. His mother was the only person he didn't know how to comfort when she was upset. He wanted his father or anyone to comfort her. The younger wolf didn't feel that she should have to work through her emotions alone.

Barkley sat down on the available stool next to Deuce. "What's up, bud?"

"Where... is my dad?" The gorgon inquired. He didn't want to upset the elder wolf, but part of him was really curious.

Barkley warmly smiled. "In the living room, wanna come see?" He asked the gorgon boy. "I know it seems… selfish that he's here but… do you mind that he's here?"

"Yeah." The young gorgon answered sheepishly. "I mean, I don't mind at all Pops. I believe this is the perfect spot for him." It made Deuce a little happier to know that Sawyer had been here the whole time, instead of somewhere being forgotten.

Barkley and Deuce left the kitchen and headed back into the living room. There was a nicely decorated mantel with 3 urns in total. "The little pink one is our first child."

Deuce could feel his heart ache as he noticed how tiny it was. The name reading: Barklynn Rebekah Wolf.

"This one on the far right, is the second child we lost." Barkley lightly sighed. "They were both stillborn. They technically were deceased in Scarlet's womb but because of her being so far along… they still had to induce her so she could give birth to them."

His eyes settled on the blue urn, the name in cursive letters just as the other one was: Pawsley Anthony Wolf.

"Barklynn would be," Barkley thought about it for a moment. "22 years old and Pawsley would be… 18, if they were living today." He informed the gorgon. His eyes rested on the gorgeous green marble urn, it was square in shape and had beautiful gold engraving on it.

Sawyer Gorgon
10.31.1978 – 03.03.2007
Forever Loved, Forever Missed

Deuce did the math quickly and realized that his father just turned 29 years of age less than 6 months prior to his death.

Deuce could feel his hands beginning to shake, he tucked it inside his hoodie to hopefully hide it from Pops. "It's beautiful." Staring at the urn for a few more seconds before he turned and hugged Barkley. "Thank you." In the back of his head, the young gorgon wondered how he never noticed them before.

"You don't have to thank me at all, Deuce." Barkley tightened his hug on Deuce, he could feel the younger trembling. "It's alright buddy, it's okay." He let out another soft sigh. "Even though the scene was horrific… they said he wouldn't have felt much pain… it was instant."

Deuce just kept ahold of Pops, he didn't even know he been crying until he felt a wet spot on the other's shirt. A small whimper escaped from the gorgon, he felt foolish for crying over someone he only knew and could remember through stories.

Barkley rubbed the boy's back comfortingly. "I imagine that it's easier to hate someone for leaving than it is to learn they left only because they were forced to." He parted the hug when the upset gorgon was ready to. He wiped away a falling tear. "He was very much forced to… Sawyer had no plans of leaving you or your mother. Hell, the last time we drank he thought we should pick out our old age homes and train our boys to smuggle in alcohol for us." He rested his hands on Deuce's shoulders. "Your father's so proud of you and the young man you've become, Deuce. I know he is. I am too." He lifted Deuce's chin and squeezed his shoulders lightly before letting them go. "When you were just a little guy, your dad bought you this… oh what was it, a bear? No… uh," he played off like he couldn't remember, just to see if Deuce recalled that stuffed animal.

"Droco, my stuffed dragon." Deuce always wondered where he had gotten it. All he had known was that he had to keep it hidden from his mother, or it would go missing. Possibly either burnt, donated or just tossed in the trash. There was one time Deuce could recall she almost burnt him, because he was 8 years old. In her eyes that was too old for stuffed animals.

Barkley smiled. "Yeah! That's his name. You would not let go of that thing. It was so hard to get it washed." He chuckled and sat down on the sectional, patting it so Deuce would do the same. "You could've been sound asleep but as soon as Droco left your hands bam - you were wide awake and fussing for him." His eyes shifted to Sawyer's urn, then back to Deuce. "Y'know I can't remember what Clawd did to Draco or maybe he even said something but shit you punched him in the mouth real hard." Barkley felt bad for chuckling. "Scarlet comes out from making dinner, you're yelling at Clawd and he's bleeding."

Deuce couldn't help but chuckle. "I didn't really punch him that hard, did I?" The young gorgon inquired as he sat beside Pops.

Barkley nodded quickly. "Oh Deuce, you sucker punched him. 2 of his teeth that weren't even loose came out, blood all in his fur, a dental bill of $2,000 later because he had to be put out with anesthesia to get them fixed and the entire reason that boy hates the dentist to this day."

"So this would be a bad time to say Droco's downstairs?" The gorgon said with a nervous chuckle.

Barkley smiled. "You still have him, huh?" That was so good to hear. "Doesn't matter to me, but your boyfriend might be a little on edge."

It felt strangely weird to hear pops refer to Clawd as Deuce's boyfriend… but it made it that much more real and it put a smile on the gorgon's face.

"Yeah, his one wing's a little funky though." The gorgon took a metal note to make it up to Clawd later.

Barkley knew the story but it wasn't his to tell. "Do you know what he represents?"

"Not really." Deuce said, just thinking he was supposed to be a normal stuffed animal for a kid.

"Well," now that was something Barkley really wanted to tell Deuce. "you were almost a year old and your mother sent your father out to get you a teddy bear of some sorts. She was worried about you clinging to blankets and suffocating I think. Anyway, so Sawyer took you shopping with him and you grabbed this dragon off the shelf and clung onto it. Your mother goes, 'I thought I told you teddy, what's this dragon-thing?' well in Sawyer's opinion the dragon was 'outside the box'. He wanted you to know every time you held him that it meant the sky wasn't the limit for you. Possibilities were endless and you could do whatever you put your mind to." Sawyer had always been full of bright ideas and wise words despite being so young.

"He had a way with words, didn't he?" Deuce said bring his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

Barkley agreed. "He absolutely did. Would you believe I lost fur over what to put on his urn?" He chuckled, it seemed so trivial now but it stressed him right out back in the day. "He and Where had some pretty in-depth conversations while I tried to drink enough to understand either one of them."

Well for someone who lost a lot of fur you're still quite fluffy, Pops." Deuce said picturing Pops, Sawyer and Mr. Where all chit-chatting.

Barkley chuckled to himself. "I'm sure it grew back after all this time but thanks buddy, I sometimes use Clawdeen's dry shampoo if she leaves it in the first floor bathroom, but don't tell her." He winked playfully.

"I promise, Pops." The gorgon could only imagine how much dry shampoo this family went through.

Barkley let out a soft yawn and he could only remember now that Deuce was supposed to come home to sleep. He felt like a jerk. "Alright, it's time for bed. All of us. I'll see you later, champ."

"Sounds good Pops." The gorgon let out a small yawn before looking up at his boyfriend.

Clawd hugged his mother in kitchen and came out to see if his boyfriend was ready to go downstairs. He looked exhausted. "Ready, babe?" He asked.

Deuce wore a sleepy smile. "Whenever you are."

Clawd extended his hand and helped the gorgon up, they exchanged goodnight's with his parents and after awhile a bout of comforting silence came upon the Wolf's home.