You want "BANG!"? I'll give you explosions..

I take another chance, take a fall, take a shot for you.
I need you like a heart needs a beat but that's nothing new.
I loved you with a fire red but now it's turning blue.
And you say sorry like the angel heaven let me think was you.
And it's too late to apologize.
It's too late.

Mira's perfectly manicured nails drummed on the chair arm. She was in the parlor at the Krum manor silently awaiting the arrival of none other than Mr. Elijah Krum himself. The quiet anger flowing through her veins was a dreadful sight to behold and would be quite terrifying if were to be possessed by anyone other than her. Only Mira Anderson, the ice queen, could keep this much anger built up under the surface with such a strait face. It was the lava, rumbling under the surface, very much present, but not yet visible to anyone who did not know her.

But the turmoil of sadness, love, and predominantly rage was more than able to erupt at the slightest disturbance. Heaven help Elijah.

Mira was beautiful, wearing a floor length white dress that hugged her body and slim curves. Her white hair was pulled back into a bun, laced with an enchantment so she seemed to just shimmer in the right light. Around her neck lay a medium sized diamond expressing to the world her wealth. The whole gown radiated the image of ice that people often compared her to. It wasn't for no reason Mira was dressed like a princess. One of her fathers black tie dinner parties. Mira had been bored. She had come to see her Elijah. Her Elijah was out. Out to see a woman. And not just any woman but Chase Moor.

Mira had told the cousin that had informed her that she would wait for his return. It had been a long time but still she waited. For once there were no thoughts of how to remove Chase from his life, how to get him to marry her, or what she looked like. There was only raw anger. How could he do this to her, do this to them, do this to himself. Even if nothing happened (unlikely with a manipulative girl like her) Elijah was sure to be hooked again. Chase had that effect on him. After having a "conversation" with Elijah she intended to walk over to her house and have a frank talk with the redhead.

Mira heard the large doors open and close and footsteps. She sat silently, her drumming fingers the only thing moving. Waves of further hate radiated throughout her body. This time cheating would not be tolerated. Not with her. That Mira would make sure of.

OOC: and she doesn't even know they kissed yet (: I imagine he tells her thinking she knows when she doesn't. Haha, this is going to be funnn! *imitates explosion noises*

The townhouse had been empty when he’d got back. After jostling the door open, Elijah turned on the hall light and wandered into the kitchen. The note on the kitchen table had told Elijah that everyone had gone home for the night. He was welcome to stay in the town house apparently but it was advised that he went home. He put his bags down on the table and picked the sticky-note up off of the table. He read it over once more, his thumb ghosting across the black cursive that was Harry’s handwriting, and he opened the fridge. The luminous light flooded the low-lit room and he looked at the contents, reaching in to move a few jars before finally finding a jar of chocolate spread. Elijah smiled to himself and took the jar from the fridge. He moved away and let it fall closed before straying towards the cutlery drawer. After taking a spoon out and having a few mouthfuls of chocolate, Elijah abandoned the jar on the side, chucked the spoon into the sink, gathered his stuff up and finally Apparated to the manor.

Elijah landed on the grass outside the back entrance. Silvery magic swirled around him and dissipated behind him, signalling his Apparation. He smiled to himself and opened up the large wooden doors. The light startled him somewhat but he relaxed once he was inside. Elijah left the door open, having heard the sounds of his cousins outside, and dumped his bags into an arm chair that had been placed in the back foyer to make it look more-filled. He turned a lamp on and shrugged off his jacket. That too he slung onto a chair and he took off his watch, dropping that onto the end table underneath the lamp. He straightened up and ran his hands through his hair before dipping to the right to look at himself in the mirror that had been mounted on the wall. Elijah made a face at the reflective glass and ran a hand through his hair again before looking down and slipping his shoes off.

Giggles came from behind Elijah and he turned to see two people disappearing behind a thick curtain that covered a little alcove in the wall. Elijah smirked upon hearing the further giggles that sprung out from behind and he looked out into the grounds to see a trail of clothes leading up the steps to the door. He chuckled and made his way towards the sitting room. He could use a sit down and a glass of wine before bed and that was exactly what he wanted to indulge in. He was still reeling from his visit to Chase and he couldn’t quite believe how much his daughter had grown. He had a feeling though, that the promises he’d made to her had fallen on deaf ears. She’d turn around and completely ignore him. Ignore his honest desire to father his daughter. He had a right to do so but as far as Chase was seemingly concerned, he had no right at all.

Elijah opened the door of the sitting room and was again surprised by the amount of light in there. His eyes swept across the room before finally falling on Mira. Elijah’s mood improved considerably when he saw her and took a moment to take her in; and Merlin, wasn’t she gorgeous. She was everything his father assumed he’d need and boy was he right. She was a breath of fresh air at times. This was one of those times. He was so pleased to see her it was unreal. After dealing with Chase, all he wanted to really do was fall into bed with Mira and have her curled up against him – he couldn’t think of anything better. However, the look on her face told him that he was heading for something much worse. Elijah hoped he’d be able to skirt around the proverbial thunderstorm heading his way, though. Then again, she was female and she was an Anderson – in short, he was screwed.

“Hello beautiful,” He spoke, a smile tugging his lips upwards. “You look extraordinary.” Elijah left the door open and crossed the room. He put his hands on the armrests of her chair before leaning down and inclining his head towards hers, intent on a kiss.

That voice.. Elijah was home. The muscles in her face hardened into a half scowl as the footsteps told her he was crossing the room. She could feel him in the room. Their connection ran so deep, but apparently they couldn't say the same for their love. This thought kept Mira under control. Where what she really wanted to do was to forgive him and run to his arms, the idea of him being with Chase brought anger that threatened to boil over. Hopefully this image would be enough to keep her head strait in the minutes that would follow.

His face was so sweet. Like a child. And his words were so kind like they always managed to be. But even this was canceled out by the female scent that came off of him. Mira wore lavender, this was something different, something that was known from his time engaged to Chase.

In the second of conformation Mira's heart hardened over completely. The ice melted completely to let out all of the fire and hate that had built up within. Mira's nostrils flared as he moved closer to her. Before she knew what she was doing her thin white hand raised behind her and came forward with a force that Mira didn't know she possessed. Elijah's head flew in the opposite direction in a way that looked painful and the slap echoed throughout the empty room. Mira's face relaxed slightly and turned to more of a smirk.

"Welcome back, love" she said tilting her head in an innocent way. Her eyes widened as if shocked as she watched his expression. Acting as if nothing had happened Mira stood, moving past Elijah. Half way across the room she turned to face him. "How was your" paused for a long moment "trip?" The long white dress looked particularly dramatic with the light the way it was. Mira was sure she was sparkling. But even looking so confidant Mira felt slightly bad. Her hand was tingling in an unpleasant way and she could only imagine how his face felt.

Just as Elijah was about to steal a kiss from her, a cold, firm surface connected with his cheek. He yelped and sprang away from her, his eyes widening and his hand flying up to grasp the same cheek that Viktor had tarnished only days before. Elijah bit his lip and looked at Mira was the snarl ripped from her scarlet lips. Elijah’s chest heaved as adrenaline coursed through his veins. His spare hand clenched by his side and he dug his knuckles into his leg as the sparkling pain spread across his cheek before drawing in and extending its claws once more.

“What the bloody hell was that for!?” He exclaimed, finally finding his voice. It wasn’t often that he got the slap he usually deserved. He could talk himself out of any situation life threw at him. He wasn’t, however, ready for the curve-ball that she’d thrown at him and he felt the cursive on his back burn uncomfortably to the beck and call of the pain in his cheek. Elijah winced and took his bottom lip between his teeth once more. He knew the woman was bi-polar (or at least something to that effect) but he didn’t think he’d done anything to warrant a beating.

Trip? What on earth did she – oh Christ. She was, for some inane reason, sparkling; though for the life of him Elijah couldn’t figure out why – she was no angel. Elijah did love her company but not when she was like this; especially not when she was like this. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this – there was no way she could have known about the kiss – so it could only have been the idea of him being with Chase that had spooked her. Still! He didn’t know what he’d done to Mira to deserve this! Crazy b!tch – she was nearly as bad as his mother; no wonder they’d gotten on so well when she’d been alive.

“It was bloody awful.” He deadpanned acidly. “How was your,” he paused much the same she did and sneered. “Party?” Elijah opened his mouth and rolled his jaw a little to check everything was still in order. He then promptly closed it and dropped his hand by his side. “Now, shall I hit you back or is there more to this?” He spat.

With Elijah's hurt expression Mira felt her heartstrings tug a little bit. Even if he had hurt her he was still her Elijah and the last thing she wanted was to cause him any harm. Unfortunately the red mark on his face suggested differently. She almost was temped to say sorry, to kiss his cheek and fix everything before it was broken. But the foreign scent that still lingered in the room was enough food to feed the flame of anger in her heart. He acted as if he didn't know. But maybe he really was confused why she had hit him. It was possible that Mira had it all wrong and that he was innocent. Boy would that be a shocker. But for once Mira felt as if she was just for her actions and that he deserved to be slapped.

Elijah was biting his lip from her slap but for some reason it didn't feel quite as good as she imagined. Much of her rage had been unleashed in the one movement and now she felt a little drained. Weak. One hand moved to her face a massaged her temple for a second as he talked. She didn't feel nearly as beautiful now as she had a mere moment before. Mira knew if she didn't make a conscious effort to keep it together she would fall apart in seconds. And falling apart wasn't an option.

Mira ignored Elijah's spit out words. Who cared about her party? Who cared about her reasons for slapping him? (well, he probably did but that was besides the point). The only thing that mattered was he knew. He knew that -

"I know"

Mira moved closer to him, the space of the room suddenly seemed to be shrinking. Five feet away seemed too close, like she could lash out and close the distance in a second. But Mira was out of the light, and she seemed more innocent that way. If he looked in her eyes now he would see the hurt deeply embedded in them. Maybe he would even understand why she was doing what she was. It was because she loved him and couldn't bear to let things go on between him and that woman.

"I thought you had changed. That you were able to be faithful" she said in a voice just above a whisper. The whisper was laced with pain and sadness. The start of tears were starting to leak into her eyes. Why was it this moment she had to get emotional? Mira mentally slapped herself. Snap out of it.. Like she did in most stressful situations, Mira ran her hand through her hair.

"I trusted you to change!" Mira said, her voice climbing higher and higher, reaching a dangerous level. It would be at his response that she would know. Know if she was wrong and it was time to beg for forgiveness or if she was right, and was entitled to scream the built up words. Words she had wanted to scream since age 13. The first time he had broken her heart.

Fidelity had never been Elijah’s strong point. There was no trait in the Krum genetic make-up that allowed for faithfulness and that was why the sons were married off to women that could keep them in line. That was why Viktor had been married to Marina, that was why Andres had been married off to Tatiana and that was certainly why Elijah was one day going to marry the blonde Anderson before him. Elijah knew the price for married life but he also knew his family’s politics. He’d mucked it up already and he was compromising all of them further by insisting on seeing Chase. It was worth it though. She had his daughter. His daughter. Kitty was his by the Merlin’s own design and as Elijah stood there he could feel the bond he had with the child begin to wither away, as if Chase’s shadow of poison had already seeped into her mind. He knew the spite that would be in her words. No promises would change intent; especially not intent driven that deep. She had already decided what she planned on doing and no amount of charm was going to change that.

Kitty wasn’t his baby anymore – she wasn’t his little girl.

Elijah waved Mira away dismissively and stormed across the room towards the old, alcohol stained dresser that held all manner of drinks – there were even optics on top. Elijah pulled at the little gold doorknob and tugged the door open. He did the same to the other one and leaned inside, looking for the glass decanter among hundreds that held Firewhisky. It didn’t take long for him to find the Gin at all. Elijah rose to his feet and took a glass off of one of the shelves. He poured some gin into the glass before bringing it up to the tonic optic to top it up. Elijah then put the decanter down and cut up a lemon to stick a few bits into the gin; after that went the ice that he’d conveniently forgotten. He then, did not turn, but pointed to the glass; motioning for Mira to take it and shut up.

Elijah then returned the Gin decanter and went back in search for the Firewhisky. It was easier to find the second time and he put his hands on it almost instantly. Elijah rose up again and this time nudged the cupboards shut. He took a smaller yet somehow wider and deeper glass off of the shelf and wandered over to one of the arm chairs. Elijah turned on the lamp beside it and put the glass down before taking the stopper out of the decanter and pouring more than was ‘done’ into the glass. He put the stopper back in and slammed the decanter down on the table before picking up his glass and taking a seat. He sipped the whisky and shook his head, idly beginning to take his rings against the side of the glass.

“I was engaged to her Mira,” he spoke slowly, his voice low. “She gave birth to my child. I have a right to be able to see her! I have to deal with the fact that I might never get to see my daughter again so cut me some slack. I may have kissed her, sure, but I’m not marrying her am I? She doesn’t want me in her life, Mira. I can see beyond her words, I’m no idiot.” Elijah took another sip before continuing. “Just get over it. I’m not in the mood for this conversation right now.”

Alcohol was Elijah's solution to everything. It was just another way to try to escape all of the sticky situations he got it. A cigarette, a drink, and some of his cleverly placed words was enough to avoid any situation. Mira had never been much for drinking to escape but right now seemed like a good time if there ever was. So she begrudgingly took his offer of the glass. Holding it at the level with her stomach and making no move to drink it she listened to his words unhappily.

There was no way Mira agreed with what he said. Even though it was true he should be able to see her it didn't matter at this moment. In her emotional state things weren't lining up like they normally did and she couldn't see the reasoning behind his words, or even really see what he was feeling. And then he said it. He had kissed her. Oh god, he had kissed her. The flame of anger ripped through her body and the fist that wasn't holding the glass clenched. She managed to remain silent but only barely.

When he was done with his side Mira spoke as calmly as she could manage. "And you're betrothed to me right now." Irina had informed her of this at Cecilia's birthday party not so long ago. She had also said that Elijah already knew. For the last weeks Mira had wondered why he hadn't told her, but now it was clear to her that he didn't want to be engaged. He still loved her. Continuing (and ignoring Elijah's bid for her to stop) Mira said "No, you're not an idiot. And that's why you must see.. " she shook her head. "you must see I can't get over it. Not this"

Mira lifted the glass and took a sip. For once the burning in her throat felt fitting for the situation.

The betrothal wasn’t something that Elijah had intended on mentioning to Mira. His parents hadn’t actually ended it when he’d voiced his ‘concerns’ as per her sexuality. No, Marina and Viktor had had every intention of seeing Mira become their daughter-in-law. She’d been hand-picked after all – no one else was going to make the cut. Elijah knew that he would have never been able to marry Chase but he’d wanted to preserve that relationship for as long as humanly possible. Now, though, it was in tatters. He was in tatters. His and Mira’s betrothal was the only thing that was remotely promising for him; and he was on the verge of ruining that too. He didn’t want to lose Mira. He’d lost her sister; he couldn’t lose her too.

Elijah rose from his seat, discarding the Firewhisky that he was sure he didn’t even need. He crossed the room and stood before Mira, instinctively reaching out for her. One arm wound around her waist and his hand came to rest on top of the cursive on her back, and the other came up to curl around her neck. He stroked the underside of her jaw with his fingertips and smiled gently. “You can,” He murmured. “It was just kiss, Mira. People kiss all the time and don’t mean it. I’m not saying it didn’t mean anything because Chase and I were together but I think, if anything, it was more closure for both of us. We left on awful terms and that needed to be rectified. It wasn’t but I can walk away from her now. I don’t think I could ever walk away from Kitty the way she wants me too but it is over between her and I. It was goodbye."

"What do you want me to say to you? That she’s a manipulative whore that made me kiss her? I can’t say that, Mira, because that’s not what happened. I adored Chase and you have to accept that; you have to accept that that relationship happened because there is no use pretending otherwise. Just, enough of this. Enough of this attitude.”

"No."

Mira herself was shocked that the word escaped her lips. She had no idea she had enough willpower with his lips so close to say no. It seemed impossible. Normally his touch was toxic to her but now the thought that those lips had been Chase's only a short while ago kept her head clear. The flame of anger was still burning strong in her heart even if she did keep her calm on the outside.

"And how many of our kisses were just.. kisses?"

The thought hit her hard as she said the words. If he could dismiss his and Chase's interaction as nothing than it was possible, okay, probable, that he had done the same with their relationship. At points Mira would have been nothing more than "closure with a childhood love" or "some girl I dated once". The hardest part was she could see it. It was just.. so Eli. He would always be the same Bulgarian playboy as always and Mira would have to grow to accept that. And like he said, she also had to accept him and Chase. And she did. But it didn't mean she had to like it.

Mira pulled away from his hands holding on her waist and neck. Where his skin had touched hers left not fiery passion like normal but an unpleasant prickling. He wasn't the same man she had fallen in love with, but that didn't stop her from loving him. Life sucked like that sometimes.

Krum men always got their way that was why they married women that would bend to their will. Marina had been the exception to the rule. All around Elijah there were women that would do whatever their husbands asked of them. They were happy and the men were dutiful and kind but they were plucked from the roost so they could be like that. Mira was Marina’s choice and that was clear. It was the defiance that she showed now that the woman had wanted to see. She didn’t want her son to have a wet blanket for a wife. She’d wanted a strong, fork-tongued viper that would cut off his balls if he so much as poked a toe out of line. Elijah was worried that this was what would happen but he had a feeling that something much worse was coming his way. Mira was pissed and he couldn’t pull on her attraction to him to placate her.

“You’re impossible,” He rolled his eyes and turned around, returning to his arm chair though not taking his seat. “Why are we even having this argument!? It’s ridiculous! I kissed her! It’s not as if I had sex with her! I didn’t bend her over her kitchen table and-” And from there, Elijah began to spout off different ways he could have had sex with Chase, no doubt earning a slap for his efforts. “And besides,” He continued, “I didn’t want to marry you, Mira! Get your head out of the clouds! I was thirteen and I called you a lesbian to try and get out of the whole torrid affair. I don’t know when our kisses stopped being ‘just kisses’ Mira! I don’t know when that changed but I know a lot of them were ‘just kisses’. Happy? For a long time you meant nothing to me! If you want to go back to that then FINE! Go and see Valantin! Surely he’ll extend his services to you!”