Lessons on, why you don't threat Joseph Blackwood

”Wait, what?” With the victious feeling from Michael chiming in with his two-cents against Ethan, securing her to be the one right in the small discussion, Maeve had almost not paid attention to what was actually said. But really, how could something like that pass her ear? “The Prado Museum?” she repeated in a show of disbelief before turning her now quite big eyes towards Ethan just before a saying frown made its appearance on her face. “You’ve been to the Prado Museum. And you never told me!” It was a strike in the book of friendship, that was for sure. Hunt for supernatural or not, she would have liked to hear about it. It was a dream of her to visit that place. And the one who cared so little about fine art that he had called da Vinci for DiCaprio with seemingly no shame, to have been there… She felt cheated! Just a little bit. She could have punched him. He was lucky she had her hands full with other things. As well as her mind. Tsk.
Maeve shook her head resigned at Ethan - just; everything. She loved the guy but sometimes she wasn’t so sure how they stuck with each other like they were glued at the hips still after so many years. They were so different. Weren’t they?

The archangel following up on her down conclusion about witches and that whole ordeal had her raise her head and looked to the man while taking another sip of her tea and then lowering the mug to her lap. That was a first for her. Witches dying with rejected. And mates? It was something she’d expected for werewolfs. She glances a bit down to Cecilia on the floor, remembering her mentioning earlier. Was she really alright? “That would mean that the duke wasn’t her mate then, wouldn’t it?” she asked, looking back up to Michael. He was the person in the room who she had the most luck in getting straight answers from. “Or she should have died. Even if they hadn’t… bonded, however that’s done, she would have been rejected.”
Ethan suddenly adding his own bit of theory and knowledge about the subject, had Maeve quickly look to him. Astrid Noir. She couldn’t hide her astonishment. It was all a quite surreal. Not only did she have the lost duke as her house cat but apparently his spouse had been found. Cursed. “You…” She was about to talk, as she noticed her focus still was on Ethan so in an abrupt turn of the head, her brown eyes returned to the angel. “You found Astrid Noir? As in ‘alive’? After having been turned to stone?” The fright she might have felt with the whole supernatural thing didn’t show anymore. It was still sitting in the pits of her stomach but right now she was just.. amazed.

But the walk of curses still reminded a part of her about what was going on with Cecilia, and she looked down again. From where Maeve was sitting, she couldn’t see her cousins face. From what she could see, it almost looked like she was sleeping. She hadn’t said a word. And… she had stopped petting Puzzle. She saw up towards Michael with a discreet questioning and worried look. He should have a better view than her. He had promised her that Cecilia would be okay. But…

Michael widened his eyes in a brief, over-dramatic expression of shock. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most renowned painters of all time. And he mixed it up with who? An actor? It wasn't often Michael knew pop-culture references, but he had seen the movie Titanic. He remembered it being a big deal to the humans when it came out. And having lived through that historic event, he was of course interested to see how they’d portrayed it.

Back to the topic about the talking cat, he nodded once to Maeve’s question. The witch wouldn’t have done that to him if he was her mate as it’d only hurt herself in the end. When Ethan reminded him of the mission where he’d rescued Astrid, he realized that he had heard of the name Elizabeth Clarell before. “You are right,” he said as he thought back on that night, which also had been the night he’d last seen Joseph. That lying, pathetic, disgraceful son of a… He abruptly stopped himself from going down that train of thought, already feeling his anger rise as he did. So, back to Elizabeth. It seemed that their stories were intertwined in that way. That this Duke and Astrid had been lovers, and that Elizabeth had acted out of jealousy, cursing both of them to a punishment that lasted centuries. “Yes, I found her on a mission in Moonlight Falls and helped her return to this world, however odd it must have been for her,” he replied Maeve. It had been rather fortunate that he’d found her that night, and truth was, he probably wouldn’t have rescued her without Joseph’s help. But the crazier part of it was how this strung it all together. “She said his name was Bastian. So, if this cat is him, that is great news,” he said, feeling like something good had come out of this night's events, after all. He had told his angels to search for a witch of that name, so it shouldn't be long before they could pass that information on to the duke and Astrid.

He didn’t get to think much more about it as he noticed Maeve’s concerning look after she’d glanced at Cecilia. Michael lowered his gaze to her at this, noticing the blank expression on her face and that she’d closed her eyes. In a quick movement, he moved from the chair to kneel on the floor beside her. He gently took her hand in his to ensure that her temperature hadn’t risen again. “Cecilia?” he called out as he looked at her. His worries returning to him like a sudden wave, just like it had the moment he’d first seen her lying unconscious on the floor.

She opened her eyes again once her hand was touched, but her entire expression looked more than terrified. Her eyes flaked around wildly trying to get a hold of where she was, not even Michael's voice seemed to reach her. "You made it, fantastic," the voice from the person on the table in front of her didn't sound familiar. Again, Cecilia had never really chatted with Joseph before, so she didn't know his voice, but she got her theory confirmed when he jumped from the table and walked towards her. "Sorry about the whole scene, I tend to be.. what is it the young people call it? Extra?" Joseph shook his head a little before walking closer to her. Cecilia jumped on her feet, making Puzzle flee for good reason. She moved back, but then again her senses were somewhere else - not even Ethan trying to call out to her was registered. "No need to be so jumpy, you are almost make me nervous," Joseph breathed out and tilted her head a little to the side. "Stay away from me," she moved her gaze quickly around her trying to see if anything in the room would be able to help her against Joseph. "Now that is not very nice," Joseph pointed at her but didn't really listen to her. "You got some interesting powers my dear, I mean, it was a bit hard to crack it - but when Ajax connected himself to your mind,, our minds, oh boy, he made things so much easier," Joseph placed his hands on his hips while thinking about it for a few seconds.

Ethan took a deeper breath in while watching what looked like a freak out from Cecilia's side. He couldn't really tell what made her react that way, because he had never seen anything like it. Not unless someone was playing with hallucinations - which was unlikely. Ethan placed his hand on Maeve's shoulder, and turned his eyes to her, mostly to tell her not to try getting involved - if they didn't know what happened to Cecilia right now it was better to let him or Michael handle it. He watched Cecilia walking backwards towards the kitchen, it looked like she was trying to get away from something, but no one was after her - he couldn't even sense darker forces right now, but then again his powers always seemed to take a nap whenever he was close to Maeve. "Stay here," he turned his eyes to Maeve before getting up. He turned his worried gaze towards his father hoping he had an answer to this behavior.

Cecilia kept looking around for something to grab, and finally she found a wooden stake and picked it up. In reality the stak was a knife in the kitchen that she pointed at Joseph or who ever was actually close. "I don't know what messed up game you are playing, but I want out," she yelled at the man in front of her, who seemed to smile a bit more by her anger. "don't worry dove. I'm just here to make sure you live up to your potential, I have some big plans coming up. And seeing you and the demon boy survived - it is going to be fun." - "Now will you tell Michael and Saga to stay out of my way, we don't want to end up playing dirty," he moved closer to her and Cecilia took a deeper breath in, before she made a choice to strike. However, just as she did her vision ended and she blinked again stopping herself from almost stabbing Michael. Her eyes widened up and she dropped the knife. "Oh m.. I'm so sorry," she said almost breathless and kept her eyes at Michaell, but realized she had been here the entire time. Her visions were never really like this, but she tried to get a hold of what Joseph had said, perhaps he had just interrupted one.

”Bastian Freidrich Noir, yes,” Maeve very netrually added, completing the man’s full name. She felt as if she was suddenly a part of some mystery show, how they had strayed from the earlier concerns and now were talking about a slightly more comprehensible topic. She was still baffled by the fact, that there actually existed talking animals - or rather people having been cursed into immortal creatures with animal features, still with their ability to speak with a human tongue. At least she had deducted that there were immortality involved as well. Or the dear duke should be well over 300 years old by now and humans did not live that long..

However the calm of the night didn’t stay for long. The worries she had shown when looking to Michael quickly heightened the moment the angel must have seen something that worried him enough to get up and go to Cecilia. Maeve had the fight the urge to do the same. To see what Michael saw. What Ethan probably also would see from where he sat. She nearly jumped herself the moment her cousin sprang like a spring lock, abruptly starting to freak more and more out. It was pure luck that she didn’t spill hot tea out over her hands, from how she had cramped around the mug. Her eyes shifted with high speed between the angel and his son. And then to Cecilia. “What-.. What’s going on? Ceci-..” The large hand on her shoulder came in just the right time, as Maeve had been starting to move herself up from the couch to follow Cecilia and Michael to the kitchen. She automatically looked up on Ethan, her eyes vaguely vibrating with a mixture of shock, confusion, fright and worry. She wanted to get up. But the look in her big friends eyes made her gulp and fall back into her seat.
She made an effort in calm breathing. Slowly and deeply in through the nose and slowly and deeply out through the mouth, before she turned to look toward the kitchen. She could only just skim the scene. She had to trust that these people knew what they were doing. Right?

By the sharp sound of a knife hitting the kitchen floor Maeve both tensed up and breathed out in relief at the same time. Being a helpless viewer had given her a bit of time to think some things through. As well as coming more to term with how her heart couldn’t take much more. Figuratively speaking. And perhaps a little literal as well..

Maeve carefully leaned forward in the couch, placing her mug back on the couch table with as little to no sounds as possible and then continued the movement till she stood up. “Now, will someone tell me exactly what’s going on?” Her voice had started out soft but as she spoke, she spoke with more power and demand. She even crossed her arms, her shoulders tensed up. “I believe I deserve as much at this point. What just happened? Why would someone curse Cecilia? And if any of you so much as thinks of saying something about you only keep me in the dark for my own safety then help. me. God! I will smite you all.” Having raised three boys as a kind of reserve mother she now held quite a lot of the same motherly energy, which she made sure to showcase then. She never shouted but her voice had become both stern and loud to make sure she was hears. And understood. “That excuse left town the very moment we started getting visitors from fairyland. Have I made myself clear?” She made sure to look to all the others, but mostly her words and such were directed at her friends. They had told her to have an open mind. Well, now she had. As well as very open ears.
This was different from how Maeve wanted to keep the supernatural a secret from her family. The supernatural had been revealed to her. Visually and verbally. Someone had to take the consequences.

She opened her eyes at the touch of his hand, but it was clear to tell that she saw something else than Michael and the living room in front of her. He widened his eyes as she suddenly jumped to her feet, in the movement letting go of her hand before he stood up as well, not once looking away from her. “Cecilia?” He tried to reach out to her again, but his voice didn't seem to snap her out of it. He knew that she was seeing something else in her mind, which he presumed to be another vision, but it was a bad sign if it took control of her body in this way. She then started to move back towards the kitchen in which he followed her, only looking back at the others once he heard Ethan tell Maeve to stay. And he was right. There was no reason for more of them to surround Cecilia. “It’s fine… I think she’s in a vision or dream of some sort,” he explained to try and ease their worries. When he turned his eyes back to Cecilia, she’d grabbed a kitchen knife. He raised his hand towards the knife, creating a small wall of light that would deflect any attacks aimed at him. That way, he could still stay close to her in case she’d fall unconscious. He narrowed his eyes as she yelled, saying that she wanted out of the game he was playing, which explained why she’d grabbed the knife. She was most likely seeing Joseph or someone who worked for him. He noticed that she was about to strike, which prompted him to expand the shield slightly. But she stopped herself before the blade contacted it and blinked a few times. He closed his hand in a fist, removing the light with it, knowing that she’d returned to her normal self again. He then opened the palm of his hand, creating a swift wind under the knife to levitate it into his grip before he put it away in the kitchen. “It’s okay,” he said in a calm voice, giving her a few seconds to realize where she was. “What did you see?” he asked as he returned his eyes to her.

Michael turned his head at Maeve’s voice, surprised by her sudden demand. Especially considering Cecilia’s situation. But it was warranted, nonetheless. They all deserved an explanation and Michael wished he could give them that. A quick solution to all of this so they could continue their lives undisturbed by Joseph's plans. He clenched his jaw as she used his Father’s name in a threat, becoming sterner in his expression as he was offended when people did this. He took a few steps towards the living room, looking briefly at Ethan before his gaze stayed with Maeve. “If I or anyone in this room knew exactly what is going on I wouldn’t be here. I would be out there dealing with it,” he pointed out, finding it disrespectful of her to demand an explanation in that manner, even if it was mostly directed to Ethan and Cecilia. “And don’t ever use my Father’s name in vain,” he added as he knew that it was God's wish for the humans. However, he did understand where her reaction came from and Michael didn’t mind explaining things further, but all she’d had to do was ask nicely. He inhaled a deep breath as he turned his gaze to Ethan, trying to see if he had anything to say, but he also knew that he was the one who had the most information on Joseph out of the three. He placed his hands on the back of the couch as he returned his gaze to Maeve. “The fairy, Pandora, she works for Joseph… and Joseph Blackwood is a siphoner, a hybrid between a witch and a vampire, and he wouldn’t have gone to these extremes or gone against me unless he really wanted something… Now, I can only make guesses to what that something is, but it seems to involve your family and Cecilia specifically,” he said, glancing at Cecilia at this. Joseph was one of the people he’d always had a hard time reading and his plans rarely fell into a specific pattern like some of his other enemies. He leaned away from the couch and pulled out a phone from his pocket to try and find a picture of him. Scrolling for a moment until he found one. “This is him,” he said as he walked closer to Maeve, turning the phone around in his hand to let her see the screen, not minding it if she took the phone in her own hand to get a better look.

Maeve had no way to actually know just how much the other knew about the situation, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was the one who knew the very least in the current people gathered. And maybe not even only them. There had been obvious hints that Zitora also had been invited to the general briefing of the supernatural. She wanted to know what kind of abilities her best friend apparently had. She wanted to know how they all knew about this stuff. She wanted to be included now that the veil had been forcefully removed from her eyes even though she in all honesty had wished it hadn’t. She… wanted to know how she could be of help. Right now she couldn’t help but feel useless compared too but at that time it was more of a creeping feeling rather than something she actually was aware of herself.
The stern expression didn’t falter much by Michael’s commentary to her choice of words, however she did feel bad for it, so as she could sense Ethan’s anticipation as if he was standing within millimeters of her, she looked down at the same time, as she breathed in. Real deep, making sure to get fill her lunges and filter out completely, before she slowly emptied them again through O’ed lips. “You’re right. Forgive me,” she apologized while she looked back up at the archangel. The possibility for her to going to Heaven was already as slim as cling film - she was sure she had a long list of checked off sins, so shallowing her words wouldn’t help much, but he had deserved one for that at least.

Her arms remained crossed, though. Anger-fueled adrenalin was still spreading out through her body even when she got presented a more structured explanation. That just wasn’t the problem. There were still very little told of what she wished to be informed of, but it was the fact that Michael was the one opening up. Ethan said nothing! Cecilia were of course excused. Ethan was not. Was it really so hard for him to tell her about his deal apart from what was going on in that instance?  “Does she-…” At first her eyes and attention had been pointed at Ethan, but she quickly turned to face Cecilia instead before she redid her line. “Do you have some kind of superpower too?! What?” This was exactly what she had wanted to be told about! “And… who’s Saga?” she added shortly after, now turning back to Michael, as he had been bundled up with her by this Joseph. But again, the question was open to everyone really.

Her family. And Cecilia specifically. She didn’t like the sound of that but it make her cousins talk about someone being afraid someone was coming for them. Or rather; her. Everything had happened to only Cecilia. She had noticed nothing about herself or her parents or her brothers. Had something happened to Cecilia’s side of the family?!
Maeve’s arms finally unfolded as she was handed the phone, reaching for it with both the hand in the cast as well as the other one to hold it as carefully and stabile as she could. So this was this Joseph Blackwood? Sounded strangely li-… She suddenly frowned strongly as she looked at the screen. She then looked up at Michael with the same expression before she took the phone fully in her non-injured hand and turned it around for him to see as well. “Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?” She had to ask. For what she had been shown was not a picture of a man. Or a woman. Or anything really. Instead it was a picture of a x-eyed smiley like when an image file code had expired on a website.

He straightened himself a bit as she revealed that she’d just seen Joseph, then glancing around the room for a moment as if that would make him sense whatever she’d seen, but it appeared to have all been in her mind. Perhaps this was another effect of the curse, but he didn’t believe it meant that Joseph was connected to her in the same way that Ajax was. That wouldn’t make any sense. Because if so, he’d just set himself up to get hurt by telling Michael about Ajax, knowing that he'd trap and interrogate him. “It’s okay. I will find him and stop this,” he said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder as he looked into her eyes. He hoped his words would provide some sort of comfort or assurance. He cared little for Joseph’s warning about not getting mixed up in his plans. If that’s what Joseph wanted, he shouldn’t have lied to him about Ajax and involved him in the first place. It was too late for him to just back out now. And he should know how persistent Michael could be when something or someone went against him.

Michael didn’t comment on Maeve's apology but instead gave her a small nod as he did forgive her. It seemed that she’d just lashed out because of her emotions, in which he couldn’t blame her - so long as she didn’t threaten people using his Father’s name. Cecilia’s reply didn’t surprise him because it wouldn’t be the first time Joseph found interest in someone because of their powers. He also thought it was obvious why he wanted hers specifically. He could use her to summon something or someone. Or he could use her to gain knowledge of the future. Both of which were advantageous for a guy like him. However, he’d rather not be the one to tell her friends about her abilities. After all, she understood how they worked more than he did.
“That would be great, Ethan.” He looked over at Ethan, knowing that he had quite the database at work and if there was something Michael wasn’t good at, it was human technology. He usually hired hackers rather than try anything of that sort himself. “Saga is no one to worry about… Joseph and Saga had a thing back in the day, I doubt she’d want to interfere more than she already has. Saving Ajax from me. In fact… I think his threat was mostly directed at me,” he replied to Maeve’s question. Joseph must have known that he was with them for giving her that message. And based on what he knew of their relation, he doubted that Joseph would hurt Saga even if she did plan on interfering. And he was certain that she most likely wouldn't. She’d just cared about freeing Ajax.

Michael furrowed his brows at Maeve’s reaction to the image until she turned the phone around and he saw what she’d seen. A picture like the one Cecilia had seen while she’d tried to get access to her security camera. “No, of course not,” he said as he relaxed his face before taking the phone into his hand again. He would never pull pranks like that, always being very disciplined and serious in his work. More so, it worried him how it had been possible for Joseph to delete the image within seconds of him finding it. He had many phones, yet somehow Joseph had gotten access to this one, only confirming his theory about him knowing where he was. “I don’t know how he did that,” he said slowly, looking at it for a moment before he cracked the phone in half, not wanting to keep it now that he knew Joseph had been able to hack it. The last thing he wanted was for him to be able to find him via technology. With the two pieces of the phone in his hand, he looked up at Ethan. “He’s a science teacher at the academy, and he's indirectly threatened to do something to Erin the last time I saw him. So, besides researching the Sinclairs, I need you to try and figure out where he is… or at least who else he might be working with.”

Maeve tensed up in her jaw for just a second, biting the back of her teeth together at the slightly dismissive explanation she got delivered from her cousin. No. It hadn’t worked very well the last time she had tried making a big deal out of it. Too many thing probably happened all at once, making certain things a priority to the mind. She got that. She just felt like being out of the loop. Even more so when Saga got properly introduced. Or at least introduced. Someone to not worry about. “What kind of изключително досадно? Like, what are you capable of doing?” At least the unknown human had caught on to small tit bits of the Bulgarian language from spending so much time with that side of the family, that she knew the translation and could even say it right back. Although her pronunciation was far from perfect. Her British accent carried way too much over. “I can understand Ethan not feeling up to explaining what he’d got going on right not but if this man is doing all this to get his hands on what you can do, more than one speculating…” Or rather; 3 since she, again, seemed to be the one not knowing. “…why that is, will be better.” The frustration was still present in her voice and her tone but it was more there to cover up a feeling of hurt, which she didn’t feel was welcome in her right now.

A chill ran down her back and her eyes returned to Michael, when he assured her, that this was no joke of his. Especially the furrow of his face as well as how calm he was about it at the same time. The sudden aggression where the phone was snapped in half with no hesitation what so ever, made her body jolt and her eyes had widened for a moment, just staring at the broken phone in the angel’s hand, before her focus got drawn over to her best friend.
Zitora. What’s right! That woman wasn’t only good a finding hidden things. She was also good at keeping things hidden herself, it had revealed itself. “It’s true!” Maeve backed up Ethan and turned back to Michael for a brief second. Slowly crossing her arms, more in a self-hugging way than stern and demanding way this time. She was careful not to put her broken arm in an awkward position that would hurt. “She’s an extremely capable woman. Sometimes you’d think she belongs at the investigation teams and not a lawyer firm.”

Although Maeve hadn’t really commented on the whole thing with the maniac being a teacher it still remain on her head, as she took a step away from Michael, not wanting to stand so close. Her brothers were not old enough to attend the academy, unfortunately! But for some reason, she still worried. Sadly the storm outside didn’t make way for her to run back home to check on her own family - Cecilia’s brother’s family being looked after by angels. Or even made it possible for her to go outside and get some fresh air. On top of that; she couldn’t just leave Cecilia. Not now.

Michael looked between the women as Maeve insisted on knowing more about Cecilia’s powers, but Cecilia seemed to prefer to wait to tell her. Or simply didn’t think it was important for Maeve to know. In reality, both of her abilities had been revealed. Michael had told them that Cecilia had summoned him the night of Joseph's break-in. She might have overlooked it or explained it off as a prayer, but it was there nonetheless. And she’d just been in a vision. This could also be explained off as Joseph playing with her mind because of their link, but if not, it was due to her ability.
He looked at Cecilia when she mentioned that she had been to Saga’s shop and that she was later sent to Clarissa by her. Not knowing that the witch and demon were acquainted. Both more so, it worried him that all these people were indirectly or directly involved. Because who knew how many others there were besides them? “She very well might. I’ll try to ask her the next time I see her,” he said. For one who didn’t know their prior relation, it might seem strange that he’d be willing to ask a demon for help. The demons he trusted being less than a handful, but Clarissa had been unlike any demon he'd ever met. In fact, she'd been more kindhearted than most people he’d come across. And Cecilia was right. Even if she didn’t know a secure way of breaking the link, she'd at least have a few ideas that they could start from.

He walked into the kitchen to throw the broken phone out and clean off his hands before he returned to the living room and sat down in the chair again. Whoever hired Joseph clearly had no clue about who he was. And it didn’t exactly surprise him that he’d qualified for the position. But he'd lie if he said that he wasn't unsettled about him being there. Michael had gotten the impression that the academy was the most secure place for his children to go to school. Albeit, no place besides Heaven truly was secure for anyone in his family. But Joseph being there made him more inclined to research the school's security measures and potentially improve them. For the safety of all the students there. He gave Ethan a small nod as he said he’d try to find information on him before he mentioned another possibility. Zitora Cowan. It wasn't that long ago that he'd gotten her help on a case. She'd proven to be a very resourceful woman at that time. But it seemed that Ethan was much closer to her. He turned his head to look at Maeve as she approved of her too. “I guess it wouldn't hurt to make her dig up whatever she can find. My impression of her tells me that she knows a lot about a lot of people,” he said, remembering how she’d known some influential people in Southside. This being the reason they'd gotten the information of their target's location. And she'd seemed very confidential too. So, he hardly saw a problem in getting her help.

Maeve had maybe imagined that hearing about Cecilia’s supernatural attributes would remove all the weight from her shoulders, now that she had chosen to make a pretty big deal out of it. The same feeling one would get from finally proving someone right after arguing about it for hours. But… it wasn’t quite like that. She still felt relieved, it wasn’t that she was disappointed in any sense of the word. Not at all. It was amazing. Truly. It all was, when we was giving time to dwell on it. The supernatural. Angels. Demons. Magic. Just… She chose to shallow her continuing thoughts and speculations. For now. “Ah,” she said very softly and nodded slightly. “So you’re clairvoyant in a way?” It made sense. Strangely enough. Cecilia has always had a nag for hitting the nail on the head. Or at least near the nail. But who would have suspected her to actually possess psychic abilities? Well, she now knew of a couple… She discreetly looked towards Ethan out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t had the suspension.
She quickly looked back on Cecilia. She didn’t look to best, if she had to be honest. She looked tired. But even Maeve didn’t like to idea of having her lay down and sleep. It seemed like the worse possibly thing to do considering… A bit unsure, she wetted her lips to give a second longer to thing her action through, still in the end the short-framed human stepped over to her cousin and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Something she should have done far earlier in the evening, really. She squeezed one time and then let go, taking a small step back and then wrapping her arms around herself in a relax crossing over her chest. A trying smile on her lips. “And summoning people, huh? Then that means I won’t have to take the long walk over to you when you figure out how to use it, I guess.” Oh, if only Maeve knew how cheated that comment, even if it was simply there as an attempt to lightened the room a bit, would make her feel in the future.
“Thank you,” Maeve then said, looking Cecilia in the eye. There was something melancholic over it, though. Behind the smile, that seemed harder and harder to upkeep. “We’ll get this over and done with. We got to.”

Maeve took another step back and then turned around to return her attention further out to the whole room and not only Cecilia. She decided to take some careful steps over to stand beside Ethan to maybe look him over the shoulder at what he was doing. Purely out of curiously. “Actually,” she cushioned blurted out. “Are we really sure that it’s smart to involve Zitora. She’s a dear friend. And while she knows her stuff… I can’t help but feel worried. Like really worried.” Like a call from Heaven, she felt something soft and warm against her leg, and as she looked down she saw the border collie leaning up against her, immediately distracting her thoughts away from the possibility of losing her friend. Again.. If she didn’t knew better she’s think Puzzle was a family support dog.
“I mean, what do we know about this man right now? He’s interested in Cecilia’s abilities. That’s the jest of it as to why she’s involved. Maybe… I don’t know… Either he want to know the future or.. perhaps he’s looking for someone.” This was just shooting out in the air. She felt useless, so she had let her thoughts wander, which was a whole lot easier now that her mind wasn’t completely fixated on her stupid demands. She finally got down in a squat beside Ethan, down to Puzzle’s level where the dog without hesitation moved in front of her to be scratched and petted. Being careful with the broken arm. Tail whacking. At least one of them was enjoying themselves.

The sound of a branch hitting the window of the room, had him raise his gaze to it. The storm hadn’t calmed the slightest, more so it seemed to worsen, and he knew he was to blame for this. He lifted the cup of tea to his lips to take a sip while he thought about the events of the night. He didn’t say anything to Maeve’s concerns about involving Zitora as he trusted Ethan’s judgment. There were usually good and bad sides to most decisions, and the good part of this was the possibility of breaking the curse sooner. Then as Cecilia spoke, his eyes turned to her. “As much as Joseph would like to think everyone will comply to his every wish, he indisputably knows that I won’t. And so, in the grand scheme of things, he’s asking to be taught a lesson himself. I mean, all I did was warn him off harming you, and he does this… curse you.” He shook his head lightly. Perhaps Cecilia would have been willing to use his abilities to his benefit if he’d approached her differently. But now all he'd done was create more enemies.

“Or something.” He added to Maeve’s thoughts about Joseph. He had always had a fascination for magical objects, so it seemed more likely that it was regarding that. And even if they broke the curse, he’d probably still want to chase this thing, and hence not just drop his plans regarding Cecilia. He took another sip of his tea before he rose to his feet. Maeve had every reason to be worried, but regardless, they couldn't just let Cecilia walk around with this curse hanging over her. The risks of doing so being less than the risk of her death. He gave Cecilia a brief glance before he placed the cup back on the tray. He didn't figure there was much sense in him staying any longer. There weren't any dark energies around, nor did he think there'd be any once he left. Joseph had proven his point. And his distracted mind made way a stream of prayers to rush in, overwhelming his thoughts furthermore. “I’ll have to take my leave now.” He took out his pocket watch to check the time before putting it back, looking between the three humans. “Don't hesitate to contact me if you find any new information.” He then walked by Ethan to give him a tap on his shoulder as his goodbye. “Take care.” A second later he disappeared. And with his disappearance, the thunderclaps became more distant, the rain a light drizzle and the winds weaker.

//Michael out

Her hands still busy fluffing up the dogs long soft fur, Maeve looked up at Michael. He was leaving? She couldn’t help but feel like it was rather sudden. For some reason, she had in all seriousness thought that he was going to stick around for the remaining night. He wasn’t a stranger after all. Not some random police officer who had been sent to the house to inspect the damaged after a break in of sorts and then had to leave again since ‘duty called’. But that was how it felt. And it felt strange. She could easily blame that all was being strange at the moment for the feeling. Bringing back forth the fact that this ancient angel was in fact her best friend’s father, the best friend who was present, and her expecting him to stay because of that reason was even weird now that she thought it up.
To Puzzle’s sadness she stopped the wonderful scratching and petting, as she carefully stood up and lightly crossed her arms watching the goodbyes. She had wanted to say thank you allow side the other two, but the moment Michael’s eyes met up with her, she simply gave him a undoubtably thankful smile and an approving nod for him to leave. She got it. Somewhat.

And then it all seemed to quiet. And calm. The storm was still going outside but even that sounded like it had remembered to take a breath and counted to ten. The abrupt feel of a respite had blinded Maeve from her surrounding for just enough time for the feeling of strong arms embracing her and her face being more or less squished into a firm, warm chest to catch her off guard. Pulling her right back again. In the most comforting way possible. Though, it didn’t keep her from grimacing a little in confusion. She was fine. She didn’t need a hug… Even though she most certainly did and the hug was great! So, she didn’t do anything to stop it from happening. “I was actually debating whether or not I should stay or not. I kind of really want to check up on those at home. But…” Maeve’s brown eyes glided over to her cousin. “… I’ll be staying too. It doesn’t feel right for me to go home. I will, however, be staying up a little longer. I can’t possibly fall asleep right now. You go. I’ll join in later,” she ensured with a smile as she, like Ethan, followed Cecilia as she dragged herself upstairs. But behind that smile, Maeve was terribly worried. For Cecilia. How could she not be?!

It felt so natural, standing there beside Ethan with his arm around her, that she barely noticed that she was still standing there, discreetly learned further into him. What she did put a mark to, was how she felt like she could finally breathe properly again for the first time all evening. Even before all Hell had broken loose. How are you feeling?
The short brunette couldn’t help but sigh heavily and close her eyes for a moment. How was she feeling? “That’s a good question,” she stated as she took a few steps away from Ethan, her arms still crossed at first and then she let them fall like bottom-heavy floppy chains while she begun to pace the living room. “I’m not feeling great, if I’m going to be honest with you.” The words came out almost with a laugh, although there was a reason her eyes weren’t looking at him. She kept them busy by looking around. At the unused tub of water. At the mostly untouched cups of calming tea. The empty wineglasses. The slight disarray of the furniture from Cecilia’s panicked movements. Her phone, still on the floor, still with the emergency call number ready to go. She stepped over to it and picked it up, erased the number. She had to call home to… She got a sour feeling in her stomach as she saw the missed calls labelled Graham. If there was anyone, she didn’t wish to talk to right now… it was him, and that fact felt like a brick. So, she locked her phone. Even deciding to not call home immediately and lastly moved over to sit down in the couch.
“This is all pretty cool, huh,” she finally said with a bit more life in her voice and she finally looked up at Ethan. She wasn’t pale anymore. “I mean, not the thing with Cecilia being cursed or your father almost being stabbed. I mean, this whole supernatural thing. Who would have thought the fairy tales were actually real.” She held her legs properly together and she rested both her hands in her lap. “I should be mad at you for keeping it all a secret all this time, shouldn’t I?” She tried frowning, but the emotion wasn’t real so the lines quickly smoothed out again. “But I… I can’t blame you.” Suddenly she couldn’t look at him and she bowed her head to look down at her hands, at the colourful gasp on her right one. “I know it sounds silly but a part of me wished you hadn’t told me. Because while it’s all so amazing and so cool it’s also… pretty frightening. And I can’t help but feel like I barely know you, you know. Cecilia has known about it for how long? A couple of months. But you have been part of it your whole life.” She wasn’t crying. Not visibly. But as if the border collie felt something, it got back on its feet and carefully came over and sat in front of her. Pushing to get in between her legs to get a bit closer to her. This stopped her from holding back a misfitted chuckle.

Maeve shook her head. ”No no no. You haven’t broken my trust to you. I’m pretty sure that you need to do a whole lot more for that to ever happen,” she quickly, yet completely mellowed ensured him. She didn’t even feel the need to look at him so he’d see that she was in fact telling the truth. The sincerity in her voice should be more than enough. So, as he moved over to sit with her on the couch, she kept her attention on the dog in front of her, who at that point had given up on its mission and just placed its pointed head in the creek of her two legs, looking up at her with such pleading eyes. How could anyone be mad at this good boy? All Puzzle wanted was for everything to be alright again. But compared to humans, dogs just had the  ability to actually make that reality in mere seconds. At least, for a time. In the end, she became a lost cause and spread her legs a little, which immediately made the dog perk up and rushed in between them with its fluffy tail whacking like crazy, close to knock over a mug on the table hasn’t it been weighted down by the liquid inside. And Puzzle didn’t even notice! Because as the dog moved in, Maeve was ready to cup its head to resume the snuggles and scratches, that it so very much loved.

Then with an untaxing sigh, her head just kind of flopped to the side and landed upon Ethan’s big and broad shoulder. He was just the right height when sitting down, that she would comfortably do this without having her head lay in the exact curve of his neck, making it much less of a strain on her down neck. No. This was just right. However, laying there she still tensed up in her cheeks when thinking about Cecilia’s situation. They would fix it. That was what Ethan said. That was what she herself had said. But was it really true? Magic and curses like this felt like so foreign things. This wasn’t just ‘a true loves kiss’ kind of a deal. “I might not have found out if it hadn’t happened like this,” she said with a silent voice, taking advance of the calm around them.
“How long have we been around each other now?” She lifted her head from his shoulder, only to then turn her head and place her chin back down, finally looking up at him. The residue for the almost-tears in her eyes were thankfully gone. “10 years is a bloody long time. So, don’t you think I’ve just been too dim-witted, too dense to notice anything? I mean, I’ve had a talking cat living at my place for months now, and I was convinced that I was just really, really stressed.” Again, she couldn’t help but scuff another light-hearted laugh at herself. It was easier to handle it all with some humour.. “I just need some time to get properly around, I bet.”

While breathing in a good amount of air, she sat up straight again, not wanting to burden him with the weight of her head. It was probably pretty heavy by now with all the thoughts. “I’d just wish there was something I could do. If we were the Scooby-Gang, I’d be Shaggy.” Her eyes landed on the laptop, Ethan had been typing away on not so long ago. Beginning research still on the screen. “You’d be Velma,” she added while pointing towards the laptop.

Maeve chuckled warmly. “Well, no surprise there. I never told you about that stuff after all. For all you knew, he was just some black cat I had taken off the street. That was what I believed, after all. And no way I’d want to entertain the idea of you thinking I was going mad. I’d hate for you to have to drag me to the hospital for electroshock therapy or what they do to cure insanity,” she admitted already feeling a lot better again. It swung so much that evening and it was probably still partly the ignorance talking. It had its roots very deep in her, after all. She had held on to it for dear life for a long time now, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if she from that day on suddenly would begin to look back at some of her past memories with a bit of a new view, which for sure would be strange for her.
She made her smile a little bigger as she looked him in the eye and didn’t say anything for a moment. She just sucked up the nice feeling he gave her. If he hadn’t been there that evening… Not only wouldn’t her cousin be sleeping soundly in a bed upstairs. But she wouldn’t have been able to keep herself as collected. “You know, I really appreciate you, Bear.” She said it without any fault in her voice. It was as truthfully and as thankful as it could be. It didn’t relate to anything they had talked about but she had felt a strong need to tell him.

“Zee? As Velma? No no, you’ve got it all wrong,” she pointed out, pulling herself back out of the sentimental state by readjusting how she sat on the couch. Sitting a bit more straight up as to not slouch too much up against Ethan. “Zitora would be Fred. Charming and leader-minded. Cecilia could take up the job as Daphne with her clever aloofness and strong-willed stubbornness.” She hadn’t commented on how he disagreed with how she had placed herself as Shaggy. Because.. it still felt like that. She was a comic relief at most. Though not as much as Scooby-Doo himself. No. That role was, without a doubt, presented to Puzzle. The best dog there was. “Hm?” she just managed to let out and look back towards the man next to her before he dropped whatever he had wanted to say. And it left her rather curious and confused but she did follow his gaze around the room. “..Yea. I’ll help.” Fleetingly she look back up at him, as a last attempt to read whatever had been on his mind from his face but she wasn’t successful so she got up from the couch instead.

The left the phone on the couch and as she look upon the first task of collecting the different glasses and mugs from the table - she wasn’t going to lift the tub of ice water back into the kitchen, she had strained her hand already bringing it in from there - she didn’t noticed how It began to vibrate with the same caller-ID as the ones before. Graham. He knew she was over at Ethan’s place. At least she had been sure to tell him about the situation with the storm and her having to take care of Cecilia - all this before the shit had really gone down. But… there was the risk of the red bearded man not remembering any of it..

With wine glasses in between her fingers and a tea-filled mug in each of her hands, she ventured into the kitchen just as Ethan emptied the tub of ice water, most of the ice having melted in the heat of the moment but there were still some chunks left to clash against the sink. Yet, far rom loudly enough to warrant a possibility for it to wake up any of the sleeping souls in the house. Actually; it might even be possible for a meteor to land right outside the house and the sleeping beauty upstairs wouldn’t even wake up from her beauty sleep. Maeve carefully placed the handful of drinking utensils on the kitchen counter and started emptying the tea from the mugs into the sink as well, the lasting bit of heat from it enough to melt some of the smaller pieces of ice. A shame, really. Ethan had wasted time on making this for them, she couldn’t help but think. Even been as thoughtful as to brew tea with valerian. But surely this time it hadn’t been because people hadn’t liked it. She had long realised how he made tea how she liked it, which wasn’t the most standard and overall loved way.
This fleeing realisation brought an unconscious smile upon her face. The silence and the slight clinking gave of the same mellow feeling that one always was left with after a party, after every guest had left and it was just the host left to do the bit of cleaning so everything didn’t have to get one the next day when the social hangover would hit.

Maeve noticed Ethan closing in, seeing him move just out of the corners of her eyes, and yet the second hug of the night surprised her just as well. “Hm?” She blinked a bit befuddle. She wasn’t opposed to the hug but he wasn’t usually like this. “Ethan? What is it? Is something wrong?” she asked softly, putting back down the second mug of tea she had been about to pour out so she that way could have both her hands and arms free. The kiss didn’t feel like much more than him pressing his face into her hair since it was so thick, but she felt it nonetheless. And not long after she felt a warmth flush up in her face and ears. With her own face more of less hidden into his chest, he luckily couldn’t see any of it. Not even the tension in her cheeks.
Gently she wrapped her down arms around him. She did her best, at least. Using him as support, which easy peasy with him holding around her as he did, she stood up on her toes and thereby reached her hands more up and around his neck. Embracing him as comforting as she could. That’s right. It wasn’t only Cecilia. Or Maeve. How could she forget? She was a lousy friend, that was what she was.
“So,“ she calmly started out to peacefully break the silence but not break the hug. It didn’t feel like a hug that should be broken. Not yet. “Your dad is an angel, huh. Maybe I should get you to put in a good word or two for me which he can bring with him to God. I don’t think I’ve been to church for some time, not since Tyler and Jessica’s wedding.” She chuckled quietly to herself. Feeling his warmth. His breathings as his torso expanded and deflated up against hers.

In syncretised movements to Ethan’s, she relaxed the embrace her arms had around his neck and let them her hands fall down to rest by the top of his arms, while he pulled a little away. Her smile was still there, ready to fall into view, however his eyes only saw hers while simultaneously catching her full attention. It was so comfortable looking him in the eye. She rarely felt like looking way out of simple discomfort. That might be how he always seemed to know when she was feeling guilty for something or just hiding something since those were the most frequent times where she’d be avoiding looking at him. Though, her smile did fade ever so slightly as it slowly began to shimmy into inappropriate timing. Him opening up about his family. “I get that. I almost didn’t even believe it when you told me. It just seems so strange, having been around him all this time.” She gently tilted her head, looking at him. It did make her thing of a similar case to this. It was unavoidable even if she was doing her best to mainly focus on him right then and there. Because if she – no, no only her but the both of them. If they thought about it, it wasn’t a completely foreign concept of being so close to biological blood and not know it. One of the corners of her smile grew just a little but higher than the other. “Well, if you have survived the gigantic mouthfuls that are my brothers, I don’t doubt you’ll power through to this sister of ours. And when you do… I’d love to meet her too. So there’s a little motivation for you.”
She winked in a cheeky manner, before letting him slide out of the hug. Being around Ethan was so natural. Everything. So, she didn’t notice just how much of a romantic couple they’d seem to people looking in from the outside.

As if it was a reflex, she shook her head a bit, dismissively. “It’s alright. It has already mostly healed, remember, so a little strain to it shouldn’t be anything major. But I think I’ll take a trip by the hospital to get it looked at one of the following days. Just in case, you know,” she said to hopefully make him worry less about it. It did feel a bit tight but all that she would need was some rest for it. Surely. It wasn’t as if she had been swung it around or anything. It was fine.
Maeve remained silent as he started to blame himself. She wanted to tell him, that he was wrong. That this place still felt safe to her. Because it did! This whole supernatural thing did scare her, but far from how he probably thought. She just couldn’t find words that would make him realise that and not just take her words the same as her dismissiveness around her injury. So, she lowered her eyes to her hands in his and then kind of just.. shrugged. Pushing the corners of her mouths into her cheeks for a moment. And then even before she could try and say something, he was off to something else which automatically had her follow him with her eyes.

“Would you mind if I watch along?” she asked softly, referring to him cleaning the carpet. Daintily she crossed her arms lightly in front of her. “Maybe you can take me through how it’s done. Jonathan still gets those spontaneous nosebleeds every once in a while so I bet knowing a thing or two about getting something like that out without drowning it on bleach would come in handy. And my parents would have to buy less new clothes ore couch cushion liners.” She hid it become everyday occurrence but truthfully, the reveal of what he actually did – hunting – had sparked some new interest.