Page 86 of Outlaw Witch

Shit. This kid has no qualms in laying his worries out there for all to see.

“He just needs to sleep it off,” I tell him. “His body needs to recover, and I’m sure he’ll be back to normal before you know it.”

“Bossing me around. Telling me that chocolate isn't a good enough breakfast.” Seb grins at me.

“Talking of breakfast.” I pluck out the container of Dante’s blood and thrust it at him, recognizing how fucking weird this is as I do it. “Although it’s more like dinner time.”

Seb’s face brightens as he takes it from me. “Is this...”

“Fresh vamp blood. I’m fairly sure the guy I got it from is pretty powerful too, so I’m hoping it’ll work for a while for you.”

Thankfully, he shoots off out of the room to deal with Dante’s blood before quickly returning with the empty container, which he places down beside him.

“Thanks, Silver.”

We sit in silence for a couple of minutes before it starts to get a little awkward.

“Want me to go get my soldering iron and glue gun and we can see what sort of a mess we can make?” I offer.

“Eh, I think I’m okay,” he says, already pulling out a handheld gaming device, which he then focuses all his attention on.

Huh, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he doesn’t seem remotely interested in crafting with me right now. Although, I’m going to need to do something with my hands or I’ll drive myself crazy waiting for Fabian to wake up.

*

I’M NOT ENTIRELY SUREhow it happens, but an hour later, I’m neck deep in Seb’s game and he’s gluing feathers to the ugliest creation I’ve ever seen. He has glue trailing everywhere, as well as bits of material and random coins he dug out from somewhere. That’s the sight Fabian wakes up to after his extended nap.

“What...” Fabian croaks, making us both startle, like we’re doing something wrong. He coughs and pushes himself until he’s peering at us both. “What did I miss?”

“You’re awake!” I’m stating the obvious, but I can’t hide how pleased I am about this development. “How are you feeling?”

He grimaces slightly. “Not too bad, considering.”

I chuckle softly. “Big night, last night.”

Letting out a little groan, he adjusts his position. “Last time I felt this rough, my night had been a lot more fun.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He grins, looking suddenly younger and more carefree than I can remember seeing him.

“Yeah—” His eyes dart to Sebastian and he gives me a rueful shrug. “Story for another time, maybe.”

“Are you talking about the time you and Ro got drunk, and he tricked you into serenading that woman until you realized too late it was actually a tree you were singing to and there were a lot of people filming?” Seb gives a devilish smirk. “Or when you and the guys swapped everyone’s furniture in the building, so when they woke up, they thought they were in the wrong apartment?”

“I didn’t realize you knew about any of that.” Fabian’s ears are a little red and if I didn’t know better, I’d hazard he’sembarrassedby his little brother outing his drunken antics.

“There was also that time you took me with you and Roscoe messed with all the street signs around here.” Seb glances at me and grins. “He renamed them all, so they were super dirty.”

“Shit, kid. Spilling all my secrets.”

Seb looks at me and grins widely before turning a wide-eyed, semi-innocent look on his brother. “You also got really, really drunk and bought that stuff you thought was a potion that would make you really alluring to the ladies and it turned out to be mugweed.”

“Spent the whole night puking.” Fabian grimaces and then shoots me a sheepish look. “We were young and dumb back then.”

Seb just shrugs. “Silver’s cool. I’m sure she won’t judge you too much for being a creep that couldn’t get laid without some help.”

I snort a laugh. This kid, he’s got a dry sense of humor to rival his brother’s and a pretty dirty mouth when you talk to him alone. He seems to slip into this whole wide-eyed innocent act when Fabian’s around, and I’m pretty sure his big brother doesn’t realize that he’s fucking with him.

---