1x1 with x_fire

Alexi glanced up at Maria, a goofy grin on his face.
"Mmmm, what?" He asked, arching his eyebrow at her. He grinned, sighing, "Alright, alright I'm getting up" He whined, sliding childishly from the bed and pulling his jeans on.
"There, you win" He teased, shaking his head and looking around. He trailed after her into the TV room, eyes going wide as he saw Kristen. He flicked his eyes worridly to Maria, before sitting down on the floor in front of the couch.

Demitri sighed, shaking his head. He really didn't know what to do anymore, his life felt so messed up. He shook his head, standing up and begining to wander back to the house again. He really didn't know what to do, with Kristen, it was all so screwed up. He had broken his promise, he'd swore he'd never change anyone again, and hell, now it was happening. He shuddered, he wouldn't do it again, not for Maddie, not for anyone. He walked into the house, putting the blood in the fridge before heading upstairs, having no desire to socialize with anyone.

Maria rolled her eyes, trailing after Alexi into the tv room again. She simply shook her head in respone to Alexi's worried glance. Kristen caught the silent exchange and gave Alexi a reassuring smile.
"I've looked worse, believe it or not." She murmured, brushing her hand throw her hair. She glanced down at Maddie who had fallen asleep silently in her lap.
"Do you want me to take her upstairs?" Alayna asked, glancing up from her sketch.
"If you wouldn't mind..." Kristen said, letting Alayna take Maddie, who protested lightly before falling back asleep.

Upstairs, Alayna looked over her shoulder as Demitri walked up the stairs. She gave a light smile before opening Maddies door and setting the little girl down on the bed. The door bell went off then, but Maria promtly answered, and Alayna figured it was the taylor of hers.

Alexi feigned suprise.
"Woah' He teased, stretching out on the floor and watching Maria rush off to get the door. He sighed, "Tailor's here' He mumbled to Kristen, "You sure you up for this?" He asked, hearing Demitri upstairs, though his brother didn't seem to be coming down, not that he blamed him, everything was right messed up right now. He shook his head, rubbing his eyes waiting patiently for Maria to coem back.

Demitri ignored Alayna, stretching out on his and Kristen's bed, screwing his eyes shut. He was upset, beyond upset, confused, hurt. He felt torn apart inside, and despite knowing Kristen and Maddie could pick up on these emotions, he wasn't willing to share them. He had, effectively, taken away Kristen's life, changed her, which was something he couldn't handle right now.

Kristen looked at Alexi and nodded. "Yea, I should be fine." she said. Now that Demitri was back and the pain was gone from her chest, she was feeling a bit better. Although she still felt weak from last night, she wasn't about to admit that to anyone. Kristen rubbed her forehead, glancing up at the ceiling and shaking her head gently. Why did Demitri always blame things on himself? Hopefully later she would be able to reassure him, Kristen knew better then to bother him now, espically since she was still shaking.

Alayna shrugged as Demitri left, closing the door behind her to Maddie's room before heading back downstairs.
"Ah Alayna," Maria called in that light tone that she always used on her human friends when she needed something. "Do you have the designs for my good friend Samuel here?" she asked, nodding to the tall man standing slightly behind her.
"Oh sure." Alayna said with a poliet nod, going into the t.v. room for her sketches.
"You coming Kristen?" Alayna asked, reaching her hand out to help her friend up when the shifter nodded.

The fitting was quick and easy, which Maria was grateful for, because Kristen didn't seem to be getting any better as the day went on. Samuel had commented on Alayna's designs, having liked her artistic combinations and after taking Kristen's measuremetns, and said the gown would be ready in about three weeks.
Once he was gone, Maria steered Kristen into the kicthen and put a full bottel in front of her. "Drink, it might help." Maria murmured softly, to which Kristen didn't protest at all.

Demitri curled up on the bed, jerking the blanket around himself, a small frown on his face, he growled as he scented the blood from the open bottle. He didn't want to think about blood anymore, the fact that Kristen had to drink it, and everything. He shuddered once or twice, slipping out of the bed and pushing the window open. He stared out at the forest, he had so much to do, Maddie's birthday, organize a damn wedding, deal with all this stuff at work. He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair and shuddered again. He was more then stressed at this point, and he really didn't want to deal with it.

Alexi watched everything with a bored expression. Women, he'd never understand them, ever. He watched Maria, shaking his head as he stood up, wrinkling his nose at the scent of blood. He wasn't thirsty, and the scent of the blood wasn't doing much for him right now. He frowned as he realized that the room was basically empty.
"Sheesh" He grumbled, wondering if him and Maria would be heading home tonight.

((Umm I'm kinda curious about this one. Do you wanna just skip until they're in Italy again, or do you have something planned?))

OOC: Skip till Italy works for me =]

"Keith!" Her voice echoed in her mind as Alayna sat upright in her bed. She sucked in breath after breath but it didn't seem to help her need for oxygen, and made her heart beat faster. She looked around frantically, taking in everything as if seeing it for the first time. As if she was trying to assure herself of her current reality. Italy...the beach house...her room...the soft white linens...the glow of sunlight in the room...
Alayna pulled her knees to her chest as her shallows breaths turned into silent sobs. Two months so far...he had said he would be back before the wedding...the wedding was this Friday...what was taking him so long?

"Maddie? Maddie!" Kristen called as the little girl stood up and ran from the beach. Kristen frowned, looking down at the sand castle that was half built, and the bucket Madison had dropped in her haste.
Kristen glanced at Demitri with a frown. Being bonded to the little girl, Demitri tended to be more intune to the innerworking of the childs mind then Kristen was. "Did she got back inside?" Kirsten asked, blowing a strand of light brown hair out of tthe view of her tiger green eyes.

Maddie had been waiting tensly since they arrived in Italy. She knew it would happen she could hear and feel it like a ticking clock, counting down steadily. Maddie wanted to be there when it happened too. Alayna was going to need it. So when she felt the shatter of the jar Alayna had been storring her emotions in these past two weeks, Maddie ran from the beach. She grabbed her towel from the patio to brush off the sand from her feet and went inside to Alayna.

Demitri pushed his sunglasses off his face, flickering his eyes as he watched Maddie sprint from the beach.
"Yea, she did" He responded, standing up and brushing sand from his shorts. He was beyond confused, mainly because it had all happened so suddenly. She had been happily playing one minute and the next...
He sighed, "Alayna maybe?" He muttered, shaking his head and glancing around. Alexi looked just as confused as Kristen, and Maria, well, she looked stressed and confused. He shrugged, "I suppose I'll go see what's wrong" He said, gesturing helplessly at Kristen before trailing after his daughter inside.
"Maddie?" He called gently, entering the nearly silent house. Alayna had been napping, she had been tired, jet lag or something, so he didn't want to wake her, if she wasn't the problem.

Alexi was lying on his stomach, watching the two girls build a sand castle, Maria next to him. As Maddie took off inside, he pushed himself up onto his elbows, watching Demitri disappear in after her, before returning his gaze to Kristen. He shrugged, but settled back down onto the sand, a small frown on his face. He could only guess what was going on.

Keith sighed, wiping ash and soot from his face. He was finally going home, two months after he had left, and he was finally going back. He stood on the threshold of teh Italian home, staring at the door with a confused expression. He was dazed, still bloody and beaten from battle, though the angels had won, which was all that mattered. He had brand new cuts and what not, though not overly serious, and he looked like he had been dragged through hell, which he had been.
Finally he knocked, settling back to wait and see what happened.

Alayna was only aware that someone was in the house when Maddie was climbing up onto her bed. She gasped, looking up and quickly brushing the tears from her face.
"Oh, Maddie. I-I didn't hear you come in..." Alayna stuttered, looking at the little girl. Seeing those sympathetic brown eyes, Alayna figured it was semi-pointless to argue with Maddie, but since Maddie was so young, Alayna did anyway.
"It's alright." She murmured, waving her hand to dismiss the subject, and taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

As Alayna let her knees go, Maddie scurried into her lap, wrapping her arms about Alayna's neck. "He said he would be back soon." Maddie reminded her. Alayna sighed and simply nodded, holding the child gently.
"I know." Alayna said, taking a deep breath as she slowly picked up the pieces of her shattered emotions to repair them. Maddie smelled of salty water, so Alayna guessed they had been down at the beach. There would probably be sand in the bed now...
Maddie went rigid then and snapped away from Alayna like...well...a guard dog hearing the first signs of an intruder.
"What?" Alayna asked.
"Um...I'll be right back." Maddie said, quickly jumping down from the bed and leaving Alayna completely confused.

"Daddy!" Maddie said, practically flying down the stairs. "Answer the door! Answer the door!" she whispered, as if it were a secert, and she was a afraid of what would happen if anyone else foudn out. She tugged on his hand once before scurring behind him when they reached the front door.

Demitri frowned, glancing up at the door as Maddie came tearing downstairs.
"I'm getting it, I'm getting it" He mumbled, yanking teh door open, only to curse in suprise.
"K-" He cut off, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.
"I think the name your looking for is Keith" The angel chuckled, stepping inside and grimacing as Demitri nearly broke his damn rib cage.
"It's just, we weren't sure..." Demitri trailed off, looking stunned.
"I said I'd be back" Keith said quietly, smiling softly. He glanced at Maddie, smiling gently, "Hey kiddo. Happy Belated Birthday" He said, walking over and giving the little girl a hug. He then pulled a small box with a bow on it from his pocket.
"It's not much" He warned, inside the box was a thin silver chain with a feather, a small silver one, on it.

The angel sighed, "Upstairs?" He murmured to Demitri, whom nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you guys in a bit, say hey to Kristen for me" He murmrued, before walking up the stairs and steadying himself.
"Alayna?" He murmured, opening the bedroom door a bit more and poking his head inside.

Maddie bounced eagerily, her lower lip caught between her teeth as Demitri opened the door. She grinned and jumped around in her excitement, tempted to shift and jump up on Keith herself. She refraimed from doing so though, seeing the current condition Keith was in. The smell of burnt...something was apparent to Maddie as he stepped closer and hugger her.
"I missed you!" she said quietly as she held him for that hug. Looking down at the box, Maddie grinned and opened the box. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open in awe at the small chain inside. "Thank you Keith!" Maddie said, closing it shut again and reaching up for one more hug before he left.
Maddie grinned, clutching the little box to her chest as she watched Keith walk upstairs. "Yes!" She said quietly, jumping around in a circle happily. "Looky!" she said, opening the box for Demitri to see what Keith had gotten her.


Alayna froze, half in the bathroom door way as she heard the door open. She had thought Maddie was coming back, but when she heard the voice...his voice...Alayna froze instantly. She glanced down at herself after blinking a few times. Was she dreaming? Her dreams had been like this a few times...Keith coming back and into the bedroom while she was passing the time away by sketching or something like that.
Slowly, Alayna turned around, heart hammering in her chest. Seeing his face, Alayna looked both relieved and unbelieving. "Keith?" she whispered, the held back tears coming back to her. "Are-are yo-you...?" Alayna trailed off and covered her mouth with her hands as a sob choked her last few words, though she never took her eyes off him, afraid that if she so much as blinked, he would be gone.

Demitri nodded to his friend, "Can do' He said, watching him disappear up the stairs before turning his attention to Maddie.
"Woah" He murmured, looking down at the silver chain, "That's beautiful Maddie. Do you want me to put it on you?" He asked, carefully fingering the chain and lifting it from the box, letting the tiny feather rest in his hand so she could see it better.
He was beyond relieved to have his friend back, and the fact that he had remembered Maddie's birthday and gotten her such a heartfelt gift just made it all the better.

Keith looked at Alayna, watching her reaction almost nervously. He had been worried she'd be mad.
"Yes Alayna, I'm home, real" He reassured, clearing the distance between them in a single stride and wrapping his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head, pressing her, crushing her against him. God he had missed her so much, he winced, suddenly very aware of how sore he was, how beat up, though he wouldn't have let her go at the moment, not for anything.

Maddie grinned as Demitri took the box and looked at the chain Keith had given her. "Yes!" she said bouncing excitedly. She turned though, hearing the sliding glass door open from the beach port. Kristen was there, pushing her sunglasses up from her face, Maria just behind her.
"Maria said Keith was back." Kristen said, looking as if she had just ran up from the beach, though Maria was hardly out of breath. She looked at Demitri, seeing the silver chain in his hand, and then down at Maddie, who was happier then Kristen had seen her in a long time.
"He is back..." Kristen breathed, half a question, half a statement.

"Oh my God!" Alayna sobbed as Keith seemed to be standing in the doorway one moment, and then holding her the next. Alayna wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him and burring her face in his shoulder as the tears ran down her face freeling.
"I was so scared...." Alayna cried, tightening her arms around him. The fact that he smelled of ash and fire and blood didn't exactly hit Alayna as she pulled away from his shoulder to look up at his face. Her face and eyes were red, and tears made straight lines from her eyes to her chin.
"Cutting it a bit close there don't you think?" Alayna asked, and then laughing as she cupped his face, running her fingers through his hair. "Oh, I don't care. I'm just so glad that you're back in one piece." Alayna cried, pressing her lips to his and wrapping her arms around his neck again.

Demitri knelt, putting the necklace around Maddie's neck, after she finally stood still.
"Yea, he's back, upstairs with Alayna right now. He looks like hell though" He murmured as Adrian stuck his head in the doorway.
"He'll probably come down in bit, he came straight from wherever he was, that's for sure" He murmured, shaking his head and sighing.
"Woah" Alexi said, "Well, at least that ends on a happy note" He had been antsy since they had gotten to Italy, though not half as bad as last time.

Keith hugged Alayna, smiling lightly, though he was swaying a bit from exahustion. He still tired easily, and fighting like that had taken a lot out of him.
"Well, almost one piece" He said, chuckling a bit, he was fairly bruised and battered under his shirt, and he had few nasty scratches, though overall, he'd survive.
"Yea, well, it was hard, a lot harder then any of us anticipated, but I made it, I said I would, and I did"

Madie giggled and boucned, though she stood still so that Demitri could clip the chain around her neck. The silver feather was cool against her skin and she held it gently for a moment.
"Oh that's wonderful!" Maria said, glad that Alexi had convinced her to bring along Keith's tuxedo. Kristen was grinning as well, looking up at the staircase before shaking her head and sighing in relief.
"Thank goodness." Kristen murmured before putting her hands on her hips and looking down at Maddie. "Now, you missy, left without finishing a sand castle."
"Oops..." Maddie said, giggling.

Alayna couldn't figure out whether she was laughing or crying more. She only knew she was beyond hapy and relieved that Keith was back and safe. She frowned for a moment as he swayed in her arms, and that's when she stepped back a bit to fully look at him.
Alayna's eyes went wide and her face fell victim to shock and horror. "Oh Keith what hapened?" She gasped, trying to brush away the ash and soot from his shirt. Seeing the blood made her eyes grow wide.
"Oh what was I thinking, you're probably exhausted. You're not seriously hurt are you?" Alayna asked, back to her rambling and worrying self.

Demitri chuckled, "Sheesh Maddie, not finishing a sandcastle is a serious offence in Italy" He said, hands on his hips, mock serious-ness.
"Now, you better go help your mom finish the castle, or the cops might come and take you away" He said, trying to keep a straight face. Alexi was trying not to crack up, though his face was partially hidden behind Maria, so it was easier to look away or something.
"Uh oh' He said, "Are those sirens I hear?" He looked pointedly at the door.
"Better hurry Maddie, your dad and I will try and convince them you've been working on it the whole time, but you better be back there, in case they come check"

Keith winced as Alayna tried to brush him off.
"Well, I was fighting demons, and some of their main power is fire..." He said, trying to be witty and sarcastic.
"Serious hurt? no, hurt? yes" He sighed, "You should see my wings, they're a mess" He hated, detested, loathed, fighting demons. Fire was a painful thing, especially on feathers.
He carefully jerked his shirt off, before lying gingerly on the comfortable bed.
"There's sand in the sheets" He complained teasingly.

Maria covered her mouth to hide the growing grin on her face. Maddie was looking from Demitri to Alexi with a half laughing face. She didn't know whether they were being serious or not.
"Nuh uh!" she protested, until Alexi added the part about the sirens. She perked up at that, but knew Alexi's hearing was ten times her own. That sealed her doubt.
"Come on Mommy!" Maddie said, grabbing Kristen's hand and tugging her towards the door. Kristen and Maria both lost their cool, and started laughing as Kristen had little to no choice to follow Maddie back out onto the beach.
"Wow, a serious offense?" Maria asked, looking at Demitri teasingly before shaking her head and laughing.


"Oh Christ." Alayna muttered, freezing her hands as she saw Keith visibly wince. "I'm sorry love." she murmured as he stepped away from her. She shook her head at what he was saying, watching him take off the torn and filthy shirt before pracitcally collpasing on the bed.
"Oh," Alayna blinked, remembering Maddie had come in from the beach earlier before Keith had arrived. "It's a long story." Alayna sighed, shaking her head gently.
"Get some rest alright? Sven and everyone else should be getting here tomorrow, I'll have him look you over when he gets here." Alayna murmured, mostly to herself.

Demitri shrugged, laughing as soon as Maddie was out the door.
"What fun is it being a parent if you can't mess with your kid a bit?" He teased, shaking his head. His ears perked for a moment, "Maria, you wanna go check on Keith and Alayna, sounds like the poor bugger may be beat up, and you're the closest thing to a doctor we have, until Sven get's here" He said, nudging Alexi.
"Let's go reassure Maddie that the police believed our story" He said, as Alexi burst into laughter, trailing after his brother onto the beach. It had sort of been a discussion not to leave Alexi alone while in Italy, so they always tried to keep someone with him, when Maria couldn't be. Despite not being in Rome, he was definately a bit stressed, and it was visibile occasionally. Demitri knew Maria was worried, as was he, hence the 'Alexi watch'.

Keith winced, "S'fine, could be a lot worse" He murmured, rolling gingerly onto his back, wincing a bit.
"I'm more sore then anything" He said, shaking his head.
"I wasn't beat up enough to warrant a healing though, my wings are screwed however, and the fly here didn't help" He winced, not even wanting to show her what was left of his wings. Fire and feathers was just not a good combnation. Burnt skin, charred feathers, it was brutal.

Maria shrugged. "I wouldn't know. But it is pretty comical." She said, glancing over her shoulder out at the beach where Maddie was running down to get more water as fast as she could.
Hearing Alayna already fussing over Keith, Maria sighed. "Your brother owes me big for filling in on his medical duties in his absense." She rambled as Demitri silently agreed to watch Alexi for her. Maria hated looking at it that way, but she was too worried about him to risk another episode.

Alayna tried not to frown too deeply as she watched Keith. Every move he made, she realized was tense and carefully done. Like simply moving caused him pain.
"You'll heal, I'm sure." Alayna murmured, going over to her side of the bed and dusting as much sand away as she could.
There was a knock on the door as Alayna pulled herself back onto the matrice next to Keith. "Yes?" Alayna asked, half surprised to see Maria's face.
"How is he? Demitri was worried he might need my expreince medicial treatment." Maria said, rolling her eyes over her shoulder sarcastically.

Demitri nodded to Maria, trialing behind Maddie and Kristen.
"It's alright, we convinced the cops that you were behaving" He said, flopping down on the sand next to Kristen and chuckling.
Alexi sighed, rolling his eyes at Demitri and Maria, they worried about him, he understood that, but he didn't want them to worry about it, but he understood why. He sighed, sitting down and looking down at the castle, smiling.
"Yea, Demitri plead your case eloquently" He said, smirking.

"I hope so" Keith groaned, wincing and closing his eyes.
"Of course" He grumbled, hearing Maria, and shaking his head. "I'm-" He cut off, wincing, damn it, it was obvious now that he was not fine. He couldn't believe how sore he was.
"I'm just sore" He said, trying to change tactics now.
"Long days, and I didn't warrant a healing on the battle field" He said, smiling lightly at Maria, though his face and body were unbelieveably stiff.
"Tell Demitri not to be such a worry-wort" He shifted, lying back again, though he bit his lip to keep from yelping. His damn back was destroyed, which was why he had yet to show it to Alayna.

Maddie glanced up as Demitri and Alexi came onto the shore. Since they weren't with any uniformed officials, she relaxed instantly. As Demitri sat down next to Kristen, and her parents chuckled, Maddie narrowed her eyes at the adults. They were getting better at masking their emotions. Not exactly surpressing it, since Maddie could still sense it, but they weren't being as open anymore. It was making reading them a lot more difficult.
Maddie still had a feeling they were making fun of her for something. Though Kristen handed her the empty bucket to fill up with sand, and Maddie had no more time to think about it.
"Well, the Italians would be proud." Kristen said, smirking. "Our Castle is coming along nicely now that the outer wall is done." she said, smoothing out the edges of the walls that connected four bucket-shaped pillars.


"Because you have such advacned medical experience." Alayna murmured, smirking. Maria laughed and shrugged.
"I've been through a fair shair of wars. Women were nothing more then nurses all throughout time. Rare to find something I haven't seen before actually." Maria said, hoping to keep Alayna slightly distracted as Maria scruntized Keith for a moment. He kept flinching whenever he moved...but that was to be expected...laying on his back like that didn't look at all comfortable to Maria....his back must he bothering him...his wings. Maria's mind clicked fast and she sighed.
"Oh Alayna, I forgot to mention, Kristen and I went down to the store while you were asleep, there's tea and crumpets if you're hungry." Maria said, the British in her showing for all to see. Alayna laughed and nodded.
"Thanks. A cup of tea sounds amazing." Alayna said, slipping off the bed. "Want anything Keith?"

Demitri nodded, "Looks awesome, those Italians would be impressed" He said, as Alexi snorted, shaking his head.
"Very impressed" Alexi agreed, stretching out on his stomach in the sand, not caring that he would need to shower before Maria so much as let him in the bedroom. He enjoyed this, time with his family, with the wedding looming, quiet times like this were getting harder and harder to find. Demitri and Kristen were both so busy, as was Maria, so he generally spent hours sitting around, watching Maddie while the others pretended they didn't watch him. He shrugged it off, they ment well, Maria especially, when they had first landed here, he had honestly be suprised she hadn't handcuffed him to her side. She was getting a bit better, but still, he was never really out of her sight.

Keith shrugged, "Tea sounds good" He murmured his agreement, looking at Maria with a confused expression, though he could see the little lightbulb in her minds eye.
Damn it all, she was going to make him do something painful, he could just tell. He almost wanted to try and hide now, but he figured if he so much as attempted to get off the bed, at this point, he'd collaps. He was far more worn out then he had initially anticipated.

Kristen laughed as she watched Maddie work on packing in the sand inside of the bucket before turning it over in the center of the sand barrier.
"Taadaa!" Maddie said, pulling away the bucket to reveal a flawless tower, which in her mind was the castle.
"Awesome!" Kristen said, giving Maddie a sandy high-five and laughing.
"We should decorate it with seashells!" Maddie said, remembering what Maria had mentioned earlier, about finding small one and pressing them into the compact sand for decortation.
"That'll be cool." Kristen said, nodding in agreement. "Take Demitri along, he's good at finding really pretty ones." Kristen said, winking at him as Maddie stood up and tugged on his arm.


"Mkay." Alayna said before leaning. Maria closed the door and shook her head at Keith.
"Roll onto your stomach. I want to see how bad your back is." Maria said, knowing that was probably were most of his injuries were. The whole thing about the tea and crumpets (although entirely true) was just to get Alayna out of the room. Maria had a feeling Keith wouldn't want to ruin his return with some slightly gruesome injuries.

Demitri grinned good-naturedly and allowed Maddie to tug him to his feet. Scooping her up, he tucked her under one arm, chuckling as he walked, holding her, playfully, of course, like a bag of luggage or something.
"Alright, well, I guess I'm going to look for shells" He said, finally setting Maddie down and letting her lead the way and set the pace. He often out-stepped the little girl, forgetting his movements were often faster then a normal humans, and on more then one occasion Maddie had had to run to catch him, only slowing him down by tugging on his shirt and looking beyond pathetic. He brushed the sand off of his silver and black swim shorts, a small smile on his face.
"See any?" He asked, bending to brush some sand away from a cluster of small shells and rocks.

Keith grumbled, but did as he was told, "Ouch" He complained, wincing, though lying on his stomach felt much better then his back, though it was just as beat up. His wings were the worse, hidden right now, as he didn't want to scare someone, particularly not his girlfriend, or Maddie. Demitri, Alexi and the others were more used to injuries, but Alayna was already worried enough, and Maddie didn't need to see something like that.