Episode: 3.14

--- Rai ---

[Panic] [Objective] [Time: Limit] [Panic] (Chess, seriously get here already!)

[Concern] [Time] (I’m like fifteen minutes away, just… hold out!)

(Easier said, then done…)

He blinked before shaking his head and focusing on the problem standing in front of him.

“Uh, my parents… err, my dad ‘s in the back, um,” he looked over his shoulder before leaning forward and whispering, “Is everyone safe?”

The soldier gave him a half smile, “Yes, like I said we’ve just got some questions about an incident from a few days ago. We’re just doing some basic house to house footwork.”

(I knew we should’ve left those people to rot!)

“That’s good,” he nodded, “For a second there I was worried you might’ve found a murderous Deviant in the area.” (You know, like me, heh-heh…)

“No such, issue.” The soldier assured him, “Now, your dad?”

“Right, just give me a second…”

He half closed the door, enough so the soldier wouldn’t just walk in, but leaving it open enough that the soldier wouldn’t think he was being shut out. Something he was very tempted to do…

He shook his head, as he made his way to the kitchen to down his father.

(It’s probably just some grunt doing his job…)

(Seriously, we may have one of the most racist divisions in the country, but not all of them are going to be anti-Deviant assholes…)

He really wished he believed that.

(God fucking damn it!)

He ran a hand through his hair, before walking up to his dad washing a set of dishes.

“Hey, mijo, you manage to actually sedu…” His papá’s smile died on his face, “Is everything okay? You’re really pale.”

“Yeah, I’m…” he shook his head, brain already aching from the half-formed lie, “Th-there’s a Sanctuary soldier at the door.”

His father frowned, “Did they say what they wanted?”

“No, um,” he ran a hand down his face, “They said it was just some questions about an incident a few days ago.”

“Yeah, I remember one of the neighbors mentioning something happening a few blocks over…” His father explained as he set down the various foodstuffs he’d been messing with, before looking at him once more and frowning.

“I’m sure whatever it is, there’s nothing to worry about, mijo.” His papá tried to reassure him, with a shoulder pat, “Just… go find Des and Nadya, and everything’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll do that.” He nodded; his mind half-dazed.

He was half-tempted to follow his father, and listen to the conversation with the Sanctuary soldier, but as he stepped into the living room he caught sight of someone he really did not feel like having a conversation with again, but at the same time he felt he had to with Sanctuary literally at his door.

Stepping around the people who decided that Sanctuary was a sight worth watching through the windows, (fucking vultures) he made his way over to Des, Clara, Nadya, and the (threat) Charlotte.

“And there’s the birthday boy!” Des laughed, raising a glass of, what a quick sniff noted as soda rather than alcohol.

(Do not need to worry about underage drinking right now.)

“Yeah, I am.” He nodded, before pulling Clara into a hug as her face lit up with a smile he couldn’t help but mimic, “It’s good to see you too, Clara.”

As soon they separated his eyes fell on Charlotte, “And you I need to talk to.” his smile fell twice as fast, as he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away.

“You know this is no way to keep everyone ignorant about the fact that you’re a-”

He cut her off, five bone claws to her throat, the moment no one would see.

“Sanctuary is at the door.” He hissed through grit teeth.

Charlotte’s face scrunched up in confusion, “Uh, I’m like 95% deaf, so…”

He rolled his eyes, before deciding that murdering someone while the cops are on your front lawn is a very bad (though cathartic) idea.

“S-an-ctu-ar-y is at the door.” He made sure to sound that word out, so she’d be able to read it, something he didn’t doubt the girl in front of him capable of.

“Shit!” the blonde cursed her eyes going wide.

She glanced around for a moment before placing her hand on the wall, and frowning as she turned towards the front door, “Oh, that’s not good…”

(At least she’s not a Sanctuary spy.)

The fact he felt a slight rumble in the air, was proof enough.

He tapped her shoulder to get her attention before signing out, ("Are you traceable?")

If she was then they were both fucked.

The blonde blinked before giving a determined nod, ("I should be good as long as I don’t do anything else. How about you?")

He felt his other self for a moment before suppressing his Malice as far as it would go.

("I should be good, but they’re might be traces of Malice around the house.")

The girl grimaced, ("That’s not good… Do you have anything stashed you need to get rid of?")

It was his turn to grimace, ("Yeah… I’ll need to deal with that…")

Charlotte glanced over her shoulder, ("Your friends really don’t know?")

He shook his head, ("No. They don’t know, and I’m not getting them involved in this mess.")

The blonde watched him for a moment before raising her hands in defeat, before using them to sign out another message, ("Alright, it’s your life, just so long as you’re prepared for the fall out.")

(I’m not…)

He didn’t bother telling her that bit.

("Just…") Charlotte glanced around before running her hand through her hair in a way he found a little too familiar, ("You get rid of your stuff, I’ll… I’ll try to deal with your friends.")

He nodded, letting her go distract his friends while he made his way to the second floor to toss his room.

Given the situation, his state of mind, and the fact that the (fucking thermos) wasn’t where it was supposed to be it took less than five minutes for him to start panicking… more than he already was anyway.

“Where is it? Where is it?” he paced around his room, searching for the thermos he was pretty sure his sister moved without telling him…

[Irritation] (God damn it, Chess!)

[Time] (Five minutes.)

He ran a hand through his hair, wondering if letting Chess show up to a bunch of Sanctuary vehicles was a good idea or not, before practically jumping out of his skin as his door opened.

“Rai, is everything alright?” Nadya asked, stepping into his room.

“Yeah, I’m…” he winced as a pulse of pain tore through his head, “I’m just looking for something… I’ve got… I’ve got a headache building…”

She watched him for a moment, lightly frowning as he tried to find the thermos.

[Irritation] [Irritation] [Irritation] (God damn it Chess I’m going to kill you!)

[Location] [Concern] (I’m here, and… Shit…)

[Agreement] (I know…)

He ran a hand through his hair.

(Alright, Chess is here… we can deal with this…)

[Query] [Location: Target] (Do you know where the thermos is?)

[Shock] [Concern] [Objective] (Shit… you need to get rid of that now.)

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that.

[Irritation] [Agreement] (I’m working on it…)

“Rai…”

He jumped, and spun his fingers burning to (eliminate the threat) for the split second it took him to remember Nadya was in the room.

She took a step back, shocked at his extreme reaction.

“Rai…” she repeated, a little more cautiously this time, “You sure you’re okay, you’re acting a bit… off…”

“Off how?” he asked, before wanting to bash his skull against the wall as he realized just how suspicious that sounded.

“You’re pale, and you seem kind of… panicky?” Nadya explained, only to frown as she threw a glance over her shoulder, “And there was that thing with Charlotte too…”

(Right, Ms. ‘I’ll deal with your friends,’ that bitch…)

“Look, I’m… I’m just having a stressful day is all…” Maybe it wasn’t a lie, but even if she pressed, he definitely wasn’t going to tell her why today was so stressful. Truth be told he’d rather deal with the Sanctuary soldiers.

Nadya shook her head. “Yeah, but it’s not just today. You’ve been acting this way all week… and…” she took her beanie off, before running a hand through her hair, “And I’m worried about you, and the way you’ve been acting lately.”

He opened his mouth to try and give her some half-assed bullshit to buy himself some time before briefly freezing as he got a ping from Chess.

[Irritation] [Query] (I’m here, where are you?)

“Rai…” Nadya put a hand on his shoulder, “You know I’m here for you right?”

He glanced to the door before turning his attention back to Nadya, idly noting the sheer heart-breaking concern in her eyes. Unfortunately, his other self was more concerned with the fact that she was keeping him from leaving and getting the things important to his survival done.

He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair.

(I don’t have time for this…)

He needed her to move, but he also needed to avoid her question. Both because of the topic, and because of how long dodging that question would take.

(What do I do? What do I do?)

(Persuasion?) His other self suggested.

He shook his head.

(The Malice usage could be detected.)

(Knock her unconscious?)

He scowled at the mere thought.

(I’m not hurting my best friend!)

(Unorthodox solution?)

He remembered something his parents told him earlier, and to be honest he didn’t really have any better ideas.

“Fuck it.” He cursed with a shake of his head.

“Wha-” Nadya cut her own question short, her eyes going wide as he placed a hand on her jaw and rubbed a thumb against her blushing cheek.

“Uh, R-Raim-mundo, wh-what are you d-doing?”

“This.”

He pressed his lips against hers, waiting for her to loosen up before wrapping his arm around her waist, and renewing the kiss as Nadya wrapped her arms around him and began to kiss him back.

The human in him wanted to savor his first real kiss.

The Malcontent in him just wanted to get this over with.

He gave her light push with his body, forcing her to walk backwards until with a small gasp, she was pinned between him and the wall.

He held the back of her head, and lightly pushed, deepening the kiss, something he felt Nadya didn’t mind going off her reaction as he gently press his leg between hers.

Despite Nadya’s moans of protest, he pulled away just enough to trail a series of light kisses along her neck, eliciting a moan from her he felt more than made up for his actions.

Slowly he allowed the hand around her waist to roam along her side and down her thigh, with gentle brushes, and a bit of claw and nail, causing Nadya to slowly rub her legs along his own.

He clutched a fistful of her hair as he pressed his lips into her neck, more to keep his mouth shut as his teeth began to itch and fangs began to grow, than anything else.

“I think…” He swallowed, forcing his voice to regain something just a little more human. “I think, we should… stop here.”

He pulled away from her neck, a part of him feeling just a little proud of her dazed expression as well as the smile on her face.

“Uh… yeah… I’ll uh…” she giggled at something, before covering her face, “I’ll uh, be down in um, a minute. I just…” another giggle escaped her as she leaned against the wall, “I just need to catch my breath.”

“Yeah, I’ll…” he ran a hand through his hair, just beginning to realize what exactly he’d done. “I’ll… yeah…”

He moved for the door, leaving the blushing and giggling Nadya behind him as he moved for someplace less… awkward…

The moment he closed the door behind him he felt static beginning to buzz in the back of his head and couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

“Fucking…”

“I don’t think you two got that far.” Chess commented with a neutral expression.

He winced, not even needing an empathy bond to feel… that.

He shook his head, before running his hand through his hair.

“Sorry, I panicked and I… fuck.”

On the one hand he was ecstatic that he both finally kissed her and that she actually kissed him back.

On the other hand, however, he felt like a complete and total ass for using that kiss to manipulate Nadya, into letting him go and ignoring his secrets.

Nadya shook her head, before gesturing to his room. “You know that’s going to bite you in the ass when this is all over, right?”

“Like I said, I, I panicked, and…” He swallowed something bitter. “I know it’s going to bite me in the ass…”

“Right.” Chess commented neutrally enough to make him flinch.

His every Malcontent instinct wanted to reach out through their pack bond and figure out what exactly was going through her head. Unfortunately, his every human instinct was too scared to find out.

He knew she was upset, and he knew what upset her. The only thing was, he wasn’t sure why she was upset. And honestly, just assuming she was disgusted with him for manipulating his friend was the least complicated reason on the list, and the easiest one for him to deal with.

Chess pinched the bridge of her nose, before inhaling a cleansing breath and exhaling black mist. “So, excluding that mess… what other birthday presents have I missed.”

He nodded, if she wanted to focus on the (threats) instead of their other issues, he wasn’t going to stop her.

“First, there’s a Deviant here, Charlotte, deaf, has some kind of vibrational awareness, and… other stuff I’m guessing. Figured out I was a Malcontent the moment she saw my eyes, said she knows a Malcontent.”

“An Anomaly then…” Chess ran her tongue over her teeth. “With Sanctuary here, she’ll want to keep her head down. Meaning, she’s not an immediate threat.”

“Right, the immediate problem is that Sanctuary is at our door, and…” He glanced around, fundamentally he knew, as long as there was static in his head, no one would see or hear through Chess’s perception filter. But with his paranoia and the situation…

He shook his head.

“The problem is, I can’t find our Malice anywhere.”

Chess froze before turning on him with black sclera and pinprick white pupils. “What?!”

“I’m seriously hoping you moved it, otherwise someone went into my room and took it.”

“Fuck.” Chess ran a hand through her hair, before shaking her head. “This is why we keep the Malice at my place, fewer people coming and going.”

“I didn’t want these strangers in my house any more than you.” He hissed his eyes flashing black and white.

Chess stared him down for a moment, before rubbing her palms into her eyes. “Right… right… Any ideas who could’ve taken it?”

“No, but…” He paused one of his ears twitching as he heard something downstairs. “Follow me, real quick.”

He didn’t bother checking to see if she’d actually followed him, practically leaping down the stairs in a single bound, before forcing himself out of Chess’s perception filter as he walked up to his papá.

“Ah, there you are, I was just going to go looking for you.” His father smiled, before making his way back to the kitchen. “Was going to tell you everything’s alright.”

He followed his papá looking him over for any sign of injuries. “You’re, you’re okay. They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“It was just a few questions, mijo, nothing to worry about.” His father laughed, before returning to the dishes.

“Right… nothing to worry about…” He sighed, feeling some, though nowhere near all, of the panic leave him.

With a moment to calm down, he finally noticed Chess on the other side of the kitchen doing her utmost best to avoid looking at their papá, and based on the static in his head, was also making sure he couldn’t look at her.

Part of him felt like dragging this out now, there was no one to blame for what happened, was happening, and it needed to be talked about between their parents and her.

Unfortunately, the rest of him either recognized one parent and a house full of strangers was not the time to have this talk, and the other was just too emotionally drained to give a fuck at the moment. Especially since he still had to find that missing thermos of-

He froze as he caught scent of something absolutely (delicious) in the air.

Both his and Chess’s eyes jumped to a silver thermos his father had just opened.

“Ugh,” his father cringed, “This was in your room entirely too long, I can’t even tell what this was.”

(Malice…)

The sudden flair of so much of the unnatural substance hitting air, was enough to force his eyes to flash black and white, as his fingers began to burn like fire and his teeth itch to an almost painful level.

(No…)

He idly managed to note the fact that Charlotte crashed into a nearby counter, seemingly having sprinted into the room the moment she picked up the scent of Malice in the air.

(No, no, no…)

Her eyes drifted between his startled father, the Malice in the sink, Chess and him, before summing the situation in a single word.

“Fuck.”