Gabriel leans in towards Ryder, as if he could hear his thoughts clearer that way.
Who is the driver?
Ryder raises an eyebrow.
Never asked, never cared. The poor guy probably doesn’t like me anyway.
He (Ryder) looks back to Dio. “What did you guys have for supper?”
-
Cage stands with a sigh and turns the tv off mid game. “Alright, go brush your teeth and get ready for bed Mik. You have thirty minutes.”
Kissa trots down the stairs and pauses at the bottom, brow furrowed. “Where’s Ryder?”
"Ahh. Lackey isn't actually at the house right now. But I just had one of my… friends… bring me some meals. Honestly, the only thing I'm relatively good at making is sushi and a few other dishes from my country. I believe there's some… lasagna? And soup in the fridge right now." Dio replied.
–
"WHAT." Miki yelped. "No, Cage!" she shook the controller as if that would make the game come back on. "No, we have 30 minutes to finish the game!"
Silver laughed. "Awww, Cage, you're so sweet. I usually just let her pass out."
Miki groaned and flopped across the couch. "Caaaaaaaaaaaage, noooooooooooooo."
Cage goes to take the controller from Miki. “Off to bed. C’mon.” He demands, trying to yank it from her hands.
Kissa blinks and turns invisible, deciding against repeating herself and instead going to look for him.
-
Ryder nods. “Okay. That’s decent. What was that thing we had last week? That was like meat rolled in a tortilla? It wasn’t a taco. It had cheese on the outside.”
Miki relinquished the control but stayed on the couch, taking up as much room as possible. "Caaaaaage, I'm not even tiiiiiiiiiired!"
–
Dio raised an eyebrow. "A… burrito? I think? I don't always know what the food is called that she brings me."
Cage puts the controller and game away then turns to take her arm and pull her off the couch. “C’mon mikkkkk!”
-
Ryder shakes his head. “Not a burrito, but it does have beans on the inside too. But there’s cheese on the outside.”
Miki wailed in very loud fake sobs and rolled off the couch, thumping to the floor. "I wanna go to beeeeeeed!!!"
Silver covered her mouth with her hand to hold in her laughter, still sitting on the couch and not offering to help Cage.
–
Dio blinked at him. "I don't…" He tried to think back and remember what on earth Ryder was talking about. "I don't actually remember. I think I remember that we ate those but I don't remember what they're called." he shook his head. "It's not Korean or Spanish so I have no idea."
Cage grunts, trying to pull her to the stairs. “Augh! Why are you so much heavier than you look???”
-
Ryder sighs. “Sad. Those things were amazing and I’ll never find them again now. Maybe Lackey remembers.” He leans on his hand and watches out the window for a moment.
Silver nodded sympathetically. "She can be about 300 pounds if she wants to."
Miki pointed a finger at Silver. "I resent that." She allowed Cage to drag her to the stairs, but not without causing him a lot of trouble and complaining very loudly. Once she lay at the bottom of the stairs she looked up at them forlornly. "Cage, I don't think you're strong enough to get me up there. I'll have to sleep here on the floor tonight."
–
Dio chucked. "Oh, if I explain them to her I'm sure she'll be able to make them again. But Lackey will probably remember. He's good at that."
Cage sighs, looking over to Silver. “A little help??”
-
Ryder drearily watches outside. Even though his hand is relaxed, Gabriel still holds tight to it, obviously anxious. “Do we have food Gabriel will eat?” He asks himself out loud.
Silver rolled her eyes and came over to stand beside her sister, hands on her hips. Miki looked up at her.
"You can just bring my toothbrush down here for me." she said. "I've slept in worse places. The floor isn't so bad."
–
"What kind of food does he eat?" Dio asked. "I have tons of food that Lackey likes, and you eat just about anything. Is there anything specific Gabriel likes? I can run to the grocery store after we get you to the house."
Ryder look to Gabriel then back to Dio. “Uuuh, he’s tricky. Last thing I actually saw him eat was a stir fry of literally just veggies and insects.”
Gabriel gives him a glare.
Shush.
-
Cage rolls his eyes and shoves Miki with his foot. “You have to go to bed. Or I’ll tell Ben and he’ll come drag you.”
Dio opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He glanced back and forth between Ryder and the empty spot beside him for a moment before finally saying, "I… I have plenty of vegetables. And I'm sure… I could source insects from somewhere."
–
Miki snorted. "Ben wouldn't care. I'm sure he'd love to see me sleep on the floor like the dumpster child that I am." she rolled onto her side and snuggled into a ball. "This actually isn't too bad."
Silver sighed and picked Miki up, completely telekinetically, and started lifting her up the stairs. Miki shrieked, putting her hands out to catch something, but nothing was in her reach and no matter how she moved, Silver didn't drop her.
"SILVER. PUT. ME. DOWN." Miki screamed. "SILVER, THIS IS–SILVER, I'M GONNA THROW UP."
Cage covers his eyes, completely believing Miki. “IF YOU KEEP SHOUTING HE’LL COME OUT ANYWAYS.”
-
Gabriel puts his face in his hands in embarrassment and Ryder chuckles, ruffling his hair. “Yeah he’d like that. He needs some food. When’s the last time you ate? Last year?”
Silver ignored both Miki and Cage until she reached the top of the stairs, and then she dumped Miki on the floor again. "Okay Cage. You're up again."
Miki lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, gasping for breath with one hand on her chest. "Silver." she whispered. "If you ever do that again I will literally kill you. I almost died."
–
Dio's eyes flew wide and he stared at Gabriel's empty space. "What? You ate last–wait, does he really only eat once a year?" he asked Ryder, concern etching his features. "Does Benjamin not keep food that he likes?"
Ben opens his bedrooms door and steps out into the hall, staring at Miki. “Shush! Why are you so loud??” He hisses.
-
Ryder shrugs. “Dude, I haven’t seen them in literally forever. How would I know? All I do know is that he never eats.”
"She's drunk." Silver said, at the same time Miki wailed, "Cage is sending me to bed and Silver almost killed me!"
–
Dio peered at where Gabriel sat, brow creased in concern. "Does Benjamin not feed you?" he asked Gabriel directly. "What do you like to eat?"
Ben rolls his eyes, putting his hands on his hips. “Up, Miki. Get in bed now. It’s late and you all need to sleep. Where are the Vampires?”
-
“I’m fine.” Gabriel quietly claims, his voice scratchy as ever. Ryder raises an eyebrow.
Basically everytime you say that, it means you’re not.
"Ryder took Gabe back to Dio's." Silver said, crossing her arms and watching as her sister slowly peeled herself up off the floor.
–
Dio sighed. "So far the only thing I have to go on to feed you is vegetables and bugs. Which I will gladly provide if that's what you want, but please tell me those aren't the only things you eat."
Ben raises his eyebrows but doesn’t object. “Did he take Kiss?”
-
Gabriel is silent for a second, and decides against saying more.
I don’t know what I eat…
Ryder shrugs. “To be on the safe side, it should all be vegetarian and weird. Right?” He looks back to Gabriel’s empty space.
Silver frowned and glanced down to the kitchen. "No…? She came down here a few minutes ago but then she disappeared."
Miki held up a finger. "She asked where Ryder went and we all ignored her." she nodded emphatically. "We were very rude."
–
Dio nodded slowly, his mind racing. "I have plenty of vegetables. And I can always ask Lackey for ideas."
Ben sighs, waving a hand.
As long as she’s still here.
“Alright, fine.” He runs a hand through his hair, before turning around and going back into his room. “I’ll see you all in the morning. Miki, seriously. Go to bed.”
-
Ryder nods.
his taste is probably similar to lackeys.
(We could skip to the end of the carriage ride?)
Miki nodded again and saluted him. "Yes. Sir." as soon as he was out of sight she slumped against the wall. "Do I haaaaaaaaaaaave tooooooo???"
–
(suresure)
The carriage pulled up to the front of the house and Dio stepped out first. The only light around them was the moon shining down, the sun having set a few hours before. "Come on." Dio beckoned to them, holding the door open. "No one else is here."
Cage gives Miki a shove. “Yes. Go.”
He looks to Silver, eyes wide with mild irritation.
Push her into bed with your air or something. pLEAse.
—
Ryder climbs out of the carriage, turning around to offer Gabriel a hand too. “Glad to be out of that cramped thing. It’s…” he looks Gabriel over, seeing his tired droopy eyes and his bruises and cuts. Violet had taken care of everything serious, at least so that he wouldn’t die from them, but he was still a pitiful sight. He takes Gabriel’s hand firmly and follows Dio.
Im not letting him out of my sight again.
(Gabriel is visible now :))
Silver rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister's arm, dragging her toward their room. "Yes. You do. Come on. You're gonna turn off like a light soon anyway."
"Nooooooo Iiiiiiiiii wooooooooon't," Miki whined, stumbling after her.
–
Dio lead the way up the stairs and unlocked the front door, waving them in first. He gave a few last commands to his driver before the man drove the carriage away, and then Dio followed the boy inside, locking the door behind them. In the light from the entryway, he finally saw Gabriel's bedraggled state. He nodded once and pointed toward the stairs leading to the next floor.
"Does he need anything?" he asked Ryder. "What can we do for him?"
Cage rolls his eyes.
"Geeeez, Mik." He sighs and peeks over the railing to see if Kissa's visible, but doesn't see her. He still trots down the stairs anyways to turn off all the lights and head back upstairs to bed, texting Robin a quick 'goodnight <3' on the way.
__
Gabriel is out of it enough to not hear their whispers and to zone out, staring at the floor. He'd had a long, impossible day, full of over stimulation and waaay too much social interaction for his liking.
Ryder looks to Dio, pursing his lips.
"I don't- I think he just needs rest and food. From what they were saying it sounds like her hardly eats or sleeps. We'll probably chill on the couch if that's okay with you."
Silver tugged Miki into their room and shoved her onto the bed. Miki collapsed onto it with a muffled protest that almost instantly turned into a "Hmmmmm," as she snuggled into the covers. Silver shook her head and turned the light off before curling up beside her.
–
Dio nodded. "You are welcome to sleep wherever is most comfortable. I'll get you both some snacks." he trotted into the kitchen and collected a number of food items from the pantry for the boys.
Ryder ruffles Gabriel’s hair and nods towards the couch. “Hey, let’s catch up. Come sit down with me and we’ll eat.”
Gabriel blinks, not verbally responding, and shuffled to the couch to sit down with Ryder.
—
Kissa stops at the end of the driveway. She’d not been answered when she asked where the boys were, so she’d carefully surveyed the front and backyard and most of their forest. She peers around the hedge into the street, blinking.
Did he go to Dio’s? That’s the only other thing I can think of.
She takes a step out onto the road, shivering and completely invisible.
I don’t know where his house is. I bet I can find it though.
Is it dangerous?
No. they can’t find me when I’m invisible. Not without the bracelets.
She takes a deep breath.
Why did they leave me here? Ben is even in bed so I can’t just stay by him. This was very rude.
Dio set the snacks on the coffee table in front of them and then brought a pitcher of water and some glasses. After surveying them for a second he trotted upstairs and returned with two giant, fluffy blankets. "Do you need anything else?" he asked as he dropped them on the couch beside them.
–
Silver snuggled into Miki's shoulder, twitching her wings into place on top of her, feeling the drowsiness cloud her mind as sleep approached.
But as hard as she tried to drift completely away, something kept itching at her mind. She couldn't quite let herself slip away. Finally in grouchy frustration she sat up and glared at the wall across from their bed.
Something was wrong.
With a groan of annoyance she dragged herself out of bed and trudged into the hallway.
Someone was missing.
Well, duh, someone was missing. Gabriel and Ryder were gone. She knew that.
But she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until she checked on everyone, so with a resigned sigh she crept to Cage's door and peeked in.
Cage was sound asleep, snoring lightly as he usually did.
She continued down the hall and inched Ben and Vi's door open. She could feel as much as see the two of them in Vi's bed, Ben on his side, with Vi snuggled up against his back. Silver silently closed the door and made her way to Kissa's door, mentally griping at herself for having powers that made her so in tune to her family that she had to obsessively do roll count at random times to make sure they were all safe.
But as she approached Kissa's door some of the sleep clouding her mind faded away and she froze. Before even opening the door she knew what she would find.
Kissa's bed was empty.
Kissa rubs her cold arms, not bothering to go inside and get a jacket to wear over her night gown, and instead taking a few hurried steps down the street before launching herself in the air.
It’s freezing out here!
The heavy movement of her wings made her warmer, but they ached for lack of stretching.
Ugh. I wish I was free. That house is a cage full of paranoid freaks who panic over every little thing.
"Kissa." Silver whispered, stepping into the room and patting the bed. She knew she wasn't there, but instinct made her check. "Kiss… Ben!" She bolted from the room but stopped as she opened Vi's bedroom door again. Silently she crept across the room and crouched beside the bed on Ben's side.
"Ben. Ben!" she whispered. "Ben, Kissa's gone." she poked his arm. "I can't feel her anywhere. Ben, wake up, Kissa's gone."
