umbrasverdict

[umbrasverdict]

Kane didn't reply. Instead he merely nodded. Once again the bonus of being normally quiet. No one would expect him to react to much else other than bigger news.

"Perhaps? You think finding your way into a den of wolves is bad if you're a crow?" Kane wasn't a hundred percent on the animal kingdom, but he couldn't think of knowing that wolves were full on predators against crows. However, it didn't stop them from being able to kill them. It could happen easily and quickly and without remorse.

A sigh sounded and he glanced at the closed door. How safe were they from listening ears and secret eyes? "Seems like you did. A big event that flipped the whole place on its head. And you're here. Where he could be as well," Kane turned fully back to Eric and took a small step closer. There was a deep urge to just shield him away from everything. A feeling he couldn't help but linger on more and more lately. "Think nothing of it. You helped me. I helped you. Nothing to it, yeah."

"It's my best party trick.", Eric croaks out, as his soft fingers intertwine with Kane's rough, ink-stained ones. His seem perfectly clean, like they always do -- yet many kinds of blood have stained his hands, and will keep doing so. "Pleasure to meet you, too." It's still him, no matter how nervous he is, so he cracks another, bad joke, "Have I seen you before, somewhere? Perhaps on TV?" Amused, Eric draws his hand back, after lingering for longer than necessary, anyway.

"Kane, show him around. I will be working on a few papers in my bureau, if there's complications. Don't get the carpet dirty." Eric knows the way it means -- if you kill him, leave no trace. Bitter, and yet, nothing that scares him away. When the door falls shut behind them, Eric swallows, hard, and looks Kane in the eye. "I'd like to imagine I can help a little, through telling them miniature secrets that I have come aware of.", Eric immediately tries to excuse himself, "Perhaps, that was also a terribly bad idea. I'm sorry." Unsure of what else to say, Eric's eyes dart around the room, "Thank you, for your help at the New Year's Eve Party. Thank you for getting me home safely." Beat, "I fear I missed the most important event of it all. How are you feeling?"

[umbrasverdict]

Kane waited. This was a moment like out of a nightmare. Not only was there someone new disrupting the family more, but of all motherfuckers out there it was Elias fucking Avery. Sometimes family members spoke of him like he was spun from gold and came down from the Heavens themselves to help them. Kane didn't pay much attention to them then, but now he was half regretting it. The other exuded power and influence and Kane wasn't sure how much of it was bullshit.

"Leader positions ain't for me, yeah," He responded. "It's good, honest work and I'm not the type to charge into things," The powerfully built hunter replied. Ink stained arms crossed over each other.

Where did he even start? What did he say? "Down there for a while, huh? The phone can help you see things, but it's easy to get addicted to. Especially for being thrown in." Kane felt like he was uneven footing. This wasn't a fight, but it had the same tense air to him as a fight did and Elias was just making conversation.

"Do you wanna be mayor again?"

( @umbrasverdict -- The Avery Estate late, in the evening )

One Avery, after the other, and in his eyes, every single one of them is weak, and exhausted, and everything but strong-minded. Kane, however, is the first to truly catch his attention. The first to unfreeze a piece of his ever-sleeping soul, wretched not quite fully.

Twisting and turning a glass of whiskey in his fingers, Elias moves past Kane to get to his favorite arm chair -- it still exists, after all. Why not fall right back into his old habits -- a good glass of expensive liquor, and soft cushions.

"Why not run for Mayor?", Elias asks, curious -- the first question directed at Kane, now that they're alone for the evening, "Why work for a newspaper? To be fair, I favor those over what they call iPhones, nowadays. They gave me one, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it, when there's so much more out in the world to see." He's fallen victim to a few classics already -- links he should not have clicked, his phone now infiltrated with viruses, one of his grand-grand-grandchildren, running in to fix it, earlier that day.

[umbrasverdict]

[To Noah] Yes. [To Noah] Without a doubt. It's him. [To Noah] From the bottom of my heart, I wish I knew. [To Noah] I...am unsure. Not a single bit of is good. How do you feel about it?

[ Noah -> Kane ] Are the rumors true? [ Noah -> Kane ] Is he really the Elias Avery? [ Noah -> Kane ] How is that even possible? [ Noah -> Kane ] Nevermind. How are you feeling about it?

@umbrasverdict

[umbrasverdict]

"No," Kane's reply is immediate. "No, kid. No one is too good for you. You don't see it, yeah but I do. You're something else and a damn good something else to boot." Kane was not an inspiring leader or charmer or some charismatic speech giver, so this was his best attempt. One last little push before they separated for the New Years. "Go out there. Enjoy your life, your woman. More if you're into that. Just go...be. And don't undersell yourself when you do it, yeah. Hate that shit."

Wren nodded his head, "Yeah, probably too good for me." He chuckled, though he meant it. He was enjoying any time that he got to spend with Astrid now. He knew that he had messed up before, when he escaped, but he hoped that they could make something of things now. He thought that the two of them had much more of a chance now that he was out of the family. He just had to ride this storm first. He raised an eyebrow, though, as Kane spoke. He hadn't expected the sincerity from him but he certainly appreciated it. "Thanks Kane." He nodded, "Appreciate it."

[umbrasverdict]

There is a town of people out there that Rufus Avery could be showing Kane to. There were people Kane had never met before, witches and beyond who could help them, surely. So there wasn't even the notion that it could have been Eric. Shy of a Hawthorne, there was no one lower on the list. Hell, a normal human seemed more likely since there was at least more of them than there was Eric. One of a kind that one as far as Kane was concerned.

So when he turned to see him, he could feel his face drop. Did it in reality? Not very. Kane was a stoic man and his cold expression changed very little. But for him it was a huge reaction. That dark hair, the expression that haunted his thoughts for the better part of weeks. All here under the guise of helping his family. Was there a clean part of the world that they hadn't stuck their dirty hands into yet?

"Pleasure," Kane didn't hesitate to reach his ink-stained hand out. Because his hands, too, weren't clean. Like the rest of them. But he had at least tried to clean them. Numerous times, over and over. Especially after meeting Eric. And he'd do it again after shaking his hand and speaking to him when they had a private moment. "Crow. Yeah. Cool."

( @umbrasverdict -- The Avery Estate late, in the evening )

In between chandeliers and fancy wallpapers, Eric feels awkward in his worn out dark jean jacket, and equally worn out pants. His hair is wrapping around his face in slight, soft curls, with his hair freshly washed. The wound in his side is still stinging softly if he moves too much, but it has healed enough for him to be back on his feet, thanks to Kane's (almost) perfect stitching.

"I'm sure you will get along great. He's a bit rough around the edges, but generally a very talented man. The best of the best." Rufus Avery -- who is connected to Kane through being his uncle -- or was it cousin? In law? Eric is not sure, but whoever he is, he leads him through the estate, in the direction of a room Eric is not sure he's quite ready to be in.

When Rufus opens the door, Eric's breath hatches, catching sight of Kane's broad back -- the back his fingers were digging into, shaken by pain, just a few days ago. "Kane? I would like to introduce you to this lovely young man, who we asked to be our spie -- a transfiguration witch, that transforms into a crow." A tool, for us, remains unspoken.

[umbrasverdict]

His name sounded like poetry from Eric's lips. It was a feeling Kane couldn't deny and was starting to realize why. Denial of feelings and connections was not a necessary evil for the Avery's, but it also wasn't something he needed. Kane could blow off some steam with a random person and be fine. This was completely, wholly different. "That'd be you," It's a weak attempt at a compliment back. Kane Avery was not good with words, especially not when he seemed to have feelings for the other male.

Eric was right. Over and over, the brilliant boy was right. And over and over, Kane cursed the moment. To have these things whispered while it felt like the world was half crashing down around them. It wasn't fair. Punishment for being an Avery, likely. "You are not prey to me," He whispered in turn. What was it like? He hesitated. He had withheld information before. He could do it again. And yet Eric made him want to tell the truth- his walls breaking down. "As easy as breathing. But as rewarding as not."

"You're Kane Avery.", Eric whispers back, "You're Kane." Eric's mind is quite clouded from the pain, and he allows himself a soft snort, when he keeps mumbling, "You're very strong. I'm sure you could..." The witch looses himself in touching his upper arm, fingers, gently caressing his muscles. "No, you're a beauty unmatched." Eric is grinning, eyes closed, before the pain overwhelms his mind once again, and all the jokes are wiped away, gone with the wind.

"I'm a witch.", Eric says then, softly, "And my whole family consists out of dark witches, which I'm sure you know by now. I'm sure you do your research." With his fingers digging into his shoulder once again, Eric's head leans back against the wall, "Does that not make me your family's prey? Your prey?" There's a hint of sadness in his eyes, one caused by the presence of hunters in this town as a whole, and by the feelings rooted deep in his heart, that reappear and grow, every time Kane crosses his way. "What does it feel like? To kill someone?"

[umbrasverdict]

"Stunning is for more than looks kid. She's stunning in a lot of ways; I respect the tenacity, yeah." Kane knew that Wren had escaped everything in ways that had broken parts of his life, but he had escaped. It was something the Avery had children tried and thought of and had left it on the cutting room floor. The ideas were lost. They were, more or less, trapped. A blanket of thorns over their whole lives just for the sake of the Hunt. "You're going to do great, yeah. Got the utmost faith in you. Get out there. Kill it, Wren."

Wren didn't like snapping at people - especially not someone like Kane, who he knew only had his best interests at heart. But he couldn't help himself. He didn't like anyone questioning Astrid and he certainly didn't want her to have to shoulder the blame for whatever happened to him tonight. This was his own decision. Astrid had delivered some home truths - like she often did, so wonderfully - but he had come to decide on this all on his own. "She's more than just that." Wren sighed, shaking his head. "I mean, yes. She's obviously gorgeous. But it's - dunno. Deeper." Wren shrugged. Whilst he was away and he thought of home, his thoughts would typically always go to Astrid. He missed his siblings and his aunt but it was Astrid that he yearned for. And now that he was back, he needed to make things right. "I'll try my best."

[umbrasverdict]

@whirlingamelia

"There ain't no way you're up this early on purpose," Kane can't help himself. Normally, he is one of quiet thought, but this one was up and around at the same time as him. The sun had just barely peaked over the hills and that meant Kane had some time before he went into work. In what world would someone subject themselves to such a pain of a time without needing to? "Unless you're one of them morning people, yeah? Downright spooky them," He picked up his coffee from the counter, holding it in inked stained hands.

[umbrasverdict]

As Wren snapped and rounded on him, Kane couldn't help the impressed smile. It was not large by any faculty. But it was there all the same. Impressed and...and jealous. Deep down, Kane couldn't deny he wanted something similar, but didn't have the bravery to commit such an act. "Never said she was, yeah. Glad to know you've got the major hots for the woman; i can respect it, she's stunning." In more ways than one. Kane's hand reached out and dropped onto the other male's shoulder with a deep sigh. "I don't like it, Wren. Not at all. But you clearly have strong feelings on this. Keep out of trouble, yeah?"

"She isn't to blame for this!" Wren snapped. "She just reminded me that I do have a life. And hiding away wasn't living that life." Was he being reckless? Absolutely. Did he think it was worth it? Of course he did. He wouldn't be there if he didn't. "Kane, I'm tired." Wren sighed, the fight seemingly fading away. "I'm tired of hiding. Of pretending like I don't exist. You don't want me to turn out like you? Then I need to do this. I need to face them. And if they kill me, if they throw me in the dungeons...well..." Wren shrugged his shoulders, "Anything is better than looking over my shoulder constantly."

[umbrasverdict]

Kane couldn't help his face. Stoic and stalwart and yet here he was with surely an expression of pure disbelief. All of this for the woman Wren had left behind initially? Shit. Kane would need to talk to Astrid one of these days. "What hard truths did you hear that made you think this was the path ahead?" He wanted to phrase it as- 'made you think this was a good idea?' But Kane was trying. Ink stained hands undid the button on his suit jacket and then stuck themselves into the side pocket to pull out a cigarette, light it and then offer one to Wren. It was tradition no matter how many times the younger male refused. Crazier things had happened.

Wren shrugged his shoulders, "And I was told some home truths that made me not want to hide anymore." There was a part of Wren that wondered how much of a life it was, if it was hiding from everyone he knew anyway. Although Sage had been a light for him in the last few years, he'd been in a dark cloud for such a long time and he was tired of it. "Maybe not." Wren sighed. He could at least concede that this probably wasn't the best time. "But I'm here now and I'm not going to ditch Astrid." Maybe the latter was the main reason he was there. He would do anything to show her just how serious he was about being back here, about not leaving again. Surely this could only help in that department?

[umbrasverdict]

There's nerves beneath the surface of the moment. Tension, unbridled tension. But it wasn't panic. There was worry, but that was long forgotten. Kane knew how to keep a straight head in a moment like this when it came to injury.

It was just Eric. The presence of the other had drawn breath from the cold statue that was Kane Avery.

The euphemism of a caged bird could be used on Kane and it was so easy to relate to Eric because of that. All the same, he tried to push away thoughts of himself- it was selfish. Here Eric was, injured in front of him and the mind wandered to his own life. Asshole. A push of hand onto his forehead to stop the small sweat and readjust his focus. "Freedom is a good look for you, yeah. It's a beauty unmatched," He confirmed.

Another beat. This one from the Hunter as his hands finished up its work. "To kill your dad?" Yes. "Who am I to do that, Eric?"

The potion numbs the pain, dulls it out, but it's present enough for Eric to flinch, and for his fingers to grip Kane's shoulder tighter. His heart is beating alarmingly fast, and Eric suspects that is not only because of the injury, but also because it's Kane fixing him up, Kane's hands on him, and Kane's warm body bringing heat to his world.

"Freeing.", Eric whispered back, in between small gasps of pain, and with a few tears running down his face, "My dad was never the nicest.", he admits, softly, "He's very violent. And when it became clear I would not fall into their magic, into their darkness, but instead manifest transfigurations, he tried to stop me from flying in an attempt to cut my wings." Eric nods to his right, revealed arm -- a deep scar, long healed, is visible right there. "Didn't quite work, you know? I'm still here, after all. They're not -- I think it's stupid. I'm... thirty years old, I live alone, and yet... they have so much control over me." Eric pauses when the pain gets too bad, and takes a deep breath, "Not like-- they're just like-- a dark shadow."

Beat.

"Would you kill them?", Eric whispers, then, "If I asked you to do it, would you?"

[umbrasverdict]

"You're done running. That's why you hid during Christmas-" Kane pointed out, starting back around on him. His tone had edged back to a hesitant anger. He wanted Wren to be able to do what he wanted to with his life. He wanted him to be able to live. But this was such a mess of situation that wasn't getting solved easily anytime soon. "I don't doubt it. And we both know I want you out and living too, yeah. But this isn't it. Here? Now? Where every Avery and Hawthorne are combined into a boiling pot of hatred?"

Wren knew that there would be push back. He wasn't stupid. He knew that there were people at the party that wasn't going to be happy that he was there. And he was there anyway. Because Astrid was right. He needed to live his life. He needed to not be looking over his shoulder constantly. He knew it was a risk - one that will probably get him hurt, again - but it was a risk that was worth it. Especially because it was one, in his mind, for her. That didn't make the words from Kane any easier to hear, though. "I'm not on the run anymore. I'm done running, Kane." And he really did mean it - consequences be damned. "I'm here. And they were gonna find out sooner or later. I wanted it to be on my own terms."

[umbrasverdict]

Kane was quick to move, steady in his hands and focused when the other male spoke. He could follow the instructions well, though he was shaky about applying these things to someone else. Not physically, but mentally. It was easy to harm himself. Do anything to others felt a little more hesitant. But especially Eric. Though he was not ready to unpack that yet, especially not now.

"I'm here," He whispered in turn as he did as he was told with the liquid, then immediately pulled out a needle to stich him up with. "I'm right here. To help you."

The sounds of the world fell away and Kane focused on trying to keep his hand steady, his mind focused. "Talk to me. About anything. What it's like to fly? Tell me all about it, Eric," His gravelly voice spoke as he worked at the wound.

Relief washes over him when he can finally make out Kane's features in the crowd. Moving his fingers sends an agonizing pain through his whole body, but Eric still points at the bag by his side. It contains everything a paramedic would need for an emergency pack-up, but most importantly, generalized antidote. It's labelled, and in a small bottle shimmers shining gold liquid.

"I can't shift.", Eric remarks, and a hint of panic wavers in his voice. Shifting is his freedom, his magic, and when it's gone, so is half of him. Blood is pouring from the wound, Eric's originally perfect white blazer now red, and muddy. "Black liquid. Small bottle.", Eric croaks out, "Just pour it onto the wound." The only thing he can think of, is how Kane was so calm in this exact same situation (just with the roles reversed). Like it was an every day thing, to get stabbed in a dark forest. For Eric, this is a first.

Erics bloody fingers find Kane's upper arm, and holds on tight. "Kane.", he repeats, more urging, but not sure what for. While Eric did hope to see him today, he did not expect it to go like this.

[umbrasverdict]

Kane was an excellent hunter. He did not want to be, but he was. So when the call came in and the sounds of the bell struck through the phone, he had a rough idea on where to look. From there, he could follow a crowd. People wouldn't get too close to a person on the ground. At base principle, they'd think him drunk and they wouldn't want Eric puking on them. Of course, that was best case scenario and Kane was not likely to run into that based on the call.

So hurry Kane Avery did. He hurried faster than his feet had moved in some time.

It didn't take him long to find the other in retrospect. But it was still far too long than what he was comfortable with.

Through the crowds and to his side, Kane is quick to find exactly what was the trouble and it makes him act even faster. Urgent, he is pulling out things to help dress the wound, pull out the poison. He is no healer like, ironically, Eric is. But a hunter needed to be prepared for things like this. Especially poisons- many a hunter have stabbed themselves with their own weapons.

"Come on, Eric. It's okay- it's okay," His voice soft, but like his pacing, urgent.

( @umbrasverdict -- The NYE party two hours before midnight )

One hour after Eric drank his mother's self-made wine, he starts to feel strange. His vision becomes blurry, and his throat feels strangely tight, as if someone is putting gently pressure on it. Pressure, that is slowly growing. After a few more minutes pass, he's sure he's reacting allergic to something -- or maybe, his mother had tried, and poisoned him? Panic starts to rush through his body as he scrambles in the direction of the bathroom, to lock himself in one of the cabins, when an hand wraps tightly around his arm, and pulls him away from the crowd into an alley.

"Saw you shifting into a crow of sorts a while ago, and was just waiting to get you here." The dirty fucking laugh of a Hawthorne hunter barks right into his face, but Eric is already sinking to the ground, knife stuck in his stomach, not deep enough to cause severe trauma, but deep enough in his case of clouded mind. The hunter is gone with the wind, merged into the crowd, and Eric is left bleeding, and poisoned -- poison not made to kill, but to cloud his mind enough for him to be weak. He finds his phone with weak fingers, and types in the only name that comes to his mind, calls, and waits for him to pick up.

"Kane.", Eric gasps, "Please. Hurry."

Eric gives no word on location -- but a bell can be heard ringing nearby, which hangs high above the alley, on a Christmas decoration, visible from everywhere in the crowd.

[umbrasverdict]

"In what world is any of this a good idea for you to be here? At least in the Christmas market, there will plenty of other people. Instead you show up with some infamous bartender, who left her own people, to...what? Pretend you're not on the fucking run?" Kane has dragged @wrenhawthxrne from Astrid with barely a fanfare and away from all of the possible eyes. Not that it mattered after a certain point. There were far too many of each family here for someone not to have spot them yet. It didn't take expert eyes like Kane's to see that.

[umbrasverdict]

Kane has to go, so of course he's attending. And as is every year, he goes by himself. There's hope for a certain someone to attend, but otherwise he's going to do what he always does. Cheers to the new year, down the hatch with the same old beer and count the few blessings he knows he has.

[umbrasverdict]

Why did he still come? Tradition. Necessity. It would be just his luck that the year he decided to abstain from the festivities that something would go down. But that was a lot to put on a stranger. "I like the lights," Is his initial response, dark eyes moving forward for a second, to think about how he'd expound on that. "I'd like to enjoy it. So there's a hope for a hope. Just can't yet get my head around it. Yeah. To shorten it up for you."

Cecelia shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. I get it." She could understand why people might enjoy this time of year but she just didn't. There was too much pressure for everything to be perfect, for you to be around loved ones. Cecelia didn't really have many of those - if any. "Yeah. Definitely not for me, either." She nodded. She turned to look at him then, raising an eyebrow. "But yet you still came. Why?"