It is about time we talk about what happened

‘’Metaphor, meteor, aquaphor… Well - doesn’t matter. My armor might not be shiny, but it is there nonetheless,’’ he said with a little smile. Truth be told, he worried a lot more about Kenna than he did any other person. They had arrived almost at the same time to Gaia; they had shared some big events… Was it so weird that he felt so much more like himself when around her? Suddenly, he felt like it was so long ago they had sat down and just… existed, together. Like, every time they had done something, things happened that ended up either hurting them or making them vexed with each other.

‘’You’re not the only one,’’ Nathaniel replied, when Kenna said she adored Vivil. ‘’She is one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met.’’ He admitted. Vivil was to Nathaniel what Molly Weasley was to Harry Potter; the mother he never had. They continued their joking, as they ate their pizzas. It was nice to just forget everything else for a moment, even though his arm felt like it was on fire. His own personal hell.
‘’Be nice. I’m sure she’ll understand, once she is done chasing me with a weaponized stiletto.’’ He said, before he winked at Kenna. Even though Noelle had yet to chase him with a shoe, he had heard from Maxence how that was her trademark as a sister. The thought alone made him smile to himself.
‘’Yeah, she’s fantastic,’’ he admitted, when Kenna mentioned his ‘smoking hot wife’. Although, when she mentioned him being happy, he looked down at his pizza. ‘’I don’t know, Kenna,’’ he admitted, before he took a sip of his beer. ‘’Noelle is amazing. She is doing everything right - really, everything. I just.. I feel like a complete shithead for saying this, but, I just feel like she deserved so much better than being stuck with me,’’ he admitted, before he took another sip of his beer.
‘’My in-law’s are assholes… Truly - they are!’’ he then said, looking at her once more. ‘’Proper little puppeteers, trying to manipulate Noelle into doing whatever they want. I have a meeting with them soon about their titles, however. I considered naming them ‘Duke and Duchess of Child-protective-services’, but I am sure Noelle would chase me with the former mentioned stiletto if I did that!’’ he chuckled, making good fun of the situation, before he took another bite of his pizza.

Kenna chuckled slightly at his words. ”I know it is,” she agreed. In that second, she forgot all the bad things that had happened to and between them. She just enjoyed that there was no tension with them. It was fleeting, so she was going to hold on for as long as she could. Soon, all the things would crash over her and she would be drowned in her own as well as Nathaniel’s emotions. Luckily, she had been better at shutting people out. It was harder when it was someone she knew and had feelings for of her own.

”She seems remarkable,” she agreed once again. Kenna had only met Vivil twice, but she had already impressed her so much. She had nothing against Noelle. If she was able to make Nathaniel happy, she would be happy. She just didn’t know if that was the case yet. ”That sounds like something from a cartoon,” she chuckled. But the more she came to think of it, it actually made some sense. ”But it’s actually really smart. You can always have a weapon on you and people won’t think twice about it.” She pushed the pizza around in her box while he spoke. ”I don’t know her, but she doesn’t strike me as the type of person who does anything unless she wants to.” She didn’t understand the situation at all, so she couldn’t say if something else was going on with her. She rubbed her neck slowly. ”But I have never been forced into a relationship, so what do I know?” She picked up another piece of pizza and took a bite.
Kenna could imagine that parents from an older time had a weird relationship with their children. Just the fact that they married their children off to gain power or withhold a tradition was absurd to her. ”Might be best to not take that chance then,” she stated. She didn’t think it was fair to either Nathaniel or Noelle that they had been forced into this marriage. It should be something you chose, a partner you chose. ”No grand-children for Vivil in the near future then?” She sort of hoped he would say it was not in his cards. It was selfish of her to think, but if he did get a child with someone else, then he had what she could have given him but failed to do so. She just wished it could have been her to give him that, to give him the chance of raising a kid, really raising it. And then she wanted another chance to be a mother so badly.

‘’I pride myself with being surrounded by remarkable women, even though they might have a hard time seeing it themselves,’’ he said, winking at Kenna before he took another bite of his pizza. ‘’Oh, trust me, it is. I imagine her looking like Cruella De Vil, hunting dalmatians with her red stiletto,’’ he chuckled, before he took another sip of his beer. This was nice - so nice… Too nice.
‘’Perhaps she had her own reasons for agreeing. After all, she is a queen now. That’s a big step up..’’ he said, knowing that it was unfair to put it like that; like Noelle had married him only for power. He didn’t think that of her, but in their world, it wasn’t either or…
‘’Well, I wouldn’t be the one to force you.’’ He then said, winking at her. ‘’I’m sure you would bite of my good arm if I tried setting you up with someone!’’ he then joked, before he looked over at the couch. It was stained red now, which made him sigh. The question made him look down at his pizza. What should he answer in this? He either told her what he thought she wanted to hear; that him and Noelle had no plans regarding children, or he told her the truth; he wasn’t sure he wanted children any longer. He didn’t want anyone born into that poisonous world he had become the king off.
He looked at her, narrowing his eyes as if he was thinking hard about his answer. ‘’I don’t know how to answer that without sounding like a cold bastard,’’ he said, looking at her lips for a brief moment. ‘’A bastard that couldn’t keep his hands of his brother’s girlfriend.’’ He reminded her, before he took a sip of his beer.
It was rough; admitting such things, although he had not said it straight to her. Instead, he had wrapped it in, covered the truth with vague suggestions, so that his words would not be used against him. He took a deep breath. ‘’If is had one chance to do something without having to fear the consequences, it would be giving you a child, Kenna. I hope you know that,’’ he said, before he turned to the side and looked out at the balcony; beer in hand.

Kenna was beginning to see herself in a more positive light. It had taken a long time, and she had suffered a few setbacks lately, but she was trying to work on her self-image. His words, however, made her look away. She didn’t know if he meant she was one of them, but he made it seem like he did. When he joked about Noelle being like Cruella De Vil, she chuckled. ”I’m happy I don’t have spots now,” she said continuing the joke. ”That it is, but it also comes with sacrifices, doesn’t it?” She could only imagine how much one had to give up to be a queen.
”I would advice you to not take the risk,” she said with a smile. She would not mind being set up with someone, but she didn’t want it to be forced. And if your king asked you to go on a date with someone, you kind of had to oblige, didn’t you? No, it would probably just be best to meet someone naturally. It was always best like that, she thought. If it wasn’t forced in any way. ”It wasn’t fair of me to ask,” she said and began fiddling with her fingers in front of her. She looked up at him when he said he hadn’t been able to keep his hands of her. Was that a suggestion that he wanted something more from her? Or had wanted so once? No, no she couldn’t get swept up in this. She would be the worst girlfriend in the world, if she had something with her dead boyfriend’s brother. She nodded to his next words. ”I feel the same way.” She walked over to him and gently placed her hand on his arm. ”I will be happy for you. So if Noelle does get pregnant at some point, you can tell me. You don’t have to spare my feelings, because my happiness for you will always trump everything else.”

‘’Oh, you have spots alright,’’ he joked, winking at her as he knew that she wasn’t going to take offense by his teasing. ‘’I wouldn’t know, Kenna. After all, the only sacrifice I made, was choosing freely who to marry. Noelle on the other hand… I don’t know what more she would have given up for this to happen… I just hope it wasn’t a lot.’’ He sighed, knowing that Noelle had made her terms for different reasons, although stating she wanted to be able to be with others had hit him hard later on in their relationship. He was a fool; a man who needed to stop thinking things would go as he wanted them to.
‘’So… Now isn’t the time to say I have another brother who is single?’’ he joked, knowing full and well that it might be unsensitive of him to ask her in such a way. After all, he had been the one intruding on his brother’s relationship - not the other way around. He sighed for a moment, as she seemed too hesitant about the whole ‘maybe there could be more’-thing, just as he had been himself. There couldn’t be more. That was the end of the line for them. he looked down at his pizza - or, what was left of it. As he had said what he wanted to say, and looked out at the balcony, she walked over to him, before she placed a hand on his arm. ‘’Thanks… It means a lot,’’ he said, before he leaned forward ever so slightly and kissed her on the top of her head. ‘’Am I a bad person for asking you to come live with us?’’ he then asked, suddenly painfully aware about the whole thing between them that couldn’t be more than what it already was.

Kenna had a hard time talking much about this; arranged marriages. Especially one where she only knew one of the people in it. So she just listened and didn’t give advice as she usually would. ”I hope so too.” She smiled by his joke about having another brother. ”I think I have been involved with you and your siblings enough already,” she said chuckling. She did wonder if something more could have happened with her and Nathaniel if he was not married. He made it sound like he wanted it to. She tried to not pay attention to it, because she would never help a person cheat. But also because she was scared. She was afraid that whatever it was she was feeling for Nathaniel, was only because of Ellery. It wouldn’t be fair of her to let him believe there was something more, when she wasn’t sure there was. She felt the kiss against the top of her head and just broke into a smile. ”No…” She lifted her head and looked up into his eyes. She was not thinking when she reached up to join their lips together. She knew she shouldn’t, that it was not fair to him, to her or to Noelle. Yet, she just had to know. She had to know if there was something more.

After Nerobel had told Noelle that Nathaniel had been hurt and was at the beach house, she immediately arranged transport to Gaia. She was worried about the big idiot. She would give him a piece of her mind when she got there, but it took about and hour before she did get there. She just had to be sure he actually was okay. It was not easy for herself to see, but she did love Nathaniel. It was pretty clear when you saw how they interacted. Even though he pissed her off time and time again, she was happier with him in her life. She arrived at the beach house and quickly went inside. She squinted her eyes slightly by the sight that met her. She cleared her throat to make her presence known.

Whatever happened, it was messy. Kenna had taken matters into her own hands and had kissed him, which in itself wasn’t half bad. Matters only became muddy when he heard his wife clear her throat, which made him open his eyes widely and back away from Kenna; breaking their kiss. ‘’No,’’ he said, as he looked over at Noelle. ‘’No, no, no-no-no-no!’’ he said, before he looked at Kenna. Clearly, he had not thought of Noelle to come to see him there. He had not planned for anything to happen! It was a mess.
‘’I know this looks bad,’’ he said - which it did! Although, Noelle had said she wanted them to be able to see others… He shouldn’t be feeling bad about someone kissing him after they had made that agreement. ‘’But I promise you, it isn’t what you think,’’ he said. He walked over towards Noelle; bashing his arm into the counter - making him stop up and turn his head away as he tried to hard the painful expression on his face. ‘’For fuck’s sake!’’ he snarled out through his clenched jaws, before he looked back at Noelle. ‘’Nerobel told you?’’ he asked, trying to remain calm, although he was sure that he was about to either anger, hurt or disappoint both his wife and his friend, no matter what he decided to do.

Kenna looked at Nathaniel when he pulled away. She then followed his gaze to Noelle. What had she just done? She looked down, ashamed of what she had just done.

Noelle had mixed feelings of him sharing a kiss with someone else. On one hand, it meant he respected her wish of seeing other people and took advantage of that. She couldn’t be mad about that. But it still stung. She might have to revisit her demand from that day. ”Sweetheart, can you not be here right now? I need to speak with my husband.” Kenna just nodded quickly and went into the room she had borrowed when she lived there. ”He told me enough,” she said. He was in pain, and she hated every second of it. She walked over to him and placed herself in front of him. ”You scared me, you jerk!” Noelle tried to get eye contact with him. ”How bad is it?” She tried to be show him compassion, but all she wanted to do was beat him with her shoe - good thing she was wearing flats. She tried to not feel all she was about him kissing Kenna, but it did hurt. She didn’t want him to go to anyone else. But maybe he needed to. Maybe she wasn’t enough. She couldn’t blame him for that, even if she wanted to.

The way Noelle had sent Kenna away - however polite - made Nathaniel look at Noelle with confusion. If she was to scold him for the kiss, wouldn’t she want to scold Kenna as well? Soon enough it became clear that Noelle wasn’t going to talk about the kiss at all, but his arm. His useless arm.
Noelle placed herself in front of him, making him look ever so apologetic at her. ‘’I never meant to scare you,’’ he said; feeble in his voice, as he feared her exploding after what she had seen. Although he had been patched up and had a snug bandage around almost all of his arm, it had begun to bleed through ever so slowly. He closed his eyes for a moment, as she asked how bad it was. ‘’That depends on the definition of ‘bad’, I guess. I can’t use my lower arm or hand,’’ he admitted. He had tried not to let Kenna know that; it was a horrible feeling.
‘’You want to hit me, don’t you?’’ he asked, trying to smile a charming smile at her. ‘’Go on, pick up your shoe and whack me on the head. Get it over with,’’ he said, trying to keep the façade up - a façade that was meant for him to not show just how bad he felt about it all. He had just spoken about how he felt like he didn’t deserve Noelle… He felt like shit.

Noelle would get to the kiss eventually. But for now, she just had other things on her mind. He seemed guilty about the kiss, so that was something at least. ”I hope not.” She looked at the bandage where she could not only see the blood, but smell it. ”What happened?” She asked, avoiding the subject of him not being able to use the arm. She didn’t know how to deal with that right now. ”Good thing I’m wearing flats,” she said with a soft smile. She shook her head and looked at him. ”You should have called me. I would much rather hear what happens with you from you than anyone else.” She sighed, frustrated from everything. ”I am not just your wife. We’re a team. I would have been here to help you with whoever it was you were dealing with. Maybe all of this could have been prevented if you had just called me.” She looked down a moment as she might be a little vulnerable out. ”I care about you, trou de cul. You have no idea how much it sucked to get that news.” She was moving around the subject that was the kiss. She was not sure how to approach that yet. He had not done anything wrong as per their agreement. Still, it felt like someone was squeezing at her heart when she thought of it.

Nathaniel knew it was a matter of time before she would tell him off for the kiss - a kiss he had not initiated or returned, but how could he explain that without hurting Kenna? How could he say such things? The question about what happened made him look out at the balcony for a moment. ‘’A werewolf got on my last nerve,’’ he said, before he looked back at her. ‘’He managed to take a bite out of me before he-,’’ Nathaniel silenced himself by looking over at the door to Kenna’s room. He took a deep breath. Then, as she said that she was wearing flats, he sighed relieved. ‘’Then I may live to see another day!’’. Back to being serious - which made him bit his lower lip. ‘’Called you? And said what? ‘Hi sweetheart, just so you are aware of it, I just killed a man! Oh yeah, he managed to take a fucking chunk of my arm, so your husband is now a bloody crippled idiot!’…’’ by the last word, he had looked down at the floorboards. He was a cripple.
‘’Why must you insist that this was preventable? I love you, but you don’t know half of this mess. I wouldn’t dream of putting you in that position where the choice was between standing by or help me kill a man,’’ he said, wanting to cross his arms but that was rather hard to do at the moment. ‘’Fine, call me an asshole. That doesn’t change anything.’’ He sighed, before he looked down at his arm again. ‘’I care about you too…’’ he said, before he looked back at her.