Summary: Some days…some days…Ebon wants to kill that boy…really kill him…

Psycho Chan's Note: I was reorganizing the boxes in my room so our kitties have more room to play since apparently I'm not the only one who lives in my room, and I found a whole bunch of little drabbles of Ebon and Shiv. Like, three pages full. So I'm going through them and seeing which ones to type up. This'll be so much fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own…reality sucks…that's why I'm dedicated to this show. It's awesome.

Lesson One: Be Aware. Be Very Aware

It has been a long time since Ebon was able to relax like this. The man is just sitting on his chair, reading a book while sipping coffee in silence. The good life. Since the fall of the Meta Breed and the second Big Bang nearly killed him, Ebon decided it was best to just lay low. Enjoy life. Not get killed or sent to prison. He was almost twenty three anyway, he was getting to old for all that gang stuff anyway. He had what he needed. And that consisted of a few things. The first one being the house he had grown up in. Ever since Ivan's mother left, his father hadn't been the same. Not caring about anything and becoming a drunk, leaving his oldest child to take care of everything else. Needless to say, Ivan had to grow up fast looking after bills, his father, his brother and the house. Then his father died. The man had died in his sleep of alcohol poisoning. The idiot never bothered to go to the hospital. Luckily, Ivan was eighteen at the time and continued to take care of everything. Most days, it was as if his father was still alive. But without his father, that left him more time to take care of his brother and his needs for school.

Which is another plus in Ebon's life at the moment. Him and Adam were on speaking terms again. Every once in a while, Adam would drop by, tell him about how his life is going and what he plans on doing next with his career. Though Ebon wouldn't say it out loud, he was rather proud of how Adam put his life together. He had grown so much, from being that twitchy kid who could never seem to blink at the same time to a well known musician and even a super hero though a few years ago he never really cared for that at all. He could have lived without it actually.

Ebon even had a job, even if it was a lowly job as a mechanic. It never mattered to the shadow. He a lot of money stashed from many robberies and heists in the Meta Breed. He just needed something to prevent himself from going absolutely crazy at home. Something to keep him occupied and the man already had a great skill at fixing things. Shiv had suggested that to him.

Ah, yes…Shiv. His seemingly last reason for being 'happy'. The Korean man had been the one that found him and HotStreak along the shore of the bank of Lake Dakota. The two were unattached, something they were grateful for, however, bloodied and bruised. Aside from the man broken ribs, stitches and bandages, both HotStreak and Ebon were more than happy to still have their powers. Even with that nasty side affect of having this 'connection'. Shiv had dragged them out of the dirt, Theresa helping them out with their wounds considering the fact that the purple haired boy had shit for skills as a doctor.

Speaking of the purple haired man, Ebon is living with the twerp now. And that wasn't the half of it. Shiv had somehow wrapped his boney little fingers around the heart that Ivan didn't even knew he possessed and stole it from him. Ripped it straight out of the shadow's chest to treasure for himself and only himself. For the past year the man had let the younger man be with him as much as live with him. Though, Shiv had these childish tendencies that would always throw the older man off. Always.

"Hold up…"Realizing the dangers of silence, reaches out for his bookmark. Once the red piece of paper with worn doodles Shiv had drawn for him was between two pages, Ebon sets the book down, looking around the living room. Couch, TV, coffee table, empty hall…no Shiv. That's never a good sign. "Shiv?" The man gets up, calling for his boyfriend to make sure he's up to no mischief. "Shiv?" Ebon tries again, sauntering around the large house. Down the hall, up the stairs, in each bedroom, the bathroom, back down the stairs. "Scott? Where the fuck are you?" The man was getting irritated. This was getting worse and worse with every step, every second, every breath even. "Yo Scott, I ain't playin' 'round. Get your ass in here!"

With the back door opening, Ebon ventures into the kitchen to see the Korean dust himself off, messy hair and dirt on his white wife beater. "What is it Boss?" Shiv still had that habit.

"What the hell are you doin'?" was asked quickly.

"Just playin' in the back yard." Shiv explains, tossing his hand over his shoulder lazily, pointing to the yard with his thumb. "It's a great day outside. You should join me." He grins, ignoring the fact that Ebon hated the sun.

After examining the other male, Ebon sighs. "Just don't do anythin' stupid." Without another word, the shadow returns to the living room to finish that coffee. Striding down the hall, he hears Shiv ask him a rather random question.

"Hey Ebon?" Shiv waited for that half noting grunt from the other room before he spoke again. "If dinosaurs once roamed the entire planet, why aren't there fossils in my back yard?"

With another sigh of the day, Ebon replies "how the hell should I know?" He was more than happy to hear that boy leave the house. The shadow man sits down in his chair, putting the lukewarm coffee to his lips. "Damn it Shiv." Ebon mutters between sips. "Why the fuck would you ask such a…stupid……question…" The man sets down his coffee quickly, practically sprinting to see the condition of his back yard. "Scott-I swear to fuckin' god that if you have a shovel I'm gonna kill you and bury you in one of your fuckin' holes!"

That day, Ebon learned a rather important lesson.

-If you can remain calm, you do not have all the facts-