In Which The First Big Fight Happens, But Not With Guns. Barely. Luckily. It Was A Close Thing.

It was in their first year together- the first time Leanne ever realize that there was a Bad Day.

Really, she'd quickly come to realize there were bad days, of course; for both of them. For all of them. Days when they just felt- overwhelmed. Underwhelmed. Bored or trapped or restless or sad or hurt…days when all they wanted was to be left alone or not left alone for even a minute.

But she hadn't known there was a Bad Day, fully deserving of the capital letters, until it happened.

It had started out like a normal day. Even a normal bad day, because Zephyr seemed to have them more then herself or Vashyron, not that she ever said. Zephyr hadn't woken up until nearly noon, hadn't come down for an hour or two more, and hadn't shown any interest in anything or anyone. She'd tried to talk to him, but he'd growled at her or ignored her.

To her surprise, Vashyron had gently guided her away from trying, pulling her attention to a tv show and watching some cheesy 'girl movie' that he hated with her just to keep her company and keep her away from Zephyr.

Not that it had been hard- not a very loud person to start with, usually, Zephyr had turned into an absolute ghost. He slunk around at the edges of her vision for half the day, before he'd disappear and come back hours later smelling of something foul and looking no more happy. She heard Vashyron having growled conversations with him twice, and the tension in the house racked up with every passing hour.

It had come to a head right before bed. She'd elbowed her way past him grabbing her share of their dinner from the kitchen, something she'd done a hundred times before. Usually, he'd shove her back, and they'd end up in a punching, hitting, shoving, kicking war to wherever they were going. He'd never hurt her, never even tried, even once when she'd accidentally kneed him between the legs- no, really, it was an accident!

She hadn't been even doing it to play. She'd just pushed past, even said "Sorry, Zephyr-" And before anything else could get out he'd whirled around and shoved her. And not play shoved, either. Not oh I'm messing with you push. It had had all his force behind it and she had screamed as she fell backwards, over a chair, and landed on her back with a whuff, food flying.

She was pretty sure Vashryon's shoes made screeching sounds on the floor.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Leanne had never been scared of her boys. She knew they were both deadly, powerful, skilled…but they'd never been scary or intimidating to her. Not even when she'd first met Vashyron, gruff and grumpy as he'd been. But now, looking at Zephyr- at the coldness in his eyes, the way he trembled a little, the clenched fists…she was scared.

"I'm sorry." She heard herself whisper, "I said I was- sorry-" Damn it, she would not cry. She wasn't a little girl letting herself be bullied.

"Zephyr." She'd never heard that tone, either, from Vashyron- his normally lazy, good natured drawl turning into a sharp, no nonsense bark. "Back off. Now."

And to her amazement, he did. He snarled, but he took one step back from her, two, and then turned his back on her. "Watch where you're going." He said, but it was so, so cold; no warmth or affection or humor or even irritation in his voice. Picking herself up, she lifted her plate with a shaking hand.

"I said -"

"And stop apologizing! Damn it, Leanne just- just shut up, alright?" She stopped in shock at the terse tone to his voice, the way he seemed on edge over something so- small.

"Alright, that's enough." Vashyron, still in that sharp tone. "You. I don't give a shit what day it is, what's going on in that head of yours or what just happened in here, but either stop being a dick or get your ass upstairs and stay put until you think you can. You got it?"

"I'm not your kid. You can't ground me."

A bark of a laugh. "No, but I think we both know you're not fit company for a pack of wolves right now, and Leanne hasn't done a damn thing to earn your teeth. You wanna work this out of your system, Arena's just a short walk that-a way and I'm right here. Otherwise, knock it off or get upstairs and stay there."

There was a long, terse moment. Then Zephyr made a low, snorting noise in his throat before turning and stalking up the stairs to his own room. And just like that, Vashyron had melted back into the laid-back, mellow person she knew, giving her a smile that was a little strained at the edges.

"You alright?"

"He didn't hurt me." She still felt like she was going to cry, to her shame.

"Just spooked you a little. Can understand that." Softly, resting a hand at the nape of her neck and guiding her back into the other room. "I'll clean up the mess. You get yourself something to eat."

"I can do it-"

"I know you can." He gave her a little shove. "You're shaking like a leaf, Leanne, go calm down."

"Why is he-" She stopped the question at his sharp glance, the raised brow.

"That isn't my place to tell you." He said, softly. "You wanna ask him when he's feeling a little more human, that's between you two. Just don't expect him to be willing to talk about it."

She looked down at her hands, laced in front of her. "It's not- anything I did…right?"

"No." Soft and low, a drawl with a touch of humor that instantly put her at ease. "No, darlin', not you. You're just a convenient target. I've been on the pointy end of his teeth before myself. He'll be all apologetic in a few days, and then you can walk over him like a doormat until he stops feelin' guilty." A playful grin, but again, she noticed how it didn't quite touch his eyes.

She nodded, letting the subject drop, and went to get herself a fresh plate of food. She didn't see Zephyr for the rest of the day.

The night, though, when she came out of her little room to get a drink, she saw him, sitting on the sofa. He was curled into the arm of the couch in the smallest little ball possible, and Vashyron was speaking in a low, mellow tone- freezing, she could only catch snatches of words and phrases, and it was clear he was speaking for Zephyr's ears only.

His voice, when he replied, broke her heart. She'd never heard him upset- not near-tears upset, never once. Angry, irritated, in pain, yes, but never this breaking, high tone. She couldn't understand him, either, but more because he was talking fast and slurring his words together.

By the time Vashyron replied, she'd already slipped back into her room, feeling as if she was intruding on something private and not yet for her.

Not yet? She wondered if she would ever find out what today was. She wondered if Zephyr would ever trust her enough to let her see.

She wondered if she would ever, really, be let into the little world that Vashyron and Zephyr had made for themselves.

"Leanne."

She stopped dead. She hadn't made a noise! But Vashyron's voice said he knew she was there, plain as day. She turned, quietly crept back into the room. He was watching her with an odd little smile, head tipped. "Can't sleep, either?"

She shook her head, warily shifting her gaze to Zephyr, who hadn't looked up at her. "Wanna come watch a movie with us?" Vashryon's voice was gently prodding, and she looked up. His smile was honest and gentle, and he tilted his head at her, shifting so that there was a spot on the other side for her to sit.

"Come on. Been a hard day."

"If it's-okay." She whispered, and Zephyr looked up at last. He didn't smile. He didn't even smirk.

"Sure it is." His voice was a harsh rasp. "If you-want to." He softened near the last, and she thought, for a moment, that he actually looked…nervous, like he expected her to say no. She should have said no, and would have, maybe, if just a few minutes ago he hadn't sounded so…hurt.

"Yeah. Yeah, I want to." She crept forward, and couldn't help but smile in return to Vashyron, who was watching her with something almost like…pride?

The last thing she remembered, half-way through the movie, was the warmth of Vashyron's arm draping over her shoulders affectionately, and Zephyr looking over at her across his lap and - "Look, Leanne, I didn't mean to hurt you."

She was almost sure she's said it's okay before she'd given into the warm fuzziness that tugged at the edges of her awareness.

She woke at some point, groggy, to the sound of Vashyron snoring gently above her head. She was curled in crook of his arm, using his ribs as a pillow. The TV was still running, gently, almost covering his faint rasping, and his hair tumbled loosely around his face. The tie had been tossed onto the table to her left.

And in his other arm lay Zephyr. Well, on, not in- he was stretched out with his legs over one arm, head against Vashryon's upper arm and hands laced on his chest. There was a softness to his features that wasn't there awake.

That was as far as her brain got before she curled up, warm and sleepy, back into Vashryon's protective cuddle.

Maybe she'd make it in this little world, after all.