Justice and Her Boys

Chapter Fifteen

"Poppy, Dome, good morning! Come in, come in," Justice greeted them at the door, sweeping her arms in a dramatic welcoming gesture.

Dome felt relief rush through his veins at the sight of his old friend and her somewhat weird actions. She was familiar and comforting and he needed that. His body had been tensed all morning and he was sure Poppy must have noticed. How could he explain this to her? He had cheated on her. No matter what he was struggling with, what crisis he was going through, that much was certain. And he had to tell her.

"That's stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

Dome couldn't help but smile at the usual raucous noise that filled the air whenever Justice and her friends were all together. It was mainly good-natured banter and some playful arguments. Pavel and Boun were the loudest, and the rudest, while Gulf and Justice would cut in with, usually rather amusing, sarcastic comments. You wouldn't expect it from Gulf's cute appearance, but he could be quite savage, though only with those he was close to. That morning, however, there were two more additions to the table, and it was even more boisterous than usual.

"Boys! We have visitors."

Justice's voice easily cut through the chaos and, in an instant, it became quiet. Then Poppy and Dome, mainly Poppy since they hadn't seen her in quite a while, were suddenly surrounded and pulled into excited and exuberant hugs and hellos. Prem and Mew were quickly introduced, Boun waxing poetic about his 'cutie' while Gulf just blushed and stammered about his new boyfriend.

Dome, and perhaps Justice, were likely the only two who noticed Pavel's hesitance because he hid it well, exchanging pleasant words with both Poppy and Dome. Pavel was rather more subdued than usual and was clearly avoiding eye contact with him. It made Dome feel all the more guilty, his stomach swirling with nausea. He had no idea what he was going to do and no matter what he did someone he cared about was going to get hurt. Sleeping with Pavel had been a terrible idea and it was not something he had planned to do; he had just gotten swept up in the moment. That didn't matter though. Dome had slept with Pavel which meant he had cheated on Poppy. He loved Poppy.

But he couldn't say that his night with Pavel was a mistake.

Dome wasn't sure how he felt about Pavel, but he certainly cared a lot about him and was obviously attracted to him, which had sent him thinking through everything he thought he knew about his sexuality. He still wasn't sure if he was just confused, experimenting, bisexual, or even gay but he was sure that he cared about Pavel. No, Dome couldn't say sleeping with Pavel was a mistake, that would cheapen how he felt about Pavel, but it was definitely not the best thing he had ever done. In fact, it had to be one of the worst because it would hurt both Poppy and Pavel whatever Dome decided to do. And he really didn't want to hurt them. Either of them.

"Oh, Poppy, I missed you! We haven't spent time together in ages," Justice exclaimed, looping her arm through Poppy's and tugging her towards the sofa, away from the table.

Swallowing, Dome gave Justice a grateful nod as she cast a glance at him over her shoulder. Then he turned to Pavel. It was time for them to talk even if Dome had no idea what he was going to say.

Boun headed over to join Justice and Poppy with a sleepy Prem trailing behind him. They left Mew and Gulf in their own little world at the table and passed Dome and Pavel who were apparently on their way to Justice's office, which was curious to say the least. Since when could Dome tolerate Pavel's presence enough to be alone with him?

Flopping down next to Poppy, Boun murmured, "Hello again."

"It is nice to see you Boun and I'm glad to see you happy with your, uh, 'cutie'," Poppy replied with a kind smile, placing a gentle hand on Boun's which made him blush.

There was something so pleasant about being the centre of Poppy's attention. She was a pure soul without a single mean bone in her body, the kind of person that was almost brimming with love for all those around her: a being of genuine compassion and mercy. If you were lucky enough to have her regard then you could feel it, her unconditional acceptance and honest interest.

"That reminds me. Boun, Prem and I were going to go to the amusement park today. I remember that you like those, do you want to come?" Justice asked, handing Poppy a cup of her favourite tea.

"Of course, that sounds like fun! I haven't been in a while since Dome doesn't really like them."

"No, I don't like them either but the boys like me to along so I can hold their stuff while they go on rides. So, just consider me your pack mule for the day."

These words surprised a snorting laugh out of Poppy. She did not appear to have expected herself to make that noise and clamped a hand over her nose while her skin began to redden.

While it was amusing to see, Justice was a little worried that laughter surprised Poppy. She knew Dome was not exactly pleased with their relationship since he came to her for advice quite often, though he placed the blame for all their problems squarely on himself, not a very healthy outlook in Justice's opinion. But now it seemed that Poppy was not very happy with Dome either.

The situation with Dome, Poppy, and Pavel was certainly tricky but Justice had an inkling that, while working through it would hurt all three of her friends, they would end up all the better for it.