Group Session (Nox's Building)

[Marta]

Marta woke up and got up from the air mattress on the floor of Elyse's room.  Ricky had been good enough to allow Marta to spend the night with Elyse.  It was good for her to get out of the house, and it was equally good for Ricky to have some time to himself.  Marta hoped he had spent his time having fun and not just sitting around at home.  He needed a break.  The fact that she had a group meeting with some of the Blackthorn kids and Elyse's new friend Hayden had just made it make more sense for her to stay here.

Elyse was still asleep and Splash still snoozed at the edge of Marta's mattress, so she padded across the hall to take a shower and get changed.  Today she wore a pair of blue jeans a white long-sleeved shirt with a black batman tee over it. She then went back over to the room, and Elyse was still asleep.

"Elyse, wake up sleepy-head!' she said shaking Elyse awake.

Elyse woke up and checked her wallet. "We still have time before you have to go down. Is something wrong?"

Marta shook her head. "No, but we have things to do first!" Elyse sat up in her bed and Marta went to her pack and pulled out a small wrapped Christmas present, climbed on to the bed, and handed it to Elyse. "Merry Christmas, Elyse!"

Elyse smiled at the package. "For me? Really?" Marta nodded vigorously and smiled. "And I haven't gotten you anything yet." Elyse frowned.

"It's okay.  You don't need to get me anything," Marta smiled.

"Nonsense - it's coming - don't you worry!" Elyse smiled and opened the package to reveal a small wolf statuette. "This is amazing.  Thank you so much, Marta!" She gave Marta a hug and put the statuette on her nightstand.

Marta stood up and pulled Elyse by the hand.  Splash woke up from all the movement in the room. "Not done yet - it's breakfast time.  Get dressed! It's time to go!"

Elyse complied and the pair (with Splash following) headed downstairs. Marta began to pull eggs and bacon out of the fridge and began to cook breakfast.  Ricky had taught her how.  "You don't have to cook for me," Elyse said, and Marta just gave her a smirk. 

When breakfast was completed, Marta sat next to Elyse and they began to eat.  Marta's thoughts turned inward.  She was anxious about this meeting - mostly because she hadn't met this Hayden yet.  At least she would be there with the other kids, and she heard Sterling was going to be there too.  That would help, but she still hadn't revealed much of her past to the Blackthorn kids either.  She was going to be vulnerable, and that was difficult.

"You'll be okay, Marta," Elyse said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to say anything you're not comfortable saying.  This is the first one - I'm sure no one will mind if you don't say anything."

Marta nodded. "I know.  You really think this will help?" Elyse nodded. "I'm anxious about it. I really do want to be here though. It's just hard to think about sharing."

Elyse gave her a hug. "Just be open and trust yourself.  You know these kids and what they've gone through.  There will be no judgement.  If it doesn't help, you don't have to go again.  You know yourself.  Let that guide you."

Marta smiled. "Thanks Elyse," she said. 

The pair talked a little more while they finished their breakfast.  Marta preparing herself for the talk that would be coming that day.  She would be open and ready.

[Sterling]

Nox would be back any day now. He had to be, he said he was only going to be gone for a few days. She didn't mind being in charge all the time but Hayden was around. And so was Liv and Ashton an even Liam. But still she felt responsible.

Hayden asked her to join in with the other kids with the first group meeting. Sophia and Emma wouldn't talk to him alone, he was hoping they'd talk with him if the others did. Sterling thought it was a silly idea no one liked talking about their things in front of everyone.

She went downstairs to the dojo where they were all gonna meet. Hayden hadn't set anything up he was going for hanging out like we usually did. So Sterling sat down on the couch and waited for the others and flipped through her wallet.

[Marta]

Marta and Elyse finished their breakfast and Elyse insisted on washing the dishes. Marta was more than happy to oblige with that. She hated dishes. Then the pair headed back to Elyse's room so Marta could get her things. She would likely head straight to Kallisti after the session for school work. They had decided to keep the air mattress here, Elyse was hoping she could stay again sometime. It had been a nice change of pace for her, and for Elyse too. Even now Elyse smelled differently. The last few times Marta had seen her, her emotions had churned so much it was almost dizzying. Now, she still seemed sad and upset, but it was under control. Marta had asked about her sadness, and Elyse had just told her that she would be okay and not to worry. It was hard to not worry.

Marta grabbed her bag and gave Elyse a hug. "Thanks for letting me stay with you for the night. It was a lot of fun," Marta said.

"Of course. We will have to do it again sometime," Marta smiled at Elyse. "Would you like me to be there at first?"

Marta shook her head. "No, I can handle it. Sterling will be there, and if the worst happens, Splash can let you know. I don't think I'll panic though." She hugged Elyse again. "Have a good day, Elyse. I'll see you soon."

Elyse wished her the same and Marta headed downstairs to the dojo. Sterling, early as always, sat on the couch scrolling through her wallet. Marta plopped down next to her. "Sup?" she asked with a smirk as Splash gave Sterling's hand a lick in greeting.

[Sterling]

Sterling grinned as Spalsh licked her hand. She put her wallet away and reached down to scritch the wolf on its head. It was still strange saying wolf in her head. She wouldn't say it outloud at least not outside Nox's or Kallisti.

"Not much. Just waiting on the others. You'd think they'd be here before I was, they live here." she grinned. She knew that Marta had stayed the night. "How was staying here? My parents won't let me, mostly cause of what Nox does for a living. They think it's a bit too dangerous and a bit to sexy. They are afraid of too much exposure. Only let me be here grudgingly to begin with. I behave for him so they let me be. They think therapy will be good for me. Not that this is therapy." Sterling laughed. "Hayden sleeps with Nox, if they knew that, they'd probably pull me outta here right away. They don't really like my cousin." Sterling just rambled. It apparently was a family trait.

[Hayden]

It was too fucking early in the morning for Hayden as he rolled out of bed. Didn't help he'd been out late, with Nox not in residence his job was nothing and the bar wasn't ready so he didn't even have that. The girl from last night he dropped off at her home and stayed a few hours before making his way home. Was just another day and another fun time. He'd never see her again. Didn't even catch her name.

And today he had that meeting with the kids. Oh joy. Why did he agree? And so fucking early? He didn't owe Nox anything, but yet he felt it was something he should do. These kids had been abused and unloved and the golden heart of a fucking scary man kinda pulled at him to do the right thing. Even if it was slightly against his nature.

Nox's house was full of kids and people and he was surprised it was as quiet as it was when he entered the space that lead either up or down or to the office space. The foray? Whatever, Hayden thought to himself.

He headed down stairs. The one good thing about this was Hayden didn't need to buy a gym membership. Nox had all the equipment and then some that he'd ever need. Sterling and Marta had already arrived. Hayden waved. "Morning, ladies." He said putting his things down in a corner and moved to the middle of the dojo mats to do some sit ups. Mostly he wanted to be as low as possible so all the kids didn't feel the towering height of his strangerness and feel more comfortable. He knew from the start it was probably a very dangerous place to be.

And he was right. Moments after he'd done about three situps a herd of kids came down the stairs. Flying into the middle of the dojo was the youngest and most trusting of the Blackthorns. Hayden hadn't spoken with her but Arabella had climbed into his lap several times when he'd visited with Liam. She saw him lying on the floor and with a running jump she landed straight on to his stomach make him crunch up around her in a near miss of the sensitive organs her elbow almost smashed into. "Hey Arabella. How are you?" He started. "Just do whatever guys. We'll talk as you do things. Though no wallets computers or other tech until afterwards if you don't mind. I don't want to have to ask Sky to jam your signals out. Cause you know that she can do that."

[Legione Sumus]

Liam Wilson

Hayden was meeting with everyone today. He'd been talking to them on and off for the past few days since Nox was gone and he was nice. Nox trusted him so Liam did -- implicitly. Arabella too, but she trusted everyone.

She piled on top of Hayden like they were best friends. He curled up around her and she sat in his lap as he sat in the middle of the dojo floor. Liam went over and sat by the wall and one of the baseball pitch machines. He was curious to see how Nox used them and maybe one day soon they'd find out.

"I'm good." Arabella said. "Sera's having nightmares."

Sera growled. "Am not! You are."

"It's okay to have nightmares. Do you want to talk about em?" Hayden said looking down at Arabella who was shaking her head. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. "That's alright. Anyone else not sleeping well?"

Liam shrugged. "None of us are. It's a strange house. It doesn't creak at all. Everything's so quiet."

Sterling chuckled. "That would be Nox." She waved her hands and flows of lights filled the air. "He does this thing with things and fixes all the cracks and creaks and yeah I don't know how to explain it."

"Have you tried listening to music or some white noise?" Liam shook his head. "Might help. We can ask Nox what he listens to. I'm sure he's got something."

[Marta]

Marta just smiled as Sterling talked. She liked to ramble, which was okay with Marta. Marta could also ramble when she got excited about something. ”Staying here was fun. It was good to get out. I hope Ricky had a good time too. Dude needs to relax.” Marta laughed.

Marta grimaced a little when she mentioned Hayden sleeping with Nox. It didn’t gross her out or anything. It didn’t even make her think of the brothel so much. She knew other people thought about those things. Other people found others attractive. It was something she had never felt and she didn’t know if it was her trauma or something else.

Hayden came down and greeted them and Marta gave him a quiet and polite ”Good morning,” as he moved to do sit ups. Her volume wasn’t shyness, but curiosity. Doing sit ups seemed a weird move. Marta wasn’t sure what she had expected. Maybe more of a sitting in a circle and talking type of thing. This was odd, but intriguing.

Marta kept her gaze on Hayden, trying to figure him out. Sometimes Ricky or Elyse said she was good at reading people. She didn’t know about that. She just saw things. She knew Hayden was dangerous, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Ricky was dangerous. So was Elyse. Even Marta was dangerous. But here - he didn’t project that. It was calm and reassuring. Everything was going to be okay. His scent revealed that his was tired and a bit annoyed. She wondered how much he wanted to be here and how much he thought he had to be here.

The other kids arrived and the session “started.” Marta smirked as she figured it out. Hayden had started working out to make the kids comfortable, and what better way to do so then to engage in some sort of play. It was genius really. They talked about nightmares and the quietness of the house. The quiet hadn’t bothered Marta, but then again she could hear better than most. It hadn’t been as quiet to her as the others. But nightmares. She could say a lot about them. She could even tell them that they got better - with time - and talking about them took away a lot of their power. She looked toward Arabella and Sera, then up at Hayden. She didn’t know if it was her place to give advice.

[Sterling]

Sterling nudged Marta with her elbow and whispered. "You got something to say just say it. Cause if you let any of us here talk we'll talk for hours. Me. Liam. Arabella at 4 will tell you all about things if you let her. So just talk if you got something to say. No one bites."

Sterling had enjoyed watching Hayden showing off a little of his core strength. She had to avert her gaze or staring might become a problem. Boys were.... interesting.

[Marta]

Marta looked at Sterling as she whispered her encouragement. Quite frankly, she didn’t mind if others talked for hours. That was okay with her. Part of her liked being a part of the group - even if she didn’t always feel like she fit in. It wasn’t their fault at all. She was just…different. Splash sensed something - she always did - and worked her way underneath Marta’s hand. She scratched the wolf’s head subconsciously.

”I sometimes still have nightmares - about the brothel. They’re scary - wake me up sometimes. But they’re not as strong as they were. Not so…real…and don’t come as often.” She wanted to speak to the other girls, the ones who were talking about nightmares, but was scared to address them directly. She was afraid they would judge her, or worse, throw her aside because they would misunderstand or think she was attacking them. So she looked at the floor, and took Sterling’s hand with her free one for comfort. ”Time has helped, and talking about it has made them less intense. It doesn’t hurt so bad anymore.”

[Hayden]

Hayden was glad that Marta had spoken up. "See talking about it can help." He said to Arabella. "Were your dreams about your parents and grandparents? Or about the scary man who saved you?"

Arabella shrugged like it was no big deal. "It's the fire."

Sera added. "Fire is scary." The other kids all agreed.

"Fire is scary." Hayden had to agree with that sentiment. "I don't know many people who aren't afraid of fire. I know I am. It's healthy. You know Nox had full control of that fire right? Do you trust him?"

"Nox is like Daddy." Ara said. Gen interrupted. "We trust him. He smells like home."

Hayden looked to the rest of the kids who lived here. "You all feel safe here?"