Monsters? These are my children -Ben (o/o with lisapickle)

"Come on, Miki." Silver called as she reached the door. "This is your creature you want, so come help me."
Miki reluctantly pushed herself off the floor and followed her sister, dragging her feet. "Why is it always Thai food."
"Because," Silver said, stepping outside and strolling across the grass toward the woods. "Thai food is amazing."

–

Lackey squinted after him and Dio raised an eyebrow.
"I want to ask, 'Is he acting strange?' but it's Ryder, so he's always strange." Dio said, rubbing his forehead and sighing.
Lackey nodded. But there is a threshold of which his weirdness should be concerning.
Dio nodded thoughtfully, pointing a finger at Lackey as if he were a genius. "This is true."

"Silvveeeeeeeer!" Miki wailed as her sister skipped ahead. "It's gonna storm!"
"You wanted a rat!" Silver sang back, now completely sold into the idea of finding her sister a rodent. "Come on, this shouldn't take too long!" She ducked into the treeline and slowed her movement, walking almost silently.

–

Dio frowned, glancing around the kitchen. "Wait. Where's… Kissa? She was with Ryder in the attic, wasn't she?"
Lackey silently pointed toward the 'empty' barstool in front of the area where the anpan had disappeared. She's here. I gave her some food.
Dio smiled and shook his head, sipping his tea. "I'm gonna have to buy more snacks if those kids are gonna be here regularly."

Silver crept through the forest, leaving Miki complaining at the edge. Slowly she tuned herself into the movement and life of the forest, noticing and dismissing the bugs, trees, and other living things as she tried to identify any rodents nearby. Suddenly she felt something hit the ground, sending a tremor through the earth that she felt in her feet. She stopped, tipping her head to the side.
Something's wrong.

–

Lackey raised his eyebrows and looking at Ryder expectantly. Dio watched him return, his exuberant smile making him suspicious. "Couldn't find your shoes?" he asked.

Gabe.
The thought hit her like a slap and without thinking she bolted toward where she knew he was. "GABRIEL!" Silver screamed. She couldn't tell what had happened or what was wrong but she knew something was terribly wrong and it had to do with Gabe. "GABRIEL!!!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs as she pelted through the forest, flapping her wings to give speed to her strides.

–

Lackey turned away to hide a smile and stepped into the pantry to refill his trail mix bowl. Dio nodded again, shaking his head a bit.
"It's fine, Ryder. I know you Kavi do things that we humans think are strange and don't understand. I don't mind if you don't explain yourself, just don't lie to me. You never wear shoes." he raised his eyebrows and gave Ryder a look.

"GABE!" Silver's voice grew hoarse as she kept running, her side aching from screaming and not stopping to catch her breath. Soon she felt his pain and knew she was close. "Gabriel!!!" she finally paused for a moment and belt over, her abdomen cramping, and tried to determine exactly where he was. She turned and jogged to her left. After a moment she glimpsed him through the trees and broke into a run again. "Gabriel! Gabe, what happened??"

–

Dio finished his tea and set the cup in the sink as his phone rang. He pulled it out to see it was from Ben and answered, "They're both at my house and they're fine." instead of saying hello.
Lackey returned from the pantry and nudged the mango toward Ryder. Just thank your stars he didn't prod you more over that box you brought in the house.

Lackey smirked. You owe me.

Dio nodded. "They've been here for a little bit." he turned to Kissa–or, the empty spot that Lackey said she was in. "Benjamin says he'd like for you to come home. He can come pick you up."

–

Silver stumbled to a stop and dropped to her knees beside him, reaching out to touch him but pausing, unsure how he was hurt. "Gabriel! Gabe, look at me! What happened? Did someone find you? Where are you—oohhhh, Gabriel, your wing is bleeding." she took a deep breath, more to steady herself than him. Carefully she reached out and touched his shoulder. "Gabriel, where else are you hurt? What happened?"

"Or I can take you." Dio offered, half to Kissa, have to Ben. "She says she'd rather fly, but I can take her back too. She says she doesn't want you to come out because you got attacked last time."
Lackey leaned against the fridge and bit a cashew in half. How can you be a Kavi in this world and not know about Etienne's network. He's scarier than Ben is.

–

"Hey, hey, hey." she crooned, taking his hand and easing him up to a sitting position. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, above his wings, to help support him. "Where else–Gabriel, did you get shot??" Silver's voice rose in a squeak as she saw a wound on his shoulder and the bloody scrapes on his chest. "Gabriel…" she breathed, moving to get a better look at his shoulder. "Gabe, this is a bullet wound!"

"Gabri-" Silver began, and then froze as he snuggled into her. Slowly she wrapped her arms around him, careful to not press on any of his wounds. "Gabriel, we can't… You're bleeding. We need to go home…" she sighed and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you too but we need to get you home so Violet can fix you. Then I'll snuggle you. I promise. Come on. You need to get up. Please."

"Silver!" Miki crashed blindly through the woods, trying to follow her sister. "SILVEEEERRRRRR!!!"

–

Lackey rolled his eyes. Good job being clueless, idiot.
"Okay. I'll let you know if she flies or I take her back." he hung up on Ben and turned to fully face Kissa and Ryder. "Well, it's not exactly the smartest idea for you two to fly over the city to get back home, but I know you'll be invisible. Otherwise I'll call my driver and I'll take you back in the carriage."

Silver froze, her cheeks rushing pink as she felt his lips touch her. "Gabri–" she sighed again, dropping her head back, even as her stomach twisted a bit and she felt warm all over. "Gabe, no. We can't do this here. You're bleeding and dying and I need to get you home so Violet can fix you." she opened her eyes and stared at the trees above her. Why can't he do this when he's not dying???

Miki stopped and took a deep breath, yelling "SIIIIIIILLLVEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!" at the top of her lungs until her voice cracked and she leaned over, coughing.

Silver jumped and turned around, still holding Gabriel to her. Miki wasn't too far away, but not too close either. She lifted her hand and closed her eyes, reaching out to Miki.

Miki yelped as something invisible grabbed her arm and began to drag her deeper into the forest. "Hey, hey, SILVER THIS BETTER BE YOU. IF THIS ISN'T YOU THEN I'M GONNA KILL YOU. Oh no what if it's one of those bad guys. SILVER, PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS–" she tripped over a stick and face planted on the ground, but the force holding her arm dragged her up and pulled her on. "SILVER THIS IS SO CREEPY–" she stepped around a tree and saw her sister and Gabriel sitting on the ground, Gabriel either snuggling her, or dead. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what happened here? Is he being sweet? Or is he dead?"

–

Dio nodded. "I'll tell Benjamin. Please be safe." he texted Ben, "Kissa and Ryder are flying home."

"Help!" Silver cried, beckoning Miki over. She turned back to Gabriel and bit his ear(gently). "Stop doing that! We're going to get you home now!"
Miki squatted beside them, raising one eyebrow and surveying them up and down. "Okay, so he's bleeding in like five places and he weights ten pounds and yet he has you pinned down with… kisses?"
Silver smacked her sister(hard). "Shut up and help me. He won't move."

Miki twisted her lips, thinking. "Okay, he's long, but he's not heavy. We should be able to carry him, or at least hold him on either side and help him walk." she poked at Gabriel's leg thoughtfully.
Silver smacked her hand away from him. "Yes, he's long. He's also about four feet taller than both of us. How are we gonna help him walk?"
Miki groaned and threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know! He's your boyfriend! Why didn't you pick someone shorter?"

Silver glared at her. "You are the most unhelpful. Heyheyhey," she said to Gabe as he moved and she could feel his pain. "Lay still, babe."
"No, don't lay still! Get up and help us get you home!" Miki huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm gonna go get Ben and tell him y'all are making out in the woods!"
Silver lifted her hand but Miki dodged out of the way befote she got smacked. "You will NO-"
Silver paused as a gentle hissing sound began, preceding tiny drops of rain falling on them in a light drizzle.

"Nononono," Silver gasped, trying to help him without hurting him any more. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Be careful."
"Actually it's 'yesyesyesyes.'" Miki corrected, standing and pushing her wet hair out of her face. "This is what we want."
"Miki, shut up! You literally are not helping at all."
Miki frowned, watching Gabe with her head tipped. "No, but Sil. Why can't you just float him back home?"

Miki grabbed his hand and Silver hooked her arm under his and together they gently pull him to his feet.
"Gabe, that's honestly not a bad idea. I can carry you in my arms and keep from dropping you if I use my powers." Silver said.

No, you caaaaan't, Silver thought to herself, but outloud she just said, "Okay. Let's go. But be careful."