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Ben slides further into the freezing cold water in the tub and glares at the wall.
“I’m going to kill you all. Why did you come upstairs?”
Cage sighs. “You were gonna burn down the house. Sil said so.”
A soft smile crosses Gabriel’s face. “Only for a little while. He slowly stands and offers her his hand. “C’mon. I’ll turn visible with you.”
Violet nods. “Yep. We’ve got… all of the ones with wings…..”
Miki nodded. "Yep. I don't know what happened but she was eavesdropping and came crying down the stairs saying you were gonna burn the house down. But that sushi guy is so small though? What did he do?"
Silver laughed a little, nervous shaky laugh. "Okay." She lifted her head and looked at him, then laughed again. "You're so dumb. That's the best thing you could offer: being visible." She kissed his nose and extracted herself from his lap.
Dio sighed and closed his eyes.
All the ones with wings.
She couldn't mean the Kavi. There might have been others besides the Silver girl who survived with wings.
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Violet rubs the bridge of her nose and takes a gulp of wine before continuing.
“And before you get hopeful, yes I mean the Kavi too.” She lets it sink in a moment before continuing. “The boy, Gabriel, was sent after us but decided against working for Airrow any longer and somehow convinced his sister, Kissa, to help us as well.”
Gabriel helps her stand and keeps ahold of her hand. “He’s small, not scary. C’mon.”
Ben huffs, “nothing.” He mumbles.
Cage turns around to Miki again. “I bet it was his anxiety spiking.” He whispers.
Dio pinched his nose, swearing under his breath. "젠장 이 우선 순위가 높은 모든 목표는 어떻게 같은 집에 있었습니까?"
Silver grasped Gabriel's hand and slowly approached the doorway to the dining room, pausing just when Dio came into her sight. She opened up her senses to him and felt the confusion around him. Violet too. But there was also an undercurrent of calm.
Dio looked up to respond to Violet and saw the winged girl watching him. Her grey wings filled the area behind her, so he could only just barely see the Kavi boy behind her. Gabriel, Violet had called him. He smiled at Silver, wiping all the stress off his face, and waved his fingers at her.
"Hello, dear. It's lovely to meet you. Do you like sushi?" he pushed the dish of sushi toward her.
Silver's breath caught and she squeezed Gabriel's hand, not moving from her spot. Without responding to Dio, she floated a piece of sushi off the plate and to herself, taking it out of the air with her hand and examining it.
Dio watched in fascination. Well, that's a new one, he thought to himself. No one else had telekinesis, that he or Etienne knew about. He swore again, quietly. Ben had done a good job keeping these kids hidden. To Dio's knowledge, Etienne only knew that Ben, Violet, and Kissa were in Spain, not the Silver girl.
–
Miki nodded, watching Ben and seeing the water turn warm. "Should I get some ice?" she whispered to Cage.
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Gabriel stands to the side of Silver and a few steps behind her. He still has ahold of her hand and, unlike Sil’s, his tattered, black wings lay limp on the ground behind him. He blinks, thankful Dio is more focused on Silver than him. He looks him over with a threatening glare.
If he’s one of the elemental originals, he could be here for Kiss.
Violet gives Silver a soft smile and nod. “How is it? I thought it was lovely as far as sushi goes.”
Kissa blinks, watching him take in Silver.
Is he impressed by that kid? Really? Wow doesn’t take much I guess. True potential is found in power and control. Freak here might have power, but absolutely no control.
She gives her hair a small flip before turning her attention back to Vi and Dio.
-
Cage nods. “I think so.” He whispers back.
Ben turns his head to glare at them, his water starting to boil. “No ice. I will roast you.”
Cage gives a nervous laugh. “No ice it is! Heh heh.” He turns Miki around and shoves her out, whispering, “lets get out, he’ll be fine.”
Silver took a hesitant bite, but her attention was more on Dio than the food. As it touched her tongue and she tasted it, her face contorted and she gagged, turning to hand it to Gabriel. "It's nasty." she gasped, trying not to let Dio hear.
But he did hear. And he laughed. "It's alright, darling. I understand. Not everyone likes sushi so I won't take it personally." he took one himself and ate it, giving Silver a wink that made her face alternately flash pale and red.
–
Miki nodded to Cage and shut the bathroom door behind him. "Couldn't you just… freeze the water from out here? That would be hilarious."
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Gabriel takes the piece but doesn’t eat it and instead holds it in his hand. He wasn’t really found of biting something after someone else already had.
Cage shrugs. “I don’t think you understand how horrible at my element I am.” He giggles. “If I tried, I’d probably just freeze the whole bathroom. Remember when I tried to freeze one of your eggs and froze over half the counter?”
Miki laughed. "That was so disgusting. Hey! What element does the Sushi Guy have?" she bolted through the kitchen and came to a halt in the doorway beside Silver. "Hey, what's your element???"
Dio paused, another piece of sushi in front of his mouth, and stared at Miki.
Miki rolled her eyes when he didn't respond. "I was just wondering if you're water or not cuz Cage can't freeze Ben's bath from out here and we were hoping you could."
Silver whirled around and shoved Miki back. "Miki, Ben will kill you like a hundred times! And he'll kill him!" she pointed to Dio. "AND HE'LL KILL ALL OF US."
Dio finished his sushi and glanced up at Violet. "I take it this–" he indicated the chaos. "Is the norm around here?"
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Violet nods with a sigh and another sip of her drink. “Would you believe me if I said the two loudest are currently not contributing? It’s normally worse.” She looks back to Miki, blinking. “If he’s cooled down enough to speak, then he’s alright. Leave him be…. why… why is he in the bath though?”
Cage joins Miki in the doorway and smiles with a quick wave to Dio before answering vi. “Umm, welll, he was burning up and scorching things again so I ran a cold bath and shoved him in it.”
She lets out another sigh. “That would explain your burns.” She mumbles before taking another sip.
Miki grabbed Cage's arm and held it out as if they needed proof of his burns. "Ben burnt him! I asked what Sushi Man had done to him cuz he's just sitting there lookin' angelic while Ben's freaking burning Cage?? I thought we were in danger when Silver said Ben was burning the house down??" She groaned loudly and flopped into the nearest chair at the table.
Dio watched this exchange in silent amazement. Slowly he started chuckling, then laughing out loud, until tears rolled down his cheeks.
Silver slowly backed into Gabriel and whispered loudly, "We broke him."
When Dio could finally speak, he wiped his eyes and looked up at Violet. "Bless you for taking care of these children. They're beautiful."
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Violet nods, taking another sip. "They're ours now. Do you have any?"
Cage takes his arm from Miki with a small giggle. "It's nothing. They'll be gone in the morning. He used to be a lot worse before we met you… guy- hey is that sushi? Can I have some please?" He asks, heading to the table and taking some without waiting for an answer. "MMMn!"
Gabriel blinks when Silver talks to him and doesn't respond, not daring to talk in front of him.
Kissa rolls her eyes.
I hate this guy already.
Dio shook his head. "No, not like these ones. I have a few Elementals and Kavi who frequent my home, but none of them live with me." to Cage he said, "Yes, please! You may eat Silver's share, as she didn't care for it." he watched Cage closely, noting his Korean heritage. "Were you the one she–" he motioned to Miki. "–said had the water element?"
Miki picked up a roll of sushi and examined it. "Is this actually raw fish? Please tell it's not."
Silver stepped into the dining room, leaning closer to Miki. "It's disgusting." she whispered to her, glancing at Dio and hoping he couldn't hear. "Don't eat it."
Miki made a gross face and handed the piece of Cage. "You can have my share too, Cage. I don't think sushi is in my DNA."
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Violet stands, setting her empty glass down on the table. "Well, Ben probably needs a change of clothes. I'll be back in a little while." She heads out of the doorway, giving Gabriel a nod on the way.
Cage gives miki a closed mouth smile, his cheeks full of sushi.
Kissa rolls back her shoulders and huffs.
I gotta meet him sooner or later. Well…. More of he's got to meet me.
Miki raised an eyebrow at Cage and his pudgy cheeks. Silver looked on the verge of throwing up, and edged around the table, away from Miki and Cage, and on the other side from Dio. She lifted a piece of bread from the basket by the places Ben and Violet had sat at, and floated it close enough for here to grab.
Dio smiled to himself, eating another piece of sushi and watching them in amusement. Silver eyed him over her bread, glancing back and forth between him and Cage. Slowly Dio put his hand down on the table and with an audible crack! the surface was covered in a thin layer of frosted ice, snowflake shapes spider-webbing through it.
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Cage shrieks and jumps back from the table, scaring Gabriel enough that he turns invisible.
"Cage, it's literally you're own freakin element. Chill." Kissa growls.
He sighs and dusts his shirt off. "Geez, Diablo. warn me next time. " He gives a nervous giggle.
Silver screamed with Cage and shot back from the table, clutching her bread. Dio grinned, holding in his laughter, and retracted the ice. Once it was gone he shook his hand and blew on his fingers. "So cold." he muttered to himself. "So you are water then, Cage?" he asked.
Miki glanced back and forth between the two Waters. "Dude, Cage, can you do that???"
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Cage nods to Dio. "Yeah I'm water, but… I'm not powerful. At all honestly." He rocks back and forth on his heels with a nervous laugh.
Well, this is awkward.
"I can freeze things solid but it takes a lot of effort and sometimes freezes more things than I wanted."
Kissa rolls her eyes.
Yeah, no duh.
Dio nodded. "That's understandable. In many ways it's just as unpredictable and dangerous as fire. How long have you… how long has it been since you gained your powers?"
"He made ice cream once." Miki said casually, examining her fingernails.
Dio blinked. "Made wha–he made–" he stared at Cage. "You can make ice cream?"
"It's gross." Silver said, leaning against the wall. "They purposely made it the nastiest flavors possible."
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Cage giggles. "Yeah, I made ice cream. I've had my powers as long as Ben, but as far as I know I was considered a failed experiment since my element fluctuates in how much it can do and how much I can control." He rubs his arm, the burn marks already fading.
Dio clicked his tongue. "Unfortunately Etienne is very quick to decide someone is a 'failure'. But let me tell you a secret, my boy; Etienne mastered his element long before I did, and he considering me a failure since the moment he knew I existed." He touched the table again, and a cloud of frost slowly billowed from the tip of his finger. "But now–after many, many years of patient study, I am in more control of my element than Etienne could ever dream to be of his." He gave Cage a wink. "So you never know. Apparently we Waters tend to be late bloomers."
Silver slid into a chair, finished with her bread, and pulled Ben's mostly untouched plate down the table to her, listening to Dio in fascination.
Miki gave Cage a light smack with the back of her hand. "See? There's hope that you can freeze Ben's baths for him yet."
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Cage giggles. "alright! I mean, learning is usually fun so I'm totally up for some studies." He pops another pieve of sushi into his mouth.
Kissa stares at Cage for a second before making herself visible. She gives Dio a hard glare, her jaw clenched, and crosses her arms.
What's he here for?
Gabriel, still invisible, takes a few steps forward to stand by his sister, just in case the new guy made a move.
Dio started at Kissa's sudden appearance, and almost instantly stilled, studying her. After a moment he whispered, "젠장, 바이올렛이 맞았 어. 그들은 Kavi 소녀가 있습니다." He composed himself and offered her a smile. "You are…? Violet said your name was Kissa, I believe?"
Silver pick up the remains of Ben's steak with her fingers and chewed on it, watching in silence. Kissa's gonna murder you, dude.
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"What do you want here, Diablo? Why the hell hasn't Etienne killed you yet." She hisses.
Gabriel gulps.
Excuse me? What? He's a good guy, Kiss. Snap out of it.
Cage steps back, wishing he could become invisible.
Language, Kissa.
Dio raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, I can tell you it hasn't been for a lack of trying, my dear." he replied. He unbuttoned his left coat sleeve and pulled it up, showing the skin on his arm. It was scared, from wrist to elbow, with burn marks. "You may have noticed that my brother bears a similar mark, on his neck, but of frostbite instead of heat." he pulled his sleeve back down and rebuttoned it. "Sometimes I wonder how either of us are still alive."
Miki glanced at Silver. "And I thought Gabriel and Kiss were bad, for siblings. Those two make us sound like angels."
"But to answer your question," Dio continued. "I am here because it has become apparent that I can't help Benjamin very much without him knowing me and us working together. He has this habit of driving away on his bike and leaving a wake of burned cars and bodies behind him." he tsked his tongue. "It can be very tedious to clean up after him. I'm hoping that if we get to know each other better, we can help each other better as well."
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She relaxes her shoulders, but not her glare.
There's no way he's a match for Etienne. I'm not even a match for Etienne. Not yet at least.
"I'm sure we don't need your help, as nice as it is for you to of-"
"-We actually do, Kiss." Ben interrupts, entering the room from the doorway to the side. She doesn't glare at him but instead steps back with a sigh.
"I don't see how, Ben. Look at him." She extends a hand towards Dio.
Ben gives her a slight glare, though he doesn't verbally disagree. "He's know Etienne, and we don't."
She huffs, leaning against the wall.
Ben gives Dio a small, stiff nod, his hair wet and falling in black ringlets around his face.
"Ah, you return." Dio greeted him. "I'm glad you agree that our acquaintance is helpful for both of us. I was just getting to know your lovely children, Benjamin."
Miki smacked Cage to get his attention and batted her eyelashes. "Hear that, Cage? He thinks I'm beautiful."
Silver gulped the food in her mouth and coughed, yanking Miki's hair from across the table. "That's NOT what he said, you weirdo!"
Dio laughed. "Well, if Miki wants to believe that I think she's beautiful, who are we to stop her, Silver?"
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Ben rolls his eyes.
Trust me Kissa, he wouldn't be here if I didn't absolutely need him.
Cage giggles, whispering, "weirdos." under his breath.
Kissa turns herself invisible, more than embarrassed to be in the same room as Miki, Cage and Dio. She puts a hand on the side of her face and leaves in disgust.
Gabriel follows, waiting till he's close enough to whisper/hiss, "What was that?"
Miki threw back her head and laughed. Dio chuckled at her.
"I guess you're not that bad… for a human." he said.
She stopped instantly and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well… you're not that bad. For a weirdo. But Cage is my favorite weirdo, so don't get your hopes up."
"Rude." Silver muttered through a mouthful of vegetables.
Miki rolled her eyes. "You were my favorite before you were a weirdo, Silver."
Dio rose from his seat and extended a hand to Ben. "Well, I must say this has been an absolutely lovely evening, but I won't presume on your hospitality any longer. Perhaps we can plan for another meetup sometime soon?"
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Ben shakes Dio's hand firmly, giving him a glare that let him know he still didn't have his complete trust. "Yes, we'll let you know." He lets go of his hand and takes a step back.
Vi shakes his hand as well with a tired smile. "Thank you so much for joining us tonight, Diablo. We'll see you again soon."
Kissa glares back at Gabriel. "There's not way we need that freak. Did you see him, Gabriel?"
He gives her shoulder a small shove. "You know that's not what I'm talking about, Kiss. What's this about Etienne? He's not a good guy you know."
She turns away from him, glaring wide-eyed at the ground. After a few moments she quietly hisses. "How do you know?"
"The pleasure is mine." Dio said to Violet, before turning to the (visible) children. He blew Silver and Miki a kiss and extended his hand to Cage. "I quite enjoyed spending time with you all. I hope Benjamin lets me come back." he winked at them and made his way toward the door.
Silver finished Ben's plate and leaned across the table to grab Violet's leftovers, trying to keep her face from turning any redder. Miki waved at Dio as he passed. "Yeah, do come back so we can teach you how to make ice cream with your powers." A dawning realization hit her and she jumped up, grabbing Cage's shoulders. "CAGE. We need to make him try the sushi ice cream!!!"
