｡･:*:･ﾟ★, "You spend at least 20 minutes on your hair each morning."★,｡･:*:･ﾟ

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･"It's a losing battle!":･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ

Octavia

Well I never thought books could get anymore boring. They can. I never understood how Stella had the capabilities to read all these folk lore, myths, actual dissertations or how Beatrix could read all those scientific papers of hers. I'll stick to my smutty books. Thank you very much.

"You really suck at this." Stella states in amusement. "You don't need to be here Tav, I can hold down the fort."

"I can't leave you to drown in these books, little lampsi."

"What else is there to do?" She muses but there's a flicker of darkness in her eyes. "Mother has me on lockdown, Ricki is roaming the halls and if this helps us get Bea back then that's what I'm going to do."

"It might be best if you work in the library for a while." I wince when Stella snorts with amusement at my polite request. "Tavi, sister - dearest Twin - I walked in on you and Riven in one of the most ridiculous positions ever seen while Sky-"

"We don't need to bring that up." I blush furiously in embarrassment as Stella glares at me, clearly pissed at the trauma I have caused her. "Why don't you come over for one last meal, a goodbye dish-"

"Riven's cooking my favourite so you're trying to get me to leave on a good memory instead of you choking Riven with-"

"Stella!"

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ

"Well if this isn't the perfect picture to encapsulate colonialism I don't know what is." Sebastian states, arms crossed and eyebrows raised as he stares down at the pile of ancient texts before us. "Zoúnkla allásson, Epidórpio poulí, Dunamis and artefacts from the Undersea."

"My forebears were certainly greedy bastards." I sigh, sifting through the text to show the hologram-Sebastian what I have found. "But that's not the topic of today's discussion."

"No, but perhaps it should be a topic at your fancy ball." I don't bother to comment on him keeping up with the social niceties of the upper class, he seems like the type of male to have control issues and the need to know everything. "What did you find?"

"That the fucking Dragon Flame is the biggest headache in the world."

"The changeling?"

"Bloom Peters, firefairy with a concerning heritage."

She feels old, her power is ancient.

"The Dragon flame appears to be passed down through the generation, taking a little power each time from its host before moving onto the next."

"Its a battery." Realisation flickers on his face, along with the same frustration mirrored on mine when I realised- "That Rosalind is in possession of."

"Her little protegee." I agree, staring down at the ancient lore and texts before us. "But this is good."

"How is this good." He snaps, suddenly enraged.

"Because know I don't have to mentor the stupid bitch." He blinks at my fury and I pause. Sighing heavily I twist my head slightly, trying to ease out the tension as my power thrums close to the surface.

"You've changed your do-gooder tune." He murmurs, stepping forward as though to observe me. "What happened to playing nice?"

"The one thing keeping me in check died." I answer, smirking down at the plan outline on the table. "Rosalind will just have to deal with the consequences of her actions."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ

"Did you hear?" Stella smirks, looking happier than she has ever been with her current imprisonment. "Hot Marco-"

"Tomen's brother?" Riven pipes up from where he's cooking dinner in the kitchen.

"Yeah- that one. He's coming back to Alfea, to help with the hunting parties."

"Of course I heard Stel." I tiredly mutter, not bothering to look up from the Outpost reports. "I know everything."

"Oh stop being dramatic. You know what those little shadowy fiends tell you." She coos at said little menaces, feeding them little blobs of her light power as a treat.

Don't get used to the princess treatment.

I don't know. Asmodeus murmurs. I could get used to living in Stella's care.

"He's going to be running that last hunting mission with us, right?" Sky asks, locking the front door behind him and greeting Riven with a mouthwatering kiss. Helios, they're so hot.

"How was Blackbridge?" I ask, shifting in my seat at the kitchen counter as Sky stands between my legs to lean down and press a soft kiss to my lips. He hums, resting his forehead against mine for a moment and I cup the back of his neck with my hand, using my thumb to stroke back and forth on the nape of his neck.

"Exhausting." He states and slumps into the chair beside me. "I got a toy for the babe though."

I smile at the soft plush wolf he presents with pride, clearly proud of himself in that caveman hunter gatherer way of the Dumaris.

"The baby will love it." I stroke a finger down the side of the wolf, a soft smile adorning my face. "Any word from Silva?"

"Irene is running that safehouse like an army camp, Dane is waiting on her hand and foot, Musa has taken over for Beatrix with the planning for the nursery-"

"Is she changing Beatrix's plans?" We all tense at Riven's sharp tone, the underlying threat in his voice.

"No, she's just fulfilling them."

"Good." Sky and I share a look and Stella politely ducks down to try and avoid the drama.

"The doctor visited today, right?" I interrupt, breaking the tension and Sky quickly catches on. "Yes, they said the due date is next week so it should be any day now."

"Well that's going to make game night interesting." I muse. Mixing a bunch of competitive people, board games and overprotective instincts is not going to go down well.

"Will it still go on? Won't Andreas and Silva be on edge and won't Irene need her rest" Stella questions, voicing my concerns.

"Irene loves family night." Riven states, giving Sky the look of 'get your arse over here and carry the food over since you didn't help in any other capacity'. "She won't stand for us not turning up. Andreas and Silva on the other hand...."

He trails off and I stand to help Sky with the dishes as Riven gives the sides a quick wipe down.

"It will be interesting to say the least." Sky muses and I nod in agreement around the mouth of food I'm currently shovelling into my mouth without waiting for the others. Stella gives me a disapproving look, the princess training once again coming to light as she sits in all of her refined glory and delicately begins cutting up her meal while I practically choke on my food much to Riven's amusement.

Stella's right though, Irene needs her rest but she also needs to keep her spirits up. She's taken Beatrix's death hard, not to mention her fears after losing Belle during her last pregnancy. Company will do her some good, keeping her cooped away - or rather locked up - is not helpful.

The thought plagues my mind all through the event, Stella picking up on my sour mood as her cue to leave but I can't bring myself to particularly care. Irene is a shifter, it's literally in her blood to constantly move, change and be free. Yet she's forcing herself to remain in one form, in one place for the sake of her babe and us.

Rosalind has barely mentioned her. She knew of the pregnancy of course but I fear she has found bigger fish to fry. Or maybe she hasn't said anything because she's actively doing something about it. I stiffen at the thought, I can't lose anyone else and I especially can't lose Irene. We have never been close, there's never been mother-daughter bonding sessions like she had with Bea but I respect her and she respects me.

We're equals in that regard and Beatrix adored her, so do my mates. Our personalities and power levels are so similar that I sometimes think we would be at each other's throats if we spent too much time together. Sky adores her and Riven- my sweet Riven finally has a mother again, he cant lose that but if there's something wrong with Irene's pregnancy like there was last time and we exacerbate it-

"So I heard a rumour," Sky murmurs as he tugs me over his body. "That there's a fancy ball you forgot to invite us to."

I blink, taking a moment to notice that I'm half sprawled over Sky's chest in bed with one leg hooked over his. The solid weight and little puffs of breath against the nape of my neck have me shivering at Riven's proximity as I remember our earlier activities.

"Oh?" I murmur, when Sky's feline smirk at my moment of confusion catches my attention. "Now where did you hear that."

"A little birdie told us." Riv grumbles, sleep making his voice groggy and low. Sky and I share a look at that voice, the pains we both suffer through on early mornings when his raspy voice wakes us up. My thoughts drift back to Stella, who was no doubt the little birdie, and her confusion at my decision to not invite the boys yet. I didn't bother explaining that Rosalind has me on edge and bringing my boys into the political circles as my mates might not-

"I hope you invite us soon." Sky hums, a gentle hand tracing my face. "Riven and I fully intend to plan matching outfits."

"And where shall that leave me in your little picture perfect plans?"

He hums, "You would be our contrasting counterpart of course."

"You seem to have thought this out." I arch a brow, trying to engage in his light banter even as the weight of my worries settle down on my-

"Well sue us for wanting to look like a united front." Riv huffs, draping a heavy arm over my waist with his hand resting on Sky's hip. "You're too busy scheming too considering how well we could pamper you."

"Sky just wants an excuse to preen in front of the mirror." I counter with a grin. I yelp when Sky pinches my waist, laughter bubbling in my chest when he begins to huff out nonsensical arguments.

"I think she's right, Kaerasti." Riven sniggers, "You spend at least 20 minutes on your hair each morning."

Sky gapes at him in betrayal and I can't resist the urge to ruffle my hands through his shorter hair.

"You love my hair." We do, we really fucking do.

"Of course we do babe." I soothe with mock affection and Sky scoffs, unflattering blubbery noises of complaints escaping his lips instead of a coherent argument. "No need to get your panties in a twist, babe. Riven thinks its hot."

"I do." Riven's head perches against my neck to peer over at Sky and I fight down a delicious moan at the heavy weight of his chin pressing down onto the side of my throat. "You went from 'I'll have her home by 10' to 'your daughter calls me daddy too'"

I burst into laughter as Sky bolts uprights, pillow in hand and attacks Riven in vicious hits. I yelp, jerking out the way as the two engage in a fast pillow fight. The two dance around each other, that Dumaris predatory sense creeping in as the hits turn tactical and aimed. Of course they would need to dominate and win even in a pillow fight. Riv falls back at a certain well placed hit from our mate.

Sky wastes no time pin Riven down, straddling him as he wrestles his pillow from his hands. Helios that's hot. "Yield!" Sky calls with glee and Raven's cry of 'never' only seals his fate. With the pillow gone Sky turns to a different form of attack: tickling Riven mercilessly until he's squirming beneath him in laughter. My own laughter echoes through the room at their joy.

"It's a losing battle!" Sky cries through his laughter as I lunge forward to help him wrestle with our mate on the bed. "I have won! There's no escape."

I laugh at Sky's dramatic voice. Someone has clearly been watching too many action movies. "Never, I shall not go down without a fight-"

"Admit that me and my fabulous hair have defeated you and I'll let you go."

"I already admitted that your hair was hot?" Riven's question comes out with a smirk, "I wasn't the one who dissed your hair."

The pair turn to me with matching grins and my squeal of surprise is drowned out by their laughter as they tackle me back onto the bed.

A/N: What do you think of Sebastian?