This is My Lover. This is My Friend.

by StaceyCrime_69

Summary:

While staying at an Inn, Darryl and Jodie end up having to share a bed, which would be fine if it weren't for the sounds of Henry and Glenn in the next room. When Darryl fails to hide the reaction he's having, Jodie offers him a helping hand- and then more.

Notes:

When writing Jodie I usually always hold 2 truths in my heart- he has a giant dick and he has a breeding kink. I've compromised on one of those things for this particular fic.

Chapter 1: All Night Long On My Bed

Before Glenn went to prison, before the journey to rescue their sons- hell, even before they'd fallen into Faerûn- Darryl had been in an emotional crisis. Maybe calling it emotional was grandiose; truth be told, it had been purely sexual until the first kiss with Henry.

Darryl would go to the soccer games, he would help set up, and then he would take every opportunity to stare at the attractive dads while they were distracted. Henry and Glenn were two of the hottest, truly made him question his dedication to his marriage, and to his attraction to women in general.

Then they had to spend so much time traveling together in this strange place, got to know each other better, and the furtive perversion had developed into much stronger feelings. Henry’s easy physical affection and dedicated passion had earned him a place in Darryl’s heart. What Darryl felt for Glenn on the other hand, was not in his heart. It was considerably lower.

This was all moot, however, because somewhere along the way, while Darryl had been focused on driving them all safely from place to place, Henry and Glenn had made some kind of arrangement with each other, and become completely occupied during any and all downtime the team got. Meanwhile, Darryl hadn’t even gathered the courage together to tell Grant that he liked guys too. At the time he’d rationalized it to himself as not wanting to make his son feel less special, but he knew the truth- saying something out loud makes it real.

And then Glenn had been missing, and God help him, Darryl had hoped he might be able to get something out of comforting Henry, but that hadn’t amounted to anything more than a gentle cuddle by the fire, ending in Henry calling him a good friend (which had hurt in a few different ways). The focus was on rescuing Glenn, even if he no longer had a son waiting for him when they succeeded; which was a point of contention between everyone. Although he had tried to resist, to stay loyal to the original group, Darryl had inadvertently become friends with Jodie on the way. He could see how the officer was a cosmic replacement for Glenn- he was soccer pitch staring material, for a start, but a lot more responsible with his child. Even if said child was a lot less pleasant now.

It was extremely difficult to navigate when they finally reunited with Glenn as the two men despised each other instantly, mainly over the nature of Nick…olas? Even as Henry purported to just want peace, it was obvious whose side he was actually on, finding time to see Glenn specifically, making excuses for why they needed to be places alone, constantly touching his arms and hands.

Between the arguing and even physical fights along the way, traveling to Book Castle was taking an excruciatingly long time, which only exacerbated the whole situation. They’d wanted to already be there by this point, but it was probably going to be at least another three nights they’d be sleeping out before they arrived. Tonight they were at an inn with a weird room setup, forcing them to be split across different floors- at the top of the building were rooms specifically designated as being “for kids”; further from the noise of the bar, from wandering patrons, and outfitted with particularly small beds. As Ron could still comfortably fit on the undersized mattress, he was left to look after the kids (although Darryl and Jodie had told Paeden and Nicholas respectively that they were the ones responsible for guarding the room).

The remaining four were split across two other rooms, and who would go where was obvious before anyone had a chance to speak. Darryl was surprised that anyone even bothered to voice it, but when Glenn began to scream about how he would “Never share a room with that kid-stealing asshole”, Henry had turned around with that miserable, wide-eyed expression. He asked Darryl in that soft, kind voice to please room with Jodie, just to keep the peace. So he did. He could never have said no anyway, the fact he didn’t particularly mind just helped.

What Darryl did mind, and probably should have predicted, was what happened shortly after he and Jodie had stripped down to their undershirts and briefs and awkwardly climbed into what had unfortunately turned out to be just one large bed. Noises started to come from the room next door, easily heard through the thin wooden wall. When they started, Darryl thought he might be imagining it, but they built up fast. It was mostly Glenn’s voice, and mostly wordless moans, but the little snippets of speech made it more than obvious both men were active participants in what was happening. Darryl couldn’t help but imagine the scene; which caused significant issue considering he was in just briefs. He rolled onto his side to point it away, but that just pinched in a horribly uncomfortable way, and was only getting worse. He tried to shift to ease the pressure, attempting a few different positions (none of them any better), when he heard Jodie sigh.

“Do you always fidget this much, or is it them? Just so I know if I should wait or try and get another room.”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s… I was worried about if the kids and Ron could hear it!” Darryl lied.

“Nah, other side of the building.”

“Oh. Good.” That was terrible.

“Yep. So you can relax. About that, anyway.”

“Sure sure sure.”

He wriggled again, desperately hoping his shame was still concealed.

“Look man, if this is like, a thing, if you can’t sleep with another guy in the same bed, I can just shell out for an extra room, I don’t mind-” Darryl tried to turn just enough to look Jodie in the face without twisting his body too much, but he was so flustered he didn’t have good control. “-oh. Or I could face away and cover my ears while you take care of, uh, that.”

“Jesus Christ, no! I couldn’t! With someone in the room?!”

Jodie nodded, then looked Darryl in the eyes for an achingly long moment. “Then my other suggestion is for you to close your eyes.”

“No, I’d still know I wasn’t alone…”

Jodie rested a hand on Darryl’s thigh “Sure, but then you could at least imagine that I’m somebody else.”

The hand moved upwards. Darryl nodded, tried to lick his lips although his mouth had gone dry.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” He didn’t close his eyes.

Jodie didn’t notice, he was concentrating on pulling Darryl’s briefs down enough to free his erection. He hesitated for a moment, and Darryl worried he’d suddenly realized what an insane idea this was, but then Jodie turned to reach behind him and grabbed the flask of oil from beside the lamp.

He poured a tiny trickle onto his fingers, then rubbed it over his palm. Finally, his hand wrapped around Darryl’s dick, warm and slippery. He couldn’t help but cry out at the feeling- the last time he’d had any kind of stimulation was the last “tax day” with Carol before their ill-fated trip. Watching the head of his cock vanish and reappear from Jodie’s tight, glistening grip was too much, he was getting dizzy. He looked over the rest of the man beside him instead- the muscles of the arm working him, the soft layer of fat quivering in rhythm with the motion, the eyes fixed solely on Darryl’s groin.

Darryl thought again about how handsome Jodie was. He couldn’t think of any reason why someone who looked like that would want to touch him. Maybe want was a strong term, reading too much into the situation, just wishful thinking; it would be better to consider this as him being willing to do it. As he examined that face, that jaw, those lips, he got caught up in the moment and his mouth ran away from his brain. Before he could stop himself, he suddenly asked-

“Can I kiss you?”

Jodie’s head snapped up, surprise written all over his face. “Uh…”

“Sorry, that was stupid, you don’t have to. Sorry. Shit.”

“It’s not stupid. I had just kind of assumed that you… never mind.”

Jodie shuffled closer, brought his face- which was turning a shade of red- near enough for Darryl to reach. His hand slowed, but didn’t stop.

Feeling his own face heating up, Darryl pressed his lips to Jodie’s. It was nervous, tentative, almost juvenile- like his first days of dating Carol. The contrast between how chaste it was compared to what was happening further down his body made his head spin. He gasped for air, clung to Jodie’s shirt to try and regain stability, kissed him again, and again, and again. Each time was less delicate, wetter, sloppier, and then Jodie moaned...

With a primal growl, Darryl pushed his tongue into Jodie’s mouth, tasting him fully. Jodie pushed his free hand under Darryl’s shirt, running his fingers through the hair and scraping his blunt nails down. He moved closer again, pressed his body against Darryl’s, chasing more kisses- but Darryl could tell, with a sinking heart, that it was an act. Jodie wasn’t actually into… whatever this was they were doing, his groin was against Darryl’s hip and there was no sign of any reaction. Just… soft.

Well of course. Obviously. If I was attractive, then at least one of the others would have been interested. Or maybe I could have kept Carol happy. If I could find even one person who actually likes any part of this-

He squeezed his eyes shut tight, tried to force the thoughts out of his head. He hoped that if he just concentrated on the kissing and the feeling of his cock being pumped he could forget about himself for a while. He turned, gave Jodie better access to his body- maybe he could trick himself into thinking that was in any way enjoyable, worst case it would be over quicker.

So it was with confused surprise he examined Jodie’s face after he said- “God, I didn’t mean for it to get this far, but once I started touching the rest of you…” Jodie was biting his lip, the blush from earlier wrapped all the way around to his ears. “Will you help me get us out of the rest of our clothes? Assuming you also want that, of course!” he hurriedly added.

Of course I want that. But what do you mean also? Why do you want that?

But even if he couldn’t understand the whys of what was happening, Darryl was eager to get to the action. He sat up enough to free his shirt and stripped it in an instant, then pulled Jodie’s over his head. Both shirtless, they came back together to kiss again, moaning into each other's mouths with increased desperation. Without moving away, Darryl yanked his briefs the rest of the way off his legs, then tugged at the waistband of Jodie’s.

“Wait! Shit.” He grabbed Darryl’s wrists and froze up. “Okay so there’s kind of something I should have maybe told you earlier, but I didn’t think it would be relevant, but then I got carried away. The point here is- don’t freak out.”

“Okay, sure.” Darryl said, freaking out.

Jodie shuffled back on the bed, swallowed hard, and pushed his underwear down. Several questions were answered and several more were raised as Darryl watched them slide off, revealing that what was inside did not include an erection (which he knew) because it did not include a penis as he knew them at all (which was new information).

Darryl knew he should say something. He wanted to say something! But as he looked at a string of thick wet stretch from the crotch of the briefs up to between Jodie’s legs, he was robbed of all ability to function or even think. He simply watched dumbly as his own hand reached out to stroke up Jodie’s inner thigh. He whimpered when he reached the top, and his fingers brushed up against soaked hair. Jodie bucked his hips with a cry, pushing himself down onto the hand between his legs. His eyes fluttered, one hand on his own chest, the other reaching for Darryl.

With a roar, Darryl grabbed Jodie around the waist and flipped him onto his back.

“Be careful, you’re going to break the bed!” Jodie warned.

“God, I think it would be worth it.”

Jodie considered, stroking the exposed form of the larger man above him. “Only if you’re in me at the time. Not before. That would kind of defeat the purpose.”

Darryl thought he might explode, or at least catch fire. If not because of what he just heard, then because of some kind of divine retribution. When fiery death didn’t strike, he released a shaky breath.

“So you want me to actually…”

“Yes, absolutely yes.”

Darryl ran his thumb over the hot, wet hole he had brushed against earlier, and took the opportunity to look over Jodie’s body again. Now that their shirts were off and he could really take the time, he could see thin scars, freckles, tan lines- Jodie was so human, so real, and he was offering himself up. It was unbelievable.

He handled Jodie’s body gently, scared this might turn out to be a dream and he was about to shatter the illusion. The man twitching and moaning under his touch, however, had no such hesitation- he squeezed and scratched, before finally lunging forward and biting down onto Darryl’s collarbone.

“Ah! Oh God-!” Darryl cried.

“I can’t wait any more, I need you to-”

He fell back and spread his thighs with his hands. A small voice in Darryl was telling him that something was terribly wrong, that he shouldn’t be doing this, but the rest of his body and mind drove him on and he lined his cock up with Jodie’s entrance.

He pushed in slow, which turned out to be a good choice, as even with the oil and the making out it was difficult to make progress.

“Holy shit, you’re so tight!”

“Mnh! I try my best… and it’s been a little bit since I’ve been on the receiving end, so- oh fuck that’s good, like that, yeah.” Jodie gasped.

“I’m not even doing anything yet, I’m just trying to get it all in.”

“Then- hoh shit- just keep going at that angle because it is really doing some-” He had to catch his breath. “Some stuff to me, right now.”

Darryl couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a reaction like this. Was it ever? He could make his wife cum, thank-you-very-much, completely reliably too. But not unintentionally, never just swept up in the passion of the moment. This was something else, some kind of physical connection to one another that he hadn’t experienced before. He tried not to think about possibly being gay right now, that was tomorrow Darryl’s problem. Tonight Darryl had just bottomed out and was enjoying the feeling of being inside someone who was excited for him to be there.

“Please… please move…”

“Now? Like this?” But I’m on top.

“Yes, come on! If you really want to I guess we can change, but-” His sentence cut off into a cry of pleasure as Darryl pulled out a few inches. “I’m happy like this.”

He eased back in, watched as Jodie’s chest heaved, trying to catch breath. He got into a steady rhythm, reveling in the touch, sight, sounds, of Jodie’s pleasure.

“F-Fuck me harder.” Jodie suddenly said.

Darryl’s hips stuttered in shock for a moment, but he did as asked. Jodie merely huffed.
“Harder than that, I’m not going to break. Look at me, I’m sturdy!”

With a breathy chuckle, Darryl braced one hand on the headboard and the other on Jodie’s hip, then slammed into him with as much force as he could muster, expecting to hear regret. Instead, Jodie’s face lit up in ecstasy as he practically screamed-

“YES YES YES! Oh SHIT that’s good! God, you’re just-”

He broke down into wordless groans and whines, his hands going wild grabbing at anything and everything around him- the sheets, his own hair, Darryl’s body. The bed moved with the force of how hard they were fucking, the headboard slamming against the wall over and over, the frame creaking.

I really am going to break the bed, oh no, this is why Carol insists on being on top, so I can’t crush her or break our bed-

Jodie’s back arched as he shrieked, and Darryl couldn’t breathe from the sheer overwhelming sensation of the tightening clench on his dick.

Darryl focused everything he had on holding off, not finishing yet, even though it had been so long, he’d wanted this for so long and finally, finally he was getting to indulge himself in pleasure- but as Jodie kept thrashing and screaming Darryl’s name, it rapidly became impossible. His orgasm overcame him before he could do or say anything, his limbs shook with the effort of holding himself up as he spilled into Jodie.

The two men stayed still for a moment, catching their breath, then Darryl eased his bulk over to the side and collapsed onto his back. Jodie fanned himself with his hands, exhaling hard.

“Fucking hell I needed that. I didn’t realize how much I needed that until we started, but wow.”

Darryl nodded and swiped sweat out of his eyes. “I haven’t had any uh, release, so to speak, since our last tax day.”

Jodie turned, a horrified look on his face. “February?!”

“Oh, god, no, not the actual tax day! That’s just what Carol writes on the calendar when we schedule a sex night.”

“Aahh.” Jodie nodded. “Oh shit! What am I going to tell my wife?”

Darryl began to scream internally.

“That’s a great question that I do not have an answer to. If you think of one please tell me because I also need to know what to tell my own wife.”

“I’ve never gotten carried away like this before, even when I was young and more, you know, impulsive.”

I’ve never been with anyone besides Carol before.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Darryl began to bite his fingernails. He registered that the sounds next door had stopped, but that didn’t feel important any more. Jodie’s hand closed around the fingers he was chewing.

“Worrying about it tonight won’t help anyone. We have to rest, finish this business with anchors, and when we know we will definitely, actually be going home, then we’ll panic about what we’re going to say, right? Maybe by then we’ll get some kind of idea.”

Darryl pulled his hand away from his face.

“Yeah. Yeah! We’ll talk to them about it later.”

Chapter 2: Let Me Hear Your Voice, For Your Voice Is Sweet

Summary:

What Glenn and Henry were up to during the events of Chapter 1.

Notes:

I pushed the first chapter out for tumblr reasons and the other ones are taking a while to be ready because everything else I was working on was way way further along, but I at least have this little bit to keep you going if you're waiting on this!

Glenn didn't bother trying to hold his voice back, too glad to be physically reconnecting with Henry at last. After so many years of loneliness, after losing the son he'd gone through it all for, at least he had this.

“Fuckin’ hell, Henry, I swear to god you've got the best mouth in the universe.” He groaned.

Henry looked up from between his legs with adoration, moaning as he continued to work bringing Glenn to his peak. He didn't even wince as Glenn tugged on his hair, riding the orgasm out until it became too much.

 

“Stop, stop. You got the condoms in this room?”

Henry lifted his head, flushed and glistening wet.

“You wanna go that far tonight?”

“Fuck yeah, man, when are we gonna get a chance again? It could be weeks.”

With a grin, Henry nodded, kissed him on the thigh, and scrambled off the bed. Glenn thought he heard something strange from the room next door, but he was too focused on the curve of Henry's body, the tattoo on his back, the smooth motion of the condom rolling onto his cock.

“I still haven't found anything good to use as a lubricant-”

“You accusing me of not being good to go?” Glenn scoffed.

“Oh I think I did a pretty good job getting you ready!” Henry chuckled “But I like knowing you're getting a smooth, enjoyable ride.”

“It's enjoyable even when it's rough, babe.”

He winked, then realised it probably looked ridiculous with only one eye. He put that out of his mind as Henry fucked into him; there were more important things to be concerned about.

They were hitting their rhythm, Henry pounding inside him and stroking his dick, bringing Glenn back towards the peak, when the strange noise in the next room happened again; it kept going this time, which unfortunately meant Glenn was able to recognize what he was hearing-

 

It was moaning. And not just any kind, the sexy kind, like he'd spent half the night so far doing!

“What the fuck…?” He muttered.

Henry faltered, and lost his momentum.

“What's wrong? Does something hurt, or-”

“Nah, man, listen! Can't you hear that?”

“Well, yes, but I was politely ignoring it.”

“Someone's fuckin in the next room!”

“To be fair to them, Glenn, they also have people having sex in an adjacent room.”

“Okay, but I'm hot. I make hot sounds. That guy sounds like when Darryl gets punched.”

Henry was about to scold Glenn for being so rude when actual words began to filter through the wall as well.

“God….. touching…..”

The voice seemed like it might be familiar, but muffled through the wall it was hard to be sure.

“Don't worry about them,” Henry soothed “just be here with me.”

“Hey, who's the charmer around here?” Glenn grinned, pulling Henry in for another kiss.

“Wait!” The muffled voice cried.

“Nope” Glenn quipped, and gripped onto his lover to flip their positions, straddling Henry's hips.

He did his best to block out the loud cries, the thumping, the conversation about the strangers breaking their bed. It sounded like they were a pair of men, too- good to know Faerûn wasn't homophobic, at least?

“Holy shit… so tight!” one of the voices exclaimed.

“Fuck that's good-!” The other replied.

Glenn thought it was a bit like a radio play of porn, and made himself laugh. He looked down to tell Henry, but the other man had his eyes closed and head thrown back, lost in the pleasure of their act. With a shiver, Glenn leaned forward to kiss him again.

“Hey, you gonna touch me?” He whispered

“God yeah, of course.”

As Henry's hands caressed Glenn's skin, a voice next door demanded it harder, and it really really seemed familiar-

 

Glenn stopped moving, although Henry kept bucking beneath him.

“Oh fuck. I've realized who that is.”

Henry didn't reply, he was panting and keening beneath Glenn, squeezing and massaging wherever he touched. Glenn gripped his wrists and pulled his hands away, then raised his voice to be heard over the cacophony of creaking and thumping through the wall.

“Henry, listen, the guys next door, it's-”

“DARRYL! DARRYL! OH FUCK YES, DARRYL!”

Glenn grimaced. How the fuck could Jodie be with anyone else when he had Morgan waiting for him at home? The best woman there's ever been, and he's throwing it away.

“Yeah. That. I can't keep going knowing it's them.”

“That's alright, Glenn.” Henry said breathlessly.

“I'm sorry man, I know it's uncomfortable-”

“Uh.” Henry wouldn't meet his eye. “There's really no need to apologize.”

Realization began to settle over Glenn, with a cold horror.

“You didn't.”

“My very attractive boyfriend was on top of me, a very enthusiastic couple was nearby-”

“UGH, don't call them a couple! And don't say that hearing them helped you get off, that's so-” Glenn made a gagging noise.

“It just sounded like Darryl is… very proficient. And in the kindest way possible, it's been quite a while since I got to have someone inside of me-”

“WOW.”

“Not that I'm not fulfilled, sexually! But at home, we'd be able to access all sorts of additional things, you'd have your strap of choice-”

“I call him The Slaminator.” Glenn sniffed.

“Exactly. So I just uhhhhh had a brief little thought about what it might be like if Darryl destroyed a bed with me beneath him.”

Glenn opened his mouth to be furious at Henry, but that particular phrasing in the moment of his failed orgasm made his brain short circuit. Instead, he just dismounted and took all the blankets.

 

Henry could figure out where he was throwing away a used condom by himself.

Chapter 3: If I Found You Outside I Would Kiss You

Summary:

Darryl and Jodie are sent off into the woods alone on an errand. Their desires get the better of them.

Notes:

Oh my god I should have waited to have more of this done before I started putting it out. Oh well, there's more now, and the kink is finally here!

They needed something to use as a boat. The river in their way was too wide and too hostile to biological life for Henry to carry them across in a wildshape, so they needed a vessel. Cutting down a bunch of trees to build a raft was not an option- Erin would be furious- so they began a search for a suitable alternative. From an overheard search, as a bird, Henry spotted an honest to god actual wooden dinghy, somehow left abandoned in the middle of the woods- it would need a good amount of fixing up, but it was workable. The trouble was getting it to the river; as the two with the most raw physical aptitude, Darryl and Jodie had been dispatched to drag it back.

Ron had asked why Henry couldn’t turn into a horse and pull it like a carriage, but after Henry gave a vague mumbling about his general dislike of the whole of horse-kind, Glenn had declared it a decision made and asked Ron to leave it alone. So he did. He always listened to Glenn.

It wasn’t terrible; only a couple of hours walk out to where the boat was, and upon reaching it they found it was definitely still watertight. Unfortunately, this was evidenced by the fact it was full to the brim with stagnant, slightly green rainwater. They stood just staring at it for a minute, trying to figure out what to do.

“I think if Henry had mentioned it’s ginormous I might have insisted he help.” Jodie declared, then began to circle the wooden vessel, examining it.

“Aha, maybe. It’s gotta be what, 10, 12 feet long? So that’s… a lot of water. Maybe it looked smaller from the sky.” Darryl began to look around the clearing for anything he could use to bail the water out, but only turned up rocks and flat leaves.

“Hmm. Do you think there might be a… plug, or something? I don’t know much about boats. Should Ron have come? He fishes, right?"

“Uhh, I think just on land? I’ve never heard him talk about boats. Or fish, actually, now that I think about it.”

“Huh. Ugh, I think we might have to ruin this a little bit to get the water out, then fix the hole. Help me see if there’s a weak spot that we would have needed to touch up anyway.”

“Sure.” Darryl agreed, giving up on searching the woods and turning his attention to the boat itself. That turned out to be much more fruitful, as he found a spot in the hull that was punched through by jagged rock, but as the boat still rested on it, the hole stayed plugged. “Hey, I think if we break this, then we’ll have a drain!”

Jodie hurried around, slapped him on the back in congratulations. They got their weapons out, and between them they easily shattered the base of the stone. The pressure inside pushed the small piece acting as a plug out immediately, and slowly but surely, the water flowed out. They agreed that even though it would leave them stranded out here for a while, they wouldn’t risk any further damage- none of the dads knew how to repair boats, after all.

With a rough campsite set up in the opposite direction to the flow of the water, fallen dead wood collected for a fire, even a rabbit caught to liven up their dinner, and sunset still a short while away, the two sat in silence.

“It feels mean to say it, but getting all the chores done was a lot quicker and easier with just us.” Darryl admitted.

“It’s not mean if it’s true.”

“I can think of things I’ve heard that are true and mean. Just around! I don’t mean like- Uh, it doesn’t matter, don’t worry about it.”

Jodie fixed him with a look that clearly said ‘I don’t believe you’, but thankfully what he said out loud was-

“If they had some truth in them but were intended to be mean, that’s a whole different thing. That’s just a bully.”

“I-” Darryl considered the statement, rolled it around in his head. “-guess that it is. Shit. I hadn’t thought about that before.” He groaned in frustration, tilting his head back.

“You don’t need to get that worked up about it!”

“It’s just… Every time I don’t think about these sorts of things, I feel like I’m failing Grant. He’s already gone through a lot, and I know it’s only going to get worse and harder for him, and I’m scared I’m not supporting him enough. That I’m… not a good dad.”

Jodie put down the pan he’d been fiddling with, examining Darryl’s face carefully. He shook his head, a smile on his face.

"I think you're an amazing dad, Darryl." He said softly.

"That's easy for you to say, you've only had to put up with me for a couple weeks."

"Hey, I've seen you with the boys, how you make decisions, how you act to protect everyone." He gently elbowed Darryl in the side "I'd happily raise a kid with you."

Darryl felt his face get hot and knew he must be blushing. He was embarrassed to be spilling his guts, to be getting comforted, to be enjoying it... his side grew warm as Jodie moved close.

"Hey uh, we've got a while until the water drains out of that thing. If you wanted to um..." His hand slipped into Darryl's, fingers entwining. "I know it's not like the other night, when you were desperate, so I'll understand if you don't want to, I just thought..."

Darryl moved to cup Jodie's face and kiss him before he could even think it through. He did want to, certainly. Was it a good idea? Too late for that now. With a happy sigh, Jodie parted his lips to let Darryl's tongue slip in. How long had it been since kissing felt so easy, so soft? He didn't dare let himself think about it. There was real risk he'd figure out the answer, and then he wouldn't be able to enjoy this moment.

Jodie pressed his forehead to Darryl's, and pulled his lips away to catch his breath. The hand not already tangled with the larger man's tugged on the edge of his shirt.

"Darryl, could I touch you?" Jodie breathed. "Underneath your clothes, I mean?"

Taking his hand back, Darryl pulled his layers of clothing out of the waistband of his jeans before hesitating.

"Uh. You don't want to see it though, right?"

Jodie frowned in confusion as he slipped rough, caressing fingers inside the loosened shirt and vest.

"I do. Like, a lot. But if you really don't want to, I'm not going to force you."

Darryl shivered, half from the touch and half from embarrassment. He considered claiming it was caused by him feeling cold, using it as an excuse to keep the poor choices of over a decade hidden away, but at this point it was well known that he runs hot. Jodie could almost certainly feel that he was even sweating from the warmth of the afternoon. So instead he said what he was actually thinking.

"Why?"

"Why? Well, despite what the others say, I'm not actually an asshole, I'm not going to bully you-" Jodie began to rant with a scowl

"Not that, I meant why would you want to see me?"

Jodie's face relaxed into a softer expression that Darryl was concerned might be pity. The concern turned into static as Jodie climbed to mount his lap, arms wrapped around his middle as far as they'd go.

"Darryl. I would have thought it's pretty obvious. I asked to kiss you. It hasn't even been ten minutes since I said I would have a kid with you."

The heat of the blush moved down Darryl's neck. He hated it, a little, how easily he got so red. Carol would always tease him about looking like a big tomato.

"Well when you said that I thought you just meant like... parenting techniques, not... You know, this part."

"Oh, all the parts. Your strong body, how you act, and how good you are at..." He pulled on Darryl's body, sliding up his legs to press their groins together. "This part."

Darryl couldn't help it, his embarrassed laugh slipped out. Before he could apologize, Jodie joined in, nuzzling against his neck.

"I know, that was cheesy! I'm doing my best here! At least it feels like you're still interested."

He absolutely was, he was interested to the point it was starting to ache and scrape against the zipper of his jeans. There was something else pressing on his mind though.

“Did you, uh, figure out what you were going to tell your wife?”

Jodie stilled, but didn't back away.

“No. But I kind of think… we can't undo what happened at the inn. So at this point all we can do is whatever we need to in order to hold it together so we can save the boys and get home safe.”

It sounded too good to be true, but it also made perfect sense. Carol once told him that one of the problems with the death penalty is that if a person knows they'll be executed for one murder, why not do five? It's the same punishment either way. If he was going to have to tell his wife “I got so stressed out and pent up I had sex with one of the other dads”, the number of times it happened was academic.

With that in mind, Darryl gripped Jodie's hips and ground up against him. The heat and pressure eased the ache in his groin, but he desperately needed to undo his jeans. As he started to fumble with the button of his fly, Jodie immediately moved to help, freeing Darryl’s dick.

“Look, I’m really sorry if you wanted to keep talking about other stuff but…” Jodie licked his lips as he looked down into Darryl’s lap. “I don’t think I can hold back any longer.”

“Whatever you want.” Darryl breathed.

Jodie stood up and peeled his shirt off. “If it's what I want, then get naked.” He popped open his own fly. “But if it's what you need, then you can leave your shirt on.”

Darryl was already pulling his pants and briefs down, but paused with them around his knees to consider his options. He didn't like the idea of having his body on display, but on the other hand, Jodie had already seen it. And Darryl did trust him with his life, so why not with this?

He finished pushing the clothes off his legs, and with a deep breath, stripped off his top half too.

Jodie had taken off his own jeans, although his briefs were still on, and was now kneeling in the dry leaves between Darryl's legs.

“I knew you could do it if you tried.” He said, grinning up with pride in his eyes.

Darryl wasn't sure why Jodie would be so happy to see him naked, but he just accepted it. It was especially hard to try and keep thinking it over once soft, wet kisses were being pressed to his erect cock. Jodie closed his mouth around the tip and began to bob his head, getting lower on each pass, sliding his own underwear down without looking. At home this would be when Carol stopped and changed to just her hand, but Jodie kept going, lips and tongue massaging Darryl's shaft enthusiastically.

Jodie pulled away for just a moment so he could use his mouth to wet his own fingers instead. When he returned to what he'd been doing before, the hand disappeared below him. Although it was out of sight, it was clear what he was doing from the sounds Darryl could hear.

"You don't have to- I can do that for you, I mean."

Jodie looked up and made eye contact, but didn't stop in order to answer, just continued to work both himself and Darryl. The sudden and intense level of intimacy startled Darryl so much his breath caught hard in his chest and he hiccupped. Jodie's eyes closed again, the arm disappearing between his own legs moving faster.

"Oh god, let me touch you." Darryl growled, barely above a whisper. "Please don't make me beg."

Jodie raised his head, lifting his mouth off not with a wet pop like Darryl was used to, but letting his mouth hang open so drool trailed from his mouth down over the erect cock. He stood up, albeit a bit shakily, and kissed Darryl hard- hard enough they had to catch their breath when they parted.

"I was always going to let you touch me, Darryl. We just needed to both be properly prepared. There's no convenient oil this time."

"Oh." The implication of his words properly set in. "Oh!”

He reached out to reverently take hold of Jodie's body and pull him closer. Darryl pressed kisses to Jodie's soft chest, nuzzling in close. He licked the thin lines of scars hidden beneath pecs as he felt wet heat touch his cock. He had to pull his mouth away, crying out in pleasure as Jodie sank down onto him, tight but relentless. They were pressed so close together, Jodie settled in his lap, kissing his neck, Darryl suspected it was the most intimate position he'd ever been in with someone.

He tried not to linger on that thought, and focused on the task at hand instead. He tried to match the tempo Jodie was setting, thrusting to meet each roll of Jodie's hips.

“God fuck, Darryl you're so deep, your come is going to be so far in me, holy shit-”

Darryl growled, still unsure about how to do dirty talk but enjoying hearing it very much.

“I'm gonna be so full of you, Darryl,” Jodie circled his hips faster, the wet noise truly obscene “and I'll use it to grow a strong, wonderful child for us-”

Darryl's brain short circuited and he grabbed Jodie's waist to stop him moving.

“Wait, what?”

“Fuck, Darryl, please, I'm right on the edge, I just need a little more, I'm so close, please-” One of Jodie's hands moved between his legs, and Darryl struggled to speak.

“Why did you say that thing about a child?”

“What? Darryl it's just the stuff we were saying earlier. And, you know, I kind of…” He turned red “I find it really hot, okay?! I wasn't thinking and it slipped out! So please can you finish me off?”

Darryl snatched his hands away like he'd been burned, and bucked up into Jodie to get him moving again.

“Sorry. For making you feel bad.”

“It's- you were caught off guard-” Jodie panted, quickly getting back into the rhythm “Oh shit that's good. I can just- not say something like that again.”

“Um.” Darryl looked away, embarrassed. “Could you actually… say a few more of those things? I want to try hearing them when it's not a surprise.”

With a soft gasp, Jodie took Darryl's hand and placed it over his abdomen.

“This is where you're buried in me right now, and where our baby is going to grow.”

Darryl whimpered and dug his fingers into the soft fat. He'd wanted to try for another baby since Grant was three years old and even just pretending was doing something intense to his emotions.

“You're making me feel so good while we try that I think it's going to work. I'm going to come so hard while you pour into me that it's going to fill me up and take immediately.”

“Holy shit.” Darryl whispered.

He felt guilty just imagining violating his wedding vows to that extent, but it was barely a drop in the ocean of guilt he already felt anyway. When it was compared to the rush of power, how deeply desirable he finally felt, it barely registered. None of the sermons about faithfulness, monogamy, or the sanctity of marriage meant anything any more.

He was a man. A man being asked to use his masculinity to fuck a baby into another man. Not the guy standing awkwardly by the door at the potluck with a Tupperware while the hosts laugh about how domesticated he was. Not the one washing dishes while their own guests ask Carol why he doesn't work. Not the one at the office Christmas party forced to hear her get asked if she wants to spend the night with a real man and her simple reply of “I'm designated driver for three people, I can't go anywhere tonight.”

Jodie clenched around him, moaning into his neck. From the shaking and sheen of sweat, Darryl realized the other man must have come while he was lost in his own thoughts.

“Shit, you're so hot like this. I almost hope it doesn't work so I can keep fucking you over and over.” He kissed the side of Jodie's face while praising him; a familiar heat tugging low in his body. “But I know you're going to take it so good. You're gonna get knocked up right away, just for me.”

Jodie whined as he lay limp against Darryl's body. “God, yes, I will, I promise, I'll do such a good job, just come for me, Darryl, give me what I need so I can-”

With a growled moan, Darryl came, buried inside of Jodie's body. He mouthed against his neck as they came down, enjoying the taste of his sweat. When he caught his breath again, he cleared his throat.

“I uh, I didn't know I liked that.” He said sheepishly.

“Well I'm glad you do. I panicked pretty hard when some of that dirty talk slipped out without checking with you first.”

“Well, if it's the kind of dirty talk you're used to…”

Jodie shifted awkwardly, causing Darryl's now flaccid cock to slip out of him.

“Not exactly? Like I said, I'm not usually on the receiving end. Morgan prefers it if- look, I just don't really get much opportunity.”

Feeling somewhat closer to Jodie than before, thanks to that confession, Darryl cupped his face to kiss him deeply.

“I'm sorry. For bringing it up, and for you not getting to enjoy it more often.”

Jodie tugged on Darryl's arms to encourage him to lie together on the soft ground, and pulled him into a hug. The two men stayed in a nude embrace for a while, just enjoying each other's company.

“You think you might try it when we get home?” Jodie asked, breaking the silence.

Darryl considered for a few seconds, but didn't need any longer than that.

“Yeah, no. Carol would be freaked out, I think. Any time I've brought up even the thought of us starting to consider if it might be the right time to try for another kid, she gets a two month migraine.”

“Yeesh. She could just say she doesn't want to.”

“She could!” Darryl shouted, louder than he intended. “She could just say ‘Actually Darryl, I don't want another baby, ever!’ and I would understand that and not bring it up again! But she keeps saying that it's just not the right time and maybe next year!”

“Darryl…”

“So I keep staying at home instead of getting a job, because one of us will need to look after the baby and I want to support her career, but now I'm just sitting at home eating chips all day because you don't need a stay at home parent for a single twelve year old so what else do I do?!”

“DARRYL!”

He snapped out of his rant and looked back to Jodie, who stared at him with worry and sympathy.

“Shit, sorry.” His face was hot, and the shame didn't help.

“That's alright. That's a fucked up situation. I'd be furious if I were you.”

Darryl tucked his head into Jodie's neck, warm and safe.

“Thanks.”

“I don't have anyone to be angry at, except maybe God. Nicholas, at a push, but I couldn't.”

Darryl was about to just ask why, but thought better of it at the last second.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Jodie hummed thoughtfully.

“There were… complications, when Nicholas was born. We don't know why, really, or what exactly happened in there. We just know that there was a lot of blood, they were worried about his oxygen levels, and what was left behind was too damaged to salvage, so…” He gestured at the spot he'd pressed Darryl's hand to earlier, marked with a jagged scar. “Told a little lie earlier, there's actually nowhere for-”

His voice cracked, and Darryl squeezed him tighter in his arms.

“Sorry. Again. That's a lot worse than- just, sorry.”

“Misery isn't a contest, Darryl.”

“... okay.”

The two of them stayed in each other's arms as the sun finished setting, not speaking but not uncomfortable in the silence. Occasionally one kissed the other, gentle and loving. Eventually Jodie stretched out.

“I need to go pee and clean up a bit. Can you get the stuff for making dinner set up?” He asked as he got to his feet.

“Yeah, of course!” Darryl also desperately needed the bathroom, but he figured he would be much quicker than whatever ”cleaning up a bit” entailed.

He was right, and was dressed with the cook-pot set up and skewers of rabbit meat grilling over the fire by the time Jodie got back with his own clothes back on.

“That’s smelling good. Shuffle over, I’ll help.” Jodie slipped in next to Darryl and busied himself at the pot. “I’ve been thinking about how we’re going to move the boat over the forest floor without damaging it any more, and I have a couple of ideas-”

So the rest of the night passed in comfort and happiness between them, which had been in short supply. Darryl thought maybe being pushed out of the group wasn’t so bad.

Chapter 4: I Sleep, But My Heart Waketh

Summary:

Having reached Book Castle, everyone is separated as they try to cross the bridge. Darryl and Jodie share some emotional truths as they search for the others.

Notes:

Do you ever look at something you made at go "Oh no this is terrible and I hate it and I hate myself"?
Because that happened with this fic and I had to write this extra chapter that wasn't in my original planned outline. Enjoy and sorry for the delay!

They had only just stepped foot on the drawbridge into Book Castle when a dizziness and darkness descended on everyone in the group, sending them dropping to the floor, groping around for each other in panic.

“Dad?! Dad, where are you?”

“Nicholas?”

“Shut up, where’s my big baby boy?”

“Paeden, I’m over here!”

“Glenn, are you-?”

Before they could try anything else to locate each other, the floor dropped out beneath them, and they tumbled into an abyss.

Opening his eyes with a groan, Darryl looked around to see he was in the castle now, in a room that resembled a library more than anything else. So good news; they were where they wanted to be. Bad news; the group had obviously been split up, as he was alone in a room with multiple doors leading to dark empty corridors. He stood and knocked the layer of dust off his jeans, squinting down the halls for any sign of a friend.

“Hello?” He called. “Anyone?”

His shout echoed, and he shivered, afraid of how long he would be trapped here alone. To his immense relief, he could just about hear a noise to his right, a voice calling back.

“-rryl? -s Th-t -ou?”

It was definitely coming from this direction, but the distance and all the papers were muffling the sound.

“It's me! I'm coming! I landed alone, but I- I'm on my way!” The words burst from him in gasps; he was sprinting so hard he was out of breath.

“It is you, Darryl! Oh thank god, I'm so glad you're here.”

Jodie! It was Jodie! Relief and joy flooded through Darryl, even as sweat made his polo stick to his back. The two nearly collided, both running at full speed towards each other, and with near hysterical laughter, they clung onto one another. Now they were closer, they could see each other; light from the windows illuminating roughly 15 feet in front and behind them, but no further. Evidently the place was designed to be difficult to get around, but not impossible.

Hopeful they might be able to find more of their party as quickly as they found each other, they set off down another hallway. They searched through the castle, looking between paperbacks and in hidden rooms behind bookcases, but they could not find Henry or the kids anywhere. There was no point searching for Ron; he'd appear when he was good and ready.

Eventually the light filtering through the thin windows dimmed, and torches lining the walls flared into life, letting them still see their way.

“Well, that's convenient at least.” Darryl mused.

“It's just about the only part of this that is. Other than being trapped with you.”

With a shy chuckle, Darryl elbowed Jodie in the side, and after a brief friendly tussle the two were walking hand-in-hand. The time kept passing, and the sky outside darkened to complete night, the air taking on a noticeable chill. Jodie tsk'd with annoyance and stopped walking, which made Darryl stop with him, as they were still tethered.

“At this point I don't think we're getting any closer to finding the others by walking around. We're better off resting for the night and trying to come up with something in the morning, when we have clear heads. Who knows, maybe the others will just stumble across us once we stop moving.” He seemed to get it all out in one big sigh. Maybe two.

“I think I remember that from Eagle Scouts. If you're lost, you're supposed to stay in one place so rescuers can find you.” Darryl agreed.

“It would be nice to get rescued for once, instead of always pulling someone else out of the fire, huh?” Jodie put his spare hand on his hip and rolled his eyes. “Come on, let's find somewhere comfy to bed down.”

At the next furnished room they pulled anything soft they could find into a pile, mostly cushions from the few threadbare chairs, plus a couple of rugs and a tapestry. They ripped a curtain off the railing for a blanket, although there was a reasonable amount of dust to shake out first.

“Henry might have an advantage in the woods, but foraging inside of a building? I bet we've done the best.” Darryl grinned, looking down at their makeshift nest.

“I've tried to make sure Nicholas is well versed in urban survival, in case of disaster, but depending on who he's ended up with… Well, suffice to say there might be more hindrance than help coming his way.”

“Yyyyeeeeaaah…”

Although Darryl didn't want to admit it, if Nicholas had ended up with Paeden, there was a non-zero chance they would end up fighting in an arena built from shelves. Anyone with Paeden might end up fighting in a shelf arena.

Trying to put that out of his mind, Darryl eased into the bed, hoping his back wouldn't be too messed up in the morning. He successfully stopped caring about any of it when Jodie joined him, nuzzling up close, and they wrapped their arms around each other.

“Mmm, it's nice going to sleep cuddling someone.” Darryl sighed sleepily. “It feels like it's been forever.”

“Because of how long we've been away from home?”

“Nah. Carol and I just don't cuddle any more.”

“... Oh.”

He suddenly realised what he'd said, and the comfortable relaxation fled his body to be replaced with panic.

“Uh, fuck. Look, don't worry about that, it's not…”

“Darryl.” Jodie soothed, stroking his hair. “It's not worry, I just care about you. I want to hear about your life.”

He took a deep breath, trying to get around the lump in his throat and the knot in his chest.

“We just… Aren't close in that way any more. She's not interested in me like that, hasn't been for a few years. She um… She's got someone else.” It felt both liberating and devastating to finally say it out loud to someone else.

“Shit. You caught them?”

“Not directly, but one time she told me she was going for dinner with Darnell, and when I went to grab myself something to eat, he was at McDonalds and didn't know where she was.” He swallowed hard. “Also I keep finding motel receipts in her pockets when I'm doing laundry. She's not very good at having a secret affair.”

“Jesus christ!” Jodie squeezed him in a tighter hug, and kissed the top of his head. “You don't deserve that kind of treatment. You know that, right?”

“I suppose. It doesn't really excuse what I'm doing with you. If anything, I might be worse, because I'm interfering in your perfectly good marriage.”

Jodie laughed strangely, so Darryl shifted to look him in the face. He was chewing his lip, and clearly trying to avoid eye contact; but after a few moments relented.

“Okay, okay. We're not doing… Entirely great. Not long after we got married, Morgan got her, you know, surgery. Before it happened, she froze lots of swimmers, so we would have plenty of attempts when we got around to it. We only used a couple rounds to have Nicholas, and after him… Well, you know. There weren't going to be any more attempts.”

Darryl nodded silently, and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you. Um, anyway, we talked about it for a long time and agreed that we didn't want to have another child through a surrogate, so I left it in her hands to contact the storage place to, whatever, dispose of what was left.” Jodie sighed, an aggravated edge to it. “And then last year I found a letter on her desk from the sperm bank, confirming her continued payments to maintain storage of her ‘deposit’. Something she has been doing in secret. For some reason.”

“What the actual fuck?”

“I don't know! I wish I knew! She won't talk about it! Does she hope I'll come around on the idea of a surrogate? She hasn't brought it up in 13 years! Or maybe she's keeping them to use with someone else, and is just waiting until she finds that person, or until Nicholas is 18 and it feels less wrong to leave, I just! Don't know!”

He pulled himself into Darryl's chest so hard and fast it hit like a headbutt, but it was understandable. At least Carol wasn't looking for a way out, she was just fucking around then coming back home.

Was that actually better?

Darryl put it out of his head and kissed Jodie, returning the comfort he'd been given earlier, and tangled their legs together. Their hands explored each other, not hungrily like before, but softly, tentatively, like they were mapping each other's bodies. The kisses were so familiar even though they were so much softer than usual, like they’d been together for years already, and the comfort made Darryl drowsy.

Both men circled their hips, grinding gently against each other, small sparks of arousal lighting and shooting into the night around them, but there was no desperation to it. They didn’t need a release, they just needed to be close to each other, and both drifted off without completion, just happy to be so close.

Before he surrendered to sleep, Darryl could only think about how glad he was to have found Jodie in this place. This was what he needed.

In the morning, they were more clear headed and had more tricks available to them. The others were evidently working hard too, as they were able to follow a heat signal to a bonfire where Glenn, Paeden and Nicholas waited. Henry and Ron walked into the room from the other side, and together the group set forth to face Well Actually.

 

~Later

Darryl hadn't been entirely in his right mind when Jodie had transformed, so maybe that was why it had looked so miraculous for a man to change into a monster.

No, calling him a monster didn't seem fair. He was technically a demon, yes, something Darryl had been raised to fear and hate, but he was still Jodie. He was still courageous, still a loving father, still their friend. Well, maybe not Glenn’s friend. He was just… Somewhat changed, taller and more imposing now, inhuman features drawing the eye away from the familiar face.

“I'll still try to help you guys, but I have to go home. We have to go home, to our real home.”
Jodie dragged a hand through the air as he spoke, ripping through reality itself, opening a hole into Hell.

“Nick!” Glenn yelled. “You don't have to go with him, right? Just stay here, hang with us!”

With a sad little smile, Nicholas threw a devil horns gesture and called back “You warriors are good. Real good.”

“The best.” Glenn choked, and Nicholas flipped backwards through the portal.

Jodie nodded to everyone, lingering for a moment longer on Darryl, before following his son.

As the hole in the world closed up, Darryl felt a fresh hole in his chest. He realised that empty, gnawing feeling was familiar, although he hadn't felt it so freshly and agonisingly for years- it was the same pain he'd felt when he had discovered Carol's affair.

His heart had broken.

Again.

Chapter 5: I Have Washed My Feet; How Shall I Defile Them?

Summary:

Missing Jodie, Darryl goes to wash in a lake. To his shock, he isn't alone for long.

They’d kept going, obviously, after the events at Book Castle. They couldn’t give up on saving their children and their wives just because of one unexpected loss; two unexpected losses, really, even if Darryl was the only one who thought so. It had been gruelling, being a man down, especially since Jodie had been one of their healers and the one doing a lot of the cleaning around camp. Everyone and everything was noticeably… pungent.

They’d set up camp by a stream so they could easily access the water, but there was a lake just a short hike away- well, short for Darryl. It was possibly a bad idea to go by himself, considering it was just far enough away to be out of earshot, but he wanted some time alone; plus he really needed to deep clean.

Now he was as physically isolated as he’d been feeling for the last few days, Darryl piled his clothes up on a branch ready to wade into the lake and wash off the filth and misery that had accumulated on him. Well, the filth at least, expecting the water to do anything about the misery was a big ask.

The crystal blue lake was colder than he'd expected, making him flinch as he eased in, but the need to get clean was stronger than the desire to stay warm. He scraped his nails over himself, pulling dead skin and grease off, leaving raw redness behind.

Now the cold was soothing, and he dunked fully under the water to scrub his face and hair. He surfaced to take another breath, and went under to do it again, harder, and stayed under even as his lungs burned. He opened his eyes to look at the sky through the water, shimmering and beautiful, until he couldn't resist the need to breathe any longer and burst into the air again, gasping in oxygen. At least the pain was a different feeling.

Trying not to dwell on the self pitying train of thought, Darryl waded back towards the shore, the breeze raising gooseflesh on his limbs as he stepped out.

Should have left my stuff closer to the water.

That thought became stronger when what looked like a crack in reality appeared directly in front of him, warm air radiating through it. He jerked back, one foot splashing into the edge of the lake again, and watched the impossible rip in space tear open wider to become a hole larger than a door, revealing the horrors of Hell on the other side.

And Jodie.

Not as Darryl had known him, for the brief time they had known each other, but as he’d been at the end. Close to seven feet tall- taller if you included the horns- broad to match, with huge bat-like wings that he folded up as he stepped through the portal.

“Found you alone at last.” Jodie's pupils narrowed to slits for just a moment as he spoke, before returning to normal. “I was just going to watch, but I couldn’t help myself.”

Darryl shivered, feeling very vulnerable as he registered that he was damp and completely naked while Jodie stood there in… whatever these strange half-clothes are called. The skintight, sleeveless, cropped shirt. The pants that only covered the outer halves of his legs but left his dripping sex exposed. The straps of leather wrapped around his feet and ankles, locked in place with metal rivets.

“Why are you here?” Darryl rasped, as Jodie advanced on him.

“Oh Darryl, I missed you. I missed this.” Jodie purred, running sharp nails through Darryl's chest hair.

“I- um- you-”

The priests had always said that the devil would look good, would come in the guise of a friend, and that was certainly playing out now. He just had to tell himself this wasn't really Jodie, that it wasn't-

“Darryl, won't you touch me like you used to? I need it so bad.”

Darryl's hands didn't care who it was, they reached out immediately, running over smooth hot skin and drawing pleased noises from the demon. The powerful heat of Jodie's body evaporated the cold water quickly, and warmed the whole of Darryl's body. Even if his better self wanted to resist, his instincts had other plans.

They stumbled together and he nearly fell over, but Jodie caught him with one hand, spinning them around and bending down for a searing kiss. His lips were just as Darryl remembered, and his tongue felt the same- even if the angle was different.

“Do you feel how hot I got watching you in the water?” Jodie whispered. “I’ve been craving your body.”

“Yeah, I feel it.” He really could, the demon’s body was blazing hot against his own. “If I’d known you were watching, I’d have taken longer over it. Given you a show.”

“Fuck, baby, you’re so good to me…” Jodie ground against him, so wet between his legs despite how little they’d touched. “I want you.”

Darryl had seen the arousal before they’d touched, but feeling it, warm and slick, rubbed against his body drove him over the edge; he needed to take his lover now. His mouth was locked onto Jodie's as he pulled the now-taller man away from the water's edge, walking backwards towards the woods in the hope of finding somewhere suitable, until Darryl knocked into something with a soft ’oof’. The texture against his back alerted him to the fact it was a tree even before he surfaced for air and saw the leaves above them.

Lifting one big, demonic thigh in his arm, Darryl rubbed his dick against Jodie's entrance, ready to enter him, then paused. This was the point of no return. If he still stood even a tiny chance of getting into heaven, doing this would definitely destroy it.

“Please, please don't tease me Darryl.” Jodie gasped. “I know you want this too, fuck- How long have you wanted to be a new dad again?”

Oh god, it really is him. Next confession is going to be very interesting.

“Ten years.” Darryl growled.

He thrust into Jodie in one fierce motion, eliciting a loud cry, and lost himself in the sensation of the familiar heat. He tried to put the fact it felt so familiar out of his head.

“Yeah, that's it! Fuck me, use me! Get me filled up, I need it, I-” Jodie paused. “Darryl?”

Darryl felt hands on his face, but he was focused on keeping his hips moving, and barely noticed them until Jodie pushed his face up and away, thumbs sweeping over his cheeks.

“Oh Darryl, I- you don’t actually have to-” he kissed beneath Darryl’s eyes, his lips hot without quite being unbearable. “We can stop, I can go-”

Darryl realised that his face was damp, and more tears were spilling.

When did that start?

“Don’t.” He said quickly, grabbing onto Jodie's back. “It’s not about this. Or, it is, but it’s… I thought you were gone forever after Book Castle. I don’t know if now this is the last time I'll ever see you. I somehow got you back but I know I’m going to lose you again and-”

Jodie shushed him gently, and wrapped him up in both strong arms and wide wings.
“I’ll keep coming back to you. Whenever I can, I’ll come back to you.”

Looking at the towering demon enveloping him, Darryl didn’t know if that was more comforting or terrifying. There was one thing he knew for certain though.
“I don’t want this to be me just… using you. This… That's not how I want to treat someone I love.”

A rumbling purr came from deep in Jodie's chest, comforting and sensual in turns. He wrapped his powerful leg around Darryl's middle and flexed the muscles within himself- Darryl had to hold onto the tree behind him for dear life, the squeezing pressure on his cock enough to make his knees give out.

“Darryl, if you speak to me like that, I'm going to lose control. I can't take it-!”

Despite being balanced on one leg, Jodie had the leverage to start moving, encouraging Darryl to thrust into him. He rubbed his cheek against Darryl's hair, purring, keening, fingers digging into his side so hard it verged on painful.

“I want to take care of you.” Darryl managed to moan out, between panted breaths. “I want to hold you gently and fall asleep with you.”

Jodie threw his head back and howled, clenching down on Darryl's cock. There was a gush of fluid that poured from him, soaking both men's thighs. That was new, but not unpleasant- Darryl would need to bathe again after this, but that was the case anyway.

“Ahh, oh shit, Darryl, you’re so perfect! The perfect lover, the perfect father-!” Jodie cried, speeding up.

In any other time, any other place, Darryl would have disagreed, unable to believe it could possibly be true. Hearing Jodie saying it, however, it felt like the most obvious thing in the world. Of course he was a perfect man, who else would Jodie cling to so lovingly? Who else could make him feel so much pleasure? Nobody. Only Darryl had the ability to give Jodie what he needed.

“God, you make it easy to be good to you, you’re amazing, and caring…” Darryl muttered, feeling his orgasm build as he thrust so easily into Jodie, so tight but so slippery now.

“Yes, yes, tell me more!” Jodie was shaking, his horns alight with flame, but didn't stop.

“It's not just easy to love you.” Darryl kissed Jodie's collarbone, the highest point he could reach right now, with a twinge of sadness- he missed their passionate tongue kisses. “I know you'll be so good with our child.”

Jodie's whole body jerked as he gave another feral moan, and there was more of the fluid. Darryl wasn't certain if that was a sign of just doing well, or doing VERY well, but either way he wanted to keep making it happen.

He slipped a hand in between their bodies to where they were joined, his fingers immediately becoming drenched, and rubbed circles on Jodie’s dick, the sensitive bundle of nerves causing an immediate reaction. Jodie slammed one hand into the tree, the wood splintering under his fingers as he gripped onto it, and his voice crescendoed to a full scream. Darryl couldn’t hold off any longer, and he came hard, his brain blanking out from the force of it.

“You promise I’ll see you again?” Darryl sighed, resting his head against Jodie’s chest.

“I promise. I don’t know exactly how long it will take, you know first hand that time moves a little differently between dimensions, but I’ll figure it out.” He purred.

They shared one last tender kiss before parting, Jodie tearing open another portal to Hell and slipping through with a sad wave goodbye. Darryl sighed, and braced himself to walk once more into the chilly waters of the lake.

Chapter 6: The Winter is Past, the Rain is Over and Gone

Summary:

We're finally post-finale, and Darryl and Jodie can tell their wives what have happened.
Jodie has news for Darryl as well as for Morgan.

Notes:

I genuinely thought I had posted this chapter a MONTH ago, and then I was just scrolling AO3 and saw my own fic and went "Oh my god I'm an idiot".
Anyway, we're finally done, forgive me. Darryl would.

Jodie checked, double checked, and triple checked his armor. If he was going to face dangerous combat, he would make sure he didn't get hurt. As much as he trusted in his abilities to help keep him out of danger, he wasn't prepared to take any risks. He checked Nicky's as well, (he didn't enjoy the nickname, but it was a compromise) despite the teen complaining that he was ‘Getting worried about nothing’.

“I'd rather be worried and it turn out to be nothing, than think it's okay and then you get hurt.” He huffed.

“Don't be such a mother hen!” Glenn had laughed. “He'll be fine!”

“Mmhm. How's the eye?”

Maybe it was easier for Glenn to be hands off because Nicky wasn't his son any more. That had been definitively proven by his demonic nature. Or maybe Glenn was just careless, either way.

Or maybe I am extra worried right now, like a nesting bird.

Putting his fears on the backburner for now, Jodie picked up his whip, weighing it in his hand, and turned to the other two.

“Are you both ready?” He asked.

“To help my friends? Absofuckinglutely.” Glenn grinned.

“Let's GOOOOOOOO!” Nicky cheered.

Jodie sliced open a portal, and the demons entered the final battle against the Omega Daddies.

-

“Jodie, is that… Holy shit, is that you?”

Morgan's eyes bugged out of her head as she stared at what her husband had become.

“Yeah, a lot has happened. Nicholas is a bit different too, it's a whole thing.”

“A whole- Yeah, I would fucking say it's a whole thing, babe. I know you don't like me swearing in front of him, but I mean…”

“We literally became demons, Mom. I think you can say fuck.”

“Your mother can. You can not.”

“Killjoy!” Nicky flew off in a huff to join the other teenagers, chatting excitedly about the battle.

“So how… What… Is there some kind of magic you can do to look normal while you're on Also, I earth?”

“Yes. But we won't be doing that very much. I'm the King of Hell, which has a lot of duties I need to attend to.”

“Jesus, okay, when you said it was a whole thing…” She rubbed her temples. “How did you become King of Hell?”

“Funny story, I was King of Hell before we met, but I had my demon powers taken away and my memory replaced with generic human ones to punish me for my many crimes!” He tapped his chin. “Well, not funny as such. Is that what irony is?”

Morgan scowled and slapped him on the arm, although it only served to remind him of how changed he was. Before, the playful swat would have landed with a solid thump. Now, although there was the sharp retort of her hand hitting muscle, he didn’t feel anything.

“I don't know if it's irony! Ask Alanis fucking Morissette!” She took a deep breath, calming slightly before speaking again. “Is there anything else you need to tell me? Like, do you have acid for spit, or demon STIs?”

Those were wildly different examples, that briefly threw Jodie for a loop. It could be difficult, having an intelligent creative for a wife.

“I… Don't. Although my sexual appetite has changed significantly. It's only fair that you know I needed to take a lover.” He hoped keeping it simple and causal would make it easier.

“Excuse me? You needed to?”

She didn't look convinced. She looked furious instead. The simple and casual approach had failed.

“Yes, my demonic nature-”

“Okay, so just to clear. My husband vanished, and now what I have instead is an awful creature that doesn't live in my home and fucks other people, is that about the shape of it?”

“Uhhh…”

It was, but when she put it like that it sounded really really bad. Besides, he didn't really have sex with other people plural, just Darryl; the distinction probably didn't matter right now.

“Hey! Nicky wanted to know if he can sleep over at the Oaks tonight.”

Glenn crashed into the conversation, almost literally, landing from his flight with minimal grace. He swept his long, grey-flecked hair from his face with one hand, and Jodie hoped he was was wrong about the way Morgan was staring at it.

“Um, hi. Who would you be?” She asked, holding out a hand.

Glenn just looked at it for a beat, and swallowed hard before gently taking it in his own.

“Glenn Close. Really good to meet you.”

“I'm Morgan.”

“I know. I mean uh, I've heard a lot about you.”

Jodie had never seen Glenn stumble over his words like this before. It was enough of a novelty that he just stood there watching the conversation unfold.

“Oh yeah? Good things I hope!” She laughed.

“Of course!” Glenn blurted quickly. “There's nothing bad about you!”

She laughed more, her anger from only a minute before defused. Jodie took the opportunity to start slowly backing away.

“So how do you know the guys? Did you meet in Hell, or…?”

“Oh! Nah nah, I knew a few of them before, and I was just helping to look out for Nicky. I ended up in Hell for uh, unrelated reasons.”

Jodie was too far away to hear Morgan's mumbled reply- but that meant he was finally far enough away to fly off without being too rude. He searched around for Darryl, and although finding such a large man was harder than he expected, finally saw him at the outskirts with Carol- Jodie recognised her from Morgan's days at PTA. As if by fate, Darryl turned and met Jodie's eye, then waved for him to come over.

-

“Hey, Carol. Uh, I know you said before about wanting a divorce…”

“Oh god, Darryl we don't have to talk about that right now, I'm just glad you and Grant are okay!” It seemed genuine. At least they were still friends. For now.

“There's something I need to say to you about it now. It's important.” He wrung his hands.

He'd thought about this conversation at length; he’d had plenty of time to plan what he would say while he was working at Sweet Matilda’s, but it didn't make him feel any more confident.

“Oh. Okay.” She examined his face, and thankfully seemed able to tell that this wasn't something to talk about with Grant present. “Let's go over there.”

She led him by the arm away from the others, where they could speak without being listened to.

“Well?” She asked in a soft voice. “What is it?”

“Okay, so, our marriage was ending, and I was under a lot of stress, and trying not to fall apart despite everything, and I…” He took a deep breath, shaking slightly. “I ended up connecting with somebody, and I know I shouldn’t have, because we haven’t actually separated yet, and it was technically cheating on you- god, what am I saying technically-!”

Carol grabbed his wrists and pulled his arms, shaking him from his rambling.

“Darryl. It’s fine. I’m not going to hold it against you. If you hadn’t told me, or if you’d been a dick about it, I would have been upset, but like you said; our time is over anyway. You’re the kind of person who needs a lot of comfort and love and… I didn’t know what was going on, so I wasn’t giving it to you.” She wrapped him up in a hug. “I can’t keep being your wife, but that doesn’t stop me understanding you as your friend.”

Bursting into relieved tears, he hugged her back, clinging to her shirt. She laughed, like she always did when he cried at happy occasions.

“Would it be weird to introduce you?” He sniffed.

“I mean, I’m pretty sure… Was it that woman with the big arms and the British accent from earlier?”

“Matilda? No, no, we’re just friends.”

“Oh Darryl. The looks she was giving you? She really wishes you were more.” Carol stroked his cheek. “So who was it, then?”

“Uuuuhhhh so I want you to bear in mind that there were a lot of very recent physical changes and we bonded before they happened.”

“Ominous, but okay.”

He gestured across the field and managed to catch Jodie’s eye, signalling for him to come over. Carol looked to try and follow his line of sight, confused who he could possibly be looking at, her eyes going wide when the King of Hell spread his wings and took to the air so he could more easily cross over to them.

“UM?!” Was all she managed to say.

“I know, like I said, that’s all kind of new. He used to be, you know, regular.” Darryl explained.

“Is that-?” She adjusted as he landed beside them. “I’m so sorry, are you Jodie Foster? As in, Morgan’s husband Jodie?”

“I am, and I’m not. Sorry, it’s complicated.” Jodie tipped his head apologetically. “Magic is a real tricky dickens.”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “And uh, you and Darryl…”

“Oh, he’s told you already. Well um, yes. I found that he is, quite possibly, the most perfect man I’ve ever encountered.”

Carol gave a bark of laughter.

“Sorry, ignore me. I’m glad he makes you so happy. A little surprised that you’re, you know, you. With everything that entails. Some bits are more surprising than others though.”

“I imagine the demon thing is a hard concept to accept.”

“I just shot a dragon with a gun, so…” She shrugged. “It’s more that you’re a guy, and you have a wife. I know her from the PTA.”

Jodie nodded in understanding, and Darryl rolled the situation around in his head. Carol seemed to be accepting what he’d done just fine. Maybe too fine. Given his suspicions about what she’d been up to in the past, it wasn’t entirely surprising, she was probably just glad the shoe was finally on the other foot.

“-guess the clues were there, I've heard how he talks about Dan Marino. Oh my gosh, is that why you wanted to talk to Darnell so much?” Carol put one hand on Darryl's shoulder, the other over her mouth.

“Whuh? Sorry, I zoned out.” Darryl blinked at the two of them.

“Honestly, Darryl. I was talking about how you've suddenly, you know, switched teams.” She looked back to Jodie, cocking her head at Darryl to silently say ’Can you believe this guy?’

“Mmhm.” Jodie pointedly turned away from her to look at Darryl. “Hey, when the two of you are done with your conversation, can I grab you? I'm gonna leave you to it.”

“Don't worry.” Carol huffed. “I'm done. I'll go talk to Mer- hmh, Samantha.”

She gave Darryl another quick hug, and hurried away, waving to Samantha and trying not to look at the distinctly naked Mercedes.

“Thank god we’re away from the others.” Jodie sighed, unbuckling his armor at the sides. “I really need to get out of this thing and talk to you.”

Darryl blinked a couple of times, watching the expanse of Jodie’s demon form come into view, clothed in a loose shirt that was now thoroughly sweat-stained. He licked his lips and tried to remain focused.

“You’re stripping to talk to me?” He whispered huskily.

Jodie chuckled as he dropped the breastplate to the ground with a thunk, then moved in closer. The heat of his body poured off him in waves, warming Darryl even though they were still almost a foot apart.

“Not all the way. I just have something to show you, which I can’t do while still in…” He kicked the offending metal. “Before I go on, you still remember the stuff about time differences between planes, right?”

“Yeah, it was like, a day or so on earth for the month we were here.” Darryl scratched his beard. “Or, wait, months? Ah jeez, doing that loop has really confused me.”

“Just like that. So while it’s been about five days here since we last saw each other, about a week since that day at the lake, if I’ve done my calculations right…”

Darryl nodded along. Because of the chicanery with the remote, he had no way of knowing, but he was just going to trust what Jodie was saying. Five days since they brought Glenn back as a demon seemed right.

“Well, for each day here, a few weeks passed in Hell. We spent a lot of that time adjusting to each other, getting used to our new lives, that sort of thing. But…” Jodie gently took hold of Darryl’s hand. “There’s also this.”

He lay Darryl’s palm against his front, the billowing shirt halting sooner than expected, Jodie’s abdomen swollen and rounded. Despite the thoughts, hopes, shooting through his mind, Darryl tried not to let himself get excited, tried not to let himself be happy. It was impossible, Jodie had told him it was impossible- but then he felt movement, a little knock against his hand, and for the second time after the fight had ended he was crying for joy, crumpling against his lover’s chest.

“But- but how?” Darryl gasped.

“Changing into my demon form reset a lot of physical things. I had to cut my breasts off again, for one. I hadn’t thought that it would also repair all my internal damage until… well, until I had morning sickness.” Jodie wrapped both arms and wings around Darryl, enclosing him in a cocoon of love. “Now, if I remember right, you promised you would help with raising our little one…?”

“Yes, god yes, I- thank you. I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.” Jodie kissed his head tenderly. “And I've made sure we have a strong bed, this time.”

When Darryl had thought loving Jodie would result in him going to Hell, this wasn't exactly what he thought it meant; the priests had never mentioned picking out nursery colors.
As far as he was concerned, they could keep heaven. This was better.

Notes:

Fic and Chapter titles are from The Song of Songs. (Bible felt appropriate for debauching Darryl lol)