Realistic or Modern Fairweather Communications - Urban Fantasy

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Once Azrael asked about the fox plush Alistair instantly lit up, "His name is Pan!" He croaked out happily. Alistair took Pan's left front paw and made a waving motion with it. "Wanna know a secret?" He asked and then continued in a hushed voice, "I think he likes you." Pan was mostly just a representation of how he was feeling in the moment, but he still had a children's imagination which made him think Pan actually did like Azrael. Zorion smiled at the new development. It seemed as though Alistair was already beginning to like Azrael. Which was a nice change of pace.

Zorion felt a bit relieved when she said the fever wasn't anything to worry about. It would save Alistair the pain of another hospital visit which in turn meant he didn't have to spend all his savings trying to pay the bill.

Alistair giggled when Azrael stuck her tongue out and then imitated her. It felt more like a game to him than a doctors visit. He only opened his mouth when Azrael said so. He felt a little self conscious about his fangs but Azrael didn't seem to pay any mind to it which helped him feel more normal. He only half got the stuff about tonsils, but he was glad she was explaining it to him. The usual doctors just told him to open his mouth and then shoved the stick in. He was honestly a little curious about what the tonsils looked like.

He only had to raise his hand once to let her know he felt uncomfortable. After she readjusted he felt ok. Well, ok as in not choking. He'd rather not have a flat stick being moved around in his mouth, but he could live with it.

Zorion again felt relief when she said it wasn't bacterial. He had gone to enough doctor's visits to know that that was a good sign.

Alistair did as he was told and tilted his chin down. Again he liked that she was explaining everything to him and he again was curious about it. He silently rooted for the hero cells to win the fight. His fox tail swished at the news that they would soon win and he gave a bright smile.

Zorion nodded along to Azrael and made note of the NSAIDS and ulcer situation. He felt a little nervous by the news of him being at risk for ulcers, but that eased when Azrael said that Alistair would be fine. His ears pricked when she asked about his sickness. He didn't like talking about that in front of Alistair especially since he usually had to mention his mixed heritage. He figured he'd leave that bit out and only say if she ended up asking, "Yes, they are very frequent. Sometimes its worse than others. And sometimes it'll seem like a minor cold and then turn into an unexpected hospital visit. That's why I wanted to bring him in today."

Alistair shivered at the thought of another hospital visit. He hated everything about those places. He knew people died there and he also knew that there was one very close call when he himself almost died. He may be a kid but he certainly wasn't stupid. It was hard to catch up after them too, especially with his dyslexia. And the stares. Overall, hospitals were like looking into the darkest pits of hell to him.

But, he did very much like Azrael. She was the best doctor who he had ever gone to. He wished all doctors were like her. And the thought of that ginger tea she had mentioned seemed really good to him.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

"Try peppermint tea," Lev said. Wade had recommended it to him when he had complained about coffee headaches. It also tasted better.

Thea's teasing tone made his face go bright red, his ears perking up and his tail swishing from side to side.

"No! I mean, we didn't talk about that yet," he said quickly. His tail was wagging though. God, why was his tail wagging. He hated having a tail. He was too emotional to put it away though. Every time he tried he got all bubbly. He was worse than a teenager.

But he huffed and glared at Garth. Magic was magic, and he was pretty sure Azrael could not do nearly as much as he thought she could.

"She's not a biohazard," he pointed out. "She's a nice person, who is both very pretty and very interesting. It's nice to talk to her. It would be weird if a guy wasn't interested."

He crossed his arms over his chest defensively, then dropped them and sighed.

"Minion, minion... The word you're looking for is 'friend', Garth," he said. He decided to be nice and use his chosen name, mostly as a peace offering. "Are you so surprised that somebody you labeled a criminal has actual friends?"

He really needed to have a talk with this guy. But not now. As Thea had said, it had been a day.

"She seemed to be holding up," Lev said with a shrug. "We're going to talk about things later. I was worried I overstepped, but I think things turned out well enough for now. We can worry about other problems later on."

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael nodded politely to the fox plush and made a few notes on her clipboard. Once she was done examining Alistair, she held out her fist. "Good job, bud. Fist bump."

With a nod, she sat down on the rolling stool. "Yes, some children can get over-stimulated and it wears out their immune system. This is most likely something he will 'grow out of' as his immune system matures."

She paused, running over the various ingredients of typical human multivitamins in her head. None of them had adverse reactions to either kitsune or satyrs that she was aware of, but there was always a concern with hybrids and the interactions of their genes. "Do you like gummies, Alistair? I'm going to have your dad pick up some gummies for you."

Flicking her eyes to Zorion, she said, "There's a brand called 'Immuniboost' that has multivitamins. It's approved for human consumption, but there shouldn't be anything in it that could hurt him. If he starts having adverse reactions--breakout around his mouth, tongue tingling, stomach aches, nausea, any of that--stop taking it immediately and call the office. But anyway, I want him to take that brand specifically because it has high doses of vitamins D, C, and it also has zinc. It will help his immune system. Oh, but make sure he takes it with food. With breakfast is fine. If he takes it without food, he will throw it up."

Turning back to Alistair she rested her elbows on the clipboard. "I have some health instructions for you, alright? Every morning, with breakfast, I want you to take a vitamin. It will help your hero cells do their job. And gummies aren't just for kids because grown-ups like gummies, too, so keep an eye on your dad and make sure he doesn't eat all your gummies, okay?" Smiling, she winked at him. "But I only want you to have one per day, don't take any more than that."



Garth made a face. Tea was something little old ladies drank. But maybe he should give it a try. It was hot, at least, so it would warm him up in the morning.

He arched his eyebrows, watching Lev get all giddy at Thea's teasing. He was actually wagging his tail and Garth had to force himself not to laugh. "I'm a guy and I'm not interested," he pointed out, mostly because he felt he probably should point that out. "Whatever, it's your cardiovascular system."

Thea rolled their eyes. "And thank goodness for that because we're Team Lev at this office."

Garth almost pointed out that it wasn't unusual for criminals to have friends, but it was unusual for this criminal to have friends, but calling Azrael a criminal wasn't getting him anywhere and he supposed she was a good doctor.

"She'd be nicer to you if you'd stop stalking her and calling her a criminal," Thea said.

Thea glanced over at Lev. They were a little more worried about Lev than Azrael. He was the one who had done the thing he had told them not to do and they had no doubt that had been terrifying. Or, maybe it was just maddening. They had been dealing with Garth for the past ten minutes and he really just seemed like a stubborn goat who needed a good night's sleep and some therapy. Most of Azrael's fear had been for being exposed.

"Maybe you can join fang gang. We have people who don't like each other--oh, crap!" Thea turned to Lev. "We didn't stop and get the thing at the place for the other member of fang gang--you know, the thing the Doc called in at the place? We didn't stop to get it. He probably needs it."

Garth rolled his eyes. He figured Thea was trying to be HIPPA compliant but he could guess "the thing the Doc called in" was a medication. He applauded their efforts, though. "I'm not joining fang gang."

"What are you going to do with your time off?" Thea held up a piece of paper with several numbers and illegible scribbles on it. "Doc says you need to take your sabbatical and she's going to call in a two weeks supply of hypertension meds to the pharmacy across the street."

Garth eyed the scribbles on the scrap of paper. "She says that, huh?"

"Yeah, so what are you doing with your time off?" Thea pressed. They pointed at the scribbles. "It's underlined."

Detective Garth Dekker had not taken time off since he went to Ocean City on spring break his freshman year of school. "Maybe I'll see if I can pick up more leads--"

"Not work. Time off. The Doc will snitch on you to your boss. She's done it before, she'll do it again." Thea rolled their eyes at Garth's confusion about the phrase "time off". They pulled out a pen and began writing names of restaurants down. "I'm guessing you're solidly middle class, so these places won't break your budget. Lev? What else should our off-duty detective do while he's in the big city? Lady Liberty, of course, go see the Towers--they got some kinda memorial there now, since it's been three years. The Met."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Lev gave Garth an unimpressed look.

"Yeah, but you're, like, Wade 2.0, so you don't count," he said flatly. He was pretty sure Garth was not quite as actively self destructive as Wade, though.

Speaking of, Thea mentioned Wade's medication, and Lev groaned, once he figured out what they were talking about.

"Yes. Right. I'll run by and pick it up. I did actually text my dad earlier, let him know I'd be by later this afternoon to grab lunch. I'll swing by the pharmacist. It's not too out of the way."

Wade had his own meds at home, but Lev was certain he would forget to take them if he put it off.

He glanced to Thea, then grinned.

"Hm, well, there's the typical stuff. Central park, Bryant park is nice too. Brooklyn bridge, the empire state building, all the tourist-y stuff is cool. I would suggest some galleries and museums, but I don't think you're the artsy type, Mr. Dekker," he said, musing. "But yes, food definitely. There's some really cool food places... Oh, go to Koreatown, that's always fun. Great food there, some very nice bakeries. You look like the kind of guy who could use some more variety in your diet. Try the tteokbokki, it's good."

He seemed to be having a lot of fun already.

"If you're hanging out here a while, I could show you around a few places. Wade has, like, a list of bars and clubs that have good live music, I could wrestle it away from him. Music is the best way to relax."

he considered suggesting Karaoke, if only because he thought Thea would love it and Garth would hate it, but he wasn't that mean.

"I'm still not completely sold on the name fang gang, but it's kind of funny," he admitted. "Although the majority of you do not have fangs."

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Alistair smiled and bumped her fist with his own while his tail swayed. "Fist bump."

Zorion nodded at Azrael. "I hope so." He half muttered to himself.

"Yeah, I love gummies." Alistair replied. He thought about the Fruit Snacks that his dad would always pack for him. He was disappointed when Azrael said 'Immuniboost'. He had never heard of those gummies before and hoped they were as good as his Fruit Snacks.

Zorion tried to make a mental note of all the things he should watch out for. They'd probably have it listed on the bottle itself and he would know when something wasn't right with Alistair, but he still wanted to try to remember it all. He figured he should know this stuff for the future, just in case.

He was happy that the gummies would help Alistair's immune system. Hopefully with this he'd get sick a little less often. Or at least he might be able to fight off the sickness faster.

Alistair nodded along to the important information that Azrael was giving him like it was a super special secret mission she was giving him. He was a little disappointed he could only have one. There were always multiple ones in his fruit snack so why couldn't he take more? "Ok. Hear that daddy?" Alistair looked over to Zorion, "You can't eat any of my gummies. The doc says so. So don't!"

Zorion held his hands up as if he were being told to by an officer. "Hey, I promise I won't." He smiled.

"Yeah, ok. But, I'm still keeping an eye on you."

"Fair enough."

Zorion looked back over to Azrael, "When I get the gummies today should I give it to him with dinner or wait until tomorrow with breakfast?"

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael smiled at Alistair, glad he was taking it seriously.

At Zorion's question, she nodded. "You can give it to him at lunch or dinner today if you like."

Smiling, she looked between Alistair and Zorion. "Rest, a fever reducer if it gets above 100 Fahrenheit, ginger tea, and those gummies." She tapped her fingers on the clipboard. "Do you have any other questions for me?"



Wade, Garth was pretty sure, was the loud guy that had been talking about deep-throating people he didn't know and other questionable pastimes. He made an offended noise. "I am nothing like 'Wade'."

Thea snickered and then nodded as Lev listed some more things. They wrote that down and spelled "tteokbokki" for Garth. For his part, Garth was just glad that Thea's neat handwriting didn't look anything like her employer's. He eyed the list of food places with something like excitement. He hadn't actually had a chance to just sit and eat in years. He was fairly sure he ate most of his meals in his car. He had liked trying new things back in the day. Before all this.

Garth and Thea both stared at Lev, trying to figure out if he were seriously offering to show Garth around. Thea recovered first, figuring Lev was following the Doc's lead on this one. Personally, they still wanted him to stub all his toes.

Garth, however, opened and closed his mouth several times. He knew the value of being shown around by a local. He hesitated. These people were her friends. And just because he was willing to let her take his blood pressure and tell him what he couldn't eat, that didn't mean he wanted to be friends.

"Maybe, we'll see if I have time," he muttered noncommittally.

Thea snorted but didn't call him on it.

"Don't only two of you have fangs?" Garth asked dryly. "Kind of a stupid name."

"You got a better one, wise guy?" Thea asked.

Garth was not about to suggest a name for Azrael Drake's mini mafia. "Yeah, let me know about those places with live music." Garth coughed awkwardly. "The uh, one last night was nice."

"Yeah, do you know how many times we've tried to convince her to go out and finally she does and then you ruin her evening."

Garth avoided Thea's gaze. "Is Dr. Dreix--Drake coming back by any chance?"

Thea cocked their head. "Yeah, that's her wrapping-up tone."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Lev looked Garth over from head to toe with a critical gaze.

"You are exactly like Wade," he said without expanding on it.

He shrugged when Thea and Garth both looked at him like he was crazy. He knew how it looked. This guy had been stalking Azrael, which was terrible. He didn't condone that or anything. He was still pretty mad about it. But he didn't really seem like a bad guy. Lev hoped maybe he could talk to him about some things, gain some perspective on the situation and share some perspective in exchange. Maybe it was kind of silly and idealistic of him.

"Yeah, I'll get it to you," he said, smiling a bit. "Wade is always sending me these obscure underground bars and clubs because he doesn't like to go alone. There's a couple of really good places that nobody really knows about. They look kind of hole-in-the-wall, but the drinks are good and the entertainment is great. The place last night was pretty upscale, but there's a lot of cheaper ones too."

Wade went to a lot of jazz clubs, but that didn't mean that he didn't have an appreciation for other kinds of music as well. Namely that one bar that hosted the 'classical grunge' band every other friday night. Lev hadn't known it was possible to combine those two things, but it was surprisingly good.

He looked at the paper Thea was scribbling on, then listed off a few names. Mostly the more mainstream stuff, but he threw in the classical grunge too, just to be safe.

He looked up when Garth asked if Azrael was coming back, then quickly looked back down to pretend he hadn't looked up.

"Anyways. I should ask Wade later if he's got any recommendations. He knows everybody, so he's good at finding cool places to hang out. I've lived here my whole life and he still knows his way around better than I do."

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Zorion would probably pick the stuff up when they were going home. He had to work for now. "No, I think that's about it." He looked over to Alistair, "Come on, bud"

Alistair carefully used the stool to get off the exam table and went over to Zorion. He held onto Pan while his father stood up. Zorion didn't know what to do so he settled for a hand shake. He awkwardly held out his hand and said "Thank you for your help." He was going back to the inkling that he should be formal with coworkers and really anyone else he didn't know personally.

 

[Reynarda]

Smiling, Azrael shook Zorion's hand. "Of course. It's what I do. Give me just a moment and I'll get my medical assistant."

Azrael slipped from the room. "Thea?"

Thea gave Garth one more stink eye before they left the lab. "Yeah, Doc."

"Get his pharmacy and then call ahead and ask them to set aside these two things." She circled the multivitamin and Motrin.

Thea nodded. Usually when the Doc was real particular, it was for good reason. They took the clipboard. "Oh, Doughnut Guy wants to talk to you again."

"He's a needy one," Azrael said, but she didn't sound too bothered by it. "No one went into my office?"

"Nah, Lev and I are wrangling Mr. Stalker. Lev's almost got him convinced to drink peppermint tea." Thea raised their eyebrows. "Lev really got through to him."

Azrael shook her head. "Either he's magic or just that good."

"Speaking of, been wondering. Few years ago. Did you use magic on me before my biopsy?" Their face was carefully neutral, but Azrael had known them for too long to be fooled. She knew that her next few words would be extremely important. She took a deep breath and let it out.

"Yes."

Thea nodded, their face still unreadable. "Was the cancer back?"

Azrael let out a breath. "Oh, no, Thea, you just had an asymptomatic virus. You were pumping out lymphocytes, that's what the oncologist saw--"

Thea burst into tears.

Azrael pulled them into a hug. She held them tightly, rubbing her hand up and down their back.

"I'm sorry. It's been a sucky weekend for you but when Doughnut Guy mentioned it, I kinda freaked out because I just can't do that to my parents and--I'm sorry, I'm crying on your lab coat."

"I literally could not care less," Azrael said. "If I ever thought the cancer was back, I would have told you. But it's not coming back."

"My chance of relapse is high and my immune system is so weak--"

"It's not coming back. Your immune system is a lot stronger than it used to be. You've been taking really good care of yourself." Azrael paused. She brushed Thea's hair from their face and looked intently in their eyes. "And if it does, we'll fight it together, ok?"

Nodding, Thea hugged her fiercely. After a pause, they asked, "Have you been boosting my immune system?"

"Yes," Azrael admitted. "But I haven't for months. You're doing great."

"You're a terrible criminal. I'm going to need you to turn in your criminal badge and ID to HR."

Azrael laughed. "Thanks. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I as doing."

"You did ask, and you did it because you care about me. But, yeah, tell me next time." Thea dabbed their sleeve over their eyes. "Is my makeup everywhere? Oh, it's on your collar."

Azrael ignored the pink smudge. "It's a little bit off on your left eyelid, but it's not extremely noticeable."

"Yeah, I wear waterproof in the office." They sniffed and smiled brightly, adjusting their shoulders. "Alright. Pharmacies!"

Thea knocked on the door and then stepped into the room with Alistair and Zorion. "Alrighty gents, I'm Thea, Dr. Drake's fabulous assistant." They pointed to Zorion. "I need a pharmacy from you." They pointed to Alistair and then flattened their palm. "And I need a high five from you!"

With a bright smile, Thea pulled the door back open and gestured them into the hall. "Come around to the window there. I'll get you checked out and everything. How are we feeling today, little man?" They smiled down at Alistair. "I see Dr. Drake has prescribed some gummy vitamins for you. Gummy vitamins are my favorite. I still take gummy vitamins. They're way cooler than grown-up vitamins."

They tapped some notes into their computer. "I'm going to call ahead and have the pharmacy grab these things off the shelves for you, so just go in and give you name. And this visit is completely covered today. Can I do anything else for you?"




Azrael poked her head into her office just to check. She paused, waiting to see Percival take a breath, then closed the door once more. Forgetting her lab was not an exam room for a moment, she knocked on the door and stepped inside. Her expression softened the second her eyes found Lev's.

Garth made a disgusted face. "I just want to ask one more thing and then I'll be out of your hair."

Azrael's eyes shifted to him almost as if she had forgotten he was there. She probably had. "Yes, peppermint tea is a great idea."

"No, tch." Garth made another disgusted face. "I wanted to know if you would tell me if there's any developments."

Azrael blinked. "No, you tell me if there are any developments. Then I can adjust your--"

"No, not health developments. Really? Full on doctor now." He shook his head. "No, I mean about your family."

Her expression hardened. "Detective Dekker, I am your doctor, not your nark."

"Only the mafia uses terms like 'nark'," Garth muttered. "So you're just going to let them bleed the town dry."

"You can't guilt me, Dekker. Policing my family is your job. Mine is keeping people like you alive."

"What if people die."

Azrael took a deep breath and let it out. "If I hear of a plot to murder people, I'll let you know. Happy?"

"Not really, but it's as good as I'll get."

Spotting the list of places, she asked, "What's that?"

"Your cronies are making me tour New York. Both Thea and Lev are threatening to call my boss, now. Fortunately for me, they don't have his number."

Leaning forward conspiratorially, Azrael smiled. "But I do."

Garth wrinkled his nose. "You're a bitch."

"And you're an ass. Get out of my office."

Garth tipped his hat to her and then nodded to Lev. "Doctor. Lev." Walking backwards down the hall, he said, "You know, your boyfriend offered to show me around. Maybe I'll steal him from you so he can be my tour guide."

Azrael arched an eyebrow. "You don't want to do that, Dekker. I haven't actually asked Lev out yet, but I'd still be pretty annoyed if you stole him."

"Say 'no'," Garth told Lev. "Catch you later, Doc."

"No you won't," Azrael said with a slight smirk.

After nodding to Thea--who narrowed their eyes at him--Garth pushed out of the clinic.

"How the bloody silver did you do that?" Azrael asked as soon as she heard the clinic door close. She turned to stare at Lev. "If you hadn't been here, he would have had me cuffed to a chair. Or, tried to. I would have fought him on that. But you--I don't know. You convinced that man--who hunted me for years, by the way--to not only leave me alone but also take my medical advice. How. How did you do that? You're amazing."

Not that she thought she'd seen the last of Detective Dekker. She was pretty sure she was his only lead, so he'd be pestering her until her family resurfaced. That was another thing to worry about, but right now she wanted to worry about Percival and Wade and thank Lev.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Lev smiled at Azrael, immediately brightening up. She was doing good. He was glad she was doing good.

"Hey, don't say that," Lev said, because he didn't like hearing Azrael called a bitch. She seemed to not care, but it still made his brow furrow.

At least they seemed to be parting on... not terrible terms. That was the best he could hope for, wasn't it?

But when Garth left, Azrael said she hadn't asked him out 'yet', which made his stomach do horrible flip flops.

It was ok to be hopeful in this situation, right? Because he was kind of feeling very hopeful.

And Azrael was thankful. Lev opened his mouth, then closed it again. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, colour rising to his cheeks.

"I mean. I was kind of blunt with him," he said. "I just told him that you were helping people here. Also I kind of maybe exaggerated a little bit. You saved my mom from a life with stomach ulcers, so that counts as saving my mom's life, right? Just so you know."


Wade had gotten tired of waiting around upstairs for Lev to reunite with him, so he had made his way down to the clinic. He was scowling when he practically ran into Garth in the doorway.

He looked a bit familiar, but Wade couldn't actually place him. He did not look like he worked at Fairweather Communications, though.

Then again, Wade also did not look like he worked at Fairweather communications, so he called it even.

"Sorry 'bout that, bud," he said, raising a hand in apology. "I forgot my glasses."

That was kind of a lie, since his glasses were only for reading, and really he had been spacing out. But what this man didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael blinked. Lev had told a cop she had saved his mom's life. If Dekker actually looked into that, he would find insurance fraud. The thought spread an amused smile on her face. Lev did not think like a career criminal, that was for sure. That only made him more likable.

"Well, even if that's not entirely true, I did save his life, so he can't negate that," she said dryly. Personally, she thought it was the way Lev firmly believed things. He was sincere and open. She figured that was what had won Dekker over. He didn't trust her word, but he trusted Lev's word. And if Lev saw her as a good doctor, Dekker was willing to give her the chance.

She thought about what he had said about how criminals weren't necessarily bad people. She agreed, but her family were the sorts who were bad people. And maybe she wasn't guilty of their crimes, but she had still be raised with those ideals. So perhaps all her other reasons for trying to keep him at arm's length were gone, but she still felt like she would taint him by being around him.

But Wade had said to let Lev decide for himself.

Azrael took a deep breath. "I guess I still owe you that explanation. I would like to sit down together and talk through it. Before, um--well, I'd just like you to be informed, I guess. So you can make, uh, informed decisions."

Part of her wondered if she were a normal person without any weirdness in her past if she would still stammer like an idiot or if she would be able to stop hiding behind her words and tell him exactly what she thought.

She wanted to tweak his ear, flash a smile, and tell him a knight in shining armor deserved to be thanked with dinner.

But she couldn't do that. Not when he didn't know what he would be getting himself into. Maybe, maybe, on the off-chance he didn't do the logical thing and tell her that just friends was best, she would tell him what she thought of him, and she wouldn't feel so exposed and silly.

"So, if you have time in the next few days, let me know," she concluded.

"Oh, sounds like Wade is here," she said, taking the out of doing something she felt confident in doing, which was keeping people from dying. This interpersonal stuff was not what she was good at. She could feel the ground under her feet in the role as a doctor. "I need to talk to him about his medication."

She also needed to keep him out of her office. She wasn't sure why, but she felt of all the people there, Wade was the last one Percival wanted to see him like this. Not that she thought he was ashamed of his mother's heritage, more that she thought Percival might want to explain first.





Garth made a face as he was nearly run over by Sweater Guy--Wade. Scowling, he looked him up and down. He was nothing like this guy. He didn't drink weird tea or do his best to be the most disconcerting person in the room.

But Wade was apologizing. And calling him "bud". He hadn't been called bud since he was twelve. "No worries."

Part of him wanted to warn Wade, but he supposed that was stupid. Lev had pointed out some things Garth had already known thanks to his little stint in the Cleveland Clinic but had been ignoring in favor of the criminal angle. He thought about his own health and wondered if Sweater Guy might have something similar. "She's a good doc, this one. Listen to what she tells you. You take care."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Lev did not quite gape like a fish, but it did take him a few tries to properly formulate an answer.

"Yeah," he said finally, which was not nearly as articulate as he'd hoped. "I'd like to talk. We could... We could meet up and have dinner, or something, and talk about it then. Or. I mean. I could cook. You're ok with meat, right? I don't know too many vampires, but I make a really mean spiced meatloaf. I could bring it over, and we could talk."

He was pretty sure he'd said the word 'talk' too many times in that sentence.

"I think I have some time on Thursday evening. Or on the weekend. Weekends are always free."



Wade raised his eyebrows at the once over. He was about to make a snide comment about buying him dinner before looking at him like that, but Garth seemed to be pretty sincere. He closed his mouth, tilting his head to the side.

There was some kind of story there. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't really his place to ask. So he just nodded his head.

"Yeah, she is. The best," he agreed with a smile. "You take care too."

Stepping into the clinic, he looked around the waiting room, then peeked into the back halls.

"Oh, hey," he said, spotting Lev and Azrael. "I was worried, since you didn't come upstairs. I saw your emergency patient on the way out, glad to see he looks ok."

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael blinked again. How much blinking was normal? Was this the normal amount of blinking. The stupid thing was that she knew most species blinked every 3-7 seconds, but she wasn’t sure if her blinking was normal for how much she usually blinked.

But Lev was offering to cook for her, and no one had ever offered to cook for her in her whole life. Granted she didn’t eat much solid food but still. But Lev was offering to cook for her and even if he was planning on bringing her a whole cake—which absolutely would make her sick—she would be flattered.

“Yes, I would like that very much. Unless that’s too much trouble, in which case we could just order uh…” Crap, what did people order? “Pizza? But if you wanted to cook I would love that but also don’t, uh, do anything inconvenient.”

She pressed her lips together, pretty sure she had not properly nailed flattered-and-grateful-but-not-demanding and instead sounded confused.

“Yes, Thursday would work. Or the weekend. Weekends work.”

Wade came to the rescue by giving her something else to worry about.

He had seen her emergency patient walking out? Walking? How?

“You did? He looked—“

Oh.

Azrael laughed. “Oh, you mean Dekker. Silver, I must be sleep deprived.”

Or Lev’s smile was making her stupid. For a solid five seconds she had been trying to figure out how a thirty-foot Naga had sneaked past her and why Wade was being so casual about it.

With a chuckle and a sigh, Azrael shook her head. Thank goodness. She needed to check on her emergency patient and then panic about him being drugged and what to do about it.

She needed to do that and there was something else she was forgetting…

Oh. Right. Wade hadn’t picked up his medicine.

Azrael narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusing finger up at him. “You need to go pick up your medicine from the pharmacy, Mr. Harper.”

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Alistair smiled and went up to Thea to give them a high five.

As they went out into the hall Zorion told Thea to send it to the CVS that they always went to. That one was close to home and easy to run up to whenever he needed to pick something up. And he'd be able to go on the way home.

"Better." Alistair answered. "Yeah, I like gummies. There the best!" He paused and listened and gasped when Thea said they still take gummy vitamins. "Well, then I guess I have to be really careful with Daddy. The doctor said he might eat my gummies!" He said the last sentence in a way as though the world were ending.

Zorion let out a soft chuckle, "I did promise you I wouldn't eat any." He reminded Alistair.

"And I promised I would still watch you." He playfully stuck his tongue out at Zorion who responded by ruffling his puffy orange hair.

They both giggled as they got up to the counter.

Zorion nodded along to Thea and almost jumped when they said it would be completely covered. I mean he knew that the clinic was a service that was provided by the company for the employees but he was still shocked he didn't at least have to pay five dollars. "Really? No co-pay?"

Alistair was more preoccupied by the exchange between the two men at the door. He watched as Wade bumped into Garth and then politely apologized. Garth accepted and they shared an appreciation for the doctor he had just seen. He agreed with them. She really was the best doctor. He curiously watched as Wade went by. He didn't seem sick, so maybe a friend of the doctor's.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Lev was pretty sure he hadn't even been this awkward when he asked out his first girlfriend in middle school. He felt like a teenager, but he couldn't help but grin.

"Yes! I mean, I'm totally cool with cooking. I mean, I'm bringing my dad's lunch later today, so I need to show that I can keep up with him, you know? It's a pride thing. We Choi-Takahashi men are all very proud of our ability to woo women with food."

Ok. Wow. He needed to put his foot in his mouth.

"I mean. That didn't really come out right. I'm not trying to woo you, unless you want to be wooed, I guess. Then I am totally cool with it, the wooing. But this is just dinner with friends, you know?" He rubbed the back of his neck, and oh no, his face was red. His tail was wagging, too. God, he needed to put that thing away.

"Anyways, I'll see you this weekend. You could come to my place. Uh, if you're cool with that..."

He was saved by Wade's sudden appearance, and a little intrigued when Azrael was surprised that her patient was walking. He supposed she had had somebody in the office. He had a feeling that there was something going on there, but he wasn't going to pry.

"Oh, was that... something else?" Wade asked, one eyebrow rising. "I just... You seemed pretty worried earlier. Lev didn't come up, so I thought something had happened."

He shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to look nonchalant and relaxed, but there was tension in his shoulders.

"I mean, I guess I was worried? I know you're a medical professional and all, and this is your job, and you're really good at it, but..."

Lev took pity on him and patted him on the back.

"Wade's just a busybody," he said for him. Wade did not look like he agreed with that, if the annoyed look he sent Lev was any indication.

"I am not. It just drives me crazy when I know something is happening and there's nothing I can do about it," he shot back. Lev decided not to say that that was the definition of a busybody.

Especially when Azrael mentioned his meds, and he cringed.

"I was gonna run and pick 'em up," Lev said, because the change in subject had shocked him back to normal. "I should be back by... noon-ish? No later than one, if you're ok with waiting."

Wade wasn't certain if Lev was talking to him or Azrael. Either way, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I'm fine with that. I wanted to finish going over newbie's coding and gathering materials for him," he said absently. He always liked to try and pay attention to the new guys, even if he knew that attention was sometimes overbearing. It was hard just starting out on the first real, big project, so he liked to make sure he had references prepared in case they needed it.

Lev smiled. He had no idea how Wade convinced so many people he was a jackass, when he was such an obvious softie.

"Ok, great. Uh, you can tell Thea I'll be back with lunch," Lev said to Azrael, and oh no. He was smiling again. Wade was looking at him, and he was grinning like an idiot. "Uh, see you. Take care, and all."

He turned and practically bolted, until he realized he was acting very strange. Reaching the waiting room, he took a second to take a deep breath, shaking his whole body out to get rid of his nerves.

Until he spotted Zorion and Alistair, and his face turned red. Right. Nine o' clock. Sick kid. He didn't know anything more than that, because he did not listen in on classified information, but being sick as a kid was rough. He made sure to smile at the two of them.

"Uh, hi," he said awkwardly. "I'm Lev. I mean, I'm leaving. I mean. Have a nice day. Hope you feel better kiddo."

He took a deep breath and tried to walk calmly out the door.

He hit the door frame, and then righted himself. His cheeks flushed further, and he turned back to make sure nobody had seen that.

Of course they had seen that. He was a disaster.

At least his damn tail had stopped wagging.

"Uhm. Goodbye."

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael could not help it. Something about Lev getting all flustered and babbling made her cold, dead heart go all soft. Maybe her heart was neither cold nor dead, but it certainly made her brain go stupid.

Especially when he said he was going to woo her with food. Which was hilarious since she was a vampire. She felt like there was a heart and liver pun in there somewhere and if he would stop smiling maybe she could find it.

She was a doctor with years of training and a bunch of facts in her head but this man smiled at her and all brain activity ceased. It was very annoying. But in a good way. Which was honestly a frustrating juxtaposition.

Azrael raised her eyebrows. She was being invited over? Right. Dinner with friends. There was no reasons to be getting all giggly like some school girl. She had to warn this poor boy that he might want to rethink the path he was headed down.

Except that she very much hoped she would fail to scare him off.

But then she'd have to introduce him to her family and they were an actual mafia.

Nope, slow right on down. They were having dinner at his place and he was cooking spiced meatloaf for her. It was no big deal. People did that all the time. Kumiho-Kitsune with hearts of gold wooed criminal vampire doctors all the time. It was fine, totally fine.

What she really needed was a wooing play-on-words.

Azrael smirked at Wade. He was so bad at the dickhead act, he really was. "I appreciate your concern, Wade. We're all fine here."

And if Percival wasn't fine, heads would roll. He was her anxious people-pleaser, blast it.

"The newbie? Mr. Shepard? Ah, I ran into him on my way in." Azrael frowned, remembering it was the weekend and she had told him to get more sunshine. "Good, he needs someone to look after him," she grumbled.

And Lev was smiling again and if brain waves could flatline, hers were. But as he bolted, the mischievous part of her brain reasserted itself.

She leaned to look past Wade and called, "Looking forward to that wooing!"

She snickered and then scowled up at Wade. "This is your doing, I hope you're prepared for the consequences."




"Man, best high five I have had all day," Thea said. They chuckled. "Yeah, dads have a bad habit of stealing your gummies. You gotta watch 'em."

They winked at Zorion.

Thea studied the scribble in which Dr. Drake had written the what looked like a policy subsection and "no co-pay". "Nope. Might just be because the Doc's your in-house doctor. Either way she thinks you don't owe her money so don't worry about it."

Though, Thea would bet their braids it was a loophole the Doc fully intended to exploit. For someone who considered herself bad with kids, she certainly had a soft spot for them. Maybe in a criminal sort of way, but still.

When Lev came around the door, smiling and pink, they kept their face carefully neutral, but the sparkle in their eye gave them away. They just regretted they had missed it. Azrael's recap would probably be, "Hm? Oh, I asked him out." And said as if she were explaining she'd had coffee that morning.

Their deadpan was truly tested when Lev ran into the door frame, but they managed it.

Eyes dancing, Thea wiggled their fingers in a teasing wave. "See ya."

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Alistair smiled. He seemed glad he had a talent in high fives.

Zorion gave an awkward smile at Thea as they winked. He knew now that Alistair would want to make sure every morning that he didn't eat his gummies. Though, it might be a fun game they could play. As long as it didn't turn into him wanting to count out the gummies.

Alistair gave Zorion the side eye and he gave a mischievous wink. That really got him going. Alistair then gave him an intense stare and one of those 'I'm watching you' movements with his free hand.

"Well, that's a relief." Zorion mumbled. He had been rather worried about the co-pay. It was hard to think straight when Alistair got sick. His anxiety and stress always went through the roof. He eased up after hearing that, "Well, thank you to Dr. Drake." He paused then added, "And her fabulous assistant Thea." He chuckled. "Seriously though, you have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear that."

Alistair again got distracted by a man walking out. Lev's face was bright red so he just assumed he was sick as well. Zorion turned around to see Lev after he had spoken to them. "You too, mister." Alistair said before Lev walked into the door frame.

Zorion felt for the guy. He was a lanky person, for a satyr, and when he first started working at Fairweather he was always hitting his head on the doorframes. Though this kid seemed more distracted and flustered than anything.

"Daddy, is he ok?" Alistair tugged on his father's shirt after Lev had left.

"I think he'll be fine." He spoke from personal experience. He hoped Lev would ice his face. Depending on how hard he had hit his head it might leave a mark.

"Well, I guess if that's all we should be going too." He turned back to Thea. "Thank you so much and tell Dr. Drake I said thanks too."

Alistair gave him the cutest little pout he had ever seen, but he still said, "C'mon, its time to go. Do you want me to pick you up or can you walk?"

"I can walk just fine on my own." He still had a pout on his face and it was clear that he wouldn't mind the idea of staying here.

Zorion smirked, "Oh really now. So then why did I have to carry you all the way here hm?"

"Well...." Alistair thought, "I wasn't feeling good remember. You're really silly sometimes."

Zorion gave a playful roll of his eyes before he picked Alistair up, "Well let me see.. if I remember the doctor said you have a low grade fever. Which means your still not feeling well. I think I'll carry you back."

"No fair" Alistair mumbled. Though he didn't mind to be carried. He actually liked it better than walking, but he didn't want to seem like a baby. His face softened from a pout to a smile. He realized whining only made him sound more like a baby. Besides, he loved his dad too much to be seriously mad at him for something as stupid as that.

Zorion again thanked Thea then awkwardly added, "Maybe I'll see you around the building." He felt like he should be friendlier with his coworkers, especially ones who were nice to Alistair. They seemed to be genuine in what they said so they were ok in his book.

"Bye bye!" Alistair waved over Zorion's shoulder.

Zorion then walked over to the door and ducked under the frame so he didn't bang his head like the last guy.



Skye woke up the next morning tired. It must've been around 1:30 in the morning when she finally got back home. She laid in bed in her half human form with all her clothes on except her sneakers which were sprawled out a couple inches away.

She sat up, put her sneakers on and went down the stairs and outside. She groaned once she saw the gate. The stupid gate that got stuck every five seconds. She really didn't feel like messing around with it. She felt too tired to do anything. And yet she still went out and started her walk into town.

She was gonna head to her friend Charlie's shop. Well, it was her uncle's auto mechanic shop but she did help out since she was living with him. She could tell Charlie enjoyed it though. She had a talent with cars.

It wasn't just an auto mechanic shop. It had tools and stuff for wire fences. Which was what she needed. Though, she was mostly going because she wanted to hang out with Charlie. It she was working today she would try to help to.

She was so tired that she completely forgot to put her ears and tail in. She only realized when she first into town and quickly put them away. She hoped no one had seen that. If anyone did, they just kept on walking.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Azrael insisted things were fine. Judging by the look on Lev's face when he left, he figured that was an understatement.

"Fine, huh?" He asked, his eyebrows waggling. "Sounds like things are more than fine. I bet he offered to cook for you. He's a great cook, you're lucky."

He felt proud when she blamed him, and all he could do was smirk.

"Well, I would say it's Lev's fault. But I'll take the blame. You guys are cute together, you deserve each other," he said in his annoying teasing voice.

But then there was a thump from the office, and a low grumble in a voice that Wade recognized. His face immediately soured.

"Is Percival in your office?" he asked, a frown on his face. "Was he your emergency patient?"

Part of him wanted to say 'good riddance' and leave, but a smaller part of him was worried. Percival was a powerful guy, and he was pretty good at brushing things off, but... Well, Wade hated him, but that didn't mean he wanted to see him hurt.

"Is he ok? Did anything bad happen? He's so weird, he thinks insane shit is totally normal, did somebody try to kidnap him or something?" Wade asked, trying to keep his voice steady. There was a grumbled curse from inside the room, and then the sound of something being knocked over.

"I'm fine," Percival called back, his voice gravelly in the way one was when they woke up. "Is that mister Harper? I- I'm fine. Please don't come in."

Wade scrunched up his eyebrows, glaring at the door before turning to Azrael.

"He's not fine, open the door--"

"No, really, I just--" He cursed, which was weird because Percival never cursed. Wade was ready to knock the door down, and Percival cleared his throat. "I, er. I'm not decent. I lost my pants."

Wade blinked slowly with his hand half-raised to the door, and gave Azrael a blank look.

"Why is Percival in your office without pants?"



Oh, Lev could tell he would never live this down. One look at Thea's face was all he needed to see that. They were going to tease him mercilessly.

Still, that was fine. He had a date.

And medication to go pick up. Right. He took a deep breath once he was outside the door, and then went back towards the subway so he could swing by the pharmacy. It wasn't quite on his way, but it wasn't on the opposite end of town or so. It'd only be about an extra half hour of his time.

 

[Reynarda]

Thea beamed. "Of course! It's what we do. And anyway, I'll relay your thanks to the good doc."

They chuckled when Alistair asked if Lev would be ok. He was going to be fine.

Thea wiggled their fingers at Alistair as his dad carried him out. Once the door was closed, they resisted the urge to bolt into Azrael's office and demand the details. They forced themself to prep the kid's chart and then prep the charge and then file the chart.




Azrael did not have to take this teasing from Wade Harper. She glowered at him.

Or, tried to. Her lip kept twitching towards a smile. He said she and Lev deserved each other. She disagreed with it, but it was still nice to hear.

It was definitely Lev's fault for weaseling his way into her affections like this. Rude of him, to be honest. But she might have been a little more convinced that she shouldn't let him get any closer if Wade hadn't told her to give him a chance. So she still blamed him.

The warm little feeling in her stomach shattered the second Percival groaned.

She glared at Wade. "You know I can't discuss that. I am a doctor, that is my patient."

She hurried to get between Wade and the door to her office. She was not nearly his height and so he could easily see over her shoulder and head, but if she could keep him from opening the door, it should be fine.

"Wade, he is my patient, I will take care of him," Azrael said, her tone even. She knew he wasn't thinking she couldn't handle it, he was just worried. Worried about someone he supposedly hated.

But then he said something that made her mad.

Azrael drew herself up, looking Wade in the eye, her expression cold. "Really? Really, Mr. Harper? Your brain goes there? I am a doctor. People undress in my office all the time. And you think after all that with Lev that I would have Percival Fairweather in my office for that purpose? I am many things, Wade Harper, but a two-timer is not one of them."

She bit down hard on saying something really mean that would probably get him to leave, but it was mean, and it wasn't true. She probably wouldn't have even thought to say anything like that if he hadn't made her so angry. As it was, she was dangerously close to snarling at him. She couldn't snarl at a human. Especially not a friend.

"Now," she said, trying to take the ice out of her tone. "Please go wait in the waiting room while I take care of my patient, Mr. Harper."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Wade went pale, because Azrael quickly got the wrong idea.

"No, that's not--" his face flushed, and he quickly looked around. He kind of felt like a dickwad right now, but she needed to know. "He steals peoples' girlfriends."

He kept his voice low, and he grimaced at how pathetic the words came out.

"I mean. Look can you just," he grabbed her by the sleeve, being very careful not to touch her arm itself, and tugged her away from the door. "It's not you. I don't think you'd do that to Lev. But he can be... weird. Like, he doesn't really get boundaries sometimes? I just, I was worried he... did something. Not you."

God, Azrael really was playing the role of his therapist lately, and he hated it. They were supposed to be friends.

"I mean, I'm not trying to, like, badmouth him, or ruin his reputation. I hate him, but I wouldn't do that. And I don't think you're a two timer or anything. But, he does this thing with girls where he like... he smiles at them and gets them all invested and then he dumps them like a week later. He did it to every single one of my girlfriends in high school. I thought he grew up, but I just-- I didn't want him to try and do that shit with you."

He shouldn't have even bothered. She was right, she was a doctor. His face flushed and he realized he was still holding onto her sleeve, so he quickly let go.

He wasn't even trying to be an asshole right now. He just somehow always seemed to be in asshole mode lately. Maybe he should have just stuck with Lev. Lev knew why he was the way he was.

He was a hot human mess. He had no idea what Azrael was worried about, because if Lev could stand to be friends with him, he could be friends with anyone.

"I shouldn't have-- Sorry, I'm being stupid," he said, pressing the heel of his hand into his forehead. He had spent more personal time with Percival in the past week than he had in years. It was messing with him, and he was getting all worried about things that were over and done with. He should call this whole thing off. No more drinks, no more fang gang. He should go back to just him and Lev.

But the door to Azrael's office opened. Percival still looked paler than normal, and he was sweating a bit, but he at least had managed to control himself enough to get his shape back to human. He was reasonably sure he wasn't going to shift again without warning, and it seemed he had found a hospital gown to wrap around his waist.

"Wolfgang," he began, using that placating voice he always used to use, and Wade immediately snapped. This was too much. They weren't in high school anymore.

"Don't call me that," he said, trying to sound calm, but his voice was thick. He sounded like an emotional idiot, and he wasn't going to get emotional because Percival was doing his stupid charming flirt thing again. He turned to Azrael, because the last thing he wanted to do was look Percival in the eye. "I'm sorry, it was none of my business. You're right, you're his doctor. I. I'm going to go finish my work. I'll get Lev to bring me my meds, so don't worry about that."

Percival looked somewhere between resigned and crushed, but he was rooted to the spot. Wade brushed past him with a small, polite nod that was worse than anything else he could have said. He would have preferred it if Wade had cursed at him and called him an idiot. He certainly felt like an idiot, standing halfway in the hallway of Azrael's clinic with a hospital gown protecting his modesty. He groaned, pressing his hands to his face, and immediately retreated back into the office.

He didn't close the door, but he felt like he needed to sit down. He was exhausted, and his nap had helped him feel better, but only a little bit. He sat down on the office chair and buried his face in his hands.

"Do you have a pair of pants?" he asked after taking a moment to collect himself. "I would really like a pair of pants."

 

[Reynarda]

"'Steals people's girlfriends'?" Azrael repeated, her voice rising in pitch if not in volume. "So I'm something that can be stolen now? So, what? I'm just going to drop the best person in the room because Percival Fairweather smiles at me? Really? Percival Fairweather?"

Azrael almost slapped him when he grabbed her sleeve and pulled her out of the way. Almost. But she knew the second she let herself get physical, it would open the floodgates. So she let him pull her out of the way, but she ground in her heels so that she wasn't completely out of the way.

"Oh please," she snapped. "You think that would be the first time a man hit on me when I examined him? You are over-estimating the allure of male genitalia."

She glared up at him. "Yes, yes you are being stupid. You don't need to protect the world from Percival Fairweather."

But then Percival decided to make things worse by coming out and calling Wade something he didn't want to be called. It took all Azrael's self-control not to drop both of their blood pressures and then sit down and have a drink and collect her thoughts until they came-to. She wanted to yell at both of them.

Mostly Wade--because, really, what the blue blazes did Wade think Percival Fairweather had to offer her? Honestly. It was insulting.

When Wade did an about-face and hurried off, Azrael almost chased after him. But she figured it would be fine, for now. However, if he thought he was escaping by running up to his office, he didn't realize she could take elevators just as well as he could.

Azrael turned to Percival when he asked for pants and gave him a dirty look. It probably was a little unfair as it hadn't been Percival who seemed to think she would be stolen by some rich kid who knew how to use charm.

"You're an ass," she said, flatly, folding her arms over her chest. She didn't really care if she were being mean. She fully intended to give a variation on this same lecture to Wade. Maybe these two needed some tough love. "What were you hoping to accomplish by coming out there and calling him that? And why can't either of you just let me handle things? Wade's worried I'll be seduced by your sad eyes and you're worried--what? That I'll get it wrong somehow? You think he's your friend and no one else knows him as well as you do so you are the only one who can help him?"

She glared at him, letting him sit there in his hospital gown and feel stupid and exposed. It was mean, and it was using her position of power incorrectly, but she was this close to handcuffing them together and telling them she'd let them loose when they had worked through their problems.

"That whole placating thing you did? That doesn't work when you've broken trust with someone. You might as well have just slapped him. You can't try to appeal to him that way. Not when you haven't fixed what you broke." She forced her jaw to loosen. "I'm putting time and effort in with you because I think you can do better. I wouldn't be lecturing you if I didn't think you could fix it. But you have to put in the work. Wade isn't going to magically forgive you. You have to earn it back. An you can start by stopping acting like there's nothing wrong between you. Ignoring problems doesn't make them go away."

She fixed him with one last frown before huffing. "Now, I'm going to get you pants and then I'm getting myself Tylenol for the headache the pair of you have caused."

Thea was standing outside the office, a pair of bright pink scrub pants in their hands. "You want that Tylenol or you want alcohol?"

Azrael snorted. "I'm going to handcuff them together one of these days."

"Not gonna lie, I'm shocked Wade walked out of here. I was expecting to have to set bones." Thea smiled. "How about tea? Earl Grey with lavender, perhaps?"

Azrael took the scrub pants. "You're an angel."

"And then I want to hear all about you and Lev."

Azrael tossed a smile over her shoulder as she stepped back into her office. She handed Percival the pink scrub pants. "Put these on. Then I'm taking your vitals again and you're not leaving until I say you can. Got it?"

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Oh. Wade had fucked up. He was not so stupid to not realize when he had fucked up.

Well, he had been trying to push everyone away. It was only a matter of time before it worked.

He didn't know why he had been worried. Of course Azrael wouldn't fall for Percival, or whatever stupidity he pulled. She was an adult woman who knew what she wanted. He shouldn't have even thought it was his place to intervene.

He rode the elevator up to his office silently, then swore once he got there.

Percival using his old name had messed him up. He didn't get to do that. He didn't get to do that, not after everything. Not when Wade's mom had to leave her job because reporters were writing articles about how she hadn't even noticed her husband was a rapist for twenty years.

He took a deep breath, then let it out.

He hadn't been this upset in months. He hadn't let Percival, of all people, upset him this much in years.

He opened up the word document on his laptop, and began to write. A few minutes later, he had a very eloquent and fancy resignation letter that was just the tiniest bit snide, to piss Charles and Tristan off. He stared at it for a few moments, licked his lips, and minimized it.

He wouldn't submit it. It was just... It was nice to have. He wasn't going to give up his entire job, and all of the people who relied on him, because Percival used his old name.

He wasn't. But right now he kind of wanted to, just a little bit.


Percival... really did not know how to react when Azrael called him an ass. He looked up and stared at her, a little bewildered. Nobody had ever called him out like that before. He was more confused and surprised than insulted, though he was pretty sure he should be.

"That wasn't-- I was trying to help," he said, though his words fell flat. He hadn't meant to upset Wade. It was just... With them spending time together, it had been hard to think of him as Wade. It was like he'd gone back in time, and they were kids again.

Azrael's words stung. They stung hard, and Percival's eyes went a little wide as he stared at her. His mouth gaped like a fish, and he squirmed uncomfortably in the chair. Not having pants was making this conversation only a little more humiliating than it already was.

He felt like he was two inches tall, but the worst thing was that he knew she was right. He had deluded himself into thinking that by giving Wade a job and by being close to him, he could magically fix their relationship. His father solved all of his problems with money and power plays, so he should be able to do the same thing, right? He didn't know what other options there were.

Azrael left the room, and he slumped in his chair. He didn't bury his face in his hands, but he did kind of want to disappear. Tristan and Normandy would both tell him he was being stupid, and that he had already done more than enough to earn Wade's trust. They did, in fact, tell him that on a regular basis. It was Wade's fault for being stubborn, and Percival's kindness and energy was wasted on him. His mother acted like his attempts at rebuilding his friendship with Wade was ill-advised but good-hearted pity, and that every time Wade refused his friendship, he was spitting in his face.

Percival had tried very, very hard not to believe them. He had tried to believe that he had done something bad because he had no choice. He had tried to make up for it.

He hadn't done anything but pat himself on the back, he thought bitterly.

When Azrael returned with the pink scrubs, he took them without a single comment, and pulled them on with a morose expression. He sat back down on the chair, exhaustion still creeping up on him, but he ignored it. Instead he looked anywhere but in her eyes, because he didn't want her to see how frustrated he was.

"I don't know how to fix it," he said quietly after a drawn out silence. "I want to, but I just. I don't know how."

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael turned while he dressed. She wasn't cruel.

Once he was clothed, she sat on her desk, one foot resting on the other chair and arms folded across her chest. She kept her eyes on him. She let the silence run, deciding to make him speak first. He was avoiding her eyes, and that was fine. He should be. She was still mad. He was such an idiot.

She hoped Wade wasn't upstairs doing something stupid. She worried a little that he would punish himself for being an idiot. And he was an idiot, but he just deserved a her glaring at him, not whatever nightmare he dreamed up for himself. She would go up there and fuss at him. But she figured she'd try a different tact than the one she was using on Percival. He needed to squirm a bit and feel bad. Wade already felt bad. She'd need to be gentler with him.

She really needed that book on mental health.

When Percival finally spoke, she softened. Ha, she knew he could do better.

"Me, either," she said, almost cheerfully. "But admitting there is a problem is the first step to fixing it."

She shifted and huffed. "Well, I don't know the story and I don't have to. But words aren't going to work. Whatever you did, you broke his trust. And probably your parents played a part, but we're ultimately responsible for our own actions. Which is lucky for us, because that means we can make our own decisions."

Azrael thought for a second. "You could go crawling on your knees begging forgiveness, but I don't think that will work. If you want to fix it, you have to fix it. And that takes actions. One of those actions is not staring at your feet while your dad destroys him."

She knew that was a little harsh, but it was ultimately the truth.

"And look, my parents aren't great people either, so I get vampire parents. I do. I'm not downplaying how hard it is. It's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done. But if you're only going to support him when your parents aren't looking, then what good is that? Actions. Actions are your key, not words. Broken trust means your word is worthless. It's going to be hard. If it's easy, you're probably not doing it right. You have to show him you're not the person you were. And you have to do it without expecting anything in return."

She paused, trying to catch his eye. "Percival, you need to realize that he might never forgive you, and you have to come to peace with that. But if that changes you wanting to fix it, then you don't actually care about him. If you try to fix it and he wants you to leave him alone, then you need to respect his wishes."

After a second, she added, "And stop being so bloody possessive. It's annoying and it's not a good look. Lev is good for him. And I care about him, too. I apparently have a soft spot for stupid idiots like you and him. Other people in his life is healthy. If you're not ok with that, then it's about you and not him. In which case you need to back right on up because you're just using him to satisfy your own desires, and you're going to cross me if you do that."

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Zorion was walking back to his department when Alistair pipped up and asked, "Daddy?"

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Can we go get the ginger tea?" Besides just wanting to sip some tea, Alistair's throat also felt dry and itchy.

"Oh, right! Sorry bud, I completely forgot. Yeah, we'll get you some tea." Zorion would probably get some caffeine to wake himself up. Something his parents wouldn't approve of. His family were tea drinkers. They thought herbal tea was better than any kind of coffee product. They also would go on about how most coffee was produced by soul less corporations built on destroying the land. They were hypocrites. Even though they lived in the country they still lived in a house that was built from and on land that was once woodland. And besides, Zorion couldn't care less about what his parents thought. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to get some coffee out of spite.

Alistair beamed.

Zorion clopped off to the café and went over to get Alistair his tea. He put Alistair down and made sure he could stand without a problem before reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. He then noticed Alistair was staring at the muffins.

He smiled down at Alistair, "Want one?" He pointed to the muffins.

Alistair's tail started wagging, "Really?" When Zorion nodded Alistair pointed to the blueberry muffin, "Can I get that one?"

When the worker came back Zorion sent her an apologetic look, "Sorry, but could I add on a blueberry muffin?"

"No problem sir."

He paid and then picked up the ginger tea and muffin and walked over to a table so Alistair could sit and eat.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

It hurt.

It really hurt to hear that Wade might never forgive him. He couldn't help his sharp intake of breath, because everything he had done, back when they were kids and now, he had done because he wanted to keep Wade. Now that he was an adult, he was able to see that a lot of those actions had been thoughtless and hurtful, but it was all because Wade was the first person he had ever actually been close with outside his family.

Wade had given him brownies and told him it didn't matter if he wasn't healthy all the time. Wade had brought out his mom's old cassette player and had them listen to Frank Sinatra interspersed with Bon Jovi and King Crimson, because Percival didn't actually know what kind of music he liked. Wade had talked him into sneaking out of the dorm when they were fourteen so they could go sneak into the late night showing of Predator because neither of their parents would let them watch it. Wade had heard that Percival's mother was going to choose who he eventually married, and had been so angry that he had used more curse words than Percival knew how to say.

Percival had been hopelessly in love with him for over fifteen years. The idea that he would just walk out of his life hurt far worse than the idea that he would continue hating him.

"I really messed up," he said, and he hated how thick and stupid his voice came out. He never showed this much emotion in front of people. Even Normandy and Tristan, who saw him as open as he ever let himself be, didn't get to see him this screwed up. "My father arranged for us to be roommates so I could spy on him. I wasn't supposed to actually like him."

He closed his eyes, taking in a harsh and unsteady breath.

"He's too good for me."

His voice was very small and very quiet, as though he hadn't even meant to say those words aloud.

After a second, he composed himself and looked back up at Azrael.

She was right. He was possessive. It had always been one of his worst traits. He didn't care about most things, but when he found something that he was truly attached to, he didn't want to share it with anyone. It was why he had pushed his way in between Wade and every girlfriend he had when they were kids, because the idea of somebody else taking him away had terrified him.

He closed his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm really messed up," he grumbled after a moment, massaging his temples like he could feel a headache coming on.

Azrael said everything he didn't want to hear, everything people had been telling him wasn't a big deal for years. It hurt to listen, but in a way it was almost refreshing. A part of him had wanted for so, so long to hear that this mess was his fault. Nobody around him had ever wanted to lay the blame on him but Wade. Having somebody bluntly list his own faults was frustrating, but relieving.

"I... I know you and Lev are good for him," he said finally, his cheeks flushing a little bit. He knew that he was avoiding the point a little bit, because if Lev really had been romantically involved with Wade, he didn't know if he would have been as ok with that. But he was far from a saint, and he didn't think he could just watch somebody else get romantically involved with the man he'd pined for for over a decade and just happily wish them well.

But he needed to do something.

He pulled out his phone, hesitating. His father was the first in his contacts, though Percival had never texted him. Charles liked to speak in person. It would be so much easier to send a message through Tristan or his mother, but that would defeat the point.

He tried to keep his fingers from shaking, but he still had to go back and make corrections as he typed out the message.

'Stop sending reporters after Linda Harris.'

Was that enough? Or was that too forceful? He doubted his father would actually listen to him anyways.

Shaking his head, he erased everything, but refused to lose his nerve.

'I am tired of you harassing Linda Harris and her son.'

There. That... That was succint and to the point. He took a deep breath, then hit send.

He then immediately turned his phone off, because he may be growing a spine, but he didn't have that much backbone.