#au123

She had stumbled out of an alleyway in a town a few dozen miles away early that morning with blood dripping down her chin. Forks was crawling with her fellow vampires and wolves, who she despised, and she sensed it was almost time to ditch. If it weren’t for Abel and Ophelia, she would have.

A modern playground seemed an unusual, humble place for a creature once worshipped by man, she often reflected. In a strange way, though, remaining on the edges as her children wound through tunnels, metal bars, swingsets, it was one of the places she felt most connected with what little human was left inside of her, the all-encompassing human world around her. Children always played the same, even over thousands of years, their games rarely changed and imaginations never stilled.  Winter and River were out with her today, and she chuckled to herself as she looked up from her knitting in time to catch Winter cheekily suggesting they “play” mermaids together. Winter had learned to suggest it was imaginary in public, just to be safe, though Hestia doubted anyone would question it anyways. She loved that Winter adored River’s identity as a strength, something of wonder and beauty, rather than something to fear. Someone joined her side, and she shifted her attention to the newcomer. “Hello,” she greeted with a warm smile, perpetually the welcoming committee to any new friends for her children- and herself.

Satchel was brooding.

Just dinner. No big deal. Something casual. His palms still itched and stomach knotted up. Maverick had been to the house a couple of times, but only briefly, and never with Addy around. At first, he’d told himself it was because it was a risk that she get hurt or something, but after a while he’d owned up to it being pure anxiety. What if Addy didn’t like him? What if she was weird about it? What if he said something awkward, or worse- she said something awkward? He leaped up when the doorbell rang- Maverick, no doubt, he’d texted him when he left- and forced himself to not sprint to the door. When it opened, Maverick was there, and he wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or worse. “Hi,” he greeted, stepping aside to let him in. “You look great. We’re having lasagna. I hope you like lasagna?” Alder didn’t have a lot of feelings about what they were or weren’t having for dinner, but it was something to talk about when he felt the anxious need to talk.

He hadn’t meant to turn Rory into a vampire, he’d really meant to kill her. But old age was making him soft and he’d stopped, not fully realizing that it meant he’d now have to be a babysitter to a baby vamp.

Despite the strangeness of the beginning of dinner, it had tapered off into normal-ish conversation. Occasionally, when Addy neared, he’d felt Maverick go tense beside him, but that had to be nerves, right? Once the kitchen was cleaned up, they stepped outside for a walk, Alder desperate to get Maverick’s thoughts, figure out what was on his mind. The evening was chilly, but tolerable through their hats and jackets, and the clouds had peeled away for the moon to light up the street. As soon as the door was closed behind them, he looked at him expectantly. “I mean- she’s a lot, I know, but it’s just because she cares. You felt that went okay, yeah?”

Satchel was starved and the Volturi were around and it was midday, a rainy and gloomy sky hovered above the trees. So he was hunting, hoping for some unfortunate soul who might be wandering the woods, doing what humans called ‘hiking.’ Absolute waste of time and energy and he’d rid them of it as quickly as possible.