And Then There Were Six. [P]

[Adison Sotero]

Adison awoke with a jolt. Adelina! He turned to check on her so quickly that his head spun. But she wasn’t there. Adi looked around the cave and saw no sign of her. Maybe she’d gotten up already, he thought, and quickly dragged himself off the floor. His chest felt heavy with guilt for having slept so long. Rays of light were already creeping through the vines at the cave entrance, meaning it was fully morning and he’d left Adelina alone for hours now. Adi quickly scaled the small rock ledge and climbed up out of the cave into the glaring sunlight. Where had she gotten off to? Adi shifted and sniffed around for her, but couldn’t pick up a trail. His nose was only met with the overwhelming scent of wet grass, remnants of a storm the night before. It wasn’t a hindrance that he was used to dealing with, coming from the relatively concrete jungle of the Carna. This damned forest had so many distracting smells. "Lina?" A spark of panic ignited when he realized that if the rain had helped mask her scent, then Adelina had been gone since the middle of the night. In a rush, he bolted across the river and began sniffing around in desperate circles and figure eights. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Before long, Adi found himself at the treeline, staring in the general direction of the treehouse. They had to have done something, he thought. Those tree-dwelling cowards had never wanted him or Lina to stay here. Though they had come to a general truce, Adison knew to trust a stranger’s word without a trace of doubt was foolish. He took off toward the treehouse in a full sprint, and shifted back when only when he fell under the shadow of the ash tree. “Where is she?!” He screamed. “What did you do?!” Adison roared, shifting into his tiger form before he could wait for an answer. The tiger leapt at the tree and dug his claws into it. The bark splintered under his weight, his claws gouging into the bark of the tree as he slid a few feet down the trunk. Snarling, he leapt again and again, slowly making progress, most of which he lost occasionally to sliding back down. Bark rained down and littered the ground, but his eyes were fixed on the carefully concealed house he knew was up there.

[Sascha Stark]

The morning was growing long and Sascha knew he needed to get out of bed. But he'd had a fitful night of sleep, kept awake by all the night sounds of the forest and his almost ritual struggle with his nocturnal instincts. But he'd just gotten comfortable, really, lounging on the bed while Casey sketched in his notepad. It was a pleasant morning, cool yet sunny with a soft, rustling breeze tickling through the windows they'd left open. Fletcher had tried to wake them up before the sun had even woken up, so Sascha had sent him to scout the tree tops around their treehouse. Every now and again Sascha could hear him land on a branch outside or see his little feathered head pop in a window. Hearing Fletcher's happy noises from just outside and watching Casey as he sketched, complete with his furrowed brow and bit lip of concentration, Sascha realized that he had seldom been this happy or felt this complete. He had a home, a family, even new neighbors to share with. The initial shock of nearly being killed by Adelina and Adison had taken a while to get past, but Sascha found it hard to hold it against them. They had just been trying to provide for their baby. He didn't agree, but he found it difficult to fault them for their desperation. He wanted to try to make things work between the five of them. "We should bring Adelina and Adison something nice," said Sascha, stretching his arms and tucking them behind his head. "Like pie. Everybody love pie." He paused for a deep yawn. "You know how to make a pie?" Casey looked up from his sketchpad to reply, but just then Fletcher burst in through the hatch in the roof of the treehouse in a flurry of feathers. "That guy is coming here," He said once he'd shifted back, his eyes wide with worry. "He looks mad." Sascha rolled out of bed, barely managing to fold his wings behind him in his hurry. Casey gave him a look that said, "When isn't that guy angry?" before heading towards the door. Sascha crossed the small space and ruffled Fletcher's brown hair. "Do not worry. We will go talk at him and see what going on." It was only a moment or so later that they heard Adison's footsteps beneath the tree, screaming at the top of his lungs. He definitely sounded upset, but more so than that he sounded desperate as he tried to claw his way up the wide trunk of their tree. Sascha reached for the release rope on the emergency ladder, but Casey stayed his hand. "You crazy?" He said in Romanian. Sascha's brows quirked up before he remembered that Casey'd been practicing his Romanian a lot more lately, in efforts to use it as a sort of code language to trick enemies in case of attack. Sascha shook his head. "No. Whatever it is, he needs our help. It sounds like something has happened to Adelina. She's pregnant, Casey! We have to help." He answered in Romanian. He could see Casey struggling to understand, so Sascha switched back to English. "I'm going down there. Stay up here with Fletcher. I'll give you the signal if I need help." He said, leaning in to give Casey a kiss before leaping off the landing porch, not giving Casey a chance to argue. He didn't land immediately, instead hovering above the tiger shifter just out of reach, his large wings sending ripples into the grass and surrounding leaves. "What is wrong, Adison? Where is Adelina?"

[Adison Sotero]

Adison was perhaps six feet up the tree when he realized his attempts to climb to the tree house were useless, and dropped back to the ground. It didn’t matter though, as a rush of wind signaled that the anthro man was coming down to meet him. Adi snarled and fixed Sascha with his piercing feline eyes. His claws dug into the ground impatiently as the man feigned ignorance. “That’s what I came here to ask you!” He snarled, chancing a leap at the anthro, who quickly flapped out of the reach of his claws. “I woke up and she was missing, as you know. Where is she?!” Adison demanded, shifting back into his human form. His hand went to his belt and he drew his knife, ready to fight both of the tree-dwellers if he had to. “I know you never wanted us here,” he spat, eyes darting up to the tree next to theirs where he heard rustling and could see the wolf shifter peering at them from a thick branch, watching him and the bat-man, seemingly ready to jump in at any moment. In the back of his mind, Adison felt a twinge of doubt as he examined the anthro’s expression, thinking for a moment that maybe the concern and confusion was genuine. There was no scent of Adelina here, though he thought that it didn’t rule them out, as she’d been strangely hard to track lately. But who else was to blame? If they hadn’t done something, they had to have at least seen something. Adison kept hold of his blade, but eased his grip. “I need to find her!” He said, desperation creeping into his voice. Adelina had to be due any day now, and Adi had to be there for her. He wouldn’t risk losing his family again. ooc; Adi pls, play nice

[Sascha Stark]

Wishing he'd thought of the idea to make Adison a pie earlier than just a few minutes ago, Sascha dodged a swipe of Adi's paw from below, pulling his feet out of the way. He chewed on his lip with one long, protruding fang as he mulled over what to do. Even though they had known each other for such a short time and hadn't started off on the best of terms, Sascha believed the almost feral desperation in Adison's eyes and body language; Adelina was missing and he really didn't know what had happened to her. "Adison," Sascha said as calmly as he could, slowing the rush of his wings and lowering to the ground. Adison shifted back and pulled out his knife, but Sascha didn't stop his slow descent. "We have not seen your Adelina since a days ago, since we was last all together." Sascha swallowed around the knot of fear in his throat as his feet touched the ground, stumbling a bit before catching himself. Adison was a few yards away, but he was quick and his knife looked very well-sharpened. "And that is not true! You know that you both are very much welcome now that we have begun to know you," Beneath the snarling aggression and seething rage, Sascha could see the fear glittering in Adison's pale eyes, feel it in the slightest tremor in his voice. "Maybe at first we were afraid, yea? But now we are friends, Adison. Together we are strong and safer. Why we would risk what we have built?" Sascha didn't wait for an answer. He stepped a few feet closer, trying to keep the fear from his eyes and his body. He held himself as loose and easy as he could, though his wings were ready to snap up if necessary. "We would never hurt your Adelina or your baby," he said, his voice wavering slightly as he thought of someone he had not thought of in ages, his Ecaterina, and how cruelly she and their unborn child had been taken away at the jaws of his brothers. For a moment he was lost in the shrouds of memory, and he was reaching out a hand to stop her from sinking into the dark waters, disappearing into clouds of her own blood. Sascha snapped back to see he was reaching out a hand to Adison as he had reached for his Ecaterina. His chest was heaving and tears pricked at his eyes, but he swallowed them back and stepped closer still to Adison, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He would not let anything happen to Adelina and her child. This time he could do something to help. ooc - what even is this post im sorry Noxx BUT ALSO THANK U FOR THE SEXI NEW SASHIE TABLEEE AHH

[Adison Sotero]

Adison’s eyes darted back and forth from Sascha, to the underbrush around them, and to the tree where the wolf shifter was perched, almost frantically checking to make sure that Sascha landing on the ground wasn’t some trap. His breaths were even and measured as the bat anthro took a step towards him. Adison began to let his shoulders relax slightly as the man spoke, in a soothing, soft tone that he was hardly used to hearing from people he had attacked. He furrowed his brow in confusion as Sascha continued to approach, talking to him like a friend would. Did they really trust him and Lina already? Adison chanced a glance up at the trees where he spotted the other tree-dweller with his sharp gaze fixed on him. That one didn’t, obviously. But Sascha was different, and though Adison had mixed feelings about associating with an anthromorph, he tucked his knife back into his belt and decided that maybe this one was telling the truth. Maybe he could be an ally. Maybe. Adison looked back to Sascha and flinched when he saw the man reaching out at him, or past him. His eyes were glazed over like he was in some other place, remembering something perhaps. Adi shrunk away slightly and took a half step back, but did nothing else. He recognized the look on the other man’s face and it brought back a rush of thoughts, flashes of Reagan’s face, and Lina running from him at the Safehouse. Lina lying on the ground in the warehouse as Manic stood over her, poised for the kill. Slowly, Adison lifted a trembling hand towards the anthro’s, when a sudden bark of ‘Sascha, don’t!’ startled him, and he realized the man in the adjacent tree had shifted and flown halfway down to a lower branch. Adison snarled and batted Sascha’s hand away from him, and in one swift movement, rushed him and pinned him to the tree they stood under. His left forearm went across the anthro’s throat to keep him from fighting, and his right hand gripped the knife at his belt again. “Stay up there!” He roared at the wolf, who shifted into his human form again and showed his hands, as if that meant his was no longer a threat. Whatever shields Adi had lowered in his moment of complacency were up again, and fortified now. He kept his eyes averted from Sascha’s, knowing he had to keep control of the wolf situation or he’d be overpowered by the two of them. The other man made no move toward them, and Adi was stuck now, desperately wracking his mind for what to do next. ooc; so close to friendship, gosh dang it Casey.

[Sascha Stark]

He winced when he heard Casey's sharp warning from above, knowing that it was the wrong move. He could see it in Adison's eyes the instant the wall snapped back up, and he didn't fight it when Adison rushed him. He didn't resist when Adison slammed against the tree, the air knocked out of him for a moment with the sheer force of it. Sascha struggled to keep calm, his chest heaving as he considered his options. Adison's arm against his throat, hand reaching for his knife, his eyes darting back and forth between him and Casey -- he was so close to the edge, Sascha knew he had to choose his words carefully. "Casey, don't!" Sascha called out, his tone begging Casey to stay where he was. Sascha didn't blame Casey -- he didn't doubt that Adison would slit his throat without a moment's hesitation if he thought for one moment that they had done something to Adelina. He only needed one alive for information, after all. Sascha kept still, offering no resistance or threat to the man. "Adison, listen to me. Please. I am just wanting to help you find Adelina." He said, no waver in his voice. "I am not afraid of you. I have a feeling to trust in you," He said. "Because we are connected, life to life: You and Adelina are part of our lives here. You are my family now, our family, whether you choose it or not." He said, struggling to talk around the pressure of Adison's forearm across his throat. He meant it, the severity and solemnity of his tone speaking true. Though they hardly knew each other, their lives had become bound up in each others', forever changed. "I know you are afraid for her. And I know how it is like, to try and find someone to blame. But I am here, we are here, only to help you." Sascha kept his gaze locked with Adison's, his face open and earnest in his insistence. "Just let me help you, Adison." ooc; in which Sashie is maybe (again) too trusting lmao

[Adison Sotero]

The situation had moved past amicable and there was no turning it around, no matter what Sascha was saying. “Stop it!” He snapped, though he kept the man pinned and didn’t keep him from talking. Adison tried his best to look like he wasn’t listening, but Sascha’s words crept in anyways, even as he kept his eyes trained on the wolf shifter in the tree. This was getting nowhere. As much as he wanted to believe that they were all on the same side, he just didn’t know what to think; if he made the wrong choice, it could cost him and his family their lives. It was too much to consider now, and he didn’t have Lina here to help him make a decision. “Enough!” Adison snapped, raising his knife and slashing it through the air. He embedded it in the bark near Sascha’s face, and before he knew what was happening, something slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. Adison was stunned for a moment, all of the wind knocked out of him. He shook his head and looked up to see the wolf shifter on him in his human form. The man raised a fist but Adison swiftly grabbed it and twisted, causing the man to cry out in pain. Well, this had officially gotten out of control, he thought. Adison took the opportunity to tussle with Casey until he had the wolf shifter pinned instead. Casey kneed him in the stomach and Adison grunted, struggling to hang onto him. He had to admit, the smaller man was slippery. Part of him was glad his blade was stuck in the tree; something about the wolf shifter just made Adison want to stick a knife in him.

[Adelina Russovo]

It was quiet in the early dawn, before the sun had even began to rise; she could smell the night dew on the leaves, feel it against her skin as she kneeled in the dirt. The birds had yet to rise, and even the insects seemed asleep. It was a deep, comforting silence that seemed to wrap itself around her with each slow, shuddering breath she took. Her hand cupped the bottom of her belly as she breathed through the pressure, the pain, leaning her cheek against the cool, moss-covered bark of the fallen tree she leaned against. The moss cooled her face, skin slick with sweat from her efforts even in the cool morning air. She panted as the pain subsided, listening. But there was no threat to be seen, heard, felt. And alone as she was, giving birth in the wilds -- in her sheltered alcove, she felt safe. She had never felt at home in the forest, in the crowd of trees, preferring the open plains and dunes of her desert home. But here, in this moment, she felt as if the forest would protect her. It would keep her safe in her time of need, as it had always done. The quiet pervaded so that she could not break it, not even when the pain came again, and stronger. She swallowed the cry of pain and let out a shallow moan, trying to keep her breaths steady and even like Aunt Delilah had taught her. She knew it wouldn’t be long now. She held onto the quiet, let it envelope her. There would be no fear, no blood borne of violence. She would bring this baby into the world knowing only her peace, only her warmth. There would be no pain and no danger, at least not in her first hours. She would not let the terror, the agonized memory of Reagan’s birth come flooding back. This time it was just her and her baby, giving birth as women had done since the dawn of humanity. She could feel the tremor of fear rising in her, as the pain grew sharper again. But she pushed it away, steeling herself as she pushed, pushed with all the strength the dome had given her. She dug her toes into the damp earth, nails digging into the bark of the tree; but she was as still and quiet as the forest, not even her trembling breaths breaking the swaddling stillness until, until the gentle cry of new life pervaded, seeming only to rise and rise, bringing with it the sun as it peeked on the horizon. Her hands were quick and sure, trembling only the slightest bit as she cleaned her newborn child and swaddled her in a warm blanket. She held her baby, her daughter, against her, and it was as if all in the world was finally, finally as it should be. She trailed a finger along her cheek, laughing as her daughter reached and grabbed her finger with her tiny hand. She cried only once, a strong, healthy cry that demanded love; and, oh, how she would be loved. Her little eyes were closed and she looked so calm, gurgling softly as she rested against her mother’s chest. “Milagros,” she breathed, brushing a finger across her forehead, tickling into the full head of thick, dark hair on her head; just like her papa. “My little miracle.” --- After she rested and gathered her strength and buried the mess, she knew it was time to return. Her body was sapped of strength but she set off, her little Milagros cradled in her arms and sleeping soundly, and Lina swore nothing for all the world would stop her getting her baby home safe to her papa. She was near the tree house when she heard the violence, all too familiar with the sound of struggle. She pulled up short, listening for a moment to try and identify the source. She heard Adison, knowing his voice, his presence, above all else; then Casey, perhaps, and Sascha. She didn’t hear any strangers. Perplexed, she stole forward on bare, muddy feet, peeking through the underbrush. She saw Casey on the ground, pinned by Adison – then Sascha running forward and grabbing Adison from behind and pulling him off, using his height and weight to hold him. Shit, she thought, only guessing that Adi was there looking for her. She stepped from the copse as Adi began to kick and struggle in Sascha’s arms, and Casey was getting to his feet to fight. “Adi,” she called, still about 100 yards away. “Adi, it’s okay. We’re okay.” She said, smiling so hard her cheeks began to ache as she nodded to the little bundle in her arms. ooc; and then there were six !!

[Adison Sotero]

Adison growled and struggled in Sascha’s grasp as he was pried off of Casey. The wolf shifter got to his feet and looked ready to continue fighting when suddenly there was the sound of an approach from the edge of the clearing. Adison stopped kicking when he heard Lina’s voice. “Lina…Lina!” He cried out, and Sascha let him go again. Adi pushed past Casey, nearly knocking him over to reach her. “We...” he repeated, stopping a few feet away from Lina when he realized what she was holding. It was a baby. Their baby. “The baby!” he exclaimed, stunned into speechlessness to see it there, cradled in Lina’s arms. Adison’s jaw dropped and he cautiously inched forward, reaching out a hand to touch the baby’s forehead. “So beautiful,” he whispered, as warm tears began to stream freely down his cheeks. None of his fight with their new neighbors mattered now. Lina was safe, and so was their baby. He laughed through his tears at how inconsequential the squabble was, now that Lina was standing here with their child. Their child. This was all Adison had dared to hope for, ever since before Reagan was born. The tears showed no sign of stopping as he stifled a sob. They actually had a chance this time, he realized. They were together, had a place to hide out, even perhaps an alliance, no matter how shaky. But no one was keeping them apart. When they lost Reagan, he’d thought this future had been lost to them forever; but here it was staring him in the face. Adelina loved him, and they together would love their child. Adison pulled Lina into a gentle hug from the side, ever careful of the baby. He pressed a teary kiss to her lips and then her cheek over and over, smothering her in kisses. “I can’t believe you did this, all by yourself,” he said, still nearly breathless. “So what do I call you?” He asked, gently stroking the baby’s hand with a finger, til the tiny hand held onto him.

[Adelina Russovo]

Keen teal eyes watched Casey and Sascha over Adi’s shoulders as he came racing toward her, if only to ensure the scuffle was over; she didn’t see any lingering threat, though Casey’s cheeks were flushed bright red, Sascha’s brow furrowed in confusion. All of them had the look of startled surprise about them, and she couldn’t help but grin. She supposed she and Milagros had made quite the entrance, if a tad dramatic. She could barely hold back a laugh as Adi inched forward, so cautious, so unsure, so absolutely tender in his movements. “So beautiful.” “She is, isn’t she?” Lina said, watching the tears stream down his cheeks. She felt tears of her own welling up but she was not one to cry. “She has her papa’s hair,” Lina said with a laugh, tracing a fingertip through the thick tousle of dark brown hair on Mila’s head. She watched Adi as he met their child, their daughter, her eyes alight with love and a joy she had not felt since Reagan. Despite the exhaustion, she was solid on her feet, swaying only the slightest bit forward when Adi pulled her into a hug. She leaned into him, eyes fluttering closed as she cradled their baby close between them. She breathed in his scent at his gentle, lingering kiss, and she flooded with warmth and comfort from head to toe, breaking into peals of laughter as he covered her face in kisses. She pulled away only to look him in the eyes. “I’m sorry I disappeared.” she breathed a reply. “I know I should’ve told you I was going. But it was like something inside me was telling me I knew what to do. I just … I knew that I had to do this alone. I knew everything would be okay.” As Mila wrapped her tiny hand around her father’s fingertip, Lina could hardly keep back the warm tears from falling. They were finally together, all of them. “So what do I call you?” “Oh, right!” Lina said with a laugh-cry, hurriedly wiping away a tear. “I couldn’t decide on one from the names we picked out. So I went with two.” She breathed, and even though she had literally just pushed the thing out of her she could scarcely believe that she was holding her child, about to show her to her father for the first time. She looked up to see Casey and Sascha waiting a ways off, unsure. Sascha with tears streaking down his cheeks and into his giant, toothy smile, and Casey … She couldn’t quite read his expression. But she nodded to them both, to beckon them over. “Casey, this is Milagros Roselia Russovo.” She said, to which Mila replied with a happy-sounding gurgle, as if she approved. “Our little Mila Rose.”

[Casey DeLaney]

Casey stumbled backward as Adi pushed him aside to race over to Lina and their baby. He watched them for a moment without moving, and then suddenly turned on his heel, almost running right into Sascha as he made a bee-line for behind their tree, intentionally dodging his gaze. Casey ducked out of sight and took refuge leaning against the now-tattered bark of the ash. He closed his eyes and ran both hands through his hair until the auburn strands were clenched between tight fists. It took everything he had to try and contain his swirling emotions. Despite his best efforts, he still found tears running down his cheeks, and a low groan escaped him as he tried not to scream. The worst part was that he couldn’t tell if it was more frustration at Adi, himself, or the situation they all found themselves in. He wanted to be happy that Lina was okay and that their baby was fine, but he found the scuffle hard to shake. It was more than just a fight...it was clear it would have been a lot worse if Lina hadn’t shown up when she did. Casey's reluctance to trust Sascha's judgement with the outsider had nearly shattered their fragile alliance with their dangerous neighbors; not to mention nearly gotten Sascha a knife to the face. He wanted so badly to trust them like Sascha did, but he just didn’t know how, not with everything they'd painstakingly built at stake. So he found himself alone, hiding behind their tree, wondering how this ramshackle group was ever going to come together. They hadn't staked out this territory with the intention of sharing it with others, and he would be damned if they lost everything while trying to be neighborly. Casey let out a shaky sigh and slid down the bark of the tree until he was sitting on it’s roots. He rested his head in one hand and halfheartedly tried to brush some of the dirt from the scuffle off his clothes with the other. He sat for a while until a trickle of sap caught his eye; he glanced up and saw Adi’s knife still wedged deep into the bark of the ash tree and rolled his eyes. Some Haven this was turning out to be. ooc; small edit to the middle paragraph cause I done remembered my original intention |D (and then I edited some more)

[Sascha Stark]

Sascha was shaking, limbs trembling, skin prickling with heat as he released his grip on Adison. His chest heaved, skin slick with sweat as the world came suddenly crashing around him; it took a moment to sink in that he’d almost gotten his throat slit. He stood watching Adison and Adelina and their new baby for a long moment, eyes connecting with them but not really registering what was going on. He felt Casey brush past him, and his hand reached out instinctively to grasp at his wrist. But Casey didn’t slow down, didn’t meet his eyes. Through the haze of his thoughts, Sascha turned slowly on his heels and trailed after Casey as if in a dream. His ears thrummed with blood and heat. He rounded the wide base of the tree and saw Casey sitting in the dirt, his back against the tree. Sascha was still shaking, but he willed the tremble from his hands as he walked over to Casey. Sascha stood in front of Casey, casting a shadow over him in the still-morning light. Casey looked up at him, freckled face flushed red, soft green eyes welling with frustrated tears. Sascha reached out his hand for Casey’s, just the slightest tremble evident in his fingers. He didn’t know why, but there was a surreal sort of calm surrounding him. Perhaps the knowledge that there was a brand-new life in the world, and they had been blessed to see it, to know it. “Casey,” he said, his voice coming out a hoarse rasp, his throat still burning from Adison’s chokehold. “This place is filled with many endings. It is not always we are able to see a beginning.” His hand shook as he held it out to Casey even still, willing him to take it. ooc| soooo rusty ahh

[Casey DeLaney]

The sound of Sascha’s voice pulled Casey from his dark, frightened thoughts. He looked up at him with his eyes glossy from tears, and saw Sascha’s warm, olive eyes watching him with just as much emotion in them. He reached out instinctively to take Sascha’s hand and felt a small wave of comfort knock his anxious mind down a peg. He squeezed his hand gently and gave a strained tight-lipped smile as he tried to push the tears away. “I almost ruined everything…” he spoke quietly after a long moment of just holding Sascha’s hand and looking for the right words. Sascha responded by pulling Casey back to his feet. He let himself fall forward into Sascha’s chest where he buried his face in the other man’s sturdy shoulder and wrapped his arms around his neck. “I didn’t listen to you, and I should have trusted you, but I was scared. I’m scared we can’t keep this up… keep us safe,” he rambled in mostly incoherent mumble into Sascha’s shoulder. “I’m tired of worrying and being scared but it never stops,” he added, thinking back to the days in the Fulsi when he hardly had to think about surviving until the next day. People died now and then, but there was relative safety in numbers and a system of support. Out here just felt like it was his small, fragile family against the entire dome. “I thought he was going to hurt you. I can’t let them take you or Fletcher from me. I don’t know what I would do.” ooc; well..

[Sascha Stark]

Sascha held Casey tighter than he’d held in in a while, encircling him in his arms and his wide, velvety wings. He wanted Casey to feel the way he felt when Casey held him. That nothing could go wrong. That there was no safer place than in each other’s arms. As ridiculous as it sounded, it felt true; Adi had proved that. Those outside their own lives had time and time again proved that Casey’s fears were not unfounded. So Sascha held him closer still, trying to figure out what to say. Because he knew Casey was right. He was right to be scared and worried. Sascha was too, and always had been. From the start, Sascha knew that they would always be on the run. They would never be safe anywhere. But Casey had convinced him that maybe it was better to stay, to fight and protect what they had built. And now they had the numbers to stand their ground, if only they could make it work. “You did not ruin anything,” Sascha said, mumbling into Casey’s hair. He could smell the sweat and dirt in his hair and on his skin. “I was scared too. I hoped not … I hoped he would not kill me. Because I see in Adison something of you. He is like you. He will do anything to protect his family.” Sascha pulled away from Casey, held his flushed face in his hands. “They need us as much as we needing them. You don’t see? Together we are stronger than apart.” “They have a new baby. They are only two people. To care for a child is … It takes a family. And we can be that for them.” He paused. “We just have to have a little trust that they are good.” He said it as if it were the simplest thing on earth, to trust the people who had nearly killed them not once, but twice.

[Casey DeLaney]

Why couldn’t they just stay here in this moment? This safe moment where for just the shortest time they wouldn’t have to walk back out there and deal with the reality of the situation. Casey relished the warmth that spread through his body as Sascha hugged him tight and wrapped his wings around them in a comforting cocoon. Though he knew it wouldn’t last forever, he felt the safest he’d felt in a long time, and he held onto the feeling even as Sascha finally pulled away. But as he did, his warm hands cupping Casey’s face, the wolf shifter couldn’t help his expression; it was one of brief shock and then confusion that flickered quickly into resentment. His green eyes darted away from Sascha’s as he tried to fathom how his partner could compare him to Adison. How? In any way?! Casey had to stifle his scoff. But Sascha continued. ‘He will do anything to protect his family.’ Casey groaned a little and looked back at Sascha, his defeated look revealing that he knew Sascha was right. They had fought each other for the very same reason; Adi to protect Lina and his child, and Casey to protect Sascha and theirs. That didn’t mean he had to like the comparison, but it was a fair one. He let out a deep sigh and nodded, letting Sascha’s perspective shine light on a situation that felt almost hopeful now, when moments before it had been completely hopeless. Sascha had a way of doing that. “I don’t know how you do it,” he finally spoke after Sascha had finished. He raised a hand to caress Sascha’s cheek and stared at him in awe of the kindness of this man who had endured enough that he should have been cold and hardened, yet he was just the opposite. “You see the best in people, even when I’m sure there isn’t any. Maybe that’s why I love you so much,” he added with a smile, and gave Sascha a kiss that though meant to be quick, lingered for a few moments. “Now…I guess let’s go back out there before I change my mind.” Casey took a moment to wipe any evidence of his tears away and to collect himself with a few deep breaths. He assumed Sascha did the same, because when he looked over his shoulder, the man had his beaming smile back. Casey offered his hand and together they walked back out from behind the tree to where Adi, Lina, and Milagros were. Casey stopped a few feet away and waited for the new family to notice their presence. Soon enough he felt Adison’s eyes on him, wary but not threatening. He could feel it now that he might look at Adison the same way if he were in his place. “I wanted to apologize,” he began, and saw Adison’s face soften at the unexpected words. “And if it’s alright with you,” Casey continued, looking between both Adi and Lina now, “We’d like to welcome the newest member of Haven.” “That is… if you’ll make this place Haven with us.”

[Adelina Russovo]

Her eyes flicked back to Casey and Sascha who had come out from behind the base of the ash tree. They were holding hands when they stepped from behind their cover, and she could tell they'd been discussing what to do now that she'd had the baby. She figured it was only a matter of time before she, Adi and baby makes three were ousted from their cave, especially after the scrap she'd seen between the three boys. To call it a scrap was probably an understatement, though, as her keen eyes caught sight of Adi's hunting knife driven firmly into the tree bark, sap still oozing around the fresh wound. She waited a moment for them to come closer of their own volition, but when they paused and looked to her, she nodded them over. Though every infinitesimal speck of her was humming from head to toe with adrenaline-spiked euphoria, part of her was dreading what they were going to say. She tensed as Casey walked closer. Adi stood taller at her side, wary. Mila let out a soft gurgle of displeasure, seeming to sense her mother's unease. But his wary, tired eyes seemed to brighten just a bit, and when he spoke at last, Lina could scarcely believe what she was hearing. They wanted them to stay? She couldn’t contain her relief, glancing at Adi with a wide grin before she turned back to Casey, the slightest hint of tears glistening in her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she’d wanted this to work. “Thank you,” she said, her voice warm, strong. “We would be honored, Casey, Sascha. Together we will make this Haven, for our children,” she said, gazing down at her baby. “Welcome home, Mila Rose. Welcome to Haven.” -- END THREAD -- side note: sascha had burst out crying when casey had said that last line 10/10