Polyship fic for Habit/Noah/Kevin
"Hey boys I'm home." Habit yelled from the hall and there was a thump of his bag hitting hall floor. Noah heard the patter of feet he expected were Kevins and then a small ooph. Noah chuckled and put aside his laptop to go say a less enthusiastic hello.
When he came down he saw that Kevin had his arms around Habit and was smiling happily. He was hunched a little so that Habit could wrap his arms around Kevins shoulders comfortably.
"Good to see you, shorty." Noah greeted, grinning crookedly at Habit. "You've been gone for ages I hope you were keeping busy."
"Good to see you too buddy." Habit quipped. "Get over here!" Leaving one arm around Kevin he reached his other one out to Noah, inviting him into the group hug. Kevin smiled at Noah and reached out to him as well. Noah relented and walked over wrapping his arms around both of them. They both fit easily under his chin, he was the tallest of the three but Habit didn't seemed to mind as much as Noah had expected him to.
"I've kept busy. What about you, any news?" Habit asked and Noah resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Habit had taken up the torch of dogging him to get the journal but he understood now that it was for his own good. Habit had his best interest at heart now after all.
"Closer all the time." Noah promised and Habit seemed appeased if still a little impatient.
"And you Kev? Have you been okay?" Habit asked. Noah backed out of the hug, he was never that comfortable with prolonged contact. Habit and Noah let him retreat to a slightly safer distance though. Kevin gave him a lightly worried frown.
"I've been okay." Kevin promised. "The wards you put on the house have been working, Observer hasn't been able to get to me and Firebrand hasn't gotten to Noah either."
"That's good to hear." Habit said laughing softly. "Gotta keep you to safe as I can in all this madness." Habit said ruffling Kevins hair. Kevin laughed but Noah tensed a little. He didn't like having to be protected, being one of the weak ones. Kevin seemed to notice and he slipped away from Habit and instead hugged Noah again.
"He needs us just as much as we need him." Kevin reminded him then glanced back at Habit. "Don't you?" This is why their relationship needed Kevin so much. If Noah had asked Habit if he needed him, Habit would deny it and it would end in a fight. But when Kevin met Habit's eyes with his own big dark ones Habit seemed to soften a little.
"Ya I do." Habit admitted. "You two keep me sane." It wasn't an expression. Noah had met Habit before and he had been totally nuts. It was Kevin who started the process of slowly coaxing Habit back because Noah hadn't believed there was anything human still in Habit. There still wasn't much there, but what was had attached itself to him and Kevin now. Habit needed them as much, if not more than they needed him, and both Noah and Habit needed Kevin.
"I'll put the kettle on for tea." Kevin decided rolling his eyes at Noah when Noah made a small noise of protest. "And coffee for you." He added teasingly and then bustled off to the kitchen.
"I'll take your bag upstairs." Kevin offered, scooping up Habit's knapsack. "You go on in to the kitchen. You look tired, sis you remember about looking after your boy while you were away?"
"I never remember without you two to remind me." Habit admitted a little guiltily then stood on his tiptoes to give Noah a quick peck on the lips. "Thanks." Noah watched Habit follow Kevin and the turned away, stumping up the stairs to their bedroom and leaving Habits bag on the bed. His first instinct was to stay up here for a couple minutes and leave Habit alone with Kevin before going back down, since Kevin had a way of smoothing rumpled feathers and strained nerves.
"Are you coming?" Kevin called from downstairs and Noah abandoned the idea. He got downstairs, Habit was already sitting in his place. Kevin was leaning against the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew and the water to boil. Noah got the sugar and milk out and put them on the table so that they could fix their drinks, then they were ready, then sat in his usual chair. Habit bumped Noah's ankle affectionately with his foot under the table and smiled at him.
"Do you want to tell us about what you did while you were gone?" Kevin asked taking the kettle off the stove as it started to boil and pouring the water into two mugs.
"It's nothing you want to hear about." Habit answered. Noah grimaced, he understand that in Habits world people still needed to die. They all understood it, but it was left outside the house.
"Okay." Kevin agreed quickly. "Are you going to be okay?" He always asked this. As far as Noah could tell Habit never felt guilty for killing someone but who knows. Maybe one of these times he would.
"I'm fine." Habit promised accepting the cup of tea Kevin placed in front of him gratefully. "Don't worry about me."
"He did forget to look after himself while he was away though." Noah put in. Habit wouldn't tell Kevin of his own accord but Kevin would want to know. "So we need to make sure he eats and then heads to bed early."
"Okay." Kevin agreed and started looking through the cupboards to try and find what they could make for dinner. Noah got up to help.
"I'm not a kid." Habit snapped sounding sulky. "I don't need looking after." Noah smirked, now this was a problem that he could fix.
"Oh we know you're not a kid." Noah purred walking back to Habit, his hips swinging a little. "So we still need to welcome you back properly." Noah leaned across the table and kissed Habit deeply, gently pulling his hair.
"Okay." Habit said looking a little dazed when Noah pulled back. "I guess that's alright then."
Noah glanced back and smirked at Kevin, Kevin smirked back. They knew how to get what they wanted out of Habit. Kevin had his puppy-dog eyes, Noah had his flirtations, either way things went the way they wanted it.
"Well now that that's settled." Kevin said turning back to the cupboard. "Is shake'n'bake chicken okay for dinner tonight?"
"Sounds good." Habit agreed quickly and Noah nodded.
"I'll be in charge of vegetables." Noah offered and Habit groaned. "They're good for you." Noah snapped at Habit and Habit growled at him. That had stopped being intimidating a while ago. He glared back. Kevin stepped in to disperse the mounting tension.
"Come on Habit." Kevin said drawing attention away from Noah and to himself. "You know we'll make it up to you tonight." He gave a shy smile and Habit relaxed.
"Fine." Habit grumbled and sat back to sip his tea. He would make dinner tomorrow most likely but for tonight it was his time to rest. Kevin and Noah always looked after him for the first day or so after he got back. It had become part of the rhythm of their domestic life.
As Kevin covered chicken legs with the breading mixture Noah started to cut potatoes. They all quite liked potato wedges with chicken and the vegetable could wait until the last minute. Habit didn't like any vegetables as far as Noah could tell, but he didn't mind peas so they always had a bag of frozen ones in the fridge. They could just be stuck in the microwave at the last minute.
Once the potatoes and the chicken were both in the oven the three of them settled around the table with their drinks. Kevin and Habit chatted about random things and Noah listened. He wasn't the most talkative person but they understood. They made an effort to include him but didn't get grumpy when he gave short answers.
"Oh don't let me forget, I got you both some little gifts while I was away." Habit announced making both Noah and Kevin smile. Habit had started spoiling them both a little. He wasn't good at expressing motion still so his expression often came in little gifts. Things he thought they would like or had mentioned before. Just to prove that he was listening to them both and cared what they said.
"We won't." Kevin promised. No they would just let Habit forget until some time tomorrow. Tonight they didn't want the gifts because they might get distracted from Habit. The last thing that Noah wanted was to get a new video game and let it distract him from making Habit feel welcome, Kevin felt the same way. They needed to make sure their monster knew love and remembered why he still cared.