by Emily Wilson
“Sweet shadows, thanks for reminding me,” he says with a louder laugh. “It's already hitting him like a Caelim blast, I was kind of hoping he's almost through it.”
“I don’t think Deadrun had the um... resources for him to get through that stage completely. Shadows, I don’t think I’m fully over mine. Every time I see you it feels like I’m thirteen again... especially when you’re taking a bath.”
Azrian blushes beautifully, then clears his throat and glances back toward the house. “I don't really understand. I mean, with all the tests they ran on you guys, it shouldn't be surprising that not everything happened like it should've, but... really? You think it even affected something like that?”
“No.” Kato cackles to himself at the fact that Azrian didn’t get that he was joking... but then again, he isn’t very good at jokes. “If you tell someone they’re assed, is that wrong? Even if they’re being fired?”
He squints, then sighs and grabs Kato’s hand to place it on his head. “Just take it. Take it all, or you’re going to kill me with this stuff.”
They both know Kato doesn’t need to touch him for this, but they enjoy the contact all the same as he navigates his way around Az’s mind. He focuses on the correct swear words and how they’re used, and it's a lot to remember, but maybe he truly doesn’t want to. Having Azrian explain things to him is far too much fun — and at this point, he doesn't think either of them will complain about that.
3 The Drum
The construction on their new home is just about done when Roe insists their porch needs to be longer, but it fits nicely with the other projects they already have planned for the day. Kato doesn't mind the labor; the cool breeze feels nice in the sun and seeing as he hasn't had a task with the praelex for a couple of days, he’s starting to get antsy.
“Shadows!” Kato hisses, sucking his thumb into his mouth. “I missed the nail.”
“Careful, Jellycrai. I need those hands to be in one piece,” Az says, causing Ronan to groan. “Good thing you're part Sana, right?”
Kato chuckles and focuses on the split nail as it starts to heal. “Good thing I’m learning how to control it. The other day, I saw a human hit his head on some bricks and I was able to help him. He didn’t even need to see a real Sana after.” Beaming, Kato wiggles his thumb at Az so he can see it’s as good as new.
“You're a real Sana too, Kato,” Ronan says. “You're just also a real Cogitare, which is awesome!”
Az nods his agreement and kisses the tip of Kato’s thumb. “Yeah, what the little one said. It's not like you haven't had plenty of practice healing me over the last four months.”
“You always come home with a new cut... and not the fun ones,” Kato says without thinking. His eyes widen when Ronan looks at him like they’re completely mad and he realizes what he said.
“Sweet Cettia,” Az whispers, his face redder than the paint they're supposed to be applying. “I'm running away.”
Ronan frowns. “Don't do that. I know there are... things that happen when you guys close your door. I'm not a child anymore.”
“Yep, definitely running away.”
“You’re not allowed to run away. I’ll just follow you,” Kato promises. Nut chitters from the chair and lets Kato know he’s coming too. “Fur balls, too.”
“Don’t forget about me,” Ronan pipes up. “See... you might as well stay.”
The way Azrian tries to fight a smile is adorable. “Fine, but can we please stop talking about this?” He slaps the brush against the small shed and moves slightly to allow Ronan’s energy a better path to light his way. “Do you want us to start asking questions about what you do behind closed doors?”
Ronan’s blush is almost as cute as Azrian’s, and he shakes his head as he focuses on his task. They fall into an easy silence as they finish painting the shed, lengthen the porch, clean up the garden and mend the fence that blocks the front of the house from the view of passersby.
They're starving when they finally make it inside, but Kato’s devastated when they find out that Rhix made them everything but sweetbread for dinner. Even still, it feels good to fill his stomach after working all day, and they're just about to go take baths in the river when a voice Kato’s never heard before speaks directly into his mind: “Don’t be alarmed, little brother. I know you can hear me. We just want to talk.”
“Little brother?” Kato says out loud as he rushes toward the door, hardly hearing Azrian call out to him. “I’m listening... where are you?”
“Outside. Will you see us? Riley wasn't sure when she sent us here. We waited in hopes she'd report back, but we haven't heard from her and didn't want to wait any longer. I think we've wasted enough time, don't you?”
“Yes,” Kato responds. Hope blooms in his chest as he dashes out and looks around their yard, and he waves when he spots three figures in the distance. “Azzy! They’re here!”
Az follows quickly, and Ronan comes out as well with Axis and Nut. Though Kato worries his brothers might be wary of approaching a giant valianis, he relaxes as he watches them walk closer despite Axis' noticeable presence.
“Breathe, Kato.” Az stands close, feeling almost as nervous as Kato himself. Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the visitors to reach them.
“I'm guessing you're Kato,” the taller one says, reaching out for a handshake. He has tight curls covering his forehead with warm orange irises to match. “I'm Teagon, but I guess you could call me K5.0. Prefer you didn't, though. Left that name behind a long time ago, so did K7.0. He's Aleon now.”
“Yeah... me too. Glad Riley told you my chosen name.” Kato shakes their hands enthusiastically, happy Aleon’s pale yellow eyes are just as welcoming as Teagon’s when their gazes meet. Lastly, Kato turns toward the third man and tilts his head. “And you are?” he asks, refusing to look into any of their minds. The last thing he wants is them looking at him like he’s just another nosey Cogitare.
“They just call me Zero. I was born K4.0,” he explains in a voice that's grating and high-pitched. “I'm sure you've been dying to meet me.”
This is the first Kato’s heard of him, but he smiles and agrees instead of being rude. “Well, this is my boyfriend, Azrian, and that’s Ronan. The furry ones are Axis and Nut, they go where we go.”
Teagon ruffles Ronan's hair. “We heard about you. Youngest little hero in all of Athoze. How'd you get stuck with these two?” he teases.
“Stoppit.” Ronan huffs and tries to fix his hair, but it's impossible now that it’s nearly as long as Azrian’s. “They took me in, I can't complain.”
“Sure you can,” Zero argues. “I complain constantly about these two, but it's better than the alternative.” He stomps toward the door and opens it on his own, walking in without waiting for permission or anyone to introduce him to the others in the house.
The rest of them just stare. “Um,” Az starts quietly, “Aleon, right? Is he always like that? Just a no-boundaries kind of person?”
“Yes.” Aleon nods, sighing like he's had to deal with it for a very long time. “Zero is... complicated, but he's our brother. It's surprising what we’re willing to deal with for family.”
Azrian seems to take that as his cue to go elsewhere; he offers them a salute and Kato a reassuring squeeze before he follows the smallest brother inside.
“Do you all live together?” Kato asks.
“That’s another complicated situation.” Teagon looks around with a heavy sigh. “I take it you’ve heard of our other brothers?”
Kato nods, a frown forming on his face when shame radiates off of the two before him.
“Well... seems they helped us find that line. You know, what we’re willing to put up with for family.”
Riley never mentioned them being shadowheads. She didn’t say much about them at all, but hearing that they’ve pushed these two so far away is worrisome. “Okay... but not Zero, right?”
Aleon shrugs. “He’s pretty harmless. They treat him like an outcast, so
he comes to stay with us every so often to stroke his ego. Regardless of how annoying he is, we still treat him like a person.”
Hearing two of his brothers are decent helps settle something in his stomach, but he still worries about the others. “How many are there? Do we have sisters? Please... I want to know everything.”
“Easy, easy,” Teagon laughs. “There's a lot to know, and I don't wanna overwhelm you. We’ll tell you everything, but we want you to get to know us before we kill the mood talking about the rest of them.”
“That’s fair. Want to go on a walk? I can give you a tour of Embermeadow.” Kato grins, because as much as he wants to know about the others, he has two right here in front of him... three if he counts Zero, but he doesn’t seem too keen on getting to know Kato, so he’ll take what he can get.
Teagon slaps Kato on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble, but Teagon just laughs. “Sorry. But yeah, let's go! Show us what the nightlife is like up north.”
“Nightlife?” Kato tilts his head. “I imagine it’s more of the same. I normally stay home around this time with Az and Rone, but I can still show you the shops and all that. It’s unfortunate we can’t see the Simbian at night, but I’ll show you in the morning sun.”
The looks he gets from his brothers make him wonder if they're actually twins. “Wait,” Aleon says. “You actually have been to the Simbian Forest? I thought Riley made that up.”
“I don’t know Riley to lie, but yes. We traveled all the way to Etria through the Forest — that’s where we met Axis and Nut — and then to Sastrya. You guys have never been in the Forest?” Kato asks as he leads them toward town, where the streets are much slower now that the sun has set.
They swap stories of travel and exploration as Teag and Aleon duck into shop after shop, never staying in one for more than a few minutes. They don't buy anything but food, but both look fascinated by the way Embermeadow folks do things. “So, do you work around here?” Teagon asks, taking a huge bite of cheesy bread.
“Yeah. Well... kinda. I’ve been working with the praelex for a couple of months, but they only just recently offered me an actual job. I’m helping free innocent humans. What kind of work do you guys do?”
“Aleon’s in the transport business and I do construction. Building houses and buildings for scrawny Prae like you guys,” he says playfully, shoving Aleon and grinning from ear to ear.
Aleon rolls his eyes and disappears, reappearing just behind his larger brother and flicking him in the back of the head. “You're ridiculous, Teag. You need a hobby.”
Kato laughs loudly, feeling much lighter than he had before they arrived. So far, they’re everything he’d hoped they’d be. “I used to wish I was an Itinerae.”
“It comes in handy,” Aleon agrees. “So, you're freeing innocent humans?”
“Yeah. There were some crooked praelex locking them up and I don’t think that’s right. Why should an innocent rot while a shadowhead Praediti gets to roam our streets?” Kato watches them, and he’s pleased with the reaction he sees. Once again, he doesn’t have to look into their minds to see they’re good.
Teagon opens his mouth to respond but spots a couple of Tactare passing by and his expression changes. “Hold that thought, little brother. And uh... maybe don't wait up for me, I'll find my way home.” He winks and takes off after them, and Aleon steps up next to Kato to watch as Teagon wraps one arm around each of the Tactare’s shoulders.
“He won't be home until morning. But you should know, we do support your cause. Humans are better than we are in a lot of ways.”
Kato looks back at where his brother disappeared to and then begins walking home with Aleon. As they’re nearing the river Kato normally bathes in, they hear some sort of pounding that makes Kato stop in his tracks. “What’s that?”
Aleon raises his eyebrows at him and chuckles. “The music?”
“Music?” Kato furrows his brow and listens closer, realizing for the first time that the banging actually has some sort of pattern. “Music,” he repeats, his feet carrying him forward into some trees to the west.
If Aleon struggles to keep up with his strides, he doesn’t complain. If anything, he looks amused. “Yeah, music. People play it on instruments and sometimes people dance.”
Kato remembers some of the noises that used to come from the box at Deadrun. It only worked with Videre around, but sometimes it would show people dancing on the screen. That music sounded much different than this, though Kato can see the appeal of both.
When they reach a clearing, they find a small group of Praediti sitting around a fire. One Viribus is pounding on something round with his hands and two women twirl around the flames — and one of them, he recognizes. “Morella?”
They all stop what they're doing and stare in surprise. “Hi. Do we know each other?” she asks, her fingers naturally reaching for the other woman’s. When the light hits their faces the correct way, he can see them properly: Morella is Caelim, as Kato has seen in Azrian’s mind, but the other is an Oculare.
“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Wait.” Morella takes a step forward. “I’ve seen you around.”
“I live close by, I’m sure you have.” Kato looks at the two other Praediti that are sitting on nearby logs and recognizes both of them as Igneme. He thinks of Vaelyn and decides to withhold judgment. “I’m Kato. This is my brother, Aleon.”
The female Igneme stands and walks over to greet them both, but her attention is firmly on Aleon. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ferna. This is my brother, Frankin.”
Aleon returns a gaze just as lustful as hers and Kato almost misses when the Viribus, Maikel, and the Oculare, Jame, introduce themselves. “Well, carry on. Your round box sounds pretty cool.”
"It's a drum," Maikel explains with a strange look on his face. “Don't tell me you've never seen one before.”
“Not in person. The ones I saw people would hit with sticks, not their hands. And I didn’t know what they were called.” Kato wishes Azrian were with him, but when he remembers that Morella was mean to him, he changes his mind. “Is this your girlfriend, Morella?”
She smiles so warmly that it's hard to believe it's the same girl he'd seen in Azrian’s mind. “Yes, which means you can't have her,” she jokes.
Jame giggles, nudging Morella as her eyes dance. “I don't think he's interested, but it's good to see this side of you anyway, Rel. I was beginning to think you didn't have it in you.”
“You bring it out in me.” Morella laces their fingers together and nods to Kato and Aleon. “Join us. I think Ferna wants a dance, Aleon.”
“I wouldn’t mind a dance with the tall one,” Frankin adds, studying Kato in a way that has him standing straighter.
“Oh... no.”
Aleon facepalms and snorts a laugh. “He’s married. Looks like you guys just get me.”
“I’m not married... yet. Do people marry here?” Kato asks as he sits on a log.
“Yes, of course. It’s normally just music, ale, and a promise to the gods, but it’s just as real as marriages in the olden times,” Jame explains as she pulls Morella in, and Maikel watches them closer than he probably should — but Kato opts not to point that out.
Time passes quickly after that, and none of them seem to tire from Kato’s endless questions, nor does he feel judged for being a Cogitare. It’s almost nice enough to make him stay longer, but when the ale they’ve passed around has his stomach feeling warm, he bids them farewell and makes his way back to Azrian. The walk feels longer than ever before, and if he trips a few times along the way, at least no one is around to see.
WATCHING ZERO TOUCH everything in Azrian’s house is driving him nuts. It’s well past midnight and Kato still hasn't come home — which means Azrian’s been stuck with a Praediti he knows nothing about for hours, and he isn’t even sure where Kato went. “Just... stop,” Az says for what feels like the hundredth time. “Don’t touch that. Aren’t you tired yet?”
Azrian bristles. He knows that’s true, but Azrian didn’t invite anyone — Kato did, and then he disappeared. “I didn’t say that. I’m just asking you not to touch literally everything in your path. I just cleaned in here.”
“Are you saying I’m dirty?”
“Dir—”
“Yeah, it sounds like that’s what you’re saying.” Zero runs a thick finger over the top of the mantle and scrutinizes it in the low light cast from the fire. “This looks dirty. Are you sure you actually cleaned? Or maybe you’re just too short to reach it.”
Everything about that is offensive, but Azrian’s too exhausted to even argue. He gives up trying to control the Oculare and simply heads for Roe’s room. She’d left with Rhix after about five minutes in Zero’s presence, which Az finds almost funny. The one time he’d prefer she wouldn’t leave is the one time she actually does.
“I’m hungry,” Zero whines. “Do you have food here?”
Az whips around to find Zero in the doorway, and hastily pushes him away from his mother’s room and toward the kitchen. “You are a grown man. Make your own food.”
They find Nut trying to sneak into the cupboards again and the whole situation is enough to make Azrian want to scream. Zero butts in and pets the raccanis’ head which just makes it worse. “Don’t encourage him,” Az hisses, shooing Nut off the counter. “He shouldn’t even be in the house. Go find Axis.”
“Pretty sure it’s against Regnum law to have a valianis as a pet,” Zero accuses, poking him in the chest with that dust-covered finger. “Isn’t K8.0 a praelex?”
Azrian swats his hand away and takes a step back, sucking in a shaky breath. “His name is Kato. Yes, he technically is a praelex now, but I don’t understand your point. Axis isn’t my pet, he’s here because he wants to be. And if you don’t stop poking me, I’m going to let him eat you.”