One x One with: Blacksoal

"Xayden, anytime means later" Shaye said, shaking her head.
"No more tonight, it's late" She said, frowning and looking seriously at her son. "Come inside with me now, we can have a late night snack and bedtime story" She said, scooping him up.
"Come on" She looked at Vaix, "Care to join us?" She asked her fiancee, holding Xayden against her hip.
"Now, what do you want for your snack?" She said, kissing Xayden's nose, nodding at the others, and carefully taking him inside. She walked into the kitchen, still holding Xayden, and looked at him expectantly.

Xayden was young, and easily persuaded because of it. When Shaye offered him food and a story, he all but forgot about flying with Drake. He clung tightly to his mother and smiled at the big demon, "thanks Drake. Come eat too. Snacks for Drake too Mommy." He smiled to his mother and lay his head down on her shoulder, winding down gave way to his true level of energy. He was tired.
Drake shook his head, "I think it might be best for us to get going Xayden, Carr's not gonna make it through another possession, so we're gonna have to head off tonight. It was lots of fun though, and we'll see each other again soon." He fluffed the boy's hair and smiled at Shaye, "Thank you for your gracious hospitality Shaye, feel free to come over to our place any time." With that he turned to leave, and Carr laughed, "Oh no you don't. I had to escort you over here, I'm not walking back home." Drake shook his head and shifted his wings letting Carr climb up on his back while Aren stayed behind to watch the two fly off. "Looks like I'm still walking," he chuckled looking at Shaye. "Thanks for having us. It was great seeing you all." He kissed his sister's cheek lightly, then Xayden's then gave Vaix an acknowledging nod and wandered off at a casual pace.

Vaix followed Shaye inside when she offered, not really taking much part in goodbyes other than an occasional nod. Xayden smiled, "Can I have some chips Mommy?"

Shaye waved to the others.
"See you boys, we'll take you up on that offer soon" She said with a small smile. She let Xayden lay against her, watching as the others took off.
"See you Aren, I'll call you tomorrow' She said, kissing Xayden's forhead, before heading inside with Vaix.
"Chips? I dunno" She said, smiling lightly as she began to dig for a small bag of chips and poured them into a bowl. She looked at Xayden curiously.
"You wanna sit down? Or do you wanna sit in my lap?" She asked, knowing Xayden got really clingy when he was sleepy.

Xayden remained clung to Shaye's side as she dug around for chips, when she got the bowl he took it eagerly and started to pack it away, smiling at his mother as she asked him what he'd prefer. "I'll sit with you," he muttered between mouthful's, smiling at his dad as he smiled at Xayden. His father looked tired, relieved, and worn out from stressing. He was smiling, but teh look in his eyes told anyone that a gust of air could knock him over. He hadn't rested once today. Iggy came scrambling inside, still pumped on energy from Vaix's earlier stress session. He laughed, smiled at Xayden, then to Shaye and Vaix and bounced around the house. Vaix's smiled faded into irritation, and he grumbled to himself and stalked after his brother.

Shaye laughed, "Alright piggy" She said, sitting down so Xayden had better access to the food, "But after snack it's bed time" She said, shaking her head and sighing. She glanced up at Vaix, frowning as she saw him take off after Iggy.
"Vaix' She grumbled, she could deal with Iggy, and Xayden, he obviously needed to go bed. She kissed the back of Xayden's head, waiting patiently for him to finish, before taking the bowl and putting it in the sink.
"Come on kiddo" She said with a small smile, holding him against her side as she made her way upstairs.
"Can you brush your teeth for me?" Shaye asked, putting him down in front of his bathroom sink. Xayden had his own bathroom, right by his bedroom, decorated with fish on the walls and what not.

Xayden ate about as peacefully as he could manage, though he left a chaos of crumbs behind him, at least he'd tried to keep it in the bowl. He nodded about teh bedtime statement. He was ready for bed, and to tired to argue anymore. He looked up at Shaye as she grumbled his father name almost warningly. He still had a hard time understanding Vaix and Iggy's problems. All he knew was that his father could be mean to Iggy sometimes for no particular reason. He smiled with a greasy face as Shaye took the bowl and requested his bush his teeth.
"I can do that!" Xayden grinned, and began the process Iggy'd showed him.

Vaix sighed as Shaye shaw him take after Iggy. He leaned against the wall, thudded his head against it and sighed, watching Iggy laugh and run past him before he could make any move to grab his annoying brat of a brother.

Shaye smiled, "Good job" She said with a grin, watching him with a proud expression.
"Alright come on baby" She scooped Xayden up, wiping the excess toothpaste from his mouth and cleaning his hands up, as she could see how tired he was.
"Come on, into bed" She helped him slide under the covers.
"Do you still want a story?" She asked, sitting with him, letting his head rest on her upper ribs, her arm cuddled around him. She figured Vaix would come say good night, or at least join them. She hissed his name under her breath, calling him quietly. She knew he'd hear.

Xayden beamed at his Mother's praise, stretching out his arms as she scoped him up and holding onto her like before. He snuggled up under the blankets and looked up at his mother with big bluey-green eyes while he rested his head against her. He smiled and nodded, but it was interrupted with a long yawn and a slump to his form. It was doubtable he'd make it through a whole story. He heard Shaye call his Father and wondered where he was, and if he'd come put him to bed too. He gave a light tug on his Mother's sleeve. "Story?" he asked tiredly.

Vaix heard his name being called again, and it couldn't be better timing, he'd been about to lose it. With his low energy, lack of patients, and his brother dancing and laughing shrilly around him he was literally on the verge of throwing the vampire out the window and telling him to stay outside for the night. He wandered upstairs, leaving Iggy, and poking his head into Xayden's room. He calmed instantly at teh sight of his happy, peaceful family. "Hey Xayden," he muttered gently to the sleepy boy as he rubbed his eyes. "Hey Shaye," He muttered to his wife-to-be, wandering over and taking a seat on Xayden's other side. "What are you two up too?"
"Mommy's going to read me a story," Xayden muttered to Vaix with a smile, it would be his first story after all, he was excited.

Shaye cuddled Xayden for a moment, "Story it is" She said, kissing his forhead. She looked up as Vaix came in, a small smile tugging on her lips.
"Come sit with us" She said, indicating Xayden's other side, as she pulled a Robert Munch book, the Paper Bag Princess, from the pile thjey had accumulated for Xayden.
"Here we go" She said, wrapping her arm around him so that he could see the picture. She began to read, trying her best to do the voices so Xayden would be amused. She knew he didn't know how to read yet, they'd have to teach him particularly if he enjoyed them, like Iggy. She sighed, cuddling with her son, looking at Vaix over his head. This was nice, a perfect family moment.

Shaye smiled as Xayden drifted off, she tucked him in, before carefully sliding away.
"Coming love?" She asked softly, kissing Xayden's forhead and flicking the light off, however, sshe left the door cracked open. Xayden was still a kid after all, and he did have some fears. She sighed, taking Vaix's hand and carefully leading him back to their bedroom.
"You look like you could use some downtime" Shaye murmured, smiling at him.
"Want a back massage?" She offered, smiling a bit.

Xayden watched the pictures with sleepy eyes, he'd found a way to snuggle up to both parents, though his father had his feet, or at least one foot; the other was safely hidden under the blankets, but it was still pressed up against Vaix's legs. He got about halfway through the story before he passed out. His breathing slowed to soft content noises, and teh hand gripping his mother's shirt relaxed and fell, curling up against his chest as he buried his face in the pillow provided to him.

Vaix smiled, listening to the story, while watching his son slowly nod off. Once he was finally out he watched Shaye tuck Xayden in, and gave him a kiss of teh cheek before he followed after Shaye. He slid easily through the gap in the door and wandered after her to their room. "Yeah, I'm pretty beat. I'll sleep good tonight." He smiled back at her, giving her hand an affectionate squeeze and sitting on the bed. He blinked at her offer for a massage. "Me?" He smiled, "I'd love one." He couldn't guarantee he'd stay awake through it though. He'd probably relax to teh point where he'd pass out too. He slid off his shirt for her anyways. So what if he fell asleep? He flinched at teh sound of Iggy's laughter downstairs, it was slowly dying down now, and eventually if you listened, you could hear the muffled thump of Iggy passing out form a lack of energy to maintain his mood.

Shaye smiled, looking at him with a small smile, she stradled Vaix's tone back, gently kneeding her hands into his muscle. When she had been mortal, giving Vaix a back massage was like trying to rub a rock, now, he felt normal to her, so she could identify where he was tense and work on those spots, and actually make a difference. She smiled, letting her mind wander as she worked. She knew Vaix would probably fall asleep, but she sort of wanted him too, it would be good for him to go to bed relaxed. Plus, she still had to clean the house, particularly the kitchen, and maybe go hunt of if she got a chance.

She glanced down, realizing Vaix had passed out. Smiling, she kissed his forhead lightly, pulling the thick comforter around him, she knew the temperature wouldn't change, so she figured he'd be fine. She sighed, stretching her arms above her head for a moment, before trudging back downstairs. It seemed a mom's work was never done. She sighed, running some water into the sink with some soap, begining on the dishes from the day.

Vaix went limp as soon as Shaye's hands began to work on him. There was the occasional gasp from him as she struck something sore and relaxed the muscle into submission, the occasional twitch as she hit a nerve. His blue eyes slowly closed as the soothing motions she gave him, and as the muscles on his back relaxed, he slowly fell into sleep. To the point where he couldn't keep conscious anymore and fell into the comforting darkness of sleep. He felt Shaye kiss is forehead and shift, but that was all he felt before the outside world was completely blocked out from him. He wasn't aware of Shaye leaving, or the blanket around him, he temporarily let go of whatever stressed him and relaxed mentally as well.

Iggy had collapsed in the living room. He was still awake, barely, and was aware of Shaye's wandering into the kitchen. He pulled another smile and a light giggle and with his hand alone, dragged himself into the doorway and lay there heaving for air that he really didn't need, but felt teh strain for it anyways. "Did you put the kids to bed Shaye?" Iggy muttered to her teasingly, his head laid innocently on the tiles as purple eyes looked up at her.

Shaye sighed, brushing a spare hair from her face. She wasn't sweaty, but she was feeling exahusted, and she had a ton of stuff to do. She glanced up at Iggy, "Yea, I suppose you could say that Iggy" She said, scrubbing a dish absentmindedly, she couldn't believe how dishes piled up. She shook her head, sighing comfortably, blinking the hair from her eyes. She rubbed her eyes, continuing to clean up, finally finishing the dishes as she put them away. She could have used the dishwasher, but it didn't warrant use. She glanced around, drifting into living room and begining to straighten up in there. Thankfully Vaix had vacumed, which meant she didn't have to, which was a relief, cause vacuming would most certainly wake both Xayden and Vaix.

She yawned, checking the time, it was nearly four am, she had been cleaning for hours. Damn, time really did fly, she wondered ig other mom's felt this way? She glanced back at Iggy, a small smile at her straightened up house, "I need to go to bed" She said softly, though she was starving. Walking to the fridge she grabbed one of Xayden's spare bottles of blood, she needed it now, she could feel her body literally wearing out. She sighed, taking a sip, before finishing off the whole thing and wandering upstairs. She carefully slid into bed, shedding her outter clothing, and passing out next to Vaix.

Iggy watched Shaye clean and run around, his own eyes were drooping at the sight of her and her business. Finally he yawned and fell asleep in the doorway as she left, but he didn't sleep for long seeing as how he wasn't entirely comfortable on teh floor.
He opened his eyes, having found Shaye left for bed, and stood up rubbing the back of his head and yawning tiredly. He glanced up at the stairs where Shaye slept, then down to the door that lead to the basement, wandering down that way with heavy steps and a slouched posture. His eyes strayed to the small collection of things on one of his shelves. Keith's picture of his soulmate, covered in a protective layer of tape, a picture of Roxa, and a picture of Keith. He pawed at the ring hanging on a silver chain around his neck and sat down on his bed. He wondered vaguely if Keith like Raven now, like Vaix. Once that happened it really would be too late to have Keith back. He rocked back and forth quietly, and his gaze drifted to the demon book on his shelf also. He stood and grabbed it, looking through it quietly and letting his eyes rest on the page bookmarked by Draq, in case Vaix ever died. He smiled softly, this charade had gone on long enough, he had all the pieces he needed, it was just a matter of putting them into place. He'd have Keith back, he was not letting Vaix win, he was not going to suffer loosing another brother, half his family. He would not lose.

Shaye sighed, shifting under the covers, she couldn't bring herself to get up, even though it was morning now, she could hear stuff, but her eyes stayed shut, her body to wary to move.
She yawned, trying to make herself wake up, but she couldn't, it was impossible.

Keith sighed, he hadn't had a chance to go outside last night, between Roxa and Raven he swore he was the most watched cat in history. He sighed, he was definately begining to 'fall' for Raven, much like Vaix had, he was trying to, for Shaye's sake, for everyone's. He knew he had hurt Iggy, he felt bad enough for that, but he wouldn't hurt Shaye, and he wouldn't allow her to be hurt. He sighed, stretching out, looking around, feeling the heavy chain on his neck as he glanced around. He wasn't used to it yet, and the bickering was getting to him. Roxa and Raven were both treating him like a child, they were like parents, arguing over how to raise him, as if he wasn't entitled to an opinion on anything.

Vaix was already up, Xayden had made sure of that, but he'd convinced Xayden to let Shaye sleep in, and currently he was trying to cook breakfast for Xayden. Eggs. It wasn't too too bad, but it still wasn't pleasant, especially when he burnt them. He placed teh eggs on Xaden's plate anyways, watching his son make a face and poke at them disapprovingly.
"Yuck dad."
"I know, I know. I suck at cooking..." Vaix muttered back with a hung head and a sigh. Iggy was still sleeping downstairs, as was Shaye upstairs. Currently only him and Xayden were awake, not that he minded. Some father son time was healthy.
---
Raven hadn't allowed them to go to Shaye's. Apparently it wasn't trustworthy to step outside. Something about a bat demon beating her up if she went to close to the house. Roxa didn't care, Raven was Raven. She could never be understood, though the boys had snickered at teh remark, so maybe she'd missed something. But surely Raven couldn't be bullied? She'd thought Raven was at the top of the totem pole.
She currently sat on the couch, watching teh cooking channel and having to listen to Raven instruct her what she would and wouldn't cook her from the show. She rolled her eyes, as if she could remember and of it. But she let Raven carry on, because Raven was really just being a pest, if none of teh foods were mentioned, she'd forget about them by the end of the hour.

Shaye yawned, shifting as she smelt burnt food.
"Oh damn" She had forgotten that Vaix couldn't cook to save his life, so she had to get up for Xayden's sake. Standing up, she wrapped her robe around herself, not caring to get dressed, and wandered downstairs.
"Morning" She yawned, looking at the eggs on Xayden's plate and wrinkling her nose.
"I'll make breakfast" She said with a small sigh, walking to the fridge and pulling out some batter for panckakes. She had made it the night before, having just stuck it in the fridge so that she could make breakfast in a pinch.
"Sleep alright?" She asked, carefully heating the batter up in the pan as she poured it, making Xayden Mickey Mouse pancakes.
"Don't forget we're having a sleepover tonight" She reminded Vaix, she could hear pages turning downstairs, but figured Iggy was reading or something, she sighed, hoping he was feeling better today.

Keith whined, trying to slip off the couch, only to be jerked back, Raven was being particularly clingy, since last night Roxa had tried going to Shaye's. Raven had flipped out, and hadn't let either of them out of her sight since. He sighed, stretching out, managing to take up the whole couch, lying on top of both females, basically just for the sheer pleasure of being a pain in the ass.

Vaix looked up at Shaye as she came into the kitchen and smiled lightly, "Morning Shaye, how was your sleep?"
She still looked tired, and he sighed as she started making breakfest, he watched Xayden jump up and cry, "Yay! Pancakes!" He rolled his eyes and muttered to Shaye, "I slept like a rock. It was real nice, thanks to you." He doubted he would have had such a nice sleep without Shaye undoing some of teh tension in his muscles. He watched Xayden jump around Shaye's legs, having abandoning the burnt eggs, he clapped his hands at the mention of a sleep over. "Yeah, my friends are coming over daddy!"
Vaix chuckled, "Yeah I know, we'll tidy up your room together Xayden, ad bring out a mattress for them to sleep on."
Xayden nodded with a happy smile.

Iggy was still downstairs, he was awake, as Shaye was vaguely aware. His bed was covered in books and sketch pages, all of which had written rough copy plans. He'd gone over every possible way to do things, no matter the work involved, or the time, or complexity. He'd brought out every demon related book, and angel related book he owned, he'd studied the summoning spell over carefully until he knew it by memory. It was now 9:35am, he'd been working all night. In his hands he held three sheets worth of notes for one plan he had, he set those on the self by his pictures and started to clean up now that he heard everyone upstairs awake. It was only a matter of time before Shaye came down and saw what he was doing, then he'd be ruined. He needed to clean up before she got downstairs, though the master plan was already hidden.

Shaye shrugged, "I didn't sleep much" She said, putting the pancake on Xayden's plate, a small frown on her face. She felt a small shiver go down her spine, something was wrong. She shook her head, no, not so soon, not with her perfect family, not with stuff finally going the way it was supposed to. She sighed, Iggy, maybe? She definately felt off, something was bothering her, "I'll be back in a moment, I need to check on Iggy" She said, disappearing downstairs, in time to catch Iggy with handfuls of papers.
"Iggy? What in gods name are you doing?" She asked, eyes flickering anxiously, could Iggy really be planning on hurting her family? She frowned, no, he wouldn't, but, maybe, for Keith. She sighed, sitting on a spare chair, looking at him with an axious and hurt expression.
"Iggy?" She said again, voice taking on a nervous note, her green eyes flashing worridly.

Vaix frowned to hear Shaye hadn't had much of a sleep, then shook his head as she mentioned checking on Iggy. "Don't wast your time, he's fine," Vaix called after her. His brother caused far to much trouble than he was worth, and Shaye always seemed sad after visiting Iggy.

Iggy froze like a deer caught in headlights as Shaye spoke to him. Big wide eyes stared at her as she caught him with handfuls of failed plan ideas. He slowly shifted as she took the spare chair, she hadn't looked any of them over, for all she knew he could be studying, though her instincts were obviously telling her otherwise. He slowly shifted away from her, slipping the fails into his dresser drawer, and looking back over at her again as she once again asked him what he was doing. He swallowed and crawled back onto his bed, watching her as he closed books and continued to put everything back in it's place without talking to her. "It's nothing Shaye, really. Just...ideas, just in case." He smiled over to her weakly. None of that was a lie, they were all ideas, all of them could be used in case the master plan failed.

Shaye sucked in a breath, ignoring Vaix.
"Iggy" She shook her head, frowning, "No, whatever, just, Iggy, don't do anything that will hurt our family, I know you're suffering over Keith, we all our, but please, just think about Xayden, he needs me, and Vaix, and without eachother..." She trailed off, looking at him sadly. She knew Iggy, knew him, and she knew something very bad could be in the works. She rose slowly, turning and going back up the stairs.
"I mean it Iggy" She said softly over her shoulder, green eyes flashing warningly, this was her son he was risking, and if anything happened to so much as upset Xayden, well, they'd see a side of Shaye that no one would want to mess with, not even Lucifer himself.

She stepped upstairs, plastering a fake smile on her face, though her eyes were angry and worried.
"I'll be right back, I need to get changed" She said softly to Vaix, kissing him lightly, before turning to go upstairs. Anger breaking through her delicate facade. She threw her pillow viciously at the bed, pulling her clothes on roughly, trying to get ahold of her out of control emotions. Her entire life was a mess, very few things were holding her together, Vaix being one of them, if he was gone, all hell would break loose.

Iggy watched Shaye go and sighed. Shaye didn't understand, and she wouldn't understand, not until it was over. Explaining it would only make her panic for the one step that required her boyfriend's life, but it would be a short departure, if no one said anything to Xayden, he wouldn't know any different, but Shaye would need to know, because Vaix would need a hand to hold onto after he came back. Shaye might hate him for it now, but when Raven was completely out of the picture, and her son was 99.5% safe of a Raven interference, she'd thank him. Of course there was always that .5 that she'd come crawling back up to earth for revenge, but he doubted she'd have the time and patients to burrow through Hell's ceiling again. They'd just need to watch Vaix, because he wouldn't be happy knowing Raven was gone, like never see her again gone. He'd probably mourn, grieve, hate Iggy ten times more than he already did, not that Iggy cared. Vaix would have to go through Shaye's heart first if he wanted Iggy's death over Raven, and Vaix wasn't strong enough to hurt his soulmate in any way.
Iggy listened to Shaye thump around upstairs in their room. He could hear it because he was almost directly below her. Iggy sighed, straightened himself, then wandered upstairs, glancing at Vaix momentarily before going upstairs again and stopping in front of Shaye's door. Estimating how safe it was for him to go in there.
"Shaye," he muttered gently, "Are you decent enough for me to come in?"

Vaix smiled as Shaye came back, kissing her cheek in return and muttering, "Alright love." Then he turned and went back to washing the dishes while Xayden woofed back his third pancake and a bottle of blood. It wasn't Vaix that noticed Iggy's coming up, but Xayden. He smiled and waved at Iggy, who had merely given him a soft smile in return and headed upstairs after Shaye.

Shaye's eyes narrowed at the door, but she sighed, "I'm decent Iggy, clothing wise" She said, green eyes flashing, something was wrong, something that would hurt her family, and she knew Iggy was orchestrating it. She shuddered lightly, suprised that Vaix hadn't come upstairs to check on her, but she figured Xayden was distracting him, which was probably a good thing. She watched Iggy come in, her eyes leveling him with a dark stare.
"I don't know what your planning Iggy, but I know you, I know your planning something, something that is going to throw this family into turmoil, again. Do you really want that? Do you want to mess up what we have here?" She said, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. She knew Iggy was doing this for Keith, that was the only person he cared about anymore, Keith.

Iggy sighed and stepped into the room, but he was greeted with a glare that both spooked and disorientated him. He smiled instinctively, but lifted his hand to his mouth to cover it, staring at the ground until he could pull himself back together. He listened to Shaye's speech about what she knew, the sixth sense of a mother was indeed remarkable, but she was getting the wrong idea already, and that was why he was up here right now. He let his purple eyes look up at her and replied, "Shaye, you need to trust me. The price is minimal, and the reward is great. I'm going to get rid of Raven Shaye, Xayden will be safe, he'll have nothing but people who love him, I'll be rid of the contract, Keith will be alright again, and Xayden will get to see him for the person he is. Vaix will be fine Shaye, I'm not taking anything away, not permanently. Only Raven will leave forever, everything will be okay, and I'll have my family back. Vaix can hate me just fine without Raven pestering it." He smiled softly to her, wandering deeper into the bedroom and sitting on Shaye's bed. "Please don't be so angry, I'm not sabotaging anything. I promise."

Shaye listened to Iggy, "Iggy, you've reassured me over everyone, but the one person I care most about. Iggy, what is going to happen to Vaix?" She said, narrowing her eyes at him, "Because if you do anything to hurt him, you hurt this family Iggy, me, Xayden, Keith, you hurt us all" She warned, "I agree that getting rid of Raven would be fantastic for this family, but at what cost Iggy? Why does my family have to suffer?" She said, eyes downcast, before returning to him.
"I know I can't talk you out of this, no matter what I say, your mind has been made up, but I can warn you. If you do anything to harm my family, Xayden particularly, I will never forgive you Iggy, not only will you have Vaix hating you, but I can gaurentee I will as well. I don't want that Iggy, I don't like hating people, but first and for most, I'm a mother, and my son, my husband, they come first in my life now"