After the events of that morning, once Caius had eventually managed to persuade Eliana to allow him to get back to work, she continued with her day as normally as she could. She used her own bathroom to shower and brush her teeth, and since all three of the kings were busy that morning, Afton accompanied her to her breakfast.
In theory, that worked okay. But what she'd neglected to remember was that Afton accompanied her to breakfast.
"So what happened?"
Eliana blinked up from her bowl of cereal at the vampire in front of her and continued to eat. "Nothing — what?"
"Nothing?" Afton raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a chair to sit beside her. "Nothing happened? Is that the story you're settling with?"
She nodded. "Can I eat my cereal now?"
"And the hickey on your neck?" he questioned.
Her eyes widened in alarm. She instantly dropped her spoon to cover both sides of her neck with her hands, attempting to appear as casual as possible. "H-Hickeys? What are you talking about? You must be, um, blind."
"I was testing you," he chuckled. "So something happened within the last 24 hours that could have possibly left you with hickeys, right?"
"No, nothing happened," Eliana answered dismissively. Suddenly, swallowing each spoonful of cereal was becoming all the more difficult to do. "Just, you know . . . nothing."
"Did Caius finally dick you down?"
To her bewilderment, the question hadn't even come from Afton. Santiago strolled into the room at a pretty leisurely pace, a rubix cube in his hand which he was attempting to solve at a rate she couldn't even see. He took a seat to the other side of her from Afton, half of his attention on the conversation.
Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Did he what?!"
"Dick you down," Santiago repeated himself as he placed his feet up on the table, just a few feet away from her food. "You know — I don't know what you young folks say nowadays, anyway — rail the fucking brains out of you?"
"There was no railing, no dicking down, nothing!" she snapped. "End of discussion."
"Nope, beginning of discussion," he countered. "No actual fucking, alright, but that doesn't rule out a lot of other things — hey, where are you going, dude?"
With a roll of her eyes, Eliana and her bowl of cereal migrated across the room to another table. She sighed heavily and swirled the contents of her bowl around with her spoon. And just like that, her plans of a peaceful breakfast had flown straight out of the window and into the horizon, never to be seen or heard from again.
By the time she even saw any of her three mates, it was that afternoon, as the day inched ever closer to nighttime. A day full of Afton's and Santiago's company was needless-to-say awful, what with their constant immature and teasing remarks, so Caius eventually showing up and leading her towards Aro's office was more than welcome.
As she entered after Caius, she remembered just how long it had been since she'd seen the inside of Aro's office. And after seeing Marcus and Aro themselves, she recalled the last time they'd even heard from her . . .
Her voice came out as more of a timid squeak than she'd expected. "Hey."
Aro didn't hold back his laugh, only making her more desperate to bury herself in a hole, if only she had a shovel on hand. "Come now, cara mia. There's no need to be so shy around us."
"Um, shy? No, I'm not shy," she insisted far too quickly. To avoid standing for any longer than necessary, she immediately took a seat on the sofa between Caius and Marcus stiffly. "See? I'm fine."
"Forgive us if "I'm fine" doesn't quite persuade us anymore," Caius remarked.
Eliana instantly narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
""I'm fine"," he drew quote marks in the air, "is your go-to answer for everything you don't want to discuss. So, naturally, we will discuss why you've become so uncomfortable." He saw her wince and shake her head. "Carina, if this is about earlier-"
She held a finger up. "Let me stop you right there-"
"What occurred this morning, and the fact that you enjoyed it, is nothing to be ashamed of, nor is enjoying yourself without either of these two clowns," Caius motioned vaguely to the other two in the room, "present. Well, that clown," He pointed to Aro, "anyway. Well, scratch that, he's already seen for himself."
"Is that what this is about?" Marcus asked. She didn't answer his question. Was her discomfort after that really that unbelievable? "Oh, tesoro, there's nothing to feel awkward about, regardless of what you'd expect. You becoming more relaxed around us is all we could ever ask for."
Aro smiled fondly at her and offered her a hand. Once she took it, albeit with slight hesitancy, he pulled her up and placed her down on his lap as he sat on the edge of his desk. For such a confident and self-assured woman, he couldn't help but question how she allowed herself to become so uneasy with the most insignificant of things.
"And I will speak to Afton and Santiago myself," Aro told her, "alright?" His voice was only a murmur in her ear, but she knew Caius and Marcus could hear anyway.
"What did they do?" Caius demanded. His tone somehow had jumped from soft and caring to completely hostile in a single sentence. Those were the words of someone already mentally planning a punishment beyond anything worth thinking about.
Aro soothingly purred for a few seconds against Eliana's hairline. "Nothing severe, brother. It seems the poor dears have unfortunately forgotten exactly where their place in conversations with Eliana is."
"Don't punish them," she interjected. "They were just messing around. Maybe I'll find their jokes funny another time, but that's not the point."
"It is our duty to ensure you are comfortable here at all times," Caius argued, his words still carrying a dark anger. "If the guard are unable to follow simple instructions, they shall be punished for their transgressions."
"But like I said, they were just making tasteless jokes," she disagreed. For once, her retort at Caius didn't even sound argumentative, but rather . . . reassuring, soothing even. "It's okay, Caius. If they get too comfortable, I'll kick their asses to the moon myself. But for now, just leave them to it."
"But if their behaviour worsens at any point, don't hesitate to say so," Marcus said.
"I'll keep that in mind," she responded. "So where were you all day? Why was I left to be babysat?"
"We simply had matters to discuss," Aro answered.
Eliana looked up at him suspiciously. "What kind of matters?"
The look he gave her indicated that he was reluctant to explain, but he proceeded to do so regardless.
"A newborn army," he informed her, "their purpose being to destroy the Olympic Coven and eradicate Isabella Swan."
"What's a newborn army?" she asked.
"It is exactly as you'd expect — an army of newborn vampires," he answered. "During an immortal's first months, their power and strength is much greater than that of an older immortal. The Cullens are apparently preparing to face these newborns themselves, but an assault of that magnitude is far from manageable for a single coven. That is why it has been decided that Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demetri will oversee this themselves. After all, it will avoid the Cullens' seer becoming too curious about any decisions. So you see?" He gently ran a hand down her side where it settled on her thigh. "The issue is being controlled, cara mia."
Her eyebrows drew together. "But I don't get it. Why are they after Bella? What would anyone want with her?"
"As of currently, we are uncertain," Aro admitted, "but I have a good theory."
"And that theory is . . .?" she prompted.
"Irrelevant, piccola, because this issue will be resolved regardless. There's no need to fret about it," he reassured her. "We have it under control. Do you trust us?"
With a slightly trembled sigh, she nodded and encircled her arms around him. "Of course I do. I kinda just wish the Cullens had told me too though. Presumably they've known for a while. And I'm worried about Bella too. I don't want her to get hurt. That's all."
"You're a good friend, Eliana," Aro commented. "I know that I would certainly be a lot less considerate of Isabella if I were in your shoes."
"You didn't accept her weak attempt at an apology," Caius queried, "did you?"
Eliana shook her head. "Not fully. It felt . . . forced, like she was only apologising because she felt like she had to and not because she wanted to . . ." Eliana went quiet for a moment. "We used to be so close. We got along so well, but now everything's just always so awkward. I don't know what changed."
"You did," Marcus told her, "as did Isabella. Humans change. That's all there is to it."
"Not to mention the girl's a bitc-"
"CAIUS!" Aro snapped harshly before he could finish. He glanced down at Eliana, who he'd almost forgotten was on his lap. "I apologise if I startled you there, amore mio."
"Y-You didn't," she replied, still a little bewildered after being jumpscared like that. "You're just really scary when you want to be."
Aro only seemed smug at that. "That's the idea. But Caius, Isabella is Eliana's friend. Comments like that are simply rude."
"Fine, if it'll protect the snowflakes in the room, the girl is nothing but a pure delight, a dream," Caius sneered. "I have to pinch myself on an hourly basis whenever she's in the vicinity." He scoffed. "Satisfied now?"
"Brothers, that's quite enough of that," Marcus cut in before things could escalate any further. Unlike last time, if it did, Eliana was somewhat being held hostage on Aro's lap anyway. "It's getting late, and Eliana should be going to bed soon."
Out of curiosity, she slid Aro's right sleeve up a short amount to view the time on his wristwatch. "It's only 9 in the evening. I'll fall asleep in a few hours."
"In that case," Marcus began as he stood up, "would you like to spend the evening with me, tesoro?"
Eliana nodded in agreement as she slid off Aro's lap. She couldn't help but notice his obvious reluctance to let her go. "Yeah, sure, sounds fun," she responded happily, placing her hand in Marcus' outstretched one.
The interesting thing about her relationship with Marcus was that, unlike with the other two, they made a lot less conversation. It wasn't at all a bad thing — if anything, she really enjoyed the peaceful silence between them — but it was certainly a stark contrast to her regular pointless spats with Caius or Aro's sweet yet relentless teasing.
"I'm going to guess that you like to read," she deadpanned as she stepped into his quarters after him.
Her gaze slowly followed up the wall of his that was made up entirely of bookshelves. They were so neatly arranged that, while part of her wanted to marvel at it, part of her was also afraid that she'd ruin it by doing so.
"Oh how did you know?" he chuckled. "Reading is possibly the only passtime I've ever enjoyed. That and spending time with you."
"That was a good save," she teased. "And for someone who doesn't watch any movies, you sure do have a big-ass TV."
"What would be the point in purchasing a small, cheap one when I could easily own a large, expensive one?"
She only remembered that he was still holding her hand when she was gently tugged across the room towards where the TV was. Without any hesitation, she sat down directly beside him.
"Can we watch something?" She peered past Marcus confusedly. "Where's your TV remote?"
As if by magic, a black remote control was being handed to her. "Did you have something specific in mind?"
Eliana shrugged. Fortunately, the TV seemed to operate identically to Caius', so it took her only a moment to figure out how to turn it on and begin scrolling through channels and shows.
She paused her scrolling at a specific show. "Ever seen The Good Fight?" His head shake served as confirmation. "It's basically these lawyers who work in a firm run by POCs, and — you know what? I'll show you."
And that she did. They got through 3 hour-long episodes straight, with a bottle of water brought up for her by Chelsea, before the brain rot from binge-watching hit her and she had to pause the TV before episode 4 could begin. She sighed tiredly and leaned back into Marcus, his arm around her shoulders as her back rested against his side.
"Are you tired?" he asked her. "You've had a long day."
"Yeah, a long day. But I'm not too tired," she insisted as she turned around to hug his side. Marcus leaned back to allow her to lie down with him more comfortably. "About this morning . . ."
Marcus could see how strange she still felt about the entire ordeal. It didn't exactly take a genius to. "Eliana, we don't have to discuss it today if you don't want to. There isn't really much to discuss-"
"You were in the doorway, weren't you?" she interjected. She'd been told so by Caius, but Marcus still had yet to confirm it himself.
"I was," he replied truthfully, but slowly, keeping an eye on how she'd react. "I hadn't intended on invading your privacy. I only came to deliver some paperwork to Caius. In hindsight, maybe I should have left as soon as I saw that he was preoccupied, but I had no intention of crossing any boundaries."
She nodded. "Okay."
"Okay?" he repeated. Slightly bemused, he began to sit up, moving her onto his lap with ease as he did so. "So you really aren't remotely upset?"
"No, I'm not really," she assured him. "Really, I'm not. Sure, some warning would've been nice, but I'm not bothered by the fact that you were there. I'm as close to and comfortable with you and Aro as I am Caius. In fact, maybe if I wasn't so tired right now . . ." She trailed off her sentence with a yawn, muffled by her hand over her mouth as she did so.
"Tesoro," he began. Her tired eyes looked up at his crimson irises from beneath her eyelashes, "as truly wonderful as that sounds," Marcus paused as he focused on keeping his lingering gaze on her face and nowhere else on her body, "I don't want you to feel like you owe Aro or I anything at all in turn. Whatever you do, just promise me you won't pressure yourself into anything you don't feel like doing simply because you feel as though you're expected to."
After a moment of listening to his words, she nodded in understanding. Relief swept across his features as he carefully tilted her head up with a finger beneath her chin and kissed her for the first time that day. She instantly reciprocated the kiss, her mouth moving against his feverently, although she pulled away very shortly after.
She smiled at him. "But as I said, if I wasn't so tired . . ."
"The last thing I need is a completely exhausted human to deal with," he responded jokingly. "You know I love you so much, right?"
Eliana nodded tiredly. "Has anyone ever told you that you're really comfy to cuddle? Like a big pillow," she mumbled.
Marcus laughed quietly. "It looks like it might be for the best if you get some sleep now, cara mia."
"I'll take that as no one then, I guess," she replied light-heartedly. "You're also a really nice temperature after a while. You heat up like one of those . . . things that heat up, I don't know what I'm thinking of."
"Is this your sleepy way of asking me to stay with you tonight?" he asked. She only nodded her head in confirmation. "Oh, how you are quite the task to deal with."
"I'm not a task," she insisted. Marcus couldn't help but find it sweet how clueless she sounded this late at night. "I'm a . . . what am I trying to think of? I can't remember."
"A pleasure," he finished amusedly.
"Yeah," she sighed. "One of those . . ."
Marcus hummed a laugh and kissed the top of her head. "That you are."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: I wanted to finish this sooner, but only being able to work on a chapter for a few minutes at a time isn't exactly easy, so this was all pretty much written in the space of a full evening. I don't think the next few chapters are too eventful, but I think they should be good anyway, and I hope they're enjoyable enough
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!