Warning: Arguments?, PTSD, Zest, and idek on this one. -laughs shrilly in confusion-

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Henri kept forgetting his hair was a similar blue to Iruma's and kept being startled by it as they walked.

Merize hummed lightly with a sporadic sniffle until they reached an outdoor popup cafe. She walked up to the counter and made her order, before looking at him expectantly to make his own. Henri flushed lightly, and after a quick glance at the menu, realized he couldn't read a single word and waffled. "...I'm afraid I'll have to leave it up to you. I haven't learned enough to read…" He trailed off, and Merize's eyes widened.

"Oh!" She flushed lightly as she turned to give an order on his behalf. She paid, much to his chagrin, and soon enough they had two coffee drinks and a small juice box for Iruma.

Merize took charge, leading them to a clear spot in some shade, before settling down and bouncing Iruma in her lap. He giggled, enjoying her attention, before she eventually settled Iruma into her lap while facing Henri.

Henri was silent in his observation of her, as his heart swelled with love and affection at the vision of her care towards Iruma.

This is what he and Ameri had lost, when they'd been forced away from her side.

Merize helped Iruma take a few sips from his drink before enjoying some of her own, she then finally took a moment to observe him. "So, Iruma isn't your son."

Henri shook his head, "I am fostering him on behalf of his… presently indisposed birth parent."

Merize tilted her head slightly in thought, "Did something happen with his other parent?"

Henri chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before sighing as he stared out towards the greenery in the area. "...I don't know. However, it was from that other parent that I acquired him. Those people…" He must have made a particularly ugly face as Merize inhaled sharply in reaction to it.

Henri startled at the spark of fearconcern that shot through their Bond, and he looked at her with worry.

Merize settled with a measured inhale, "Henri." He tilted his head with a questioning hum in response as she continued. "Thank you for taking him into your care."

Henri blinked, "...I don't- huh?"

Merize kept her gaze pinned on the crown of Iruma's head, "I felt it just now- The people you took him from. They were of the worst sort, weren't they?"

Henri swallowed and took a measured sip of his drink. Sweeter than he would normally get, but perhaps warranted for the moment, to make it feel less bitter. "...Yes." His voice felt hoarse, "They were."

Merize nodded to herself as her eyes met his starkly orange ones, "I can tell you've been a good father to him, Henri."

Henri felt his face flush and the hint of waterworks building. He- he didn't need anyone's approval, yet, the fact it was Merize of all people saying it. His mate that he had been forced to wrong in the worst of ways…

He surprised himself as he sniffed and turned his face away from her, choking on his own rush of guiltshameunworthy that rampaged through his Magic and his Bond with her. His voice held a strange tilt as he tried to keep himself under control, "As is expected of any Guardian to their Ward."

Merize hummed to herself as she held back from comforting her husband-mate. She swallowed and shifted the subject, "So why bring him here?"

Henri swallowed his feelings and met her questioning eyes. "He is half Japanese."

Merize blinked, "And Ameri isn't?"

Henri grimaced harshly before adjusting his tie roughly in an attempt to occupy his hands from crushing his drink, "Our blood- uhm, my Ability, makes it so that we are…" He nearly strangled the word as he allowed it to slough off of his tongue, "Pure, despite our… apparent parentage."

Merize scrunched her face as she tried to make sense of what he was saying, "Excuse me?"

Henri scraped at his scalp with his nails and slumped into his seat sloppily, "I- my mother, her grandmother, my great-grandfather- we have all had, uhm, similar tastes, when it came to our partners. We just- our Magic makes it so that we can prevent our blood from diluting, no matter who our partner is."

Merize observed him with a judgmental squint, before huffing. "I see. So my daughter is a full blooded demon, while this child is only half. Because his parent wasn't as blessed-"

Henri lifted a hand, and Merize paused. He took in a measured breath, "Iruma's very existence is illegal, a complete abomination in both this Realm as well as my own. I can't ask for you to understand, but I never would have taken Ameri away from you and tried to erase our existence from your life if it were allowed. I have my Orders, and they are Absolute. To break them is to embrace death. Such is how Binding my Vows are to my Superior."

Merize can't help a snort of derision in her moment of bitterness at her losses, yet, when she tries to retort in anger, her words fizzle and die in her throat as she sighs tiredly. "...I don't want to fight with you, not when we haven't seen each other in so long…"

Henri forced himself to settle as he watched her. "I don't blame you." She looked at him with a sharp questioning gaze. "For being mad- it's the least I deserve after… everything."

Merize took in a deep breath before exhaling tiredly, "Still. I want to have a pleasant reunion with you."

Henri shifted his eyes to his drink and took a long sip of it. It made him feel queasy in its sweetness, and he swallowed harshly. His voice nearly cracked in Desire, "And I want nothing more than to keep you close to my side." His vision wavered, and tears threatened to break his composure completely. "I love you."

Merize held Iruma closer to herself as she allowed herself to be consumed from the errant emotions cascading through her Bond with him, and breathed out painfully through her lingering betrayal and weariness. "I love you, too."

No words were spoken from that moment on as they finished their drinks in tense silence, until Henri finally signaled that it was time for him and Iruma to go.

"Henri."

He finished settling Iruma into his harness against his chest before turning to her in questioning hesitation.

"...Please visit again. And… if you need any help with raising Iruma, I'm more than willing to help."

Henri absorbed her words for a moment, before nodding. "...I may have to take you up on that offer for aid."

Merize bowed slightly, before waving goodbye to Iruma.

Iruma waved farewell with both hands, as Henri gave a short nod in farewell.

Somehow, someway, Henri returned from his trip unscathed.

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Opera grimaced as they stared down at the floor. They had just finished a rigorous physical therapy session, and their bones were screaming, as if trying to claw out of their flesh from impatience.

Keeping their thoughts under control- keeping their words-

Control it, Opera. Seize it, and do not let go. Do not let them put you under again.

They breathed in deeply through their nose before exhaling between clenched teeth.

Tears of frustration sprouted.

MateChildFriendFamilyDesireNeed-

Opera buried their face into their hands with a hiss, their too-long wavy black hair sticking to their skin uncomfortably.

A part of them pitifully cried out through their Bond-

Kalego

It was a voiceless Desire, but they ached to be held. To simply exist without wanting to claw out of their own body. They wanted their Child, safe in their arms.

Shichirou

The scent of his teas, the greenery he immersed himself into each day. His love of the mysterious and not-quite imaginary.

They wanted their family so Desperately.

Their fangs ached at the thought of them, driving their growing Wicked Phase and descent into Ferality ever closer to the surface.

"Opera-san?"

They shoved their emotions into a box and kicked them into a dark and growing corner of bleak emotion as they lifted their head in full control, meeting their current medical chaperone's observant gaze. "Yes?"

"Are you still feeling alright?"

A hidden threat-

Opera pushed themself to their feet and barely swayed as they righted themself. "I'm perfectly fine."

The other watched them for an elongated moment before nodding, "Let's continue."

Opera swallowed dryly, "Yes."

They couldn't get out of this hell-hole fast enough.

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It is spring when Alto arrives at the Azazel Estate, while Iruma is well into experiencing his terrible twos.

…Except he is so well behaved, that it is only with Ameri's mischievous influence that he becomes even remotely… "terrible."

Ameri has her hand over Iruma's, a black marker roughly held between them and the wall as she guides his hand across the perfectly white canvas, when Henri glides past them and opens the door.

Both toddlers pause as they watch Henri while he greets the newcomer at the door.

Ameri's Magic brushed against Iruma's, WillProtectPrank

Iruma blinks before pressing back, NoDangerWhy

Ameri raises a brow, Fun-

Henri clears his throat as he watches the growing smudge bury itself into the plaster. "Ameri, Iruma." He shifts to introduce their new housemate, "This is Catshie Alto. He is Iruma's Grandfather, and he's here to help Iruma with his Bloodline Magic."

Iruma's hand drops out of Ameri's in surprise, while the marker falls to the floor between them. Iruma flushes, glancing between the stranger- his Grandfather, and the mess he and Ameri were about to make, before guilt and confusion crash into one another, and cause him to start sobbing.

Ameri's Magic brushes against him with, ComfortNoCrying-

And then Iruma is picked up by foreign arms and he falls silent with one final sniff as he looks up into the ruby eyes from his elder.

Alto observes him for a long moment, before he presses his Magic against the alien kit in his arms.

Iruma leans back slightly at the unfamiliar brush of Mana, before cautiously opening up a crack.

Alto raises a brow- it is far too easy to move past the boy's Guard-

Alto shoves past the child's wariness, and spreads his Magic throughout the child's Mana pathways.

Henri's latent Magic and, to his surprise, Parental Claim, fights him for only a moment before receding to let him through.

However, it is a secondary veiled, yet no less ferocious Magic that Snaps against him, and Alto hisses softly.

Iruma flinches, but Alto soothes him by purring deeply and pressing ComfortSafe into him as he presses against this much more foreign Magic.

…It is abruptly bitingly familiar, and suddenly he realizes that he is staring at an indigo shadow with golden eye sockets- the shape still somewhat indistinct but somehow inherently doggish. Alto freezes, and the shape pulls back its lips to show teeth as it snarls harshly at Alto's forceful entry.

Iruma gasps, straightens, and then turns to the shade, "No!" He sticks his hand into its mouth- much to Henri and Alto's abrupt horror and distress, and the thing bites down. The kit inhales sharply in pain, but grits through it as he admonishes the growling mutt, "Granpa just wants to help! Down!"

The shade narrows its eyes, shakes the boy's hand harshley, before Iruma growls into a screech in return and turns sharply in Alto's arms, forcing the elder Catshie to drop him.

Iruma slams the shade into the ground first, swiftly falling into a short fight with it as he yowls at it in frustration before a fresh set of horns springs to life upon his head and his tail flicks out, puffed up and covered in magical residue, before the boy seemingly wins his fight with an indignant slap upon the shade's snout. "Bad! Go back t' sleep!"

The shade releases him with a grumbling whine before dissipating.

Iruma breathes heavily for a long moment, his legs tucked beneath him as he cradles his bleeding hand.

He swallows, sniffs wetly, and then looks up at Alto with a sad and guilty gaze, "S-sorry. They only wan'ed t' protect me… tha's all."

Alto holds back his confusion, his rage at the sight of one of those hellish dogs, and settles beside Iruma. "...You're hurt."

Iruma blinks tears from his eyes, glances down at his bloody hand, and after wiping the blood off on his shirt without a single thought as children are wont to do, he lifts it to show that the injury is clean and healed.

But there is a paleness to the skin- a scarring from Mana extraction.

Alto and Henri both have the simultaneous thought of, 'What the hell is this?'

Iruma gives Alto a wobbly smile before pushing himself up and toddling over to him. "What were you tryin' t'do?"

Alto blinked as he pulled out a piece of cloth to finish wiping Iruma's injured hand clean, "I was trying to Claim you as part of my Colony, and get a feel of your inherent Magic."

Iruma tilted his head and gave him a questioning look. "Colony? Is that kinda like a Earth-Pack?"

Alto glanced at Henri, curious if he thought of his family and those part of his Colony as an 'Earth,' before nodding. "Yeah, at least… that's how we felines refer to our family."

Iruma's fresh new ears twitched in curiosity while he tilted his head, "Oh." He furrowed his brow, "...I'm not a cat."

Alto's shoulders dropped slightly, "...You are feline in nature, kit."

Iruma pouted, "I have my Earth. My Pack."

Alto nodded and ran his hand comfortingly over the kit's head, "And you can be a part of my Colony now, too. Your pops requested my help, and while I wasn't able to come any sooner, I'm finally here to help him raise you."

Iruma pouted and crossed his arms. "Henri's not my dad."

Alto paused at that, before sliding his eyes with unveiled judgment towards Henri. Henri didn't bother to hide from the admonishment and flushed in response.

Alto sighed heavily, "But he's still part of your… Earth-Pack, yes?"

Iruma nodded stubbornly.

"I'm not here to take you away."

Iruma raised his head slightly in question, "...You're not?"

Alto shook his head, "No. I'll be staying here… and hopefully someday soon, you'll be returned to your mother."

Iruma blinked, "...I don't have a mom."

Alto pulled Iruma into his arms sadly, "You do have one, and I'm sure she thinks about you every day."

Iruma hesitantly wrapped his arms around Alto's neck, sensing the other man's emotions and feeling empathy for the seperationsadnessregret that radiated through his Magic. "...M'pretty sure you mean my birth parent."

"...Yes. Your mother."

"...Henri's never talked about my birth parent that way."

Alto looked at Henri with a scathing silent question, and Henri cleared his throat while running a finger under his choker representing his position within the Thirteen Crowns. "I have only ever known Opera to be nonbinary."

Alto scrunched his face at Henri, "The he-ck does that mean?"

Henri sniffed, "They don't use gendered pronouns, thus, birth parent."

Alto clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

Iruma shifted his head, and Henri didn't get the chance to warn Alto before the kit simply bit him.

Alto made a surprised trill in response as he glanced down at his offended Grandson.

Iruma's tail flicked in irritation as he stared up at his Grandfather in challenge.

Henri held back a snort, while disguising his laughter by picking up his confused daughter.

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Opera dropped their meager bag of medicines and other physical therapy items bonelessly by the door as they breathed in the familiar air of the Sullivan Mansion.

They were finally home.

It was well into the summer of the second and a half year since they'd given birth to their missing Child.

Their devicats rushed up to them as Opera slipped out of their shoes, and the two housepets climbed up their clothes to be cradled in their arms in greeting. They meowed loudly in welcome and butted their heads against them in any way they could, and Opera sniffed as they buried their face into their little bodies.

"I'm home…"

It was just them and the devicats, as the three beings refamiliarized themselves with one another.

Opera wasn't cleared just yet to return to their Security Devil duties, but they'd been cleared to Go Home.

They were as free as they could be, under the circumstances, and it was overwhelming.

Minutes passed, and finally the devicats decided they were done smothering their boss as they flopped out of their arms. Opera chuckled lightly at their antics, and wandered around the Mansion aimlessly as they reminisced each room, used and unused, until the Sullivan mansion was truly home again.

Finally, they made their way to their room and opened the door.

They staggered slightly, the Auto-keep on their room had the misfortune of preserving the way their scent had been changed by their pregnancy. It was foreign to them now, as a childless mother, and they ran to the window and shoved it open.

They nearly launched themself into the nearby trees, but restrained themself as they panted, tears threatening to spill forth as they tried to tamper down their rage.

They slumped, and allowed themself to painfully rest upon the sill as they stared down towards the earth below.

Blood rushed through their ears, making their face and head feel stuffy, while they tried to hold back their sobs.

AloneAloneAlone! So Lonely! MissYouLoveYouWhereAreYou!?

Opera exhaled with a barely suppressed whine-

An arm wrapped beneath them and hauled them out of the window as they gasped and squirmed to meet Kalego's intense gaze. They sniffed in painfully and felt as if they'd swallowed goopy thorns as they croaked out, "Shouldn't you be at school?"

Kalego glanced away from them silently, before shifting and hauling them over his shoulder like a sack. "-!? Kalego?!"

He huffed as he swiftly made his way out of their room and down the hall until he kicked a random guest bedroom door open, and shoved it closed behind him before dropping them onto the sterile bed. He loomed over them, pressing his knee between their legs as he pinned them upon the mattress. He observed them in intense silence, dragging his eyes over every part of their face and body before slowly meeting their eyes with an intense and glowing lavender gaze.

Opera swallowed and clutched the blankets beneath them painfully.

Kalego leaned down slightly, with barely parted lips as if to ask permission-

Opera grasped his face and met him halfway in a clacking brush of teeth and splitting lip-

-Until they kicked him off and pinned him beneath them.

The two breathed heavily for a moment before Opera startled into a slightly hysterical laugh, "Is this really happening right now!?"

Kalego huffed in exasperation, "You were pulling at me through our-" He stopped himself and swallowed his words harshly before continuing in a brokenly subdued tone. "You called for me."

Opera tilted their head and observed him, before shifting their hips. Kalego growl-whined in response to their movement and they froze as heat flushed their cheeks and made their heart pound. Their throat closed as nausea abruptly made itself known and Opera lifted themself off of him and stumbled at the side of the bed on shaky legs.

Kalego was still as he watched them, before slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Opera was a weary Stray, and Kalego was a prowling hunter.

For a moment, at least, before all tension left his body and he sighed in exasperation and cracked his neck.

Opera winced, "Kalego-"

Kalego pointed at them, "You do understand that there's something between us, even if you don't understand why, right?"

Opera blinked, before they abruptly recalled. 'I'm not supposed to remember I was ever pregnant.'

Opera shifted, and recollected their frayed pieces as they contemplated how to best answer him without tipping him off. "...I suppose." They lifted a hand and absently pressed against the clean Mark of Kalego's broken Claim.

He made a silent noise at that, and Opera dropped their hand, lost.

Kalego pushed himself off the bed and stood close to them, to the point that they were close enough that one might think they were hugging.

That, or being incredibly intimidating towards one another.

Opera glanced at him, and he observed them coolly in return.

Opera took the first step, and brushed their meager Magic against him and pushed indistinguishable feelings into him.

Kalego automatically pulled them close, before trailing wordless questions and words against their mouth, down to their neck, before sinking his fangs into that same spot as he had while they were still expecting.

Opera inhaled and grasped onto him, before sinking their fangs into the crook of his neck, their combined Magicks snapping back together from the shorn and tattered pieces that had laid between them since they'd given birth.

Kalego coaxed them to release his flesh after a time, before sealing their mouth with his once more, as tears of relief tailed down their overheated cheeks-

FoundFamilyMineMineMine!

The words echoed and reverberated between them, so much so, that Opera could no longer tell if they were his words, or theirs.

Opera growled between their bloody lips, "Marry me, you dumb bitch."

Kalego snorted at Opera's proposal, "Not until you Claim Shichirou, you stupid cat."

Opera blinked as they came back to themself, wrapped completely in Kalego's Mana while resting against Keroberos' electric side. "Oh." They licked up Kalego's cheek with an elongated scraping sound from their rougher tongue in revenge as he made a sound of disgust at their action. "Of course."

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A/N: Please leave a review/comment