Chapter stuff I want to talk about:

- Ho ho holy shit I finished cross-posting this, it's been on AO3 since New Years but I use fanfiction net so little by now that I just kept pushing it back :'D

- Yeah I'm giving Isabel wings what of it

- This isn't all that relevant but I hate monopoly. It's boring as sin. Don't shoot the messenger XDDD

- The whole thing with Matt's ring is… something I pulled out of nowhere. I misremembered he had a ring in book one, I remembered eventually the ring was a gift from Rochelle, I have since managed to forget if this is an actual fact -shrug- Thing is, this is just some other ring. Forget about canon rings. This is a random ring I invented. Welp. At least it's a cute concept… I think?

- Can you tell I really like the found family trope though.

Ok fourth and final PSA done! It's only taken me like an hour and a half to get these all up there, not to mention the past two or three months of working on this story, but I'm glad I stayed up to do it! I will now go to sleep and wake up feeling like 2020 has been fully and thoroughly finished, so… Yeah! Happy New Year, everyone. Enjoy the rest of the fic!

CHAPTER 4

In the end, it turns out that Arkarian absolutely can sleep in, and that neither of us is exactly keen on going back to my place. For multiple reasons.

The first is that, as I finish putting on the extra change of clothes I'd brought, Arkarian flushes so darkly I don't even have to ask if the hickeys are too visible. Obviously, I'd be fine ignoring that, but what I'm not going to do is heal them away. Unwilling to argue just yet, we ignore The Hickey Situation for the time being.

Another reason is that... we're terrible at being together around other people. We get lost too much on each other, and yes, practice might actually help, but neither of us is looking forward to it, especially considering The Hickey Situation.

And on top of all that. Well.

Neither of us wants to break the news to my family, my mom in particular. We talk about it during breakfast, but neither of us is sure of how she's going to take it, especially after last night, after knowing how worried she is that I might be growing up too fast. Just the memory makes Arkarian look so guilty that I'm tempted to put off the conversation entirely, but I can't just ignore all of my problems, and I'm definitely ignoring The Hickey Situation. So.

In the end, it turns out I can't ignore it as much as I'd like to, though, and so a compromise is reached.

I heal away a few hickeys, just so it doesn't look like we went absolutely crazy on each other, despite knowing full well that we'll be fooling absolutely nobody, but I only heal those that will be immediately obvious. I leave a few that will be mostly covered by our hair, or clothes, and if someone notices, well... I'm not going to hide them, and frankly, I tell him, I'm almost offended that he would hide mine. It makes him roll his eyes, but he does relent.

As for telling my mom... We decide to put it off. I already spend a lot of time with him, and for the time being, we can keep things as they have been. I'll start leaving more and more things at his place, and, well, eventually we'll tell her. What we also agree on, though, is that Matt absolutely has to know from the very beginning. He'll think I've been going behind his back again, which has already backfired enough times, and plus, he'll have time to digest the concept before I actually, officially, move out.

It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, though, having to postpone it... but I would feel horrible springing this on my mom out of nowhere. So... compromise. A compromise that doesn't really feel like one, because neither of us is really happy with it, but it'll have to do.

And as it turns out, it is a really good plan, because by the time we stop procrastinating it, Matt is the only one home. He's back from Neriah's, and mom and Jimmy are out on a walk, since it isn't snowing anymore. I look at Arkarian, and he nods. Matt eyes us wearily.

"You have the face of 'oh no, Matt is going to do something stupid'," he accuses, and for a moment, I'm unsure of who he's talking to. Perhaps both, the gods know he's done enough stupid shit for Arkarian to have looked at him like that as well.

The thought earns me a tin lid thrown at my face, and I duck, chuckling. Then I steal a cookie, and I sit by his side on the sofa.

"Relax, sheesh. Even if you were going to do something stupid, it's not like we can stop you. We've tried enough times, too," I say, pretending to be reassuring. He rolls his eyes.

"What have you done now? I swear to god, you'll be the death of me," he pokes me, and I shake my head.

"No, no. How did you put it last night, er... use your head before you speak?"

"No, I mean it," he emphasizes.

I steal his cookie, and he yells at me for it. Arkarian bursts out laughing.

"Okay, what the hell is happening though, I can't deal with the suspense," he asks again, and this time I nod, taking pity on him.

"Can you keep this from mom for a while?"

"Yeah...? But why should I?"

"Because she'll freak out, and you'll realize why in a second," I sigh, lean on his arm to try to soothe him. It works, thankfully. He waits. "So..."

"I asked Isabel to move in with me," Arkarian says, perhaps sensing I'm not sure how to break it to him. Matt's head shoots up, but to his credit, he doesn't seem too surprised. Arkarian shrugs. "I... hadn't exactly planned to, but I've known for a while that I wanted to ask. It felt like a good moment."

"New Years inspire all kinds of changes, doesn't it..." Matt doesn't elaborate, but he nods, slowly. "Alright, and?"

"Think about it for two seconds," I prompt, he frowns, then realization hits him. He winces.

"Yeah... mom is not going to like that... But to be fair, I'm not sure that she'll be opposed to it?"

"I don't know if she'll be opposed to it, but..."

"I don't think she's expecting you to ask for permission, either, if that's what you're thinking. I'm fairly sure she's realized that, at some point between when we told her and now."

"Hmm," I agree, but I'm still not sure. He sighs.

"There is something I could do to help, actually. Hang on for a second, I'll be right back."

Almost before he finishes his sentence, he's pushing me away and using his wings. I look at Arkarian, who frowns, and shrugs. He sits where Matt had just been.

"What was that?" I wonder. He shrugs again.

"He'll tell us when he's back, I suppose. Do you think he'll take long?"

"No idea. He said 'hang on for a second', but I got the feeling that was a figure of speech."

"Right."

"Funny how we thought we'd be walking into a house full of people and yet we're once again alone," I muse, and he snorts.

"I wouldn't count on that staying that way for too much longer, though."

"Hmm. It will soon be lunch time, I'm sure mom and Jimmy will be back by then."

"You stole my seeeeeat," Matt complains, entirely unnecessarily, reappearing by the living room door. Arkarian and I laugh, but Matt waves him off when he tries to stand up. "Nah, I'm joking."

"What was that, then?" I ask him, and he grins.

"I had to consult the Tribunal real quick, and I haven't confirmed nor denied exactly why I'm doing this, so you'll have to tell them yourselves... have fun watching them all have a meltdown," he tells me, and I snort.

"They do all have a bit of a soft spot for Arkarian," I agree. He nods.

"In any case, I'm here to offer you your wings."

"That's... what?"

He laughs at my face, obviously. Immortal or not, only my brother would say something like that so... easily. He opens his arms, feigning innocence.

"Why are you surprised? It's been considered multiple times since the war ended. Spirits haven't been the highest as of late, though, and the Tribunal members didn't want to disturb any healing that needed time to be done, so... We just didn't say anything. But you have to agree, if you're moving in with Arkarian it will just be infinitely easier if you have wings too. Especially if you're avoiding mom for the time being."

"Matt, what?" I ask again, perhaps sounding a tad more hysteric than I mean to. He laughs some more.

"You should see your face," he snickers, and I pout. "Ah, this is glorious. Anyway, do you want them or not? I'd say don't test my patience, but frankly, you've never had any self-preservation. Didn't you say you once argued with Lorian and he tried to fry you?"

"He did," I remember, laughing. "You should have seen Ethan's face when he saw me the next morning at school, I think he was half expecting me to be dead."

"Hilarious," Matt repeats, like he himself hadn't been worried when I told him. Arkarian snorts.

"Lorian was a flashy bastard when he wanted to be," he agrees, because he knows now, I've told him before about it. Matt seems to realize what he's said, to who, but I can only smile. Arkarian doesn't seem to mind, and it's a huge improvement from a year or two ago.

"He was. Remember the time he completely dissed you for wanting to give up your agelessness? The longer it has been, the funnier it gets," I remind him. They both laugh.

"Yes. And you stalled before answering, you nearly gave me a heart attack, just like you're doing right now, Bells, for the love of the gods, can you focus?" he chastises, and I start giggling almost uncontrollably. I turn to Matt again, trying to get myself under control.

"Come on, then. I don't know why you're even asking this."

"Fair enough."

It's strange, receiving a gift. It always is, I remember starkly each of the gifts I'd received at my initiation, and when I received my agelessness gift. The wings are no different. There's light, and a brief moment of total warmth going through me, and when I open my eyes again, nothing has changed that I can tell. I'm somewhat nervous to think on it too hard.

"Is that... are you...?"

"Done," Matt reassures me. I nod.

"Am I supposed to feel any different?"

"If you're not at least a little nervous, I will disown you," he tells me, jokingly rolling his eyes. I snort.

"No, don't worry on that account. I just mean..."

"Nah, you're good. I don't think it's meant to feel like anything. Did you feel any different with any of your other gifts and abilities?"

"No."

"Well, there you have it. I'm told I'm a terrible teacher, but you can ask Ethan and Arkarian, they'll fill you in on the details."

No one has ever told Matt that, because he's actually a decent teacher when he puts some effort into it, so I roll my eyes. I tug on his sleeve before he can walk away, pull him into a hug.

"You're silly. Thank you, Matt."

"I told you, the Tribunal members had already..."

"I don't mean... Well, I do mean the wings, of course, but..."

"Thank you for not freaking out? I mean, that's fair," he agrees, laughing at himself. I squeeze him. "Easy... I'm glad you told me, though."

"I... yeah."

"Can I suggest something, while we're on the topic of the wings?" he adds, tentatively. I let him go, and nod. "Maybe... ask Ethan to help you out? We all know he had some trouble with his own wings, but... I think it might be good for him to have something to focus on. And he did always like to say how much better of an apprentice you were, compared to me, so you know..."

"I still think letting Ethan be your instructor was some weird bullshit, coming from the Tribunal members. They all knew..."

"Yes, well, Tribunal bullshit aside, I do mean it, you know. He enjoyed training with you, and I think he might need to start doing things he finds fun again. Not just... working, and then pretending to be fine when we ask him to hang out with us."

I sigh. I know what he means, but for some reason, I think he's going to take a little longer to start finding things fun again... I nod, though.

"I'll ask him about it. If we can get him to laugh at me, I'll take it, you know?"

"I don't think you'll have that much trouble. I mean, I literally needed to go to lalaland to learn how to do anything at all, and not even I had that much trouble."

"Ethan's abilities somehow come to him both instinctively easily, and not quite right, at the same time," I mumble. Arkarian nods, amused. "He only gets it exactly right when he's trained for a million years, like with his illusions and all..."

"And yet, he may never learn to shield his thoughts properly," Arkarian rolls his eyes. Matt and I wince, but I let him be the one to say it. He sighs.

"Ethan did somehow manage it, after getting tired of Rochelle reading his mind when he didn't want her to. But after she died, well, we all know how he kind of spiraled... He hasn't quite managed it ever since, at least, not that I've seen."

"I..." Arkarian seems confused, but after a moment, he shakes his head. "I hadn't realized..."

"He doesn't talk about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't exactly noticed it himself. You know he forgets to shield his thoughts entirely most of the time," Matt reassures him. Arkarian shrugs, but I can already tell he's kicking himself for not having seen it before…

"He's getting better, though," I pipe in. They look at me. "And we all know why he doesn't shield his thoughts around Arkarian, I mean, I don't either, not really. I used to, but eventually it's just easier to have them out in the open. It's not like Arkarian is going to make fun of us for them."

"Yeah, I know," Matt rolls his eyes. "And Ethan is, if nothing else, Arkarian's golden retriever."

"Yep."

"Arkarian says jump, he asks how high, and all that..."

Matt starts to walk away toward the kitchen as he speaks, so he misses the fact that Arkarian has, slowly, started to blush. I snicker. They're so cute, their friendship is literally one of the cutest things I've seen in my entire life, and no, I will never stop thinking they're funny as hell. Arkarian rolls his eyes, but has enough good sense to keep quiet. Matt doesn't seem to notice.

"How is it supposed to work, then?" I ask, meaning my wings. Arkarian thinks for a moment, then shrugs.

"You have to picture a place and then... want to be there. It's like any other ability. How do you make your healing work? You have to picture what you're doing, and then..."

"Do it," I complete. It's... not helpful, I think to myself, feeling the same frustration as back when I was trying to learn to use my healing ability, when I try to organize my thoughts around it. I don't know if I want to try right now, in any case, so I let it slide. "Right. Well, I guess I might as well ask Ethan too. Just in case he wants to come over and watch me fail at using my wings."

"Or come over and grumble when you inevitably figure it out faster than him," Arkarian adds. It's literally the first time I hear him diss Ethan out loud, and I stare at him in mock astonishment until he rolls his eyes. "Come on. We both know you have always been able to figure out your abilities in a matter of days. Why would this be any different?"

"Don't worry," I wheeze, trying to contain my laughter through his explanation. "I promise not to tell Ethan that I have officially become your favorite."

"Oh for fuck's sake."

Matt merely raises his eyebrows, when he comes back and finds me nearly falling off the sofa, in tears from laughter.

"I don't know about the rest of the year, but so far it's being interesting," he muses to himself. I look up at him.

"You got fake engaged, I'm moving out, and Ethan actually smiled. Listen, next thing we'll know, mom and Jimmy will be getting married."

"I'm not engaged, fake or otherwise," he starts, then frowns. "And I wouldn't entirely discard mom and Jimmy getting married," he warns me. "Their anniversary is coming up, isn't it?"

"Oh god, do you know something? No, wait, do you know something?" I ask, turning to Arkarian, who merely shrugs. "Ohh, the ultimate betrayal! You both know something!"

"I don't," Matt defends himself. Arkarian smiles.

"I do know something you both don't," he admits. "I'm not going to tell you, though."

"Oh, come on!" Matt and I complain at the same time. Arkarian seems to find it hilarious, apparently, but he shakes his head anyway.

"Nope. I know how to keep a secret."

"That's just not fair," I whine.

"Hmm... still, doesn't take a genius to figure it out. He and Jimmy are thick as thieves, so..." Matt reasons. I sigh.

"No, no, you're thinking about it the wrong way. You haven't been around nearly enough, so you may have missed it, but he talks to mom constantly and I've lost track of what they talk about. Plus, he might have just read her thoughts, you know she can't shield them… We can't exclude mom being about to pull some shit."

"If she pulls some shit," he perks up. "She'll have literally no reason to make a fuss about you moving out!"

"Hey! Hmmm... No, it's a good idea, but I think she'll make a fuss anyway. Did you see her last night bravely not crying in front of us?"

"Oh," he huffs. "Don't remind me."

"You know what's the worst part? I'm never going to stop being her baby, and I won't even have the respite of at least looking older. She's going to baby me forever, and I'm going to have to deal with that."

"If you want to get really morbid, at least it won't be literally forever," he offers. I swat at his arm.

"Asshole."

"Fine, fine."

An easy silence falls over us, only broken by Arkarian reaching over to the tin of cookies Matt had been eating from, and taking one. After a moment, however, Matt adds:

"I swear to all gods, if you ever try to tell mom I'm fake engaged I'm telling her about you moving out."

"Ohh, how very, very scary," I roll my eyes, while Arkarian tries not to choke on his cookie while he laughs. "First of all, she already knows you're fake engaged—"

"Am not!"

"And second, she's going to find out at some point, and I'm not in the mood to drag it out. I just don't want it to be literally on the first day of the year, you know? Let her have us home for the rest of the holidays, at least, then we'll see."

"Fair enough."

"Also, you're totally fake engaged."

"I'm not!"

"Keep telling that to yourself, good luck with that."

Matt groans, but doesn't answer. He leans over and takes a cookie. After a moment of consideration, he says:

"If I somehow was delusional enough to say I'm engaged, at least I will forever get to remind you I got there before you did."

"If you were delusional enough," I agree. "And you know what? I'd let you. I don't need that amount of attention."

"You're going to get it anyway, and besides, I'm not delusional. Mom is going to freak out one way or another, you know how she is."

"You know who's going to freak out?"

"... yeah," he sighs, slumping on the sofa some more.

"Is... that why you insist that you're not engaged?"

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"

"Not likely, no."

"Fuck."

Arkarian looks between us, perhaps trying to guess who exactly we're talking about, but it's not really a secret.

"Ethan's better," I settle, and Matt nods, idly. "I mean it, Matt. He's better, and if he catches you doing this for his sake he's going to cry on you as punishment."

"Now, that would be creative," he agrees. "But I feel the need to remind you, I'm not doing anything. We're not engaged, alright?"

"You're going to have to give me more information on that one, then," I frown. He looks at me from the corner of his eye, warily, but after a moment he relents.

"Do you remember when I got that ring?"

"No," I shrug. "It's always been there... though you didn't use to wear it often. I think you've only been wearing it since the end of the war, is that related?"

"Somewhat. Though, to be fair, I just needed time to find it. It was buried under a lot of random memorabilia," he admits. "I've always had it, that's the thing. Mom never really knew where it came from, either, only that she had it, even before I was born, and that it was mine. Do you follow?"

"Yes, Matt, I'm not five," I roll my eyes. "So why does Neriah have it now, if it's not an engagement ring?"

"Because it works fine as a promise ring, something cute that Neriah likes, and..." he sighs, but seems to realize I'm not going to stop pestering him until he tells me, so he continues, "And because mom had it before I did, so…"

I nod, slowly, and press my lips together. Arkarian, who knows me well enough to know what I'm thinking despite my shield, and probably in an attempt to not let me ruin the moment, shoves me before I can speak. Matt jumps when I laugh.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just... If I try to make fun of you and Neriah about children of all things, it's going to backfire so spectacularly, I just know it!"

"Oh gods, it would," he agrees. "I'm not touching that particular topic with a ten foot pole. Like I said, the ring doesn't actually mean anything right now. It's not like we don't have eternity ahead..."

"Oh, absolutely. Me moving out has to be the worst that happens to mom this year, okay?"

"Agreed. It's not like Neriah or I spend a lot of time here lately, what with the Tribunal and whatnot... We haven't moved out, but we spend enough time together as is," he muses.

"You spend days on end over there, right? But it's just a few hours on Earth?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

"So can I just ask... exactly what kind of reaction are you expecting from your mother if you brought up kids?" Arkarian asks, wearily, startling us. Matt starts blushing, but I simply shake my head.

"After she got over the shock, you mean? I'm eighteen, and I'm her baby daughter. Hell, until very recently, I was Matt's baby sister."

"You're always going to be my baby sister," he grumbles. I wave a hand dismissively.

"Yes, but you don't treat me like a literal baby anymore," I say, and he shrugs.

"She would go on and on about how she raised us better than that, and did we learn nothing from her mistakes, and bla, bla, bla..." Matt sighs. "I mean, she probably wouldn't put it as 'mistakes', but we all know what she means. She had a rough time, bringing us up alone, and she had us very young..."

"Ah," Arkarian nods, grimacing. "I keep forgetting just how young Coral was back then..."

"Did you know our mom before she had her memories wiped?" Matt asks, curiously, and Arkarian shakes his head. I've heard this story before, but Matt probably hasn't, and I lean on Arkarian's shoulder as he tells it again. How he heard about us and about mom from Jimmy, and the existential crisis the poor man went through after receiving that mission, and slowly fell in love with his assignment.

#

Mom finds us still in the living room, chatting, and her smile is so wide that Matt and I share a quiet look. We already weren't going to do it, but still… There's no way we can tell her right now. She starts telling us about what they've seen on their walk, entirely too chipper to be sincere, so I look at Jimmy for help. He sighs, but nods, wrapping his arms around her to stop her babbling.

"Love," he warns her, and she starts blushing. She turns around to press a kiss to his cheek.

"I'm fine. Promise."

"We talked about this," he pouts, and it's kind of fantastical, but it works. She sighs. "They haven't been just kids for a while, and what's the point of not telling them? They know you better than that."

"Yes, well..." she fidgets, but eventually throws Matt and I a smile. "I guess I did miss you more than I thought. It was really quiet, having breakfast just the two of us," she admits. I smile back, and Matt walks up to her to pull her from Jimmy's arms so he can hug her too.

"Well, now we're back. We can play some Monopoly before lunch, if you want," he offers. She laughs.

"You hate Monopoly!"

"I hated Monopoly back when you let Isabel cheat!" he corrects her, and we all laugh. He's not wrong.

"She won't cheat this time," mom insists, as if trying to convince him, despite it being his idea. Matt plays along.

"Monopoly it is, then."

"Should I..." Arkarian starts, but mom interrupts him with a grin.

"Do you know how to play Monopoly?" she asks him. I look at him, squeezing his hand.

"Er, yes. I... Is this a family thing? I can..."

"Oh, nonsense," she laughs, and walks up to the cupboard with the tabletop games. "You're family too! Come and choose a piece," she insists.

I have to push him toward her a little, because her words root him to the spot, as they often do. He's not nearly as used as he should be by now to being included in the family group, and it's ridiculously endearing. I'm already foreseeing that mom will try to cheat to let Arkarian win, because as everyone I've ever met does, she has a huge soft spot for him. Matt sighs, sufferingly, but nods at my thoughts. Arkarian either ignores me or doesn't hear me.

"You should call Neriah and Anneliese over," I murmur, startling Matt. He looks at me. "They're also family, right?"

"Right..."

After a moment of hesitation, he does leave. Jimmy throws an arm around my shoulders, looking at mom and Arkarian, who are counting fake money, and making sure we have everything in the box.

"They really are," he murmurs, wonderingly. Then he narrows his eyes at me. "Spill. I don't believe it for a second that he managed to go through a special occasion without being a drama king."

"Wh—" I can't help but snort, startled, and Arkarian looks back at us only to roll his eyes. "What."

"Have you met Lorian? I assure you, he was heavily shadowed by the Immortal, but they're more alike than they both would have liked," he affirms, and I slip out of his hug when I double over laughing. "Am I right, though, or am I right?!"

I leave his questions unanswered, but I press a kiss on his cheek, hugging him, before going over to sit with Arkarian, lean into his arm.

'Gods, even Matt has eventually caved in. How do you get everyone to love you?' I ask him, in my thoughts. He shakes his head, but there's color in his cheeks, and I feel my heart grow in my chest at the rush of affection.

Matt returns with Neriah and Anneliese minutes later, and we all sit around the table in the dining room, the only one big enough for all of us. Matt kicks me to get my attention, and for a second everything goes white, a flash of pain making me wince. He presses his foot on mine, though, and the pain eases faster than usual. He's... sending me a thought, something that feels much like my visions would feel. I frown.

It's the house, our house. Mom comes in through the door, and I gasp as I realize how young she looks. This must be a memory, and Matt couldn't be older than seven, here. Case in point, a tiny version of me walks in from the living room, chatting about something from school, and mom smiles at me. She looks tired, but manages to talk normally for me, and the nice lady who used to babysit for us, before mom and Jimmy made it official, and he moved in with us.

The woman leaves, and mom sets out to eat her own lunch. We've already eaten, and I'm distracted in the living room, probably watching TV. As Matt talks to mom about something neither of us really hears, in this vision, he's keenly aware of the moment when she steps out of the kitchen with her plate, and looks over to the dining room. We didn't use it back then, and it's no different in his memory. She sighs, however, and from the perspective I have now, I realize what her expression looks like. It's longing.

The vision, the memory, Matt's thought... whatever it is, it fades away. No one seems to have noticed, except Neriah and Arkarian, who are clearly reading my thoughts while trying to maintain the conversation. I nod, slowly.

I know how lonely mom had been. She hadn't exactly made it a secret, even though she has never allowed us to worry about her too much. Still. It makes me smile, seeing the dining room now, full of people. I know it's exactly what mom had been missing when we were kids.

'And yet, we all know she will flip if anyone decides to bring up kids, anyway,' I think, mostly to myself, though it makes Neriah grin.

They don't get to answer, however, because mom finishes setting up everything and the game starts, and soon enough we stop thinking about the dining room, the past, or children at all.

It's nice to just... spend time together, without powers, or duties, or the impending loom of war above us. I cheat as obviously as I can, and they all let it fly, because Arkarian is winning anyway, and they're having a lot of fun seeing me come up with stupid reasonings for my cheating. It's still relatively new, having everyone over, and it's warm, and it's all terribly domestic.

It's family, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

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~Lena