Lovers in Madness

Kieran beamed and flicked a soap sud from a fingertip as he nodded happily. \"I don\'t mind helping out, really. And it\'s such a nice house, so much more comfortable than my dorm room, that I guess it\'s no so surprising that I spend more time here than there.\"

Sabbath laughed. \"AND you shower me with compliments. Who wouldn\'t want you around?\" She handed him the heavy pot and swished her hands through the water, making sure she hadn\'t missed any silverware. Finding none, she pulled the drain plug and the water began to swirl away.


Kieran set the pot down and looked up at Sabbath thoughtfully for a moment before nodding with a smile. \"I suppose you\'re right,\" he murmured, dark eyes distant as he made sure the pot was rinsed and dry.

Sabbath paused and eyed him. \"That was a distant response,\" she said bluntly. \"Kieran, are you okay? Something\'s been bothering you... and you know you can talk to me about it.\"

Kieran looked up at her with wide eyes, looking quite innocent. He entertained the idea of lying, or of just saying nothing, but Sabbath could see through anyone, damnit, and she\'d just drag it out of him anyway. He sighed and glanced down. \"I\'m worried about Caden.\" He knew that his brother was on the edge; Caden almost always was. And what hurt the most was the feeling that Caden didn\'t trust him enough to tell him about it... that his brother wouldn\'t let him try to help.

\"As well you should be. He\'s falling apart at the seams, mentally,\" Sabbath said matter-of-factly, as though this was no surprise to her and should come as no surprise to Keiran.

\"I know,\" Kieran said softly. He didn\'t really want to admit that it was possible, that the brother he\'d always looked up to and worshipped was anything but perfect, but reality was harsh when it finally broke into his little world and he well knew better. The way Caden was, as Sabbath had said, falling apart rocked the foundations of Kieran\'s world. It was a bit like being told that his parents had gone straight and had girlfriends.

Sabbath eyed him. \"Well, good,\" she said quietly. \"Everyone seems to KNOW. But nobody seems to be doing anything about it.\" Being insane herself, having taken an insane lover and raised an insane son, Sabbath knew the glint in a person\'s eyes that occurred when their soul fractured. She\'d seen it in Caden right away, lurking there in the indigo depths. A handsome boy, with a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a lot of genuine good will. She would have been truly confused by his seeming unwholeness had she not witness that little display between Caden and Dwyn.... and Sabbath was as sharp as a tack.

Kieran narrowed his eyes. \"He won\'t LET me do anything about it,\" he growled. \"He just pretends that nothing\'s wrong and tries to distract me when I ask him about it. And I -know- part of it is because of me.\" And that hurt like nothing he\'d ever known; that it was his fault that Caden was in this state.

She nodded. \"Do you then?\" She washed the bubbles out of the sink and was silent for a long moment, then finally said, \"It\'s really not my place to interfere, no matter what I know, or what I feel. If you need help with this, you can ask, but until you do, this is as far as I go.\"

\"What can I do? I can\'t even knock sense into him,\" Kieran grumbled, glaring at nothing in particular. It was really too much for him. The look in Caden\'s eyes, hidden behind that ever so well created smile, cut right into him. It made him want to curl into himself and pretend that nothing was wrong, that Caden wasn\'t lying when he said it was alright. But this time, reality wouldn\'t let him hide himself away. It knocked quite forcibly.

\"Honestly?\" She sighed. \"Do you know WHY it\'s happening?\"

\"I have ideas, but I\'m not certain.\" Kieran said softly, all the anger draining out of him as he looked up at Sabbath soulfully. \"Do you?\"

\"Yes, but let\'s hear yours first,\" She told him, turning, taking a half-step, and hopping up to sit on the long stretch of cutting board that made up a section of the counter. She patted the space beside her.

Kieran bounced up next to her and twined his tail around his waist, tucking his hands between his knees as he sighed. \"I think... he\'s lonely. And hopeless. I know that it hurt him a lot when...\" he trailed off. Was that why Caden had cracked? Because of losing him? He didn\'t want to be responsible for Caden\'s utterly fragile state of mind.

\"When?\" Sabbath prodded gently, sliding an arm around his shoulders. She was soft to lean against and smelled like darkness and magic.

\"When we stopped.\" It was really all he could say, and he didn\'t want to say that much. A vague dread warned him that Sabbath would likely figure it out herself, but he was really hoping that wouldn\'t happen. And if she didn\'t get it, she\'d make him explain, which would be thrice as bad. Damned if he did, and damned if he didn\'t.

\"When you stopped what?\" she inquired softly. Half the catharsis wasn\'t just in Keiran knowing it, but in him sharing it with somebody else. She had a vague idea, but she hadn\'t realized that it might be requited....

Kieran hesitated, and then decided that it didn\'t much matter. If Sabbath was going to judge him, she\'d have done so already. \"We had an affair of sorts.\"

She nodded, chewing absently on her lower lip. So.... there was actually a decent reason. \"How long?\" she asked. The longer this had been going on, the harder it would be.

\"Almost three years,\" Kieran sighed, eyes fixed on the floor.

She nodded and looked sadly at the floor. \"That explains a lot,\" she said quietly.

\"I would have stayed with him, you know. But he told me that we couldn\'t... that no matter how much we loved each other, it wasn\'t right. It felt right,\" he murmured, sounding distant. \"You\'re not supposed to fall in love with your brother.\" He\'d escaped that, but Caden hadn\'t, and now that he could look at Dwyn and fall all over again he knew that the love he\'d felt for Caden hadn\'t been the kind of love that transcended all things.

\"And were you, really in love with him?\" she asked gently, her eyes half-closed as she listened both to Kieran and to her own intuition and tried to read between the lines.

\"I thought I was. I did love him, and I could have fallen in love with him, but...\" But now that he\'d seen love, seen the look in Dwyn\'s eyes when the other boy smiled... Now he really knew what love was, and what he felt for Caden wasn\'t less powerful, simply different.

\"But. And he\'s the one who pushed away from you?\" she confirmed, casting a glance toward her son, where he was rocking back and forth in his seat.

Kieran nodded miserably, ears folded back along his skull.

\"I wanted to. I would have, to hell with what anyone thought or said... but he told me it was for the better. And those were the days I believed him when he told me nothing was wrong.\" The memory of the pain he\'d felt when Caden had called it off surged forward; for a while he\'d been convinced there was something wrong with him, that it was his fault. But if Caden wanted them apart, he would honor the other\'s wishes, no matter how much pain it caused him.


\"Well.\" She shook her head slightly. \"That\'s interesting. Very interesting.\" She actually broke into laughter, but somehow, it didn\'t sound at all amused.

\"Isn\'t it though,\" Kieran said emptily, sounding as though he knew exactly why she was laughing. Beautiful fucking irony.

\"Well...... \" She shrugged. She would withhold her opinion until it was asked for, but this much she had to say. \"He loves you very much. VERY much indeed.\"

\"I know. And... I\'m afraid.\" He didn\'t want to imagine what would happen when Caden found out about he and Dwyn; it would likely be the straw that broke the camel\'s back and shattered his mind thoroughly. But he could never, ever regret loving Dwyn, and the urge to tell the world (complete with song and dance routine) was only somewhat dimmed by the grim realization that he could very well destroy Caden.

Sabbath squeezed his shoulders gently. \"Afraid of what, baby?\"


\"That when I tell him he\'ll break entirely.\" Kieran\'s voice was tiny as he leaned gratefully into Sabbath\'s side.

\"For the best,\" Sabbath repeated quietly. \"Who\'s best, I wonder? It obviously wasn\'t his.\"

\"I\'m an idiot,\" Kieran muttered darkly. \"I shouldn\'t have ever said yes in the first place.\" He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Sabbath, dark eyes unfocused as his tail twitched anxiously.

\"Said yes to what? Leaving him or bedding him?\" Her tone was slightly dry. If Kieran just needed a sounding board to ask the hard questions, she could do that.

\"Bedding him. Maybe then it wouldn\'t have gotten so out of hand. If I hadn\'t...\" he trailed off, soundly reminding himself that hindsight was twenty-twenty and whimpering about ifs would do him very little good now. \"Doesn\'t matter if I hadn\'t, because I did, and it\'s done and I\'ve driven him insane and there\'s nothing I can do about it.\" That was the stinger. Caden wouldn\'t let him help.

\"Does my son make you happy?\" she inquired almost idly, still watching his honeyed hair as the firelight shone off it. He was slightly flushed when his head turned slightly and her lips twitched. From the heat of the fireplace or the topic of discussion? As little as he deigned to show it in public, Farfarello WAS protective of his son.

All the despair fled Kieran\'s eyes as he looked over at Dwyn, a remarkably stupid smile blooming over his face. \"Gods yes. Happier than I can ever remember being.\"

\"hm.\" She nodded slowly as if that was very important information, her other hand slid between her thighs, mostly just to hold it there while she swung her feet gently, heels thudding against the cabinet behind them.

\"I want to feel guilty but I can\'t,\" Kieran said with a soft sigh as he gazed at Dwyn. \"I should feel bad about what it will do to Caden. I -do- but I can\'t make myself feel guilty when I look at him. It\'s like all my cares fade away.\"

She was nodding slowly. \"Then,\" she said frankly, \"Your brother was right after all. Which doesn\'t change the fact that it might well be killing him, but he WAS right...\"

\"I know, but it IS killing him.\" And that said just how much Caden loved him right there, that his brother would throw himself away just so that Kieran could be happy.

She smiled, knowing that Kieran had just realized the entire point behind this somewhat ill-advised \"sacrifice\" of Caden\'s. Of course... it was the right thing to do. And he wasn\'t looking for accolades over it... to everyone who asked, he put up a brave front and refused to taint Kieran\'s happiness by acting like HE was anything but happy. A martyr complex? Maybe, but it was one he was holding close to his chest. And she was rather certain that he was doing it for the right reasons. but that didn\'t mean it didn\'t hurt him terribly. \"Kieran,\" she said slowly. She was about to truly overstep her bounds but this had to be asked. \"You were never IN love with him?\"

Kieran wanted to say yes. He wanted to justify having slept with his brother, having broken Caden, but now that he knew what love was, he couldn\'t make himself lie. \"I thought I was, but... no.\" It hurt to admit that, on a hundred different levels. And he had a dark, looming suspicion that if Caden were asked that question he would not have been able to answer it the same way without lying.

She nodded then and rubbed his back. \"I see,\" she said quietly. And really, for her, that was all that needed to be said. Because she DID see. And she finally understood all the nuances, all the little secrets, all the reasons behind the glances.

Kieran sighed and curled in on himself, leaning into Sabbath\'s touch out of a distraught need for comfort. \"I just wish that there was something I could do. Some way I could help. That he\'d let me.\"

\"I think,\" she said quietly, \"that you\'re the last person that needs to help him. That\'s not an insult to you, baby. It\'s just that you\'re the source of his pain. He\'d willingly crawl naked on his belly over broken glass to see you happy and if you imply that you\'re not happy because you suspect the truth of HIS unhappiness... he\'ll feel he\'s failed and do something VERY unwise.\" Her fingers meandered slowly through his hair. \"And I don\'t know what to tell you, except for this: BE happy. Flaunt to the world how happy you are. Because even though that WILL hurt him, he\'ll feel like he\'s succeeded and feel, rightfully, as though he did the right thing letting go of you. And that might help, even if it\'s just a little.\"

Kieran sighed. \"And I\'m just supposed to pretend that I can\'t tell that he\'s breaking?\" He wasn\'t that good an actor, was he? If Caden\'s happiness depended on it, he damn well would be. A little part of his mind began to devise methods of making Caden happy, foremost among them crazy ideas of finding Caden a boyfriend or making a copy of himself, but they were frivolous and stupid and would most likely never leave the dark recesses of his mind.

Sabbath sighed. \"I know it\'s hard. You do love him. But believe me, I think it\'s best if you\'re happily oblivious to his mental state. Let him think that you think everything is right with the world. Kieran, your brother wasn\'t MADE to be broken. Don\'t imagine that you\'re the only issue here, because you aren\'t. You\'re just the nearest and dearest to his heart. He has other problems, I\'m fairly sure, and they\'re not yours to solve.\"

\"I\'ll do what I can,\" Kieran said disconsolately, tone dull. There was only so much a boy could take, and he knew that Caden had taken more than anyone should have to. He knew it wasn\'t all him; he knew that the world didn\'t revolve around him and that there were other things making it worse. But why was it that the people he wanted most to comfort and help were beyond his ability to aid?

She sighed and pulled him into a hug. \"My advice?\" she muttered callously. \"Fuck Dwyn senseless and get your mind off of it. In fact, I have a suggestion... a little game his father and I used to play...\" she couldn\'t hold back a wicked grin.

Kieran\'s cheeks turned a quite impressive shade of red and he squeaked unintelligibly. \"Gwaack!\"

She threw her head back and laughed, poking him in the ribs. \"Oh, come on. It\'s fun. It\'s called \"One Thousand Public Places\"....\"

Kieran blushed darker as he gibbered, somehow managing to stop babbling incoherently. \"You\'re not supposed to give us ideas,\" he accused faintly, ears folded back. Only the actively twitching tip of his tail said that he was entertaining the idea. ~Twice the shock value, seeing as we\'re both male...~

Sabbath blinked at him. \"Why on earth not?\"

\"Because when we get caught and blame you for encouraging us, you\'re the one who gets in trouble, not us... Hey! Maybe that\'s not such a bad idea after all,\" he said slyly.

She laughed. \"Well, you\'ll just have to not get caught then. Besides, if someone comes to me complaining that you two were sneaking sex in public fountains, I\'ll..... set them straight on exactly WHAT they should think on the matter.\"

Kieran laughed, shaking his head. He was still rather red, but there was something about Sabbath\'s manner that made it impossible not to return her sallies in kind. \"I\'m certain you could,\" he said affectionately, butting his head into her shoulder felinely.

She chuckled and scratched between his ears. \"Idiot mortal races,\" she said evenly. \"Who WOULDN\'T see the two of you attatched to one another and suddenly develope a streak of lustful voyuerism? I\'m teasing you, baby.\" She patted his head. \"Now, I think he\'s done telling his father all about you. Are you okay?\"

\"As good as I can be,\" Kieran said with a nod. Even if Caden was having problems, he knew that his brother would eventually be alright. He was as his name, a fighter through and through, the kind who never gave up and even after breaking kept going, happiness or no. He couldn\'t let himself worry too much about his brother; he had to have faith. Other than that, everything was going bloody well. He glanced at Dwyn and smiled stupidly, black eeys dancing. \"As good as I will be.\"

She smacked him lightly between the shoulders. \"Good, then. Go get him. I need to drag Farf off and talk to him anyway.\" She slid off the counter with a bounce.

Kieran nodded obediently, hopping down and landing lightly. \"Thanks, mum,\" he said with a sweet smile up at her before he scurried off toward Dwyn.

\"Oh, don\'t mention it,\" she murmured. \"But don\'t forget the game, either.\" She smirked and followed him, albeit more slowly. Dwyn looked up from where he sat, golden eyes shining at Kieran. He thought about making some shrewd comment about how long \'dishes\' had taken them, but he had a feeling Sabbath had needed to discuss something with Kieran. He had no idea what that something WAS, but he trusted his mom. \"Why don\'t you boys go downstairs and wait for Kieran\'s family?\" Sabbath suggested. \"Jay, let\'s talk.\"

Again, Farfarello looked a bit perturbed by Sabbath\'s use of the name.

Kieran blushed again and nodded, trying not to grin as he slid up to Dwyn\'s side. Just the look in those eyes made him want to snuggle Dwyn to they were glued together... or, better yet, fuck him senseless until they were glued together in a much more literal fashion. He offered a hand to his lover, glancing somewhat nervously at Farfarello. The white-haired man didn\'t so much frighten him as make him a bit twitchy, like there was a hungry lion in the room that just hadn\'t really noticed him yet.

Farfarello eyed the hand and smirked slightly. \"Don\'t forget,\" he told Dwyn quietly, then rose and approached Sabbath. She folded her arms and eyed him... one slender, white-skinned hand reached out and wrapped in her hair at the back of her head, dragging her along with him toward her room where there would be some privacy. She made a growling sound and drove her fist into his ribs. He didn\'t seem to notice.

Dwyn chuckled. \"They\'re.... kinda wierd. I still can\'t tell whether they actually like each other or not. Sometimes I think they do, sometimes I think it\'s the barest form of tolerance.\"

Kieran eyed Sabbath and Farfarello thoughtfully. \"I think they do. It\'s... cute, in a rather twisted way,\" he said cheerfully. \"So did you have fun with your dad? What were you talking about?\" he inquired curiously, tilting his head. He was always interested in... well, pretty much anything, really, but especially anything Dwyn was interested in.

Kieran eyed Sabbath and Farfarello thoughtfully. \"I think they do. It\'s... cute, in a rather twisted way,\" he said cheerfully. \"So did you have fun with your dad? What were you talking about?\" he inquired curiously, tilting his head. He was always interested in... well, pretty much anything, really, but especially anything Dwyn was interested in.

Dwyn grinned wickedly. \"You,\" he answered, and after checking to see that his parents had left, he seized Kieran around the waist and dragged the boy down onto the couch with him.

\"Me?\" Kieran squeaked, dark eyes going wide as he tumbled onto the couch, landing squarely atop Dwyn and making no move to move away. \"Why me?\"

\"Because you\'re mine,\" Dwyn said blithly, as though this explained everything perfectly. He cuddled Kieran tightly.

Kieran melted and snuggled into Dwyn, burying his face in the other boy\'s neck. \"What were you telling him about me?\" He genuinely wanted to know.

\"I told him I\'d marked you and that you were mine. I told him I knew what it meant. We\'re... two of a kind, sometimes. There\'s a lot that we just sort of understand about each other that nobody has to say. He knows, and so he\'ll respect it, because.... well.... like a pair of lions, I guess, we sidestep each others\' territory. But he\'s proud of me. I think he likes you. That you let me blood you and liked it... goes a long way with him, says you\'re not afraid of what you\'re looking at when you look at me. We both value fearlessness.\"

Kieran nodded slowly, digesting that as he purred softly, tail swaying in the air behind him. It was a good thing to meet the approval of his lover\'s parents, and as much as he liked Sabbath, there had been no doubt that she\'d accept him. But Dwyn\'s father had been a complete unknown, and it was nice to know he\'d passed that test, as it were. It was a long stretch of thought before he spoke softly. \"I don\'t think I could be afraid of you if I tried,\" he said, voice pensive.

\"You were in the beginning,\" he said quietly, reaching around Kieran to scratch at the base of his tail. \"You ran away from me. But that wasn\'t because of me. I know... it was because of you. You thought I was like everybody else.\"

Kieran gave a contented little purr and his tail flipped up, hovering in the air. \"Not quite,\" the boy corrected. \"I wasn\'t afraid of you. I knew... you represented something, a change that I had no idea was coming, had no time to prepare for, and I saw that. It was like flipping over Death in a normal deck of cards. That\'s what frightened me... the change that you stood for. But now, I wouldn\'t have it any other way. And I knew you were different the first time I saw you smile.

Dwyn tilted his head, feeling a strange urge to be spoken of. \"You did?\" he probed, resting his chin on Kieran\'s shoulder and snuggling into him contentedly, almost submissively.

Kieran nodded, a smile curving his lips. \"Mmm-hmm. That smile said you were fearless, confident, and above all... you, really. I can\'t find a word for it. I tried drawing it, but it didn\'t work too well. It\'s just as hard to capture you in words as it is on paper. Although I\'ve noticed that a tail works well enough to trap your attention,\" he grinned, kissing Dwyn lightly.

\"You trapped my attention from the beginning,\" Dwyn said evenly, arching up into the kiss. \"But I have a question...\"

\"I have an answer. Let\'s see if they match,\" Kieran said cleverly, purring into Dwyn\'s lips.

\"Did my mother, by any chance, mention \"One Thousand Public Places....\"?

\"Yes, she did,\" Kieran said with a bit of a blush.

\"Sometimes I think they\'re telepathically connected,\" he grumbled, then leaned up to nibble the blush. \"But it\'s okay. I had my own plans anyway.... which will, alas, have to wait because we\'re supposed to be keeping an eye out for your family.\"

\"He told you to try it too, huh?\" Kieran said, shaking his head. \"Well, I\'ve got to say, at least craziness makes things interesting. And what plans are those?\" he wanted to know.

Dwyn just grinned and winked at him. \"Oh, you\'ll see,\" he said darkly. \"Let\'s go downstairs?\"

Kieran raised an eyebrow. \"I\'m sure I will, and of course,\" he said, sitting up and sliding off Dwyn\'s lap to tug the other boy to his feet and then down the stairs.

Dwyn followed along happily, taking the stairs two at a time, at breakneck pace and catching himself on the very pillar Sabbath had almost cracked her skull against. He seated himself in the sturdy chair behind the counter and propped his feet on it.

Kieran flowed down the stairs in a rather feline manner and followed Dwyn behind the counter with a flick of his tail. After thinking for a moment, he slipped into Dwyn\'s lap and nuzzled against him.

Dwyn smiled warmly and arranged Kieran so that he was curled comfortably in his lap, bringing his feet down and gladly entwining around him. He liked holding Kieran, liked how small the other boy was in his arms. It made him feel protective. Possessive.

Kieran purred happily and snuggled into Dwyn, quite content to curl into his lover. He gave Dwyn a sweet kiss, tail winding around the other boy\'s wrist in its own possessive way.

Which was how Cross found them as he shoved the door of the shop open and leaned in the door frame, arms folded across his chest, black eyes knowing. He stepped aside politely for the rest of the Aladriss retinue and cleared his throat, as though the door chimes wouldn\'t have been enough to announce his arrival.

Kieran twisted, blushing slightly as he realized that that was indeed the rest of his clan walking through the door. \"Hi Daddy,\" he said sweetly, with a hopefully innocent smile on his face. He didn\'t want to have to disentangle himself from Dwyn, but it was probably a good idea...

Dwyn was giggling quietly against his shoulder, face hidden. \"We got exiled downstairs,\" he said evenly, as though Kieran\'s parents HADN\'T just walked in on them being cuddly. \"My dad\'s here!\"

Corus ducked through the door, eyes locking onto his little brother and Dwyn. He blinked twice and then chuckled, shaking his head. \"Damn, Kagi, you were right,\" he admitted to his sister as she walked in behind him. Kagami smirked at Kieran and held out her hand, into which Corus shoved a few coins.

Kieran nodded happily, deciding it didn\'t matter and that he wanted everyone to see just how much he loved his dear, darling Dwyn.

Caden slipped in behind them, taking the opposite side of the doorway from his father and smirking quietly at Kieran. He\'d avoided betting. He had too much riding on the outcome.

Yuka paused right next to Cross and stared at Kieran for a long moment before he smiled broadly, not needing to say a word.

Dwyn shrugged. \"SO. My dad\'s here and I\'m supposed to go tell them you all showed up. Which I might or might not. Just once,\" he mumbled to Kieran, \"I\'d like to see them caught. But it\'ll never happen... did I ever tell you they\'re in the seven-hundreds?\" he asked Kieran, smirking.

Kieran looked up at Caden and gave his brother a smile that said a thousand things, foremost amongst them \'I\'m sorry\' and \'I love you\'.

Caden shot him a sunny grin and a wink back, lingering by the doorway and looking around the shop again. He hadn\'t had much time to get a good look before, and there were so many hidden and interesting things.

Kieran squeezed Dwyn tightly before distentangling himself from his lover gracefully and slipping down from Dwyn\'s lap. Once he was firmly on the ground, he bounced toward his family, beaming with a smile bright enough to put a star to shame. He managed to wrap Yuka and Cross in one squishing hug at once, Yuka laughing and ruffling his hair.

Corus poked Kagami quite impolitely and nodded to something on a shelf, muttering something in her ear. She rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly upside the head. \"Don\'t be a dope,\" she ordered, and proceeded to iignore him.

Kieran squeezed Dwyn tightly before distentangling himself from his lover gracefully and slipping down from Dwyn\'s lap. Once he was firmly on the ground, he bounced toward his family, beaming with a smile bright enough to put a star to shame. He managed to wrap Yuka and Cross in one squishing hug at once, Yuka laughing and ruffling his hair.

Corus poked Kagami quite impolitely and nodded to something on a shelf, muttering something in her ear. She rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly upside the head. \"Don\'t be a dope,\" she ordered, and proceeded to iignore him.

Dwyn got off his chair and scampered up the stairs... on all fours... leaving Kieran to greet his family again as he went off to warn his parents that they had company.

Kieran beamed up at his fathers. \"Well, I was going to tell you, but I guess it\'s a moot point by now,\" he said with a slight hint of a smirk somewhere in his broad smile.

Cross chuckled. \"Well, I suppose that\'s also a good enough way to tell us. Though I forgive you for not doing it earlier... seeing as you didn\'t even know yourself.\" He smirked at his son knowingly.

Kieran blushed slightly, but only smiled wider. \"A lot can happen in one day,\" he said succinctly.

Yuka couldn\'t help but grin nostalgically, remembering one hell of a crazy day involving a cellar, a dragon, and one fucked up cavern.

Cross rolled his eyes. \"Yes, so we\'re aquainted,\" he said dryly as he slung his arm around Yuka\'s shoulder and squeezed. Dwyn came bounding back down the stairs then, looking windblown. \"Okay, who wants to go upstairs? I mean, it\'s SO fascinating and everything,\" he added with a chuckle.,

Kieran laughed and shook his head. Daddy and \'tousan were so.. well, cute together. He giggled and turned, tugging at Yuka\'s wrist to drag them all upstairs. Kagami pulled Corus away from an astrolabe and steered him toward the staircase, reaching out to shoo Caden up too.

Caden sidestepped her deftly, evading her touch, and brought up the rear, jogging up the stairs after them.

Kagami shrugged. She hadn\'t been trying to haul him upward, just motion him in the right direction, but Corus seemed to be intent on annoying the crap out of his sister. She finally got tired of his teasing refusal to move and picked him up and carried him. Kieran noted this and burst into giggles as he rounded the landing and ducked into the living room.

Caden also burst into laughter. \"That\'s gotta be great for your sex life, Corus.\" he teased. \"Imagine if people should... just HAPPEN to hear that your little sister hauls you around...\"

Corus was busy squawking and flailing ineffectually at Kagami, who set him down at the top of the stairs. He glared at his brothers coldly. \"My little sister is also the butch-est sister on this side of the planet,\" he said dryly, earning a sound smack to the head from Kagami.

Caden smirked. \"Yeah, and stronger than you. Tsk tsk.\"

\"I wasn\'t expecting it,\" Corus said loftily, wandering away from his annoying little siblings. Kagami rolled her eyes and followed, stepping into the living room behind Corus. ~Men.~

Caden shrugged, darted forward, and grabbed Corus around the waist, picking him up and spinnning him around while laughing maniacally. \"Gotcha!\"

Corus grabbed Caden\'s wrists and bided his time until he could set his feet. He finally got them on the ground and yanked hard on Caden\'s forearms, jerking his little brother right over his shoulder. Holding his wrists together with one hand and holding him on his shoulder with the other, Corus walzted right back down the stairs and outside, where he threw Caden into a pile of snow. Then he turned and walked back inside and right back up the stairs, leaving Caden in the snow.

Kagami sweatdropped. \"Dad, can\'t you do something? I know four year olds more mature than those two...\"

Caden rode him rather cheerfully on the way down, happily making cowboy noises and wrapping his legs around Corus\'s waist. Which he used to hold onto him as Corus tried to dump him into the snow, making it a difficult proposition at best.

Cross shrugged. \"Better each other than some poor sap off the street,\" he said absently as he strode into the living room and sat down. Sabbath was nowhere to be seen, but Dwyn was lying across the floor by the fireplace with Taliesin perched on his chest, nose to nose.

Corus resolutely shook him off and ran away, knowing retribution was not only swift, but rather creative.

Yuka settled down next to Cross, Kagami on his other side. Kieran claimed a spot right next to Dwyn, sitting on the floor and petting Tal lightly. He was veritably glowing, ears perked.

Farfarello was the first to re-enter the living area, his presence like a living shadow or a hungry lion as he found himself a spot against the wall to stand and look utterly blank. Sabbath trotted in just after him. Despite Dwyn\'s apparent suspicions that they would have tried to sneak a quicky, neither of them looked flustered or mussed in the least. Sabbath smiled at all of them. \"Hey y\'all. Glad you could join us. So, what exactly IS on the agenda for this Yule? I\'ll understand if you want to do your own thing, though you might have a difficult time prying the boys apart,\" she joked, nodding toward Dwyn and Kieran where they sat together on the floor.

Kieran blushed and gripped Dwyn\'s hand. Difficult was an understatement. Yuka laughed, winking at Kieran before glancing up at Sabbath. \"I haven\'t the slightest clue. Cross, did we have any special plans?\" Kagami was distracted by Farfarello, but, remembering it wasn\'t polite to stare, refrained from satisfying her curiosity.

Farfarello settled in with a knife between his teeth as Cross shrugged. \"Well, I was thinking about a gift exchange of some sort... but then again,\" he said teasingly, \"Maybe the kids are too old for something like that...\"

\"Presents are -always- good,\" Corus said as he turned the corner, grinning at his father as he found a seat, having mercilessly left Caden outside. Kagami nodded in agreement and Yuka just shook his head with a smile. Kieran\'s ears twitched as he scritched Taliesin\'s chin lightly. He\'d already gotten the best Yule gift he could ever have asked for, and its name was Dwyn.

\"There\'s sledding and Ice Skating and.... hell, it\'s SILVERYMOON. Anything you want to do is out there,

\" Sabbath said dryly, waving a hand.

\"Sledding\'s fun. Especially if you start up on Suicide Hill,\" Kieran said brightly. He always was a crazy one when it came to careening down a small mountain on runners, screaming his head off and loving every instant of it.

Yuka eyed his son evenly. \"Kieran, just remember...\" he started, but his admonition was finished by not only Kieran, but Kagami and Corus. \"That you can get hurt and need to be careful,\" they chorused.

Dwyn smirked from his prone position on the floor. \"I\'ll be your landing pad,\" he offered with a totally innocent tone of voice.

Kieran turned a quite impressive shade of red and squawked something unintelligible as Corus burst into laughter at his brother\'s expense.

\"What?\" Dwyn asked. \"I\'ll sit up front. So if we crash, you\'ll land on me and everything will be good.\"

\"Kieran no ecchi,\" Kagami said, grinning. Kieran pretended he hadn\'t heard her and nodded, smiling adoringly at Dwyn. It was so sweet of him to say something like that, especially because Kieran knew he meant it.

Dwyn smiled back, shooting him a wink meant only for his eyes as if to say his comment suited either way.

Kieran\'s smile only grew as he sprawled over the floor in a decidedly feline manner, more than happy to snuggle Dwyn and not really caring if anyone else minded. Corus cooed teasingly, and was, as usual, ignored.

Cross rolled his eyes at Corus and patted his shoulder.

Corus grinned at Cross reassuringly, knowing full well that constantly poking fun at his siblings was a necessary part of life and one that he has a responsibility to fulfil. Kagami kept glancing toward the landing, wondering just what Corus had done to Caden to keep him away so long.

Cross reached over and ruffled his hair just to irk him. \"Well, I\'d like to say this is rather abrupt,\" he said dryly. \"But I know how things go among our family, and it\'s almost NOT. So I suppose we get to welcome a new branch of the family?\" he eyed Kieran.

Corus allowed it with the slightest of playful growls before turning his smirk on Kieran. \"Yeah, Kieran, what\'s all this about?\" he demanded curiously. Dwyn was whacked, but he got a feeling that the nutcase would take good care of his littlest brother.

Kieran nodded with a shy smile. \"I... yes. Expand the clan some,\" he nodded, black eyes sparkling.

\"Oh, great, more parents,\" Dwyn murmured.

Sabbath hiked an eyebrow at him. \"ExCUSE me? With ME for a mother, you ought to jump for JOY at the thought of more parents. Unless you think it\'s been a BAD EXPERIENCE...\"

\"Hey, I -like- your mum,\" Kieran informed him, sounding cutely prissy.

Dwyn tilted his head back and laughed at her. \"Gee, I dunno, mom. Looks like I\'m in the market for a couple more dads, but Kieran\'s the one who needs a mother. Obviously nobody fussed at him until you did... he\'s gained twenty pounds or so.\"

Farfarello hiked an eyebrow, but otherwise held his peace.

Yuka glanced at Cross, indigo eyes sparkling, and whispered, quite audibly, \"Are we really that intimidating still?\"

Kieran glanced down in horror. \"I have not!\" he protested, poking at his belly.

Dwyn giggled. \"You HAVE and it\'s a good thing. Otherwise I\'d be terrified of breaking you.\" He showed Kieran his teeth.

Sabbath blinked. \"And who do you think you\'re intimidating? I\'ve seen worse. No offense, Cross.\"

Cross looked dry. \"None taken, Sabbath.\"

Yuka snorted and tried not to dissolve into laughter. \"But -my- father hadn\'t...\"

Kieran raised an eyebrow and smirked at Dwyn, draping himself over his lover and purring in his ear. \"Break me.\"

Dwyn convulsed sharply and bit down on the nearest part of Kieran he could reach.

\"Your father didn\'t what?\" Sabbath asked curiously.

Kieran bit back a cry and arched into Dwyn\'s teeth, the sharp points digging into his collar with a pleasant twinge.

Sabbath glared at them. \"Oh, boooooooys?\"

Kieran glanced up at Sabbath sheepishly, grinning. \"Uhhh... yes?\" His smile said \'I\'m too cute to be mad at!\'.

She smirked. \"You DO realize your parents are watching.\"

Cross was an interesting shade of red, but he was laughing under his breath, face turned away.

Kieran considered that for a moment before looking from Sabbath to Cross. \"And those parents haven\'t done the same?\" he asked, sounding vaguely incredulous. Yuka blushed at that, pressing his forehead into the palm of his hand. Why him?

Sabbath threw her head back and LAUGHED, loudly and for quite a while. Farfarello chose that moment to speak, his voice melodic and accented. \"The fact that they have done it doesn\'t mean that they\'re eager to think about their son doing it. It is, sometimes, difficult to allow a child to grow up.\"

Kieran looked up at Farfarello, dark eyes wide and guileless. \"I didn\'t think of it that way,\" he conceded. \"Although perhaps if more parents saw, it would help them come to terms with the fact that their baby\'s not a baby anymore.\" He said this with a pointed glance at Yuka, who opened his mouth and then shut it again.

Farfarello smirked. \"When you\'re grinding against another boy in front of them and making that sort of noises, you are essentially smacking them in the face with it, don\'t you think?\"

Kieran blushed, but refused to look away. \"Y-yes.\" He didn\'t know how to explain that when he was near Dwyn, thinking of Dwyn, touching Dwyn, that the rest of the world faded away and he was entirely oblivious. It couldn\'t be said that he\'d forgotten they weren\'t alone, more that he had forgotten reality entirely.

\"Well, does it count as a public place if there are other people in it?\" Dwyn countered, hiking an eyebrow.

Farfarello grinned sharply around the knife. \"Yes.\"

\"Don\'t give him -ideas-,\" Kieran whimpered, burying his face in Dwyn\'s shoulder.

Sabbath looked aghast. \"I don\'t want to see that!\" she told Farf, who simply smiled at her.

\"I\'m starting to worry about this game of yours,\" Kieran murmured for Dwyn\'s ears alone, not bothering to disentangle himself from his lover.

Dwyn smirked at him. \"Don\'t. I\'ll be careful.\"

\"Careful of -what-?\" Kieran demanded, sounding slightly agitated as he stared at Dwyn with huge black eyes. He wasn\'t sure he wanted to know.

\"Not getting caught.\"

Kieran frowned and thought for a moment before smirking and pressing his lips to Dwyn\'s ear. \"Isn\'t that the point?\" he whispered, breath a shadowy ghost over Dwyn\'s neck.

Dwyn smirked. \"Actually, no. The point is to do it in as many public places as possible WITHOUT getting caught. And if you do get caught, without getting punished for it.\"

\"You\'re insane,\" Kieran said fondly, making it sound more like a compliment than anything disparaging.

\"And you know where he got it from,\" Sabbath told Kieran blithely, though she was eyeing Farf as she said it.

Kieran glanced up at Farfarello and smiled shyly. \"I can guess,\" he said softly, ears twitching.

Farfarello shrugged. \"Aye, and who was it that bore him?\" He smirked at Sabbath, who harumphed.

Kieran giggled. At that moment, they reminded him strongly of his own parents, and with a glance around the room, he smiled brightly. This was happiness, he thought as he curled back into Dwyn, more cuddling than molesting.

Cross had decided to curl up next to Yuka and be content, and so was half-heartedly listening, but not really paying attentiion to what they were saying.

Yuka was more than happy to snuggle into Cross\' side and observe quietly, one hand trailing through his husband\'s hair as he watched Kieran and Dwyn.

There was a loud noise from the downstairs, and cursing in a guttural language rippled up the staircase. Kieran\'s ears turned backward and the boy sat up, peering toward the stairs. He knew that language, and he knew that voice. He disentangled himself from Dwyn and darted down the stairs silently, hoping that maybe, just once, telepathy or not, he could sneak up on his uncle.

Dwyn hiked an eyebrow and followed at Kieran\'s heels, being rather quiet. Of course, Sabbath came right after them, drawn by the sound of breaking glass.

Two redheads were in the shop, one much taller than the other and obviously older. The larger of the two had his back to the stairs and was muttering to himself in German as he set a leather pouch back on a shelf, glad that nothing had managed to break itself. A green duster graced broad shoulders, black boots sticking out from beneath it. The other redhead looked up as Kieran, Dwyn, and Sabbath came down. It was a child, perhaps twelve or so, with large green eyes and a stick of incense in one hand. \"See, Dad, I -told- you we shouldn\'t have done it the cheap way. It gets you in trouble,\" Orion informed his father quietly. Schuldig turned and blinked, a smile breaking out over his face. \"Kie-chan! Knew I\'d be able to track you down...\" The tall man trailed off, looking from Kieran to Dwyn as he caught the mental nuances between the two. \"Grew up quick, huh, kiddo? Mind introducing me? Sorry about the shift, they don\'t get the idea of altitude in a spell,\" he said, giving Sabbath a charmingly apologetic smile. Her shop seemed undamaged, and Orion neatly set the stick of incense back in its spot, peering out at the people warily. There were far too many minds here that he couldn\'t get into, and that was highly atypical.

Sabbath folded her arms across her ample chest and looked dryly amused. \"Which is why teleporting into the shop is generally such a bad idea,\" she told him. \"Kieran, does your family, by any chance, own their own continent? Because there are certainly enough of them and more just keep...\" she coughed slightly. \"... Appearing...\"

Kieran looked up at Sabbath and laughed. \"No, we don\'t. He doesn\'t count as real family. He just won\'t go away,\" he said teasingly, bouncing up to Schuldig and glomping him in a hug. The German chuckled and ruffled his hair fondly, grinning at Sabbath warmly. Kieran disentangled himself after a moment and gestured from Schuld to Sabbath. \"Mum, this is Schuldig, one of many uncles. Uncle Schuld, this is Sabbath. She\'s really cool,\" he informed him with a nod. Then he stepped back and peered curiously at Orion, who blinked at him, appearing rather stupid.

\"Uncle Schuld,\" Sabbath said dryly, \"This is Kieran. Who has suddenly showered me with so many compliments that I\'m not sure I believe them anymore. AND, this is MY son.... Dwyn O\'Connaillain.\" She patted Dwyn\'s head. Dwyn, for his part, was very engrossed studying the ceiling. It seemed he\'d chosen that moment to let his mind drift away from reality.

Schuld raised an eyebrow, leaning over to eye Dwyn. ~Hey, kiddo, wake up,~ he sent somewhat politely (for Schuld, at any rate). Kieran twined himself around Dwyn and grinned. This would be such a nice surprise for Daddy, he reflected, knowing full well that Cross didn\'t appreciate Schuldig much. Orion still said nothing, used to his father being distracted and having a lump of silver that had once been a handful of coins and was now quite malleable in his hands.

Dwyn slowly tilted his head to eye Schuld, intense golden eyes fixing on his face as he rather calmly tilted his head. Sabbath let them be, smiling at Orion. \"Have you had breakfast?\" she inquired, even as Dwyn woke up enough to slide an arm around Kieran\'s waist.

Orion frowned, looking up at Sabbath. He was about to say something incredibly rude, but remembering that he had to be at least somewhat nice he sighed and said, \"I don\'t have a mother and I\'m grateful for it, so please don\'t try to act like mine.\" Apparently that wasn\'t polite enough for Schuldig, who thwopped Orion soundly on the shoulder without looking away from Dwyn. The boy looked rather put out and mumbled a quick apology. Kieran watched this exchange with interest, having been told quite a few stories of this strange cousin of his by his uncle but never having met him. Schuld kept eyeing Dwyn, seeing something strangely similar in the boy. He was reminded strongly of Farfarello for some odd reason.

Sabbath eyed him. \"Yes, and it\'s OBVIOUS you\'re lacking,\" she said sarcastically, even though it was true. \"But you know what you are? You\'re a guest in my home. Guests in my home are treated with courtesy. Courtesy demands that I inquire as to whether you\'re hungry because it\'s MY kitchen and you\'re not going near it, buster. So get rid of that superiority complex and come back down to earth with the rest of us mortals, hmm?\"

Dwyn eyed Schuld right back, ignoring his mother\'s tirade entirely. Those golden eyes didn\'t blink, though the full lips parted slowly.

Orion folded his arms over his chest and glared at the floor. \"Whatever. Sorry.\" Usually, he didn\'t stand down to anyone without a fight, but he knew someone more stubborn than he when he saw them, and Sabbath was one of them. Jade eyes went vacant as he held a mental conference with his father, whom stared at Dwyn with a smirk for a very long time before tweaking his nose and straightening. \"You\'ve got good taste, Kie-chan,\" was all the German bothered to say.

She didn\'t think for a moment that he was really sorry, but she figured there had to be one in every family, so she let it go. \"All right then, upstairs,\" she said, making a shooeing motion.

Dwyn released Kieran and made a beeling for the stairway. He\'d already decided he didn\'t like this branch of Kieran\'s family. Of course, thanks to the disorganized, burning mess his mind was, that thought was blissfully his own and no one else\'s.

Kieran followed Dwyn, carrying on a rather fast-paced conversation with Schuldig, who seemed more than interested in what had been happening recently. Orion followed silently, once again involved with nothing but the verging-on-liquid silver in his hands. How he kept it that hot was a part of his racial powers, as was his telepathy; like his father, he was a full-blooded Pathogen, and a rather powerful one.

Dwyn released Kieran and made a beeling for the stairway. He\'d already decided he didn\'t like this branch of Kieran\'s family. Of course, thanks to the disorganized, burning mess his mind was, that thought was blissfully his own and no one else\'s.

Kieran followed Dwyn, carrying on a rather fast-paced conversation with Schuldig, who seemed more than interested in what had been happening recently. Orion followed silently, once again involved with nothing but the verging-on-liquid silver in his hands. How he kept it that hot was a part of his racial powers, as was his telepathy; like his father, he was a full-blooded Pathogen, and a rather powerful one.

Dwyn stepped back into the room with a simple, \"be careful of the cats\" admonition and instead of returning to the fireplace, sat down close to his father. his father who had one foot braced against the wall and seemed utterly engrossed in studying the tip of the dagger he was holding.

Sabbath sighed and went to the door of the shop to take the lantern in. She wouldn\'t be able to mind the store with all these people around. A coil of resentment twisted in her gut but she sighed and let it go. As she stepped outside, though, she noticed a familiar sunset-head attatched to a well-insulated body sitting against her wall.

Kieran bounced into the room after Dwyn, fearlessly sitting next to him. Farfarello unnerved him, but he refused to be too creeped out. And besides, he\'d rarely seen Dwyn -without- a blade in his mouth or hand. Schuldig progressed more slowly, slipping into the room with a grin. \"Yo, Kreuz. Didja miss me?\" he inquired devilishly, well prepared for the ball of Yuka that crashed into him for a hug. Orion hung back, nervous but completely unwilling to show it. Corus grinned and waved to Schuld cheerily; Kagami just sighed. Schuldig was far beyond her comprehension and she would gladly keep it that way.

Cross tilted his head back to smirk at him. \"Of course, Schuld. As much as I miss urinary tract infections.\" He dissolved into an actual smile watching Yuka tackle him, since Yuka was one of the cutest things the world had ever known. Even pushing forty.

\"Ouch,\" Schuld grinned, not taking offense in the slightest as he released Yuka, who beamed up at him. \"I didn\'t know you would track us down,\" Yuka said warmly. Schuldig shrugged. \"We can\'t be staying long.\" Noting Yuka\'s confused look, he glanced behind him. \"They don\'t bite unless provoked, really,\" he said, sounding amused. Orion looked disgruntled as he stepped up beside Schuldig, giving a stiff wave and a quiet \'hi\'.

\"What constitutes \'provoked\'?\" Farfarello wondered from his spot on the sidelines.

Dwyn slid his arms around Kieran. \"And then there\'s comprimising situations...\"

Schuld looked up and blinked. \"Farf?\" he demanded incredulously. \"What the FUCK...\" he trailed off, glancing back at Dwyn.

Farfarello\'s attention was quickly caught as his head swiveled and he narrowed a single, predatory golden eye at Schuldig. His fingers worked the knife into an offensive grip.

Kieran nuzzled into Dwyn and twisted, eyeing Farfarello warily. He liked his Uncle Schuld well enough, but he was plenty of fun living and whole...

Dwyn tilted his head back and looked at his father upside-down. \"Know him?\" he wondered.

Farfarello didn\'t look at him, but he did reply. \"No.\"

Schuld opened his mouth and shut it again. One long, pale finger lifted to point at the white-haired man. For the first time in his life, the German was completely fucking stumped. Orion frowned. That was -not- Farfarello, and he succinctly informed his father of that mentally. Schuld gibbered incoherently before uttering a bevy of curses regarding interdimensional travel and time-space probabilities, most of which no one but he and Kieran understood. Finally the German realized he had to placate Fa- the man somewhat, if he was really this plane\'s version of the Farfarello he knew. \"Sorry, but I\'m from another world, and I know you there. That world\'s you, anyway.\" Like that made any sense.

Farfarello hiked an eyebrow, then shrugged and backed down.

Orion looked around, glad that he had managed to escape most notice, and put his back to a wall, playing with liquid silver.

Kieran relaxed, nuzzling into Dwyn again with a soft purr. He really was quite comfy.

Dwyn shot his father a slight smile, stroking the sleeves of his borrowed tunic where the bandages covered Kieran\'s arms from prying eyes.

Kieran shivered delightedly and leaned into him, smiling happily.

Dwyn was SORELY tempted to make a snide comment, but he refused on the grounds that a witch must show courtesy to everyone. Instead, he scratched at the bandages. He\'d forgotten to tell Kieran to pick at the scabs once they formed, to make them scar, make them stay... but there would be time later.

Kieran was the kind of boy who had always taken an animalistic pleasure in scraping off old scabs. It was something he\'d been doing, and he glanced up at Dwyn with a sweet smile, completely unaware of what the other boy was thinking.

Dwyn didn\'t kiss him. But he DID nuzzle him, cat-like, affectionately.

Kieran cuddled Dwyn and purred at him, rubbing his cheek against Dwyn\'s lovingly.

Schuld eyed Farfarello in fascinated confusion. If the Farfarello he knew had different memories than this one, it was highly unexplainable as to why he was actually Farfarello and not... \"Jei,\" Schuld muttered, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. What a fucking day.

Farfarello shot him a look. \"Yes?\" he asked testily, beginning to be truly irritated that EVERYONE seemed to be bantering his real name around when he hated it so much.

Schuld shook his head. \"Sorry,\" he said with a shrug. \"I\'m just a bit outof it right now. Ori, don\'t do anything stupid,\" he commanded, bowing slightly before striding back down the stairs, boots clomping loudly as he made his way through the store outside.

Orion looked up from the puddle in his hand and frowned, glancing at Cross and Yuka. Were they really such good friends of his father\'s? There\'d been a notable hint of animosity from Cross...