All Hail the Shifter King
Title: Happy Birthday
Word Count: 1183
Crossposted here at runaway_tales
She didn't know what she'd been expecting from their home, but as Katrina walked around the kitchen she couldn't help but smile at how utterly picture-perfect the small house was. The kitchen itself was an example of magazine-worthy domestication, the kind of adorable, matched decor one would expect from their grandparents, not a couple in their mid- to late-twenties. Pausing in front of the calendar, she traced a circle around the small birthday cake drawn on one of the squares, and glanced over her shoulder.
"Whose birthday is it today?" she asked, tapping the calendar.
"Eli's," Rebekah said, smiling softly as she filled a matching set of striped mugs with tea. She passed the first to Gavin, who sat on the counter beside her and accepted the drink with a quiet thank you, clasping it in his shaking hands. "Though he usually prefers nobody knows."
"Nobody knows what?" Eli asked as he and Ryder entered the room.
"That it's your birthday," Rebekah told him, planting a kiss on his cheek before handing him one of the steaming mugs.
"Ugh, right," he muttered as he dropped into a seat at the table. "Don't remind me." Behind him, Rebekah offered tea to Ryder next, and when he quietly declined she leveled a stern glare on him and held it until he relented.
"It's not the end of the world," Katrina chided with a laugh, seating herself at the table opposite him and accepting her drink with a smile. "How old are you going to be?" Ryder snorted a laugh.
"Yeah Eli, how old are you going to be?" he asked, smirking.
"Younger than you," Eli muttered, sipping his tea.
"Really?" Katrina asked, shocked. When Eli raised an eyebrow at her, clearly unimpressed, she gestured between him and Ryder. "Sorry, I just thought you were older."
"Seriously?"
"Well, come on," she defended, not understanding why Eli looked so offended - or why Ryder seemed so utterly amused. "It can't be much more than a year or two, right?"
"Actually, it is a bit more than a year or -"
"Sixteen," Ryder interrupted, laughing. Katrina blinked at him.
"Sixteen?" she asked.
"Like, sixteen months?" Gavin asked, confused.
"Ryder," Rebekah said warningly. "Remember what I said about behaving in my house."
"You didn't say anything about not talking," he countered. "I mean, come on, they're not exactly PhD..." He paused. "Sorry, Doctor Elliott," he corrected, and then pointed at Katrina. "She's not exactly a PhD candidate, but -"
"For your information, yes, I am," she snarked, annoyed.
"- but she's not that stupid," he finished.
"This is definitely not behaving," Eli sighed, bracing his elbows on the table and pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. "At all."
"I don't see much point in 'behaving' when -"
"Stop." Eli's tone was exhausted. "Don't involve them."
"Pretty sure you have that part handled already, don't you think?"
"Ryder."
"First you 'save' them, which I'm sure Merrick was thrilled about." Ryder sipped his tea and tapped his fingernails against the mug. "Did he even know you were still alive, before tonight?"
"Shut up, Ryder."
"Then you drag me into it, and by the way, I'm so happy I'm part of this disaster in the making. And let's not forget the field trip around the old stomping grounds so they can meet the Shadekin, but no, we're not going to be upfront with them because that would be -"
Ryder hit the wall before Katrina even realized that Eli had shoved himself away from the table, and as the chair clattered to the floor he knotted his fist in the front of Ryder's shirt and held the taller man in place, his green eyes brittle with anger. And when he opened his mouth, the language he spoke was unlike anything Katrina had ever heard - it didn't sound like words so much as the hum of noise she'd heard in the rainforest, the growls of small predators and the trilling tones of birds, something that managed to be both melodic and guttural, and -
The sound of breaking glass nearly startled her out of her seat, and brought the tense standoff to a stop. The entire room turned to look at Gavin, who was staring at Eli with his mouth hanging open, his face paler than usual. His mug lay in pieces on the floor beneath him, the remnants of his tea spreading across the linoleum.
"You..." His jaw kept moving but he didn't seem to have much luck getting words out. "You... you speak Pasirin?"
"If you call that 'speaking'," Ryder muttered, rolling his eyes as he shoved Eli away. "He's grossly out of practice."
"What's Pasirin?" Katrina asked, confused.
"The Fel'danai called it 'the God tongue'," Gavin said, his eyes still wide and his voice barely above a whisper. "But we have, maybe, what, four or five inscriptions, no actual living speakers, as far as we knew they all died when the Fel'danai did. So... how do you -"
"Because we're Fel'danai," Ryder told him, leaning over to right Eli's chair before he gripped Eli's shoulder tightly and steered him toward it. "Or we were, once." When Eli resisted, Ryder tightened his grip and forced him to sit down. "Tell them, Elijah."
"Ryder, this isn't -" Rebekah started, and flinched back when Ryder pointed at her.
"Be. Quiet," he ordered, and though she scowled heavily she crossed her arms over her chest and said nothing else. "If you want my help -"
"I'm starting to think I'd be better off without it," Eli grumbled.
"Yeah? You want me to walk? That's fine by me. You'll be dead within a week once Merrick gets the clan on your tail." He stared hard at Katrina, his defiant smirk fading somewhat. "Your little meatbag pet projects here will be lucky to last two days."
"Meatbags?" Katrina rose to her feet, her hands balling into fists - her confusion quickly evaporated in the face of her anger, the sheer audacity of the white-haired bastard and his idle insults. "Listen asshole, you can't -"
"Sit down, Katrina," Eli said softly. "You too, Gavin." Katrina remained standing a few seconds longer after Gavin slid off the counter and took a seat at the table, her eyes set on Ryder with a glare that could melt an ice cap and him staring back as if daring her to speak. "Katrina," Eli said, breaking her concentration. "Please." When she grudgingly took her seat, he swept his hands back through his hair and sighed heavily. "It's been a long night," he said softly, "and things... aren't exactly going to be easy, from this point forward." He was quiet a few moments, gathering his thoughts, and in that time Ryder slipped out the back door and onto the patio, where Katrina saw him light up a cigarette. "To answer your question, Kat, I'm four hundred seventy-six years old today. And there's a lot of other things you need to know about me, about us," he gestured broadly to Rebekah and Ryder, "before we go any further."
Word Count: 1183
Crossposted here at runaway_tales
She didn't know what she'd been expecting from their home, but as Katrina walked around the kitchen she couldn't help but smile at how utterly picture-perfect the small house was. The kitchen itself was an example of magazine-worthy domestication, the kind of adorable, matched decor one would expect from their grandparents, not a couple in their mid- to late-twenties. Pausing in front of the calendar, she traced a circle around the small birthday cake drawn on one of the squares, and glanced over her shoulder.
"Whose birthday is it today?" she asked, tapping the calendar.
"Eli's," Rebekah said, smiling softly as she filled a matching set of striped mugs with tea. She passed the first to Gavin, who sat on the counter beside her and accepted the drink with a quiet thank you, clasping it in his shaking hands. "Though he usually prefers nobody knows."
"Nobody knows what?" Eli asked as he and Ryder entered the room.
"That it's your birthday," Rebekah told him, planting a kiss on his cheek before handing him one of the steaming mugs.
"Ugh, right," he muttered as he dropped into a seat at the table. "Don't remind me." Behind him, Rebekah offered tea to Ryder next, and when he quietly declined she leveled a stern glare on him and held it until he relented.
"It's not the end of the world," Katrina chided with a laugh, seating herself at the table opposite him and accepting her drink with a smile. "How old are you going to be?" Ryder snorted a laugh.
"Yeah Eli, how old are you going to be?" he asked, smirking.
"Younger than you," Eli muttered, sipping his tea.
"Really?" Katrina asked, shocked. When Eli raised an eyebrow at her, clearly unimpressed, she gestured between him and Ryder. "Sorry, I just thought you were older."
"Seriously?"
"Well, come on," she defended, not understanding why Eli looked so offended - or why Ryder seemed so utterly amused. "It can't be much more than a year or two, right?"
"Actually, it is a bit more than a year or -"
"Sixteen," Ryder interrupted, laughing. Katrina blinked at him.
"Sixteen?" she asked.
"Like, sixteen months?" Gavin asked, confused.
"Ryder," Rebekah said warningly. "Remember what I said about behaving in my house."
"You didn't say anything about not talking," he countered. "I mean, come on, they're not exactly PhD..." He paused. "Sorry, Doctor Elliott," he corrected, and then pointed at Katrina. "She's not exactly a PhD candidate, but -"
"For your information, yes, I am," she snarked, annoyed.
"- but she's not that stupid," he finished.
"This is definitely not behaving," Eli sighed, bracing his elbows on the table and pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. "At all."
"I don't see much point in 'behaving' when -"
"Stop." Eli's tone was exhausted. "Don't involve them."
"Pretty sure you have that part handled already, don't you think?"
"Ryder."
"First you 'save' them, which I'm sure Merrick was thrilled about." Ryder sipped his tea and tapped his fingernails against the mug. "Did he even know you were still alive, before tonight?"
"Shut up, Ryder."
"Then you drag me into it, and by the way, I'm so happy I'm part of this disaster in the making. And let's not forget the field trip around the old stomping grounds so they can meet the Shadekin, but no, we're not going to be upfront with them because that would be -"
Ryder hit the wall before Katrina even realized that Eli had shoved himself away from the table, and as the chair clattered to the floor he knotted his fist in the front of Ryder's shirt and held the taller man in place, his green eyes brittle with anger. And when he opened his mouth, the language he spoke was unlike anything Katrina had ever heard - it didn't sound like words so much as the hum of noise she'd heard in the rainforest, the growls of small predators and the trilling tones of birds, something that managed to be both melodic and guttural, and -
The sound of breaking glass nearly startled her out of her seat, and brought the tense standoff to a stop. The entire room turned to look at Gavin, who was staring at Eli with his mouth hanging open, his face paler than usual. His mug lay in pieces on the floor beneath him, the remnants of his tea spreading across the linoleum.
"You..." His jaw kept moving but he didn't seem to have much luck getting words out. "You... you speak Pasirin?"
"If you call that 'speaking'," Ryder muttered, rolling his eyes as he shoved Eli away. "He's grossly out of practice."
"What's Pasirin?" Katrina asked, confused.
"The Fel'danai called it 'the God tongue'," Gavin said, his eyes still wide and his voice barely above a whisper. "But we have, maybe, what, four or five inscriptions, no actual living speakers, as far as we knew they all died when the Fel'danai did. So... how do you -"
"Because we're Fel'danai," Ryder told him, leaning over to right Eli's chair before he gripped Eli's shoulder tightly and steered him toward it. "Or we were, once." When Eli resisted, Ryder tightened his grip and forced him to sit down. "Tell them, Elijah."
"Ryder, this isn't -" Rebekah started, and flinched back when Ryder pointed at her.
"Be. Quiet," he ordered, and though she scowled heavily she crossed her arms over her chest and said nothing else. "If you want my help -"
"I'm starting to think I'd be better off without it," Eli grumbled.
"Yeah? You want me to walk? That's fine by me. You'll be dead within a week once Merrick gets the clan on your tail." He stared hard at Katrina, his defiant smirk fading somewhat. "Your little meatbag pet projects here will be lucky to last two days."
"Meatbags?" Katrina rose to her feet, her hands balling into fists - her confusion quickly evaporated in the face of her anger, the sheer audacity of the white-haired bastard and his idle insults. "Listen asshole, you can't -"
"Sit down, Katrina," Eli said softly. "You too, Gavin." Katrina remained standing a few seconds longer after Gavin slid off the counter and took a seat at the table, her eyes set on Ryder with a glare that could melt an ice cap and him staring back as if daring her to speak. "Katrina," Eli said, breaking her concentration. "Please." When she grudgingly took her seat, he swept his hands back through his hair and sighed heavily. "It's been a long night," he said softly, "and things... aren't exactly going to be easy, from this point forward." He was quiet a few moments, gathering his thoughts, and in that time Ryder slipped out the back door and onto the patio, where Katrina saw him light up a cigarette. "To answer your question, Kat, I'm four hundred seventy-six years old today. And there's a lot of other things you need to know about me, about us," he gestured broadly to Rebekah and Ryder, "before we go any further."