Warmth and Safety

Chapter 4 Part 1

Daniella stretched around the pillow she was holding. Lazily, she lifted her head to look for Mari, but the other woman was gone. Panic started to rise in Daniella. Mari never woke up before she did, and her friend had been tired all day yesterday.

Pulling herself out of the bed quickly, she padded over to the door for the main room. She could hear Mari and Infero arguing, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She wiped her face and started looking for some clothes.

The washer and dryer had been located in their bathroom, so she grabbed some of her new clothes out of the dryer. She hadn’t felt like folding and hanging any last night. They rarely had to do laundry at the palace. During the holiday seasons, most of the staff was away, and so she was often assigned other duties to help take care of Mari. Laundry was a relaxing activity, but she hated doing it when she was tired.

Returning to the living room, she heard some of the conversation.

“... bad for you.” Mari snapped.

“Yeah,” Infero was leaning against the couch again, “I already heard this lecture from Iggy, you know?”

“What lecture?” Daniella asked.

They both jumped. Infero breathed out a sigh of relief, while Mari continued.

“You know why he was so drunk yesterday? He went out drinking with Deaton.” She rolled her eyes.

Daniella’s eyebrows raised. Deaton was a traveling god, the God of Wine and Wayward Travelers. He was known to be a party god, often his legends said he even kill other gods by drowning them in alcohol.

“Probably not ideal, Infero.” She said.

“Not ideal? That’s dangerous. No wonder he was drunk.” She huffed.

“Drinking is part of the lifestyle, honey.” Infero stated, “You’ll learn to do it too eventually.”

“Ignis doesn’t seem to have much alcohol here.” Daniella pointed out.

“Even you said he rarely drinks.” Mari agreed.

Infero barked a laugh, “Ignis started a movement away from the palace for a lot of gods, not just himself. The gods in the palace are all drunks. Some of the ones who left drink, some don’t. It depends on their philosophy. Ignis doesn’t drink cause he has daddy issues.”

“You have the same father, idiot.” Mari pointed out.

“Yeah, and that’s why I drink.” He said, flatly.

Daniella looked to Ignis’s door, “Are we goi-”

“He’s already at work, Dani.” Infero said, garnering an exasperated sigh from Mari.

“I keep telling you-.”

“She can have more than one nickname, you know?” Infero interrupted her.

Daniella sighed, joining the two of them on the couch. “Does your father drink a lot then?”

Infero snorted again, “He only drinks.” He leaned forward, “The old gods know how to party. We only ever see most of them at parties, except Tannoh, Delora, Nelano, and a few others. Mostly those three though, they have duties connected specifically to humans and can’t really party too often.”

“You’re supposed to have those duties too.” Mari said, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I fulfill my duties pretty easily, drunk or not. Adventure is easier drunk actually. You think men are going to try something they’re afraid of perfectly sober.” He laughed, “Not to mention, no inhibitions means most anything you do you do out of passion. The alcohol helps my cause.”

“It doesn’t sound like you’re good at your job if you have to get people drunk to inspire them.” Daniella stated, “You don’t think playing on someone’s curiosity or honor might work better than alcohol?”

“Alcohol helps to get them going. Those things tend to keep them going.”

“If,” Mari added, “they survive the levels of alcohol you give them.”

Infero frowned, and turned his head to look at her, “I’m not Deaton, alright. I’m not feeding people alcohol, I’m going to the bars where they feed themselves alcohol. Wait for them to get drunk, and push them to go talk to that cute girl they’ve been staring at all night.”

“Yeah, because they’re so smooth drunk.” Mari scoffed.

He shrugged. Daniella watched Infero closely. Something about his demeanor was different this morning as compared to last night, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Finally, she asked, “Do any of you enjoy that?”

He tensed and asked, “I’m sorry?”

“Do they enjoy going on adventures when they’re too drunk to notice? Do you enjoy knowing they won’t remember when they wake up? Do you think they think of it as adventure or just drunken mistakes?” She looked at him, “It sounds like you’re using loopholes rather than actually doing your job. Do you even enjoy what you’re doing?”

Mari leaned past him to stare at her. Infero had stayed stiff the entire time, not opening his eyes. He remained quiet.

“Maybe,” Daniella added, “you should spend a few weeks trying to inspire people while they’re still sober. See if you like the results better.”

After a few more moments of silence, he spoke. “That’s a lot harder to do, Dani.”

“Yeah, but you’re a god. You’re supposed to be able to do things that are impossible for humans. And I’ve definitely been inspired to go on adventures by one particularly messy human.” She bit, watching Mari retreat behind Infero’s form again.

He raised his eyebrows at Mari, but shrugged. Returning to his usual tone, he laughed, “I guess Princess isn’t as good a girl as she pretends to be.”

Mari snorted, “I don’t pretend to be anything, you get what you see.”

He laughed and leaned over her, “I get what I see, huh?”

Daniella looked away, grabbed the back of his shirt, and cleared her throat. “Mari is still engaged to you brother. So, no, you don’t.”

“Engaged isn’t married yet.” He replied, but returned to sit normally either way. “Well, ladies, what do we want to do today? TV, video games, maybe some music?”

“Laundry.” Daniella pushed herself off the couch, “And maybe some food soon.”

“You get a whole day with a god that’s actually fun, and you want to do our laundry?” He feigned an insulted tone, “Why I never.”

Infero was a lot to deal with at once. Daniella was suddenly missing Ignis.

…

Ignis ran his hands over his face again. He had slept wonderfully, but in the quiet moments of the day, he was reminded of his dream. The sight of moonlight illuminating a woman he was very much so not engaged to. Seeing her in his shirt yesterday morning had left little to Ignis’s imagination, but his dream certainly tried to close the gaps.

He pulled out his latest case notes, reviewing them again. The child he had interviewed this morning had taken about three hours to speak to him comfortably. His heart ached for the little girl, but he couldn’t do anything to remove her past. He had blessed her immediate future with safety. She had agreed to continue coming back to be interviewed again. A nine-year old victim who liked stuffed animals and color pencils, not crayons. Her dark hair and bright features had reminded him of Nelano’s children.

Instinctively, he wondered what his children would look like. He felt sick, thinking of having to have children with Mari. The image of Daniella from his dream re-entered his head. His hands shook as he wondered if he and Daniella would have had children who looked like her. He shook himself, banishing the thought from his head.

He grabbed a red pen to start translating the most important parts of the young girl’s interview for police officers. The work required his focus and discipline, to remove any emotion from the interview and only detail facts that the child had given him, either directly or inadvertently.

The facts would make sure she was safe in the future, and his flame thankfully agreed that this was part of their purpose. It had been a pain to deal with since the day before yesterday, so having something else to focus on had been good for him this morning. Not that he could blame himself. He had truly thought Daniella was his flame.

Considering his aunt had purposefully put distance between them though, he was beginning to doubt it. What he was feeling must have been a distraction, a fated attraction, but nothing more than just the attraction.

He finished his case notes and looked at his screen, hoping to see a request from a station. Nothing, which would leave him alone with his thoughts again.

The dream started to replay in his mind again. He’d risen onto his arms in his bed. He caressed the woman laying next to him and leaned down to kiss her neck. She sleepily took his hand and kissed it, mumbling that he should come back to bed. She turned onto her back, and he saw all of her.

Daniella was the woman in his bed, naked, lit only by the moonlight. Her soft breasts rose and fell slowly as she fell back to sleep. Her dark lips looked swollen, and he could see bite marks on her neck from his touch.

He rubbed his hands over his face again. He needed to focus on something real. He stared at his desktop screen. He had four more hours at work before he could go home.

Part of him was frustrated, the rest of him, confused. He’d never heard of a god reacting like this to anything. He needed to confront his aunt and see what was really going on.

…

Having spent the last half of his day training had helped him to focu on something other than the women in his apartment, but now, waiting on the elevator to reach his floor, Ignis shifted nervously. He still had no idea what was wrong with him, but he knew Daniella was waiting at home for him. It tightened something in his chest.

As the doors opened, he quickly made his way into his apartment. And almost stepped back out.

Mari was on top of Infero on his couch. She had jumped when she saw him.

“Hi, Ignis.” She squeaked.

Infero laughed, “Honey, he’s home.”

Mari smacked Infero’s chest, and his brother laughed harder.

Ignis raised an eyebrow and said, “I guess you two have resolved your previous issues then?”

“No, no, no, this is not-.”

“Consider the issues resolved.” Infero sung out, before grabbing Mari and pulling to her feet beside him. “I think the other one is doing laundry. Never knew you had a thing for maids.” His brother winked at him.

Infero ignored him and moved to knock on the door to Daniella and Mari’s room. After a few minutes, she appeared, the frown on her face melting once she saw who it was.

“Oh, welcome home.” She said, quickly glancing around him to the couch.

He raised an eyebrow again. “Has Infero been bothering you?”

She looked back at him before looking around him again. Daniella shook her head.

Ignis sighed, glancing around to see Mari still standing by his brother, watching the interaction. Tired as he was from training, he needed some food.

“Would everyone like Indian food tonight?” He asked, looking at the two behind him.

Mari tilted her head, and his brother laughed. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to Daniella

Ignis turned to raise an eyebrow at Daniella. She also looked hesitant, but spoke quietly, “We haven’t had it before, but I’m willing to try.”

Infero laughed, “What’s the point of being royal if you can’t have takeout?”

“We have cooks.” Mari said simply.

Taking out his phone, Ignis scrolled through the menu of his favorite place.

He hesitated for a moment, trying to think of what might be close to palace food, before realizing he had no idea what that might look like. Ignis had never partaken in any events at the palace besides the sacrifice. His brother’s laughter continued as he stared at his phone.

Instinctively, Ignis reached his hand out and took Daniella by the small of her back. He smoothed the silken material of one of the shirts he had bought her yesterday, absently selecting different curries for her to try.

She moved forward, out of the room, and he guided her to the couch with everyone else.

“She can walk on her own, Ignis.” Mari stated, annoyance in her voice.

He looked up and removed his hand. Muttering, “Apologies.” he sat down on the couch, and asked them a few questions to determine how spicy they might want the curries.

His brother leaned forward. “Why don’t we go out instead?” Infero asked, “I think they’d like the full experience.”

“I’m a bit too tired to go out.” He replied.

“We aren’t,” His brother continued, “We’ve been home all day, with nothing to do.”

“I don’t think I’d mind.” Mari said, “We’ve never been to a restaurant.”

Ignis raised his eyebrow at her, but Daniella answered his question. “Remember, Mari was raised to be your sacrifice. There was no way they could allow harm to come to her outside of palace walls and away from our doctors. Before a few days ago, neither of us had left the palace since I’d come there.”

He glanced at Daniella and regretted it. Her eyes were sad. As anger flared in his chest, he wondered. How little freedom had these women had?

“Would you like to go out as well?” He asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.

She looked away, and he rubbed her back again.

“It would be fun, Nells.” Mari jumped in.

Ignis cleared his throat, “She can stay here with me, and you can go with Infero. I think he might have trouble looking after both of you anyway.”

“Seriously,” His brother laughed, “You’re not coming out? How tired are you, old man?”

Ignis sighed, but Daniella interrupted, “I think I’d feel more comfortable with someone else here. I’m kinda sore after all the walking and shopping yesterday.”

Infero glanced at her side, guilt apparent on his face. “That’s cool, that’s cool. You’ll come with next time, right?”

“We’ll both come out next time.” Ignis said. He pulled his card from his wallet, but before handing it over to Infero he sternly said, “No alcohol.”

“I’m not getting her drunk on our first date.” His brother teased.

Infero snatched the card, and Mari rolled her eyes. “Like I’d ever go on a date with a deadbeat.”

His brother ignored her, and held his hand out before bowing. “Princess.”

With a sigh, she got up, ignoring his hand. Infero jumped up to follow her to the door, still laughing. Ignis finished ordering the takeout while they left.

“Are you okay with those two leaving together?” Daniella asked beside him.

“Originally, the plan was that either of us was supposed to seduce Mari. If she chooses Infero over me, my brother can talk to my aunt about it and make the necessary arrangements to change her engagement.” Ignis leaned further into his couch, “Besides, do you really think they won’t just hang out together alone when I’m busy?”

“You’re engaged to her, Ignis.” She protested, “You’re responsible for her safety.”

“I am. But keeping her locked up all day while I work is only going to breed resentment anyway.” He glanced at Daniella, who seemed unconvinced. “She wants to go out with Infero, she’ll find a way to go out with Infero. No god has ever stopped an affair by locking away his bride for her whole life.”

“I don’t think she wants an affair.” Daniella shook her head. “He’s just pushy and flirty. Do you really trust him to look after her?”

“He’s my brother, so yes.” Pushing his annoyance to the side, Ignis shuffled off the couch, “I’m going to go change. I do need to think up some rules for how you ladies can come and go, but I need some time to think about that.”

“Now you want to think about rules?” She asked, huffing out a breath.

Ignis nodded, “Originally, Mari was the only one who was supposed to be here. I had no problem with my brother courting her on the days I worked, since we were both supposed to be involved in this.” He looked at Daniella, and fought back the urge to growl while thinking about his brother going out alone with her. “If he doesn’t make you feel comfortable, I’ll need to make some rules so he knows he doesn’t get to spend time alone with you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but seeming to think better of whatever remark she had in mind, she closed it.

He continued, “I am responsible for both of you, but I cannot be here all day everyday. And you don’t know anything about this city outside of what I have shown you. I need to set some limits to make sure neither of you gets hurt while I’m away at work.”

She nodded. He watched her for a moment, but her face remained as unreadable as always. He turned away to go get out of his work clothes.

Closing the door behind him, he pinched his nose. The image of Daniella, rather than Mari, on top of his brother had flashed in his mind for a second. He took a deep breath and tried to remind himself that he was engaged. He wasn’t engaged to Daniella, he was engaged to the woman she guarded. The woman she expected him to take care of. Daniella could be on top of anyone she wanted.

He felt sick.

Pushing the image of her and Infero together out of her mind, he moved to the closet. His muscles ached as he removed his clothes. He was really out of shape if a few hours of training did this to him. Tossing one of his shirts into his hamper, he glanced at the shirt she had worn to bed the day before yesterday and he felt himself harden.

He was going mad.

Taking a few deep breaths, he pulled on some sweats and grabbed the burn cream from his counter where she’d left it.

He saw her lying back against the couch, eyes closed. He slowed his approach, watching her chest rise and fall as it had done in his dream the night before.

He cleared his throat, and she jumped.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said, before holding up the burn cream, “When was the last time you applied this?”

She blushed, “We forgot this morning. Sorry.”

He shook his head, “No need to apologize, Daniella. Would you mind if I-?” He motioned to her sides.

She shook her head, “No, please help me. They aren’t as bad as yesterday, but I’m still pretty sore.”

He sat beside her and unscrewed the cap. “Excuse me.” He said, as he lifted the side of her shirt.

The bright red from yesterday morning had faded significantly, with patchy edges beginning to form as it healed properly. Applying the warmth of comfort to his hands, he smeared the cream over her side, slowly rubbing it in. He quickly moved to the other side, tampering back his flame as it continued to flare up at the contact with her skin.

She pulled her shirt down as he finished. Her blush was bright red across her freckled cheeks, and he couldn’t help but enjoy the hesitant look on her face. She was fighting this just like him. He caught her glancing at his chest again.

Fuck, she was cute. It took everything he had not to drag her hand to his chest and hold it there. Or drag her on top of him and kiss her pale lips. Or pin her down and-.

He needed to stop. He cleared his throat and got up to return the burn cream to the bathroom. When he returned she was standing at the door, talking with a young man.

Jealousy, an emotion he was previously inexperienced with, reared its head for the second time today. Only this time she was actually talking to another man. He approached quickly, and placed his hand on the small of her back, while he grabbed the takeout from the boy at the door.

“Thanks.” Was all he could manage before pulling her back into the apartment and closing the door.

Daniella was looking at him, curious, “Are you okay?”

He nodded, guiding her to the bar. “Just tired. I don’t really feel like having a full conversation with the takeout guy tonight.”

“I guess you do that pretty often.” She said, “That guy knew who you were. I guess that could just be because you’re a god though.”

He laid the food down on the table and started to go grab plates and forks. She sat lazily at the bar, head lolling. Fighting the urge to carry her to bed and shush her to sleep, and started doling out rice and naan.

“I order takeout pretty often, so he might just know me from that. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t go around announcing that I’m a god as often as some other people in this family do.” He said.

Quickly, he handed her the plate and started pointing out foods to explain their tastes and spice levels. She nodded at each explanation and started gathering a little bit of each curry on her plate.

He gathered some masala on his plate and watched her try each curry. Her face was much more expressive when she wasn’t trying to convince Mari or Infero of something. He made note to leave the saag off the order list next time.

They finished their food, and he grabbed her plate to wash it. He enjoyed the comfortable quiet, as she sat with him while he did the dishes. She was covering the plastic containers when he turned back to face her.

“I can get that.” He said, rushing to grab a lid from her.

She shook her head, “I can help, you know?”

He smiled at her, “Yeah, I appreciate it, but-.”

“We’ll be living here for a year, do you not expect us to do anything while we’re here?” Her tone was dry, and he didn’t like it.

“I guess not.” He said. Defeated, he started grabbing the closed containers and moving them to the fridge. He heard her behind him, gathering more.

When he turned around she was right there. He could feel the heat rolling off her body, and his vision dropped to take in the sight of her. Forcing his eyes back to the containers and grabbing them from her hands, he quickly turned back around to find somewhere to put them in the fridge. She reached around him, placing the naan on the top shelf before withdrawing.

In the absence of her body’s heat, his flame flared up. Taking deep breaths, he calmed his magic as much as he could. He could feel that she had moved back to the other side of the bar, and he could feel his magic tugging on her.

Clearing his head as best as he could, he said, “Well, all cleaned up then. I’m gonna head to bed then.”

“Okay,” She said, “I think I’ll go in a little bit, I want to see if Mari and Infero will be back soon.”

Ignis nodded, told her goodnight, and retreated to his room. His flame was throwing a fit, flaring up outside of his control. Looking at his bed, a vision of his dream flashed in his mind again. This time though, his body throbbed at the idea of her body beneath him.

Locking his door, he resolved to take another cold shower. The one after his workout had helped calm him down.

…

Daniella stirred as she heard giggling in her room. Glancing over, she saw Mari talking to someone in the doorway. Mustering up her consciousness, she called out, “Mari?”

Her friend jumped and closed the door quickly. “I’m here, I’m just going to sleep, Nells.”

Daniella nodded, burying her face into the pillow she was clutching to her chest. Hearing her friend open the door again, she drifted back to sleep.