Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night? Mom and Nero will be there.
Myra’s fingers drummed against her steering wheel’s rim as she sailed down the highway. Apollo didn’t seem bothered at the slightest- Not that much ever got him in a tizzy. He laid there, curled up in her lap, tail thumping a slow rhythm against her thigh. A green sign whizzed by, emblassoned with white reflective letters-
Exit 185 - Harvent - 2 miles
So close.
It was one thing to get called about her brother getting hurt. Impromptu visits didn’t bother her. Their spontaneous nature usually meant that the participants involved were genuine when they spoke, even if they didn’t present their best selves throughout the process. Marcus’ text to her the day before, though- That was planned.
And plans usually meant that there was some underlying motivation. Especially if they included a few other people.
Thoughts racing through her mind, Myra coasted towards the exit- Up the ramp, turn to the right to head into the little town nestled at the base of the mountain protecting it. It was such an unassuming little place. Old houses lining the streets had been converted to mom and pop shops. Hair dressers, boutiques, restaurants and bars. Almost as soon as she saw them, they were in her rear-view mirror. She left the downtown behind and, whizzing a few miles into the countryside again…
Only to come up to a farmhouse at the end of a long, winding gravel driveway.
You’ve arrived.
“Thanks, Google,” Myra muttered. She flicked off the ignition. The headlights and the engine cut with an almost disturbing suddenness. She prodded the cat in her lap, “Alright- Up, ya big oaf.”
“ all seems like far to much effort” he huffed, picking at the edge of one of his bandages. “Especially considering as soon as neros safe, father will have me moving elsewhere” he explained quietly. He was clearly frustrated by the thought of having to uproot and move yet again, but he didnt really have much choice on the matter.
“ anyway, that’s a future problem. Hows your work at the moment? I really hope you’ve fired that useless pa you had” marcus said flatly, glancing at myra in the mirror infront of him.
Myra rolled her eyes at his feeble attempts at dodging the whole reason the two of them had ended up standing in front of a mirror in the first place. After some musing while he talked, Myra lifted the scissors And started snipping the very ends of the dark curls on his head. Little crescents of black drifted towards the tile floor. Apollo’s ears perked with an instant chirrup. He hopped up onto his back paws, swatting at them as they fluttered towards the ground.
“My work is boring as hell,” Myra scoffed. “If I had a lot going on, I wouldn’t take as much time as I have so far to come and see the lot of you. I’d be in California or New York or something. He’s basically put all his attention on this little Harvent town for the time being. All other operations basically mean jack shit to him.”
Marcus tried to stay still for her, but he was a natural fidget. Sitting still wasn’t really in his nature. “ he’s got me here because of the attack on Nero. Although I’m no closer to figuring out who or why it happened” he huffed, shoulder slumping just a bit.
“And now with Artemis to… it doesn’t make any sense to me” he admitted quietly. “Nero I get because of his power… but me and Arty? What could be gained from hurting either of us”
Myra frowned - At a few things at once. One, Marcus’ fidgeting. Just at the end of his little train of thought, Myra gave his hair a little tug to try and get him to stay still. It only earned her a huff and a look in the mirror. Myra couldn’t help her own little chuckle and rolled her eyes, even with the rather serious conversation topic at hand. One hand came up to ruffle his locks for a moment before she started snipping away again near the base of his neck.
“Something, obviously,” Myra muttered in thought. “Uhhh… Maybe something having to do with your involvement with Nero? Like some kind of warning? I know our family has enemies.” Myra snorted, “How could we not?”
“Myra! Marcus!” Fleur called. “Dinner will be ready soon!” Just as she said it, a warm, spicy, savory aroma wafted in through the open bathroom door.
Marcus hummed in thought as he flicked a few stray curls back from his eyes. “I just feel like I’m missing something really big. Something staring me right in the face” he replied.
Hearing fleurs voice shook his from his contemplation “ nothing can be done right now so may aswell leave it for now” he drew in a slow breath, focousing his attention back on the mirror and his changing hair style. He turned his head a little to inspect the length and how Myra had altered the style just enough to be noticeable. “You’ve still got a good eye for this sort of thing then” he smiled softly as he gave her the compliment
By all rights, Myra had projected herself into a place of not only stability, but even success of her own accord being a lawyer. But nothing in the world could take away the pride she felt at receiving praise from her big brother. It showed on her face in the form of a glowing beam, and she set down the scissors on the edge of the counter.
“Don’t tell Dad, but I still take on a couple hair clients when his back is turned.” With an impish wink, he nudged him back onto his feet. “Now- Come on. I love you, but right now I miss mom’s cooking just a little bit more.”
The two of them, with Apollo right on their heels, abaondoned the little litterings of hair clippings for the moment. Myra tried to draft a little reminder for herself to get back to those after their meal. They walked in, though, to a classic of Fleur’s sitting in a crock-pot in the middle of the dinner table. Myra recognized it by scent alone in an instant.
“Beef stew~” she crooned. Fleur chuckled and looked up just as she set down the rest of the bread for ripping, dabbing, and dipping next to the vessel.
“Oh, yes. I still need to eventually teach one of you the recipe.” In that moment, the matriarch looked towards her eldest. Surprise flickered across her features, only to be replaced with a soft warmth.
“My, my… Don’t you look all spruced up,” Fleur hummed. She kept a hand on the table to keep herself steady. her weak legs just refused to gain all their strength back for some reason.
Nero was to occupied by the assortment of food before them to notice fleurs stumbles. To excited to get his hands and tastebuds on the legendary beef stew that mother use to make every Tuesday night. Flicking only a brief glance to Marcus and humming in a sort of approval of the new tighter style to his hair.
Marcus looked away as fleurs complement, to embarrassed to keep eye contact with her. “I’m thanks, certainly better than anything I could have dreamed up” he chuckled softly, taking the seat beside Nero. “I thought Taylor’s the one that drools over food, not you?” He teased.
Nero looked up in surprised delight “well hell… that was another joke. And not to bad either” he grinned, reaching for a piece of the fresh bread with glee all over his face
Completely contrary to their natural birth order, Myra sat on Marcus’ free side. She only scooted back enough to slip in while still avoiding bumping the smaller bowl of the thick, hearty stew just behind each of their chairs. The familiars in the room, too, took the signal. Each one rushed over to their respective bowls and ducked their heads down to start gobbling up the morsels of beef, carrot, and potatoes.
Myra couldn’t help but smile. That was always one of the things she loved the most about her mother; she never held back on making sure the family familiars felt as loved as her children.
With a grunt, Fleur, too, lowered herself into a chair across from her three children. Her face twisted a bit with the effort- But she settled down with a relieved sigh. Sophie, too, had gone to her almost human-sized portion and started eating, tail high and wagging back and forth like a giant fan behind Fleur. Of course, though, there was one familiar that couldn’t make the meal…
“How is Artemis doing, Marcus?” Fleur asked, not so much a small-talk question as much as it was a genuine expression of her own worry. “I imagine she’s in good hands with Abi. But, still.”
Marcus hand stilled as it rose halfway to his mouth, spoon heaped with a generous amount of meat and veg. Eyes flicking up to his mother and seeing the worry on her features “she’s umm…” Marcus lowered his spoon, back straightening up a bit stiffer.
“Abi has made sure to keep me well informed of any changes. As yet it’s slow going really. She said due to the nature of the burns Artemis has been kept sedated to not aggravate her or the new skin growth” Marcus explained the situation methodically, as if reciting from a medical book. His eyes took a darker light after that, lips pulling into a thin line. “It was elemntal fire… burns to that degree in her- on both of us. I’m sure it was a fire elemntal of some sort”
Without any further explanation, the other souls at the table understood exactly what he meant. Normal fire was one thing. Absolutely capable of the same kind of damage of elemental fire, for sure. it behaved more like a scared animal. Burning as hot as it did was only following its natural instincts. Sometimes that meant harming another being, but it wasn’t the ultimate goal. However, elemental fire was… Unrelenting. Intentional. There was no true escape from it, resulting in wounds that often took twice the amount of time to heal.
“Ah….” Fleur breathed. She set her own spoon down for the moment. “I mean, at this time of year, it would be hard to imagine that it would be some freak accident of nature… Do you… Know any fire elementals enough for them to have some kind of vendetta against you-?” She hated asking it. Hated the very notion that someone would have a vendetta against one of her children. But with how they had gotten themselves entangled in their father’s business… It almost seemed natural that some grudges and hard feelings would sprout up.
Neros own hand stilled at fleurs question. He may have removed himself from the main show so to speak, but he was fully aware of what Marcus was capable of. He might be his Big brother and latley he has been decent to be around. But his past won’t just vanish thanks to a new sense of morality. “Can’t be a coincidence that I get trapped just a week before you and arty are attacked like that?!” He said quietly.
Marcus nodded and his eyes stayed fixed on his plate of food “father knew…” he answered. Eyes gradually looking up to the table. “He sent me back here because he was aware of a threat made against you. I should have gotten here faster but I thought he was over reacting. Clearly I was wrong. But yes you are right, for them to happen so close together it’s no coincidence” he explained. Usually Marcus curls would obscure the frown lines and worry around his eyes at a time like this. But thanks to Myra, his expression was on full view. Hurt, worry, anxious- even a hint of fear. Marcus was genuinely scared for the first time in a long time
Their father knew.
As much as Myra’s face had contorted into a mortified expression at the realization- It paled Fleur’s face and almost turned the normal warmth of it into a sickly green shade. She could feel the gazes of at least Myra and Nero flitting up towards her to gauge her reaction. She only wished she could provide them some form of comfort in her expression.
“If… Josiah knew…” Fleur murmured, “But did nothing to stop it… It’s… Something of a real possibility that he had a hand in it…” As the words left Fleur’s lips, her expression shifted. Shock and fear that almost mirrored Marcus’ whipped around on a gale to almost palpable maternal rage. She clenched the spoon in her hand. Sophie lifted her head from her bowl, whimpering a little.
“That man…” Fleur almost growled through gritted teeth. She hefted herself up to her feet- And it was obvious in just how her face contorted in a wince how much her strength had waned as of late. “Where’s my phone? I need to have a word with him.”
Marcus eyes widened at his mother “I-I don’t think that’s a very good idea mom!” He stammered, shaking his head.
Nero raised both eyebrows and nodded “yeah for one I’m with Marcus on this one! Pretty sure he still has no idea you’re even awake”
“Father wants Nero back in the family Buissness, harming him isn’t the way to do that, surely he would know that” Marcus looked between all the other people at the table,
While the boys fretted about how Josiah knew nothing of Fleur’s awakening and how there was absolutely no way that he had anything to do with the fiery assault on Marcus- Myra had a concerned frown on her face for a completely different reason.
“Mom... Are you feeling okay?” Myra asked all of a sudden. The matriarch’s gaze flitted over to her daughter, her hands plastered to the table and almost all of her weight leaning on them. To Myra, it almost looked like she feared sitting back down, lest she just collapse the second she tried.
The fact that Fleur looked a little lost for words for a moment, the anger slapped right off of her face, threw Myra off almost in an instant. Something nasty twisted at her gut.
“Ah... Yes, I’m okay-” She lowered herself back to her seat with an almost painful amount of meticulous effort. Once she managed to get into her seat again, she let out a long sigh of strained relief. “I suppose I’m just... Not what I used to be.”