#semni

Laurance rubbed his jaw. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like this feeling.

“I’m never going back,” Laurance snarled, careful about the way he moved his lips.

“You’re just being a baby, Laurance,” Rin said, putting an arm over the Semni’s shoulders. “Even kids can do that without this much fuss.”

“Well, I don’t really see why I really needed to do that,” Laurance snarled.

“You’re just mad that they numbed your cheeks. Would you rather they drilled into your teeth without any pain killers?” Kiera asked, raising an eyebrow.

Laurance lowered into the distance. “I hate dentists. I didn’t even need to go.”

‘Laurance, you had three cavities. Deal with it or I’m not paying for your french fries,” Rin said, punching his friend in the shoulder.

Laurance shivered, though he could feel nothing anymore. He was too cold. His hands were the first to lose feeling, being tied behind his back as well as being extremely cold. Laurance curled tighter to himself, bound legs drawn up so tight so as to almost touch his chin where his teeth chattered through a gag. He closed his eyes against the cold, miserable.

What was even worse was that the cold was being caused by Kiera’s powers. She didn’t know that he was there. She thought that the villain was having her keep a room of potions cold, threatening Anisha’s life if the werewolf didn’t do it. The problem was, Laurance was going to die if this went on much longer. He was kind of glad Kiera didn’t realize what she was doing. It was possible he would survive. After all, he had survived quite a bit, including death itself.

Laurance enjoyed the rush he got from adrenaline. The thing was he didn’t get it very often. Today was different, though. Laurance hunched over his second child, Sariah, and could feel the adrenaline pump through his blood. Little Sariah had come along on an adventure that wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.

“Da?” Sariah asked quietly as Laurance hugged her tighter. He didn’t want her to see. Where was her mother. He needed Anisha to take Sariah away so he could find Rin. He didn’t want her to see. “Da? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, honey,” Laurance said as controlled as he could. He knew the adrenaline would fade soon now that his little girl was safe. Then he would start to feel the pain.

“Sariah,” he said as he caught sight of Kiera. “Hey, can you go with Aunt Kara? I need to talk to Uncle Rin.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m dumb!” Sariah shrieked, tightening her grip on her father’s shirt. “I know I smell blood!”

“Oh no! I’ve been captured!” Laurance played, laughing a little at his daughter. She had stapled paper ‘shackles’ around his scarred wrists. She smiled and laughed as evilly as she could manage. She was surprisingly good at that.

“Now you’re my prisoner!” Sariah laughed, pointing her ‘evil magic’ straw at her father. “You’re coming with me. You’re going to be bait.”

“For the great Mahonri?” Laurance asked, playing along. He loved playing these games with his kids though he wasn’t sure if he should be worried that his daughter kept insisting on being the villain. As long as she was enjoying herself, though, Laurance wasn’t going to say no. “Mahonri will not fall into your trap, evildoer. He would know better than to risk everything for me.”

“We’ll just have to see about that,” Sariah laughed as she pretended to drag Laurance to her room. She waited as Laurance fell to his knees before she surrounded him with her ‘creatures of darkness.’ Laurance waited through her monologue, surrounded by the wolves and teddy bears that Sariah slept with. Each one represented a friend, family member, or one of the kids’ heroes. The kids all shared the teddies and picked the ones that represented their favorite people. There had always been quite the fight over the ones that represented Aunt Kara and Uncle Rin. 

“I am here!” Mahonri said in a decent impression of Almight’s catchphrase. The one that had been passed to Deku. “I’m going to save you, Da!”

Laurance cheered his children on as Mahonri fought Sariah, using their ‘magic and powers.’ Mahonri won. Sariah always lost, because that was what villains do. 

Laurance shifted slowly, trying not to draw more attention to himself than there already was on him. He looked down slowly, shifting so his bangs would fall into his eyes. He held very still after positioning himself. He stood in the Darke Market. The Darke Market was known for its magical and mystical misdemeanors. And its human market.

Laurance stood in front of a crowd in one of the impromptu sales areas. The humans that had captured him were dressed in fine clothes and calling for bidders. They were explaining what Laurance was, selling him off as a minor demon. He did not sneer, much as he wanted to. He was a Semni, not just some demon. 

The main male was shouting out the desired price, playing the crowd with an ease that revealed practice. Laurance watched him. The man wore the blue jacket Anisha had given the Semni all those years ago. It was going to need washing now.

Laurance shivered as eyes flicked over him. He felt vulnerable without a shirt. He was glad for the wooden sign that hung around his neck. It hid the scar over his left breast that showed where he had been killed. His scars on his back, on the other hand, were open for everyone to see.

“No. No ...Anisha...Good dragon,” Laurance said, seriously, eyeing the Nerf gun in her small hands.

Anisha giggled in that way that she did when she was being bad. “But, Laurance, I really wanna.”

Laurance glanced at his gun that had been tossed to the corner when Anisha had managed to throw it out of his hands. He glanced back, thinking and taking in all of his options. He looked back ad Anisha inched closer, finger on the toy trigger.

“Don’t do it, Laurance,” Anisha grinned. “I’ve got you and you know it.”

“I don’t know about that,” Laurance smiled, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Remember what happened the last time we played this game?”

“This time is different,” Anisha smiled, finger twitching. “I’mma win this time. That’s why I let you win last time.”

Laurance laughed. “Please, you didn’t let me do anything. I won all by myself.”

“If you say so,” Anisha said, pulling the trigger in the middle of her sentence. Laurance expected her to do something unexpected like that and he dove to the side, rolling to the side. He stood up and tackled Anisha. He held her in a tight embrace, and she giggled as he placed kisses on her head and nibbling on her ears.

They settled down, Anisha sitting in Laurance’s lap.

“I lob you,” she said quietly.