|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:34 am
Who: Cruz, Anita, her parents, and Tango (Snoof) + Zeke (Ravi)
Where: Gambino, Wavecrest Apartments
When: The same day as all of this mess.
------ Since Cruz’s rather ridiculous exit, the apartment had grown considerably more quiet. Calm was not the right word, as there was no sense of ease here, but there was not panic and chaos filling the air. Instead, there was a sad resignation, a fearful acceptance. of the situation at hand.
Minerva returned home as quickly as she could but even as fast as she managed Zeke was still given plenty opportunity to recover from his spill against the coffee table. Glass was cleared, Tango placated, and Zeke had the honor of watching a mother grow tearful while trying to get a response from her catatonic daughter. Questions were asked, of course; Who are you? What are you doing here? Why is she like this? Where’s Cruz? but perhaps the worst was not one directed to Zeke but, rather, to the world -- What happened to my baby?
Still unresponsive, Anita was pulled against her mother on the couch. Minerva cradled her, rested their heads together, and stroked Anita’s hair. It was only after Zeke explained what he could that this became the state of things. The pup was curled up on the opposite side of the couch; he whined occasionally but didn’t move outside of the rare flop of his tail and his eyes toward the humans in the room. One of the chairs from the dining table had been pulled out for Zeke and the coffee table adjusted.
With her chin set atop Anita’s head, Minerva took a slow, deep breath. She broke the silence with a voice trying so hard to be strong through its trembling. ”What did you try before I got here?”
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:58 pm
It had taken him a good fifteen minutes to catch his breath and pull himself off the ground, a task that had been more than arduous considering the way he had fallen and what he had hit on the way down. A bruise was sure to form but compared to everything else that had been going on a thing like a black-and-blue rated low on his ‘s**t to concern myself with’ meter.
He sat in the chair Minerva had provided him, smile gone and the corners of his lips tucked down in the barest of frowns. He had answered everything to the best of his ability whilst littering each reply with a slew of apologies, but since Minerva had gone quiet he did not try to break the silence. Deep down he felt a little awkward and out of place but even in his silence he was determined to act as moral support. Goodness knew even if he was not, there was no way in hell he was leaving either woman alone while Anita was stuck like she was.
His eyes passed over the room once again, something he had been doing every few minutes or so because...what else could he do? Nothing in the room had changed between passes so he rested his gaze on Tango. The dog had given his face a thorough licking after Cruz had taken off, for which he had not been entirely unhappy about. At the very least, the extended presence of dog breath had been a great motivator to get off the floor all that much quicker and the saarloos’ collar had been a sturdy thing to hold on to on the way up. Zeke managed a small smile at Tango when the dog looked his way but it faded as quickly as it came when Minerva pierced the silence with a shaky inhale. The vet focused on her, wincing as he straightened in his seat.
“When I got here I tried touching her hand and her shoulder,” his voice was soft and one hand was weakly gestured to Anita’s left side. “After I got myself off the floor, I shook her a little.”
That had been after he had hobbled to the balcony perhaps in some dumb hope that Cruz would have been dangling from the ledge or - more realistically - only halfway across the parking lot in that relatively short stretch of time. But of course, the Croc had been gone completely and he had left Zeke most definitely between a rock and a hard place. From there Zeke had uttered another curse and gone back inside, shaking Anita once to no response before striking out to search for phone numbers to her mother or anyone else who would come to their aid. At the same time, he had also sent out a couple messages of his own to Gambino-dwelling Guardians innocently asking them to let him know if they saw Cruz. No more, no less. The last thing Zeke needed was a mob of worried Guardians and Raevans on the tail of the freaked out Croc.
“I, uh, I know you’re scared, ma’am,” Zeke looked Minerva in the eyes when he spoke though he did lace his fingers together and grip the ball they made on his lap tightly as he did so, “but she’ll be okay.”
He did his best to sound hopeful for Minerva, even while deep down there were seeds of doubt taking root. Cruz could be miles away by now, yet the spell Anita was under did not break. This seemed to suggest that the Frei’s proximity to his target was not a factor. Neither was time, unless the magic Cruz had used in that moment had been so strong that not enough of it had passed yet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:22 pm
The woman’s eyes opened as Zeke explained his meager attempts; Minerva stared over the top of her daughter’s head, nose against her hair, and brushed some of Anita’s bangs out of her face. Each thing Zeke admitted to trying made her frown a little more.
She didn’t look at Zeke, nor did she say anything at all, until he tried offering assurance. Her blue-green eyes flicked to him beneath furrowed brows.
”So, you’ve seen this before?” she asked, pulling Anita closer. There was still no change in her, as blank and doll-like as she had been for the last hour. ”Is that how you know she’ll be okay, just like you know how to wake her up?” Minerva lifted her head to stare full on at Zeke and look him in the eye.
Her voice sounded more sturdy than it had since she arrived but it, coupled with her terse tone and serious expression, waned quickly as she returned her attention to Anita. ”Cruz didn’t tell you where he was going?” This time Minerva spoke softly; she sounded lost.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:38 pm
He winced again as she replied but it wasn’t because of his back. Now he really did feel out of place.
“I’ve seen what happens when powers go out of control, yes,” it took him some doing to loosen his tongue. Out of habit he started to bounce his leg. He spoke mainly of the jungle, as that was his firsthand experience. Granted, it was an Essence out of control in that instance but the thing had still loosed its magic for all to suffer through. He figured it counted. Other than that, his experience with this topic in particular was limited to talks with Alex about her experiences with them, what had learned of the Fel Virus Outbreak, and tending Anya after that one Halloween party where she had trouble stopping her own silk production.
“Truthfully I’m a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy. If there’s a will, there’s a way.” He tried a smile again. This certainly was an action caused by a will, that was for damn sure. “But uh...When it comes to Raevan powers, every single one has a stopping point. No ability can last forever, I mean. I might not know how to wake her up from this but I really think the answer lies with Cruz.”
He just hasn’t figured it out yet, went through his mind but he had enough sense left in him to not vocalize it. Minerva was like a mama bear and he was terrified to invoke her wrath.
Actually, she kind of reminded him of his own mother; Nancy was the kind of mother hen whose wrath came out chiefly in the defense of her son and was the kind of scariness you really did not want to prod into being. The similar reaction was a product of having only one child, maybe.
Minerva fell into silence again but it was short lived. To her question, he shook his head.
“All he said was that he ‘needed to go’ and that Anita wasn’t the only one he ‘broke’.” He sucked on his lip ring as he thought back, then shook his head again. “He wasn’t making a lot of sense. He was really scared.”
Zeke knew he should be mad at Cruz for the stunt he pulled and the pain he was now in, but not all of him could be. The Croc was petrified and not thinking straight which made for an unsuitable mix in regards to getting things done and getting information passed along. He could see a bit of himself that. When it came to high-stress situations and family-related fears, he too would jump the gun in fabulously reactive ways.
Then again, he had never tried to bite anyone’s arm off.
“You wouldn’t happen to know what he meant by that, would you? Is there a person he was around a lot recently that he could have also exerted his power over? They could be a good starting point for finding him again.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:09 pm
His explanation didn’t fall on deaf ears but Minerva was far from reassured by them. This wasn’t Zeke’s fault, though, and she knew that; there was only so much they could do but if he was with the lab she figured -- hoped -- he would have more specific insight or advice.
Then again, each raevan was truly unique so there was no precedent for what Cruz could do.
Rather than incur a mother bear’s wrath, the reminder that Cruz’s location was a complete mystery left Minerva crestfallen. She could see the merits of being a ‘glass half-full’ kind of person, as Zeke said, and in truth she tried to be that person herself but it wasn’t always easy -- especially when children were in trouble. The rest of his information brought her eyes back to him; she looked puzzled.
”No… This is the first I’ve heard of Cruz being able to do something like this.” But apparently the croc had been doing this for a couple of months. Why would he have kept something like that secret for so long?
None of this made sense to Minerva, really, but when Zeke mentioned the frei being scared she dipped her gaze to the floor. Anita breathed slowly with her head on her mother’s shoulder, silent and motionless.
”I’m not sure,” she said quietly, ”he hasn’t been hanging out with his friends lately. Mostly, it’s just been--” Minerva paused to glance at the wall as beyond it there were hurried footfalls from the direction of the elevator. She dismissed it as one of the neighbors, maybe one of their kids, but reeled back when their door flew open.
Two people hurried inside, though it was unclear who was leading the other. Cruz was attached to the arm of a man Zeke would find wholly unfamiliar but the sight of whom caused Minerva to look scandalized. He was out of breath, peppered brown hair a mess from the run, and looking more disheveled by the second between Tango barking and the rest of the company before him. Beside him, the croc looked much the same; windswept and nervous.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:18 pm
He nodded as she spoke.
“He must’ve kept it secret. He told me he was able to do the things he’s been doing for a couple of months now. Powers start small but as a Raevan uses them, they grow in strength. Of course, I think what happened with Anita was a case of emotion adding fuel to a fire. Cruz said they were talking and that he said something that upset her. When she got mad at him, he got scared by that, so I think his fear intensified the magic he has.”
As he explained, it became easier for him to speak to the woman across from him. He kept his voice soft out of respect, however, and kept his gesturing to a hard-to-do minimum.
When Minerva gave a negative reply to his question about Cruz’s dealings with others, he made a displeased hum. So they were still up s**t creek without a paddle in that case. His phone had gone off a few times with replies to his text, but all of them were general ‘okay will do’s’ and there hadn’t been any other messages since.
“Huh?” He turned his head toward the door as the footfalls came and jumped up when the door flew open, albeit with a pained yelp and a stagger as he did so.
“Who the hell are--CRUZ!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:41 am
”CRUZ!”
Their calls came at the same time, which sent Cruz reeling back for a moment. He released Tristan’s arm and covered his face with his hands, patted his cheeks, then approached the couch.
Tristan would have been stuck staring at his blank daughter if not for Tango’s intervention. Instead, he tried to quiet and wrangle the dog, as well as shut the door that was left open in their haste. He looked back warily, first at the man who was equally a stranger, to Minerva whose attention was not on him at all now, and then between Anita and Cruz. There was little for him to say or do for now, except keep the dog out of the way, so Tristan stood back and held Tango’s collar beneath his bandanna.
”I-I know how to fix it,” his voice trembled with a mixture of hope and apprehension. As he moved closer, Cruz’s pace slowed; Minerva was still holding onto Anita with her eyes wide and locked with the frei’s. He hesitated, letting out a small whine. ”Please, ‘Nerva… I-I’m sorry.”
Cruz looked to Zeke, silently pleading for support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:13 pm
Zeke’s attention wavered back and forth between Cruz and the stranger before ending up on the greener of the two intruders, who made his way over but noticeably slowed before he got within arm’s reach.
“Miss Bishop, ma’am,” Zeke turned to her when Cruz gave him that look. Poor scared, dumb kid that he was, if he knew what he had to do, they would only be hindering Anita’s shot at coming back if they said no. “Remember how I said that the answer to helping Anita lied with Cruz?”
He neared her, crouched down with a muted grunt and a stilted descent, and put his hand on hers. He curled his fingers around her palm and squeezed.
“He cast the spell; he’s the one to break it. I think he means what he says.” He looked at Cruz for a moment as though asking the Croc to repeat what he had just said. Shock could block a person’s ears after all. “There’s no harm in giving it a shot at least. What do you say?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:04 am
When Zeke addressed ‘Miss Bishop’, Minerva and Tristan both turned their heads. She hadn’t gone by his last name for a long time but this was hardly the time for corrections and it was an understandable mix up. Minerva watched Zeke cautiously as he approached; his touch caused her to tense but she didn’t pull away, not when her arms were wound around Anita so.
”Please… I can do it. I can wake her up,” pleaded Cruz, with his hands clutched tight to one another.
She looked at the frei with something he could only read in that moment as distrust and, if he weren’t so filled with purpose, he might have sank straight to the floor. In spite of this, Minerva relented. With a small kiss to Anita’s head, her mother helped her back to the previous sitting position she took when Zeke first arrived. Though she was stopped, frozen as it were, Anita was at least able to support herself and wasn’t just a lifeless ragdoll.
Once Anita was situated, Minerva slid further from her on the couch, paused, then left her seat entirely. She stepped to the side, giving the two space, and nodded. ”Bring her back…”
Cruz’s breath shuddered as he forced back another flow of tears he could feel welling. There wasn’t any time for that, not now. He swallowed another whine, then floated closer to Anita. For a moment, it seemed he was less sure of what to do than he let on; his hands were at his sides, fingers moving uncertainly, until he reached for Anita’s cheeks. There were times, sparse as they were for the couple being more private about their affections -- or maybe that was just Anita -- Cruz had seen her hold Mordekai’s cheeks in much the same fashion and hoped it would be something of a comfort to her.
”Nita…” the croc whispered, though in the surrounding silence it was easy enough to hear, ”Dunno if you can hear me. I’m-- really sorry, for everything. Didn’t mean to do this too you... “ his voice wavered as their foreheads came together, ”I’m gonna wake you up now. You’ll be okay.”
Lifting his head, Cruz brushed aside from of Anita’s bangs. With part of her forehead exposed, the mistletoe raevan leaned in and pressed his lips to her skin. Like with Tristan, there was a distinct coldness to the kiss -- not frigid, or even chilly, but like touching a flushed part of your body with fingers that were much cooler. It spread across his lips, then past them, and finally settled into his rune.
Just as the command was removed from her mind, Anita gave a sharp and sudden inhale. She jerked back, away from Cruz, and the first thing she did in response was wave her arms in front of herself to push him away. When he did just that, Anita fell forward against her legs and hugged herself. Her breath was uneven and stilted.
Minerva, Tristan, and even Tango all moved closer to her in these same moments but as soon as she registered their approach Anita issued a rather pitiful, ”Don’t.”
”N-Nita--” Cruz squeaked and reached a hand to her.
She shrunk back. ”Don’t touch me again…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:16 am
Zeke stood when Minerva relented, giving the woman enough space to correct her daughter’s posture and when she got up and moved, he followed suit to give Cruz enough space to work. He was nervous, but he was hopeful. If Cruz believed he could then by gum Zeke would believe in him too.
The procession was slow to Zeke’s eyes, but then again the Croc wasn’t moving all that quickly either. He noticeably paused before taking Anita’s face in his hands and it was at that point Zeke held his breath.
You can do it, kiddo.
Another pause. A too long moment in time when lips met skin where everything stood still.
Then Anita gasped. Zeke did so as well and like the other three in the room, moved closer to her when she came back. He stopped just as quickly when Anita said the magic word. She cast off Cruz’s attempt to reach out to her and Zeke’s heart panged for the Croc. Not unexpected, but all the same…
“H-Hey Anita,” he raised his hand to her. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been the first to speak and perhaps his words should have been something else but it was done and he didn’t have much else besides. “Are you okay? You gave us all quite a scare!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 1:19 pm
On Anita’s request, Tristan pulled Tango back. If she didn’t want to be touched right now then a big dog like Tango getting in her face was one of the last things she needed. Between the gasps and her dismissal of Cruz’s attempt to reach out, there was quiet save for Anita’s unsteady breathing. At least, until Zeke spoke.
All eyes went on him, then, save Anita’s as she kept her face buried against her knees. One braid dangled to the floor over her shoulder with its twin following it shortly after.
”I-I don’t know,” she answered Zeke quietly, ”I don’t know…”
Minerva was the next to try an approach but she stopped as soon as Anita hugged herself more tightly. It really wasn’t just a request for Cruz, but everyone in the room. That didn’t make it cut to the croc’s core any less.
Again, she said, don’t touch her again. Ever again?
”Nita,” Cruz tried again, though his voice didn’t shake any less. She didn’t answer. ”I-I’m sorry, Nita. I-I didn’t-- It was an accident, I--” but this time wasn’t the only time, it wasn’t the only issue, and it certainly wasn’t what upset her so much in the first place.
Cruz brought his hands to his face, ”I didn’t mean to mess things up so much… Y-You’re right. It’s bad. This isn’t right to do. I-it’s-- it’s not right to have.” He choked on his breath and hid behind his hands. Slowly, ever so slowly, Cruz drifted lower until his ribbon was coiled against the floor. He had no will or strength left to float with fresh tears welling up. ”Nita, I-I understand if you-- i-if you never want to talk to me again. I don’t want to keep upsetting you. I-I don’t want to keep making things worse!”
There was a pause long enough to hear him sob without words. Anita didn’t answer, but she did lift her head to look at him through a messy curtain of hair. She let out a small whine as her mother took a few steps toward the fallen crocodile and offered to scoop him up’ he wasted no time clinging to Minerva’s arms and allowed her to cradle him against her shoulder.
It didn’t seem to calm the frei down any. ”J-just wanted to help. Wanted to make things easier… I messed everything up. This isn’t a good power! W-why do I have it? I don’t want it anymore if it’s just going to make people sad! I-I can’t--” Cruz’s breath was elevating the more he spoke, even against Minerva’s hug. ”--I can’t be good if I have this! I’ll just ruin everything. Don’t want you to hate me. S-should just leave… I can go… That’d be better than this.”
Through the croc’s wailing, Anita slowly returned to an upright position. With each phrase uttered, tears of her own threatened to fall.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 1:42 pm
He opened his mouth to say more but found he was at a loss to say. This was not a situation for a joke or lighthearted banter, not yet. Anita curled up into herself and that was that, although Cruz shortly thereafter dissolved into tears. Zeke turned in time to see the Croc drift to the floor and instinctively he reached out to catch him. Minerva got there first and Cruz clung on with all the strength he had in him.
“Hey now...” He did not hesitate in joining in on the hug from there, wrapping the Frei up from behind so he was the meat in a sandwich. The Croc’s tiny wings jabbed him in the chest as he did so, but Zeke paid no mind. “No one hates you Cruz! And you aren’t bad!”
Of course, he had said all that before. Cruz really hadn’t paid much mind to his words then given the situation, but maybe now that things were...better than they had been a half hour ago they would ring home.
Then again, Zeke was still the outside party here. From Minerva these words would be better. From Anita, well, that would be a balm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:39 pm
As Zeke joined in on the croc’s comfort, Cruz’s wings pressed closer to his back and folded themselves smaller. Minerva looked at the vet uncertainly but managed a small smile against her own teary eyes before resting her cheek against the top of his head. With Zeke’s added presence, rocking wasn’t the most feasible form of comfort but the compression of their hug sandwich was keeping Cruz still, at least.
Maybe he wouldn’t go running off again amidst all of this raw emotion.
At the back, Tristan stared helplessly while Tango whined beside him. He tugged in an attempt to reach the croc and join this congregation but Tristan held him back for now.
Still not budged from her seat, Anita watched the raevan cry until her vision was just a mess of colorful blobs. There were no sobs from her, unlike Cruz, but tears streaked her reddening cheeks. In her mom and Zeke’s arms, the croc buried his face into Minerva’s shoulder and had already darkened part of her shirt with his grief.
”Cruz,” her voice came out as little more than a whisper. It was enough to get a whimper from the frei but he didn’t dare open his eyes, wouldn’t dare look at her. ”You don’t-- you don’t have to go.” This time, his eyes fluttered and released more tears in their wake; he wasn’t looking at her face but he was glancing in her general direction through his haggard breathing. ”I--” she swallowed and finally reached up to wipe her face, ”I don’t want you to leave because of this…”
A balm was, perhaps, not the most accurate comparison but it wasn’t necessarily wrong either. When Anita’s words hit him, it first seemed as though they made things worse; the momentary calm he sustained for her to speak was cast aside as he clung even harder to Minerva and tried to bury himself against her, to curl up and disappear between two sets of arms. Cruz wailed from sadness, from guilt, regret, but now also relief, from gratitude and sanctuary in this home.
In the midst of it all, there was a growing warmth; a comfort that seeped from his rune. Undetectable to the others at first, it grew stronger and with it the green of his core brightened, changed. Pulsing like the beat of his heart, the color dialed back -- from green, to yellow, orange, and finally an almost rosy color. It deepened to the brilliance of poinsettias before something even stranger took hold.
Cruz’s ribbon started to unravel.
It wound looser towards the floor, as if he were coming undone, yet it only seemed to be growing longer instead of taking parts of his body away. He felt lighter and, as if his own gravitational field was disabled, his hair and necklace began float while everyone else remained grounded.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:28 am
He could have said ‘see, I told you so!’ in regards to what Anita had said but he didn’t. There was no need to; no place for it. Besides, he doubted Cruz would have heard him over the fresh wail he released from what had to be his actual rune with how long and loud it was. When the Frei doubled over to weep more, Zeke hunched over and pressed his cheek into his shoulder. He tightened his arms a little more too, making his biceps stand out against his skin. There was a grin on his face now - fully formed and lasting, this one - and it could be said that the vet was more than just a little misty-eyed by the proceedings. He squeezed his eyes shut to keep a few stinging prickles from fully forming and falling and he succeeded there.
It wouldn’t be sunshine and rainbows for the pair right off the bat, but what Anita had said was a step in the right direction if he ever saw one. With that in mind, the vet gave a pleased little hum that broke near the end into a chuckle. He couldn’t help himself now, not when things were on the up.
He would have been content to stand there with his bleary eyes scrunched up, hugging Cruz and Minerva, dissolving into gentle laughter. He started to do the latter of the three - once he started, Zeke was sure to keep going until he couldn’t anymore - but something peculiar turned his laughter into a wordless noise of confusion. Against his arms, suddenly, there was the feeling of many little hard, dry somethings raining upon them. They pooled there, rose upward as their numbers grew, and finally fell away where upon they noisily clattered and scattered against the hardwood flooring. Zeke immediately straightened and opened his eyes, staring down at his left arm where squarish, green-colored scales had pooled between his skin and the lip of Cruz’s shirt.
“Cruz?” The name was spoken softly with concern as Zeke had not looked at the Frei’s face just yet, but that changed when the green light of the Frei’s rune flashed through several other colors before deepening into a scary-looking red. “CRUZ!”
Zeke jerked and, being so close to the Croc’s face as he was in the hug, he sent more scales raining onto the floor from Cruz’s cheek and neck. He unwrapped his arms to disentangle himself from the glowing, molting Raevan but as he did so, his fingers touched against something that hadn’t been in that vicinity before.
Skin.
“Holy s**t.” Zeke stopped moving with his fingertips resting on either side of Cruz’s bare stomach, mouth agape and damn near hitting the floor. As he watched, the Sigel’s ribbon stopped lengthening with the last thing formed in front of everyone’s eyes being the V-shaped top of his future hips.
With increasingly bulging eyes the vet looked from Minerva to Anita, around to the mystery man who held Tango, before returning again to the back of Cruz’s head.
Ho-ly s**t!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:05 am
Through the commotion, Zeke’s voice wasn’t the only one to carry the crocodile raevan’s name to the wind. Both of the girls called out to him, confused and distressed -- Tango even barked a few times to join the chorus of concern. The only ones to stay completely quiet during the affair were Tristan, who could only stare wide eyed and slack-jawed, and Cruz himself.
Scales scattered everywhere, floating off of him and then falling to the ground like scattered confetti. Just as suddenly as the rain began, it stopped and with it everything fell back into place; including Cruz, whose rune quickly regained its natural green tone just as he became dead weight in Minerva’s arms. She gasped and held the raevan tighter, to keep him from falling, when she too felt the bare skin of his side that had never been there before.
”Holy s**t,” Anita parroted, soft and breathless.
Minerva adjusted her hold on the frei -- the sigel -- to make him more comfortable. His head came to rest against her shoulder and from the couch Anita could see he was out cold. Once Cruz was steady, Minerva pressed a hand to his back to feel the breath and pulse of life within his ribs. They needed more time to calm completely but both were moving at a much more comfortable pace.
After a moment, Anita swallowed. ”I-is he--”
”Sleeping,” Minerva assured with a sniff and a shaky laugh, ”poor baby must be so exhausted.” Her eyes moved to Zeke’s, carrying the weight of a number of different emotions. Wordlessly, she mouthed her thanks to him. She pressed her lips to the side of Cruz’s head and his rune glowed dim; instantly, it absorbed the kiss but he remained motionless.
From behind them all, Tristan finally released Tango as his grip fell limp. He stared around the room, at everyone present, and then at the floor as the countless scales Cruz shed began to fade away like dwindling embers. ”What the hell is happening?
”It’s okay, dad,” said Anita as she leaned back against the couch and dragged her hands over her face. Now that things were quiet, the tired in her own voice was that much easier to hear.
With a ragged sigh, she dropped her arms to her lap. Anita looked up at Zeke, exhaustion reading clear but there was relief on her face as well. ”Thanks for coming... “ It was a shame that the first time they really saw each other in so long was -- well, this. ”What, um… what should we do now? Besides let him sleep…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
