ℨ𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯 (stoneclaw) wrote in summerview, @ 2019-03-03 14:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, player: anne, zander brutus, znerissa drake |
Please, turn your fears into trust
Nerissa + Zander | PG13 | Complete
She walked out on the beach with Zander now, listening to the percussion of waves - the ticking of a leisurely clock, because they had all the time in the world. The walk would be good for him, she thought - it would get him out of the house (he had all but officially moved in at this point, considering he guarded the cottage in stone form during the day) and maybe help with some of that pensive crankiness that settled over him like a cloak. Not that she blamed him for being a bit curmudgeonly and confused about things. The resurrection of both Grayson and Callum had obviously come with steep prices - things that worried Zander and, in addition to that, none of them actually knew the details of Callum’s charm that allowed him to walk in the sunlight.
“Penny for your thoughts? Or I’ll just grab your butt,” Nerissa said, and followed through on her word - she grinned as she gave her mate’s ass a good grope, but her expression was tinged with concern, while they shuffled along barefoot in the sand. She had on an outfit she either wore for patrol or jogging - and considering she was definitely doing zero of the latter, the leggings and hoodie were more for roaming the route she was so familiar with by now.
All in all Zander should have been nothing but pleased to finally see his fellow Gargoyle’s, not only that—but the pipedream of his family alive. Especially his brother.
He had learned that the ways of their current world were always at a cost. He may have been overly pissy about Grayson serving as a watch for the clan in the city for a mere tip to where his brother was, but the audacity to ask such a thing in his condition, or even put him anywhere near a city of humans made Zander growl under his breath whenever he thought of it. Yet as always, Gray had merely made peace with it. As he always used to do.
And then there was Callum. Something was amiss about that charm but his cousin kept deflecting. He didn’t want to be a bother but there was no bother. They were family. Perhaps the last of them.
So his thoughts had always been keeping to Grayson to check on him frequently, and then tentatively with Callum. But by now Zander had just been going through the motions of the days, lost in his thoughts and feelings, waking up when Nerissa poked or in this case, grabbed his butt.
A low hum erupted from his chest but as per usual she pulled a smile to his face as they walked, eyes glistening back to her. “Sorry love, I know I’ve been a mess lately.” And she had been so amazing at being patient with him. Letting him vent out his frustrations and being an enveloping comfort he’d never had before. “Suppose I’m just trying to figure out how I’m to proceed with life again. Family has never been so independent of one another..it’s unsettling.”
“I wouldn’t say a mess, exactly,” Nerissa hedged, looping her arm around Zander’s. “But you’ve just had a lot to think about.” Like, really? Two presumed-dead family members showing up? And they arrived with not only their bodies intact, but a shit ton of secrets and burdens to bear? Of course it would grate on Zander. There was so much ‘unknown’ to deal with.
She tilted her face up, observing the stars in all their glory - spilled sugar over a canvas of black velvet - before looking back at her life hostage (in the sexy way). It was possible that Grayson had some good lessons to impart about letting go and making peace with things - because Zander still held a lot of resentment toward humans, for what some had done to his family. And of course that was understandable. But Nerissa couldn’t convince him on her own that it wasn’t healthy to hold onto it.
Not like she cared for humans either, fuck ‘em, but they were unfortunately a race that was here to stay.
“We could have Callum over for dinner soon?” she suggested. “I’m kinda curious about his daytime charm thing, but it’s obvious that he got into some shit to obtain it.”
She was just so perfect, really. It was times like these he couldn’t quite think on any particular reason she took in an interest in him at all. He slipped their hands together for a quick kiss to the back of her hand, pulling her more snugly against him.
The smile that came to his face when she spoke fell, and Zander cast his own eyes from the stars to the ocean gently hitting the shoreline they were walking against. “If it’s all well and good with you, of course. Grayson may take some time but it may be the end of times once the two of you meet.” He sighed lightly, eyes falling back down to the sand ahead. “There’s a bit of a catch to everything I’m discovering…” And it made him growl a little.
How much of his brother was back? Would this witch eventually ask for something in return? Zander didn’t know. He didn’t like that there was so much he didn’t know. In the meantime Gray was content, seemingly, and that would hold Zander’s anxiety for a while. It was Callum’s daytime charm that was more concerning, as it was written all over his cousin’s face.
Callum didn’t want Zander to worry but naturally...he would. And clearly there was a reason for it. “I don’t want to press Callum about that charm. I can only hope he’ll say what it is once he’s comfortable enough. He said he’d stay now, knowing Grayson and I were here. I should be thankful for that alone.”
“Oh, I actually did run into Grayson before going on patrol last night,” Nerissa grinned, suctioning herself to Zander’s side. “He was looking for you, but you weren’t scheduled - so I just took him on the route. He wanted to learn since he’ll be patrolling soon too, I’m sure.” Grayson seemed very similar to Zander, and Nerissa liked him - the bond between brothers was strong too; she was glad that Grayson was a part of her life hostage’s orbit again, though obviously Zander would know if anything was off about how his bro was acting post-resurrection. So far that didn’t seem to be the case?
Callum, however, was a different issue. The charm he had could have him indebted to all sorts of spell-casting weirdos. “Your cousin’s probably just trying to protect you,” she guessed. “Not wanting you involved in the same magical mafia shit he must be involved with. But I mean, maybe we could find another way? To get you a charm but without the...stress?” she suggested.
Or much of the stress. It wouldn’t come for free, that was obvious. Yet there should be limits on what price they’d be willing to pay. That’s where bargaining came into play.
“Oh,” Not that Zander would be surprised. Grayson knew where to find him if he wasn’t at the bridge -- either at the bar tending the Long Way Down, or likely with Nerissa herself. He was glad that they had gotten a chance to meet, even without him being there to enjoy it. Zander and Grayson looked dangerously similar with a small height difference of about an inch. Their eyes and their build was different but there was no doubt they were brothers. Again, what had been a pleased expression soured quickly at the thought of Gray patrolling. “He said that? That he’d patrol?”
Did his resurrection make his brother even more lackadaisical? He had mentioned that it certainly changed his outlook even more, but Zander couldn’t see past the danger in the scars across his brother’s body, his eye that he was certain he couldn’t see out of anymore.
“Yes, that’s a habitual problem that runs in the family.” He grumbled about Callum, free hand gripping the bridge of his nose at even more to think on. “But we’re all we have left. He should understand from being alone. What’s the point of surviving at all if we can’t have each other?” Nerissa would understand. When he wasn’t being solemn or quiet and minding his own, Zander was less than outgoing with the others. He’d fallen into a very bad place that really only work, patrolling, and she had brought him out of.
Gargoyles didn’t know other life beyond their perch, beyond their clan. This was life all over.
“I doubt that’s even possible, Rissa.” He sighed with a shake of his head. Not that he didn’t long to walk in the sun and be with her at any time in the day. He wanted to now more than ever that he had a reason to. “Nothing is quite so simple. Who knows what that witch has changed in Grayson, or if he actually had to do something for her he won’t tell me? Callum would rather suffer in solitude for a half life than let his family help him try for a better one...I don’t have anything left to give, or loose, to trust someone with magic or my life.”
To her, it made sense that Grayson would want to patrol. Being protective was pretty much a part of their blood, their DNA. And if Grayson had settled in, well, it would become more than apparent that Summerview needed the protecting. “Shit has been weird lately, we could use another hot gargoyle on the job,” she said, hugging Zander’s arm to her ample bosom. “But yeah, he said that. He seems a lot like you. Didn’t know what a spa was - then again, neither did you when I first got ahold of you,” she snorted.
It also didn’t surprise her that Zan poo-pooed the notion of getting himself a charm like Callum had. If he jumped on the idea right away, she’d have thought he was compromised or some shit. “Nothing is impossible,” she reminded him, with another gentle poke to his bum. “There might be someone we can meet with in town who can come up with something. I mean, didn’t that fucking Enchanter just move back here? Her dad was the one who created the barrier, I was there when it happened. It’s not like you gotta trust someone with your life - it’s just paying for goods and services, like any transaction. Callum was clearly in a desperate place when he made whatever deal he did, and he got taken advantage of - we won’t let that happen to you.”
Nerissa didn’t know the girl (and to a one-hundred-year-old serpent, she was a girl) that well, but she didn’t seem like she’d screw over someone looking to contract a charm and do business. If she did, well, Ness would swallow her whole, nail polish and high heels and all. Gulp.
“We did spend our entire lifetime knowing nothing else than our old ways and what came through the halls of the chapel, love.” Zander shook his head lightly. Ignorance was bliss. Now they knew only so little. As much as their separate lives could give them in a place only to hide from those they used to protect. “And he is, after all, my brother. We were--we are very close.” And he hoped it would stay that way.
He didn’t necessarily want to think about what Callum was thinking or had to do. And of course he didn’t blame him. All they had loved and known had been smashed to pieces. There was no other way of knowing where to turn next.
It didn’t exactly endear the gargoyle to the idea either. The more he learned of other creatures, sanctuaries, and just being present, the less he liked how positively wicked the world truly was. There was no running from it at all. He didn’t like hiding, either. “Is it? Because in the bar I tend it’s what you’re willing to lose to make a transaction. My brother is serving a clan in the city surrounded by bloody humans for a mere ‘yes your kin is in Summerview’. If that’s how bad my people have become...what the hell is an enchanter anyways?”
Zander didn’t mean to get so heated or negative. He was just...very emotional and upset at how powerless he felt in everything to help those he loved. He wanted nothing more than to walk with Nerissa in the sun, spend more time with her, let his schedule revolve around her instead of the sun. But he couldn’t think on anyone trustworthy.
“Yes, baby. You lose money, and then you gain booze,” Nerissa giggled impishly, slipping her hand into Zander’s back pocket as they continued on. “And booze is pretty awesome. A daylight-whatever charm would be awesome too. If anyone knows how to make a charm like that, it would be an Enchanter...who enchants objects to do what she tells them to do.”
Like protect a gargoyle from the sun, for example. She was sure that it would be child’s play, honestly - or at the very least, not too difficult for their resident Enchanter.
She skipped around in front of her mate, stopping him. But just so she could hop into his arms, literally (because of course he’d catch her), legs and other limbs wrapped around him. “Will you at least think about it? It’s a chance to take, yes, but we’d find out all we could before we dove in - and if we don’t like the terms of the deal she lays out, we say no. End of story.”
“I meant the other exchanges love, not the day to day transactions. Bartering illegal goods and the like.” Or whatever the sketchy people did that Zander had to monitor and make sure didn’t hurt the rest of the staff, or even Maeve herself.
This was becoming something of a trend with her hopping into his arms. He of course didn’t mind, catching her easily and wrapping an arm under her bum and thighs for support and the other to cradle her back. Nerissa was being quite adamant about this. The only thing he’d seen her press him for more was..when she was more or less romancing him. She was a woman whew knew what she wanted, to be sure.
And everything else aside, he couldn’t resist her, and she knew that he couldn’t either. Possibly her way of trying to get him to loosen up. With a small sigh, Zander pulled her closer to give her a tender kiss, resting his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry for being cranky, love. I’m open to looking into it. There’s nothing I want more than to walk with you in the sun.”
Wait, what? There was bartering for illegal goods in The Long Way Down? What kind of mysterioso shit was that? Guess that was why Maeve smelled so suspicious, in more ways than one. But whatever. As long as Zander didn’t get hurt, the bitch could do whatever she wanted in her shady-ass bar. “Yes, how daaaaaare you,” Nerissa teased, but she couldn’t even bother to feign upset - he had nothing to apologize for, in her opinion. “Okay, okay. Apology accepted.” Since she was right here, she kissed him soundly again, thigh muscles flexing around him.
“We could walk in the sun and get some Vitamin D and do other things in the sun - “ Like, you know, naughty things. Morning mamboing - when the sun first came up, that seemed delightful, and an awesome start to the day. “It’ll be great.”
She kissed him again, little ones, on his cheek and at the corner of his mouth. “And we’ll plan that dinner with Callum and Grayson - maybe separately, I dunno, unless you want a whole family reunion. Obviously you’d be cooking.”
As always, her affections melted away his stress and tightly wound disposition on the current affairs. He purred at her kisses, squeezing her tighter, a genuine smile pulling apart to actually show his teeth. Normal, fake human teeth. Not the thick round stone chompers that could bite a body in half. “Oh that’s what you’d like to be doing?” He teased, of course she did. Not that Zander would ever complain about his mate’s sexual appetite.
“If you think you can handle so many broody gargoyles in your home at once, we could try. To have all of you at once sharing time I couldn’t complain, darling.” The three people he loved more than anything? Yeah, Zander wouldn’t mind. “It’ll be good. For all of us.”
Nerissa did have quite the sexual appetite, when it came to him (she hadn’t been big on doing much shopping before she gave ‘having a mate’ a try) - but Zander always indulged her, bless his rock-hard physique and impressive stamina (plus a shout-out to the joystick she was so fond of). She’d try to get her brain in gear to plan a family dinner though, since fucking and family did not co-exist together. Or they shouldn’t.
“I like y’all broody gargoyles,” she insisted, letting go with her legs - her feet hit the sand, and she resumed her position of walking hand-in-hand beside him. “So we’ll do it. Like I said, you’d be cooking.”
This made her laugh a little, because they both knew what shit she was in the kitchen. And all three of them were British and polite - though Grayson had very expressive features. She doubted he’d be able to keep the disappointment off his face, if Nerissa cooked. “I’ll pick up dessert and drinks.”
Yes, she must like them indeed. Zander really couldn’t understand how someone with her personality would be attracted to him at all. Perhaps it was that balance. Though he doubted he was just as good for her as she was for him.
He chuckled along with her, “Of course my darling, whatever desserts and dinner you’d like. We’ll eat anything. You know that.” He gave the back of her hand a kiss once more as they walked, already feeling lighter in moments. She was magic in that way. He didn’t know how she did it but Zander would never stop being amazed. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Grump-Grump,” she gave a fangy grin, and stopped long enough to squish Zander’s cheeks and plant another kiss on him. Then the walk continued on, the long stretch of beautiful beach before them - it would be awhile before the sun came up, but that was fine. They had the rest of tonight to enjoy out here beneath the stars.