Sitting in Sagely's lobby was a dream come true. They were about to play together, albeit with two other people, but that was close enough for Eden. His veins buzzed with excitement as he scooched his chair in, unable to sit still. The only bad part about this experience was the fact that Lock stood behind him, towering and oppressive.
"So, what's the plan?" his brother asked.
Eden sighed and muted his mic. "There's no plan. I already sent that weird message you came up with earlier and, of course, I can't risk talking about it when forty thousand other people are listening in. Supernaturals are supposed to be hidden."
Lock scoffed and started pacing. He went from one end of Eden's bedroom to the other, hands tucked behind his ramrod straight back, pale face pensive. His long, black hair was pulled back severely from his forehead, swinging in a high ponytail with every movement. Eden always thought his brother tried too hard to live up to his coven's expectations of him, or rather, late father's extensive demands.
"Can you stop pacing?" he asked, fluttering his fingers toward the door. "Unless you're willing to do it where I can't see you."
Lock scoffed, stopping only to sit on the edge of the bed closet to Eden, lips pressed in a thin line. His raised, king mattress stretched with ivory sheets took up most of the space, and the plethora of plants he'd been gifted from his father over the years claimed every other nook and cranny. They breathed in time with him, loud yet soothing. Like a mother's sigh as she combed her fingers through your hair.
Eden bathed in it while watching Lock for a minute, lips pressed together. "I'm not sure why you're here right now, honestly."
Lock paused, narrowing his dark eyes. "You were the one that texted the group chat about doing recon on Sage. I didn't want you out and about doing that alone, but here you are, sitting in the comfort of your home like always. I should've known."
Eden glanced back to the stream, making sure they hadn't started yet. The well of magic Mother Earth gifted him growled low in his stomach, angry over Lock's words. If he wasn't careful, his magic would burst and ruin at least ten potted plants and his pristine white carpet. However, the anger was a decidedly better response than his own hurt feelings.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He already knew what it meant.
You're a coward.
But Lock would never say so.
"All I mean is that you're not like Hunt and I, okay? We're the ones on the streets, doing what our fathers did and what your—"
Eden's face hardened, and the ground beneath their feet rumbled, cutting off Lock's words. Neither of them wanted a fourteen story building in the center of the city to crumble for decidedly no reason. It'd make hiding themselves that much more difficult.
"Just because I don't hunt down supernaturals who break the rules and murder them doesn't mean I do nothing. My work has actual meaning. I save lives; I don't end them."
"That's not what I meant."
Eden sat back, swiveling his Sagely branded olive and white desk chair to fully face Lock. Both of his siblings liked to believe he would always be their naive baby brother. He wasn't sure if they ignored his accomplishments or just thought they meant little compared to blood spilt.
Eden clenched his jaw and drummed his fingers along the leather. He graduated high school three years earlier than his peers and completed a masters program in medical informatics before the age of eighteen. Then a PHD in the same field, followed by a residency and fellowship before going private at age twenty five. Now, he worked tirelessly in his lab to create cures for diseases only supernatural creatures are afflicted by. Out of the three of them, he was the most intelligent, but also made it a point not to use it against them.
He rarely wanted to. Though, the accusation of softness when his strength came from restraint and meticulous study… He wouldn't stand for it. Not when his work advanced medical procedures for all supernatural creatures when human hospitals didn't have a fucking clue. He crossed his hands over his chest, steepling them.
"Look. There have been a number of comments as of late about my… reluctance to do as my forefathers did. From you, Hunt, and even my court and I'd like you to know it will not change my convictions. I don't involve myself in that side of it because I choose to create life saving treatments instead. Just because my contribution looks different doesn't mean it holds no meaning, and while we're on the topic, there is a very real threat back in this city. Ghouls in which only a fucking Druid like Sage can dispose of, so forgive me if trying to make friends with a powerful woman is my first choice over kidnapping her or threatening her because that went so damn poorly the first time around."
The rant was long, windless, and left Eden out of breath. His shoulders rose and fell with the force of his irritation, but he refused to move from the languid pose he sat in, lest he betray even more hard feelings.
Lock stared at him for a moment, mouth half open. Eden wasn't usually one to speak too much, even when spoken to. The only time he blew up was during high stress situations and the reason why was because of the guilt that hit him right after. Eden's face crumpled a bit, but he turned back to the computer, jumping to find Sagely had returned, probably not long ago.
A message sat in his inbox.
Faelover1218, you still here? Ready up.
He placed his headphones over his ears again, grumbling under his breath about brothers ruining his afternoon and what not. Eden was about to unmute himself when Lock's hand landed on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about my loud mouth, alright? Let's just talk."
Eden shrugged him off. "I have things to do even if they don't matter to you. Please lock the door on your way out."
Despite the cool tone, his stomach was roiling with chucks of ice splashing from one side to the other, slicing into the skin. At least that's what it felt like. Lock didn't need to be told twice, though, and the door slammed as he left.
With a sigh, Eden readied up and unmuted his mic. "Sorry about that, my brother was being a pain. I'm ready."
"No worries, let's start!" One of the other players, a girl named HadesRipper, replied.
Sagely's mask went from a neutral face to a smiling one on stream. "Sure thing. Thanks for playing Faelover."
The in-game chat made her voice sound higher than normal, or maybe it was a modifier, but Eden found it charming all the same. It took his 5080 less than a twenty second to load in, and the rest followed, Sagely coming in right after him. She laughed and joked about his computer being better than a professional streamer setup while he blubbered under the light of her stardom.
"Ah, man," she sighed, chuckling. "Alright, I got the spirit box and the UV light."
Despite the topic being long past, Eden couldn't help but tell her how impressed he was of her in the worst way possible.
"You talk to other people so easily," he blurted when the others departed in front of them.
"Only when the other person is a willing participant," she replied easily, maneuvering her character toward the front door. "You're a good sport."
I'm a good sport, Eden thought dreamily. I'm so screwed.
She really shouldn't strike him dumb, but streamers were Eden's weakness. He played alongside many in the past and felt this way with every single one. Well, Sagely was his longest watched channel, so he was a little worse when it came to her.
"Thanks," he said stupidly, hating himself for it.
She laughed as their characters ducked into the house. "Do you love to play horror games too, or are you more of a watcher?"
"I like doing both, but mostly I'm a watcher. I don't have a lot of time to play."
They walked the house for a while, him checking for a temperature and her asking whether or not the ghost was there to speak with them. When nothing happened after several minutes, Sagely asked another question.
"Oh? What do you do for work?"
Eden kept it light. "I'm a medical researcher."
"Really? For what, like, infectious diseases?"
He nodded before remembering to answer aloud. "Something like that. I study all kinds of conditions."
"That's really interesting. I was a medical undergrad, but you probably know that since you're a long time viewer."
Eden blushed for no good reason at all. "Yeah, you mentioned it a few times. How'd you know I was a long time viewer?"
Her character crouched in front of a set of UV foot prints, studying them. "My admin team lets me know who comes in or out and how often. Don't worry, I'm not stalking you, ha."
"I see," he sighed, not sure why he was worried in the first place. "What made you leave medical school? Or rather, not continue it?"
Sagely threw her tools down on the floor before turning to grab more from the supply tent outside. "Ah, it wasn't for me. I realized being a doctor was someone else's dream. I'm better suited to something like this for a great many reasons, actually."
Eden laughed a little. "Yeah because you're a recluse."
"Yes, sir," she responded, tongue in cheek. "And proud of it. Going out is so overrated."
"I think so too. I'll grab a video cam if you grab the salt to ward off demons."
"Sounds good to me," Sage quipped, following him back inside where the others were screaming about witnessing a hazy figure rush across the room. They laughed with them and made comments for the stream, but ultimately, Sagely came back to their conversation again. "If you're an introvert too, what do you like to do when you're not saving the human race from extinction?"
Supernatural race, Eden corrected in his head.
"I like to play video games when I have time, I read, mostly fantasy stuff, and spend time with my… uh, brothers."
The last part stumbled out of his lips as Eden cursed himself for even bringing them up. Sagely was smart, he knew that, and with everything that's happened to her over the past few days she was bound to be wary of every situation. However, her answer was casual.
"I like fantasy titles too, but mostly of the romantic variety. I read philosophy and psychology too. It's what drew me to medical school."
Eden scanned for ghosts using the EMF reader, getting nothing but a level one out of five. "Ah, I see. Problems of the mind would've been your specialty?"
Sage's character crouched down, spreading salt over the floor to detect demons. The whole team waited with baited breath for what came next, but nothing happened. Eden breathed a sigh of relief. When there were demons, there was intense hunting and death. He didn't really want to shit his pants from fright today.
"Yeah," Sagely replied, reminding him of their conversation. "I've never hid it from my followers, so you probably know I'm on meds for OCD and anxiety. I struggle with it everyday so, at one point, I wanted to know everything there was to know about it."
That all made sense, but one point bothered Eden.
"At one point? Not anymore?"
"Well, the more you learn the more you realize certain things."
The words were evasive enough that Eden didn't push again, finishing the round with light hearted jokes. They figured out the ghost was a harmless spirit and there were no losses. After the single game a new round of viewers would be brought in. Eden tried not to feel disappointed at having to log off. He said goodbye and was about to leave the lobby when Sagely stopped him.
"Hey, FaeLover, check your messages when you go."
He turned to Sagely's character model, feeling giddy. "Okay, good to meet you."
Then they logged off. He didn't want to play by himself, so Eden exited the client and pulled up the gaming messaging app, checking just as she asked. There were three different messages waiting for him. One from a friend who lived in the upper court of the fae, Penn, and the other two from Sagely. He opened them up, his palms sweating.
SAGELY: Hey there, I'm reaching out and see if you want to connect and chat. We seem to have a lot in common.
Five minutes later.
SAGELY: Or not, that's fine too. Let me know! I'll message back either way after the stream ends.
Eden chuckled at the clear nervousness shining through. It reminded him of Hunter when he was in social situations. If his brother wasn't annoyed or angry, he was awkward. There was no inbetween.
FAELOVER1218: I'd love to connect. So… what were you saying about realizing certain things?