Itching for a Fight

[Daiyu]

Mara never wandered underground. Something about the stairs frightened her, but after it seemed everyone went down there, she found herself alone. After a while she inched toward the basement, and ducked back when Nox came up with the young one, Arabella crying and kicking in his arms. 

After he passed by, she slipped on downstairs. There were lots of people already there, and that explained the noise coming up. She caught Liam's eye as he was passing the baby over to this pretty blonde lady, and she just slipped in far off to the side, sat on the floor, and watched everyone without saying a word.

[Elyse]

Elyse let Jared run things, stepping in to offer assistance when he needed someone to demonstrate. The kids seemed to be having a good time and Gen was positively beaming because Jared had asked her to lead katas. That little girl was a born leader.

Jared had looked towards Rachel, not surprising since he cared for her so much and there was a slight smile on his face. Elyse looked over and saw Rachel was holding Lily. That child had a gift too, a gift for healing hurt souls. Elyse noticed her posture, slumped but taller. The fear scent had diminished and Hope was stronger now - not a lot, but stronger. Rachel probably wouldn’t notice the subtle changes.

More movement caught Elyse’s eye as someone new came down. The woman quietly moves to the side and sat on the floor, watching the happenings. Elyse had never met her before, but she had a guess as to who this was. Mara: her neighbor from across the hall. She didn’t seem to want to interact with anyone, so Elyse gave her space, only offering a light smile and a wave before she turned back to the lesson.

[Legione Sumus]

Liam Wilson

Liam grinned brightly as Rachel took Lily and held her close. "See you got this." he encouraged her.

It surprised Liam when Mara joined them, she rarely did, but it was nice to see her. She sat away from everyone but still there with them. He moved just a little closer to Mara and gave Rachel some more space. Not enough to push either of the ladies out of their comfort zones. Liam wasn't a master at small talk, he always felt awkward trying to Lure people in, but it was easy when you went to the right place where people were looking for certain types of companions. So it wasn't as much small talk as being in the right place at the right time. This was not a situation like that but he wanted to include them both while they all sat and watched. "Are you looking forward to Christmas? This is the first time we've actually got to decorate a tree. Nox says he's gonna make sure we have one for the history books."

Liam was pretty sure that Nox hadn't had any great Christmas' either, living in cars and hotels his whole life. Last year was his first real Christmas, and Liam didn't even think he'd celebrated it. He felt bad, and he wondered how Nox and Arabella were doing upstairs.

[Nox]

Nox almost ran into Mara on the way upstairs with a kicking and screaming kid. He was glad she was making an appearance with the rest of the family. She might not join them for meals or even the fun times, but she was just as much a part of the family as anyone else.

Nox set Arabella down on the couch. "Stay there." The moment he let go she was moving towards the floor. Nox grabbed her arm with his good hand and squeezed gently, "What's wrong?"

She only glared at him and tried to squirm out of his grip. "I take it you want to leave my house, go to stranger's place. I can arrange that if you want." It saddened Nox to say it and there was a hint of sadness in his voice. He loved his strange collection of family but if Arabella wanted to leave he wasn't going to make her stay.

But the words as they came out of his mouth made Arabella freeze. Tears started to leak down her cheeks and the screams and fits fell into sobs. "No, don't make me go. I'll be good."

Nox took Arabella in is arms and held her tight. "I don't want you to go anywhere. I just figured you didn't want to live here anymore, it's why you are acting out."

Arabella wrapped her arms tightly around Nox's neck and he got up and sat down on the couch where he'd placed her and held her tight in his arms just taking in her breathing. "I love you Arabella. All of you. I want you to stay here, but you have to tell me what's wrong."

She sniffled. "Nothing. I love you too. You can be my Daddy. I'm sorry."

Nox smiled "It's okay. But you are still grounded. No more downstairs for you until you learn to behave and stop doing things you know you aren't supposed to do."

Arabella continued with her sad sniffles and kept her arms tight around his neck. This was probably all she had wanted, all that jealousy she was missing being held and loved.

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel held the child. Lily just looked up at her, a smile on her face, almost as if to say things would be okay. It was hard for Rachel to believe that, but she tried. She wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay, but she didn’t. She couldn’t see the end to her struggle. Knowing that she was significantly more privileged than others didn’t make that easier. Fear and guilt were a bad combination.

Even if it didn’t show on her face, Rachel was grateful for Liam’s company. Elyse was helping with the kids, but she kept looking over at Rachel to check on her. Rachel was okay with that. She’d talk to Elyse later - privately. Liam was keeping her company though, and part of her felt bad she wasn’t exactly a great person to be talking to.

But he spoke of Christmas. Christmas. Was it really going to be here soon? Rachel still often got confused about what day it was. She didn’t even remember how long she’d been with Lucio. It all sort of ran together. Of course, the Shale tree wasn’t up yet. They would probably do that soon though. It brought to memories back when she was a little girl. She remembered distinctly one Christmas where Emily had made her an ornament at school. Another time where she’d held a baby Mara while mom read them “The Night Before Christmas.” It was enough to bring a muted smile to her face.

”Im trying,” she said. It was hard to be excited for anything. Hard to be anything but afraid. ”First time putting up a tree. That will be a treasured memory. Keep it forever.” Rachel looked up at him, and noticed the new girl that had come downstairs who sat silently watching. She couldn’t wave with the baby in her hands but she gave a smile. ”Sorry - I’m not good company - it’s just been so hard since…him.” she didn’t want to say his name. But Liam had been there that day. He probably knew what happened.

[Legione Sumus]

Liam Wilson

Liam chuckled. "You are fine, Rachel. Everyone here but our lovely Sterling remembers the trauma in their lives. We hope Lily will never know the pain we all feel like Sterling. You're strong. You're here. And that's all that matters. When it's hard focus on one thing. Elyse uses Marta. Nox uses Lily and the rest of us." Liam leans over to whisper conspiratorially, not that the whole house didn't know his crush on Nox but he still liked to pretend no one noticed. "I want to make Nox proud of me." It was more than that. It wasn't love or lust and it wasn't just a crush. It was more about admiration. He wanted to be like the man that saved him.

Liam sat back up "What used to make you happy, do you remember?"

[Elyse]

Elyse listening to the lesson, going through the motions as Jared instructed. It had been an unexpected thing, but a good one at the same time.  Elyse moved through the forms when the pain hit suddenly.  It wasn't bad, but it had caught her off guard.  Her movement had caused a spike in the bruise under her ribs. She winced and grabbed her side.

Jared had caught the gasp of pain and was next to her soon. "You okay?"

Elyse nodded. "I'm fine - just a few bruises from sparring with Nox."

Jared gave her a smile. "Would you like me to help with that?"

Elyse then remembered she had been told Jared could heal.  She shrugged. "Sure thing," she said with a grin.

Jared chuckled. "I've heard this is a weird feeling, ready?"

She nodded and then suddenly felt a chill run through her. As fast as it had begun, it was over.  The pain was gone, and Elyse prodded the spot were the bruise was.  There was no tenderness. The only thing she noticed was she felt a little more tired. "Thanks," she said with a smile.

Jared turned back to the kids and Elyse looked back toward Rachel.  Her face had changed.  Something had upset her. Elyse decided to go over and check on her.

[Rachel Shale]

The question hit Rachel hard. Everything was blurred. She had trouble remembering things. Her time with Lucio was fairly clear, but it all ran together. Everything before that was a blur of uncertainty. She could feel something in her rise, even so, she felt the natural instinct to hold the baby closer - not hard, but safe and secure.

"I don't remember... Rachel didn't cry, but she was clearly upset - not at Liam. He was trying to help. She was upset that she couldn't remember.

Then Elyse was there. Elyse raised a hand to Liam - a gesture that said "I got this." She knelt by Rachel's side. "What's wrong, honey?"

Rachel looked around trying to find the words to say then Elyse's hand, firm but gentle, pulled her head to face her. Rachel stared into her pretty eyes. "It's going to be okay. I promise." she said.

Rachel couldn't turn away, but it wasn't because of Elyse's hand. "Okay," Rachel smiled then.

It was then she knew that how she felt about Elyse was real. It wasn't something from Lucio's machinations. She liked Elyse and wanted to be with her, but she couldn't. It wouldn't be fair. "You can go have fun...I'll be okay... she didn't know if she would be, but she felt better than before.

"You sure?"

"Yeah...we can talk after,"

Elyse smiled. "Of course. If you need me - I'll be right over there," Elyse lingered a bit, her hand still gently touching Rachel's face before Elyse stood and headed back to the mat.

Rachel didn't look away, her eyes following Elyse back to the mat. She bit her bottom lip as she noticed the way her hips moved as she walked. Rachel felt color come to her face, but she remembered something. She had remembered the last time she had felt happy, even if it was tainted with Lucio's fear. The last time she had felt happy had been when she had danced with Elyse. There were memories there - times with Emily and Mara. Dancing with Jared at Emily's wedding. And dancing with Elyse.

Rachel turned back to Liam. "What made me happy....Emily, Mara, and Jared...dancing with Elyse..." she looked down at Lily, comfortable in her arms. "That's all I can remember."

[Legione Sumus]

Liam Wilson

Liam chuckled. "That's four things. You only need one. See you got this." Liam watched them for alittle noticing that he wasn't the only one with a crush. It might be good for both of them to get together even if it starts as friends probably more so.

"Lily likes to dance. She actually likes to spar too. Though when Nox does it he's not fighting anyone more like shadow boxing I guess. There is a clean sling in the laundry if you wanna try. The dancing that is."

***

Gen was happily leading the katas with a big smile on her face until Jared stopped to help Elyse. Magic was always so cool, but Nox wasn't doing it anymore, there were no more dancing lights, and soft breezes in the dojo when he practiced. He didn't use the pitching machines unless one of us asked, and then it was only one or two and he always got hit now. He was so sad. Gen watched as Jared too the pain from Elyse.

When Elyse went to talk to her friend Gen tugged on Jared's sleeve. "Maybe you can fix Nox too. He's so sad. He says he's okay, but he's not. He said the bad things took it when they went were cut out. Maybe your magic can fix it?" Gen didn't know anything, but Liv... Gen danced around a little excite. "Maybe Livie can help and you both can heal him."

[Jared Vanders]

Gen approached him and she was so sincere. Excitement was visible on her face. The other kids were looking at him too, expectedly. He didn’t want to dash their hopes. He might not be able to do anything.

”I might not be able to heal him,” he got down on her level. ”But I’ll try, and if I can’t, I’ll do what I can to find the answer.”

It was a promise. A promise to help. It was all he could give right now. He looked at all the kids. It was a promise to all of them. ”Should we check on him now?”