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Rivener was still a mess of bruises, cuts, burns and heavy, limp wings. The wings were recovering fastest, a slight tingling like when a limb woke up from being asleep signaling that the numbness would fade by the end of the day. Despite all his injuries, though, the Scorpion couldn't just settle into bed anymore. He'd slept the whole night away after finding his lover alive, having sobbed himself unconscious with relief.

When morning came he'd woken in Zul's company, and once again relief shook him to his core. He held back his tears, this time, and managed to speak long enough for the two to share what had happened to one another on the trip into the jungle. Riv finding Zul's core, Eiry's confession, Zul protecting Eiry in the woods and feeling like he'd failed Rivener when he realized they'd been separated...

Lastly had come the description of all that happened on the top of that cliff. Riv focused mostly on his interactions with Pasha, and the way she'd acted. He explained how she'd looked: wilting, her flowers losing their petals, her wing looking decidedly broken. After all those words, his worry spiked too high and Zul's suggestion that they go see her when Rivener felt better was met with a determined frown. "We're not waiting. I'm not going to be able to relax until I know she's okay. We're going now."

He'd floated out of bed and went straight for his cell, quickly finding the number for Second Chances and giving Viola a call. When she picked up, he felt his throat knot up. "Viola, hello, it's Rivener. Remember me? Listen, I wonder if you could tell me where to find Melisande? I'm worried about her since the trip, and I'd really like to check up on her." He didn't mention Zul, since Viola likely didn't know the demon.

Rivener knew instantly that Pasha was there when Viola repeated his name. He stiffened and glanced at Zul, obviously worried, his hand tightening on the phone. Viola returned after a moment, speaking with concern of her own, and what she had to say about the Muse sent cold dread through the Scorpion. His eyes widened and his face went paler than it already had been from the blood loss, wings rustling faintly. She'd been acting so strong on the clifftop, but now that it was all over and the adrenaline was worn out, Meli had succumbed to shock?

"Lots of things happened, Viola. I'm sorry, I don't have the time to explain it all. Just... just make sure you keep her there and I'll be right over." He hung up the phone and looked to Zul, frowning in overt worry. "She's closing herself off, apparently. Viola says Melisande hasn't looked at her, spoken to her since she got back. She must be in a bad way. We really have to go."

He changed into something not torn, though his vest was mending itself with the usual magical efficiency. It could finish that task here on its own, while Riv pulled a V-neck fitted sweater on, pushing its sleeves up to the elbows. The gray color fit his mood. He was so worried he didn't even take the usual time to comb his hair and satisfy his vanity! "Ok, ready," he called to Zul and led the way out, rather humiliated when he had to resort to a taxi instead of just flying over. "My wings are still too sore," he explained self-consciously to his lover.

The taxi trip felt like it took forever. Riv bit at his lip and squeezed at Zul's hand, needing almost constant reassurance that he wasn't dead, that he was really here. Needing also to share in his worry for Pasha, since he knew the Demon was likely just as concerned and would appreciate the support. When the cab finally pulled up at Second Chances, Riv let out a huff of breath and hurried out after paying, smoothing down his sweater and only now realizing his hair was a bed-ruffled mess. He ran his fingers through it as best he could, glancing at Zul for approval. "Let's go."

Riv went straight for the door and opened it, eyes searching around for Pasha though he assumed she was in a back room: why else would Viola have closed a door earlier? "Viola?" he called quietly, like he was trying to keep his presence a secret. He hoped Pasha wouldn't flee at the sight of him, or more importantly, at the sight of Zul.

Viola was already making her way out of the back, an uncharacteristic crease between her brows. Usually the woman was the portrait of relaxed and easy going, but the same mood that affected her seemed to have settled over the shop. Second Chances seemed dim...the bank of lights closest to the back room had been switched off. None of the flowers that Melisande usually arranged had been refreshed. Instead, they hung limply or protruded dryly from the decorative wall vases scattered around the thrift shop. Vi set down the cordless she'd been carrying and hurried over, pausing only once she spotted Zul.

"I...whoa. Hi." Her green eyes went wide, and Vi's freckles stood out against her pale skin, but it was obvious she was more impressed than startled. "I'm Vi." She nodded once to Zul before turning her round face back to Rivener. "Hey, thanks for coming. She's in the back, but..."

Viola rubbed at the back of her neck awkwardly, making her long dreads sway. "I dunno. I think she's sad...or mad...or something. Be warned. You can go back if you want." The young proprietor nodded towards the door, but even as she did, it swung slowly open.

Melisande floated framed in the doorway, her silhouette uneven with one delicately dragging wing. Her face had been scrubbed, and she wore a wide necked white sweater that had been big enough to pull her injured wing through, but it looked like little bits of the jungle were still tangled in her mussed hair.

"Rivener?" Her voice was tremulous, filled with worry. Worry for him. For a moment, it looked as though she intended to cross the distance between them, until she saw he wasn't alone.

Her hand stayed on the frame of the doorway, slender fingers digging at the wood for support. "Zul!" Pasha's voice had been snatched away. Not only by the Demon's sudden presence, so soon after she'd resolved to find him, but...

Melisande's eyes settled again on Rivener's face, searching. Whatever she had been expecting to find there...

With Rivener's introduction, the demon offered an almost apologetic smile to Viola, bowing his head and putting a hand on his chest as was his standard greeting. "I apologize the situation of our meeting is so dire, but it is a pleasure all the same, Vi. I am a..." His smile flickered. "An acquaintance of Melisande." Zul would have taken her hand and kissed it had he the time, but she was there then, her diminutive presence still with such command to him.

She saw them both, she spoke their names -- but his came with a loss, more surprise and hesitation. The sight of her winded him, lips parted and feeling his chest practically collapse under the pain of her condition and seemingly fragile presence. His brows furrowed almost delicately upwards, sadness and a deeply personal concern giving him a desperate air to see her closer, to pour over her and make it all go away. As his heart thudded painfully against his ribs, that grip of agony and want of zipping over there to embrace her was almost overpowering enough that he acted on it, starting forward abruptly -- but reality came crashing back at the sound of his beloved's voice. Zul sucked in a sharp, steadying breath and curled his fingers with restraint against his chest, able to feel his own heart fluttering captive beneath the heel of his palm. She wasn't his. Only Rivener could make this right.

The youngest of the three floated backwards, folding his wings tight against his back. It hurt, but maybe Rivener would now see why...he felt there could be nothing but fear between the two of them.

"Melisande," he greeted her softly, head bowed and eyes downcast beneath brows that were still knitted with deepest upset. The demon was trying to make himself a non issue, as unthreatening as he possibly could. The couple's presence wasn't about the tension between demon and Muse, not entirely; there were other forces at play and he was doing all he could to give Rivener a fair shot.

Rivener felt his heart sink. He could all but FEEL her fading before him like a shadow and it stole his light away. The Scorpion knew Zul would be feeling the same. She had approached but not stepped into his embrace, and Riv let his arms half-drop. He wasn't giving up, not yet, but the sadness hit him like a slap to the face. He knew she would react something like this when she learned that he had his lover back, because of course she would assume, like he had, that because Zul was in the picture there could be no one else. It wasn't until he'd had a heavy discussion (and a nearly-crippling misunderstanding fight) with the Demon that he'd understood their being together didn't mean there was a barrier around them preventing others from coming near.

At least she seemed to not be disgusted at the idea that it was Zul whom Rivener loved. The dark Sigel took hope from that. And he also acted without thinking much beyond that hope, crossing the short distance between them and taking hold of her, wrapping her in arms and moving his leaden wings as much as he could, managing to loop one around her and keep the other open for Zul.

"You don't understand," he groaned. "Melisande, Pasha, you don't understand, it's... it's complicated. But just because I have Zul doesn't mean I'm... And Zul has me, but he... We both-... We have a space in our hearts for someone else. Something's missing, and I think it would feel more... more RIGHT if, ah..." Argh, damn. Maybe this was all too much for her, too quick. Too heavy. "We're not asking you for anything or anything like that, of course. Just... Don't think I... Argh why is this so hard to say."

He looked to Zul for a moment, half apologetic and half looking for support, then he buried his head near Meli's neck, hiding in her hair. "I think I'm in love with you. Zul understands." He wouldn't out Zul's feelings: those were Zul's to admit. But Rivener hoped the Demon would find the same desperate courage to reveal that.

For several long moments, there wasn't a sound in the shop. Vi had conveniently stepped out of sight behind a nearby rounder of slacks, and for a moment, there were only two other people in Melisande's whole world. It was amazing to the Muse that it could be so quiet, with everything going on inside her head.

She had watched Rivener's face as he'd stammered his way through his confession, part of her convinced that it was a long and painful goodbye. Everything inside her hurt, though she held on to her happiness for him. His final words. though, had stunned her, and now she was gathered in his arms, with his warm breath in her hair.

Love?!

The weight of him against her was surreal, unbelievable...she relaxed against him slowly. Love?! It wasn't until Zul took her hand that she realized she hadn't yet so much as responded.

His voice was as smooth and smoky as she remembered, and Melisande held the Demon's gaze as he spoke. She didn't tremble at his touch...it was almost exhilarating, like stroking a sleeping lion. His words were kind, generous. More than generous.

Melisande could feel the walls building up inside of her. What if Rivener was doing this out of pity? Out of an understanding of the pain of lost love? No, he'd spoken from the heart. Purposefully, the Muse tried to let that wall crumble.

What of Zul? Wasn't this hurting him terribly? She kept her eyes on Zul's face, and delicately, almost imperceptibly, tightened her hand in his. The Demon made sacrifices. He made them for the people he loved. Pasha had understood that since the moment she'd seen Kyou so close to death. It wasn't pain she saw when she looked at him, and the sacrifice was his to make. Little tears beaded along her blond lashes, but she kept her gaze on Zul, Rivener's face still resting unbelievably against her neck. That wall would have to be next.

Only one last barrier protected her. Zavier. Her hand slipped from the Demon's slowly, and she drifted back from Rivener, curls sliding regretfully from where they'd mingled with his dark hair. Her fingers curled around the ring, around Zul's chain, into their familiar hold. Could she be someone else's star?

It dawned on her slowly who had given her that advice. Still holding the ring, still gazing at Zul, Melisande's eyes went wide. She was feeling lightheaded. Distantly, Pasha knew it was because she was no longer fading. No longer starving. This was more than she could have ever needed. The realizations fell into place as one. Zul had known all along...he'd been preparing her! This simple fact dashed the rest of her doubts.

It wasn't pity. Rivener had felt this way before the jungle.

"Do you mean..."

It wasn't killing Zul. He'd actively taken his opportunity to help them both along this path.

"Are you trying to say..."

And if they had room in their hearts for more than one...well. She didn't have to give Zavier up. He would never have to be replaced. Melisande lifted her eyes slowly back to Rivener's face, the beginning of three pearl perfect buds studding one temple. She gazed at him, sweet voice utterly heartfelt, and something familiar crinkled at the corners of her eyes.

"...that you'd like to take me out for coffee?"

Sky-blue eyes remained attentively upon that porcelain face, the alert - focused gaze she returned him beginning to stir and churn like the oceans they were colored after. Zul could see it: the slow awakening of the flower after a particularly frigid winter. She wasn't fading. She was coming back to them. She was blooming.

The gentle squeeze on his hand was returned with a gentle pressure of his own and a warmer smile, his entire expression brightening with the gesture. Zul could not begin to express what the leaps and bounds they'd made in the past few minutes meant to him, but he was going to do his damndest to try. He didn't protest when her fingers slipped from his, and in her absence, he continued to observe, to make sure her regeneration was not false. Indeed, when the moment of understanding flickered over her features as she looked at him, holding the necklace he'd fastened to her, he was almost certainly along her thought process, rewarding her with a toothy grin that was both sheepish and set his eyes to crescent moons. He wasn't ashamed, but she had seen into his craftiness, something very few ever did.

The question that settled between the three of them earned a smokey laugh from the demon, relief washing his features into gentle amusement. It was a look far more suited to his face, and as far as he was concerned, a warmth unparalleled in his heart. He gave a single but enthusiastic nod to the question posed by the Scorpion, his mirth settling into softer responsibility. "We'll stay with you, if you'd like -- or just one of us -- but we'll be with you so long as you'd like us to be. Coffee, or perhaps a visit to Cesc's bakery would certainly be in order once we safely have you on the mend." While the demon was practically over the moon with her acceptance of their affections for her, they were there for a reason, and he very much wished to see it through.

"If you'd rather not visit a hospital or travel, I can call my woman, or give you Zeke's number since he's local and a veterinarian." She had options, and he would bring any of them that he was able to, even if he had to fly Alex in himself.