Family Matters

"Hi, Uncle Lev! Hi, Aunt Lara!"

Katya couldn't stop grinning as her aunt and uncle picked up the crystal ball call. Ever since she'd moved out of their home and to Bonesborough, she'd made sure to call at least once per week. Not making those calls had been one of the reasons she hated being locked up in the Conformatorium.

"Hi, Katya," her uncle said warmly. "How are you doing with your new job?"

After the Day of Unity and with all of the reforms after Belos was defeated and King Clawthorne being revealed as the Last Titan, Raine had offered the BATs to be their personal retainers. Which, given King had asked the populace to put their trust in the coven heads, meant they served as the combined secretaries and bodyguards of a national leader.

"It's going great," Katya said. "Raine's putting their all into ruling, of course. And since they and Eda are practically joined at the hip now, she provides extra security for free." Katya laughed about it, as did her aunt and uncle even if their's were a little more forced.

"And what about that boy you've picked up?" Lev asked, holding his thumb between his chin and forefinger in a teasing way. "What's his name? Eave? Stan?"

"First off, he's a man," Katya emphasized with a teasing smile. "And it's Steve, Uncle Lev."

"Well forgive me for not remembering," Lev said, palms out. "You brought so many people home during school that it's still hard to keep track."

"I wasn't that bad," Katya huffed, crossing her arms.

"Yes, you were, dear," Lara said bluntly, her mouth a thin line, neither a smile nor a frown.

"Ouch," Katya said, clasping her hands over her heart even though her smile never wavered, "that one hurt, Aunt Lara."

"So when are we going to meet this man," Lev asked, adjusting his square glasses. "The way you talk about him I would think you were soulmates."

"Uncle, easy on the shipper throttle," Katya warned fondly, though her cheeks were warming up at the thought. "I actually met his family before he met me, and then the Day of Unity happened and everything else so I guess it hasn't come up yet."

"That is such a romantic story," Lev chuckled. "And I know you wrote about it."

"I may have taken inspiration," Katya hedged. "Write what you know, and all that."

"You should really submit those 'fics' of yours to an editor and publisher, Katya," Lara chided, not for the first time. "You could be making more of a living off of them."

"Aunt Lara, I write for fun," Katya said, with the patience of someone who had gone over something many times. "Making it a real job puts too much pressure. Right now, I'm content to write for fun and practice for a real novel."

"Yes, yes, fine," Lara said with a sigh through her nose.

"And to answer your question, Uncle …" Katya said thoughtfully, "… I'll bring it up soon, okay? Because I know you want to meet him. And-" her blush grew darker, "-I know you'll like him, too."

"Wow, that's high praise," Lev chuckled. "I promise we won't ask you again, Katya. When both of you are ready, just let us know and we'll be ready to meet him."

"Thanks, you two," Katya said, meaning every word.

Katya thought about her uncle's words for a few more weeks. With everything going on and how busy she and Steve were with their new jobs — Katya serving under Raine with her friends and Steve being a special operative in the Watchmen, the Boiling Isles's new-and-improved law enforcement — she had ample excuse to brush it aside when she wondered if Steve was ready for that step.

It only occurred to her how unfair she was being to her aunt and uncle when she was spending an evening at the Skarn household for dinner. Clara was always welcoming to Katya and inviting her over, as was Steve's younger sister Thea who would jokingly boast being the one who first called their relationship. After dinner of roasted kookumber and audumbla stew, Katya had volunteered to help clean the dishes. As she finished up, Clara thanked her.

"It's my pleasure, Mrs. Clara," Katya said.

"Oh, not just that, dear," Clara said seriously. "Thank you for being so good to my Steventus. I'm sure he's told you a lot about what he's been through, far more than he's told any of us, and knowing that you're there to help hold him up …" Clara blinked away tears, and wrapped her hands around Katya's. "Thank you, Katya. Thank you."

Katya felt her eyes welling and blinked, too. "Like I said. It's my pleasure, ma'am." Her uncle's words rang in her ears and she glanced at the door. "Excuse me," she said and walked off to find Steve. She found him wrestling with Mattholomule in the backyard while Thea cheered and jeered at them both.

"Steve!" Katya called, and Steve froze in place, locking Matt stock-still along with him. "Can we talk?" she asked.

"Sure," Steve said and tossed Matt off of him with apparent ease, the lanky teen crying out in shock and grunting when he hit the ground. As Steve stood up and brushed himself off, Matt struggled to his feet and mimed a cracking whip. Thea slapped him on the back of the head with a dirty look and Steve rolled his eyes at his siblings' shenanigans.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as they sat on the living room couch. "Usually when someone says 'Can we talk' it might be a cause for concern." Steve's easy smile and the glint in his eye showed he was joking.

"It's not a concern," Katya assured with a faint chuckle. She took Steve's hands in hers and breathed before saying, "I want you to meet my aunt and uncle."

"Really?" Steve asked, his smile dimming with surprise before returning in full. "I mean, I'd love to."

"Are you sure?" Katya asked.

"Katya, you've met my family." He hooked a thumb at the kitchen door and the backyard. "And you went out with me after the fact. I think it's more than fair that I meet the people who raised you and get a chance to learn about their craziness."

Katya laughed and kissed Steve's cheek. "You say that now," she joked.

"They're not gonna scare me off," Steve said seriously. "Raine couldn't do that." Steve blinked. "Though, to be fair, I don't think they were really trying too hard."

Katya rolled her eyes and said, "How does next weekend sound? They live on the south side of the Knee." She scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder. "We could take your bike?"

"Sounds good," Steve decided.

When the weekend finally rolled around and saw Steve and Katya making their way up the Knee on his motorbike, warm, color-contrasting leather jackets and matching sunglasses flashing in the light of dawn, Steve found himself somewhat jealous that Katya had met his family before she met him. There had been no pressure, as the Skarn family had already adored her before they began dating, and in Thea's case had subtly nudged them together.

As they climbed the Knee, Steve began to feel a pit of irrational worry settling deeper and deeper into his belly.

He relaxed as Katya held him closer, propping her chin on his shoulder as they rode. He smiled under his helmet visor and revved the engine to speed up, the roar of his bike and the hold of the woman he cared for so much drowning out his worries for now.

With Katya's directions, they made it to the town of Tiber on the south-facing shin side of the mountain as the sun began to near the horizon. With the sharp angle of the south side, most of the towns had been carved into the actual shinbone, the bone of the Titan molded into divots and shelves that were strung together with wide suspension bridges. Tiber was the uppermost of these few towns, relying on the mining of Titan's Bone as a high-end building material.

After they maneuvered down the crisscrossing mountain road cut into the shin that would lead down to Tiber, Katya pointed him into the large town and through the meticulously-planned, closely-arranged buildings and the streets cut into the bone shelf and covered with snow toward a small, enclosed neighborhood. Driving through the arch declaring Hewer Hills, they took a few turns before stopping at a squat, stone house with a small yard, only modestly different from all of the other houses and yards.

"Welcome to my late-childhood home," Katya announced as she removed her helmet and tossed it into Steve's side-cauldron, shivering with a cold breeze. Steve did the same and slid off the bike, holding a hand out to help Katya off as well. Katya smiled at the gesture and used the hold to haul herself closer for a quick kiss on the lips, then wove their fingers and led him to the front door. She knocked once and then entered without a trace of hesitation.

"Uncle Lev! Aunt Lara! I'm home!"

From a doorway that presumably led to the kitchen stepped a broad-chested man-witch who somehow still favored Katya, with apparently-natural silver hair, rather than dark, cut short to match a thin goatee, similarly caramel skin, and fangs that nearly reached his chin rather than the tiny points of Katya's. His eyes were reddish-orange that contrasted Katya's hazel and framed by thick, black glasses. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and dark-yellow sweater vest with dark pants and leather loafers.

"Katya!" he greeted enthusiastically and swept his niece up in an equally enthusiastic hug that almost seemed to envelope her even as she laughed with delight. He let her go and turned to Steve. "And this strapping young man must be your Steve, hmm?"

"Mr. Serdtse," Steve greeted with his usual boyish smile, offering a hand to shake. Lev snorted a laugh and swept Steve up into a hug, too, that popped his back.

"Oh, don't bother, Steve. Call me Lev!" He chuckled and dropped Steve to his feet. Letting him catch his breath, he clapped Steve on the back with a meaty hand and after they had removed their leather jackets and boots — Steve wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with his name printed in yellow with dark pants and Katya a green off-the-shoulder dress and black tights — led them both to the living room's couch to sit them down as he took a seat in a comfy-looking chair. "With everything Katya's told us, I feel like you've earned my first name."

"How much has she told you?" Steve wondered aloud, glancing bemusedly at his girlfriend.

"Oh, stuff," Katya shrugged and flicked her hand in a dismissive gesture, her eyes glittering.

"'Stuff', she says," Lev chuckled. "Stuff like how handsome he is," he wagged a finger at Steve, "and I must say she was right on the snails, there, son." Steve blushed a little as Lev continued,counting compliments on his fingers. "Stuff like how brave and kind you are. That you defected from the Emperor's Coven to join the rebellion and fought on the Day of Unity. That your family is so kind to her." He grinned. "That you are an amazing kisser-"

"Uncle Lev!" Katya whined, hiding her face in her hands before facing Steve. "I swear, I didn't tell him that."

"Not in so many words, no," Lev grinned, tenting his fingers like some criminal mastermind. "But I can read between the lines."

"Of course you can, dear," came a rather deep woman's voice from the kitchen doorway. Steve looked over to find an immaculately groomed Miladon demoness with long, silky mahogany hair framing her face and contrasting short, hazelnut fur. Large, sharp, ice-blue eyes were set over a faintly downturned mouth with long, curved fangs. Her arms ending in large paws were crossed under her bust, a scarlet, sleeveless sheath dress conforming to her slim figure and ending above narrow, two-toed feet.

"Aunt Lara," Katya greeted brightly, rising to hug the woman. Lara's neutral scowl melted as she hugged her niece, but returned when Katya separated from her and rejoined Steve on the couch, her arms folding once more.

"So, Steve," Lev said, picking the conversational ball back up, "Katya says you're a watchman. That must be rather exciting, these days."

"It has been," Steve admitted. "Granted, I don't, um," he rubbed the back of his head with one hand, but Katya took his other hand in hers and squeezed in a show of support, "my experience isn't really typical. My partner and I are kind of, erm, special agents. We do the stuff the Council needs done as soon as possible. Delivering correspondence, investigating sudden crimes-"

"Assassination?" Lara asked sharply.

"Uh, no," Steve said, eyes wide. "That kind of thing went away with Belos."

"Raine's making sure of it," Katya said, her gaze hard and heavy on her aunt.

Everything was quiet for a long while until Lev once again broke the silence. "I think dinner's ready! Who's hungry?" With that, he ushered everyone into the kitchen to sit at a square dinner table as he doled out plates of steaming lasagnaw. There were several minutes of silent eating — Katya all the while holding Steve's hand under the table — when Steve took the turn to start talking.

"So, Mr. Lev and Mrs. Lara-" he said.

"Mrs. Serdtse," Lara corrected, her eyes narrowed.

"Aunt Lara-!"

"Katya," Steve interrupted, squeezing her hand, "it's fine." He looked at Lara. "Mrs. Serdtse," and Lara nodded ever so faintly, "what do you two do for a living? The way Katya told stories about her childhood, I thought you were both bards." He blinked. "She also described her uncle as a man of few words who lets his music do the talking." He arched an eyebrow. "So how …?"

Katya snorted and began to giggle around the food in her mouth, covering her lips to keep herself polite. She swallowed and laughed. "Oh my Titan, that's a different uncle!" She began to laugh in earnest, covering her eyes now. "I can't believe I never made that clear."

"You were talking about Valentin," Lev said between chuckles of his own. Then he clapped a hand to his chest and cried out with palpable melodrama, "Oh woe is me that my own niece, whom I raised as my own, would not tell her boyfriend about me!"

"I can see where you get it from," Steve whispered, and Katya started laughing even harder.

With the tension largely dispelled, conversation came much easier. Lev took the lead, answering Steve's question by explaining that Lara worked for the town's mining corporation in grading the quality of the Titan's Bone that was extracted — and thus how high a price it would fetch — and shaping asymmetrical pieces into blocks for building. It was a tough part of the job, but Lara was well up for the task and enjoyed it. Lev was an alchemist for the same company responsible for brewing the explosive potions that were used in the mines, invigoration potions for the miners, and so on.

Lev asked about Steve's family, and Steve told stories about his siblings growing up. In return, Lev was happy to tell a few embarrassing stories from Katya's late childhood and teen years that had the woman herself hiding her face in her hands while Steve laughed and patted her shoulder.

All the while, Lara said only a handful of terse words — most of them saying that Thea had not reached out to her about ukulele lessons, which Steve knew was about her wanting to try on her own first — her eyes remaining hard and untrusting on Steve. He smiled through it, but it was starting to get to him. Why did Katya's aunt seem to dislike him so much?

"Well, this was delicious," Steve said, standing and gathering dishes. "Why don't I clean up, eh? I'm sure you all want to catch up in private."

"Actually, Steve, if I may," Lev said, rising himself, "I would like to talk to you, man-to-man." He quirked a faint grin. "And it's not a shovel talk, I promise you that."

"Uh, of course," Steve said. He started as Katya gently took the dishes from him with a warm smile, lifting on her toes to place a small kiss at the corner of his mouth.

"Have fun," she whispered and joined her aunt at the sink, Lara already running hot water and preparing to clean the dishes.

Lev led Steve through the house and to a door at the end of the hallway that opened to reveal an archetypical high school girl's bedroom. Posters of bands littered the walls along with diagrams of music. Textbooks on Bard magic were stacked on a desk alongside several journals and notebooks decorated with anthropomorphized foods. It was clean, the bed made, and spoke of a happy childhood.

Katya's room.

"Take a seat, Steve," Lev said, the cheerfulness in his voice muted as he gestured at the bed and took the chair from Katya's desk to sit on.

"You sure this isn't a shovel talk?" Steve asked, trying to break the ice.

"It's not," Lev chuckled briefly, then sobered up. "It's an apology."

"For what?" Steve asked. "Sir, you've been nothing but cordial to me all evening."

"But my Lara has not," Lev said, weaving his fingers on his lap. "And I think you deserve to know why."

"I'll admit, I've been wondering," Steve admitted.

"Lara is worried," Lev explained. "And when she gets worried, she tends to withdraw." He huffed a laugh and rubbed at his eyes. "I don't know how much Katya has told you about her past …"

"She told me you raised her after her parents died," Steve said. "She seems like she's adjusted pretty well."

"My brother and sister-in-law," Lev mused. "Alexi was my twin brother, younger by all of four minutes. He and Mila were dear friends from the time they began baby class at St. Epiderm." Lev smiled sadly. "Our parents would tease that they were meant to be. And lo and behold, they fell in love before graduation and were married a year after." He chuckled at the memories, tears welling in his eyes. "Mila was the one who introduced me to Lara, actually, after she had graduated from Glandus. Their mothers were good friends and they were the best of friends growing up, even going to different schools."

"What happened, sir?" Steve asked.

"Gorenado," Lev said shortly. Gorenado was the term for whirling winds that tore into the flesh of the Titan and turned pink from it, the stone and ground bone ripping apart everything the funnel came across like a meat grinder. Oracles were notoriously bad at predicting them. The debris they flung high into the air was also the cause of shale hail.

"Katya was eight. They were living in a village on the edge of the Hip bogs. The gorenado came out of nowhere and tore the village apart. From what was found, it seems they shoved Katya into a small cellar and used their magic to reinforce it just as the gorenado came through. Katya didn't have to see it, thank the Titan. But there was little enough to identify except their palismen, who surrendered their souls to the Titan in grief after they told us what happened."

"Mother of Titans," Steve whispered.

"In one moment, I lost my twin brother and we both lost our best friends. Lara and I were in her parents' will to raise her." He grimaced for a moment before sighing. "We … are unable to have our own children. So having the chance to raise Katya, it … it was like a sunbeam in a storm. That one shred of hope in a sea of grief." Lev brushed his face and focused back on Steve. "Lara in particular became very protective of Katya. She looks much like her mother, except for the fangs and Alexi's coloring."

"So Lara doesn't trust me," Steve surmised.

"It's more than that," Lev said heavily. "Katya has always been free with her affections. A miracle, really, considering what happened. She is the kind who loves love, and she reveled in it during school. It seemed every few weeks she would bring home some new boy or girl and talk about them as if they were the love of her life." His lips pressed together and his fingers curled into fists. "And each and every one would break her heart. They would take things too fast, or treat her terribly, or just lose interest and cast her aside. A chain of crushes and heartbreaks." He relaxed his hands.

"Toward graduation, she closed her heart off. She smiled less, hugged less … it was like part of her had withered. She dove into her writing to cope, and I do believe it helped. Enough that since she moved to Bonesborough she told us about a few first dates that never went anywhere." He smiled again, wanly. "So imagine our surprise when she calls and begins gushing about this kind, handsome witch she has been seeing. It was like she was reborn, Steve." He stood up with a grunt and placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"I have a strong sense that you are a good man. Katya has told us about what happened with the rebellion and the Day of Unity, and it painted a wonderful picture. I, for one, am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt." His smile turned apologetic. "Just be aware that Lara may, erm, take time to warm up to you."

"I-" Steve blinked and tried to process everything he had learned. "Y-Yes, sir." He stood up and saluted on sheer reflex. "You have my word. I will treasure her until my last breath has passed my lips."

"Hrm, a poet as well," Lev chuckled. "It seems you two may be made for each-"

He was interrupted by the door slamming open. Katya stood there, cold fury in every line of her body. "We're leaving," she said shortly. She briefly kissed Lev's cheek and grabbed Steve's wrist, hauling him toward the front door.

"Wait, what?" Steve asked in shock.

Katya carefully placed the dishes in the sink and took a dry rag in hand. Aunt Lara was always the one to wash when it was her turn, so Katya was set to dry. Which she was fine with; it gave her a chance to think as they worked. And the more she thought of how cold her aunt had been to Steve, the more frustrated she got.

"Something on your mind, Dearest?" Lara asked calmly, using the pet name she'd had for her since before Katya's parents had died.

"A few things," Katya said tersely. "Like how when I was growing up, you always impressed how important courtesy to guests was."

"Excuse me?" Lara asked, seemingly baffled.

"You've barely said two words to Steve and done nothing but glare at him since we got here," Katya laid out. When she finished drying the next plate, she put it in the cabinet with more force than necessary. "What? Do you know him from somewhere?"

"I've never met him before in my life," Lara said, eyes flashing.

"So what's with you?" Katya finally asked. "Uncle Lev's at least trying to get to know him before he judges anything."

"Your uncle is a trusting witch," Lara said. "Too trusting, sometimes."

"You never said that about any of the people I dated in school," Katya noted. "No matter how dumb or shady or jerkish they were, in hindsight, you never treated them like this. So what makes Steve, possibly the nicest person I've ever met, much less dated, different?"

"You're a grown woman, Katya," Lara said, her tone that of someone very clearly trying to moderate said tone. "Those children were just that, and so were you. We trusted you not to do anything rash, and rightly so. But that boy in there is bad news on a whole new level."

"Based on what?" Katya demanded.

"He's a coven scout, for one," Lara snapped. "He fell in with Belos's madness and no doubt did terrible things for that monster."

"Was a coven scout," Katya corrected firmly. "And everyone was under Belos's thumb!" Katya fired back, trying to keep quiet so as to not interrupt her uncle and boyfriend's talk. "And in case you missed the hundred times I said it, he defected and fought with us."

"He's disloyal, then," Lara said sharply.

"Oh, now you're just looking for flaws," Katya snarled.

"Katya, please," Lara said, her voice strained. "Trust me. That boy is not a good fit. He'll hurt you just like the rest did. The safest thing is to cut him loose now."

Katya stared at her aunt, the woman who had been a second mother to her, and hardly recognized her.

Aunt Lara had never exactly been warm or doting by nature, but she had been caring and provided structure to Katya's childhood to compliment Uncle Lev's open warmth. She cooked every day after work to make sure Katya was eating healthily while also enjoying her dinner. She had learned the ukulele from scratch just to help Katya with her Bard studies and become so good that she began offering lessons on Katya's suggestion. She had been nothing but polite to each and every one of the brief relationships that littered Katya's school career.

"Why?" Katya asked. "Give me one real reason why."

"Scouts cannot be trusted, Katya," Lara said seriously, her gaze intent. "One toyed with your mother and shattered her heart in school. It's why she didn't trust your father until so much later." Her mouth twisted with revulsion. "I won't let that happen to you. As soon as you get home, walk away from him. It's for the best."

Katya stared at her aunt in horror … and her fangs bared with sudden, intense fury.

"How dare you?" she asked quietly. "How dare you?!" An intrusive thought, one that had plagued her time and again growing up, reared its head. And for the first time in her life, she voiced it. "You don't see me, do you?" Lara blinked at her in confusion. "You only see Mom." A single tear ran down Katya's cheek and she angrily brushed it aside. "And that's all you'll ever see."

Katya turned and stomped out of the kitchen, intuitively focusing on Steve and Uncle Lev's voices. She flung the door to her childhood room open, her vision tinted red. "We're leaving," was all she could bring herself to say. She kissed her uncle's cheek and grabbed Steve's wrist to lead him toward the door.

"Wait, what?" Steve asked. "Katya, what's-?"

"I'll explain later," Katya said, her voice strained with holding back tears. "Just- We need to go, Steve. Please."

"Katya," Lara said from the kitchen doorway.

"Don't talk to me!" Katya seethed. She whistled and hopped into her boots that slid toward her, her golden-yellow leather jacket situating on her as Steve's did, too. He stumbled into his boots the same way she had. She flung the door open stomped into the dead of night under the stars and between street lamps. "Good night."

"Katya, slow down!" Steve pleaded, racing after her. "What's going on?"

"We're leaving!" Katya said without looking back. "C'mon, get the bike running."

"Katya, you can't leave now," Lara called to them. "It's freezing out here!"

"Katya, what's going on?" Lev asked in a near-panic.

"Ask her!" Katya shouted, pointing at Lara while still not turning around as she leaned onto Steve's bike. "She knows. She knows everything, it seems."

"Katya!" Lara protested.

"The bike, Steve," Katya said hoarsely, her voice wrenching and her eyes burning. She turned at Steve's hand on her shoulder and looked into his eyes. He brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek and she had to physically resist the urge to melt into the contact.

"What's going on?" he asked simply.

With those three simple words, asked with nothing but care, the dam broke. Katya threw herself around Steve and buried her face in his chest to let the tears fall, sobs wracking her body. Steve tenderly hugged her back, offering the strength he could as she broke down. As she calmed after a few minutes, Steve smiled and kissed her forehead.

"I thought I was the one who cries?" he whispered, and Katya couldn't help but giggle and turn his face down to kiss him back, right next to his horn.

"Katya?" She looked over to her uncle, who had a tight smile on his face. "Come inside? Please?"

Katya nodded and took Steve's hand to lead the way back inside. As she passed Lara, she didn't glare. She just … didn't look.

Katya tossed and turned in her old room, tumultuous emotions warring in her belly. Anger and frustration at her aunt on Steve's behalf, guilt that she was angry, shame at how she had reacted … all stewing in grief about her parents in a wound that would never fully heal.

"Why couldn't this be easy like with Steve's family?" Katya asked aloud, covering her eyes.

"Katya?" Steve's voice came quietly through the door. He knocked lightly. "Are you alright in there?"

"Come in," she called, sitting up and holding the sheets to her chest. She had a nightgown on — hot pink, sleeveless, and down to her knees, which was conservative for her — but it seemed the right thing in her aunt and uncle's house. Steve opened the door and slid in, dressed in some long sleep pants but with his chiseled torso bare.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Not really," she admitted. "You?"

"Not really," he echoed with a brief, faint smile. He closed the door and padded over to sit on the side of the bed, careful not to sit on her legs. "Do you want to talk?"

Looking into those calm, caring, blue eyes … how could she say no? So she told him everything she and her aunt had talked about. She somehow kept calm throughout, Steve's attentive gaze keeping her grounded. Halfway through, he took her hand to offer his support and her heart warmed at the gesture. As she finished with her outburst toward the end that he had seen for himself, Steve looked pensive before speaking.

"Maybe we should listen to her."

Cold fear gripped Katya's heart. "Steve?" she asked, her voice small.

He looked at her quizzically before his eyes widened. "Oh jeez. I just heard how that sounds." He held tighter to Katya's hand. "No, I'm not breaking up with you," he clarified. "Never that." He let out a breath. "But we should probably talk about how we handle tomorrow." He reached out and ran his fingers along her cheek. "Katya, I know you love your family. And I don't want you to lose that, especially over me." He dropped his hand. "So what do you want to do?"

"Right now, just one thing," she said. Steve lifted an eyebrow … and Katya took his face in her hands and hauled him close to press her lips to his. She kissed him hard, trying to convey everything she felt in that moment. Her warmth, her gratitude, her love. She pulled away with a wet smack and ran her thumbs over Steve's cheeks, giggling at the gobsmacked expression on his face.

"Wha- I, uh … I like where this is going," he smiled goofily, earning another giggle from her. "Mind, erm, running that by me again?" So she kissed him again, more gently this time, before they buckled down and talked.

Needless to say, breakfast was awkward.

Lev had checked in on Katya early and found Steve snoozing against the side of her bed, his head cradled on her lap as she was splayed out on the bed itself with her hand tangled in his hair. Lev had suppressed a laugh at the odd scene and shaken both of them awake to prepare for the day.

Lara had prepared griffin eggs and schvine bacon with toast. Silence stretched as everyone ate, though it was different for everyone. Steve felt awkward and a little out of place within a family spat. Katya simmered while doggedly remaining civil. Lev seemed calm, though also quietly tense. As for Lara, she kept her eyes down and her lips closed. When everyone had finished, she stood and reached for the dirty dishes, but Lev placed a gentle hand on hers.

"My dear," he said firmly, "I think you've postponed long enough. Isn't there something you want to say?"

Lara was silent. Katya felt her hackles rise, but Steve took her hand under the table and she settled again. Lev pinned his wife with a steady gaze that would accept no foolishness.

"I am sorry," Lara finally said. Lev lifted an eyebrow and Lara sighed. "I am sorry to both of you."

"Sorry for what, exactly?" Katya asked, her voice hard.

"I am sorry for how I have treated our guest," she began, finally looking up at Steve with something besides contempt. More like … assessment. Steve returned the look with patience. "I let feelings that have festered for years cloud my judgment, and that was wrong of me. I-" She grit her teeth. "You deserve a fair chance at earning our niece's heart, on her choice rather than mine."

"Thanks," Steve said. "I can't imagine that was easy to say. I appreciate it."

Lara narrowed her eyes before giving a curt nod. Then she looked at Katya, and her eyes softened with remorse. "My dearest Katya," she said, "I am so sorry. I never wanted you to feel like a replacement for your mother." She reached to take Katya's hand, but Katya twitched it back and Lara rested her hand beside it.

"It is true that your mother was my best friend," Lara said with a sad smile, looking Katya in the eyes. "And I have felt that it was my duty to make sure you were raised as she would have wanted. And …" she looked away as tears formed in her eyes, "perhaps I have projected my memory of her onto you." She swallowed thickly. "To my shame."

"But please believe me, Katya," she pleaded, her voice straining now. "I never meant for you to live in Mila's shadow, or Alexi's. I swear it upon the Titan's bones."

Katya pressed her lips at such an oath. Here, on the Knee, living in a town that was funded by the excavation and sale of Titan's Bone, that particular oath held much more significance than anywhere on the Boiling Isles. In this town, to break or to lie upon such an oath was tantamount to jumping from the summit of the Knee into the Boiling Sea.

"I …" Katya stalled, wrestling down her emotions. "I don't know if I'm ready to forgive you just yet," she admitted. But she placed her hand on Lara's with a wane smile. "But I love you, Aunt Lara. That's never going to change."

Lara shed a single tear and nodded. Lev scooted his chair and held her in a side hug, placing his hand on his wife and niece's. A loud sniffle broke the tranquil quiet and they all looked over to find Steve covering his mouth as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"That's so beautiful," he said.

Katya smiled wider and reached over to fondly brush her thumb over his cheek. "Cry baby," she giggled.

Neither noticed Lara's eyes widen at the simple exchange, then soften in understanding.

After finishing breakfast and a series of heartfelt goodbyes and Lev having Katya promise to bring Steve by again soon, the young couple hopped on his motorbike for one final stop in Tiber before they returned to Bonesborough.

They stopped at Katya's direction at a small graveyard rimmed by a wrought iron fence, a stone archway at its only entrance. Katya took Steve's hand and led him along paths between the graves until they reached a double gravemarker that read, Alexi and Mila Serdtse - Beloved Brother and Sister, Son and Daughter, Father and Mother - They Will Ever Be Loved and Missed.

"Oh, man," Steve breathed.

"Mom, Dad," Katya said, curling into Steve's side. "I'd like you to meet someone."

They left within the hour and rode home to Bonesborough.

They had dinner at Steve's apartment, and for technically the second time … they spent the night together, chastely curled into each others' warmth and happy to have one another.

And here we have the eighth side-story! I've been looking forward to this one... and I did not expect how long it would be. As I started it, I wanted a different first impression for the Serdtses than the Skarns, and then ideas for drama kept spinning out, plus backstory and everyhting else. I did not plan for it to get this emotional or dramatic, but it coalesced that way and I like how it turned out! Wahoo! ^^Remember, if you have a suggestion for a side-story in the Ash & Ebony 'verse, feel free to leave a comment!

*Katya's aunt is the same demon species as one of the Plant track students, named Bram in "Ash & Ebony." I never determined a name for the species in the main saga - this term Miladon is a small change to "smilodon" - the saber-toothed cat - based on their long fangs.

*Lev is a Russian name meaning "lion." With the surname Serdtse meaning "heart," it literally means "lion heart." The name can also mean "heart" in Hebrew, which would make his name mean "heart heart." Take that however you wish. The name Lara is a diminutive of "Larissa" in Russian, meaning citadel.

*Aunt Lara's comment on Katya submitting her work to publish came from my own mother, who occasionally asks me if you can make money writing fanfiction. My response is usually about the same as Katya's.

*The town of Tiber is named after the Tiber river in Italy that serves as the main waterway of the city of Rome, and as a play on "tibia," the shinbone.

*Hewer is another term for miner – as in, to "hew" stone. The neighborhood is designed for people who work for the town's mining operations.

*Valentin is a multicultural name that means "strength" or "health." Valentin Serdtse, Katya's other uncle, works in a Boiling Isles equivalent physical rehabilitation center, using Bard magic to help patients regain their strength.

*Alexi means "defending men," and is both Russian and Greek. Mila means "gracious."

*The idea of Titan's bone being a building material is based on Lilith describing the Titan's "five humors" in "Them's The Breaks, Kid." For my detailed thoughts, check out Tumblr: i-am-a-scholar-of-magic/711809581201981440/the-titans-humors?source=share

*For those of you concerned about Katya's temper, I can't help but imagine that she's naturally very emotional. Her passion bubbles close to the surface, in the words of Wreck-It Ralph. Adding on the closeness of family issues, she had a lot of stress well up very quickly.

*The explanation of Katya's other uncle came to me when I realized that I characterized Lev very differently from the uncle Katya described in "A Good Turn." I liked Lev, and so another idea popped up to fill the gap. ^When Katya claims in the same chapter that Clara reminds her of her aunt, she's referring to her kitchen skills and her tendency to not take no for an answer in her own home.

*The idea of the Hip bogs comes from "Keeping Up A-fear-ances." The gremlins mention the "healing bogs of the Hips," and I took that a little seriously.

As always, I hope it was a fun read! Leave a review if you like! And may your own works be fun to read and to write!