Speak of the devil

The shapeshifter folded his lips a little, while listening to her. It was like every time they spoke, he learned something knew that he hadn't expected. Her life seemed rather complicated, or that it at least had been complicated growing up. Having a lot of family and never met any of the members part of it, he couldn't imagine how it was like, and he wasn't going to sit here and encourage a meeting with people he didn't know. "Do you want to meet them?" He asked instead, because there was a difference on not wanting to have something to do with family members, or being afraid of what they might think of you. It was on the tip of his tongue to say he would come with her if she wanted to, but he had no business in her family's stuff, so he didn't let the words escape his lips.

Jamie couldn't help but chuckle softly by how she almost choked on her food by the comment on going out. It was always something he wasn't scared of asking people out, or talk about how he felt about stuff. He shook his head a little bit when she whispered sorry, he didn't want her to worry about how she acted around him. He knew if Nigel and Mariella were right, and he was Sariel's mate, it did make things a bit more complicated and at the same time less. The way she put the plate down and pulled her legs up towards her, the softer voice and that smile. It made him smile a bit brighter back at her. "It's a date then," he replied licking his lips a little bit. Jamie looked at her for a moment, before he got up and walked over to her. He bend down to pick the plate up from the floor, standing slowly up and looked to her for a brief second. "I will clean up real quick," he breathed out with a lower voice, looking into her dark eyes before taking a step back, straightening his back. He then walked out to the kitchen, to quickly clean the plates. "Do you want to share a beer, I think there is one left," he asked opening the fridge to take the last beer out. He really needed to get his own place, so he could actually fill a fridge up. "And do some house hunting, before I lose my mind with this small space," he laughed a bit to himself. Not that he needed much more space than this, but he was used to living in a larger house.

He found two glasses and poured up half the beer in each, before returning to the living room once again, handing her the glass. He chuckled a bit, house hunting did sound like a odd choice of words perhaps, but he was quite picky when it came to houses and furniture. So, you’re staying here? It was the question, it was a rather good question as well. Jamie hadn't considered it when he first got here, it was just a few jobs and then back to Nepal. Then again, someone had inspired him to give life a second chance, and he had retired from hunting before, but seeing Nigel, his older brother who never settled, suddenly had found his roots - it had made Jamie's mind shift perspective again, which he of course never would admit. "I might be," he breathed out and sat back in the chair, taking a small sip of the beer. "Seeing my brothers again, just seeing them happy, I don't know why, but it makes me believe that there is a chance for me to find some peace again," he confessed as she dragged a deeper breath in for a moment, leaning back into the armchair. "Back when I married McKenna I cut down on hunting, I'm actually a civil engineer, or I was till two years ago. But I miss working, and I have great recommendations, it shouldn't be hard to find a job here, get back to reality again," he admitted with a small confident shrug. The hunting was a bad coping mechanisme he had used as an outlet for the rage that tortured him, but what if he didn't need that outlet anymore? It was just a bad excuse to get revenge on something he couldn't change.

"But maybe you can help me with the house hunting? I mean, an extra glance at things might be good - otherwise I will never be able to make up my mind," he chuckled a bit at himself. Of course he could ask his brothers for their opinion, but, for some reason he liked Sariel to tag along instead.

She was right, they did need family more than they came to realize, and even though he had spent time with family ever since - it wasn't really the kind of company he had been in need of, even if it had made it seem like everything could be handled with a few good throws. "Yeah, sometimes we are just a little afraid if they will take us in," he breathed out and pressed his brows a little by his own honesty. He had Archie, Mariella and Nigel where he didn't doubt that they would welcome him home with warmth, but it didn't mean he tend to overthink everything. However, he had been surprised just how welcoming everything had been coming back here.

Jamie narrowed his eyes a little bit as he watched her tilt her head a little bit. He chuckled by her small confession, "you and me both," he chuckled a little bit, as he took a deeper breath in, she admitted that she didn't know much about house hunting - which was fair. It wasn't like he needed someone to tell him if the house was pretty or not, he looked for a home, a place where you walked in and felt like you could see and feel yourself. You didn't need to have owned a lot of houses before. His smile grew as she said she would love to go with him, and he nodded a bit. "Great," Jamie breathed out and took another sip of the glass, looking outside the rain still hadn't stopped. Jamie turned his eyes back to her still with a smile on his lips. He could feel the tiredness hanging over him, perhaps from the running in the heavy rain, using his all his senses. "I'm so going to sleep in tomorrow," he chuckled a little bit as he took another sip of the beer.

Maybe you should go to sleep now then? He chuckled a bit, folding his lips for a split second. Yeah he should, he could feel the heaviness of his eyes and how his muscled felt as if they were turning into cement. Jamie pulled a tired but warm smile, downing the last of his beer. "Well, I guess going to bed sounds like the most ideal thing to do then," he breathed out lifting his arm up to scratch the back of his head a little bit. They had no where they needed to be, no one was waiting for them, everyone knew they were safe and sound for now. So, sleep was needed, highly in demand. Jamie got up from the chair on his next exhale. "And to the sound of rain, here I thought it couldn't get more luxurious," he laughed a little bit walking out to the kitchen to place the glass in the counter before heading towards the bedroom, closing the curtains before taking the sweats off, and let himself dramatically fall down on the bed. "Yes," he mumbled with his face down in the duvet. He took a deeper breath in before forcing his legs up into the bed, a sigh left him as he realized he had to move to get under the covers. And Jamie being Jamie, nothing was done without it having at least a little flair of drama.

But finally, after at least two minutes of him not moving a muscle but just mumbling to himself he turned around on his back and sat up, lifting himself a bit up to grab the duvet, and pull it over him before letting himself fall down to the bed again. Looking over to the door to see Sariel, "you are welcome to stand and watch, but I've heard its not safe to stand up and sleep. Come here, there is plenty of space," he pulled the covers slightly to other duvet, as a sign for her to get in here. It wouldn't be the first time she had slept next to him.

The bed almost grabbed his body, and he felt just how heavy every single muscle got. It was like the blackness could come and take him to neverland at any second. Jamie didn't think too much about it, to be honest he was too tired to overthink, and overthinking was a waste of his time overall. It was first as she laid down next to him that he turned his head towards her, he could hear her heart skip a little bit ahead, making him try to mask to small smirk that pulled up on the corner of his lip. "Goodnight," he replied, lifting his arm about to turn the light off, letting the room descent to darkness, but he felt her eyes look at him, so he turned his head. Jamie gave her a warm smile, before he turned the lights off. "Get some sleep," he spoke with a sincere voice, making himself comfortable. His eyes easily adjusted to darkness because of his animal, but he had them closed as he felt his eyelids forcing themselves down. He breathed out a bit heavily, as he let the day go.

Jamie wasn't unfamiliar with having someone sleeping next to him, but often he sought to get out of the situation or at least fall asleep before he became too aware, but it was different, and for a moment that surprised him. There was no fiber in his body, no wolf nor tiger that roared at him to get away. Both his animals seemed to have found peace in having Sariel around, which was even more odd, because the animals in him never found peace - not even around him. Finally his mind shut off an allowed him to drift into sleep.

As he woke up in the morning, it was still dark outside, which made him question what time it was slightly. Autumn was always darker mornings, but he felt wide awake. He noticed he had moved closer to her in his sleep, how was less than a move to have his chest close against her back. It made him take a slightly deeper breath in, and he held it for a moment just listening to the sound of her sleeping, her breathing, then he breathed out himself. Jamie could hear his heart skip a few beats ahead of him, as he let himself turn so he was on his back once again and not on his side close to her. He moved his head slightly to the side looking over at her again, thinking about whether he should get up or not, just let her sleep if she was able to.

Jamie chuckled a bit lowly as she seemed to react to his movements, he smiled a bit, shaking his head a little mostly at himself. Once again he thought about getting up, but was rushed out of his thoughts as she rolled onto her side and he felt her hand glide over his stomach shortly. She took him by surprise as she crawled closer to him, feeling her head against his shoulder, making him press his eyebrows together for a while. It was the way his heart sunk a bit, felt heavy for a moment as it skipped a beat ahead. The soft breath that left her, making him take a slightly deeper breath in, and breathed out. It was a natural instinct that took over him, repositioned his arm so he could wrap his arm around her now that she already was leaning towards his shoulder. "Okay," he mumbled back and looked over at her for a brief moment, looking at his hand as his fingers softly traced over the fair skin of her upper arm as she hugged him closer. He couldn't help but take her in, how peaceful she looked, he couldn't really anything but let her sleep.  He found himself not wanting her to leave, he liked having her close, it was like a blanket, bringing you warmth and comfort in a way he hadn't realized he needed. It was like his heart was starting to work again, and he hadn't even realized how broken it had been till now. Jamie hugged her a little bit closer, as he moved his eyes to the celling, letting his mind wander for a moment.

He wished for this to last for a bit longer, the peace and comfort, and took an even deeper breath in, feeling his chest rise and fall as he exhaled. Then he looked to her side again, once again a smile curled up on his lip as he lifted his head a little bit to lean over and place his lips on top of her hair. Then he let his head back on the pillow and once again looked up the celling.

Jamie couldn’t’ tell whether he just was really selfish or if it was okay, usually he didn’t overthink his actions. He was always confident about his moves, but right now, he was nervous, feeling it creeping in on him, was it alright he did this? A part of him felt like a school guy having his first girlfriend over for the first time, but he put that part of him to sleep for now, as he heard her heart picked up its speed, she was awake. For a second, he feared she would freak out by the closeness, but she didn’t. She stayed, making him feel more at ease, and he exhaled once again. His eyes met with hers for a short moment, before she closed them again. Jamie had never really been a night owl, he preferred early mornings, which perhaps was just a habit he had built back when he had toddlers running around his feet, and just young children. He had only just reached the age where both Lewis and Olivia both had longed to sleep in every chance they got, but it was also about it. “Nah, it’s alright,” he confessed on his next exhale. Because it was okay with him, he had missed closeness in this form. He couldn’t even describe what form it was, but he just knew it wasn’t nothing.

“I will only give you a few more moments though, I’m just warning you, I will be in desperate need for coffee,” he laughed a little bit. He looked up to the celling once yet again, aware of his deeper breaths. He was aware of his heartbeat, how it skipped a few beats ahead. Jamie licked his lips a little, before moving his head to look at her, letting his eyes run over her face. He wasn’t used to feeling this peaceful anymore, it had been years since he had felt calm.

“Oh yeeees, coffee” she almost moaned as he talked about coffee, even though she let her head plant itself on his chest, not really thinking about how it might look. She was tired, but still well rested for the first time in ages. Her body was heavy in a delicious ‘I just feel great’ kind of way. But she was also very aware that it would get worse when she was up and about. She wouldn’t heal that quickly after the treatment that she had been put through.

After she had lied the amount of time, she thought was appropriate after he had told her that it would only be a few more moments. She lifted her body up, letting her head look down at his, giving him a small, serene smile before she turned around lying her back towards him as she hogged the covers leaving him without any “There, now you can go get some coffee” she laughed snuggling like a cat under the warm blankets. She moved around letting her now messy black hair fold over her eyes, her fingers trying to get it out as she gave him a big smile. “And maybe make me one as well?” she licked her lips smiling even brighter so her dimples where showing.

He chuckled a bit. Coffee was like ultimative goal every single morning, just sitting down for a moment and let the warm bitter taste balance on your tongue, letting it comfort you. But despite his own needs for this strong brew to kick him going, he didn't rush to get out of bed just yet. It was giving him a time out, a long needed sense of belonging he never thought he would be able to get back. He was knocked back to reality when she lifted her body up and removed her head from his chest, looking into her eyes for the moment that she smiled at him. It was a short moment, but he knew it was going to live a life time in his mind. The same second she turned around grabbing the covers, leaving the autumn cooled room to seek the bare skin. "Meanie," he mumbled in a chuckle before sitting up looking over at her while shaking his head a little. The shapeshifter couldn't help but smile at her as she snuggled the covers. Jamie got up standing, letting his feet touch the cold floors, a small carpet would really be suitable. He bended over to pick his sweats up and jump in them.

He turned around once she asked him if he could make her some coffee as well. Jamie crossed his arms a little for a brief second, then letting himself fall towards the bed but letting the palm of his hands meet with the surface of the bed. "Fine, but, but only if - you stay here and let me take care of you. At least till you have recovered a bit more," he gave her a warmer smile. Her body needed rest, her mind needed rest given what she had been through. It didn't matter how much you got used to stress, or trauma, it would still make a scar that wasn't always easy to see but imposible to forget. Jamie pushed himself of the bed and moved towards the door to go out to the kitchen to make two cups of coffee. Jamie looked outside while the water boiled, it was still raining a bit, but not as much as last night. Jamie wanted to at least go outside after his coffee, just to make sure there was none of the people from last night nearby. Once the water was boiled he poured the hot water into the mugs. Then taking the coffee and moved back towards the bedroom, sitting down on the edge of her side of the bed with a warm smile on his lip, as he handed her the mug.

She was already turning to give her best puppy look eyes, as he started to make demands about how she could get her coffee. But as he turned it around telling her, that he would only make her a cup of she stayed in the bed recovering a while longer. Her smile became wider as she nodded in agreement and snuggled even longer down the covers closing her eyes for a moment. She could get used to this. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she felt how fear started spreading in her chest. Getting used to something like this, meant that she needed to be prepared to lose it. Just like everything else. Either because people didn’t want her, or because of choices she had made pushing people away or running away. Her eyes followed him as he walked out of the bedroom, throwing herself back into her pillow closing her eyes so hard that she started to see small dots of red. Stupid brain and heart, no, stupid mate mark.

She heard how he came back. The time he had spent in the kitchen preparing the drink, had been enough for her to get her heart under control. Sariel slowly moved her arms and hand so she could push herself up in at seating position. A slight grimace was made, as she felt the pain vibrating down her back. Okay, so not fully healed.

“Thank you” she hummed grateful and took the cup from him. As their fingers touched a small current of electricity flowed through her skin into her body. Her heart skipping another beat and a small sigh leaving her nose as she took the cup closer to her. “Not just for this, but finding me yesterday too” she gave him a small smile before taking a small sip of her beverage.

It wasn't hard to see that the pain still hung heavily onto her, even if she wasn't fan of putting to much effort into grimaces of pain - even though the small one was enough for him to know. Masking pain was something you learned, and a lot of the time you became the master of that skill. Sariel took the cup, and he nodded a bit as she thanked him, only to realize as she once again spoke, that it wasn't just the coffee she thanked him for. Jamie licked his lips as he took an even deeper breath in. "Yeah, you didn't make that one easy on me," he breathed out with a light teasing glimpse in his eyes, before giving her a warmer smile. "It was no problem, I would happily to it again," he added honest keeping his eyes locked towards hers. It was really Ayah that was to thank for this, without her call he wouldn't have known. The scenario playing for his eyes in this moment wasn't nice, it was the outcome of what would have happened to her if he hadn't shown up. If Ayah hadn't called him, it was likely they would have found her in worse condition or not even at all - at least not before it had been too late. He had been too late before, and he hated that there had been a slight risk of that happening again. Jamie realized he had held his breath and perhaps just starred down his coffee for a few seconds too many completely zoned out.

"Are you hungry?" He then asked before taking a sip of his coffee, letting the warm brew settle him down again. Jamie didn't mind cooking her a quick breakfast, he most likely needed to go buy something for when lunch and dinner came around, but there was still plenty of time for that, so he wasn't really in any hurry.

“I really do hope there will never be another time, for the both of us” she said quite seriously, even though her voice was weak compared to how strongly she felt about her statement. Her eyes found his face as he became oddly quiet, she could see that he was picturing things that wasn’t something she wanted him to see. Placing the cup on the small bedtable, she moved towards him, only placing her hand on his shoulder as he turned asking if she was hungry. “Hey” she mumbled, tilting her head slight and let her other hand find his cheek. “Don’t got down that path” she quietly told him before she looked down at his own cup of coffee and took it out of his hand. How weak he was making her, but right now it was alright. “I’m fine, and I promise I won’t put myself in a situation like that again, okay?” her eyes found his giving him a soft smile “You made it, nothing happened, and I’m okay” she assured once again pulling him into a soft hug.

He hadn't even heard her statement, zoned out from reality at that moment, and still even after he had asked if she was hungry. It was just his way of staying in reality despite a wish to disappear for a moment. It was the hand on his cheek that made him breath out and realize that he hadn't been fully present. Jamie pressed his brows a little together as she took the coffee out of his hands, and he was about to protest just a little, but didn't he kept quite and just looked her for the moment. Jamie grinded his teeth and took a deeper breath in. She wasn't fine, and she couldn't keep a promise like that, not in this world, even if you fought to avoid it, you couldn't promise anything like that. But he didn't say anything only pressed his brows a bit closer together to a point where he could start feeling the tension in his forehead. He wasn't scared for himself, he rarely was. Jamie was just about to reply to all her words, and most likely come with a whole speech about how she couldn't and shouldn't make promises she couldn't keep, but before he got to do so - she hugged him.

It was a warm and soft embrace that caught him enough off guard to make him lose his breath. The tension was released from his forehead as he put his brows down again and his face found a natural and more relaxed expression. He found himself wanting to place his arms around hers, it almost tickled in him to do so, but he also didn't want to cause her any pain. But his left arm lifted around her just over her shoulders, taking a deeper breath in and exhaled as he rested his head on top of hers, with his chin touching her hair. Jamie closed his eyes for a second. "We will both be okay," he mumbled before moving his head a little placing his lips on top of her hair, giving it a brief gentle kiss before he removed his head from hers again.

A soft chuckle left her as he told her that they both would be okay. She really hoped so, hoping that somehow all of this would become a thing. That the mark wasn’t just messing with her. And this man could make her chance the path of her destiny that she didn’t want to happen nor liked. But she couldn’t know for sure, and that scared her. But enough to walk away and never come back? Yes, the thought had crossed her mind. Because taking oneself out of the equation was sometimes less painful than being rejected. Now, she had no idea if a rejection from Jamie actually would end with her death. That was also some food for thought.

“Yes, we’ll be okay, some way or another, everyone will get some good coming that way, right?” she chuckled again, and let herself glide out of his arms, even though she wished to stay longer. Her eyes caught his, and she realized that she hadn’t pulled her face further away from his, than she could almost see every color that was to find in his eyes. Drawn by the pull of her mark, she felt herself leaning closer, almost as if she would like to study his face closer. But as she realized what she was doing, she pulled back abruptly and found the handle of his coffee and pressed it back into his hands. “sorry” she mumbled, and took her own, to mask her embarrassment while taking a sip of the warm drink.

She let herself out of his embrace, making him remind himself to recall that this was reality and he should be aware of what he did. He didn't want to overstep to say the least. But she didn't move her face, still with his eyes looking into hers he felt short of breath. They weren't lying when they said eye contact was one of the most powerful forces, it made his heart speed up in such way he couldn't recall ever had experienced. It was in eye contact you felt vulnerable because it was like she could see into his soul and see all of his scars at once. And at the same time he was empowered by it, because he felt so connected to her in these small seconds that felt like hours. Then once again reality hit them over their noses, and made her pull back from him, and forced Jamie to take a deeper breath in while blinking a little bit. "No - no, it's alright," he breathed out as he pressed his brows a little bit together. He took the coffee back in his hands when it was handed to him, just like her taking a sip of the coffee. His mind trying to put the puzzle together of what just had happened. Jamie hadn't given the fact of finding someone knew much thought, he had placed all his being into revenge, but as the layers of his masks and troubled were shred down - he had found himself after she had found him. It was quite mysterious, but he couldn't say that he didn't like it. A little mystery was good for the soul from time to time. "How about I cook us some breakfast, and then I can go to the shops later get some ingredients for lunch and dinner?" He suggested his original plan for the day.

She could hit herself for that stupid thing she had just did. Maybe dig her own grave, or just hide away in a hole somewhere? She gave him a pulled back smile as he said it was alright. Of course, he would say that. Always so kind to her, making it so much harder to keep her head straight.

Cook them breakfast. She nodded slowly “That sounds like a good idea” she breathed licking her lips before she took another sip if her coffee. She watched how he walked out of the room again, she would offer to help. But she needed some time to get her head straight. Her eyes found the small window to the outside world. The woods bringing a little peace into her heart. She suddenly missed New Zealand. The giant mountains, the endless nature. The wind, the smell. Tears started running down her cheeks, what a fool she had been to just run off like that. She licked her lips.

“Azrael” she whispered letting out a deep breath “if you can hear me, you don’t have to come, but I’m sorry for running of like that, and I’m sorry for-“ she closed her eyes feeling how the hot water pressed against her lashes. “I’m okay, and I hope you are as well, and that we might see each other again sometime soon” she breathed through her nose, before falling back into the bed letting her eyes find the ceiling. Gone off to get revenge, instead she had found peace and some friends. Question was, how long would it take before she became the villain again.

Jamie got up from the bed and took a small mouthful of his coffee before going out to the kitchen to start cooking a decent breakfast. He turned on some music from his phone while cooking also allowing himself to calm a little bit down from the race last night. He wanted to give her a moment of peace as well, without him breaking down her neck. Jamie even thought for a moment maybe he should have gone out to run some errands now, but he didn't want to leave her starving either.

Azrael had been stationed in Aston for a couple of months now, and did he like it? No. He missed his mountain, he missed the quite where no cars buzzed, no phones, just him, Sariel and their little book club. Azrael had only had contact with Remiel, Michael and Alessio over the time he had stayed here. Earth and their father would know it would be no good to make him face Eos nor Uriel, because Azrael only had rage towards them - and no one would be ready for them to collide. Azrael, he tuned in to the familiar voice. There were over thousand of prayers a minute, you learned to tune out for which to attend to. He closed the book he was currently reading, looking out the window as the morning sun shined through the window. It was so nice and quite right now, right before the people would start hurrying to be at work in time. Azrael listened into what Sariel had to say, that he didn' have to show up, making him press his brows a bit together. His shoulder fell a little after having them be tensed with worried over such long period of time, he could finally relax a little.  Azrael took a deeper breath in before teleporting towards the location of her prayer, not even getting up he sat at the bed side still with the book in his hand as he hadn't thought to put it down. "I know you said I didn't have to come by, but I wanted to see you," he chuckled a little looking over at her in the bed.

She just laid there for a minute, her eyes clothes taking in the situation. She felt someone sit down on the bed, the strong aura filling up the room, and then the voice. Funnily enough it was that which scared the living shit out of her. A scream left her throat, as she got up jumping a little away from him. Her big eyes taking in the only friend, and companion she had for such a long time. “Azrael” she breathed, taking him in. It was a wonderful feeling that spread in her chest, knowing it was his aura that dulled how broken she felt. Tears started streaming down her cheeks without her even noticing. A slight squeal left her, as she jumped into his arms “I’m so sorry” she whispered burring her face in his chest.

Jamie standing in the kitchen was sadly very fast forgotten. As Sariel tried to battle the many emotions that was storming through her body. But one thing was for certain, it had never been Azrael that she had been mad at. And leaving their home had been the hardest decision in her life.

The scream was enough for Jamie to rush towards the room, but stopped by the not only strong aura but also scent. It was the way she spoke the guy's name, and he could watch them without getting noticed, see how she jumped into his arms. Jamie took a deeper breath in holding it for a moment before he took a step back and returned to the kitchen. He finished up his cooking and turned off the heat, leaving it ready for whenever she was ready to eat. He didn't want to ruin her little get together, clearly she also needed that person and Jamie wasn't in mood talking to archangels. So, he picked up a pensel from the counter and wrote a note saying he was out on a run to the shops. But really, he for once allowed himself to go on an actual run in the woods, transforming giving himself the permission for the first time in forever to run wild like he always wished to do so.

The archangel knew he had spooked her, he could have chosen any other place in the room to appear, but choosing her bedside. It wasn't really playing fair and square, not that he cared about that. He watched how the tears steamed down her face and didn't waste a second before he wrapped his arms around her the second she jumped into his arms saying she was sorry. He breathed out, finding comfort in knowing she was here. "It's okay, I'm just glad to hear from you," he confessed taking a deeper breath in once again. He could sense how weakened she was from something, the energy. "What happened?" He gently pulled her out, letting his hand rest on her cheek.