We met at the disco

[Kenneth Branagh]

"Not if I set them right. They should exclude any magic in this room..." Ken fiddled with dials and turned knobs and flicked switches. The detectors were delicate instruments, sensitive to the slightest hint of magic. They were passed down from generation to generation and in his father and grandfather's hands, they were used to track down magic users. Now, Ken was using them to protect the one he loved—who happened to be a magic user. The irony was not lost on him.

He nodded a thank-you to Brayden but didn't join the others at the dining room table. Ken placed his detectors all around the apartment, aware that Raphael was watching him avidly, that Brayden had a concerned expression when his gaze fell onto Ken, and that there was the faintest trace of alcohol about Niall, on his breath. He didn't see bottles... but he knew they were here. That was a conversation for another time, however.

Ken only stopped when Niall's hand stilled his. "Yes. The woman who followed us here. One of the ones watching us at the flat." His response was simple, truthful and direct. Ken was never the one to sugarcoat anything. "She attacked me at our flat, but I fought her off. She's probably one of the ones sent by your father to retrieve you. But I'm fine, Poodles." His free hand lifted to lightly stroke over the side of Niall's head, over the nest of dark curls. "Now stop fussing like an old hen, and go eat before they take all the spring rolls." A faint smile curved his lips, and then he was off and away again to set up more protection wards and charms.

[Jack Ripley]

"...not that I don't appreciate all this security but..." Jack was watching the hunter set up his equipment all over his apartment, which meant that he was planning on setting up house here. Jack could feel his heart sinking forever. He sent a look at Brayden. "Are you sure you want to set it up here?"

It didn't seem to much matter because Ken the Hunter was on a Mission. Even his boyfriend didn't seem capable of breaking him out of his task once he set himself to it. Again, Jack exchanged a look with Brayden before shrugging and joining Brayden at the dining table with the food. Maybe it was better to let it go for now and just... get some nourishment.

Sitting down and helping Brayden dole out food, he half eyed the hunter. Hunters didn't used to be a threat in his life but now this was the first time he had seen one or met one. He didn't look different than the usual person. Tall and good-looking but other than that, just a man with a very serious demeanor about him. Meanwhile, Niall clearly wanted more than he was getting out of him. But he was being rebuffed and eventually seemed to sulk, not going to the table for food--despite being the one to suggest Thai food--very excitedly if Jack recalled--and instead sitting back down on his chair.

"I'm not hungry anymore," Niall said, which had to be a lie.

[Kenneth Branagh]

"But your tummy was grumbling earlier Prince Niall, I heard it!" Raphael said helpfully with a spring roll dangling from his mouth, still watching Ken with obvious curiosity. "You need to eat, or else you'll feel faint and collapse and then everybody will be worried!" Grabbing another spring roll, he ran over to the chair and offered it to Niall.

Ken stopped to give Niall a stern Look. Shenanigans were not going to get him his way this time. They were working with an unknown group hell-bent on taking Niall and his brothers. It was time now to take things seriously and not to sulk, and if one were to sulk, they could at least do it while eating to preserve strength. Brayden was eating already, seated beside Jack. They exchanged some kind of knowing Look with one another too, and Ken heard a low sigh from Brayden.

"I'll set up more of these in the other flat too," He said to Jack, since Niall was uncooperative. Also, Jack was the oldest and therefore the one assuming command of his brothers—that was, according to Ken's mind, how the hierarchy went. "You'll just have to excuse them taking up space, but they'll keep everyone safe. I think we can all agree that's the first priority, until we know what we're dealing with." He assumed that Jack would have enough sense to see that he was trying to help. Hunter had a nasty connotation and Ken didn't blame them if they were suspicious, but for the moment they just had to trust him at his word—just as he had to trust that they wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Niall's safety.

[Jack Ripley]

"Ah, that makes sense," Jack said, feeling somewhat better about it. Not wholly happy but... it was what it was. He couldn't exactly be selfish but... between his job at the school and coming home to a circus everyday... It felt like there was barely any time to see Brayden. And then of course, there was his recovery time... in which Marge had been there most of the time. Jack wasn't even what he'd consider a loner--he liked being around people. That was why he went out to that club where he met Allie!

But... that was before Brayden. And it was selfish to say he'd like to spend more time with Brayden but... damn it... he thought he deserved to be a little selfish after so many years beating himself up constantly.

After a look between himself and B, he looked over and saw that Raphael was forcing an egg roll on Niall. Well, force wasn't quite the word. It didn't seem to take much to pull the sulk out of him. Or he still looked a little sulky but he took the egg roll. Right. Not hungry. Jack tried not to roll his eyes. But he did whisper to Brayden, "I feel like I'm dealing with a class at home now, too..."

Ken still seemed busy but Jack cleared his throat. "You're welcome to eat, too. Whenever... you're done." Since it seemed like Ken was the type to keep on going until his work was done.

[Brayden Smith]

"All part of the job of being Professor Jack," Bray sighed, half-exasperated and half-amused. He laughed, but he wasn't wholly happy with this situation either. If he thought having Marge constantly hovering was infringing on his time alone with Jack, this... Two new brothers, their lovers (or would-be-lovers), and all the rest of the gang—Marge, Allie, a new fixer... They all seemed to want to prove Bray wrong and to let him know that, yes, things could be so much worse than a hawk-eyed friend.

Ah, he didn't think he would say it, but he wanted those days back, when it was just him and Jack sweating it out under Marge's ever-present eye. Those... were the good old days...

His hand slipped over Jack's. At least they had this brief moment together, while Raphael was busy ferrying food between the table and Niall and Ken was buzzing around setting up strange devices. Would they really keep them safe? Bray had never seen a hunter's equipment before; he never warranted their attention, being such a hermit.

"Yes, I will. Thank you," said Ken stiffly, still busily tuning and tweaking things. Raphael came back to fix himself and Niall plates, gave them an obviously admiring smile, then was gone again to eat on the couch near Niall.

Against his better judgment, Bray laughed. It started out small, then ended up with him burying his face into Jack's shoulder, shaking with suppressed laughter. It was... ridiculous. The fact that he ever thought being trapped with Marge was bad... To this! "I'm sorry," he whisper-laughed at Jack. "But this... this is so... ridiculous!"

[Jack Ripley]

And Professor Jack thought he could shed the Professor part when he came home. Not so. Now he was Professor Jack full time. This was exactly the kind of thing that drove a man to drink. But at least he wasn't reaching for the whiskey anymore. Sighing, Jack ate a bit more, watching as the others did their thing. Raphael and Niall, Ken and his weird tooling around.

A hand slipped over his and he smiled. Well, at least amongst the chaos, they were still together in the eye of the storm. Jack's fingers threaded through Brayden's. Connected. They were connected in all ways. Always. He'd seen it and he hoped, too, to see it in thousands of futures, too.

It was strange how he could feel that way when his heart always felt quite restless. Jumping from man to man, believing he was in love but really, just wanting it to be love. That restlessness had to come from his heart ever-searching for Brayden, he was certain now. Once he found him, he was no longer like that. It wouldn't even take the force of a hurricane to make him turn away from him.

"Hey," he said, because Brayden pressed his face to Jack's shoulder and started shaking and he foolishly thought he was crying. Jack put a hand to his shoulder and then up into his hair to soothe him. It turned out he was laughing, though, and Jack blinked, then let out a laugh, too. Were they insane? Maybe a little.

"It... is absolutely ridiculous," he said, laughing as he whispered it back to Brayden. "It feels like we're going crazy, doesn't it?"

[Brayden Smith]

"Are we crazy? Or are they crazy?" Bray lifted his head to look at Jack, the laughter dying down to a few small outbursts now and then. He shook his head. "I'm not sure we're the crazy ones, Jack."

Because if they were crazy, then how could anyone explain Rhys and Raphael carrying on the way they were? Violent outbursts, tears, wings growing to indicate budding young love... And then Niall and Ken, one sulking in his chair and sneaking drinks, the other working on autopilot like a robot, placing strange instruments that supposedly would warn them of magic users nearby...

And Marge, now at the bar presumably getting smashed. Allie who had the good sense to get out of here before this madness started. And of course, Charles the fixer, whose predecessor had met such an unfortunate end.

All of them were caught up in this but only Bray and Jack felt like the sane ones. It was a little like being a normal person and getting committed to an asylum at this point! Another fresh wave of laughter overcame him and he buried his face back into Jack's shoulder, slipping an arm around his neck to hold him close. When the laughter subsided, he stayed close.

"We're going to have to arrange some kind of clandestine meeting outside of our own homes just to get ten minutes alone together, Jack."

[Jack Ripley]

"Both? As I recall, I am crazy in love with you, which counts as a kind of crazy."

And the best kind of crazy, thank you. He would take that crazy over this utter chaos. At least for the moment, they were left alone at the dining table. Niall and Raphael seemed to get along pretty well. Niall was no longer sulking, anyway. Now he was telling Raphael some story that was probably going to end up with Raphael doing something stupid to be just like Niall... Jack felt like he should get out in front of that but... Ah, let them be.

They were all adults here, weren't they? Raphael... maybe not. Jack didn't know his exact age but he surely looked like a freshman in his class, barely out of high school.

Jack laughed too, if only because Brayden laughed and he turned his head into Brayden's temple as he was drawn closer. He closed his eyes and smiled. God, he loved the sound of Brayden's laugh. He missed it in all this chaos. Then he let out a soft little laugh before he turned to look Brayden in the eye.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting... hm, Brayden Smith...?"

[Brayden Smith]

"That's the only acceptable kind of crazy, I think!" Being crazy in love was the least harmful kind of crazy—and the most beautiful. Bray loved Jack so much that it was all he could do to keep it to himself. He felt as if he couldn't express that enough, and he wasn't being given the opportunity to try. Even though he knew that Jack understood how he felt because Jack felt the same way about him, it would have been nice to start building a life together, around those feelings and that love...

Ah, well. Helping others was its own kind of reward, and some of these poor people did need help. The poor kids for one thing... Bray was fond of Raphael but he felt sympathetic towards Rhys, too. Ken was clearly able to take care of himself but Niall was vulnerable and just beginning to realize his heritage and powers. Everyone had their own problems; maybe the reason that he and Jack were here was to be their voice of reason. He sure hoped so. He hoped that this wasn't just unnecessary sacrifice.

"I'm... not suggesting anything," Bray said innocently, smiling back at Jack. His heart did its usual flippy floppy thing again merely at the sight of Jack's smile. He was painfully attractive at any given time, but especially when he smiled. Bray felt like he could do anything when Jack smiled at him; like it was the source of his courage. He leaned in and kissed Jack softly, briefly—too briefly. "But if someone could make that happen... they would have all of my gratitude forever."

[Jack Ripley]

"Well then..." He touched his nose to Brayden's nose. "Maybe somebody will..."

He wanted to follow that up with a kiss--a more involved kiss. But time was not on their side. Niall was at the table now, picking out more food and proclaiming that they needed to play a game, because he'd heard about these famous game nights and now he wanted in on it. Jack's hand tightened briefly with Brayden's. Ah, well... They would just have to make that getaway soon, then. For now, the thought was put on hold.

"What game is it you're wanting to play?" Jack asked, raising a brow at Niall.

"I don't know. What do you have? Only games I've ever played are strip poker and... probably just strip poker."

[Brayden Smith]

"That person is my new hero." Bray gently booped noses with Jack back, feeling silly in love and young again—but not as young as Raphael and his maelstrom of volatile emotions. But of course, even this tender moment was interrupted by Niall, who had returned. He seemed less sulky, at any rate, than he did five minutes ago. Raphael was now shadowing Ken, asking questions about the detectors.

"No strip poker." He put his foot down now. Nothing like that around their place, not with children present. Raphael couldn't be more than nineteen or twenty; it would be terrible to expose him to something like that. Bray's expression softened with his smile. "Actually we have a bunch of card games we've been saving for game night. Maybe we could get everyone in on it..."

He looked at Jack. "Courtyard? We could put up some lights, get some snacks and drinks and bring out a heater to keep us all warm. It'd be nice to see the stars again, too..." The last part he said wistfully, recalling the moments that he and Jack shared under the stars. Outside in the courtyard, that was when he first realized he was in love with his new neighbor. Then out on the ridge, Jack's most terrible secrets were revealed—they tested Bray's love, but his love held under the pressure.

[Jack Ripley]

Well, this was happening oddly organically. Jack was supposed to propose a game night with them all together, was he not? But he didn't have to. Niall did it for him and then Brayden leapt at the chance... which Jack knew he would. Didn't matter if it was Niall doing the suggesting. Brayden did so love his games. Jack, though, he preferred their game nights being confined to the two of them. Still, the way Brayden described this one sounded... nice.

"Why not?" he said. "It'll give you a chance to try out those games that are more fun with multiple players."

Supposedly. Some games were supposed to be better the more players were in the game. Jack still preferred his games to be played with Brayden but... that was natural. As Margie said, they were still firmly entrenched in the honeymoon phase.

He laughed as he nuzzled Brayden. "This is the nerdiest party I've ever helped throw." But it was said with affection and not a drop of derision. Finishing up his food, he reluctantly got up. "I'll find my christmas lights. We can string them up outside." Not really the best lighting but... fun lighting. Party style lighting.

[Raphael Malai]

This was all very fascinating! Raphael could barely tear himself away from Ken, who was putting up all sorts of intriguing instruments and machines. He followed Ken with his plate, munching on spring rolls and picking up mouthfuls of pad thai with wooden chopsticks, asking questions between mouthfuls. Ken, to his credit, didn't snap or yell at him—even though Raphael felt acutely that Ken would have preferred to work without interruptions. Even so, he didn't outright complain.

But then Niall was talking about a game night and Brayden was agreeing, and Raphael drifted back to them. He hovered on the sidelines. It sounded like they were inviting everyone, but Raphael hadn't been named specifically. He wanted desperately to play card games, or board games, or whatever they decided to do. And lights... snacks, drinks...

"It's not the kind of party you want, but the kind of party you need," Brayden laughed as he rubbed Jack's back assuringly, causing Raphael to make a soft noise of happiness. It was pure joy to watch them being cozy and sweet together! Oh, but it hurt, too. He knew that that could never be himself and Rhys. For one thing, Rhys wasn't that affectionate. He hated people watching him and with that whole big fight between them, it felt like they would never, ever patch things up.

But... at least Raphael still had his new friends! He trailed along after Jack, lightly tapping him on the arm. "Professor Jack?" Raphael looked at him pleadingly. "Can I... come to game night too?"

[Jack Ripley]

"Hm?" Jack opened up his closet and reached up to the topmost shelf, where he kept boxes of things he didn't need on a daily basis. Things like holiday lights, decorations, that sort of thing. As a teacher, he got used to at least celebrating these things with them. Most of his holidays outside of class, though, were spent in bars and clubs. It was better to be out with people than sitting at home, being tormented by guilt and unable to sleep it off.

He brought the box with the lights inside down and set it down on his bed.

"Of course." He looked at Raphael, who looked like a little puppy begging for a snack. "Why wouldn't you be able to play?"

Jack just assumed that the entire household was going to play and that included Raphael. As he opened up the top of the box to make sure it was indeed the right one--it was--he asked, "Are you going to see if, ah... Rhys wants to play, too...?"

[Raphael Malai]

"N-no reason! I just wanted to make sure!" Well if they were including him, he wasn't giving them any reasons not to voluntarily! Raphael beamed at Jack and trailed after him to watch him taking down a box filled with colorful lights. "Ooh those are pretty!" He pointed to a string of fairy lights. "Fairy lights!" He first saw them in the cafe and asked about them; their name pleased him so greatly that he promptly went out and bought several strings to decorate his room back at Greenwood apartments.

Raphael thought of his room and his possessions and collections with great sadness. Then—internal panic. Oh... yes. Rhys. If Rhys was left out of the festivities, wouldn't he feel terrible? Even if he would definitely play it cool and claim that he had no use for game nights, Raphael knew that it wouldn't sit well with him to watch while everyone else had a good time.

"I... think we should invite him," he said slowly, reluctantly. "But do I have to go? Can't Prince Bee go instead? Rhys must like him, if he got Rhys to eat food and take a nap and everything!" Was there anyone who didn't like Brayden though? Rhys probably gave it a good old try, he thought darkly. But probably even Rhys had to admit that Brayden was a good person.

"I don't think he'll come play card games if I asked him." He fiddled with a string of lights to untangle them. "He's probably really mad at me. Still."