Silver finished eating her bite and put her fork down. "Ben. You're the one who almost blew up."
Miki took a deep breath, doubting how smart her sister was at the moment. "For the record: ditching us in the basement with no warning when you have a super important guest over: not smart. You know how we are, Ben. Also; that went really well? The worst part was you having your freak out blow up thing. I think Cage and Silver and Gabriel and Kissa were actually pretty well behaved. No one broke anything or hurt anyone and Dio thinks we're pretty cool. I think our biggest problem right now is that." she finished, pointing toward Violet and her rapidly draining bottle of wine.
Ben barely gives Violet a glance, too focused on Miki to notice anything off. "You all put yourselves in danger! We barely know this man!"
Cage bites his lips, watching Violet steadily finish the bottle. "Uhh, Ben?"
"No, No! I'm not done yet! Staying down stairs in the basement, quiet for an hour should not be that big of a thing for you all! You're all adults, are you not?"
Violet sets the bottle down and sighs, wiping her forehead and going to stand.
Miki pressed her lips together, glaring back at him. She stalked around the table and grabbed Violet's bottle away from her, handing it off to Cage.
"Yeah. Sure. We barely know this man. So you're gonna go burn the house down and show him exactly how easily triggered you are. Because that's not putting yourself in danger. Or us. Yep. Totally safe."
Silver carefully piled all her food onto one plate and eased her chair back, trying to sneak out of the room without being noticed. Miki snapped her fingers at her without taking her eyes off Ben.
"Sil. Go find Gabe and Kiss." she ordered. "Cage. Clear the table please." To Ben she said, "No. Don't you blame this on us. Cage and Silver wouldn't have come flying up here if you hadn't been about to set something on fire."
“You think it’s my fault I almost set things on fire?” He takes a step towards her, still glaring. I would have been fine. I was handled and he didn’t know you were here.”
Cage stands and clears the table, leaving the room as fast as he can.
Violet wobbly stands and Ben takes her arm before she can tumble over. He quickly takes her other arm and stares at her in confusion.
“What the hell?”
Miki's lips pressed together tighter, the whole lower half of her face pinched. She snatched up Violet's wine glass and headed toward the kitchen. "Ben. Take your drunk wife to bed. You can finish yelling at us in the morning."
Silver set her plate on the kitchen island, glancing between Cage and the dining room doorway. "Did you see Gabriel or Kissa?" she whispered to Cage.
He presses his lips together, watching her stalk out while holding violet on her feet. No matter how badly he wanted to cuss her out and tell her to get out of his house, he wouldn’t.
Shes Silvers sister. I can’t just make her leave.
He turns his attention back to Violet and sighs.
“Violet, what on earth? This never happens.”
She gives him a sleepy smile. “Mm.”
Cage shakes his head. “Umnh no? I don’t thin-“
A small shriek is heard and he looks towards the living room. “Ah I think I know where.”
Silver jumped and darted into the living room. "Kissa? Gabriel? Oh, dang it." she scrambled over the furniture, trying to feel around in every conceivable space they could be.
Miki came into the kitchen and set Violet's cup in the sink, watching her sister's frantic search with a blank expression. After a moment she sighed and turned the hot water on, rinsing the dishes off before putting them in the dishwasher.
Gabriel and Kissa pause, watching Silver from the corner, Kissa’s teeth on Gabriel’s arm and Gabriel holding her against a wall.
What on earth is she doing.
Cage stands and looks around. “Gabe? Kiss? Where are yoooooou?”
"Guys!" Silver hissed, standing in the middle of the living room. "Ben's gonna kill us all. We need to be quiet and go to bed. Where are you?" She put her hand out and walked around, feeling the air again.
Gabriel yanks his arm away from Kissa and straightens himself out. She glares at him as he turns them invisible.
We’re not done.
He glares back.
Trust me, I know.
Cage gasps. “Gabriel! You’re arm!”
Silver's eyes widened as they suddenly appears and she saw the blood trailing down Gabriel's arm. "What were you doing??" She whispered. "What were you fighting about?" She took Gabriel's arm and and gently turned it toward the light. "Dang it, Kissa! What did you do this for?"
Gabriel covers the blood, “I’m fine.” He quietly states.
Kissa rolls her eyes. “Don’t get involved, Sil. You’re too stupid to understand.”
Gabriel turns and gives her a nasty glare. “Take that back.”
Silver started and glanced up at Kissa, then took a deep breath and looked away.
Don't rise to her bait. Don't rise to her bait. I can go to bed in like five minutes and everything will be fine.
Ignoring Kissa, she looked up at Gabriel and gently tugged on his shirt. "Come on. Let's get your arm cleaned up."
Kissa sticks her tongue out at Gabriel and he takes his arm from Silver to shove Kiss. “Stop!”
She hisses, baring her teeth and he rolls his eyes, taking Silvers hand and heading to the bathroom. “C’mon, Sil. Don’t listen to her.”
"'Ey!" Miki snapped from the kitchen. She pointed toward Kissa. "You. Bed. Now."
Silver sucked in another deep breath and shut the bathroom door behind them, leaning against it for a moment before opening her eyes and grabbing a first aid kit from the cabinet.
"I'm okay. It's okay. I'm fine. We'll be okay." She whispered to herself under her breath.
Gabriel stares at Silver for a second before taking the first aid kit from her. “Sit down.” He calmly demands. “… please.”
He takes a few things out of the kit, treating the bite. “She’s bitten me before. I’m fine. You however, are not.”
Kissa hisses at Miki, tiring herself invisible. “In your dreams, Red head.”
Silver blinked at him for a moment before sitting down on the closed toilet. "I… but… why did she bite you? What were you fighting about?"
Miki glared at the space Kissa had been in and turned back to her pile of dishes.
Gabriel turns his attention to his arm, suddenly not wanting to talk anymore.
I can’t worry her. I’m sure they all think Kiss is planted firm on our side. You’d think she’d be after two years…
He gives his head a small shake, and the words he planned to say never escape his lips.
Shes just with whoever is most powerful.
Silver watched him clean his arm, seeing his changing thoughts on his face but unable to read them. She sighed again and dropped her head into her hands.
Why did Ben bring Dio here if he thought he was dangerous? I thought if Ben let him come here he was safe.
"What do you think of Dio?" She finally asked outloud.
Gabriel swallow but keeps his expression neutral. “You shouldn’t worry about him. I’m sure Ben and Vi know what they’re doing.”
Hes probably headed straight to his brother right now to rat us out.
His heart starts to thump and his lips turn pale.
Can I do something?
"Gabriel…" Silver said, looking up at him through her hair falling in her face. She felt his pulse speed up. In the enclosed space of the bathroom, she could sense him better than usual. She sighed and stood up, coming to stand beside him (on his uninjured side) and wrapped her arms around his waist. Cuz you and Kiss totally weren't fighting over anything related to Dio. She rested her forehead on his shoulder. "Gabe."
He stands stalk still, feeling cold and stiff.
Can…. can I do anything?
Is Kissa involved?
i dont- I don’t want to relive all of that.
He holds his breath and stares blankly at the wall, feeling paralyzed and… just wrong.
He barely notices Silver’s warm embrace and doesn’t react.
Silver let out a growling sigh as she felt him grow stiff, emanating more a chill than usual. "Gabriel." she said again, looking up at him. His face was completely blank, and he barely even blinked as he stared at the wall. "Gabe." she hissed. When he still didn't respond, she bit his shoulder, just hard enough for him to feel her teeth, but not hard enough to hurt. Much.
He gives a small gasp and yanks away, taking a few steps to the side and giving her a glare. “What?” He demands, harsher than usual. But only half a second passes before he realizes his tone and reaction and his gaze softens. He rubs his face and leans against the wall.
"Don't…" she waved her hand in the air, searching for words. "Stop… stressing. You are stressing, I can tell, and you just… hole up inside yourself and stress yourself until you freak out. Please…" she sighed. "Either stop it, or talk to me."
