Warmth and Safety

Chapter 5 Part 1

Daniella stirred in her sleep as the noise from the living room continued to grow louder. Vaguely, she knew she should be worried, but last night Mari had been a mess.

Comforting her friend was impossible given the circumstances. She’d still tried, and a while after that, Mari had pretended to sleep so she would lay down.

Daniella had laid awake, listening to her friend quickly give up the ruse and wander through her wardrobe nervously. Then she went to the bathroom and began messing with things there. She couldn’t be consoled, and she couldn’t sit still. Daniella was beginning to wonder if it would have made more sense to just ask Ignis to let her stay out in the living room and wait.

Exhausted, she turned over. Noticing Mari wasn’t in her bed set off alarm bells in her tired mind. She pushed herself up, her muscles rebelling against the act. Shaking, she got up and got dressed.

Waking up more fully, she could confirm Mari’s voice in the living room. She couldn’t hear who she was yelling at, but she had a good idea. And if he was still drunk, then it wasn’t safe to be talking to him.

Entering the main room, she confirmed her suspicions. Infero was slumped forward on the couch, head in his hands, while Mari stood off to the side, yelling at him. Tears streamed down her friend’s face.

Quickly approaching the pair, Daniella glanced at Ignis's door. She sighed, certain he had already left for the day.

…

Ignis rubbed his face again, trying to wake up. He was tempted to get another cup of coffee before even finishing the one he had. His brother had been passed out on his couch when he had left. Mari had been sitting on the other side of the couch, teary eyed and annoyed. His chest ached for her.

Despite all of that, he was annoyed at having his dreams interrupted by having to go to work. He was annoyed with his brother for going out drinking again, for calling his earlier bluff.

Part of him wanted to cut his brother’s card off as he’d promised. He knew that wouldn’t matter though, except to cut down on the food his brother was eating. If Deaton wanted to go drinking, Deaton would make sure he was drunk.

Thinking about leaving Daniella and Mari alone with him made him nervous.

He glanced at his screen, content to go home, until he saw a case had popped up. He sighed, and began collecting the information he needed. After finishing this interview, he would go home and have lunch with the girls somewhere else. He would like to get Mari away from Infero for a little while. Just until she could process everything for what it was.

…

Listening to Mari repeat the same thing again, Daniella stood watching Infero from a distance. She moved forward anytime he tried to move towards her. The action alone seemed to remind him that he shouldn’t be near her right now.

Nor should Mari be near him. She had tried to pull the other woman away, but both she and Infero had vetoed that idea. Infero wasn’t nearly as drunk as he had been the other day, but he was definitely still drunk. Knowing what they did about fire gods losing control, she would have felt more comfortable if he had just agreed that Mari should go back to their room.

He had insisted on hearing everything she had to say. Over the last half an hour he had been nodding his head and watching her intently. Now that Mari had stopped crying, he had started. It was a sad sight, the man’s remorseful face, silent tears, just watching her and accepting her complaints about his behavior.

Even still, she couldn’t let him touch her. If he burned Mari on her watch, she had no idea what Ignis or the palace would think of the situation. She had no idea if she was even capable of protecting her from a god, but she was here as a guard, so she needed to.

As though she had read her mind though, her friend interrupted her thoughts. “Can you stop intimidating him? I’m doing a good enough job of that on my own.”

Daniella blinked, and looked at her charge. The woman had her arms crossed, staring now at Daniella instead of Infero. Quietly, Daniella held her hands up and nodded.

“Do we want lunch then?” She asked, “I can make us something quick. It might help you sober up.” She directed to Infero.

He just nodded. His voice was hoarse when he said, “Thanks.”

Nodding, she moved to the kitchen. She started boiling some water and turned to the bar to cut the veggies. Cutting them there gave her the direct line of sight she wanted to ensure if he did grab her friend, she could get to them quickly and not let him burn her too badly. Unfortunately, she finished her cuts quickly, and the stovetop was facing away from the situation.

Worried about Mari’s position on the couch, she turned around often while she started browning the vegetables. She had only learned to cook a few rudimentary things from the palace staff. The idea was that she should be able to cook for herself when her stay was over. Now though, the practice seemed so foreign. She wanted to be watching the threat to Mari’s safety.

Sighing, she began mashing the tomatoes, and poured the orzo into the boiling water. Sprinkling the dried basil into the tomato sauce, she stirred quickly, trying to spread the flavors.

Suddenly, her back was overwhelmed with a familiar feeling of warmth. Ignis’s hand reached around her and slowed hers.

“If you use dried herbs, you need to give them time to release their flavor. You don’t have to stir it that quickly.” His voice was calm, but she was anything but.

Having found herself suddenly too comfortable surrounded by him, she cleared her throat and tried to focus. “Sorry, I’ve only done this a few times.”

“You’re doing well.” He said, before retracting himself.

Suddenly cold from his absence, she glanced over to the couch. Mari and Infero were sitting and talking quietly. She returned her attention to her food.

Ignis was leaning over the pasta pot, stirring in more salt. Quietly, he added some of the boiling water to the sauce, before picking up the pot and moving to the sink. She watched him working quietly, and glancing over his shoulder at the pair as well.

The suddenly cool air made her crave his body against her again. She tried to shake the feeling, as she’d been trying to shake all of her feelings about Ignis these last few days, but it persisted. Focusing on her task, she slowly stirred the sauce again.

He placed his hand on her waist and guided her away from her post. Instinctively, she followed his lead, and let him pour the cooked pasta into the pan. Turning off the heat, he rubbed the small of her back before retracting his touch again.

“Dinner’s ready.” He called out.

The two jumped on the couch. Daniella eyed them suspiciously, before remarking to Ignis, “It’s only lunch.”

“It’s five in the evening, Daniella.” He pointed to the clock on the stove, before quickly adding, “Though as late as everyone was waiting up last night, I understand the confusion about the time.”

Infero spoke out, “Sorry. I didn’t think you’d wait up.”

“You said,” Mari repeated, “you would be back to have lunch with us.”

“I know.” He responded quietly.

To not see Infero cheerful was a horrible feeling. The other god tended to joke and flirt often, and even after having sobered up the other day, he had been back to laughing once most of the alcohol was out of his system.

Apparently noticing her concern, he held his hand up and shook his head, “It’s just the hangover, Dani. I’m fine.”

She eyed him again, concern still pressing in her chest, but nodded. Ignis handed him a plate. He sat quietly and started eating.

Mari still seemed heated, redness in her eyes and face, but she accepted the plate of pasta Daniella handed her. Picking at her plate, she took a space beside Infero.

…

Having dealt with his brother, Ignis couldn’t help but respect Mari a bit more. She had already confronted him about Daniella’s safety, and now she had proven herself capable of handling his brother. She was slowly changing opinions he didn’t realize he had about her. He was glad Daniella had a friend like her.

The thought of Daniella resurfaced the smell of her. He had wanted nothing more than to continue holding her against him while he finished their meal together. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he resolved to call his aunt again. She hadn’t been answering his calls.

“When we’re done, ladies,” His brother interrupted his thoughts, “I need to talk to my brother alone.”

Ignis raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Mari had glanced at him worried. He noticed she’d hardly eaten any of her food. Daniella was rubbing the other woman’s back again.

His brother followed his gaze and huffed a half laugh. “Don’t worry, Dani. I for one like the food.”

Mari straightened and looked like she’d make a bitter retort. For whatever reason though, she didn’t say a word, just started eating her pasta. His brother focused on his dish again, looking almost deflated.

Finishing their meals in an awkward silence, his brother pushed himself up to do the dishes again. Ignis watched him, trying to get a read on what he wanted to talk about. His brother was completely dejected though. Concern beat in his chest, and he wanted the women to finish faster.

When Daniella began to get up, followed by Mari, he almost breathed a sigh of relief. She made eye contact with him, for just a moment. Her concern was also evident, but she led Mari out of the room.

Ignis waited for them to close their door, before asking him, “What’s going on?”

“That shrink you said I need, you got a number?” He asked, continuing his work on the dishes.

“You want me to call her for you?” He asked, “I can get you an appointment next week-.”

Aggravated, his brother started, “I need to call myself. I just-.” before the deflated tone from before returned, “I need to do this myself, Ignis. It’s not self-improvement if you and Delora and Tannoh are making me do it, okay.”

He hesitated. “Can I ask what happened?”

His brother glanced at Mari’s door. “I talked to Aunt Delora.”

“When?” Ignis jumped at the information, “She hasn’t answered any of my calls, I need-.”

“Ignis.” His brother stopped him, “She’s not going to.”

“Why not?”

“She said we need to work through this on our own. She’s not giving any advice to us. Just said she’ll change our arrangement when she thinks we’re ready.” His brother hesitated. “I think this is my fault.”

Ignis shook his head, “I don’t know what is going on, Infero, but if Delora is the one orchastrating it, then you can’t blame yourself.”

“I think I can.” He said, nodding. “They are our flames.” He confirmed.

Hearing it wasn’t necessarily a shock to Ignis, but having to throw out some of his early conspiracies explaining away his feelings opened a void. “Then why did she change our arrangement? Mari isn’t my flame, I don’t want to marry her.”

“You’d be lucky to marry her.” Infero injected, anger lacing his voice. Quickly though, he shook his head. “No, I-. Listen, she thinks I’m an embarrassment, that I hurt our integrity with my ‘outbursts’ at the ceremony. She’s doing this to test us- me really- to see if I’m even mature enough for a wife right now.”

Ignis nodded, “I guess that’s why you want the doctor’s number then? To prove you’re responsible.”

“No. I’m not responsible, Ignis.” His brother sighed. He leaned against the pantry door. “I need help, okay? I don’t want to be like this, alright? I just-.” He forced out a shakey breath.

Ignis waited. He knew from experience with parents and older patients how difficult this conversation could be on someone. Fighting the urge to comfort his brother was difficult, but giving him the space to speak was more important.

Finally, Infero continued, “I know I put myself in these situations and around these people, but I don’t know what else to do. And I feel bad, I do. I hurt your flame the first day she was here.” His brother’s emphasis on his words struck a chord in him. “Here, the home of the God of Safety, I hurt someone important to you because I couldn’t stop. You were right, I need help.”

His brother’s breathing remained shaky. Part of Ignis was ready to move on and finish the conversation, but he sensed there was something more.

“What else? What really sparked this?”

His brother looked at him, “I was afraid to touch her.” His voice sounded hollow and distant. “When I got home this morning, she was waiting up for me. I was happy at first, I know it’s selfish. She cares enough to wait that long for me. I wanted to hold her. And then I remembered I was drunk, and even though I knew she was my flame, I-.”

Ignis nodded. His brother was steadying his breath, intently focused on the task and the memory.

His brother pushed himself off of the pantry door. Steeling himself, he continued, “I don’t want to hurt her. It’s all I seem to do right now though. If I’m not upsetting her, she just seems so disappointed in me. No matter what I do, I just don’t know how to deal with this right now.”

“I can get you Cammie’s number.” Ignis replied. His brother nodded, before Ignis added, “You can stay here, but I think I’ll be giving you some new rules.”

“You and your rules.” He muttered, nodding.

“Rules keep us safe, Infero. And they’ll help you recover.”

He nodded. “Alright. Just make sure I won’t hurt her.”

Ignis could feel a pain in his chest. His brother was truly desperate. “Don’t go drinking alone. No more bars before 5. I’d rather you not drink at all, but I’m not sure how far you want to go with this, and-.” He hesitated.

“You don’t know if I want to replace Deaton.” His brother huffed.

“It’s hard to replace someone who doesn’t want to be anymore a part of your night than a regular drunken fling, Infero.” He said, “I can’t tell you what to do, but the hard ban in my apartment stands. Deaton isn’t allowed anywhere near here.”

Infero pulled himself off the pantry, “I get it. But you try staying away from your flame.” His brother laughed. “It’s not actually as easy as you think.”

“I know. Trust me.” Ignis said. “Though, I’m not sure if he’s actually your flame anymore. The fates may have changed their plan. You do have another flame now, afterall.”

His brother hesitated. “Deaton did too. She was a mortal woman. Like Mari.” His brother shook his head, “They set him up with someone mortal, and refused to make her a goddess.”

Hearing about that for the first time, Ignis needed a second to take in the information. Pain sprung up in Ignis’s chest again, followed by panic. To lose a flame seemed like a hellish thing. He’d seen it in mortals, but mortals had the benefit of dying shortly after. It was incredibly difficult to kill a god. If Daniella was his flame and he couldn’t spend eternity with her, he had no idea what he’d do when she died. Deaton’s perpetual grief began to make sense.

He glanced at her door, panic rising in his chest again. Forcing himself away from those thoughts, he looked back at his brother.

“Hard to know what the fates are planning, you know.” He said, still sullen, and leaning against the door again.

The weight of that information alone justified his brother’s response to a mortal matched flame. He couldn’t imagine the rest of the weight his brother was carrying. No wonder he looked so tired.

“I’ll get you that number, so you can call in the morning. Right now, let’s just get some rest.” He said.

His brother nodded. Pilfering through the cards in his wallet, he handed his brother the correct number. His brother muttered something of a thank you, before moving to the couch again.

Headed to his room, Ignis quickly started to undress. He needed a shower and to sleep. His head was pounding from the events of today. Interview after interview on the only damn day he had wanted to be home. The lack of sleep from the night before. The argument he had walked past when he got home.

The only pleasant memory he had of the day was Daniella’s gentle scent. And now, panic ruined that as well. Mari’s words echoed in his head, “You have a year…” He’d thought that statement had made him nervous, but now he was terrified.

Even if he convinced her, if she wasn’t meant to be a goddess, then he would always have a deadline. She would always be promised to disappear from him one day.

Turning the water as cold as he could, he jumped in the shower. His overactive fire magic immediately steamed. Focusing on the stinging feeling, he cleared his head. His muscles ached from the inactivtiy from today. Relaxing them and focusing on the shower, he cleared his head.

Even now though, that panic was beating through him. He could force the thoughts out, but the reaction persisted.

…

Tannoh watched his wife pacing back and forth. He wanted to laugh. She had tried kicking the habit when the boys had been growing up with them, but now that they were gone, she resumed it often. Even more, Infero had taken it up from her, despite her best intentions.

“You could have made this much less complicated for them.” He said.

She sighed, “I couldn’t. The fates wanted them to learn something from their flames. This is the easiest way for that to happen.”

Tannoh watched her quietly, annoyance buzzing in the back of his mind. The fates often communed with his wife about a person’s inner flame, and parts of their passion, but this was one of the few times they had involved her in his realm. And they hadn’t involved him, not even in the slightest.

Watching her roam around their hallway, he leaned further into the doorframe. He doubted he could comfort her in this. After her sister had died, Delora had raised her sons like their own.

Bitterness rose in him over the idea that that may have also been planned. Delora was not made to bear children, not as a woman. If they had organized her sister’s suicide to give her children, that would have been an exceptionally dirty way of doing it.

Pushing that to the side, they had raised their nephews as best as they could. Delora often worried about Infero’s match with Deaton and his bad habits, but that worry extended to Ignis as well, and his avoidance and over-simplified sense of honor. Correcting those issues with the ceremony would have been easy. Drive Ignis into the arms of a woman he loved, despite being engaged. Force him to communicate with that woman. Rectify the broken match with Deaton and sober up and distance Infero from his terrible habits. It sounded easy.

It wasn’t though. Watching the situation from afar was painful to say the least. For his wife, a woman who deeply loved her nephews as her own children, watching their confusion and suffering after cutting them off must have felt horrible.

Tannoh would have preferred a more direct approach in these particular lessons, but he understood that they needed to learn these skills on their own. Failure to do so could break their matches or worse.

Refusing to allow his wife to make another round in their hallway, he cleared his throat.

“What?” She asked, but her reflexes were too late.

He picked her up by her waist and slung her over his shoulder. Grabbing hold of her legs, he brought her with him to the pool. Sitting by the lapping water, he held her in place as she fought him. With one hand, he began removing her shoes. Rubbing her foot in his hand, he continued to hold her still as her fighting subsided.

…

Seeing her face in his dream again, he felt some of the panic in his chest fall away. He had been exhausted, falling asleep and near instantly falling into a dream of her. She was laughing, running away from him in a thin dress.

His body reacted in a very different way to seeing her body barely hidden by the lace. Following her, he started laughing too. She weaved in and out of his sight, as their game of chase intensified.

Suddenly, he turned a corner, and stood face to face with her. She took his hands, leading him further into his dream. As she placed his hands on thin fabric covering her chest, he felt his body tighten. Pulling him closer, she hooked her hands behind his neck and kissed him.

The rush of it made him squeeze her in his hand, pulling the other hand around her to pull her forward. With her body flush against him, she moaned into his mouth. He groaned, desperate for more of her. Dipping his tongue into her mouth he was almost bitter that he couldn’t actually taste her.

Then, dream Daniella rubbed her body against him, grinding her thighs against his crotch. Removing his hand from her breast, he took her hand into his fist and pulled her head back. Biting down hard, he craved leaving a mark on her skin. He craved every inch of her. He wanted to touch her in such a way that she never even considered another man between her legs, and that every other man could see she was his. The idea of leaving hickeys up and down her neck should feel childish, but he wanted to mark her as his.

Dropping his teeth to her breast, he lifted her body against his. To his great joy, she braced herself on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around him. He craved actually tasting her again, and the reality of this being a dream struck him again. He didn’t care. Here, he could touch her to his heart’s content, mark her to his heart’s content. If he wanted to, he could brand her with his scent, fill her with his c*m til he couldn’t see straight anymore.

Feeling her hand pushing him further into her breasts, he took one of her n*****s into his mouth and sucked hard. Her hips shivered against him and a moan escaped her pretty lips. He wanted more. He needed more. He needed all of her.

His vision flickered, and he groaned in protest. He wanted to stay here, with her. Looking past her shoulder, he could already see the rest of the dream fading away. Turning her to look at him again, he kissed her one last time.

Groaning again, he reached for his alarm. He wanted to go back to that dream. His body was certainly ready to go back to touching her. He pushed himself up, hoping he would be a bit less uncomfortable after he got dressed and relieved himself.

…

Pouring a cup of coffee, Daniella grabbed the creamer from the fridge. Despite how late she’d woken up yesterday, she’d fallen back to sleep almost as soon as she hit the pillow. Now, up entirely too early, she was making the first pot of coffee. She felt she’d need more than one today.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Ignis had left his room, and was headed towards her. The way his eyes focused on her and the smile on his face sent butterflies through her. She bitterly kicked herself for the reaction.

The closer she had gotten to the people she had been attracted to in the past, the more reasons she had to be less attracted to them. With Ignis though, every interaction was so controlled, she felt like she still hardly knew him, despite having lived with him for half a week. What she did know about him only made him more attractive. She wanted him to slip up, so she could have something else to focus on than his lean muscles and genuine kindness.

“Thank you for making coffee.” He said. He placed a hand on her back again as he reached past her for a mug and coffee.

Her body relaxed into his touch immediately, and the strong woodsy scent he wore filled her nose. She nodded, stirring her coffee again. He moved away from her quietly, grabbing sugar for his drink. His warmth left her and followed him. She was growing uncomfortably fond of being surrounded by his body heat and scent.

“You’re welcome.” She said. Glancing at Infero, she asked, “Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be.” Ignis reassured her. “Don’t worry about him.”

“Alright.” She nodded, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of her coffee before adding, “Is everything alright?”

He smiled at her and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. The tender action drew her attention away from the couch. “I promise you, I’m responsible for your safety, and I’ll make sure everything is alright.”

“Okay.” She said.

“It’s Friday tonight, do you want to try going to one of the restaurants around here?”

She thought about it for a moment, “We did say we would. We should check in with the other two first though. I’m sure Mari probably has ideas.”

“Good idea.” He replied. “See what they want to do while I’m at work. I don’t mind staying out too late tonight.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. You going to be home on time today?” She asked.

“Yeah,” He said. Taking a sip of his coffee, he added, “I have appointments only today, the last one starts around three.”

“Okay, I’ll see what they might be feeling around then. We can have a plan by the time you get home.” She reassured him.

His approving gaze set her body on fire. “Thank you. Can you do me another favor?”

Without hesitation, she accepted, “I can.”

“Can you make sure my brother calls my friend Cammie? He needs to talk to her today.”

“Um, alright.” She accepted.

“She can help with some of what’s going on.” Is all Ignis said to reassure her.

Glancing at the couch, she nodded. Taking another sip of her coffee, she couldn’t help but enjoy the peaceful morning.