Cass left when she politely asked, with fire in her voice, if she could use this room for a little longer after they were gone. Cass took that at his cue, smiled, and told her to take as much time as she needed. He’d even offer her the use of some guards if she needed, but she had laughed.
Fuck, she was exactly like Ava in that moment. The deranged, angry Ava, but it was a righteous anger this time.
She promised that if she needed guards, she would ask for them. Cass made sure after he left the room that someone he trusted replaced Byron and Gideon outside. Sam followed him out while Gideon took in Cass’ ear to ear grin.
"Cass." Gideon admonished, but Cass couldn’t help himself. As they made their way to the main staircase and the glittering chandelier, Cass laughed.
"Am I not supposed to be happy when I played a part in getting two people who deserve it, in trouble? I can’t help it. She’s going to rake them over the coals, and they deserve it. They almost didn’t make it out of this alive, and they have instead been living in this manor without worry for weeks. I think she’s earned her anger, and I earned it to be just a tiny fly on the wall for a moment." Cass argued. Gideon’s eyes when they looked at Cass, were warm, defeated but warm.
"I can’t win an argument against you." Gideon admitted as they began to climb the stairs. "I also don’t know if I want to." Gideon gave Cass a smile, Byron and Sam trailing behind them. "Besides, you look adorable so happy. I would never take that kind of joy away from you, I’ll just have to find ways to make you that happy so that you don’t have to find it from other’s misery." Cass stuttered in his steps, almost falling up the stairs but Gideon made sure that didn’t happen.
Cass stared at him, taken aback as Gideon looked at him like he hadn’t just said the most insane, off the cuff thing in the world. And on the stairs, no less.
"Are you alright, Cass? You nearly fell." Gideon sounded concerned, and Cass realised, with alarm, that Gideon had no idea of the power of the stairs. He knew that Byron and Sam behind him probably had an inkling, so did Edgar. Lucian didn’t care, so it was only Cass who truly knew.
"Gideon, we don’t speak of such things on the stairs." Cass whispered. "Others can hear." Cass told him and Gideon gave him a confused smile.
"Okay? Do you want others not to know I care for you or something?" He asked and Cass shook his head.
"It has nothing to do with others knowing, and everything to do with we do not want to be the ones who get caught on the stairs. Let others have their dramatic moments around the stairs, but not us." Cass told him. Gideon stared at him in confusion while Byron, the damn fool, laughed loudly behind him.
"He’s not going to get it, my Lord, and I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t been a victim." Byron joked. "Just be mindful of where you speak, Gideon, that’s all he’s asking." Gideon nodded at Byron’s words, still staring at Cass. Cass, now flustered, shook off his gentle hold and continued up the stairs. Fine, don’t heed his warning. It didn’t matter to him.
It wouldn’t come and bite him in the ass later or anything.
Cass felt a shiver run down his spine and knew, knew he was right to warn Gideon about it but there was nothing he could do. Gideon was the only one of their group that he had warned, and if he didn’t take it seriously, that wasn’t on him anymore.
He could just hope that the moment was between Gideon and Edgar, not Gideon and Cass. That way he could watch, unabashedly.
~
Cass stepped into his bedroom, Gideon in tow, and paused. Ah. Right.
The gothic, villainous kaleidoscope that was his bedroom. Riiiiight.
"Is that...a mural on the ceiling?" Gideon asked, sounding impressed.
"Yeah. Of demons eating people." Cass explained and Gideon whistled.
"Impressive. Who painted it?" Gideon asked. Cass was about to respond that he didn’t know when the memory suddenly surfaced. It felt a little surreal to be able to answer something he hadn’t been able to before, but he just gave his thanks to Cassian and told him the artists name.
Gideon stared at Cass for a solid minute before he just nodded numbly.
"I forget, sometimes, that you are very well connected, Cass." Gideon mumbled. "I also forget that I should be as well connected as you are too. I shouldn’t be envious, you had to do it for survival but..." He trailed off and Cass felt the corner of his mouth turn up. He laughed.
"It’s alright, Gideon. You can be envious. You’re allowed to feel your emotions, and honestly, it would be nice to know that someone wants what I have." Cass joked. He missed the glare that Gideon gave him as Cass turned to Sam, who had followed them. Byron was still in the rooms, but he was on patrol. With Sir Forsythe taking the night off, Byron was planning on doing a full patrol. Checking out the space, seeing where things were wrong, what had shifted since he was gone.
Cass welcomed it with open arms. He was glad that he had supernatural beings on his side.
"Sam, can you send someone for Edgar?" Cass asked and Sam smiled warmly.
"I did that once we got upstairs, my Lord. I had a feeling you were going to ask for him." Sam replied. Cass gave him a thumbs up. He was glad, once more, that he had Sam as his aide. His head henchman. His good friend.
Cass nodded, and then proceeded to show Gideon around Cass’ rooms. Cass hadn’t been to either Edgar’s, Lucian’s, or Gideon’s rooms so he had assumed that his were the same as theirs. That turned out to be wrong.
Cass had given them all the right to organise their rooms and decorate them as they saw fit. He had then handed over that permission to Fiona. He had done so out of respect, but retrospectively, that might have just added more to her plate.
Gideon, it turned out, had denied most of his rooms outside of the bathroom and the main bedroom. He had asked that the rest of his rooms be turned into housing for the knights. That would help explain why the knights liked him so much, and it was a good reminder that Gideon was...well, loyal to the people who were outwardly loyal to him.
Gideon stared at the designs and accents that Cass, er, Cassian had chose, and Cass felt his face warm. It was...gaudy, he knew, but there was nothing else he could do. Cass had wanted to flex his wealth and he also had no design sense.
Cass did explain that he was planning to redesign the space so that it was somewhere more welcoming. He only really had a bed in his bedroom, but he was thinking of putting in a bed near the window. Like a nice place to curl up, redo the wallpaper. Replace the bed, get new sheets and make the space not feel like a sensory nightmare.
Gideon hadn’t hidden his laughter at Cass’ bitter tone, carefully taking Cass’ hand in his own as they sat on the edge of Cass’ bed, waiting for Edgar to arrive.
"I don’t hate this space, Cass. It’s...proof that you were just trying to exist before now. I will say, you shouldn’t remove the mural. The meaning behind it is rather sweet. Lovely. A reminder, I think, that you wanted to make for yourself." Cass scoffed. He didn’t believe that.
"It’s terrifying, Gideon." Cass told him and Gideon smiled at him.
"I don’t think it is. Do you know what I think it means? I think it’s a reminder that the past has a way of catching up with everyone. It’s your reminder to yourself that those who do bad will have what they did catch up. It’s a mural to remind you that those who wronged you will get exactly what they deserve." Cass sat there, his eyes wide as Gideon smiled at him.
He had never, ever considered it that way. Why would he? He had woken up in this body, scared of the mural, and had never looked into the meaning behind it nor why Cassian had someone paint it. He just thought it was him flexing his wealth.
However, hearing what Gideon said, and knowing who Cassian was as a person now...it made sense. Perfect sense, actually.
Cass laughed slightly, turning as a gentle knock sounded on the door and Edgar pushed it open, Sam behind him. Edgar’s eyes were wide as he glanced around the space, before he shivered.
"I forgot how...much this room is." Edgar tried to say politely and Cass really laughed at that.
"I know. It’s a bit much, isn’t it?" Edgar looked relieved at Cass’ comment, stepping to the room in earnest.
"I really didn’t want to offend you, but I feel like I could get sick in here just by turning my head too quickly." Edgar admitted, coming to sit on the bed beside Cass. Edgar on one side, Gideon on the other. All they were missing was Lucian behind him, wrapped around him like he was already there.
Cass blinked, his heart aching for a moment. He’d spent the most time here with Lucian, so it felt a little strange to have these two here now. Not a bad strange, just...it did make Cass miss Lucian more. So much so that he couldn’t keep it inside anymore.
"I wish Lucian was here." Cass muttered softly, catching both men by surprise. Edgar’s expression stilled, before it softened immediately. Gideon squeezed Cass’ hand.
"Oh Bunny." Edgar breathed, pulling Cass close. "He’ll be here soon. He said he would, remember? You just have one more heat to experience and then he’ll be here." Edgar reminded him and Cass, who had kept it together up until this point, hiccupped. He felt his eyes grow warm, his emotions getting the better of him. He was going to blame it on the fact that it was coming up again and that was why he was getting so emotional.
"It’s hard having it without him." Cass admitted. He didn’t want to hurt them by saying it, like they weren’t worth enough. Fuck, Cass knew what it was like to feel worthless, but-
"It’s okay, Bunny. We get it. It’s hard without him too." Edgar admitted and that seemed to release some of the tension in Cass’ body. He squeezed Gideon’s hand tightly, his other wrapping around Edgar as he felt his shoulders shake.
He didn’t think he was this weak. He’d almost made it without crying about Lucian being gone, but damn Cassian and his powerful ability to feel things. It was surprising to say that about a man who had scowled at everyone and everything, but then again, maybe it wasn’t. Cass had numbed himself, while Cassian had buried everything until he exploded.
They were different sides of the same coin, combined now forever.
Cass let his tears soak into Edgar’s shoulder, trembling as the two men offered him comfort. He missed the damn dragon and his big, bumbling steps, his mischievous hands, and that smile that he gave Cass like he could get away with murder. He especially missed the way that he looked at him.
Cass was going to strangle him when he saw him. Wrap his hands around his neck and-and...Cass buried his face deeper into Edgar’s shoulder.