Daddy's Home! (Nathaniel)

[Ceraphine Davis]

The day had started just like any other day, the sun had risen and due to the fact that Zeke was like a little alarm clock, Kev found herself up and in the kitchen with a toddler planted on the couch watching his favorite cartoon. It had been all fine and good, a normal start to the day, even if Mischa was not here and Kev had yet to tell her about Zeke.....

The thoughts weighed heavily on her mind, yet she pushed them aside and continued her routine....Which was feed Zeke, and herself of course, and then wait for the newest sitter to arrive so that Kev could take her hourly run as she did every morning....go to the store....stop by the school and pick up a few things that she needed to look over as Captain, and then return home.

All in all she was gone until lunch, perhaps a bit later. When she finally did return, she was exhausted, yet that smile was planted upon her beautiful lips as she entered the house, glad to see that this Nanny had done all she was told and that Zeke was fine. The scar on his hand from the mishap that occurred the day he met Gabriel was enough of a reminder of how she needed to protect him as best she could.

Moving over to him, she planted a kiss firmly upon the top of his head as he drank his juice and played with his blocks inside his playpen. She then dismissed the Nanny, not really liking anyone in the house when she was there with Zeke, other than Gabriel, who had become very attatched to the little one...MUCH to Kev's surprise.......

Once the Nanny was gone, Kev set about the rest of her routine, which involved hooking up the baby monitor, making sure the playpen lock was secure and then taking the other end of the monitor to the bathroom with her so that she could shower and get the stench of the day off of her.

As usual, she gathered her clothing, throwing them on the bed for later use as she made her way into the bathroom, setting her end of the monitor down she heard a giggle and smiled at the simple knowledge her son was safe....A soft breath exhaled as she slowly stipped from her attire of the morning, mostly her workout clothes with a t-shirt thrown over it to keep her looking more decent while she ran errands.

To some it was a mundane life but if they truly knew Kev then they knew that her life was anything but. It was filled with pain and suffering and a darker nature which she had been having to surpress for some time now, its hunger for blood and pain only increasing each day and driving her mad...She needed to kill that little bitch Chantel and get it over with. Then she would feel better. For now......

But how long would it last? How long before she needed another dead body at her feet? The question lingered in her mind as she reached into the shower and turned it on......Stripping of the last of her clothing, she waited until the water was steamy and the bathroom beginning to fog up before she stepped into that heavenly spray.......A soft groan escaping her as she ran her finger through her now soaking wet hair.

Though she would have loved to have stayed in there for hours, the cooing and babbling on the other end of the monitor reminded her that she needed to hurry up....So she did...Hair, body, face, legs, and so forth, exiting the shower and smelling of honey and vanilla.....An intoxicating scent, or so she had been told, though she rarely paid attention to guys she met at bars when she went drinking...They were all idiots....

Finally she exited, grabbing up her towel so that she could dry off and then wrapping it about her form.....Her long black hair down to the small of her back now clinging to her flesh as she moved into the bedroom......Taking a moment to set the monitor on the bed before she dropped the towel and began to get dressed. The usual housewear of course, a tank top with a pink bra and a pair of boy shorts......It was an old habit....Luckily the only guy who came to see her was Gabriel, and well, he really didnt count anymore now did he?

Shaking her head, she moved to the dresser, brushing her hair out and then turning, grasping the monitor and heading back down the stairs...A little faster than usual, only because Zeke seemed a bit quiet.....but then she was just paranoid that way.....

Still, best to make sure he was alright....right?

[nathaniel]

It was a fairly slow time of the day for the newly opened Emerald Skies, a night club owned by the mysterious Nathaniel Beauvais. The true action didn't usually pick up until after the sun set beyond the horizon, but there was still a large number of young and beautiful men and women dancing, drinking and just having a plain old good time. On the top floor of the building that housed the hoppin' club was the large and extravagant apartment of the owner himself. There he was, with a few young women leaving his apartment, sitting on his overly large bed with nothing but his boxers on and his cell phone in his hands. He was soaked from head to toe in sweat from what he had just finished with the girls that just left the comfort of his embrace, but none of those girls remained in his mind after they disappeared through the door.

On his phone was a local number that he had never been able to call before, and as his gaze went to the name he laughed a little bit to himself. Kevala Katashi, the young woman that had left him alone in Long Beach and had their child without even telling him, he had been staring at her number from the moment that he could use his hands freely on. Even though he wanted so badly to just call her and let her know that he had been in the city for a few months and he wanted to meet his son, he simply couldn't bring himself to hit the call button. Finally throwing the phone across the room in frustration, he lowered his face down into his hands, letting out a long sigh as shook his head at how pathetic he was being. He knew there was a reason for him not getting a hold of her, but his head was so clouded with all of his thoughts that he didn't know why.

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, he got up from his bed and made his way over to the shower and removed his boxers. Looking into the mirror, he met his own intense emerald gaze in the mirror as he slicked his sweaty hair out his face. He knew that his hunger was satisfied for the day, if not longer, and so he figured that after taking a long shower he might be in a clearer state of mind. Entering the shower, he noticed that there was a forth woman passed out naked on the wet floor. Ignoring the pure beauty that laid by his feet, he turned on the shower and began to slowly wash the filth of nearly an entire twenty-four hours of partying from his body. The girl that laid at his feet began to moan as a constant mist slowly feel down upon her skin. Nathaniel knew that certain people in his life would expect him to change with everything that had happened, but looking down at the passed out girl next to his feet just made him want to continue with his way of life even more.

After exiting the shower, he grabbed a towel and began to slowly dry himself off. As he did so, the passed out girl slowly got to her feet, slipping and sliding on the wet floor as she did so. She looked at Nathaniel with a smile, covered the light from her eyes, before wrapping her arms around him and kissing his bare chest a couple time. She looked up at him to speak, but he put his finger over her lips and pointed toward the exit with a sly smile. She seemed to still be a little intoxicated, and she had been in his bed enough times to know the drill. You have a night of lust with Nathaniel, get some free booze and then leave until he invites you back up to his apartment. That was how things went with his call girls, and they all seemed to be fine with it as long as they got to spend time with the young man that so many so as the perfect catch. If only they knew the truth about him.

As he finished drying himself off, he went and put on some clothes that would make him presentable to the people that he planned on going to see that day. He put on a black dress shirt, buttoning it up until the third from the top button, and putting a leather jacket on over it. He slid on a pair of black dress jeans, and put his black dress shoes on. Overall, he looked like he was ready for anything, and he sure needed to be. He gelled his hair back a little bit, but not enough to give him that grease look. His hair still had that poof to it, and it was still wavy in the back. After he was completely done getting ready, he grabbed his keys and the cell phone that he had thrown minutes before and and made his way to the elevator of the building. The music in the elevator was so soothing, but he knew that that would change as soon as he got to the main floor.

As the elevator door opened up, a blast of hard house techno entered his ears and he made his way into the club itself. A couple of his employees that were fairly close to him saw that he was finally leaving the building and waved him over. He made his way over to them, a bright smile crossing his face as he leaned against the bar.

Megan: So, where are you off to today sweetie?

Brittany: Yeah, its been awhile since you've even left the club, hon. We were getting worried about you.

"Well, I'm glad that the two of you have taken such a keen interest in my everyday life, but there's no reason to worry. I'm just off to see and old friend from high school, that's all."

Megan: Well, you be sure to stay out of trouble then. We wouldn't want our delicious boss to get hurt or anything.

"No worries there, Meg, you should know that. There isn't any sort of trouble that I can't get myself out of."

With his two highest paid bartenders at ease, Nathaniel had a shot of his usual liquor and made his way out of the building with a wave back to the girls. He laughed at the fact that he hadn't had relations with either of the two gorgeous girls that always kept track of him, but for once in his life he felt like he had found some people that were more like sisters to him than another potential hook up. He made his way through the parking lot until he reached his personal three stall garage. Opening the furthest door from the entrance to the club, his eyes came to look upon his custom built Harley Davidson as he smiled. Taking a seat on the shiny new motorcycle, he reved the engine and put on a pair of slick sun glasses before reving the bike one more time and driving out onto the busy streets as San Diego. His meeting was only a short drive away, and he could literally hear his heart beating louder and louder the closer he got.

Finally, after the fifteen minute drive through the city, Nathaniel finally came to the home of the high school friend that he had mentioned to Megan and Brittany. It had been a little over two years since he had seen her, and he wasn't sure how she would react to seeing his face after so long, but it really didn't matter at the moment. He was going to see her, and his son, whether or not she felt like it was the right time. Putting the kick stand up on his bike, he made his way to the door and stopped. He was about to knock before he realized that he could hear running water coming from the building. Someone was in the shower, so worst case scenario was that Mischa would answer the door and he would probably have to explain who is was and what he was doing at their house. Instead of going through that, he simply opened the currently unlocked door quietly and made his way inside.

As soon as he entered the building, he got his first glimpse of the little bundle of life that he had helped to create. Little Ezekial Seran, his own flesh and blood, was sitting in his playpen playing with his many toys that were spread around his small little section of the living room. Nathaniel heard the water shut off as he sat down on the couch and leaned back, looking at his son as Ezekial returned his gaze and looked at him in silence as he probably tried to figure out exactly who this man that was sitting on his moms bed was. The silence in the living room was powerful, and Nathaniel couldn't help but compare it to Luke Skywalker finally meeting Darth Vader face to face. He saw that there was a baby monitor next to the playpen, and as soon as this registered in his brain, he heard the quick footsteps of someone making their way down the stairs to check on Ezekial.

Nathaniel would turn his gaze back to see Kevala, still slightly wet from coming out of the shower, dressed in little more than she was the first time that he had ever met her. She stopped in her tracks as she saw that he was actually there, sitting in her house, next to their child, like he thought things should've been from the beginning. He would get up from the couch, rubbing the soft hairs on the top of his sons head as he looked down at him, and made his way over to his mother. His lips held a smile, but his eyes showed something different. An intensity that he had when he wasn't sure how things would go down. Two years away from her was like going cold turkey on his favorite drug, and now that it was within his grasp he just wanted to hold it in his hands and start it all over again. He would stop right next to her, looked down at her with a sly look on his face.

"Its been too long, my dear Kevala. We've got a lot to talk about, so why don't you take a seat?" He'd say, signaling toward the chair that sat in the living room.

[Ceraphine Davis]

She froze, her body seemingly unable to move as those eyes fell over Nathaniel. What the hell was he doing here? Shooting her gaze from him to Zeke she instantly felt the questions enter her mind. Did he know? What if he did? What the hell was going to happen now?

Then he stood, his handsome features signalling to life that darker part of her he had always brought out. Night after night he had released that part of herself she kept locked away, hidden and that had now made its appearance more than a few times......Yet she shook her head as he reached down and put his hand on Zeke, a few steps taken toward her son....Instinct the only that drove her feet to actually move in that moment...

Yet she stopped, her breath catching in her throat as she noted the look in those hypnotic eyes as Nathaniel cast a look down to Ezekial...He knew....He had to.......But how?

Gabriel? She wouldn't put it past him, he had been the one so determined in the matter. Oh gods she was gonna kill him if he did this to her without telling her! He was soooo not getting Zeke this weekend.....

A race of thoughts, all of them just ramblings of a confused and somewhat nervous brain....But then he withdrew his hand from her....their son.....and turned toward her. His approach one that normally, were it anyone else, would have her stepping back just a bit...But as it stood, she was not about to lose ground here...Instead she drew in a deep breath as he neared, catching his scent in the air and again having flashes of the night they had met, his hands against her body....The way he not only woke her darker half but how she seemed to draw upon his....Their natures mingling to the point that had it been another time, another place, she would have felt.......

But that was then....She had to keep her mind focused here, eyes shooting down to her wrists which were bare....Making her considerably more vulnerable than usual......When they returned upward, they were met with that intense gaze, one that fired up her warning signals dispite the smile on his lips.

There was something of a mix of hunger, lust, anger, and desire mingled with a whole mess of emotions rolling around within him...Too much for her to keep up with so she gave up on that endeavor.

Instead she returned her focus to his eyes, ever captivated by them, a color she had seen Gabriel sport only a few times. Now that she looked over Nathaniel, she saw his resemblance to Gabe, to Zeke.......Her heart sped up now, breathing struggling to remain slow in an attempt to calm her heart rate.......

"Its been too long, my dear Kevala. We've got a lot to talk about, so why don't you take a seat?"

It was only then that the slight haze that had covered her mind seemed to lift, clear thought finally finding her as she drew in a deep breath and composed herself...Her entire figure seeming to shift to show such as she stood more tensely now, her arms coming up to cross over her chest and her eyes more directly meeting his own......

Her own gaze intense....she had her reasons for not telling Nathaniel....One of which being she had meant nothing, and did not need to be told that their son would be the same.....Two...he was Gabriel's brother......and at the time, she had loved Gabriel, and to have his brother's child inside her felt like a betrayal......then when he had disappeared.....She had paniced....

"Yes, hello Nathaniel. Surprise seeing you here...IN my house...."

She spoke the words calmly, devoid of any hungered emotions she felt...No, she had to stay calm in this situation and as he suggested, she moved to take a seat, though she was quick to step around him...By passing the chair he had suggested and instead picking a spot that put her between Nathaniel an Ezekial...

Putting Gabriel in the room with Zeke had been stressful enough, uncertainty about how he would react, but deep down she had known Gabriel in a way no other could, and had known that Zeke would reach through the colder part of him and find the kinder him that lived inside.....

With Nathaniel..........

It was more than unpredictable.....It was something that held the potential to be very volitile, and she would be damned if her son got caught up in that. Be this his father or not....It was just the kind of Mother she was.......

"So what do you wish to discuss Nathaniel? The weather? I hear it is going to be rather humid today, perfect beach weather."

And there it was, the first smart ass comment to exit her mouth out of what undoubtedly would be many.....She was on the defensive.....It was habit.....It was nature........

Leaning back in her seat, she crossed her legs and continued to keep her eyes locked on him, not even bothering to move the hair that fell over her face.....

[nathaniel]

As he stood there and looked his ex-lover up and down, he could tell that there were a million different thoughts running through her head. Her breathing was spuratic, her body language was panicked, and her eyes couldn't stay in one place before he spoke to her. He knew that she was wondering why exactly he was in her house, if he knew the truth about everything and so many other things, but she would no doubt be too stubborn to ask him directly. That and she knew how he was, and he wasn't the type of guy to simply tell someone everything right away, in fact he had never completely opened up to someone and he figured that Kevala knew that there were sides of him that even she had never seen. This would scare anyone in their right mind, and so the fact that their child was there probably frightened her even more.

After he told her that they had a lot to talk about and pointed for her to take a seat in the nearby chair she seemed to finally get a hold of herself, but at the same time everything was replaced by a very tense Kevala. She was putting up her defensive wall right away, something that he was somewhat used to from his time with her, but never something that he saw right away. She would fold her delicate arms over her chest, which he sighed at because he saw it as unneccesary, but let it go none the less. She told him that it was nice to see him, pausing, and then finishing with in her house. He could tell that she was being sarcastic, one of the many defensive manuvers that someone will make when they don't want to take on a problem that has been brought to their attention. As she walked to a different chair instead, he noted that she was going all out on avoiding any meaningful conversation and so he was ready for useless babble for at least the first few minutes.

As she took her seat, Nathaniel would move back to his old spot on the couch, sitting down and leaning forward with his arms laying on his knees. He could tell that she didn't want him to be able to get to their child without having to get through her, which he saw as childish, but at the same time it was something that a protective mother would do to keep an abusive father away from their child. Now, Nathaniel knew that he wasn't an abusive person, at least not when it didn't involve sex since he knew that Kevala enjoyed it rough, so he wanted to know why she didn't want him by their child. He was still able to look at Ezekial, watching the little bundle of joy look up at his mother and then back at his father with his eyes, no doubt trying to analyze the situation like just about every Seran had the ability to do. Nathan smiled at the thought, before looking back at Kevala as he saw she was about to speak again.

She asked what exactly it was that he wanted to talk about, saying that the weather was supposed to be perfect for going to the beach. Nathaniel's head would lower, closing his eyes as he took a few deep breaths to try and keep his cool around her. He figured that she must hate him a whole lot for her to be acting so defensive, to the point of blatently being a smart ass with him, but he couldn't figure out why. She never seemed to want anything more from him that the occassional sexual act and 'blood donation', so why in the world would she be mad at him. He didn't feel like trying to make sense of it now, and so after only a couple of seconds with his head down he let out a chuckle at her words. He would bring his head back up and look at her with a little less of a smile than he had before, but those same intense eyes that he had from when he first saw her.

"Well if the weather's going to be so great you should take that little tyke you're babysitting out to the beach. I'm sure you could build a cute little sand castle with him or something." He would lean back in the couch, looking up at the ceiling and thinking about all of the times that he spent with Kevala, the things that he had shared with her and now it seemed like it was all really a waste of time. She didn't care about him, in fact she probably hated the sight of him because of what he was able to bring out of her. He even began to wonder if those feelings that he felt for her were nothing at all as well. Simply misunderstood and given a optimistic definition instead of looking at what they truly were. Maybe he truly only ever had lust and anger and hate for her, not the passion and closeness and even possibly love that he believed he may have felt.

"It looks like you've done well for yourself. That's good..." He would say before getting up from the couch and taking a long hard look at the child that was his in blood but figured would never be allowed to he his in body and soul. "Sorry for breaking in unannounced. I can tell that I'm not exactly wanted here so I'll take my leave." A strange course of action to take in his situation, but if she was going to be defensive than he was simply going to be evasive and simply dodge the inevitable bullet of hearing how much she hates him. Sure, he had so many questions, so much hate, built up inside over the years, but if she truly hated him that much he didn't want anything to happen in front of the kid. He would turn his back to her and make his way to the door. "If you see my brother let him know that I'm in town. I want to talk to him."

[Ceraphine Davis]

She was insulted as he sat there and blatantly acted as though he knew nothing. As though Zeke was a baby she was taking care of....Not his son....She had seen the look, knew that touch....She gave their son that exact same touch every day..and often......

Instantly anger flared inside her but she stamped it down..She knew she meant nothing to him..and that she could live with...But this was his son and he was going to just walk away? It was not like she expected anything differently but the fact that it was now unfolding before her, the fact that Zeke had it in his head that Gabriel was his Father when his real Father was within reach.....

Not that Gabriel was a bad person for Zeke to see as such, but in that instant, as Nathaniel stood to leave, her own childhood came back to her....The notes in her file she had stolen stating how her Father had taken one look at her and turned away....It all flooded into her mind and that is what she saw happening here.......Her life all over again, only for her son......

Hell no....Not again.....She would continue this life..suffer and simply exist knowing she was some form of monster...But her son would not......

"Don't you dare turn away from your son Nathaniel Seran..."

Emphasis on the last name to make it clear she was not going to play this game.....No, not again.......Katsu had turned away from the twins.....Her Father from her....This cycle ended here.....NOW she understood partially why Gabriel wanted to find Nathaniel....

"I may have been nothing but some call girl to you. I can accept that....I never expected for you to care for me...I am nothing...I know that....But he is your son...and you WILL acknowledge him as such...even if it is just in this moment...."

She pushed herself up from the chair, her hands reaching down and lifting up their son as Nathaniel made for the door, quick behind him as she reached out with one hand, her other hugging Zeke to her chest as she grabbed his arm and jerked him to the side, forcing him to look at her.....At Zeke, and then.....Beyond all reason her mind could come up with, she thrust the toddler into his Father's arms. Waiting until Nathaniel had a steady grip on him and then leaning back agianst the door. Blocking the mans path from leaving and forcing him to see...truly SEE what was his....

It was only then as her eyes looked into his own, that they hue of them shifted slightly, paling as pain seemed to begin to surface on her features ..... A heavy breath taken as she spoke up once more.....

"LOOK at him Nathaniel....He is your blood.....I am sorry if it is a problem that some booty call got knocked up by you...but it happened and I have tried to keep him safe.....But things here for him are too dangerous and he NEEDS his Father....Even if you do not wish to claim him outside these walls...."

She thought of the other branch of the family, the Seran's not her own for once, that would kill him if they came to find out about him....How they had already killed one of her children..to do such to Ezekial would be nothing to them...Gabriel could not kill them...He had said as much....and though Kevala intended to..A boy needed his Father....

In her mind she expected Nathaniel to thrust Zeke back toward her.....To get angry......Something.....Hell...Nothing...She didnt know what to think...Did she think he would hurt him? No....

She thought he would take him from her........That was the defensiveness......Nothing more and nothing left...She had given up two children so that they could lead safe lives.....She could not bare to lose Zeke........

As her tongue slipped forth and brushed over her lower lip, she let out a little sigh....Her breath quivering as her heart slowed in anticipation of the male's reaction. She knew the kind of life Nathaniel led, and she knew that Zeke did not fit into it.....

But for the sake of the gods....Let him at least give her the peace of mind of saying one time that this was his son.....

It was all she needed...Just that one thing........Something......

[Ezekial Seran]

Zeke did not know what was going on, from the time the strange man had shown up to the time Mommy picked him up and carried him over to the man who was going to the door that went outside....

His little eyes, a beautiful mixture of both Kev and Nathaniel's looked up at the man as he held that binky firmly in place between his lips, sucking idly and his hand finding way to play with a bit of Mommy's hair as she continued talking to the man.

Then, before he knew it, she was wrapping her hands about his waist and he was pushed against a hard chest, a little confusion coming to him mind. He could feel the tension in the air as most kids could, and yet could not figure out why Mommy was acting like that with this new man......

He figured the new guy was okay....But then he had yet to give foods or loves so Ezekial was unsure...

Yet, as the man now held him (assuming Nathaniel does) he would shift his attention to Mommy and then upward to the new face....His smile peeking out from behind the binky as he turned on that natural Seran charm they seemed born with...His little palm coming up and lightly resting against the mans jaw...A little giggle escaping.....

Hey the guy was holding him, and Mommy seemed okay with it...so it was fun! Right?

RIGHT!!

New person to play with and to make lovells him! What more could a kid ask for?

[nathaniel]

Nathaniel made his way toward the door, the exit from that house and from the life that he believed he was not welcome in. He knew he didn't fit in with Kevala, knew that she was in love with Mischa and knew that he would never be able to be the kind of dad that he had wished he had. Sure, somewhere deep down beneath all of those complicated layers that made up Nathaniel laid the man that had began to love Kevala, that wanted to start anew with his brother and even wanted to be Ezekial's father through and through, but this man was someone that no one had ever even had the chance to meet. People only knew the Nathaniel that loved his booze as much as his women and didn't really seem to care about anyone else around him, and that is exactly why the inner Nathaniel has not and probably never will show himself. Because people never tried to bring him out.

He was nearly to the door, thinking about leaving everything behind and living out the rest of his life as nothing more than the owner of a club and leaving his family's legacy behind, when Kevala screamed something out to him that stopped him in his tracks. She told him not to leave his son, emphasizing his last name to basically let him know that she had given it to their son. She didn't want him to leave, and she didn't want him in her house, so what the hell did she want? Nathaniel couldn't, didn't want to figure anything else out. He just wanted to leave. Leave her, leave the kid, leave his family... Everything, but she obviously wasn't going to let that happen as long as he was within her domain. He would not turn to look at her, instead keeping his gaze toward the door, the exit from all complication and responsibility. It was freedom, but it also meant him running from his problems, which was one of his own pet peeves.

She spoke out to him again as he stood motionless five feet from the door. She told him that she knew that she was nothing more than a call girl to him, and that she never expected him to take care of her because she was nothing to him. She only wanted for him to acknowledge that Ezekial was his child. Their child. As she pushed herself up from the chair, Nathaniel sunk into his own thoughts and drowned everything else out. She thought that he didn't care for her at all? That he only was with her for the occasional fuck? Sure, that's how things were in the beginning. That, and the fact that he was with the woman that had strong feelings for his brother, but toward the end of their time he felt something more. Maybe he didn't show it, but when was he ever the type to go off and buy a girl flowers or chocolates? He just couldn't believe that she thought he thought so little of her.

He was soon brought out of his trance as Kevala grabbed his arm and spun him around to look at her, and the child that she now held in her arms. The kid looked just as confused as Nathaniel was feeling deep inside, a mirror image of his inner self, but even Kevala couldn't see that right now. She wanted Nathaniel to acknowledge the kid, and so he did. He looked at him, nodded, and looked back at Kevala with a completely stoic look on his face. "He's my son. There, you happy now?" He would go to turn and walk toward the door again, but would be interrupted once more as Kevala showed their child into his arms. She would make sure that Nathaniel had a hold on him before making her way to block the door, making it impossible for him to leave without going through her. Once again she was blocking him from something, and he wasn't willing to more her to get to it.

She began screaming at him again, telling him to look at him, at his son, his blood, what he had created. She told him that she felt bad if the fact that he knocked up a booty call was a problem for him, but she knew that Ezekial needed a father, his father, to keep him safe from those that would do him hard simply because of his lineage. Nathaniel knew all too well what she was talking about. It was the same reason why his parents gave him away in the first place. So that no harm would come to him, but instead of someone harming him he ended up being the one that did the harming. Was he about to do nearly the same thing his family did? Leave his son with his mother, who was not a Seran, all alone and unprotected? He looked down into his son's eyes as the child's hand brushed up against his cheek and giggled. 'You're too innocent to be a Seran. I wonder when that'll all change?' He thought as he held the child awkwardly in his arms.

After taking a good long look at his child, he would turn to face Kevala, who he could see was in a lot of emotional pain because of him and probably everything that was happening to her. Deep down he wanted nothing more than to comfort her, to hold her in his arms along with their child, but that would go against everything that she thought about him and he didn't want to shake the foundation of everything that she thought she knew with the state she was in. He figured it was best to just go with the flow, let her believe what she has been telling herself for two full years, but show her that he would be their none the less. Putting Ezekial in one arm, he would move up to her and wrap his free arm around her neck, pulling her gently against his chest. "Ezekial Beauvais..." He would say, kissing the top of her head. "Call him Ezekial Beauvais. Its a small step in keeping him safe for now."

He'd let her go right after, giving the child back to Kevala, and slowly making his way back to the couch. He would lean back, and look over at Kevala and Ezekial, motioning for her to come and sit down again, either by him or back in her other chair. It was her choice, he wouldn't force her to do anything, but as long as he knew that she didn't hate him it was enough for him to stay and try to have an adult conversation with her. "I won't leave Ezekial... And I won't leave you either. I know the danger that you're in, and that's why I came to talk to you today. So, if we can, I'd like to have a civilized conversation with you." He would wait for Kevala to take a seat where ever she planned on sitting, but either way he had something to start their 'civilized' conversation with. "I'm able to do what Gabriel can't. I'll kill anyone to protect the true Seran bloodline, even if they share some of my own blood."

[Ceraphine Davis]

His initial acknowledgement made her want to knock the shit out of him....Just deck him right in the face....But as she forced Zeke into his arms she saw the change, maybe not outwardly, but on the inside....She was good at that after all....And that only caused the pain in herself to increase...Gods he did care.....FUCK! She had known there was more to him, she had known that beneath it all was a good person.....but she had not let herself acknowledge it..because she would have fallen completely for him and that was something she could not take......

Another Gabriel situation..Another 'I cant'.......She didnt have the emotional strength to carry on if that had happened again.....

Yet as she stood there, her eyes on the two, she fought back whatever pain she felt, hiding it behind her eyes and in her mind, a wall which was cracking, but had yet to break.......

She was doing good, until of course, his hand reached out, the touch of his hand upon her something she had never forgotten and something that still sent waves of excitement and torment through her body.......

Pulling her to his chest, her senses engufled now by his scent, his touch, the kiss to the top of her head....It did well to break away that wall, tears filling her eyes as she could not help but for a moment bury her face into his chest, breathing him in.....

Then he released her, her head lowering as she took Zeke to hide the tears she refused to cry and fighting them back until no trace remained.....

She would use the name, anything to keep him safe...but the fact that now Nathaniel was staying seemed to be a wave of relief washing over her.....

Had she really not wanted him to go that badly? After all her anger and spiteful mannerisms...had it all been because she DID want him here?

He took his seat, her own feet finally finding strength enough to move as she moved forward, setting Zeke on the ground before them with some of his toys and allowing herself the one thing she knew she should have denied......Taking a seat beside Nathaniel, the subtle brush of her body to his as she settled in...before of course seperating herself from him.....

"You hide so well behind that mask.....You think the world does not see you......"

It was an odd way to start their "adult" conversation...but it was the way she worked...she cut right to the chase when things were serious....

"I let you hide, because I was scared of what was hidden there, scared of how it made me feel......I should have told you about Ezekial.....But I could not take another Gabriel situation....I could not be such a fool again.....I could not take the never being enough anymore..."

Her tone was soft now, a contridiction to the way it had been when she had first seen him. But then, he had scared her, showing up the way he had......

Slowly her hands came to fold in her lap, fingers twisting about themselves as her eyes and head lowered to watch the display they put forth and her hair falling to the side of her face, shielding her features from his view as she sighed softly....

She loved Mischa, she needed her, yet Nathaniel being this close shot something completely different through her body...something which she had not felt since Gabriel had destroyed her......since he had pushed her away.......Even now, knowing she could not, she longed to just .......touch...him...To be near him....

A weight lifted at the fact he would be sticking around for their son, though his declaration to do the same for her only confused her more.....

And in true Kev fashion, when confused, some of the strangest things popped free from her mouth.

"Tell me Nathaniel, of all the women you have been with, the countless lovers that you have taken to your bed....How many knew that it was all a cover? that inside lurked somebody amazing and caring, and albeit stubborn.......yet capable of so much more than the life you choose to live?"

She didnt bother to look at him. She did not need to. Simply by asking this she was stating that she had seen these things in him...She had just run away from them......as far as she could.......

[nathaniel]

As he held Kevala in his embrace, like a loving caring man would do and unlike Nathaniel would, he could feel her push herself into him. She still felt something for him, even if she was as stubborn as he was and wouldn't show it to him. He could've sworn that she was even slightly crying as she pressed her face against his chest and felt his gentle kiss on her head. He remembered, like a flash, just how intoxicating Kevala's scent was. It wasn't the shamppo she used, or any sort of perfume, but simply the natural aroma that she seemed to give off. Maybe it was just his imagination, or maybe he was the only one that could truly get past all of the artifical aromas, but he knew that hers was without comparison. He could have held her and their son in his arms for hours, but he had an imagine to uphold, and so he let them both go and made his way back to the comfort of the living room couch.

He wanted to keep from destroying the vision that she of of him, but in the process she had destroyed the vision that he had of her. He went from thinking that she hated even the thought of him and that she didn't want him to ever meet their child, to finding out that she actually still felt something for him and that she thought that he thought she was nothing but a useless booty call to him. They were so similar, and because of that they tried so hard to simply stay away from one another, but in the end their paths were destined to cross again and show them that there was more to what they had than either of them could have imagined. And to think that everything came together because of an accidental pregnancy that set off a chain of events that let them to that living room on that fateful day. Children truly are a blessing.

Kevala slowly made her way back over to where Nathaniel was sitting, placing Ezekial on the floor to play with his toys as his parents were left to finally get to their much needed talk. Sure, Nathaniel was trying to take the subject away from themselves, and himself in particular, but he wasn't sure bringing up the threat of his family would do that for Kevala. She was a very unpredictable young woman, just like Nathaniel, and so when it came to them being around each other you never knew what to expect to happen. Ezekial sat on the floor playing with his numerous toys, not a care in the world, while his father looked over at him with a constant thought of worry in his mind. Would he truly be able to save his son from the fate that the Seran family has met with for constant generations? He would sure as hell try.

Kevala finally took her seat, this time sitting right next to Nathaniel and even brushing against him, as he waited for her to add her opinion on the conversation that he had started. Though he was glad to hear that she calmed down, he was slightly surprised at the words that came from her lips. She told him that he hides so well behind a mask, asking him if he truly believed that the world around him could not see the truly behind it. Now to Nathaniel, this could mean a number of things. He hid the fact that he was a mass manipulator, a murderer and a home wrecker from just about everyone around him, but he couldn't help but think that she was talking about something else. Something that was buried even deeper than his dark secrets... His good side. He knew that she couldn't see all of it, but perhaps she got a glimpse of it when he held Ezekial or her in his arms.

"I hide a lot of things..." He said, right before she interupted him from saying anymore about it. She told him that she let him hide because she was afraid of how the truth would make her feel about him, which made him look over at her. He could not see her face, as it was blocked by her thick black locks of hair. She told him that she was sorry about not telling him about Ezekial, saying that she didn't want another Gabriel situation where she wasn't enough for him. She would then lower her hair as she laced her fingers together, which usually meant that she was still holding something back from him. What it was, well that was beyond his prediction at this point, but he figured that it would come out evetually. Until then, he was fine with what he was getting now.

"I wear this mask because I know that if I let it fall I won't get what I want. As for telling me about our son, I can understand you reasons for not telling me, even if I felt like killing you when I found out the truth behind your disappearance." He would stop and move slightly closer to her, as he wrapped his right around around her shoulder and brought her closer to him as well. He could tell that she enjoyed when he held her, and so if she was going to put him on the spot he was going to do the same to her in his own way. He didn't even have to say any words to break down her defenses when she let her guard down, and he knew that. All it took was for him to show that he cared, even if only slightly, and she was like puddy in his hands. She'd get the answers she wanted, even if they were half-truths, and he would get the answers to his unmentioned questions as well.

As he held her in his arms, she asked him something that dived even deeper into her initial question. She asked him, out of all of the girls he had been with how many knew that the Nathan they knew wasn't the true Nathan? That there was supposedly an amazing, caring and stubborn man that was capable of so much more than the life that he had been living. He took a few seconds to think about her questions, leaning his head against her own, before finally being able to answer them. "How many women know this supposed great man behind my mask that you say I have?..." He would pause one again, smiling to himself as he rubbed her shoulder. "I guess you'd be the only one that's come up with that analysis of me. Most other women are fine with the amazing sex, but you... You really like to go right for the heart. That's why I..." A slight pause would come before he finished his sentence. "Why I'm glad you're the one I knocked up." He would say instead of what he meant to say, which was that he loved her.

[Ceraphine Davis]

She sat there, her mind playing over every word he spoke....She had known the instant he had said he was a Seran that he was a manipulator, Gabriel was a master of it, and it was clearly a birth right...Zeke had his own methods and he was only a baby......She knew the darkness, the part that came out when they spent those heated nights together....The part that she sensed could and had killed, even if he never spoke of such......But there had been times, toward the end of their "relationship" when his touch had shifted to something........different.....

More caring perhaps?

Honestly she couldnt think of the right way to describe it..but it had been there, and then there had been looks, that she caught out of the corner of her eye here and there that had broken down his wall and let her emotional seeking trait in where no other surely had been....And that is when she had started to fall, when her own wall had began to give way and emotions she vowed to never share with another man began to surface for him....

But before she could ever make sense enough of them to handle them, she had become pregnant....And it had all ended, just as quickly as it began........

Then he spoke of how he had many masks he wore, a nod given, feeling his arm slip about her slender frame and tug her into him. She tried to resist, her small hand leaving her lap to press against his chest as her head lifted, her eyes showing through a veil of raven locks as she captured her lower lip within the grips of her teeth......A nervous habit, ....another method to keep back that which was best left unsaid......

Her palm flat against his chest now, she offered a weak push, the stubborn part of her, the part that had a life without him, trying to break through to put distance between them, but the effort was lost as her body came in contact with his, and instead of pushing once more, that hand simply curled up over his shirt, the material now grasped within her small fingers as she closed her eyes.......

She let him finish speaking, soaking up his warmth and letting her mind, at least for this moment, wander to the way things should have turned out...But they were the types to push away anyone that got that close....to be stubborn and frustrating and down right irritating to the point of madness....yet beyond that, laid something more than very few saw of either of them.....

He hid behind the playboy attitude, the man who took what he wanted, when he wanted it. The player......

She hid behind the face of a girl who was not scared of anything, of somebody who was strong and needed nobody or nothing....She pretended to be nice, loving, normal....When she was anything but.......

So much the same, and yet in so many ways different....Only adding to the pull that seemed to exist between the two....Finally she relented, her head resting upon his chest as she listened to his final words, the last bit stinging just a bit, her body actually wincing in pain at such, but he was a Seran and they were famous for their emotional stings and methods of pushing people just one more step back, keeping them on the edge forever......Because of their own fear that if that person got close enough, they would push them over the edge......Breaking the images these Seran men set forth for themselves...

Better to sacrifice the heart of those who cared for them than to let those people reach through the darkness and find the heart that they hid so well and break it........

She understood so much, yet still remained so confused....Yet when he laid his head against her own, she felt herself weaken all the more.....She should push him away, should get up, move....discuss Zeke, and things of that nature....but...she couldnt.....Her mind said do it, her heart, that thing she had swore she had given to Gabriel and that would never work for another man again, told her differently...told her to stay.....Her head turning, unable to resist the urge to brush her cheek against his shoulder, nose catching the scent of his neck as she did such and unable to bite back the whisper that was released across his flesh before she herself even knew what she was saying.....

"Gods I have missed that scent upon my own flesh..."

Though she caught herself then, drawing in a soft breath and exhaling it across his flesh before she turned her head away...Too much had changed, no matter what she may have felt, he led his life the way he did, and she led her own......

"Maybe, if you had let the mask fall, just for once, you could have gotten exactly what you want...."

Her legs being drawn up onto the couch with them, curling them up to her chest as she released his shirt and wrapped her arms about them......He could have had her if he had only .....cared...if he had only seen her as more.....if he had only let her in, and met his son........

"But perhaps I am wrong. Maybe ..... you never wished or never will wish for somebody who can see through you, through the darkness you surround yourself with to the person you lock away.

I learned of your past, easy enough once I put my mind and money into it....

I know, why you are what you are......I understand the darkness, and how it is a living creature you have to feed......Or it will consume you......."

Finally, as she felt her heart starting to lose what little resolve it had, she shook her head, a barely audible whimper caught in her throat as she was forced to leave the warmth of his embrace....As she put distance between them, she closed her eyes, a single tear unable to be stopped as it rolled down her face, reaching her chin and dripping slowly down onto her thigh......

Her tone weak and hushed....the confession of a person who had kept the words locked away for so long now, the thought of getting them out, was terrifying.....

"I would have accepted you Nathaniel...Every flaw, every imperfection.....I would have ........."

She could not say those last two words, they lodged in her throat and seemed to choke the air out of her instantly. Her hands trembled as she kept them clasped lightly in her lap......

Clearing her throat she tried to compose herself, using hsi last statement to go off of as she pushed herself to the edge of the couch, her hand gripping the edge of such so tightly her knuckles whitened....

Finally she pushed herself up and away from the couch, her back to him, a light sigh as she struggled to compose herself.....

"I am glad that I was one of the many you are happy to have knocked up...I suppose that is a good thing huh? Heh. Well, happy to help."

She tried to hide the pain in her tone at the thought of being just another girl he was with that he wasnt disgusted with knocking up....No matter how much it hurt her.....No matter how much it broke whatever was left of her heart......

But then just as earlier, the past washed over her, it was every goodbye, every "I am sorry you are just not for me" every "I wish things were different" and above all else, it was another Gabriel move......

Spinning around to face him, she did not bite back the tears this time as two rows of salty drops slid from the corners of her eyes.....

"I was more Nathaniel....I know I was....Yet you sit there and try to hurt me......Why?! Why do you push me away? Afraid I will hurt that which you wont let anyone in to see? Afraid that I will damage you, your reputation, your precious image?

.........................................

Afraid that I will say I love you.....?"

It just sorta slipped out, the tail end of a rant gone wrong, or right, depending on who you were.....Eyes going to Zeke who now looked between them....A concern for her in his eyes as she flashed him a reassuring smile....Nodding with her head toward the other room, she silently suggested Nathan follow.....This was about to get a lot worse....In one way or another....

She would then turn, grabbing up the monitor which was still on and headed into the other room, the dining area....leaning her back against the table as she waited.....Sure that her last little statement would get either some bullshit reason why it was a bad idea or whatever, but yeah, she was ready for it....She had to change her life, and these were the first steps...No more hidden emotions and locking away the past, she had to confront it to move on....Though was that possible with Nathan? She didn't know.......For all she knew, he could leave right now....taking with him, that part that secretly could have been his, if only he had said .....something........

[Ezekial Seran]

Zeke watched the two on the couch. A bit of curiosity filling him at the way they both seemed so.....off....not that he knew that was what it was, but yeah......either way he watched as the new man put his arm around Mommy and pulled her close to him.

HUGS!!!

His hands happily banging two blocks together as his attention shifted, not paying much mind to them because he had BLOCKS!!!!

But then Mommy got up, and he felt her sadness....Eyes worried and curious looked up to her as she moved, her tone when she spoke a bit unsettling and only making him that much closer to losing it....

But then he was given the smile. The one promised everything would be okay......So, he was content...But oooh!!! He forgots the new words Mommy taught him that made her smile and that made Daddy smile, or at least who he currently thought was Daddy...since nobody had really introduced Nathan to Zeke as such and yeah, he had not spent much time with the boy.....But still.....THE WORDS MADE PEOPLE HAPPIES!!!

So, pushing himself to stand, a bit unsturdy at first and then catching himself he toddled over to the man, hands gripping the guys knees for support as he popped his binky out of his mouth....

"Luff ooo"

Those eyes of his, their beautiful shade, seeming to shimmer with happiness and delight at saying the words, waiting on the smile...There was always a smile when he said the words!!!

Clapping his hands to show he had done good by saying them right and then holding up his grabby hands to be picked up.....Knowing little that he would most likely be placed in the play pen of doom when the man followed Mommy when she left the room...Just wanting to be held....cause he earned it!

[nathaniel]

As Nathaniel wrapped his arm around Kevala's shoulder and started to pull her in closer to him, he could feel that she was trying her best to keep her distance from him. She would place her hand on his side, trying to push away from him, but it was to no avail. Her hand went from trying to keep her away to grabbing his shirt tightly and bringing herself even closer to him. They were getting back to where they once were faster than even he could have predicted. No, they were even further than they were back in San Fransisco. Back then it was all about sex and drinking for the both of them. There was no attachment between the two of them, at least none that either of them shared with each other. Nathaniel knew that he had some sort of more advanced feelings for Kevala towards the end, and the way she was acting at that moment he could only guess that she did as well.

As Nathaniel and Kevala sat on the couch, soaking in each others scents and emotions like a sponge, Ezekial played with his toys as he gazed over at them with an innocent smile. Nathan could tell that the little tot was very intelligent for his age, and his ability to analyze the situation was probably on par with that of an average eight year old. It was in his blood to be able to do things like this, and it was only a matter of time before he would use the passive abilities to help him get what he wanted from the less fortunate in the world. But the main question was would he use his abilities to help his fellow man, or would he go down the path of so many Serans before him and use them for personal gain? Nathaniel would be there to watch his progress and see which path he would take for himself, and as his father he would approve of his decision no matter what happened in the future.

His thoughts about their child were interrupted by Kevala taking in a deep breath beside him. She said how she missed his scent upon her own flesh, and so he applied a little more pressure to his arm around her, making it a true hug that only a lover could give. Then, as he spoke out about the other women he had sex with and how he was glad that she was the one that he knocked up she turned her head away from him after taking one more sniff of his intoxicating scent. She told him that if he would have dropped his guard just once he could have gotten what he truly wanted. His eye brow would perk up in curiosity upon hearing these words as Kevala let go of his shirt and brought her legs up onto the couch, wrapping her arms around them in a defensive position. He knew what he had said, and a part of him wanted to apologize right then and there, but it was the only way to get her to be completely honest with him.

He knew that she was with someone else, Mischa, and what they had was fairly serious in comparison to what they ever had. Both of them had more than likely been able to admit they loved each other, as in Nathaniel conquests he has figured out that it is far easier for a woman to say those words than it is for a man, but it didn't mean that they didn't care. Nathaniel knew that for himself he didn't want to open himself up to someone for fear that they would use the information they gained to ruin every aspect of his life. He was lucky with Isabelle, since she found out a big truth from him and never even turned him into the police. Not that he couldn't have found a way out of getting in trouble, but the fact that she kept her mouth shut and simply left him was pure luck. He didn't want to have to worry about things like that again, but Kevala was truly something else.

Then she spoke out once again, her words more harsh and stinging than they had been only seconds before. She said that maybe he never wanted to be with someone that saw through his darkness, the darkness that he used to lock everyone out from his heart. She understood his past through the time they spent together, and possibly even some investigating of her own. She even said she knew why he was the way he was, and how is darkness was something that he had to feed or else it would take control of him. He would look down at her, a slightly confused look on his face as he did. She may have been right about some of the thing she said, but there was no way that she could truly know what he was or how he felt. She may have gained an idea of what its like from her time with him, but her imagination probably couldn't even comprehend everything that he had done to get to where he was in his life.

Then she did something that he had been waiting for since he said his slightly spiteful words to her. She escaped from his loving embrace and moved further away from him. He knew that it was only a matter of touch before she couldn't handle him anymore. His constant push and pull on her emotions, something that she probably had to deal with when she was following his brother. He knew that things would never progress further than what they had, and it was simply because he was who he was and it was the same for her. No matter how badly he wanted for things to work out, one of them would always be the one to push the other away. This was inevitable and he knew it. All that was left to do was hear what she had to say, say goodbye to his son and leave them in the peace that they so rightfully deserved.

And then she said something that surprised even him, and for once in his life it showed on his face as he couldn't contain his shock. She told him that she would have accepted him, flaws and all, if only he would have let her. This was something that he never would have expected anyone to ever say to him. His adoptive mother saw him as a monster, his ex-girl friend saw him as nothing but a liar and a manipulator and her was this little raven haired woman telling him that she would have accepted everything he had done. She was even shaking as her last sentence trailed off without a finish before getting up from the couch and turning her back to him. He had seen the tear fall down her face, and as soon as it hit hear thigh he knew that he had truly ruined things with Kevala, like he had done with so many people before. There was no escaping a life of ruin when you were a Seran.

Then, to add a little more poison to her already venomous words, she told him that she was glad to help by being the one woman of many to get pregnant with his child. He figured that she would take it that way, which was why he said it in the first place, but he had never expected her to feel the way about him that she did. His world was crumbling before him. Everything he knew and cared about would vanish after this day. Kevala would hate him, his son would forgot him and his brother would never forgive him for not being there for someone just like he wasn't there for Gabriel. His face wen emotionless as these thoughts coursed through his head. Looking over at his son, he knew that he could feel the tension between the two adults that stood in front of his gaze. His mother was beyond her breaking point, and so Nathaniel waited for her to scream for him to get out and never come back.

Then, without warning she turned around to face him, streams of tears falling down her face as she looked down at him. She told him that she knew that she meant more to him, and asked why he kept trying to hurt her, why he kept pushing her away. She asked if he was afraid. Afraid to let her in, to let her damage everything that he had build for himself, and she couldn't have been more right. He was about to speak to her during the pause, but was left speechless with her last question. Was he afraid that she would say she loved him? Those words seemed to echo as she looked down at a worried Ezekial, giving him a reassuring look to let him know, or at least think, that everything was alright. She then nodded toward the a doorway, hinting that she wanted him to follow her to a different room so they could continue their conversation in private.

She left him with Ezekial, taking with her the baby monitor so that she could make sure that their son was fine while they were in the other room. Nathaniel just say there, his eyes staring down at the ground as her words played over and over again in his head. He didn't know how to react, what to do or even why the hell she would even say those words to him. He was hollow, devoid of whatever he came into that house with. Completely empty... And then little Ezekial came up to him, placing his hands on Nathaniel's knees, and said something that snapped him out of it. The little tot said that he loved him, a man that he had just met and had no idea how dangerous he was. As the baby began to clap, Nathaniel grabbed his tiny hands with his own and looked down at his son, a completely serious look plastered on his face as he stared into Ezekial's eyes.

"Okay Ezekial, listen to me because I'm only going to say this once. You can't trust everyone that comes into this house. There are bad people out in the world, people that don't care how cute you are or whether or not you're a child. You can't sway everyone with you're infant charm, and its definitely not going to work on me. But with that said..." He would stop his sentence, getting up from his seat and picking his son up at the same time. He would slowly walk over to the play pen that Ezekial had been in upon his arrival, and place him gently inside. While kneeling down next to the pen, he would rub the top of his sons head with a kind smile on his face. "I love you to, Ezekial. You're father will always love you, no matter what happens between me and your mother. Remember that, okay?"

As he got up, he noticed the baby monitor again and shook his head with a slight laugh as he turned away from the play pen and made his way into the kitchen. Their conversation was just starting, and he knew it. Both of them had two years of pent up feelings and unsaid words that needed to be let out, and he was sure that some of them would not be very child friendly. Making his way into what appeared to be the kitchen, he saw Kevala leaning against the kitchen table, her eyes still holding that teary look as their gaze met. He would keep his distance from her, leaning against the wall right next to the doorway. "So, you think I'm afraid, do you? Afraid to let anyone in, to let you in? Afraid of you loving me?..." He'd say, the smile that he had shown his son gone as soon as he turned his back to him. It was time for the grown ups to talk.

"You're right..." The two words that he never thought he'd be saying to her at that moment in his life. She was completely and utterly right about him being afraid, and he was man enough to admit it. "I'm not saying you know everything, nor am I saying that everything you said was right, but I am afraid. Afraid of you and Ezekial being a main part in the conflict ridden life that I lead." He would pause, looking back through the doorway to get a glimpse of his son before returning his gaze back to Kevala. "You'll both be weaknesses that I can't afford to have with my... hobbies." Another pause, as he let out a long sigh and shook his head at what he was about to say. "But, I'm willing to take those weaknesses because... I love you, both of you, and I won't let any of the threats I come into contact with ever cause you harm."

[Ceraphine Davis]

Kevala stood there, listening to every word that Nathaniel spoke to Ezekial, her heart aching a bit more as he told him that he loved him...not matter what happened between them.

It was a point she was currently running over and over in her mind. She had all but told the man she loved him, or at least had started to.....Gah! Another Seran to shoot her down, just what she needed in her already wavering mental state. Right now she had to remain focused, clear........If she ever planned on getting to that little bitch Chantel.......

Her eyes instinctively flashed from their icy hue to crimson, anger rising in her as she brought the girls image to her mind, that wall she used to keep herself locked away around others breached for the moment.

Though a dull throb of emotions interrupting her own personal wave brought her about, head shooting down to conceal the color of her eyes as she forced the demon back into its box....For now...All in good time.....The whispers still echoing in her mind from the voice the thing inside her let forth.....

~Blood.......agony......suffering.....~

She mentally blocked the sounds out, forcing her eyes to return to normal as she sighed softly and listened to his words, letting that all too welcome tone drag her slowly back to the here and now....She remained with her head down as he spoke, she was surprised to hear him admit she was right, but at the same time she felt bad, never having told him that she had caught glimpses of him through his emotions.....She knew, based on those slightly darker ones she had felt that he had done things similar to what she had done..........

But then he spoke of weaknesses......her and Ezekial....her mind shooting back to the conversation she had with Gabriel about Nathaniel and instantly betting this was going to lead to her kicking his ass because she had been right.......He would leave....Walk away just as she had thought he would...And no amount of words could change that.......

She could handle the emotional roller coaster, she provided her own amusement park ride of such on a daily basis, it was why she was so close to Gabe, he was the only one she had met who could keep up with the way she shifted and changed, and because she changed just as he did, both of them linked from the day they had met......

Just as she had felt with Nathaniel......Only more intense.....more powerful.......Nathaniel brought forth her ability in its purest form...It was like a direct link to him, that she had hidden...but that had been what kept her coming back to him time and time again...like a drug she could not kick.......Nor did she want to......

But she had to at the time........because she had hoped to be spared the oncoming goodbye he would offer.........Another Gabriel, only this one would not be around for her or their son.....that link broken......pain would surely be given to that which was inside her...but it would be her own.....Nothing more....

But then his last and final words echoed in her mind.....They seemed to be enough to shut up the rattling of the cage that held back her darker nature.......Silence in her mind...only his words to be thought over again and again as she finally lifted her gaze toward him.......

A look of both surprise, and something more.........fire......in her gaze as she brushed her tongue over her lips.....Her tone rolling forth as she spoke out in a soft tone that almost seemed to urge him to come closer to her, as her body shifted just slightly.....

"I read emotions.....I never told you because I caught glimpses of that which you hide......I recognized it.....The same thing hides within me...only you are a bit better in your control...But then you are a Seran.....Heh...."

She did not know why she spoke the words, only that she felt he deserved to know how she knew what she did......Of course she was sure he would be quick to learn as Gabriel had how to shut her out completely....Block her off from what he felt....Now that he knew....But she felt if he was going to speak the words he best know who he was speaking them to......

A step forward, her small hand dragging slowly along the counter as she cast her gaze to such, musing over what to say, how to react......

Figuring at this point instinct was her best bet....Though that was always a dangerous thing when it came to her.....

"You know, I was afraid.....afraid you would damage me...would take what little I had left of myself and destroy it...I have suffered my entire life, every turn just another painful road.....I was with you one night, and suddenly, I felt it.....that emotion you had.....I knew that emotion.....And instantly my own came to life, burning inside of me......"

She stopped, half way toward him as she finally turned her eyes up to him, though keeping her head down, hair falling just right to give her that darker beauty look that so very few ever truly got to see........

"I ran.....From my fear....I have never done that....but you.....You threatened to do what Gabriel never could......Break me down into nothingness.....To the point that dying would not have been enough......."

Her eyes running over the scars on her wrists, the night her world had been shattered.......The one she let in had destroyed her......HE had been what kept her heart cold and locked away from Nathaniel....but that link that they had, that part of both of them they hid......it pulled at the strings of her heart...til she fell.....hard..........

"I gave Gabriel my heart and my loyalty, and he destroyed me time and time again....I could not take you doing it to me once......You would have torn my soul apart....left me with nothing........Empty inside.....Fate worse than death..."

She held up her wrists for him to see, it was to show, in her own way he seemed to read so well, that she did not fear death....welcomed it and sometimes laid in bed at night wishing for it....but that she had feared how much damage he could do.......

Hoping to send it home to him just how she had felt, leaving no doubt about what she had meant when she spoke earlier......She had loved him....may have a hard time with the words, but she loved him......

[nathaniel]

He stood there in silence, leaning against the cold wall of Kevala's home, waiting for some sort of reaction from the woman that he had just opened up to more than any other person in his entire life. Even though this house held his only two weaknesses in the world that could end Nathaniel's life as he knew it, he just couldn't leave them to be torn apart by the ravenous Serans that had made San Diego their home. And so there he was, among the odd silence that took over the room after letting her know the truth about his feelings for her. He didn't know how she would react. Would she start to cry her eyes out. Maybe she'd jump on top of him and they'd make love like a couple of animals just like the good days. Or she could simply say that it was too late for them to have any sort of relationship now. He was ready for anything at this point, so all he had to do was wait.

Soon, her beautiful blue eyes rose from behind her hanging locks of hair as she looked up at him, a look of surprise plastered on her face a like deer in the head lights. Did they both simply think that the other person hated their guts? It must have been the thought that went through their minds as the years went by. Could they have gone on to live their lives without ever seeing each other again? Sure, but Nathaniel knew that they both would have regretted it. A son without his father, a woman without her one true love and a man without the two things that could truly make him human. Things would have been way different, lives would have been shattered and death would come to far more people than would be needed if Nathaniel wouldn't have taken it upon himself to see them. All things may have been guided by fate, but he was always one to try and make his own destiny.

Then, like the the calming sea after an unseen storm, Kevala spoke out to him. No I love you back, no jumping his bones, but instead she had a confession of her own for him. She told him that she could read peoples' emotions, and that was how she was able to put some of his past together. Sure, she didn't know exactly what he had done in the past, but she knew that there was definitely a lot of dark points in his complicated upbringing. She also told him that she too had a side of her that she hid from those around her, though she wasn't as good at hiding it as he was since he did have the blood of a Seran. He would lightly shut his eyes with a smile, nodding in agreement with her statement and taking everything that she had told him. He didn't know why she was telling him all of these things. Maybe she didn't love him anymore and it was a different connection that she had with him.

He could only hope he was wrong, after telling her that he loved her straight up. No working around his own words like so many other times. Just complete and utter honesty came from his lips, and so he hoped that her honesty would meld together with his. Now she was slowly making her way toward him, running her finger on the counter as she took her steps. One, two, three, like everything was in slow motion. She spoke once again, telling him that she was truly afraid that he would destroy what little was left of her soul. He had awoken a part of her with the emotions that he kept hidden behind his masks and she was scared that if she opened herself up to that intensity that she would be shattered when he ended it. He could understand what she meant, as he had probably destroyed the lives of many women before her, but she also couldn't see it from the other side.

She stopped half way through the kitchen, lifting her head back up to gaze into his eyes with her breath taking blue eyes that sat perfectly positioned between her hanging raven hair. The look she had was intense, and so he returned her gaze with his own emerald eyes, a fire seeming to build up between them as they started silently at each other. She told him that she ran away because of fear, the fear that he would break her into nothing, something that not even his brother could do to her. It was true. Nathaniel had the ability to do what his brother would not, and could go on with his life as nothing happened. It could have been the same with Kevala in different circumstances, but their lives had led them here, to this moment, and so none of that mattered. He was still scared that he could do what she feared to her, breaking her down to nothing simply because of the fact that he was a Seran, but he hoped that this would never happen.

She looked down at her wrists, causing him to do the same, his gaze coming to see the self inflicted wounds running up her arms. He had seen these time and time again in the past, but he wasn't one to ask for a person's life story when he was having sex, and so their story went untold. It seemed that it was time for him to know why they ran down her arms, and it was all because of his brother. Time and time again he had destroyed her, made her hurt herself, and yet she couldn't even deal with him hurting her once. Death would have been better than feeling the pain of hearing him say that he didn't care about her. He never knew that he had such an affect on her, or any other women for that matter. He knew he was charming, but obviously some women saw him as more, and he left so many without a word before.

"A fate worse than death, huh?" He said, pushing himself off of the wall with his foot and slowly moving down the counter toward Kevala. He held no emotion on his face, and now that he knew about Kevala he hid his true emotion from her, as his powerful emerald eyes stared into her soul. "And you think that I didn't feel that way when you left without a word? Sure I was fine at first, but when I found out you had our child without me I lost it. I killed again, after a year without spilling any blood I killed a random woman after getting what I wanted from her. You act as if the men you love are the only ones that can cause you pain, but you never take into account the pain you can cause..." His words were powerful and heartfelt, meant to dig to her core and show her that he could bleed and he had made her in her own way. "We all have our ways of coping with the feelings we hide, I just harm others instead of myself."

He would finally stop right in front of her, his hand laying gently on top of her own on the counter as his powerful stare shifted to a much more gentle and loving look. "I'm not sure why you told me about your ability, the only reason I can think of is that you want me to show you what I'm feeling when I feel like it. I may have opened myself up to you today, but from now on my mask will be on the outside as well as within. I can't have you knowing everything I'm feeling, not at this point in my life, but I can tell you that I won't hide everything from you either." With that said he would move his gaze off to the side, looking off at nothing in particular, as he gripped Kevala's hand softly. "If you're still too scared to love me, I understand. Mischa's probably the safer choice anyway. Just know that other women have had my body, but you have had my heart for two years."

[Ceraphine Davis]

She stood there, silently gazing at him with her intense gaze fully meeting his own in a way that showed she was not one to really shy away, despite her leaving.....

Then he spoke, the words sparking that fire in her that longed for blood, but for the moment she beat it down, not letting it take hold...She would deal with that need soon enough, for now, she had to deal with the man now slowly approaching her..His captivating emerald eyes locked on her own as he continued to speak....

Her? Somebody that could hurt others?

Inside she was mentally denying it, shaking away the thought of such, but as he continued to speak, the emotions bled into his words, every bit of them true and heartfelt and pained.......

She had once or twice thought that perhaps, just maybe she had hurt him...maybe he had missed her just a bit....or at the very least, that he had remembered her fucking name.....But to know that she had truly reached within and left a mark that would not fade with time....just as he had her....was something that never once had she expected or thought of........

Her eyes lowered, her mind playing over the thought as she replayed their time together in her mind, over and over again....It was indescribable the way they seemed to fall together. Sure, back then it had been outwardly nothing but sex.....raw lust in its finest...at least for a pair like them.......But now to know that both had been holding so much back from the other........

It took her a moment as she felt his hand slide over her own, her breath again catching in her throat and causing her to close her eyes as she let her lower lip slide between her teeth for but a second.....her voice finally breaking the silence as she shook her head....where to start......Where to start indeed?

"I told you, because I do not keep things from those I .....I....."

She was so different than most females. Where most could simply let forth those three little words without a second thought, they truly scared Kevala, her body trembling ever so slightly...Sure she spoke them to Mischa...and Gabriel knew well that she loved him, though of course that love had evolved into something more suited for the pair......But to say it now, in the wake of so much.......

But his final statement, the understanding of her being too scared to love him....it seemed to reach down inside of her, pulling forth the words as she drew in a shakey breath, her eyes once again lifting to note the way he averted his own.....slowly her small hand rose up, delicate fingers subtly brushing against his jawline to urge him to look at her once more as she gently shook her head.....

"I cannot lie and say I do not love Mischa, but I am no good for her..she is sweet, innocent in her own right and I will destroy her.....I already have.....

As for the other women, I do not care, not one bit, I have not been the best behaved girl in the world as of late myself....But...."

Her words trailing off but for a minute as she ran her hand slowly down his neck, nails lightly scraping at his flesh, dragging him out to her....The side of him she knew all too well....continuing downward, over his collar and down his chest until it came to rest upon the spot where she could feel the soft beat of his heart......Her other hand, the one he held onto shifting, only to take his hand and place it upon her own heart....which he would be able to feel racing heavily within her chest......

"You are the one who makes my heart race....makes my body tremble......You are the one who I truly love...."

She knew where this would lead with others in her life, and pain would be great, the darker half already hungry for it despite how much Kev may not want to cause it...But she would not destroy Mischa ...... And......she could not deny the man who stood before her.....No matter how much she may have wanted to...He weakened her resolve and brought her crashing into him with just his simple presence in the room......He held her soul and her very easily broken heart in his hands....

This was a risk...she knew that...But she was willing to take it....Because the risk outweighed the pain of turning him away and watching him walk out that door forever.........

"So I told you about myself, because you have a right to know...I fully expect you to shut me out.....I just wanted to give you that knowledge and that right......"

Her small form shifting, brushing against his as she ran her tongue slowly over her lips, her breathing heavier under the weight of his hand on her chest....her hand gripping his shirt in the spot it rested, pulling him into her and pinning herself against the counter.......

Her tone a bit more heated, a bit more sultry as she tugged his shirt, urging him to bend down toward her.......those eyes locked on his own.....

"Now, let me see the Nathaniel that I came to love so very much...."

A grin on her lips as she tilted her head slightly, her free hand moving to slide about his waist, fingers curling into his shirt and holding him to her, digging slightly through the fabric into his flesh.....Wondering if she still had the ability to get him like so many others had failed to truly do.......