AN: I know, I know- this is taking longer than expected, I really have no excuse for myself. I think this is going to be a longer fic than I thought, but I won't apologize because I am having fun!
This chapter features a bit more interaction between Bonnie, Kai, and Nora, as we transition from them planning to them, you know...
I know it has disproportionately focused on Bonnie so far, as we proceed you can expect the focus to shift to Nora and Kai too. Bonnie is the most apprehensive so things have been more about her feelings as this fic starts, but don't fear-I'll be diving more into all the relationships here and working to make sure all the characters are fleshed out.
All in due time...
It's nighttime when the pair of them arrive on his doorstep.
Bonnie is frowning and Nora keeps glancing in her direction, "You know we can leave if you don't want to do this."
The heretic's fingers graze her palm and Nora presses a kiss to her temple. It's tender and Bonnie leans into the gentle reassurance, the affection feels nice. She doesn't mean to look so morose, really, she doesn't, but the bite of the cold is getting to her. Normally, she loves this time of year, weather included, but today the frigid temperature only puts her more on edge.
Underneath it all, she can feel the familiar hum of his magic. It seems to reach out to her, as though it recognizes her too. As if it was somehow expecting her.
As Kai moves within the house, she can feel his magic as it coasts through the air and trails behind him. She can tell loosely where he is by the feel of his energy, she can almost see his cobalt blue aura through the walls and plaster that hold his home together. Approaching the house, she'd felt it shift and crackle in recognition. Immediately his magic surrounded her, and she felt like she was walking through a haze. Kai's magic, much like him, was hard to ignore, it demanded to be noticed, and it demanded to be feared.
Bonnie straightened her spine and stood tall against it. Somehow all it took to get it to settle. As she draws nearer to the door it mellows out even more, instead of feeling prickly it feels calm and smooth.
Deceptively smooth.
Where his magic sparked and shifted, now it lulls her into a false sense of peace. She knows better than to fall for it, though, she's met this particular beast before.
Many times, in fact.
It only seems benevolent, but as subtle and soft as it is, it's there. Something beneath his magic's calm surface rolls through her body and makes her shudder, sending a shiver down her spine.
The more she focuses on it, the more she notices.
Unimaginable power courses through him. She knows this, but knowing it and feeling it are entirely different things. No amount of thinking about how 'mega powerful' he is prepared her for what it was like to feel his magic rub against hers. Of all the things her family had failed to prepare her for as a witch, it's this that always gets to her.
What it feels like to be around another witch.
The feeling of someone else's magic brushing up against you. Like the feeling of coming home; the feeling of instant acceptance.
Of community.
It unnerves her that it's so foreign. It always makes her feel alone.
Like she's missing out on something big; like she's apart from it all, cast out. Forever an outsider to her own lineage. It's not just that they didn't allow her to grow up around others like herself. It's that she wasn't even taught how to recognize it.
Most witches mask their powers, so as not to tip off any possibly hostile supes. It's one of the first skills witches learn after graduating from the basics. Keyword being most.
When a witch is nearby if they're uncloaked, they give off a magical signature. Other witches can pick up on it especially acutely. At least they're supposed to be. Bonnie had to teach herself all of these things- how to cloak, how to guard herself against hostile predators, how to sniff out other supes before they did her.
She's gotten better at it; practice makes perfect and all that. She still has trouble, though, but at least she knows what to expect. Overcoming her late-bloomer status was her biggest hurdle, but she learned eventually. Now she's hardly phased when encountering new witches. Shivers up her spine, tingling in her fingertips, slight dizziness (depending on the extent of the witch's power), and an uncanny feeling of instant familiarity. She was used to all that.
Normally, traces of another witch's power rubbed against hers, scoping her out as she did the same, like a casual energy exchange, unless the witch or warlock had hostile intention.
Normally.
But Kai is anything but normal.
Kai's magic is all that on steroids.
It's got this lethal undercurrent- as volatile as its leader, just waiting to be plucked. She feels as it works towards her and wraps her up, snake-like as it coils round. She feels it over her shoulders and in her ears like someone whispering to her. Speaking ancient words she can't quite hear, but still somehow understands.
Technically he's not even really a proper witch, he's a heretic, and before that he was a siphon.
At first, she thought maybe that was why being around him threw her so off-kilter. That, plus their first meeting wasn't exactly under ideal circumstances. When he revealed he'd been watching her she chalked up her previous feelings to witchy intuition. All those times she felt spooked or on edge was just her magic's way of trying to clue her in to the hidden presence of her third prison mate.
But then she met Nora, and it felt all too similar. And Bonnie knows Nora can feel it too. She can feel as her girlfriend's Gemini magic brushes against the familiar feeling of its kin. Whether Nora chooses to acknowledge Kai as her leader or not, her magic tells its own story. She can hear Grams' words in her head once more- "Magic speaks the mind, chile…"
Thinking about her matriarch makes the nervous feeling in her bones even stronger. Before she can respond, the door opens to reveal the man of the hour.
Kai stands tall above the two women on the stoop with his arms folded in front of his chest. His towering presence seems intimidating, but on his face, he wears a soft, amused smile. From the way the light strikes his face, he looks almost...kind…it's weird. He stands there smiling madly at them, and Bonnie is struck by just how bizarre all of this is. She doesn't know which is stronger, her desire to turn around, flip him off, and walk back to her car, or push past him and go inside (and also flip him off).
The longer they stand there doing whatever it is they are doing the more the second option wins out. The home behind him seems to pulse with heat. It's a balm to her nearly frostbitten skin. She takes the smallest step forward; it's unconscious, the heat is so inviting. Not only that, but it smells like freshly cooked food, and her mouth waters.
"And to what do I owe this lovely little surprise?" He asks, leaning against the doorframe, blocking her entrance. His large post-1903 build takes up most of the space and the light from his home casts his silhouette in a faint glow so that it creates a halo around him.
It's intriguing and eerie, seeing him look so angelic when he's anything but. In all his many years alive, she suspects no one has ever accused Kai Parker of being an angel. However bizarre it is, she ignores it. After all, they're here for a reason.
"Are we going to stand here all day? Hurry up and let us in, it's cold out here." She barks out the command and he only smirks at her.
"Right this way, ladies," He says as he steps aside, making space for them to pass.
Nora's hand rests on Bonnie's lower back, she nudges lightly to let her know she's behind her, both literally and figuratively. Bonnie steps into the place first and Nora helps her out of her coat.
While she shrugs out of the garment, she takes a moment to look around. Now that she's in the space properly she can feel that his wards have been lowered, but they are still there. Latent, stirring right beneath the surface, waiting for his cue.
All his power...it's actually kinda hot...
If she were a lesser witch, she wouldn't be able to tell how much control he puts into subduing it.
She used to think the way he toed the line between quiet insanity and mania was terrifying. He was so hot and cold with her and so unpredictable. Chasing her then playing nice, shooting her then bandaging her up. He'd go from joking and laughing to his reign of terror so quickly she got whiplash. He always seemed one mood swing away from going postal. But now he seems…better. Or maybe he's just better at hiding it.
Sometimes she thinks he wears his dead brother as a shield. Luke is his nice face. His proverbial 'good cop.' Kai is, well, still Kai. She knows he's still in there, she can feel him peeking out at her when he thinks her guard is lowered.
During these moments she feels like Kai hasn't changed at all. Apart from the magic, that is.
His home reminds her of his magic, strangely enough.
From what she can scan it's nice, neat, if not a little chaotic. He always acts so childish, she expected him to be dirty. Some spots seem more cluttered than others, but for the most part, it's organized and well put together. Not only that, but it looks sleek; she can see the kitchen and its black marble countertops. It's weird to think he actually has taste.
On said countertops were various items, she can tell he's been busy. She can also tell he spends most of his time here. She's not surprised by that, what she is surprised to see is that it doesn't seem like the room is reserved exclusively for cooking.
Next to his neatly arranged cooking utensils are jars filled with herbs and what look to be potions. If she weren't a witch herself, she would assume they were spices and oils, but she's not a novice witch anymore, she can recognize wolfsbane and summoning potion when she sees them. Apart from the concoctions, she counts at least three mortar and pestles, all filled with things he must have been in the middle of crushing.
His living room similarly alternates between neat and semi-cluttered. Spellbooks are piled on the mantle next to a ritual knife and four skulls. She doesn't dwell on the knife or the skulls. How he came to possess them is his business she decides. To the right of that are several ancient-looking books and, in the center, she can see his family grimoire.
It's as big as her entire torso. Bound in thick leather with a pair of twins on the front and a large she-wolf behind them. The two are hand in hand and one carries a lightning bolt and scepter, the other holds a dagger in his opposite outstretched hand. She recognizes them as Romulus and Remus.
In the handle of the dagger and scepter look to be real gems and crystals. Along the spine are the twelve signs of the zodiac with the Gemini symbol in the center.
He catches her admiring it.
Casually, Kai leans next to her, "You know, Bonster, if you wanted to see my family jewels all you had to do was ask."
She says nothing, only makes a face, and walks off to explore more- not caring that she's barely spoken to him since she got here and is just nosily scoping out his home.
Nora is warming herself by the fire when she calls out, asking if Kai has any tea to drink, he responds that he does but he's unsure if it will up to her 'snooty standards', Bonnie then hears him wince and laugh and assumes Nora hexed him. Using the distraction to her advantage she continues to explore.
His place is a nice size, bigger than what she thought it would be from the outside.
She passes several rooms and peeks in each, before moving on. His kitchen is the most interesting room she's come across so far. Eventually, she finds herself standing near a room in the back where a door is slightly ajar. From inside something seems to be glowing. Her gut tells her this must be his bedroom, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't want a closer look.
Bonnie glances around, looking behind her to make sure the coast is clear before inching forward. Through the gap in the door, she can peek, but her curiosity has been piqued, and won't be satisfied until she knows what's responsible for the light cascading along the walls. And okay, yes, she also wants to see his bedroom, can a girl be blamed for wondering?
Apparently so.
Suddenly the door slams in front of her.
"Oooo, Bonbon, did I catch you snooping? Were you trying to go into my room? My sanctum sanctorum? You wanna see where the magic happens?" His eyes are alight, and he uses his stature to try and trap her between himself and the door, but when he stares into her eyes Bonnie only looks bored.
She leans against the closed door and crosses her arms over her chest, "So you finally caught up on MTV Cribs, I, see. Good for you."
"Omg, who knew watching people show off their own homes could be so entertaining?"
"People don't typically say 'omg' out loud…"
"Lol, Bon" He smiles and looks down at her like he's amused by what she's said, despite the fact she's serious.
"Yea, they don't typically say 'lol' either…" she says pushing past his broad chest, walking away and back towards the kitchen. She'll have to sate her curiosity some other time.
"Hey, wait, have you ever heard of this channel called HGTV?" He calls after her, "It's not as cool as Food Network, which I mean, come on, it's an entire channel dedicated to Food, they show cooking shows all day, hard to beat that unless it's like porn or something. Speaking of, did you know they have porn on TV now? Lots of it, and not even just basics, I mean like hardcore stuff- hey wait, where are you going?"
Bonnie thinks it's best to grab Nora and make a hasty exit. This is turning out to be a bust. Kai is at least 3x more annoying than usual and she thinks if she stays, she's going to end up really melting his face off like she promised some strange time ago.
"Bonster, come back, let me tell you about all the food and porn!"
Or at least just his mouth.
She makes it back to the den where Nora is still sitting by the fire placidly, now with a cup of tea in her hands. Bonnie is surprised (and annoyed) she seems to be enjoying it. The first several times she tried to make tea for the girl, Nora had not so subtly grimaced and barely hid her revulsion. Each time she tried to smile and choke it down, but Bonnie got the hint and gave up shortly thereafter.
Next to Nora is a small plate of cookies, she doesn't need to ask to know Kai made them himself. Against her better judgment, she tries one, admiring the floral design and attention to detail. Popping it into her mouth proves to be a mistake when she almost moans out loud at how good it is.
Oh, fuck him.
Bonnie tries to sneak one without either Nora or Kai noticing but sneaking anything in front of two vampire witches is next to impossible, even for her. Especially ones so attuned to her every move. Her girlfriend smiles and pushes the plate closer to her, at the same time Kai disappears into the kitchen and comes back with another cup and plate.
Wordlessly and gently, he deposits the items on the table next to her, she sees he gave her extra cookies and she curses herself because already she knows she's going to try to convince Nora to sneak these into her purse before they leave. She may even ask her to run interference while she tries to steal the rest from the kitchen.
The room in its entirety is so cozy. Above Nora, flowers hang from a beam in the ceiling, and she recognizes their daisy-like look, of course, he would be drying his own chamomile. No wonder Nora loved it so much. There's an iron pot hanging over the fireplace and the smell of food and magic hangs in the air.
His humble abode. It's so...witchy.
Kai moves books from a chair so that she has a place to sit, "You'll have to excuse the mess I wasn't expecting such esteemed company today."
Bonnie is about to respond to his comment when a cold draft overtakes her, she looks up to see an open window and she immediately spells it shut, not caring why he had it open. It's December and it's twenty-eight degrees outside, it should have never been open in the first place. Anyway, Kai's a big boy, if he has a problem with that, she's sure he'll tell her.
Instead, he moves across the room, glides really, and lands near the fire.
Kai stokes the hearth, and checks on the pot there, tending to it and rotating it slightly. Whatever he's doing is succeeding in warming her up. He looks fixated by the flames, and Bonnie decides now is as good a time as any to discuss what they came for. Maybe his temporary distractedness is what fortifies her.
With his back still turned she takes a deep breath, looks at Nora, then speaks.
"Our answer is yes."
"I'm sorry, you'll have to be more specific," he says, still prodding the fire, "yes, what?"
She can tell he knows exactly 'yes what' and his question has less to do with needing clarification, and more to do with forcing her to say it plainly. Ugh! He's eternally obnoxious and always trying to make her squirm. How can she be expected to work with...with this?!
Bonnie pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales loudly, "Yes, we want you to be-"
"What Bonnie is saying, Malachai, is that we've come to an agreement about your… romantic participation with us." Bonnie sends Nora a look of thanks from across the room and Nora smiles encouragingly in response before turning back to Kai.
He snaps his fingers, "Ahhh, right, right, the boy toy thing."
"Yes, precisely."
Like he forgot.
While Nora appraises him of all the dirty details Bonnie sits quietly, staring at his back. She is upset to find she's not unaffected by him, even something as simple as watching him brew tea over the fire does something to her (even when he's pissing her off).
Being in his space, where she's never been before, where it smells and feels overwhelmingly like him, is...uh… overwhelming.
What's worse is that it's actually comforting. She loves how it feels here and seeing him in his element sure is…something. And what was that obedience about? Making tea? Tending to the fire? Serving up cookies like some grandma?
Bonnie decides it's time for a test.
Bonnie finishes the remaining tea she has and when the last drop passes her lips she (accidentally-on-purpose) drops her mug, and it shatters on the floor.
Immediately he stops mid-sentence, spins around, gets to the floor, and begins to clean it up. Not even bothering to make a snappy comment about her clumsiness.
On his knees he looks so focused as he retrieves each shard, taking great care near her feet, moving them to the side gently, his hand holding her leg as he looks around to make sure no shards landed in her chair.
What the fuck.
As he's cleaning, she snaps her fingers, and the cup rights itself, the shattered pieces re-assemble in her hand instantly. Kai looks up and when he does his expression looks so…not what she expected.
She never expected him to be so…submissive…
Now, this…this she can work with.
The arrangement is skewed in their favor. Hers and her girlfriends that is.
As it stands, Bonnie and Nora got to pretty much set all the terms and they've agreed to take it slow. The arrangement is that they'll get together (the girls get to pick where and when, of course), try it, and see how they feel. Like a sort of...trial period. Just a test drive.
As if he's a new car.
If Kai were a car, what would he be?
A Hummer, probably; something flashy, obnoxious, and brutal (he'd probably say a Porsche or Maserati if you asked him). If he could hear her thoughts, he'd probably laugh at her, pin her with a look (maybe even a cheesy wink) and throw out some innuendo about her wanting to take him for a ride. She tries to ignore the scene playing out in her mind.
Anyway, it's all settled for the time being.
Nora hangs by the door as Bonnie rises to leave, not wanting to get up from his surprisingly comfortable loveseat. When the Bennett witch does get up her newly acquired pet is standing squarely in her field of vision. She wants to yell at him for getting this close to her when she remembers she's only even here, in his home, to ask him to occasionally fuck her and her girlfriend so all her qualms about proximity are kind of a moot point now.
"I think we made a good deal today, why don't we shake on it?" His hand reaches out between them, and she stares, eyeing it warily, "Put her there-"
She doesn't know if she feels like making a deal with the devil, but she's already come this far.
With one last scrutinizing look, Bonnie extends her arm and accepts the gesture. When their hands fit together, he roughly yanks her forward and she falls face-first into his chest. The startled witch has to grab his arms to brace herself.
His scent hits her shortly after his chest does, invading her lungs and making her light on her feet. Much like his magic had when they first got here. She thinks back to the freshly ground herbs she saw in his kitchen, and this confirms he was casting earlier. Doing or summoning what, she wonders? Whatever it was, it's powerful spell work. He smells like pine, wolfsbane, and old magic and it stirs something within her.
It also explains why his aura was so strong. When a witch casts a spell, it leaves a trace behind, like the static feeling in the air after you turn off an old analog TV. That is to say, it transforms and bends reality. When it's cast the environment responds (this is especially true of Bennett magic, which was designed to interact with and amplify the power of nature; more so than Gemini magic, which was meant to control and dominate it).
Kai's magic is strong, not just in the sense that he's powerful, but that- by its very nature- it's brutal. When she feels him, really feels him; when she sends out her magic and works beneath all of his layers and wards to see him, really see him, he feels like some large boulder.
Hard. Cold. Impenetrable.
He's so jagged and sharp, like if she were to reach out and touch him, she'd cut herself open. It used to terrify her back in the prison world.
But she's seen the cracks.
She's seen glimpses of light shine so faintly beneath his ruggedness that it makes her question what she thinks she knows about him. And it's that right there that terrifies her more than anything Malachai Parker has ever done to her.
Thinking of his magical strength and the mask he wears makes her think of how firm he feels right now under her idle touch. She takes note of how strong his arms feel beneath her palms. He's solid but soft. For a moment she imagines those arms wrapped around her.
She imagines his hands pressing into her, kneading away her tension, tending to her stress until she's putty for him to do what he wants with. All that power inside him rushing out and mixing with hers so deeply that she loses herself in it.
She quickly shakes her head and pushes the thought down, buries it in her gut with all the rest of her feelings. Her stomach churns once in response then the feeling sinks lower. Her traitorous body makes it clear how good this feels, no matter what yarn her mind is trying to spin.
Slowly, her hands drag down until they reach his forearms and then his hands, where they linger for only a fraction of a second. Her arm hair stands on end and there's a light jolt where their skin touches; a lot like when Nora first used to touch her. It's freaky and it leaves her feeling spooked. She can only hope it's one-sided and that he didn't feel it too.
"Whoops, sorry," he says, sounding nothing of the sort, "guess I don't know my own strength."
He peers down at her with the most lecherous grin she's ever seen him sport. His hand is still holding hers and she's still crushed to his chest, the combination of all these things only adds to how overwhelmed she is. Underneath her fingers, his chest heaves as he draws in ragged breaths. Her palm is right above his heart; she thinks she can feel a phantom beat pulse right through it.
It's an odd throwback to when they first met. Her hand over his heart, him breathing hard and looking like he wanted to devour her.
I wanted to feel your hand on my chest…
For as far as they've come, they've ended up right back at the beginning.
Maybe it's what they always needed.
Kai feels her begin to pull back and his arm around her waist tightens reflexively, drawing her imperceptibly closer. He gulps and watches her watch his Adam's apple bob in his throat. He's already taken in her wide-eyed expression, no doubt mistaking it for arousal at his antics (which it isn't). She can't recover now that he's already quite literally caught her falling for him.
So, she does the next best thing.
"Whoops," she says only a moment later, frying his brain with an aneurysm so strong all thought exits his mind and is replaced with searing pain.
He sees nothing but white, it lasts only seconds, but it feels much longer.
"Ahhh, shit!" He doubles over in pain, but his pained howling all too soon turns to laughter, "Neat trick, how'd you manage to get that past my protective charms?"
"A good witch never gives away her secrets, you should know that, Malachai."
He pants, coughing up blood, "Touché." When he rises to his previous position he doesn't pull back or cower, as she had briefly hoped he might. Instead, he stands proud as he crowds her and draws her in roughly again. He stands so near that she has to crane her neck up to look at him, "but I'm a fast learner, you should know it won't work again," he finishes, looking down at her with her hand still in his.
This time she forgoes the aneurysm and knees him directly in the crotch, and he doubles over, "I don't like when my pets are disobedient. Why don't you get on your knees and be a good boy?" She leans down next to him, and her face is so close to his he can practically taste the derision as she says it. Only then does she drop his hand, confident she's made her point.
But he's semi glad he dropped to the ground from the force of impact, he doesn't want her to see how flushed his face is. It's not his fault, he can't help the way his blood rushes as she says it. The idea of belonging to her and being her property excites him more than he anticipated. So much so he's willing to ignore her busting his balls.
Blood races through his veins and it feels like his skin is humming. It's what her proximity always does to him, amplified even more by her command.
Kai has never been subservient; he's never wanted to belong to anything. Not even his coven.
He remembers wanting to feel included in his family, wanting to be able to participate in coven events and gatherings, wanting to feel loved; but that feeling had faded so long ago he could barely remember it. He stopped identifying with that needy part of himself when he realized the truth. He didn't want to belong to his coven, he wanted to belong in his coven, but even early on they more than proved that he'd never be welcome, and he would never be safe.
The little boy who wanted so badly to be recognized and welcomed was gone. He buried it when his family turned on him. Fuck inclusion, who wanted to be included with people who terrorized you? Who hated and abused you?
No, more than anything he wanted to rule them. To control them and bend them to his will. Bestow the same horrors on them he'd been made to face.
The point is, Kai liked control. He liked pain when he caused it, and he liked power when he wore it. No exceptions.
Until now, that is. Until her.
Little fucking Bonnie Bennett, always throwing him off balance and messing with his head. Making him feel things he's not supposed to feel, making him want things he's not supposed to want.
And really, he wants to play the part and growl, he wants to do whatever she tells him to. He wants her to smile when she sees how good he is at playing nice and being obedient for her.
But she can't very well have something for nothing; no one gets freebies, not even her.
So, despite how he wants to start with his best foot forward and stay on his knees for her- he barks in her ear and licks the side of her face obnoxiously, making sure to leave a shining trail. He's still him after all, if she wants him to behave, she's going to have to command him and she's going to have to pursue it harder than this.
The arrangement has already been made, but there's no reason he can't have a little fun.
After all, she isn't the only one who can play hard to get.
AN: Next couple chapters should be a bit more, uh... action-oriented, if you get my drift. So you have that to look forward to. I know it's been a slow setup, but I think you'll enjoy what's next.
As always, reviews are majorly, majorly appreciated. It really motivates me and makes me feel good when it feels like folks like my writing/are invested in the fic!
Hope your holiday season has been wonderful! Treat yourself to something this week, you deserve it. See you cool cats and kittens soon (ish...(maybe...hopefully)).