Harrison Vance

“My steed is going to give me the stink eye when he sees how much I’ve brought,” the witch chuckled, looking down at the abundance of items she’d purchased in the market. “It happens any time I put anything over 3 kilos on his back, aside from myself that is.” 

“If only you could read his mind, perhaps he would tell you what to do instead of using him for his job?” Harrison smiled as he looked over to the other witch. “ Do you want any help?”

She gave her brother a fond roll of her eyes but still, she could’t help but smile at the thought. She’d always been a bookworm, always loved studying and always did well in all her classes and teachings, both human and supernatural, but still, it was nice to hear validation like that. “Damn right. And if anyone says otherwise I have you to knock some sense into them.”

“And you did.” Elizabeth emphasized once the topic went back to all those years ago when their parents died. “Harrison…you basically took custody of me. You became a parent along with being my brother. Sure I was a teenager already…but still. You took care of me. And you did everything you could for me. So don’t sell yourself short, okay? We’re here now. Together. And it’s because of you. So keep that in mind–otherwise next time you belittle yourself I’ll hex you.”

She hoped the teasing at the end would lighten the mood and she smiled again, shrugging, “Dunno. But there’s only one way to find out, right?” She asked with a grin. She stood up straight then, nodding to his food now that she’d served him everything, “But for now go ahead and eat your food in peace. I’ll come back to annoy you in a bit.”

Harrison couldn’t help but laugh at the comment his sister said. Of course he would beat the hell out of someone who disrespected his family. He would do it with his bare hands over uses his powers because he could do it, but it was funny how easy she knew that he would go to the end of the world for his family. He wished he could still be doing it for Rosalie, but he knew she needed her space and safety. “Damn right I would. “ He laughed

He fell silent for a moment at her next words though. There was always a quip on the tip of his tongue but not in that moment. He could handle the negativity thrown his way. He was used to it over the years, but it was hard at times for hims to hear the good he had done. He didn’t feel that good but he knew he had to let others express their opinions even if they were more positive than he thought. He put his life on hold in a lot of ways to make sure they would be taken care of. It was the right thing to do and he wasn’t the type to run. “I did what anyone would have done in the situation but okay, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I really don’t feel like getting hexed right now” He chuckled. 

“I really don’t want to be the test subject for that food. “ He added with a teasing smile. “Yeah don’t you have other people to help around here. I swear I’ll be here when you come back” He smiled

Aerith felt the same most days, working different shifts at the hotel could really throw off your schedule. Sometimes, she could barely remember which day of the week it was. “What’s that saying about early birds?” She replied with an amused grin. “It’s a lovely day, might as well make the most of it.” 

“ They get the worms I believe, but I’m of the belief that I’d rather go to a place that sells breakfast all day versus waking up early to get it” He joked for a moment. “ That’s fair. I can’t remember really waking up this early in a long time. I think I’ve missed something. “

Liz gave her brother a grin, shrugging at him, “I like taking the opportunities to show I’m the smartest Vance sibling.” She teased, playfully wrinkling her nose up at him. Her easy, light expression soon faded again though as she saw the way Harrison’s own face had morphed into a sadder expression and when he thanked her she shook her head, “You don’t have to thank me. And hey you do take care of me. When everything happened with mom and dad…you took care of me. You stepped up. You made sure I finished high school, that I had a roof over my head, that we were okay..” she shuddered to think of what could’ve potentially happened if she’d been younger when everything happened. What if she’d got sent away or something? What if they couldn’t stay together? She sighed, pushing those thoughts away. “You still keep a roof over my head. And you keep me from getting too serious about things. You take care of me, I take care of you. That’s what family’s supposed to do. And it’s not going to stop any time soon. I’m going to be overbearing and mother-henning you for a long, long time. So you better get used to it.”

She let out a long, calming breath, trying to get her emotions in check and she closed her eyes for a second before looking back to him, glad for the topic change. “Maybe I’ll look into more healthier options. More fruit involved, healthier substitutes to all the sugar and chocolate. Then maybe you’ll have more of an excuse and less guilt when I inevitably stuff you full all the time.”

Harrison shook his head. If it were anyone other than family he probably would have commented on the intelligence comment, but he knew his sister had the intellect between them. He couldn’t even say he was the one who had the street smarts, cause while he was pretty functional in the way thing’s went in the city and knew the good and bad, he still made a series of terrible decisions despite it. “Like that was ever a question. You’re what’s gonna make sure Vance stays a respectable name” He chuckled. 

At the mention of what she thought he did for her, it came back how much Harrison actually had tried to give his sister a good life. It was part of why he had fallen short in hi own life. It didn’t matter what happened to himself so long as Elizabeth was taken care of. “You’re my sister. I would have done everything to make sure we were gonna be okay. “ He replied back to her. The situation could have been way worse and he was glad he was an adult when the horrible thing had happened. At least that way they weren’t split up. “Okay I’ll give you that” He sighed before giving her another smile. “Someone has to make the money to make sure you end up the one with the college degree. “ He joked. The situation was heavy and he couldn’t help but bring a little humor if he could. but he was grateful for everything they had even if they had lost a lot. “Yeah well thank you again. I do appreciate it even if I like to complain”

With the topic change, Harrison hadn’t realized how much he was holding in a breath. He let it out once she mentioned food again and couldn’t help but smile at her comments. “Yeah, but is it gonna taste the same? I don’t want that tasting like chalk either” He teased 

Central Park was buzzing with life today, the warm weather practically forced people out the door so they could enjoy it. Just in case the weather turned again. Spring and Winter seemed to be raging a war this time of year, and the crisp breeze proved winter hadn’t fully lost yet. Perched on a bench with a travel mug in hand, Aerith pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. People watching had always been a hobby of hers but in New York there was so much more to see then back home. And it offered just as many eyes to see them with. Leaning back against the seat, she caught the eye of one of her companions. The black bird was peering out from behind the branches, watching the same way she was. 

Lowering her gaze she took a sip of her tea as she watched the other approach, greeting them with an easy smile of acknowledgement. “Good morning.”

“You would think there’d be plenty of moving companies that 1. have a proper website. 2. have good reviews and 3. aren’t ridiculously overpriced. I mean come on. It’s a hundred for just the truck, ten an hour and it says the standard delivery crew is two, so really that’s twenty. Including rest time. I mean not to be cheap but.. Is this where it’s going? I might as well kidnap every strong person I know or bait them with dinner for a week. I’ll be spending just as much then, for sure.” 

“Good.” Liz replied, reaching over to shake his hand and everything to seal the deal. She laughed at the job comment though, just giving him a shrug, “Consider it pro bono.” she teased, stealing another of his strawberry slices from the plate of fruit she served him before her expression softened again. “Harrison…you won’t. But even if you do? I’ll be there to help you. So will your friends. People who love you. You’re not alone and you never will be again. What happened last time….I’m not gonna let it happen again. I promise.”

She gave her brother’s hand another squeeze, holding onto it for a few moments before letting go along with giving it a little nudge, “Yeah, but you go a normal amount I think. If you were the type that went like…every single day multiple times a day? Then we’d have a problem and I might need to call for an intervention. Especially if you started drinking those meal replacement things instead of letting me feed you.”

The past few months had sort of sent Harrison is a bit of a spin. He was still adjusting to losing Rosalie and the last few attacks really had messed with his head. He was basically back to being a high functioning mess, but  he was trying. He was gonna at least try for what he had left of his family. “Oh so now were doing some fancy  college talk?” He joked before a sad smile fell on his face. Elizabeth clearly believed in him so much and he didn’t want to let her down. He couldn’t make the same promises she had to him, cause he had no idea what would happen to him in the long run but he was going to use the support network he had. “ I know and thank you. Thank you for putting up with me and basically taking care of me when I am supposed to take care of you” 

“Yeah that is never going to happen. I have this aversion to eating thing’s that taste like chalk. “ He laughed. “ Well I mean I may not be fighting anymore, but I do still help people with self defense sometimes. It’d look really dumb if I just started to put on a bunch of baked goods weight”

Cassie whistled, impressed by the revelation that he had been playing for so long and also had been to Julliard, “You went to Julliard? For a while implies that you didn’t finish,” she noted. 

Dinah’s eyes widened for a split second before she recovered herself, keeping any look of pity from her eyes. It made her think of Wyatt for the briefest of moments, wondering if things would have been different if she had spoke about how she had felt. “I’m sorry… I know how you feel though. To all of a sudden have one of the people you are closest with, just… be gone”. 

Harrison knew he always had his sister to talk to but he hadn’t brought up how much it hurt that Rosalie wasn’t around anymore. This was new for him to be able to let himself be open about how conflicted her felt. “ Yeah that’s the feeling” He replied letting out a sigh. “I can’t be selfish about it. I know she’s happy and she’s safe and she will be able to do something she loves out there. I am happy for her. I never wanted her to be around any of this. She was also 80 percent of my impulse control though and that scares me to not have her. I still don’t have it together as much as I pretend Dinah.

“Well you need to work more on your ways with words then don’t you?” she smirked before nodding, “How long have you been playing the drums?”

A chuckle left her lips before she tilted her head to the side, “And how is Rosalie? I haven’t seen her around for a while”. 

Harrison sighed at the mention of Rosalie. He was still processing everything even if at the end of the day, she got out. It was the thing that mattered the most. “She left. She left the country for school, but also for safety. I really miss her, but I don’t have to go to bed wondering if she’s going to be okay. “

Elizabeth didn’t mean for the conversation to take such a somber turn, definitely didn’t mean for them both to think about what-if’s, but there was no taking it back now. Instead she focused on her brother’s words, gave him a soft little smile, “That’s something I’m holding you to.” She replied, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. It just made her want to double down on how much she already wanted to look after him, make sure he didn’t drift down that dark path again. “Dealing with you is my job.” She tried to tease lightly, but she kept her eyes up on him, her hand over his, “But I know. And for the record you’ve been great these last few months. I’m really proud of you, big brother.”

She let out a long, slow breath as she pulled away, not wanting to make a spectacle of them in the middle of the bakery and she just laughed lightly at the comment, giving him a brighter, more genuine smile, “Fair enough. I wouldn’t want to turn you into one of those obnoxious gym rats. Especially since then you’d probably start judging me every time I bring brownies and cookies for myself home, and we just can’t have that kind of negativity in our household.”

As much as Harrison was trying to avoid it, he knew the conversation was gong to take a serious turn. They could make jokes all the wanted but the Vance siblings had gone through so much that this reaction would have been inevitable at some point. Still, despite the feelings that were happening about how alone the pair could be it was a comfort to know that the were a close family and were devoted to always be there for each other. “ I’ll take it” The older sibling replied  as if it were an actual official deal. To him it was. “ Damn, you are not getting paid enough. I’m a full time job” He chuckled trying to laugh off the fact that it was true that he was a lot of work. “ Thanks. I keep thinking I’m going to screw up soon, it’s freaking me out. “ 

“ You do realize I am at the gym a lot though anyway. I wouldn’t say I was a gym rat, but I am there a lot. I don’t judge about food, Elizabeth. Food is supposed to taste good, so why knock that” He laughed

“Good.” She took a sip of his coffee before nudging it back to him, her smile fading just a little as she thought more of New Years and everything that’d happened. “Yeah. Normalcy helps…being there for our friends and people we care about but..still. I don’t like thinking too much on that night. On the what could have been’s. Like..if you’d been there that night. If something happened to you too….” she looked down, frowning down at the counter for a moment. They already lost their parents, but if she lost him too? She didn’t know what she’d do. 

Liz didn’t want to dwell on those thoughts though, didn’t want to let the mental images fester so instead she huffed out a little breath and shook her head, moving to stand up straighter. “Okay, that’s–. Good.” she nodded, almost visibly putting a barricade up over those darker thoughts and emotions she preferred to just lock away. “I’m serious, let me know. And let me know if you need anything else right now too.”

Harrison knew that where he lacked in a lot of thing’s he knew he was still lucky. He still had his siblings. He still had his health, or at least he thought he did. He wasn’t actually sure what was going on in there. But he had thing’s in his life that others weren't fortunate enough to have. He realized that fact as soon as his sister played the ‘what if’ game. He knew if he had left his sister alone due to an accident it would have been the worst thing he could have ever done. “ Hey, Elizabeth I’m not going anywhere. Nothing will happen to me. “ He promised her. He knew that something bad could still happen, but he wanted to make sure she knew he was trying. “ I haven’t been the easiest person to deal with and I do make dangerous decisions, but I am trying to still get past that and I would never do something that impacted you in a negative way. You can count on that” 

Harrison tried to to make sure he could be a protective big brother even if he lacked in some area’s. How do you look after others when you cant look after yourself? “Honestly if you give me anymore stuff. I’m gonna have to spend even more nights at the gym to be able to carry it” He joked as he looked at just how much he was being given