1x1 with x_fire

Maria came back into the room with Alexi's now sand-free jeans. She placed them next to his bag before ruffling in her own for something to wear. For now, jeans and a t-shirt would work. She heard Demitri following Kristen upstairs and glanced at Alexi. ''Uh, not yet.'' she murmured, pulling the plain white tee over her head.

Maddie knew better then to whine in protest like usually. She simply nodding, keeping the blanket around her as Demitri set her down. ''Ok...'' she murmured, thumb still in her mouth as she watched him leave.

Kristen was bent over, diggin in her suitcase for something to wear. She wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon. She turned as Demitri came in, tossing her black pants to the bed.
''Yes?'' Kristen murmured softly.

Alexi nodded, stretching out and sighing tiredly. He smiled at her, wrapping his arms around a pillow as he was lying on his stomach. He stretched out, arching his back, stretching it out. He was still sore, though, not as bad. He smirked, maybe he could try and take a bath later, provided he didn't get his casts wet, it could work. He didn't mention this to Maria though, she probably wouldn't be to impressed.

Demitri sighed, arching his eyebrow.
"Are you going out?" He asked, frowning a bit. He sighed, he was still upset about last night, and it seemed neither of them would be giving any ground. He ground his teeth for a minute, sitting down on the bed, watching her. He was confused, he knew something was up, after Alexi and Maria's conversation last night, and Kristen's evasiveness, he knew something was going on.

Maria paced around for a bit, waiting somewhat impatiently for Kristen, She brushed out her hair, tossing it up in a ponytail, and then proceeding to braid it. All the while, walking around the room slowly. She looked back at Alexi, smirking lightly and rolling her eyes gently at him.
"You'll be alright while I'm gone?" she murmured, tieing of her braid and lettig it fall to her mid back.


Kristen looked thoughtfully at her suitcase for a moment, finding the shirt she was looking for then. "Yea. We missed the catherdal yesterday. I still want to see it..." she murmured, going into the bathroom to change. She came back out wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black three-quart sleeve shrit. The cut was low, so Kristen had a white tank top underneath. She tugged at the loose sleeves for a moment before tossing her hair up into a loose bun.
She sighed, glancing around for a moment in thought. No, she'd hide her daggers after Demitri left the room. Sitting on a chair, Kristen pulled over her boots, putting them on and lacing them up carefully. "I'd ask Maria to come along but...I don't know if she wants to deal with being away from Alexi..."

Alexi smirked.
"I'll be fine, I'm sure Maddie and Demitri can keep me sufficiently entertained. Maddie's as bad as you anyway, she seems to think that when you're not here, she has to keep an eye on me because of my injury" He chuckled at the memory. He had been watching her and Demitri play in the sand, and had been about to go wading in the water, but Maddie had told him he wasn't to get his casts wet and glowered at him until he sat back down on the sand.

Demitri smirked.
"Maria's going with you, she's waiting for you" He shook his head, sighing and shaking his head.
"You have good hearing now, use it" He teased, he frowned, he didn't like the idea of her going out when she wasn't teling him stuff, but, she hadn't asked him to go, and he didn't feel comfortable leaving Alexi alone with Maddie just yet, not that he didn't trust his brother, Aleix probably couldn't keep up with Maddie due to his injuries.
"Have fun" He grumbled, a bit pissed now, he didn't mind her going out and seeing sights, but he also didn't appreciate being left out of what was going on. This entire thing was a bit wierd to him, he didn't imagine Maria denying Kristen seeing the Chapel painting, not if they had been right there. He had a feeling Kristen was lying to him again.

Maria grinned. "Aw she's so sweet." she murmured, leaning over to peck Alexi on the forehead. "I'll have to thank her later." she said, smiling and grabbing her sweater. She didn't feel like putting on a regular shirt, and Maria had a problem with walking into church in a casual tank top and jeans. It just felt wrong to her.
Tossing her purse over her shoulder, Maria smirked at Alexi before walking out of the room. Maddie meet her in the hallway. She was dressed in a pair of shorts that was designed to look as a skirt, and a regualr t-shirt.
"You're going with Mommy?" Maddie said, looking up at Maria. It wasn't exactly a question, and Maria silently wondered how Maddie knew. The child smiled and tapped her ear. Maria smirked, remembering Maddie could shift into a dog, and the animal had good hearing as well.
"Yes. We'll just be out for a little bit." Maria reassured. "Keep an eye on Alexi for me?" she asked, winking at Maddie and laughing to show she was just teasing Alexi.

Kristen rubbed her forehead gently. "Right.." she murmured, shaking her head gently. Her own thoughts had been keeping her attention for the past few hours. Kristen doubted she would have heard Demitri if he was calling her downstairs. She finished lacing her boots, blinking a few times as she pushed her jeans over the leather. Kristen did a quick check of what she'd need and realized all she was missing were her daggers.
"Kristen?" Maria called, standing outside the hallway. "Morning Demitri. Ready?" she asked, poking her head into the door.
Kristen blinked again and rubbing her forehead with the back of her forearm. "Yea..." Kristen said, standing up slowly, still trying to think. She walked over to her bed, reaching under her pillow where she kept her angels blade and careful slid it under the sleeve of her shirt. Kristen always carried the blade, so she doubted Demitri would think anything of it.

Alexi smirked,
"Have fun" He teased, shaking his head and stretching out on the bed. He heard her and Kristen talking, and figured they'd be gone. He shook his head, sitting up and sliding off of the bed. He walked out into the main part of the house, glancing up as Demitri came downstairs.
"Everything alright?" He asked curiously, 'Fantastic" Demitri snapped, though he seemed calmer then before.

Demitri sighed, "Hey Maria, have fun" He grumbled tiredly. He ran his fingers though his hair, "Maddie?" He called, he had to figure out what she wanted to do today.
"Oh hey" He said as he bumped into Alexi. He sighed, shrugging at his brother's questions before replying and glancing around for the little girl.

Maria glanced up at Kristen as Demitri left. The shifter winced but sighed deeply. She waved a hand at Mari's look, quickly slidding her two other small daggers in their hiding places at her shoulder waist, and in her boot. Maria raised an eyebrow at the amount of weapons, but said nothing.

Kristen sighed, pulling her ponytail tighter before nodding to herself and rubbing her forehead. Hopefully she would be alright without blood for a few more hours.She grabbed her phone, turning it on for the first time in the vacation. She lead Maria downstairs, only stopping to kissing Maddie's head and glance back at Demitri. She swallowed hard before kissing him as well. ''I'll see ya in a bit alright?'' she murmured, smiling lightly before pulling away from him and leaving with Maria.

''Daddy?'' Maddie asked, roaming around the house, trying to get a feel of where everything is. She gasped in surprise, running into Kristen in her expedition to Demitri. ''Mama?'' she frowned,confused now. Where was she going? Maddie watched, puzzled as Kristen kissed Demitri and then left. Maddie scurried over to Demitri, reaching up to him, wanting to be picked up. ''Where's she going?'' Maddie asked, worried.

Alexi sat down on the couch, "Bye" he called tiredly, stretching out and yanking a blanket down over him. He sighed, watching the TV with a bored expression, to lazy to even bother changing the channel. He frowned, hearing Demitri and Kristen, everything was still tense between them, and now it sounded like Maddie was getting torn up about it, which was really to bad.

Demitri frowned, "See you" He murmrued to Kristen, surpised as she kissed him. He was still upset, though she obviously didn't care, or was ignoring it. He glanced up, watching the taxi that someone had called back rapidly down the drive way. He shook his head, glancing around, Alexi was watching TV, and Madison, well, she was right in front of him.

"Hey kiddo" he murmrued, scooping her up and kissing her cheek. It seemed Maddie only called him Dad or Daddy when she was worried, which was fine, she was still adjusting to everything.
"Your mom and Maria are going to see more sights today I guess" He shrugged, smiling lightly at the little girl.
"What do you wanna do? I was thinking we could either play on the beach again, or just relax, watch movies, maybe build a fort out of pillows?" He wanted to distract Maddie from everything going on in the house.

''You'd better have a good reason for wanting this all to be a secret.'' Maria murmured, keeping her voice quiet as the driver took them away from the condo. Kristen slid her angel blade from her sleeve, holding it close to her thigh, passing her finger along the flat of the blade, being careful not the cut herself.
''I needed time to work things out.'' Kristen answered. Maria glanced at her with a small frown.
''Work what out?'' Maria asked.
''What I was going to do...''
''About the clergy?'' Kristen nodded. ''You said yesterday he's supposed to be dead...what do you mean?'' Maria asked slowly. Kristen had grown tense, her face slightly unreadable. The shifter checked her phone and sighed, hidding her blade once more.
''This is about Antonio isn't it?''Maria whispered. She remembered Kristen telling them she'd worked for the vampire when she was younger, only she didn't remember much due to that god-forsaken ring. Kristen rubbed her lips gently, staring out the window.
''In a way...''


Maddie looked out the door before back to Demitri. She smiled lightly at the idea of building anything, and going back out to the beach. She rubbed her stomach, which growled angrily.
''Do we have any cereal? I'm hungry...'' Maddie mumbled, looking down at her stomach then before back at Demitri.
''Maybe we can build the fort after breakfast?''she asked, her quiet voice sounding hopeful and curious.

Demitri smiled.
"I do believe we have some cereal, let's go look" He walked towards the kitchen, smirking at Alexi, who looked beyond zoned out as he lay, sprawled on the couch. Setting Maddie on the counter, he looked around the cupboards, finally finding cheerios. He poured Maddie a bowl, before adding the milk. He knew from past experience not to let the little girl pour her own milk, she tended to spill, everywhere.

"Sure, we can build a fort in the living room, use all the couch cushions and blankets" He smiled, "How does that sound?" He sighed, feeling a small pang in hs chest as Kristen got further and further away. She better have a good reason for this, and for lying to him.

Maddie smiled lightly, sitting with her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands. She grinned, sitting back as Demitri poured her a bowl of ceral and then her milk. She stirred her cherrios around before starting to eat. She looked up at Demitri with a small frown but nodded. "Ok..." she murmured, finishing her cereal and pushing her empty bowl away from her.


Kristen cringed as she steped out of the car. Mostly due to the pain in her chest but also because of the bright afternoon sun. Maria paid for the cab before walking around to Kristen, stopping her from walking into the cathedral.
"What?" Kristen murmured, staggering back a bit down the steps.
"Afternoon Mass...you can't just barge in there..." Maria said, looking at Kristen with shock.
Kristen rolled her eyes but sighed, finding a spot of shade and sitting down with her back to the cool stoned building.
Maria followed, folding her arms over her chest, pacing around lightly. "You don't have to do this...we can just leave...."
Kristen looked up at Maria with a look and the vampire rolled her eyes and continued to pace.

Demitri leaned on the counter, zoning out a bit. He wasn't really in the mood to do much, but he needed to keep Maddie distracted, mainly to keep him distracted. He glanced up as Alexi wandered in, wearing just his shorts.
"Maria forgot to dress you?" Demitri teased, ducking as Alexi swung a casted arm at him halfheartedly.
"Shut up" He grumbled, chuckling lightly. "Kristen ever tell you what was going on?" He asked curiously.
Demitri sighed, but shook his head. "No, she's driving me crazy" He ran a hand over his face, before glancing at Maddie, frowning for a moment.
"Whatever, I'll just deal, I mean, she's bound to tell me eventually, or I suppose we just go on being pissed with one another. I'm not going to 'cave' on this one, that's for sure"
Alexi sighed, but nodded, "Stubborn"

Maddie glanced up as Alexi walked in. She was finished with her cereal, and the empty bowl was still sitting on the counter in front of her. She played with a strand of hair, twirling it between her fingers gently, inhancing the curl, making the blonde hair bounce like a spring in her face. Demitri was still angry at Kristen, that she could tell just from the look on his face. She didn't know why Kristen was keeping secrets though...but judging about how emotionaly unstable she was last night, Maddie sort of firgured.
"She's just scarred..." Maddie murmured quietly, rolling her lips then, as if she shouldn't have said that. She looked between the two vampires before looking down in her lap. One thing Maddie knew, was that Kristen was rarely scarred. Her saying that, probably didn't help the suiation any...
"Can we build the forts now?" Maddie asked quickly, hoping Demitri wouldn't question her on the matter.


Maria was starting to become a blurr. "Alright my eyesight is better then the norm and you're like a blurry photograph right now..." Kristen murmured, still sitting in the shade of the church. She could hear the hymns from inside, saying that mass was almost over. Maria finally slowed down to a human pace, though she still refused to sit down and relax.
"I still don't understand."
"I'm not asking you to..." Kristen murmured. "If you want actually, you can go back to the house.."
That stopped Maria. "And what am I going to tell Demitri when he asks why you're not with me?" she said. "I won't lie to Alexi, or Demitri again." she said, shaking her head stubbornly, wincing as the church bells rang. Kristen cringed, gritting her teeth and waiting patiently for the twelve strokes of noon to pass. People started filling out of the church and into the sqaure. Standing up, Kristen rubbed her ears, which were still ringing before going up the stairs inside, closly followed by Maria.

Both Demitri and Alexi frowned at Maddie's statement about Kristen being scared.
"Oh" Demitri nuttered, before nodding.
"Sure, forts it is, do you wanna go get dressed first?" Maddie was still wearing her PJ's after all, and he doubted she wanted to stay in them all day. He chuckled, picking up the little girl and setting her down on the floor.
"Go get dressed" He murmured, shaking his head and smiling lightly.

Alexi smirked, though he caught Demitri's slightly worried expression. He shook his head shrugging his shoudlers lightly and looking at his brother and watching Maddie scamper off.
"Worried?"
"A bit, I don't like not being informed about what is going on" Demitri responded, nodding for Alexi to follow him to the living room.
"Maddie ask you about your scar yet?"
"Nope, I'm sort of suprised that neither her nor Kristen has mentioned it"

Maddie pursed her lips and shrugged lightly as her answer. She let Demitri pick her up and set her down and she nodded before running off to her room. She continued to listen to Alexi and Demitri though, still trying to work out how to do that without shifting into her husky. She could sharpen her eyesight with little to no problem, and at this point it helped her when she needed to think. Her hearing though was still a little iffy.
Taking her time, Maddie looked through her suitcase for something to wear. In the end, she settled for a blue and green sundress with different flowers printed all over in a nice pattern. Smoothing the wrinkles out, Maddie skipped back downstairs.


Benny saw her first. He swept her back into another hug, making Kristen stiff in surprise. He held on a little longer than Kristen would have liked, and his hands were still on her arms as he held her out to look her over.
"K.J. you haven't changed a bit. I don't see you in six years and then twice in one week?" he murmured, frowning a bit as his eyes scanned her again.
"Why does he call you K.J.?" Maria asked, her lips barely moving, and her voice quiet for Kristen to hear alone. He was the second person to call Kristen that, and Maria was still confused about that whole scenerio.
"Tell you later." Kristen answered before sighing and pushing Benny away. "Have you seen anyone beside me from the old days?" she murmured, not bothering with how he was now a clergy in a church in Italy. Benny sighed, dropping his arms. He glanced at Maria with a warm smile.
"A friend of K.J.'s I assume." He said. Maria simply nodded.
"Why don't we talk up in my study?" Benny asked, looking at Kristen then. "There's a long story I'm sure.."
Kristen sighed but nodded, sharing a glance with Maria before following after the clergy.

Demitri frowned, shaking his head and sighing.
"Well, maybe it's a good thing" He glanced up as Maddie came scampering back in and swept her into his arms absentmindedly.
"You look cute sweetheart" He murmrued, shaking his head and smiling at her. "Come on, we have some fort building to do" He winced, where the hell was Kristen? He glanced at Alexi, knowing he was thinking the exact same thing.

Alexi sighed, rubbing at his chest carefully with his casted arm.
I wish they'd hurry up and come back He muttered in Russian, Demitri glanced back at him and ndoded his agreement.
"Gonna come watch us build a fort?" He asked his brother, "Sure, I might be some use, holding pillows and stuff" Alexi smirked, shaking his head and trotting along behind Demitri and Maddie.

"How do you build a fort outta cushions and pillows?" Maddie asked as Demitri picked her up. She glanced back at Alexi, frowning as she saw him rub his chest. Her eyes trailed the long scar over his skin, but she pursed her lips and said nothing. Whenever she looked at Alexi's scar, she felt pain, and the fear of what had caused that pain kept her quiet from asking anything about it.
She smiled, hearing that Alexi would come help them. That would be fun. Maybe later they could do down to the beach again. It was sunny outside, which meant the water would be nice.


Maria sucked in a breath, needing to stop halfway up the stairs to compose herself. "Is she alright?" Benny asked, looking concerned. Kristen nodded.
"Just asthmetic. Can't walk too fast up stairs ya know?" Kristen said, shrugging lightly and taking Maria's arm tightly. She felt it too, though she knew it was worse for Maria, the constant pull in her chest. Kristen would be alright until the burning heat settled in. Hopefully, they still had some time.
"I'm alright.." Maria murmured, using Kristen as somewhat of a crutch up the last few steps and collapsing into a chair. Kristen nodded, turning her sharp gaze up to Benny then.
"Don't give me that look-"
"How did you get out?" Kristen asked, trying not to sound harsh, just hurt. Benny rubbed his face, pacing around the room. Kristen was growing impatient though. "Does anyone else know?" she asked, almost pleading this time.
"Luke found me a few months back..." Kristen tensed, but Benny didn't see, he was facing out the window. Maria looked up with wide eyes. Did he mean the same Luke who tried to kill Kristen? "He asked about you..." Maria sighed. That answered that question...
"He's dead." Maria muttered, smirking at Kristen's light and quiet hallelujah. Benny nodded to himself. Kristen flexed her fingers.
"Anyone else?"
Benny shook his head. "No...." Kristen sighed with relief, and the stress of last night seemed to wash off her shoulders.

"You balance them, making walls, and then you put blankets over top of them, making a roof" Demitri said, begining to pull couch cusions off of the couch. He smiled, begining to balance them around, using the couch to hold them up.
"See?" He said to Maddie, nodding at her, he knew the little girl was quick, she'd be able to figure it out.
"After this, we should go down to the beach" Alexi said, holding a pillow between his casts. He looked fairly comical, which was amusing to Demitri, who was trying to keep from chuckling. Demitri grabbed a blanket, carefully lying it over the cushions, nodding at Maddie.
"There we go, now crawl in" He said, getting down on his stomach and shimmying under the fort. He peeked out, smirking at Maddie and Alexi.

Maddie watched Demitri with sharp blue eyes. "Oooh." she said, realizing how it worked. She tilted her head as Demitri tossed a blanket over it. Glancing back at Alexi, Maddie grinned before crawling in after Demitri.
"We need a flashlight...." she murmured, as it was darker with the cover of the blankets and the pillows then outside in the sunlightly. Suddenly, Maddie's imagination sparked. "This could be a hiding place..." she whispered quietly, looking at Demitri with wide excited eyes, as if she was listening to a ghost-story being told and couldn't wait for the ending. "They won't be able to find us here...they'd have to look for days!"

"Benny..." Kristen sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "You remember that guy I was working with?" she asked. The clergy turned away from the window, looking at Kristen with a patient expression.
"Yes. The vampire." he murmured.
Kristen boucned lightly. "Yea. He told me...there was a day...you followed me? Why?"
Benny blinked a few times, obviously he hadn't been expecting that question. "I-I was worried about you. You never stayed at the home during the night, you always left. And in the mornings you'd be back but exhausted. Once I caught you soaring in through the window and your shirt was covered in blood."
Maria turned her eyes to Kristen, who'd gone pale again but her hands were clenched at her sides. "You shouldn't have followed me-"
"What was going to happen?"
"Benny! You were careless, they saw you. You were my next mark!" Kristen threw one of her daggers and it hit the wall, barely grazing Benny's face in the process. "But damnit I couldn't do it...." Kristen's voice broke then and Maria's eyes grew wide. "You were supposed to die in that fire..."
Benny sighed, turning and pulling the dagger from the wall. Slowly, he walked over to Kristen and handed it back to her. Kristen took it, they're hands brushing and the pain in Kristen's chest flarred, as if angry. She swayed and Benny went to steady her, which only made it worse.
"Kristen?" Benny asked then, worried. Kristen cringed and shook her head; he shouldn't have said that...he sounded like Demitri...Maria was there then, pushing Benny away gently.
"I think we've taken up more than enough of your time sir." Maria murmured, smiling poliently and steering Kristen back out of the study.

"D-"Demitri cursed in Russian, rubbing his chest. What the hell was Kristen doing? "Days? Wow, that's a long time" He said, shaking his head and smiling.
"Do you think we should get a flashlight? We could close all the blinds and watch movies in here. It'd be like our own private movie theater" He smirked as he heard Alexi chuckling softly to himself. Demitri sighed, stretching out, careful not to knock any of the walls over by accident, it'd be easy to rebuild, but he didnt want to ruin Maddie's fun.

Alexi winced, his chest ached, and all he wanted do to was have Maria back in his arms. He sighed, silently cursing in his head. He chuckled as he heard Demitri and Maddie, the little girl's imagination was running away with her. He sighed, streetching out on the couch, the one that hadn't been torn apart, and waiting, almost anxiously for Maria to come home.

Maddie frowned for a moment as she looked at Demitri. She felt the pain he was in, but it was null, like her chest was sore from running too fast. She knew that had to do with Kristen being away, but it had never been this bad before from what she knew...
Blinking at the idea of a home movie theather, Maddie grinned and nodded. "Yea! That would be cool!" she said, sitting up on her knees then. Her head was inches from the top of the fort, and Maddie was careful not to hit it. "Oooo can we make popcorn too? Please?!" Maddie asked, bouncing with excitement.


Maria gave Kristen a long hard look once they were outside. Kristen was sitting on the steps, one arm against her chest.
"What do you remember exactly? From your days spent with Antonio?" Maria asked, trying not to sound bitter or harsh.
Kristen shook her head. "Just flashes. I only stayed with them in their inn a few times. I was taken in by one of the orpahnages they ran. Whenever Antonio had something for me to do...I would just know, and then I would go talk to him and he'd tell me whatever it was-"
"Specifics Kristen." Maria said, rubbing her eyes and she closed them tightly. Kristen sighed.
"I don't remember speific jobs."
"Bloody shirts? Marks? Killing people Kristen?" Maria asked, keeping her voice down but still sharp as a knife. Kristen winced.
"Main reason I've kept it from you guys. I don't like what I did, but I had to. They took me in when I needed help and I did whatever they asked." Kristen muttered, rubbing her arms, wanting to be back with Demitri.
Maria's shoulders fell in realization. "They threathened Madison didn't they?" Kristen grew silent. Maria glanced back at catherdal and she sighed before hailing a cab.
"Lets get back. I'm starting to feel dizzy..." Maria murmured, holding the door open for Kristen to slid in.

"Popcorn and movies it is. You pick out two movies, and I'll go make some popcorn" Demitri said, getting out of the fort carefully and smiling at Maddie.
"Come on, hop to it" He teased, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. All Demitri could manage to make was microwave popcorn. Kristen had tried, numerous times to show him, but he couldn't get close enough to the bowl to actually deal with it. He sighed, pulling the bag from the microwave, pouring the finished project in a bowl. He sighed, wrinkling his nose, refraining from breathing, he hated the smell of food.

Alexi winced, his head was swimming, and he was lying listlessly on the couch. He couldn't focus, couldn't function, but he supposed he had to. Frowning he wrinkled his nose at the scent of popcorn, trying to get ahold of himself. He needed Maria to come back, soon.

Maddie grinned and nodded. "Ok ok, I'm going. Sheesh!" she said, laughing as Demitri rushed her. She had to wait until he got out before she could move around. Crawling on all fours of the the fort, Maddie blinked against the brightness and stood up entirely once she was clear. She already knew what movies she wanted to watch. Yesterday, Demitri had bought new ones, and they had yet to watch them. She ran up to her room to get them; Princess and the Frog, and Over the Hedge.

Movies in hand, Maddie ran back downstairs. She could smell the popcorn now and was grinning when she met up with Demitri. "Trade ya?" she said, handing him the movies and taking the bowl of popcorn and carefully ducking back into the fort.


After what felt like an hour of driving, the silence between the two girls was broken by Kristen. And Maria wished she hadn't spoke.
"We're being followed..." Kristen murmured, turning to glance over her shoulder. Yep..the small black care was still behind them. Maria rubbed her forehead. How Kristen could still be intuned to such things at the moment was beyond her understanding.
"Maybe it's Benny." Maria said, meaning to joke. That only made Kristen tense.
"God I hope he's not that stupid..." Kristen said, shaking her head and slumping back in her seat, closing her eyes and trying not to worry. It took much to long for the cab to finally get to the house. Kristen was glad that when she stepp out, the black car was no where to be seen. Maria quickly payed the driver before running back into the house. Kristen stalled, rubbing her neck and her face, trying not to appear as upset as she was at the moment. She still had no idea what she was going to say to Demitri...

Demitri smiled at Maddie, trading her the movies for the popcorn. He drew the blinds, making sure it was nice and dark, before popping Princess and the Frog in. He slid into the fort beside Maddie, sighing in relief as the tension in his chest slowly began to ebb, telling him Kristen and Maria were on their way home. He heard Alexi's sigh of relief as well, and was relieved, his brother hadn't looked to good earlier.

He glanced at the TV, hitting the play button and wrapping his amrs around Maddie, letting her use him as a pillow, he was comfortable in almost any position, thanks to dead muscle, it didn't get sore. He smiled at Maddie, "Excited?" He teased, kissing her head and glancing up as the door swung open.

Alexi sighed, glancing up as the door swung open.
Thank the gods He breathed in relief, looking up anxiously for Maria.

Maddie grinned, eating the popcorn from the bowl in her lap as Demitri put in the movie. She boucned lightly as the room suddenly went dark, making the T.V. screen all the more brighter. She'd never been to an actual theather, so this was exciting to her. Looking back at Demitri, Maddie nodded and settled down next to him. She munched steadily and quietly on her popcorn as the movie started, grinning at the movie and characters. She hadn't seen this movie yet, and it looked to be good.

Maria laughed, hearing Alexi and having a pretty good idea of what he was saying. She chuckled, tossing her bag and jacket to the table near the sofa.
Miss me? she asked, using the only other old language that she knew Alexi would understand. She walked over to him, collasping on the floor and resting her head on his chest, winding her arms around his neck.

Kristen came in a few minutes later. She smiled lightly at Alexi and Maria before frowning. Where were Demitri and Maddie? She blinked, noticing the fort then. Kristen chuckled, walking over and peeking down into the entrance.
"Mommy! You're in the way!" Maddie called, laughing and munching on her popcorn. Kristen rolled her eyes but stood back up as to not block Maddie's view.
"Better?" Kristen asked, staring at the blankets and cushions.
"Yes!" was Maddie's answer.