Brothers - 47. Chapter 47

JASON

“Ah, Mr. Farin. May I have a word with you please?”

The neko stared at Halor, his fur puffing out in alarm. He had just been searching for their new class, taking advantage of his second period to roam the halls. Devyn had been two doors off it seemed, and Jason would fix that today. But he hadn’t expected to be stopped by Halor in his exploration.

The bell chimed through the school, an entire class of students swarming out of the room. Jason fought the urge to join them; he was a neko, he’d never blend in enough to escape

Instead, he waited until the stampede had cleared, before entering the room. His eyes locked with Dylan’s, the calico letting out a low growl. Jason reached into his pocket silently. Everyone knew he used his phone to communicate. It would help him deal with this situation.

“Okay, look you two, neither of you seem up to the task of doing a final project in this class,” Halor said sharply, cutting off the calico’s snarl. “I have a solution that might be more satisfactory, but it requires the two of you to work together.”

“I’m not doing it!” Dylan snapped at the elf.

“It’s just one ritual Dylan. More of a look into neko psychology than elven. Surely that would be more agreeable to both of you.”

“Do you mean the Calico’s Dance?” Jason typed into his phone.

Dylan’s eyes widened in horror, and he shook his head desperately.

“Exactly. See, even Jason knows about it-”

“That ritual is sacred to the calicos. Not only are you demanding sacrilege from a student, you’re equating a religious ceremony to a grade. That is against the law, Mr Halor.”

The monotone of his phone stated the words as cold fact. But Jason wasn’t done. The very fact that Halor had the guts to suggest such a thing…

Fuck it, he didn’t need his phone for this.

‘Not only is it a sacred ritual that outsiders should never know exist, it is forbidden by royalty on pain of death. It is also highly sexual. And you want Dylan to perform it with me?’

His hands knocked the elf back, a silent snarl in his throat.

“Jason, I understand you’re upset. But-”

“I told you I wouldn’t do it,” Dylan snapped. “Several fucking times I told you I could not do it. Finding another neko to pressure me-”

“It wasn’t to pressure you, just to help-”

‘I should have let Erith neuter you,’ Jason signed, claws poking from his fingertips. ‘If I ever hear that you are fucking with Dylan again-’

“Jason, we both know I could make your brother’s life miserable. He needs this class to advance in his chosen career-”

A hand swiped across Halor’s face, blood welling from several claw marks as the elf yelped. Jason wiped the blood off his claws, grimacing at the sticky feeling.

“Gods… all you elves are just fucked in the head,” Dylan snarled.

‘If you ever threaten my brother again, I’ll kick your ass, teacher or not,’ Jason signed furiously.

The neko grabbed Dylan’s wrist, dragging him out of the classroom. They walked down the hall, Jason ignoring the confused stares that followed them from the other students.

“Where the fuck are we going?” Dylan hissed.

‘The office. I’m not letting him take advantage of people like that-’

The calico reversed Jason’s grip suddenly, pinning him against a locker. Holding Jason’s hands down, Dylan shook his head.

“Don’t you dare! If you tell anyone, you’d have to tell them about forbidden rituals! You’d get us all in trouble!” he hissed.

“Hey hey, I knew you two would get together!”

Jason’s head turned at Brienne’s voice. Instantly, Dylan released the other neko, letting out a long breath

“Just don’t. We don’t need the trouble,” he warned quietly, before turning to Brienne.

The calico threw his arms around Brienne, a smile on his face as the two kissed. Jason let out a silent sigh, tapping Dylan on the shoulder.

‘I need to get Devyn. We’re not staying in that class. If I were you, I’d find another class.’

The calico nodded silently, and Jason waved at Brienne before hurrying back down the hall toward the WolfRoom.

He stopped by the bathroom, scrubbing his hands furiously in an attempt to mask the smell of blood. It was a futile gesture, but Jason didn’t want to get Devyn involved with a teacher. They did not need that kind of mess in their lives.

“Hey Dogmeat.”

Jason frowned in the mirror as Connor stepped into the bathroom. He shook off his hands, inspecting his claws carefully. Connor let out a disbelieving snort, watching the neko.

“You get into a fight? Here.”

The human pulled a paper towel out of the dispenser, wetting it briefly. He grabbed Jason’s hand, rubbing the neko’s skin vigorously until there was no evidence of blood.

“You might want to wear some kind of scent. We don’t need Devyn going on a rampage,” Connor chuckled quietly. “Of course, if the other person’s already dead, I suppose it wouldn’t matter much.”

Jason laughed weakly as Connor patted his shoulder.

“Just so you know, if anyone’s giving you trouble, I got your back.”

The neko pulled out his phone, typing quickly.

“Thanks, but I don’t think there’s much we can do about this one. Hopefully he’ll back off now that I’ve marked him.”

“Or it will just leave him pissed off,” Connor shrugged. “Good luck dude.”

“I need to go get Devyn or we’ll be late for third period.”

Jason hurried out of the room, racing down the hall until he reached the WolfRoom. Devyn was sitting against the wall, gnawing on the edge of his cane as he waited. A scowl from Jason saw the cane dropping from the wolf’s mouth, and Devyn rose to his feet guiltily.

The neko pet Devyn’s head with a gentle sigh, running his hands through the wolf’s tangles. Devyn’s head pushed up against his hand, and Jason wrapped an arm around Devyn, trying to let go of the stress building inside him.

Finally, he took Devyn’s hand, leading the wolf past Halor’s room, and to their new class two doors down.

DEVYN

“You’re not happy.”

Devyn stared at Jason as they took their seats in the front of the room, frowning when the neko ignored him in favour of starting up his laptop. Jason set his phone on the edge of his desk, standard practice for the neko, it seemed.

“I want to help.”

Jason’s hand moved, and Devyn felt a rush of pride as he recognised the sign. And then a rush of disappointment when he realised it meant no.

“I can help-”

Devyn flinched as an elf stopped in front of them. Looking up, he forced himself to blink, carefully avoiding the teacher’s eyes.

“You two must be the missing students. I assumed you had switched classes,” she noted.

Jason’s hands moved again, and the elf hummed thoughtfully.

“Yes, I could see a born wolf having some issues with the distinction. I’m glad you cleared it up, but you’re certainly behind in the class. There is some overlap; the final project is the same for both classes, but you’ll need to make up some of the classwork.”

Devyn let out a quiet huff, his chin dropping uncomfortably. He couldn’t lay down properly in these desks, and it frustrated him. How was he supposed to learn anything when he was uncomfortable?

A loud thump startled the wolf, and his head shot up, the smell of sudden terror filling the classroom. The teacher was picking up a book from the floor, and slowly the class settled down, the scent of adrenaline fading from Devyn’s nose as he tried to focus on Jason’s scent.

“You all were just startled. Some of you might have been startled a bit more than others,” the elf at the front of the room said. “You have been conditioned to treat sudden sounds as alarming, through either an instinct or some other stimulus in your lives. Today, we will be focusing on that conditioning, learning how it shows itself in elves, as well as looking at ways to ultimately lessen the effects of unnecessary fear conditioning.”

She set the book on Jason’s desk, returning with another book for Devyn.

“I would like a summary of chapters one and two on my desk by the end of the week. If you need help understanding anything, my office is open until five thirty every afternoon. You may turn in a co-written summary.”

Devyn nodded, pushing his book into his bag. He sighed quietly at Jason’s annoyed scowl and took the book back out before setting up his own computer.

“If someone is exhibiting a fear of something, what are some methods you can take to help them?”

His eyes shot up to the front of the room, startled. Devyn knew this question… or he knew how to answer it. Hesitantly, the wolf raised his hand, almost afraid to be called on. What if he was wrong… no, he was always wrong…

Slowly, Devyn lowered his hand, but it was too late.

“Mr. Farin?”

“By introducing them to the fear in small amounts?”

“That is one way, yes. Exposure to fear can slowly desensitize you to the stimuli that cause the fear.”

The squeak of a pen grated in his ears as the elf wrote on the board, but Devyn was more focused on the fact that she was writing his answer. He had actually answered something, and it had been right…

A hand patted his head gently, Jason smiling at his brother. Devyn could smell the pride washing off the neko. Jason was proud of him. He had made Jason happy by answering…

“In elves, the longevity of many can lead to fears that are more ingrained than in nekos or humans. Prolonged exposure without even a modicum of control will have a detrimental effect on anyone, but when the fear is persistent for decades, it can be near impossible to overcome.”

And he was lost again. Devyn let out a quiet huff, leaning down in his desk again. For a moment, he’d thought this class would be different. He’d gotten a question right, he had done good. But now things were way too hard again.

A hand tapped on Devyn’s shoulder again, Jason tilting his screen slightly. Devyn squinted at the typed words, shaking his head slowly.

“Dad wants to pick us up at five for fittings.”

Jason typed quickly, Devyn frowning as he tried to read the words appearing on the screen.

“Excuse me boys. I would appreciate it if you left personal business outside of the classroom,” the teacher spoke up suddenly, startling Devyn.

The wolf bared his teeth in a snarl before remembering himself. He wasn’t supposed to challenge people like that. Even if they didn’t understand the challenge.

“I’m sorry Ms…”

Fuck, what was her name? Had she even introduced herself? All Devyn knew was she liked gooseberry perfume.

“I’m sorry Ms. Gooseberry…”

Laughter suddenly broke out through the classroom. Even the elf herself had to put a hand to her mouth to hide a chuckle, and Devyn lowered in his seat, embarrassment coursing through him.

“Ms. Elyan,” the teacher corrected him. “Now please, if I may get back to teaching this fine class…”

Devyn stared down at his desk as Elyan stepped away from them. His eyes glanced over at Jason occasionally as the neko typed furiously at his computer. Devyn’s brother was certainly cutting things close with their father. But Devyn was starting to understand that trying to get Jason to do something he didn’t want was like herding cats… or was it herding cattle?

JASON

Devyn sat at the neko’s side, his constant protection from the dangers of lunch. Jason’s hand played through his brother’s hair, keeping an air of friendliness to the touches. He wasn’t about to tell people at school they were together; not yet.

He had already messaged Quarian, and as the bell chimed through the school, signalling the end of lunch, Jason gave Devyn a small nudge.

The wolf let out a grumble. Jason stood up with a silent sigh, reaching down to pull Devyn up. His brother collided with the neko, their arms entangling in a full body hug, and Jason felt his body harden at the feel of Devyn’s warm breath on his neck.

Pulling back from Devyn, Jason froze as his brother’s hand traced over his cheek. The neko shivered at the touch, and Devyn took advantage of Jason’s momentary frozen state to run his tongue over his neko’s cheek.

“You promised me I could lick you tonight, remember?” the wolf muttered into his ear.

Of course he would remember that…

Jason sighed quietly, nodding slowly. He gently pushed Devyn away, toward the school, as a car approached. The wolf growled quietly at the car, and Jason swatted his shoulder in warning. Devyn whimpered quietly.

The wolf walked away reluctantly, and Jason collected his bag, checking the car to make sure it was Quarian inside before opening the door.

“What was that about?” the werewolf asked as Jason buckled himself in securely.

The neko shrugged the question off, pulling out his phone again.

“I need to speak with the queen.”

Silence filled the car as they pulled out of the school’s car park. Quarian focused on the road, finally letting out a quiet sigh.

“So, you want me, a guard who is barely even a guard, to set up an appointment with the most powerful woman on the planet?” he asked.

“That sounds about right, yes. Tell her it has to do with Dylan.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“You don’t have to.”

The werewolf glanced at Jason with a bemused smirk.

“Oh, I get it. You’re playing secret agent, huh? Top secret neko business? You realize there’s probably no way I could get Queen Amber away from her appointments, right? She just became queen, there are hundreds of little tasks that are occupying her mind right now, like dealing with a drought in Sami, or trying to keep mobs from tearing Mydara apart, or picking out the proper colour bedsheets for her new rooms.”

Jason remained silent for the rest of the ride. He stepped out of the car as soon as it stopped, not waiting for Quarian before starting toward the library.

“Hey, slow down there! You can’t go in without an escort; Darren would have my head!” Quarian called, jumping out of the car.

He raced after the neko, Jason stopping in front of the palace doors to wait for the human. A pair of elven guards scowled at the neko suspiciously, and Jason stared back at them, refusing to back down. He was not in the mood for racist bullshit.

“He’s with me,” Quarian said quickly, pushing through the doors.

Jason followed silently, down a hall and into the large circular tower that held the most precious resource in all of Astara.

“Oh, hey Jason!” Alisa beamed at him from behind the desk. “I’m glad to see you back. Do you need anything special today?”

“Actually, I need to redo some of my notes from before. They were destroyed,” the neko typed.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll get the Memoirs of the Red Harvest and A Calico’s Guide to Circles back out for you,” the woman said, vanishing into the shelves that stretched up to the ceiling.

Jason sat at a table near the entrance to the library, pulling out a cord to plug his laptop in. He glanced up as the library door opened, and leapt out of his seat, bowing to Queen Amber.

“Captain Darius told me you were coming by today. How are things coming along with the story?” Amber asked quietly, dropping into the seat across from him.

“As well as can be expected, your Majesty. I ran into some issues; my notes were destroyed, but I’m working on a safer place to store them, and the one responsible is no longer living with me.”

“I see,” Amber said quietly. “You might wish to explain to this person that as you work for the Crown, destruction of your notes could be viewed as an attack on a servant of the Crown and is thus punishable to the full extent of the law.”

“I will let her know that if I see her again,” Jason typed, his thumb turning down his phone until it was as low as a whisper. Still, the neko glanced around cautiously before continuing. “There is another issue I ran into today, regarding Dylan Ethis. One of our teachers, an elf by the name of Halor, expressed knowledge of a calico ritual. He told Dylan and I to perform the ritual in front of him for our final project. We both denied this request. Forcibly, I admit. I have the feeling his partner mentioned something to him about it, as she is a neko herself, possibly an eingar, though I’m unsure of that. It’s the only way I could see her having this knowledge, as Dylan won’t even speak to me about it.”

“I understand. This ritual… it would be sexual in nature?” the queen asked quietly.

Jason nodded.

“My phone has a recording of… most of the conversation. I was signing for a large part of it though.”

“I think you could send the file to Captain Darius. He should be able to make use of it. And thank you Jason. It is good you understand the need to keep this quiet.”

Jason nodded again as Alisa approached with a pair of tomes. The woman let out a quiet squeak, setting the books down before dropping into a bow.

“You two don’t really need to do that,” Queen Amber frowned, standing up again. “Jason, I’ll have this Halor dealt with. If the person who damaged your notes does so again, please let me know. We are not paying you to copy notes over and over again; we are paying you for a history.”

“I understand, your Majesty.”

The queen turned and left the room, and Jason let out a silent sigh. He spent the next few minutes trying to send the conversation with Halor to Captain Darius, before finally getting started on his work.