Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Black Velvet ❯ Siblings and Wolf Thingies ( Chapter 3 )

Three men openly stared at Crawford and the older woman. Each trying in his own way to process the information they had just received.

 

“Schuldig, close your mouth,” Crawford said over one shoulder.

 

Schuldig shut his mouth so hard that his teeth clicked together audibly.

 

Skye turned to Belle again. “Goddess should be here sometime this evening with our other guest. I'd appreciate it if you or one of the others would give her the language so she doesn't feel out of place any more than she has to.”

 

Belle nodded. “It'll get done. Don't fret about it. I swear if you weren't already dead you'd have a heart attack. And stop gettin' your feathers all ruffled up, bebe,” she said, looking at Schuldig. “Just `cause she's your lover doesn't mean you have to defend her from her family.”

 

Crawford cringed at that bit of information being so casually thrown out. Then cringed again as the full implications of it hit him. He had known that Schuldig loved her, he'd been told that by a god. Schuldig's actions had later confirmed it but he had not suspected it had gone to a physical level. Skye would back down and back off as she had said she would. She was nothing less than honorable and anything she said she would do she did. Schuldig was another matter entirely. He loved her and that meant there was no way he was letting go of her easily. If she tried to force it and step away from him now it would make things all the worse for he would cling even tighter to her in that instance because he would be fully aware as to why she was doing it.

 

Star shot Skye a look. “We are going to have a long talk later, sister o' mine.”

 

Any further comment was silenced by the appearance of two women trying to get through the doorway at the same time. One finally managed to squeeze through ahead of the other. They somehow managed to grab Crawford simultaneously. He seemed too stunned to move for a moment.

 

“Braddy!”

 

“Where have you been?”

 

“You've been gone forever, big brother.”

 

Crawford suddenly stepped back and held them both at arm's length.

 

“Cassie? Dee?” he questioned, looking from one to the other of the two women.

 

“Who else would be holding on to you for dear life?” the brunette said before grabbing him again.

 

Schuldig was staring at the man whom he had thought he knew well. He had always presumed that Crawford, like the rest of Schwarz, had no family. Yet here was living proof in the forms of a pretty little brunette and hyperactive redhead that he did have a family.

 

“He brought us presents too, Dee,” the other woman said, surveying Schuldig, Aya and Yohji shrewdly. “And this one likes redheads!” she said pouncing on Yohji from the porch, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Aya snarled at her but she just grinned up at him from her position straddling Yohji. “Oh please, like anybody'd take you seriously in that hat.”

 

Aya snarled again before yanking the offending bonnet off of his head.

 

“Cassandra, that is no way for a properly bred young lady to behave,” Belle said, glaring at her.

 

“When has she ever behaved properly, Grandmere?” a man's voice said from the doorway.

 

Aya's attention automatically snapped to him. It was obvious by the way the two men stared at each other that they were sizing one another up. Both men were distracted by Star pouncing on the man in the doorway.

 

“Ben! Didn't know you'd be here,” Star said, trying earnestly to squeeze the life out of him. “Wait a sec, exactly why are you here?”

 

“I was sent by our Alpha to train a fledgling. I'm presuming it's this one,” he said, nodding to Aya.

 

“Ben, do you think it's a good idea to have two alpha males in the same vicinity?” Skye asked worriedly, glancing from him to Aya.

 

The man turned his head to look at Skye. “I am merely following the Alpha's orders. We can't let one of our numbers go ronin.”

 

Aya stiffened indignantly and glared at the other man. “I would be the last person on this earth to go ronin,” Aya growled.

 

“Perhaps as the last person you wouldn't,” Ben said calmly. “As one of us, it's a little different.”

 

“Oh, Benjamin, stop scaring the poor boy. This has to be weird enough for him as it is,” a woman said from the doorway.

 

“Aurora?” Crawford said, staring at the woman in disbelief. “Dear gods, you look just like Mama.”

 

She waited for him to come to her before stretching up almost on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Good to have you home again. Finally,” she said firmly.

 

“Damn, Oracle, how many sisters do you have?” Yohji asked from the ground.

 

“Oracle? Well, that's certainly appropriate. Two alive, one no idea about,” Cassie said, bouncing off of Yohji and back up on to the porch again, then wrapping one arm around Dee. “Dee's my sister by choice instead of chance.”

 

“They've been best friends since they were two,” Crawford translated. “She's actually Ben's sister.”

 

Schuldig had caught a faint echo of deep pain from Crawford and the others. But it was such a brief flash that he wasn't entirely certain he hadn't just imagined it.

 

You didn't imagine it, filtered into Schuldig's mind.

 

Schuldig smiled as he looked at Cassandra. No wonder he never had problems with red haired telepaths.

 

Yeah, you owe me for working out that little fear for you.

 

Or I owe you for ingraining that particular terror into him.

 

Cassie laughed and Crawford looked from her to Schuldig suspiciously. “There are two of them now.”

 

“Three if you count Star,” Skye said dryly.

 

“The swamps may not survive.”

 

“C'mon, Rory, doc says you have to keep off of your feet,” Ben said, putting an arm around Aurora's waist and leading her to the nearest chair. One of his hands spread protectively over her stomach as he squeezed next to her.

 

“I take it she's an official member of the Wallace family now,” Crawford said, pinning Ben with a hard stare.

 

“Don't worry about it, Brad,” Ben said. “It was all properly done. We would have invited you to the ceremony but no one knew where you were. For good reason.”

 

“You, out of everyone, know exactly the reasons no one knew where I was.”

 

Ben nodded. “Yes, I do.”

 

“Boys, I don't care what went on before,” Aurora said firmly. “The only thing that matters is that you're home. Albeit temporarily, I'm guessing.”

 

“Yes. For a week or so. How did you know I'd be here anyway?” Crawford asked, looking around at his sisters.

 

Dee shrugged. “Rory saw it.”

 

“Rory doesn't see,” Crawford said, looking puzzled.

 

“No,” Cassie said. “But evidently one or both of the babies do.”

 

“Hopefully she isn't having a litter,” Schuldig said dryly. Aya slapped him in the back of the head. “Scheisse! What was that for?”

 

“Being an idiot,” Aya and Crawford answered together.

 

“It just kind of stands to reason that the question would come up, all things considered,” Schuldig said defensively.

 

“How do you manage to think that would be a valid question?” Aya asked.

 

“You're a wolf thingy, right?”

 

Aya looked uncomfortable for a moment. “Yes.”

 

“And so is he, from what I'm picking up off of everyone and considering they seem generally concerned he's going to kick your ass. Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing someone else beat your uptight ass other than Schwarz for once.”

 

“The point, Schuldig,” Crawford said testily. He could easily see Abyssinian strangling his telepath. At that point he might be inclined to help him.

 

“The point,” Schuldig said, rolling his eyes. “Is that wolves have litters. Since he's a wolf thingy like Abyssinian is, it seemed like a reasonable question to me.”

 

Ben laughed. “Well, you certainly can't fault his logic, Brad. When put that way, it is a reasonable question,” Ben said, looking to Schuldig. “Actually, he and I are Volos, which is a particular strain of Clan. We usually only have one or two children at a time for half breeds like myself.”

 

“Yeah, well, I don't think he has to worry about that,” Schuldig said, jerking a thumb toward Aya.

 

“Oh, I don't know,” Ben said, smiling slightly. “I've seen several same sex couples conceive and birth progeny. Though it is more difficult.”

 

Yohji blinked up at Aya from the ground. “Oh, we are so using condoms from now on.”