Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 16 B 2

Morning came, and Darius wasn't in bed. Gasper slept, sleeping deep as most were infected by the virus, but Darius wasn't in the room. His chains were littered on the floor carelessly. Felix was going to get in so much trouble for this. Possibly. Darius had unnerved a lot of people with his half-asleep antics. He was not a standard case. Stone let Felix deal with him, and that came with a lot of inherent trust. 

Felix changed out of his sleeping wear and into his uniform. His children hummed in the back of his mind, eating breakfast and being chaotic. Darius sat with them, helping Ethan with his maths homework. 

Buster was awake.

The hum of a nearby Djinn rang in his head, softened by his mind remembering Buster's song despite their connection being cut. The web of songs of his family hummed, and his brother's threads sat open and ready to be reconnected, nervous and a touch scared. Felix didn't take it. Nor did he slap it away. It hung between him and his brother, waiting for one of them to make a move. 

Breakfast drifted peacefully. Felix counted the heads. All his brats, for once, were in the kitchen and not trying to get out of classes. That might have been due to the guests at the kitchen island. Buster sat hunched over, clutching his mug like it was a lifeline. Zoe sat beside him, leaning against him with her head slumped like she was trying to get an extra five minutes of sleep. She didn't need it, but she grumbled as Felix jostled their mental connection. 

Max had a football in his lap as he ate, feet moving as if he were outside kicking it around. His eyes guarded Ethan as Darius helped him, Maya scribbling away beside them. A chorus of greetings showered over him, Darius with an exceptionally bright grin.

Buster hid more in his mug. The thread reeled in slowly as more fear built up. Zoe gave Felix a pleading look from under her hair. She didn't want her uncle to be cold. Darius flicked his eyes between Buster and Felix rather pointedly, too. Felix's lips twitched. Drama queens, the lot of them. He ruffled Max's hair and stole the football.

"Dad!"

"No footballs at the table." Felix tossed it gently to the sofa. Max pouted, his feet continuing to move under his seat. "Eat your fruit," he added as he sat next to Buster, wrapping his arm around his waist to pull him into a half-hug. Buster melted into the action, leaning heavily onto Felix.

Eating with his brother plastered to his side was challenging, but Felix didn't want to let go. Buster clutched at him, not eating. His children kept chatting but the many eyes on them didn't help Buster's nervousness. 

"Eat," Felix nudged gently. Buster ate reluctantly, nervous. 

Felix had to let him go to usher his children out the door. 

Buster whimpered. 

He ignored the looks, instead kissing each of his brats on the forehead as they left. He gave Bart a tighter hug than usual. His youngest looked more like Buster than he did Felix. Any doubts about Buster's parentage vanished when people met Bart. Brats and babies on their way to school and training, he rolled his shoulders to deal with this mess. 

 Darius waited, hand on Buster's shoulder as he returned to them. His eyes intense. There was no easy way to ask Darius to leave, not without risking Darius taking it as permission to leave the quarters. 

"Felix," Buster's voice broke and his composure crumpled. Felix caught him as Buster dived towards him, arms wrapping around his leg. As Buster pressed his forehead to his knee in a show of submission.

"You have been suffering, haven't you," Felix ran his fingers through Buster's hair.

"You didn't take the connection," Darius said, there was no missing his distaste for the scene before him. Felix wasn't sure if it was Felix's seemingly lack of care, or Buster going to his knees without the slightest order. Darius expected more of his agents than how quickly Buster crumbled, but Buster wasn't an agent. 

"Of course not. We need to talk first. It's not simple to remove the connection once it's been placed and I'm not willing to let him leave a second time." Sue him, his voice got dark and possessive. He missed having another adult weaver in his web. 

"Is that so?" Darius tilted his head. "Care to explain?" 

"Buster, up," Felix tugged on Buster's shoulders. "I'm not rejecting you but you betrayed me. I was not going to forge a connection at the breakfast table." 

Darius's eyes narrowed, and his pose shifted. It was a slight movement, but Felix winced at the dark aura floating from the spymaster. Oh, Darius would be running the unit too soon if this continued. The man had no signs of the virus left, and his brain span fast. He had a plan, and Darius was the sort to get it done. 

"You're not going to leave me cold?" 

"No, but you know the cost of it," Felix promised, happy as Buster climbed back to his feet. He pulled his brother in for a proper hug, trying not to scare Buster away or be intimidated by Darius's aura. Buster slumped into his hold.

"I didn't like the dreams. You said no every time and let us go cold," Buster admitted. "It hurts."

"I never would. You ran off and spouted without permission. You knew the punishment for that."  

He loved his nephews as much as his brats. He wouldn't give them up for the world but Buster broke oaths to create them. With their population diminished, he'd never face true punishment for it, but it wasn't a good thing. The boys slept safe in the same room that Buster slept in, the virus continued to keep them oblivious to the world. Eddi turned himself upside down again, unable to stay still even when asleep. 

"But you're not going to leave me cold?" Buster checked, rubbing his arm. Darius put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"I said I wouldn't, but it's not going to be like before," Felix said.  

"I trust you," Buster said too quickly.

Trust was a strong word for the feelings dripping off Buster. Buster was desperate and scared. It worked in Felix's favour and it was interesting that Darius was in favour of it too. He should be suspicious of that.  

Felix led them to the sofa. Doing this standing up was a recipe for injuries. Darius sat next to them, his knees knocking against Buster. Between adults, this was supposed to be a private affair. Felix didn't know how to tell Darius that.

Buster closed his eyes and leaned against Felix, once more offering the connection, the thing trembling in the other, waiting for the connections that threaded an invisible web. Felix sat at the centre of his family, keeping his children centred. Each of them belonged. They knew that, and he knew that. One day, they'd leave the web to start their own. There would always be a thin strand linking them. 

He grabbed Buster's thread and yanked it close. It was a little, mean, but forging a connection as an adult took effort. Forging one with someone who had severed the connection once took power.

If it had been a reunion, a return of family, they'd link to their shoulders, the place for family and brothers of fate. For a lover, it would be the chest, linked heart to heart. A stranger would link to his wrist. 

For Buster, a brother but a traitor, it was the hip.

The magic circled Buster's neck like a noose and bound him tight. Buster didn't fight it, leaning into the loop. The magic would never let him go this time. Being placed on the hip meant not being trusted but being loved regardless. Disobedient children found themselves on the hip. 

Warmth remained. The heat that a bond grew rocked through the connection and the icy tendrils running up Buster's arms faded. Buster collapsed on his lap. 

Their kind was never meant to exist alone. 

Family and friends threaded together. Asleep, his nephews' connections frayed and reached for the new sun in their reach. He hooked them and placed them on his chest next to his children. His nephews didn't need to be punished for their sire's mistakes. 

Buster sobbed, fingers gripping his flesh. The aftermath of iced connections burning as Felix warmed them. Felix let him rock through it. He tightened the link, knotting it and pulsing an extra dose of affection down as Buster wept. 

Darius guarded them.