Chapter 25: My Heart is Untamed

Story of My Life, One Direction

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The campus looked nice. Morgyn decided that the second the blond set eyes on the grounds. The weathered stone and varying vines scattered around brought a strange sense of peace. The sage could almost smell the old books high up on the shelves in the library, tucked where none could reach now.

Morgyn had the qualifications, it turned out, to make it into Foxbury’s distinguished degrees for the programmes the blond was interested in. Ezio went to Britechester, however. Perhaps it was stupid, but Morgyn had no intention of attending a university Ezio wasn’t in. It made it easier to keep half an eye on him. Ezio liked to forget it and pretend otherwise, but his heart condition did still exist, and it still bothered him. He’d made leaps and bounds of progress over the years, with medication and physical therapy, but someday, it wouldn’t be enough anymore.

Call Morgyn crazy, but the blond wanted to be there when it wasn’t. Ezio wasn’t allowed to leave without Morgyn there to see him off.

In the meantime, Ezio was doing better than he ever had in magic realm. For all that Morgyn didn’t like that Ezio lived now separate from the blond, Morgyn also had to admit that it was doing him a fair deal of good. Morgyn may not like it, but this was not now and never really had been about Morgyn liking anything. It was about Ezio healing some, and regaining some semblance of control over his life.

He seemed happier to Morgyn, now, and the blond supposed just about anyone would, when they were no longer collapsing all the time. But what did Morgyn know of Ezio’s pain, anyway? Hundreds of years later, and it still felt like there were sides of Ezio that Morgyn did not now, and maybe never would, understand. There were sides and parts of Morgyn that maybe Ezio would never understand, either.

Morgyn held the acceptance letter from Britechester in one hand, and wandered around almost aimlessly through the campus grounds. It must’ve been a bad time, because it seemed no one was around at the moment. Morgyn considered coming back later, but then found a sign that told the blond where to go. Hmph. Just when the blond was about to resort to magic. Morgyn redirected to follow that pathway, and then the blond came to the end of the walkway and looked very confused. Morgyn turned back around, and again, several times, before finally finding the doorway the blond was looking for.

Why this office was so damn difficult to find, maybe that one, Morgyn would never know. Perhaps Morgyn wasn’t doing a very good job of adulting today, either.

As the blond wandered in, Morgyn tapped lightly on the side of the open door into the admissions office. The few present in the office startled slightly, turning to look at the newcomer, and one stepped forward.

“Welcome to Britechester,” she said. “Come to inquire about enrollment?”

“I’d like to start my first term,” Morgyn answered.

“Okie dokie, do you have your acceptance papers?” The woman fluidly sat down at a computer, and began typing.

Morgyn wordlessly handed her the papers. She murmured a thank you, and flipped through them, looking increasingly confused.

“I’m sorry, you want to enroll here?” she asked. “You’re not looking for Foxbury?”

“No,” Morgyn said. “I’d like to attend here, thanks.”

The woman looked at the blond in incredulous confusion. “With qualifications like these, you could easily make it into Foxbury’s distinguished programmes for these degrees. It just seems like -“

“I know,” Morgyn answered. “Foxbury’s a little too modern for my tastes.” Actually, Morgyn found it kind of charming. It simply wasn’t anyone’s business which university Morgyn was or was not attending, nor the reasoning behind it.

“Alright then,” the woman answered, going back to typing at the computer. “You’ll still get a jump in the working world, of course, but perhaps not as much of one as you may otherwise.”

“It’s fine,” Morgyn replied. “I’m a fairly hard worker, I’ll make up the deficit with no real trouble I’m sure.”

“Okay then, if you know what you’re doing,” she answered, and fell silent to type.

Someday, when Ezio was gone, maybe Morgyn would do this all over again, and go through Foxbury, instead. And maybe the blond would go back to magic realm and never come back out again. Nah. There were other things out here to keep going for. Speaking of which, Morgyn should head across the hallway and say hello to the Vatores. The blond never did drop in on them, and they probably knew Morgyn was around by now. They both said Morgyn had a strong scent. Morgyn thought it was more likely that they simply caught onto it quicker because they were more firmly attuned to it.

“How many classes would you like per term?” the woman asked.

Morgyn squinted slightly. “Four,” the blond replied.

“Alright, I’ve got your class schedule, let me just print that off, and you’ll begin term on Monday.” The woman stood up, as another machine started making noise, and then handed Morgyn a slip of paper. “Could you stand just a little to the right and look straight ahead?”

Morgyn glanced down at the floor, moving over one step to the right, and then looking up. A flash of light went off, and then the woman wandered off, as Morgyn blinked rapidly in attempt to restore ability to see clearly.

The woman came back a moment later, handing Morgyn a lanyard and a card. “This is your student identification card,” she explained. “Keep it on you somewhere while you’re on campus grounds. And, welcome to UBrite.”

“Thank you,” Morgyn answered, taking the card, lanyard, and the class schedule. The blond looked it over, heading outside, presumably to go home, or perhaps Morgyn would give Ezio a bit of a break from having to put up with the blond, and find something else to do.

* * *

As was to be expected from a biology degree programme, Morgyn had a whole host of science courses this term. Morgyn hadn’t been keeping up with the sciences very well. Between worrying too much about Ezio, and keeping up with being a sage, there were just some things that slipped through the cracks. Science, rather low on the totem pole of importance for the blond, was one of those things.

The blond shuffled off to one side of the grounds, settling down on a bench to look over the schedule. It turned out, as well, this certainly wasn’t Morgyn’s most flattering photo, but the blond figured no one’s student ID was flattering. Morgyn released an amused huff at that thought, head falling back onto the bench, green eyes watching the clouds go by. It was a nice day, if you were into snow, at least. Ezio never minded it, but Morgyn was better suited to the interior of a volcano.

It was amazing, sometimes, how different and yet alike Morgyn and Ezio were. There were times when it was hard to tell them apart, because they seemed to be no different, and other times they were each other’s polar opposite. Morgyn had stopped trying to make sense of it.

There was no rush to go home, Morgyn thought, so instead the blond intended to sit there on the bench until good and damn well ready to go home. There were too many things to think about, things Morgyn didn’t entirely want to think about just yet. Life was easier when those things to think about waited just a little longer. Still, some of those things were necessary to ensure Ezio’s life didn’t have to change too much on account of Morgyn getting bored of magic realm. A long time ago, the blond had even said such a thing wouldn’t ever happen. Promises, promises, mm?

Of course, no matter how things turned out, Ezio would never turn Morgyn away. In some sense, that was part of the problem. Ezio was terrible at telling Morgyn to fuck off, and terrible at being honest about it when he was struggling. He had too much pride for that, especially now. Morgyn didn’t like to think about it, but the streets really had changed him. There was a side of Ezio that Morgyn didn’t really know, now.

Morgyn slid down in the blond’s seat. And then a familiar voice spoke up, as a shadow fell over Morgyn.

“Well, imagine running into you here,” Caleb said.

Morgyn immediately sat up, smiling just slightly at the vampire. With the light behind him, a slight halo around his form, he almost looked like an angel. Caleb would be one of the Watcher’s greatest angels.

Too bad he was already Morgyn’s angel.

“Yeah,” Morgyn answered. “Um. I came to enroll, actually. Got my class schedule and everything.” The blond softly tapped the papers in one hand.

Caleb glanced down at it, and then shuffled around to sit next to the blond. “Welcome to UBrite, then,” he said. “I’m in the culinary arts programme.”

“Oh yeah?” Morgyn asked. “… yeah, that suits you.” Caleb had a thing about cooking and feeding people. Someday, he could run a pretty successful restaurant, if that was something he wanted to do. Of course, he’d be terrible at the business side of things, Morgyn thought. He didn’t have enough push when it was necessary. Then again, he’d surprised the blond before, and he was still related to Lilith. He had to have a backbone in there somewhere, or he wouldn’t have survived this long with her as a sister.

Lilith was wonderful. And also very stubborn, and very slightly prone to violence. It was a quirk.

“Glad you think so,” Caleb said. “Lilith tells me I should’ve gone into music, but I’m not ready for that. Maybe in a few hundred years.”

Morgyn snorted softly. “Whenever you think you can.” Caleb played piano, and wrote music from time to time. Very rarely, the blond had managed to come across him working on a piece, but he never stayed working on it for very long. It was almost like Caleb was embarrassed by it. Ezio had things like that. Maybe it was a remnant of different ideas of what was manly.

Morgyn would never think different of him over something so shallow. And anyway, writing music was a good thing. The world could use a little less pain, and a little more love.

“Hey, when were you going to come by, anyway?” Caleb asked.

Morgyn shrugged. “Sometime this week,” the blond answered. “It was on the list, I promise. I’ve just been catching up with Ezio, but we’re reaching the time where he’s wearing out on me.”

“He’s still doing okay?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah,” Morgyn answered. “He’s doing just fine. Better than he has been in years, I think.”

“Lilith is in the same classes he is,” Caleb said. “She’d tell me if he was struggling too much, and never mind I see him all the time, but, I worry anyway.”

“It’s sweet that you care,” Morgyn said.

“Well, someone’s gotta look out for you Embers,” Caleb answered, features scrunching up in amusement. “You both are terrible at taking care of yourselves.”

“You’re right,” Morgyn allowed. “But you’re not supposed to say it.”

Caleb snorted in amusement. “Someone should,” he answered. “Or you’ll conveniently forget. Not sure what I’d do with you after that. I think I’d have a charred lump left over by the time you were done blowing yourself up and forgetting to eat.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’ve not forgotten to eat for a while now,” Morgyn defended.

“Have you eaten anything besides macaroni and cheese in the last few months, though?” Caleb asked. “That is the real question.”

Morgyn didn’t answer. Morgyn didn’t have to.

Caleb released a sigh. “Of course,” he said.

“You sound terribly put upon,” Morgyn said, raising an eyebrow.

“Am I not?” Caleb asked, reaching up and poking Morgyn’s nose. “I did kind of appoint myself your caretaker.”

“I thought that was my brother,” Morgyn answered, head tilting to one side, nose scrunching up as Caleb poked it.

“In some ways,” Caleb replied. “Ezio’s weakness is you, though. He doesn’t push you enough when you need to be.”

“Is that so?” Morgyn asked. “And you do?”

“Nah. I have other ways of getting you to do what I want you to.” This long after, Caleb sure should hope he knew how to work around Morgyn’s temperament.

The blond looked intrigued. “And what are those?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Caleb said. “Then you’ll know my secret weapons and they won’t be secret or weapons anymore.”

Morgyn’s arms crossed over each other. Apparently, that was the point.

“But hey,” Caleb went on. “I’m trying to perfect a consomme recipe, and I figure I’d better ask someone French to try it.”

Morgyn’s eyes lit up. “You could ask Ezio, but I’m not complaining. Oooh, that sounds really good with the cold and – … oh.”

Caleb laughed. “Well?”

Morgyn looked amused, and then released a puff of air. “Alright,” the blond answered. “You sure have an interesting manner of manipulation, sir.” The blond reached over and took Caleb’s hands.

“Does it bother you?” Caleb asked, head tilting back slightly.

“Nah,” Morgyn answered. “Feel free to con me into eating right any time you want.”

* * *

“Make yourself at home,” Caleb said, holding the door long enough for Morgyn to shuffle in. The apartment was very small, much smaller than their manor in Forgotten Hollow, at least, from what Morgyn remembered of the place. The blond had only been there once or twice. Ezio had gone more frequently, because he spent a lot of time around Lilith. That was probably some kind of sad, but, Morgyn wasn’t too concerned about it.

Instead, the blond shuffled across the kitchen into the living room, to have a seat on the couch.

“Do you want anything?” Caleb asked, heading into the kitchen.

“Just some water, would be fine enough for now,” Morgyn answered.

“Water coming right up,” Caleb answered, shuffling around to get a glass and handing it to Morgyn. “So, how long are you staying for?”

“A week or two,” Morgyn replied. “I’m trying to move here more permanently, but, Ezio’s still kind of in financial dire straits. I don’t want to cause him any trouble, even if accidentally.”

Caleb nodded, shuffling around the kitchen. “You know, there’s a place across the street over there by the water,” he said. “It’s called the Casa di Colori. You might like it. It’s kind of somewhere between being a hostel and a halfway house. Runs mostly on donations and fundraising, so if you don’t have the money for it, they won’t ask any questions.”

Morgyn leaned against the back of the couch, considering this information. “What’s it for?” Morgyn asked.

“The owner is gay,” Caleb answered. “Also likes to wear dresses a lot. I understand his family turned on him for it. So he sought to build a place where anyone could find a home, if they needed one.”

Oh. Well, being as Morgyn was trans, liked to wear dresses, and was pretty bisexual, the blond supposed that sounded about perfect a place to go. Morgyn wondered if one could see this Casa di Colori from Ezio’s room. It faced the street.

“I’ll look into it, thank you,” Morgyn said.

“I have friends that way,” Caleb said. “They’re really great people, I think you’ll like them. They take care of each other, because no one else will. It kind of reminded me of you and Ezio.”

Morgyn smiled a little. “That sounds really nice.” Even if Morgyn didn’t end up staying with these people very long, it was nice to think they’d feel a little like home. Morgyn shifted around on the couch, sitting to one side, back against the armrest, one leg loosely hanging off the edge of the cushion.

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed. “If Ezio ever needs somewhere to go, the Casa would take him, too. In a heartbeat.”

Morgyn’s face scrunched up. “Yeah, maybe,” Morgyn allowed, “but you know how Ezio is about accepting help.” It’d gotten worse ever since Ezio spent those few years out on the street. Morgyn knew enough about the real world to know what that must have been like. Ezio still looked just like Morgyn, and Morgyn could hardly go certain places, without finding trouble. The blond had a hard time believing that Ezio had escaped the harassment.

They didn’t really talk about Ezio’s time on the streets. Morgyn almost wondered why, and then decided not to wonder too hard. Of course, by now, Ezio was a master of black tiger. Morgyn didn’t think things would’ve gone too wrong.

Well, the blond was still not thinking about it.

“That’s true,” Caleb said. He went quiet a moment, the sound of something boiling becoming louder. “It’s an idea,” Caleb added. “Maybe if you’re already staying there, he’ll take it a little better. I don’t know what their finances look like, but they’re late on rent a lot. Ezio is friends with the landlord, it’s the only reason he got that place, and probably the only reason he’s not gotten himself thrown out.”

“Things are that bad?” Morgyn asked, looking concerned.

“I wouldn’t call them terribly bad,” Caleb replied. “They do make their rent, just a couple days late, is all.”

That was still concerning enough. Morgyn didn’t say anything, just frowned and pulled one leg a little closer to the blond’s body.

Caleb released a sigh, bustling around getting the consomme ready to simmer. Consomme took normally several hours to prepare, but Caleb didn’t mind entertaining Morgyn for that long. As soon as the vampire turned the heat down, he shuffled over to the couch to sit down, facing Morgyn. “Hey,” he said softly. “Ezio’s got people looking out for him, even if he’s not always up for accepting help.”

“You’re not doing anything stupid, like paying his rent, are you?” Morgyn asked, an eyebrow quirking upward.

“No,” Caleb answered. “At least, not all of it. It may get lowered from time to time out of the ‘goodness of the landlord’s heart,’ however.”

Morgyn made a face. “You know if he finds out about that, he’s going to get pissed.”

“I know,” Caleb said. “But at least this way, you don’t have to worry about him so much. He’s not alone out here, Morgyn, not anymore.”

Morgyn sighed, reaching down and taking Caleb’s hands again. The blond liked to say that Ezio was the nonverbal communicator, and while it was true that Ezio did so to a greater extent than the blond, Morgyn did still fall back on nonverbal cues from time to time. In communication with Caleb, for instance, the blond relied much heavier on body language. And somehow, Caleb just always understood, even when Morgyn didn’t understand what the blond was trying to say.

Green eyes flicked up, finding grey eyes watching intently. Caleb didn’t look at anyone else like that, except Morgyn, even now, a few years of HRT and a surgery later. It was partly through Ezio’s efforts that Morgyn had even managed to transition in the first place. It felt like Ezio was always saving Morgyn, just like always.

The blond still hadn’t figured out how to save him. Drake was probably right, and Morgyn wouldn’t, until Ezio willed it.

“How do you always know what to say?” Morgyn asked.

Caleb shrugged. “Years of paying attention, I guess.”

Yeah, years of paying attention to Morgyn. The blond didn’t point that out. “So, what else are you learning to make?”

“Lots of things,” Caleb answered. Morgyn tended to change the subject, when said subject became too much for the blond.

“You know what France does best?” Morgyn asked.

“What’s that?”

“Cheese and wine,” Morgyn answered, smirking. “Alright, and a couple other things like potage and maybe quiches. Actually, Normandy has a respectable range of dishes using seafood and apples.”

“Apples?” Caleb asked, looking confused.

“Sure,” Morgyn answered. “There are bunches of apple trees in Normandy. I remember them flowering in the spring. It was very pretty.”

“You do like apples, right?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah,” Morgyn said, leaning over and resting against Caleb’s shoulder. “I like apples.”

* * *

As it turned out, Morgyn was much too tired to bother opening the door. Instead, the blond flicked a finger and would have magically opened the door, if Ezio hadn’t apparently coated the door in magical wards. Morgyn frowned slightly, but then the door opened anyway, and Ezio arched an eyebrow at the blond.

“What is that?” Ezio asked, and then breathed in. “Oooh… it smells good.”

“It’s consomme,” Morgyn answered, shuffling in the apartment and setting the pot down on the counter. “Caleb made it just today. Mm, the flavour is good. Almost perfect, he’s very close.”

Ezio smiled, pulling the lid off the pot and breathing in. It really did smell good. That in mind, Ezio shuffled around to get a spoon and try it. “Did you show him how?” he asked.

“Nope,” Morgyn answered, sitting down at the dining room table. “He’s learning how to in class. Said he wanted a French person to try it, which was actually code for, I’m sick of you eating macaroni and cheese.”

Ezio snorted, settling down on the other side of the table with a bowl. “That sounds about right,” Ezio said. “I can’t say I’m fond of your attachment to cheesy pasta, either.”

“Oh come on,” Morgyn protested. “It’s cheesy pasta! How can you hate it?”

“It’s loaded with carbs, Morgyn,” Ezio answered. And then he leaned over to the side, glancing at Morgyn around the table. “Though of course, calories and carbs seem to go straight to your ass.”

Morgyn blinked, glancing to one side. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ezio’s ass was just as big. Actually, maybe it was bigger, because Ezio had a lot more… body going on than Morgyn did, just in general.

“It means lay off the pasta,” Ezio said. “There are a lot of other things you need in your diet, you can’t live on just pasta. Well, you could, theoretically, but you’d either be very miserable, end up in the hospital for malnutrition, or both.” Ezio’s money was on both.

Morgyn snorted. “Actually I live on needs potions,” the blond said.

And Ezio stared, could only stare, as he tried to process that statement, and then one hand reached up and he smacked himself in the face.

“What?” Morgyn asked.

“That’s even worse!” Ezio replied. “You’re not seriously living on those are you?”

Morgyn glanced at the wall. “If I said I was, would you be mad?”

Ezio loosed a groan. “You know, it’s no wonder Caleb made a habit of sending you back over here with food. You probably smell like tragedy and the tears of small children.”

Morgyn blinked. “What do the tears of small children smell like?”

“Salt and despair, idiot,” Ezio answered. Of course, Ezio wasn’t sure how to describe the scent of despair, but he liked to think his weak little human senses had picked it up once or twice. Who knew what it smelled like to someone with stronger senses than he had. “So, how was the visit?”

“I hate how perfect he is,” Morgyn answered, head falling onto the dining room table.

Ezio raised an eyebrow, reaching around to keep Morgyn’s hair from falling into his consomme. This was actually quite good. “What now, then? You should ask him out or something.” Probably.

Morgyn released a sigh. The problem was that Morgyn wasn’t so sure what exactly the blond wanted them to be. They were already too intimate to be friends, exactly, and yet they weren’t enough to be lovers. It was a strange sort of balance that Morgyn had never mastered where the line of was. Maybe that was the sign that it was time to be rid of that line, but then there was always the chance that they’d just end up with a mess on their hands by the end of it.

“I don’t know what I want from him,” Morgyn said, half grumbled into the table.

Ezio made a noise, sipping at the consomme. “Well, you can’t keep this up,” Ezio said. “You’re somewhere between lovers and not, and I think it’s driving him nuts. Either be friends, or be lovers. Don’t be friends one moment and lovers the next.”

Morgyn grumbled again, head shifting to look up at Ezio. “Why are you right?” the blond asked.

“We’re always right about these things,” Ezio said, reaching over and patting Morgyn’s head. “Just, only about each other’s love lives, not our own.”

Morgyn went quiet, staring at the kitchen counters. After a moment, Mayor jumped up onto one, and then onto the fridge, where he happily made a perch and curled up to sleep. The cat probably had the right idea. But of course, Morgyn had been sleeping on it off and on since the 80s, and still did not have a real answer. Morgyn had no idea if there was an answer to have, at this point.

Well, somewhere in there.

“I think I’m afraid of letting him any closer,” Morgyn said softly.

Ezio didn’t respond right away, thinking. Then, he reached across the table and pet Morgyn’s hair. “You’ll never know what it’s like to fly, if you never leave the ground.”

Green eyes moved to look at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Sometimes you’ve gotta take a few risks, Morgyn,” Ezio said.

“If we cross the line, we’ll never look at each other the same way again,” Morgyn said.

“You can’t honestly tell me you’ve been looking at each other strictly platonically this entire time,” Ezio answered. “I don’t think anything will change at all. The line’s been crossed, the idea of staying merely friends for the rest of your lives is a mere illusion by now, anyone can see that if they look at him, you both.” Ezio paused a moment. “I think Caleb’s waiting for you to make the first move.”

Morgyn’s head raised off the table. “What makes you think that?”

Ezio snorted. “You’re flighty, for one thing,” he answered. “In the strangest of ways. Things can and do scare you off sometimes. You don’t withdraw entirely, no. It’s not one of those situations where you take off running in the opposite direction, but you do pull away, back into yourself. I figure because you need to think about things without the external input confusing you, but for someone like Caleb, it hurts the same either way.”

“I don’t do that because -“

“I know,” Ezio interrupted. “I’m sure even Caleb knows. But it doesn’t take the sting away. You’re weirdly delicate in ways he can’t always predict. I know, because I can’t always either. Faced with something like that, it makes sense that he’d want to leave the control in your hands.” Unfortunately, he also wordlessly placed all the expectation on Morgyn’s shoulders, left carrying this entire relationship to Morgyn. Ezio wasn’t going to say anything. Morgyn had proven many times over why it was a bad idea for them to meddle in each other’s love lives. Ezio wasn’t going to do it.

“I guess I have to think about that,” Morgyn answered. It was easy enough to say that they had fallen in love with each other over the decades, and maybe they had. The problem was, Morgyn didn’t know how to be in love. That was Ezio’s thing. Morgyn had ambitions and goals that went far beyond being in love, and had pursued those ambitions and goals at the cost of a love life to speak of. (Funny, though, if you asked anyone at magic realm, Morgyn had quite the love life; but it was always one-sided and based solely on the blond’s physical appearance, and that kind of thing was shallow at best, and Morgyn wanted more than just that.)

“Think about it, then,” Ezio said. “There’s no hurry. You and Caleb will be around for a long time yet.” There was time to consider it. It was better than making the wrong choice.

* * *

Morgyn was right. There, across the street, Morgyn could see a building by the water, an external stucco design, rainbows around the columns, and vines crawling up the walls. The architecture looked distinctly Italian, but with a name like the Casa di Colori, it was no wonder. The sun was barely up, but, Morgyn fell out of bed, and then shuffled around getting dressed. Today was going to be another day Morgyn wasn’t here to pester Ezio.

Ezio wasn’t complaining, of course. It was difficult to keep up with a whirlwind like Morgyn when the blond got excited. At some point, Morgyn intended to stop by Saint Mary’s and see how things were going. Morgyn didn’t have time to attend services anymore, not with any notable frequency, but the blond remained friends with the pastor. He’d aged over time, of course. It’d been thirty some years. Morgyn hadn’t changed much at all, outside of suddenly being more masculine, and every time Morgyn stopped by, the blond could see the questions in his eyes. He’d wisely, thus far, kept them to himself.

As soon as Morgyn was dressed, the blond scurried out into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast off Ezio’s plate and hurrying out the door. “Be back later, bye!” the blond called along the way to the elevator. Morgyn went down to the ground floor, stepped out into the light, brighter than normal from the light reflecting off the snow. Morgyn’s green eyes blinked several times in rapid succession, and then Morgyn stepped across the street, towards the rainbow columns.

As soon as Morgyn got there, the blond caught onto a strange sense of hope. The place wasn’t loud; though Morgyn could see several people on the ground floor beyond the entryway, they were mostly calm and quiet. A few spoke to one another in hushed tones. Morgyn stopped by the entry, reading the signs there.

After a moment, something on the desk moved. Morgyn jumped back in surprise, only to find a calico cat uncurling on the reception desk. “Well hello there,” the blond greeted, holding a hand out for the cat.

The cat lazily turned to face the hand, sniffed it, and then laid back down, and curled back up. Morgyn looked amused, and just so, could hear the cat begin to purr.

“Don’t mind her too much,” a voice said. Morgyn looked up towards where it was coming from, finding a dusky-skinned male with beautiful green eyes, a subtle ring of amber around the pupil, and short, thick and wavy black hair. There were fair-sized gold hoops in either of his ears. Morgyn glanced downward. He was wearing a black shirt with embroidered roses and a black skirt. Actually, he looked really good in it, too.

“What’s her name?” Morgyn asked.

“Penny,” the man answered. “She’s the Casa‘s mascot, you could say. Mostly, she lounges around and just looks like she’s doing something. I’m Brandon, the Casa‘s owner, what’s your name, sweetie?”

Morgyn breathed out loudly. “Morgyn,” the blond answered.

“You a she or a he, darlin’?” Brandon asked.

“Yes,” Morgyn answered.

“Aoooh…” Brandon said softly. “You’re an experience, gotcha.”

Morgyn laughed. “Yeah, definitely an experience. Not always a good one.”

“The best ones aren’t,” Brandon answered, smiling. “Welcome to the House of Colours. You staying for a while, dear?”

Morgyn made a face. “Well, I’m hoping to,” the blond answered. “I’m staying with my brother for right now but he’s… things are difficult for him so I’d like to find somewhere of my own to go. I have money, at least.”

Brandon rested a hand against a hip. “Well love, we run on a needs-based system. If you think you can pay the normal fee, it’s 600 Simoleons a night, 4,200 a week. If you don’t think you can, then we can lower the amount, or you can even stay for free, if need be, while you get on your feet. What do you think, love?”

Ooh, that was a lot. “I could do the 600 a night for a while,” Morgyn answered. “But then I’d run out.”

“How about we do 200 a night?” Brandon suggested. “That should be a lot more manageable over a long haul, and maybe you’ll end up more stable before the end of it.”

“That’s so little,” Morgyn said.

“Of course it is darlin’,” Brandon answered. “Don’t worry about it any, some people stay here for free, others stay forever, and some people stay forever, for free. That’s what taking care of each other means, isn’t it?”

Well, that was what it meant when it was Morgyn and Ezio. Maybe Brandon was right, and Morgyn was being silly.

“Are you looking for a job right now?” Brandon asked.

“No,” Morgyn answered. “Well, sort of. I’m in university right now.”

“Oooh, good luck,” Brandon said. “You’ll be making a decent amount of money after that, no doubt. If you want to donate to the Casa after you’ve gone, we do take donations, love.”

Morgyn’s head tilted. “Is that how you run?” Morgyn asked.

“A little of that, a little of fundraising. The community takes care of this place, and we help take care of the community. It’s all a give and take. Compassion for some compassion. That seems fair enough, doesn’t it?”

Morgyn smiled. “Yeah, it does,” the blond answered.

“You seem a little bit special, love,” Brandon said, his tone lowering. “You know, like full moons and tarot cards kind of special.”

Morgyn blinked. The blond must’ve looked a bit alarmed, because Brandon laughed, and waved a hand.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” he said. “I was raised by a vampire. I learnt to sense these things. I can put you in the occult side of the Casa, if you’d rather?”

Well, sometimes Morgyn woke up screaming and throwing Inferniate everywhere. Maybe that was a good idea. Hmm. Morgyn wasn’t sure how the blond felt about Brandon figuring that out so quickly. And anyway, Morgyn still needed to tell Ezio what was going on, and where Morgyn was going. Maybe Caleb too.

“Can I think about it, for a bit?” Morgyn asked. “I’m still staying with my brother and I want to make sure everything’s going to pan out how I think it will.”

“That’s just fine, love,” Brandon answered. “You’re always welcome in the Casa, alright darlin? You just come ask for me when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Morgyn answered, turning towards the door. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You too!”

As Morgyn scurried back over to Culpepper, Morgyn knew that the blond’s mind had already been made up. Ezio came first, and that was all.

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