Silver let him drag her out but whined and fussed the whole way. "Gabrel not a rannom guy! Vi saw'us! Kizza'as here! We nident do annyfing!" She glared up at him once she was out of the van and in the sun. "He was sleepin good and you woked him."
He glares. "Do I look like I care? Get inside, my word." He gives her a shove towards the house, then glares back in the car. "Once you're visible again, I'm going to talk to you, you little vamp." Hr huffs, slamming the door and grabbing a bag from his motorcycle. He puts an arm around Sil as he walks pass, dragging her along. "Get inside you idiot."
"Ben!" She yelled, more fully awake now. "Ben, don't be so mean to him! Last time you yelled at him he stayed outside for like three days!" She tripped over the doorway as they went inside. "VIIIIOLEEEEET." Silver yelled. "Vi, tell Ben to stop being mean to Gabe!"
He moans. "Augh, this kid! Silver, stay inside you little brat." He closes the door angrily. "Tell her she can't just snuggle any guy she wants, Vi."
Violet turns around, raising her eyebrows. "Well… I was given two things to say." A grin crosses her face and she heads over to Silver, combing her hair down lovingly with her fingers while Cage goes outside to grab the other bag.
"Silver, you might listen to Ben. After all, it is his house. Maybe you two could talk over some rules?"
Ben sighs, exasperated. "Rules?! Why do we need touchy rules! Augh, just don't touch him Sil."
Violet opens her mouth to speak, but he interrupts. "-it is NOT allowed."
Silver fisted her hands at her sides, fighting to keep angry tears out of her eyes.
"WHY?" She yelled. "Would you ban me from touching Cage?? Or YOU??" She marched up to him and craned her head back to look up at his face. "Why do you hate Gabriel so much?? What has he ever done?? He's never done anything to me or you or any one of us. You make excuses for Kissa all the time but you yell at Gabe for no reason! I was the one who climbed back there to snuggle him so leave him alone!"
She spun around and stomped into the living room, wiping hot tears off her face.
Violet follows Silver, giving Ben a glare while doing so.
Ben turns around, heading into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of coffee. “I never said I hated him. I just-“ he glances back to them to see Violet put an arm around Silver and calmly tell her it’ll be okay. She kisses Silver's forehead. “It’s alright, Love. I’ll talk to him. He’s just irritated right now.” She reassures in a whisper.
He runs a hand through his hair and heads upstairs with his coffee, and Cage comes in from outside.
Silver dropped her head onto Violet's shoulder, chest heaving. "He just… ugh, I know he loves me and he's just being protective. But it's GABE for goodness sake. Gabriel wouldn't hurt anyone. And–it wasn't even weird! You saw us; Kissa was right there; but he MADE it weird by yelling and getting mad!" She let out a forceful sigh. "Just… no one else even bothers with him!" She lifted her head to look at Vi. "You're the only other one who even tries. Kissa fights with him every day, Miki and Cage ignore him cuz he's weird, and Ben is just mean to him and doesn't like him. If I don't take care of him then no one will!"
Miki finished putting the groceries away and slowly sank down to sit on the floor.
my sister is so mad rn she texted Cage.
Violet pets her hair, "Don't worry, Love. It'll be okay. Gabriel is an adult and used to taking care of himself. You don't need to worry about him. I'll talk to Ben in a minute about it, but he just need to cool off. He's had a rough morning." She kisses Silver's head and sighs.
Cage sets the bag down and texts back.
What happened?
Miki's phone dings with a text from Robby too, a small selfie of smiling and holding up her fingers in a peace sign.
Hey, Miki! Cage has told me a lot about you <3 Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
Silver took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "Okay. I'm sorry. I just… I love him but…" She shook her head and turned toward the basement door. "I'm gonna go punch something."
She's mad at Ben cuz he didn't like the birds snuggling- Miki began texting but Robby's reply popped up and she screamed, "AHH she texted me back!!!" outloud.
Violet rubs Sil’s shoulder as she walks away. “Good idea, Dear. I love you Sil.”
She watches her walk away and turns, rubbing her forehead.
Benjamin, why.
She sighs and heads upstairs.
Cage gasps, jumping up and running to her. “What really? That was pretty fast! OMO she’s so cute!!!”
Kissa walks in, running a hand through her long hair. She yawns and Gabriel walks in behind her, still invisible and blending in with the world around him. He looks around for a moment till his eyes hover over the basement door.
"I didn't think she would say anything!!" Miki showed him the text. "What do I say back??"
Silver decended the steps into the basement and glanced around at her options. They had exercise equipment, fencing (aka: fighting) equipment, and a lot of specialty things designed to help them train their powers. Silver's eyes fell on the four punching bags suspended from the ceiling on one side of the main room. Punching had been what she had in mind, but by the time she got to the bottom of the stairs, she sank down and sat on the last step, gloomily staring at nothing with her head in her hands.
Cage purses his lips. “Ummnh, I dunno? What would you say? You could tell her she’s adorable cause she… is.” He giggles. “IM SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO MEET HER.”
Gabriel silently descends the basement stairs, materializing and holding his wings just a few centimeters above each step. He stops on the last step and sits by her.
“Silver.” He quietly whispers, trying to look into her eyes.
Violet opens the bedroom door, knocking with one knuckle as she does so.
“Benjamin? Love.” He turns, setting his coffee down and looking at the floor.
“I know. I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I’m sorry.”
She walks to him, tucking some curls behind his ear while he gazes at the ground. “Love, it’s more than that. What’s wrong?”
“There’s no sign or activity of them in Bwien anymore. They’ve moved on and are looking abroad. I don’t-“ He sighs, taking a step back and squinting out the window. “I don’t want Silver, Gabriel or Kissa out without strict supervision anymore.” He turns to look to Vi.
She raises an eyebrow. “And you somehow funneled that stress into yelling at Silver?”
He runs his hands through his hair, huffing. “I- I didn’t see Kissa till he turned invisible. I’ll apologize. I still don’t like them being touchy.”
She smiles, taking his hand. “Ben, they’re fine. They’re not super touchy.”
Silver jumped, startled by his sudden presence, and looked him up and down. "Hi. Are you okay?"
"ME TOO I CANT WAIT." Miki climbed to her feet. "Okay let's make some ice cream and force everyone to eat it so they'll be happy."
Gabriel nods, holding his hands in his lap and staring out over the room. “How are you?” He turns his head to look at her, blinking.
Cage bounces. “YES. Let’s do!” He heads into the kitchen, pulling the ingredients from the freezer and fridge.
She looked away. "I'm… Ben doesn't want me to touch you." She tried to say it casually but her voice still broke at the end and she turned her head farther away so Gabriel wouldn't see how hard it was for her to not sink into his arms.
Miki searched for an ice cream recipe on the internet. "This one looks easy. I think we can add our flavors without messing it up."
Gabriel looks to the ground, gulping. “I’m sorry, sil. I- I didn’t know he’d- he’d yell.” His voice fades and gets quieter near the end. “I shouldn’t have touched you probably. I didn’t know he’d be mad.”
He clenches his jaw, fighting back tears.
Agh, it’s hard to talk.
Stop making excuses.
You got her yelled at.
You idiot.
Cage peers over her shoulder. “Yes! Let’s try it.”
Silver grabbed his arm, fierce and sudden, and the look she turned on him was a glare of fury, though her anger wasn't directed at him. "No." She growled. "Don't do that. This is not your fault. Nothing was wrong. I crawled back there to be with you to begin with. What Ben and I fight about is between us. Don't blame yourself."
Miki followed the instructions, putting the basic ingredients together. "Which flavor should we try first?"
He’s startled by her touch but still stares at the ground. “Silver, it’s okay. I’m- I’m sorry.” He gently puts his hand on hers, pushing it off of his arm.
Its alright.
Cage holds up the bacon. “BACON.”
She glanced down when she felt him push her hand away and blinked, trying to stay calm.
It didn't work.
After a moment she shot to her feet and strode across the room. One of the 200+ lb. punching bags lifted off its hook. With a scream Silver hurled it against the wall as hard as she could.
"Yuuuus I knew there was a reason I loved you, Cage. You go ahead and cook that while I finish this."
He stares at the ground still, closing his eyes and flinching as she screamed.
Its okay.
She’ll be okay.
Cage smiles, putting the bacon on a skillet and turning the heat on.
She stood, staring at the bag, dragging in long draughts of air and trying to still the rage inside. She glanced back at Gabriel and saw him sitting still, eyes squeezed shut, and a flash of guilt stabbed her heart. She marched back to him and grabbed his face to make him look at her.
"Do. Not. Blame. Yourself." She hissed. "This isn't about you. This is about Ben and me. I'm already angry at Ben. Don't make me get mad at you too." She paused and her gaze drifted to his lips, but she caught herself and pressed a firm kiss to the bridge of his nose before letting him go and stepping past him on her way back up the steps.
"I guess we can just… chop the bacon up really small and mix it in?" Miki asked, tipping her bowl back and forth and watching the milky substance slide on way and then the other.
Ben opens the door and walks in, inhaling and trying to relax. Apologizing was not his strong point. He pauses to see Silver press a kiss onto Gabriel’s nose and his face flushes.
What?! I came to apologize and??? SILVER??
He stares at her as she gets closer, not speaking, but clenching his jaw.
Gabriel sits still in silence, hearing the door open and Silver go up the stairs.
She…
He puts his face in his hands, fingering with his hair.
Cage nods. “Yeah! And we should put the grease in too. It holds a lot of the flavor.”
Silver spotted Ben when she was halfway up the stairs. For a moment she hesitated, then continued the rest of the way, though her steps were slower. Finally she stood in front of him and swallowed, realizing how fast her heart was racing and how sweaty her palms had gotten.
"Ben." She said, and somehow her voice sounded calm and even.
Miki watched Ben open the basement door and slowly sidled over to Cage.
"Combustion warning in 3…2…" She whispered in his ear.
Ben inhales shakily, trying not to yell.
Gabriel’s eyes widen and he glances behind him at the sound of Ben’s name.
Im so dead.
Ben presses his eyes closed for a second, then stares into Silver’s eyes. “We need to talk.” He calmly states.
Cage giggles and bats a hand a Miki. “Shh! I don’t want them to fight again!” He whispers.
"Yes." Silver said. "We do."
She had no idea if she should suggest they go back into the house or if they should go down to the training rooms.
If they stayed in the basement they would probably end up fighting. Physically.
Miki choked, trying not to laugh. "You know this isn't over yet. They fought for a week straight last time and had to make up like four times, remember?"