Title: Lost and Found 4/6Author: dolphin
Email: morpheus_kannon@y... or send comments over the ML and I'll forward them to him.
Summary: A pinch of werewolf romance and a dash of confusion. Pre-slash, pre-mpreg.
four: old ties and new
The explanations had been long, hard, and very complicated, so both Onyx and Jade were more relieved than they cared to admit when Sineult fell asleep at last, curled in a warm bundle in Onyx's lap. They had discussed nearly everything, from the mechanics of Kindred society to the manner in which Sineult had grown up to the Changing of mating season. Sineult had not seemed too upset by the fact that he was now a girl; neither had Jade or Onyx been very surprised to learn that this mating cycle was only Sineult's first. What was surprising was how different he was from all the other younglings Jade had met, and how similar he was to all the cubs. He acted far too young to be a someone's mate: the way he looked, the way he moved, and especially his easy, light, and constant chatter.
Jade relaxed with a sigh of exhaustion, eyeing his brother.
"If that's your mate, I don't envy you as much as I thought I did," he said in a laughing half-whisper. "He could talk you to death!"
"I know," Onyx murmured back regretfully. "I guess I'll just have to hang in and hope that all this energy will die down a little as he gets older. He can't do this all day every day, can he? There are only just so many things you can ask questions about."
"Ha! That just goes to show how few times you came cub-sitting with me. You know not one thing about a cub, or a youngling either for that matter. They can find questions in anything." He grinned wickedly at his brother, who had visibly wilted. "This is only the beginning, my friend."
Onyx groaned.
"Hey, I explained 'the birds and the bees' to him," Jade said with a shrug. "The rest is easy, if your tongue doesn't drop off in a week from too many answers to inane questions."
"Thanks, I think," Onyx said wearily, laying his head against the back of the couch and twisting his neck to look at the tangled crop of gold hair on the top of his new mate's head. The lights were shining off of it, making the darker blond highlighting come out, and suddenly he remembered why all of this was worth it. He had a mate of his own now. There might be too many questions, but there would be answers to most of them, and for those that had none, they would find some. He and Sineult together. As for the surplus of energy...Well, he could always get a leash. He smiled tiredly at the thought of trying to hold onto a leash with an excited Sineult at the other end. Like that would ever work.
"Coffee's done," he said dully after a moment of nothing except hushed breathing, his ears no longer catching the faint and somehow comforting sound of the coffeemaker. Then, as an afterthought, "Can I have a cup?"
"I thought you hated coffee," his brother yawned.
"I need some caffeine."
"Sure..."
Both twins drifted off into momentary stupor, thoughts of coffee going on hold until they could get their brains online again. Onyx was the first to force himself back into reality with the groggy reminder, "You've got to get it."
This was greeted with a moan. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, if you want a cup too. I can't go anywhere, I have Sineult."
Jade struggled upright with a grunt. "Oh, alright. Do you want sugar?"
Onyx shook his head slowly, then shifted his position and pillowed it on Sineult's. "No thanks. Just plain coffee."
"'Kay." Jade set off for the kitchen.
He returned a few moments later to the light snoring of his brother, who had fallen asleep hunched forward over his new mate, and was in danger of having to find a replacement. Jade set the two cups of hot coffee in his hands down on the small coffeetable between his couch and the chair facing it and went to remedy the situation, remembering wryly the many times he had been forced to lever himself out of the same position. As he recalled, Onyx was fairly heavy, and a very heavy sleeper too. Surprising for someone who was supposed to be the great protector of the household. Jade pulled the two over into a half-laying position, which at least took some of the pressure of Sineult, drank half his cup of coffee-for strengthening purposes- and set off to find the telephone. Onyx was too caught up in his new mate just now to remember a certain detail of this arrangement, but Jade could not afford to forget. Not now, not after what he had just seen the night before.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
He located the phone in the bedroom and sat down on the bed to dial it. The number didn't come to mind easily; it had been months since he had used it last. But eventually he figured out the sequence and got through.
"Spruce?"
"Jade!" The Kindred on the other end had no trouble recognizing him, it seemed. "I've been wondering when you would call again." The unspoken, or rather replaced word hung in the air, quivering almost audibly. 'If you would call again.' If, not when.
Jade skipped greetings, although he felt terrible for doing it. There were more important matters at hand than old pains. "Thank gods you're there. Do you have a minute?"
"Sure. What is it?" Spruce's reply sounded startled, even slightly hurt, but he was still perfectly willing to help. Jade felt even worse. He plunged in to his purpose without prelude, before he could lose his nerve, and ended up scaring both ends of the line badly.
"I-Look, will you marry me?"
For a moment afterwards, Jade could hardly believe that he had just said that. He flopped backwards to lie flat, his heart pounding. It sounded like something Onyx would have said. How could he have spit it out so callously? So fast!? Gods, he felt like a stupid youngling...It took a minute for him to remember that Sineult was a 'stupid youngling', and he really should not have though that with him in the apartment. This produced an unstable and somewhat breathless tittering, which resulted in immediate concern from the other end of the line.
"Jade?"
Jade swallowed hard and tried to collect the remains of his shattered composure. "Yes?"
"Are you alright? I mean, do you want me to come over? I'm not doing anything, I can be there in about ten minutes if you'd like me to."
"Uh-no. No, Onyx is here already. I mean not taking care of me or anything, nothing's wrong, just-visiting. He's-sleeping now." The lack of control was beginning to get to him. He felt suddenly and irrationally annoyed with Spruce. "Could you just answer my question already?"
"I..." The voice on the other end trailed off thoughtfully. "I don't know, really. It's so sudden, so-unlike you. Something's wrong, Jade, now what is it? Before I come over to find out for myself, please." Jade could hear him going into 'shrink mode'. He took a deep breath, letting Spruce's no-nonsense tone blanket and calm him. "Start at the beginning."
Jade paused, trying to sort it all out in his own brain before attempting to put it into words. "From the beginning is too long a story," he explained, feeling awkward. "But all of that only came down to one thing."
"Alright. What is that, then?"
"Onyx...Onyx found a mate." He had to stop for a moment and take another deep breath. "That's the first time I've actually said that out loud."
There was a sympathetic noise from Spruce. "When was it?"
"The day before yesterday. He hasn't exactly asked his intended yet, not formally; but he will be getting married."
"I see. And when did you find out?"
"Just this morning. He's asleep in the living room right now, with Onyx." He couldn't help a smile. "His name is Sineult. He's a halfbreed, and he's only just had his first season. No cubs for a while. He hardly looks older than a cub himself."
"And you like him?"
"Yes, of course I like him! It's not his faul-" He stopped short, confused. 'Not his fault'? Where had that come from? "I mean..."
"You mean it isn't his fault that your brother went and fell in love and is leaving you." The voice on the other end sounded vaguely amused. "Didn't know you felt that way, did you?"
Jade could not find an answer to this.
"Okay," Spruce went on. "Now tell me the whole story. From the beginning, your point of view. I have time."
So Jade started, explaining everything he knew from the time he had first scented that strange smell in the alley between home and prey.
"I was alright with it, really I was," he finished. "And then, I saw him asleep, in the other room with Sineult, and I just-he was doing the same thing with Sineult that he used to do with me, you remember that crushing thing? And I just realized, I guess, that he wouldn't be protecting me anymore. At least not only me." Jade played uncomfortably with the telephone cord. "It's always been just Onyx and I, Spruce. Ever since Father and Da died he's taken care of me, and me alone. I've never really..." He exhaled sharply, his fingers balling around the cord in frustration. "I guess I just always thought he would stay single. No, it's not that either, it's more...I never really thought that he wouldn't stay single." He laughed mirthlessly. "Does that make sense?"
"Yes. Perfect sense. You liked your relationship with Onyx just the way that it was-you were content. So you never stopped to consider that it might one day change."
"That's it. Because there was no reason to! We were both rather...lacking in the love department, shall we say." Jade made a face at his window. "All we had was each other. I don't really have any friends other than you. Not even many acquaintances. And Onyx has lots of acquaintances, but I know he doesn't think of any of them as true friends. We were it."
"And now he's in love."
Jade winced, waiting for the next part. Don't say it, don't say it...
"And you're not."
He grimaced and started practicing his death-scowl on the hapless pigeon outside the window. The pigeon decided that there was probably better foraging someplace else anyway and flew off before the scowl could get physical. Jade gave up on venting his feelings and began trying to patch up the ruins of his marriage plans.
"But that's what I've been trying to tell you. I was watching them, and I realized that you and I could have that, Spruce."
"And that's why you dumped me last year, right? Because you're in love with me."
"That was-I was confused, okay? And besides, you knew me when I was still wetting my diapers, excuse me if it's a little hard to think of you in lover context. But I'm done being confused now, I've thought it over and I really think that if we tried we could do what Onyx and Sineult are doing, we two could make it like you said we could, if you'd just listen to me-"
"Jade," Spruce said matter-of-factly. "You're babbling. And you're not in love with me."
"But-"
"No, bear with me here. You may love me. Maybe even that way. But you're not 'in love' with me, you're trying to protect yourself in the only way you know from ending up dying of the Lonely Sickness somewhere on the street. And if you stop and think about it rationally, that isn't going to happen whether you and I become mates or not. You've read all the books, Jade. The anchoring brother in a twin or triplet situation can get married and still take care of his cub-bearing siblings at the same time. Other Kindred do it very day." He paused a moment to let that sink in. "Males can cope with more than one responsibility at a time, I swear. We may not seem like it at at times, I admit, but Onyx wouldn't ever let you die for want of attention. You don't have to marry me."
Jade's eyelids slid shut. Gods, why did Spruce have to be so sensible? Now he felt like a fool, and a childish one at that. He breathed into the phone for a few moments, all his words evaporated and useless. Of course Onyx wouldn't have let him die, he had known that. Why had he called Spruce in the first place?
"Does this mean you don't want me back?"
Jade felt all the air go out of him. Why had he spit that out now of all times? And curse it all, why did his voice have to come out so plaintive all of a sudden? He tried to mend his newest mistake before Spruce could give him the 'yes' that he suddenly found himself dreading. "I-I didn't mean to say that, I'm sor-"
"No, it doesn't," Spruce interrupted quietly. "The gods know, Jade, I would do anything to get you back if I knew you wanted me to. But then, that's always been our question, hasn't it?"
The air in Jade's bedroom felt cold all of a sudden. "I-I guess."
There was a creaking sound, as of someone settling more comfortably on an old couch, on the other end of the line, followed by a sigh. "Jade?"
"Yes." His voice was little more than a whisper now.
"Romance has had its way with us, and I don't think it will come back."
Jade's heart went through the floor. He made some small sound in his throat.
"But just maybe," Spruce went on, "love hasn't." He paused once more, waiting for a response. A strangled croak of "What?" was the best Jade could manage at that moment, but Spruce didn't seem to care. He continued doggedly.
"Jade, if I ask you a question, do you think you can answer it clearly now?"
"I think so," Jade told him dazedly. "What is it?"
"Do you want me to?"
"Do I want you to..." Merciful heaven, he was going to cry. He hadn't cried since he was thirteen! "I don't know!"
"If I said I didn't love you any-"
"No, don't!"
Hells, don't sound so plaintive!! He growled and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Spruce Corslin Danon, if you say, after all of that, that you don't love me I swear I'll kill this telephone so fast-"
Laughter from the other end startled and halted him. "What!? Why are you laughing at me?"
Spruce choked back the laughter. "Do you think that answers my question?"
Jade stopped short. "Oh...You mean, you do-"
"Jade. Answer me. Do you want me to try and get you back?"
He thought about it for a minute. "I think..."
"Don't think, Jade. Yes or no."
He told himself afterwards that he really couldn't help grinning like a fool as he said it. And maybe it was true.
"Yes. I do."
five: courtship and marriage
The first thing he notices as he wakes up is the hair in his face. Surely this can't be his? Isn't his hair sort of yellowy? But this stuff is long, and orange...
'Orange' triggers something in his head, so he wriggles over onto his side, to look and make sure he isn't remembering dreams. And there he is, the orange-haired man. Well, one of them. He sniffs quietly, to make sure he has the right one. Yes, this one is his, the one who said his name was Onyx. He's glad he has such a good nose, or he wouldn't ever be able to tell which of the two is his and which isn't, and that could be trouble if what the other one-Jade?-told him is true, and Onyx wants to keep him.
He can't help a joyful little squirm at the thought of staying with his Onyx. It's funny, but he isn't afraid that Onyx might get rid of him like all the others did. When he's close to Onyx, he feels just exactly the way he always did with his mum. Safe; loved. No, Onyx would never give him away, ever. He knew even before Jade told him, but now he's sure of it.
He faces his Onyx and curls into a ball, waiting for him to wake up.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
When Jade finally got back to the living room Sineult was already awake, cuddled up with Onyx on the overly small couch, crooning to himself under his breath as he plaited and unplaited small braids in the mussed fringe of orange hair. He looked up briefly as Jade came in, gave him a quick smile, and returned to his braiding.
Jade watched him for a moment, his eyes following the quick, nimble movements of the little fingers through one loop after another. "Who taught you to braid so well?" he whispered admiringly.
Sineult looked up and grinned again. "M'mum did," he whispered back, pausing his braiding. "S'metimes, sh' let me do h'rs, an' put pretty ribb'ns on th' ends."
Jade grinned back and sat quietly on the chair. "Really?"
Sineult nodded, returning to his plaiting. "Uh-huh. She had a lot an' a lot o' ribb'ns. Pretty col'rs."
"Hm," Jade agreed, leaning back. "What colour do you like best?"
"Blue," Sineult replied absently, beginning to twist three tiny, slender braids together into a single big one. "M'mum h'd blue ey's. I lik'd 'em. Bu' sh' said mine w're nicer."
"They are," Onyx said suddenly in a blurry voice. Sineult jumped and let go of his hair. Onyx cracked open an eye and peered out at the braid dangling over it.
"Very nice," he said sleepily, hugging the youngling closer and yawning. "How long have I been out?"
Jade smiled as Sineult timidly reached out to take up his braiding again. "A little more than an hour. I'm glad you woke up. Spruce is coming over. He'll be here in about fifteen minutes."
"Spruce?" Onyx's eyes went mischievous instantly. "Should we go, then?" he asked, dragging his hand out from under Sineult long enough to gesture to both of them, his mouth curving up into a smirk. Sineult looked confused.
Jade shot a reproving glare at his brother. "Onyx. He's coming for a visit. And you don't have to go unless you want to; I'm sure that he'd like to meet Sineult." He turned his eyes on the youngling, who was still watching with a confused expression on his face. "That is, if you would like to meet him?"
Sineult cast a questioning glance at Jade, then at his new mate. "Can I?"
Onyx laughed. "Of course you can! You choose. Would you rather stay and meet Spruce, or go home with me now?"
"'R you goin'?" Sineult asked uncertainly, his eyes betraying slight fear.
"No," Onyx reassured him. "If you want to stay, I'll stay with you, and then we'll go home later. Whatever you want. I'm not leaving without you." He waited patiently for the answer.
It took a moment, but finally Sineult nodded slightly. "Stay." He paused, his forehead crinkling. "Who's it?"
"What, Spruce?" Jade asked, leaning forward over the table. "He's another Kindred. A friend of Onyx's and mine."
"But especially Jade's," Onyx said quickly, grinning again. "I see you must be speaking with him again. What next?"
Jade glared at his twin. "Hush up. I'm allowed if you are."
The grin widened. "Ah, so it's like that, is it? Do I perhaps hear wedding bells?"
"Now you're just being silly," Jade retorted, retrieving his now cold half-cup of coffee from the coffeetable. "You know perfectly well that we Kindred have no such thing as weddings, much less ones with bells. That is entirely human, and I would do no such thing as go against our tradition. Question-and-answer is good enough for me." He sniffed in what was meant to be a condescending manner before taking a long gulp of coffee and entirely ruining the effect. Onyx snorted and Sineult couldn't resist a giggle before asking in a curious tone, "Wha's question an' ans'r, Ja'e?"
"That's how two Kindred get married," Jade told him matter-of-factly. "After they've been courting for a while, and the male is good and sure that he wants the cub-bearer he's been chasing to be his mate, he asks the cub-bearer if he wants the same. If the cub-bearer says yes then that's that, they're married." He shrugged. "If not, they aren't. Either way it's a lot easier than using up lots of money on flowers, cake, and dresses." He paused for a minute, flushing slightly as he recalled his abrupt and backwards attempt to woo Spruce. "Though sometimes, the cub-bearer asks first instead. But not often. Most would rather wait and see if the male wants them enough to ask them himself," he said musingly, taking another swallow from his cup. "Oh, which reminds me..." Jade smiled sweetly. "Don't you have a few questions to ask, brother mine?"
Onyx wrinkled his nose, ignoring the bewildered gaze the youngling in his arms was giving him. "Just as soon as I figure out how," he muttered, then quickly changed the subject. "How long has it been since you last saw Spruce? A year?"
"One and a third. But I've met him in stores, since then." Jade groaned suddenly and laid his head in his hands. "I have no clue what we're going to talk about. I'd appreciate it if you'd keep the conversation going for a while after he gets here. Let me find something to say to him?" He lifted his head just enough to look beseechingly at his brother.
Onyx nodded seriously. "I take it you're not too sure about this?"
"No...I guess not. We are going to try..." He sighed and sat up straight. "But I'm really not sure if we'll get anywhere at all. We didn't exactly separate on the best of terms last time. Not that we hated each other or anything, but there are still a lot of...things, to discuss and to work out between us. I'd rather we started on a light note, which I think Sineult can pull off if no one else can. We can work up to the serious stuff later." He turned his eyes on Sineult, who had been sitting on Onyx's lap, listening intently. "You can do that for me, right?"
Sineult nodded, then asked solemnly, "Is he y'r..." He struggled for a moment to find the word they had used. "Y'r mate?"
Jade smiled without humour. "No."
"Oh. So, he's y'r boyfr'nd, then?" Sineult grinned, back in his own element. Boyfriends he knew.
Jade bit his lip thoughtfully and slowly replied, "Yes, I suppose you could call it that." He went silent for a minute, then glanced over at Onyx. "Are you taking Sineult home with you for dinner? Or are you staying?"
Onyx landed a kiss on the top of Sineult's head. "Hey, you. You want to go home with me when suppertime comes?"
"Y'll c'me too?"
"Of course I will." Onyx dragged himself into a sitting position, settled his new mate firmly on his lap, facing Jade, and wrapped his arms possessively around him. This seemed to satisfy Sineult. He relaxed, looking Jade over consideringly.
"Mm-hm," he finally conceded. "So y'can talk wi' Spuce."
Jade bit back a laugh. "Um, Spuce?"
Now the youngling was confused. "D'd I say it?" he asked anxiously. Onyx buried his nose in Sineult's hair to hide his own smile at the way in which Sineult's childish accent blotted the 'r' entirely out.
"Yes, that's what you said. It's alright, just try it again," Jade reassured, still biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. The little one wrinkled his nose and began to enunciate the name very slowly.
"Sp-r-uce. Is 'at right?"
"That's right," Onyx soothed him, getting a grip on his smile. "Which reminds me, will Spruce be staying for dinner, do you think?" His tone and the highly suggestive eyebrow waggling left no doubt as to the fact that he was actually speaking of what would happen after dinner: specifically, Jade's third night of mating season and, if he remembered their timing right, Spruce's second. The timing of mating seasons depended on a Kindred's hormone levels, and these hormones reacted to those of whoever the Kindred was courting. The longer that a cub-bearer and a male Kindred stayed together, the more melded their hormones became, and the more melded the hormones were, the closer together their mating seasons got. This, many Kindred scholars and scientists presumed, was the primary reason why many childhood friendships between a male and a cub-bearer, as with Spruce and Jade, blossomed into marriage-because with the emotional part of love taken care of, the hormonal balances created by them being around each other so much finished all the rest of the necessary compatibility off. Spruce and Jade had started life with their mating seasons nearly three months apart, but then as years passed and they were most often together, at first playing together, then as they grew older, discussing their mutual interests (philosophy and psychiatry), and finally together as lovers off and on, their hormones had evened out and 'gotten used to each other'. Now their mating seasons began at almost the same time, and had for the past six years. It would have taken years of staying entirely away from each other for their seasons to return to what they had been at birth.
"I don't know if he'll stay," Jade told his twin truthfully. "Depends on whether he wants to or not. What time is it?"
Onyx leaned over Sineult to look at the clock on the wall. "Um...nearly five forty-five."
"So he'll be here in a bit. I put your clothes in the washer," he went on, directing the words at Sineult, "and they came out of the dryer while you were sleeping, so you can get dressed if you want."
Onyx really rather enjoyed the cute, sleep-rumpled quality that Sineult had in only an overlarge shirt, but he could see the wisdom in getting dressed for company. He nodded reluctantly. "You do need to put some real clothes on for a visit, little-"
Sineult shot him a withering look. Jade had to smother laughter at the obvious wince this produced in Onyx.
"Not lithl," Sineult said balefully.
"Sorry. Sineult," Onyx amended ruefully, adding, "But you will feel better if you get dressed before Spruce comes over, won't you?"
Sineult considered this briefly, then nodded. "Mm-hm."
"Your clothes are on top of my bed now," Jade told the youngling, setting his cup down. "Run in there and get them on. He'll be here in a minute or so.
Sineult nodded cheerfully and slipped off of Onyx's lap to go find his clothing, his bare feet moving almost silently across the carpet to the bedroom. Jade waited until he had gone, then sighed wearily and slumped in the chair.
"What am I doing?" he moaned to himself, closing his eyes. "I don't know what to say to him; I don't even know where to start. How exactly are we going to get back together this way?" He opened despairing blue eyes to look at his brother. "I'm being stupid, aren't I? I'm not ever going to get over this..." He cast about for a word. "This fear of commitment that I seem to have. Am I?"
Onyx shook his head, his eyes mellowing into a look Jade knew well-one that meant that the advice Onyx was about to give was not a joke, and neither was it to be trifled with or disregarded. "You may not. But there is still a chance, and if you don't take it now, there may not be another one like it. Make up your mind and stick to it no matter what, Jade. This is no time to be fighting with yourself."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
He hums to himself as he pulls his detergent-smelling shirt over his head, the sweet little lullaby that his mother used to put him to sleep with. He doesn't know the words because she never used them, but the tune is just right for his mood. He has a home again, and Jade to talk to, and his Onyx to keep him safe: nothing can be wrong now. The pain and the panic of last night feels like something he dreamed, even though he knows it was all real. All the things Jade and Onyx told him, about what he is, about what happened to him that first night with Onyx that made him mutate-or change as Jade says-are strange to him, and yet they all fit somehow, sort of like he knew they were true before anyone ever told him what they were, though he's not sure how that could be possible...But then, is any of this really possible? He was so lonely before, and now-now he has Onyx!
He smiles to himself, smoothing down the front of his shirt just to feel the clean, well-worn cloth against his palms. Onyx and Jade think he doesn't know what Onyx wants from him. But he isn't blind or stupid. He put all the things they said, Kindreds in love, and mates, and cubs, together. Onyx wants to make a cub with him, to do all those things that they said make a cub. Because Onyx loves him. He shivers. His mum used to say she loved him, but now he wonders if she meant quite the same thing that Onyx does. Maybe there's more than one way to love somebody? Her kind of love made him feel bouncy and happy and want to hug her, but Onyx's way makes him feel...He shivers again, feeling suddenly shy. He sits on the bed and thinks about it. When Onyx looks at him, he feels like he's just drunk a cup of hot cocoa...he can feel it slide down from his chest, all the way to his toes. He wants to do something when he feels that way, when Onyx looks at him that way, but he doesn't know what! It's like a mixture of wanting to hug Onyx, and wanting to touch his face, and wanting to snuggle up with him and just lay there, safe and happy and-loved.
He sighs in frustration and gets up to go back to Jade and his Onyx. As soon as he and Onyx are alone, he can make Onyx show him what that is, that nice, hot feeling inside. After all, it's Onyx's fault, isn't it?
When they get home...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Spruce was as usual right on time. Jade sighed and got up to answer the bell, ignoring the thumbs up Onyx gave him as he went by. He felt like a complete and utter idiot after what he had done earlier. In all their time together, he had never once fallen apart like that in front of Spruce, never lost his head, and why does there always have to be a first time? he grumbled to himself as he reached out to turn the knob. At least the doorway wasn't visible from the living room, he thought, grasping at straws to make the situation brighter. If he did make a fool of himself yet again, neither his twin or his twin's new mate would be privy to it.
The thought was not much comfort.
The apartment door opened on the very same Spruce Jade had seen the last time they met. His hair was, as always, cut too short and not short enough, so that it stuck up in little, unruly, and unintentional black spikes all over his head. Spruce did not hold with what he called 'modern haircuts', which basically meant anything more than trimming it, so a plain trim was what he always had; unfortunately, Spruce's hair was flyaway, and the lack of length to hold it down created this rumpled look. His grey eyes held a quiet happiness which Jade assumed was the result of their meeting and his quirked half-smile fit so easily, so familiarly, on his face that Jade found himself feeling as if they had never been apart. His wariness eased, and he smiled back at his friend.
"You want to come in?"
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Spruce said seriously, putting out a hand and taking hold of Jade's fingers. "You okay?"
Jade's fingers curled unconsciously around Spruce's, seeking comfort. He nodded uncomfortably. "I wanted to...to say thank you. For being so good to me, and for talking me through...before." He grinned nervously. "I wasn't thinking properly then, but I'm alright now that I've talked it out."
Spruce nodded sympathetically. Jade blew out a deep breath and gestured in the direction of the living room. "So, you want to meet the new family member, then?"
Onyx was sitting on the couch with Sineult in his lap when they rounded the corner, waiting expectantly. Jade realized with a quick blush that he had never found out whether sound carried from the door into the living room, but all he could do now was to send up a quick prayer that it didn't while introducing his friend to Sineult.
"Spruce, this is Sineult. Sineult Brady. Sineult, this is Spruce."
Sineult nodded solemnly, turning soft green eyes on the new Kindred. "'S nice name," he said frankly, leaning forward and laying his chin on his hands. "D'you like it?"