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Chapter 13: Family Matters

Nathanial watched the Wolves drive off and opened the gate for them as they pulled up to it. He sighed, feeling old and tired, and licked Micah's ear. Micah flinched and pulled away slightly, then climbed off of Nathanial's lap. Nathanial stood up. "I better call Dad. Stay close, please." Nathanial walked a little distance away and dialled his father's phone number.

His father sounded uncertain as he answered, "What now?"

Nathanial 'looked' through the phone; his father was back at the same lounge. Nathanial's voice was grim and firm. "You'll want to go back to the private rooms again. It's worse. Funeral worse. Mom was the one who set the Hunters after me. She had twelve more waiting at the house when I came home today. She betrayed me."

Garret's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Oh, gods. You... Oh. Gods." The crowd at his table fell silent, looking in concern at their business associate. Garret stood up, placing his paw on the table for balance. "Lily set those thugs on you? I-I, excuse... Shit." He stumbled through the bar to an open door before the headache made Nathanial pull back. "I'm in private, what happened? She betrayed you? Lily's...? She's dead?"

"She joined the Hunters. I don't know when, but she hired them to kidnap me and kill Nicholas and Micah. I think she thought I'd be easily controlled and compliant, and she'd be able to use me to milk you out of all your money. You'll have to pay for funeral arrangements, but it'll be cheaper than a divorce. And besides, you'll get your insurance payout for her and not have to worry about her racking up those VISA bills anymore."

Garret sounded like he was having trouble talking and breathing. "B-But...she was your mother!"

Nathanial laughed roughly. "She was never here for us and she never cared for us. She wasn't a mother; no parent who does that deserves to be called a mother...or a father. I'd do it again if someone claiming to be my parent threatened Nick or Micah." The phone clattered on the floor. He peeked through; his father was staring at the phone in horror. Nathanial raised his voice. "Pick up the phone, Garret. I'm not done talking to you."

Garret reached down with shaking paws and picked up the phone.

"To be honest, I didn't kill her...directly. She was, essentially, collateral damage." He gave a rough sketch of what happened. "I need you to get the Society over here as fast as possible. I need them here before I can call the police, and I need the police here, now. I'm sorry if you still cared for Lily, Dad. I didn't really intend for her to die; she was merely a tool to distract the Hunters."

Garret paused before answering, his voice quivering. "I don't know which is worse, killing her intentionally for what she did and planned to do, or using her as a weapon against your enemies. What happened to that little pup who struggled through those magic lessons I gave?"

Nathanial's voice was dry. "Look over the last eight or so years and try to see if there was any point where I could've changed without you noticing. You don't know anything about us anymore. Possibly less than Lily did, and now she'll never get a chance to change that. Just never threaten my brothers; that's the most important thing you can know about me. Now, they need me, so I'm hanging up. Call the Society and tell them we were attacked again. If they don't want me telling the police the truth, they'd best get here, now. Got it?"

"Y-Yes."

Nathanial hung up and sank down to the ground, shaking. He pulled his knees to his chest, arms around them, and put his head on his knees. A tear rolled down his cheek as he sniffed dolefully.

He could tell Micah was looking at him with a mixture of concern and uncertainty. Micah didn't seem afraid of him -- more like cautious.

Micah seemed to make up his mind and carefully padded over. Like Geoff did earlier, he started to reach out carefully for his shoulder and paused halfway there before completing the motion.

Nathanial gently rubbed his cheek-ruff on the small black paw. "Am I really that scary? Both you and Geoff seem afraid to touch me. Two of the three people I thought would trust me the most."

Micah flinched. "Are you, you? You're as much 'Nats' as Nick was himself, yesterday." It was Nathanial's turn to flinch. "Where did you go? Can you come back, please? This Nats scares me. I know you're protecting us, but it's scary."

Another tear rolled down Nathanial's cheek.

He was prevented from answering by the sudden appearance of three Furs wearing black suits, black sunglasses, and black ties. They were a Panther female, a Jackal male, and a Doberman female. The Panther was flanked by the other two, and all three looked grim and professional. The Panther stepped forward. "You are Nathanial Marks? Who is with you?" Nathanial felt Liam slip away, apparently unnoticed by the Society members.

"Yes, I'm Nathanial Marks, and these are my brothers, Micah and Nicholas." Nathanial nodded to each in turn. "Who would you be?"

"You may call me Agent Ella." She nodded at the Jackal. "That's Agent Jay." She nodded at the Doberman. "And Agent Arrie." Nathanial nodded to each; they didn't respond. "We're here to investigate the troubles you've been having."

Nathanial shook his head. "You're late." He tried to keep himself under control; getting upset at them wouldn't help, and neither would breaking down. He needed these guys, so he really should try to not get them angry. "Um, I guess that doesn't really matter any more. I guess you were told that I was attacked by Hunters yesterday: that carjacking on the corner of Oxford and Jubilee. They were hired by Mom...um, I mean, Lily Marks; that, or she was involved in some_way. Last night I was stalked by Hunters and a Priest when I went out; the Priest died in a scuffle. Just now, a dozen Hunters -- well, two might have been Knights -- came in with Lily to kill my brothers and kidnap me." He lowered his head, feeling a little sick. "They've been...dealt with. I-I need your help getting this cleared up with the police. There are two Hunters in the kitchen with Lily that I need the police to deal with; it's easy enough to explain _that, since there isn't any obvious magic. My m-mother hired them to kidnap me to extort money from Dad, but when I resisted they went to kill me. She fought to try to keep me from getting hurt, and mortally wounded one before she was shot. The wounded guy accidentally shot his colleague when he tried to shoot me." Nathanial looked up, now that his stomach was under control. "I think it's pretty plausible, and relatively simple, but the basement..." He shook his head.

Agent Arrie spoke, her tone cold. "Mr. Garret Marks hasn't registered a third child with the Society. We must speak with him about that and get the records corrected."

Agent Jay answered without looking at her, "Records aren't a concern at the moment; we can deal with the proper protocols at our leisure. We should deal with what's in front of us, first."

Agent Ella didn't seem to hear them, other than the tip of her tail starting to twitch ever so slightly. She kept staring over Nathanial's head as she spoke crisply, "If there is more magic in the basement, we'll start there, unless there's something outside."

Nathanial put his paw on Micah's back and nudged him toward Nicholas. Micah trotted over, carefully watching the odd Mages.

Nathanial led them toward the pool area, where Conor and Dirk had killed some Hunters. The fog was still very dense here. Agent Ella paused and adjusted her glasses. "Is this fog your doing?" Nathanial nodded uncertainly, his confusion deepening when the Panther looked at the Jackal. "Agent Jay?"

The Jackal fiddled with his own glasses while she turned back to him. "It's impressive spell work; Summon Fog isn't supposed to function like this."

Nathanial waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. He finally asked, "How so?"

"It is too widespread. Too deep, too thick. It can't be dispelled by magic; it would have to be Unsummoned. It has a faint magic residue but isn't maintained by magic anymore."

Agent Arrie spoke, "That is a perversion of Standard Spell Twenty-Nine; it should be reported and appropriate discipline action executed."

Agent Jay countered, "Hardly." He shook his head, glancing at Nathanial from the corner of his eyes. "Objection; it's not Standard Spell Twenty-Nine, not anymore. It is a different spell. I recorded the spell work; we can check it against the Master List, and log a new entry, if required."

Nathanial felt a little baffled by their discussion. Sure, he modified the spell a little when he tried to fog in the neighbourhood, but it wasn't a punishable offence, or otherwise anything special.

They resumed walking and soon rounded the privacy wall by the patio. The pool was empty, the yard soaked. Two dead Hunters lay on the ground, and glass from the patio doors was embedded in the far wall of the sitting room.

"Codes A and R." The Mages cast a quick succession of spells, returning the property to normal. The two bodies flickered and vanished; they probably got teleported somewhere.Nathanial was really impressed. He'd love to learn those spells; it'd make cleaning up after his brothers much simpler.

He brought them around back and into the basement. He paused to look around the living area of the basement. It was still full of fog and illuminated only by the light in Nathanial's room. Pools of blood were scattered across the floor in front of them, and the mess from the Demon incident was still there. In short, the place was a disaster. Nathanial felt his tail curl up between his legs in embarrassment.

Agent Ella hissed faintly as she tried to look into the room. "Light, please. And if you can, get rid of this fog." Nathanial used his magic without thinking; he flicked on the lights and banished the fog. All three Mages started slightly. "That was...fast. Our records indicate your father has barely any magic talent, and that you haven't learned many of the cantrips or basic spells yet. Those records seem to be incorrect. We'll arrange your testing soon. Agent Jay, look in the bedrooms. Agent Arrie, the far side of this room."

Nathanial shrugged. "The centre of the room is pitted with Imp acid. The Hunters never made it past this area of the basement. There shouldn't be anything to fix in the bedrooms. They're a little messy; we've been having one crisis after another since Monday morning."

All three agents had stopped and were looking at him. Agent Jay spoke; he sounded a lot different when he was surprised. "Imp Acid? Bro, the Investigators didn't say anything about Demons in the area. What's this about?"

Nathanial felt very tired, and sighed. "That should have been passed along to whatever department deals with it yesterday, along with the first Hunter attack." He rubbed the top of his muzzle and then his eyes. "A Succubus and some Imps tried to steal our Succubus Grimoire Monday evening. We fought them and scared them off. Micah used a sonic Glamour and tricked them into thinking the Wild Hunt was coming. Tuesday a group of Imps breached the basement and opened another portal, again trying to get the grimoire. We had help from Fey that night, and the portals were closed. A Healer ensured we were free of Demon Taint and in good health, then left. We spent the night at a friend's house. We came home this afternoon to clean, anticipating your arrival to talk to me about the attacks, both Hunter and Demon, but we were ambushed by the Hunters. Now you're here. Up to speed, now?"

He leaned against the wall, his paw over his eyes. "Please. Just do...whatever it is you do. I still need to call the police, and my brothers need me. Do you know if Dad is on his way? He... He's having trouble processing this. Mom joining the Hunters or Knights, whichever, trying to kidnap me to extort money from him. I'm worried about him." He was actually a little surprised when he realized that it was true; he was worried about his father. He slid down the wall to a sitting position, and put his head on his knees like he had outside.

The agents exchanged looks. Agent Ella shook her head. "I'll handle the Hunter remains, you two initiate Code Q." She cast a quick succession of spells that eliminated all traces of combat from the Hunters, repaired the couch, and put all the books and discs away. They were alphabetized by genre, then author, then title. Nathanial didn't think the room had ever looked so...orderly. "Nathanial, where are the bodies? The Hunter bodies? I can see several Imps over there."

Agent Jay was teleporting the Imp bodies away. Agent Arrie stared at the damaged floor tiles for a while before casting a somewhat complicated spell. The holes and damage to the tiles repaired themselves. Then the two agents wiped away all traces of combat.

Meanwhile, Agent Ella waited for Nathanial to answer.

"The harbour. I sent the bodies out to the far end of Halifax Harbour. I wasn't thinking clearly right after the fight, and the bodies were upsetting my brothers. I wanted them out."

She made a tiny grimace before smoothing out her features. "How did you send them out to the Harbour? Taxi?"

"Portals. I've seen several different types of portals, so I made small temporary ones beneath all the bodies here and let them fall through into the water. I was hoping when the bodies were found they wouldn't be linked to here. More like a gang cleaning or something. Whatever you call it when a gang punishes its members."

He saw muscles along Agent Ella's jaw twitch, and her voice was slightly strained. Agent Jay's and Agent Arrie's ears flipped toward her when she said, "Portals. You, an untrained, not-even-apprentice pup made seven portals in short order. Right after a fight with ten Hunters. Out of a warded basement designed to block Scrying and all forms of Teleportation? The only portals that should function in here are inter-dimensional ones." Her tail lashed the air. "And you learned how to make portals from just seeing some before?"

Agent Arrie tried to hurry toward her without looking like she was hurrying. Agent Jay didn't bother with the pretence and ran over. Nathanial just nodded to her questions. She began to sheathe and unsheathe her claws and snarled, "What do you take me for?" Agent Jay put his paw on her shoulder, but she shook him off.

Agent Arrie looked slightly frazzled as she began to say, "Agent Ella, protocols under para..."

"Shut it, Arrie!" Agent Ella was quivering as she seemed to struggle to control herself. "You must have had help, pup! There were only faint traces of Fey magic and Demon magic here, and even fainter traces of other magic that I can't place. These wards and the sheer amount of magic you three have been throwing around for years is making it difficult for our glasses to piece anything together, but you m--"

A small pool of light appeared around her hindpaws and she fell through it. Agents Arrie and Jay yelped and jumped back. Agent Ella fell out of a pool of light on the ceiling by the couch. She stumbled as she hit the ground but remained upright. Her glasses fell off her muzzle onto the couch, and her eyes went wide with shock.

Nathanial just remained where he was without moving, "Did it." He blinked owlishly, "Portals. Me." He yawned then tried to stand. "Gods. Used too much magic. Sleepy." The three agents stared at him.

Agent Jay broke the silence; he seemed to be carefully choosing his words. "I see. As the agents of the Society, I believe it is our responsibility to clear this up with the police. I'll call them. If you'll excuse me." He swiftly moved back through the laundry room and outside, dialling the police as he went.

Agent Arrie looked at Agent Ella, then at Nathanial. "It's also our duty to ensure the other Mage children are cared for until the responsible party returns. Excuse me." She also beat a hasty retreat.

Agent Ella took a couple of deep breaths, and walked over to Nathanial. He tried to stand, his ears twitching nervously. Agent Ella's voice was more controlled. "So you did. Without incantation, gesture, components, or preparation." She rubbed her forehead. "By Hecate's grace, pup, how did you do that? Do you know how much paperwork this will make? Even Arrie left so she wouldn't have to deal with it." She exhaled loudly, an odd half-growl/half-groan. Her voice was dry as she added, "I may need to bring you in for questioning and study."

Nathanial shook his head. "Nope." Agent Ella's tail began flicking again. "I'm sorry if I made more work for you, but I have to stay to take care of my brothers. I made a vow before Mount Olympus." He raised a paw as he continued to try to stand. "Please help me up. I want to see Mom. I-I'm so tired; it seems like a bad dream. Please."

Agent Ella's face softened slightly before she caught herself. She helped him up and then upstairs.

Nathanial dropped to his knees by his mother and reached down to hug her. "Mom." His voice was quiet and sad, but he knew it was loud enough for Agent Ella to hear. He used his magic to unclasp the thin chain from around Lily's neck and gently slid the medallion and chain into his jacket pocket, making sure Agent Ella didn't see it. His mind began to get fuzzier. He didn't mind the blood on his clothes; they needed to be replaced or get a good dry cleaning anyway. "Three days and I've already trashed my new clothes. I was so happy to get them, too. Mom will be furious." He blinked, and looked into his mother's face. "Oh." He sobbed involuntarily. "Mom. Why?" He could feel he was losing control of himself, but he didn't have the strength to fight anymore. He began to cry in earnest, barely noticing when Agent Ella lifted him from his mother's body and cradled him gently.

Nathanial came back to himself on the front steps of his house. It was night, and the sky was starting to cloud over. He had a blanket around his shoulders and a cup of Tim Horton's hot chocolate in his paws. He must have been drinking some, because it was half-empty. Micah sat on the stair below him on his left, half-laying on his leg. Nicholas sat on his right, cuddled up to his side. The police were there, talking to Agents Ella and Arrie. Agent Jay was sitting on the steps beside Nicholas, keeping an eye on them. Nathanial noticed he looked a little more compassionate than before. So did Agents Ella and Arrie when they glanced over.

He took a gulp of the warm drink and gently stroked Micah's head. "Agent Jay--" Nick jumped when Nathanial spoke. "--has there been any word from Dad?" Micah barely reacted; he seemed to be in a state of shock and not really aware of what was going on around him.

Agent Jay looked over. "Nah, not directly. He's on a flight back from Moscow right now. One of his buddies has business in Boston on Friday but stepped up his plans and flew out on his corporate jet immediately. Your father should arrive in Halifax midmorning."

Nathanial nodded glumly. "Thank you. For everything." He took another drink of hot chocolate.

Agent Ella walked over to them. "The police are taking Lily and the other two to the morgue. They will be conducting their investigations overnight. It'll still likely be a few days before you can go back inside. Officer Steinbach and Agent Jay will escort you downstairs to collect your things. Plan for four days. Do you have a place to go? If not, I will arrange a hotel room."

Nathanial nodded. "Yeah. We do. Thanks, Agent Ella. I'm sorry if I seemed flippant or disrespectful earlier. I was...not myself. I s-still can't..." He shook his head, feeling tears start to well up again. No matter what he said or how he acted, a part of him still loved his mother.

Agent Ella placed a paw on his shoulder and gave him a faint smile. She motioned with her head that he should get going as she took her paw back. He nodded and finished the hot chocolate.

He gently poked Micah to get him to move and stood up. "You two can stay here if you want. I'll get our stuff."

Micah shuffled over to Nicholas and curled in. Nicholas just gave Nathanial a wan smile and looked back down to Micah, softly stroking his head.

Nathanial went in to get the gear they'd need.

Dirk came over immediately to pick them up when Nathanial called. He hadn't said much, but his eyes said more than enough. The rest of the trip was quiet.

Nathanial's tail thumped against his seat of its own accord as he saw Geoff standing in the garage when Dirk drove in. Nathanial jumped out of the shotgun seat when the Jeep stopped and ran over to hug him. He just clung to Geoff for a minute before stepping back.

Dirk clapped him on the shoulder as he walked by carrying the bags. "Pups, there are sandwiches and other snacks in the fridge if you get hungry. If you want anything just let us know." He went into the house.

Nathanial wanted to make sure his brothers were moving before he followed. Nathanial hugged them and licked their muzzles. "You heard Dirk?" They nodded. "If you guys want to go to bed, feel free. I'm going to talk to Conor for a moment, then have a little to eat. I'll probably go to bed right after. I'm drained. I used too much magic, plus..." He shook his head, a tear trickling down his cheek.

Geoff gently licked it off and hugged him.

He sniffed and backed up. "Don't. Not now. If you do, I'll just..." His voice was choked. "I should talk to Conor now." He quickly walked through the kitchen, waving at Faelen, who was washing dishes in the sink. Nathanial noticed his brothers, Geoff, and Dirk had moved into the kitchen behind him; Dirk was trying to make sure the younger Markses settled in. Nathanial jogged up the stairs and knocked on the study door.

"Enter." Nathanial walked in. Conor was already walking around his desk and gave him a big hug. Nathanial tried to swallow a sob and pushed away. Conor let him go.

Nathanial cleared his throat a few times before he could talk. "Thank you. Again. For this." He made a paw gesture to encompass everything. "Mages are keeping an eye on us. It doesn't feel like they are directly spying on what we say and do, but their 'eyes' are on this area. I wanted to make sure you and Dirk were extremely careful, and only manifest under life-threatening circumstances. Even Faelen and Geoff should take extra precautions. Anyone coming towards this house is going to face extra magical scrutiny."

Conor nodded. "We thought they would; we actually expected it after the first night you stayed here. I can't believe they were careless enough to allow a second attack to happen. You look like you need to sleep. Faelen and Geoff can share a room if you want to sleep alone tonight. So can Dirk and I if Nicholas and Micah do, too."

Nathanial shook his head a little too quickly. "No. I'm even more afraid of the nightmares now than I was this afternoon. I need Geoff close, please. His energy seems to chase them away, I don't know how. But...I need him." Conor smiled and licked his forehead, giving him another hug. "Thanks, Daddy. Thank you for everything."

"I'm here if you need me, Son. Just ask, and I'll help." Nathanial could feel his inner strength giving out again so he slipped out of the hug and went into the kitchen. The two young Wolves and his brothers were sitting around the island, a plate of sandwiches and veggies in front of them. Nick was slowly eating one sandwich, while a half-eaten one was sitting on a plate in front of Micah. Both had steaming mugs in front of them.

Nathanial sat down by Geoff and grabbed a sandwich before eyeing the mugs. "Whatcha drinking?"

Faelen looked over, noting the casual tone. "Warm milk. Very relaxing. I wanted to put a shot of brandy in, but Geoff wouldn't let me."

"Pity. I could go for that right now." Micah stared at him in shock, while Nicholas gave him a half-smile.

Geoff said earnestly, "I could go ask Da, if you want some." Nicholas snorted in amusement. Micah clued in and smiled. Nathanial leaned over and nipped at Geoff's ear, and Geoff smiled a little. "Oh. Sorry. Joke. A little slow on the uptake right now."

Nathanial arched an eyebrow. "Just right now?" Micah giggled. Nicholas just shook his head and took another small bite of his sandwich. It was obvious he didn't taste it. "You guys want me to make a small pot of soup? Or that stir fry I was going to make for supper?"

Nicholas looked almost angry. "Nathanial. Don't. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but stop. Mom's dead. I know you're trying to be strong for us, but you were the closest to her out of all of us, if 'close' is the right word. I know you did what you had to to protect us, but she was still our mom. Cry if you need to, scream, shout, whatever. Just...don't try to act as if you aren't hurting."

Nathanial looked away. "She doesn't deserve my grief. She deserves curses and hate. A special pit in Tartarus for those who betray their families."

There was real vehemence in Nicholas's voice now. "Yes. Yes, she does. But you deserve the right to cry, to grieve, to heal. Don't suffer because of her; don't let her hurt you any more."

Nathanial choked up again. "I've done my crying. I'll probably cry later. I just want to be busy for a while."

Micah's grin turned mischievous. "Then you better take Geoff down to his bedroom. I don't think Mr. McDougal wants to see that."

Nathanial blushed and laughed. "Micah!"

Nick nudged Micah and smiled a bit again. "But I bet you do."

Micah looked away and said very insincerely, "No, of course not." Nicholas genuinely laughed at that.

Nathanial stuck his tongue out. "No spying on brothers and their boyfriends, Micah. And Nicholas, you too, just to be safe."

Both brothers said, "Aww," at the same time. Everyone laughed a little. Micah finished his sandwich.

Geoff tried his paw at lightening the mood. He waggled his eyebrows. "I think Micah had the right idea."

Nathanial leaned in and kissed him. "Not right now. I want to spend a little time with my brothers." He turned to them. "Oh, and Conor said if you guys want separate beds, he could sleep with Dirk." Nathanial noticed Dirk walking down the stairs toward the kitchen.

Micah looked a little panicked but said nothing.

Nicholas blushed. "I actually was hoping to sleep with Dirk. Having someone big like that holding me was comforting. My dreams weren't as bad. If he doesn't want to, maybe Faelen?" His head hung down submissively as he glanced up at the young Wolf.

Dirk padded up to them and wrapped an arm around Nicholas's neck, roughly rubbing his ears, making Nicholas squawk. "I don't have a problem with sleeping with Conor, and I don't think he'd have a problem sharing a bed, either. And I doubt Faelen does, since the little Rottie isn't here. Right, Son?" Faelen blushed but nodded. "I don't think Micah wants to be alone, though." His ears twitched, as though he'd just remembered something. "Oh, and pups, Conor phoned your school principals and told them what happened. You don't have to go to school if you don't want to. If you do go and need to come home -- I mean, come back here -- just let your teacher know. Call Conor or me and I'll go get you."

Nathanial thought, 'It does feel like home here. Warm and caring. Why couldn't it be that way at our real home? I wish...' A tear trickled down his face, but he hid it by burying his face in Geoff's neck. He composed himself after a few moments and lifted his head up. "Sorry. Um... So, where do you want to sleep, Micah?"

Micah looked at Nathanial and Geoff, his ears drooping, then at Nicholas. "I don't know."

Nathanial wanted to sleep with Geoff alone, but he understood what Micah was feeling. He looked at Geoff, who nodded. "You can sleep with us, for tonight and tonight only." He was going to add, "but keep your paws under control," but he doubted Micah was feeling frisky. Micah's ears perked up, and his tail began to wag slightly. "It's going to be very dark in there, though."

Nathanial pulled the bat out of his pocket and rubbed the fur before lifting it telekinetically and using it to attack Micah's head. He floated it through the air, its wings flapping, and had it dive-bomb Micah a few times. Micah yipped and laughed and batted it away while trying to make King Kong noises. Nathanial brought the bat back to him, slid it gently into his jacket pocket, and noticed his uniform was spotless. It looked brand new, just the way it did when he pulled it out of its box for the first time. He said a silent 'Thank you' to Agent Ella, wherever she was.

He yawned. Even the tiny amount of magic it took to play with Micah had exhausted him again. "I'm sorry, everyone. I need to go to bed; I really overdid it today." He saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, but there was nothing there when he looked over. He shook his head and went into the hall to the staircase downstairs. Geoff and Micah followed.

Nicholas called out, "Night." They responded in kind.

Nathanial made sure Micah brushed his teeth, and they got ready for bed. Nathanial and Geoff walked into the dark bedroom without thinking, and Nathanial closed the door behind Micah. Micah yipped, startled, as the complete darkness closed around him.

Geoff flicked on the small light. "Sorry, pup. I've gotten used to Nathanial not needing lights, so I forgot you do." He began to strip off his clothes.

The two Akitas watched him before Nathanial caught himself and cleared his throat. Micah jumped and began undressing too, still checking out the white Wolf's muscles. Nathanial felt a little self-conscious, but he began to remove his clothing, too. He felt more self-conscious moments later as Geoff sat naked on the bed and unabashedly watched him stripping. Micah alternated his not-so-covert glances between the naked Wolf and his brother. Micah quickly finished stripping and sat beside Geoff to watch. Nathanial flipped off the light before talking off his pants and underwear, aware that Micah began to pout.

Geoff's sheath got thicker when Nathanial stood in the dark completely naked, and the Wolf grinned before he shooed the younger Akita over. "Far side, Micah. We'll let Nathanial sleep in the middle." Micah bounced across the bed.

Geoff stood to let Nathanial by, but Nathanial grabbed him and gave him a deep kiss before whispering, "I love you." He crawled over the bed to climb under the covers by Micah.

Geoff stood by the bed for a moment with a dopey grin before getting in bed. Geoff gave Nathanial another quick but passionate kiss before leaning across him to lick Micah's ear. Nathanial turned his back to Geoff and cuddled Micah against him, both on their sides.

Geoff rolled onto his side and put his arm over both Dogs, his half-erect penis poking beneath Nathanial's tail. "Good night, Micah." In a quieter voice he whispered into Nathanial's ear, "I love you, too."

Nathanial felt his throat get tight and chest quiver with emotion. A few tears soaked into the pillow beneath him. He floated the bat from over by his clothes and put it under his paws on Micah's chest. He sighed, his breath quivering. Micah snored softly, shortly followed by his own.