(All dialogue is taken from Austin's Ep 21)

 "I don't know, cause I don't know who they were." Rian gripped the edge of the table, not noticeably, but Austin could feel the stress and anxiety radiating through him. It was faint in his own body, but, judging from his brother's face, it was prominent in his.

He turned to Bri to try and think of something to say something to ease him, but she looked just as bad. Her face glazed over, mouth twisted. His eyes darted between all of them and made a quick decision without much thought.

He ran around the table to mess with Devin, semi-yelling in his face. Luckily, true to his nature, the devil's son laughed with only a bit discomfort in his voice. So did Bri, kneeling to hide behind the table but he could still see the beautiful smile adorning her face.

Rian felt a twinge of agitation, but now it was all directed towards him instead of the situation. Good, good, Austin could work with that. He dragged it on a little longer, throwing in random wierd quirps that made Bri giggle.

They soon got sidetracked by discussing Devin's parentage and potential siblings and creating a true foliage alpha army. As war discussion went on, Austin spouted whatever thought came to mind, carefully clouding his mind just enough to not attempt to look further than what annoyed him on the surface. It helped keep them from delving too deep into their distressful war planning.

Austin couldn't let them lose what joy and happiness they had left. With the Wild Hunt looming, that was all they had.

"Maybe it'll kill him instead."

Divert, divert. "So are we taking out the roads?"

Successful enough. Them treating him like a little kid was demeaning, sure, but uplifting to their spirits as well. "The adults are talking." Rian even sounded a bit amused saying it. That was enough for Austin to gladly accept the corner of imaginary toys.

They weren't really trying to ditch him. He, somewhat, knew that. But he went after them anyway, asking them to not fly off. Just this once.

His brother and Devin took off immediately. Bri, bless her, hung back briefly before flying as well. Austin sighed with chagrin but smiled softly before starting to jump off the mountain.

They still had smiles on their faces. Days away from probable harsh death and lose and they were still laughing and smiling. Even if the laughing was at his expense, that made it more than worth it.