♤SPRING SHIELD (MxM) ~fantasy~♤

Brewing grudges

Elijah

I've been running through the hotel for almost an hour opening almost each door and calling out for Liam and Oliver. I ready to pull my hair out,rip a couple of teeth off my jaw,because someone is to blame for this.
Then I open one fateful storage room with muttered voices from the inside. And the first thing I see is a head of wildly red hair and wide brown eyes full of so much life that they can count as orange.
I hate red hair to death and revival. I hate it at gun point. I hate it now that it's in front of me,looking breathlessly and questioningly,searching my features. "Who are you?"
"Good to see suspicion runs in the family,Kristian,with a K,sir."I peak behind him and find my two boys staring at me from the floor. Air fills my lungs for the first time in an hour. Their safe. Thank Lyria. But it doesn't quite appease me,
"Where have you two been?"I press and they exchange worried glances,"I just asked a question,I expect an answer."I raise my voice by an octave and they immediately get up,I'm ready to start start my lecture about safety but the red head holds my chest pulling me back,
"Their just kids,sir. No need to yell."Great,he has an attitude and a nosy personality.
"Their my kids,and you are in no place to tell me how to parent them,Kristian with a K."I say with just the same amount of energy he has to me. I hope with all my heart that he'll step out of my way,
"Yeah you're absolutely right,sir with an s that stands for I suck."he quips and I open my mouth to retaliate when he places his finger on my lips,"Wanna know why you suck? You left your kids with an under qualified assistant and she starved and abused them until they had no choice but to run away. Kids don't hide from things that are perfectly harmless,sir."She what?
"First of all,Kris,I can call you that right? Forget it,I don't care about your opinion. It was an emergency,I would never leave them with her otherwise and they know it. Enough with the assumptions,please."I say letting go of the door knob to point in his face and he jumps over me to try and stop it,
"No,no,no- Ugh! Great,look what you did. Here I thought,you,forget it- "he says after literally pouncing on me to hold a door knob making sweet coffee and what autumn smells like to me steal into my nose so harshly I cough it out.
"I don't see what the problem is- "I lay my hand on it and turn it over but it doesn't open. Oh. Well,crap. It only opens from the outside. "Why didn't you just say that?"
"Oh yeah sure,like anyone could talk over your yelling."he says backing into a wall with his arms crossed and frowning. Making me feel strangely embarrassed. I made a mistake,sure,and it just makes me angrier,
"How- Who even are you,exactly?"I grumble getting more and more frustrated by the minute,
"A magician."my boys answer at the same time and a sharp laugh bursts from my throat. Unbelievable,
"A magician,"I repeat chuckling even though I'm no where near happy,
"Yeah,what about it?"he shakes his shoulders around like he's proud of it,and I grin a little then he stares at me. No,ogles at me then I watch him brush it off with my own eyes.
"Okay,Kristian,the magician,why didn't you call the authorities when you and my children got stuck inside here?"He opens his mouth but I place my finger on his freakishly soft lips,"What were you even doing in here? Trying to convince the rats your the next big thing?"I tease and he slaps my hand away,
"First of all I found the boys here and my phone is dead."
"Good point."I say letting him go with his smug look of small victory that strangely makes me ignite with anger. I feel like we've started this unspoken war with each other and now someone has to die to fix it. Fix this rivalry we started. "Well,mine isn't so..."I call David and he picks up on the first ring,
"Hello,sir,no progress yet but we're covering good ground,authorities have-"
"Forget it,Dave. I found them,but I'm now stuck in a storage room with no way out."
"Ah- we'll we're on our way. But it might take a while-"
"David,you've practically used up all your whiles for today."
"But sir,there's more than sixty seven storage rooms in the whole of hotel DeLyris-"
"What's sixty seven rooms compared to the love of your job,Dave? Start with the west wing."I hang up after that and Kristian gives me a look,
"I don't know why I'm surprised you also treat your employees like trash."
"Not that I care about what you think of me but I'm having a less than good day."I smile tightly and walk away from him to get on eyes level with my children. I silently brush each of them on the head and check them for bruises on their hands and faces before I hug them,"Never do that again."I whisper,and Oliver pulls away to say,
"Sorry,dad."Liam follows with,
"It's all Natalie's fault."
"I know,buddy. She's fired after this,I promise that I'm never going to let this happen again. But next time,when something happens what should you be doing?"
"Calling dad?"they say in unison,
"Of course,because I care about you two more than anything."they jump in to hug me again and I catch the magician staring with tears in his eyes that he swipes away at. He seems less  dramatically emotional and more sorrowful. Like he misses something. "Uhh,now. Let's figure out how to get out of here."I head to the door and Kristian says simply,
"We tried,it's a passcode entry and once you try enough times it- ."
"It jams and starts a two hour timer and alerts the front desk. I know,I designed it."he makes a face at me,"What? Not all of us can be magicians and talk to rats all day."
"Guess you're right,mister. So,can you figure it out or what?"
"I'm going to have to go with what because I didn't design the lock alone,it was a team effort and my effort was only for the beginning stages. I have no idea of anything after that."I say getting down and tapping what I'm familiar with on the mini screen. Forty five minutes left on the timer. And if we wait there's no guarantee that I'll be able to correctly guess the code.
I take two steps back. Bring my hands up and shut my eyes,I let my powers fill the air in front of me,let them come in contact with the lock and go from there. When I'm done I open my eyes to the sound of a sizzle and smoke.
The door knob is... well burnt. "Great,now we can't pick it because you broke it. Good job."
"First of all considering the technology it's not picking but hacking. Second,you have a bad habit of judging too early."The sign of spring imprints on the door and lime green light floods the space around its frame before leaves and flowers start to rapidly grow into the wood consuming it.
With a raise of my hand I pull the plants back from where they came and they leave a weak door with a huge hole in it. Perfectly,passable. "Good job to me,indeed."
"You're too full of yourself."he says going to pick up his bag and collect his things,including a funny looking silver coin,"I'll be gone then,sir."he glares at me,adding a condescending tone to the way he addresses me,sparks of annoyance in his fiery gaze. The colour stirs something in me.
And I hate it.
I groan in response as I watch him turn to my children,"Liam,Oliver. Bye,it was very nice of you two to have me,"he says with a sickeningly sweet smile and a high voice like they don't know he's faking it. I just know they hate him-
"Bye,Mr White! It was our pleasure."Oliver says and I internally scream my lungs out. It's okay,Liam isn't easily swayed by big smiles and friendly words,
"If its okay,show us some more magic tricks some day?"This is the work of the dark Lord,he's scheming against the avatars and using this annoying red head as a medium.
"Of course,boys. Although your father is insufferable and head strong,remember to listen to him... he loves you."he pats each of them on the head and glares at me as he walks towards me,reintroducing the scent of autumn. "Fire Natalie,keep David."
"Let the goddess Lyria damn me if I ever listen to you."I say under my breath,and he smiles tightly,
"Too bad that you'll be struck my lightning because its a great decision."He's right. But I'm not telling him that. He's ego is big enough.
"Bye,Mr White."Oliver whispers in vain sensing my aversion to the magician guy,whatever his name is. He smiles as I help my sons walk out. Then he's gone. I'll never see him ever again and same to him.
For some reason my heart does a stiff twist. Like when a dark creature is about to cause destruction.
It doesn't mean anything. It can't. It shouldn't.
Just as the dull colour of a faded nineties band shirt and his silhouette disappears from my sight David comes running over to me. "Sir! We found you- and the boys!"
"I did most of the work so pray to God that my bad mood goes away soon."I groan dusting myself off and letting him replace my cape on my shoulders and my crown over my head. "How late am I?"I know for sure I was supposed to give the speech hours ago.
All this planning. All of it going up in my face because someone couldn't do their job right.
"Around ten minutes. They kept your space so if we-"
"Go with the boys and place them infront of me in the crowd,David. If you lose them again,I swear to the cloud realm that your job won't be the only thing you lose."I give him a sharp look for good measure then I go as quickly as I can without running.
There's a certain level of status,that once reached its a bit crazy to full on run. Maybe jog but not run.
I get to the venue again and try not to look flustered or shaken as a million eyes are on me. Wondering where the hell I've been and all that. I jump more that two steps at a time to get to the stage and I give the host a small smile of appreciation,"Thank Lyria your here."she says,I don't miss the small twinkle of awe in her eyes as she stares up and me,
A common blood. Someone without powers or abilities. Their normally our biggest supporters.
"Thank you for giving me time."I reply as I take the microphone from her hands and walk into where she was standing. Soaking in the pressure,being proud of knowing what to say and how to act to such a point that I could go off script and no one would notice.
This is what I do. What I live for. Without anything else I start my speech and nail it. Like always.