Fantasy St. George's School for Young Hunters (closed)

[Reynarda]

Bram, on some level, agreed with Winona that Von Batts and Vlad needed to cool it with this rivalry thing, but he also genuinely hated Claudios Von Batts. He was the epitome of a stuck-up prick, but Bram wasn’t about to tell the man’s kids that.

"Excellent," Vlad said, smiling warmly at Alex. "Learning one's familial magic is an important step in the development of a young vampire."

Bram snorted and rolled his eyes. He wanted to ask what had taken them so long as he was pretty sure Vlad had been born doing his familial magic, but Vlad had assured him that all families were different and the Morales-Yates vampires seemed to take longer to develop. Bram thought that was BS, but whatever.

“No,” Bram said, waving his chopsticks ignoring Vlad's frown at his improper utensil etiquette. “That's not your job. Vlad will talk to your aunt and explain what’s at stake.”

Vlad pursed his lips. “If she will listen, which I doubt,” he muttered.

Bram muttered something in Dutch that sounded snide and Vlad shot him a look. "You are not one to speak, Abraham."

"I don't hold grudges against mine," Bram retorted.

Scarlet arched an eyebrow. She understood Dutch, but Bram's comment had made no sense to her. Still, Vlad was scowling at Bram, so she took the chance to attempt to sneak her chopsticks into his coagulated blood. No luck. He parried her attack without even glancing at her.

Devon shot Scarlet a smirk and then turned to Vlad, his eyes wide and eager. "Can I try that?"

"Certainly," Vlad said, picking a piece off with his chopsticks and depositing it on Devon's plate.

Scarlet stuck her tongue out at Devon. If she asked, she'd probably get some, too, but it was way more fun to try to steal other people's.

Devon shot Scarlet a second smirk before eating it. It was... interesting. He wasn't sure he liked the texture. The taste was good, though. It had some sort of soy-based sauce on it.

Bram smiled at Agni as the kid joined them. He seemed to be calmer. Bram understood that. He was an extrovert, himself, and thrived with the chaos that people brought. Vlad, though, often needed to be left alone to recharge. It had taken some time, but he had grown used to it. He also prided himself in being one of the people Vlad sought out when he needed to recharge. Though, the times they had spent with Bram playing a video game and Vlad reading in gentle silence were distant memories.

He chuckled at the wonton consuming and smiled at May subtly showing Agni how to eat it. It was good that Agni had May here. He might not be teased so mercilessly. Though, a little sibling infighting never hurt anyone. Except maybe Cain and Abel. Romulus and Remus. Cleopatra and like, all her siblings. Bram made a mental note not to say that out loud as the Only Child--Vlad--would correct him with those very examples.

"The Sichuan peppers?" Bram asked. He pointed at the appropriate dish. "Don't eat the peppercorns, though. Your mouth will be numb for half an hour."

"Ask him how he knows," Vlad said.

"It was a bet and I won."

 

[jones573]

"Apparently developing a reusable shapeshifting spell like her hawk form takes like, 50 years at least," Alex admitted sadly. Something about the preservation of mass, which Maria's hawk transformation very much ignored. "So I am unlikely to turn into a bird anytime soon." Which was part of the reason Agni's sudden change had surprised Alex so much- Something that was difficult for many magic users seemed like second-nature to him.

"Soy sauce," Winona prompted, and then added "Please," and Alex passed it to her. She watched Agni with his wonton curiously, and nodded sagely when he announced he had eaten it. This was apparently an acceptable outcome to her, regardless if he had liked it or not.

She wrinkled her nose at the food exchange happening between Vlad and Devon and Scarlet though. She still wasn't a big fan of blood. Drinking it warm made her think of unpleasant things, but at least it was somewhat palatable. Cold was just.... Gross.

Alex ignored whatever Bram and Vlad were trying to unsubtly discuss, but grinned when they discussed the peppers.

"I hope you won something tangible, and not just bragging rights- I can't imagine you were in much of a state to be running your mouth," he joked. "What's in your tea," he asked Agni, trying to be friendly. "I can't place the scent of it."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Agni looked at the pepper dish and wrinkled his nose. It smelled good enough, though, so he took a plate and scooped a very small amount onto it.

Bram warning him not to eat the peppercorns made him scoff though.

"I can hardly experience something like that. This body doesn't really have the capability for such high-level information processing," he explained. It was to be expected that they wouldn't really understand, though. He doubted that they had ever run into a being quite like him before. He brought the sauteed peppers to his mouth and chewed carefully.

He had spoken about his body before, briefly, but he doubted the explanation was thorough enough to make any real sense. It was a topic that was confusing for most mortal beings to understand, and guardians tended to keep their secrets close. Still, he was going to be living with them for a while, so it made sense to explain.

"It is common for mortals to think of me as a person, but that isn't entirely accurate," he said slowly, trying to think of how to explain the concept of dimensional transference to people who would never actually experience it. He showed no real reaction to the spices he was eating, and after a moment he set his plate down on the coffee table. May winced, because the way he was talking was sure to strike a nerve, so he quickly jumped in.

"He means his body is different," he said quickly, because getting into the subject of personhood was just going to frustrate everyone and ruin a perfectly good meal. Thankfull Agni seemed amicable as he nodded his head.

"This," he said, referring to himself with a sweep of his hand, "is an inanimate object. It has a part of my real body within it to act as an anchor for my consciousness, but it's not actually alive."

He hesitated. It was easiest to explain this with a demonstration, though, so he allowed one nail to grow to a sharp, pointed claw, and drew it across his forearm. He only barely winced as the flesh parted, but the wound didn't bleed. It didn't even look like a wound; there was no actual tissue or muscle beneath the skin, and instead it looked like he had cut open a silicone doll.

"There are no organs, and my ability to process sensory input is... limited. I can hear, see, and feel to an extent, but things like taste are limited to flavours I've actually experienced as myself."

May nodded his head along with his explanation, already knowing all this.

"I brought him jalapenos once as a kid, which is how he recognized the peppers," he said, and Agni nodded proudly.

"The serpent brought me many things to eat when we were children. It was a great experience to explore flavours. There were many of the so called 'date squares'," he said, and May tried not to look too guilty. It had been kind of fun as a kid to make the scary dragon eat weird things! He had gotten a kick out of the amount of power he had, and had maybe run away with it a bit.

"Anyways," May said, because the people in this room were too quick to not see past that reasoning. "The tea."

"Ah, yes." He held out the cup for Alex to get a better look. "It's a flowering moss that grows in the caves on the island. It's one of few things to exist in both realms at once. I eat the flowers, mostly, but they're toxic for mortals to eat raw, so they're dried and cultivated into a tea."

May grimaced a little at that.

"You didn't bring the raw flowers, did you?" He asked nervously, and Agni snorted.

"No. I was told that they count as a 'controlled substance' and would not make it past airport security," he said wistfully. May breathed a sigh of relief.

'Toxic' in this case meant 'makes you trip balls' and he worried Vlad would have a heart attack if he found out Agni accidentally smuggled hallucinogens into their home.

"Fix your arm," May said to change the subject, and Agni blinked as he looked down at the tear. He pinched the edges of the wound together and they sealed shut neatly.

"In any case, I don't need food or water," he said, and May stared at him. He ignored him for a moment, his shoulders hunching up before he finally sighed. "Alright, I do, but it does nothing to eat over here. Every now and then I'll have to... Leave."

He chewed his lower lip, because he hadn't wanted to mention that. He could go two months without sleeping or eating if he REALLY tried, and had been planning on taking advantage of their lack of knowledge to do that. But with May there, he knew he would be forced into a weekly meal and nap whether he liked it or not.

 

[Reynarda]

"I did," Bram announced proudly. "Somebody had to complement me every time I said his name for a whole week."

Vlad rolled his eyes. "In my defense, I did not actually think Bram would stick an entire Sichuan pepper in his mouth."

"And I didn't cry," Bram added. "Despite what someone said."

"But you could not taste anything for the rest of the day," Vlad pointed out.

"Worth it," Bram said.

As predicted, both Bram and Vlad took a breath to correct Agni that he absolutely was a person, but they both let it out as May hurried to clarify.

Vlad nodded. He was still trying to wrap his head around it, and the books the Tiger had let him borrow had been a bit vague, at best. Still, it was starting to come together.

For his part, Bram did not get it and did not like it. Why couldn't everyone just have normal bodies on one plane. Why did there always have to magic and gods and other nonsense.

"What part of your body?" Scarlet asked Agni around a piece of spicy beef. "Like... a kidney or something?"

She jumped and swore in Gaelic when he cut open his own arm.

Bram sighed. Great. Now he was going to have to explain that you don't cut open your own arm regardless of whether or not it hurt or you bled.

"That is..." Devon began. He wanted to say "messed up" but he thought he might get fussed at for that. Still, that wasn't normal. He glanced back at Bram and Vlad to confirm it wasn't normal. Both his guardians were frowning, so Devon nodded to himself. Not normal.

"'Controlled substance'?" Bram and Vlad echoed at the same time.

"What kind of controlled substance?" Bram asked with an amused smirk.

Vlad was pinching the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb, praying the raw flowers were some weird depressant and not a psychedelic. Thank goodness he had not brought them. Heaven help them if Devon, Scarlet, or Winona decided to taste Agni's tea and accidentally got the raw flowers.

"That's fine," Bram said easily when Agni explained he would have to leave to eat and sleep. Honestly, he was just glad it didn't sound like they would find Agni's body sitting empty or something creepy like that. "Just let us know before you go and give us an ETA of when you'll think you'll be back. Or text us. Does the guardian dimension have cell service?" Bram shrugged. "Whatever, just let us know."

 

[jones573]

Winona listened to Agni's explanation with obvious fascination, her focus fixed on his demonstration.

"So cool," she finished where Devon had trailed off, clearly not of the same mind as most of the others. Alex thought it was... Interesting, but it was a bit odd to see the other boy's non-existent innards. And slightly nauseating.

"Huh," he said as politely as possible.

"You could put the flowers inside," Winona said, pointing to wound that Agni had just closed. "Or anything! Like knives," she suggested, which was somewhat predictable. She seemed a bit starry eyed at the smuggling opportunities, but eventually drew herself out of her daydreams.

"Yeah, cuz you're so reachable by phone," she pointed out dryly, which wasn't entirely fair. Bram was usually responsive, except for when the person on the other end of the line was someone he wanted to avoid.

"So when are we meeting up with him," she asked, glancing at Vlad's phone, which had finally fallen still after getting caught up on the countless messages Von Batts had sent.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Agni almost looked apologetic by the way that everyone seemed shocked by his display. He knew that humans tended to find that sort of thing upsetting, but a demonstration was the easiest way to make it understandable--

But Winona seemed genuinely impressed, and he was nothing if not hungry for praise and attention.

"I have no need to put knives inside, because I can do this," he said proudly, showing off his hand melted into a single sharp blade, then split apart into fingers again. "Flowers... I can't do. I can make a look alike, but it wouldn't actually be alive."

He sounded a little disappointed by that, but May but in.

"How about you don't make parts of your body into knives, actually," he suggested, and Agni looked a little smug.

"You are jealous because you can't do it," he said, and May groaned. Winona's acceptance must have given him a bit more confidence, because now Agni was being cheeky. Great. He kind of preferred the nervousness.

"I don't need to. I can make things explode, or just. Carry a regular knife," he said dryly. Agni didn't point, but he did look a little put out, because he couldn't make things explode. But still.

"The body part is one of my horns," he said to Scarlet, figuring he should at least answer her question as an apology for startling her. "I crushed it up and infused it with my vessel. The horn itself doesn't exist anymore, but it acts as a bridge of sorts. Or... What is that thing? On the television? The thing that catches the signals."

He pursed his lips, and May raised an eyebrow.

"An antennae?" he asked, and Agni nodded.

"Yes, it is like that."

May wondered if he should tell him his metaphor was like thirty years out of date, but ultimately decided not to.

Vlad's worry about the flowers gave him pause, and he tilted his head to the side.

"Mmm. I believe it's a mild halucinogen. Apparently it brings good dreams, although it doesn't have that effect on me," he said innocently, and May sighed.

"It's not as bad as what you're thinking. It's not any worse than pot brownies," he cut in, though on second thought that wasn't really reassuring. "And the tea is fine. It makes you a bit sleepy I guess, but it's like chamomile. All good. No illegal substances in this house."

He crossed his hand over his heart and grinned, leaning back against Alex and tucking his head comfortably against his shoulder.

Agni looked to Bram and hesitated for a moment. He didn't know if he was really comfortable explaining what going to sleep entailed. If he was careful, he could hide his vessel before leaving it. The regular object was not too big, and it was inconspicuous enough.

He was alright living with these people. He had even decided that he respected some of them. But letting them know when he would be completely vulnerable was not quite a step he was ready to take.

After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders.

"This is our cell network," he said dryly, gesturing to himself, and May snorted.

"Holy sh-- crap, did you just make a joke?" he asked in surprise. Agni frowned, shifting a bit to focus more on his plate as he shoved the last of his food into his mouth. Having it mentioned just made him feel self conscious, and he realized he had maybe grown too comfortable after being praised.

"It won't happen again," he promised, but May hardly looked deterred.

"It only took you like eighteen years to get a sense of humour. I'm impressed, honestly," he laughed, and Agni did not bury his face into his hands, although he very much wanted to.

"Who are you referring to?" he asked curious about the mystery 'he' Winona had mentioned. He quickly realized it was a bit of an overstep though, and quickly looked back at his food. "Pardon me, that wasn't my place to ask. Please don't feel obligated to answer."

 

[Reynarda]

Bram was highly amused of the idea of storing things inside of Agni’s limbs even though it also weirded him out.

“Or snacks,” Bram added, since Winona had already thought of knives.

But then Agni was transforming himself into weapons.

“It’s like that one superhero,” Bram said, his tone impressed. “Guess the Tiger wasn’t kidding about him being hardy,” he added quietly to Vlad.

Scarlet nodded, figuring asking if cutting off his horn had hurt was probably taking it too far. Besides, his metaphor was funny. “Or like a satellite dish,” she added.

Vlad did not stop pinching the bridge of his nose. Not when Agni confirmed his fears and not when May assured him it was like pot brownies.

Bram elbowed his companion. “Nothing illegal here.”

At first, Bram thought Winona was talking to Vlad, but then he realized she was talking to him. He frown at her, a little confused as to why she would say something like that. The only time he didn't texted back quickly was when he was asleep.

But he was quickly distracted by Agni’s joke. “Ugh, no! Don’t tell me you do puns, too! Vlad’s puns are the worst.”

“You laugh at my puns,” Vlad said, sounding slightly affronted.

“Pity laugh.”

“‘He’ is Claudios von Batts, the Chairman of the Vampire Council of Elders,” Vlad answered Agni. “That is the governing body of vampires.”

Devon briefly wondered why Vlad didn’t add that the chairman was also his and Winona’s birth-father. But then he remembered the weird conversation they had had at the restaurant on Dominica and realized Vlad probably wasn’t in the mood to explain birth-fathers to Agni.

“Don’t worry, if he doesn’t want to answer you, he won’t,” Bram stage-whispered to Agni.

“And there is no ‘we’,” Vlad continued as if Bram had not spoken. “I will meet with him tomorrow to explain the newest developments.”

 

[jones573]

If Winona was fascinated by Agni's earlier demonstration, she was positively entranced by his latest display.

"Can Maria teach me how to do that," she demanded of Alex- Not that she presumed it to be something Maria could do and not Vlad.... Just that if either of them could do it, only one of them might be willing to show her.

"Uh.... It's not something I've ever seen her do, so probably not," he replied.

She frowned slightly, but it deepened at Vlad's response.

"Well of course they aren't all coming," she agreed, looking around the room at large. "But Devon and I are." She paused and then allowed, "If he wants to."

Alex found it hard to tell sometimes, if Winona's obtuseness came naturally or if it was deliberate.

"I don't like people talking about me when I'm not there," she said evenly, in a rare display of directness. "So if you don't want me to come, you can try to stop me."

Deliberate this time, then, Alex thought, and decided to be interested in his food instead.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

"I don't know if mortals are capable," Agni said, sounding just a bit smug that there was something that he could do that nobody else could do. He even nodded along with Scarlet's satelite dish comment.

He did shrink a bit though. He hadn't expected his joke to get that much attention.

"I don't joke," he said firmly, because he was a serious individual who should be taken seriously.

But then Winona /demanded/, rudely, to be taken along with Vlad on whatever errand he was running, and Agni felt his stomach bottom out. He froze in place, and turned wide eyes from her to the vampire in horror.

He almost expected him to hit her. Not because he seemed like the kind of person who would, but because it was an appropriate reaction to such blatant disrespect to an elder. If he spoke like that to some of the other guardians there would be broken bones at the very least. For a second he was terrified for her, and opened his mouth as if to apologize on her behalf.

But-- There didn't seem to be any blow incoming, and he remembered that he did not understand the culture here as well as he did back with his own kind. His mouth snapped shut and he clenched his fists tightly into the legs of his pants.

Bram's reassurance that Vlad would just refuse to answer his questions if he didn't want to confused him further, but at least it cemented that things were, indeed, very different here. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He had been very relaxed so far, being surrounded by beings his own age for once, but he still couldn't imagine acting so freely with somebody older than him.

"It was still inappropriate to ask of your private affairs," he said blankly. Normally he would make an apologetic gesture here, but he doubted these people would appreciate or understand it, so he stayed where he was.

May looked down at him and frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something but wasn't entirely sure what, and eventually he just shifted uncomfortably. He remembered the business card in his pocket, and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

"I actually have to go out tomorrow too," he said with a raise of his hand. "If you're driving, I wouldn't mind a ride."

 

[Reynarda]

If one child with the ability to literally turn themselves into a weapon was bad enough, two would be way worse--especially when one of those two was Winona. It would have been cool on an intellectual level, but on a practical level, Bram was glad that didn't seem to be something Maria could teach her. Also because Maria teaching WInona how to do something dangerous would further improve Vlad's mood.

As it was, Winona's demanding to attend this meeting made Bram sigh.

"Believe it or not," Vlad said coolly, "we are not meeting to talk about you. I am going to defend my reasons for going to Dominca, which does not concern you. If I talk about anyone, it will be May or Agni."

Vlad set his plate down and leaned back against Bram's chair. "If you want to come and sit and listen to politics, you are more than welcome."

Bram shifted slightly. He was fairly sure Vlad would also be announcing that he was building a new home which would certainly stir the pot. But after a second he realized that telling Winona she was welcome would probably make coming less appealing.

"Or we could invite him here," Vlad added.

Bram groaned. He couldn't help it. Claudios von Batts always surveyed their home like he had seen landfills he would rather spend time in. And he usually went out of his way to insult the size of the house, the furniture, the china, the decor (or lack thereof), whatever. Plus it would be viewed as a power move on Vlad’s part.

 

[jones573]

Winona rolled her eyes at Vlad's explanation. "Sure, me and Devon aren't going to come up at all then," she said dryly. She didn't like to think of herself as self-centered, but she very much doubted that May and Agni were really what her father was interested in talking about- Well, maybe he did, but she couldn't see him being interested in them in isolation, instead of as a topic that related to his own children.

But Vlad agreed she could come, and she nodded affirmatively. Even if they only all sat there and said nothing, she could probably get at least a muffin out of the outing.

She wrinkled her nose at the idea of Von Batts coming to the townhouse though.

"But May has to go out too," she countered.

"I've got a car," Alex pointed out. Bram and Vlad were not the only (licensed) drivers available- He forgot if Scarlet had a license, but he sort of doubted it. "I'd be happy to take you," he offered May. "What's the errand?"

 

[Mikotsuhime]

The conversation seemed to have shifted seamlessly. Vlad had sounded a little annoyed, but he hadn't lashed out. Clearly some level of disrespect was tolerated here. It was good to know, but also made things so much more confusing.

In any case, it seemed that the councilman was going to discuss Agni and May, so he shifted a bit to sit straighter in his chair.

"If it is alright, as part of our own elder council, I would like to meet the vampire chaiman," he said, going for a tone of confidence and propriety and hoping it didn't cross over into haughty arrogance. Humans and mortal species were far more sensitive to tone than his kind were. It made the matter of proper respect even more confusing, but he'd get it.

May stiffened for only a moment when Alex offered to drive him.

Right. He hadn't actually explained things yet, had he?

It had been an accident, mostly. His own lifespan had always been known by his family and friends, and it was only recently that he remembered that Alex didn't know. And then he had waffled on how to tell him, and...

He couldn't lie about it, though. Lying was the surefire easiest way to ruin his relationship.

"It's... a doctor's appointment, basically," he said slowly. "With an alchemist. Normal doctors can treat me like they would anybody else, but she's gonna just do a checkup to see how my body is doing. I used to have one every few years or so as a kid."

Agni glanced at him, then hummed his agreement.

"A wise idea. The serpent's partial awakening may have affected your body's magical structure," he suggested, and May half-glared at him. He was trying to put everyone's mind at ease, and that wasn't helping.

"Besides, I think it would be better if I wasn't here anyways. Batman doesn't really like me much, I don't think," he said to change the subject.

"Why?" Agni asked, part curious and part suspicious. May tried not to sweat under the scrutiny.

"I mean... I kind of blew up his house once?" he said, and Agni made a noise like a very angry and startled animal.

"You what," he said in shock and disbelief, and May put his hands up in his defence.

"Not his whole house though. Only a little bit."

 

[Reynarda]

"I can take him," Bram piped up, seeing the out.

It was too fast and Vlad shot him a displeased look. The plan had been fine when it was just Vlad sneaking off to update Von Batts on their new kid and also probably give him the full story of everything that had happened in Transylvania and also Dominica. And he adored the glint Vlad got in his eye when he was trapping an opponent in a verbal contest, but he really, really hated sitting there and waiting for one of the posturing vampires to just jump at the other already. They never did and it was so annoying. It made Bram want to bash their heads together.

"Alex can take May," Vlad said.

"What if there's a problem with our insurance?" Bram countered, too late realizing the alchemist probably wasn't in network. They may have a insurance company typically used by supernaturals, but he doubted an alchemist would be counted as a medical doctor.

Vlad frowned, but Bram had thought up a better reason he should go. "I can talk to the alchemist. Get some tips for uh... keeping May in tip-top shape."

Vlad tapped his fingers on his knee, realizing that Bram meant he was going to pull the alchemist aside and ask her if there was anything they could do to extend May's life. "Yes, that may be a good idea."

"All my ideas are good ideas," Bram said cheerfully.

Vlad arched an eyebrow. "Was not blowing up part of Claudios' house your idea?"

"That was a great idea," Bram said, shooting May a wink, "but I think it was May's. Besides, it was to rescue your sorry ass, so I don't see why you're being snarky about it."

Devon shifted slightly. He hadn't spoken up. He had so many mixed feelings. On the one hand, he loved his father and wanted to spend time with him. On the other, he hated that his birth-father disliked his adoptive family. Bram had once pointed out that giving him and Winona into their care really only showed that he trusted Vlad and cared for his kids. But Devon wasn't sure that helped much. But he also figured also going along to May's alchemist appointment might be weird, so he stayed quiet. Maybe he could just hide in the basement and let Winona be the annoying attention-starved kid she was, anyway.

Nodding to himself as he planned out the following day, Vlad shifted his eyes to Agni. "Yes, you can meet him." His lips quirked up ever so slightly. "I think Claudios would be delighted to have more people join our meeting."

Which meant Von Batts would be the opposite of delighted, Bram knew. He chuckled. "Don't worry, May, Claudios doesn't like most of us."

"Speak for yourself," Scarlet said with mock affront.

Bram rolled his eyes. He was fairly sure that Claudios von Batts was the first one to declare Scarlet a disgrace and demand Vlad get rid of her. "Ah, yes, forgive me. Claudios loves Scarlet, who is basically Vlad but with less planning and more chaos."

Scarlet nodded. "You know it."

 

[jones573]

Winona had laid awake all night. She liked her little room, with her window that gave her a clear view of anyone approaching the house and her light shaped like the moon and she didn't want to move to someplace new.

But she had also been prepared to not return to her little room, so. Or she was pretty sure she hadn't, at least. When she had said she was leaving, she had meant it. It was only because of.... Everything going wrong that it hadn't worked out that way.

And everything had gone wrong because she was stupid and a failure and couldn't do anything right-

But also everyone else was very stupid too and-

And Juriaan was still alive and May was going to die and Claudios was going to make everything worse and everybody hated her and Agni and the guardians were going to collapse the world and Winona was never going to be free and she made Devon's life worse and-

"Morning sleepyhead," Alex greeted her cheerfully when she trudged downstairs. "You actually sleep in today for once?"

"The travel-plane lag thing," she said irritably. She was usually an early riser. She glared at him until he moved one of his half a dozen notebooks from the kitchen table, and she sat down with a bowl of cereal and some coconut milk that someone had had the presence of mind to move from the pantry to the fridge. The cereal was mostly just the powder at the end of the bag with maybe half a cup of actual crisped rice- They really needed to go grocery shopping.

"Sorry," he apologized for the spread. "Wanted to take advantage of the space before- You know."

"Before you go hide in your room to avoid my father," she guessed.

"Exactly," he agreed with a sigh. He wasn't avoiding the Councilor... He just didn't really want to interact with him. He had almost suggested to Agni that meeting Claudios wasn't really necessary and wouldn't he rather go on a tour of the town? Or at least the park a few blocks over? Except he also didn't really want to be alone with Agni, and he felt weird trying to get Devon to come with since he didn't really know where the younger boy stood with his father so.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Agni had spent most of the night in the basement, curled up in a corner of the room as he considered the situation and how he was going to move forward. Not needing to sleep was a little awkward in a house full of beings who did, but it wasn't too bad. It gave him a lot of time to think.

May, on the other hand, was glad for the chance to sleep in. If it hadn't been for his appointment, he would likely have stayed in bed until past noon. He yawned as he followed after Winona down the stairs, his eyes only half-open and his hair dishevelled. He was wearing an old tie-die t-shirt that he'd grabbed from his dad's place when they were on the island, along with a pink and white spotted cardigan, and the fuzziest pair of slippers he owned. Being in the island had been like being in his element, and now that they were back in the states, everything felt cold again.

"Morning," he mumbled as he made his way to the coffee pot, though he paused and backtracked a few steps so he could kiss Alex on the cheek as he went by.

He busied himself with the coffee, adding an indecent amount of sugar and cream to his cup before he felt human enough to actually think about things.

"You can come with Bram and I if you don't want to be here," he suggested. He was a little nervous about how that would turn out, but it would be better than Alex feeling like he had to hide all day. He had a feeling that whatever Claudios was going to discuss with Vlad and Agni would be more boring than anything, but who knew these days.

Speaking of the little dragon--

May tilted his head to the side as he peered in the direction of the basement stairs, hearing footsteps and the sound of Agni's voice coming closer. When the other boy actually emerged, May couldn't help but gawk a little.

For one thing, he was wearing glasses. May wasn't certain it was possible to need glasses when your body was just a puppet controlled by magic with no biological functions, but thinking about that gave him a headache so he shelved it. For another thing, he was using a cell phone, and holding an ipad of all things as he spoke.

An ipad.

May didn't know he knew what a computer was.

"Tell them that the road maintenance is more important," he said, continuing a conversation with someone who May was pretty sure was Henri. He couldn't think of anyone else who would actually have Agni's phone number. Though, with the time difference, it made sense. It would be the middle of the afternoon in Domina, after all.

May couldn't hear Henri's reply as Agni tucked his phone against his shoulder and fished his tin of tea out of the cupboard where he had stored it the night before, but by the way that Agni's nose scrunched up, he imagined it wasn't positive.

"I understand, but if we bring it up-- Yes, I know. I'll figure out a way to get around the power issue, but for now you should use the funds available to get construction started."

May stared, because Agni looked entirely too awake and put together for this hour, but he supposed that made sense when he didn't have to sleep. He was wearing something a bit more formal than the night before, his shirt bright red silk with the embroidery of a dragon on the back. It complimented his hair nicely, which was pinned back into place with a gold, ruby-encrusted ornament. He at least was only wearing one ring.

He was also trying to fill the kettle with one hand so he didn't have to put his ipad down, and May gaped at him for only a moment before he took the kettle so it didn't get dropped.

Agni gave him a grumpy look, but he was too distracted by his phone call to say anything about it.

"In that case, start work directly; the monthly meeting is in a few weeks, and if they have objections, they can bring it up then," Agni said, sounding a little annoyed, but he was being surprisingly level headed. May had never seen him deal with a problem by doing anything other than shouting at it before, so it was a little weird.

"Yes, that will be acceptable. I'll email you the maintenance plan and the budget, so look it over and tell me if you have anything to add. Good day, Henrietta."

He paused to grab his phone and hung up, exhaling heavily while May stared at him like he had two heads.

"I didn't know you could use a phone," he commented, and Agni gave him another grumpy look.

"I've been living here long enough to know that much," he grunted, then frowned and scooted closer. "Your hair is a mess. Don't you have an appointment today? Oh, also, good morning..."

He frowned, trying to think of a way to address Alex and Winona that didn't involve names, but also wasn't rude.

"...Youngest daughter, and serpent's boyfriend," he settled on finally, while May pushed him away before he could conjure up a comb and try to groom him or something.

 

[Reynarda]

"Good morning!" Bram practically sang as he walked into the already full kitchen. "Did you see my tulips? I found them! They're by the walkway this year."

Vlad had had some tulips imported from Holland when they had first moved in, and Bram was very proud of them. However, thanks to Vlad's magic, they had a habit of moving around each year so that the location they decided to sprout in was always a game of hide-and-seek. They would be dug up and coming with them along with the silver fir in the back yard that had no right to be growing in this climate.

"How'd everyone sleep?" he asked, ruffling May's hair, tugging a strand of Alex's hair, and squeezing Winona's shoulder as he passed. He glanced at Agni, who sounded more like a civil engineer than the weird kid they brought home the day before. He shrugged and opened up the fridge.

"Yikes. I think we'll hit up the grocery store on our way home." He glanced back at Alex. "Yeah, come with! I'll be fun. We'll probably stop for lunch, too. Whoever wants to avoid vampire posturing is welcome."

Grumbling, Bram stuck some bread Vlad had had the presence of mind to stick in the fridge before they left into the toaster. It still had some suspicious spots, but he just cut those out. Then he pulled some bacon from the freezer and stuck it in the microwave to defrost before adding more water and coffee grounds and starting the coffee maker.

Someone darted past the kitchen door, but they didn't fool a seasoned vampire slayer.

"Scarlet! You get your ass back here!" Bram called.

Scarlet peeked sheepishly around the door. "Hey."

"Show me what you're hiding."

"Bram," Scarlet pleaded. "Please don't make me do this."

Bram kicked out an empty chair. "No. You get to see his face this time. Sit."

Scarlet had heard of lot of Bram's firm final tone recently and she wasn't liking it. He was angry, but in the weird way that he got quietly angry when Vlad was concerned.

"Bram," she tried again, looking pointedly at all the others in the kitchen.

"Sit," Bram repeated. "You're going to handle this like an adult."

Avoiding everyone's eyes, she hefted the small backpack she had been hiding behind the door frame over her shoulder and walked into the kitchen. Keeping her eyes on the floor, she sat.

Devon turned up several minutes later, not saying anything. The jet lag had confused the crap out of his body. All he knew was he was hungry.

"I'm thawing some bacon," Bram told Devon.

Nodding, Devon sat at the already crowded table. He glanced at Scarlet, who looked like she was waiting to be executed.

Vlad finally appeared, looking far more put together than he usually did at this hour. That was largely due to the impending Von Batts invasion, Bram supposed. He was dressed more casually than if he had been going out--though, this just meant black jeans and a vest instead of a suit--which would reinforce this was his home.

Vlad swept his eyes over his family until they fell on Scarlet. And her backpack.

Bram didn't look. He knew what would happen. He had seen it so many times before. He could see the realization dawn in Vlad's eyes as his pleasant neutral expression cracked. And the instant of of agony that would slide across his best friend's face before it disappeared behind ice.

He didn't need to see it, but Scarlet did. Because she avoided it every time. Because until now she had done it on purpose.

"Vlady," Scarlet started.

Instantly Vlad turned his back to the rest of the kitchen and, folding his arms across his chest, became engrossed in the percolating coffee.

Devon looked between them, having no idea what was going on.

Scarlet cast about for the words. "I--look, it's not you, it's not this." She waved at the group around the table. "It's... me. I need--the bad guys are defeated, you're moving. I'm--I, uh I need--"

"I'm not stopping you," Vlad said, his voice toneless.

"It's not--It's not like the other times," Scarlet said quickly. "I'm not doing this--"

"You're nearly one hundred years old, you can make your own decisions."

Scarlet stood and reached for his shoulder. "Vlad--"

He went rigid. "Please don't touch me."

Scarlet jerked her hand back like he'd electrocuted her.

"Vlad," Bram said softly.

"I'm not doing this to hurt you," Scarlet said, her voice rising in pitch and volume. "And it's not your fault! I just need some space! I'm coming back--I swear, I'm coming back. I still want my room in the new house. Please, Vlad. I'm not trying to hurt you this time."

"Intent is not always reality," Vlad said after a few tense seconds, his voice and stance softer.

"I know," Scarlet said miserably. "This time was really good. I got to learn some familial magic and meet all my baby siblings. I don't--I don't want this to be like the other times."

Turning, Vlad pulled her into a fierce hug. She hugged back. The damp against her hair would be their little secret.

"You'll visit? I not going to have to come bail you out?"

Scarlet sniffed so as not to get snot on his vest. "No promises on not needing to be bailed out, but I'll visit. When's the neighborhood cookout? I'll come for that."

Vlad leaned back so he could frown at her. "No self-destruction?"

Scarlet wiped her eyes. "Scout's honor."

Bram sighed. That had gone a lot better than he had thought it would. He guessed Vlad had probably known it was coming. This was the longest Scarlet had stayed with them in years. Each time she left, it hurt Bram deeply, but he didn't blame himself like Vlad did.

He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Stay and finish breakfast, at least. Then we can give you a proper send off."

Scarlet nodded and returned to her seat. "Can I have some coffee, then?"

Bram added a generous amount of the blood goo he kept in a squeeze ketchup bottle labeled "NOT ketchup" to both Vlad's and Scarlet's coffees. He thought about adding some alcohol to his own coffee. This was going to be a long day, he could feel it.

Devon finally found his voice. "You're leaving?"

Scarlet sighed. "Yeah. It's not because I don't love all of you. But I'm kinda like your adult big sister. I need to be out on my own, doing things. I stayed for a few months and got to know you all." She tapped her fingers on the table. "And something about seeing all of you and interacting as a family... I dunno." Scarlet shrugged. "Changed some things, I guess. Had to look outside myself."

 

[jones573]

Alex blushed when May kissed his cheek, and tidied up his papers and laptop so the others could have some space.

"Or, I could get groceries while you go the appointment," he suggested. Grocery shopping didn't actually need to be a multi-person outing.

"...How do you feel about nicknames," Alex asked Agni, because the titles thing was probably going to keep getting weirder, and he, Win, Bram and Vlad all already answered to a shortened version of their actual name as it was.

His attention shifted pretty quickly to Scarlet though. And then trying to ignore her conversation with Vlad. It was obviously very personal, and he suddenly found some very important reshuffling of his papers that needed immediate doing.

Winona had such reservations about intruding, and openly watched with narrowed eyes. Scarlet had told her off about being a lone wolf and burning bridges.... And now she was just leaving? And Bram and Vlad were okay with it?

Well. Bram seemed significantly more okay with it than Vlad. But neither were raising a big stink about it.

A part of her- that sounded a lot like Alex, when he was making a 'reasonable point' about something- acknowledged that Scarlet was much older than her, and had actual experience living on her own for more than two weeks. And that Scarlet was promising to stay in contact and visit.

Winona glared at Alex, who was oblivious to both her annoyance with him and what had caused it.

"Well, stay in touch," he told Scarlet genially. "Oh! I'm gonna shoot you my parents' numbers," he offered, pulling out his phone to do so. "If you're ever in Georgia and need a place to stay, I'm sure you'd be welcome."

Admittedly she had crashed his mother New Year's party and brought danger with her, but that hadn't really been her fault and they didn't hold grudges for it. He texted her their housekeeper's number as well, since his parents weren't even there half the time and Melissa complained that she hated cooking for just herself almost as much as she hated single serving microwave meals.

"Sure, stay in touch," Winona echoed because she wasn't great at coming up with appropriate things to say without a bit of warning first.

She supposed she wasn't really surprised that Scarlet was leaving- If anything it was probably more surprising that she hadn't left sooner. And she shouldn't be surprised by Vlad and Devon's reaction, but it still bugged her. Why did they have to take everything so personally?

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Agni scrunched up his nose at the idea of nicknames.

It felt very familiar, and he wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with it. But on the other hand, it didn't hold the same weight as a given or chosen name. Or maybe it did. Nicknames were often affectionate, were they not? There were feelings behind them, so it would be just as inappropriate to use one without the proper level of closeness and intimacy. But he was asking? So perhaps the same rules didn't apply.

Except the rules were entirely arbitrary and determined by his own comfort level rather than any cultural standard. His cheeks flushed as he quickly turned to busy himself with his tea.

May raised his eyebrows, because that was a bit weird and not an answer, but he decided not to say anything.

Especially because Scarlet was coming down the stairs, and the emotional meeting that followed was far more important than anything that had happened beforehand.

She was leaving.

May wasn't really sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, she was an adult and had every right to go wherever she wanted. On the other hand, the only experience he ever had with a close friend leaving was with the little dragon standing awkwardly in the kitchen behind them. He still wasn't completely comfortable with how that had ended up, and was still a little hurt by it.

Scarlet said she would visit. She wasn't just abandoning them.

But he didn't know how long she would be gone. He swallowed dryly, because he didn't actually know if he would still be around by the time she came back. Nikola's pushing towards the alchemist had him feeling that he might not be around as long as he had first anticipated, and also five years was nothing to a vampire. What if she just didn't come back?

Anxiety was crawling in his stomach, but he couldn't show it. Vlad was already upset and stressed out, so May had no right to make it any worse.

Once she and Vlad had parted, he tapped her on the arm and then pulled her into a hug himself.

"It was really good getting to know you, Scarlet," he said, making his voice even. "I hope you go out and do crazy stuff so you have fun stories to tell when you get back."

He pulled back, because he wasn't sure entirely how comfortable she was with him, but he had really grown attached to everyone in the household. Even if it had just been a few months, she was a friend.

Agni, on the other hand, had practically plastered himself to the back wall the instant that the emotional stuff had started. He clutched his ipad tightly over his chest, trying not to look at Vlad or Scarlet but not knowing where he should look. He wanted to flee into the back yard, but that would be drawing attention to himself, and it would be selfish to do that. This wasn't about him.

But it was a family thing, and he had no idea what he was supposed to say or do. He had never had an emotional, hard conversation before. He had seen this sort of thing vaguely on television, but he had no actual experience. Was his input necessary? He didn't think it was. He didn't know Scarlet nearly well enough to say anything. He wished he wasn't there.

He noticed his left hand turning transparent and he quickly forced it back to normal. God, his emotions were influencing his form too much lately. Maybe he needed to sleep sooner than he'd thought, though it had only been a month since he slept last, and there was too much work to be done here and elsewhere to do so now.

Once the sadness seemed to have receded, he slowly peeled away from the corner and snatched his teacup.

 

[Reynarda]

Scarlet closed her eyes as May collided with her. This was so much worse. If Bram had just let her sneak out, she would have been able to believe they wouldn't care about her absence. This was painful to do.

Before it had been about control. About being the one to cause pain before they could. Because there had been no way that the vampire whose blood had turned her would actually care two figs about her. But he had, and that had been confusing. At first she thought it was manipulation, and then she thought it was guilt, but it wasn't any of those things. It hadn't been fair. She was so, so angry at him for letting himself get caught. He was the reason she was this way. She had wanted to hurt him back for doing this to her. Figuring out how to do that had been easy. But then being on her own sucked, so she had done something to get his attention. And that had felt good. Upending his life had been so, so satisfying. And then leaving felt great. And so this cycle continued for decades. Each time, that gnawing need was satisfied when Bram would lose his patience and yell at her for sending Vlad into a spiral. Both of them knew exactly what she was doing but were powerless to stop trying to help her. Being erratic and beyond help had felt so good.

But then she spiraled when she hadn't been planning to, and she had needed help, but they had new people in their lives. New kids. Kids who were just as messed up as she was. Just as messed up as Bram and Vlad were. And Bram's dad had come after them, and it had changed everything. She had been getting tired of playing the game where she would leave and be unreachable for ages and then get herself in trouble so they would come running. But then all these other people had been here, and she had had to look out for them.

And that. That had felt good. Better than being in control. Better than making them hurt. Because they had liked her, and she had been sort of like an older sister. Just like with the younger kids back in Germany.

But now she needed to leave. She needed to go out and try at being stable. She had a little studio apartment up north. Maybe she'd get a cat. She might even turn up a little shame-faced to the turned vampire support group she'd been going to before Jurriaan Leeuwen had found her.

But this. This was hard. "I'll do so many crazy things," she promised May as he pulled back. "Just for you. I'll send you post cards, how about that?"

She smiled at Alex. "Thanks. And you all can text me. I answer better than Vlad does. Oh! Or you could always visit."

Scarlet grabbed the shopping list off the fridge and began writing an address.

"I do not think you want to return there to stay," Vlad said evenly. "Your Christmas card returned to us with threats from your landlord, which prompted Bram to have a phone conversation with him."

"Yikes." Scarlet side-eyed Bram. "What'd he say?"

"Personally, I just wanted to know when you'd last paid rent, but he got rude and threatened to send the police after us," Bram said with a shrug. "And then Vlad threatened to kill him."

"I did not," Vlad said. "I implied that he should change his tone before I found a reason to go all the way up to New Jersey to visit him since I now knew his home address."

"Like I said." Bram draped his arm across the back of Vlad's chair. "Vlad threatened to kill him. We bought out your lease, though."

"You didn't have to do that," Scarlet sighed.

"But you knew we would," Bram said, his tone matter-of-fact. "You could go south. We still have that apartment in New Orleans."

Vlad shook his head. "Anita is using it while she studies."

"It's a two bedroom, they can share. And Nita likes Scarlet."

Scarlet made a face. She liked the werewolf side of the family, she really did, but she was about 90% sure that apartment was haunted. But it sounded like a good start. Anyway, she was pretty sure Anita was in residency, now, so they probably wouldn't get in each other's way.

Scarlet glanced around at the table. She knew she was just delaying the inevitable at this point. Taking a deep breath, she let it out. "Well, I better get to the bus station."

Scarlet stood and collected her backpack.

Bram let out a breath. The nice thing about living in the moment was that until Scarlet actually left, he didn't have to be upset. Her leaving was something that would happen later. He wasn't like Vlad who immediately started thinking about what would happen or--worse--the what-ifs. Bram didn't bother with what-ifs. That was not how it had happened, so there was no use dwelling on it. The future was distant. It was later. Now is what mattered. Now she was leaving. But later he would forget. He would forget she wasn't there and order twice as much blood as they needed. He would count heads and panic, trying to figure out who they left and where they were. He would find something she left and yell for her to get it.

Bram gave her a quick but strong hug. "You take care of yourself. Text if you need anything."

Vlad nodded stiffly, but she pulled him into another hug.

Stepping back, Scarlet was then hugged by Devon. "Hey, kid, keep taking those funny videos, okay?"

"I'll tag you in all of them," Devon promised.

Scarlet paused, glancing over at Winona. "Hey, Baby Sis. You keep an eye on these two." She nodded to Bram and Vlad. "They can't keep out of trouble to save their lives."

 

[jones573]

Winona continued with her cereal. Was she supposed to hug Scarlet? Was that weird? Was it weirder for her to not get up at all?

"Well, that's not a high standard," Alex joked when Scarlet said she texted back more regularly than Vlad. He stood and shook her hand.

Winona stood up as well because it seemed like the right thing to do. She gave Scarlet a nod. "Good luck." She considered Scarlet's advice, cocking her head to the side in consideration. "Yeah, I know."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May grinned, deciding that if they were going to part on a happy note, he was ok with that.

“Post cards would be cool. Find some really funny ones if you can,” he said. He wondered if he should joke about the inappropriate ones he often found at gas stations that made fart jokes and stuff, but decided Vlad would likely not let him put those on the fridge if he brought it up. Maybe if it was spontaneous.

He wondered if he should go in for a hand shake as well as a huge when Alex did it, but ultimately just gave a smiling salute like he was a sea captain seeing somebody off.

“We can even do phone calls. Or zoom meetings,” he suggested as she was on her way out.

Agni stayed as close to the wall of the kitchen as possible for as long as Scarlet was in the room, then slowly began to relax. He brought his teacup to his lips and was very happy his hands weren’t shaking. He could just pretend like that had never happened, and go about the day as normal.

He was secretly pleased that Winona seemed as uncomfortable and lost as he was, though. It was nice knowing he wasn’t the only one drowning in a social situation.

 

[Reynarda]

Scarlet smiled at May’s salute and Alex’s handshake. And Winona’s acknowledgement. That was something, at least. She would be fine. They would all be fine.

“Yeah, definitely,” she told May. “We can FaceTime with all of us.”

Bram and Vlad followed her into the hall and stood in the doorway. For all the world, they looked like a couple seeing their college kid off. She turned and gave one last wave before taking a little hop-skip.

And running down the street, was quickly gone around the corner and out of sight.

“Are you all right?” Vlad asked, his voice soft.

“Are you?” Bram countered stiffly.

“That does not answer my question.”

Bram sighed. “No. What time is it? Crap. I don’t want to pass his lordship on the road. I might be tempted to run over his little Mercedes with my truck.”

“Our insurance is high enough, Abraham,” Vlad sighed as he closed the door. “Well, yours is. I have a perfect record.”

“Only because you drive like a grandmother.” Bram turned back around, glad for the bickering. It was good. It was normal. It gave him a chance to compose himself. “May! We should probably head out. You have the address, right?”

Bram glanced over at Alex. “You’re welcome to do whatever. I can send you with a grocery list but I do also like to grocery shop, so if you want to come, you can.”

“Get vegetables.”

“Yes, Dev? You staying or going?”

Devin hesitated. He hadn’t seen his father in a while, and after interacting with Bram’s dad, he sort of wanted to talk to his own father. It was... complicated, but he thought he needed to do it. “I’ll stay. Can you grab my chips, though?”

“Great, I’m a third wheel.”

“Feel my pain,” Vlad called from the kitchen, where he was making even more coffee—though this time with a French press.

“Better than third-wheeling for you and Claudios,” Bram called. “Toss me my keys.”

Leaning out of the kitchen, Vlad threw the keys at him. Bram caught them with a snicker.

“We ready?”

Devon returned to the kitchen and sat back down at the table. “When is he supposed to get here?”

Vlad was watching the kettle boil like he wanted to disprove the old adage with empirical evidence. “In fifteen minutes.”

Devon glanced over at Agni. “Uh. We should probably mention that Council Chair Claudios von Batts is Winona’s and my dad. Like um... our real dad? Well, our biological dad. We... you know... came from him, but now Bram and Vlad are our guardians. Which is—oh! Like May’s dad did. May isn’t his biological kid, but he’s still May’s dad.”

Devon frowned. That probably made no sense. He glanced at Vlad. “Why does our dad want to meet with you? Did we do something wrong?”

That got Vlad’s attention. He turned from the kettle. “No. He wants to know what has happened. I suggested meeting as it was easier.”

“Yes, you said.” Devon hesitated. He couldn’t imagine his father just wanted to be caught up on what they had all been up to.

Interpreting Devon’s expression, Vlad smiled gently. “This is his way of checking up on you two. He wants to make sure you are being properly cared for.”

Devon sighed. Maybe it was true, but sometimes he felt like he and Winona were caught in the middle of a century’s worth of hatred and political maneuvering.

 

[jones573]

"Eh, I'll come with and we can get groceries after," Alex decided. "I don't want to shoulder the blame if I get the wrong Triscuits," he joked.

"Just get the regular ones," Winona said with narrowed eyes. "And not the tomato ones."

"Okay, definitely the tomato ones," Alex joked, piling his things from the table into his bookbag and grabbing his jacket. "Uh- Have a good time?" That seemed the wrong thing to say. "Good luck," he tried instead, patting both Winona and Devon on their shoulders and giving Vlad a nod before following Bram out to the truck.

"Yeah, that's all he's interested in," Winona muttered mostly to herself, rinsing out her cereal bowl and putting it in the dishwasher. "I'm gonna change," she announced. She was currently wearing joggers and an oversized sweater, and was presumably going to swap it for jeans and an oversized sweater. Maybe a bra and socks if she was really feeling formal- She might have dressed 'nice' if they were meeting someplace, but he was coming here and she didn't want him to think they were standing on ceremony for him.

Maybe she should have left the cereal bowl on the counter.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May nodded enthusiastically. He had entered the address into his phone GPS earlier just so that he was certain that they wouldn't get lost or anything. It was apart of town he wasn't overly familiar with - similar to Gabe's neighbourhood, but on the south side of the city. A lot of fancy white picket fences and homeowner's associations that dictated the exactly length your grass needed to be down to the millimetre.

He hopped into the truck, pulling himself up with the little handle bars in the cab because the cab was so high.

"Pick up trucks are so cool in theory, but annoying in practice," he grumbled as he settled into the back. He was the shortest, so it made sense he'd sit in the back seat. At least he didn't try and squeeze in the middle. "I have tiny little legs, this is ridiculous. I think you should get a second car. Like. A prius or something."

He had a feeling Bram would rather die, but it was fun to bring it up anyways.

It was late enough in the morning that rush hour traffic had thinned out, and even though the Alchemist's place was pretty far away, it didn't take too long to get there. The large condominium was white and shiny, with a manicured lawn and a couple of families with kids running around. Their truck got quite a few stares as they found the visitor's parking, and May was starting to doubt this was like Gabe's neighbourhood after all. Back there, people were rich but mostly minded their own business, and only looked down their nose at you. Here, he could tell that there would be gossip.

The security guard looked up at them as they entered, and May couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as he explained who he was here to see. They had to write their names and phone numbers in a check in book, which was weird, and then were directed to an elevator. On seventh floor there was a neat, perfect hallway that led to a crisp white door near the end. May double checked the unit number, and tried to grin about the cute little floral sign about visiting hours that hung from the door knocker.

He felt very firmly out of his element when he rang the doorbell. After a moment the buzzer rang, and a woman's voice answered them.

"Yes? Are you Mister Garison?" She asked, sounding a bit tired and a bit unimpressed. May nodded, and the door buzzed again before opening.

The inside of the condo was as pristine as the outside, and May was careful not to get dirt from his shoes anywhere as he stepped onto the welcome mat.

"Come in, come in. I wasn't aware that you were bringing company, so I only prepared tea for two," a voice called from the kitchen. The owner emerged a few moments later, a tall and spindly woman wearing a black pencil skirt and a plain white blouse that May could practically feel the price tag oozing from. She was in her mid fifties or so, her brown hair pulled back into a stern-looking bun and a pair of frameless glasses resting on her nose. She was at least a foot taller than May, and she gave off the vibe of a strict school teacher, though her tone was friendly enough.

"Just leave your shoes in the tray by the door, all of you. Mr Zelenka already told me the basics of your situation, but I'd like to talk things through before we do the physical. Come, sit, sit."



Agni watched the others leave, then slowly began to settle a bit at the kitchen table. Now that there were fewer people around, he felt a bit more comfortable.

He was a bit surprised when Devon spoke to him, although he nodded along.

"Ah, yes. I understand the concept," he said, because he knew humans could be very weird when talking about reproduction. "I don't have experience with such things, and I find it a little confusing, but I know that biological parentage does not always coincide with the social concept of family."

'A little' confusing did not really cover it. It seemed that a family could be whatever somebody said it was, and the lack of definitive properties and any identifiable standard frustrated him. But it seemed that Devon and Winona were both fairly nervous already, so he decided to keep that to himself.

He was curious about many things, though.

"I am unfamiliar with how the council of vampire elders functions," he admitted. "Is such a visit unusual? I was hoping to explain my presence, however I was under the impression that this would be similar to how our own council of elders functions."

He scrunched up his nose, because he was already nervous and there was absolutely no way that he would be able to memorize a whole other system of ettiquette in fifteen minutes.

 

[Reynarda]

Bram made a disgusted face when May dared to suggest he get a Prius. "Now you sound like Vlad! Is it a short-people thing? Is that why you both think a Prius is an acceptable car? The only thing that stopped him was telling him they don't make them with a manual transmission." Bram sighed. They had actually been talking about Vlad probably needing his own car. "Actually, we've been looking at getting a little Civic since some of the newer ones have good safety features."

As if having the reflexes of a vampire was not safe enough.

"Where does this person live?" Bram grumbled as he eyed the complex. Now he kinda wished he had that Prius.

It only got worse as they had to write their names in a book and the security guard glanced suspiciously at his blue-collar appearance. Bram just smiled politely, but he still hated it.

The woman who strode out of the kitchen was not what he had expected, however. He had thought an alchemist would be like... a wizard or something. But she seemed alright. He was already removing his shoes thanks to Vlad's dislike of dirt.

He gave the woman his best smile. "We're family. Don't worry, Alex and I don't need anything. We're just here because we wanted to escape an awkward situation," he joked easily. He shot May a wink. "Oh, and to support May, of course."



Devon smiled a little at Agni. "Yeah, that's true."

"Family is the people who stand by you through difficulty," Vlad explained, pouring the heated water into the French Press. "Blood has little to do with it."

Devon snorted. "I don't think we have enough time for Vlad to give a lecture on how complex Council politics are."

Vlad chuckled. "No." He turned and smiled at Agni. "But this is not official Council business. Claudios is coming to check up on his children. And probably to fuss at me a bit, as well," he conceded. "I can explain Council politics to you later."

Widening his eyes, Devon shook his head at Agni as if to say Don't do it.

"Ah," Vlad said, cutting off any further warnings Devon could give. The magic in the house rippled as it recoiled in protest of the magic that had just washed over it. "He is early."

A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door.

Taking his time, Vlad pulled out four mugs for coffee. One had the Hunter's Guild logo on it, another was a sports team, the third had a dabbing unicorn, and the last one said, "not a morning person" and had a vampire bat on it. He arranged them and the French press on a tray and added sugar, cream, and a small plate of biscotti. Slipping from the kitchen, he carried the tray to the living room.

Satisfied, Vlad padded over to the door and opened it. Accompanying the oily magic that was disagreeing with Vlad's colder, sharper magic was Claudios von Batts. He was dressed in a black suit and a red tie, and not a single strand of his shoulder length of blonde hair was out of place.

"Vladimir," he greeted, looking down his nose at the shorter vampire. Vlad looked no different. He was dressed down and have his shirtsleeves rolled up, exposing the Drakonii mark inside of his left wrist and the spiral of curse runes around his left forearm. Claudios knew that was intentional.

Smiling, Vlad stepped back and gestured inside. "Claudios. Welcome."

"Thank you," Claudios said, not sounding particularly grateful as he stepped inside.

The house hadn't changed. There was the accursed stained couch that Claudios wished they would put out of its misery. There was the banged-up coffee table that smelled like Chinese food and pizza. And there was a random silver knife on the mantle. And worst of all was the weird mix of magics rubbing uncomfortably against his own. Wonderful.

His eyes fell on Devon as his son smiled awkwardly at him. Claudios' expression didn't change, but he did give the boy what appeared to be a quick glance over but was actually a little more careful than that. There was something different. He seemed more confident. That was good.

For his part, Devon wasn't sure what to do with his hands. Should he try to hug his father? Shake his hand? He decided to put his hands in his pockets. "Hi, Dad."

"Devon," Claudios said, looking around the room. "Where's Winona?"

Devon deflated.

"Changing," Vlad said, squeezing Devon's upper arm as he passed. He took a seat in Bram's armchair. "Please sit. Can I pour you some coffee?"

Claudios eyed the seating. He was going to trust that Devon's presence would temper Vlad's usual antics. He sat in the other armchair. Nothing attacked him, so he assumed Leeuwen's favorite armchair was the one Vlad was seated in. "Where is your slayer?"

"On an errand with May and Alex," Vlad said easily, pouring coffee into the Guild mug. He added a spoonfull of sugar and a tiny bit of cream and handed it to Claudios.

Taking the mug, Claudios blinked, suddenly realizing he didn't know one of the faces. He turned back to Vlad, his condescending tone dropping in a moment of surprise. "Did you get a new child?"

Vlad chuckled into his own coffee mug. "Claudios, this is the Little Guardian of the Twelth Month. We call him Agni. He is a friend of May's. Agni, this is Claudios von Batts, Chair of the Vampire Council of Elders."