Horatio sat with Edward in the shallows of the pool. The waterfall churned steadily down, but here the water was calm, the coolest place they could be on a hot day outside of the Compound
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High heels were a bitch in the undergrowth. Danica had checked to make sure no-one was watching before she'd slipped off her shoes and continued along with them dangling from her fingertips. Now she was grimacing daintily, head bent as she avoided anything that looked even remotely dirty or sharp on the ground. Which was pretty much everything. Knees downward, she felt like a barefoot tramp and only the sound of water was enough to raise her gaze. Which turned her grimace into something far more unsightly.
A grown man and a fucking baby. She'd left the Compound to get away from shit like that and yet here it was again like she couldn't escape it. Disgusting.
She stood listlessly at the edge of the pool, bare feet momentarily forgotten. "You should take it out of its fucking float and see if it sinks," she advised the man, tiny scrunch marks around her nose as she studied the child. Baby, witch, same difference. "If it doesn't, you have yourself an evil little devil-child and should think about drowning it right away."
"Were I to drown anyone it would be for reasons far less medieval," said Horatio. A year ago, the words would never have passed his lips, let alone entered his mind, but a man could not see his own son dangled over a frozen waterfall and not emerged changed on the other side. If the woman wanted to torment him and his child she would have to find a better reason than their mere existence.
"Perhaps a venture to the bookshelf will provide you with a more thorough education, madam."
Their mere existence was the only thing Danica held against the man; had there been no child she would've had absolutely no inclination to pass on her wisdom at all.
"Oh please. I don't need a book to tell me drowning isn't the only option." She ran the tip of her forefinger along her lower lip, remembering the satisfying sugar-sweet taste of a young child's blood. Despite her years, she didn't even need an entire hand to count the number of walking meatsacks under fifteen years old she'd fed from. Adult males had always been her favorite, especially if they indulged in a little pre-dinner entertainment to get the adrenaline pumping. "But why make the job harder for yourself when we're already surrounded by water?"
Horatio was but a few centuries removed from medieval himself, but he knew enough to recognise a disturbed person when he encountered one. Protocol dictated that he be kind, but said protocol was easy to forget when one's son was indirectly threatened.
"Madam, there is no job," he said shortly. "There is only a child at play, and if you cannot be civil then I will thank you to go elsewhere."
Danica's spine straightened at the response she received. "Fine," she bit back, giving the man a look like it was his loss. But instead of walking away, she patted her pockets, keeping her gaze away from the baby. She concentrated on extracting a cigarette instead and lighting it, inhaling a lungful of smoke and tipping her head back to release it in an unsteady breath.
Her fingers flexed around it until she finally looked at the pair again with a narrow-eyed glare. It was obvious she was fighting a losing battle, obvious there were words on the tip of her tongue that she was trying hard not to allow herself to say. She clamped the cigarette between her lips and rested her hands on her waist.
"...What the fuck do you see in it anyway?" She muttered, nodding at the boy. Ugh. Now he was going to think she cared.
"In children?" Horatio asked, only slightly less bewildered than before. It hadn't been his idea to adopt Edward, and though he'd have done it regardless to make Ray happy, he'd never expected to take to fatherhood himself. And yet he had - that much had been evident long before the kidnapping.
"Well," he said, seemingly determined to give an honest response. "I suppose it comes down to duty. What once was King and Captain has become child and husband, I am bound to serve their happiness in any way I may. And...and affection," he said, looking down at Edward. "I do not think I can explain it." He looked up at her, wondering that she could not see it. "It's love."
Burnt ash sprinkled into the pool with every flick of her cigarette as she listened. Which was a miracle in and of itself. Though that didn't mean she liked what she was hearing.
Bound to serve their happiness. What bullshit. The only happiness Asher used to worry about was her own and Danica was more than happy to admit that was just the way she liked it, the way it was meant stay. Power and constant attention, that was all she asked for. Was that really too much?
She scoffed, taking another drag, smoke billowing around her pale face. Duty and love, Asher owed her that. "And what would you do," she began, cigarette lending a rough lilt to her voice, "if something came between that?" Or two things, to be exact. "Put that in jeopardy."
"Whatever I had to do," said Horatio. "I believe all parents to be the same in that, if they are worth their salt at all."
He frowned down at the water, recalling the near tumble Ray had taken down the waterfall to get to Edward, the distant ache in his own shoulder where he'd pulled it from socket an an effort to reach them both. "It is in our nature."
A grown man and a fucking baby. She'd left the Compound to get away from shit like that and yet here it was again like she couldn't escape it. Disgusting.
She stood listlessly at the edge of the pool, bare feet momentarily forgotten. "You should take it out of its fucking float and see if it sinks," she advised the man, tiny scrunch marks around her nose as she studied the child. Baby, witch, same difference. "If it doesn't, you have yourself an evil little devil-child and should think about drowning it right away."
Reply
"Perhaps a venture to the bookshelf will provide you with a more thorough education, madam."
Reply
"Oh please. I don't need a book to tell me drowning isn't the only option." She ran the tip of her forefinger along her lower lip, remembering the satisfying sugar-sweet taste of a young child's blood. Despite her years, she didn't even need an entire hand to count the number of walking meatsacks under fifteen years old she'd fed from. Adult males had always been her favorite, especially if they indulged in a little pre-dinner entertainment to get the adrenaline pumping. "But why make the job harder for yourself when we're already surrounded by water?"
Reply
"Madam, there is no job," he said shortly. "There is only a child at play, and if you cannot be civil then I will thank you to go elsewhere."
Reply
Her fingers flexed around it until she finally looked at the pair again with a narrow-eyed glare. It was obvious she was fighting a losing battle, obvious there were words on the tip of her tongue that she was trying hard not to allow herself to say. She clamped the cigarette between her lips and rested her hands on her waist.
"...What the fuck do you see in it anyway?" She muttered, nodding at the boy. Ugh. Now he was going to think she cared.
Reply
"Well," he said, seemingly determined to give an honest response. "I suppose it comes down to duty. What once was King and Captain has become child and husband, I am bound to serve their happiness in any way I may. And...and affection," he said, looking down at Edward. "I do not think I can explain it." He looked up at her, wondering that she could not see it. "It's love."
Reply
Bound to serve their happiness. What bullshit. The only happiness Asher used to worry about was her own and Danica was more than happy to admit that was just the way she liked it, the way it was meant stay. Power and constant attention, that was all she asked for. Was that really too much?
She scoffed, taking another drag, smoke billowing around her pale face. Duty and love, Asher owed her that. "And what would you do," she began, cigarette lending a rough lilt to her voice, "if something came between that?" Or two things, to be exact. "Put that in jeopardy."
Reply
He frowned down at the water, recalling the near tumble Ray had taken down the waterfall to get to Edward, the distant ache in his own shoulder where he'd pulled it from socket an an effort to reach them both. "It is in our nature."
Reply
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