Live with It

Ivy's bra came loose and she wiggled to let it fall down and out of the way. Angel's hand returned to its comfy spot on her tits while she, even as she recognized the absurdity of it, snuggled happy and cozy against her brother. She felt so peaceful and relaxed, just enjoying the sun and the gentle rocking motion of the swing, and some inappropriate sibling cuddle time.

Angel, similar to his sister, couldn't have been happier. He didn't want to think about the implications of it, but Ivy curled up against him, playing with his cock through his shorts, practically purring as he caressed her tits, it was somehow the perfect way to enjoy a morning.

Angel got fully hard under Ivy's attentions. It was a tad uncomfortable, but she also seemed more eager to play with him the harder he got, so he just kind of let it be. A little shifting about every now and then kind of helped too.

"What if you got your dick out?" Ivy mused softly.

"Wha--"

"Hypothetically of course. Don't actually do it."

"What does that even mean?"

"Just like--"

"Why would you say 'get your dick out' but then 'don't actually get your dick out'?"

"Just saying, like, just imagine though."

Angel groaned. "Stop."

"Why?"

"Would you... keep doing what you're doing? If I did?"

"Maybe."

"Only maybe?"

Ivy shrugged. "Well it'd be very weird having my brother get his dick out. I might not like it."

"Jesus Christ. You're just trying to confuse and befuddle me, aren't you?"

"I would never!"

Angel turned his head to fully look at Ivy, who gave him that small, not-quite-hidden smirk that they both knew in each other so well. The one that meant they thought they were winning.

Angel caught Ivy's chin, tilting her face just the way he wanted, then dropped a kiss on her lips. Just the barest touch of their mouths, really, hardly even enough to qualify. It shut Ivy up pretty hard though.

Ivy felt the flush burn all the way through her; the slowest, hottest most uncomfortable feeling. Just from one stupid kiss from her equally stupid brother.

Escalation had been inevitable. Ivy recognized that. She just wished he'd done something she could handle. Even if it was something even stupider somehow, as long as it wasn't something that affected her so viscerally. Her whole body was warm and tingly now, and she was left in a state where she just couldn't fight back. Or perhaps more accurately, had lost the drive to fight back.

Ivy let go of Angel's cock and curled herself up tighter into herself, and against her brother. After a moment he dropped his hand from her breasts and let it come to rest on her bare skin just at the edge of her shirt, somewhere that was right on the borderline of appropriate touching.

They stayed like that in silence, just gently rocking back and forth in the porch swing together, propelled by the idle back and forth of Angel's legs.

"There you are!"

Angel and Ivy both raised their gazes a bit as Quinn came marching toward them, Zara in tow.

"Hey, sis," Ivy lazily greeted her, really emphasizing a casual attitude to cover how badly she really wasn't prepared to act normally just at the moment.

"That's awfully snug of you for people who can't be in the same room for more than five minutes without fighting," Quinn said, eyes narrowed.

"It's pretty sweet," Zara said. "Very cute."

"That's us," Angel agreed evenly. "Sweet and cute." He tried to discreetly drop his hand away from Ivy's bare skin, but wasn't sure he was successfully undetected.

"I can't even with you all sometimes," Quinn said, exasperated.

"Hey, at least one of us is your own damn fault," Angel said.

Quinn glanced side-eyed at Zara, who endeavoured to appear innocent. "Yes, I'm aware." She sighed. "Anyway, Ivy, Zara was wondering if you'd have, like, a swimsuit or something she could borrow."

Ivy quirked her head. "Really?"

"Yes. It's not that surprising, is it?"

"Well... I didn't know anyone was going swimming."

"I'm not," Zara said. "Just thought it's such a nice day, might try sunbathing for a while. Didn't pack for it though."

"And what makes you think I did?" Ivy asked.

"Nothing in particular," Quinn said. "But she wanted to check. You're a more similar build for her than I am."

"So you brought a swimsuit but she didn't?" Ivy deduced.

"I might have," Quinn said. "Might even use it. However you're deliberately dodging the question now because you know it'll annoy me, and--"

"Perish the thought, sister dearest," Ivy said, leaping to her feet. "I'd be glad to outfit your girlfriend most skimpily. Come, Zara, let me show you my finest of scandalous bikinis."

Zara grinned widely and accepted Ivy's proffered arm.

Quinn appeared a mix of frustrated and helpless as the two of them wandered back toward the house. It was, Angel thought a tad sympathetically, a look she'd perfected over the years, being the baby sister and all.

"She's not my girlfriend," Quinn called as an afterthought before giving up and plunking herself down next to Angel.

"Yeah, about that," Angel tried.

"Don't even... hey, what's this?" Quinn picked up Ivy's bra and flushed slightly as she realized what she was holding. Her eyes turned accusingly toward her older brother. "Is this Ivy's?"

"Well it's not mine. I've got a smaller cup size."

"Don't be an ass. What's it doing here?"

"You'd have to ask your sister. Now about Zara not being your girlfriend...."

Quinn groaned and put her head back, closing her eyes in disgust. "None of you are gonna give up on that, are you?"

"Just... does she know she's not your girlfriend?"

"Yes. Obviously. We're not labeling it. Very deliberately not labeling it."

"I see."

"No you don't. And you can't stand that you don't, just like everyone else."

Angel nodded slowly. "Do you by chance want to talk about it?"

"It's none of your business."

"That's true. Do you want to talk about it anyway?"

Quinn glared at him.

"I intend to be discreet and supportive, if that helps," Angel said.

"Since when?" Quinn demanded.

"Since I think she makes you happy, but you don't quite know what to do with that feeling."

"I-- oh goddammit. How are you such an idiot, and then sometimes like the smartest guy I know."

"Just lucky I guess."

Quinn slumped in their shared seat, idly kicking a leg back and forth to make the swing rock. "You and Ivy both. You're such idiots most of the time, and you don't need to be."

"Thanks?" Angel said. "I think?"

"It makes it so hard to talk to either of you, because your moments of intelligence are so outweighed by, you know, everything else you do."

Angel nodded sagely. "That's family for you."

"You're doing it again."

"Sorry." He paused. "I mean actually sorry. I'll be good. Please continue."

Quinn snorted. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I would."

"Just... oh dammit, like, you won't tell anyone if I start talking, right? I genuinely need to vent to someone, but I don't need all my personal business in everyone else's head."

"I'll probably tell Ivy, if it's something too interesting to keep her in the dark."

Quinn wrestled with that for a moment. "That probably goes without saying. You two almost shoulda been born a couple instead of siblings."

"Oh wow, you think your brother and sister should bang? Kinda weird, sis."

"I'm surprised you don't already, is what I'm saying. You flirt harder than anyone I've ever known."

Angel felt a hot, tingly mix of excitement and shame at the accusation. "That's not true at all!"

"Yes it is."

"She annoys me more than anyone. I mean I love her, and enjoy having her around most of the time, but she's the most infuriating person in the world." Angel paused. "You're a close second, if it helps. Don't mean to exclude you."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Thanks so much."

"You're welcome."

"But you know... there are some who might think that rolling around together all the time trying to get close and get each other's clothes off... that might not be dislike."

Angel went a deep red, embarrassed as much by how easily Quinn was getting him to react as by the her claims. "Well when you describe it like that it sounds positively lewd."

"Isn't it?"

"No! Of course not. Jeez."

Quinn stared evenly at her brother, then slowly held up Ivy's bra again.

"That's just... the clasp broke. Or something," Angel said. "It's not whatever your sinister little mind is accusing me of."

"Uh huh," Quinn said, with all the conviction of someone who didn't believe a word she was hearing.

"Totally unrelated, in fact," Angel continued.

"Sure."

"At no point have I ever wanted to do any of the things you think that I have."

"You," Quinn said decisively, "are full of shit."

Angel frowned. "I want to go back to talking about you."

"I'm sure you do."

"Can you put that bra down?"

"Ivy's bra, you mean? That you removed for nefarious purposes?"

"Platonic purposes!"

"So you did remove it," Quinn said, smiling in a way that infuriated Angel almost as much as Ivy sometimes did.

"No fair using trickery and cunning!" Angel said. "Also I plead the fourth."

"You mean the fifth."

"It doesn't matter. We're in the wrong country either way."

"True."

"So how come you don't wanna be Zara's girlfriend?"

Quinn snorted. "Very subtle change of subject, bro."

"It's the subject we're meant to be on, before you distracted me."

"That's not what happened. But... it's not exactly that I don't want to be her girlfriend," Quinn admitted.

"Oh? She doesn't want to be yours?" Angel hazarded.

"She very much wants to be mine."

"Then I'm afraid I don't follow."

"You and the rest of the world," Quinn grumbled.

"So enlighten me."

"I don't... I don't know if I can be. Like properly, I mean."

"The hell does that mean?" Angel said.

"Like... like girlfriends do certain things," Quinn said. "And I might kinda struggle with them."

"Oh. Cooking for her."

"What? No!"

"Wearing complimentary outfits?"

"You're being an ass, Angel."

Angel grinned and leaned in secretively. "Holding hands?"

"I can hold her hand, you dick."

Angel gasped. "My own baby sister, so corrupted by the world. To think she'd do something so lewd as to hold hands. Not in public I trust."

Quinn punched Angel's shoulder. "Be serious."

"Sorry."

"It's... oh fuck you, it's sex, ok?"

"I was starting to suspect it might be."

"Uh huh." Quinn folded her arms, withdrawing into herself a bit. "Well that's what it is. I'm just this weirdo that no matter how much I like Zara, I can't... I can't be what I should be for her."

"Oh." Angel considered for a moment. "But you do in fact like girls I assume? Or this wouldn't be a thing in the first place."

"I dunno. I like Zara." Quinn shrugged helplessly. "Relationship stuff has always been confusing. Not many people make sense to me at all, in that kind of way. She does though. Mostly."

"That's kind of cute," Angel said with a smile.

"Shut up."

"I'm not teasing. It does. But... you don't want to have sex with her."

"Right."

"So, like, are you asexual? 'Cause that--"

"I don't even know! Maybe, I guess. But sometimes... rarely... it sometimes works. Sometimes I do want it. And like I guess that's something that can happen, but then it's like I feel like if I can want sex with her sometimes, why can't I do it all the time? Or at least more consistently. And like she's definitely gonna get impatient with me at some point, and--"

"Ohhh," Angel said, nodding now that he was on more familiar ground. "Self-sabotage. Classic."

"What?"

"Yeah, I've done that a bunch too. You slowly get better at not doing it."

"That is not what I'm doing!" Quinn protested.

"Sure it is."

"I can't make myself want sex more. I just can't. Believe me I've tried."

"Not that, Quinn," Angel said. "You just be you when it comes to that stuff. I'm talking about spending all your time keeping Zara slightly at a distance because you're sure she's not going to like who you really are and it's only a matter of time before she realizes it."

Quinn blinked slowly. "Is that what you think?"

"Based on what I know, absolutely."

"Well maybe it is only a matter of time though."

"Sure, maybe. But what are you going to do, live in fear and be miserable until then?"

"No! I mean, probably not."

Angel shrugged. "She knows how you feel, presumably?"

"Yeah. We've talked about it lots."

"And has it ever been a problem for her yet?"

Quinn shook her head. "Not really. That's part of what worries me."

Angel rolled his eyes. "Self-sabotage."

"Fuck you. No one just accepts a lack of sex so much. It isn't how people operate."

"It's how you operate."

"People other than me. People like Zara. She could...." Quinn broke off a moment, lip quivering slightly. "She could be with lots of other people," she continued softly. "There's no real reason she needs to stay with me."

Angel frowned and flicked the side of Quinn's head.

"Ow! Hey!" Quinn protested.

"You're being a doofus," Angel said.

"I am not!"

"You are. I've only known her for a very short time, and yeah she's a bit of a weirdo, but she likes you so much, Quinn. That part is very obvious. And you are not to throw that away because you're scared."

"Well what if I can't give her what she needs though?" Quinn asked defiantly.

"Well what if what she needs is you and she doesn't care about sex nearly as much as you seem to?" Angel shot back.

"I... I don't care about sex. That's what--"

"You do though," Angel said. "You're clearly obsessing about it."

"I don't. I don't want it most of the time. I--"

"I get that. And because of that, it's all you focus on. Shit, Quinn, focus on sometimes else for a while."

Quinn went silent for a long while. "Ok, I maybe obsess a little," she finally admitted.

"Uh huh."

"It's not easy not to."

"I get that. But, like, do you like cuddling and stuff? Or anything like--"

"I do," Quinn said, blushing faintly. "I kinda love it with Zara."

"Well good. Smother her in cuddles for a while. She deserves it for putting up with your insecure ass."

"Hey! But also... fair."

****

Ivy watched Zara examining herself in the mirror, endlessly fussing with the bikini she'd lent her.

"Well you were right," Zara said. "This is indeed scandalous."

"I know, right?" Ivy grinned. "It's almost a pity I'm not into girls more, or I'd be really enjoying myself right now."

"You should give it a shot," Zara said. "Girls are more fun."

"That would be your own biased opinion," Ivy said, though her gaze admittedly lingered on Zara's butt in her rather immodest bikini. It was an eye-catching view, even if one wasn't strictly into that sort of thing.

"That's true," Zara said. She smiled a little shyly. "This'll be fun to wear around your sister, anyway. Maybe not your parents so much."

"Angel'll probably enjoy it too," Ivy said. "Just fair warning, he is a boy."

"Hehe, you gonna get jealous if he looks?"

Ivy frowned. "What's your fascination with us anyway?"

Zara shrugged. "What's your fascination with Quinn and me?"

"I asked you first."

"Alright, well I just think it's cute."

"So you've said," Ivy grumbled. "I don't know that I believe it."

"Why not?" Zara asked, adjusting her bikini top for the dozenth time.

"'Cause you're way too obsessed. And because we're not that cute."

"Yes you are."

"No we're not. We're just siblings. Just doing normal sibling stuff."

Zara shook her head. "I have never in my life seen siblings flirt so hard with each other."

"We do not flirt! We fight, mostly."

"That's part of it, sure," Zara said. "But you one hundred percent spend most of your time together flirting with each other. Which as I said, is cute. Now if it was more than that, it'd be a different story. But it obviously isn't, right?"

Ivy looked away, uncomfortable under that curious gaze Zara gave her, one that suggested she already knew more than she was letting on. Or maybe just suspected more.

"Obviously," Ivy said, unconvincingly.

"Uh huh. So your interest in Quinn and me?" Zara prompted.

"Pff, you know it's everyone, right? Like Mom and Dad too? It's mostly just like a familial lack of boundaries, and the fact that Quinn's gone red easier lately than I've ever seen which makes her very fun to tease."

"Well I can't argue with that," Zara said.

"And I guess, you know, she seems really happy with you," Ivy said. "So I kind of wish she wouldn't be so defensive about it."

"Aww, that's sweet."

"I'm a sweet kind of girl."

Zara fussed with her suit yet again, continuing to make Ivy question her sexuality. She looked damn good in the skimpy bikini, it had to be said.

"You really wear this in public?" Zara asked.

"Who said anything about public?" Ivy said.

"Oh. Just to make Angel feel awkward. I get it."

"That's not... shut up. Why aren't you Quinn's girlfriend?"

It was gratifying to watch Zara get momentarily flustered. "No fair asking me that while I'm so vulnerable," she said.

"You're gonna say uncomfortable things, then so am I."

Zara sighed. "We're just figuring some things out. Some of it's not my place to get into. But I really like Quinn, and I'm still working on her. It's complicated."

"Ah, so it is her that's the holdout. I thought so. Well maybe Angel and I can annoy her into your arms."

"... I'm not sure to be grateful for assistance, or incredibly leery of that offer."

"That's probably the right mix of feelings for the situation. Shall we join the others?"

Zara took a last look at herself in the mirror. "You're sure I can get away with wearing this bikini?"

"I'm sure you look good in it. I'd personally never wear it around the family of someone I was dating, or not dating, whatever it is you and Quinn are doing."

"Well then why am I--"

"But you're a braver soul than I and this shall be a fun time!" Ivy declared, dragging Zara out of the room.

"Fun for whom, exactly?" Zara grumbled.

"That's what we'll have to find out."

****

Both Angel and Quinn made an involuntary noise in their throat as Ivy and Zara came back out of the house.

"Oh my god," Quinn whispered.

"Damn," Angel agreed, taking advantage of the brief moment they had before Ivy and Zara got within earshot. "Good call on that bikini thing."

"This wasn't exactly the intention," Quinn hissed.

"She looks super hot though."

"I'm aware!"

"Ok, just making sure, 'cause you--"

"I'm confused about sex, not blind," Quinn grumbled, getting to her feet just ahead of Zara's arrival.

"Hey," Zara said a little shyly. "So I, uh...."

Quinn, wordless, took Zara's hand and started leading her away.

"Where we going?" Zara asked.

"To find a spot on the other side of the yard," Quinn said.

"Why?"

"'Cause you look stupidly hot and we don't need Angel perving on you."

"Hey!" Angel protested. "I'm a total gentleman, thank you."

"And I can perv too," Ivy said. "Don't be sexist."

Zara threw a last, blushing smile at the sibs as Quinn dragged her away even faster.

"Fuuuccck she's hot though," Angel said once he and Ivy were alone again.

"I know, right?" Ivy said.

"You were gonna wear that bikini around us?" Angel asked.

"Maybe. Definitely not now, though."

"Well don't be hasty."

"Pff, I let you feel me up one time and you get all--"

"I just think you'd look good in it," Angel said. "Nothing more."

"Uh huh. So nothing inappropriate at all?" Ivy asked.

"I would never, ever be inappropriate with you," Angel assured her while simultaneously slipping a hand back under her shirt.

"You're a real paragon of brotherhood alright," Ivy said sarcastically, but was unable to totally keep the satisfied tone out of her voice as she got felt up again.