Warmth and Safety

Chapter 4 Part 2

She ran her fingers through Ignis’s hair and buried her face deeper in his chest. Opening her eyes to the odd light of her dream world, she watched his sleepy face turn to face her. His golden eyes blinked open slowly, as he gave her a once over, greedily lingering his gaze on her breasts.

She moved her hand to his chest and leaned up to kiss his cheek. The firm skin under her fingers looked just like her memory of him from last night, all lean muscles. His eyes were watching her, burning with lust. Knowing it was a dream emboldened her, and she started kissing his neck. She wondered what he tasted like. Watching him grab for her waist, she sighed, unable to feel his touch.

She forced her eyes open, guilt rushing through her. She pulled herself up, hearing Mari snore beside her. The curtains were still dark, but she pulled herself out of bed. Her sides groaned at her as she twisted out of bed.

Quietly, she got ready for the day. As she finished her morning routine. She debated setting aside all of Mari’s clothes, like she had done in the palace. It had never occurred to her that no one had specifically said what she was supposed to be doing here, other than just helping her get used to being with gods.

Opening Mari’s wardrobe, she pulled an outfit out to hang on the hook on the door. If her friend wanted the clothes, she could pick those, or she could pick others.

She tiptoed out of the room, silently closing the door behind her. Infero was sleeping on the couch, but she could see Ignis moving around the kitchen, apparently unconcerned about waking his brother.

She wandered over to him, silent as she could manage. The god was packing a lunch, with more of the channa masala from last night.

She whispered, “Save me some.”

Ignis jumped, turning to face her. He quickly glanced at the couch, before saying aloud, “He sleeps like a rock. You don’t have to whisper.”

She nodded. Her eyes were still heavy from sleep. She procured herself up on the barstool and rubbed her eyes. A clink sounded in front of her. Opening her eyes, she stared at the coffee in front of her.

“You look like you need it more than I do.” Ignis said, passing her a bowl of sugar.

She looked at the bowl, but didn’t take it. “Cream?” She asked.

He nodded and placed the bowl by the coffee pot. He opened the fridge again and handed her the creamer.

She watched him quietly as he continued to move through the kitchen. The clothes he was wearing were similar to the ones he had returned in yesterday, a plain pair of navy slacks and a light blue button up.

“You work for the police?” She asked, repeating what little details she could remember from their earlier conversations.

“Sort of. I’m a child psychiatrist, so I work with the National Protection Agency. I handle the interviews for the violence against children cases here, as they come up. Sometimes I help with the therapy after the trials too,” He shrugged, “all depends on what’s ordered by the courts.”

She nodded. Taking a sip of her coffee, she watched him finish packing his lunch. Glancing at the fridge, she noticed more drawings like the ones in the car.

“It must be hard for you. You obviously care very much about them.”

“It is a part of my essence to provide the people around me with safety, protection.” He shook his head. “It’s impossible to protect everyone all the time, but it doesn’t feel great to see them hurt. Helps to help them though.” He added quickly. He glanced at her side again.

She took another sip before reassuring him, “I’ll make sure Mari puts more burn cream on it this morning.”

He met her eyes, and for a moment, she was reminded of the look he gave her in her dreams. Then, he looked away from her and pointed to the couch. “He doesn’t help, understood? He might be sober, but touching someone he burned could make it worse.”

“Understood.” She repeated.

“Good, I’m off to work. I’ll be back around four again this evening. Call my cell if you need me.”

She hesitated, but nodded. He dipped his head and left the apartment. Sipping her coffee, she watched the door, wondering what time it was.

...

Shrugging off another punch, Ignis checked his pager. Still no calls. Some days were like this, but now really wasn’t the time for him to be stuck in his head. His case work was done, and all his appointments were Friday.

He thought back to the rules he had decided to give them again. He knew he needed to reword them, make them more neutral. He didn’t really have neutrality in mind when making them. He had keeping Daniella to himself in mind.

Clipping his pager back to his belt, he readied again and waited for his opponent to finish her break. His coworker, Jaylin, returned to her ready stance.

The smaller woman bounced on her feet, an unnecessary exertion in their ring. But, Jay had been a boxer before she joined the police, so the habit persisted. She moved quickly to miss another strike, as Ignis evaded her easily. Trying to catch his breath, the god was mostly dodging the small woman.

He was grateful to her for having provided some clothes to Daniella, though he hadn’t told her he’d gone and bought the young woman her own outfits instead. Jay’s clothes had rested just too comfortably on Daniella. And sparing with her now, he was reminded of why.

Jay used her size against him, using one of his next dodges to get behind him and sweep his legs. Staggering, he felt another blow to his shoulder hit, and he took the time to grab the small woman and push her in front of him again. He dodged another punch, and struck her sternum sharply.

The human woman took the punch and bounced back a few feet, before shaking it off and continuing to advance. She was persistent, that was for sure. She always bounced back from quick hits and never backed down off a line of questioning. She certainly hadn’t this morning.

He pushed her earlier comments about why he was so distracted out of his head. The interrogator might think he was enamored with his new fiancee, but lingering on the thoughts of his actual distraction would only encourage her to continue investigating him.

One of her magical talents was premonition. She often used it in cases to find the most effective line of questioning. If she decided to turn that particular talent against him, he didn’t know how he would explain his current situation to her.

She ducked another punch, and he matched her pace to prevent her from getting behind him again. She continued advancing again, until he grabbed her arm and swept her onto her back. Hitting the floor she twisted herself upright again, swaying a bit. He held both of his hands up in surrender.

“Letting me win is bullshit, Ignis.” She spit, moving back to her corner.

“I recognize you are more skilled than me. I just won’t go down that easy, kid.”

“Yeah, cause you’re a god.” She teased, “Find you some mortality and come back. I promise, I’ll put you on your ass.”

He watched her chest heave. The sweat dripping off of her told him it was about time to find another sparring partner. He unclipped his pager again.

“You just checked that.” She pointed out.

“Things are happening all the time.” He answered, scrolling through the department wide messages.

“Oh yeah? Like what?” She laughed.

He sighed, defeated again. “Nothing right now.”

“Again?” She feigned surprise, “I never would have guessed.”

He glared at Jay, as she pulled herself out of the sparring pit. The foot difference couldn’t make her taller than him, but she looked at him from the edge, swirling her half empty water bottle. He sat on the wall dividing the space and regulated his breathing. He glanced over at the weight machines, debating a quick workout.

Or a long one if today continued to crawl by.

“Why don’t you just go home?” Jay asked. She leaned against the wall, taking another swig from her water bottle.

He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it. Even if he went home, he’d just be bored again tomorrow. And if he went home, he might be spending more time alone with her.

His heart stopped when he thought about how she had looked so sheepish yesterday after he had touched her. No, the time alone had made it all worse.

“I’m good on that actually.” He said, unconvincingly, “Though, I might leave after lunch to go to the palace.”

“No refunds, especially not this quickly.” Jay teased.

“They still have some of their things there. I’d like to make sure I have everything collected so they can be comfortable.”

Jay gave him a curious look, but didn’t press the subject. Most people knew that Daniella wasn’t a part of the original plan because of Michael’s outburst.

Which worried him. Did Michael have his outburst to keep Daniella to himself? He shook his head, trying to clear the jealousy and paranoia from his thoughts.

Michael had made Daniella’s addition public knowledge, and a number of articles had been published about her the next day. He was glad she had only left so far in his presence. He didn’t know how the press might draw attention to her.

He pushed himself up and out of the pit. Grabbing his water bottle, he saluted Jay, who returned the gesture. He was going to make sure they had plenty at his house so they didn’t have to go back.

Especially since one of his and Delora’s rules was that if Daniella wanted to leave… He pushed the fear of the idea out of his head. If Daniella wanted to leave, his aunt, Michael, and Mari had already pointed out that she had fully served the terms she had agreed to. If she was uncomfortable with him, she could get her dues and leave.

His stomach twisted. Trying to settle his mind, he focused on the task at hand.

...

Mari rubbed the cream down her friend’s side and sighed again. Daniella raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the door. Infero had gone out to do some work as a god. Mari had been hesitant to let him, but hadn’t really been able to stop him.

Mari caught her looking at the door and left out a breath. “He already said he wasn’t going drinking.”

Daniella remained silent. Mari had been worried since the conversation this morning. Infero had reassured them both he’d be back for lunch, but at a quarter past two, Daniella doubted he remembered that particular promise.

Mari finished with the cream. Daniella moved her arms, noticing the tightness from the first day had reduced itself significantly. She should be able to get back in the swing of things shortly. She wondered if there was a gym nearby.

Suddenly, Mari jumped up and headed towards the door. Before she was out of the sitting area, Ignis opened the door. Mari stopped where she stood.

Looking at the clock again, Daniella stood to greet him.

“Good afternoon, ladies.” He said, pulling in two large suitcases with him. “Where’s Infero? I’d like his help with these.”

“Did you tell him that this morning?” Mari asked, “Because he’s been gone all day. God business apparently.”

Ignis grunted, “Well, that’s alright. He should be back soon.” He headed to their room. “Would you ladies like to start unpacking the rest of this? I have a few more bags the palace said were yours.”

Daniella followed him into the room, with Mari trailing behind her. Her friend continued checking the door. Quickly getting to work again, Daniella unzipped the bags. As she began sorting through her friend’s clothes again, Ignis left the room.

“Are these still just mine?” Mari’s exasperation was apparent. “How do I even have so much stuff? I never wear any of this.”

Daniella nodded. “You didn’t like them the first times I set them out for you to wear, so most of this sat in your closet.”

Mari snorted and started throwing clothes into a pile. “If I didn’t wear it there, I don’t want to wear it here either.”

Daniella continued trying to hang some of her friend’s less loved shirts, when Ignis returned with two more bags. Mari heaved an aggravated sigh.

“Are any of those mine?” Daniella asked.

Ignis straightened himself. “They said one of them was.”

“How did I get three suitcases full and Nells has one?” Mari huffed.

Ignis looked at her for a moment, then left the room without speaking.

Mari continued sorting through her clothes, and Daniella excused herself to get a trash bag for the unwanted articles.

In the kitchen, Ignis was scrubbing the counters. She headed over to him.

“Is everything alright?”

“Have you two eaten?” He asked, before adding, “The counters look untouched from this morning.”

“They are. Infero said he’d be back for lunch, and Mari wanted to wait for him.”

He snorted and pulled out his phone, before thinking better of it. “Would you like some leftover curry and rice?”

“Why are you upset?”

He looked at her. “Why did you only have one bag of clothes? And why were they all uniforms? Did you not have days off?”

Daniella stared at him. “No, not really.”

“Excuse me?” He asked.

She moved past him and started gathering leftover curries from the fridge. “I’m Mari’s personal guard. She only had other guards to make up for the times in which I was in training. And most of the time those other guards were her teachers. Everyday, my assignment was to be with Mari as her guard and friend, from the time we left our room until we returned. Even then, we shared a room so I could alert anyone if something happened that night.”

She could feel his eyes on her back, but he was silent. Eventually, he reached around her and grabbed one of the curries from her hand. He put it in the microwave, and set the timer on it.

Still pinned between his arm and the fridge, she closed the door and watched him. The heat rolling off of him was starting to become familiar. It was so distinctly different from Tannoh or Infero.

For a moment, his gaze turned to her eyes. She watched him try to read what she was feeling, but her neutrality was real this time. She had wanted normal clothes on days free from rigid routine, but she understood the rule. It had never upset her.

He looked away from her. “I’ll take you out shopping again this weekend. I’m not having you wear a uniform around my apartment for no reason.” He grabbed the rice from her hand, turning away from her. While fixing it on the counter, he added, “I’d like to discuss your rule for leaving.”

“Oh, we have rules now?” Mari chimed in, having apparently abandoned her task.

Ignis just nodded. As the microwave beeped, he pulled out the curry, and replaced it with the rice.

“I think it’s best. You’ve never really been out of the palace, and I can’t have you two getting lost while I’m away at work.”

Mari snorted, crossing her arms. Daniella nodded though.

“I think Mari shouldn’t be allowed to leave alone or be left here alone either. She’s never been by herself.”

“I have to get used to that eventually.” She interrupted, “I’m pretty sure I’ll be left alone pretty often when I’m married.”

“You will,” Ignis said, “but for the time being, I agree with Daniella. Neither of you should be left alone. I also don’t think either of you should go further than the market down the road with just each other.” Quickly he added, “When you’re more familiar with the area, that can change.”

“How are we going to get familiar with the area if we-?” Mari started.

“I’m sure the brothers will be taking us out often.” Daniella reassured her friend.

Ignis paused to see if Mari was going to argue again, but when she remained silent, he continued, “No bars without both me and Infero there. I don’t want either of you getting drunk and then getting lost on your way back here. You can go to some of the restaurants around here, but no alcohol. There’s also a curfew of eleven, unless you’re out with me or Infero.”

Mari huffed again.

Ignis started fixing plates with the reheated curry and rice. Turning to Mari, Daniella noticed she was still glancing back and forth at the door. Quietly, Daniella placed her hand on Mari’s back.

Mari stiffened for a second, and Daniella paused, confused by the reaction. As her friend relaxed, Daniella started rubbing circles into the small of her back. Daniella watched her friend for any more uncharacteristic reactions, but Mari was staring off into space.

When Ignis put their food in front of them, Mari jumped. Promptly, Daniella steadied her friend on her barstool. Ignis blinked at them both, apparently unaware of Mari’s peculiar condition.

“I don’t think-” Daniella started.

“Do you know where Infero is?” Mari interrupted her.

Ignis studied her for a moment. Finally, he answered, “Probably at a bar. He tends to go to bars when working.”

Mari shifted in her seat again. “He said he wouldn’t.”

Daniella grew uncomfortable in her seat as the nature of her friend’s question and answers mulled in her mind. Infero in their previous conversations had confirmed what Ignis was telling them. He had also said he was going to try to inspire people elsewhere.

Or had he? Daniella couldn’t remember if he had actually made that promise, or if they had just discussed it. From the look of pity on Ignis’s face, she didn’t have faith that he had. She also wasn’t sure he could be trusted on those words even if he had promised.

Mari continued to shift around, pulling away from Daniella’s comforting hand. Ignis dropped his head and began eating. A pain sprung up in Daniella’s chest.

...

A part of him was happy Mari seemed to be more interested in Infero. Right now that part was far overshadowed by the sympathy he felt for her.

His brother’s drinking problems were heavily ingrained, both in his habits and his social group. Specifically his life-long friend and lover, Deaton, was the worst influence on his brother.

Ignis sighed, rubbing his eye, waiting up for his brother to return to his apartment. He had sent Mari to bed a few hours ago, though he could hear her wandering around her room still. Waiting up for his brother wasn’t a new habit either. No matter when he said he’d be home, Deaton often convinced Infero to stay out later with him.

Centuries ago, when the two had first met, Infero had been certain that Deaton was his flame. He had grown obsessed with the other god, in a way Ignis had never understood. He supposed he was beginning to know, though that knowledge continued to muddle their current situation further. Deaton had told Infero several times that they were not matched flames.

Despite that, he continued to request his brother’s presence at his bars, in his temples, in his bed. Deaton had been close to Infero since his wife had died. Ignis was certain he just liked the easy attention, but Infero had often argued with his brother, insisting the other god loved him.

Glancing at the time of his phone, Ignis sighed and pushed himself off the couch. It was already two in the morning, which meant he needed to go to sleep befor e work, even if only for a couple of hours. He headed to his room and closed the door.

He could hear Mari opening her door and creeping out. He knew nothing he said would consol her until Infero explained himself. Still, the times in which he could only wait for someone to hurt tended to make his flame act up.