Moving in... Kinda

Fauve seemed quite comfortable with Khaat and Eli was glad. He was sick of sending her all over the show just to try and keep himself out of the limelight. It was selfish and Elijah no longer cared about whether the tabloids knew about Fauve or Nachash. Although he was much more protective when it came to Nachash, he didn’t mind them seeming Fauve. A few of the reporters worked better with children than they did with adults and were a lot nicer than most. Eli wasn’t ready to show her the cruel world that circled with the media storm that followed his family around.

He watched as Fauve got stuck in with making the pizza and he noticed that it took half the time it normally did for her to get covered. Within minutes she had tomato sauce all over herself and Eli couldn’t help but smirk at the child that didn’t have a care in the world. He wondered when Khaat would notice him leaning against the doorframe but he didn’t mind too much. He enjoyed just watching. Fauve got up to so much and watching her do it was much more fun than reprimanding her for it.

Khaat was busy, preoccupied with Fauve until she had all the pizzas assembled, into the oven, with the table set. She decided perhaps, if it had not been winter, it might have been easier to hose Fauve off with the garden hose. Oh, well, Khaat laughed, Everything was washable. She gave a quick wave of her arm to start the kitchen putting itself to rights, but Fauve was another matter. She couldn't just wave her wand over her to clean her up. "What on earth would your papa say if he saw I let you get so messy?" Khaat laughed, starting to gently and lovingly help Fauve wash up. The soap that Khaat chose for Fauve was one of two, and this one smelled like roses. She thought Fauve would like it. Khaat transfigured the clothes to clean ones for Fauve. She was able to do that. But there were no spells to make oneself clean again. That still had to be done the muggle way.

Fauve licked some of the sauce off of her fingers. She wasn’t sure if she liked being washed when she could just lick it off but she knew that if her papa found imprints of her body on the walls then he wouldn’t be happy. It would also mean she’d been running in the house again. She giggled and stayed still while Khaat cleaned her off. She saw Nachash slither into the room, shaking her head and muttering things in Parseltongue. Fauve giggled again and looked over at the door where her papa was stood. She grinned widely and ran over to him.

Eli caught Fauve and lifted her up so she was sitting on his forearm. It was his Beater’s arm but the child was so light she didn’t notice her weight unless she jumped on him in the mornings to wake him up. It was only then that he noticed. “I watched you.” Eli chuckled. “How could you not notice the mess, Fauvie?”
“I don’t know, papa.” Fauve said, her eyebrows knitting together in concentration. “But we made pizzas!” Eli heard Nachash snort and he narrowed his eyes at the snake. “What’s wrong Pappy?” Fauve asked.
“Nothing darlin’. I just need to talk to Nachash for a moment. Fauve nodded and dropped down onto the floor.

Eli walked into the living room with the snake on his heels. He turned on her once the door was closed and quickly drew up silencing charms. He didn’t want Fauve to here.
“What is your problem!?” He shouted at her in Parseltongue.
“I don’t like this house.” Nachash said pointedly. “I liked Paris.”
“Well feel free to go back then!” Eli snapped.
“You won’t hold out long.” She taunted.
“Longer than you.” Eli shot back.

The snake rolled her eyes and slithered out through the open window. Eli pulled the silencing charms back down and bit his lip. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked at the window, wondering whether to go after her. He wouldn’t last long without her and vice versa. She’d come back eventually. She had to, right?

Khaat sensed something not right even though Eli had been very careful to try to cover his tracks. Khaat set Fauve up with coloring books and crayons at her large impressive desk in her study and asked her to color long enough for her to talk to "Papa". She found Eli alone in the living room. Nachash's energy signature was gone from the room altogether, and he was not quite as strong as he had been. Clearly the snake had left the house.

"Eli," Khaat said softly, "How long will you last without Nachash? Believe me, I understand bonding better than you think. And I know it when I see it."

He did have a feeling that Khaat knew about his connection to Nachash but he didn’t want to explain it too much. Even he couldn’t understand. He shouldn’t have been able to bond himself to that snake but somehow he did and he was twelve years old at the time. Eli didn’t feel as strong but he had magic stores that he could get his magic from. He’d done a lot to ensure that he would be alright if she left. He knew better than to store his magic in canisters because aging magic wasn’t a good idea but the older it was, the longer it lasted.

Eli glanced at Khaat and shook his head. “A lot longer than she will. She’ll come back by tonight.” He said quietly. “I just hope she doesn’t do anything drastic. It isn’t the time for her to be selfish.”

"If you like, I can find out if there is any way to keep yourself alive if something ever happens to her," Khaat offered. "You know as well as I do, then, that in some cases there are some slim chances that someone can survive a total unbonding. But I'd have to go to my father for that. I have my own reasons for needing that answer as well, though, so it isn't any trouble. Believe me." She had gotten quieter still, not wanting to betray her own bondings. Rob's was gone, but not entirely without a price for her. She knew well enough with magic that someone always had to pay a penalty for using it, it seemed. And she had paid their price in full. Her mind wandered out a bit farther, feeling that aching lonliness threatening to come back. But she regathered herself sharply, as if ice water had hit her in the face.

"Sorry," she said, "I've been a bit preoccupied lately. And that's never healthy for me. After dinner, I might go for a run in the snow in the dark. I need to exercise again. Stretch my legs. Get some fresh air."

“She’s not stupid, Khaat. She’s stubborn but she won’t go and kill herself over an argument. Nothing will happen to her, I assure you.” Eli bit his lip discreetly and wondered why he was lying through his teeth. Nachash would do everything to make him suffer before coming home and putting him in her own form of pain. It was another reason as to why they didn’t often argue. He didn’t like the punishments she saw fit to inflict on him. Usually she’d leave the wounds open for a while but seal them slightly from infection. Anything that touched them would burn and burn and burn. “You’re pregnant, Khaat.” Eli said gently. “You don’t want to put strain on the child.”

"Abbey is getting all she needs, believe me," Khaat said, being very selective with her words now. She hated that they were both so alike in some ways and yet chose to both stand their distance. It seemed they both had volumes of secrets. "I'm not saying Nachash is stupid, Eli. Animals are usually extremely intelligent. But I am saying that I know how very devoted you are to Fauve. And I know that anything could happen that would break that bonding with Nachash--even if just by sheer accident alone. And then where would Fauve be? I want you to be able to grow to a ripe old age with her. I am finding out how very dangerous bondings can be. Please dont' think I'm challenging you. That's not my intent. But you are an amazing father for Fauve. I hope I'm half as good with Abbey."

“I know you’re not,” Eli sighed. “I’m just trying to be optimistic. Nachash is rash and borderline stupid. I could easily sever my ties with her but I don’t want to let her go. Bonds are meant to last forever no matte r what the arrangement. Even if you’re complete opposites the bond proves that despite everything you’re meant to be together. Or perhaps you’ve got cold feet and not ready to step up to the task of being, I dunno, a good husband or a father maybe. The bond proves that you’re ready for it. It is deep magic that I have manipulated. However, over the years it has solidified. Nothing could break the bonds I have with Nachash – only death. Fauve... she is another thing. I’d like to see her married or at least safe before I am offed so I don’t plan on copping out just yet.” Eli bit his lip and tried to look confident. “It’s fine... e-everything will be o-okay.” Would it though?

"Eli," she took a deep breath before she spoke, "You probably already have figured this out, because you are so incredibly brilliant, but I am bonded too. Its how I survive. Just like you. I am bonded to my father. Rob did share that with me, but he didn't like it. It terrified him to have his magic and his life energies divided with me. So--well, I had my father separate us.

"The fact is, I've been bonded to my father since I was about 16. Before I really understood what it was. My uncle raised me, basically, because we were more or less out of the same pod. Who knows, maybe I was already bonded to him before that. But when he was killed I nearly died. My father openly chose to bond himself to me to keep me alive. And I've been bonded to him ever since.

"Rob was a different story. He accidently did it without even knowing what he was doing. It wasn't really a free choice for him. So, well, when I saw how much pain it caused him, I had Daddy separate us. But you are maybe the only one who really understands this, besides my father. My father and I recently got a ring back that used to belong to my uncle. His favorite. My father implanted that ring into my chest, hoping that he could give me whatever magic of Remus that might still remain in this world, so that if anything would happen to him, I might still survive. Neither of us know if it will work at all, and I'm not anxious to have to find out. And Rob doesn't know about the implant at all. I guess there must be some sort of a price to pay for an unbonding, and I decided to absorb that. I just can't cause him any more pain.

"But I'm like you when it comes to Abbey. I want to see her at least grow up to be an adult, maybe get married. I'm hoping my father lives a good long time yet. I wish I had understood that before I married Rob--the risk and all, I mean. If I had known that, well, perhaps he would have never married me in the first place. Who knows?

"I guess I'm telling you this because, well, I wanted you to know that you're not alone. I do understand. And I will help you with Fauve in any way I possibly can. If it is any consolation, my father is hard at work studying some theories that Nicolas Flamel left about energy and energy transfer. He's hoping he can make enough sense out of them that he can find a way to find a cure for this. The best he can come up with at the moment is the possibility of the transfer of a bond. But he's not liable to give up any time soon. If I do find out something, I'll give you the information. What you choose to do with it from there is, of course, up to you."