#drabble meme

Send me a Ship and a number and I’ll write a fic!

The horses were a little more skittish than normal, but with the reports of the storm coming in, he knew the reason for their behaviour. He had called Jessica, asking her to come over and sedate them a little so there was no risk of them hurting themselves.

They were just sedating the last mare when the winds really began to pick up. He put some classical music on in the stables to help drown out some of the noise in hopes that the horses would be able to stay calm. "Thanks for coming out." He said to her, opening the door to head out. As they made their way towards the horse, the heavens opened and the heavy downpour obscured their path. "Shit." He said, placing his arm around her waist and moving quickly towards the house. Once inside he looked at her. "You can't drive back in that tonight." He said. "You might as well stay here." He added.

His hands moved to her arms, rubbing them to warm her up, the downpour having soaked them both. "Tell you what, why don't you head to the guest bathroom, run yourself a bath, I'll put some clothes out for you to change into, and I'll wash your things, so they are clean and dry for when the storm settles. I'll start us some dinner after I shower and change." He told her, looking at her.

Damn, she was so beautiful.

His hand lift, pushing some wet hair off her face. "This isn't how I planned on having you over for dinner and staying over." He said with a cheeky smirk.

He stepped back, walking to the laundry room, just beside the back door they entered, and grabbed a couple of fresh towels. He wrapped one over her shoulders and rubbed her arms again. "Come on, I'll show you the guest suite."

After he had showered and changed, he placed some clothes on the bed of the guest suite, resisting the urge to check in the bathroom for her. Making his way down stairs again, he walked to the kitchen area of the large open plan house and opened the fridge, getting food out to make them both dinner.

He was just putting the meal in the over to finish it off when he heard noise and turned his head, smiling at her. She was a vision. Beautiful.

Xaden was up early.

Well, honestly, sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between being up early and not having slept. He'd woken up from a nightmare around 3:30 and never gotten past staring at the ceiling and spiraling. Eventually he gave up and got himself out of bed so he didn't have to worry about waking Imogen up.

(Garrick, of course, could sleep through almost anything.)

On his way down the hall, he heard a sound like a child fussing and thought it best if he looked in the kids' rooms. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well make himself useful. Now that they were settling in the big house, they had them in two rooms so nobody was alone. Lyn's bed was empty, but that was normal since they'd moved.

Will and Avery were both asleep in their rooms. Poking his head into the open door of Bodhi and Ridoc's room, Xaden noted that Lyn was curled up into Ridoc's side.

He heard that small fuss again and it wasn't behind him, so that left only one other option. Tucked inside Violet's room, Claire was just starting to wake in her crib. Before her mother could stir, Xaden picked up the baby and took her intothe hall.

Wandering down to the kitchen, he used a flicker of magic to heat a bottle for Claire and sat down in one of the cozy sitting room chairs. The spells on the fireplace flickered to life, warming the room enough that he was able to doze while Claire ate.

She dropped the bottle when she was done, startling him awake again. It was just past five on the mantle clock, and Xaden shook his head to clear it. He burped Claire and wiped her face, then took her back upstairs and tucked her back into her crib.

When he opened the door to go back into the hallway he startled to find a figure there. Gwen, he quickly realized.

"Why are you up?" he asked her gently.

"I woke up to go potty and Lyn wasn't in her bed so I was looking," Gwen said, trying to look around Xaden.

He redirected her. "I saw her a little while ago in Uncle Bo's room."

"Oh. She's safe?"

"Yep, sound asleep," Xaden agreed. "How about you?"

Gwen hesitated. "I was kinda scared. Kinda still scared." She looked up at him. "How come knowing she's okay doesn't make me feel better?"

"I wish I knew," he answered. "Do you want to go back to bed?"

She shook her head no.

"We could go downstairs and start breakfast?" he offered, and that brought some light back into her face. "Yes please. C'n we make blueberry pancakes?"

"Blueberries aren't in season but I think there's chocolate chips we could use," Xaden offered, following her down the stairs. She ran her hands along the wallpaper on both sides of the stairwell.

Xaden gave her a glass of milk and let her help measuring out the pancake mix and crack the eggs. He poured out the batter for the first couple of pancakes on the stove while she made patterns of chocolate chips in the bowl. When he'd finished, he set them on a plate and then poured out the next few.

"Do you want to eat first?" he asked.

"Yes please," she said again. "Can I spray them?"

"Spray?" He blinked. "You'll have to show me."

Gwen ran over to the fridge and got out a can of whipped cream, and suddenly that made sense.

"You can spray a little," Xaden said. "Not so much you can't eat them, though."

"Brekky?"

Xaden looked up. Will was in the kitchen doorway now. He swept his son up into his arms and gave him a big hug, trying to chase away the last of his nightmare.

"Uncle Xaden!" Gwen called just as Xaden caught the smell of burning pancakes. He carried Will over to the stove with him and set his son on the counter as he pulled the pancakes off with the spatula, hoping they were salvageable.

"I'll save these for myself," he murmured, putting them aside on a plate. "Do you want a pancake, Will?"

"Cake, yes!"

"No, not- well, okay, I suppose it's close enough," Xaden shrugged. He started another batch of pancakes and yawned as they bubbled. Will demanded to be set down on the floor, and then he wanted his own milk, and then he shoved his whole hand in the whipped cream tower on Gwen's plate--

"What's burning?" Garrick asked as he joined them, immediately taking up Xaden's place at the stove. He flipped the pancakes, studying the blackened side.

Xaden yawned again, watching Garrick. "Sorry, I'm a menace this morning."

"Go back to bed, honeybear," Garrick told him, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Go back to bed. Imogen could use the company. You're not the only one who can handle things, remember?"

Violet might be the most disciplined skater I've ever worked with.

Even beyond my father, and stories about his training are legendary.

It's not like I don't benefit from that discipline, from her precision. Even when it means we practice the same choreographic step sequence forty fucking times because, in her words, "it's not perfect yet."

"Violence. Perfection is a myth. You told me that." I give her a pointed look as we skate back to our mark to start the sequence again. What I also want to point out but don't is that she's starting to get to the point of diminishing returns, the fatigue obviously settling in, and I'm worried she's going to make a mistake. Falls may happen, but I don't have to like it when she does.

And I'm long past the point of wondering if Sgaeyl or Tairn will step in - they never do. Partially due to their own high standards for us, but also because Violet Sorrengail is stubborn as fuck.

For a second, I think the fight goes out of her body, but a heartbeat later she's drawing herself up, spine rigid, and the sound of her blade dragging across the ice as she stops is unnaturally loud. She turns and fire is burning in her hazel eyes.

"We need to get this down."

"Violet," I murmur, voice purposefully low, soothing. "You're not wrong. But it doesn't have to be today."

She swallows, and I think she's going to cave, but no. "Again," she says, but it's quieter.

I may hate her stubbornness, but fuck if it's not one of the things I love about her, too.

I nod and let her silently count off.

About halfway through, she stumbles. I catch it out of the corner of my eye. "Fuck." I twist back trying to reach for her, but her skate blades have clipped each other and she falls, heavily, hard on her left hip.

I squat down next to her. She's on the ice, panting heavily. "You okay?" I ask quietly.

She winces as she shifts to sitting, rubbing her hip. "Yeah." Sighing, she looks up on me. "Maybe we can finish tomorrow." Her eyes narrow. "And don't you say a fucking word."

"Where did you get those flowers?"

Violet glances at me. "Which flowers?"

"The ones on your desk." I elbow her discreetly. "I saw them when Garrick and I brought in your new armoire."

A blush spreads on her face. She looks down determinedly at her dinner but not before a quick glance at the leadership table.

No. Did she and Xaden finally ...?

I bite back the smile as the rest of our squad sits down.

****

"Okay, Mairi. Why did you drag us here?" Garrick folds his arms across his chest and Bodhi raises an eyebrow.

"Did you notice the flowers on Sorrengail's desk yesterday?"

Garrick's brow furrows. "No ..."

"Xaden picked them for her."

Both their jaws drop.

"We're talking about Xaden Riorson, right?" Bodhi asks. "My cousin? The man who never showed an ounce of softness once to Catriona?"

I nod smugly. "Got it confirmed from the source. Man got violets for his Violet."

He shakes his head slowly, as if he still can't believe it. Garrick, meanwhile, is rubbing his hands with glee.

Dain sighs as he watches Sloane shift her rings from her left hand to her right. He is so proud to be her husband, would do anything for her, including agree to elope with her.

After all, he wouldn't have wanted to deal with the pomp and circumstance of a large wedding anyway. Not that theirs would have been as large as Violet and Xaden's, of course.

His wife - his wife - looks up at him questioningly. He smiles and leans down, placing a lingering kiss on her lips. "Save me a dance," he begs. "Maybe five."

He feels her smile against his lips. "I'd give you them all, but I owe one to everyone in the wedding party."

"Understandable. Regrettable, but understandable." With one last kiss, they finally break apart and leave the hotel room; her to the groom and him to the bride.

****

"I wish I could have been as smart as you."

Dain stares down at Violet on his arm, waiting to walk her down the aisle. He was shocked, surprised, and honored when she asked him, but the only other family member remaining who could have done the honors was Mira, and she was Violet's maid of honor. She tilts her head up at him, lips curving up in a smirk.

Her right hand shifts down his left arm to tap at the ring he forgot to remove. Shit.

"Vi -"

"It's fine. I'm not insanely jealous that you were able to elope while I have to have a society wedding with several hundred people I don't even know due to marrying a fucking duke." They both snort at that. Violet didn't know Xaden's true identity for months and their relationship almost imploded as a result. "But this does mean that you and Sloane have to do dinner with us when we get back from Deverelli and tell me everything."

He squeezes her arm into his body just as the strains of the processional music start up. "I can do that."

"What are you putting on your eggs?"

The entire table turns to look at Kai at my question, who is shaking a bottle over his scrambled eggs, a substance that looks suspiciously like blood coming out.

The flier pauses, a bit surprised to see everyone looking at him. "It's for flavor. It's a sauce made from different peppers." He shrugs sheepishly. "I've been hoarding this bottle for a while, but I can't take these plain anymore." He scowls slightly, poking at his breakfast with a fork.

"You have salt here, but no other condiments," Maren explains diplomatically. "It's been ... an adjustment for us."

With that, everyone goes back to their own meals.

Except me.

"Can I try some?" I ask Kai. I don't particularly mind the eggs - or the food - here at Basgiath, or at least I didn't until we spent time in Aretia, but I'm always up for trying new things.

"Sure." He pushes his plate toward me and I grab a forkful of eggs, the sauce dripping off them. I bring them up to my mouth and my first thought is damn does this help.

My second thought? Holyshithotmymouthisonfuckingfire.

I surreptitiously grab my cup of juice and gulp some down, hoping to quench the flames in my throat, mind racing on how I can find more of this magical hot sauce.

And how I can somehow put it on a sheep.