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Chapter 114: The Ties That Bind

Nathanial sent the dishes out to the kitchen as soon as supper was finished and stood up. "Dad, why don't you give Aunt Naomi a quick tour while I talk to Nanny?"

Garret nodded, hardly betraying the relief he felt. "Sure, that sounds like a good idea. I'll start upstairs." He quickly stood and offered his paw to his former sister-in-law to help her up from the table. She looked shocked, then pleased, and accepted the proffered paw. Garret eased her chair back as she stood, looking completely serious as he repeated a gesture Nathanial had only ever seen in movies... old movies. Nathanial doubted Geoff would ever do something like that for him. Garret kept Naomi's paw and led her around the table. "If you'd follow me, Miss McKay."

"Of course." They were just leaving the dining room when she softly added, "But call me Naomi. You are my brother, even if Lily's dead. I mean, brother-in-law." They vanished from normal sight, but Nathanial kept an eye on them for a moment longer.

"'Till death do us part, Naomi, and she is dead." Garret smiled, shaking his head. "But I'm not hitting on you, if that's what you're worried about. I just find the touch of a beautiful woman's paw soothing, and -- after a dinner with that witch -- I could use some soothing."

Naomi made no attempt to remove her paw from his and even let him tuck it into the crook of his elbow. She ducked her head and looked aside demurely as her ears turned a pale coral.

Rosemary didn't see or hear the latter part but she still grimaced after her son left the room. "His wife's not even cold in her grave, and he's already playing the field...with his former sister-in-law. Disgusting."

Nick snorted. "Please._Don't act the prude, Nanny. I'm sure Mom and Dad were _both 'playing the field' for years, and I'm just as sure you wouldn't care if it was anyone else other than Dad. If you're going to get after him for something, don't have a double standard. You said he would've been better off with Naomi, anyway."

Nanny stood up, chuckling. "You're right, Nick, but let's head downstairs so I can talk about the reason I came over."

Nathanial led them out of the dining room. "I assume it involves Nick? If not, he needs to get ready for kung fu, and so does Micah." The 'getting ready' was more in the format of 'easing some sexual pressure' than anything else, but he wasn't going to say that in front of their grandmother.

Nick looked surprised, and his stride faltered. "Kung fu? I thought we wouldn't be going because Aunt Naomi was here."

"No, you two were going to be going, but it sounds like Dad and Naomi might be joining you. We'll see about that, though. I figured you'd get bored and wander off downstairs anyway, so you might as well keep your routine." Nathanial glanced back at his grandmother and ensured the doors at the top and bottom of the staircase were closed. "So, is this about Nick?"

Rosemary nodded. "Yes. We still haven't had any sort of hint about Gordon's whereabouts yet." She opened her purse and pulled out some medical equipment, including a needle and some tubes that looked like they'd store blood samples. "I need to examine Nicholas if I'm to have any hopes of figuring out what's going on with him." She noticed Nathanial staring at the test tubes. "Magic often manifests in the blood more than anywhere else. I need some comparative blood samples from you two; Micah's blood will be useless -- if I even had a chance of convincing you to let me take some -- and so is Garret's. Verdru, the Nosferatu who took Garret, really altered my son's blood even beyond what Demon Taint does to other Demon Mages."

Nathanial frowned. "So Poppy's blood is useless, too." He really didn't like this. She was right about Micah, though; he would've been furious at the suggestion, knowing what could be done with his brother's blood...but was his_blood any safer? The Hunters weren't looking for _Micah to be a blood sacrifice, they were looking for him. Or was it something other than blood that the Hunters were looking for? Nathanial snorted in his head. Doubtful. It was blood -- always blood -- and probably for the reason Nanny had just said. "So would the...alterations Garret suffered have been passed down to the three of us? Could his genes have been affected?"

Rosemary looked surprised and opened her mouth to answer right away but paused before slowly saying, "I...suppose? I've never encountered something like that before, but there isn't a database of Cabal members' blood samples or of their children's. Garret had markers most often associated with Vampires, and there have been at least two half-Vampires in the last century that had those markers present in their blood, too, and their children's. Granted, they also had a lot of the powers -- and weaknesses -- of their Vampiric parent or grandparent. I'll look for those markers while analysing both of your blood samples." She looked rather keen at the prospect of the proposed studies.

Nathanial kept stalling while he tried to figure out what to do; the more he thought about it the less comfortable he was with letting her anywhere near his blood. The way Fellwedyr, Micah's grandfather, had reacted to traces of his blood kept pushing its way into his thoughts, but mentioning that may put some dangerous ideas into the Cabal's collective mind. She may be his grandmother, but she was also a powerful Demon Mage and very influential with that evil organization. "How can you analyse our blood? Do you have medical training?"

That elicited a smug smile. "Yes, I was a nurse before I retired. I could've been a doctor, but this way I got to interact with more people more frequently and with a lot less attention being paid to me." That was a very...terrifying_thought. A -- what did Liam call her? An _Eidos Loimos, a Plague Demon Mage, moving virtually unseen through hospitals full of sick or vulnerable people for decades? Rosemary laughed at their expressions; Nick and Micah looked as horrified as he felt. "Oh, calm down pups. I can remove_diseases as easily as _give them. I get power just from being around sick people, so this ensured I kept my 'batteries charged,' as it were." She sobered up. "Now, let's get this done before Garret gets down here."

Nathanial resolutely shook his head. "No." Both Nick and his grandmother stared at him in surprise, even as Micah looked relieved. "You can do the rest of the studies, but the blood tests will be done with Liam present, and the samples will be destroyed once the two of you are done. Or kept here. There's no way I'm letting something that dangerous out of my possession. I told you what Gordon intended to do with Micah's blood, and Poppy told us that this...Verdru was going through a lot of trouble to keep Garret alive to use his blood, so what could happen with Nick's blood, or mine?"

Rosemary looked annoyed and hurt. "You don't trust me? You need that Ancient One -- someone with more blood on his paws than I have on mine -- to keep tabs on your own grandmother?"

Nathanial snorted. "I told you I don't trust anyone when it comes to my brother's safety. Liam won't be allowed to keep our blood either, and he'll have to study it with you present just as much as you have to study it around him." That wasn't quite true since he really wouldn't mind if Liam had asked to do the same studies alone, but in this singular situation it was true. Liam would be with Rosemary the entire time, and Nathanial wouldn't let the blood leave this basement.

The elderly Akita looked impressed and nodded approvingly. "Your sweet demeanour keeps tricking me into forgetting how hardcore you really are underneath. I'm glad I'm not on your bad side."

"Don't do anything to threaten my brothers, and you likely won't get on my bad side. Now, leave the needles aside, and we can get started."

He was rewarded with a half-smile and a wry tone. "The blood tests were the core of what I had planned, but I won't bother trying to argue with you. I recognise the tone from Wallace; arguing would be futile." Rosemary turned to Nicholas. "I'll need you to take off your clothes."

Nick turned to look at his older brother, surprised. Nathanial nodded and said, "Go to my room; you can do the exam in there." Nathanial turned to Micah. "Go get your kung fu gear together, and Nick's, too." Micah slowly walked off toward his room, glancing back suspiciously at his grandmother as he did so.

Rosemary took her ivory pendant from around her neck and put it in a pocket before she undid the top button on her blouse; it looked like she was keeping everything away from her neck...just in case Nathanial felt the need to strangle someone. She quickly picked up her medical gear and followed them to Nathanial's room, then stopped outside the doorway. "Let me know when you're ready." When Nick walked around the door and began stripping just out of sight, Rosemary turned to Nathanial and said, "This would be easier with an exam table, but most of the normal exams can be done more quickly and accurately with magic."

"The tetra-bioscan formula makes one of those blood pressure things obsolete. Thermometers, too." He paused. "Why do you need a vial of blood to study? Can't you study the blood while it's in us? The type-three biochem scanning formula can pick up quite a few chemical markers -- like cortisol and adrenaline -- easily, even in the middle of other magic, like teleportation magic."

His grandmother looked surprised and impressed. "Those are common medical spells, for good reason, but not many people know about them outside of the medical community." She snorted. "Such as it exists in the Society. I'm really surprised that you know about them."

Nathanial smiled wanly. "I ran into them a few times."

"Well, yes, a lot of tests can be done without a discrete sample, but the ones I need -- or I think I need -- are susceptible to interference. Any magic, like a focus or someone's ambient energy, can affect the result, and Wallace's sources say you're prone to radiating large amounts of uncontrolled magic. Thus, those spells require very precise wards to be set up to block any outside influence, which means lots of time."

Nick poked his head around the doorframe. "I'm ready."

They walked into Nathanial's room, closing the door behind them, and Rosemary took out her gear. She took a pad of paper and a pen, then cast several spells in quick succession, writing down quick notes with each one. Nathanial was pleased he recognised the tetra-bioscan amongst the quick barrage. She got a lot of data from those spells, judging by the array of numbers and abbreviations scrawled on her pad. She stepped up to the aloof-looking pup and created a small globe of bright light to check how his pupils dilated, then proceeded into a far more normal check-up -- including the check for a hernia. Nick's composure took a hit at that. Having sex with his brothers seemed to be one thing, but having his grandmother poking around his balls was another.

Then Rosemary asked, "How often do you orgasm a day?"

Nick shot an embarrassed and beseeching look at his older brother. Nathanial just shrugged and nodded; it was a valid question when looking for the influence of a Succubus. Nick sighed. "Uh, I dunno. Twenty-five, thirty times?"

Rosemary smothered a cough. "Oh. Skin back your sheath, please, I need to look at your shaft for signs of abrasion."

Nick did so, looking like he was trying not to sigh again. "I know a spell that creates a lube that's a lot better than commercially available stuff. I don't rub myself raw." His shaft was visibly free of any scrapes or rough spots.

His grandmother nodded approvingly. "Yes, I know the spell you mean; it's in the Succubus Grimoire. It works in many surprising situations, like getting stuck corks out of bottles. It's non-toxic and has no flavour, too, so there's no problem using it in the kitchen, and it has a high smoke point, so it can be used in a workshop for short periods of time in a pinch." She took his testicles in her paws and rolled them around for a few seconds. "When was the last time you ejaculated?"

"Just before supper."

"And how do you feel now?"

"I need to get off. It's not too bad, but I can feel it building up."

Rosemary jotted down a few quick notes. "You're shaped a lot like your grandfather, adjusting for your age, but your testicles feel a little swollen. Have you noticed any drastic changes in texture or sensitivity over the last few months?"

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I was Tainted by a Succubus. Of course I noticed a change. They're constantly tender and feel full, like I haven't gotten off in weeks. I can cum four times in a row and still have several more in reserve. Before Beriatana fucked with me, no. No noticeable changes -- nothing sudden, anyway."

Nathanial cleared his throat. "Language, Nick."

Rosemary smirked. "That's good, Nick. And Nathanial, I think 'fucked with' is a very appropriate phrase, in this case." She became a bit more serious and professional again. "I didn't notice any lumps, so it looks like you don't have testicular cancer. Both of you should check for that every time you shower; roll a testicle in your paws, and check for any sensitive areas or hard lumps. It's best to do it in front of a mirror because the lumps can be visible through the thin skin and fur of the scrotum. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men, and it's one that rarely gets talked about." She smiled evilly at Nathanial. "You could even get Geoff to check for you."

Nicholas laughed when Nathanial looked away with his fur fluffing up in embarrassment. Nick added, "Oh, I'm sure they're very familiar with how their junks feel. There isn't any chance of lumps going undetected for long with those two."

A sudden scream from upstairs put a stop to the joking. Nathanial darted out of his bedroom as he sent his mind upstairs. Naomi and Garret had just walked into the sitting room, flicking on the lights, and saw Snow...err, the Snow-clone...the smaller pack-member poke his head over the couch to look at them curiously. The massive Shadow Mastiff, while a good bit smaller than Snow, had scared her accidentally, though the Mastiff didn't seem upset about it.

Garret put his arm around her, comfortingly. "Don't worry, Naomi, it's just Snow. He's one of Nathanial's friends." Garret peered at the dog for a second. "I_think_ that's Snow; he looks a lot smaller than normal. Snow?"

The Mastiff's tail thumped against the couch, and he climbed off of it to sit on the floor at the edge of it. Nathanial sent a quick thought to his father. *That's one of the smaller members of Snow's pack. He wanted to eat some of the food I'd made, but he also wanted to run around the Plane of Darkness, so he went back and brought over this one. Don't forget that the whole pack is one consciousness -- I know I often do -- but this is still Snow, for all intents and purposes.*

Garret nodded and addressed Naomi. "Nathanial just confirmed that this is Snow, sort of. The Shadow Mastiff is from the Elemental Plane of Darkness and he's actually twenty-odd dogs that share one consciousness. The one I'm familiar with is much larger than this one. He often gives me a start when I see him, too. Oh, and Snow can talk to Nathanial and Sensei, but not us. He understands English but can't speak it."

Naomi looked at Snow uncertainly. "He's sentient? I mean, you are sentient, Snow? I don't mean to talk about you like you're not even here. I-I'm pleased to meet you." She stepped toward the dog with a paw extended.

Snow woofed quietly and lifted his paw. Naomi shook it before stepping back nervously. Snow sent a quick thought down to Nathanial. *This one amuses us. She is full of fear but acts despite it. We see you in her, Alpha.*

Does that mean he_amuses Snow? Nathanial tried to squelch the thought before Snow caught it. _*Um, that's good. I like her, too.* He turned back to the people downstairs; even Micah had his head poked around the door to Nick's bedroom and was watching Nathanial. "It's all right, everyone. Snow just startled Aunt Naomi."

Rosemary shook her head. "Small wonder. That beast is enormous and looks unnatural, especially those eyes. I've seen friendlier looking Demons."

He wasn't sure if he should be offended for Snow or not. "Snow isn't 'a beast,' Nanny." He turned to Micah. "Hey, Sprite. Do you have everything ready?"

His baby brother nodded. "Yup! Snow didn't do it on purpose, did he? He likes scaring people, sometimes."

"No, it was just an accident. I think we're almost done here, so go brush your teeth." He walked back into the room, shepherding his other brother and his grandmother ahead of him. He closed the door behind them. "You are almost done, Nanny?"

She nodded. "Without those blood samples, yes. Most of this was just a standard physical..." She trailed off for a second. "Hmm, there are a few spells I could cast to try to get more information on his chemical makeup, but I don't have them in my grimoire, and I don't think they're in the Succubus Grimoire, either. Is it all right if I take a saliva sample and a sweat one? Both carry some chemical markers that may give some insights."

Nathanial frowned. "You're talking about pheromones, right?"

Rosemary looked a little impressed. "Yes, actually...but no, too. Pheromones are just part of it. Most bodily fluids change composition based on what's going on in the body, whether due to illness, diet, stress, or any number of other causes."

Nathanial's frown didn't fade as he thought about it. There really wasn't any known risk with what she was asking for -- other than the stories about how some spells were easier to cast on someone when you had part of them, even a single strand of fur or nail clipping. The same stories often said it was also easier if you were a family member, but they were just that: stories. He had no idea if there was any truth to them. "All right, but then Nick needs to get ready for kung fu."

Rosemary pulled out a few tubes with cotton swabs. She took two and passed them to Nick. "Here, swab the inside of your left cheek with this and the right with this one." Nick did and his grandmother took the tubes, sealed them, and marked them. She took out two more. "Lift your left arm." She swabbed his pit then repeated the process on the right. Once she sealed those, she packed up her purse. "I'll have to track down a grimoire with the spells I need, so I won't get anything useful -- if there is anything useful to get -- for at least a week." The elderly Akita directed her attention to Nathanial. "Set up a time with that Ancient One as soon as possible. Wallace and I are retired and are staying at our condo downtown, so I can be here whenever necessary. If there are any answers to find, they're going to be in those comparative blood tests."

Nick looked visibly relieved. "So we're done?"

His grandmother chuckled. "Yes, dear. I'll leave you alone." She gave him a hug. "See you later."

"Bye, Nanny."

Nathanial ushered her out of his room. "I'll escort you to the door, Nanny." He raised his voice. "Micah! Nanny is leaving!" An indecipherable noise came from the bathroom. "Right, he's brushing his teeth."

Rosemary trotted over to the bathroom and walked in. She kissed the top of Micah's head. "I love you, sweetness."

Micah smiled up at her with a frothy mouth, toothbrush dangling precariously out of one side, and gave her an awkward hug as he tried to keep from messing up her blouse.

Nathanial escorted her upstairs in time to meet his father and aunt as they re-entered the kitchen. "Nanny is leaving. Are you done with the tour?"

Garret's shoulders relaxed little, but he still looked like a walking mass of tension. "I was going to show Naomi the gym, but that can wait for another day. Nicholas and Micah are getting ready to go?" While they were talking, Rosemary and Naomi were making their farewells.

"Yes. Is Aunt Naomi going to kung fu with you? I'm sure Lily had some clothes that'd be appropriate and fit well enough; Aunt Naomi is only a little taller." Nathanial looked at the Fox appraisingly. "Yeah, some of her yoga clothes would fit -- they stretch -- and some shorts would, too. Actually, a lot of Mo-- uh, Lily's tops would. Naomi is a little longer in the torso, but Lily was, um, _fuller._I think they would look very nice."

Naomi blushed at the frank comparisons between her and her deceased sister, turning the insides of her petite ears coral pink, again. Her fur was long and soft enough to make it very hard to tell if it was fluffed up at all. "I don't think I _want_anything she ever owned." She composed herself. "Besides, I wasn't going to go participate in a class; I was just going to go talk."

Garret almost looked disappointed that he wasn't going to see her in yoga pants. "Well, if we're going, we have forty-five minutes before we leave. I'll go get ready and you two can make a quick run to Rona. It's only five to ten minutes down the road."

Rosemary put her paw on Nathanial's arm. "Then, if that's all settled, why don't you scuttle off and get changed, Garret? I'll be spending more time here for the next little while."

Garret swallowed a sharp retort and almost managed to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Lovely. I look forward to it." He turned and stalked off.

The Plague Demon Mage chuckled. "You must've been pretty severe with him to make him even _that_civil, Nathanial."

Nathanial shrugged. "I only told him to be polite." He led the two women to the door.

Naomi looked disturbed by the hostility, but tried to joke to lighten the mood. "So, um, who's the father, again?"

Rosemary cut in before Nathanial could answer. "Obviously it's Nathanial. Every relationship is balanced on comparative power, and Nathanial has it all. Now, to a more pleasant subject. Why don't you want Lily's clothes? She had great taste...other than her taste in men, and I doubt she wore most of her clothes more than once. You could find some very nice things, and you'd be helping them get rid of her presence in the house."

Naomi grimaced at that. "By bringing her into my house. I don't think she ever set paw in it, and I don't want to invite her ghost over."

Nathanial looked down. "Her ghost isn't around. We'd know." Rather Liam would know; Micah might, too. "She's..." Well, likely not at rest since she'd probably be in Tartarus. "...gone to her afterlife." Why? What drove her to do all of that? Why was she so angry, so hurt? What did he do wrong? Was he such a bad pup that he made her hurt him like that? Drove Dad away, too?

Tentative arms enfolded him just as the spectre of his mother began to reappear -- he hadn't seen her since Ireland. The comforting arms drew him back to reality. He expected it to be his grandmother hugging him, but it was Naomi; Rosemary was looking at him in fading confusion.

Naomi's voice was soft and soothing. "It's all right, Nathanial. She is gone. She won't hurt you or betray you ever again. You have people that love you and will care for you here, now. I'm one of them. You deserve to have people like us around you, and you_didn't_ deserve to have my sister. There's nothing you could've done to make any sane mother sell her pups out like you said, so don't even think that you did. It was all on her."

'That... That doesn't make sense, though. Moms just don't try to kill their pups -- it goes against the very concept of motherhood.' His logical mind started to reassert itself. 'That's why she isn't my mom. She may have given birth to us, but that's where it ended. Lily isn't my mom. But... But why!?' He clung to his aunt like she was an anchor as he willed this storm of doubt and guilt to pass.

Nathanial sniffled and stepped back. "I-I just wish I could ask her, 'why?'"

His grandmother snorted. "Because she was an insane and vicious bitch. 'Why' doesn't matter; she's dead, gone, and you're well free of her. Let the gods deal with her and the questions of why. You just forget her and get on with your life. Don't let her wreck something so precious as your happiness."

Naomi frowned at her elder. "It's a very valid question, Rosemary, and a very natural one. Unfortunately, it's one you'll never get to ask, Nathanial. Knowing the answer, if you could get an honest one, might help bring some closure, but it's impossible, now. In some sense, your grandmother is right; it's in the past, and, while it will always be a part of you, you mustn't let it consume you." She put her paws on his shoulders and looked up at him. "Now, let's go get the soil and pots so we can plant those roses Geoff gave you, all right?"

Nathanial smiled timorously and Naomi stepped back with her own worried smile. Rosemary wrapped him in a hug and kissed his cheeks. "That's better. Your smiles are too sweet to hide, dear." She stepped back. "I'll call you when I have news."

"Yes, Nanny. Thanks for everything."

Rosemary trotted out the door, fishing in her purse for her car keys, and called back over her shoulder, "That's what grandmothers are for, dear. Don't hesitate to call whenever you need help!"

Naomi and Nathanial followed after her and got into the Civic just as the Ferrari revved to life. Rosemary backed it up a bit before sending the car squealing around them in a tight circle and sending it flying toward the gates. Nathanial quickly opened them to let his grandmother go speeding off into the night, grinning as she went.

Naomi shook her head. "She's a surprising woman. She seems pleasant enough, but I get the sense that Garret's warnings aren't entirely unjustified." She turned the key and carefully brought the Civic around and up to the gate.

Nathanial let her ease the car onto the road and slowly brought up to speed before answering. "They aren't. They're completely justified. Be extremely careful around both of Dad's parents and pray you never meet his foster brother." Nathanial sighed. "Nanny and Poppy can be very nice and are willing to do a lot to help us, but they..." There just wasn't any way to sugar-coat it. "They're evil."

Naomi's head jerked around and she stared at him, aghast. "Evil? Isn't that melodramatic?"

"Not in this case. They. Are. Evil. That doesn't mean they'll go around massacring people on a whim or betray people for kicks, but they're coldly calculating and have no compunctions about doing whatever is expedient to achieve their goals. I have no idea what those goals are, but the methods they've used to achieve the little bits I do know are...horrific." Nathanial sighed, feeling soiled for even being associated with them. "They genuinely care for us, but what they think is best for us isn't necessarily so. Don't trust them."

She turned onto the road by his school. "Then I'd agree with Garret. Cut off all ties with them."

Nathanial shrugged. "They're family. Blood-ties can't be severed like that. Besides, I need them to deal with a very serious matter that only they can help with."

His aunt glanced over with an inscrutable expression. "So, you're using them?"

He didn't like the sound of that, but at the same time...wasn't it true? Was he just as bad as them? Did it matter, since this was Nick's fate hanging in the balance? "She...offered. There weren't any coercion, threats, or promises made. I, um, I don't know. I-I know who they are inside, but they're still family. I care about them."

She smiled and reached over to take his paw without taking her eyes off the road. "Then it's all right. That is what family is supposed to be and what we're supposed to do for each other." She released his paw and put it back on the wheel in the two o'clock position, just like he'd heard it was taught in the text book. Maybe he should get it and start studying for his driver's test.

The car turned smoothly onto the road leading into the Bayer's Lake business park. They remained silent until they'd parked and walked into the store in a swirl of people.

Nathanial looked around him with wide eyes. "Wow. I didn't think it'd be so big."

Naomi looked at him curiously. "You've never been here or in Home Depot?"

Nathanial shook his head. "No reason to. I always got a contractor to do all the repairs, and they bought everything that was necessary. All my other shopping was either online, through one of the local shopping companies, or I took my brothers to a mall for our everyday clothes. I've never been here or in a grocery store or anything else like that."

The curiosity turned to shock. "You cook like that and you've never gone shopping for groceries!?"

He ducked his head and scuffed the floor with his hindpaw, then shook his head quickly. "N-No. I order groceries through a local company. I send out my list every week; they buy it all and drop it off at my door. They know my standards, and they've gotten used to the brands I like, but they often send out suggestions when they think there is something I might like or prefer. The tuna we had was one they suggested." He looked around him. "We should hurry and get what we need."

"Do you want to look around first?"

Nathanial shook his head. He had planned on scanning the store as they walked -- it was a lot quicker. "No, thanks. I can see it well enough. Besides, we're on time constraints, and I don't like the crowds." Which was true; people were bustling about buying stuff for the holidays -- there were lots of displays for the Christian Christmas holiday and the Hellenic Solstice one, not to mention Samhain and Halloween -- along with general supplies to prepare for the approaching winter. Which reminded him, he still needed to get winter boots for everyone.

Naomi smiled kindly, as if she understood the anxiety large crowds could cause. "This way." She led him to the garden centre while his mind flitted about the store looking at everything. Some of it was of absolutely no interest as he had_no_ idea what it was for, but the majority was obvious -- planks of wood were, well, planks of wood -- and was rather boring since he didn't need it. It was obvious Naomi was familiar with the store as she led him directly to the proper place and grabbed the ten pots, a large bag of soil, a watering pot, and some fertilizer.

At the till Nathanial pulled out his credit card as the cashier rang through the merchandise. Naomi looked somewhat surprised, amusing Nathanial. He smiled timidly. "I did say I made all of the purchases for the house. Lily got really annoyed with me coming to her with lists of things I needed her to write cheques for so she got me this. She quickly gave up even asking for receipts or checking the statement each month -- too much work." He pondered momentarily. "I don't think Dad even has access to this, it was only in our names."

The cashier interrupted politely. "That will be $35.62. Do you have an _Air Miles_card?"

Nathanial held out his VISA. "Um, no, it'll be on VISA. Is Air Miles a different type of credit card?"

Naomi pulled a card out of her wallet. "No, it's a rewards system _Rona_participates in."

The cashier scanned Naomi's card and addressed Nathanial. "Please put the chip in the bottom of the machine." Nathanial quickly did and followed the prompts.

As they left the store, Nathanial chuckled. "Lily would be horrified that we got the cheapest pots. She'd insist on getting more expensive ones just on principle. Well, that and the clay ones looked nicer."

Naomi sniffed. "That's just stupid. These are temporary; the roses will probably need bigger pots before long, and they're going to be planted outside in the spring anyway. Why waste money? I'm all for buying nice things when it's warranted, but not for the sake of buying something just because it's more expensive."

The McKay sisters were so different it was hard to believe they were related, but when Nathanial looked down into her gold eyes he could see his mother looking back at him. For a moment he almost felt transported back in time, to a place he could never consciously find, where Lily did laugh and smile at him. Where she did hug him and said she loved her darling pup. But the sound of a revving truck brought him crashing back to reality. No, she'd never had any humour or warmth in her expression when he was around.

Naomi reached for him but withdrew her paw before it touched his arm. "Are you all right?"

Nathanial blinked back tears -- Dad was right, he really was a cry-baby -- and turned away. "Yeah. I just... I saw Mom, before things went bad, in your eyes. You have the same eyes, except yours aren't full of hate."

His aunt's breath caught for a moment. "Garret said the same thing, minus the 'hate' part. He may hide it, but her death has upset him a lot." She sounded like she was trying not to laugh. "He even stopped flirting for a while, so you_know_ he had to be hurting."

Nathanial unloaded the cart and climbed into the passenger seat. "He's right, though; you are very beautiful." He knew every trace of visible skin was bright red after he said that; he couldn't believe he said it out loud.

Naomi was also blushing furiously and she struggled to remove her tail from between her legs so she could climb into the car without sitting on it. "I-I, well, um, thanks." The silence hung awkwardly over them for the entire trip home.

The awkwardness faded as they carried the materials around the house and through the back door to the workspace next to the gym. Nathanial had carefully levitated the roses downstairs as they walked, so they sat in their vases along the bench by the time Naomi and Nathanial got there. He frowned at the roses. They had sat in direct or indirect sunlight the entire day but they looked worse than they had in the morning. The petals were now over half black, fading into a deep red near the middle, but the flowers looked like they were trying to close back up into buds. Interestingly, right in the middle of the flowers, tiny droplets seemed to cling to the velvety petals and sparkled with a silvery light. The rose stems were a deep green-black, and the leaves, while almost curled up into tight needle-like shapes similar to Liam's favourite tea, were now black on the exposed bottom and silvery-green on the top where it was visible in their tube-curls.

"They didn't look like this this morning. I had them on the counter out of the way, which meant pretty far from the window, and they seemed full of life, even if they were turning black."

Naomi was frowning in confusion, too. "That's very odd; roses need direct sunlight. There's only a few varieties that can tolerate less than six hours of full light. They need quite a lot of water, too. I'd keep them where you had them in the sitting room and keep an eye on them. If they start wilting or getting discol..." She trailed off and shook her head. "That's not going to help. The petals should start dropping soon and the leaves are certainly discoloured already. I'd look for splotches of discolouration in this case. Well, call me if things change and you have questions. Let's get these re-potted."

The process was simple enough, and, using magic, they had all ten in a nice pot of dirt in short order.

Garret called over the intercom just as Nathanial began to pick up the pots telekinetically. "I'm leaving in ten minutes, Naomi. Are you sure you don't want to grab some clothes in case you want to join our class?"

She seemed to consider it, glancing over at Nathanial a few times, before shrugging. "It won't hurt. All of those Monks use kung fu?"

The young Akita shrugged and answered his aunt. "I don't think it's the required style, but the few I know about do."

Naomi sighed. "I may as well. I'm on my way up."

Nathanial smiled at her and sent a quick mental message to his father while he began cleaning up. *Naomi is on her way up; she doesn't plan on joining your class, but she'll take some appropriate clothes just in case.*

*Great! Are you going to go with us? You didn't make it to your own class today.*

Nathanial pondered that for a moment. *No, I'll crash the class with Si Fu Jim tomorrow; I should study the books I got from Mr. Doull -- the ones dealing with the teleporter. Having some quiet in the house will be nice. Have fun.*

Garret sounded warm but exasperated. *That's what I should be saying to you, Nathanial. Have some fun. I won't argue, though; I know getting that thing fixed means a lot to your friends. You can do it, Son.*

*Thanks, Dad. I love you.*

*Ditto.*