Polycouple Oneshots

processing life

That Polycouple Oneshot 2 - Lian x Phoenix x Wulf

Phoenix is our pillar of strength, they will always try to lift the spirits in a different way in order to make Lian or me feel better when we had a rough day. It's probably not easy but we all can rely on one another, it's a very important part of our relationship. We have different things we're good at, like everybody else does too, as well as we all have our weaknesses. It's no secret that nobody is perfect in every aspect of their life, hence it is important to have people you trust, people you can rely on-I found my most trusted persons in Lian and Phoenix, we just so happen to have feelings for each other. It isn't needed to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone for them to be your trusted person, but it happens from time to time. I will admit that I was extra lucky in this part of my life.
Sometimes we fight, of course, but we talk about it and explain things afterwards or in the middle of it to make it easier to understand each other, that is how it works out for us.
While we all even out the others weaknesses, you can't always expect your strong mountain to stay strong forever. Not even Phoenix can stay strong 24/7, there will be times when the mountain crumbles down and Phoenix is the one needing our strength, and that is okay. Sometimes you just need a hug to feel better, sometimes you will need to be left alone, it all happens, but for Phoenix it is almost predictable, not because they were their heart on their sleeve, because they don't, but it's simply that they have certain things they get sad about and with certain things there's a certain set of behaviour coming with it, it's just one of the things that is special about them, this time it's different tho. To my and Lian's surprise, we for oce, don't know what to do about it like we usually do. Something seems off. No matter how long we've known each other, sometimes our Partner is just not readable, sometimes it's not even visible on their face if something's bothering them, we'll find out through tiny differences in their behaviour or the way or amount they speak. Occasionally it can be a little hard for us to know, then we talk to them and ask what's wrong, which is what we're doing right now.
Ever since they returned home they have been down, Phoenix' eyes are sad, their posture on the couch indicates that they are unhappy too, their knees are close to their body and they just look at them while their headphones plays some music to help them get through whatever it is they are going through, but it hurts me to see that they try to deal with it. It's new, different from how it usually is, thus Lian and I are very worried about them. By now Lian went over to our5 neighbor to ask for a cup of their special tea to soothe our partner's mind, I assume she'll return in a few minutes as we don't know how to brew that certain kind of tea, it's an old family recipe Keziaha learned from her grandma, it's a family secret how that tea is brewed and we respect that. She told us to come over and get one whenever we need one though, she would happily make us a cup or more if we need more than one.
Meanwhile I sat down next Phoenix and gently took their hand in mine. As long as they don't want to talk about it, I won't push them, what I can do is give silent comfort. While sometimes they, or us as well, just need space away from the others, Phoenix seemed to relax immediately at the small touch, thus I decide to pull them a little closer, a silence gesture to tell them they can cuddle up to me if they feel like it. They turn their head a little to look into my eyes before focusing on their knees once more. I then lift up our locked hands to press a gentle kiss to their freshly scraped knuckles. The firefighters have a lot of work at the moment because of the high temperatures at the moment, additionally it's unusually dry as well so fires start more easily and spread rapidly once they ignite. It's very worrying. Being a firefighter is not an easy job, you always have to expect to not be able to save someone and the guilt you feel for not being there on time is a big burden many of them carry on their shoulders. It's not easy to accept that it is not your fault, they can only do so much, but that doesn't change the way you think in that line of work. Phoenix told us about it before, even if you technically know that it is not your fault, the feeling of not doing enough will still be there, for some it's a growing feeling that gets really heavy over time, others handle it better and get over it within a while of enduring it. It really differs from person to person. Maybe that's what's bothering them right now as well, and then we wouldn't have many options to help except for being there and comforting them as much as necessary. I keep their hand in mine, even as I lower it again. When I turn to look at Phoenix I see them being lost in thought, but this time it seems like it's because they are trying to figure out how to explain things to Lian and me. Once they have worked it out for themselves they scooch a little closer to my side and look at our hands before linking our fingers and squeezing a bit to express a silent 'thank you'. Afterwards they lean over to the side of the couch to grab the fluffy blanket of the armres, but I stop them in their tracks when I see the skin on their neck, it'S scraped as well. Concern rises inside of me as I don't see the marks stopping near the collar of their shirt, they go further down their back and I remove my hand from theirs so that I can carefully trace the lines until they disappear under their black shirt. They flinched a little at first, hissing as I accidentally touched one of the bigger scrapes, as soon as I felt them flinch, I pulled away my hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you."
They shake their head, a very quiet "'s okay" escaping their mouth before it closes again. They sit back down and wrap themselves up in a blanket before taking off their headphones and placing them on the table, since they paused the music as they got up to grab the blanket there was no use in wearing them anyway. The moment they started curling up in the blanket once again the door to our half of the house opened and closed as Lian walked back into the living room with silent steps. She hands Phoenix the cup of tea before sitting down cross legged on our coffee table, carefully caressing their knee after that.
"You wanna talk about what happened when you were called out last night?"
Phoenix takes a sip of tea as they organize their thoughts once again, making sure they remember all the things they are willing to talk about before actually doing so.
Another sip later, they start speaking.
"We were out of the city this time, a big fire at a warehouse was spreading a lot quicker than initially expected so they needed backup. The teams that had been called there first were working on saving the people inside the warehouse in which the fire strárted, but it wasn't enough time for them to go into the other one the fire had taken over to as well, thus my team was assigned for it. That's not really a new thing, but the building was more damaged than we expected, because of that....the building was not safe to go in, but we didn't know that until we were already inside. We tried the best we could to get everybody out but eventually the building started to fall apart, different pieces of metal came down on us....there was so much happening all at once...it just overwhelmed me, not only me but the others as well., even if we didn't stop moving, it was probably one of the scariest moments for many of my team. Some of the older firefighters have seen things like these before, hell's I have seen worse things before but still...it just seemed so much more dangerous nonetheless..."
Phoenix falls silent for a while after that. During that time they proceed to drink Keziaha's tea mixture, which was certainly working it's magic as could be seen by the sudden tension in their body fade away a little again.
"My colleague...no...my friend..Shogo Shimezaki...he was hit by a big piece of metal and is now in the hospital, while he has a likely chance to survive the hit could have impacted him a lot. Not only that, his leg was severely injured as well as the possibility of him being able to come back to work as a firefighter in action, as one who gets called out and saves people is so small that many of us have started to try and accept that. In the end it's his decision, but if he does wake up and decides to fight for his dream, no matter how small the chance of succeeding. he would probably find a way to get back eventually."
they let out a sad laugh as they wipe away their tears.
"Damn, that dude loves his job. He is one of the most successful and impressive firefighters I met in my wholetime of working as a firefighter. Has saved more people than we could possibly count and barely let anything untried if he knew there was just the hint of a chance to change the outcome of the situation. People say he's reckless at what he does, but even so, I look up to him a lot. He was one of the first people I learned to trust and I would trust him with my life. If there was really no chance of doing what we usually did even he would acknowledge that, most of the time. So yeah, maybe he was reckless, but he did everything he achieved so far with heart and that never changed, ever. I just hope he gets through, he wasn't only the person I trusted the most at work, no, he is my best friend there, somebody who knew who I was before I said anything at all, someone who helped me pick my name when I decided to do it. I appreciate that about him, he doesn't judge people, he tries to understand the best he can and does a damn good job at it. I can't imagine how my team and work would feel without him there."
They wipe their tears again,and again, but they just keep falling.
After a second I take hold of their hands once more.
"Stop wiping, it'll only hurt your eyes."
Lian nods before speaking up as well."Experiencing this, and talking about it, nobody would feel happy to do this, just cry it out."
Phoenix proceeds to take tiny sips of the tea to calm down again, needing a while to regain the ability to speak since there were only sobs escaping their mouth at the moment. It takes them a while of nothing before they calm down enough to speak again, heaving a still shaky breath right before doing so.
"While I have to be ready to risk my life whenever I am out on a job, and do so the best I can, do so with all my heart as well, I was worried and scared. Scared to never see the rest of my team again, not being able to swim one last time, there is so many things I still want to do or continue on doing, I was scared of not seeing Keziah again, not being able to see the two of you again, without saying goodbye, without any last words despite that, it terrified me. i didn't want to leave my life behind like that, and I still would have if it meant saving the others. It's something that involves mixed feelings. I know what I am doing, I know what being a firefighter means, and I am aware of the dangers it holds, but I was not aware of this feeling before.The other big fires I was assigned to so far didn't hold this for me. I wasn't in relationships when the other fires happened, I didn't know you could fear losing someone this much before, because I didn't need to worry about not returning to my loved ones back then, hence this was....just soo..."
"Terrifying." Lian ends Phoenix's sentence as they start crying once again. She gets up from the table and sits down on Phoenix' other side, hugging them from that position and keeping their arms around them even as I pull them in for a side hug as well.
We spend around 15 minutes in this position before we get more comfortable on the couch, preparing for a cozy afternoon that would hold a lot of cuddling under fluffy blankets, as well as gentle kisses and touche while listening the relaxing noises of the forest outside of the house that made their way in through the opened door of the balcony.