The Buzz [Hive Interactions]

[Adley Reed]

INDIGO
Indigo walked through the doorway and dropped her briefcase and keys. It was good to be home. Enough so that she peeled off her suit jacket and lifted each foot and slid off her heels. Each was dropped to the floor and then picked up and carried to the bedroom where they belonged.


ADLEY REED
Adley was in the bedroom, standing at the side of the bed chewing on his thumbnail. On the bed, a suitcase was open, though there was nothing in it. When they'd had their conversation, Indigo had said she was leaving in forty-eight hours. That was twenty-four hours ago. Adley didn't know what time. Nor did he know where to. Which was why the suitcase was empty. He turned to the door when he heard Indigo come home, expectantly waiting for her to come to the room -- he didn't have to say anything. He assumed the suitcase said it for him.


INDIGO
Indigo’s eyes fell to the one in the room, the only one she expected if there would be anyone at all to find in there. She released the shoes into their box and closed it. Finally her eyes went to the suitcase that was empty. It was a statement but exactly which one she had yet to figure out. It could mean she was just going, it could mean she wasn't going or...it could mean he was going with. She didn't want to assume. Not with their last conversation which left her less that sure on how things were left on the topic. "You found it." Her fingers stretched out to the side of the luggage.


ADLEY REED
"It still had some things left in it from when we moved me here," he said, gesturing to a neat-ish pile of assorted items over by the chest of drawers. He hadn't needed his small apartment anymore, and there really hadn't been all that much to bring. Unpacking seemed like too much of a chore at the time -- things now continued to be unpacked only very slowly, only when he required the box or the bag that things had been stored into. Like this one. "I don't know what to pack. I don't know where we're going," he said, watching Indigo's every movement.


INDIGO
Indigo nodded slowly. It felt like the same butterflies that went through her that night that he moved in, their hope filled flight of fancy was doing another round. How could she forget. She stepped closer, her eyes on what she could see had been removed. As soon as he said he didn't know what to pack she looked like she just won the lottery. A grin went across her lips but she didn't move. "You sure?" She was trying to be calm. She didn't want to take for granted he would be as excited at the idea of going somewhere with her...under these circumstances. "San Antonio, Texas."


ADLEY REED
Adley responded to Indigo's grin with a wary smile of his own but a sure nod. "Yes. I talked to Kaspar. He's not coming out. He doesn't need us here at the moment," he said. There was no bitterness, and especially after feeding from Kaspar in a way that nearly ended up like all the rest, Adley had shoved all his doubts aside. "Regardless, you are my be all and end all. Of course I'm coming. If something happened to you when I knew I could have been there to stop it, I'd kill myself," he said.


INDIGO
Indigo looked at him as her smile faded. Since that night...the thought alone pulled her gaze to the bed, she felt every emotion so much more intensely. Some of it she dealt with well and others she struggled to keep from rearing up. She even kept how intense her feelings for him had become. How they gnawed at her some laced with a hint possessiveness she wasn't wanting him to know about. It scared her. He said she was his end all. She never could live with herself even in this existence if she made that happen. "I need to know something..." She sighed and settled on the edge of the bed next to the suitcase.


ADLEY REED
Adley didn't have too many qualms saying these things to Indigo. It was dramatic, to say that he would kill himself, but he knew that's how he would feel. At least if they went together and even if he proved useless to save her, in the event of fatal threat, at least they would die together. And yet, he had said something wrong. Had to have, given the way her smile faded. Closing the lid of the suitcase and shoving it back, he settled on the bed beside Indigo, tucking a piece of wild hair behind her ear. "What?"


INDIGO
Indigo inhaled to calm herself. Holding it in long enough to release it slowly she finally was prepared to ask. "Has anything changed for us...on your end?" She felt like she was hanging on a cliff waiting for his answer. She knew he would give the truth, he always did and so did she. It was the beauty of their relationship as it was. Nothing was held back. even if it would sting.


ADLEY REED
Adley had his fingers curling into Indigo's even before she had the chance to finish her question. Touch was still so important to him. He could hardly be in Indigo's presence without touching her in some way, maybe making up for lost time, and much more. He frowned at her knuckles and then shook his head, a short but uncertain shake. He lifted his eyes to Indigo. "Changed how? What do you mean?" he asked. Was it a trick question?


INDIGO
Indigo felt it would be so easy to pull on the connection of their hands and bring him closer. It was natural to set aside verbal communication when their physical exchange was able to bridge any barriers of understanding and express what they felt. "Does my taking on this job as I did leave you questioning us? It happened that fast and yes I should have called you. I see that now. I do." It left an ache she wanted to be soothed or to soothe if it was a shared one. She brought his hand to her lips and took in the scent of his skin.


ADLEY REED
Adley's lips parted, his body sighing even if the sound didn't pass his lips. He could say no, that she was being paranoid. He could have pushed her back into the softness of the bed, his weight holding her down. He could have distracted her with sweet kisses and roaming caresses, but then he'd only be avoiding something that might plague him in future. "I wondered if it was different for you," he said, now struggling to find the words to express himself. "When Kaspar left there was all that talk about chains, when we didn't chain him at all. I didn't want to be angry or upset that you didn't talk to me first, because I don't want you to think I'm chaining you. You have the freedom to come and go, just like he did. This is what we have always said. But what we have it's... it's more than that, isn't it?" he asked, seeking reassurance.


INDIGO
Indigo was focusing on every word, the tone of his voice as he said what he had to say, should say. "Adley, the way I love you..." a smile appeared, slowly because what she had to say couldn't be said without it. "I want the freedom we share, the trust, the honesty. I want all of it just as it has developed and I want your chains if you have them." She would embrace them with the same acceptance and passion as she did his body, his presence. "I want all of you. There is nothing I don't want when it comes to you. Sometimes I hold back because I feel like I ask for too much."


ADLEY REED
Adley smiled when Indigo smiled, drinking in her words like a man dying of thirst. "We'll always have trust. And honesty. And we'll have freedom, too, but together. If there are big decisions, please just promise we'll make them together? I want to be included," he said. It wasn't as if she came to him to surprise him with plane tickets and a holiday. She'd come to him knowing he might not like what she had to say. Instead of focusing too much on the particulars, however, he couldn't help but ask. "You hold back? What would you ask for that you feel like you shouldn't?"


INDIGO
"You." Was it right to admit the ways at times she felt even if she felt they could be considered even more selfish than she was when she begged to be turned. All the conflict it caused. Their home was far more quiet because of it. "To never lose you, to always have you so close I can feel you in every part of me. It scares the hell out of me sometimes to be honest. What it would be like if you changed your mind."


ADLEY REED
Immediately, Adley sought to soothe Indigo, his fingers raking through her hair, palm against her jaw as his thumb brushed the lower pout of her lip, turning her to face him. A soft kiss was pressed to her forehead before he shook his head. "I'm not going to change my mind," he said. "Even if Kaspar were still here, and Jameson, you are still my priority. Even if I didn't sometimes feel like you're all I've got left, you would still be my first priority. You have me. You don't have to ask for it, you had it from the moment I picked you up from the curb."

[Indigo]

INDIGO
Indigo felt the cool pooling of fluid in her eyes requiring her to blink faster as he spoke to her. The swell of emotions that rose inside her. She would go mad for him. There was something there that anchored her to him in a way so powerful. "I want you to be happy, to be fulfilled and to feel loved no matter where it comes from but I admit I would not know how to let you go." She didn't want to imagine it. She didn't want to cry.She laughed instead because of what he said last and it was true. "Best curbside pick-up you ever had, hmmm?"


ADLEY REED
Whatever doubts Adley may have had, they were quelled, entirely. They didn't have to shout at each other, they didn't have to fight. One question and one plea for honesty and everything was revealed, doubts laid out on the table only so that they could be rejected and denied. He had his arm around her waist, then, gripping her smaller body to shuffle her further back onto the bed, encouraging her to lay back so that he could do as he'd previously imagined. His leg slid between hers, arm still around her waist as the fingers of the other tangled in her hair. "Hardest curbside pick-up ever. You could have bled a little less," he said, grinning. "I am happy. I am fulfilled, and I do feel loved. And I feel love, which isn't something I've done before. It's all very new. Just bear with me while I stumble through it..."


INDIGO
Indigo was floating back, so effortlessly beneath him as the grip of her hands found his body and pulled him down with her. "Or perhaps could have bled a little more." Her fingers found the buttons, the clasps to what covered his body and worked at them slowly while she tasted the skin that was closest to her. "I never felt it till you. So keep that in mind while I show you what it means to me." While the material was freed from his body she held a breath in and admired the way he was over her. "We can both learn to be patient while we do." Her fingers curled at the back of his neck and encouraged him towards her lips.


ADLEY REED
There were no more words. They didn't need any more words. Adley's tongue audibly unstuck from his teeth, no further encouragement needed as his lips enveloped hers. A kiss deep, a kiss bordering on violent, on desperate. It was broken only so that he, too, could remove layers of clothing from her skin. The desperation was soothed as flesh met flesh, a simply luxury they'd both been denied for so long. Only when flesh was against flesh did he relax, lips burning a trail from hers, over the skin of her jaw until sharp teeth teased the tender flesh of Inidgo's neck. All this talk of blood had him aching.


INDIGO
The pressure of her fingers increased as soon as the sharp points found her accessible to feed one of the needs that was rising between them. Her body moved slowly to a meeting of their hips. "I want to bleed again...for you." She moaned as her lips parted, her eyes briefly on the ceiling above them before their lids dropped to blanket her exotic blues.


ADLEY REED
He didn't need to feed. It was only a few hours ago that he'd tasted Kaspar's blood, outside of the Drunk Wicker Tavern. But he would be greedy. Canines sunk into flesh, blood bursting to the surface and bathing his tongue. He didn't suck or pull, just moaned with the taste of it. He lost himself to it, that glorious taste, eyes closed. Vivid colour flashed behind them -- warmth flooded his body, inside and out. It was as if he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a pressure building. He could see a bath tub, bubbles. He could see a slender knee rising from the water; he could hear his own voice, muffled, from the outside of a door, and yet could see himself in a swill of imagined positions, touching Indigo in ways he'd always wanted to. The door opened and hands that were not his own freed themselves from their watery embrace -- it was only when he saw himself coming through the door that he gasped and pulled back, blood spilled carelessly from the wound at Indigo's neck, his pupils wide as he pulled air into his lungs. "What was that?"


INDIGO
Indigo was surrendering, lost in that perfection of what she felt like drowning in. So many ways she had always imagined it, craved him and even in that moment, the contact of his body she never lost touch with the hunger that was there, always present since the first night he found her and brought her to the tub. Her chest lifted, danced at his as he sank his fangs beneath her layers. Deeper she beckoned in her mind, swimming in the heat he created. She felt him insistent, prodding with each of his movements that encouraged her own. Then a sensation she didn't expect. The moisture that coupled the burn of his retraction. He was started as his eyes fixed on hers in question. "What?" She gasped, her hands quick to brace for some leverage just in case behind her as she tried to rise up. "What is wrong?" Her thigh was wet. Her right hand went to her neck but revealed no traces of blood like usual.


ADLEY REED
Adley was confused. So very confused. For how long had he lost himself? It was as if he'd slipped into some alternate reality, like he could still feel the porcelain of the tub against his back, but he was the wrong way around. He braced himself against the bed, dizzy and still reeling from bliss. When he shifted, he felt it, the evidence of it. Not his imagination, then. He tore his gaze from Indigo's to glance down between them, levering his body up as if he had to see it to confirm. "I... I think I was in your head," he said between breaths. "I... you were in the bathtub. You were... you were ... touching yourself..." he said. Did this make any sense to her?


INDIGO
Indigo couldn't deny the thob of that unsatisfied ache on her end. The glance to her leg confirmed one of them was well ahead of the other which she wouldn't ever hold against him. He had stamina. She wasn't afraid to tell him he was about to be called to use it. That is until he brought up being in her head. Relieved there was no huge emergency her body soon was relaxed and about to go back to the task at hand when he mentioned being in the bathtub. So he was getting a little extra out of it by imagining the tub. At least she was in it. Of course she was down with that. She was touching herself? Again nothing wrong with it but really the last time she had done so or really needed to was...ohhhh. "Now was this your fantasy or did anything else happen besides...well..." She licked her lips and pushed back her stray curls with a hand that was more inclined to take hold of something else.


ADLEY REED
Adley licked his lips, a frown creased between his eyes as they closed just briefly. He shook his head. He'd seen his own face as he walked through that door, and now he remembered making that face. He remembered walking in on Indigo looking sheepish, hands exploding from beneath the water, face flushed and not just from the bath. "No... no, I was you. I wasn't fantasizing. I felt.... everything. I saw it like I was seeing it through your eye. Could feel your fingers as they..." he shuddered, pleasantly. No, she'd have no trouble encouraging his stamina. "I walked in on you," he said, eyes now open, and gazing inquisitively. "You were embarrassed..."


INDIGO
Indigo braced both hands on the bed as she looked at him. "Of course I was, Adley." Now she was clear what he was thinking about except this time he was also experiencing it first-hand more or less. Well, he sure was aroused then. And she wanted some of that...all of it. Her throbbing ache was being greedy. "I was starving, I had to do something. and just so you know up until that point I was doing it a LOT." She looked at him matter of fact. "I couldn't touch you or if we did I eventually passed out. You guys were always making out and I ...yes, I was doing what I could to get by and you came to the party and I popped." She still could remember the intense embarrassment because things were so new yet and so uncharted. Now she was far more comfortable with sliding in closer next to him and looking into his eyes. "Felt good?" She whispered against his ear as her hand travelled south between them. "Hmmm?"


ADLEY REED
Adley laughed. He had genuinely just seen a memory, experienced it first hand and he wasn't sure whether Indigo understood, or whether she thought he was just suddenly remembering that one time he'd walked in on her while she was in the bathtub. He laughed because she was distracting him with her touch. "I was just a little stealthier than you, then," he said. Though he'd never built a bath for the purpose, the shower had swallowed many of his frustrations. "I wanted to join the party. I wanted to slide into the tub right beside you but I left. I was irritated. I was frustrated. I was so often jealous..." he admitted. "I was in such a bad mood. ALL of the time..."


INDIGO
Indigo felt his skin against hers and it was enough to push her minimal weight over him to press him down to their bed. "Really?" She inhaled as she leaned forward to speak at his jaw. "You feel how much I wanted you?" A few sweet kisses were placed at his neck. "Let's create a few more memories." Her hands slid into his and locked down. There would be no question as she lifted her mouth to his and took the lead with her hips.

[Adley Reed]

KASPAR
Kaspar’s lower lip was plumper than usual from the attention it had been receiving from his teeth, worrying at the flesh as he headed out onto the night time streets. It was warm, too warm to wear much in the way of clothing but the man still wore his trademark tight black jeans, casual holes torn about the knees and thighs, a loose tank top that showed off flashes of his numerous tattoos and well toned sides. He was tall but he wore it well, his confidence helping carry the length of his limbs, keeping them arranged in a fashion that felt purposeful and not like some gawky, gangly teen. The German man cursed himself under his breath, scuffing the toe of his boot against the ground as he circled the block for the second time, distracted by his hunger and missing the entrance to the sewers nearest the catacombs again. He backtracked, finding the familiar sewer entrance he knew Adley tended to use.

Surely he wouldn’t be far, when he’d texted he said he was down here looking for a quick meal. Kaspar’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed roughly at the thought, hands tugging away the manhole and dropping down gracefully into the darkness. The night before he’d offered to let Adley feed, to do a solid for a friend but for the other man it had been a tense and emotional day; the kind of day that people like them didn’t respond to well and things had gotten a little heated, a little too familiar under the blanket of darkness. He’s slunk home, sheepishly discussing the night’s events with his partner who had given him a stormy look, reminding him not to get caught up in their affairs.

He was right, of course, so why was Kaspar slinking around in the sewers after Adley? To talk about it? No, he wasn’t wanting to talk about it, not really, perhaps just to shake off the awkwardness of their lack of goodbye with something more casual before he went away with Indie. The Necromancer was a flash of cool toned caramel skin, a predator prowling a few paces up ahead and Kas moved at a light jog to catch him. “Arschloch, wait up!”


ADLEY REED
A quick meal. Adley had escaped Indigo for an hour or so so that he could go and find himself something to tear into -- a creature whose life he cared nothing for, and so could take as much as he wanted. He could glut himself on the blood of the lost, could douse himself in it if the mood struck -- which it often did. It was the kind of activity he would not be able to indulge in when on ‘holiday’. While Indigo was out there helping some famed man promote his book and come out to the world as a vampire, it would do no good to have one of his ‘entourage’ ripping limbs from fans.

Though it wasn’t a hobby, per se. It wasn’t something Adley gossiped about. He didn’t pride himself on the way his body reacted around a single drop of blood, let alone a river of it. It was near uncontrollable. In order to never let it bottle up, Adley had to indulge every once in awhile.

Though now that he knew that Kaspar was coming, he had to be on his best behaviour. He had to look like he was just hunting; if he found something, he’d have to try to be neat. Though it wasn’t as if Kaspar had never seen Adley in all his bloody gory. It wasn’t as if Kaspar didn’t know. Still.

Adley circled the same part of the sewer, his search interrupted and far too distracted, anyway, to do much of anything. He still couldn’t stop thinking about the night before -- about the memory he’d seen. It was why he’d come down here. He knew that if he sunk his teeth into Indigo tonight they’d miss their flight. Or something. Or maybe they wouldn’t. Indigo seemed keen to impress this one, and running late because she couldn’t keep her hands from her boyfriend probably wouldn’t impress her new boss.

The deep lilt of the musician’s voice halted Adley in his tracks. Damp boots scuffed the ground as he turned, a Cheshire grin splitting his lips. “Couldn’t stand to hear I was feeding off miscreants again, Kas? Have you come to offer yourself to me…?” he asked. His mood was the complete opposite to what it was the night before. He was practically buoyant.


KASPAR
Kaspar decided right then and there, upon hearing Adley’s response, that calling him an asshole was most fitting. There was the briefest moment where a scowl hovered upon his features before it was wiped away by a smile, slow to form, lip tugging in between teeth that had elongated so that his canines were pointed fangs. “I know you want it, Adley, but don’t flatter yourself. You aren’t really what i’m hungry for tonight.” It was the truth, in part, there was overriding hungers and desires that far outweighed his frustration at his own moment of temptation beneath Adley’s teeth and tongue or the strong hands that cupped his head and slid down his back as he’d fed from him.

He allowed himself a small sigh, a wistful wave of dismissal in the other man’s direction, “I’m actually surprised to find you clean, I figured you’d be swimming in crimson by now.” There was no judgement in it, Kaspar knew Adley couldn’t help his nature, and he usually used it to take out the worst, the most broken of vampire kind. They were wild, unnatural things that would tear you limb from limb in a mindless fit of rage. They needed to be eradicated. “Come here, Arschloch, don’t be awkward…” He said it even as he stayed where he stood, hip rocked casually to one side and his blue gaze staring off into the distance.


ADLEY REED
Adley arched a brow, teeth gleaming in the low light as his grin only grew. He sauntered closer, only because he’d already begun to close the distance and not because Kaspar had summoned him. Laughter rumbled in Adley’s chest, breaking over his tongue in boyish fashion.

“I’m not really what you’re hungry for. I detect some doubt in that sentence,” he said, teasing, picking at the pieces. “Must be your German brain all addled, not knowing the definition of ‘awkward’,” he added, sauntering closer still. There was nothing awkward in the way he approached Kaspar now. Instead, he felt like a King and these sewers were his castle. As he stood in front of Kaspar, his fingers closed into a loose fist, knuckles bouncing off Kaspar’s shoulder in greeting.

“Hey, so something weird happened last night. After I left you…” he said. It was all still so very new, so very strange, and he had a lot of questions. Why Indigo, and not Kaspar mere hours before? He was keen to feed again only because he wanted to know whether he could do it again. Whether it could happen with anyone, or whether it was just with Indigo. Was it because they shared blood? Kaspar had been the one to call Adley; Adley was vaguely curious as to why. But he was going to get his in, first.


KASPAR
His shoulders straightened slightly, but his posture was kept mostly relaxed, confident and comfortable in his own skin as the other man prowled closer. In a strange way it felt like some of their old games, that push and pull for to be on top, to be in charge and make the other submit. Adley had yielded first, when it came down to it, but had felt less like a victory than he’d expected and had become a habit. One that was hard to break, for a man who had walked through life as Kaspar had. “My German brain is perfection, sexy, sexy perfection.” He smirked, flashing those pearly whites, tongue flicking against a fang.

Kaspar returned the contact, reaching forward to fake a punch to his friend’s stomach, stop at the last minute to let fingertips splay comfortably across his taut abdomen muscles. “Weird how?” His curiosity got the better of him, the game put on the back burner.


ADLEY REED
“Pretty sure,” he started, gaze flickering to the fingers at his abdomen, smirk twitching at the corner of his lips. “Pretty sure I experienced one of Indigo’s memories last night,” he said. He realised why he was so excited. If this wasn’t just some fluke, if it was something new, something else that he was capable of that had developed over time, it wasn’t something devastating. It wasn’t something deadly. It wasn’t something that caused someone else weakness or fatality. It was just a thing, a curious interesting thing that he could rave about rather than despise. His arm draped lazily over Kaspar’s shoulders, fingertips tugging idly at the blonde strands of the musician’s hair.

“We were in bed. I was feeding -- shutup, yes, I was greedy last night -- and suddenly I was somewhere else,” he said, eyes glazed as he remembered it. It was as if he had actually been there; he got a sense of when it had happened, of how she felt. “It was so ******* vivid…” he said, shaking his head, laughing low. “I think she still thinks I was just fantasizing, but it was out of this world…”


KASPAR
He let himself be tugged close, a lazy arm tucked over his shoulder and fingertips finding the end of his hair with light tugs that had his head tilting to study the man’s face. “A memory? Wait…” There was a moment of trying to process, of thinking over his words. “You were in bed… You saw a memory, or you felt it? And she thinks you were fantasising? What was it?” There was a quietness to his voice, but his interest bordered on hunger, eyeing him suspiciously. The way he spoke about it, and the situation in which it had occurred had his attention. “Do, tell me more, Adley.”


ADLEY REED
Adley’s laugh was mischievous, his grin barely kept under control. In fact, it was not kept under control at all. He shifted on his feet, part of his weight bolstered by Kaspar’s body, his eyes looking anywhere but at his friend. But, did it really matter? The things they all used to get up to, it wasn’t as if it could be embarrassing. To talk about sex.

“It was back when she was human. And we couldn’t touch. She was in the bath, touching herself. Thinking about me,” he said, his enthusiasm getting the better of him. It was no surprise that the experience of such a memory served to feed Adley’s ego. “And I could feel it, y’know? It was so intense I came the same time she did. In the memory. But… not, like… am I making any sense?” he asked. He was excitable, babbling, now with no qualms about what he was saying. No inhibitions whatsoever. It was Kaspar, why should he have any?


KASPAR
The grin was almost concerning that way it spread across his face, teeth too white, eyes too eager in the darkness. It must of been a good memory, he figured, or an experience worth note for Adley to get himself that enthusiastic over it. Kas stared at him expectantly, waiting for further explanation and he didn’t have to wait long.

His eyes rolled, no wonder Adley was pleased with himself, though Kaspar wondered if he was aware that Indigo and her love affair with that bathtub was no secret. It would be flattering to him, to know she’d thought about him like that, for them it had been months of endless craving where their desires could be met and explored with others but it was the unknown, that wanting that had built it up into something else. He was pleased that having access to touch, being able to indulge themselves hadn’t ruined it.

“Wait… You… With real her or the Indigo of the memory?” His brows were raised, a preemptive little smirk teasing the corners of his lips, the image in his head of Adley with his fangs in her throat, spasming wildly in time with the woman in his mind while Indigo lay beneath him, no doubt confused or surprised. It was to be confirmed, he was jumping the gun but already there was an internal struggle, Kaspar telling himself not to laugh. His stomach muscles tightened, body tight with the effort not to laugh.


ADLEY REED
Indigo hadn’t laughed. Adley had stamina enough to recoup and his lady wasn’t left unsatisfied. But he hadn’t thought about how this story might sound to someone else, someone else imagining it. It only occurred to him now that it painted him in a unsatisfactory light, could see the laughter coiled in Kaspar, could feel his body tense with it. He narrowed his eyes, tongue trailing his teeth.

“Memory Indigo is no less real,” he said, the lack of an answer a confirmation in and of itself. He shifted again on his feet, the movement pressing him that tiny bit closer to Kaspar.

“That’s besides the point, Kas. It was her memory. And I experienced it, as if I were there,” he said. He hadn’t yet found some miscreant to sate his hunger, and Kaspar was right there. And now, it wasn’t just hunger that he wanted to sate. It was curiosity. A healthy dose of it. His gaze drifted none-too-subtly toward Kaspar’s neck, clearly unperturbed by the previous night’s intimacy. He might have stalked off with barely a goodbye, but tonight he was far too confident, as if he’d suddenly realised that the boundaries could be pushed.

“... can I test it on you?”


KASPAR
He knew it was wrong to laugh, that it would appear rude and unsupportive even if it wasn’t his intention, but he just couldn’t help it. In his head he saw Adley rutting wildly, mouth full of blood as Indigo stared at him in confusion, the pair in a mess with only one of them satisfied with the outcome. His tall frame double over, arms wrapping around himself as he laughed, not his normal chuckle but a loud, abrupt thing, an advanced version of a giggle that wracked his whole frame.

Kaspar wiped imagined tears from his eyes, taking unecessary breaths to soothe his spasming stomach muscles, to still them with some great effort as his body straightened and slumped against Adley’s side.

“Oh my, oh, i’m sorry no… I don’t… I’m sure it was beautiful and wonderful and she got hers in the end but Ads, you have to see how that… Oh my, Arschloch, thank you.” He chuckled more quietly, a more composed sound, “I needed that. You know what? I’m in a good mood, you can use me as your test subject, but i’ll need you to heal me after as i’m already thinking about how my boyfriend tastes.”

Grey would have him slink him, a second night in a row, looking somewhere between the cat that got the cream and a lion on the prowl with the tiniest hint of guilt lingering over his predatory desires. “Don’t go screwing with my mind though, you know how he can get and we don’t want to piss him off. I like him content, though, getting in trouble with him isn’t always so bad… Ok. Do it.” He confirmed with a nod, head rolling to one side, turning with a step in towards so that his arms could snake comfortably around the other man to provide himself an anchor. “Adley…” His tone took on a more somber note, looking him dead in the eye. “What.. If you see something, that is between us, ja? There are many things I want to keep for myself.”


ADLEY REED
A little bit of laughter, Adley could understand. In the midst of Kaspar’s racket, however, Adley was so very close to telling the guy to go **** himself and walk away. And yet, there was something endearing in Kaspar’s laughter, that full-bellied joviality that Adley hadn’t seen in so long. It was how things were, once. They had been solid, and they’d had a good time. But it proved to be only a mask of security, a flimsy veil that was torn asunder at the slightest hint of a storm.

Kaspar soon gathered his wits, and Adley was glad that he’d stayed. He hadn’t let his temper get the best of him, and now he wondered why he’d ever been so upset. Not now, not with the laughter -- but why had he been so stubborn about keeping on his side of the fence that Kaspar had seemingly erected between them? Why had he always been so keen to keep to himself? It had only been a stubborn game that had won him nothing. This was far better.

“No, no, of course not. No pissing off the boyfriend,” Adley said, though the gleaming grin that curled his lips was a physical contradiction. One might assume he didn’t care -- though he would heal. He always did, anyway. At least he tried, if he didn’t lose himself. If he didn’t forget. The brightness of the expression faded somewhat as Kaspar exuded seriousness, a question asked to which Adley could only nod. This time when the ‘of course’ passed his lips, it was completely genuine.

One hand on Kaspar’s chest, Adley pushed the nudged the slightly taller man up against the wall. He tried to recall what he’d done with Indigo; he tried to recall his state of mind. There’d been nothing else on his mind but the blood, the taste of it. There was no holding back, no holds barred. For three long seconds he held Kaspar’s gaze, blues staring into blues. Long fingers tangled in Kaspar’s hair as the gaze broke, Adley’s lips first pressed to the corner of Kaspar’s jaw before sharp canines drifted over the rough-smooth skin of his neck, seeking the vein.

With the men’s bodies flush against each other, plump lips against flesh, the canines broke through the skin. Blood pumped over Adley’s tongue and he relaxed, all tension fleeing his body. Eyes closed, he forgot where he was. He forgot the laughter and the pride. He forgot everything, and lost himself to the blood.

[Kaspar]

KASPAR
There was at moment, brief as it was, where that tenseness returned and Kaspar was almost convinced Adley might storm off before he’d managed to get his mirth back under control.His contact with the other man became easy, he was relaxed now, even as he spoke of concern about keeping the secrets of his mind between them and not upsetting his darling boyfriend he managed to keep a lazy smile on his lips. Kas allowed himself to be backed into the wall with little more than the raise of a brow, as if he needed to give a mild warning for Adley not to take too many liberties with his current position.

Silently he stared, he watched those bright eyes for any shift that might alert him to a need to react but it was all calm. Lips found his jaw and he internally tutted at himself for the way he shuddered, the way his head tilted in response to the drag of teeth that teased along his flesh and made his hair want to stand on end as if to get closer to that pressure. The pain was sharp but not unwelcome, it was a strange sensation that had taken some getting used to but it made his nerves sing, awake and alert to every shift in movement. A sigh hissed through his parted lips, tongue trailing between his lips as he let himself be held, let his friend take the blood from his body. No matter what they did, this was an act of trust, of intimacy and he had to acknowledge that.


ADLEY REED
The colours flared vibrantly behind Adley’s eyelids -- somewhere deep in his mind a door swung open. It was like he stepped right out of his head and into Kaspar’s. For a few seconds the colours blurred, hazy as Adley’s excitement -- it was happening again! -- threatened to pull him out of the trance. Forcing himself to remain relaxed, the pull of his thirst gentle and undemanding, he settled into the memory.

The body he inhabited was hurt. It wasn’t the body of a vampire, but one of a human. His jaw ached and his throat was raw, the skin of his knuckles split. For a second, Adley thought that he was looking at Kaspar, the jacket worn one that was familiar. When the body turned, however, he knew that it was not Kaspar -- it was easy enough to put two and two together, to read the name on the jacket. Luca. The urge is there to flee, to run away. There was anger, too, brutal and alarming. There was an apology on Luca’s lips, and yet there was violence in his grip as he first wrapped fingers around Kaspar’s throat, as Kaspar tried to push them away, there was a kiss. The kiss was equally as violent.

The voices grew muffled and the colours began to fade; the numbing cold crept back into Adley’s body as it began to reject the blood -- at least, to reject more of it. He was full, he no longer required the rich cruor. But he still got a sense of Kaspar’s strength, of the way he stood his ground. Of the way he finally said no.

Canines retracted from skin, Adley’s tongue lapping at the twin wounds to encourage the healing process. As he stood there with one hand still in Kaspar’s hair, the other gripping his arm just above the elbow, he took a deep breath. His lips lingered at the crook of Kaspar’s neck, cheek touching cheek as he tapped into his own magical prowess and infused Kaspar’s body with that healing touch. Buying himself time.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He was sorry not only because of what he’d seen, but because he couldn’t help but be reminded. He, too, had touched Kaspar in less than gentle ways. He should have realised, then, that it would be a reminder for Kaspar. History repeating itself.


KASPAR
His eyes were half lidded, the moments ticking by hardly noticed as Kaspar let his head swim, his hands stroking down Adley’s back and sinking amongst the fabric of his shirt, balling it softly in his fists. He had to fight to keep still, to not lean closer or let his eyes fully close. Kas’s lips were open, partly slightly so his breath could come and go without limit, no barrier blocking the deep inhalations and exhalations as his body reacted to the biting. There was comfort in it, the darkness and closeness, but even in his dreamy state he noted the lack of warmth, the missing heat and while it didn’t exactly bother him he realised he missed it. Missed the warmth of a body, being able to feel the changes in temperature and feel the pulse rise and fall. Did it mean he felt differently about Adley for it? Disturbed? No, it was just different.

Was that what it was like for his human partners? Was it strange to them? Did it feel wrong? They had no doubt adjusted, they showed no signs of recoiling from his cool skin and unlike Adley he did have a convincingly human appearance, he was their Kaspar, looking as he always had just a little cooler.

There was a flicker of annoyance, the thoughts ruining his chill, making his posture straighten and stiffen, he had to force himself not to tense and start the pacing he took to when he wanted to think through a potential problem or further explore an idea. Adley broke away, pulling him back into the moment and the hold loosened but didn’t stray, his touch was gentle on Kas and the sound of his voice caught him off guard. What was he apologising for? Hel’s head turned, lips finding the cheek that had pressed to his, feeling the strange rise in energy of having the recently taken blood restored, the wounds at his throat fading as quickly as they were made. “What fo-...” He fell silent, slowly turning to get a better look at Adley’s face, his own expression guarded. “It worked. What did you see?”


ADLEY REED
What else could there be in Kaspar’s history that Adley wasn’t aware of? What kind of power did he now wield at his fingertips -- or fangtips, as it were -- to learn more about his friends, his lovers, even strangers if he could latch on long enough? What kind of secrets were hidden in their blood, what kind of histories, and could he access them even if they sought to hide them? He wanted to do it again, and again, and again. But for the moment, he focused on Kaspar, his fingers playing idly within the blonde locks of hair.

“Luca,” he said, wondering if that single word would be enough. As soon as he uttered it, he knew he had questions. But did he have the right to pry? “He’d hurt you. You’d fought back. You said no,” he said, clarifying. There must have been more memories with Luca, and so Adley thought he ought to clarify.

“Why do you wear the jacket? Why do you keep it?” he asked, the questions uttered even if he wondered whether they would be welcome.


KASPAR
The fingers in his hair under most circumstances would be comforting, and they did act as a sort of soothing anchor for him, Kas leaning into it momentarily. Then he said a name, one which coming from Adley’s lips at first didn’t register as remarkable, the two worlds felt so separate that the flinch, the withdraw backwards came on a delay. His shoulderblades knocked against the wall and he had to take a breath to steady himself, feeling the wall so close to the back of his head. Instead of letting it touch, fearing feeling the coolness against his scalp that would remind him of where his skull had split he drooped forwards, forehead finding Adley’s shoulder. Hel would have been happy to stay there in silence, to let memories wash over him only to be banished again, but Adley had more words to speak. Kas wanted to push him back, to get out of the embrace that suddenly felt cloying but he had to acknowledge he was between rock and a hard place, literally, and he felt trapped.

The blonde sidestepped, gently pushing Adley’s arm aside to move beyond him. “Nei-... No. I mean, yes, he hurt me. Once. Well, twice, if you count…” He did, he counted it, fingertips pushing gently at the place beneath his hair where a deep scar should be, or perhaps a wound that couldn’t heal but instead it was smooth. “Ok, it was the twice badly. Before it had been just ******* around, we play fought, we were men. Are men. We would shove and push, laugh and sometimes get a bit rough but it was never like… That was violence. That was intentional harm. He was angry, he was jealous and he was afraid of himself. I was not going to be that guy, I was not his punching bag and so I told him to take a run and jump. I walked.”

He figured it was a specific memory, the mention of the jacket was what solidified it for him. Hands around this throat, a fist driving into his face, a knee into his stomach leaving ribs bruised and one fractured from the onslaught of kicks and punches that had followed between them until he’d scrambled away and to his feet, before the bruising kisses and his firm no, firm farewell.“Because I like it? I don’t know, I don’t often. Sometimes I wear it to remember. I have thought about cutting it up, tearing and ripping the seams then burning it. Would that make it better? No. He killed me, Adley. KILLED me. It was an accident, that is true, but it was because of jealousy and anger. He wanted to own me, possess me. He said I could do what I liked but when I did he reacted badly. Chains of gold...” Something seemed to dawn on him, a cresting looking of surprise, of growing understanding as he looked back at Adley. That familiar suffocating fear had blossomed in his chest, subsiding just as quickly. “Sometimes it puts me on to the edge. Makes me shaky?” His head shook, words felt heavy in his mouth.

“Look, it’s cool, **** happens and I made a bad choice or ten. Luca was a special **** up on my part. There was more to him, but the bad was more than the good could make up for.” A hand shifted to his throat, tracing gently over where fingers had too often gripped, thumb lifting to trace the side of his jaw. “Bruising, a bit of blood and it was all feeling better in a week. Two weeks later I got stupid drunk and was friendly to him at a party, nothing serious. Another week and I was… This.” He gestured at himself, striking a pose, some of the cockiness returning. “Dead sexy, just so we are clear. I am dead sexy. Sexy and dead.”


ADLEY REED
Adley didn’t protest when his arm was brushed away. He crossed his arms over his chest in that way he had -- not in the way that he looked defensive or angry, but in the way that he looked wary, protected, even sheepish. Relaxed. Thoughtful. He even took a step back, a small one, to give Kaspar his space. It dawned on him that if he pushed the subject, if he asked too many questions, Kaspar might shut down. He might disallow any future bloodletting. And that was not something that Adley wanted.

His lower lip was pulled between his teeth, tongue swiping any stray drops of blood to swallow them, savouring every lingering taste. But he kept his questions to himself, Kaspar’s joviality sign enough that the subject could be changed, or dropped. But Adley heard every word, storing it all away.

Despite whatever he might have been accused, Adley gave a ****.

But he also held his tongue because the conversation had taken a turn that he wasn’t particularly fond of, even though he’d been the one to steer it that way. Adley had apologised, and Kaspar had said it was cool -- following up with the admittance that he made mistakes. Where Adley had met Kaspar with his usual swagger, he was now, again, cut back to size. And yet whatever Adley might have been feeling revealed itself in only a brief flicker, which was soon banished by a mirrored grin.

“No one’s arguing your dead sexiness,” he said, tongue once more tugging at his lip, pulling it in for an idle chew. “And to boot, you’ve got immortality on your side. Next time you see him you can give back whatever he gave. If he tries anything. Right?” he said, trying for a jovial tone. He wanted to check his watch -- he had to leave, soon, with Indigo. He should be getting back. But it felt strange to cut loose and run. Not yet.


KASPAR
Kaspar was feeling ready to let it go, not to talk of the subject or the man in question for a while. Adley had questions, he knew it, it burned in his expression and he would let them ask them… Eventually. Right now? In the sewers? No, not now, it wasn’t the right time and it was all too much, there were too many things that felt wrong to him, familiar and unfamiliar at once. Afley mentioned his sexiness, agreeing in his own way and Kaspar playfully puffed out his chest, as if he might strike another pose and stride out of their like a proud peacock, or the lion he could turn into if he wished to do so. It would’ve been funny to do so, to shift and parade out in lion form but the amusement of the idea left him, Hel’s features souring as the conversation was dragged back.

He was trying to help, he was trying to be supportive but it was possibly the worst thing he could have said to Kaspar on the subject, and his withdrawn posture, the distant look in his eye as he stared towards the exit said as much. “I would rather not lower myself to that. He would not try it, he looks at me with confusion and fear, I do not know what he thinks but he fears whatever it is. The truth, what he did. What I know.” The guy had left town not long after, and only appeared again recently, like a ghost haunting at the edges of Kaspar’s peripheral. There was nothing frightening in it, not really, so many people had become ghosts to him and the reminders just tokens of those dearly departed, stricken from his life.

“It is ok… This does not matter. Look, you should go. Get back to Indigo. I will go home, crawl into bed and make cute at my Grey for a few hours before we sleep. We can talk later, I do not really want to talk any more tonight.” There was a sigh tacked onto the end, Kaspar pacing back a few steps until he almost collided with Adley, long arms tugging him into a brief but warm embrace, lips pressing to his cheek. “Have a safe trip, be careful with that gift of yours.” And he was leaning away, trying to depart without further mess. One day they would talk about it, perhaps, one day he might need to. For now? It would be buried, back into the depths of his mind where it belonged.


ADLEY REED
The suggestions had been made in jest. Adley merely meant that Kaspar had all the power, now. It was at least poetic. But it was clear that Kaspar didn’t want to talk about it, that he was uncomfortable with it, and truth be told, so was Adley. Now, in the sewers, he felt like he’d just taken two steps back when they’d only just taken one step forward. More angry at himself than at anything Kaspar had to say, Adley was torn between offering brief affection before walking away, or just walking away.

He’d never really thought about it before, the things he inflicted on others. He could feel that violence at his core, the way it lurked beneath the surface at all times. He would lash out, liable to snap. He was unstable, so often unstable. It had never been that way before. He’d always been so confident, but he kept making mistakes. So many ******* mistakes, it was natural that he had to stop and question himself.

But none of this was about him. A few stray words shouldn’t wound him as much as they had potential to, and it was because he’d let Kaspar in. As much as he’d told himself that priorities would shift, that things would change and he’d care a little less, nothing really had changed. The tension eked from his body as Kaspar initiated the embrace, Adley’s arms dropping to welcome it, to return it.

“We can talk when you’re ready,” he said, figuring Kaspar would bring it up in his own good time. “And remember -- if anything happens, anything big, you call me,” he said, tone direct and unchallengeable.

Just as he was about to part, to walk away, he recalled that he hadn’t been the one to call Kaspar. Kaspar had called him, had wanted to meet. He turned back. “Hey, why’d you want to meet? You were the one who called…” he said, asking out of curiosity.


KASPAR
When he was ready? Kas could talk for hours, but it wouldn’t do much good. Ready was an abstract concept, in theory he was always ready to talk about it, or more to the point he could, it’s just that no good would come of it. Would it ever be that way? Talking about it would help heal some broken part of him or something? He doubted it, he was good. Whatever had happened, whatever was going to happen, Kaspar was solid. He knew that he was special, and that he would be ok, no, that he would excel whatever the circumstances. **** anyone or anything that thought otherwise.

Kas smiled gently, pausing in his leaving to glance back over his shoulder, hands slipping into the pockets of his jeans. “I do not know… I suppose I just could not help myself, or something. Glutton for punishment, blah blah, you know the drill? I want to say it was a pleasure, but unfortunately, you did not get the honour of spurting forth on my leg before I was ready. Shame for you, really, I give good leg… Some other time.” He waved a hand, smirking now, the cockiness well and truly back, enough to tease his friend. “Call me when you are back, arschloch.”

[Kaspar]

See You At The Bitter End.

Morningstar Productions studio is VERY similar to this https://youtu.be/0-N31lJM1Po though the windows aren’t full ceiling to floor and are stained glass. There is a large cream coloured piano in the main room, and soft leather couches in black that have been put in there for the day. The sound room is very similar to the video, large comfortable chairs and carpeting, comfort and classic style. There is also a break room, a bathroom and a front reception/entryway before entering the main recording studio itself. It was a decent sized church, refurbished for his purposes in lots of dark woods, black and brown leather with modern artwork

K A S P A R
Morningstar Productions Studio was closed for the night, the staff were given the night off and Kaspar had spent the early evening alone working on a new song, only his puppy Bear curled up beside him for company. Sigrid had joined him after dinner, slipping into the main studio area where her husband sat, fingertips plucking idly at a guitar and staring blankly ahead, humming along to a song he’d sang a hundred times before. It was oddly soothing, even as the lyrics spoke to his current predicament and yet poignant in this static moment. It was the brush of lips to his temple, and the familiar grabbing of small, chubby hands that roused Kaspar from his reverie. The guitar was laid aside in preference of reaching for his son, lifting the growing boy into his arms, nuzzling kisses against the downy blonde hair atop his head. “Danke, Sig.” He murmured in greeting; there wasn’t much else to say, they’d already discussed it at length and she’d pledged her support, asked to stand at his side and help him through the day.

By the time the others were due to arrive Kaspar was calmer, content to be distracted by his Wife’s cheery chatter, and son’s excitable mood. A picture of a family would be what greeted any who chose to look in, the three of them sitting at the piano and Bear dozing in a bed near their feet, Sigrid’s chin resting upon Kaspar’s shoulder watching with adoration at the way his face lit up when he sang. Will sat in his mother’s lap, blue eyes watching his father’s fingers move across the keys with wide eyed fascination. It was a place of comfort, this world he’d built for himself and a firm reminder of why he made the hard decisions now. It was time to grow up, even though in one way he never could, to focus on their future. This was for all of them.

The song trailed off to a natural end, Kas’s hands leaving the piano to sink amongst his wife’s hair, fingertips twisting amongst the dark, silken strands and gathering them in his palms. Lips found hers in a lingering kiss, thumbs stroking patterns at the nape of her neck where he knew she often held most of her tension. It was a brief reprieve, just what he’d needed to make his choice and it was clear as he sat there, Wife and son entirely devoted to him. “Thank you… I am sorry, this won’t be easy. You know what to do if it becomes too much, hm? You take him home.” Will gave a little yawn as an uncertain gaze was settled on him, utterly unaware of the line of tension straightening his father’s shoulders when he reached to pull him once more into his embrace.

G R E Y W E S T O N
The air was sharp with the scent of rubbing alcohol, the chemical creating a bitter topnote that stole the oxygen from the room with a cancerous intent. The fluorescent lighting shuddered overhead; anemic as it crawled over his skin. A filament was loose, leaving what pale light it produced unsteady, landing on surface like listless hands with a jealous touch. Grey stood at the low art room sink, a half-empty bottle of rubbing alcohol to his immediate left. The basin of the sink - once a scarred chrome - ran a pale, frothy pink, choked with the vivid slash of color. Streaks of red coated the faucet handles, with subtle flecks of white and flecks of a tarnished yellow-brown. Not quite gold, and yet too dull, too muddy, to be considered a flattering shade.

His hands were damp to the wrist, lathered with a cheap antibacterial soap. His skin looked torn; edged in black, as if his flesh had suddenly begun to peel away like aged linoleum that separated from the floor, bubbling up at the first hint of water damage. Muscle and sinews exposed in thin, ropey yellows and blues. Delicate, spiderwebbing white. There was the flash of pink for tendons and nerves, and through it all, the hint of bone under the thick cording. He’d stayed for the final Life Study class at the university, and had agreed to paint his skin to mirror something out of anatomy textbook.

The paint of corded muscle ran from his face to his chest, snaking along his arms and calves. It had been tedious; a day of painstaking work that had ultimately lasted a matter of hours. The end result was beautiful, to be sure; unsettling, in many respects. It also meant that he’d wasted the past hour and a half scrubbing the last remnants of the acrylic paint from his skin with minimal success. One half of his face and side had been scrubbed raw; skin a healthy blush of pink. A few streaks of color dotted his skin here and there.

A low noise of disgust slipped from him seconds later, fingers uncurling from the rag as the familiar sound of his phone swelled. It balanced precariously at the edge of the sink, and he seized it with damp hands, swiping across the screen absently. A low hiss escaped him. He was late. Later than he would have liked to be. He took a moment to text a hasty assurance before shoving the phone into his back pocket, shrugging on his shirt a moment later. He made his way to the exit of the classroom, pausing long enough to brush his fingers over the lightswitch, plunging the room in darkness.

He arrived at the studio thirty minutes later, smelling strongly of both alcohol and the chemical, wet scent of acrylic paint. He made his way inside, taking a moment to flash a brief, lopsided smile - bright and younger than his years at Sigrid, before brushing his fingertips along the nape of Kaspar’s neck. “Sorry. I got wrapped up in…” He made a slight face, nose wrinkling. “Pretentious ********.”

K A S P A R
The woman was the first to acknowledge his arrival, Sigrid standing like a puppet having it’s strings pulled, drawn forward by Grey’s presence. Kaspar canted his head to the side, turning to look up at his wife, following his gaze to catch the grin the two shared. “Greyby, believe it or not you are almost early.” He remarked, leaning into the warmth of the fingertips. His nose wrinkled at the strong scent, chemical and sharp in a way that made your eyes sting with the urge to water. “Language, Liebchen.” He chided playfully, bouncing the wriggling Will on his knee. Bear decided now was an appropriate time to be reluctantly roused from sleep, giving a little huff before dragging his fluffy body to stand. Once he acknowledged the familiar scent, initially masked by the rubbing alcohol, his little took up a solid wag and he demanded intention with a sharp puppy bark.

It was adorable, and had Kaspar laughing, making a shushing sound. Will took up the chorus, babbling excitedly in response, wriggling in an attempt to get closer to the new arrival and the recently stirred puppy. “This was potentially one of my worst ideas, children and animals, never work with other.” Sigrid came to his aid, but not before swooping forward to brush a kiss to Grey’s cheeks in greeting, taking his face between her palms as seemed customary for both Husband and Wife. “Forgive him, he’s short tempered today.” Her eyes shot to her husband, rolling them for Grey’s benefit as her hands tucked beneath her son’s arms, lifting him on to her hip. “I am going to get him a bottle while we wait, ok? Grey, the puppy is yours to deal with.” As much as Sig thought he was adorable, she wasn’t terribly interested in trying to juggle an eight month old baby and a puppy that at only a few months was roughly the same size.

Kaspar watched her go, shaking his head, “I maintain she is just jealous you didn’t get HER a puppy.” He teased, rising to his feet so he could properly greet Grey, cupping the man’s cheeks between his palms in a way that echoed the brief touch Sigrid had used on him only moments before. “You positively reek of… Pretension.” His kiss was soft, a fleeting thing, “I am very much not prepared for this, and I beg of you, try not to start a fight or rise to one mm? I am hoping we can all be civil and work through this.” There was no reprimand in his words, not reminder of past actions merely a hope that things weren’t completely destined to end in harsh words.

I N D I G O
The time of the invite was fast approaching by the time she first brought it up to Adley. Mainly it was her attempt to see if he was going to be okay with this. The inevitable gathering that would likely involve not just Kaspar but she presumed Grey as well. So far ever encounter was proving strained at best. She didn’t like that at all. It was not how they were and part of her felt as though it was the consequence for her desire to turn. The one thing she wanted...needed and it created a fracture that was spreading . Was this the cost? To be closer to them she instead created a divide? She doubted highly it was because she professed her being in love with Adley. She glanced back at him in the motions of heading where she was. No. But something else dawned on her. Something she had not quite given full credit to being possible until that very moment. Tonight maybe it would be confirmed.

Indigo was optimistic. Outside the underlying that was there because of recent events she was eternally optimistic. Adley was dealing with more on her shoulder then she was and she felt it even if he tried his best to make sure she didn’t. He was attentive, nearly there every time she turned around. It was endearing, sweet and except for when she found him watching her as she found the berry salad she was eating not quite as good as it was before. His expression said more than disappointment it was more bordering fear. Of what she didn’t know but his hand on her stomach was the odd part. Not like touch was at all the deal just the inquiry as to if it hurt, did she have any pain there. She assured him the salad wasn’t working and that was the extent of it. Adley was having a hard time with accepting everything was okay with her...in fact perfect. If anyone ever was wanting to step over to the darker side of existence it was her. Eventually they would all get that.

Reluctance was a massive third wheel in the all but silent ride to their destination. Her hand reached over and brushed at Adley’s cheek and paused so that her thumb rested on the hard line of his cheekbone. She leaned over and kissed him there. Her eyes stayed on him while she settled back in her seat. The jeep finally came to a stop and she reached for the door handle. It was up to her to take the lead at that moment and to get out of the vehicle before he decided to keep heading elsewhere. She knew he wouldn’t attempt it if she was out of it.

Adorable as his brooding could be and the reluctance to participate in what he had no desire to could be this needed to happen. The lack of communication had done its damage and now this was the point they ‘ripped that bandage off’ and took a look at the wound left. Was it going to be treatable? They all were responsible to making the final decision. They were all affected and the prognosis would be agreed upon tonight.

Indigo had stepped around the front of the jeep and watched Adley go through the motions of exiting the vehicle. Her lips softened into a smile that had he the power alone to bring to her face. Her hand extended out and her long fingers wiggled slightly in the night air in invite.

“We can do this.” She offered up the reassurance. “Together.”

A D L E Y R E E D
Confrontation had never been one of Adley’s fortes. He and Kaspar didn’t have a great track record as far as confrontation was concerned. It never ended well -- or it ended great, though the middle was never very fun. And even when it did end great, it still felt like there were things left unsaid.

Stubbornness, on the other hand, was high on the list of Adley’s fortes. Since the incident in the sewers he’d kept to his word. There’d been no pushing. It was radio silence on Adley’s end, with any company given by Kaspar given on his own terms. Whenever Kaspar was with them, Adley didn’t mention Grey. As much as he wanted to know whether Kaspar agreed with the things Grey had said, he held his tongue. In fact, most of the time he sat nearby while Kaspar and Indigo interacted, though it was hard not to slip into old habits. They’d had good times, they’d laughed and joked around, but something was still off.

Adley fed from Kas the once; it didn’t feel the same. Since, he’d healed himself or fed from Indigo, careful always to heal her again afterwards. If all else failed, he took the sewers, though the occurrence was rare. Since the turning, Adley rarely left Indigo’s side, and since their first night alone he especially paid close attention to her health -- a concern he would not be sharing with Kaspar, especially if it had any chance of reaching Grey’s ears. Yes, he continued to make mistakes but it wasn’t something that he wanted rubbed in his face. He didn’t want it to be another slash at his ego.

Every encounter with Grey and Kaspar together had been just that. They didn’t conspire to do it on purpose, but Grey certainly had nothing good to say to Adley, and Kaspar rarely stepped in to defend or deny. Adley understood that the man was frustrated, and that he didn’t want to appear to be taking sides. He understood that it was hard, and so Adley had fallen on his own sword and swallowed his pride, allowing chunks to be dismantled as he gave in and shut up, being only what Kaspar needed him to be and forcing nothing more.

Indigo, as per usual, was a breeze of smiles and love, oozing with optimism where Adley served as her glum shadow. He twined his fingers with hers, allowing the bright woman to lead them into the studio. Grey was there, as predicted. Adley had thought it would be just the four of them, but the room was soon to made that much smaller when his wife walked in with a baby Will with his bottle, looking curious and closing in on Kaspar and Grey. As the greeting smile stretched Adley’s lips, his grip tightened on Indigo’s hand, even as he eyed puppy, child, and human with resigned hesitation. His free hand was shoved safely into his pocket.

G R E Y W E S T O N
A single brow - thin and slightly stiff from a stray fleck of paint - lofted in response. “A wizard --” he began, before abandoning the line with a faint quirk of his lips. The thin strand of paint interwove with the darker hair of his eyebrow; flecking it silver. It provided a stark contrast, the color muted in comparison to the other, far less subtle shades that still mapped his skin. His fingertips pressed lightly against the nape of his neck. There was a knot of tension there; muscles unyielding. He kneaded at it gently, his touch coaxing. The sharp, thin sound of Bear’s bark interrupted his train of thought, the puppy eyeing him with mild reproach, despite the obvious enthusiasm contained in the eager wag of his tail. “You think so, huh?” He asked, as Will, not to be outdone, raised his voice in a sudden excited babble of his own. Shaking his head, he bent to press a kiss to his cheek.

He straightened as Sigrid approached, hands lifting to lightly frame her shoulders as she delivered a kiss to either cheek. His hands rose a second later, fingers gently threading through her hair, savoring its weight and texture as his fingers curled into those locks. “Sig,” he greeted, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before releasing her and stepping back. He shot a brief glance in Kaspar’s direction, frowning slightly. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said. By that time, Bear had inched closer, one paw lifting to swat at the cuff of his pants. The gesture was one of annoyed impatience, the tiny canine clearly unimpressed with the lack of attention. He heaved a long-suffering sigh, as if burdened by Sigrid’s remark. He knelt all the same, sweeping the puppy into his arms.

He cradled him like an infant in his arms, the puppy’s round tummy exposed. His head lowered a second later, lips pressing against the soft fur there before blowing a short, sharp raspberry. Bear’s head jerked in surprise, mouth falling open as he squirmed, back legs thrashing. He pressed a noisy kiss to his head a moment later, before setting him down. “Christmas is coming,” he replied cheerfully. “Unless she’d prefer Chanel.” He leaned into Kaspar as he approached, a soft, contented sound slipping from him as his hands rose to cup his cheeks. “Mm. I can get pretentious for you, baby. So pretentious it hurts/” The kiss was unexpected; gentle. There was a vague uncertainty in the way his lips ghosted over Grey’s.

He grunted in response, lips thinning. There was a shift in his expression; a sudden spark of mischief that briefly brightened his gaze. He threw an arm around Kaspar’s neck abruptly, effectively pulling him into a headlock. It was a sharp, scuffling gesture; at once playful and borderline aggressive. He allowed their combined momentum to carry them to the floor, softening the journey to the floor with a careful press of his palm along Kaspar’s spine to absorb the worst of the shock. It wouldn’t be the gentliest of landings, but it was hardly the rough, graceless tumble one might have expected. He was already laughing by the time they hit the floor. Bear, alarmed by the abrupt shift in mood, raced forward a second later, throwing himself across the pair, mouth open in a wide puppy grin.

Grey shifted a moment later, pinning Kaspar in place with a palm against his chest. “Mach dir keine Sorgen,” he said at last. “How you say…?” He added, a touch mockingly, abruptly leaning down to deliver slow, lingering kisses, brief and warm, to his lips. “Ja? Ja.” He glanced up as the pair entered the room, gaze shifting lazily between the pair. It lingered on Adley’s smile for a moment, before a cautious one of his own crept onto his face. “Don’t mind us. How’s it going?”

K A S P A R
Watching Grey and Bear was remarkably endearing, Kaspar unable to hold back his grin at the puppy’s alarmed face when Grey delivered a raspberry to his pudgy puppy belly. “I was most definitely kidding, if you get another dog she might kill you. Beat you to death with one of your own paintings, or drown you in paint. Something poetically hideous relating to your shared interest… I love that woman.” He smirked, pulling a hand free of Grey’s face to run his thumb along his own lower lip, Kas biting it teasingly in the man’s direction. His own playful mirth slipped once more as Grey responded to his request, he expected annoyance but the way his features lit up with mischief was even worse. “N-...”

Kaspar didn’t get to finish the word, Grey throwing his weight into him and grabbing him around the neck, tugging him down into a headlock, a position he had found himself in numerous times over the years being both a brother and a member of band which was like having another set of brothers to contend with. He usually prided himself on being able to escape the hold, or managing to get someone else into it first but Grey’s speed and force had them heading towards the ground before he could even think to grapple. They landed in a tangle of limbs half atop one of the rugs that helped counteract some of the echo from the floorboards and reverberations, Kas playfully wrestling back with his boyfriend.

Not overly surprising that he resigned himself to being pinned, laughter shaking away more of his tension as Bear joined the fray, the ball of fluff trying to climb atop his owners chest and get close enough to lick at his face. “Ugh, nein, Bär! Aus!” He commanded, but with little harshness in his voice so that the puppy merely paused, forcing Kaspar to gently push away. Grey’s use of his native language surprised him, the sneaky **** had been picking phrases here and there making Kas wonder whether he wasn’t taking lessons in secret. The kisses were returned, Kaspar narrowing a look on him shortly after. “Ja, easy for you to say. Have you met yourself, Liebchen? You are trouble with a big T!”

He might have said more but three things happened that distracted him, the first being Sig and Will emerging from the break area and returning to the main studio, the second was the sound of a door closing in the entrance area and the third was Grey’s expression as he greeted the new arrivals. Kaspar winced, tilting his backwards to look at the pair upside down, his expression thoroughly sheepish. The tall German made use of his long limbs, disentangling them and pushing Grey off carefully so that he could stand, leaving Bear to attack the man’s face with kisses as he moved to greet the pair. Sig followed his movements, without question or waiting to be invited she took up her place at his side, Kas’s arm shifting naturally to welcome her, securing a grip on the woman’s waist. “Indie, Adley, welcome. Sorry, we were mucking around waiting, I believe everyone is trying to lighten my mood, hm?” He gaze Sig a squeeze, the woman laughing in response, turning her head to press a kiss to his shoulder.

Model tall, with delicate features and dark hair Sigrid fit well into the family picture, standing by her husband. Her eyes made quick work of absorbing every detail of Adley, her cheeks dimpling with the radiant smile she levelled on him. “THIS must be Adley, he IS beautiful, you weren’t kidding. Hi beautiful, i’m Sigrid and this…” She bounced the baby in her arms, who had grown thoroughly disinterested in the bottle she held, “Is Niklaus Wilhelm, but Will will do just fine. Indigo, how are you? Your hair looks wonderful, shinier somehow. Is that the vampirism?” Kaspar winced audibly at the remark, giving his wife a look, “Good grief, woman, you should learn to beat around bushes, ok? Guys, welcome. We can stay in here, or the production room has more comfortable seating?”

The studio itself had two couches, one which was a permanent feature and the other clearly brought in for this occasion. The sound room, or production room as Kas preferred to call it, had large leather chairs and a matching couch, opulent and worn they were ideal for discussing matters over a glass of whiskey or curling up in to listen to how an album was coming together. There was a nervous energy to Kaspar as he waited for response, fingers drumming against his Wife’s side and an all too pleasant smile plastered on his face. Again he was just hoping this wouldn’t end in fights, that they didn’t tear the place down or his well maintained emotional walls which were most certainly weakening and threatening to crumble.



I N D I G O
The squeeze from Adley’s hand had her fingers responding and they tightened a little more around those he had weaved between her own. The studio was full of energy, good energy. Left over from the tumble of a puppy, a few bodies and the one and only beautiful Sig. Will in his innocent and curious nature appeared to be delighted with it all as his eyes danced from one face to another without staying too long. She thought it was how it should be while her eyes first tagged Kaspar with affection.

The blonde stood taller in here. It was easy to see that he was in his element. The studio a church of sorts just as the arched glass of the windows peaking heavenward would allude to. The congregation was basking in the comfort and love that it shared and there they were just in time arriving from the outside witnessing it for the first time. Grey, Kaspar, Sig and Will the happy family as they should be. While she stepped in further she felt instantly as if her and Aldey were the final expected parishioners before the doors would close.

The flow of Kaspar and his wife, Sig, was like standing and waiting for the perfect waves of welcome to come in and greet. The pair complimented each other in their physical differences carrying with them a level in comfort that only two could share who were united it would appear on every level a couple should be. Sig held a huge amount of Indigo’s respect. The woman was Queen in Kaspar’s world, the bearer of his flesh and blood, the maestro of his blood in its purest form and here and anywhere else Kaspar was she truly reigned without question. Maybe it was a female thing if that applied appropriately but no matter what it was Sig trumped all and as always Indigo was in silent awe at the strength and love in front of her. She smiled as Kaspar’s wife bounced the next heir to the rockstar throne on her hip.

“Evening Sig. Looking beautiful as ever.” A gentle kiss was placed on her cheek then Will’s. Her hair was quick to escape the already proven stealthy grasp Will had in the past. She leaned back and was at Adley’s side as his beauty was pointed out. No surprise there. Her own eyes looking at him as she smiled. “Thank you for inviting us over, Boo.”

Indigo eyes focused at the man of the hour, vamp of the hour and then crossed over to where Grey was found. She nodded her head because what was appropriate to say was lost on her for the moment as she held Adley’s hand. The explanation from Kaspar as to their first observation of a family at play found its way back through her head and she glanced back to Kaspar. They were consoling him. Her smile faded and she looked away to the windows, the walls trying hard to appear as if it was all not seen only moments ago. The temporary distraction she needed from the pang of guilt that crept within her unexpectedly.

A D L E Y R E E D
To those that knew Adley, they’d see that his smile was just a formality; the mirth on his lips was not married to the cold hardness of his eyes. The scene they were greeted with was apologised for by Kaspar; whether he’d intended to or not, he’d created a divide. Everyone, discluding the two who’d just walked in. But, he was taking things the wrong way. He took a deep breath and kept that smile on his face, refusing to make the wrong first impression in front of a woman who greeted him with such glorious compliments; where Indigo went forward to kiss the two, to greet them in the physical way that was usual amongst their group, Adley remained apart, keeping his hands and his curses to himself.

“It’s nice to meet you, finally,” he said, nodding his head in greeting. “You are everything Kaspar described you as and more,” he said. He hadn’t missed Grey’s question. He had merely nodded in response. The last time the two of them had met had been nothing less than volatile, and he had doubts that Grey cared, much, how things were going. Adley noticed the way Indigo’s smile faded; the way she looked away. He leaned against her, pressing a kiss to her temple. Without even speaking, he understood.

“Here is fine,” he said, gesturing to the couches nearby. There was enough room for them, and he liked the open space.

G R E Y W E S T O N
Bear, bereft of his owner’s attention, turned his focus to Grey a split second later, a thin huff of air escaping his tiny frame. His gaze was bright with a sudden caginess, sly with intention. Grey barely had time to shield himself, hands lifting belatedly as the puppy coiled and sprang. Bear settled into his lap a moment later, rearing back on his hind legs as his stubby front paws braced against his chest. He leaned forward abruptly, tongue snaking out to bathe Grey’s face in excited licks. Grey’s hands rose to steady him a moment later, arms curling around him to cradle him against his chest. ’Trouble,’ he mouthed at the puppy, in faux affront. He made no attempt to rise from the floor, leaving the greetings to Kaspar and Sigrid. Bear twisted in his arms, head turning over the rise of one sharp shoulder blade, floppy ears pricking forward.

His front paws pressed against Grey’s chest, firm and anxious, as he squirmed free of his hold. He hit the floor awkwardly, stumbling slightly, eyes squinting as his chin grazed the carpet. He righted himself a moment later, bounding over to join the fray. His tail offered a tentative wag as he neared Indigo and Adley, weaving between Kaspar’s ankles. His neck extended cautiously forward a second later to sniff at Indigo’s shoes. His gaze shifted briefly to Adley, a grunt escaping him. He once again rocked back on his haunches, paws dragging at his pants, belly pressed against the lower half of his shin in a clear entreaty to be picked up. “Bear,” Grey started. There was no sharpness in his tone; no alarm.

Bear’s head turned, just briefly. It swiveled to one side, fixing Grey with an expectant stare. When no further reprimand or instruction seemed to be forthcoming, he resumed his pleading, scratching lightly with too-sharp puppy nails. Grey braced his palm against the floor, slowly lifting himself to his feet. His fingers clicked together in a brisk snap, hoping to divert the dog’s attention. To no avail. Rolling his eyes slightly, he started forward. “Sorry,” he said, apologetic. “He’s almost as big of an attention who--hound,” he corrected himself, cutting a sidelong gaze at Kaspar, “as his owner.” There was nothing accusatory in the words; only a quiet warmth. He stole behind Kaspar a split second later, fingers brushing lightly against his arm. “Want me to crate him?”

[Adley Reed]

K A S P A R
Kaspar watched as Indigo moved forward to bestow her kisses upon Sigrid and Will, smiling as it was returned by one and giggled at the other. It was comforting, to see them communicating and Adley was also being on his best behaviour, Kaspar straightening proudly as he remarked on Sigrid. He was proud of her, she was an amazing woman, a person he respected and whose opinion was held in almost as high regard as his own by himself. As Bear began playing up the man once again reminded himself of how foolish it was trying to work with children and animals. “Here it is then, please, make yourselves comfortable.” He’d acknowledged Grey’s joining them with a slight shift of posture to include him, shaking his head at the suggestion of putting the pup into the crate. “No, he will calm down, I want to encourage him to be social and pay attention to his commands in such situations.” Always the sterner parent, firm but kind, even with his puppy.

Kas stared at the ball of fluff, clicking his tongue at him. “Bär, aus.” The puppy stared at him stupidly for a moment but backed off, dropping to the floor and rolling over in hopes of a belly rub. He obliged briefly, ignoring the sad huff when he stopped so he could pay attention to the room. “Sorry, he will get tired soon, he’s just a baby…” His shoulders hitched in a casual shrug, the tall man swooping forward to catch Indigo and then Adley with a brief greeting kiss, his hand landing against the lower of the latter’s back, urging him towards a couch.

As the others settled he unburdened his wife of their son, taking his seat at the piano and placing the bottle to his lips, watching for a moment as Will sucked greedily, wide blue eyes still staring at the newcomers. Sig joined him, lifting herself up to sit atop the piano, legs folded daintily and her hand finding his shoulder with an encouraging squeeze. “I don’t know where to start… Other than to say I appreciate you coming, and to remind you that there are humans present.” Bär trotted over to his little bed, climbing into it, angling himself so he had the best view of the room though his eyes were already growing heavy. “And children. To this end, I ask we avoid the use of our… Abilities, and if it becomes too much that we ask for a moment to breathe. I don’t think it will come to that of course, but I needed to say it.” He lifted his gaze, studying the faces that surrounded him. “I love you all, in my way, and I feel we need to discuss where we are all at. Bare bones, honestly, so that we can move forwards.” Together, or apart.

I N D I G O
As the kiss to her temple removed the sting within Indigo wondered about the warning of powers and the reminder that humans were present. Those in the room and even Jay included had never done such a thing that she could recall so why give thought to such being a possibility now? And the mention of needing a discussion about where they were at really was long overdue more so for the sake of Adley than her.

Indigo was not one that saw constraints, conditions or would be mourning the shift in their relationships because Kaspar had re-evaluated his life in general and decided to make choices that would suit him, his obvious cohesiveness with his wife, child, new puppy and his boyfriend. Her indigo orbs cast a brief glance to Grey who was looking so comfortable that he belonged where he was...which he did. The positive, affectionate energy between the three adults was nearly palpable. It was exactly what she was about, all for seeing it , wanting it for those she loved whether she was included or not. The fact she felt a little of the distance that troubled Adley as she watched and continued to observe was just natural because she wanted Kaspar happy and it was self-less. The effects on the one beside her was her understandable concern. He didn’t always see it as a good thing. Kaspar’s or Jay’s desire for space if that what this would beabout and the reason for Jay’s sudden disappearance.

No matter what was expressed by Kaspar, decided to be the dynamics that would be governing his future one thing would always remain. Her support at living the life that fulfilled him free of regret or explanation when he finally applied the changes he decided on. A smile found her lips. A genuine one that was void of the minor concern that she had carried in. He was loved and he was loving back and he was happy.

“I couldn’t agree more, Boo.” Hopefully the nickname was going to still be okay. She nodded at Adley’s suggestion that where they were was adequate to carry on the discussion. “I think here is fine as well.”

When it came to communication Indigo Knight could sit on the edge of a cliff and be comfortable doing it. Her free hand curled at the fingertips around the front of Adley’s arm and caressed it before allowing it to go back to her opposite side. And so this was it. One thing was certain, there would be no questions any longer just where Kaspar stood. And that alone was a sudden relief.

A D L E Y R E E D
A normal person would bend down and pat the puppy who so desperately sought attention. A normal Adley would have done just that; he’d have greeted the pet with delight, and would have given it all the love that it deserved. Instead, he was relegated to the part of stone statue; only those paying very close attention would see the way his fingers curled into fists as they were shoved into his pant pockets. The look that Adley gave Grey was one of confusion and perplexity. Adley wasn’t a paranoid person, but regardless it coiled in his gut. Why was Grey so happy, now? Why was he so friendly, when he’d been anything but, before? Adley couldn’t help but think that Grey knew something that he and Indigo didn’t.

The brooding male tried to take his cue from Indigo; she was so full of smiles, and yet Adley couldn’t help but think they were walking into some kind of trap. Why couldn’t he open up? Why couldn’t he take Grey’s good humour and be glad for it? Because a peculiar dread had settled, and no matter what he did or how he tried to change his own mind, it wouldn’t budge.

He and Indigo were greeted properly by Kaspar and led to the couch, and Adley went, sitting down like a good boy. He tugged Indigo down beside him, his arm tucked around behind her, fingers playing with the cloth at her waist.

It was only then that Kaspar started to explain why they were all there -- though Adley began to wonder whether it was needed. Given the scene that he and Indigo had walked in on, he had already come to his conclusions about where Kaspar was at. Though, he agreed that it would be best to have it all out on the table; to say it out loud, to put it in stone.

“You’ve got our attention,” he said. Nothing more. He was out of his element. He didn’t feel comfortable. He had nothing else to say.

G R E Y W E S T O N
Grey met Adley’s puzzled look with an unconcerned one of his own. The trace of a smile still lingered, slow to fade under the other man’s wary scrutiny. Adley’s suspicion could be forgiven, given the events of the past month or more. The change in his demeanor wasn’t purely for Kaspar’s benefit, although he’d made a point to be aware of them in recent weeks, taking his cue from their mercurial shifts. Too often lately Kaspar’s laughter would abruptly trail off, his gaze growing dark with some troubled thought. It had been easier, in those moments, to kiss the crease that formed between his brows, smoothing the faint wrinkles with the careful trace of his lips. He’d fallen asleep more than once over the course of the past week with his fingers loosely threaded through Kaspar’s hair, legs thrown over the arm of the couch, half-in and half-out of the man’s lap, an unfinished book still partially open across his lap, marked by the finger he’d absently tucked between its pages to keep his place.

Those stolen moments were peaceful, and many of them had occurred within the four walls that the six of them, if one included Bear - though sleep was rapidly laying claim to the rambunctious puppy - found themselves in by Kaspar’s invitation. The studio, in many respects, had become much more than a workplace. It had become a second home; a safe harbor. Somewhere to seek refuge and pour his focus into the quiet click of keys. A safe place to land. Surrounded by three of the people central to his life, there was no need for him to be anything but relaxed. Welcoming. He answered Adley’s lingering gaze with a sharp wink, before murmuring his excuses and quickly exiting the room. His steps carried him down the hallway,towards the bathroom. He shouldered the door open, pausing to flick the lights on with a careless gesture.

He twisted the faucet for hot water, lathering his hands before briskly scouring the skin of his wrists and neck. He’d abandoned the attempt to scrub the last of the paint from those areas; it was more of a vain effort to cloak the still-sharp scent of alcohol that clung damply to his skin. He toweled off, retreating from the bathroom moments later. He perched on the edge of the couch a moment later. It wasn’t to create distance, so much as spare the pair the worst of the rather unfortunate scent, muted to a far more manageable level. He reeked of soap, instead; a too-clean scent that permeated the air. He flashed Kaspar a quick, reassuring smile, but that was all. It was his turn to be heard.

K A S P A R
“Right.. ****. Well, here we are.” He breathed the words, his voice tight with some unnamed emotion, one that was so out of place for the charismatic musician it was hard to pinpoint. Was the man nervous? He felt uncomfortable beneath their gazes, felt the need to shift and move but he stayed where he was, putting aside the bottle when Will made it known he was quite done. Sig had grabbed the hand towel she had draped across her shoulder, placing it on his preemptively so when Kaspar adjusted Will to rest against his chest, a hand rubbing and patting soothingly at his back, his clothing was protected from any potential spills. Much to his relief Will merely gave a little hiccup before settling in for a cuddle. Grey rejoined them around that time, taking a seat on the other couch so as not to crowd himself against the other two, or place himself by Kaspar in too familiar a manner he guessed. Adley had already made it clear he felt Grey was at fault for the distance, an accusation that frustrated Hel, to him it spoke of Adley believing him easily influenced and his choices not being his own.

“Things have been different, we all know this, we can not pretend that it is not what has happened. The first thing I need to address is that I care about you all, very much, it is why we are here and not just ignoring it. It is why you came, ja? You care for me, too. You care for each other, in some cases, or you want the best for those you care about even if it means working with someone you do not so much like.” He frowned, clearing his throat, probably not the best points to bring up straight away. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, you know how busy my life has become. Will is getting older, there are things Sigrid and I need to address going forwards because of this and my… Not so human nature. My business has been getting busier, and busier. We’ve got the productions side of the company launched and it is taking a lot of focus, we are also nearly finished with the new album for my band.”

Kaspar glanced around the studio, the place he’d spent so much time. “Indigo, you know, you’ve visited me just to get a chance to say hello as I have with you at the Apiary. Grey, you’ve been amazing doing work behind the scenes and keeping some of the tech drama off my plate.” He gave them a smile, “And it is appreciated, that you support me, that we can support each other. This to me is more than sex, it’s more than companionship. We are building a community, and that is something I do not want to lose. I see you as part of my extended family, of people I want to protect, people I want to be around. Adley, for example, I hope will be willing to work with Indie and I on the album cover or some promo shoots. Sigrid, as always, is my constant support and a reminder of why I do this, and to keep me somewhat grounded… I think we can be in each other’s lives, regardless of how. We all have roles to play, all able to help each other and give affection and inspiration.”

And that was it, wasn’t it? For him, the “how” had to change. “I’m not sure that I can be what you want me to be anymore, however. I’m not sure I can give you the same amount or same kind of love I have been. I’ve realised that my responsibilities are mounting, and furthermore i’m looking into a new project which I hope you will be on board with, relating to relations between humans, humans with abilities and vampires… The way things have been going is not healthy, not good for anyone and i’m afraid the Masquerade is falling, this old code people live by is just…” He trailed off, waving a hand to dismiss the thought, it wasn’t the time for it and Will, jolted by the action, grumbled sleepily.

“I want you, that hasn’t changed and you need to know that, I want you all but that is selfish. Indigo… Adley… You two are beautiful together, and i’m so proud of you for being able to experience and be open to this love. You deserve to be happy, you deserve to have someone devoted to you. I don’t feel I fit into that picture, not as your OTHER boyfriend, your peripheral partner. I’m not that guy. I know that is not how it is, not how you think of it but the reality is I have a Wife, a son and… Yes, I have Grey. I won’t ignore his importance to make this less painful, he is my boyfriend and I love him. I love him in the way I love Sigrid, in the way you two love each other. IN love… You understand what that means for me, yes? How frightening that is.”

His wife’s hand found his hair, toying with it gently, smoothing it down against the nape of his neck lovingly, offering her silent agreement and support. “I want you, Indigo and Adley, but to have you would be selfish. I NEED you, as my friends, as my family. Allies… And that, is how i’m feeling… In a nutshell. That is the right phrase, yes? I want the blame to be gone, because no one is to blame. This started before I found love with Grey, before Jameson became nothing more than a ghost… This is about the future, our future and not making promises I cannot keep. Your wants and needs are important to me, and i’d like to hear what they are and see if we cannot work out how we can all be happy and healthy going forward. I will do my best, for you but there are certain things I can no longer be.” His head bowed, lips nuzzling against his son’s head, breathing in the familiar scent before leaving behind a kiss.

I N D I G O
And there it was. Indigo felt the small unraveling at a few of her heart strings. The feeling was much like the final petals of a bloom that had burst open some time prior, had its reign of show and now the late layers beneath finally opened and all was revealed. The center was what was expected. It was visible to all and now it was there. Now wilting, no disappointment in what was left but certainly there was a final change.

This discovery had her leaning more into Adley. Not for comfort, solace of some sort or denial of what had been started in such an honest and genuine manner. It was there. And for all that they had become comfortable with it was a shift. It was undeniable. Kaspar had finally addressed what he had needed to for quite sometime. He was a father, a husband and a lover and a friend in some capacity to all that presently focused on him in the room. If he was given one more role it would be perhaps that of rock star. His career called for his time too.

While Boo’s words fell from his lips it reminded her that she may have been more selfish than she had thought. In the midst of everything he listed off as duty, desire and need she interjected herself and set her fate in his hands on top of the pile of responsibility he already had. An ache surfaced that was a combination of guilt but more so disappointment at herself. She was preaching selflessness and yet she was the opposite with someone she loved. There was never supposed to be a sense of having to choose or to explain. Not like this. Maybe this was coming about because she had changed things more than she realized.

Did she understand? She believed she did. Her hand slipped over Adley’s to connect with the fingers that fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt. Kaspar was clear on what he had decided and she needed to accept it. It was never about the sex. That part was actually the part that would be missed least of all. It was great. It was unforgettable in fact but it was the contact in the aftermath. The intimacy of being close, limbs entwined...four sets more often than not. The softness of the voices during the contact. Ideas, thoughts, dreams, fears released between their bodies as they lay close in a way that the world around them struggled to accept or understand.

Her eyes found the strength to move to each face including Adley’s as Kaspar’s delivery ended. He had that still. The arms and legs beside him may have changed but he was going to have it. She would not be colder for it. Or feel slighted without that connection she valued so much more than the height of pleasure they brought each other before hand. She inhaled deep and held the air. She fell ‘in love’ first. She took more than she gave and now it was time to give back. Kaspar owed her no explanation, nothing. He had already given her far more than she expected. She couldn’t speak for Adley but she could for herself which she did.

“As long as you are happy. But don’t feel you are doing this at all for the betterment of what Adley and I share, Boo. We decide what is best for us.” She looked at him, her tone direct. “This is about you and what you need and want. No one can decide what is best for someone except the person themselves. You have done that. I will respect it. I want you happy…” She glanced at Adley. “I think we both do. I will miss the moments we shared together in that place where the world went away. It was not about sex which you have pointed out. You have found that here with your family and Grey. Who am I to feel slighted or rejected for that?” She had more to say, more to think of how it would come out but first Adley would have his time if he wanted it.

A D L E Y R E E D
Adley heard everything that Kaspar said -- it all buzzed around in his head like too much information that all boiled down to one thing. Kaspar wanted everything and everyone but he couldn’t have everything and everyone, because it was too much work and he was spread far too thin. He was a boat with too much weight and would sink if he didn’t cut some weight. Indigo and Adley were that weight.

It was easy to comprehend, and Kaspar was doing the best he could to soften the blow. Adley heard, and he understood. It stung, of course. But Kaspar had his priorities. This was a conversation they’d had once before about the happiness of others. It was something Adley said he was working on. He had to try to be happy for Kaspar rather than cater to his own hurt.

Indigo’s weight pressed against Adley’s, her fingers curling into his. He didn’t know whether it was for her comfort or whether she was doing it for his, but he didn’t resist. Together, she had said. They were in this together, and it suddenly felt like the room was divided. As if being IN love dictated that there should be a divide, when there had never been one before. She had the first say, and Adley’s fingers curled tightly into hers. It was as he expected, to begin with; the very thing he knew she would say. It didn’t matter - so long as Kaspar was happy. It was Indigo’s way. Except, what followed wasn’t as bright and forgiving as one would have primarily assumed. There was an edge to her words, as civilly as they were spoken. There was something lurking beneath the surface. It made him think more than he had previously been inclined to. The reaction surged within him -- words, rebuttals, agreement and disagreement, but it receded as quickly as it had risen. It was locked away in a cold steel cabinet.

Indigo had said it. This was a meeting called by Kaspar, and was about what he wanted and needed. He opened the table, he asked them to tell him what they wanted and needed, but it was moot. What Adley wanted and needed was contradictory to what Kaspar was willing to give, and that was something Adley had to accept. It was something they both had to expect. The huge bed would only house the two of them -- though it had never just been about the sex. Adley had at first been resistant to the sex. It was only a consequence, a side dish to the main meal.

“Sure, Kaspar,” he said. His voice was steady; it even had warmth to it.

“I can take photos for the album. Happy to,” he said. “No more blame. I promise. It’s like Indigo said - if you’re happy, that’s what matters. She’s right - we decide what’s best for us, and you were included in that, but love is about sacrifices. They have to be made every now and again,” he said.He was either having a moment of selfless wisdom, or he was lying through his teeth. Those present might never know. Either way, it was a subtle way of pointing out that what he wanted was what he couldn’t have, and so there was no point in voicing it.

K A S P A R
The man leaned into the gentle supportive touch of Sigrid, watching with a vague feeling of anxiety as the others absorbed his words and considered their responses. Grey seemed not to have anything to say, the man studiously studying his nails only lifting his head to offer a brief, encouraging smile to prove he was indeed listening, just choosing to remain quiet for now. Indigo broke the measured silence first, her eyes had taken in each of them seeming to focus for some time on himself sitting with Sig and Will, shifting over to Grey on occasion who sat further away. He could only begin to imagine what she was thinking, that there would be initial sting even though she had to know something of this nature was coming.

She spoke calmly, spoke of his happiness but the subtle implication was there. You chose them, over us. You have your family, then we are over here. It wasn’t what he wanted, he didn’t want them to think that way. They were family, too, they were special people in his life and Kaspar didn’t want them to walk out of there thinking their relationships were over. Why was change negative? Why could it not be stronger for the shift? His calm mask had slipped, a resigned sort of sadness touching his features, teeth pulling at his lower lip, worrying it while he let Adley speak.

The pair curled closer together, as much as they treated him as if he had made himself an island they seemed utterly unaware of the way their interactions separated them from the world around them. It was like the second he stepped an inch out of their expectations he was wrong, his upset turning to frustration in a moment at this thought. Why did it have to be wrong? “Why does it have to be sacrifice not growth? You say no blame, but i’m not sure I fully believe this…” He gestured at them, at their calm and contained manner.

It was unlike them, sure Indigo was often the more serene of the pair but he wasn’t entirely obvlious to the subtle tension in her, the holding back. “You know my one policy, my one request and now is the time that it should be most enforced… Bare bones, honesty. If you have more to say then i’d like to hear it, because while i’m aware I probably should of asked how you felt first I thought it unfair to allow room for misunderstanding. I needed you to know what you were facing, so you could challenge it or accept it. You’re allowed to feel slighted, Indigo, you are allowed to feel hurt but I hope that it will not mean an ending for us. We can be upset, we can be angry and still care.”

Sigrid hopped down gracefully from atop the piano, moving to sit instead beside her husband on the bench seat, spotting the rising the tension in him and unburdening him of Will. Kaspar allowed it, barely pausing his speech, the couple’s in movements in sync throughout the distraction. “If you do, truly, accept it and are happy to remain within my life, within my family and build this concept of community together then I am overjoyed but if you are trying to spare some hurt or disagreement then please don’t. I do adore you, and I am not intending to dismiss you or let you slip away just because our relationship might change. I AM happy for you, and I am not presuming that I can make your choices or tell you what you want, but I am aware that me choosing what I want impacts you and unintentionally takes away that choice.” He stood then, as if he could sit no longer, walking a short and path back and forth, a hand sinking amongst his hair in an agitated movement born of restlessness. “Please, bare bones.”

I N D I G O
Indigo felt the prickle of irritation rise across the back of her neck. She watched the faces and felt the increase of the distance she was resenting before she arrived. On the way over she wrote it off as temporary, something to be expected. It was understandable given the handful of individuals involved. Of course differences and viewpoints were going to be part of the territory. Even a World Series ball team was known to take their gloves off in the heat of a conflict and throw punches.

But was that really what this sensation was for her? The one she now lifted her hand towards in an attempt to self-soothe? Then came the words from Kaspar’s lips. She was ‘allowed’ to feel slighted, to feel hurt. Her eyes literally felt the messages coming at her. It was as if he was granting her some sort of permission that was required or cueing her as if she was some supporting actor needing the prompts to hit her mark and all of it ignited the indigo fires within. Words like dismissed, hurt, impact and taking away a choice. Yeah, she was burning up and she stood with the inferno that erupted within her. Like a dark Phoenix she came into her own at that very moment.

“You can get off your high horse, Boo.” She was livid. “This isn't some sold out stadium and we paid extra to see you after. Don't tell me what I am permitted to feel. And don't tell me this is all not to slight us or hurt when you just went and told me it's understandable to feel just that. You know what Adley has a right to feel like ****. To feel like he was waiting in the wings on the outside until you choose to land and come back around and grace us with your presence. Show is over. I am out.”

Unbeknownst to Indigo Knight she was an allurist in more ways than one. She was only starting to find it out as she refused to give a second glance to those she left behind in the room as she made her way out without looking back. She was so furious as soon as she stepped outside she had her hands tightly in her own hair to make sure her head didn't explode.

G R E Y W E S T O N
He rose from the couch some minutes after Kaspar began speaking again. There was a fragile quality to his tone; a subtle thing that spoke of his frustration. There was an edge to his words, and for a split second Grey’s gaze shifted, drawn by the too-familiar agitation that had colored Kaspar’s tone for weeks. For a man whose craft depended on his ability to sway a crowd with an evocative string of words, there were times where he faltered. Where the words dissolved into a halting uncertainty, and Kaspar was left to the rapier-thin impatience that stemmed from his inability to express himself. There was a palpable shift in the atmosphere; the barest suggestion that he was nearing that point. It was only a matter of time until tempers boiled over unchecked. He was careful to keep his movements unconcerned as he made his way over to the dozing Bear.

[Grey Weston]

G R E Y W E S T O N
He crouched, carefully slipping his hands underneath the puppy’s round sides and lifting him into his arms. He was rewarded by the barest grumble, before his head settled into the crook of Grey’s arm, his neck comically limp. One reddish ear folded over his arm, the dog’s breath exhaled in a sudden hot rush. He didn’t stir beyond that. Grey, content with his undisturbed sleep, returned to his seat a moment later. “Is it dead?” He muttered, settling the puppy onto his lap. Bear rested on his back, stomach exposed, both ears now dangling over the ledge that Grey’s knees provided. His head lowered a moment later, face burying itself into the warmth of the exposed fur. He was rewarded by the listless twitch of Bear’s paws as the puppy dreamed; front paws knocking against the back of Grey’s hands in a sluggish drag. He glanced up a second later, distracted by the tightly controlled anger present in Indigo’s voice. The hairline fracture present in her composure was obvious. It was clear that her grasp on her rising temper was tenuous at best. His hands lifted a moment later, carrying the weight of Bear before carefully depositing him at his side. The puppy stirred briefly; head lifting to shoot him a puzzled look, before his jaws split into a trembling yawn, chin dropping to nestle between his paws.

He got to his feet a second later, allowing his steps to carry him past both Sigrid and Kaspar, who looked nothing so much as a lion confined to a too-small cage; tread heavy and coiled with tension all the same. Restless. “One second.” The words were for Kaspar’s benefit; murmured in passing as his lips found his jaw, the words muttered against his skin. He turned from him, his gaze catching Sigrid’s. He lifted a finger to his lips, offering a curt shake of his head. “I’ve got this.” He couldn’t stop her from following. Not really. It was clear from the subtle flash of her eyes and the way she’d started forward that the pair were of like minds. But she paused, hesitating for a split second, before offering a small nod of understanding. Acceptance. He slipped out the door a moment later, tracing Indigo’s footsteps. It was only once the door was firmly shut behind him that he spoke. “So all of that back there,” he began, jerking his chin sharply over his shoulder, “about how you were ‘happy’ for Kaspar. Was that just lip service?” He made no attempt to close the distance between them, fixing her with a gaze that was, for the moment, unreadable.

“Because I don’t think you are. Not really. He isn’t in love with you. So what? He never was. You weren’t in love with him either, anymore than you were in love with Jameson. You can’t love someone you barely know.” His words were steady; even and without accusation. “So let’s be real ******* honest, Indigo. The weeks leading up to this point have been hell for him. While you and Adley carry on being blissfully ignorant - willfully ignorant - he was dreading this moment. Because he suspected you’d act exactly the way you did. So congratulations.” He drew in a shallow breath. “While we’re on the subject? The months he was away from the Hive? They were the most relaxed and the most genuinely happy I’ve seen him. Because both of you were so far up your own *** - when you weren’t up each other’s - that you couldn’t see how your selfishness was impacting him. You would’ve kept him shackled to your wrist his entire life if you thought you could get away with it.”

He paused, a low, defeated chuckle escaping him. “Indigo. Loving someone doesn’t always mean fighting to keep them. Sometimes it means loving them enough to let them go. He isn’t excluding you from his life. He was offering transparency, and you spat in his face.” His voice never once rose; it was soft, almost unnervingly so. “So you have two choices. You can either go back inside and apologize to the two people who invited you into their sanctuary - who have welcomed you with open arms - and hear Kaspar out - or you can walk. But if you leave? You leave. And I’ll be damned if you put the choice to walk out of his life on him. Are we clear?”

He allowed a heartbeat of silence to stretch between the pair. He studied her mutely for a moment, offering a mute shake of his head. “I’m going back inside,” he said, at last. “Join me or don’t. But Indigo? I don’t want the years I have with him tarnished by jealousy.”

A D L E Y R E E D
Adley couldn’t understand Kaspar. He and Indigo had accepted, had been kind, had kept conflict to themselves -- just as he had asked -- but in the next breath it was as if he was asking them to be angry, to blow up. Bare bones, he said. But bare bones weren’t always so easy to strip down to. Especially not for Adley.

Indigo’s explosion was unexpected. Yes, Adley thought she might have more to say, but the way in which she said it was… well, so unlike her that he could only stare, mouth agape. She flew from the couch and from his hold, she defended him in a way he hadn’t felt defended before; she voiced her feelings in a way that echoed Adley’s, before she swept from the room. Adley, too, stood. He had nothing to say and no bare bones to show in the current company -- but it was a mere second after that said company left the room. Adley’s body turned toward the door. He didn’t trust Grey. Grey, who’d come after Adley once with bared hands and an intention to kill, he didn’t trust Indigo’s safety. A couple of steps were taken -- he could hear the muffled sound of Grey’s voice, he was halfway between the door and Kaspar. Ready to rush to Indigo, if he needed to.

When he spoke, he didn’t look at Sigrid. The woman had been a calm and quiet presence thus far and had given Adley no reason not to trust her, but his voice was still quiet -- so quiet that she might not hear, but Kaspar with his preternatural hearing would. There was no anger in it -- just acceptance, his normally jovial tone now heavy with sadness.

“I know you didn’t mean it to sound that way, Kas, but you made us sound like tools you could use when you need us. It’s a sacrifice because while you’re growing, we’re not. We wouldn’t be here having this conversation if you were happy for us all to live in one place and be happy together. If it was just the sex, you would have just told us that we couldn’t have sex anymore, and everything else would have stayed the same. What we want and need is irrelevant, because what we want and need is what you have, and which you aren’t including us on. You have a family. You have a child, pets. We -- I -- it’s nothing I can ever have, but it’s something I want most,” he said, fingers curling into a fist at his side, a glance spared for the human wife and human baby, the puppy that he could not touch. “There is no point asking for something we’re not going to get, so please don’t expect us to,” he said. He’d been watching Kas the whole time, but now his head bowed as he turned toward the door.

He wasn’t leaving. He didn’t say goodbye. But his loyalties had shifted. Indigo was his top priority, and she was outside with someone dangerous. Adley opened the door and stood on the threshold; he held it open as he watched the scene, as he caught the last words uttered by Grey. ...the years I have with him tarnished by jealousy.

He wanted to slap Grey over the head and tell him he didn’t understand a ******* thing, and it had nothing to do with jealousy. Rather than start an unreasonable argument with someone who’d never shown any consideration for their feelings -- or any inclination to learn -- he stared at Indigo. It was up to her. If she left, he would too.

K A S P A R
His whole body flinched, the breath leaving him in a loud wince. He was far from putting on a show, this was about as raw and close to a nerve you could get with Kaspar, to see him with his family was to see him as he really was. To see him struggling to form words, to voice his thoughts and pleading with others to be honest in return was flesh and muscle peeled back, it was him bled dry showing all bones to the world. A skeleton alone, scorned by those who should understand and never would, never seemed capable of looking beyond themselves. He had not asked for them to pretend to be pleased, for them to be happy, he had asked that they didn’t freak out and use abilities that could harm the humans in the room, a reminder to himself as well. That was it.

“I wanted…” Hel started to speak, but his words died in his throat, Indigo was leaving. Grey had collected Bear, keeping the puppy close to occupy himself and perhaps reach for a comfort he couldn’t seek from his partner at that time, and Adley look about as stunned as he felt. Sigrid made a sound behind him, one of surprise, disagreement perhaps and even with her baby in her arms she made a move to follow but their was Grey, putting a stop to it. His words were muffled against Kaspar’s skin, his intention clear enough even if Kas wasn’t really listening. Indigo’s words were ringing in his ears, making him doubt, making him wonder how he could think they would have been able to speak and reach for a solution. Did they truly not see him? Is that how they thought of him? Always performing. Did they think him a liar? It was the greatest insult, for her to assume he did not care, that he was pretending and wanting them to placate him.

She was wrong.

He didn’t have it in him to be angry, he was hurt, and leaned in briefly to the warmth and comfort Grey gave, confused by the small exchange between the man and Sigrid. Kaspar turned then to see her face, surprise shifting to a stormy anger, the kind of defensive look a mother got when she thought her child in danger, a woman who fiercely loved and wanted to protect. Will was in no danger, he was quite content in his mother’s arms, full of milk and eyes heavy lidded. For him, then, that look was for him. Kaspar let Grey go, instead reaching for Sigrid, tucking her and Will against his chest in an embrace, hand cradling the back of her head where fingertips could sink blindly against the weight of her hair.

Adley was next, of course, what had Kaspar expected? He spoke with a sad voice, proving Kaspar’s point again that he did not understand what the man was saying, but at least he’d paused to try and explain what he had heard even if it wasn’t how it was intended. They spoke as if he had chosen this after them, as if this concept of family had been separate and out of nowhere. They were first, Sigrid and Will, they came along before Indigo and Adley had ever entered his life, before he’d kissed Jameson behind the bar, before they’d found comfort in each other’s bodies and minds, found friendship. His family had always been first priority, they had known this, he had spoken of it and it was why he didn’t make The Hive a permanent home like Adley could. He’d invited them all out to meet his father, to meet Sig. Indie and Jay had gone along, they’d seen him interact with the people who had a hand in shaping who Kaspar was.

How could she storm out of here accusing him of being other? Of being false?

The one thing he was, for better or worse, was unabashedly honest. It was his one rule. While the man who looked somehow disappointed in him turned away, Kaspar figured he could have some slight benefit of the doubt, and yet while he had not met Kas’s family he knew full well how important it was to him. He KNEW. He’d spoken about how it hurt to know he couldn’t grow older, and how he couldn’t father more children. In fact he had tried to find out more of Adley’s past in return, to find out more of what he wanted from his future but he was largely met with closed doors and cagey answers. He felt for Adley, deeply, if that was something he wanted but that was not something Kaspar could be blamed for because he did get it. Kaspar had invited them, he had said he wanted them to be part of his family, part of his community, part of his LIFE. He understood that it came with difficulties, that it would not be easy but he was willing to try, to bend. Now they threw it in his face, accusations that he did not give them enough, that he was being selfish. Indigo turned away from him, from his “act”, getting on her own high horse in the process.

Selfish, selfish, “Selfish.” He spoke the last, a weak word, falling from lips that felt numb with anxiety over speaking these thoughts.

“I’m so ******* tired, Sigrid, of having to be the selfish one, the bad one who say to say no. I have to be the one who says the bad things no one wants to think about, because I NEED to be practical. I’m tired of having to sit here, and allow people to be blind, to let them have THEIR hope or i’m being cruel.” His voice rose then, loud enough that those near the door might hear it. “I am SO tired, ADLEY, of letting you turn your back and run to her then tell me i’m the one who needs to think on my words and actions, that i’m unfair and don’t care for you. That I misspoke, that I was wrong. YOU both have been so, so wrong in your treatment of me and i’m expected to put up with it, because your happiness is important. Why has she not had to be sat down and told she was being unfair or unkind? She speak love, but even she had made mistakes. You think it is fun for me to deny my nature? To admit what I am and not be able to be it? You wrap me in chains only to tell me i’m free, and then she dares, you dare to act as if I can’t make own choices. That I am false, that i’m a puppet with strings being pulled. You haven’t got a clue, have you? Neither of you.”

He shook with restrained anger, with emotion that he bit back for fear it would enter into his words in ways it had previously, to turn into something tangible. Sigrid shifted in his grip, her mouth pressing beseechingly to the underside of his jaw, “Kaspar Grube, calm.” She reminded him, adjusting Will in her grip. Kas nodded almost obediently, nudging a kiss to her temple, releasing them so he could step free and stretch out his limbs to try and shake out of some of the jittering nerves, to lengthen the fuse that seemed ready to shorten by the minute. “Stop claiming you don’t blame, stop lying to me, more importantly stop lying to yourselves. I was never going to be able to give you everything you wanted, but instead of taking what I could give you and being happy for it, instead of enjoying what we could, what we CAN have, you act like i’m a villain. I do have love for you both, I have love for all of you in this room but that just isn’t enough for you. Love does NOT conquer all.”

His feet carried him towards the door, pressing closer to Adley, not by desire but to get a better view of what was going on outside. “All of you… You are welcome to feel however the hell you want, that was all I meant with my words. I’m not telling you not to be happy, i’m not asking you to try and make me feel ok, i’m not telling you that you have to like what I said. I’m ASKING you to be honest with me, to sit with me and discuss this because I feel that there are many misunderstandings between us, much confusion. You two, look at you, you go to each other and if I am hurt by this I am wrong. Yet, if I go to Sigrid, or to Grey’s arms to seek comfort I am again wrong. Should I run to you? You can love, you can be in love and be together and that is ok. For me? It is unfair because I am forcing you out. Mmm? No. No, I am not, I am begging you to stay, just not in the same way you want.”

That said he stepped back, putting his hands up as if to say he was out, he was done and promptly excusing himself into the silence of the sound room so he could try to reign in his temper until such a time as one of them had decided.

Stay or go. Try, or fail.

A D L E Y R E E D
Adley didn’t expect the outburst from Kaspar. Adley had thought that he was being calm, that he was speaking reasonably, that he was voicing the truths that Kaspar had asked him to. And yet, now he was being condemned. It was the reason why he didn’t want to say anything; he knew he wouldn’t be able to say it in a way that Kaspar wouldn’t feel like he was being blamed. It was why Adley wanted to keep it to himself, because he didn’t want this. He didn’t want an outburst, and he didn’t want Kaspar to think that he didn’t understand.

So much was said that Adley did not agree with; so many accusations flung his way that had him shaking his head in utter incredulity. Sure, he knew that he had his flaws and that he could be a selfish son of a *****, but he couldn’t believe he had been as bad as Kaspar was making out. Was Kaspar imagining something that wasn’t there? Rather than contradict, Adley instead decided only to try to explain himself, to show Kaspar what it all had been like from his perspective.

Being the closest to Kaspar and the recipient of the majority of the diatribe, Adley was the first to follow. Outside, Grey hadn’t appeared to be overly aggressive, and Adley had to trust that no one was going to get hurt, and that Grey at least respected Kaspar that much -- though it hadn’t stopped him in the past. Swift feet carried him to the sound room. He didn’t look at Sigrid -- this woman he had never met and who seemed irritated, but Adley couldn’t comfort her. He was a stranger to her. He had to try to make it right with Kaspar, first, and if that didn’t work then there was no helping them. And nor did he keep his distance; as soon as he confronted Kaspar, he had his hands on the taller man’s shoulders, stilling him, trying to get him to stop and listen. Now was crunch time; Adley had to really think about what he was saying so that none of it could be misconstrued.

“Kaspar. I didn’t turn my back on you. I wasn’t running to her for comfort. Grey has tried to hurt me before when things got heated -- I was only worried for her safety. I don’t know how you got the impression that I always run to her for comfort because I don’t. Kas, you were the first to learn anything about me, and for a good long while you knew more about me than she did, and normally you had to drag it out of me. Because I don’t run to anyone. I internalize, I bottle it up. So when I do say what I’m feeling it doesn’t come out right. Okay? Listen to me. I’m going to try to explain myself, and I am not blaming you for anything,” he said. He dropped his hands, then, and crossed them over his chest in a non-combative way, forcing himself to stand still.

“If I ever gave you the impression that I thought you were cruel or unfair, or that I thought you didn’t care, I apologise. It wasn’t intentional. I admit that night in the catacombs I wasn’t on my best behaviour, and I felt slighted then only because I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand why you and Grey couldn’t come and hang out with myself and Indigo, and I didn’t understand that you needed space. You asked for space, and I gave it to you. The past few weeks, since then, I haven’t asked anything of you. You have been free to come and go and there have been no chains -- you have been helping Indigo and in turn helping me and if I made any demands, that is the only one I can think of. I know you care, because you were there for her. If you feel that we are making unfair demands, please tell us what you think they are so that we can either amend our ways, or explain why we have been doing them,” he said. He took a breath, hitched -- that last part didn’t sound right, there was something there he knew would be picked at, but he had to let it go, and hope that he addressed it. He was trying to get to everything that Kaspar had said -- he was trying to address every issue in one long speech. If the others joined them while he was speaking, he didn’t turn to look at them. He kept his sole attention on Kaspar.

“My nature is one that I would love to deny, and maybe that’s why I act the way I do. I try to have hope and I try to ignore certain things because to do otherwise would be insufferable. I’d be depressed and pessimistic -- and I’m not saying you’re depressed and pessimistic, it’s just how it would effect me, personally -- and I’d lock myself away from everyone and everything because while I may have a healing touch, the bad outweighs the good,” he said. Here, he wanted to just collapse and repeat it, over and over. The bad outweighs the good, not only in the curses that he suffers, but in personality, too.

“As for accusing you of being some kind of puppet -- Kas, it’s hurt. You know how often Grey has said things that I wished you would contradict or deny, but you never did? Does it mean that everything he says that you think is true? Should we take it as fact? For what it’s worth, I trust you. Tonight, when you said there was no blame, I trusted you. I listened to you, and Grey has nothing to do with my reactions. These are your decisions and they’re not his, I know that. I understand that this is your choice and it’s not something he’s demanding of you. Okay? I understand, and I thought he was influencing you in the past, but I don’t anymore. Okay?” Now, his speech was fast, his tongue darting to wet dry lips, a sharp breath sucked through nostrils. He wasn’t finished.

“I was not lying, Kas. When I said I was happy for you and what you have, I was not lying. You asked for honesty and I didn’t want to give it because I knew this would happen. I knew you would think I was making demands when I’m not. Okay? I’m not. I am so very glad that you have found what you need and that you have a life you are comfortable with, that you have a family that will help you through your struggles -- family who understand. I was never well suited because our opinions are so different, at least in regards to humanity -- except maybe they’re not anymore. You have what I can never have and I am envious of that, but I can still be happy for you. I can grieve for the things I can’t have, and still allow you your happiness. I am not asking to be included because I wouldn’t, anyway. I can’t be around children, or puppies demanding attention, which is why I hadn’t met them yet. Which I haven’t said until now because I haven’t realised that until now. It’s not because I don’t care about you, or your family, it’s because I KNOW I don’t fit it, and can’t fit in, and it would hurt to even try,” he said. Indigo hadn’t even heard this. Again, Kaspar was the first to take a gander at the true colour of Adley’s heart, and if the others were in the room at this point, he just had to deal with it. He breathed out, his arms uncrossing so that he could hold his palms up. Surrender. Hoping that this time, he had said the right things in the right ways.

“We have misunderstood. Why are we here having this discussion if you’re not drawing a line in the sand? The past few weeks you have visited. You haven’t stayed over, there’s been no sex, we’ve all got along just fine. You’ve helped Indigo, and neither she nor I have demanded any more of your time than you have been willing to give us. If that is how you want things to continue, then I am fine with that. I am happy with that - I assumed as much anyway. I can be there for you when you need help with your album and I am always there for you if you want someone to talk to, and that has never changed. Why are you turning this around on me? Why are you blaming me for being inconsiderate when I gave you space when you asked for it? Being in love is new to the both of us, and caring for anyone, period, is new to me. But I’m so confused, Kas. Are you angry because you think I’ve chained you and smothered you, or are you angry because I didn’t follow you and ask what was wrong and comfort you? How can we both smother you, and leave you out?” he asked. There was no accusation in his tone, just a plea for understanding. Finally, he was finished, his speech done and his throat sore with the effort.

I N D I G O
The budding allurist was not exactly sure when it happened but it finally did. If it was inside the studio or on the way out it didn’t matter. The fact that she realized she didn’t know why in the hell she was giving any of this anymore time in discussing it dawned on her. Time was being wasted once Kaspar made his announcement. That much she understood despite Grey’s so off base analysis that he might as well pack a lunch for the trip back to reality. All of this was like drama improv minus the usual community stage. It was a simple decision so why was it getting to be like a rerun of some soap opera? One where the cameras kept panning to Kaspar when the tragic tunes played and to Grey when the ballad of the hero was rising. A few minutes ago she certainly fed the audience with her melt down. Whatever.

So she snapped and of course there was Grey speaking yet again for Kaspar waiting in the wings to swoop in and seize the moment. In case she missed any of it inside he went over Kaspar’s points in various ways so there was no missing the former resident rock star’s message. Especially when suggesting he had been told how unhappy and wrong Kaspar’s time with them had become. So much so the golden star had pretty much been shackled and denied the most basic freedom that was understood from the beginning for all of them. Of course that being that the door was always open and never closed. She extended allowance for Grey missing that beginning point because he wasn’t there...but his ex-boyfriend Jay had been. Were she or Adley hunting Jameson down? No, because they still were practicing the first and really only rule of the Hive. Coming and going as they pleased. It was still in effect. The door was open and Kaspar was welcome to use it and also to never step back inside if he were to choose.

Indigo’s eyes didn’t land on Grey yet she was listening. Listening enough that she saw the only solution she could see working more clearly than ever. It really didn’t upset her in the least to accept it. Not any more now that Grey made light of what perhaps she had missed when Kaspar shared it in different words entirely. She made her way back towards the door she used to exit and didn’t give a word of response, reaction or reply.

Passing Grey by she left him wherever he was positioned. She didn’t need his invite for her to return to apologize, or choose what her actions would be that would be acceptable once she was back in the presence of Kaspar and Adley. She would be doing what she knew all too well to do. True to her nature she entered the room and scanned the occupants while her long stride had her back where she had left not that long ago. Years tarnished with jealousy? Her eyes fixed on Kaspar as she approached gently. There would never be a jealous bone in her body. Grey was right. She was never in love with Kaspar and Kaspar was never in love with her. No loss to be had. All is good.

“I apologize. It seems I was way off base on my reaction. Grey made it all really clear. I appreciate you sharing this, Kaspar. What a stress reliever right?” She could not be more comfortable with her acknowledgment if she had another five minutes more to ponder it. “I think given my outburst I shall leave it at that.” She smiled sending her gaze to Adley then Kaspar. “So what time frame are you working with for the album? I would be happy to do what I can to help out.”

[Indigo]

K A S P A R
He was taking a deep breath or three, unnecessary but it helped to soothe the emotions in him that occasionally grew in strength, becoming their own separate entity that could turn tangible and lash out if he let them. The hands upon him made him flinch, he wanted to warn, to push away and ask for time but Adley was already launching into his explanation and so he let him, wearily he let him. Upon the release of those hands Kaspar turned to face Adley, letting his tall frame sink into one of the large leather chairs while the words flowed over him.

He listened, making a mental list of each point so that he could address it when his turn was up, no doubt expected to respond.

In fact, as Adley finished he felt more prepared to, he’d had a moment to consider the man’s views and it was easier to see places where there was room for misunderstanding. His words not expressing his thoughts correctly, and Adley’s own cagey nature, his own issues colouring them and misinterpreting them. Indigo, however, was not to be excused.

When she came to the door to apologise Kaspar merely stared at her, no malice in it, just blank and open disbelief. She could accuse him of being some kind of high horse sitting, show stealing drama queen after his own calm display. She was the first to take it to a place of drama, or overreaction, Kaspar had spoken gently and encouragingly but she had flown off the handle and been cruel with him. In turn, he had snapped at them both, at all of them really, and delivered some harsh words but even then his intention not had been to hurt but to explain. It seemed she had wanted to wound, and she had, more deeply than she could know.

He didn’t address her, merely holding a finger up to say one moment, a hardness taking his jaw, creating tension that had a familiar muscle tick showing the barely restrained hurt and anger he felt. Her apology was at odds with her actions, at odds with the words she spoke but he would address Adley first, he deserved that respect. Sigrid had approached the group, arms free of Will who had been put into his rocker chair in the corner, giggling and prodding at the puppy that was nudging his nose at the baby affectionately. The woman laid a hand on Indigo’s arm, fingers curling delicately around them. “Give them a minute, they need to speak, can’t you see that?” Her tone was gentle, almost kind, though she too was hurt by the woman’s behaviour, it had seemed out of character but then again she supposed she did not know Indigo well enough to say after only a handful of meetings.

Kaspar sighed, lips parting but words taking a moment to follow. “Adley… I’m sorry for asking you to speak, but I wasn’t trying to tell you to, it seemed people had more to say that they were holding onto. I just meant it was ok, if you wanted to speak, or if you felt angry or hurt by me to speak of it so we could discuss. I was calm but yes I was, well I suppose I am, anxious because you should know that it is hard for me to speak this way and share feelings and fears. I spoke in a calm manner, I did not accuse you I was just trying to explain that I wanted you to feel safe to be honest. There is understanding that it is hard for you, but Adley, you tell me that I spoke incorrectly and then do not acknowledge that what she just said to me was awful. Awful.” He cringed, recoiling back into his chair.

“I’ve opened up to you, i’ve invited you into my safe place to talk, i’ve brought you here in front of my wife and child. I was as honest as I could be, I let you see my nerves and didn’t try to hide it, then she calls me false. She tells me I am putting on a show and she isn’t buying tickets, that I am sitting on some high horse. That is completely out of line.” He glanced towards the women then, “Which she has somewhat admitted but i’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Passion to calm in such a short amount of time does not ring true to me, and i’m sorry but I will not lie to you and say it is ok. It is not ok, for you to abuse me like that when I am ripping open my ribcage and showing you my heart.”

Adley once more received his steady gaze, Kaspar standing so that he could step closer, putting less distance between them physically as he hoped to do emotionally. “I wish you could see my side of this, and acknowledge that too, Adley. Not defend her. Like you say of me and Grey, but I understand it. If I defended, if I argued with either of you at that moment in the catacombs all hell would have have broken loose. I told him to stop it, I asked you both to stop. Yes, I know, I know that for you that was not enough and I am sorry for that but I just didn’t want to see anyone saying things that could never be taken back. As for fearing Grey would hurt Indigo? I can understand your concern, but Adley, she is a vampire and not without her abilities. She IS quite capable, but still learning, and tonight she has proven she is also capable of great cruelty which to me is a shock. I don’t know what those two said out there, all I know is what has involved me. Here, and now, we are talking and we are trying to find a middle ground.”

His hand lifted, tentatively reaching to place against the back of Adley’s neck, cupping it so that as he bowed his head to rest forehead against the man’s own there was no mistaking his intention. Comfort, solidarity. They were together, even as they stood apart. “We could not all come hang out because you two would not have wanted him there, and he wasn’t ready to try and mend fences. I still came, didn’t I? Look, perhaps I was not given opportunity to deny or correct, I thought we had dealt with this you and I. That you’d accepted it, and realised I was there. Trust me, if I did not give a damn I wouldn’t have asked to speak with you, I wouldn’t have kept coming around. You know how easy it would be to just take him and leave? Did I? No, because I care about you, like some kind of dummkopf.”

His hand stroked, a soothing sort of motion that had fingers briefly pressing up against the short crop that was Adley’s hair, his hand at his side feeling limp and useless, unoccupied. He shifted it, curving up to press to Adley’s hip, keeping him locked in place. “I am sorry for what you cannot have, but I am happy for you for what you do have and urge you to look to that for the support you need. I wish I could fix it, but I can’t. I’d like you to be in my life, even as just my friend. I never said you smothered me, and I never said that you should have come chasing and begging. What I am saying is that I view people I care for as my responsibilities, not in a negative way, and that I believe everyone has expectations of those close to them. Yes, I want things to be more like they have been lately but I called this meeting to get rid of the awkward, the discomfort that came with that. The uncertainty. I needed to ensure we all understood, and our expectations explained.”

He gave a slight shrug. “I am not blaming you, I am not calling you inconsiderate or say you did not give me space. Yes, we can come and go all we like but you expected that I could make it my home like you and Indigo could, that one day we could all live together as one big happy family but you see now it is impossible, yes? I say this not to be harsh, I am just acknowledging what has dawned on us all. Adley, my negative reaction came AFTER hers, my anger was primarily directed at this accusation that I am letting someone pull my strings, that I am merely performing. Yes, wrong of me perhaps then to be upset in assuming that since you did not correct her, you agreed… In the same way YOU felt I was letting Grey speak for me. Do you see that? Love and relationships come with responsibility, there are needs to be met and communication is a big part of that…So I tried to communicate, and ask you to in return. That was all I wanted, not some drama, not to perform. I was trying to give you two the attention, I wanted to hear from you and ensure you felt listened to.”

It hurt him to think that somehow his endeavours to be less selfish had turned him into the one, in Indigo’s eyes, seeking to satisfy only himself. “I am hurt, hurt in a way that I am not ready to believe her apology because that came from somewhere, that must have some truth that she feels that way of me… Do you? Do you not see that I am standing here, as exposed I can be, offering pieces of myself? You think that is for show? If so, then you should perhaps both leave. Not that I want you to, Adley, I don’t want that… I do want you, alright? I am here for you, I will continue our talks, our time spent together. I’ll quite happily kiss your face, and curl up with you on the chaise talking ****. Or going out for a drink, and getting in trouble… None of that changes, the change is the knowledge that I won’t ever live with you and that my visits are just that. Visits. I’ll always think of The Hive as another home, and The Apiary, but you know now that as much as I love you, I can’t be your boyfriend or whatever you call it. That our affection and our caring is part of something more, it’s community, Adley. I think that is more important than romantic love.”

His head tilted, lips pressing a brief, chaste kiss against Adley’s lips. “Even when I needed more time to focus on other things in my life, I was still there. Why was that not enough to soothe you? I am standing here, Adley, with you. Take that for what it is, acknowledge my actions… We both have made mistakes, have misunderstood so let us let that GO, let us focus on the good in this.” His grip loosened, finally willing to let Adley break it and run. “Now, do you have more to say or should we deal with the others… Adley, I love him, he can be harsh and brash at times but he is good to me. He wants what is best, and he sees my stress, my hurt and yes perhaps places more of the blame on you two than he should but I understand why he does it. He loves me, really loves me and he’s afraid for me I think.” Kaspar glanced passed Adley, looking through the doorway and large glass window to see where they were, to see if Indigo had backed off and if Grey had rejoined them. “Let’s just try and get through this in one piece…”

G R E Y W E S T O N
He was prepared to say more. To condemn Indigo’s lackadaisical hippie nature; her purported tolerance and affection for all that was, at best, thick an even measure of naivety and at worst, a thin veneer for a nature that was, at its core, a warped reflection of Adley’s own. He held his tongue; swallowing the words that rested at the tip of the tongue. Their weight was unpleasant; the way biting into a steak that was largely gristle was; teeth closing around the marbled edges of fat, worrying at its texture that managed to be brittle and yet spongy all at once. The same rising sense of disappointment and revulsion were at war. The options were to remain silent - to swallow the unsavory - or continue the frankly circular conversation. (To spit the saliva-slick morsel into a silk napkin in full view of the dinner party.)

No choice at all, but he managed a tight-lipped smile as Indigo shoved passed him, heading for the door. He didn’t speak because, contrary to Indigo’s personal belief, he wasn’t the dormant ember that buried within the cold ash of a spent cigarette, waiting for its moment of destruction. He waited several minutes after she’d stepped inside, before reaching for the handle and pulling the door wide, sliding soundlessly inside. His gaze took in the occupants of the room; Sigrid, standing aside with Indigo. Indigo, who’d swept back inside as if she could reclaim her place in Kaspar’s life just as easily. As if the damage her words had caused would be swept aside with a simple apology. As if the echo of them hadn’t already soaked into the walls.

His gaze caught Sigrid’s; her own steady, though there was a flint to them all the same; some unspoken warning that had him glancing away with a low exhale. His gaze settled on Bear a moment later. Deprived of attention from the adults in the room, the puppy was content to tug at Will’s clothing with his teeth. Every so often he’d release a sharp, excited bark, a clear demand to play, encouraged by the excited flutter of the baby’s hands. Hands that were wet from the equally excitable sweep of Bear’s tongue; licks that only caused a renewed squealing and frantic kick of Will’s legs. Shaking his head fondly, he made his way to the pair, kneeling a moment later, one hand lifting to gently bury his fingers in the fur along Bear’s back.

He started briefly; muscles shifting under his fur. He shot Grey a sidelong look for a moment before suddenly springing forward, mouth open. His teeth closed around a mouthful of his hair a moment later; paws bracing as a thin growl rumbled from his chest, tail wagging as he began to tug in short, sharp bursts. The needle-scrape of teeth across his scalp made him wince. “Oh god, he’s eating me.” Will hardly seem perturbed by the announcement; the pitch of his obvious delight steadily climbing. Grey cut a look at him. “Traitor--” he started, cutting off in favor of a sharp inhale, one hand gingerly lifting to attempt to pry the puppy’s mouth from the knotted tangle of his hair, matted with saliva. “I’ll remember this,” he threatened, though the laughter in the words was clear. “Sigrid, your child is teaching mine bad habits.” He managed to pull free a handful of seconds later, eyes bright with amusement, color high and slightly breathless. “Those two run off to be gross?”

A D L E Y R E E D
Adley was prepared for Kaspar’s reply. He knew there would be one; for the speech that he had just given, Kaspar would surely have a response. Just as Kaspar had sat and listened to Adley without interruption, Adley stood now and offered the same service; he would listen, and he would make mental notes, and he would respond in due course. It pained him that Kaspar and Indigo were at odds; that her abrupt tone had first lashed at Kaspar and now her apology was not enough. Yes, now Adley understood what it was to stand between two people and not want to take sides, because to do so would only upset someone. He wanted to know what Indigo was thinking, and he wanted to know what Grey had said. Had she been on the receiving end of that man’s assumptions before? Or was this the first time? And yet, he could not tear his attention from Kaspar, who was now doing his best to tell his side.
The proximity helped to soothe Adley; the touch a familiar anchor. The offerings were heard and the meaning behind them weighted – some things Adley wanted to argue, but thought best just to let go. He was finally released and given space to add to the conversation. He felt he needed to, regardless of how he felt he was monopolising Kaspar’s time.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t, Kas. Every single person in that room you consider friend, lover – someone you can trust. You’d feel more comfortable opening up and laying your heart out on the table. I haven’t met Sigrid before tonight – and I can take the blame for that – and Grey and I do not get along. At all. He’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with me, and bar the one time, has only ever verbally abused me, taking my weaknesses and twisting them for his own gain. For you to expect me to open up with him there…” Adley shook his head. He’d only been able to really tell Kaspar how he felt when they were alone together, and only if he remained blissfully ignorant as to who might be listening.

“You’ve heard some of things he’s said in the past, and who knows what he said to Indigo outside. If you want to know why she’s gone from passion to calm in such a short amount of time, I’d perhaps ask him what he said. And anyway, I don’t think she’s calm…” Adley suggested, sparing a glance through the glass at the women, too. To him, Indigo’s calm did not appear normal. It wasn’t like she was comfortable and at home. There was something rigid in her stance and a distance in her eyes that Adley knew all too well – he imagined that distance appeared in his own eyes, every now and again. He sucked in a short breath and stopped; he hoped that Kaspar would see that rather than defend, Adley was only trying to explain why he thought Indigo had acted the way she had. And he had to laugh. It wasn’t mirthful, but he wanted to lighten the mood. It was far too heavy when it didn’t need to be. He shook his head. He would not try to explain why he thought Indigo had acted the way she had – she could explain, if she and Kas ever sat down to talk about it.

Adley was ready for this to be resolved already, and he wasn’t going to throw a spanner in the works. He would not say that though he was deliriously happy for Indigo, the support that Kaspar urged Adley to seek was her, and only her. Abelle was gone. Zaleski was gone. Jameson was gone. And now Kaspar was suggesting that he couldn’t offer that support … but that was contradictory to his previous statements, wasn’t it? Adley chose to sweep it aside, to lock it away. He refused to acknowledge how that one sentence made him feel, and so many afterwards.

“Of course we understood that you cared, otherwise you wouldn’t be there. We grew accustomed to it. We were working at the Apiary, we were busy. I think we just misunderstood because things were fine, and now this big sit-down – it felt like something more. If we overreacted, I’m sorry. I’ve never been into ‘boyfriends’, really, and never expected that of you to begin with,” he said. “I understand why you think it wasn’t enough for me, I guess the way I acted at time could lend that impression. But it really wasn’t the case,” he said. “For what it’s worth, we would have welcomed Grey with open arms. If only we could go back and introduce him to the fold under different circumstances,” he said with a shrug, taking half a step back, glancing outside. They really should join the others.

I N D I G O
Indigo waited quietly. There would be nothing more to say, not for her. She was more than done and over it. There was a peace within her, a resolve and acceptance. It was going to be just fine. It was because it had to be. Everyone had to make their choices and just as Kaspar, Grey, Sig, Adley and even Will, she too made her own. She let it go and welcomed what would come from that moment on. They were all individuals with different perspectives. No one had to agree on a single common one being right.

While she stood planted where her feet had taken pause her mind had moved on to the details of what would be needed to reach more of the community for the arts programs she hoped to offer those in need. It was something she could immerse her time in while being constructive and doing the work Phineas had planned on devoting his time to once he retired. His dreams were not complete but Indigo acquired a passion and appreciation for the community project and was determined to make it happen. She had the time he didn't. As he often said “True artists never retire.”

A glance to her watch reminded her that the evening was still young and it could continue on its progressive path with her optimism being a consistent factor. She had night owls that would be around and ideas that needed to be shared. Her eyes drifted to those she could still connect with and an inner sigh moved through her. Time. That is what she would offer to what she would be leaving with. That would be more than enough to see it through.

K A S P A R
There wasn’t much more he could say to Adley at this point in time that would be any different or give more insight into what they’d already discussed, and Indigo seemed as if her mind had already wandered to other things. As Kas moved with Adley towards the main room he saw her glance at her watch, having studiously ignored Sig’s attempts to get her to move away and allow the men time to speak alone. Had she been listening to a word they said or retreated into her own world? He didn’t have a clue and wasn’t sure he was prepared to ask, it would do no good if she was unwilling to divulge.

To Sigrid the woman felt like a column of cold marble, smooth and unthreatening but immovable. Solid. Her hand fell away as the gently urging was ignored, Indigo staring off into space in a way that made Sigrid want to click before her eyes or shake her and remind it was rude to ignore people. The mother in her perhaps, preparing to deal with a sullen teenager. Behind her Grey was playing with the puppy, sitting by Will and she decided to join them, give Indigo the space to make her own choices. Sigrid slumped down, situating herself at the man’s side, dark head dropping to rest against his shoulder. “He is going to be dark tonight.” She warned gently, barely raising her voice above a murmur. The words spoken would cut him deeply, in a way that was unlikely intended but she had no doubt her husband would either brush it off as if nothing had happened putting on a placating smile or disappear into darkness, call his brother and avoid affection.

Kaspar lead Adley with gentle pressure, stopping a few paces from Indigo. “It might be best you two head off, this… Went in a different direction to what I had thought, and perhaps we need time to breathe before any more talk or before we can be comfortable. I will call you though, Adley, or you can call me. You are welcome here any time, the space isn’t just for musicians and sometimes I like the company. Grey will even be on his best behaviour if you do decide to drop by.” He shot the man a look then across the room, a faint smile ghosting across his lips. “I’m glad that we spoke.” He stressed the word we, his gaze growing troubled as it flicked to Indigo. “I’m not sure about the rest, love.” His hand clapped against the man’s shoulder, tugging him over as lips brushed firmly against his temple. “We can work it out.”

G R E Y W E S T O N
His jaws freed from Grey’s hair, Bear, for a moment, looked mildly mutinous. He leaned forward on the couch, front paws braced defiantly against the edge. He seemed oblivious to the way it sagged beneath him until he threatened to overbalance, his small body belatedly overcompensating in an effort to correct his posture. Grey’s hands rose instinctively, catching the puppy before it managed to tumble from the couch entirely. He set him on the floor. Bear’s interest shifted immediately; his nose pressing to the floor as he engaged in following some scent or other in a wavering line. Grey watched him warily for a moment, only turning away when he was satisfied that he wasn’t going to lift his leg against any nearby furniture. The hushed click of Bear’s nails gradually faded, replaced some seconds later by the distant sound of rather noisy lapping from the direction of the break room. He made a mental note to excuse himself within the next few minutes, with the intent of shepherding the Leonberger outdoors.

The opportunity was denied seconds later as Sigrid settled beside him. He flinched, just barely. Whether out of sympathy, or regret, or simply in anticipation of the disarray that would plague the household for the next few days, it was difficult to say. It was, he knew, impossible to shelter him from the cruelty of those who claimed to care for him, no matter how rashly spoken the words were. It didn’t stop him from wanting to; if only because Kaspar had a tendency to re-examine them with a persistence of a man who drove needles under his fingernails with only the haziest recollection of why; only that someone had done it first, once. “Can you blame him?” He murmured back.

He draped an arm around her, curling it gently over her shoulders, gathering her close, tucking her wordlessly against his side. He drew his feet up a moment later, balancing them lightly against the edge of the couch as he half-turned, nudging the barest kiss to her temple before curling against her.

A D L E Y R E E D
It wasn’t worth the argument. Adley didn’t want to drop by anywhere to force anyone to be on their best behaviour, though he kept it in mind. The only way they could all get used to each other way if they spent more time together, right? Adley couldn’t say he knew Grey all too well, and could only come to his own conclusions based on the interactions the two of them had had. He hated that the other man seemed to think he could speak for Kaspar; he hated himself more that he’d decided to believe everything that Grey had said. But in the end, it didn’t matter what Adley thought, nor of what Grey thought of Adley. It mattered that Kaspar was happy, and that whatever Grey had to say it either came from a good place, where he cared for Kaspar so much that he said certain things out of protectiveness, or eventually Kaspar would suffocate. Time to breathe was probably best. Life could go back to normal -- or as normal as it had been the past few weeks.

A glance was spared toward Grey and Sigrid on the couch, the puppy having wandered off. They were all comfortable here, and if Kaspar’s wife was accepting of Grey, and if Grey hadn’t tried to run her off, too, Adley was willing to concede that he might have been wrong. It would take space and time.

“And you know you’re always welcome at the Apiary,” he said primary to Kaspar, but with another glance to Sigrid and Grey he included them, too. “All of you,” he added. His glance darted to Indigo -- whatever was going on in her mind, Adley would ask her about it. She would open up to him, he knew. Or he hoped. But whatever it was, he doubted it would disclude any of them from any welcome to the business she had created.

He meandered over to Indigo, a hand gently resting against the back of her neck before sliding down to her waist, grabbing her attention, encouraging her to join him so that they could take their leave. Things weren’t perfect. But they could work on it. They would have to.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” he said to Kaspar, tightening his grip at Indigo’s waist -- waiting for her to make her goodbyes, before they slipped out the door and into the night.


K A S P A R
Tonight there would be nothing more said between them, there was nothing more he could say and it was time to let them go. His steady blue gaze sought out Sigrid and Grey, finding them curled up beside each other with his son and puppy nearby, both finally looking ready to return to sleep and all Kaspar wanted was to curl up amongst them. “Ja, Adley, soon…” He replied to the man’s farewell, it was as halfhearted as the smile that accompanied it, some of the musicians shine hidden under the shadow of exhaustion, that glowing quality dulled by the strain of trying to find himself understood and failing.

The final sound of a door closing, the quiet grind of metal teeth slotting into place seemed to break the last of Kaspar’s strength, the man finding himself stumbling towards his partners and slumping into a heap at their feet. His face turned until he could press it against Sig, arms reaching up to wrap one around each of them as a great, heaving sigh escaped him. There was the slightest tremor to his frame as he tried to relax it, tried to release the last of the tension he’d held. “Am I wrong?” He queried, asking the question as if he actually felt it but he didn’t. He rarely felt he was wrong, that he was made of mistakes. This was the man whose self belief was hard to shake, because for all his faults he was someone special.

There were chinks in his armour, there places where old wounds had been reopened and examined with the indelicate prodding of fingers, prying them open to see what they were made of. A slow building sort of anger resided at his very core, heating the cold grip of fear and doubt, loosening the hold it tried to have on him. No, he wasn’t wrong, he’d made mistakes but this was the right thing and he was justified, he had tried to be considerate and to welcome them, to build something new and stronger from the ashes of the old. Why was he the villain? He had shown care and affection, he had been calm and open and it had been thrown back in his face.

His teeth sunk against the inside of his lower lip tongue pressing at the flesh straining beneath the pressure of his teeth. It was futile, this worrying, it was done and the chips would fall where they may. He had to let them, this was one of those times where he could not solve every minute part of the problem, there would be no clean and clear solution. Kaspar was just going to have to get on with it.

Many moments passed before he raised his head, looking up at the loves of his life through the fringe of lashes that framed his wide blue eyes. “Can we go home? Will you stay with me tonight?” The look flicked between them, ensuring there was no misunderstanding about what he meant. Sigrid’s hands were in his hair, sliding down to cup as he cheek as she lowered her face to his, pressing to his lips a kiss full of warmth and love. “I am with you, my darling husband, I am with you always. You know this.” She smiled, releasing him to begin wrangling puppy and child, to collect the belongings they’d brought along to satisfy the young ones.

Kaspar’s questioning stare landed then on Grey, focus intent, “Home, Grey… I mean it. I am sorry I questioned it, it is what I need and I am grateful.” He took hold of the man’s legs, tugging him forwards off the couch, arms capturing him as he slid forward in a crushing embrace. “We are going to go home.”