He grins, tightening his grip on her, and leaps off of the building, flying not quite as fast as before as to not make Miki dizzy this time.
-
Cage sits downstairs on a stool, silently eating a pop tart while scrolling on his phone. Violet opens the laundry room door, a basket of clean laundry on her hip.
“Is Ben downstairs with Kissa?”
Cage nods.
She gives him a tight smile before heading upstairs.
Miki gripped his tighter, pinching her eyes closed and turning her head away from the wind. "I am not made for flying!" she yelled through the noise of the air rushing past.
–
Silver lay curled on the couch, facing the pillows, her wings folded over her like a fluffy blanket, ignoring the world.
Ryder chuckles. “WHICH HOUSE, KID. WHICH HOUSE.”
Miki peeked her eyes open and saw they were over the neighborhood. "Um…. that way. We're not there yet. That one." she pointed toward Ben's large, beautiful house with the pool int he backyard. "He's gonna kill uuuuussss." she sang.
Ryder puts his feet out. “WHAT YES I LOVE POOLS! HOW DEEP?? WE’RE GOING IN.”
-
Violet pauses at the end of the stairs to reply to a text and jumps out of her skin when a tsunami of water splashes out of the pool. Wide eyed and shaky, she turns to look out the door.
“What on earth…?”
"What do you–NO, NO NO…!" Miki shrieked as she realized what was happening, but her scream was cut off as Ryder plunged them both into the pool. She shoved away from him and swam to the surface, sucking in a lungful of air. Once she could see and breath again, she spun around, shoving hair out of her face, looking for Ryder. "I'M GONNA MURDER YOU BEFORE BEN CAN."
–
Silver jumped, feeling and hearing the splash outside, and frowned at the backdoor when she thought she heard… Miki's voice?
Cage jumps, standing up. “What was that?!”
Violet slowly opens the door, watching as Ryder slicks his wet hair back, laughing, and his wings lay flat on the water.
Cage reaches the door and lets out a high pitched shriek. “MIKI!!!”
Miki didn't even hear Cage as she swam over to Ryder and grabbed a handful of his shirt and his hair and dragged him toward the edge of the pool. "I TOLD you I don't like flying, I TOLD you we shouldn't come back here, you freakin' KIDNAPPED ME, and then you dump me in a pool!" she reached the side and scrambled out, still holding onto him like she was holding a cat by it's scruff. "Get out so I can murder you!"
–
Silver scrambled off the couch and joined Cage by the door. "Wait, who–is that a–he has wings??"
Ryder climbs out, still laughing, and shakes his wings behind him, sending water flying everywhere.
Violet steps back with a gasp, shielding her face with her arm from the water.
Cage bounces twice before racing over to Miki.
“I THOUGHT YOUD ABANDONED US!!!”
Ben opens the basement door with as high, “Whats all the… what on earth? Who is that guy?!”
Kissa follows close behind him. Once she catches sight of Ryder she freezes, wide eyed.
What.
WHAT ON EARTH.
As soon as Ryder was out of the pool, Miki slammed her fist into his chest. "Don't EVER do that again! Don't ever grab me and take me flying, don't kidnap me, and don't throw me in a pool!" she yelled, punctuating each phrase with a punch.
Silver stood just outside the door, watching her sister beat on the tall, winged guy who had apparently brought her with him. "Who is that?" she whispered to no one in particular.
Ryder cough/laughs and steps back. “I can’t say I won’t do it again bUT IM SORRY.” He shoves her backwards playfully.
Cage rams into Miki, wrapping her in a tight hug from the back. “MIIIIICKKKKEEEEE!”
Ben stands by the door, eyes wide and angry.
What is this??? WHO IS THAT KID???
Kissa gulps and walks to the door, face red and hot. “Ry-Ryder?”
Miki glared at him and wrapped her arms around Cage. "I don't think you are. Rude." she walked away, still holding onto Cage, her clothes dripping. "He's not my friend." she informed Cage.
Silver saw Ben standing in the doorway and glanced back and forth between him and the new guy. "I think he brought Miki?" she said quietly. "Miki said she was at Dio's so…?"
Ryder turns his gaze to the group in the doorway and Kissa. He gives her a big, toothy smile, and jogs to her to embrace her in a big, full hug. “OH MY WORD ITS BEEN TOO LONG.”
She blinks, then bites her lips, letting out a small laughing and hugging him back.
Ben stares. “I- I don’t- what is going on?”
Miki glanced up toward Ben. "Yeah, he knows Kissa and Gabe, apparently. Small world. He went sorta mad when I mentioned their names though, so maybe don't let him in the house."
Silver backed away as he came toward Kissa, slipping behind Ben back into the house. "Gabriel?" she hissed, sneaking through the living room. "Gabriel, there's someone here who knows Kissa."
Gabriel, fully visible, jogs down the stairs wide eyed. “What’s going on??”
He asks, coming to Silver before he bothers looking at the doorway.
Cage gives Ryder a once over with a gasp. “Mango man?!”
Ben shakes his head, “mango wha-? Oh nevermind.” He rubs his forehead.
Ryder squishes Kiss, making her squeak just a little, and picks her up and swings her around a little before setting her down. “Gabriel is here too??”
Silver shrugged, pointing toward the door. "There's a guy here who says he knows you and Kissa. Miki met him at Dio's I think? He's a Kavi–he has white wings. He threw Miki in the pool and made her mad but now he's hugging Kissa?" she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know."
Miki grinned. "Oh my word, Cage, yes. He's the Mango Man. You were so right about him. He is a Kavi and he's super weird and he eats like a horse."
Gabriel takes Silvers hand before heading to the door, not wanting to go without her, and pauses in the doorway. “Ryder?” He whispers.
Kissa swallows, still smiling, and nods. “Yes! Yeah he’s-“ she turns around, spotting him in the doorway.
Ryder beams, “COME HERE OR I’LL TACKLE YOU!”
Gabriel gulps.
Oh no.
Cage hugs Miki and pulls her back inside the house. “He said tackle and I got scared.”
Silver clutched his hand, coming with him but mostly hiding behind him. "He threw Miki in the pool and laughed when she hit him." she whispered to Gabriel. "He's really weird and scary."
Miki laughed, following Cage. "If I were Gabe, I'd be scared to. Oh my word, Cage, I was telling him about all of you and I mentioned Kiss and Gabe and he literally jumped up and stood on the couch, and then asked me what they looked like while bribing me with his snacks. He's so strange. The mango thing was just the tip of the iceberg."
Cage grips Mikis shirt. “WAIT DID YOU FLY HERE?!”
Gabriel gulps.
Yeah. He’s weird and scary.
But I missed him.
He slowly turns himself invisible and head towards Ryder, putting his arms around Ryders neck and giving him a tight hug.
Ryder grins, scrunching his nose.
“I don’t know how you guys lived without me, but I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Ben leans on the doorframe, looking inside now, and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Please tell me this one isn’t staying.” He whispers.
Violet looks outside, then back to Ben. “I- he might be.”
"YES." Miki gasped. "It was awful! Never fly with him. Ever. If you want to fly, ask Silver to take you. Ryder is insane." She squeezed her dripping hair with her shirt.
Silver stared, eyes wide, seeing Ryder hug Gabriel even though he was invisible. Slowly it dawned on her that this must be the friend that Gabriel and Kissa had both told her about, the one time they opened up about their past and talked about their family and their culture. She wrapped her arms around herself and watched Ryder squish-hugging both of them.
Miki overheard Ben's comment and glanced over. "I mean, he lives with Dio so I doubt he'll stay. Well, he might try, now that he knows Gabe and Kiss are here. But you can probably make him sleep at Dio's at least." she turned to Cage and shrugged. "I don't know, it's pretty hard to make Kavis' do anything they don't want to. Imma go change into dry clothes."
Cage nods, following Miki. “I wanna dive into the pool like that. Do you think he’d fly with me?”
Ben watches as Miki walks away.
“Dio has…. two Kavi too? Cause there’s no way that sharp-toothed, pointy eared demon out there is an experiment. No.”
Violet smiles. “Ben, calm down. I’m sure he’s just here to say hello.”
Gabriel slowly lets go of Ryder. “I- I didn’t know what had happened to you.”
Ryder gives him a grin, knowing where his face was despite the lack of it.
“You guys are so big! And you’re still so cold, Gabriel, I love it.” He turns to Kissa, taking a strand of her hair letting it slip through his fingers. “And you never cut all this? It’s so long!”
She giggles.
Miki gave him a look. "I mean, sure, if you ask him to throw you in the pool I doubt he'd say no. It was terrifying and awful, though." She ducked into Silver's room and grabbed some of her sister's clothes, then closed herself in the bathroom to strip off her wet clothes and dry off before dressing. "I would be afraid for my physical well being if I flew with him again!" she called through the door to Cage. "But you're welcome to risk your life if you want!"
Neither of them ever cut their hair, Silver thought, remembering when Gabriel freaked out over the prospect of her trimming his outrageously long bangs.
Cage giggles, calling back, “he’s sounds like fun!”
Ryder ruffles Gabriel’s hair and chuckles. “Aw man. All that flying made me hungry. You guys got any good food?”
Kissa gasps. “Ah! Yes! I have some almonds in the pantry! I’ll grab them! Come sit!”
She takes his hand and starts to pull him and Gabriel towards the door, taking them inside past Ben. Ben watches as they jog in, Kissa leaving the boys by the island counter while she runs off to the pantry. Ryder goes to peel off his wet shirt and Gabriel gasps, smacking his hand.
“You can’t do that here!” He hisses while Ryder rubs his red hand.
Miki threw the door open, her arms full of wet clothes. "You're so weird." she ruffled his hair and trotted downstairs to toss her clothes in the dryer. "Silver!" she yelled. "Why are your clothes so small??" She kicked one of her legs. "And why do you wear flare jeans?? They make so much noise when you walk."
Silver sat on the edge of the couch, knees drawn up to her chest, watching all three Kavis. She barely glanced at her sister. "I'm smaller than you. And flares are cute. Don't ruin my jeans." Without moving she picked up one of Gabriel's shirts from Violet's clean laundry basket and floated it over to Ryder, silently holding it beside him until he noticed it.
Miki shook her still damp hair and opened the fridge. "Oh, Mango, Cage apparently thinks being kidnapped by you and flown across town against your will and dumped in a pool is fun. To be efficient, why don't you do that and go back to Dio's and get my stuff at the same time."
Ryder takes the shirt out of the air, giving Silver a quick grin and wink, then peels his wet shirt off to Gabriel’s irritation.
Kissa returns with a baggie of almonds, watching Ryder remove his soggy shirt and squeeze into Gabriel’s.
He wipes his hands down the shirt. “Geeeez, I feel like I have to hold my breath in this thing. You wear this?” He looks to gabriel. “Cause this is too big for blondie.”
Cage peeks down the stairs, confused. “Blondie???”