A Dangerous Game

[Mayah Playah]

Awesome nerd

Ellery only rolled his eyes, walking over to Decius. "Do we have a deal or not?" he asked, crossing his arms.
Meanwhile, the boy stared up at the ceiling and pursed his lips. "Tired," he grumbled, blinking twice. "And kinda bored. My body's numb from the drugs that i don't understand, and Mom's still checking out the fox guy's a**." He really wasn't, but Daniel loved to get his mother in trouble.

 

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Decius had just about ordered everything the site had to offer when he heard Ellery. He turned to smile brightly at him and nodded excitedly. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and more yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he answered. "A shop for the sweets is what I will be having in the time span of days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he giggled.
The fox and his friend felt a bead of sweat roll down the sides of their heads when they overheard the scientist. "A-Are we going with them, sir?" he asked the doctor, who nodded several times in return.
"Great." 72 mumbled.

"It's not every day you get beaten up." Fredrich chuckled more to tease his son. He paused when told what Ellery was doing, and it didn't help that Decius was convinced into giving him those unnecessary men. "If he's not terrified of Decius, he's busy checking out his work. Isn't that great?" he sighed and brought a hand to the bridge of his nose. Taking a moment to calm himself, he brought his hand down and looked back down at Daniel. "So. Your beaten state means you couldn't shoot Julian at the time, doesn't it?" he deducted with an amused glint in his dark blue eyes.

 

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Ellery clapped his hands. "Goodie! The candy should be shipping here as we speak!" Turning back to the two men, Ellery drew close to look at their dimensions, brow furrowed. "Now then, are there any clothes that you just fuse to wear, like socks, kilts, or turtlenecks?"

"Could you shoot Mom?" shrugged Daniel, using that as his reply. He looked back to his mother, who had already pulled out a tape measure and was using to it accurately measure his new models/toys. Every few seconds, he'd bend down, and a scar could be seen on his chest. "I remember what you two were like when Mom got hurt. I even remember the look in your eyes when he'd wince because his chest was still hurting. The idea of him hurting because of something you did, it was terrible. I think that's what kept me from shooting Juli. I couldn't be the one to hurt him."

 

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The fox slowly began to reanimate from his guard position when he noticed Ellery eyeing him heavily. "What's a kilt? Or a turtleneck? I'm a fox, not a turtle!" he scowled.
Meanwhile, 72 gazed at the wall across from him blandly, his face void of emotion as always. "... Thongs."

"No, but that's why sometimes it's good to keep emotion with you when fighting." Reminded of that dark time, Fredrich looked over at Ellery for a moment, spotting the scar. "Feeling as though you're the reason the one you love is dead is a powerful feeling. You know that well when you saw Julian get shot, I'm sure." He turned to look back at his son. "After all you've been through, are you still willing to be the Nightingale?"

 

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"... You're so stupid." Ellery pat the fox's shoulder before smiling at 72. He was a little like Fredrich with how stoic and blunt he was. The designer could tell that he would probably end up his favorite, and nodded at the experiment. "I'll be sure to put them on your loudmouth friend here, then," he acknowledged, looking briefly over to his husband and their son. "So what shall I call you?" he asked the new models.

Daniel thought for a moment, knowing this decision was important. He then nodded, serious eyes on his father. "Yes, I am. Taking up the mantle is what I've been trained to do, what I'm good at. I owe it to both you and Mom to remember my duty to this family." He reached out, taking his father's hand. "You'll have to talk Mom into it, though."

 

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"Me? I'm 36." the fox introduced.
"72."
"What's a thong? If 72 doesn't want to wear it then I don't want to wear it either!"

"Your mother will argue and cry," Fredrich sighed, having gone through the talk many times. "but deep down he understands this. He agreed to accept it when he stayed with me." A smirk spread across his face for a split second before returning to their cold frown, and he lifted his arm to tug on his gloves. "However, we'll talk about your job later. You've still got a lot to learn, and it's going to be a while before I get too old to do my job right." he said, dark blue eyes glinting.

 

[Mayah Playah]

Awesome nerd

The brunette again ignored 36, shaking his head. "What, numbers? You're models now! You need real names, or else I'll never be able to display you! And if I can't display you, you're not useful, and I'll feed you to Fredrich."

"Just you wait, Old Man," perked Daniel, leaning back and sharing his father's smirk. "I'll surpass you in skill soon enough. And then you'll be stuck playing checkers with Ma for all eternity." He lowered his voice. "And not even strip checkers. Just good, old-fashioned checkers."

 

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"Numbers are the names they are owning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Decius chimed as he happily walked towards Ellery, arms clasped behind his back. "Names of the normal origin are forgotten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Numbers are helping me to remember the experiments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Oh! Guess that means we'll have to stay here then!" 36 mock gasped.

Fredrich's smirk turned cruel for a second as he moved his large hand to the top of Daniel's head, ruffling the hair. "At least I know how to play it." he countered then took his hand off. "Don't talk about me and your mother stripping, either. That's nothing I want to hear my own son saying." Had he been a man with less, well, manliness, he might've shuddered at the mere thought. Instead, he pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and allowed the reflection of light to hide his eyes.

 

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"Then I'll give you temporary names to use when you're being displayed." He glanced back to Decius. "Like a false display case. That way, they keep their numbers and I don't have to explain myself to investors." Looking back to Fredrich, the green-eyed male allowed back his smile. "Darling, are you ready to go?"

Daniel shrugged. "Eh, unlike Juli, I'm desensitized. There's nothing you two can say or do that would make me vomit like him. It's just annoying." He pressed a button, smirking as he heard a small buzz outside. "Is Emma out there?"

 

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Decius' smile thinned a bit, an indication of his irritation, but he said nothing. Perhaps he didn't want to threaten his candy being taken away.

Fredrich nodded, both to Ellery and Daniel. "She followed the car here. I imagine she's grown attached if she's willing to visit you from Decius' place. Or she could always miss Decius." he mused.

 

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"Bite your tongue!" Daniel peered at the door, hopeful eyes waiting for the feathered girl to make an appearance. He was certain that Ellery had dressed her in his absence, a thought that only ensured in his mind that he was going to take Emma shopping.
Ellery moved closer to the two experiments, looking over them once more before gesturing to the door. "Come along, then. Emma can guard Daniel tonight." He didn't wait for an answer, reaching for Fredrich's arm and smiling up at his partner. "I'm starving. Let's stop for dinner before we go home."
The blonde didn't even pay attention, waiting on the bird-girl. "Emma!" he called. "Come here!"

 

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"Bite my tongue?" Fredrich quirked an amused eyebrow. "You do realize this is the 21st century, don't you?" Chuckling, he ruffled the blonde's hair (though he probably didn't notice) and walked over to Ellery, holding his arm out for the male to take. "Fine. Where do you want to go?" he asked as they started walking out of the door, passing by the winged girl on their way out.

"Wha- Hey! Are we supposed to follow you?" 36 whined, ears flat with irritation and confusion. The couple already walked out of the room, and when he looked at 72 for help, all he got was an empty stare. When the fox looked back at the doorway, he inhaled sharply at the sight of the girl.
Emma stepped in, her own empty eyes on the ground and a hand drifting from the door frame. Her large, white wings folded lightly behind her. She wore a short, silky white dress that no doubt came from Ellery.
"Wow." mumbled the otherwise apathetic 72 as he watched the girl move to Daniel's bedside. She was beautiful in a haunting way, yet she also seemed familiar...
"Hey!" Fredrich's deep voice boomed from down the hallway. "Get down here or I'll have Decius cut you open!"
36 paled at the thought and looked around. Decius wasn't around, he must have slipped out in the middle of everything. He... He could be sharpening his scalpels! Not wanting to run into that crazed smile, he grabbed 72's sleeve and dragged him out to follow the couple.

 

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Ellery shrugged, setting his head on Fredrich's arm with a sigh and smiling distantly. "Whatever's closest. I want us to get home soon." His hip came on contact with Fredrich's side, and the former songwriter could feel the familiar tingle that ran into his body. The tingle ran down his spine as the man he loved's voice boomed down to his new models, licking his lips at the familiar baritone. "i love when you get forceful, Fredrich," he murmured, green eyes glinting in mischief.

As the bird-girl walked into the room, Daniel visibly relaxed. He struggled, but succeeded in sitting up, reaching out a hand to her. "Come on, Emma," he urged. "These pillows are so uncomfortable.
Take their place and let me lay in your lap."

 

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"Fine, but I'll cook tomorrow. I'm getting tired of fast food." Fredrich sighed while scratching the back of his neck. He glanced down at Ellery when he heard the last part then looked back forward. "You're spending too much time with Liam. You're getting a sadistic gleam in your eye." he mentioned.

With a barely visible nod and her gaze still on the ground, Emma took Daniel's hand and sat on the bed, waiting for him to lay down.

 

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Awesome nerd

"It's not sadism," insisted Ellery, smiling to himself. "It's called knowing what I like. And I just so happen to like it when you're forceful. It's strong, it's sexy. Can I be blamed for appreciating my husband being sexy?" He glanced back to the two behind them, then back forward. "When I start asking you to spank me hard in bed, you can be worried." Ellery tried not to think too much about their mostly-vanilla love-making, knowing that, if he did, he would try to drag Fredrich immediately into their bedroom.

Once Emma was in place, Daniel lay his head down, holding their conjoined hands on his chest and gently stroking the backs of her fingers with his thumb. "I wanted to thank you for everything, Emma," he said quietly. "Over these years, you've protected me, given me company when I was lonely, stayed beside me through it all, even helped me find Julian. I don't know what I'll do without you there." Tears pricked at his eyes, yet Daniel tried to force them down.