The older man froze. The girl that stood in front of him had wide blue eyes he swore in his life time he would never see again. She had long, long wild and curly brown hair with twigs and leaves stuck to it. She also had a crooked smile and a slight cleft lip he would have never noticed. She was wearing one of the shirts he had given to Fay. The girl smelled it and canted her head. She was looking at him as if she knew him somehow.
Edmund almost took a step away until she tackled him down, smelling him and pinning him under her surprisingly strong grip. The ex-agent was winded. He gave a wheezing cough."Jane--" The girl didn't seem to hear this male voice and the man that came from the corner of his eyesight pulled the so called Jane girl off of Edmund with one solid swoop of his arm. She seemed weightless and a little put off like a small puppy. Her smile quickly returned again when a little boy ran past Edmund and the great big man let her go to let her play with the toddler.
Edmund gave a hard swallow, not sure what to make of these people on his land. Fay lingered in the doorway. Edmund had been away for almost a month and a half. The longest he had been apart from Fay from the very beginning. She was -- mad with him. Angry even. She thought maybe even he wasn't going to come back. Feral offered a hand to the older man and Edmund took it with a grunt as he was set back on his feet. The man seemed to know there was pain and he gave Edmund a solid pat. It was a sort of man to man recognition.
Fay disappeared back into the house and Edmund's expression visibly fell. He pinched the space on his nose. The encounter with the last hunter had caused a sort of fluid build up in his lung, or rather his right lung and the medication had caused his blood pressure to go up ; the result was not so pretty, E had prematurely lost his sight permnantly in his left eye as consequence. Unwilling to compromise Fay's safety, he had not tried to contact her in any way. He only prayed at night and when he woke up that she would be alright. HaShem had not failed him this time.
"Is she very angry with me?" He turned to the man and Feral seemed to lick his lips as if debating to lie to spare E's feelings or at least try to sugarcoat the truth. There was a miniscule expression on Feral's face that was proceeded by a nod. Edmund wiped his face with his hand before extending it over to Feral. "Edmund Perita." Feral looked the hand over before taking it, "Feral. Those were my children--" The great big man pointed towards the toddler and the teenage girl, "Jane and Charis."
Then there was a very heavily pregnant woman sitting on the porch that Edmund had failed to notice when she was pointed to, "That's my mate. Geneva." He released Edmund's hand. The ex-agent scrunched his face, "Mate?" There was a flash of color in Feral's eyes. Edmund looked down. They were like Fay then. His stomach sank. So there were more of them. He looked out at the children. Jane was heavily scarred. She had been tortured fairly well. "You don't smell well," Feral commented, "You should go inside. My mate will probably have something to help." There was a clap on Edmund back that knocked the breath out of him yet again and he responded with a shakey, "Thank you."
He had to avoid being tackled by the children. He had a quick stint as a barrier they were playing around, but ultimately ran off to use Feral as an even better one that played back. He reached the house and the pregnant woman stood. He offered his help, but she refused it up until she gave a sigh of defeat with a sweet smile of acceptance. She stood with a groan and clutched her back. She was a short and very slim woman with long, long, long waves of brown hair and carmel skin accented by constellations of freckles that complimented her hazy green eyes.
She made her way inside with a waddle that dredged up memories he couldn't bare to remember. She went to the kitchen and he glanced towards the room. Geneva stopped ruffling around. "You should go see her," the she-wolf stated softly. Her hazel green eyes were soft, full of concern and something he recognized in himself which was fear of loosing all he had left. He gave a short nod of thanks towards the woman. He leaned against the doorframe. He wanted to knock but couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he went back to the kitchen to sit as he watched Geneva.
They had stocked the kitchen with drying herbs and meats. He looked up the things hanging from the ceiling. It reminded him of when he was a boy in the jewish shops. "May I thank you?" Geneva turned, leaning against a counter for support as she fixated her gaze on the older man. His mangled hands told her he was capable of a great many evil deeds, yet he had not spooked when he came across Fay? She didn't actually know the origins of how Edmund and Fay had met, just that they were on a sort of soft cautious ground of something new for both of them.
He didn't seem to comprehend. "I'm only doing what's right," he replied after some time. She noted on the rolled up sleeve of his left arm, he had a number tattooed and he touched it when he said this. "Jewish?" He gave a grim nod. She supposed he viewed the hunters much like nazis. When the tea was done, she set it by him and pulled out a chair to sit down next to him. "Do you want honey?" she asked. He shook his head and he took a sip. The tea was bitter. He grimaced immediately. There was a cool soothing sensation that made his chest untighten better then any medicine he had ever taken. He took a deeper drink despite how hot the tea was and he gave his first full inhale and exhale without feeling the awful tighteness in his lungs in nearly a month. "Thank you. This is very good."
Geneva smiled. She set the weight of her chin on her hand, turning only seconds before the children clambered in. Jane immediately came to sit on Edmund. She sniffed him over again and he wasn't sure what to make of her. Feral half signed half mouthed something that made Jane pout. "She's not a problem," Edmund immediately interjected as Feral sat across from his mate. He gave her a tender and brief kiss. "Are you sure?" He gave a nod. Jane looked at his cup of tea. She gave it a smell then looked at him again with her dazzling blue eyes.
He almost reached out to stroke the top of her head like he would have done with Ily. Again, his expression was crest fallen and she poked at his face with a little whimperish, puppy like sound that made him smile reflexively. She put her arms around his neck and settled against his shoulder like a tired toddler. He looked at Feral. The great big man shrugged as his son climbed up to snuggle too. Edmund had consented to letting Jane sit on him, this apparently was the consequence. It took him some getting use to, but he figured out a way to make her comfortable in his lap.
It didn't take much longer for it to turn dark. Fay still hadn't come out. "I think you guys should keep the bed." His eyes were mainly on Geneva and her belly. "I am not fighting that one bit--" The she wolf rose with a groan. Feral seemed to shift his little boy around almost too easily as he offered his arm to Geneva. "I'll be back for Jane, or I could leave her with you." It was Edmund's turn to shrug, but he looked down at her, "I'll just keep her until she wakes up." Feral gave a nod as Geneva yawned loudly. She seemed very tired.
Fay came out of the room as the small family invaded it. She looked fatigued, thinner, more anxious. She was on edge. He should have seen that from the way she had skulked away from him. With some trouble, he lifted Jane to take her to the undoubtedly more comfortable couch. She made a sleepy sound. He covered her up and took her shoes off. Fay sat at the table, much like how Geneva had with her chin on her hand as she glared little holes into his now empty mug.
He wanted to apologize although reasonably, for a man who had suffered so many medical conditions in such a short period of time, he had come back to her at an unreasonably soon time. He didn't comment. Instead he took his seat across from her at the table by his mug. He pushed the tea leaves around and turned it over on the table to read them. He had never been very good at fortunes. Now, these things were becoming progressive little blurs. He wiped it away from the table with his flannel sleeve.