Warmth and Safety

Chapter 2

Between the unwelcoming anger rolling off the one twin and the sheer confusion rolling off the other one, Daniella understood why Mari was acting so nervous.

Honestly, her heart had leaped into her throat when Mari had corrected the one god. His demeanor had changed so quickly and had stayed sour the entire time. The other twin had been polite, but his eyes had shot open at the mention of his wedding. Daniella was really starting to question how planned out anything was. Not to mention, Tannoh had been glaring at Delora the entire second half of the ceremony. Something definitely felt off.

Between that and the fact she had never ridden in a car before, her stomach was in knots. The car the twins drove seemed nice. A sleek black SUV, with heavily tinted windows.

When Ignis opened the door for them the inside had surprised her. Children’s doodles covered the fabric on the back seats. Mari had looked at her puzzled, before Daniella climbed into the back seat and pulled her friend in with her.

The other brother was already in the front seat, messing with something on the dashboard. When Ignis had gotten into the car, he very effectively pulled the machine from its parking space and onto the road. With that one action, he had taken her further from the palace than she had been in 18 years.

The drive was quiet, with Mari constantly fidgeting with Daniella’s hair or sleeve. If the brothers thought this was going to help her get used to them, they were wrong.

Though, again, something had seemed wrong at the ceremony, so maybe they were trying to figure out what it was the same way she was. Even still, the silence was not helping Mari’s nerves, or what was left of the hair style that Miranda woman had worked so hard on.

“Do you have children? The doodles are cute.” Daniella asked.

Ignis turned to say something, but Infero interrupted him, sarcasm dripping off his obviously annoyed tone, “Not any we know of. This guy just likes shoving little kids in his van.”

“I’m sorry?” Mari’s voice rose in pitch.

Ignis heaved a sigh, “I’m a child psychologist for the national police. I often drive them from holding stations to a treatment facility in order to evaluate their mental state. I keep crayons in the back, and let them draw as they like because it helps calm them down.” He pulled a hook on the back of his seat, and a compartment opened, “There’s paper too, for shorter arms, but I find they tend to be more cooperative if you let them do something they otherwise might not be allowed to do.”

“Interesting.” Daniella was smoothing Mari’s hair again, as her friend relaxed into her seat again, “And what do you do?”

Infero snorted. Mari tensed again, possibly ready to tell him off again, but Daniella grabbed her by either shoulder and started smoothing her arms. Then Infero spoke, “Most of the gods don’t take on mortal jobs with their regular duties. I inspire people to go see the world. Have some fun. Feel what they’re feeling rather than letting their friends calm them down.”

“You’re lucky my friend is here to calm me down.” Mari bit back.

“Marisola-” Ignis started.

Infero interrupted him again, “No, let her speak.”

“You don’t have to be a-” Mari shook her head “Rude brat everytime someone talks to you, you know that right?”

Infero turned around, but Ignis grabbed his brother’s shoulder and shoved him to face forward, “Can we not do this in the car? I’m trying to drive.”

Infero continued, “If you’re going to talk to me like that, then at least mean it, Princess. Either say what you want to say, or let Nilla calm you down.”

Daniella did try to grab her friend, but Mari pulled away from her, “You’re a d**k. That’s what I have to say. We didn’t do anything to you, and you started calling us names and throwing a fit because I corrected you. Her name is Daniella. Her nickname, which means nothing to you since you cannot use it, is Nells.”

“Oh I cannot use it huh? Didn’t realize my vocabulary was so limited.”

“You cannot use it, because you’re a pathetic freak who can’t behave himself.” Mari retorted, “Though from what I’ve heard, yeah actually, your vocabulary is pretty limited. I assume that’s probably the reason you do more grunting than talking.”

Ignis sighed, but Daniella beat him to it, “That is enough. Both of you, what are you even doing?” Daniella pulled her friend back in the seat again, “Mari, you have a duty to your people to become part of their lives. I feel like that will probably be a lot easier if you aren’t picking fights first thing.”

Infero laughed, but Ignis chimed in, “And you agreed to help her integrate into her new life. Acting like a jerk is a great way to get Aunt Lora involved.”

Infero shouted, “We agreed whichever one of us chose would get married to her. I don’t know what deal you struck with Delora, but I’d have at least liked to know before you made me look like an asshole up there.”

“What?” Mari looked between Ignis and Infero.

“He’s correct, the original plan would be that you had a choice.” Ignis pulled into a parking lot, before looking at his brother, “I didn’t have anything to do with the change in that plan. I know as much about it as either of you do.”

“I don’t think we knew anything about this plan.” Daniella chimed in, “So what you do know would be helpful.”

“Like he’s gonna f*****g tell us.” Infero spit out, “He won’t even admit he asked Lora to change the plan.”

“I didn’t.” Ignis sat back to look at his brother, and kept his tone even, “You can see lies, Infero, you know I’m not lying. I didn’t talk to Aunt Delora about changing this plan today. Didn’t talk to her about changing it at all. I didn’t know it had changed until she said that I’m marrying this woman without clearing it with me or this young lady first.”

Infero scoffed, shaking his head. He muttered, “f*****g seriously, Lora?”

“Can you please not curse in front of ladies?” Ignis asked, getting out of the car.

He quickly opened Daniella’s door and moved to the other side of the car to open Mari’s and help her out of the vehicle.

Infero slammed his car door. Daniella could just barely hear him spit out, “This is why I didn’t want to go to this.” before he continued towards the building.

Ignis sighed, motioning for Mari and Daniella to follow him. He went to the trunk and retrieved a bag- it looked as though it was one of the palace travel kits- before he followed them.

As Infero disappeared into the building, Ignis caught up with them. “I apologize for my brother’s behavior. It is not often gods are caught off guard, and since he spends most of his time with other gods, he’s not very accustomed to human manners.”

“I can tell.” Mari muttered.

Daniella patted her shoulder and tried to smile at Ignis.

He smiled back, “I’ll be on the top floor, so it’s probably best to take the elevator.”

“When she said between gods and humans, I imagined something a bit different.” Mari answered.

Ignis laughed, “My aunt disapproved of me living among humans centuries ago, but she is fine with it now, so long as I maintain my spot back home. Living with me means you can go to see your family if you begin to miss them, but if you were living with my brother that would be a bit more difficult.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, revealing a single door in the center of the top floor and a smaller door off to the side. Infero was leaning against the wall beside the larger door.

“So, you don’t typically live with your brother?” Daniella asked, mostly pointing the question to Infero.

“It’s boring down here.” The god shrugged, “I have to be down here a bit more now. Just until Princess gets used to the idea of leaving everyone she ever knew and loved behind for a life of real luxury. If she can convince Igmess to do that.”

Ignis ignored him and unlocked the door, carrying the bag into his apartment. Entering the main room, she was reminded of the nature overhang at the palace. The room was filled with natural tones, blues, greens, and reds mostly. The room was spacious and open, with a recessed couch and firepit to one side of the room and a large fireplace and dining set to the other. A large kitchen made up another room, only divided from the other two spaces by a bar running at least half the length of the finished kitchen. There were only two doors in the huge room.

“Follow me, I’ll help you get unpacked.” Ignis motioned to the door on the far left side of the room.

Mari chimed in, “Actually, we can unpack our own things, thank you. There may be some of Daniella’s unmentionables in there.” She added.

“So you already want my brother in your panties then, huh Princess?” Infero joked behind her.

Mari’s blush crossed her cheeks, stark compared to how pale her face usually was, “That is unacceptable as well!”

Ignis had already opened the door and set the bag down on the bed. As coolly as the rest of his interactions, he simply answered, “You ladies can unpack your own things if you like. I thought I’d offer assistance.”

Mari huffed, “You thought you’d get a sneak peak, pervert.” She pulled on Daniella’s arm, until they were both in the room. Then she pointed to the door, and Ignis, nodding, left.

She let go of Daniella almost instantly, blowing out a breath and covering her face. Daniella moved to comfort her friend, but Mari waved her hands away. Daniella sighed and took in the room instead.

It seemed Ignis also hadn’t been told that she would be accompanying Mari, as there was only one bed. There was plenty of room in the room for another though, and marks in the carpet suggested he might have had another one in there recently.

Her training kicked in, and Daniella started taking in the locations of hiding spots and doors. There was a wardrobe and a dresser on the same wall as the door, which she thought might be useful in blocking it if need be. Two additional doors in the room had unaccounted for locations. The bed was large, and the space underneath could buy some time if need be. The only other furniture in the room was two desks, across the wall with the window.

Trying the first door, Daniella found it opened into a part of the kitchen she couldn’t see from the angle she had when coming in. Infero was pacing and going on in another language, while Ignis was nodding his head.

Closing that door, she guessed that the other had to go to their bathroom. She grabbed the toiletry bag from the suitcase laying on their bed and began unpacking. After a few minutes, Mari shuffled into the bathroom, looking exhausted.

“Daniella, we only have one bed. Did they not want you to sleep here?” She asked, tears in the corners of her friend’s eyes.

The idea of never sleeping in the same room again had kept Daniella awake most of the night before. Mari was no longer excited about today’s ceremony though, and so it seemed that the reality Daniella had already accepted was creeping into her tired friend’s head.

Daniella patted Mari’s shoulder, “I think Michael was right, Mari. No one knew I was involved in this until today, so they probably wanted to make you feel comfortable and give you space to yourself.”

“Nells, I-”

“Shh.” Daniella turned her friend around, “Let’s get you out of these clothes, and get you showered. I’ll talk to Ignis about the bed situation while you're washing up.”

Mari nodded her head, and lifted her arms while Daniella pulled the lace off her body. The dress itself was heavy and heavily layered. It made Daniella glad for about the millionth time in her life she wasn’t a member of the royal family. She got her friend fully stripped and pushed her towards the bathtub.

“I think I’ll take a bath instead. I’m tired, I kinda wanna relax.” Mari muttered.

Daniella nodded, “That sounds like a great idea.”

Leaving her friend alone in the bathroom, she returned to the luggage. After having sorted through their toiletries, she had a sneaking suspicion about the luggage. She pulled through some of the clothes and grabbed Mari an outfit, laying it out on the dresser. Her precursory glance had proven her original suspicions.

Re-entering the large room, she saw Ignis now pinched the bridge of his nose, while Infero had continued on his tirad. She stopped to assess the situation. Mari had spoken out and over them, but she was one of them. Daniella wasn’t.

She did need things though. Her friend needed things to be comfortable. So she squared her shoulders and cleared her throat.

Infero didn’t stop, but Ignis glanced up to look at her. The annoyance that had colored his face had already fallen away into concern, and he began making his way across the room towards her.

Just like when she had approached him before, she could feel that he was a fire god, though not like Tannoh. As he approached her, her whole body warmed and tingled. She fought the urge to shiver and tried to think of how she was supposed to be getting used to that.

“I’m still talking here, bud.” Infero sounded insulted, as he turned around to see he no longer had Ignis’s attention.

Ignis glanced at him, “Talk away, I’ll be speaking with Ms. Daniella.”

As he laid his hand on her back, she jumped as the tingles intensified. He turned her by her waist and led her back into her and Mari’s room.

Once he closed the door, he rubbed his eyes, “Again, very sorry about him.”

“Thank you, but I had another concern.” She rested on the bed.

He nodded, but remained quiet. The way he looked directly at her was peculiar, but she ignored the rising instincts. She had spent too much time training if she was ready to fight a god over a look.

She continued, “I normally sleep in the room with Mari, but we tend to have separate beds.” She sighed and motioned to the bag, “Also, I don’t have any clothes. These are all Mari’s clothes.”

Ignis nodded, “I was specifically told Mari would be alone, so I had the second guest bed removed. I can have it replaced, but that will likely be tomorrow. I can get you a wardrobe and dresser as well.” He gave her an assessing once-over, “As for the clothes, I may be able to swing something tonight. I’ll be contacting the palace for your regular things, but I can probably have a contact bring you some things that will fit for tonight and tomorrow.”

She nodded, “Thank you. I should get the rest of Mari’s things unpacked for now, but I’ll let you know if we need anything else.”

He nodded, “I suppose that means I should continue trying to calm down Infero. Thank you for tending to my fiancee. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to make either of you more comfortable.”

…

His brother’s mocking tone rang out in Ignis’s head for about the thirtieth time that night, “‘Thank you for tending to my fiancee.’ You don’t even like her, asshole!” Ignis hoped he was wrong. The idea of marrying a young woman he didn’t even like had added another worry to today.

Infero had gone out drinking about sundown. Daniella was laying down in his bed, to Mari’s dismay. He had reassured both of them that this was only temporary. Daniella’s bed would be delivered and built tomorrow. The palace had assured him that they would be sending her clothes when they sent all of Mari’s things. His coworker couldn’t do anything about getting her clothes tonight, but had assured him that before work tomorrow morning she would drop some off.

Infero had offered to bring her out with him and get her some clothes. Something inside Ignis nearly snapped at the idea of his brother picking out clothes for her. He dismissed the offer for the young ladies, reminding Infero everyone was tired and probably wanted to rest. Infero then suggested that she wear his shirts to bed.

The reminder that she was sleeping in his bed, in his shirt, made his pants uncomfortably tight. He was sleeping on the couch, quietly reassessing the day.

He kept coming to the same conclusion. He found his matched flame, and his aunt was purposefully trying to redirect him from her. Which didn’t make much sense.

Also, Delora was the one who asked Daniella to come with them. Daniella

wasn’t part of this plan. He and his brother were supposed to seduce some random royal woman, marry her, get her pregnant, and bam, the royal bloodline is still considered godly. Now his brother hated him, for ‘stealing’ a woman away from him, which he would never do, his fiancee was angry that she was sleeping alone when she wanted to be sleeping with her guard, and his flame was in his bed, in his shirt, alone. And he couldn’t sleep on his damned couch.

He sat upright and sighed. If things had gone according to plan, this would feel much simpler to him.

“You can’t sleep either?” Mari’s voice was quiet, but he still jumped, “Shhhh. Nells is asleep!” She violently whispered, “She sleeps like a bear too, wake her up and she’s a hundred percent in attack mode.”

“Apologies.” Ignis sighed, “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”

Mari padded towards him, wrapped in a blanket. She sat down beside him, and leaned against him, “You could tell me what you plan on doing with Nells.”

He was already tense with this strange woman touching him, but the question made him even more tense. He answered honestly, “I really don’t know.”

She snorted, “What do you mean, you don’t know? You all had everything planned out before. I reviewed what I was supposed to be doing for years. You all knew what was happening, and suddenly you want my guard here?” She turned to look at him, “And you want her alone, in your room? You’re just as much of a creep as your brother.”

“That’s not it-.”He started, but she interrupted him quickly.

“Then what is?” When he remained silent, she continued, “I am doing what’s best for my people. It is both a blessing and a curse to be royal, because one thousand blessed lives will cost us the life of one of our own, and I accepted being that one. I am prepared to do whatever you want me to do, dear husband.” Her voice oozed disgust. “But Nells doesn’t have that. She gets nothing from this, do you understand me? She’s already sacrificed her entire childhood to make sure you could get a shiny, new pet for a half century or so.” He tried to speak up, but his words were caught in his throat. “I don’t know what you want with her, but you better not hurt her. Don’t touch her.”

The silence hung in the room, for a moment. Finally, Ignis spoke again, “I don’t think I could hurt her. I think she’s my match.” His throat closed.

Mari was quiet, before leaning against him, “So that’s why you two are so mad, huh?”

Frustrated, he said, “I’m only saying this because it’s unfair for you not to know. Infero enjoys being mad. He’s mad the ceremony was changed and he wasn’t told. He’s mad because I stole you from him. And I didn’t. I have no idea what’s going on, and I have no idea what my aunt’s plan for this is. And he’s mad about that, too.”

Mari nodded, dryly adding, “So are you always this optimistic? Truly helping the situation, I think.”

“All us fire gods are just rays of sunshine.” He responded.

“Yeah, got that vibe the moment I saw Infero, too.” She responded, pulling herself up, “You only get a year with her, so you better make it count. If she doesn’t love you by the end of this, you’re marrying me, and I’ll make sure to make your next half a century way less sunshiney.”

Before he could respond, she was padding back to her room. He tried to lay down again, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t get the conversation out of his head, and everytime he could, the image of Daniella laying in his bed, brown curls shining in the morning light would creep into his head. They looked so soft today.

He let out a sigh. Maybe he was becoming a creep.