Chapter 50:
Work was never ending ever since the war started and even more so after it ended. Some weeks, it was great to be so busy, kept her mind from wandering to dark places. Other weeks it was so hard to hear person after person talking about family and friends lost to the war and she wasn't sure she could take one more patient. But today is one of her regulars, one she always looks forward to because she just wants someone to chat to that her understands and views her experiences as normal.
As if there's anything normal about being a victor, let alone a Quell victor.
A knock on the door before it opens and Glacia looks up at Marian, giving her a small smile as she enters. She shuts the door behind her and lets out a loud huff before putting her hand on her hip. "Oh boy, what is it now?" Glacia asks with a hint of amusement, just knowing that tone from Marian.
"So I tried to have an interview," Marian says as she comes over to her seat opposite Glacia, still limping just a little bit from her lingering injuries. She flops down, sinking down in the chair with a dramatic groan. "You know, find myself a normal job after years of being able to freeload as a victor," she continues, waving her hand around in the air dismissively.
"Oh yes, how awful that you can't just freeload anymore!" Glacia says, chuckling when Marian just flips her off. "So what's the big deal? Working isn't bad, you know."
"Working isn't bad, you know," Marian mocks and pretends to gag a little bit, making Glacia roll her eyes at her. But then Marian sits up as she points at Glacia, suddenly energized. "The problem is I want this one so bad!" she says, slapping her hands on her legs before flopping back down. "I'm no longer special and can't just guarantee that I'll get this job, and it's gonna kill me just waiting to see if I get it!"
"Oh, I see," Glacia says, raising her eyebrows in surprise at her because this was not at all what she was expecting to hear today. "Which one is this job?"
"You're gonna make fun of me," Marian says with a sigh as she sits back up and crosses her arms.
"Is it the Zamboni driver?" Glacia asks curiously. Not judging, just curious. If that's what she wants to do, then that's her prerogative!
"No, they picked someone else," Marian grumbles at that. "I want the glass blowing job! Like come on, do you see that shit they create? How the fuck do they just make a fucking pumpkin or an octopus out of hot glass?!"
"I…don't know," Glacia says honestly with a shrug, trying to hold back her amusement at this. Who would have thought Marian of all people would be this way now? But she's happy for her, happy she found something to do. If only the rest could get to this point. "Do I need to call as a reference? Be big scary victor?"
"No," Marian says quickly and shakes her finger at her, making Glacia put up her hands defensively. "I will get this job myself! Just wait and see!"
"I'm waiting," Glacia says with a chuckle. "Well good luck with that, you'll have to let me know how it goes."
"Oh I will," Marian says and then she lights up at a thought. Glacia just settles in, knowing that Marian is going to go off on a rant, and just here for it. At least she knows it's going to be about something stupid and outrageous, not about grief, as she can use the break. "Oh, I gotta tell you about this bitch who cut me off at the coffee shop, and…"
And so the hour goes by fast, and then some – Glacia learned the lesson to schedule Marian last in the day a while ago – and they would have kept talking if not for Darach showing up to get her to go home. "Marian, you trying to steal my wife?" he asks jokingly as he opens up the door.
"Oh, I wish," Marian says with an over the top sigh before laughing, mostly joking – but come on, what lesbian her age grew up in Two and didn't crush on Glacia? "Lucky man."
"Absolutely," Darach agrees, not afraid to admit that at all.
Glacia smiles at him, her lifeline after all these years. Never would she have gotten through all of this without knowing she would get to go home to him. "No, I'm definitely the lucky one."
She tried to deny it for so long, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that District Four just doesn't feel like home anymore. And it took even longer for her to try and cope with that fact.
So now here she stands, in her empty living room, feeling so numb to all of it. This was her home, where she built her life with Stel and learned how to have a father with Lukas. But now the furniture was boxed up and loaded onto the truck to go to the train, the walls painted, floors cleaned and wiped of the evidence of her life there for almost four decades.
"Muir?" Stel asks quietly and she quickly wipes her face, trying to get rid of any evidence of tears on her cheeks as he comes over to her. He hugs her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Of course not," Muir replies honestly with a sigh, feeling that prickle of tears again. She thought by now she'd be out of any tears to cry over all of this. "I know Four doesn't feel like home anymore, but this was our home."
"I see," Stel says but Muir just knows from his tone that he does not actually get it, but he's just trying to be helpful. And that just makes her laugh a little bit as she leans back into him, the sound foreign to her at this point. "But home has always been where you are, so I'm not that sad."
Muir tears up at that, knowing after all these years that he truly means it, and sighs as she shuts her eyes. "I wish I was as optimistic as you," she says softly as she squeezes out a couple tears, and Stel kisses the side of her head. But it was so damn hard to be optimistic lately after seeing all the things she did, walking around this District that is so hollow now after all the loss. She barely could bring herself to even leave their house some days, not wanting to see the empty reminders in the Victor's Village. "It's so hard leaving this all behind, yet…what is even left for us to leave behind?"
"The aquarium, but we'll do regular visits to that," Stel says, considering it for another moment before shrugging. "That's about it. We'll make our new house just as much our home as this one has been."
"I sure hope so," Muir says as she turns around in his arms and rests her head against his chest as he holds her tight. She takes a deep breath, trying not to cry too much and view it as a new beginning, but she still feels like she's leaving a part of her behind. "I suppose we can come back whenever we want."
"We can, and we will!" Stel replies cheerfully as he holds her tight and kisses the top of her head. "Whenever you like, just say the word."
"Okay," Muir says softly and just falls quiet, letting him hold her. And Stel, bless his heart, doesn't have much to say, and just holds her tight, swaying her a little bit. One last moment for the two of them in their first home together.
"Hey kids?" Lukas calls out to them from the front door and Muir sighs at that, knowing it's time. "You ready to go? Train leaves in fifteen."
"Ready when you are," Stel tells Muir and lets go of her, but makes sure to kiss her forehead before she gets too far away. "And ready for our next adventure together."
Muir stops to think about that for a moment as she looks around the house one last time. Already it doesn't even feel like home, just an empty building waiting for someone else to move in. And when she looks back at Stel, standing there waiting for her and trying – and failing – to not have a stupid grin on his face, she finds herself starting to smile back at him. At least she doesn't have to do this alone, she has him and her father by her side, ready to be her anchor.
"Alright, a new adventure. Together."
Clark awakes with a start and a small strangled noise, gasping for air as he sits up and puts his hands on his throat. But then the tears start immediately, all of the nightmare just seeming so real, he really felt like he was watching Stig die right in front of him in the arena.
He's not in the arena, but Stig is still dead, a harsh reality he still hasn't figured out how to cope with. Staying with Letha and her family has helped a little bit, at least during the day, but the nightmares are still so persistent.
Across the room, Leandro also wakes up at Clark's little outburst, immediately making him feel bad for waking him up. "What's happening?" he asks as he fumbles to turn on the little lamp next to his bed, illuminating the room and making Clark squint and flinch away from the light. He should have just gone out to sleep on the couch by now, but he slept worse out there and felt way too guilty being woken up by Letha looking sad for him. "Clark?"
"I'm sorry," Clark mumbles as he wipes his face on his sleeve and turns a little away from him, trying to hide the tears from him. And he's just left filled with both grief and guilt now for waking him up. "Another nightmare. I…I can just go," he offers, even if he doesn't want to be alone, and starts gathering up his blanket and a pillow.
"No, don't do that," Leandro says as he sits up and throws his blanket aside before getting up and coming over to sit down next to Clark. Clark just slows his gathering up and instead wraps the blanket around himself, trying to hide himself a little bit as he watches Leandro rub his eyes, struggling to wake up. "I had them too for a while."
"What? Why?" Clark asks, surprised by that and mostly just confused. And…he feels bad that he hasn't really gotten to know Leandro that much yet, but it is just hard for him to want to really talk to anyone these days, instead mostly following Letha around all day like a lost puppy.
Leandro sighs at that question and puts his head in his hands for a moment. "Davy," he says quietly, the name causing a slight bit of recognition in Clark, but not enough to really know. "One of the tributes last year."
"Oh, that's right," Clark says quietly, growing uncomfortable thinking about that because he doesn't know what to say. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Leandro replies, but his face shows that it definitely isn't fine. "We never really got a chance to see where things would go, didn't say anything until it was too late. It's more so mourning the loss of what could have been… So I get it, with the nightmares."
"It fucking sucks," Clark admits as he curls up on himself a little bit, no longer trying to hide his tears now that he knows Leandro gets it. At least someone gets it… "I don't know how to just move on. I still haven't moved on from all the friends I lost in the arena, then the tributes we lost the last two years. How your mom does this year after year, I have no idea because I've done this twice and it's ruining me."
"Well, you don't have to do it again, at least," Leandro offers, but it's not much of a consolation right now. "She doesn't handle it well. Took until I got older to recognize that. My parents got in arguments a good amount over her mentoring each year, the only time they argue…"
"She should have listened to your dad," Clark says as he pulls the blanket tighter around himself. "I don't know how she sleeps at all anymore. I doubt I'll ever have a good night's rest again."
"I don't know either," Leandro sighs at that and looks around the room while Clark stares straight ahead, feeling like a shell of a person. "Do you want to stay up and read with me for a bit?" Leandro asks him, blushing a little bit in embarrassment over asking him that. But he gestures with his thumb over to his bookshelf that's full of books, just waiting to be picked out to read. "It helps me stay awake until my body just gives up, and then usually I just end up dreaming about whatever I was reading…"
Clark considers it for a moment, still debating if he should just go out to the couch to spare Leandro from his nightmares. But if the boy really wanted that, he could have kicked Clark out of there a while ago, or not even offered to share his room in the first place. He is just too good of a person, way better than Clark has ever been, and he doesn't deserve this kindness from him.
"Okay," Clark finds himself agreeing and Leandro gives him a smile that he hesitantly returns, before he gets up to go pick out a book from the shelf.
"Oh, I haven't reread this one in a while, it's one of my favorites," Leandro says as he turns back around and holds up a book to show Clark, before waving him over as he sits down on his bed by the light. He pulls the blanket up as he leans back against the headboard and opens up the book, before patting the spot next to him for Clark to come join him. "Don't strain your eyes trying to read over there, trust me."
"Alright," Clark says as he hesitantly gets up, blanket still wrapped around him, and he slowly sits down next to Leandro. The boy holds the book a little bit closer to Clark, but he still has to lean over a bit to read it better.
And so the two boys stay up for way to late reading, until they both end up falling asleep – Clark way earlier than Leandro, but he can't bring himself to move and disturb Clark. And so in the morning, Letha finds them sitting there, light still on, book in Leandro's lap, and Clark's head resting on his shoulder, finally having slept through the rest of the night soundly.
It took so long for them to finally let him out of his own personal asylum, trapped in the hospital and restrained as they deemed him a flight risk. A damage to himself and everyone else, but what did they expect after he was tortured for months? Kept a prisoner inside his own body? And then forced to kill the only real family member he ever knew?
Now they just have him on so many mood meds, keeping him numb so he won't be a risk to himself. Maybe. He still isn't sure if he wants to be living out in this new world after the rebels attacked…
But he really should have known better that they weren't really letting him leave. His first breath of fresh air is cut off just as quickly as it starts when he sees the smug face waiting for him.
"I don't need a babysitter," Calisto says, crossing his arms at Julian just waiting there for him, trying to act like he wasn't waiting at all.
"Tell me honestly that you haven't considered going to the store to buy a bottle of pills," Julian asks him, eyebrows raised and silently questioning him, and Calisto hates that he can read him so fucking well. So he just shoves past him towards the car waiting to take him home, and Julian hustles after him. "I won't tell Kostas I'm right but I knew it!"
"Leave me alone," Calisto hisses at him, getting in the backseat of the car and slamming the door in Julian's face, just for him to open it up and push him over across the backseat so he can join him. "I don't want you around so stop wasting your time! Go back home to Magnus or whatever you've been doing as a free member of society, I don't fucking know."
"No can do," Julian replies and taps the blacked out glass divider between them and the driver a couple times, letting them know they were ready to leave. Then he sits back as Calisto tries to put as much space between them as he can. "I've actually been traveling back to Ten a bit, working on building up that proper aviary I've dreamed of for years."
"Lucky you," Calisto says bitterly, mostly because he had freedom while Calisto was kept inside. But also…at this point, he doesn't even want to travel elsewhere in Panem, he just wants to be free within the Capitol. He turns to look out the window, hoping Julian will get the hint that he doesn't want to talk, yet just finds himself getting distracted by how much the Capitol has changed, but also stayed exactly the same. "They didn't drug me for more time than I thought, right?"
"It's been almost five months since the Reapings happened for the 151st Games," Julian informs him in that stupid smug tone of his. "It's changed a lot, huh? Biggest change is the free housing they offered to those across the Districts whose homes were destroyed. Now that must have been a cultural shock for a lot of people on both sides."
"I wish I was free to enjoy it," Calisto says quietly, a little wistful for the life he's missed out on thanks to Elin and the rebels – and the life he doesn't know he can even enjoy anymore.
"Well you are now," Julian comments and at least has the social awareness to tell he doesn't want to talk right now, so he lets them sit in silence for the rest of the drive to Calisto's old apartment. Instead, he just pulls out his little pocket notebook, jotting down notes for both work with his mutts and the aviary in Ten.
And when they pull up to the apartment building, Calisto rubs his arms nervously as he looks up at it, not wanting to get out of the car just yet. He hated being kept in the hospital, but now on his own…he doesn't know what he's going to do. And…he will never admit it to Julian, but he's glad he's there with him, he knows he would have hurt himself if left alone. Done something irrevocably stupid and then regretted it.
"Come on, we can't sit here all day," Julian says as he's texting, knowing he has a limited time to get Calisto settled in before he enacts his plan. He looks up to give his arm an awkward punch before shaking his head at how terrible that was and hurrying out of the car.
"Still a fuckin' weirdo," Calisto mutters as he leaves, but he doesn't want to be left alone for long so he takes a deep breath and gets out as well. No bag to even go home with, just the change of clothes they at least gave him so he didn't have to leave in his hospital gown and grippy socks. He just sighs as he starts to the door where Julian waits with the keys to let him in. "I'm going, quit being impatient."
"I didn't say anything," Julian responds as he gets the door and holds it open for him. But he just follows him quietly to the elevator, at least a little better now at recognizing social situations to just shut his mouth.
"I don't even remember how I left it," Calisto comments when the doors open on his floor, a little scared to even enter it.
"I went in and at least cleaned up the moldy bread and stale tea you left out on the counter. Oh, and cleaned out any pills or sharp objects you could use to hurt yourself," Julian tells him with a shrug and Calisto just grimaces at even the thought of it. "But otherwise I didn't touch it."
"Gee, thanks," Calisto mutters under his breath before he holds out his hands for the keys from him. He slowly unlocks it and pushes the door open, unsure what to expect, but…it's just his same old space. And there's something comforting about being back there in the cluttered mess that was his space, no one else's. "Damn it," he says as he starts tearing up at all the memories and he tosses his keys in the bowl by the door as he walks in, looking around at all the things. And he goes over to the coffee table, picking up some of the papers and notebooks he left there in a mess. "I forgot all about this."
Julian watches him go through his papers as he's checking his phone and tries to be so nonchalant about pressing the button to buzz someone in to the door. He waits for the confirmation text that he's on his way up before walking over to Calisto to investigate, but smartly stays a couple feet away. "What is all this?"
"Notes I took before taking on the job with Seraphim," Calisto says quietly as he flips through the notebook, shocked by just how detailed he got with all of it. "Seems like a waste of effort, doing all this work with no more Games happening."
"Wow, you really did care about that job, huh?" Julian asks, surprised by that from how miserable he always seemed about it when they were working together. He leans over a little bit closer, the research sparking his own curiosity as a fellow researcher. "You could work on your note taking skills though, this is all over the place."
"I wasn't trying to be organized," Calisto responds with a roll of his eyes and smacks him with his notebook across the chest a bit. But whatever else he is going to say is stopped by a knock on the door that has him giving Julian a look. "Who did you tell I was back?"
"Me? No one," Julian says, a completely obvious lie, and grins when the door opens up – which he left unlocked, of course – and in walks that stupid little escort.
"Yo, yo, what is going on?" Mord asks with a big stupid grin at seeing Calisto again for the first time in so long, even if he barely looks like himself with his brunette buzzcut. He gives him double finger guns with a pose, still completely unable to read the room. "Ayyyy, long time no see!"
Calisto blinks in shock for a few seconds at that, his brain utterly failing to process the fact that Mord of all people is standing in his living room. And then he catches the smug look on Julian's face that makes his brain start working again and realize that little bastard planned all this!
"Can you, uh, excuse us for a moment?" Calisto says before grabbing the front of Julian's shirt to drag him away before Mord even has time to respond. And as soon as he has the bathroom door shut, trapping them inside that small ass bathroom, he pushes Julian into the door as he pokes his chest. "What the fuck are you doing?! I don't want to see anyone right now! Did Kostas set you up for this? The doctors? Well fuck all of them."
"Oh come on, I'm trying to help you out," Julian says as he gently swats his finger away before pushing him back a bit to get some space. He straightens out his shirt a bit before continuing, "None of them told me to do this. You need friends that aren't me and he's been asking about you for months, so I thought you had at least something there. I can't be here all the time and you can't be alone. Just admit it, it's easier."
Calisto is silent at that as he sits down on the toilet, rubbing his face with a loud sigh. This is not at all what he expected coming home and he isn't mentally prepared to be seeing anyone right now, especially not Mord. He just wanted to be left alone, take a couple pills to sleep without nightmares – maybe more than a couple – and sulk in his loneliness. "This isn't helping me."
"You say that because right now you don't want to be helped," Julian points out and Calisto turns his head to glare at him, proving he hit the nail on the head there. "Either you're stuck with me or him, so pick your poison."
"You're insufferable and I hate you," Calisto groans loudly as he stands back up, pushing him aside to open up the door. He's so ready to go tell Mord off and kick him out, give him some fucking peace and quiet, but stops when he catches him sitting on the couch going through his notes. "Hey, that's private research, put that down!"
"What?" Mord asks, glancing up at him before putting the notebook down in confusion. "It's good though. You should like, write a novel or something with it."
"I'll do no such thing," Calisto says, putting his hands on his hips as he glances between Mord and Julian, knowing he's stuck here. He doesn't want to act normal and happy with Mord, but he also does not want to spend a single second longer with Julian, that insufferable smug bastard. And so he makes a choice, shooing Julian towards the door as he goes to his fridge, finding it abysmally empty. And after months of being in the hospital, he just wants good food…
"Should I order a pizza or something?"
It took a while to get back to the Capitol for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, Odyssey missed being back home and Diana was not going to let them go back any time soon. Second, they had to find housing that could accommodate Misha. And third, they were still in a little bit of denial about how much life had changed and going back to start Misha's experimental treatment was admitting it is their new reality.
But the day finally has arrived, time for them to return to what has become their new second home. Well…new second home considering their first apartment was just no longer realistic for them.
"I think I'm starting to get excited about this," Misha says as he rolls himself inside their new home, a way too nice condo taking up the penthouse of one of the buildings in the Capitol. He lets out a little whistle as he looks at the kitchen, so pristine and sleek and modern, just waiting to be ruined by them cooking together. "Look at that, I can reach things!" he adds, mostly teasingly as he opens up the fridge and turns back to smile at Odyssey, who is responsible for their bags.
"I like it better when I make jokes about my disability, not you," Odyssey responds with a light chuckle, slowly trying to get more used to their new reality. He drops their bags down by the door before he goes over to Misha, putting his arms around his neck and leaning down to kiss the top of his head. "This place is way too nice for us, who allowed this?"
"Guess they felt bad about what happened to me and tried to make it up to us with this," Misha shrugs as he leans his head back so Odyssey can give him a kiss on the lips, slow and tender, before Odyssey lets out a little sigh of contentment that they can do that without anyone in his family there to make a comment. Misha smiles up at him before sitting up properly and continuing his exploration of the kitchen as Odyssey leans against the counter watching him with a smile. "Perks already to being crippled!"
Odyssey lets out a little noise at him making jokes like that and shakes his head as he follows after him as he heads down the hallway towards the bedrooms. "Misha," he says.
"Odyssey," Misha replies in the same tone and turns back to give him a look. "Come on, don't deny me of my coping mechanism! You can't talk at all here, Mister."
"I suppose," Odyssey says with a little huff, but the jokes are far better than the tears they both shed at first. And it's just been getting easier each day as they get more accustomed to it, learn their new way of life. It was like what Odyssey went through after his Games, just…on a much larger scale. "Sorry, I'm just nervous about this treatment, especially now that we're back here."
"I know," Misha says, turning around completely to face him in front of the closed door at the end of the hall – their bedroom, from the virtual tours they got. He gives Odyssey a sad smile, but there's hope in his eyes. "I'm staying cautiously optimistic. It'd be great if it works, but if not, we're here, we're alive and healthy otherwise, and I can't ask for much more."
"Yeah, you're right," Odyssey sighs and rubs his face a little bit, still not sure how Misha has remained the more optimistic one all this time. So he goes over to him, gently grabbing his face to lift up his chin to give him another gentle kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too," Misha responds right away as he puts his hands on Odyssey's arms, rubbing them a little bit as he leans up to kiss him again before smiling against his lips. "Now come on, don't you wanna pick me up and throw me down on our new bed after months of moms and sisters hovering?"
Odyssey lets out a loud laugh at that and bounces his eyebrows at him. "Oh don't tempt me with a good time!" he says, keeping up a light tone because he doesn't want to spiral over also figuring out intimacy with this new injury along with every other aspect of their life. So he tries to scoop him up, laughing as the chair tries to run away from him, before finally getting him up, even if it's a little bit of a struggle. "Oh I need to get back in the gym asap, I shouldn't be struggling like this!"
"Every day is arm day for me," Misha laughs as Odyssey kicks the chair to the side so he can get to the bedroom door. "I'll join you so we can both-"
"SURPRISE!"
Odyssey and Misha both let out a little scream at their friends yelling that – with Odyssey almost dropping Misha. "Oh, surprise!" Anastacia adds on, being late to the surprise announcement since she couldn't see them there.
"I – you – what?!" Odyssey asks in disbelief as he stands there, mouth hanging open in surprise as he stares at his friends all hanging out in their bedroom to surprise them. "I'm so confused."
"Mama Di ordered a surprise!" Amelia says, clapping her hands a bit as Argos hugs her from behind, refusing to let her go anywhere without him these days. "So here we are!"
"She figured you two could use some friends to help you settle in," Fox adds, smiling at the two of them and just happy to see them once more.
"I'm so confused and not going to even question it," Odyssey says as he slowly sets Misha back down in his chair, shaking his head at all of this. "How did you even get in here?"
"Oh we have our ways," Anastacia says and gives an evil laugh as she rubs her hands together.
"Your mother called ahead and got the doormen to let us in," Elias corrects her and shakes his head.
"Alright, well, welcome to our bedroom, I guess," Misha laughs a little bit, shaking his head at them, but also not going to really question it now that they are there. And if anything, it's exactly what Odyssey needs right now. "Leave it to your mom to do this."
"Yeah, sorry, I'm still just shocked," Odyssey says, blinking a couple times still in disbelief that they are there, before it finally clicks in and he hurries to go over to hug all of them. "Okay, hi, I can't believe you're here! Wow, okay, welcome, we need to order some food and catch up on everything!"
"Party at Odyssey and Misha's place, woo woo!" Amelia says and Anastacia lets out a whoop in response before they all start heading out of there. Odyssey stands to the side, shaking his head at them being there and already managing to cause chaos – and he's amazed that they actually managed to stay quiet long enough to surprise him.
"Well, guess we're hosting tonight," Misha says to him with a shrug, but he's not going to tell them no at this point. He wheels himself after the group, laughing a bit as he pretends he's going to roll over Anastacia. "Watch it, crippled coming through!"
"I'm fucking blind!" Anastacia says as she tries to turn back to lightly hit him, only to completely miss. "Whatever, you get the point!"
"Be nice, Misha's hosting us without any notice," Fox tells her and gives Misha an appreciative smile.
"You know what?" Odyssey says as he stands with his hands on his hips, watching his friends and love of his life get settled in to the living room. And it's exactly the kind of chaos he needs right now. "This was a great idea."
It was the day the victory tour should have started.
Normally, he would have been at the Games Headquarters, making sure the logistics of getting the victor to every District were ironed out, everyone knew their schedule, and stressing about the next twelve days.
Instead, he's at home, fretting about setting the dining room table properly and having a good dinner made for when their guests arrive. What a different life, one he never anticipated for several years.
"Seraphim, would you stop stressing?" Zephyr calls out to him from the kitchen, just knowing he is overstressed for absolutely no good reason from his mumbling.
"No!" Seraphim yells back to him, hobbling over with his cane to the other side of the table to fix one of the plates. It's their first time really hosting anyone at their home after everything ended, and he is stressed to be a good host. Thankfully he doesn't have to stress about cooking and prepping! "I just want this to be good."
Zephyr comes back out of the kitchen at that, clicking his tongs at him with one hand and the other on his hip. "Seraphim," he says firmly with a look that has Seraphim putting his hands up, but also going back to fix one last fork out of line.
"Okay, okay, I'm done!" Seraphim says when Zephyr gives him a look like he's going to come over there and drag him away from the table. "Do you need me to help with dinner at all?"
"I need you to park your ass down and stop stressing," Zephyr tells him and it is Seraphim's turn to give him a look because they both know that's not happening. So Zephyr just sighs and shakes his head at him before turning to go back in the kitchen. "Fine, open up the wine and pour it in the decanter to aerate before dinner.
"You got it!" Seraphim says, following him after him slowly with his limp but happy to have a task to do. And he just can't help but stop for a moment to smile just watching him at the stove, cooking dinner and just…being so domestic. It's the life he was hoping they could have for a while before the Games, and now it's finally theirs.
"I don't hear wine being opened," Zephyr comments, back still turned to Seraphim before glancing over his shoulder at him. "What's got you smiling like that?"
"Oh, nothing," Seraphim says as he goes over to their wine cellar room, getting a couple bottles out just because he knows the group they'll be entertaining tonight. When he comes back out, Zephyr is watching him with an eyebrow raised, still waiting for an answer. "I just like being all domestic and shit with you, sue me."
"Oh, that's all," Zephyr chuckles a little bit at that, before it turns into a full laugh at the little pout Seraphim gives him. "Oh don't look so cute like that, you'll take me away from cooking and then we won't have any dinner."
"Don't you dare mess up dinner to go have sex!" Seraphim scolds him right away as he sets down the wine bottles so he can shake his finger at him.
"You realize getting bossy like that makes me want to do it even more, right?" Zephyr asks him, being completely serious but when Seraphim narrows his eyes at him, he sighs and turns back to the stove. "Alright fine, but they better not stay late because I want a rain check."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Seraphim grumbles a little bit as he takes the wine out to the dining room, pouring it in the decanter before there's a knock on the door that immediately stresses him out. "Who the fuck has showed up early when I gave everyone a very specific time?!" he complains as he goes to the door and whips it open, ready to scold whoever it is, before stopping immediately. "Oh, of course it's you."
"Is it a bad time?" Lisia asks with an amused smile and Seraphim just sighs as he steps to the side to let her in. She shrugs off her coat, letting him take it to hang up, before looking around their place. "Oh it's cute, I like it. Your man treating you well still? I know a guy if he's not."
"I fuckin' heard that!" Zephyr calls out from the kitchen and Seraphim laughs a little bit as Lisia rolls her eyes at him.
"Yes, yes, we're good," Seraphim tells her before realizing he needs to be a host! "Oh, let me show you around the place!"
"Sure, if you like," Lisia says, just rolling with it and letting him do so because he is excited and she knows better than to interrupt him when he gets in these moods.
"Okay, okay, bathroom here, living room, dining room," Seraphim says, pointing at the rooms as he goes through them. "Spare bedroom we don't open because it's our storage room right now. Oh, office!" he says, getting a little excited as he opens up the door and steps in side his office space. He looks around before turning back to Lisia, watching her reaction to things. "Still figuring out exactly what to do in here so right now it's mainly used to brainstorm job ideas."
"You still trying to figure it out?" Lisia asks as she looks at his shelves filled with all of his notes and stuff from years as a Gamemaker. And when he lets out a loud sigh at that, she turns to face him. "You know you can just relax, right?"
"You know me, that's impossible," Seraphim says as he goes to sit down at his desk to rub his leg, it starting to ache from too much running around on it while preparing dinner. "Did you relax after you were done working?"
"Eventually, yeah," Lisia says as she sits down across from him, taking a good look at him. "I wanted to check in on you before everyone else gets here."
"Of course," Seraphim mutters under his breath with a sigh. "I'm fine, Lisia, but thank you for your concern."
Lisia raises an eyebrow at him as she stares at him for a few seconds, knowing that isn't really the truth. "Seraphim, what do you really want to do?"
"I don't know," Seraphim answers honestly and rubs his face a little bit. He avoided even mentioning it to Zephyr, wanted to just stay in the happy little bubble of bliss they've created. "Gamemaking is all I've known for almost fifteen years because someone had to pull me out of med school."
"And I don't regret that one bit, do you?" Lisia asks him and he just shakes his head because even with all the pain, no, he doesn't regret it. "Then go back if you missed it, or go study something completely different. Or go buy a beach house, or hike around the country, I don't know, do what makes you happy and not what you think you need to do."
"Oh the beach house is definitely going to happen," Seraphim tells her, shaking his finger a bit because he is already browsing options. But then he stops to think about everything else she said and leans back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "I still think about the Quell group to this day and what I did to them," he says quietly, not even admitting his guilt to Zephyr. "Too many times I've wished so badly I could figure out a way to reverse the damage I did to them."
"Then do it," Lisia says with no hesitation. "If that will make you happy, do it. The whole world is open to you now, take an idea and run with it."
"Yeah, I'll think about it," Seraphim says because that's all his brain can really handle at this point. But she's right, of course, always has been. He needs to find that thing that gives him a spark like being Head Gamemaker did. "Guess I could go finish my degree, be the oldest person in my class."
"Oh those kids would be starstruck sitting next to you," Lisia laughs at that image and Seraphim cracks a little bit of a smile. "You'll figure it out," she reassures him, leaning forward to put a hand on his arm. "I know you will."
"Yeah, I know," Seraphim says, putting a hand on top of hers and giving it a little bit of a squeeze. She's always understood him well, better than most people ever have. Better than even Zephyr does in some ways. They are just two birds of a feather, been through so many similar experiences that only they will understand. "Somehow, someway, I'll figure it out."
"You always do."
I just love everyone in this group, my special victors and survivors and Seraphim, of course lol. They needed their own chapter with a special focus on them settling down.
And that brings us to the end of the main portion of Renegades, with just the epilogue left. Damn, still so weird to be that close to the end.
Well...see you one last time on Wednesday for the epilogue on the four year anniversary of this story starting!