Colours of the Moon.

Prompt- Depending on the colour of the moon, monsters rise. But today, you are experiencing a solar eclipse. You, as a Hunter, have a very bad feeling.

Avery looked up at the sky and groaned internally. The moon would be out soon. I she hadn’t been dreading what was to come, she would have been amused by the fact that the ignorant referred to a lunar eclipse as a ‘blood moon’, when it was the night before the event when the blood-suckers rose. As it was, she watched the sun lower, and with it, her mood. Her ire was worsened by the racket coming from inside.

“Kai. I swear to fuck, if you do not hurry the fuck up and piss off to Steven’s, I will hunt you myself!” She heard a growl. Even with him in human form, the sound was pure animal.

“Kai.” Avery’s tone allowed no argument. A whimper sounded. She knew it was fake, an act of surrender, not pain, she knew she hadn’t upset him. Not that it would have bothered her if she had, she hadn’t been raised to be sensitive. After a few more minutes of Kai crashing around the flat sounding through the French windows, Avery, resigned to what she’d have to deal with tonight, returned inside. She was greeted, on entering, by the site of Kai sat atop his case, clothes over-flowing through the gap that should have been zipped up half an hour ago.

“Kai Asher, you are away for one night. You are not moving the fuck out. You sure as shit are not leaving me to cover the rent.” Avery would never admit that she would miss her high-energy flatmate, were he to leave.

“Steven might want to keep me.” Avery rolled her eyes at Kai’s cheeky expression and wiggling eyebrows.

“Him wanting to kill you would be more likely.” Kai stuck his tongue out at Avery’s retort, to which she quickly responded with a middle finger.

“Why are you taking so much clothes?” Avery enquired as Kai fumbled with the case’s zip while trying to stay firmly seated, holding it down with his body weight. “Judging by what you’ve been saying for the past week, you won’t be needing any clothes.”

“My boyfriend is a gentleman, I shall be wined and dined…”

“Before he fucks you senseless.” Avery interrupted teasingly.

“Exactly.” Kai nodded with a smug expression. Then his face changed as he continued to pack his already over-stuffed over-night bag: his features softened, a far-away look appeared in his eyes and a dreamy smile played on his lips. Despite her low emotional quotient, this look, and its meaning, did not escape Avery.

“You really like this one, huh?” Avery asked in a rare moment of actual humanity. Spending time with the Asher boys was softening her. Or, at least, bringing out whatever softer side she had inherited from her mother.

“If you are trying to draw me into some declaration of love so you can bitch all over it, you can fuck off. I’ll say something sweet about bae and the you’ll lecture me on how every guy has been declared to be ‘the one’ or ‘different’, and I will not give you the satisfaction.” Not being used to Avery taking an interest, Kai had completely misinterpreted her question and its tone.

“It is different with Steven though. You’re calmer with Steven, more settled. It’s like you’re spending less time showing off your relationship, and more time actually enjoying being in it. Basically, you are less fucking annoying.” Kai was still sceptical, but couldn’t ignore the sincerity in Avery’s words and expression.

“It does feel more…stable with Steven. More real.” Kai always knew this side existed in his flatmate but he didn’t really ever see it. Certainly, not this clearly. He wanted to see how long it would last, how far he could push it.

“I can tell. You seem happy, not just hyper. It’s good to see. Repulsive, but good.” The two laughed. Kai’s love for love had always mirrored Avery’s aversion.

“Have you heard from Straight Kai?” Avery kept her tone casual while not looking at Kai, acting like her attention was otherwise engaged, as she put on a show of tidying up Kai’s chaos.

“You know his name. I know you do, because I have heard you scream it.” Both knew in exactly what situations Avery had screamed the name.

“Yeah, he does piss me off a lot.” Kai looked at Avery, his eyebrows raised and his lips pursed, then rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“If you are going to keep fucking my brother – which still weirds me out, by the way - the least you can do is use his name.”

“Have you heard from him or not?” The was an edge to her voice, that was normal for her though. What wasn’t, what Avery hadn’t expected, was how frustrated she felt, how mad she was at not getting an answer right away. She felt a pang of desperation to know if Kai had heard from his twin, if Theo was safe.

“No. I haven’t. That’s like the third time you’ve asked about him, today alone. Do you, I don’t know, actually care about my clone? Is he more than just a sex toy to you?” Kai mocked.

“Fuck off. It’s just sex. But its fucking great sex so I cant have him being hunted tonight. I cannot be arsed breaking someone else in.”

“Sure, that’s all it is.”

“Kai. Shut the fuck up. Get out of here. And try to find out if you’re piece-of-shit brother is safe.”

“I’m going. I’m going.” With that, laden with his massive hold-all and dragging his case, Kai left the flat. Avery checked her watch. Kai still had plenty of time to get to Steven’s and lock himself in for the night. Theo had better have found some place to hide himself in too. She couldn’t shake the feeling of unease at the fact that she hadn’t heard from Theo in over a week, not since their fight. As couple of days, maybe three, sure, that was their usual after a screaming match, but they never went that long without one of them requesting a booty call. She’d messaged him for a hook up a couple of times but no response or appearance. Definitely not like him. If he was still mad, he’d have sent a ‘fuck you’ message, and if not, he’d always show up. Their last fight had been one of their more tame. Nothing was done or said to in anyway warrant this kind of silence. But he knew how important it was for him to be locked in somewhere and not leave at all for tonight. He was impulsive, but Theo Asher was not stupid or reckless.