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Chapter 67: Writing a Report

Geoff sat in the basement with Faelen doing their homework. Den was upstairs with the three other adults, and Liam was in Faelen's room, meditating. He'd said, a half hour after tea, that the events of the afternoon had drained him and he was going to go meditate. Faelen offered to help him, but Liam said he needed to 'try to put his mind in order', more than he needed to replenish chi. Faelen didn't look too happy but just hugged Liam and let him go. Geoff had excused himself to go do his homework, and Faelen joined him. Geoff tapped his pencil on his paper as he stared at his German notes. 'This is useless! I can't concentrate with Faeden here. Why is he here? He's Grandda's bodyguard, well one of them and one of his most trusted advisors, along with Da! He can't just get up and go kiting off willy-nilly!' He stood up and began pacing around the room, throwing punches out at random and kicking at shadows. He tried to make sure they were done the way Liam showed him, 'Is he really here to see Liam? That doesn't make sense, either. Liam was supposed to go over next weekend so why rush and make a fuss to see him now? It's been a hundred years, what's six more days?' He moved into one of the Kung Fu forms, 'Is that just an excuse? He knows I'm gay and he's one of Grandda's advisors. Could he actually be here to check on me, maybe get a look at Nathanial?' He glanced at the time, it was shortly after seven. 'It's getting late in Ireland, he's probably tired. What if this is a test and he's seeing if I'm brave enough to introduce him to my boyfriend on short notice!? Is he secretly here to make sure Nathanial is good enough? What if I'm ruining Nathanial's chances by not having him over sooner to meet Faeden? Faeden could sabotage our chances of getting Grandda's approval, if he doesn't like him. Oh, shit! He'll hate Nathanial, now! I better call him up and get him to come over right away. I hope I'm not too late!' He pulled out his phone with shaking paws, not even noticing the utter confusion on Faelen's face. It took him three tries to get into the proper menu and call up Nathanial. His pup picked up on the third ring, "Pup! Quick! I need you to come, Faeden is here, meeting Grandda and it's all my fault. He's testing and will hate with too late!"

"What?"

Geoff took a big breath and walked into his bedroom, closing the door behind him, "Faeden, he's here. He's secretly checking on you to make a report to Grandda, the Alpha. I need you over here right away, I may have sabotaged our chances already by not thinking to invite you over sooner."

There was a slight pause, "In ten minutes or so; I promised Nick I'd brush him, and I'm almost done. If he's waited this long he can wait another ten minutes."

Geoff couldn't believe what he was hearing, "No! You don't understand! Faeden is one of Grandda's advisors! He's checking and it's late in Ireland, so he's angry." He ran a paw over his face, forcing himself to slow down.

"It's not an emergency. I promised Nick I'd brush him, so Faeden can go rot in Tartarus if he doesn't understand." Nathanial sounded like he was getting a little annoyed, "Now, the longer you argue the longer it'll take. So take a few deep breaths, have some tea, and I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"What!? Fifteen? That's too long!" Nathanial tried to say something but Geoff talked over him, trying to get him to understand how important this was, "He can sabotage our chances of getting Grandda's blessing, and it's already really late and he must be tired! Get Micah to brush Nick, that doesn't matter, just do it some other time. This is really important, he must think I'm a coward or ashamed of you, and I want to make a good impression on you for... with him. You make a good impression on him." He panted as he spoke, 'This is all my fault!' He paced frantically back and forth in his room, "Even a short time, come on! It's just Nick, he'll understand. Just make up some excuse, this is important!"

He turned away from his bed and started back toward the door. He suddenly staggered forward a few paces as a pillow whacked him on the back of the head. His phone flew out of his paw and hovered in the air for a second before circling around him to float over the bed, out of reach. Nathanial's voice echoed in his head, he sounded furious, *I promised Nick! Don't you ever tell me to break a promise to my brothers! If it was an emergency that's one thing, but I'll be damned if I disappoint my brothers over something like this! If he's so petty, I don't give a damn if I never get his blessing or your gandfather's!* The pillow hit him in the stomach, *Now, shut up, Geoff, and go calm down!* The pillow and phone dropped suddenly. Geoff gasped for air as he scrambled for the phone, Nathanial had hung up. He redialled but it went straight to voicemail.

There was a knock on the door, "Geoff? Did Nathanial hang up on you?" It was Faelen.

He sat on the bed staring at the phone in disbelief, "Yeah." Faelen smothered a chuckle. "It's not funny! Why doesn't he get it!?"

"Shut up, Geoff. You're being a dumb ass." Geoff turned to stare at the door in disbelief, Faelen opened it and walked in. He was smiling like this was the funniest thing he'd heard in ages. Geoff was even more dumbfounded, this was his future with Nathanial, not some silly joke! "Calm down. Poppy isn't here to see Nathanial, it's probably barely crossing his mind. He's here to see Liam, his grandfather. He just found out some stuff that changes everything he's believed his whole life, it looks like he idolized Lowell and he's been forced to reassess it all. He also found out his only son and grandchild are gay, and everything he thought he knew about me is wrong, too. Well, not everything, but a lot. This has nothing to do with you, as hard as you may find that to believe, oh great and wonderful Dark Spirit."

Geoff heard everything Faelen was saying but he just couldn't get it. "But, but, Liam was going to go over and meet them all next weekend! Why come all the way over here to see him now, when Liam will be there in six days? He's Grandda's bodyguard and advisor! He can't just... go!"

"He took a few days vacation; I bet it's been years since he took any real time off. The Alpha owes him. Besides, Poppy can be back home in minutes if something comes up, just like your Da can." Faelen walked over and wrapped his arm around Geoff's shoulder. "I couldn't figure out what you were getting so worked up over, this time. It really came out of nowhere." He led Geoff over to the bed and sat him down, "Geoff, you know how hard it was for your Da to wrap his head around you being gay, now try to imagine it from Poppy's point of view. It wasn't just his son, but his only grandchild and his grandfather. He found out all three of us are gay. He also found out in a... less than ideal way, and it caused a huge fight with his family, one that may cost his aunt her life. He wanted to meet Liam, my boyfriend, and Liam, the reincarnation of his poppy on his terms, not like the last meeting. That's why he came over like this. He'll probably want to meet Nathanial at some point, but it isn't urgent." Geoff sighed and nodded, calming down some. Faelen bumped his head against Geoff's, lightly, "So, how mad was he?"

Geoff picked at his blanket, "Um... very. Not banish me to, well, where would he send me? He seems to like sending people off to the Plane of Darkness, but he wanted to bring me there to have sex before. It's not much of a punishment for us. Do you think he can go to the Plane of Light? That'd really suck."

Faelen chuckled, "Yeah, for you." He seemed to pause, considering something, "It's probably not that pleasant for the rest of us, either. He'd probably just try to feed you to Snow or something, if Snow would listen to him on that one. He seems to like you."

"He likes Liam, more."

Faelen chuckled, "Yeah, well, Liam can talk with him. He likes you more than anyone else, he's never really growled at you. I still can't believe how big he is, just seeing him scares me a bit."

Geoff smiled, "I guess you're right. Thanks, I was getting a little worked up. I'm glad you're here to help me keep my head straight, or, not really straight since I'm g... g-gay, but well... Ugh, why is that still so hard to say?" He thought about his pending trip to Ireland, "Can I say that to Grandda? He's going to be so mad. Will he... will he actually want to exile me? O-or... kill me?" He stared down at his paw, he'd picked a hole in his blanket without noticing. He moved his paws onto his lap, "He's my grandda, would he really do that? And what about you and Dirk? If he does something like that to you, he'd have to do it to me, too. If he exiles you, I'd go to. I... can't live... I couldn't stay in the Clan without you keeping me sane, Faelen. I need you." Geoff got up and pulled off his shirt and pants, "I'm not jumping you, I need to go exercise. I can't sit still."

Faelen nodded, "Yes, sir. I knew you weren't trying to jump me, you aren't aroused in the slightest. You are very restless. Do you want me to join you, or are you just going onto one of the machines?"

"I want to go for a run, but Nathanial's on his way... at some point. I'm getting on one of the cross-trainers." He leaned his head against the door, 'I hope he's not too mad. He's very protective of his brothers, telling him to ignore them and break a promise just to help me wasn't very smart. Will he be able to forgive me?'

Faelen cut into his thoughts, "Go run, sir. Nathanial has forgiven people for worse, he loves you and isn't going to stop just because you were freaking out."

Geoff jumped in surprise and glared at Faelen. He hated it when he did that. He pulled off his underwear, and tossed them into his room before heading over to the gym.

---

Nathanial finished brushing Nicholas and took a very quick shower before getting dressed again. Brushing Nick took longer than normal because he had to calm down before Nicholas was comfortable having him close by. It really hurt how terrified Nick and Mike got whenever he became angry; he'd never harm them, so why where they the most scared? He shook his head, and finished dressing. He poked his head into Micah's room. His brothers were on the bed, Nick tied to Micah... surprise, surprise. They were studying in their favourite position, Nick on his side and Micah on his back with his head on that goomba plushie. Nathanial smiled and walked in. "Hey."

Micah tilted his head back to look at him. Nick was lying across the bed, partially leaning on the pillows, so Micah was lying lengthwise, with his head toward the foot of the bed. "Hi, Nats! Going out?"

Nathanial leaned over to rub Micah's head and lick his muzzle, "Yeah. Nick probably told you that Geoff wanted me to go meet one of the Alpha's advisors. Faelen's grandfather." He moved up to say goodbye to Nicholas, too. "I shouldn't be too late. You can stay here until I'm back, as long as you make sure to study and do homework in between sex. Another half hour of studying, got it? Then, um, forty-five minutes for every fifteen minutes of sex."

Nicholas smiled at him, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Nathanial smiled back at him and tapped his nose, "Smart ass." He licked the black nub, "I'm proud of you, both of you. I'm sorry I scared you, Nick, I just can't believe Geoff told me to break a promise like that. He knows how much you two mean to me."

Nicholas looked down, guiltily, "He sounded scared. Panicked. Maybe you should have gone. I-I don't want you to fight over me, I..." He shook his head, "Go. He needs you."

Nathanial wasn't sure what Nick was going to say, but he was right. Geoff did sound scared and he should be there, "All right. I'll see you soon."

He walked away from them a bit and turned to face them, holding up a paw in farewell. Micah called out, "Bye!" as Nathanial opened a portal. He'd done it this way so if anyone was in Geoff's basement they wouldn't see the bed. He stepped through and closed the portal. Faelen was at the homework table, muttering as he worked on something. Geoff's homework was strewn across his half of the table, but Nathanial could 'see' him in the gym really working up a sweat on the cross-trainer.

Nathanial felt himself steaming a little, so he ignored Geoff and went to Faelen, "Hi."

Faelen nodded, "Hey. I'm sorry he made you angry, I didn't figure out what got him so anxious before he called."

Nathanial shook his head, "He's burning off some energy? He was barely coherent on the phone, but it didn't seem like an emergency."

"No, no emergency. He misread things again, he couldn't figure out how this related to him so he wove some bizarre scenario so he fit into it somehow. Poppy came over to meet Liam, his poppy, and try to sort things out. He was really hurt by the way he found out about everything."

Nathanial sat down and noticed Liam meditating in Faelen's room, "Is Liam okay?" Faelen nodded. "Good. I'm going to have to punish Geoff for this, I'm not really mad at him anymore, but I want to make sure he knows to never tell me to break a promise to my family unless it's an emergency. I was pissed."

"Sorry." Faelen twirled his pencil in his paws, looking ashamed.

Nathanial shook his head, "It's not your fault. I know Geoff, too, he blames himself for everything for some reason, that whole Dark Spirit thing." He paused, "If I act mad at him for a while, would that make it worse?"

Faelen chuckled, "Probably, don't you remember the fight we had? Geoff and I?"

Nathanial nodded, "Yeah, you're right, he really got upset. I'll talk to him, then." He sighed in frustration, "And people say I'm unstable." Faelen looked surprised but quickly hid it. "I'm not blind or deaf, Faelen." He looked at the time, "Crap." He pulled out his medicine. and dropped a tiny bit of liquid on his tongue. He swallowed it, waited for the tingling sensation to go away, and took the second drop. "Two drops, no more. You can tell Liam I remember. I'm going upstairs, now. Anything I should know?" Faelen shook his head, but looked at the gym, "Stay here, I'll be fine. I promise not to get into any fights, okay? You can tell him I'm here after he showers, he's really sweaty." Nathanial imagined how he must smell and growled softly, "Hmm... no, he said it was important I meet your poppy, so I better. I didn't know many people used that name for grandfathers. I liked it from the first time I heard it."

Faelen chuckled, "We're the only ones in the Clan who do. Lowell's descendants. You're getting pretty obvious there, Nathanial; you may want to make some adjustments." Nathanial blushed and reached into his pants to straighten his half erect penis. Faelen laughed at that.

Nathanial ducked his head and trotted toward the stairs. He climbed up and walked through the kitchen and into the games room. The four adults were standing in the dark panelled room, holding darts and beers. Conor stepped forward and threw his darts at the board. Dirk and Faeden instantly noticed him as he entered the room. Faeden stepped between Nathanial and Conor and manifest; the dark grey fur became a loamy black, his light grey facial and frontal fur became a dirty reddish-brown. Dirk relaxed as he saw who it was, and Faeden stepped away from Conor, suppressing his power, once he noticed Dirk's reaction. Nathanial smiled, feeling a little amused, "Faelen said you were a bodyguard, too, I should've warned you before walking in. Hi, everyone. I'm Nathanial," He walked over to Faeden, paw extended, "Nathanial Marks. You must be Faeden O'Conall." Faeden shook his paw, "I've heard you already know I'm Geoff's boyfriend."

Faeden nodded, "Yes." He shook his head, looking a little lost.

Nathanial felt his grin get wider, "Yeah, it's probably a bit to get used to. My father is pretty much used to it, but I still see him looking perplexed, at times." He stepped back and leaned against the pool table. "I've never been in here, it looks like what I think a..." He stopped himself from saying 'British pub' as he remembered Faelen saying Conor wasn't that found of the English. Or was that just the monarchy? He continued, "An Old World pub should look like."

Walter smiled, a little embarrassed, "I already stepped in that one, Nathanial, and nearly got my head ripped off."

Nathanial bobbed his head, blushing, "Heh, I was going to say 'British' as in British Isles, but I wasn't sure how that'd go over, either." The Irish Spirits looked annoyed, "Sorry, I'm not used to minefields like this. To me Europe is way over there and all the conflicts are stuff I learn about in history books." He glanced nervously at Faeden, he'd probably made a horrible impression. "I, um, I-I'm going to put the kettle on. D-does anyone w-want anything?" He felt his tail starting to curl up between his legs.

Conor pulled his darts out of the board and put them on a small table by his beer, "Write my score down, would you Dirk?" He walked over and wrapped his arm around Nathanial before he could slink off to the kitchen, "Calm down, pup. He's practically family." Nathanial felt his stomach knot up a bit more, his mind flipping back to the last half dozen 'family' meetings. Only Gwen's introduction didn't involve some sort of fight, well, even that... Conor seemed to predict his train of thought, "Sorry, that's probably the worst comparison. He's Faelen's and Liam-sensei's family; none of them have tried to kill you." Walter looked a little upset at that. Odd, Nathanial thought Walter liked Faelen and didn't have the same problems with the situation that Dirk did.

Faeden coughed into his beer, "What!?"

Dirk threw his darts, "Long story, Da. I'll fill you in, if you're here for a few days." He walked over, pulled out his darts, and wrote his score down. Walter moved into position.

Faeden watched his son for a second before turning to Nathanial, "You know what Geoff is, Nathanial? What he means to the Clan?"

Nathanial nodded, "Yes, I d-do. I also know what he means to me; I-I'm not giving up on him. If the Clan wants him to be Alpha, th-they'll have to accept me, too." He felt himself shiver, waiting for the explosion of anger from the Alpha's bodyguard, but he forced himself to meet Faeden's eyes. Those blue eyes didn't narrow in anger, but in laughter.

"Pup's got balls, Conor."

Conor squeezed Nathanial's shoulder and said wryly, "You have no idea."

Faeden stopped laughing and looked at Conor searchingly, "Why is it that everything you guys say about these pups makes me think about sex. You didn't mean what that sounded like, did you, Conor?"

Dirk cleared his throat, "Da, you're a Dirt Spirit. Everything sounds dirty to you. He's saying the pup has more fight in him than you'd expect. Avery and him nearly killed each other when they first met. He's beat up two of those Mage cops, at the same time, by himself, and probably killed a dozen Hunters."

Nathanial's already queasy stomach flipped upside down as he heard the sound of snapping bone. There was a flicker of movement in the corner of the room, but Conor pulled him close, "Hey, are you all right, Nathanial?" Nathanial could hear the steady beat of Conor's heart in the ear that was pressed to the strong chest. He felt his own heart rate slow down, and his stomach righted itself. The dart game seemed forgotten. Dirk slipped out of the room and put the kettle on.

Walter's voice was a quiet but carried an almost pointed element, "Do you want me to get my son, Nathanial?" The slight emphasis on 'my' confused him; he wasn't sure if anyone would notice it, but felt Conor's muscles tense slightly.

Nathanial shook his head, his voice was a little muffled, "No, he's still meditating. He seems to be dreaming, though; I see him twitching a lot, like he's having a bad dream."

Walter frowned and put his darts and beer down, "I'll go check on him, that's not normal." He quickly left the room. Faeden looked like he was about to say something or follow, but stayed put.

Nathanial stepped away from Conor, "Are you two fighting, Mr. O'Conall? He seems like he's kinda possessive about Liam."

Conor nodded, "I noticed it, too. I'm not really sure why. He's just divorced, maybe he's afraid, subconsciously, that he'll lose his son, as well."

Faeden looked guilty, "Huh. I... don't know what to do about that. He's my poppy, I just got him back after a hundred years, I'm not prepared to just ignore that because his new... old... family...?" He rubbed his forehead, "No wonder Poppy... Liam hates talking about his other lives, it's bloody confusing. Anyway, Walter is going to have to get over it because I love Poppy, I'm not going to give him up any more than this pup's giving up Geoff." He waved his paw at Nathanial as he said that, smiling toothily.

Nathanial was surprised and asked softly, "You... you're not mad?" He scuffed a hindpaw on the rug, "Geoff was afraid you were here to make a report to give the Alpha on me and that you were mad because I didn't come over earlier."

Faeden sounded confused, "No, I wasn't really thinking of him when I came over. Why would he think that? Oh, you said you were 'seeing' Poppy? As in now? What did you mean?"

Nathanial blushed, "I, um..."

Dirk walked in with a large pot of Liam's tisane, "It sounds like Geoff could use some of this, too. Is he coming up, or is he sulking about something?"

Nathanial smiled, "He's just getting out of the shower, Faelen is helping him dry. He is sulking a bit because I didn't say hi and Faelen didn't tell him I was here."

Dirk chuckled, "You argued over something?" Nathanial glanced at Faeden and nodded, "About Da? Why would you have a fight about Da?"

"Geoff thought Mr. O'Conall was here to secretly check to see if I was worthy of the Alpha's blessing. I was brushing Nick, I'd promised him I would earlier, Nicholas is my brother," He added the last for Faeden, "And Geoff said it didn't matter and he needed me here, now. I got angry at him. Geoff went to burn off some tension on the cross-trainer, so he needed a shower before he comes up." He answered Faeden's question, "I, um, got some new magic last month, I don't know how or why, but I can sense things around me and... 'see'? Well, use all of my senses, sort of, anywhere over several blocks. If I look for something specific I can cover the whole area at once. Like if I'm looking for my brothers I can tell as soon as they step inside a six block radius, or find them instantly inside that."

Faeden looked impressed, "I know Mages have a lot of scrying spells, but that sounds different than the reports I've read. The one I heard the most about sounded very focused, like a mobile camera that could look at a relatively small area. I haven't seen you cast any spells at all, pup."

Nathanial shook his head, "It's automatic, I pretty much have to try to not see stuff around me. It's, um, saved my life, well, lots of our lives several times."

Conor seemed proud, "Yes, including Geoff's on more than one occasion. He alerted us to a Hunter sniper before he could shoot Geoff. If you are writing a report on him, you should hear the arsenal at his disposal and the tactics he employs. Bringing him into the Clan would be a major strategic advantage in any conflict, and an asset in day-to-day tasks as well. If you have any sense, dirt-brain, you'll beg him to prepare a meal for you."

Faeden raised his eyebrows, "Better than Dirk?" Dirk nodded. Nathanial felt himself turning ten shades of red and looked for a hole to hide in. Geoff was coming upstairs, Faelen went in to join Liam and Walter. Liam wasn't meditating anymore, and seemed perfectly fine. Faeden was practically licking his chops, "Maybe I will be writing a report, but I need to taste, I mean, see more of what he can do. I don't want to have to issue an unfavourable report due to lack of data."

Nathanial tried to quickly run through his inventory to see if he could make a proper meal for Faeden, something impressive that'd show off his skills, without looking too snobby. He felt the blood run from his face as he ticked off meal plan after meal plan due to lack of ingredients, and the grocery order wouldn't be till Tuesday, "U-uh, I-I-I, h-how long a-are you here? I don't-t have a-anything I can make..." He started shaking slightly, afraid he'd ruined his chances with Geoff, he had come up full of bravado only to be felled by a lack of truffles. Or smoked salmon. Even some gai lan and sesame oil would open a passable set of dishes.

Faeden looked shocked; Geoff walked in and beat his father in a race to consol the trembling akita. Faeden sounded guilty, "I was joking! I'm not here writing a report, pup! Come on, don't get upset. Ah, by Persephone's nose." He took a swig of beer and moodily tossed a dart at the board.

Geoff looked at the beer bottles as he rubbed Nathanial's head, then looked down at him, "Are you okay, pup?" The concern in Geoff's voice and the power in those arms soothed him. He sniffed and looked up into Geoff's eyes, nodding dolefully. Geoff gently kissed him, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, Faelen straightened my head out. I was off in my own world again, and made a crisis out of nothing." He growled softly as he gazed hungrily into Nathanial's eyes, then kissed him more forcefully and held him close. Nathanial loved the way the growls vibrated through his body and melted all the tension out of his muscles, turning him into putty in Geoff's paws. Conor cleared his throat loudly while the beer bottle slipped out of Faeden's loosened grasp. Faeden looked like he'd been paralyzed. Nathanial caught the bottle before it hit the floor and put it on a coaster on the table, stepping shyly back from Geoff. His boyfriend blushed, the inside of his ears matched the pink of his nose, "Sorry, Da. He's hard to resist, sometimes."

Nathanial pouted, the remnants of his nerves made him sound unintentionally mournful, "Only sometimes?" Geoff eyed him, again, the hunger still visible in his eyes.

Conor's voice was firm, "Down, boy. Good catch, by the way, Son." Faeden shook himself and blinked at the two pups a half dozen paces away.

Nathanial looked down at his hindpaws, "Thanks, Daddy, it was nothing. I still have the bullet I caught, once."

The adults looked surprised, they hadn't heard about that, obviously. Faeden was blushing, "Now you can't accuse me of having a dirty mind, Dirk. Daddy? What the hells...? Never mind, I don't want to know!"

Nathanial looked at Faeden, smiling demurely, "Why not? Don't you want to be my daddy, too? I could show you how bad I can be, and I really like it when Daddy disciplines me." As he spoke he slowly walked toward Faeden, a slight sway in his hips as his tail slowly wagged behind him. He kept his head down and his eyes locked on Faeden's, looking up through his lashes. Faeden backed up and stammered incoherently. He could see a Conor start to pant, his tongue poking out of his mouth, before he adjusted himself as he stared at Nathanial's swaying ass. Geoff looked just as stricken as Faeden but it was warring with jealousy, so Nathanial stopped and laughed. Dirk looked like he was going to bust a gut trying to hold his laughter in. Nathanial cleared his throat as he noticed how sultry his laugh sounded, "I was joking, Mr. O'Conall," Dirk let himself laugh out loud and practically fell over. Nathanial smiled, "We were joking, Conor and I, last month. He said he was expecting to get one son in-law, not two. I liked the sound of it so I called him daddy. He called me son. It's an inside joke, nothing more." Faeden didn't look convinced as he glanced at the large bulge in Conor's pants. Nathanial pulled the bullet out of his pocket, "This was the bullet a Hunter shot at me the day Liam and I were carjacked. I keep it with me for some reason, I don't know why. It was my first run in with Hunters and the first time I saw a Fur die."

Faeden stopped blushing and took the few steps forward to clap Nathanial on the arm, "Hey, then we have to thank you. You probably saved the lives of several non-Furs."

Nathanial gave him a wry look, "Liam and a cop killed them, not me. A normal Fur cop. But, yeah, they saved my life, Liam's, and a street full of innocent people." He turned the bullet over in his paws, "Such a waste. The only deaths I hear of in the Hidden World are caused by Hunters, Demons, and Demon Mages. If the Hunters just let us be there'd be so little fighting; if the Society just minded their own business then everyone would realize we all just want to live in peace. Have friends and family, be happy."

Faeden snorted, "You have more confidence in Furs than I do. It sounds like you've never had problems with Furs over you being gay or a dog. They're full of hate and fear."

Nathanial's voice was quiet, "No, you're wrong; they're full of ignorance. If we show them we're the same, then they'll understand; it's just because they don't realize how much we have in common that they're afraid of us."

Faeden laughed sardonically, "Yeah, tell me that when you've lived as long as I have. You're a pup, you still cling to your ideals and sense of 'fairness', the world isn't fair."

Nathanial growled, "Yeah, no shit. Don't talk to me about 'fair' and 'unfair', I've had a fucking life long lesson in how unfair the world can be. Don't be so damned condescending until you understand me. That's what I'm talking about, you've made up your mind about me minutes after meeting me; you're completely ignorant about my life. That instant prejudgement is the same way people get to hate us." Faeden stepped back in shock. Nathanial made his voice high and squeaky and spoke in a mocking tone, "Oh, such a darling little pup! He must be so sweet and sheltered. Pups can't have any idea how the world works!" He snorted, "Yeah, bull. I choose to give people the benefit of the doubt. I try to accept people for who they are, and forgive them when they hurt me. I don't like seeing anyone hurting or suffer, because I know what that's like. Conor was right, the other day, we have to take the chance to forgive people and build bridges, the payoff is just too good to pass up, even if it's hard and we risk getting hurt. I have my dad because of his advice. We might be able to do so much more if we can work together and build bridges between everyone."

Conor chuckled, "Thanks for remembering that bit of advice, Son, maybe you'll remember the one on something called 'diplomacy'. It does wonders for bridge building."

Dirk poured some tisane and passed Nathanial a cup, then one to Geoff. Geoff looked at Conor, "Can... I have a beer, Da?" Nathanial frowned, then glared at Conor when he nodded. "It's just one, Nats. I know it's a school night." Nathanial smiled at the use of his nickname. "You don't mind me calling you that?" Geoff called out as he went to grab bottle from the fridge, "I wasn't sure if it was just something your brothers were allowed to call you."

Nathanial kept smiling, "Well, no, I don't mind, but I want you to ask Nick before you call me that in front of him. In private, just the two of you." He paused, "Never at school, you aren't allowed calling me that at school. Oh, speaking of, Nicholas will be coming to our school next year. Dad's putting the papers in."

Geoff glanced at Conor as he walked back into the room, taking a swig of beer, "Um, I hope to be able to show him around with you. I... can't make any promises."

Nathanial walked over and bumped his head against Geoff, "I know. We don't know how any of this is going to turn out." He wrapped his arms around Geoff and buried his head under Geoff's chin, "It scares me sometimes." His nose wrinkled as Geoff lowered his head to kiss him, "Ugh, that stuff stinks." He backed away, glaring at the beer bottle, "I really don't know how you can drink that."

Liam's voice was dry, as he walked in with Walter and Faelen, "Nor do I, and it is not merely the aroma that is vile. However, I will not comment on the toxic effects of alcohol, nor the myriad and pervasive social ills caused by it. I am sure everyone has heard..."

Geoff cut in, "Yes,Liam, we know. I like the way it tastes, and it's only bad when it's drunk to excess. I'm having one."

Liam's eyes twinkled with amusement, but his tone sounded pouty, "But I have not recited the numbers of deaths caused by drunk drivers, yet." He looked at the dart board, "Ah, I have not played darts in some time." He walked over and picked up Walter's darts, smiling, and quickly threw them. They all clustered in the bull's-eye. "It is such a familiar feeling." He sounded thoughtful as his paw rested over his raven's feather. He shook his head, "Do you wish to have a game with me, Den? Or you, Dad?" He looked at the scoreboard, "My apologies, you are in the middle of a game."

Walter chuckled, "I know better than to compete with you in anything, son." Again, the slightly possessive emphasis.

Liam quickly glanced at his father, "I thought you enjoyed playing games with me, Dad. I greatly enjoy spending time with my father, and would be willing to play something else, should you desire. I am not familiar with billiards, if you wish to play once you finish your game with Conor-san, Dirk-san, and Den." Walter looked a little mollified and ashamed.

Nathanial looked at Faeden; the name 'Den' seemed to fit, kind of wild, tough, and comforting at the same time. "It's a school night, so I shouldn't be out too late, but I'm all done my homework and studying. I noticed you were still doing your's, Geoff, so I should let you get back to it, soon."

Geoff took a sip of his beer, "I'm good, Nats. I just have my German homework to do, and I sleep less than you. I'll have lots of time after you go, whenever you go. Please, stay." Nathanial took a deep breath of the steam coming off his tisane, and smiled.

Liam walked over and placed a paw over Nathanial's heart, "You have been stressed recently? I note that you have been taking your medicine, the last dose within a half hour." He frowned and moved his paws across Nathanial's chest, "It is most potent. The last dose of the day change to one drop, I do not wish you to have so much in your system prior to sleeping. It was likely useful last night, but I wish to be cautious with this." He looked at the tisane, "If you feel at all fatigued after taking the medicine, do not have any of the tisane, likewise if you experience vertigo, nausea, loss of magical ability, weakness, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, or death." He tapped his chin in thought, "No, a correction, if you die you may drink as much tisane as you wish. It will not harm you at that point."

Walter burst out laughing, "You joked! I can't believe it, you actually cracked a joke!"

Liam nodded, "Indeed. I have done so a few times in the last couple weeks, it is still not a common occurrence."

Den spoke, sounding confused, "But, Poppy, you used to joke around all the time."

"I am not Lowell, I am Liam. I am far more serious than I was as Lowell, though I do appear to be relaxing under the influence of my love and my friends, for which they have my gratitude. Not that I wished to change, but that I have peers with whom I am comfortable and accepted for who I am... and was. Please note, Den, that the change of body and some of my personality does not change my love for my... for you, however we wish to describe our new relationship. Nor does my love for my previous family change the love I have for my current one." He glanced at Walter as he said that. Nathanial saw a slight relaxing of Walter's muscles, like a source of tension had been taken away. "If you wish to continue your game, please do so. I will go aid Faelen with his studies, or Geoff, if he desires. I am fluent in German, though some of the new terms are still somewhat unfamiliar."

Faelen nodded, "I should get some more done before we start supper preparations. About a half hour from now, I guess." He sighed, "Yeah, the last few years of coasting really didn't help. If Geoff wants to go over some of his German homework with you, I could use Nathanial's help in our Integrated Sciences homework. Otherwise, I'd be grateful for your help."

Geoff finished off his beer and gathered up the empty bottles, "May as well let the adults finish up their game. I'll get my homework done and maybe freshen my breath." He glance hopefully at Nathanial as he said that, Faeden looked a little queasy.

Dirk looked at Faelen, "Go on, Son. I can get supper ready myself, or someone else could help me if they want." He glanced at Walter, who smiled slightly and nodded. Den rolled his eyes as the pups trooped off through the kitchen toward the basement.