by Diane Lennox
Leander nodded. He knew his grandfather was right.
“Now finish your soup and try to get some more rest. I don’t think your sleep last night was very good.”
“Okay,” Leander said, he was still feeling rather worn out even if his fever seemed to have gone down. “When are you going to try to talk to Marius-khan again?”
“Soon. I’ll probably phone him tonight to tell him I’ll be taking over and that I talked to Lazarus. I’ll ask him if he still wants to repair things with Lazarus, and if he does, I’ll propose that we wait just a bit longer so that everyone can finish cooling off. I know Lazarus isn’t quite ready to face them yet. Does that sound good to you?”
“Mmhmm,” Leander hummed in agreement while he ate up his soup like his grandfather ordered.
Now that his grandfather said he was taking over the situation with Marius, and that he’d help Leander learn what he needed to learn to be Shar, Leander felt more at ease. He knew the whole situation had been stressing him out, but he hadn’t realized just how much until suddenly the stress was gone. It didn’t dim his ambition though, and he was still eager to help in whatever way his grandfather felt was appropriate.
Once his soup was finished Leander headed back upstairs to go back to sleep in his own room. He was more comfortable there and when he woke up he wanted to be where Simon was likely to be. His nightmare was still bothering him, but confessing his worries to his grandfather helped, and now that his other stresses were taken care of he felt like he could calm down and rationally think about his jealousy without doing anything rash.
He really didn’t want to fight with his brother any more. Leander had had enough confrontation between his brother and father to last him quite a while.
~~~~~
When Pasha Scarlett came storming out of the university after his classes were done he was not expecting to see his eldest brother waiting for him by his usual tram stop.
“Ezra!” Pasha called out to him and ran over, colliding right into his older brother and hugging him tightly. “What are you doing here?”
Ezra returned the hug, picking him right up off the ground for a moment before setting him down and letting him go. “Evgeni let me go early.”
“Did everything go okay?” Pasha asked, it wasn’t like Ezra to willingly leave work early.
“I’d say so, yeah, I think it was just a lot for Evgeni to take in and to be honest it was rather rough for me too. I, um, am still not entirely sobered up yet either. I had a few drinks to help me talk to him about certain things.”
Pasha’s eyes went wide. “You were drinking?”
“Just a little. I am old enough, you know,” Ezra teased with a little wink.
“Of course I know that! I’m just surprised, you like never drink.”
“I’ll tell you why that is when we’re not around so many people. Now come on, we’re gonna go pick Alice up too,” Ezra said and started walking off in the direction of downtown.
“Will he be done early too?” Pasha asked, walking alongside his brother, having to nearly take two steps for every one of Ezra’s.
“No idea,” Ezra replied with a little chuckle.
“Ezra!” Pasha cried, but laughed as well. “You totally are a little tipsy, aren’t you?”
“I wasn’t lying,” Ezra replied with another wink. “So how was your day?”
Immediately Pasha’s expression darkened. “I’ll tell you when everyone is here. Shit went down.”
“Are you okay?” Ezra asked, his brow furrowing in concern.
“No. I’m pissed,” Pasha replied. “Now stop asking until I can tell everyone at once.”
“Alright,” Ezra agreed and affectionately mussed up Pasha’s hair.
The pair then continued talking about more neutral subjects, mainly about how they hadn’t seen Alice’s parlour in a while and how they were both eager for the weather to warm up so they could exercise outside again.
Tranquil Treats – Alice’s massage and relaxation parlour – was situated on the north end of downtown and took up two floors, not because it had two levels, but because Alice wanted a tall ceiling so he could put in a little waterfall. The entire place past the reception was like a mini luxury rainforest. There was the waterfall, a little stream, a pond, plants growing everywhere, as well as extremely comfortable couches and of course a high end massage table. Alice wanted people to forget the world outside when they came into his parlour and Pasha felt he definitely succeeded in that.
Of course, their father, Rex, had thought Alice ridiculous for spending so much money on his space. It had taken Alice quite a while to pay it all off, so he wasn’t actually making money at first, but Alice refused to back down. Making his parlour exactly how he imagined it was very important to him and he didn’t want to upgrade it in bits and pieces, he wanted it all done right off the bat.
Ezra and Pasha approached the large stone building it was a part of and both just smiled at the door to Alice’s parlour. It was painted a lovely pale blue with intricate woven flowers along the edges. Yuri had helped Alice with that years ago.
They quietly made their way inside and took a seat at the reception once they saw the “busy with client” sign. Alice didn’t have a receptionist, which made his brothers a little nervous sometimes, but Alice was the type of man who preferred to trust in the good nature of people and didn’t worry about having someone man the front. He instead left a pad of paper out for people to leave messages if they liked and also his business cards if they wished to call later.
The wait wasn’t long and soon the wooden door on the right opened, revealing a very athletic looking gentleman and Alice close behind, the two of them making their way up to the front counter to sort out payment. As soon as the man was gone Alice’s professional demeanour immediately faded away and he quickly ran over to give Pasha and Ezra hugs.
“What are you two doing here?” Alice asked excitedly.
“I got done work early and wanted to pick up all my brothers,” Ezra replied with a grin. “So get your stuff and lock up, we’re going to go see Yuri next.”
“Oh yay!” Alice cheered happily and went about closing up.
“Hey, Ezra, you were supposed to tell me why you don’t drink normally,” Pasha said, suddenly remembering their conversation from before.
“Were you drinking, Ezra?” Alice asked.
“I was, I needed to so I could get through my talk with Evgeni,” Ezra replied. “And I don’t normally drink, because, well, if I did I don’t think I could resist Yuri.”
Pasha immediately looked to Alice, hoping his older brother would know what to say to that, but Alice was mirroring Pasha’s expression right back at him.
“If you two tell me not to give in, I won’t. I’ll figure something out. But… but I can’t keep saying no to him, not when I’m saying no for the wrong reasons,” Ezra said, looking between his younger brothers.
“But if Rex-fahn finds out…” Alice said, fidgeting with his skirt.
“I don’t intend to tell him or to start something there, but yes, if something happens between Yuri and I there is that risk. At some point that’s going to come to a head no matter what though, I’m just hoping that when it does I’m more ready. As for Yuri, I don’t intend to actively pursue anything with him, but if he starts something again, I may let it happen. Is that okay with you two?”
Pasha let out a groan and ran his hands over his face.
“You can say it’s not, Pasha, I promise I’ll listen to your needs as well,” Ezra said, reaching over to rest one of his big hands on Pasha’s knee.
“It’s not that,” Pasha said, shaking his head. “I just… fuck. I know what I need to say and I’m not sure if I can.”
“You can say anything to us,” Alice said this time, taking a seat beside Pasha on the little bench. “You don’t need to be scared or embarrassed.”
Pasha turned and wrapped his arms around Alice’s waist, hiding his face in his brother’s shoulder. “B
ut it is embarrassing!”
“It’s okay, we won’t make fun of you,” Alice said, kissing at his hair.
Pasha squirmed as his heart started to race. He knew he had to speak up, but what he had to say made him feel so insecure and uncomfortable.
“You can’t laugh, either of you,” Pasha said, still hiding.
“We won’t laugh,” Ezra promised.
“And you can’t say it’s stupid.”
“I really don’t think it will be,” Ezra replied.
Pasha clung tighter to Alice. “Fuck, this is so awful. I just… ugh! If you two do something I need to be around and I’m not sure if I’m ready! I know that’s absolutely disgusting, and frankly it makes me feel kinda nauseous, but, but I know I need to at least hear it. Fuck,” Pasha swore again and shuddered. It did make him feel extremely uncomfortable, thinking of his eldest brothers getting intimate, but he knew in his gut he had to be near, he had to be a part of it even just a little, or else he was going to feel like he wasn’t a part of their pack. “I haven’t done anything myself yet! I haven’t even kissed someone! I’m not sure if I’m ready to be around something so… intense.”
“I think I understand how Pasha feels, at least a little,” Alice said softly, sounding embarrassed himself. “I know I’m curious but… but if it happened all at once… it may be too much for me too.”
Ezra nodded slowly, seeming to be considering their words. “So you both need to be there too.”
Both Pasha and Alice just nodded, twin blushes on their cheeks.
“I guess I can assume you’re okay with it then? In general?” Ezra asked.
“Yes,” Pasha said. “Just, can we take it a bit slowly? I know it would be hard on Yuri, being teased, but… but this isn’t just between you two. This is about all of us.”
“I feel the same as Pasha,” Alice said, giving Pasha a little squeeze.
Ezra nodded again. “Then that’s what we’ll do. If something comes up again, I’ll tell Yuri what’s going on – that I can feed him a little, but we’re moving at your guys’ pace, and then I’ll leave it up to him what he wants to do.”
“Is that okay with you, Pasha?” Alice asked.
Pasha nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not gonna lie, this is really weird and kinda grosses me out.”
Ezra chuckled. “That’s alright, I can see where you’re coming from. The thought of you guys watching me do anything with Yuri makes me pretty uncomfortable too, but I know it wouldn’t feel right to me either if you two weren’t there.”
“And speaking of Yuri, shouldn’t we go pick him up? I gotta ask him a big favour,” Pasha said. “But don’t ask me what it is, I’ll tell you guys all about it once we’re all together.”
“Sounds good,” Ezra said and stood. “Let’s get going.”
Alice quickly went about locking up his shop then the three of them made their way to the east end of downtown to pick up Yuri at the Aurora House of Beauty – their grandfather’s high end beauty salon.
They didn’t venture too far in though, not wanting to disturb anyone at work, and simply told reception to let Yuri know that they were waiting for him once he was done.
Luckily for them the wait was short and Yuri came hurrying up to them all ready to head out.
“What a lucky man I am, having three handsome gentleman pick me up,” Yuri teased with a grin.
“And what lucky men we are to get to enjoy your company,” Ezra said with a wink and wrapped his arm around Yuri’s shoulders. “Come on, we’re heading home.”
They grabbed a tram then walked the last five minutes to the Scarlett home, all four of them quickly washing up before meeting in Yuri’s room and gathering on his large bed.
“So, how did your meeting with Evgeni go?” Yuri asked once everyone was settled in.
“Um, overall good, I think. He… he didn’t really know how to handle the fact that I’ve killed someone before and that I’m struggling with that. He suggested I keep talking to Marius about it instead.”
“I think that may be for the better,” Alice said. “Marius seems to have a very level head and doesn’t seem to spook easily.”
Ezra nodded. “I think it may be better too, and to be honest I’m sort of impressed that Evgeni admitted he couldn’t deal with it. I thought he’d be too proud to admit that he couldn’t do something.”
“It does make him seem more trustworthy, at least when it comes to helping you,” Yuri said.
“Mmhmm,” Ezra hummed in agreement. “He, um, got me to talk more about the uh, sexual side of things. Which was awkward. Like I already told these two, I definitely was drinking during that. During all of it, actually, but especially that.”
Yuri chuckled softly. “I suppose it would be awkward to talk to a complete stranger about that sort of thing.”
“Exactly,” Ezra said with a smirk. “But I don’t have time to be shy. He also realized something about me that I had never considered before, and it’s making me feel a lot better. He initially said that we need to work on me being more pro-active, but then afterwards changed his mind and said that perhaps me being more passive is actually how I am. He said I should strive to be a fortress, something that can attack and defend when necessary, but otherwise can remain passive. I dunno, maybe it’s a bit silly, but the metaphor works for me. I like the idea of being a fortress, protecting everything I love.”
“It’s perfect,” Alice said, smiling at Ezra with open adoration. “Our big strong fortress.”
“I think it fits you quite well too,” Yuri said. “Helps that you’re built like a fortress.”
Ezra chuckled. “Yeah, there is that. He also said he thinks that’s how I should play Mordred as well. That I should actually play him sort of as a friendly devil, only showing my dark sides in key moments. But I think that means I’ll have to really be scary when those moments happen to make it the most effective.”
“Indeed,” Alice said, nodding in agreement. “I could see it being really cool though. And, to be honest, I’m looking forward to seeing you play a villain. I know you’re still not super keen on it, but I guess I want people to see how powerful you can be. I want them to see what would happen if they were to ever cross my big brother. It makes me feel proud.”
“Really?” Ezra asked, seeming genuinely surprised by Alice’s words.
“I think so too,” Pasha said. “I love that you’re the nicest guy ever and that everyone looks up to you, but I want to see you kick some ass.”
“Even if it’s actually scary?”
“Yes,” Pasha said then sighed. “I’m gonna be really blunt here and say that I’m tired of you being meek. I’m okay with you being friendly and caring, that’s who you are, but you aren’t meek. You’re strong and brave and yeah, a little scary. I want to see that again.”
“I think we’d all like that,” Yuri said softly, looking down at the bed. “I know it would help me.”
“You know, you keep saying it’s okay for Yuri to have all these sides to himself, but you don’t seem to think it’s okay for you to have darker sides too,” Pasha said and reached across to poke Ezra in the chest. “Well guess what, we’d love those sides of you too. We’d love all of you, just like we love all of Yuri.”
“It’s true,” Alice chimed in.
Ezra smirked and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I suppose you make a good point. Makes it easier to understand you now too, Yuri. It must be hard to always feel scared that you’ll do something we won’t like, even if it’s not true.”
“It is hard,” Yuri said and moved to cuddle against Ezra’s side. “But perhaps it’s something we can work on together.”
“Yes, we will,” Ezra said, wrapping an arm around Yuri. “But enough about me for now. I know you had some stuff you needed to say, Pasha.”
“Ugh, right,” Pasha said and groaned, feeling his agitation bubble up in his chest once more. “Fucking Soren attacked me in the hallway at school today. Crazy kid just tackled me right to the groun
d and caused a scene. Then, when he realized he was causing a scene, told me to go with him. I tried to tell him no, but he said he’d keep fighting me even if we got suspended, and I couldn’t very well have that.
“Anyways, he takes me way over to the business building, traps me in a bathroom with him, and just goes on and on about shit. Tells me how mad he is about losing Rafe to Paris, and that he can’t stop thinking about me, but then goes on to say how I’m strange looking and annoying and stuff. He basically said he hates that he wants me and then the fucking idiot says I should be his. I told him no, I won’t be his, because I won’t be with anyone who talks to me like that and if he wants any chance with me he better get over Rafe too because I’m not being fucking second pick.”
“You want him to pick you at all now?” Yuri asked.
“Yeah, I do, and it fucking sucks,” Pasha said and hugged his knees to his chest. “I don’t want to want him either, but that stupid prick… He’s talented and smart and artistic and yeah, unfortunately, I think he’s hot. I like how his eyes look like amber when he’s all pissed off and I like his dreadlocks and I like how strong he is. After wrestling with him I can vouch that he’s as strong as I am. And, well, I want to make him want me, like honestly want me. Um, I was hoping, Yuri, you could help fix up my style a bit. I think it’s time I updated.”
“For that asshole? Seriously?” Yuri asked. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes,” Pasha said with a loud groan. “I’m gonna make him work for it and change that shitty attitude of his, but yes, I want him. He said that I made him realize that Rafe was never going to be strong enough mentally or physically for him and I get what he means. I think we both need someone we can push around and that can push back, and I think in some ways that can make us better. You already said it, Alice, I’ve gotten better in school because of him, and it’s true. But yeah, I won’t be dating him until I know he can treat me right. Even if it all makes sense, I won’t settle. Of course we’d probably always fight, but I need to know he can support me and make me feel good about myself.”