What did she do to him???
Ben stands still, considering asking if they were done yet. He crosses his arms and shifts his weight.
Gabriel cough a little and catches his breath. Flying for a few miles and then laughing for a few minutes was hardly a good combination, but he didn’t mind. He pulls himself to his feet, giving a light gasp every now and then as he feels more and more bruised bones. Finally standing, he offers her the hand that is not wrapped around his chest, his wings moving to lay behind him lazily as they always did.
Cage puts a scoop of their donut ice cream into a bowl and hands it to her, leaning on the counter. “You’ll love it.”
She takes a bite, thankful that she didn’t feel the need to spit it back out.
Well, it’s certainly better than the others.
She gives them a smile, “I think this is my favorite!”
Though it wasn’t hard to choose.
Silver grinned and rolled her eyes, taking his hand but barely pulling on him at all as she rose to her feet. "Sometimes I don't know what to do with you." she kissed his shoulder, between the bruises, and brushed a few more pieces of grass off of him before turning toward the house.
"Well, duh." Miki said, returning to the couch where her own bowl waited. "You're supposed to think the other ones are nasty. It's not even a competition."
He turns, ready to say something, but he locks eyes with Ben and his grin turns into a serious straight line. He starts towards the house, his wings dragging behind him.
Ben doesn’t even bother to look at Sil, giving Gabriel a hard glare and Gabe returns it.
“Silver, go inside.” They demand simultaneously.
—-
It really wasn’t a competition.
Trying to change the conversation, Robby chimes, “what game should we play?”
Silver opened her mouth, ready to appease Ben, when both of them snapped at her in unison. She froze, mouth agape, staring back and forth between them. Gabriel had never stood up to Ben before and now he looked like he was ready to fight to death.
Over her.
She swallowed and nodded silently, then backed toward the door, afraid to leave them to each other but more afraid to disobey them.
–
"You are too nice of a human." Miki said, opening a cabinet in a hutch against the wall. "Here are all our games."
Violet heads back down the stairs, rubbing her forehead and sighing. She reaches the bottom and gladly cuts herself a piece of cake. Cage hands her a bowl of donut ice cream. “If you’re eating cake you have to try the ice cream.”
She bites her lip, considering putting down the cake, but takes the ice cream from him. “Alright, you got me.”
Robby smiles and strolls to the game cabinet. “Which is your favorite Miki?”
—-
Neither of them watch to see if she actually goes inside.
“I have half a mind to light you on fire.” Ben states in a growl.
“Only half?” Gabriel responds darkly.
Ben purses his lips.
There is something very wrong here.
Silver reached the door and hesitated, but the air around them was so charged she could physically feel it and it was making her feel ill. She shoved the door opened and stumbled inside, slamming it behind her and gasping for breath.
"The donut one. The others are disgusting, don't try them." Miki said. "Hey, there you are, Sil. Everyone was–"
Silver straightened, chest still heaving and face twisted with worry. "Vi?" she called, her voice high and shrill. She saw Violet in the kitchen and stared at her. "Violet, they're fighting."
Vi glares out the window. She huffs. “Good. Maybe they’ll finally come to terms.”
Cage joins Robby by the cabinet and starts looking through the games.
“Gabriel never talks and he’s talking to Ben right now.” He whispers, trying to explain the situation. Robby nods. “You haven’t met Gabe yet.” She nods again.
Ben clenches his jaw and his fist glow by his sides.
Gabriel sighs, “look, are we gonna talk or are we gonna fight?”
“Which are you worse at?” Ben growls.
“Both.”
"Wait, what, they're fighting??" Miki said, jumping up and running to join them. "I've gotten see this."
Silver smacked Miki's arm as soon as she was within reach, but her gaze was glued to the window, watching the boys outside. "Violet, Gabe is standing up to Ben and he wouldn't let me deal with him like I usually do." she sucked in a deep breath and whispered, "I think I broke him."
Despite the situation, Violet looks very unamused. She strolls over to a stool and takes a seat to eat her cake. “Hmm, I really doubt it. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
Kissa plasters her face to her bedroom window.
Nuuuu, I like you both
“Listen.” Ben barks, his hands now ablaze.
Gabriel rolls his shoulders back and looks around the yard. “I never stopped listening.”
Ben ignores his remark, “I don’t want you just going off with her. It makes me very uncomfortable and it’s not safe.”
“Not safe?” Gabriel meets Ben’s eyes again, raising his eyebrows and scowling. “I’m not safe??”
“I didn’t say that.”
He scoffs, “well, you might as well have.”
“Yes, you’re not safe, but that’s not what I was trying to address. We can move to that subject, however,” he glares, “if you prefer.”
"Help," Silver whispered, biting her fingernails.
"What did you two do out there?" Miki asked, voice as low as Silver's.
"He kissed me and–"
"HE WHAT" Miki yelled and Silver smacked her again, repeatedly, until she brought her voice back down.
"Yes," she hissed. "He kissed me and now he's malfunctioning."
Cage snaps his attention to them. “Omg sil, you kissed him?? Of course he’s malfunctioning!”
Vi sighs. “Why don’t you open the door and let Ben know now so he can get it all out now.”
“You’re like a freaking Vampire, Gabriel!”
Looking quite offended, he takes a step forward, “at least I’m not a walking explosion. You call that safe? Benjamin?”
And that was the last straw.
His eyes blazing a fiery auburn, Ben bares his teeth and lunges towards Gabriel who launches into the sky, then back down behind him.
"He kissed me! He started it!" Silver cried. She snapped back to the window as she saw Ben's fire light up and clamped both hands over her mouth. "Miki, they're gonna kill each other." she dry sobbed.
"Wait, HE kissed you??" Miki said. "Wow, I didn't think he had it in him. No wonder he's fighting Ben. He finally found his guts."
Silver reached out and smacked her sister again, curling over herself. Miki pulled her over to the door so they could sit down as they watched. "Sil, baby, look." she uncurled Silver from her fetal position. "Watch your boy fight for you. He's never done that before."
Cage's jaw drops. "Wooooah. I didn't think he had it in him."
Violet sets her fork down and rubs her face, "Listen, this is all good and fun- hopefully they'll work together after this, but please- Ben is not being bad. He's being protective and it makes perfect sense." She leans her back on the counter.
Gabriel ducks, barely missing a punch to his face. He rams his shoulder into Ben's stomach and Ben, takes a few steps back before kicking the kid in the face. Not expecting the kick, Gabriel doubles over, his nose bleeding. He smears the blood, wiping it with his arm, and glares up at Ben. His wings rise behind him and he uses them to his advantage, pulling himself up into the air and then kicking Ben over.
"I know, but they're hurting each other!" Silver cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "This is my fault, I shouldn't have–"
"Hey, hey," Miki patted her arm. "Honey, they've had it out for each other for a long time. If it wasn't you, they'd fight over something else."
"Gabriel's gonna die." Silver whispered. "He's already bruised from breaking my fall and from falling out of the tree before–"
"He fell out of a tree?"
Silver wiped her nose and her eyes. "I think so. When I found him in the basement he was already banged up and had leaves and grass in his hair."
Miki stifled a snort of laughter, glancing back at Violet.
Violet closes her eyes, holding in exasperation.
What am I going to do with these people?
Kissa sits by the window.
If one kills the other I'll have to swear revenge and avenge them…
She sighs.
I hope they both live.
With Gabriel a few feet above the ground and Ben down, it was almost quiet for a moment. Ben turns around, glaring.
With stunning speed and strength, he stands to his feet and yanks Gabriel down, sending him plunging into the pool.
Gabriel gasps, coming up out of the water. The ankle Ben had touched was red and burned. He flaps his wings, sending a wave of water towards Ben. He looks in horror as the water engulfs him.
He grits his teeth, staggering backwards as it sizzle and steams, making his skin burn. It buys Gabriel enough time to pull himself from the pool.
Silver's shoulders shook and she covered her face with her hands. Miki sighed and got up, pulling Silver with her and depositing her sister on the couch, facing away from the backdoor.
"You know what you need? Ice cream. And guess what? We have some!" She skipped into the kitchen and dished Silver up and enormous bowl of the donut ice cream.
Silver sniffed and glared at her. "How is ice cream going to fix this?? They're gonna come in here half dead–"
"Silver Sparrow Tate," Miki said, using her full name. "They are both full grown adults capable of making their own decisions. You can't save them from themselves."
Silver groaned. "I've been telling myself that about Gabriel for years, Miki."
Miki brought the bowl over and shoved it into her sister's hands. "Exactly. Now eat ice cream while we wait for them to finish up."
A good 30 minutes pass with the occasional sound of one of the boys being thrown, punched or kicked hard enough for them to hit the house. Robin and Cage sit on the living room floor, playing a small card game, and Violet sits on the stool drearily staring out the window. She checks her watch as both of the boys start to slow down, and she heads out of the room to grab a med pack.
Robin stands, dusting herself off. "I'd love to stay longer, but I must be going now."
Cage stands, "Aww, really?"
She nods and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Silver and Miki sat on the couch, Silver slowly eating her ice cream and calming down, Miki sitting beside her playing on her phone with her arm around Silver's shoulders. When Robin stood up, Silver started, having been completely oblivious to her presence the entire time.
"What? Robby's been here this whole time?" she cried. "Oh my word, I'm so sorry. I never got to say hi or anything, I'm so sorry."
Robby gives her a sweet smile and waves the apology off. "It's fine, really. It was nice seeing you anyways, though. You're Silver, right?"
Ben slowly walks across the yard, feeling the chill of the wind again. He stops in front of Gabriel who is still on the ground, panting. He has one hand keeping himself up and the other around his ribs. "Time out." He moans.
Ben lets out a breathy chuckle and offers him his hand. "I'm done. You?"
Gabriel takes his hand, feeling Ben grip it firmly, and pulls himself up.
Wow this guys is strong
"Yeah, yeah. I'm done." He waves, trying to catch his breath.
"Yes, I'm Silver." she stood up, reaching out to shake Robby's hand and then thinking better of it and enveloping her in a hug. "I'm sorry you had to come tonight and deal with all of this junk. Please come back? Maybe we can have a more normal visit."
Miki laughed. "Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen in this house. I'm so glad I got to meet you, Robby." she stood up and hugged her too. "And yes please come back, even though it'll definitely still be crazy. Maybe we'll have new ice cream flavors to make you try."
Giving a soft laugh, Robby hugs them both.
Please no more ice cream.
She waves to Violet who is just reentering the room with her arms full. "Thanks for having me over, Violet. Tell Ben i missed him!"
Violet gives her a small wave with her hand, and Robin heads out the door, Cage close behind her.
The backdoor opens as soon as the front closes, as if on cue.
Gabriel has an arm around Ben and his wings drag behind him. His nose has a cut across it, and his cheekbone spots a slice on either side. Ben has a cut up by his hairline and a slit on his lip.
Violet sighs, setting her stuff down on the counter.
Silver spun around as the back door open, gasping sharply as she took in their battered states. "Oh my word, you both survived." she whispered.
Miki rolled her eyes, cleaning up the kitchen from supper to make room for Violet to work. "Of course they did, Sil. Can you imagine if one of them hadn't? They'd have you and Violet to answer to and that's more terrifying than any fight."
Ben rolls his eyes at Silvers remark and gently lets Gabriel down to sit on the ground and Violet starts to look him over. Kissa races from her room to the stair railing. "ARE YOU OKAY!?"
Violet snaps her attention to Kiss and glares. "Go back to your room, they're fine."
Kissa pulls at her hair and turns around, going back to her room.
Ben raises an eyebrow, "She was sent to her room? What happened?"
"She called Sil a 'wench'." Violet casually says, feeling Gabriel's broken ribs.
"She WHAT?!" Gabriel jerks forward to stand and Violet pushes him back down, still examining him.
Ben sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose.
"Wait, what?" Silver asked. "When did she call me that?"
"When you two were out sno—hmm, sitting in the tree. Mhmm." Miki nodded.
Silver glared daggers at her and approached Ben, gently wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you for not killing him."
Miki finished with the kitchen and came to stand beside Vi. "Can I help? Do you need hot water or anything?"
Violet sighs. "Yes please. Thank you Miki."
Ben pries Silver's arms off of him. "Watch it," he says, backing away, "You think he's the only one hurt??"
Violet chuckles softly and he shoots her an irritated glare.
Gabriel chuckles. "I'm fine. I've had much worse. Anyways, it felt good to fight. I haven't done that in… a while."
"I could tell." Ben rolls his eyes. "You're slow and sloppy."
Gabriel glares. "Ah- What??"
