Miki landed on her back, laying still and gasping for several long moments until her breath came back.
"Ben!" Silver yelled, jumping to her feet. "You're not training us, you're just beating us up!"
Miki waved a hand, her voice gone as she said in a strangled whisper, "Sil, I'm fine."
Silver marched up to Ben, placing herself between him and her sister. "If you don't stop this, I'll go wake Violet up and bring her down here so she can supervise you."
Miki slowly sat up and untied the hoodie from around her waist, digging her pistol out from the back of her waistband. "Ooohhhh, I'm gonna have a bruise from that. Cage!" she coughed again. "I'm gonna have a gun shaped bruise on my back!"
Cage sinks back into the shadows, pressing himself against the wall.
Ben glares, “she asked for it!”
Gabriel sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
Miki sighed, still holding her gun, and raised an eyebrow at Ben. "I did not, Ben. If you and I had previously said, 'Hey, we can't stand each other, let's pummel each other like you and Gabe did last night', that would be asking for it. I volunteered to be next under the assumption you were still in 'training mode'. If you do have a training mode. Which I now doubt." she rechecked the safety on her gun and slowly rolled to her knees, pausing to groan. "Oh my word, I'm gonna be sore for a week."
Silver crossed her arms, glaring at Ben. "If you're mad or frustrated, Ben, it's not right to take it out on us. Even if your frustration is directed at one of us, like Miki. You said we were coming down here to train, and that's not what you've done." she turned to her sister, gently helping her up and wrapping an arm around her waist as she guided her toward the stairs. "We'll be upstairs." she called over her shoulder.
I'm- I'm not frustrated? And I kicked her once,
He rubs his lips with his finger, staring at the wall in thought.
Are they being dramatic or am I being violent. I can't tell.
Gabriel crosses his arms and watches the girls leave, feeling all of Ben's confusion. He turns invisible before turning and looking over Ben. "Maybe…" His voice is scratchy and quiet and Ben is momentarily startled, but glares into the emptiness. "maybe you should have Violet heal your wound."
He sighs, clenching his jaw. "I'll stay down here for a bit. She needs more rest. You and Kiss should go upstairs."
Gabriel gives him a stiff nod despite him being invisible. Kissa is reluctant, but follows Cage and Gabriel upstairs.
Silver settled Miki on the couch, laying on her stomach, and retrieved another ice pack to place on her back. She jerked up, surprised to see everyone else troop up after her so soon. She placed a finger on her lips. "We have to be quiet or we'll disturb Vi."
Gabriel gives a small nod (the freak is still invisible) and Kissa rolls her eyes. Cage heads into the kitchen and grabs a sleeve of crackers.
“Do you think they know where we live?” He quietly asks.
Silver slipped down to sit on the floor in front of the couch. Miki nestled her head on her arms and looked across at Cage. "You mean the baddies?" she asked. "I don't think so. Ben's way too protective and hyper-vigilant to let anyone find us."
Says the girl who wore her gun around all morning, Silver thought.
Cage seems unconvinced, his face pale, and he gulps. "Well… I'm gonna go to my bedroom. I won't talk so Vi won't wake." His voice fades near the end and he heads upstairs with his crackers in-hand.
Gabriel eye Silver, considering sitting next to her, but decides against it.
Kissa wrings her hands and looks over the group with her lips pursed. "Sooooo, what are we gonna do?"
"Be quiet." Miki said. "Whatever you do make sure quiet is involved."
Silver sighed and nodded in agreement. "If we try to do much of anything either Ben or Vi will probably get us in trouble for waking her." she glanced around the room, knowing Gabriel was invisible, and not able to detect his location. Subtly she patted the ground beside her, barely moving her hand, in case she was in his sight.
Kissa scowls and crosses her arms, walking to the backdoor and heading out.
Gabriel watches as Silver's hand slowly and gently moves. He clenches his jaw in thought.
I don't-
He inwardly sighs, giving in, and silently heads over, settling beside her. The only evidence of him sitting next to her is the sound of his breath. He pushes his black hair back out of his eyes and looks her over.
(Time skip til the later afternoon or something?)
(On it)
Violet finishes up her mascara and blinks twice into the mirror before walking out of the bathroom. She slips on a pair of beige heels then heads downstairs.
“Gabriel, we’ll only be gone for a few hours, but I expect you to stay visible the entire time to avoid any freak outs.”
He gulps.
This is how I die.
Cage squeals. “Vi, you’re so pretty!”
Miki rummaged around in the fridge, trying to decide what to make for supper. "We can have soup! Well, we had that last night. Wait, do we have any frozen pizza in the freezer?"
Silver cringed in sympathy, glancing at Gabriel. This would be a hard night for him. "Behave." she whispered to Miki and Cage. "We don't want to kill Gabriel tonight."
Im already gonna die.
Gabriel rubs his forehead, having to force himself to keep visible.
Ben heads down the stairs, slipping on his jacket on the way.
“Gabe is in charge, yes?”
Vi nods.
“Good. There’s pizza in the freezer for him to make. You guys behave.”
Miki jerked her head out of the freezer to give Ben a confused frown. "For GABE to cook? Does he even know how to cook? Silver, does Gabe–"
Silver smacked Miki's arm, hard. "You heat up the oven and stick the pizza in. Yes, Gabriel can do that."
Ben rolls his eyes, taking his keys from the counter. “I don’t care who puts it in, just don’t burn down the house.”
Cage smiles and waves. “Have fun!”
Violet takes Ben’s hand, then waves behind her. “Behave.” And with that they exit the house.
Gabriel sinks into the corner.
Im gonna die.
"Okay." Miki sighed in relief. "I was confused for a second. I shall heat up the oven because I know I can do that without setting anything on fire." she retrieved the pizza from the freezer and set the oven to preheat.
Silver came over to Gabe, standing between him and the rest of the room. "You could, like, hide in the library and leave the door open. That way you'll still be visible and can hear us if anyone starts screaming but you don't have to be… out here." she waved her hand around.
Gabriel sets his head in his hands, being silent long enough for it to become a little awkward before he answers. “I’m fine.” Quietly.
Cage bounces over to Miki. “What kind of pizza? I’m so hungry.”
Kissa glares over the group from the balcony. “If Miki's making it, it’ll be gross.”
Miki scoffed. "Excuse! I am not making this. I'm heating it up. Ben got it for us so it'll be great. I promise I won't taint it with any of my 'cooking skills'." To Cage she said, "Hmmm. Pepperoni and sausage I think." she showed him the box.
Silver sighed, watching him, and knowing he was not 'fine'.
“Miki. You have a talent for ruining. I’m sure it’ll be terrible.”
Cage ignores Kiss and looks over the box. “Mmmmmmmmm. I’m ready to eat it.”
-
Ben pulls up at the restaurant and climbs out of the car, smoothing his curls back. Violet follows him to the door where they’re led to a reserved, empty room in the back.
Miki rolled her eye and blew Kissa a fake kiss. "My specialty. Just for you. Me too." she said, turning to Cage. "I'm starving." the oven beeped and she took the pizza out of the box and popped it in.
–
Dio watched through the small carriage window as they rode down the street. Thankfully it wasn't snowing, but it didn't have to be snowing to be cold. "Benjamin doesn't like the cold either, so hopefully he's requested they set the thermostat for ninety-seven degrees." Dio grumbled to himself with a shiver as the coach arrived in front of the restaurant.
Ben removes his coat, setting it on the back of the chair, and slips Violet's coat off for her, pulling her chair out. She smiles and sits. “You picked a nice place.”
He sits with a sigh. “Unfortunately not so nice of an ally.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Is he rude?”
“No. He’s annoying.”
A grin crosses her lips. “Benjamin, be kind.”
-
(Gabriel May just sit in the corner all night.)
Kissa leaps from the balcony, using her wings to carry her to the couch. It skids across the floor as she lands on it.
Dio entered the place and removed his scarf so he could speak and inform the host that he was joining the party for Caspian. He was led back to the private room and stepped inside, still shivering under his many layers. He saw Ben already there and let out a beaming smile. "Ah, hello, Caspian."
–
"Kissa!" Silver yelped, spinning around. "You'll scratch the floor or–or break something! Don't do that!"
Ben stands from his seat when Dio answers and tries his hardest not to clench his jaw when Dio mocks his name.
Violet stands and returns Dio's beaming smile, showing her white teeth.
Ben gives Dio a stiff nod. "Diablo."
_
Kissa turns around, giving her a sharp glare. "I d what I want!"
Gabriel stands with a sigh.
Why
"Kiss, don't." He demands quietly.
Dio approached the table, finally unbuttoning his outer coat. "Benjamin, you lied to my face when I asked if you were married and had kids. You can't expect me to believe this beautiful thing is not your wife." he greeted Violet, extending a hand to take hers with a slight bow. "Diablo de Angelo, madam. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
–
Silver crossed her arms and took a deep breath, trying to not start a fight already. "See? I knew Gabriel would say that. Please don't make this any harder on him than it already will be."
