Chapter Text
Immortality was deceiving, like the wrong jacket cover on a book. In theory, all the time in the world was the ultimate desire. In practice, it meant an endless stasis of banality, reading an entire library three times over and repeating meaningless goals. A neverending cocktail party as humanity repeats its failures and history in shamelessly pitiful revivals. Which is likely why the vampires of the Volturi crave any gossip they can get their hands on. Making details regarding most interactions between Alec and me a hot commodity. I was unaware of just how much entertainment we provided until today.
I was minding my own business when the stool beside me scraped the floor, followed by the one directly across from me as Felix and Demetri joined me in the kitchen. I had long since traded out a cold bowl of tomato soup for my sketchpad, and their arrival hardly phased me.
"Is that a train?" I shrugged my shoulder, pushing Felix's arm away.
"Don't touch."
Demetri settled across from me and leaned over the island, "what are you drawing?"
I huffed, pushing my hair out of my face and sitting up. "Something I can help you with?"
"Can't we check in with our favourite girl?" Felix threw an arm around me with a shit-eating grin.
"Err…I guess?"
"How'd you ditch bodyguards one and two?" My eyes widened because, of course, they would notice that Talib and Percy were not standing outside the entryway into the kitchen. As they very well should have been, by Alec's orders. Bossy git. It wasn't as if it mattered. The walls of the castle were practically soundproof, unless you were engaging in an unabashed shouting match - as Alec and I often were. But even then, vampire hearing still struggled to decipher one word from the next. And since most individuals were not as...involved as Alec and I, it seemed to work for the Volturi.
I swallowed, trying to say as casually as possible, "I told them that Jane and I were practicing."
"And Jane?"
"She said I was too chaotic, so she thinks I'm napping."
"And your boyfriend?"
"Alec doesn't need to know." My pencil found its way to Demetri's forehead. I narrowed my eyes at Felix as he laughed at his friend's expense. "And he's not my boyfriend."
"How'd you know who I was talking about, then?" I grit my teeth at the catch, pointedly ignoring the question and continuing to shade in the bowl in my lazy drawing.
"What do you two want, anyways?"
Demetri and Felix sent each other pointed looks. I pretended not to notice. "We have a question."
Sighing as if it were the greatest inconvenience, I reached for my water and relented. "Hit me." The bastards waited until I took a sip from my glass.
"Rate Alec on a scale of 1-10."
I nearly choked, "excuse me?" My mouth continued for fear of what would follow their request. "I haven't even seen him since he got back."
"Aww," Felix cooed with a smug expression. "Does somebody miss their moody little boy toy?" Before I could go off on him, Demetri refocused us.
"It's only a question."
"Don't worry, Fiya. Demetri is convinced you and Alec have broken the sacred seal of the first kiss." Demetri snorted. "But I know that if such a thing ever did occur, we'd be the first to know."
"And why is this information you two would even want?" Their ulterior motive had driven them from considering the rationale of how ridiculous of a question it was.
"Bonding!" Felix answered quickly, almost making me doubt my suspicion-led assessment. "You can't exactly talk to Jane about her brother, so we thought we might offer our open ears and soon-to-be wealthy wallets for you to confide in."
"What do your wallets have to do with anything?"
"In case you needed ice cream. You know, if you were sad or anything."
"I'm pretty sure you guys are all caught up," I confirmed absently. "As I said, I haven't seen him."
"And how does that make you feel?" I faltered, but tried not to let it show. The truth was, the last four pages in my sketchbook were of the same scenery as the page currently open in front of me. They were identical images to the half-finished painting on the canvas in my room and the chalk drawing on the wall. I hadn't been able to draw anything else since I'd last laid eyes on him. It was like some kind of compulsion. Alec made me feel calm, and the memory I'd painted on this page made me anything but.
I narrowed my eyes at them in turn. "You guys are being weird."
They ignored me. "Two days. What are you fighting about this time?"
An exasperated sigh left my lips, "we're not fighting."
Demetri nudged Felix as if to fill him in, "the abbey."
"Yeah? So?"
Felix raised his voice an octave, "you were so incensed, you didn't even say goodbye!" Drama queen.
"That is literally the opposite of what happened." I cocked my hip. "Dude. You were both there for that conversation."
Two days ago, Alec had specifically led us into a room that Felix and Demetri were already occupying so he could tell me about the second half of his trip. His casual attitude about Felix and Demetri's presence caught me off guard, but the oddity was quickly forgotten when Alec revealed he had gone to see Misha. My Misha.
And apparently, all three men had expected a wildly opposite reaction than the one I gave, which resulted in a relatively short conversation. In fact, it was one of the first real mature discussions Alec and I probably ever had. It was almost progress. Demetri, who expected to receive at least half of my anger (Alec's only reason for telling the story in their presence), was not half as disappointed as Felix. He'd wanted a front row seat to me taking a swing at Alec. Apparently, our tedious arguments had grown boring for him, but it seemed he'd found a new area of Alec and I's situation to tease us about.
"It astounds me how you're so calm about the 'nun' of it all." Felix sniggered at his poor wordplay.
I shrugged, briefly remembering how Alec's free hand brushed a few wisps of hair from my forehead, with his eyebrows knit and his eyes concentrated on the details of my face. He expected I would hate him for going without me and without my permission or knowledge.
"Because it's the closest I think I'll ever get to closure with the nuns. And I never would have done it myself – even if I could've." I was only vaguely aware of the sentimental smile on my face, but the other two were prepared to use it as ammunition. "I'm grateful, really."
A cold hand went to my forehead as if testing my temperature. I smacked Felix away. "Bugger off, would you?"
"No," he jeered. "I'm guessing he's a 7. What say you, Dem?"
I scoffed, "I'm pretty sure you were already told that was none of your business."
Demetri placed a hand over his unbeating heart, "we tease because we care."
"Really, it is a harmless question." Debatable, but I let it slide. "Unless you've no one to compare to –" My eyes widened, and I glanced away before I could stop myself. "Oh my 'Metri! She has kissed a boy."
"I never said that!"
"The bet is for her and Alec, doofus."
"Bet?" They looked back and forth between me and their counterpart. "Jig is up, guys. What bet?"
"Bet? Psh, what bet?" Demetri slapped his forehead at Felix's poor attempt to cover their tracks.
I tilted my head back and forth indecisively. "You know who might find this interesting? The twins. I'll call them."
"Ha!" Felix mocked arrogantly. "With what phone, shorty?"
I smirked, took in a big gulp of air, "A–" and barely got a sound out before Demetri's hand covered my mouth. My giggles were muffled behind it, so I poked out my tongue, making Demetri snatch his hand back.
His lip curled, "you're a little menace." I grinned, and he nodded to Felix in defeat.
Felix sighed, giving in – as expected. "Allegedly, there may be a betting pool on whether you and Alec have been–"
I squirmed, jumping off my stool to emphasize how disturbed their actions were. "That's disgusting!"
"No, not like that." Demetri stepped in to reassure, sparing a glare for Felix. "We just want to know if Alec bucked up his courage and puckered up." Ew.
"Classy. Whoever lands you is a lucky gal," I sneered sarcastically. It did little to phase him; he was too intent on taunting me.
"We all know the guy's wanted a repeat of the night he gave you that hickey." My hand automatically went to my neck, making Demetri smirk as Felix babbled. "Honestly, we thought your time away would have done it."
Demetri pouted at the thought. "Hence my misfortune with this ruddy bet."
I snorted, ignoring the flutter in my stomach at the suggestive and accurate assumptions they had made. "He's gonna kill you both." I ripped a corner from my sketchbook, wrote three letters, and handed it over to Demetri.
"Eye oh – I O U? What is this?"
"I want in."
Felix slapped a hand on the table in protest. "You can't be in. It's about you."
"Nope."
"You're one-half of the entire thing."
I leaned back confidently, "nope. I'm not the one with the problem."
"You're always the one with the problem." I rolled my eyes, but didn't deny it. "Besides, it's not if you kissed but when. And you have too much control over that to be a fair player. So?"
"So, what?"
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."
Out of embarrassment, I defaulted to a denial. "Alec and I haven't kissed." I was proud of how definitive the statement came out, but it didn't get me completely off the hook.
They stared at me inquisitively, with all the charm and suspicion of a 1940's detective. Demetri broke first, "is she lying? I can't tell."
Felix chortled arrogantly, "her heart didn't skip a single beat. Quit stalling and pay up." Demetri grunted and reached into his pocket, handing over something shiny. That's it? That was all their bet required?
"Kid was raised by a con artist."
"A lie is a lie, and a truth is a truth, my now poor friend." Felix cheered, ducking a swing from Demetri.
"Wait." I squinted, considering what they'd revealed. "Betting pool? Who else is in on this exactly?"
Felix was quick, "that's confidential."
"That's bull–"
"No cursing."
I rolled my eyes. "This is ridiculous. Does Alec know you're placing bets on us?"
Their heads snapped to attention, and I broke my composure, breaking out into giggles the instant they responded. Relief spread across their faces. "Very funny, Fiya."
"But, seriously, don't tell him."
"Oh, I won't." I ensured, but then tilted my head side to side as if debating something. "For a price."
They gaped at me for a second before Demetri shook his head in despair and muttered to himself, "that's on us. Should've seen that coming." He cleared his throat. "Alright, kid. What do you want?"
My middle finger tapped my chin in mock contemplation, and I began pacing, milking their apprehension. "Hm…slave for a day is a good one, but maybe we should save that." Felix scoffed, but I settled my elbows on the table as my mind flashed to our previous conversation.
"I want to get drunk. Once."
"Nope!" Felix exclaimed, waving his arms back and forth in an X formation. He was dramatic, but this was an adamant rejection. "No way, Jose. Alec would kill us. What he did to Prosper would look like mercy compared –"
"Deal."
Felix did a double take, shaking his head back and forth like a cartoon and practically throwing himself over the table to get in Demetri's face. "Who are you, and what have you done with Demetri?" The leaner man shoved Felix away and crossed over to me.
He raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing me before offering his hand. "Alec can never find out." I agreed; it was mutually assured destruction.
"Not a whiff." We shook on it with Felix moaning in the background. "Next time he's out on a mission, it's go time." Demetri nodded with a great deal less enthusiasm as Felix flopped his head into his hands.
"We're dead men."
"You two," I waved my hand over them, "have a weird energy today."
"And you, missy," Felix playfully bopped me in the nose with a broad grin, "have one more question to answer."
With an exasperated groan, I asked, "is it about Alec again?" He nodded. "Is it gonna annoy me?"
"Definitely."
"Look, when Alec gave me that…." I waved my hand over my neck, unwilling to describe the mark aloud.
Demetri cut in with a smirk, "hickey."
"Yes." I spat, "that." They found way too much enjoyment in my mortification. "He nearly bit me. As in, could have killed me?" The reminder did nothing to dampen their moods. "Now that we can actually stand to be in the same room, Alec's a little too worried about maintaining control should a similar circumstance arise."
"Oh, we know."
"Then, what do you want?" I closed my sketchbook impatiently, my fingers running over the edges absentmindedly. "I don't have any answers when it comes to him. Your little bet is pointless, because, if anything, Alec and I are just friends."
Demetri dismissed me with a wave of his hand as Felix disguised a blistering laugh before inquiring in a somewhat uneven tone, "just friends?" Matching, mischievous grins grew on their faces, individual of the other as the phrase and all its meanings sunk in, but I remained oblivious for the time being.
However, I continued as if I needed to convince them, grabbing my dishes and bringing them to the sink. I rambled roughly, "he's got a lot on his mind with this new task force, and I'm just another complication. It's best if I don't–"
"Woah, woah, kid. Stop." Demetri caught my shoulders, turning me around and awkwardly trying to match my eye level. His suddenly sentimental, genuine tone made me squirm, the 180-degree shift in demeanour much too quick for me to process. "I guarantee that if you two have that awkward, serious, next step conversation, everything else will fall into place."
"Besides, Alec could handle that task force blindfolded. Kid's a mastermind."
Shaking my head, I dug in. "Friends isn't a bad thing. Nor is it an obstacle for more in the future–"
"So you want that; More?" I froze as Demetri prompted my words back at me. Words that had slipped out without contemplation. I didn't even know where to start.
Like good friends, for once, they let it go.
"We've got training. You want to come and cheer me on?" I shook my head, too busy ruminating. Felix nudged me, "Alec will be there."
My heart skipped, but I denied them again. "I think I'm going to spend some time in the library. Read a little."
"You sure? We didn't mean to make you all depressed and stuff."
"The opposite, actually."
Offering a convincing grin, I told them, "no, you guys are fine. I'm just a bit tired."
Reluctantly, they accepted my answer, leaving me alone in the kitchen with a rush of air as their parting words. Percy stood in the doorway after them, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. I smiled sheepishly.
She sighed, "library?" I nodded enthusiastically, quickly grabbing my sketchbook before following her.
The library was quiet, and as Talib closed the groaning door behind me, the smell of old books and linen overwhelmed the tense emotions that had taken hold of me in the kitchen. I exhaled calmly.
I stood in front of the doors, however, unsure of where to explore first. The library was still out of sync, and I still wanted nothing more than to organize it by genre, at the very least. It would be quite a daunting task. My stride took me elsewhere, and the guiding thoughts only made it to the front of my conscious once I stood in front of a shelf several rows down from the fairytale section I often enjoyed. I was unfamiliar with this new genre.
Vampire lore.
As I reached for a random book, a cold weight rested on my hip, and a roughish voice tickled my ear,
"Friends, are we?"