Only Ever Dreams

“He’s still going,” Sophia said to herself, not quite feeling like a smile. The sun had risen almost a full hour prior, and her Father was still out there training as heartily as he had been when the hour of midnight struck. His dungeons were taking a lot longer to complete now, and she could tell by the way he carried himself that it was wearing on him, but still he pressed on. She watched as he vanished before her eyes again, eliciting a soft sigh from the Harpy as she leaned a little heavier on the windowsill. A warmth pulsed through her veins as she stared at John, a heat that caused her lips to tighten and her fingers to clench around the wooden window frame.

“Sophia? They’ve almost finished breakfast.”

The raven-haired woman turned to address Lerianna almost reluctantly, her body seeming to creak with the effort. Sophia’s golden eyes shimmered as she gave the buxom rabbit a seemingly appraising look, eventually finding a simple nod satisfactory. Well, satisfactory for her, at least. By the way Lerianna’s lips fell into a childish pout and her brow furrowed as if scolded, it seemed she did not feel the same about their interaction.

“John’s still out training,” Lerianna added, seeming to find that information valuable enough to share, despite Sophia’s gaze already fighting to return to the window.

“Yes, I am aware of what occupies Father’s time.”

The slightest twitch of Lerianna’s eyes gave away her true irritation, but she maintained her smile as she tried again. “I was hoping that you could go and grab the idiot so that he doesn’t miss breakfast.”

“Father does not require food; if he believes that training is a better use of his time, that is his decision.”

The smile broke that time, quivering and twitching into a half-snarl, half-grimace before Lerianna managed to wrangle it back into place. “He probably just doesn’t know what time it is. If you could just-”

“Why are you asking me to speak with him instead of simply doing it yourself?”

Sophia bristled as she interrupted Lerianna, her eyes giving a sharp look that the kittens had cowered away from many times after one too many attempts to grab her wings on the rare occasions she displayed them at home. Lerianna was no kitten – her eyes narrowed and her posture tensed, but there was no backing away to be seen in her posture. If anything, her **** smile only became a little more genuine, an almost feral gleam coming to her eyes for a moment. The two of them stood there, muscles slowly tensing as if testing the other… until a smug look came over Lerianna’s face, one powerful enough to wipe clean any remaining anger.

“Oh, I think you know why.”

“Tch, have you started to sense the feelings of others as well?” Sophia grumbled, turning her gaze back out the window, still staring at the empty spot her Father had been.

“No, but you’re not as hard to read as you believe yourself to be… once someone has gotten to know you, of course. An endeavor you don’t exactly strive to make easy.”

“I am who I am, and who I have always been. I do not hide it, there is no need to ‘know’ what is always on display.”

“Look, we’ve been through hell together, and I’ve got a whole bunch of my own issues, but… I can see the little ways you’ve been changing lately. You’re so rigid it’s kind of hard to miss them. You’re standing closer to John’s side instead of trailing behind him, you’ve gotten even more protective – which is impressive, let me tell you - and you even started pointing out when-”

“I have not changed. I do not change, for I have no need to,” Sophia growled. “My duty is to fight and work as my Father sees fit, which is what I have always done. We have been through hell together, as you say, and made it through thanks to him. All that I need to change is how strong I am so that I may serve him better.”

“Is that why you’ve been feeling so uncomfortable lately? That part I hadn’t considered. Do you actually think you are who you are, and you never change?” Lerianna pondered, tapping her chin as she leaned forward as if to inspect Sophia more closely. “Because you’ve definitely changed, and I thought you were just hiding it from us, but actually, it being repression would make a lot more sense. Trust me. I know a thing or two about repression.”

“I am not uncomfortable!” Sophia protested in a tone that, had she a touch more social awareness, even she would have winced at.

“Alright, alright…” Lerianna said, still looking at Sophia as smugly as ever, her hands now resting on her hips while she leaned forward even more intently. “Well, Father really enjoys spending mealtimes with his children. Including you, of course. But I guess you’re right, he must think training is more important. And since there’s no one else around here to tell him otherwise…”

Lerianna’s smirk remained carefully tilted toward Sophia the whole time she walked out of the room, making sure that Sophia could see her arrogant grin until the door finally clicked shut behind her. Talons flickered dangerously, coming close to extending and doing some serious damage to the poor furniture as Sophia’s knuckles turned white against the wood of the windowsill.

“It is not my place. It is not my-”

Sophia groaned, leaning forward slightly as a wave of heat passed through her body, leaving her weak at the knees. Her grip tightened until wood cracked, until claws threatened to rend the entire wall asunder with one accidental twitch in the wrong manner. Sophia’s breaths came as steadily as ever, but they were heavy, and her face flushed with the effort of maintaining them as she made a herculean effort to right herself.

Sophia’s hand slid over her midsection, fingers brushing across well-toned muscles and sinewy flesh to find their way down lower, hovering at the taut but otherwise smooth skin below her abs. The slight pressure was enough to make her clench her teeth and hiss… not from pain, to be sure, but she felt herself throb all the same. Sophia pulled her hand away as if burned, using it to cling to the wall instead.

When she heard the faint, distant sound of grass rustling, the ebony-haired harpy managed to right herself well enough to pass as hale and hearty. Thankfully, John wasn’t looking her way, at least not immediately. He had his nose buried in his menus, and at this distance, Sophia couldn’t see what it was that had his attention so thoroughly – not with the haze that was only just starting to recede from her vision. All the better, for her mouth had already half-opened to call out for him, to explain his flock’s need for him, before she thought better of it. She **** a silence to her words and a smile to her lips just as he turned, glancing over his shoulder, as if he could feel Sophia’s gaze upon him.

The harpy offered him as sturdy of a wave as she could muster. It seemed to suffice – he returned the casual gesture and was off again, pressing twice on his menus and vanishing before her eyes once more. Sophia’s hand fell again to her midsection, resting a bit more gently against her skin this time.

“He is not like us. It is not my place… and it never will be.”

“Papa, Papa, try this! I saved you some!”

“No, I saved him some!”

“I got him a whole plate!”

John did his best to calm the eager kittens and apologize to his family at the same time. Talking with a mouthful of silverware thrust at him from all directions was a bit difficult, though, and the sheer speed that the kittens jabbed at him with their cutlery made him wonder if he was still in a fight after all.

“I’ve had all of this before, I’m not missing anything… but thank you! Thanks to you wonderful little kitties, I definitely won’t starve today.” John gave a quick, vigorous tousle of Mika and Miya’s hair as the twins did their best to mash their spoons into his mouth at the same time. He used enough **** to throw their balance off, just enough for him to make a quick escape.

The twins tried to follow him, but it only took a few moments for their attention to return to their own plates. Miriam was a bit more stubborn, but Mithra finally lured her away with a tactical wafting of freshly grilled salmon aroma in her direction. The fishy smell pulled the young Neko away as quickly as catnip, leaving only Midoriya still clinging onto him. With the green-haired catboy’s notorious clinginess, it was easier to simply shovel down the mouthfuls of pasta being thrust his way and give the boy a quick pat on the head before finally taking a seat at the table.

Once John had the excuse of a table to protect his front and the kittens had returned to their own food, the meal went off without a hitch. John’s late arrival meant that many of the others were already finishing up, but he did his best to speak with each of them before they all departed the dining room in turn.

“And… that’s everyone, right?” John thought as Aclysia vanished from the room, only after collecting a few of the plates from the center of the table. He glanced at all the empty chairs while listening to the sounds of the loyal Artificial Spirit beginning to scrub in the next room. *“No point in sticking around, I suppose. The others are probably waiting for me to-”

“Um, Papa?”

John turned his head and found Magnus standing behind his chair, hovering sheepishly just a couple feet back. John hadn’t heard any footsteps, which made him wonder how long his son had been waiting for him before speaking up, and the look on the boy’s face…

“Yes, Magnus? What’s wrong, were you still hungry? Or is this something else?”

“N-no, it’s not that. I just, um… why did you go see her?”

John’s posture deflated slightly, what little hope he’d had of the matter being trifling now gone. One corner of his mouth turned up in a slightly resigned smile, his heart going out to the little one.

“Because… in spite of what she did, she’s part of the family, and she deserved to be heard out. And if what I heard was true, she might deserve a second chance.” John could already see the souring look on Magnus’ face, the way his brow furrowed and his eyes started to fill with anger that John was now all too familiar with.

“She’s lying. That’s what she’s good at. Lying and hurting people,” Magnus huffed, crossing his arms. The tip of his tail twitched anxiously back and forth, the rest of it almost rigid, hanging so that the end was just a few inches above the ground. His eyes wandered back and forth across the room as if scanning for prey… or predators.

“I understand that’s not a comforting thing to hear, Magnus. I know what she did was awful, I know it hurt you a lot, and I know you’re probably not ready to forgive her – not today, not tomorrow, not any time soon – and maybe not fully forgive her for even longer than that. But if you or one of your brothers or sisters did something terrible, I would try to understand… and I would try to work with you to fix the problem, not just kick you out for one mistake.”

“B-but I thought you said I could have as much time as I needed? You said you’d protect me…” Magnus whispered, a blush coming to his cheeks. The young tomcat growled low in his throat, seemingly frustrated at how torn he felt, both ashamed at asking anyone else to protect him, but also clearly disturbed by the idea of facing Vallya again.

“And I meant that,” John said, voice firm and – he hoped – comforting. “We talked. And I think I believe what she said about what happened… but that doesn’t mean she’s coming back to live here again until you say it’s okay. Your safety takes priority, and that includes you feeling safe and comfortable in this house. You have my word, Magnus – Vallya doesn’t set foot in this house until you want her back. Understand?”

Magnus didn’t smile, but his tail lifted ever so slightly, and the slightest tension eased from it. His fidgeting slowly stopped, and eventually, he managed to meet John’s gaze and give the barest of nods.

“Okay, Papa. I trust you.”

“And that’s the most important thing in all of this. I won’t break that trust, Magnus.” John gave a hearty nod and held his arms open. The invitation only lasted a second before Magnus was wrapped around his waist, nuzzling his face against John’s chest.

“Thanks, Papa.”

John affectionately ran his fingers through his son’s wild hair, relieved at the way the conversation had gone. Things with Vallya were still far more complicated than he would have liked, but if Magnus could understand at least this much, there was hope. Hope he hadn’t dared have when the situation first unfolded, especially as angry as he’d been himself back then.