Noxton
"I take it, we will be going into business together then, ti frè?" He nodded his head, but he didn't let go. I let him keep holding on. I smiled at my grinning parents when they gave me approving thumbs-up. I patted his head until he stopped using me as a tissue.
When he went to the bathroom to wash his face, Papa and Manman had to leave before their surveillance noticed they weren't where they were supposed to be. I promised them we would come visit for dinner in a few days, then they were gone. Bàba looked a bit forlorn after his mates left, so I pushed him into his bedroom to get ready for bed.
"I'll bring you some soup and tea, Bàba. You have some cases you will have to advise on tomorrow, so you should go to bed early." Bàba obediently did as I told him. I closed his bedroom door, then headed into the kitchen to make the soup. What I found in the kitchen had me taking my turn at tearing up. Koba had his hair tied back and covered while he prepped ingredients.
"Gran frè, if you want to get started on the soup base, I'll have these ingredients ready to be added soon." Ah, so this is what it is like to have a sibling. To not have to care for my parents by myself. I put on the apron left out for me, tied my hair back, then got to work.
After we finished making the soup, we took a bowl to Bàba and said our goodbyes. We took a portion of the soup back with us to the apartment to eat for dinner. Since Koba wanted to drive, I let him and texted the guys to ask if they wanted to meet my new business partner.
TempestKing: I've found the perfect business partner. I will begin sending the watchers your family placed in my business back to them. Whether they are returned alive or not depends on if they fight their dismissal.
RedGloves: Who the hell wants to work with you? Are you fucking him? I do not share my thunder dick with just anyone.
BlueSilence: When do we get to meet them? They need to be evaluated and cleared before you let them near our operations.
BlueSovereign: Agreed.
RedGloves: What are you agreeing to, dìdi? That I shouldn't share the thunder dick with just anyone or what Skye said?
BlueSovereign: Who Nox fucks is not my concern. Who he plans to go into business with is my concern.
TempestKing: You can meet him tonight. We just agreed to become business partners, so we are celebrating with dinner at my place.
TempestKing: Ewwww, no. Just no. His looks may rival yours, River, but he is very much like a ti frè to me. In fact, I call him ti frè. He is Bàba's new protégé, so I'm taking him under my wing.
RedGloves: Really? You haven't and aren't planning to fuck him?
TempestKing: I swear to you I'm not romantically or sexually interested in him. So are you guys coming over tonight or what?
BlueSovereign: We will be there in two hours. I look forward to meeting this person. I hope they are worthy.
BlueSilence: Don't forget to stop and get drinks for us. That brand I like just came out with a new product.
RedGloves: I guess I'm not getting fucked tonight.
TempestKing: Lol. See you all soon.
I put my phone away just in time to see the liquor store coming up in the distance. "Stop at the liquor store. The Xi brothers are coming over to meet you and verify you." His side glance was curious, but he didn't comment. I couldn't read his face, but I could practically hear the gears turning.
He parked, chuckled then got out of the car. He didn't speak until we were inside. "Throwing me into the deep end fast, aren't you?"
I shrugged, going immediately to the blood-mixed liquors first. "It's best to establish your presence fast. Plus, you would have to meet them eventually anyway. Might as well get it out of the way now." He just nodded good-naturedly, which honestly worried me. He was being a little too agreeable right now. We grabbed a few more bottles of regular liquor, paid for them, and left the store.
When we were on our way again to the apartment, I cracked. "If you really aren't okay with meeting them today, we can do it another day." I didn't want to stress him out when today was already an emotionally rough day. He glanced at me, then refocused on the road.
"No, it's cool. You are right. Best to get the ball rolling and establish this identity. I trust you and Finn will figure out the paperwork and let me know what I need to do to help with the process."
I let out a sigh of relief that he appeared to not be hiding that he was possibly two seconds away from a breakdown. He is genuinely okay. Probably still processing everything right now. "Yeah. We will handle those matters. Luckily, demons are known to have little presence in the world unless they decide to leave their territories. So it will actually be a simple matter to get your identity registered. On that note, what do you want your name to be?"
I let him think on it for the rest of the drive home. He parked and turned off the car before he turned to answer me. "Isaiah. I want my name to be Isaiah." I had to agree that name suited him. However, I was curious why that was the name he was choosing.
"Why that name? You sound so confident and sure." To my amusement, he actually looked nervous now. He tugged on his braids as he explained. "This is going to sound strange, but I believe Isaiah is the name my birth parents intended for me. I've recently had a dream of being in a dark place and hearing voices speak to me calling me Isaiah. Now I know it's unreal to think I could hear and understand voices when I was still in the womb, but it comforts me to think even then I was wanted and a name had been picked out for me."
His voice had slowly gotten quieter as he spoke. I could barely hear him when he finished speaking. I clapped a hand on his shoulder, startling him into looking up at me. "No matter how strange, if that is what you believe, then Isaiah is the perfect name for you to take. You will be manifesting all the well-wishes they had for you. When your family comes to confirm your relation, that will be the perfect time to verify the truth. Wouldn't that be something? That somehow they still left you a piece of your legacy to claim?"
He nodded with a bashful yet grateful smile. "Yeah, it would be. I really, really hope this to be the case." He wiped his watery eyes, then got out of the car. By the time I went out, he was already standing in front of the car with our overnight bags and containers of soup.
I grabbed the bags of liquor, then joined him to walk into the building. When we reached our apartment, I realized we should have grabbed more food. While Isaiah put our things away, I put in a delivery order from our favorite Asian cuisine spot.
"I'm going to go freshen up before they get here. I've set the soup to warm already." I heard Isaiah yell over his shoulder as he jogged into his room. I set the liquor on the coffee table, then headed to my own room for a quick shower. If I orchestrate things just right, I should be able to get a quickie in with River while Isaiah talks business with Skye and Raine. Oh yeah, I forgot to ask if he knows sign language. Skye doesn't talk to anyone not in his inner circle.
Oh well, that will be later Noxton's issue to solve. This Noxton needs to plan how he is going to convince his two close friends to distract his ti frè for 30 minutes so I can have a happy ending.