Home is where the heart is

outfit + looks
Time: Around noon
Day: Friday september 4th.
Place: Cassandra´s place
@Cassandra <3

He finally had taken the courage to ask her to go on a trip to Mexico with him. The time had come for her to meet his family. Constantly they were begering about meeting her. Alejandra had already met Cass... that meeting had been one hell of a failure. He wishes he could turn back time and change it. Although he knew why Alejandra had been such a pain. Her past with witches was painful. and yet... Cass was different. He was sure of it.
with pacient by his side, he was at her house, waiting for her, by tripping a bit, walking from side to side. It was close to be almost a week since he had heard from her. which actually was nothing out of the ordinary. Cassandra could on purpose disapear for a week to get some space... But usually, after 5 days, she would send him a text. Even just with a simple smiley and he would be sure she was alright... but... not this time.
Therefore he had gone to her house, only to not finding her there either. that was the time when he called her and when she didn´t pick up... he started to feel his heart beat in panic. Where could she be?
He placed the tickets to Mexico on the dinner table, before picking up his phone again, trying to dile up Cassandra.

It had been hell on earth. Although she had been cared for by Michael after the whole incident, she still wasn't quite herself. She still had a hard time figuring out the words, and when she tried to remember anything specifically regarding her time there, it all seemed to be a blur. Her phone had been taken away from her when they had taken her from her home that night, which had resulted in her vanishing from the face of the earth - not even being able to tell anyone about it.
It had only been about 10 days.. A week at that hell hole, and a couple of days at Michael's place to recover. Now, she was able to walk, talk and eat, then he couldn't keep her any longer. She finally was able to return home! The door was unlocked, to her surprise. Had she not locked it? Of course not - she was abducted in the middle of the night! She opened the door and walked inside. To the naked eye, nothing had changed. She was wearing some clothes Michael's daughter owned, and even though her marks, scratches and bruises had healed, she still looked rather roughed up. No makeup, her hair in a mess. She closed the door behind her, leaning her back up against it and sighing in relief. She was still alive, which wasn't something she had counted on whilst there. Then, she realized that she wasn't alone - at all. Someone else was in her house - and she couldn't have been more relieved when she found out who. Immideatly, tears filled her eyes as she looked at her fiance; tears of relief and joy. "have you... Been waiting... For long?" she asked, still having a hard time stringing together words to form a sentence. Hopefully he wouldn't notice.

The phone kept ringing. No answer at all. His heart could not handle it anymore. Ready to throw everything from him and go to the door, he was puzzled to see none other than his fiance coming through the door. One elevator look later, he was over by her sight, placing a hand on her cheek, searching for any sign of damage.
"I was worried," he whispered concerned. Here he kissed her forehead so softly and in a sweet promise of taking care. "And no... I just arrived, you haven´t sended any texts, so I just came over here to see if you were here... and uhm... you werent."
Here he placed a finger underneath her chin, to lift her face, once again to check if he could spot any wounds. "are you alright? do you need anything?"
Here he was ready to make her that cup of coffee she always loved. find her favourite movie and cuddle her in that blanket she always found when she was upset.

Cassandra wasn’t even sure how to react to the sweet gesture of the rogue. Like a wolf, taking a look at his mate to make sure she wasn’t harmed, he seemed to take a glance or two at her. First, it was the elevator glance, scanning her for visible trauma, before he placed himself next to her with a hand on her cheek and a kiss on her forehead as he whispered those obvious words. ‘’I know… I’m sorry.’’ she said, obviously straining herself with keeping her magic in check. This wasn’t the time to throw him through her memory.
As he explained that she hadn’t sent him any texts, she sighed. ‘’Oh yeah.. I need to get a new phone.’’ she admitted. Going back to Lancaster to fetch her old phone, which was a piece of outdated trash anyway, wasn’t her priority. He placed a finger under her chin, now examining her face as well. Was he looking for something specific? The only thing he would be able to spot would be those marks left on each side of her face, where the electroshock-rods had been placed. It would unfortunately take quite a while for them to disappear completely, as they were connected to a psychological trauma. The rest - purely physical trauma - would have healed up pretty nicely by now. Her brain, sadly, was still struggling to follow along, and sometimes words didn’t make sense in her head. Usually, it didn’t matter, but with someone whose mother-tongue wasn’t english, it was always a guessing game if she understood him correctly. ‘’I’m fine, darling.’’ she said - using a nickname she had been reluctant to adopt for quite a while. She hadn’t been public about their relationship, mostly because of situations like this; where her family sought to hurt her. Thankfully, it had been one of those times where Bienvenido had been sleeping at his own place, so he had not been implicated in the situation. ‘’What are… those?’’ she asked, nodding towards the tickets on the dinner table. Was he going somewhere? Was he going back to Mexico..? The thought should be scaring her, and still… It felt like cold bony fingers tried to dig in her chest by the thought of him leaving her to return to Mexico - mostly because she feared what would await him when his former associates figured out he was back.

Fine.
the word 'fine' had been used more in the time he had known her, than the word money, which said a lot in a mafia. But, as usual, he waited to make sure to ask more into it, when she seemed to be more comfortable. He was no idiot. He could see she had been through a lot. Which was why his hand was shaking now. Her scent was the same, the eyes the same and for now, he had to be happy with that.
Without letting her get a word in, he pulled her into a hug, hold her tight. This was the scent and feeling of his mate.
as she noticed the tickets on the table, he suddenly felt so nervous, as to explain her his plans. after all, he hadn´t consoled her in any of his plans. Softly he placed his chin on the top of her head, still keeping her in his warm embrace.
"I wanted for you and I to go to Mexico, make a whole trip out of it and also so you could meet my family," he explained calmly. although his heart was beating hard. Here he pulled a bit away, to look down at her, searching for any doubt in her eyes. If she did not want to go, he would not force her. Of course, he would be a bit dissapointed, but they could always go to Mexico and his family some other time.

As he pulled her into his embrace, all she did was to follow along. There was no need for her to hide her emotions, which had been something she had done for far too long when it came to her friends and loved ones. She was done hiding.
He explained what the tickets were for - them going to meet his family. She could hear his heart beat faster than usual in his chest, which made her place a hand right on top of it. ''When are... We leaving?'' she asked, hoping it was sooner rather than later. After all, the further away from the coven she could get, the better. Michael had uttered his opinion about her going to seek out the crone to kill her, which had made Cassandra doubt if it was even worth it to try. If Michael doubted her, it was either because he thought it was wrong in moral, or because he thought she wouldn't be able to survive a direct encounter with the crone. After all, she was a blood sorceress, just as Cassandra was herself. ''Have you told Tidus... That we're going?'' she asked, closing her eyes as she spoke, as if she concentrated greatly on finding the right words. She would have to tell her fiancé about what had happened, but for now, she found it better to leave it. It would ruin their trip if she told him now. Visiting his family should be a joyful experience - if not for him to meet his family, then for her to get a chance to get closer to those bastards who did him wrong and hurt them real bad. Even though she was against violence when it had no merit, she was a ferocious beast - a woman scorn - and she wanted to make someone suffer the way she had. Might as well make it someone who deserved it.

As she asked when they were leaving, he smiled and looked down at her, almost wagging his none excisting tail. He kissed her forehead and went over to get the tickets, slowly reaching them over to her, so she could look at them herself.
"Next week and yes, I have told him, he was a bit insulted that I decided to book a flight instead of just using his portal powers," he told followed by a chuckling. "he seriously has an addiction to his portal powers."
With calm movements he moved into her kitchen. "Do you want me to make your coffee?" he asked a bit louder so she could hear them. "Then we can have a talk about where you been and why you´re using the word fine against me again." It was all said in a soft and kind tone. It was another way to show her that he did not want to push her into anything. "And if you´re not ready to talk, then we won´t talk about it." All these words escaped his lips as he was fumbling around with the coffee machine, making her favourite coffee and finding her favourite to go to snacks.
As the coffee was brewing, he returned to her, walked over to her, to kiss her forehead again. "You´re sure you want to go to Mexico? we can... uhm... what do you say in english...wait and do it another time." Softly he played with one of her chocolate brown locks.

Not only did he seem pleased with her wanting to go with him - he went over to get the tickets to let her have a look at them. ''Next week?.. That seems like forever right now.'' she admitted with a soft smile, as she tried to manage to keep her sentences intact. After all, if she kept fumbling with her sentences, he would know something was up. As she studied the tickets, he went out to her kitchen, asking if she wanted coffee. Suddenly, her face lit up as she chuckled. ''For a moment, I had completely forgotten the existence of coffee!'' she said, clearly already a bit hyped about having a cup of her favorite brew.
But then, he said something that made her freeze a bit. She could explain why she was using 'fine' against him once more. ''My coven - my crone - decided to lock me away at an asylum because I am going to marry someone who's neither my mate nor a witch. I broke the coven's laws, and therefor they decided I needed to pay.'' she simply said - serving him a brewed down version, as telling him about the torture, agony and pain she had felt seemed unnecessary. ''I'm sure they know I've escaped by now.'' she then added, figuring even being at her house wasn't a safe bet at the moment. For some reason, she feared more what they would do to Bienvenido, than what they would do to her.. A loud wailing sound cut through the air - revealing none other than Archimedes swooping through the air and landing on her shoulder. ''Hello there, good Sir.'' she said, reaching her hand to pet the owl in his head. As Bienvenido then returned, suggesting they rescheduled the trip to a later date, she smiled at him - a soft smile that sadly revealed a missing tooth in the back of her lower jaw. ''I would prefer to go as soon as we are able, to be quite honest.'' she said, as she watched Archimedes try to snap at Bienvenido's fingers as the wolf played with her hair.

When your fiance disapears for month without a sound you should expect the worse. But never, had he expected, that her own clan, her coven, would capture her and inslave her, just because of their ridicilous traditions. With the green eyes open in shock, he looked at her, as if asking if that was all they had been doing to her. He had a small suspicious that it wasn´t. But once again, he waited for her to tell him.
"Then maybe we shouldn´t flee for now," he said and chuckled at the way Achimedes snapped after his fingers. "Maybe I should go over there and beat them with a bat." The missing tooth in her mouth made him growl lowly. "You don´t have to tell me... I know they have been torturing you and for that... I´ll make them pay..." here he softly caressed her cheek. "Although it seems to me, that you are also more than ready, to show them who you are and that you are not suposed to be fucked with."
In his head, Cassandra was a lot stronger than him, and no one should hold her back from using her power.

She adored him for his way of thinking at times. As she had uttered the wish to leave as soon as possible, he had said just what needed to be said; he wanted to avenge her, and she wanted her revenge. All of a sudden, it seemed that going to Edinburgh was their top priority, which had not been her intention.
“I need to regain my strength fully first, my love. A trip to visit my future in-laws and your sister would do me good.” She said, as she reached her hand up to caress his jawline. “But trust me... once I am ready, I will rip those who did this to me apart, organ for organ.” She said, suddenly sounding a bit more morbid than she usually did. In all, she had been slightly corrupted. She was no longer hesitant to tear someone to shreds to get what she wanted - but she wasn’t in control of her own magic just yet, so confronting the crone would be her own death.
“I know that you are angry with them.. but this is a witch-thing. It’s a Dumor thing.. I need to handle it myself - with you by my side. You, and Tidus.” She said, with a soft smile. The morbid tone was gone, and left was the soft and gentle woman she had a tendency to be. “What have you been doing while i was away?” She asked, trying to switch focus from her to him.

Her way of describing of what she wanted to do, made him smile sinnister, before kissing her forehead and returning to the coffee. Which he was sort of focused on while she talked, until she described she had to do it alone. That made him turn around. The green eye puzzled and sort of worried. Did she expect him and Tidus just to stand back?! That he got the answer to the second said that she needed them by her side. But not to intervine too much. This was her businuess. Her family. He could respect that. By that, he nodded and smiled soft at her.
"In that case, we´ll be there by your side," he sured her and here reached the cup of coffee to her. Just in time for her to ask him what he had been doing. Here he chuckled and shook his head. "Uhm... not much... being taken care of the patrons with Tidus..." he shrugged and looked down at the boiling hot coffee. Cass was able to already drink it, but he wasn´t. "I actually haven´t been doing much... except being worried about you as some weeks went by."
With a soft smile he looked over at her.

Cassandra was a dangerous woman. Most know that - she killed for less than most, and her hatred could scorch even the most fireproof man. She wouldn’t hesitate to banish someone to hell - just as she had done with Darius back then - which made her a powerful enemy, as well as a very sought after ally. Her loyalty, however, was with her chosen family and her friends. Her own kin, her own blood, mattered less and less to her by each setting sun. Now, all there was left for her was to kill the crone and banish her so-called family. She had seen it in the sinister smile her fiancé had displayed - but the smile made her wonder if Michael had been right... Had she ventured too far off the path? Was she lost? Truly?
She knew she had been following urges and instincts more than she should. She wasn’t a saint, by miles. Yet, some beings were destined to live in corruption, shadows and anger. This, this was her home. It was her place; her destiny. She was corrupted, dark and malevolent. She enjoyed seeing those she despised writhing in agony, especially when it was brought on by her. She was, in any case, corrupted. And so was her fiancé.
As her fiancé handed her a mug of boiling hot coffee, she wrapped her slender fingers around it and immediately felt relieved by the heat that surged through her. While Bienvenido explained that he had handled stuff at the Patrons, she nodded, but her nodding stopped abruptly when he mentioned worrying about her as the weeks went by. She looked down into the coffee in her hands, feeling how her heart dropped. This wasn’t the first time she had vanished, and it wouldn’t be the last... she knew that.
“I had time to think, when I was... well, anyway. All of this is because I’m a Dumor-witch who’s in love with a werewolf.” She said, before she looked back at her fiancé. “But what if I wasn’t a witch? What if I were... a werewolf? The coven would have no claim to me then, and you wouldn’t have to be a rogue... we could start our own pack? Doesn’t that sound splendid? We could just... leave this misery behind and be free together?” She suggested, knowing that her suggestion would cost her everything she was; her magic, her ability to adapt to heat, her powers. Yet, it would demolish her problems as well - there would be no mate bond to force her mind away from her fiancé, there would be no claim on her by the coven... there would be no need to sell her soul to her best friend. She shook her head, knowing that he would never accept it. He would never allow her to turn mortal to be with him... would he?

If there was one thing for sure. It was that their life was probably never gonna be easy. They were never gonna be having that picture perfect life, with house, garden, pets and kids running around playing. Luckily... he didn´t mind. As long he was with Cassandra, he was having a loving life and one hell of an adventure. An adventure with one big twist, as the witch in the story, suddenly asked the wolf to become one herself. In pure shock, he almost dropped the cup, dropping hot coffee all over himself. He couldn´t believe what she just said. Would she... would she be willing to give all her power up?
It would be sweet. with her being a wolf, she would no longer have a mate, the problems with the Dumor would be over, he hoped, and they would grow old together. But he knew, that right now she was weak and just wanted to escape all the drama, which meant she didn´t think things through.
With a soft smile, he placed his cup on the counter, before walking over to her, placing his forehead against hers.
"As lovely as that sounds... You´re not thinking it through... by being a wolf... you would lose your power and immortality," he explained kindly. softly he placed a hand on her cheek, still keeping their foreheads together. "If you really want it... then I´ll gladly turn you... but I would hate for you to regret it later and then hating on me for turning you."

She hated his ability to simply get her the way he did. He knew everything, from how lack of thinking things through, to the fact that she would regret it later on. With their foreheads together, she closed her eyes. ‘’Stop being so wonderful, you idiot..’’ she mumbled with a sweet tone in her voice. She placed a hand on his cheek - it was still lukewarm from holding the coffee mug. ‘’I’m certain I’ll need time to think… And Tidus will have to speak his mind about it as well… If we can’t find another way out of this mess, then I want you to turn me.’’ she insisted. Although, the other way out of their problems consisted of her killing her grandmother - the crone of the coven - and taking over the coven herself. It would be hard, but not impossible. Cassandra was, in all manners that mattered, a strong witch when she wasn’t bound by bonds.
‘’Now… Can we please talk about leaving for Mexico sooner? Please? I can’t wait to meet your family!’’ she said, caressing his cheek with her thumb. It still ached slightly in her body, since she had rejected the healing potion from Michael. Instead, she had decided to allow her body to do its own thing; its own healing.
A part of her wanted to research the ways of selling her soul to Tidus. Or, did it have to be Tidus? Did it have to be a demon? She wasn’t sure… What other rituals existed to get rid of the bond? She had no clue…

If there was no other way. With that, he could agree, mostly because it meant that she would think it through, before letting it happen. Her little complement of calling him wonderful, made him smile all over his face. He always loved when she called him something sweet and then fool afterwards.
"Okay," he answered to her decision. "Whatever you need, I´ll be there... and now, yes, we can talk about leaving for Mexico sooner... do you want me to see if I can book another flight or shall we go to blondie and ask him to make a portal?"
Here he lifted her hands and kissed them. They were still so warm from the coffee. "we could be lucky with the plane tickets... but I´m not sure if we can find any before the day after tomorrow... but I can try?" Here he tilted his head. "What do you want to do the most?"
Yes, it was a lot of questions, but she was the one who wanted to go now and not the planned time, so she had to decide.

It was actually easy enough, if they wanted to book a flight right away. Although she hadn’t told him - or Tidus, since she knew the demon’s history with the Circle’s leader - but they could simply ask to use one of their jets. However, that wouldn’t be a good solution, and if her fiancé had wanted to feel ‘normal’ and simply book a flight like anyone else, who was she to stop him? “Will you try to look into a sooner flight? the day after tomorrow doesn’t bother me,” she said, with a soft smile. It wasn’t entirely true, but she needed to respect his wishes as well. Still, she needed to go speak to Tidus. She had been gone a while, so she owed both of them both an apology and an explanation.
“What do you say to invite Tidus to dinner tonight?” She asked, having a soft tone in her voice. “You can of course ask Christian to join as well, but you know how I feel about that idi-,” she stopped herself before she managed to finish the sentence. “Forget I said that. Invite them both, I promise I’ll behave.” She said, trying to sound convincing. She most likely failed. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Christian, it was just that he hadn’t even introduced himself to her. All of a sudden, Tidus was marrying someone Cassandra knew nothing about. It felt somewhat like a betrayal - but if Tidus was happy, who was she to turn things sour?
“I’ll go change. As much as I find it sweet to wear some teenage girl’s clothes, it feels wrong on so many levels,” she then said, chuckling. Michael’s daughter’s clothes fit her pretty well, but it was a bit youthful for her taste. She was used to her sports bra, sweatpants and oversized cardigan when she really needed to relax. And relaxation was definitely needed by now.

With a nod and a smile, he took his phone up from his pockets, ready to call the gringo.
“Of course, I´ll call Tidus and then I´ll borrow your laptop so I can search for tickets, alright?” he asked and then leaned up against the counter. “And wait… are you wearing a teenage girl’s clothes?” Here he looked down at her. Now he realized he couldn’t recognize the clothes she was wearing. “I have so many questions, but go change, I´ll call Tidus.”
If she walked away and even if she stayed, he would call the blonde up in a facetime called. This sometimes annoyed the blonde. Especially if he was in a situation, where he did not enjoy the presence of a camera. Which the wolf found funny.
But this time, the blonde answered, painting spots on his cheeks and some in his hair.
“What up gringo?” Tivo said with a smirk.
“What do you mean what up? you called me!” the blonde answered with a chuckle.
“Si, si… I wanted to know If you and Christian would want to come over and have dinner with me and Cass?”
with a big smile, the blonde started to walk around, now also showing he was wearing the shirt filled with paint. “Oh! Cass is back? That´s a relief! Sure, I would love to, but Christian is with his daughter today… I just come over at 4?”
The wolf nodded. “yes!”
“HEY CASS!” Tidus said a bit louder in hopes of Cass would hear him. This made Tivo Chuckle a little. The blonde couldn´t even know for sure if she was around.

As he asked about the teenage clothes - rather surprised at that - she shrugged. ‘’i’ll explain later,’’ she mumbled with a sweet smile before she disappeared into her bedroom to get dressed. She could clearly hear the conversation between her fiancé and brother; which made her chuckle. As she heard that Christian wouldn’t be joining them, she sighed in relief, before she heard the rather loud ‘hi Cass’, to which she replied with a ‘’Hi there, pumpkin!’’; a sweet and soft voice that wasn’t her usual mannerism.

As she had undressed herself, putting Michael’s daughter’s clothes in the laundry hamper, she picked out a sports bra and her usual grey oversize sweatpants. Calmly, she pulled her hair up into a messy bun, before she joined her fiancé in the kitchen once more. Of course, now everyone would be able to see the bruises and marks that had been left on her body after the stay at the asylum. She wasn’t going to hide it; Bienvenido would know about it nonetheless anyway.

The second Tidus heard Cass voice, he smiled bright and then looked at Tivo once again.
“In that case, I´ll see you later you two! I hang up now!” he said with a cheeky smile. The wolf nodded and then the facetime called ended. With a little sigh and chuckle, Tivo placed the phone down, now to look over at Cass with a loving smile. Concerned he walked over to her and caressed the skin with the bruises. “I wish I could have been there to help you… once again I wasn´t there for you huh?”
Something in him wished he hadn´t said that out loud. But for some time ago they promised to be more open to each other. This was the opportunity for it… right?

She wasn’t going to deny it; it felt awful that he said that. Yet, instead of agreeing, she looking at him with her soft eyes. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that she was going to let her family taste their own medicine - and they had no idea how malevolent she could be when crossed.
“Trust me, I have much more need for you now than back then,” she said, as she reached to placed her fingers against his jawline. “We are going to Edinburgh. We are going to show them that even though I might not be a Dumor, I sure as hell can be just as cruel as them,” she said; her chocolate brown eyes shifting to those red and gold hues she had adopted back when she had accepted being a blood sorceress. “And I need you there with me. They might take you as being less than them, but they are sorely mistaken, my love,” she said as she allowed her index finger to run down his jaw line, and resting underneath his chin. If there was one thing the rogue was almost certain to read from the tone of her voice, it was that was going in for the kill. She wasn’t going to show any mercy or be benevolent. She had tried for too long to leave it be as it was; she had even considered being changed into a werewolf herself to be rid of her family and mate bond. The truth was... she had suffered enough. She was done with letting people push her around. And she was done feeling bad for being cruel. She wanted everyone who had tried to harm her to suffer eternally.

Oh, how he loved when she speaked in that murderous and mysterious tone. It made her even more hot than she already was. He smirked and nodded.
"Oh, believe me, I´ll be there by your sight and they can think as less of me as they want. As long as you love me, I´m doing just fine," he said and here leaned down to let their lips meet in a soft kiss. soft yet filled with passion. after a little time, he pulled away, smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.
"But first things first. We have Tidus over for dinner, we go to Mexico and then go to Edinburgh... on less, you rather wanna go Edinburgh first?"
he wouldn´t mind if she rather wanted to do that first. He knew his Cassandra. Her mind and opinion could change rather quickly. But he didn´t mind. It made her exciting.