Fantasy St. George's School for Young Hunters (closed)

[jones573]

Alex winced internally at Agni's timeline suggestion- That seemed too little a time to build a house, didn't it? He wasn't really sure, but he knew this particular house was going to take a lot less time than a usual one, and he didn't want Olive to think anything was strange.

If he was able to keep his wince internal, he was not able to do so for the discomfort he felt when she brought up college.

"Uh- I'm taking some online classes, but I was thinking I might take a gap year- or semester at least, I guess-"

Winona decided this was as good a time as any to interrupt.

"He got a big school-arship," she announced. Not that he needed it, but still, she knew that was supposed to be a good thing. "For Mit." She said it all as one word. "But he told me he isn't going to go," she said with an accusatory look in Alex's direction.

"No! No raves here," Alex quickly said, suddenly very excited by the return of Vlad and Bram. "Slight issue with the neighborhood power is all, so we are hosting," he explained.

"And they've been absolute darlings about it," Esther called from the living room. "You should be very proud, what an exceptionally polite group of young people you have," she said. She might have glanced in the direction of Olive's parents when she lingered over the word 'polite', but it was subtle enough that Helen didn't elbow her for it.

 

[Sakuma]

Agni froze, his spine stiffening. Bram's tone wasn't accusatory, but fear was a heavily ingrained instinct when it came to pleasing the people in charge of him.

"No, we would never--"

"What's a rave?" Genny piped up from the living room, where she had been trying and failing to braid May's hair. Adelaide frowned in the kitchen, hitching baby Nicky up on her hip to go collect her daughter.

"Not something you need to know about before you're eighteen," she answered, and Genny crossed her arms and pouted. She was pretty sure that Alex and Winona and Olive weren't eighteen, so that was stupid. But there were a lot of things her mom said were to be saved until after she was eighteen - like scary movies and coffee and unsupervised youtube - so she was pretty sure she'd made that up.

"It's something boring anyways," May said wisely, and Genny squinted at him, then decided that May knew best. He was, after all, the opposite of boring. He must be an expert.

"They required the power to feed the baby, so I invited them in," Agni said, slinking from the kitchen like a nervous cat. He was starting to second guess himself and wonder if he should have texted first, just to be sure that giving that permission was something he was allowed to do. But then, if they said no, he would have had to turn the little girl away. Or if they said he didn't have to ask about such things, he would feel stupid.

Realizing that Agni was starting to spiral into an overthinking nightmare, May stood up , causing Genny to whine when her very tangled braid came apart at the end.

"It's nice to have everyone over, though. Kinda like a neighbourhood barbeque, except inside, and there's no barbeque. Oh, but we did dig out the last of the cookies you made, Bram."

 

[Reynarda]

Olive was immediately impressed. She had worked hard to get a scholarship through her PSAT scores and had just barely gotten a small one. "Really? Do you mind me--oh," she cut herself off as Alex hurried from the kitchen.

Bram grinned at Genny. "Oh, it's very boring," he agreed with May. "You sit around and drink prune juice and watch black-and-white movies." He grinned at Adelaide. "How are you? How is the baby?"

Vlad smiled at Agni and hung his and Bram's coats by the door, where they could drip on the rubber shoe mat. "Yes, thank you for acting in our stead, Agni. I am glad our home could be of service to our neighbors."

Bram looked up from watching Genny braid May's hair to the two women on the couch and grinned. "Ester, Helen! What are a few foxy dames like yourselves doing over in my little home?" he asked with a cheeky wink.

"Stop flirting with people a fraction of your age," Vlad muttered at him.

Devon came out of the kitchen, trying to figure out by their expressions if they had been successful or not. Unfortuantely, Bram was chatting with the neighbors and Vlad was making sure everyone had been show the appropriate amount of hospitality.

Behind Devon, Olive smiled. "Hello Mr. Leeuwen, Mr. Drakonii."

Both Bram and Vlad pulled faces at that. Even though years and years had passed and they had grown used to being addressed as "mister", neither of them particularly liked it. "Please just call me Bram. And that's Vlad."

Vlad smiled. "Hello, Olive." Seeing that everyone had been offered food and beverages, Vlad turned to Adelaide. "If you would like to give your arms a rest and little Nicky wouldn't mind, I'd be happy to bounce your baby for you."

Bram snickered to himself. Vlad was secretly very good with babies and did enjoy holding them. It was very rare he actually asked. Shaking his head fondly, Bram made his way into the living room and sat in the armchair. The fire had adopted a bit of black, and Bram frowned at it until it returned to a normal fire color. Nabbing a cookie, he leaned back in the chair and let out a groan.

"This rain is not letting up. Ya'll are welcome to stay as long as you need."

 

[jones573]

"Oh, you," Esther told Bram, though she was clearly pleased by the attention.

"You're married," Helen reminded her wife, though she didn't seem overly fussed.

"Just because I'm off the market doesn't mean I can't admire the goods," Esther teased Bram, and Helen, who rolled her eyes.

Winona peered suspiciously at Vlad and his offer to hold a baby, but didn't say anything.

Alex, however, was not doing as great a job as hiding his emotions.

"So.... Um. How did dinner go," he tried to fish subtly. "Was it... good?"

'Did you solve the problem of how to keep May alive?' was what he wanted to ask, but couldn't.

"Ooh, you had a dinner date? How was it, where did you go," Esther pestered- Obviously, flirting with Bram was secondary to her interest in knowing about his relationship- Or her perception of it, at least.

 

[Sakuma]

Agni felt like his head was going to explode.

Vlad had thanked him. He hadn't quite expected to be punished - at least not in the way that he was used to. He had only been here for less than a month, but he had already gleaned that neither Bram nor Vlad would physically harm him for going against orders. Still, he hadn't anticipated being thanked. The Tiger - the kindest of the guardians - would have let it slide, but not until after a stern lecture. This was an entirely different reaction than he was used to.

His face went through a strange series of expressions, until he finally nodded. Right. He couldn't ask questions when guests were present, so he would have to wait until after. For the time being, he would simply have to accept that he was not in trouble.


Genny scowled, clearly not liking the idea of prune juice.

"That sounds bad," she said bluntly, and May laughed.

"Hey, some black and white movies are pretty good," he teased. He had made the whole house watch the original 1954 Godzilla, among a large number of other horror movies from the 40s and 50s, both american and foreign. He was pretty sure Vlad regretted ever letting him choose the film for movie night, but that was just because he had bad taste.

"Black and white movies are boring, and everyone talks funny," Genny protested, and May bit his tongue to keep from going on a tangent about theatre acting vs television acting, and how acting had changed over the years with the advance of technology. Adelaide, seeing his struggle, fondly rolled her eyes.

"Genny, honey, we don't make fun of things that other people like," she scolded gently before giving Vlad a grateful look. "Thank you. This child, you'd never know he's only six months by how heavy he is. Sometimes it feels like carrying around a bowling ball. Genny, do you want to grab a burp cloth from the diaper bag for mommy?"

Genny took off on her assignment, and Adelaide handed Nicky over.

"I don't want him to get your clothes all wet. He's sleepy after eating, but he's at that stage where he drools like a faucet on anything and everyone."


May headed over to Alex, taking his hand. He wasn't optimistic, and he was trying not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't deny that he was also nervous about whatever answers Bram and Vlad might have gotten from Angela. He had come over to try and soothe Alex's nerves, but when he squeezed the hand in his, found it was just as much to placate himself as well.

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad smiled broadly as he accepted Nicky. "Oh, a little drool never hurt anyone."

There were, of course, quite a few creatures whose drool could, in fact, hurt someone, but human baby drool did not fall into that category.

Bram grinned at Helen. "It's your own fault for taking her off the market before an enterprising charmer like myself came along. What am I supposed to do? Suffer in silence?"

"If only we were so lucky," Vlad called from the kitchen, and Bram's grin widened.

In a meandering, bouncy walk, Vlad made his way to Olive's parents. He smiled politely and stopped humming to Nicky just long enough to say, "Good evening, Melissa, Jeffery."

Olive's mother had finished her very important Zoom call. She would have gathered her husband and daughter had this house not been so much warmer than theirs. As she was sitting in his house, Melissa realized there was no avoiding conversation. "Vlad, correct?"

"Yes," Vlad said, deciding to politely ignore that he had introduced himself to both Daneilses at the most recent open house at Devon's high school. "Your daughter is in several classes with Devon."

Melissa wrinkled her nose sightly, and Vlad arched an eyebrow at her. "Is there a bad smell?" Vlad made a show of checking Nicky's diaper, even though he knew for a fact the tiny human had a clean diaper. "Not from our boy."

"No, sorry, allergies," Melissa said, slightly shocked that he had seen her expression. Up until now she had prided herself on her ability to smile at people she did not like.

"Yes, one of our children keeps feeding the neighborhood stray cats," Vlad confided, glancing affectionately at Agni. "I am very allergic, myself."

Melissa mumbled something about also being allergic to cats.

"How is your daughter doing?" Vlad turned to see where Devon was talking to Olive, who was watching him with a smile. "I am glad to see Devon is talking with her. It's good to know he has friends at school."

Jeff nudged his wife to get the scowl off her face. Melissa had tried to warn her daughter off the strange kids the two strange men had adopted, but it had made Olive all the more curious.

"There are cookies in the living room if you would care to join," Vlad said, waltzing off with Nicky to the living room.

Jeff gave his wife pleading eyes, and Melissa rolled her eyes. But she put away her computer and followed her husband into the living room.

"Dinner was nice--it was a networking event," he clarified, then winked. "Not a hot date."

"As if I would go on a hot date with you," Vlad said, coming into the living room while swaying and bouncing Nicky.

Bram groaned. "No, I know that look. Did you sniff that baby's head? You did, didn't you." Bram turned a mock-accusatory look on Adelaide. "See what you've done? Now he's going to want a baby."

"I don't want a baby," Vlad huffed.

Bram eyed the teens in the living room. "Alright, which of you is going to take one for the team and let Vlad carry you around and hum at you?"

"Abraham," Vlad sighed. "But look at him. Isn't he adorable?"

"Yes, and remember all those sleepless nights when Amya was teething?"

Vlad would have pointed out that werewolf teething was much worse than human teething, but they were in mixed company. She had also chewed through quite a bit of their furniture. A human baby would not be that destructive.

Bram smiled and shook his head ruefully. "Oxytocin is one helluva drug. The only way we're having another baby is if you push them out yourself."

"Abraham!" Vlad hissed, gesturing at Genny with his eyes.

"Push them out of the baby store in a shopping cart, obviously, good grief Vlad, don't be so hysterical."

Vlad probably would have thrown something at Bram if he hadn't been holding a precious small being. But Bram gestured at him, and Vlad took a seat on the arm of his chair. Bram's expression softened as he caught Nicky drooling on Vlad's vest.

"You keep his head away from me. One of us has to be the rational one." Patting Vlad's knee, Bram grinned at Genny. "You know, one of my favorite black-and-white movies is about this really, really old vampire who rises up out of his coffin--"

"Abraham Leeuwen," Vlad said in horror, stopping Bram from miming Count Orlok's classic awakening.

Bram winked at her. "Vlad thinks it's scary, so we don't watch it much."

Vlad actually found Nosferatu incredibly insulting to both vampires and several human people groups, but he wasn't about to explain that. He and Bram had just happened to be in the Netherlands in the '20s, when it premiered, and Bram had forced him to watch it. There were supposedly no surviving copies after Stoker's estate sued over it, but Bram knew a guy.

 

[jones573]

Alex squeezed May's hand back in return, feeling comforted and a smidge better for it.

But... Dinner was 'nice' didn't exactly tell him anything. Knowing Bram, he was just as likely to be commenting on the food as on any headway they had made on May's problem- More likely, actually.

"We're getting a baby?," Winona asked as she wandered in, clearly confused and a little concerned. "We don't need a baby," she said, a little distressed at the prospect. Nicky seemed very fragile and probably not up to the sort of lifestyle they lived, she didn't think he knew how to defend himself at all, not to mention he probably took up a lot of time and then everyone would have less time for her and get so impatient with her when she needed help and-

"They're joking, Win," Alex told her.

"Oh. Good," she said.

"I like some of the black and white movies," Winona told Genny. "The ones without words, where they do funny things. Umm," she said, trying to recall one. "Buster Keaton," she said. Winona, unsurprisingly, liked things with simple plots and physical comedy. She had been especially impressed to learn about stunts, and the fact that lots of the old movie stars had done their own, in much less safe conditions than existed today.

 

[Sakuma]

Adelaide laughed. While she didn't know Bram and Vlad too well, they didn't judge her for being a single mom working long hours, even with a young kid, so they were good enough in her book.

"Well, you're welcome to babysit any time," she said with a small smile. "It's hard finding someone reliable to watch the kids when I'm on night shift. Besides, that way you get all the joys of having a six month old and you get to give him back after."

Genny gave Bram a Look, scrunching her eyebrows together.

"I know that babies don't come from the store," she said grumpily. "They come from the hospital. Mommy had to go to the hospital for a few days to get him, and then she came back with him."

Adelaide shrugged helplessly. She had tried to explain where the baby was coming from in a way that made sense to a six year old, but she wasn't sure how much of it had actually gotten through.

"You are really good with kids. Guess the experience comes in handy," she commented, watching as Nicky snoozed away on Vlad's shoulder. Her smile turned into a small frown when Bram started talking about vampire movies, and she sighed.

"You're too young for scary movies," she said before Genny could ask about it. "Do you remember what happened when Uncle Lou was babysitting you and you decided to watch Five Nights at Freddy's?"

Genny wilted, because her mom had told her specifically NOT to watch that movie, and she had nightmares for a whole month afterwards.

"Yes, mommy," she said dejectedly, though she brightened up again when Winona started talking to her.

Winona was a girl, but she was cool and strong and could probably win a fight against most boys. Genny wanted to be just like her.

"I haven't seen those ones! We only watch black and white movies at grandma's house, and they're all boring. Do you wanna watch one?"

"Hey, you can only watch a movie if Bram and Vlad say it's ok," Adelaide reminded her, but Genny was clearly distracted by the Cool Older Girl.

Agni, who had been quiet this whole time, finally slunk into the room, sitting down near the wall. Vlad bringing up the cats had him worried, and he found himself glancing into the kitchen at the back door.

"Hopefully the cats are ok," he mumbled.

 

[Reynarda]

"No, we're not getting a baby unless Vlad pushes said baby out of the baby store himself," Bram repeated for Winona's sake. He winked at Genny. "Yes, the hospital is the baby store."

Vlad huffed. "Abraham. Do not confuse her." He turned a smile on Adelaide. "Oh course we would be delighted to keep an eye on them for night shifts. We have a pack-and-play we could set up."

Bram raised his eyebrows, but decided not to ask where the hell they were going to put the pack-and-play. For all he knew, the house had enough magic at this point to rearrange the rooms.

"Yeah, you get better with each kid." Bram said with a smile. "When our best friends Will and Jon passed away suddenly, we took in our not-even-a-year-old goddaughter. She turned out alright."

He didn't add that they did this while protecting her from werewolf hunters and solving supernatural crimes in the 1910's in New Orleans. Amya had turned out very well despite riding around on her godfathers' backs while they investigated a serial killer. The Council had had to deal with listening to Vlad berate them while a werewolf baby chewed pensively on strands of his hair.

Vlad smiled at Genny's awe of Winona. "I am fine with Genny watching a movie if it's alright with you," he said, glancing at Bram.

Squeezing Vlad's knee, Bram nodded and leaned back in the armchair. Vlad could see the exhaustion behind his easy smile, and so leaned over to murmur, "You ok?" in his ear.

Bram leaned against him slightly, so Vlad took that as a "no".

"How are you two doing these days?" Bram asked the two older women on the couch. "I hope you're not terrorizing the town."

"I am certain the cats are alright," Vlad said, glancing at Agni.

 

[jones573]

Winona seemed surprised and a little intimidated by Genny's interest in her, and very unsure what to do.

"Umm," she said, looking at the clock. What time was a child's bedtime? She had her own- which she usually abided by- but surely she was much more mature and got to stay up later than Genny did. She hoped.

Did they have time to watch the one where he went into the movie screen and was a detective? She wasn't sure, but Genny was staring at her with wide, hopeful eyes and Winona didn't want her to be disappointed.

"We should watch the one where he builds the house," she said in what she hoped was a decisive tone. "Come'on, the movies are downstairs," she told Genny with a wave in the direction the little girl should follow.

"Oh, the town terrorizes itself just fine. If anything, the town terrorizes us," Helen said with a non-committal wave of her hand.

"She's bitter lately, because she's been losing at cribbage to a new member at the senior center," Esther revealed, and Helen scoffed.

"I'm not bitter because I'm 'losing', I'm frustrated because he's an a- A very annoying person," Helen caught herself in case Genny was still in earshot.

"You have- What do the kids call it? A 'beef'," Esther teased, and Helen rolled her eyes.

"And of course, my son and his wife are having the baby soon," Helen said. "Though I think Esther is more excited than I am."

"I can't believe you aren't more excited! It'll be our first grandchild," Esther said with exasperation.

"You are just embarrassed that you cried at the announcement and I didn't, I'm plenty excited," Helen retorted. Of the two of them, she had always been the more stoic.

 

[Sakuma]

Genny was clearly delighted that Winona was willing to watch a movie with her. She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, then ran towards the basement as soon as she was given permission. Adelaide sighed, but she gave the two girls a small smile anyways.

"Thanks... Winona, right? Thanks for hanging out with her. She'll probably fall asleep half-way through." She had less interaction with her than some of the others. It was clear that there was a story behind the girl's social awkwardness, but she seemed genuine enough. Adelaide certainly wasn't going to doubt her unless she was given reason to.

May squeezed Alex's hand, considering for a moment before he tugged him towards the basement as well.

"Come on, let's go with. It sounds like fun."

It was also an excuse to further put off whatever news he might get regarding his future. He was trying to be optimistic, but he knew Alex had to be stressing as well, and taking their minds off of things until their guests left was probably a good idea.


Turning back to Bram and Vlad, Adelaide hummed. She didn't know how old Bram and Vlad actually were, though she knew they were at least a few years older than she was. Judging from their family and the way they spoke, it wasn't hard to come to conclusions.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. I know that things used to be... a lot harder for people like us. I wasn't grown yet myself in the 80s, but... I know a lot of folks who lost people. It was good of you, to take in a child that young. Lord knows babies are hard enough even without the addition of trauma," she said sympathetically. "My wife, Genny's biological mom, passed away when she was two. It's so hard for them at that age. They know something's different and wrong, but they don't really understand what. I can't imagine a child that young losing both parents like that."

She eyed Nicky, who was barely awake but still making grabby hands at Vlad's hair.

"I think two is as many as I'm going to have," she admitted. "I love them both dearly, but parenting and having a full time job is like running a gauntlet sometimes. I don't know how you two manage to keep such a full household running so smoothly, but I'm jealous."

She glanced back to Esther and Helen, giving them a smile of appreciation for the censorship. Her sister always forgot to edit her words around the kids, and it was a nightmare.

"Grandkids are exciting! Congratulations, by the way - I don't know if I had a chance to say that before. Do you know the gender yet?"

 

[Reynarda]

"Ah, yes," Bram agreed wisely. "Very Annoying People are the worst. I would offer to rough him up a bit, but honestly you may enjoy Vlad reducing him to tears over cards more."

Vlad gave him a look, because--really Abraham--people generally thought he was harmless. This was Vlad's opinion rather than reality, as he was not able to see the way he eyed people who were in his way in the grocery store.

Olive paused in her complaint about the other students in band class as Devon's eyes shifted and he frowned slightly as he watched Genny dash for the basement. Glancing over her shoulder, Olive asked, "Something wrong?"

Devon turned back to her and smiled. "No, I'm just not used to having this many people in the house, is all."

"I think they're going to watch a movie," Olive said as Devon was once again distracted by May and Alex. "We could join."

Devon nodded, feeling a little uncertain. Olive had always been kind to him, but he felt weirdly protective of everyone around her. And maybe, he realized, he felt a little protective of what she thought of them.

"We don't have to," Olive said, not sure how to read his expression.

"No, we can join them. Come on. We were playing video games, so the place may be a bit messy."

Olive descended down into the basement after Devon, and found it to be extremely cozy. The house had none of the sharp angles or bare surfaces of her mother's modern style, and Olive liked it. She smiled at the assortment of cups on the side of the room.

"What are the hairbands for?" she asked, nodding to the cups that had hair elastics around them.

"If more than one of us grabs a cup that's the same color, we mark it with our color hairband," Devon explained. He gestured Olive to the couch and sat on one of the beanbags next to it. "What are we watching today, Win?"




Bram smiled easily, at first not sure what group Adelaide was assuming he and Vlad were a part of. It took him a minute, but he realized that people didn't assume "Will" was short for "Wilhelmina". Besides, Will did tend to dress a bit more masculine, he supposed. She had also thought confusing people was hilarious, so really, he supposed the confusion was on brand.

Vlad took a breath when he reached the same conclusion a second before Bram, but Bram just squeezed his knee. At Vlad's arched eyebrow, Bram shrugged. Who cared if the neighbors thought they were a couple? They couldn't exactly explain that Bram had stabbed Vlad with a cursed blade and now they were bonded far closer than most bindings humans could produce but they weren't together-together. Nah. Too much energy. Not enough cares to give.

"Thank you," Bram said instead. "And I am sorry to learn of your and Genny's loss. Losing a parent and partner is hard."

"Yes, Bram and I were both working when we took on Amya, our goddaughter," Vlad said.

"Yeah and raising a kid during the depression was no joke," Bram agreed.

"The recession," Vlad quickly corrected because honestly Abraham, it was like they hadn't spoken to humans recently.

Actually when had they last had a conversation longer than five minutes with someone who had no idea what they were?

"That's what I said," Bram said.

Vlad gave him a look. "Regardless, Amya was no longer a child when the recession hit."

"Yes, she was."

"She was in her twenties."

Bram made a face. "No, I came home to you both crying over ladies' undergarments during then."

Vlad rolled his eyes to the heavens and let out a huff. He hadn't been crying he had been furious because those were uncomfortable and surely they were going to cause some sort of something and--

"Fortunately," Bram said, winking at Helen and Esther, "I knew a thing or two about women's undergarments and was able to help out."

Vlad puffed up like an annoyed cat and was about to point out that Bram only ever took them off and never wore them so he had no say, but Bram's laugh cut him off. He deflated, a small genuine smile resting on his mouth. It was good to hear a real and unforced laugh from Bram after there had been so precious little of that. Vlad knew Bram felt like he had to offset his depressive episodes with forced cheer to maintain a sense of normalcy--it was on the list of things he felt very guilty about. There was precious little Vlad would not stoop to for a genuine laugh from his best friend. Discussing an awkward family moment with strangers was one he would allow.

"The undergarment incident was a decade before that, Bram," Vlad said, unable to keep the smile off his face. It had truly been a funny incident. Amya had brought it up quite a few times and had vowed to keep up with undergarment fashion so as to not run into the same problem with her own daughters.

"They grow up too fast," Bram sighed, reaching over and smoothing Nicky's hair from his face. "You don't miss everything about the little stages, but sometimes I miss holding a sleeping kid. There's something about it."

Vlad lifted his eyes to the tired mother in the room and smiled. "Oh, Adelaide, do not let our laid-back attitude fool you."

"No one thinks you're laid-back, Vlad."

Vlad ignored Bram. "We are constantly in crisis."

"Literally," Bram agreed. "There's always something going on with at least one of the kids. Or all of them. And you're trying to manage your own health on top of that." And sometimes your partner's health, he didn't add.

"It is not something I would do alone," Vlad agreed as Nicky managed to get a fistful of his hair.

"We drop balls all the time," Bram added, reaching over to rescue Vlad's hair from the baby's fingers.

"The trick is figuring out which are made of glass and which are made of rubber."

"The baby-shaped ones are made of glass," Bram wisely added. He grinned at Esther. "I'm the crier, would you believe it? I have ugly-cried at every wedding we've been to. The only wedding Vlad cried at was Amya's."

Vlad rolled his eyes and turned back to Helen and Esther. "When is the baby due? How is your daughter-in-law fairing?"