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"I know you're there, petit mec." Shelving books was always such a pain, Randy mused. His lair didn't automatically put books back where they belonged like Vidya did. Although Randy knew Liz just liked to be difficult on purpose most days. "Didn't we have a conversation about sneaking up on assassins?"
"I wasn't sneaking." White hair was peeking out from around a shelf before green eyes joined a moment later. "I was just waiting for you to notice me. Obviously."
"Oh, obviously." Shelving the last book, Randy flew over and wrapped Danny up his arms in a tight hug, burying his face against his hair. "What's up?"
"Why does something have to be up?" His breathing was off by three counts, his core was beating two beats faster than normal, instead of leaning into his touch Danny arched against it, his tail tip was curled tightly inwards instead of flicking through the air, and his voice was just a note too high.
"Guess I'm just used to you coming to me for help on getting out of trouble." Energy sparking up through him, Randy easily teleported them to his bed, letting Danny go so he could fall into a pile of blankets that looked more like a nest.
It was fun, watching Danny blink and poke his head up, looking around at the darkened room and drawn curtains of the four-poster bed. It was a moment before Danny started nudging and pushing at the blankets, softening the area up before curling down in it, tail tightly held to his chest. "I knew you were a wolf, but this is just ridiculous."
"Says the cat that just kneaded everything to make it more comfortable," Randy snorted, laying down on half of the nest, head propped up on his arms. "Wanna talk about it?"
"Who says there's an it to talk about?" Danny defensively curled up further, only relaxing when Randy reached forward to tangle a hand in his hair. "I… I ran into Spectra, the other day." Of course. There was always this lingering darkness after Danny got into a fight with Spectra. Like a part of her shadow had become Danny's own. "She… She said some stuff that got me thinking."
"As big of a bitch as she is, she knows how to do her job. She knows how to get under your skin." As he spoke, Randy let his hand drop down to Danny's neck, rubbing at the back of it and almost laughing at the quiet purr it earned him. "Talk to me, Danny."
"She started going on about- About-" Taking a breath, Danny closed his eyes and spoke in a rush, as if trying to rip off a band-aid. "About the Sanctum, and how you two were raised with other killers, and trained others to kill." Randy felt his hand tighten a moment before he relaxed it, thoughts racing and tumbling through his head far too fast to make sense of.
"That would be my fault. I don't think Andy has ever run into her, but I have… She riled me up to the point I let slip more things than I wanted to."
"So she can't read minds, or anything? See into the past, maybe?" That had Randy giving a laugh, shushing Danny when he started whining.
"Easy there, petit mec, I'm not laughing at you so much as the thought. She… It's more she has the power to see the surface thoughts. What you might be thinking at the time. Only if she has contact, though. She isn't that powerful." Thank whatever was out there for that, too. Spectra was a big enough problem when she was just a leech, give her proper power and, well…
"Would make sense," Danny mumbled, relaxing when Randy slipped his hand around to cup the teen's cheek, thumb rubbing against the skin. "Randy… What's the Sanctum?" Quiet for a moment, Randy made himself more comfortable before starting.
"The Sanctum is an old cathedral near central France, just outside of a rather small town. It's also the main building of the Sect of the Crow, or at least, it was. God knows what's happened to it now. It was where children were taken and trained to kill in the name of the Lord. Everything we did was to purge the world of sinners in order to bring in the glory of the new kingdom." The words were sour on his tongue, forced out with a bitter laugh and a closed up throat. "We were his chosen disciples, raised in the dark and shadows."
A bright toxic green caught his gaze, Randy letting himself get lost in Danny's eyes as he calmed his thoughts. It was always so simple when it was Andrew and Danny. The only two people who could make his mind stop racing. "The Sanctum was where we lived until Andy was twelve. I was sixteen and I had spent so many years there… I still remember, you know. Vaguely."
Shifting forward, Randy rolled himself down into the nest with Danny, easily curling around the other when he cuddled close. It was so much easier to talk about this in the dark when no one could hear or see him. "I was four when I was taken from my home. The Beaumonts were a high class family and they disagreed very vocally with the public face of the Sect of the Crow. In order to punish them, they stole their firstborn."
"You." Danny looked up, so much empathy in his gaze that Randy couldn't help but draw him closer. "Andy told me a bit."
"We aren't really brothers. At least, not in blood. I don't know if we act like brothers either, but… There wasn't really a name to describe what we were to each other. There still isn't. We were all the other had. Lifeboats and anchors when we were drowning."
"And here I thought Andy was supposed to be the poetic one." Laughing, Randy settled down, face tucked into Danny's neck. A nap didn't sound too bad, especially when a cuddle captive was involved in the matter. Danny didn't seem to mind, either. Breathing deeper, core calm, a hand running through his hair slowly and calmly.
"I'll tell you more, if you want. About the Sanctum, how we grew up, our lives, how we escaped. I can tell you everything." There was a skip in Danny's breathing, and Randy knew the teen wanted to know. Wanted to know desperately.
"Later." But then Danny was Danny. "One day." He would never hurt their feelings, and the only reason he had asked now was because of Spectra… Ah. The darkness was lighter. "You're not going to move, are you?"
"Mm, no. I don't think I will." Steady noises, a peaceful air, and the constant touch against his head. Randy was dropping off fast, and he only picked up the tail end of Danny's question. "Hm?"
"Do you wish it had been different? That you'd never been taken?" Heh. That wasn't even a question Randy had to think about.
"Once. Not anymore, though." He never would have met Andrew. Never would have learned what he did - good and bad. Sylvia wouldn't have been his mother. He never would have seen this beautiful, amazing world he got to explore everyday. He never would have met Danny. "There's a lot I wish I could change… But there's even more I know I wouldn't."
"That was sappy." Unable to stop a laugh as Danny burrowed close, Randy wrapped back around him and kissed the top of his head. "You're horribly sappy."
"Yeah, just a bit." Some days he would never be able to explain what he had between these two precious people in his life. Between his 'brothers'. It was such a weak word but it didn't matter. Not as long as he kept them close. "No telling Andy."
"Promise." It wasn't perfect, not by a longshot. It was rough, and messy, and so hard to keep going, but… It was theirs, and it was amazing.