~Sunday 17th March 2013~
Malcolm awoke in a wonderful mood, a smile on his lips before he even opened his eyes, the residual happiness from the previous evening having caused his expression to remain even whilst he slept. During what little sleep he got anyway - Eden was a demanding little minx. Malcolm didn't mind losing sleep over his boyfriend, it was probably the only acceptable excuse that wouldn't leave him in a foul mood.
Malcolm rolled over onto his front, reaching out into the nest of blankets and pillows he had created, searching blindly for his lover. His eyes snapped open when he felt nothing other than the silken sheets and the thick carpet beneath the pile. Squinting in the dawn light streaming in through the glass doors, Malcolm sat up, bunching up some covers over himself.
"Edee?" he called out, looking toward the kitchen area, not having a great view of anything since he was sat on the floor. The idea to sleep in the living room in front of the fireplace had been Eden's and had been a good one. The previous night had been so different for the both of them, so intense, Malcolm knew the memories would last for a lifetime. They may have been together for a few weeks already but last night held so many firsts for them, it was amazing.
Malcolm's shifted his gaze, looking out the sliding glass doors to the garden, seeing Eden perched on the back patio facing away from the house. Malcolm took a moment to admire the curvature of the boy's form, that smile returning to his face once again. Eden was very petite, Malcolm had noted that the day they first met, he was almost bordering on skeletal. But that wasn't a bad thing. Sometimes some people were simply just that thin, Malcolm was sure that Eden would probably be able to build up some muscle easily if he wanted to.
Malcolm rose to his feet, wrapping a blanket around his waist, securing it around his hips before walking out into the back garden and sitting down next to Eden. The boy must have been up longer than Malcolm anticipated because he had already made himself a coffee, staring out absently at everything they had left on the grass. The food, the fairy lights, the clothing strewn everywhere. A mess Malcolm would be happy to clean up.
"Are you OK?" Malcolm asked quietly, his eyes scanning over the distant expression on Eden's face, his stomach suddenly knotted up with nerves. Maybe Eden hadn't enjoyed last night as much as he had, maybe in the heat of the moment Malcolm had made a mistake he didn't notice, maybe-
"Yeah, I just needed a minute out here," Eden's voice didn't hold its usual tone but it didn't sound glum either, more distant that Malcolm may have liked.
"Did something happen?" Malcolm snaked an arm around Eden's waist, pressing a kiss to the boy's head.
"No, everything's fine. Sometimes life just catches up, y'know?" Malcolm frowned, unsure of why Eden was being so cryptic when he was usually so blunt, "you ever just think back, y'know reminisce about... stuff?" Malcolm didn't like where the conversation was going, it was adding to the worry swelling within him, making him feel a little nauseous.
"Eden, please just tell me what's going on," Malcolm didn't want to pester or plead, he wasn't sure whether whatever was bothering Eden might not be something the boy was willing to talk about. Eden tilted his head back, his eyes finally meeting Malcolm's as a lopsided smile worked its way onto his face.
"It would have been Archie's nine hundred and twenty-fifth birthday today," Malcolm's lips parted ever so slightly, his mind forming a thousand different sentences but only silence rolling off his tongue, "it's not a big deal, Mal, I don't need some sort of candlelit vigil or for you to walk on eggshells. You wanted to know what was going on, that's it, that's what I'm dealing with today. Who knows what I'll be dealing with tomorrow?" Malcolm wished he could think of something to say to Eden, something to comfort the boy, and yet he could think of nothing. He was one of New York's best lawyers, he could work under immense pressure, could spend his days looking at gruesome crime photos and reading over decrepit descriptions of the worst acts caused by the human and SN psyche. And yet he just couldn't think of anything to say to Eden.
"I was thinking of ordering in breakfast," Malcolm finally spoke after a few moments of silence, kicking himself mentally at what had managed to make its way out, "unless you're really wanting me to cook something. There's a few cafes around here that-" Malcolm was cut off when Eden leant up, covering the man's mouth with his own in a tender kiss, caressing his cheek lightly with his thumb.
"Thank you," Eden whispered when their lips parted, that smile having grown to truly brighten his features, "you're the first person that hasn't said I'm sorry when I've said something like that. You brushed right over it and I know you might not have meant to but that's exactly what I wanted, what I needed," Eden peppered a few more chaste kisses to Malcolm's awaiting lips, "can I order something? I want it to be a surprise for you."
"Sure, order whatever you want," Malcolm rose to his feet with a smile when he heard his phone ringing inside, "I'll just take this call then I'll join you, OK?" Eden nodded, picking up his phone from the step next to him, "if you need any payment details, my wallet is in the kitchen, use the black or the gold card," Malcolm ran a hand through Eden's hair, disappearing just as that pretty rouge stained his cheeks. Malcolm found his phone on the table next to the couch where he had left it on charge the previous night, answering the call from Slate as he walked into the hallway.
"You're up early, out chasing rabbits?" Malcolm joked, sitting down on the stairs, debating whether he and Eden would shower together before or after breakfast. It could be a lengthy process, after was probably better, he wouldn't want them to be interrupted.
"I wish that was why I was calling you," Slate's tone was sympathetic, meaning something was most definitely wrong, the wolf didn't use that voice unless something was severe enough, "I got an email this morning, I forwarded it to you but I'm assuming you've been too busy with Eden to check."
"I only just woke up, what is it?" Malcolm put his phone on speaker, hoping Eden had remained outside to order breakfast, clicking onto his emails.
"Hayden Wayne," Malcolm hadn't heard that name in a long time, he hadn't even realised he had survived Reivon's wrath the last time he had reared his ugly head, "apparently he has an interesting article idea involving you," Malcolm let out a hefty sigh as his eyes skimmed over the forwarded email, that man was relentless. Malcolm had honestly believed Reivon had scared him off when he had begun spreading rumours that the vampire had paid for his daughter to get her job. He may have helped her, but she did the leg work, and she was damn proud of herself for doing so.
"He has no evidence, Eden and I are so careful, he can't have any evidence," Malcolm knew his own voice, knew it didn't sound very believable. He and Eden weren't careful all the time, they slipped up, like everyone did.
"He's not credible anymore, he lost his job when Rei exposed his practices. He's probably going off rumours, Mal, I'm having Tia look into it. I just wanted to tell you, we'll fix this, Mal, even if we have to set Rei on him again," Malcolm dragged a hand through his hair, pulling apart the knots as he often did when his focus drifted.
"Thanks for doing this, I'll see you later," Malcolm hung up before Slate, finding a pair of clean sweatpants on the radiator and slipping them on, folding up the blanket he had been adorning whilst he walked back into the kitchen. Malcolm's slack expression immediately hardened when he noted the grimace on Eden's face as the boy bent down, folding up the other blankets strewn by the fireplace.
"You told me you were healed," Malcolm murmured, moving behind the boy and snaking a hand under his shirt, drawing absent patterns on his bare skin.
"I am, doll," Eden may have thought he was a convincing liar, and maybe he was to everyone else, but Malcolm had spent hours with those who fabricated the truth. It wasn't often he could be fooled.
"We shouldn't have done that the other day," Eden turned on his heel quickly, his wide, almost fearful eyes meeting Malcolm's, "we hurt you, you're not healing properly. It was a mistake."
"It was not a mistake, Mal," Eden said adamantly, determination flooding his eyes, "it was amazing, OK? Honestly, it was one of the best experiences of my life, I couldn't have asked for anything better. So I'm a little sore for a few days, it was worth it, Mal, I promise," Malcolm's frown didn't lessen even when Eden reached up and cupped his cheek, "I'm not as fragile as you think, doll."
"I'm still not comfortable with him, I know you want to trust him but I can't. This isn't exactly a situation I'm accustomed to," a wry smile broke out over Eden's face, forcing Malcolm to suppress his own brightening expression.
"Summon him," Malcolm cocked an eyebrow, having not expected that suggestion, "you're not used to the situation, and we're supposed to be testing out these theories, right? So summon him. If you can't trust the other side of you, Mal, who are you ever gonna be able to trust?" Malcolm chuckled, shaking his head.
"You're just wanting double the attention, aren't you?" Eden's smile became a grin, one that lit up his whole face and left a warm feeling in Malcolm's chest.
"What can I say? I was the middle child, we're always attention seekers."
"Edee, where did you even order breakfast from?" Malcolm asked as he walked back into the kitchen, carrying the brown paper bag he had just collected from the delivery man.
"Open it and find out," Eden propped himself up on his elbow, making the fake groan when he'd obviously hit a sensitive spot. Malcolm actually felt a smile crack across his face when he heard Eden giggling with the fake, the two of them laying together on the couch. Actually, when Malcolm looked at the couch from afar, he wondered how the three of them had laid there together comfortably, although he supposed only two of them needed to fit, with Eden tending to sprawl himself on top of them.
"How did you find a place willing to deliver from Stacey's?" Malcolm gawped down at the little clear containers that housed items from his favourite bakery. He had taken Eden for lunch once, before they were together, but had always told him they never delivered.
"Crafty little thing, aren't you?" the fake purred, making Eden giggle and blush when he buried his face in the boy's neck. Malcolm smiled absently, stooping down to collect some plates, wondering whether the fake was able to eat. Strange concept, he had never had to think about that before.
"Mal, what the fuck happened to your eyes?!" Malcolm grunted when Reivon's sudden outburst startled him, making him hit his head on the inside of the cupboard. He rose slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, probably not helping the situation any. Reivon's eyes widened, flicking from Malcolm to the fake as his opened and closed his mouth a few time - much alike a fish.
"When did you grow a twin?" Reivon looked more horrified than shocked by that point, his expression slowly drifting more into scepticism. This was precisely the situation Malcolm tried to avoid with his friends, with both him and Arian having agreed not to mention their ability. It was too much to explain all at once.
"I thought vampires were supposed to be perceptive," the fake remarked, earning a playful hit on the shoulder from Eden and a hard glower from both Malcolm and Reivon, to which he only shot back a sly smirk.
"You gonna explain, Mal?" Reivon crossed his arms over his chest, turning his attention to Malcolm, who remained silent, unsure what words to use to best describe the situation.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Malcolm?!" Arian seethed when he entered the kitchen behind Reivon, his usual gentle smile fading away to a look of disappoint, maybe a little fear too, "what is it doing out?!" Malcolm sighed as Leon and Slate entered the kitchen too, their shocked gazes flickering from Malcolm to the fake, who had tightened his grip on Eden. He may have Malcolm's knowledge of the guys but he had never met them, he had a right to be cautious, he wasn't exactly going to be accepted immediately.
"Did we all suddenly forget how to knock?" Malcolm grumbled, busying himself with plating the breakfast Eden had ordered.
"Don't fucking play around, Malcolm," Arian snapped viciously, glowering at his elder brother, "what the fuck is it doing out? You're playing with fire, you know that, right? It could kill Eden-"
"We would never hurt him," the fake interjected, making its way around to stand next to Malcolm, having to keep physical contact with Eden in order to remain seen, "we love him, why would we hurt him?" the fake's arms encircled Eden's waist whilst he rested his chin on top of the boy's head, making him blush gently. Eden reached to his right, slipping his hand into Malcolm's and intertwining their fingers, grinning at the man.
"OK, can we get an explanation of whatever the fuck is going on here for the non-witches?" Reivon's eyes were flickering from Malcolm to the fake over and over, but he never looked any less dumbfounded. It was an expression that was equal on Slate and Leon's face.
"How about you tell them what it is, Mal?" Arian growled, "how about you explain the monster you brought into this house?"
"He's not a monster," Malcolm didn't like the ache behind Eden's voice, he didn't want the boy hurting for him, "he's Malcolm, he's just a different part of him. There's nothing wrong with him, you have one too, why are you acting so self-righteous?" Arian rolled his eyes, his lip curled in disdain. Malcolm couldn't really blame him, Arian was often very polite and kind to all, he simply couldn't stand the other side of his brother. Maybe because he knew its true nature, one that it was shrouding from even Eden.
"I've summoned my other side once, Eden, don't speak to me like I'm foolish enough to fall for their little tricks. You don't exactly have an opinion in this situation, you have no idea of the dangers having Malcolm's other side out could cause. It might be best if you stay quiet," Malcolm knew Arian was only trying to avoid unnecessary points made, since, yes, technically Eden wasn't fully aware of what the implications of having the fake summoned could be. However, the fake wasn't able to grasp this idea so easily and took immediate offence to the comment.
"He can speak whenever he likes," the fake growled, clearly tightening his grip on Eden, his expression darkening further when Arian ignored him, "you're still afraid of me? Of your own brother?"
"You're not my brother," Arian hissed, "Malcolm is my brother, you're just his id, his sickness."
"You really believe that?" the fake chuckled lowly, "God, you're not as smart as everyone thinks, are you? It's a simple concept, dumbass," Malcolm frowned when he saw Eden tense, both knowing the situation was getting out of hand, "you see the side of Malcolm that he wants to show, the mask he puts up for everyone to gawk at. I'm merely the side he represses, the side he hides away from the world because he doesn't want people to see who he really is," Malcolm clenched his fists when he saw the confidence seep from his little brother's face, feeling awfully protective over him even after all the millennia he had spent showing he could stand up for himself, "I am Malcolm, you fucking moron. I'm the side you're afraid of, the side that used to torment you when you were a child, that used to slip into your dreams and turn them to rot-"
"Alright, that's enough," Malcolm collected a handful of red powder, reaching over to place it into the marble bowl when the fake suddenly gripped his arm. Malcolm's eyes widened, his entire body paralysed as he stared, speechless, at the fake, having never felt its icy grasp before.
"You'll let me in soon enough, Malcolm," the fake's tone was apathetic, almost cold, yet beneath his calm expression a wrathful fire burnt, "Eden already has, we do whatever we can to please him. How are you going to deny him when he asks for me?" Malcolm unfurled his hand, allowing the powder to drift down into the marble bowl, his hand falling down to grip the counter when the fake disappeared in a wisp of blue smoke.
"I'm so sorry, Mal," Eden whispered, his voice cracking, making it clear to Malcolm even when he didn't look up that the boy was on the verge of tears, "I-I just wanted to help, I-I wanted to trust him."
"You will never be able to trust that side of Malcolm, Eden," Arian's tone had lost all anger, reverting back to that solemn twinge that it often held, "by definition, it is untrustworthy. It will say and do whatever it can to influence Malcolm, to gain control. It's what they do, it's in their nature to manipulate," Malcolm looked up finally, having expended a lot of energy locking the other side away in a particularly tight cage, finally meeting Eden's eye.
"Don't blame yourself," Malcolm whispered, cupping Eden's cheeks and pressing a short kiss to his lips, having hoped to dispel the tears but only leading to them spilling over, "don't cry, bunny," Malcolm wrapped his arms around Eden, holding him tight against his chest, his eyes drifting over to the still very confused looking three next to his glum brother, "witches can split their souls," Malcolm sighed, pressing his lips to Eden's head for a short moment when he heard the boy whimper. God, he hated when Eden cried, it made his entire body throb with a pain like no other.
"Malcolm summons his other half more than any other witch I know, apparently it's therapeutic to talk to it," Arian picked up where Malcolm left off, "he always assured me he had control over it, that it wasn't even a physical entity, I never trusted my own to do so. They're smarter than us. They take our intelligence, our emotions, and they twist them, using them for means we wouldn't even think of. They're dangerous, worse than dangerous, there isn't really a word for them."
"He was never dangerous," Eden murmured, catching the attention of the room, turning his head to look to Arian, "he was sweet to me, a little vulgar but that just reminded me of Rei. Its my fault Mal summoned him, I asked him to, I believed his other half, I wanted to help."
"It's not your fault, bunny," Malcolm brushed Eden's curls out of his face, smiling meekly down at the boy, "it was my decision, I chose to summon."
"Eden, you keep saying you wanted to help, what did you want to help with?" Leon asked, having clearly gotten bored with sifting through the contents of the marble bowl that had summoned Malcolm's other half.
"He said there were theories about what a soulmate could do with the halves of a witch's soul, that they might be able to like fuse them together. I thought maybe if I got Malcolm to accept the other half of him that might be the way to do it," Eden's tone was low, glum, and Malcolm hated that.
"Did he mention that there has also been speculation that the soulmate can split the soul into two beings?" Arian didn't sound accusing, more curious than anything else, sighing when Eden nodded, "and you still went ahead with it? Despite the danger of that thing getting out? Despite what we would have to go through to kill it if it did? If we even could, if it didn't take Malcolm along with it," Eden looked Arian right in the eye, not a fault in his stony expression, before shocking the entire room with his response.
"It's worth the risk."