Flames of Fate

Family (dys)Function

[Author's Note: Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long. I started this for my lovely friend Sydney's birthday (it's all she asked for), and then subsequently spent a month so sick I wished I would just keel over and die. Now that I am finally healthy again, and once I finally remembered what I meant to do with the chapter, I have finished it. Here's hoping Sydney can forgive me for her "birthday" present being nigh-on a month and a half late!
Thanks for bearing with me, guys. I promise, I will try and get back into a pattern of writing and posting on at least a semi-frequent basis. Perhaps all the snow I am sure we're bound to get in Canada this winter will help...if I'm snowed in, maybe I'll actually get something done, haha!
Without further ado - here it is! I hope you enjoy it, and I hope  you all love Dia's father as much as I do!]

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I was thrown from my trance-like state and slammed back into reality thanks to my sheer panic at seeing Grayson's impending doom.

The whiplash lasted mere milliseconds, and yet Grayson's face was already a mask of concern.

"Are you alri--" he began, brow furrowed.

I snapped out of my daze and dove for him, screaming the word move. I slammed into his chest just as the wrecking ball connected with the building.

Grayson's eyes widened as he hard the wall give way, and as I realized my momentum hadn't driven him back far enough to avoid being flattened, I decide to break all the rules.

Closing my eyes, I pulled on the fabric of the corporeal and the ethereal. I pulled our bodies apart one molecule at a time while simultaneously keeping our souls separate. I had never demolecularized and jumped anyone but myself, so keeping everything separate for two individuals was trickier than I had anticipated.

So focused on keeping things organized, I forgot to direct our jump. As a result, I automatically sent us spiraling to the last place I had jumped: the study in my family's home.

Albeit one of my favorite spots - in any dimension - it was still one of the very last places I wanted to be at this very instant.

As I sent molecules flying, I reorganized the pieces of Grayson and myself. For humans, jumps are instantaneous; for Moirai, it is a little more complex...no real time passes, but that is only because we break down the very fabric of time, as well, when jumping. The world freezes, leaving the jumper the only one capable of movement or manipulation.

Jumping is, however, not meant for humans. Focusing so much of my energy on not only jumping Grayson, but also on ensuring no harm was done to him during the jump, took an exceptional toll on my body and my mind.

As we careen back into reality, Grayson's back collided with the floor of the study.

His eyes are wide as he takes in the change of scenery, and grow even wider once he sees me materialize above him.

Misjudging by a little more than a foot, I make a resounding and bone-jarring thud as I hit the floor. My knees are straddling Grayson's hips, and I can see a wisecrack stirring behind his eyes.

Before he gets a word out, I waver. My vision begins to blur and tilt, and panic flashes in Grayson's eyes.

"Whoa," he says, reaching up to steady me...but, before he can get a grip on my shoulders, my body pitches forward as darkness tugs at the edge of my vision.

Grayson catches me just before I hit his chest, and it briefly occurs to me that he might have saved me from breaking my nose against his pectoral muscles. Even more briefly, it occurs to me to laugh at the idea of breaking one's nose on someone else's pectoral muscles.