everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

( Max has always been his father's son. (So he thinks, anyway.) To his sister's volatile black sheep, he's always been the golden child. He follows the party line to the letter. Knowing what he's always been birthed for makes it an easy decision for him. He doesn't want his sister to die because he loves her. He was only born seconds after, but in his father's eyes, he is the heir. He is the male heir. It's his Gauntlet to take up. Their bond is unlike everyone else's in their family. It always has been. They always had each other. Their parents, sure. But, it was them against their boarding school, or their college, or other witches.

But, he will hear out the Aiden-Gainors. Out of... politeness. He owes them that much. He doesn't actually hold a grudge against David for spurning his sister. He knows there is no love lost. Duty isn't about love.

He resents David for it, for finding it, and getting it. For keeping it. His one night stands began at school. They extended to the help. His guard for a few months. A fellow witch on assignment with him. It never mattered. Man, woman. It was easy to fall for him and he liked the attention. If he were smarter, had he married David (not that he ever liked David, tch), then they wouldn't be in this position.

In a way, David brought this on all of them.

Yeah, grudge reactivated.

Max suggests a Greek restaurant his parents would take he and Jaq when they were kids, Ikaros. They went once a month thinking it was going to be a family outing, but someone from the inner circle was always there, sometimes their entire family. It was always more a summit than a family outing, which makes it just as good for now.

It's empty in the afternoon, which is what Max prefers for their ends. The siblings are asked to wait at the bar until their party arrives - to which Max gives a look around the empty restaurant - but - accepts. Fine. Whatever. It doesn't matter.

He orders a dry gin martini to sip on as he and his sister wait. The bartender disappears into the back to finish his prep and Max speaks. )

What do you think they want?

Hard to say.

[Mostly because she can't read David as well as she used to. Ever since he came back from the demon, with Ezra in tow, he's been better at playing his cards close to his chest. Some might call him a little softer, but she thinks it's a misread of the situation.

He cares more, sure. But he managed to find a way to think about more than just himself, more than just the Colony. It's not that she understands it, necessarily, but she does think she understands why. Love changes your priorities. Puts more than just yourself at the forefront. Likely why the Colony relied on arranged matches for so long.]

David's been a bit unpredictable as of late. But I doubt Ezra is pleased with the idea that his husband may die.

( Max would call him softer, but Max would also be jealous deep down of that side of what some might perceive as softness. He never got the luxury of putting himself out there like that. There was one - one of their hired hands - yeah he had feelings for the guy - but loose ends needed to be tied.

He sent him off, spared his life, erased his mind and never thought about him again.

(He thinks about him every day.)

But, he knows David is dangerous. Formidable. He does know enough this isn't the Sopranos. He wants to talk. Which is quaint and all. )

As of late? The minute David Gainor showed back up with stories of being possessed with a protective witch in his stride? He ceased to be predictable.

( It always sounded desperate, that something like that could be traced to the Gainor parentage. When he was younger, it sounded like a desperate cry. When he lets himself think about what that would mean, well, his loyalties fray. But only deep down. )

Dad shot you down pretty quick.

Dad doesn't think I can win. He thinks I'm soft too.

[Which yes, she won't deny she has some squishy places. Her brother is one of them. Sierra is another. Maybe David, on a particularly good day. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her own claws.]

But he hasn't been interested in me since the engagement was broken so I wasn't particularly surprised.

[Despite the fact that she gained his special family talent, Gabriel has never been one to care about his children if they weren't proving to be of use to him in some way. And Jaqueline was important for the marriage she could provide and when she didn't provide it, she was no longer relevant as his child.]

( It's more antiquated than that, Max thinks. It's not their dad seeing Jaq as soft, it's their dad being one with the patriarchy. It's all so basic for a supposedly progressive family from the northeast. Or, maybe he's wrong. Maybe their dad thinks his sister is week. He'd bet it's more about her rash decision-making, her tongue, how quick she is to act. Diplomacy was never her strong suit. The Melroux were raised to be more diplomatic.

His sister spits in the face of that. He takes a sip from his martini, speaking artfully. )

You don't make it easy on him.

( On them, on Max - on me, he'd say. )

He didn't make it easy on us.

[And Jaqueline has always been someone who fought fire with fire. If he wanted the obedient little soldier, he took the wrong tactic. She was never going to be the kind of child that fell into line and listened to orders.

Perhaps if Gabriel had seen fit to treat her as a potential equal, things would have been different. Especially since she took after her father's powerset.]

I'm just following my father's example.

Do you really believe Gabriel would run the Gauntlet?

( Talk about an example set. Diplomacy goes a long way, but when it comes down to it, he doesn't believe the parents he knows would sacrifice themselves for the cause. Maybe his sister has better perspective. He believes that none of their parents would take part. They are only standing for this because their children are taking up the mantle.

But, maybe he is just the cynical golden boy. )

Of course he would. He'd persuade everyone that he's on their side, and then stab them in the back, one way or another.

[Because Gabriel wouldn't lift a finger in the real world, but it's very easy to kill someone bloodlessly in a dream, or make them lose their mind, making them vulnerable to someone else. Because as much as their father is diplomatic, that only asks so long as he's getting what he wants.]

Our father may be the diplomat, but he'll be the first to tell you that eventually diplomacy fails.

( What she sees as cunning, ruthless, and deadly, Max tends to see it as weakness. )

And when that diplomacy fails and our father's reputation precedes him, his targets will ward up and dad will just be another guy in Armani. Who will hire someone else. It's not going to be Salem.

( He snaps his fingers. )

It's going to be assassins. That game our floor played in boarding school. Except, water bottles will be hex bags and desperate measures. Without the deadly consequences it actually sounds like fun.

( But there are. It won't be easy and it won't be fun. )

Either way, you and me. We decide. Not him, not mother.

[He's right. It is their decision. And in some ways, it should be Max. Max is the expected choice. Max is a good facade for it. But that doesn't mean Jaqueline can't also be in the mix.]

I'll admit, that I was going to insist it should be me, for my own personal reasons, that have nothing to do with your capability and more to do with what I was prepared to handle.

[David and Sierra are her closest friends, if anyone's going to kill them it's her. And she doesn't want to watch them kill her brother.]

But thinking on it, I don't think Father is wrong about expecting you to take the reins. But maybe that's an expectation we can use to our advantage. I don't think it should be one or the other. I think it should be both.

[It doesn't make sense to leave Max out in the cold, not to her. David will have Ezra in his corner, and in theory, Sierra should have Jaqueline, but Jaqueline's never really been one to play by the rules. And she's not about to leave her brother to handle this alone.]

But before we fully decide on the strategy we should hear what David and Ezra have to say.

It's only smart. The enemy of my enemy.

( His sister's batshit at times, but she's also the sensible one. Max was brought up under his father's grand delusions and to some extent, he inherited them. But, he also had a mind of his own and that mind is very interested in toppling the patriarchy. Not getting rid of their parents, but their regime.

Since the inner circle was founded, it hasn't changed. Parents pass it down generations and the three families keep it going. It's nepotism to a tiring degree and even the golden boy is interested in new representation.

Not being a part of the inner circle, that's responsibility. )

Where were you before portaling into the witch husbands' domicile?

One of dad's offices. He had some tech work he wanted me to do.

[Not a lie, but she had been distant before that, monitoring Sierra's movements and making sure that she was free to do what she needed to do.]

I thought it was under the radar, but apparently not as well as I thought.

( Does she think they were targeting their dear father? Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time? )

I never got a look at the list. You must've worked up quite the reputation to get top billing.

I guess so. I never got a look at it either. I just know it's gone now.

[It was a convenient distraction and did what they needed it to do.]

Probably for the best. We're going to have enough of a bloodbath with the Gauntlet.

[But before they can labor on that further, the husbands are seen coming through the restaurant door.]

Whatever the list did, it was hardly a bloodbath. A bunch of amateurs on the warpath thanks to a sociopath.

( Sowing discord and PG-13 violence.

Ezra parks in the little lot across the street, still not fully trusting of the Melroux (nobody worth their salt should). He's planning on letting his husband take the lead. His husband technically has to as his rank was pulled botching Elena-watch. But, he still has a say. And an ear.

Max nods in their direction, nods to his sister that they's coming, and then steps off of his stool as the maitre-de approaches. )

Our party is all here.

( "Excellent," he says, leading them out from the bar to another, more private room. Menus are already set down for them. He says the server will be with them shortly and leaves them to it. )

[David settles into his seat next to his husband, trying to sort through all the information he now knows. He knows that Sierra is alive, that she's been actively trying to get ahold of the Knightsbridge power. His eyes drift over to Jaqueline, wondering how much she knows.

So he might as well ask her flat out, trying to gauge her reactions (19).]

Do you know where Sierra is?

[Jaqueline raises an eyebrow, but fortunately for this she doesn't have to lie. "Of course not."

David tries another tack:]

Do you know what she's up to?

[That is a little harder, and lying has never really been Jaqueline's strong suit. Her face flickers briefly and she takes a long sip from her glass of wine (6). "No, I don't. Why do you care?"]

( Having been pitted against her, way back when, Ezra also has a knack for catching on to her microexpressions (14). )

Because she's going to have an entire coven on her ass. And from what I remember about Sierra, she doesn't have dying on her to-do-list. And even when you were betrothed to my husband you two were thick as thieves.

( Her little Lady Macbeth.

Wanting to believe in the good in his - volatile - sister, (2), Max believes she doesn't. )

Edited 2022-11-20 16:01 (UTC)

Yes, we talk, but that doesn't mean she tells me everything.

[Yeah, she's still not doing great (5). So she diverts.]

Why do you care about Sierra all of the sudden?

[David sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Because she was seen in Prague, already making a play for the Knightsbridge power source. She was working with Tamara Monroe to get her access." She also knows more than she should, but that's not something he wants to reveal to the Melrouxs just yet.]

( She really isn't (9) Ezra and (8) Max. )

And it's not all of a sudden. She's an heir. I may not have been born into this but that matters when it comes to the Gauntlet.

( "She doesn't know where Sierra is," Max reiterates. So get off her case. )

Maybe, but she knows more. There's more, isn't there?

[Jaqueline looks back at him, head tilting to the side.]

Maybe there is. But why should I just lay out all my cards when I'm not getting anything in return?

[David leans back and nods. He knows how the game is played. "They had us grab Hallewell. They announce the start of the Gauntlet. You know the laws better than we do. Do they specify who appropriate targets for the Gauntlet are? Or do they just say that you take power however you can get it?"

Jaqueline's brow furrows at the question, trying to glean what David is asking for, exactly. But then as it dawns on her, the confusion fades to a smile, wide like a cheshire cat.]

No. They did fail to specify. How imprecise of them.

Everyone is fair game.

( "If they don't find the last heir, can the Gauntlet not go through?" Ezra asks, farther behind than his husband. "To be clear, we don't want this." He doesn't want them or anyone dead. )

[David shakes his head.]

Sierra has to be informed, officially, by her parents before things can formally begin. Which gives us time, since I don't think they know where she is anymore than we do. Which gives us time to put a plan in place.

[Jaqueline's grin only widens. "You want to kill them."

David sighs heavily.]

I don't think the Inner Circle is actually doing good things for the coven, do you? Maybe they're right, and it is time for a new world order. Our world order.

Not one of us can say our parents have had our best interests at heart. But, then my parents didn't willingly possess me or my sister.

( He wouldn't be surprised, though, if they tried. If there was something in it for them.

"Watch it," Ezra says. )

Just saying.

( Ezra taps the table with his fingers once as he speaks again.

"This was always the plan, just moved up." Maybe with more death involved. "Would killing them make you inner circle?" )

["Leadership in the Colony has always been whoever is ruthless enough to take it." Jaqueline tips her head to the side. "If we manage to take out all of them, no one would question us. Especially with the Gauntlet in play."

David nods, glancing over to her.]

So are you in? Do you think you could convince Sierra to swing to our side?

[Jaqueline shakes her head. "Vague notion aside, it's still going to be incredibly difficult for just the five of us. We'll need allies that we can trust won't sell us out to our parents and those will be very hard to find. Hell, how do you know you can even trust us with this?"]

Because it's all of our lives on the line this time. I would much rather work with you three as a team than start plotting against each other. And if you stab me in the back for it, then so be it. But I think that you're not interested in playing their games any more than I am.

We need the right people in our pockets.

( Across the board. In and out of the coven. )

It's not impossible.

( "You're really talking about killing your parents. All of them." He remembers what David was like after being possessed. He remembers returning to his home and meeting them in person. "Is there another way?" )

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