#brutus 2

Thank you for tagging me @mmoosen and @royal-callahxn :)) Context: Liam's in the forest with Theo and Mason just called Liam!

"Nothing! He was just… trying to annoy me. Anyway, what's up?"

"Uh, yeah…" Mason struggles to shift gears for a moment. After all, it's hard to focus on anything other than the dreadful glimpse he just got of Liam's evening. "Who's the black guy who was like… involved in the Underground Railroad?"

Expecting anything but this, Liam pauses in shock and then kinda lets out a sudden chuckle. "There was more than one, Mason. You should know that."

"What, 'cause I'm black I should know everything about the Underground Railroad?"

"You should know there was more than one black man involved."

"He has a point, Mason," a deep voice answers on the other end.

"Dad!"

"Hi, Mr Hewitt!" Liam says happily as he starts walking again, Theo in tow. For a long time, Liam used to be anxious around Mason's dad, but - daddy issues aside - that was mainly because the man has the facial capabilities of the moai statues. But, when Liam's dad left out of the blue, Mr Hewitt personally went to their apartment barely 3 days later with enough macaroni and cheese to feed an army. That following year, Liam gave his father day's card to Mason's dad, and he's never forgotten to join them for a Father's day dinner ever since.

Feeling a bit guilty, Liam thinks it's been a while since he's visited.

"Good evening, Liam," Mason's dad says with the warmth of a telephone pole.

🥍 - Kira becomes the lacrosse team's captain (Malira)

"Do you think if I tell Coach I don't want to be captain, he'll give it back to Scott?" Kira asks because she's only 30% sure it might work. Coach is, after all, unpredictable.

"You don't want to be captain?"

Kira doesn't look up, feeling too vulnerable right now. She continues playing with her fingers nervously. "I… I dont know. No? I kinda prefer to be… in the background, you know? The right hand man."

"The side-kick." Malia hums in understanding.

Hearing this, Kira raises her gaze with a frown. "Well, no… Maybe not side-kick."

"Then what?"

"I don't know but not the main person! Being captain is so much responsibility and I don't want to rip that away from Scott. I know he loves being the captain. So maybe I should-"

Malia shrugs. "From what Coach said, it sounded like he hasn't been a great captain in some time."

Letting go of her fingers as anger rises in her, Kira can't help but exclaim, "He has had a lot going on."

Malia raises an eyebrow at the words and the intensity of them and, after a quick glance towards Kira, says, "You too, but you're still going to practice. Still showing up to games. You missed one game and it was because you were kidnapped in Mexico!"

"Just like Scott!"

"Didn't you bring donuts for the whole team three weeks ago?"

Kira looks down again at her comforter. "We had lost a big game."

😏 - Brutus 2 (Theo is Liam's beta)

Covered in ash and still a bit wobbly on her feet, Hayden traps a crying Liam into her arms and they stay there for a minute, both relieved to see each other. About ten paces away, Theo stares at them, his grip around the tall green syringe growing tight. A flash of envy unlike any he's ever felt before overpowers him and it takes every inch of strength in his body not to go there and separate them himself. Almost as if she could tell, Hayden suddenly opens her eyes and tightens her hold on Liam as her eyes squint towards Theo.

He's not sure if he truly meant to do it but Theo's eyes flash once in warning and, seeing the blue glow instead of his usual gold, Hayden suddenly takes a step back, finally distancing herself from Liam.

"What happened?" she asks.

Liam laughs a bit nervously before wiping the last few tears. "It's a long story."

"How long have we been dead?"

😏 - Brutus 2 (Theo is Liam's beta)

This feels good. Theo has been on his best behavior for a few days, and now, he really gets to show his teeth. If Hayden wants a bitch fight, she'll get one.

Wiping some fake dirt where Hayden's pushing hands just touched his shirt, Theo falls into a familiar menacing chuckle.

"You know, being insecure isn't a particularly attractive trait, Hayden. And Liam doesn't need that kind of neediness around him right now."

"Don't fucking tell me what he needs!" she immediately screams at his face. "You don't even know him!"

"I don't know, we've grown... pretty close."

Hayden's face gets even redder, and she pushes him once again. She tries her best to smother a scream of frustration, but it still makes Theo's ears ring.

"Stay away from my boyfriend!" she exclaims, her angry face merely an inch from Theo's tense expression.

"He might be your boyfriend for now, but he's my alpha… And you're just some chimera he spent two weeks grieving!"

To be fair, Theo should really have anticipated the fist that immediately strikes his temple with full force.

👰‍♀️ - Undercover petopher 2

"Heard you got married again. Congratulations."

Chris glances at him, his hands tightening around the wheel. "Thanks."

"What? You didn't think Aurelia would tell me?" Uncle Mickey laughs. "C'mon, you know we dont keep secrets in this family."

His tone lets Chris know that uncovering secrets is exactly what his uncle came here to do, and the threat under his words is not lost on him. Chris curses mentally when he realizes that, on top of trying to stop his uncle from discovering that he more or less killed his dad (Uncle Mickey's brother), he's gonna have to introduce him to Peter. Fucking great.

Already thinking of all the ways this could go wrong, Chris is more than happy to let the silence stretch as much as possible but his uncle doesn't seem as content.

"They say he's crazy, you know? Your……uh………well……you know... the guy."

Chris does a half-nod because he can't really debunk this and he doesn't even want to. Maybe it's for the best that they don't want to touch Peter with a twenty-foot pole. The crazier his reputation, the better. Also, the more accurate.

"And that's appealing to you?" his uncle asks, baffled, when he sees him silently agreeing.

Didn't your third wife kill your second wife and your second wife, the first? is what Chris doesn't reply. Instead, he keeps quiet, not even looking at him.

"10 years on different continents and when I finally take it upon myself to come here, you don't want to talk to me?" Uncle Mickey hits him with a little bitter laugh before slamming his hand against Chris' arm.

Chris tries to make his sigh as quiet as possible. After a few seconds, he glances at his uncle. "Not about him."

"Okay, okay…" Hands in the air, Uncle Mickey lets out a soft laugh. "You're protective of him. I get that. Couldn't have been easy to get your dad to let you marry a guy."

Chris doesn't bite. Agreeing or denying this would establish a timeline for his uncle. Does his dad know about Peter? Then he must have disappeared recently. Did Chris kill him because he didn't agree with the wedding? Did Peter? The so-called "crazy husband"?

It's easier to say nothing than to have to stick to a random story.