Forums » General Roleplay » The Ties That Bind {With Sylvermyste}

Leo slid his glasses off for a moment to rub his eyes,after a few moments he slid his glasses back on.His pale eyes flicked to the twins,who seemed more than happy to have food,Leo looked away."Exactly."Leo agreed,their mother crossed her arms again as she walked over to the table,"Right,like I'm suppose to believe that for one little second."She replied.Lily did seem very amused by all of this,and still extremely happy of how things ended up.She was also happy that he seemed to be handling Gil and Xerxes very well.

Leo seemed slightly tense as he looked around,it wasn't because of the people if anything he was a lot like Gil in that since but for different reasons.Moving to a new place always unnerved Leo due to what could sometimes being lurking around.His attention snapped to his older brother,"Hmm,excuse what?"He asked,clear sign that he hadn't been giving him his full attention,but soon realization seemed to hit him.He shrugged,"I'm use to them sleeping with me,especially Gil on a stormy night."Leo told him,looking over at the twins.

Lily frowned,at least it seemed like D'kota wasn't like Leo in that since.She noticed he had yet to move his pale hands from his lap,he didn't even seem really interested in the tacos.

Glad to see the twins had no problem with his cooking, he glanced toward his brother, keenly aware Leo hadn’t touched the food. That worried him, D’Kota not sure if Leo wasn’t hungry, if he was just a picky eater, or if the food didn’t smell appetizing to him. The fact he couldn’t read, thus learned to cook by watching others helped nothing. He liked his own food, yes, but that didn’t mean anything he fixed was edible in anyone else’s opinion. He looked back at the twins, noting they happily munched down, but then they just might be the type to eat anything put in front of them.

D’Kota finally sighed and turned back to Leo. “You need to eat. I don’t think it’s that bad,” he stated, noting the way Leo looked around, seeing the tension coiling through his little brother. “And you’re safe here, so…eat…”

Gilbert stopped eating,his golden eyes went to his twin.It took Xerxes a moment to catch on to what was happening.Well,he caught on after Gil tugged on his sleeves and hit his arm.Xerxes at first did not seem pleased,and then paled.Leo shut his eyes,he knew his mother clearly wasn't happy with what he wasn't doing.But what did she want him to do,force hismelf to eat?Slowly,his pale eyes opened when he felt D'Kota's gaze land on him.
"Yes,I know that perfectly fine, no doubt that there's nothing wrong with your cooking at all,but you'll pick on something very quickly dear brother,"Leo said,looking at him,leaning forward in his chair as if he was going to tell him a secret"..I simply don't have the appetite,in fact it's very rare that I do."He said,and then sat back.

He met his brother’s gaze for a long moment, aware of that arrogance shining through, ignoring that trait of Leo’s. To what Leo said, D’Kota nodded faintly and lowered his eyes, hiding the dark shadows suddenly swirling through the fathomless depths. Have the appetite? D’Kota rarely had the luxury of not being hungry when he was little, but he wasn’t about to point that out, not to Leo, not to anyone. Another shameful point in his past, for so long D’Kota snagging any food offered to him, scrambling into the corner, and shuffling every bite past his lips that he could without any thought for manners or much of anything else. Today, while he honestly tried not to let his past haunt him, he took great pleasure in food, in being able to eat whenever he wanted, whatever he wanted. However, those were his issues, not Leo’s, and he wouldn’t force his problems on the little brother he wanted nothing more than to shelter, to protect. So, D’Kota went back to his own food without another word.


Solan huffed and rolled to his belly, a second later rising to all for paws with feline grace. Looking at Lily, seeing her concern and displeasure, he moved to Leo’s side, a low, rumbling growl rising up from deep within him. D’Kota might not push, but he would, especially in cases where either brother’s habit served as a detriment to his health. Not eating…undeniably hurt Leo, the boy already so thin a strong breeze might snap him in two. The problem with that was the enemies Leo unwittingly gained, those determined to conquer, break, reshape this sweet young man. Stepping a bit closer, his lips curling up to reveal rather large, razor sharp fangs, Solan growled again, letting his opinion on the matter be known.

The one time Leo dared to look at his mother she actual lead him to believe she was also fine with this.She was smiling at him,and then Lily looked at her younger child.Yes she was smiling,but not the good kind a smile a child would find comfort from.In a split second Leo was looking down at his palms again,acting as if this was the most interesting thing in the world.There was a moment of silence when his mother place a small hand on the table,and then she began tapping her finger nails against the table.This meant one thing;Lily's temper was slowly rising.And if Leo and D'Kota had a bad temper then no one would want to be around to see hers snap.

Leo flinched ever time a finger nail would click against the surface.Maybe mother wasn't so keen on the fact that he hardly ate,not was Solan.The second he heard that growl the color slowly drained from his face and he tensed."Well,are you going to eat?"Lily asked him very softly.Despite the fact that his stomach flipped many times at this point,Leo slowly nodded.

Mentally wincing, honestly feeling for Leo, D’Kota glanced up at the scene unfolding around his little brother. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to protect Leo, he didn’t dare interfere in that. Helpless as he was, he looked over at the twins, noting Xerxes kept his head down and continued to eat…although at a slower pace, but poor Gilbert was curling in on himself, the older twin visibly terrified. That bad thing…the only person Gilbert could turn to was the focus of the tension, leaving the poor boy out in the cold. Knowing of nothing else to do, D’Kota rose up, gathered Gilbert in his arms, took his plate, and sat back at the head of the table, Gilbert on his lap.

“The best thing to do is to just eat and ignore them,” he whispered softly in Gilbert’s ear, keeping a reassuring arm around the tiny child.


Solan did not move until satisfied Leo would do as told by his mother. Not that he’d harm a hair on Leo’s head, but the young man had no way of knowing that, and Solan had no intention of enlightening him. Sinking down nearby, he stretched out again, attempting to return to the pleasurable catnap interrupted by Leo’s stubbornness and arrogance. Of course, with Lady Lily revealing D’Kota and Leo inherited their nasty tempers honestly, he seriously doubted Leo would push his luck. As for D’Kota, the young man just wasn’t foolish enough to interfere, instead focusing his energy on calming down little Gilbert. With any luck, he could get back to do what cats did best.

Xerxes glanced at D'Kota when he stood up,what was he doing?The younger boy looked own,trying to figure out what Leo's brother was up to now.Gil didn't notice the young man standing up,he was to busy more or less hiding.The older twin let out a tiny yelp when D'Kota picked him up.He was was not expecting to be picked up, or set down in his lap.The boy looked up at him,his golden eyes swirling with a clear uncertainty and fear.He looked down,and nodded which was sign that he would listen D'Kota.And he did,even if he trembled slightly as his ate he tried to ignore them.


Lily didn't hesitate to set a taco on Leo's plate.However before he moved his mother knelt down beside his chair and wrapped a small hand around his upper arm,"This,"She paused when Leo looked at his mother with slightly narrowed eyes."This is a bad sign Leonardo Knightway,this means you're under weight to the extreme.Now,eat."Lily said,letting go of his arm and taking a step back.She smiled a bit when he did start eating,but then she huffed.These boys had beautiful eyes and they insisted on hiding them with their hair!

"D'Kota."Lily said,walking over to him.She stood beside him and brushed his bangs out of his face.She would have done this too Leo first but figured that was something for another time."Oh my."She said,seeing his other eye.

He returned to eating his own food, aware of how Gilbert trembled, of the fear wracking the boy’s tiny frame. However, even D’Kota with his lack of experience knew distracting Gilbert was the best thing to do. In time, the young boy would forget, calm down, and relax…or so he hoped. What he didn’t foresee was Lily walking over and brushing his hair out of his eyes, revealing that not only was his left eye teal, but two distinctly different shades of blue green. The outside was dark while the inside was closer to sea foam green, the difference too vivid to deny. Slowly lifting his mismatched gaze, D’Kota looked deep into his mother’s blue eyes, seeing the shock at the secret his hair so often hid.

“Blame the right eye on the sleeping fur ball, but the left…heterochromia is inherited, mother, at least in my case,” he stated softly, well aware his condition was indeed a genetic trait.

Lily tilted her head slightly,she recalled what Markus her late husband and her teacher told her about them.How ironic that both D'Kota and Leo were both half something and had very different eyes.She pulled something out of her inner sleeve and with a snap she had snapped his hangs back.The woman took a step with a thoughtful expression,but she had a faint smile."What it is amazing,and interesting,very interesting."She commented,walking over to Leo.
The younger brother was done eating and set with his eyes shut,but he knew what she was going to do.Even after he turned his head away from her,Lily's solution was to stand behind him and push his bangs from his face and carefully remove your glasses,"See,you both have such different eyes.It's so cool."She said.

Xerxes had finished as well,and was looking over at D'Kota,"..you make it sound like having heterochromia is bad,D'Kota."The child said.

The second, the bloody second his mother turned her back on him, her attention focused on Leo…D’Kota had the clip out of his hair, his bangs smoothly falling back into place. Then and only then did he look his brother’s way, once again feeling sorry for his younger sibling. “Yes, different, even cool, but I might point out that he can’t eat while you’re doing that,” he murmured softly, promptly shifting his attention to Xerxes. “No, little one, that’s not what I meant. Heterochromia is fine and I don’t mind it. Sometimes, though, it draws just a little too much attention, or at least, more than I want at any given time.”

Lily frowned a bit when she had noticed D'Kota had taken the clip out.She wanted to see both of his eyes,not one of them,to her they were beautiful.Their mother crossed her arms,forgetting she still had Leo's glasses,"Oh come on D'Kota,it's a shame that you hide them.."She said and then she was about to look at Leo and say something but he had a different plan.The younger brother stood up,he was done eating so now he felt like having some alone time would be nice.

"Hmm,maybe."Xerxes said,somewhat agreeing as he un-tilted his head.

Smiling faintly to his mother and Xerxes, D’Kota rose up and began clearing the table, dinner and the conversation done. Not that he intended to cut his mother off, but there really wasn’t anything more to be said. He was who he was, Leo was who he was, and their poor mother would eventually adjust to that simple fact. In the mean time, he had a kitchen to clean up, two young boys, no matter how old they really were, to put to bed, and then see to himself. A little more than he normally did, and yet generally how his nights went. The unexpected factor came in when he finished with the kitchen and went in search of the twins to find them curled up on the living room floor, using Solan’s great tiger form as a silky soft pillow and bed. A hint of a smile ghosting past his gentle features, he headed off to bed.

The next morning found D’Kota standing in the kitchen waiting for the coffee to brew a cigarette held between his index and middle finger. He wore a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, his hair hanging about his face in damp strands, the longer strands flowing freely down his back. He’d just stepped out of the shower a few minutes before he came downstairs, the heated water going a long way to help wake him up despite the fact he never really slept the night before. No, his insomnia kicked in full force, denying him even a few hours of rest. The problem was…he hadn’t slept the night before or the night before that. Ah well, not a whole hell of a lot he could do about that, even prescription medication designed to help him sleep having no affect on him. Blame it on his angelic blood.

The coffee ready, D’Kota stirred himself from his thoughts and fixed himself a steaming cup, turning to retreat to the living room. Solan sat up, yawned, and looked over at him, his spiritual companion carefully shifting out from beneath the twins and taking on a more humanoid form. “Did you sleep at all?” he asked softly, careful not to disturb the boys.

“Is that a rhetorical question” D’Kota countered dryly, opening the window and sinking down in a nearby chair. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. D’Kota, you can’t keep going like this,” Solan pointed out, frustrated by the brothers refusal to admit they had their issues rather than simply ask for help. True, D’Kota made an honest effort to leave his past behind him and deal with his issues, but they both knew his past returned to torment him when he surrendered to slumber’s sweet embrace. Thus the severe insomnia, Solan honestly understanding but he knew just as well the lack of sleep took a serious toll on D’Kota’s body. “You could have called. I would’ve helped.”

“I’ll survive for the day, Solan. You can weave your magic tonight if I’m still having problems,” D’Kota sighed, bowing his head rubbing his eyes. They burned from the lack of sleep, his thoughts sluggish, exhaustion clinging to him, although give him an hour and he’d be just fine. “I didn’t think about it last night, but I don’t really have anything for the boys to eat this morning other than cereal. I think there’s still a package of doughnuts in the cabinet.”

Leo,as always woke up,slightly confused by his surroundings and a bit frightened.After a minute or two his nightmare would fade away,he would then blindly look for his glasses.'..I actually fell asleep' He thought with an involuntary shudder.Leo really would have preferred not falling asleep at all,maybe then he could have avoided that weird,a bit gruesome nightmare.The teenage boy,now that he had put his glass on,looked down at his arm where three thick long scars were very visible could be seen.Another scar from yet another entity.

He stood up,grabbing his sweater and walked out of his bedroom.Where were the twins,he didn't see them when he woke up?Perhaps they were with Solan, or his mother. Speaking of Lily he needed to thank his mother for setting his glasses on the table by his bed. If she hadn't he would be facing the stairs half awake and practically blind. That was always an unnecessary stress he dealt with if he left his glasses somewhere.

Leo yawned,ruffling his bangs a bit as he walked down stairs. So all of that really did happen,all of that felt like a dream. A emotional dream,but a good one. A small smile could be seen on the boys pale face as he trudged down the stairs. Leo who had just woken up was still in his pajamas,which was a pale gray shirt, black pj pants and a white sweater that seemed a bit big for him. He really didn't care,he really liked it. He stopped when he heard D'Kota and Solan,they were already up. Maybe they knew where the twins and mother was at this time.

He followed their voices,silently walking through the house until he saw his older brother. At first,he didn't say anything he just stared forward with a blank expression.

Shuffling feet drawing his attention, D’Kota looked away from the window to watch as the zombie resembling Leo drifted into the room. When his little brother just kind of stopped and stared blankly ahead, he tilted his head and studied the youth. “And they say the age of the walking dead is nothing more than fantasy. If they ever saw him first thing in the morning,” he murmured, pointing back at Leo, “they’d start preparing for the apocalypse so fast the zombies wouldn’t stand a chance.”


Solan just shook his head and smirked, knowing from D’Kota’s quipped remarks the youth wasn’t in the mood to be lectured about his bad habits. “Good morning, Leo. I hope you’re in a better mood than tall, dark, and brooding over here.”


“I’m not brooding,” D’Kota countered, although he didn’t bother denying the dark, and tall was a given. “I just woke up. Give a man a chance to go from sleep mode to halfway human.”


“Being you didn’t sleep,” Solan countered as he moved to see to the sleeping angels sprawled out on the floor, “You don’t get to use that excuse.”

Leo blinked once,twice and then adjusted his glasses.It was like that comment flew over Leo's head and that odd cowlick,he tilted his head a bit.He saw something,a scar on his older brother wrist.However,he didn't say anything,figuring that D'Kota wouldn't want to talk about his possible scar.Leo yawned again,and took his glasses off long enoguh to rub his eyes again,his eyes burned and he knew why.It had nothing that dealt with the lack of sleep,more like what happened when he was two.

He took a few steps into the room,that's where the twins were.He wasn't going to bother them when they were still asleep,that and he did not want to wake Gil.Not unless they wanted to deal with a demon that will bite.Leo's only response was a groan,it was too early for him.The boy listened to the two in a way bicker when he finally spoke,"Sleeping is over rated.."He told Solan. That was the biggest hint that Leo himself didn't get that much sleep either.

Nodding in silent agreement, D’Kota refocused his attention on the scenery outside the window, unwilling to keep the banter going. Neither Leo nor he could really get a rise out of Solan, the guardian toying with them more than anything, at the same time letting them vent any negativity carried over from the night. Besides, the last thing D’Kota wanted was to put his brother in a bad mood with all the playful bickering and early morning sarcasm. No, better they let silence rule until they were all alert enough and ready for yet another day.

Half an hour later, Xerxes was up and about and lively as ever, Gilbert awake, too, although none too happy about that fact. Solan took Gil’s foul mood and Xerxes usually mischief with a grain of salt, setting the twins up at the table, and ensuring at least they ate breakfast. Leo, he didn’t bother with, knowing that was a lost cause when even D’Kota rarely indulged in food that early in the morning. Shortly after that, the twins announced they wanted to go play outside, to get some fresh air and run free. Even D’Kota could see nothing wrong with that, feeling another visit to the park would do them all good. Showing a bit more life than he had all morning, he rose to grab another cup of coffee before he headed upstairs to get ready.

“Leo, go get dressed so we can head out,” he stated in passing, wondering just where their mother was and what she was doing. “Let mother know if he see her.”

Gilbert,even though he had eaten,was still as many would put it a little demon. But,he was quite and kept to himself,even if he was pretty irritated that someone,Solan,dared to wake him up. Not even his twin would really go near Gil like this,but the younger twin did see a slight change in his demeanor when he suggested they got outside. Now that changed him to his normal self,and Solan and D'Kota just added to that.

Leo however,who was sitting in a chair reading a book wasn't to pleased. He had been outside all day yesterday,why would he want to go outside again? His pale eyes didn't leave his book,"Why,when I was outside yesterday."He said,flipping a page.And then he shrugged,he had yet to see their mother this morning.

Sighing softly, D’Kota walked over and took Leo’s book, gazing down at his disagreeable brother. “Because this isn’t for you. The twins want to go outside and play in the park, but you’re the only one they’re really comfortable with other than mother. Before you suggest she watches over them, she didn’t return to us to play babysitter,” he answered, his tone soft, but the undercurrent warning he wasn’t kidding. “So go change and get ready to go. You can sit under a tree and read until your heart’s content, but make no mistake…you are going.”


Solan sat nearby patiently getting the twins ready, brushing out their hair, dressing them, putting their shoes on, and looking over each in turn. Many years had passed since he’d had the pleasure of doing this, of tending young children, honestly missing that part of his life. In time, he’d meet someone, fall in love, settle down, and enjoy a family once again, but until then he had no issue taking care of the younger boys…or the older once. Glancing briefly at D’Kota and Leo, he flashed a grin at the twins, shaking his head in amusement.

“Sometimes I have a hard time telling just who the little ones in this house really are…you two or the two trying to pass themselves off as adult,” he teased softly.

Leo shut his book,he was right about that one. He still had yet to fix things after he forgot about them yesterday,at least the two didn't know that he forget about them twice. Still,he looked outside and sighed.This would be the right thing to do,but to get up and go up the stairs to change sounded like a lot of work for someone who was still sleepy."..yeah,I know."Leo stood up,he seemed to be in a some what agreeable mood today. Slightly lazy, but at least he wouldn't be fighting everything.

As Solan dressed them,brushed their hair and help them with their shoes,Xerxes noticed something. Gil wasn't fussing,even the slightest, and he wasn't a nervous wrack. The younger twin tilted his head,what was up with him,did something upset him? He didn't even seem to notice Solan's comment,at least Xerxes did. "Ah,that's actually kind of funny that you said that."The younger twin said,giggling and then looked at his twin,"..uhh Gil?"He said.Gilbert's pale hand was wrapped around Solan's sleeve, tears streaking his pale face.

Smiling in approval, D’Kota submitted to that urge and ruffled his brother’s hair. “I know. I know. Don’t touch you,” he whispered with a disarming wink, his smile deepening. Before Leo could pop of some sarcastic retort, he turned and headed for the stairs, fully aware Solan was in his element. “Don’t worry, Solan. You’re father enough for all of us.”


Smirking at D’Kota’s comment, Solan turned to find little Gil was indeed crying, those tears tugging at his heart. Pulling the boy into a warm embrace, wrapping a loving arm around Xerxes, too, he gazed down at the adorable twins in his arms. “You miss him, don’t you? Don’t worry, little one. Before you know it, you’ll be back at his side and driving your big brother crazy.”