Jupiter nodded and answered with a simple. “Done.” She would be a damn dangerous woman by the time he was finished. He was the only one of his brothers to embrace the art of war, the art of violence. For the rest of them their strength was enough, but what if they happened to cross someone that was as strong as they were. Or someone invincible or a plethora of other things that could happen, no, he started how to hurt people effectively, in ways that someone as gentle as Xavia could render a man to wish he were dead. But that could wait.

For now, her sweet supple lips were moving towards his, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. The flavor of imported beer on soft lips was a wonderful thing to behold. This was a good way to get reacquainted.

When she pulled away, it was reluctant. But she did so because she felt kind of selfish. “You have been here for hours and I have been talking about me. Tell me about what has happened with you since we last saw each other. Hmm?”

With that, she moved to sit again and took her beer back up, cheeks flushed and lips swollen from the kiss they had just shared. Back when they first knew each other, all it took was a kiss and she was putty. But she had grown up, and as hungry as she was to be with him, she couldn’t just do that.

He was a stranger again, at this point. Not in the literal sense, of course, but figuratively. She didn’t know him anymore in some ways, even if she knew what he was like. Gazing at him intently, she waited.

He smiled guiltily, if this was selfishness, he wondered what a selfless Xavia was like. He was happy to catch up with her on all levels. It wasn’t simply about her delicious lips. Or teaching her to be dangerous. “ I won’t pretend I’ve changed much.” he paused.

“My sister disappeared and has been returned to us as well as a couple nieces. There is a Russian mafia trying to move in on our territory. They’ve left it in my hands to make that difficult. I’ve started bouncing at a bar called the shadows light. For the most part, it has been mostly status quo. ” He failed to mention riding a rhino late into the night, simply because in his life that wasn’t too fantastical to find absurd.

He looked to her feeling stagnate as if he had simply been watching the world go by for the last year or two. And that had been just what he’d done.

“I actually saw you on the news…” And she didn’t need to mention why, he probably knew. Her eyes danced because of laughter she hadn’t laughed, but because the humor was there, he probably wouldn’t have trouble figuring out that she saw him ride a rhino. Har!

“You have a sister? I did not know that. But then, I never really asked you much when you and I were with each other…” She took a draw from her bottle of beer, and then ran her finger along the condensation thoughtfully. “What is your sister like?”

Xavia would drink some more beer, and her bottle was empty quickly. She did not make a move to get another one, she knew she was a terrible drunk.

Jupiter barely stopped himself from doing a spit take. swallowing the beer in his mouth and let out a small cough. “We made the news did we?” The camera man must have done the smart thing and stayed the heck out of the way. “Did I not mention, meeting a friend for drinks recently and things getting slightly out of hand?” he couldn’t help but chuckle at what he could remember of that particular night.

He nodded solemnly. ‘She’s Mean for the most part, tough as nails and she went through something similar to what you did I’d imagine. I can’t see her appreciating my mentioning it but.” He shrugged slightly. “ She can be fun, but I think she is still settling in for the most part, she found an old flame and seems to be better off for it. so that’s good. She’s a little thing, but fiery.”

Jupiter stood and took their empties to the kitchen setting them in the recycling. It was a question of manners; he felt at home here and behaved thusly. He grabbed a pair of water bottles from the fridge and returned. Setting the water in front of her. ‘how about you Xavia, do you have any siblings running around?”

“I have one sister. She is looking after my momma because momma is kind of frail after poppa died.” She took the water gratefully, and drank of it. “Jupiter… Thank you for coming to see me, even though I gave you cryptic enough information in the note… This feels like the closure I needed. I feel at peace because you are here and alive…”

She cocked her head some, eyes hooded, “It was the news story that showed me that you lived still. I didn’t even think, I just… Had to see you. I didn’t even try to find out if you even wanted this.”

Her hand squeezed at the bottle, and she sighed a little, having grown serious.

He nodded quietly it was an interesting concept, caring for ones parents, he had gone off the assumption that most parents were rotten, the majority that ended up at the sanctuary certainly hadn’t received the ideal bunch to raise them..” I am glad your mother and sister have each other. “And I am glad for my nonsensical escape then. I’ll have to thank the rhino sometime.”

His tail snuck over as if without his permission and tickled at her tiny, lovely ankle. “No matter the letter or the confusion or the antics that it took me to commit to get us here, it is of little concern so long as it brought us here. I missed you as well. I haven’t pursued anyone else.” The last he said quietly, almost embarrassed by the confession of loyalty. “ It is sill to say you didn’t know if it was what I wanted, no matter the situation, I would have wanted to know you were alive and well., safe and sound.” He sipped at the water.

"So?" kissing was easier than talking. Conversations took concentration and women were emotionally taxing. She was tiring him out. It wasn't that he was annoyed. Jupiter was simply used to being able to physically conquer things that frustrated you. Like life and problems. This was out of his comfort zone, he couldn't smmash the fact, that time had torn them apart and they had to get reacquainted. if he could!

Xavia nodded as he spoke, and then smiled at the part where he mentioned his loyalty to her. That was probably the sweetest thing he had ever said to her. She chuckled a little when he tickled her ankle. When she stood up, it was to walk over to him and give him a hug. “Thank you.”

With that being said, she didn’t move this time, snuggling into him and closing her eyes. She had forgotten how nice it was to be close to this man. She had forgotten his scent, and the way his arms around her felt. It was good to know she could have both near again. She didn’t say anymore, she shifted so she was curled up in his lap. She wasn’t kissing him, though; there was time enough for that.

Her head rested on his chest, and she closed her eyes. If he remembered, she wasn’t as heavy as she seemed to be at the moment. Her body had hardened a little with muscle, and she was a little more padded in other places. His little flower wasn’t so fragile anymore, it seemed.

Large red arms wrapped around the petite frame and his chin rested on the top of her head. He simply sat there and enjoyed one of life’s simplest pleasures, holding the woman you cared about in your arms. He had thought she was lost to him but here she was out of the blue. He still wasn’t completely sure he wouldn’t be waking up any moment now wondering at where she was.

He relaxed his embrace a little bit and let himself take in her presence, trying to memorize every little detail of her. As did so he began to quietly doze off the warmth and happiness of her plus the previous evening’s events had him worn out and absolutely content.

Xavia wouldn’t let him sleep right there. She took his hand if he let her, and tried to lead him to the room she’d picked as her bed room. The bed was a California King, and she had it turned so that the head board and foot board were at the more narrow ends with a custom frame. It wasn’t as if she had known she would see him again, she just wanted a big bed.

If he had followed, and if he decided he would lay down, Xavia curled up against him and lay there in silence. She was thoughtful the whole time, wondering about things. Eventually, she would drift off into slumber, her sleep kind of broken.

She didn’t fear her dreams, but she woke up many times and lay there, staring at the ceiling as sweat beaded on her forehead. Sometimes she would move to the window seat (she obviously loved bay windows), and sit there staring out into the moonlit night, idly sprouting some roses from her palm as if trying not to think at all. Sometimes she would even look over at him in wonder, the moonlight playing on her skin.

Jupiter was easy lead to the bed room and more than happy to play the innocent, He was happy to hold the woman he had missed for what seemed like millennia. He slept quietly, occasionally drawing Xavia back in, waking up and covering her and dozing back off.

His eyes popped open as he noted the spot that should have been occupied by his dryad was now empty, he scanned the room with his eyes, finally falling on her at the window, quiet sadness seemed to emanate from her. it could have been that she was simply tired and concentrating. Her eyes moved to his.

“What keeps you up, my dear?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I just get bad dreams coming at me while I sleep. I thought I would rather get up and stay awake for awhile so that I wouldn’t wake you.” A soft shrug is given and she turned her head to look at him. She had a lot on her mind, some doubts about things, trepidations… Her mouth formed a half smile, though. “I will be fine.”

She looked down at her palm as tendrils of plant life curled around her fingers. It withered away when she shook her hand, and then she stood and stretched a little. Her nightgown was diaphanous when the moonlight filtered through the window, her frame silhouetted by the silky fabric that surrounded it. Her hair had lost the effects of the straightening she had done to it earlier in the night, so it seemed to curl in the riotous manner he might remember.

“Sometimes I would sit in the penthouse of a hotel and look down at the city, and would wonder why I was looking. I’d close my eyes and there was always a blur of red passing by. I knew it was a person, was someone I supposed I knew… But I couldn’t remember. I would always try to think of the blur when I had bad dreams.” Xavia moved toward him and then sat on the bed beside him. “Now I know that even though I didn’t remember who you were or what you looked like, you never really left me.”

Jupiter shook his head softly. “you don’t need to worry about waking me. You should have. It was rude for me to fall asleep in the first place.”

He put his feet onto the floor and prepared to go to her, when she came to him. “You will be better than fine and it makes me happy to know that I was there for you in spite it all at least somehow bringing a bit of comfort..” His hand gently held hers.

He was cautious with her, He still wasn’t sure that he shouldn’t be chasing the man responsible down for this. He would have trouble resisting, having him found and dealing with him.

But there were more important things than revenge, at least at the moment. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her near. They could have the rest of their conversation from there, couldn’t they? Surely the safety of his arms might give her some relief, They could whisper the day away and when she was ready to sleep he would watch over her.

Her hand tugged and he didn’t resist, and they were curled up together again. She curled up against him, tucking her head beneath his chin as the big man held her somewhat protectively. “It is okay that you sleep… I don’t want you to go.” And with that, she grew silent, and eventually drifted off. He marveled for a bit, happy to be able to feel her small form nestled against his barrel chest again. She was his woman, even if they hadn’t talked about that yet. She had no clue he felt that way, but damn, he’d missed her. But he didn’t have time to think about it right now, he was drifting back off.


It was a few weeks later… With her busy schedule, it was hard for them to see each other. She was kind of tired between business meetings for the greenhouse, as well as the donating of funds to the Mansion, and her singing career. And she’d hit the back of her head and almost made a GRAVE mistake. And guilt wracked her for something that didn’t happen. She had been thinking about it for the last bit of time, and realized why it almost happened. Not really because Nate had flirted so much, but because she was feeling insecure. It was understandable after everything that she had gone through. She had NO clue how Jupiter really felt about her.

So she invited him over for the night. She wanted to talk to him. Xavia was going to be open and honest about the almost kiss. It wouldn’t be fair to not say anything, but she was going to tell him why it almost happened. She hoped that it wouldn’t make him walk away from her. She realized from this whole experience that it was always him. Any other guy wouldn’t do.

She took a deep breath and put the lid onto a pot of traditional Hungarian goulash that was on the stove, and it bubbled merrily away. A rather large pot at that, she thought, and then went to the living room to wait for him to show up.

Jupiter wasn't sure if he had done something wrong, But Xavia hadn't really been responding to him lately, He had her full attention for at least a few days after they made contact but then she started being 'busy' all the time. sure she had to work, but he was starting to wonder if he had done something to offend her. He just wished she would say something instead, if she didn't want him around anymore, he could take it, He just wanted her happy, and if he couldn't do that well. then he wasn't the man for the job.

He parked his Motorcycle in the drive way, and got off his bike walking to the door, He was just as ecstatic as he was the first time he arrived, but this time a bit more reluctant in the fact that he wasn't sure why she had been avoiding him. He should have gotten Venus's advice. on the matter. He'd know what was going on and what to do about it. but then...he'd own him a favor and might never know if She would have liked him only for him and not the fact that he could call upon a charismatic brother for advice.