Found a Reason

If it hadn’t been for the house and the promise he’d made to the man generous enough to practically give it to them, he might’ve caved. It didn’t even take those vicious swipes of an argument to get him to give in these days. Harmony could still get under his skin the way nobody else could, but now there was a softer edge to it, not the razor bite of claws, the sharp snap of teeth and his temper. She still pushed, the way she had that morning, little shoves that he either gritted his teeth and resisted or melted into, knowing that he wasn’t the only one who’d been changed by the way Harmony had come back, the confessions that had soothed the invisible wounds they both wore.

Viktor inhaled, catching the scent of the soap on her skin – maybe the request to shower had been a little selfish too. He was allowed to be that way, to smile faintly as they drove through the woods. If he had joined her he’d smell like it too and they’d have been at least twenty minutes behind where they were now. Some things couldn’t be rushed.

He pursed his lips, the corners of them still tugging like the smile would rise again given the chance. Trying to stay mysterious and right there on the brink of failing. He’d been like it was a kid too, almost too impatient for his parents, his brother and sisters, to open what he had made for them on Christmas morning, literally biting his tongue to avoid blurting it out in pride. ”It’s road, only one turning off here.” That was only true if the old man had been right. ”Let’s not spoil surprise. Just wait. Patient.” As though either one of them had ever been that. Maybe with a little more preparation he could’ve gotten the road smoothed out, the brush cut back far enough that it didn’t sound like claws raking the side of the car. ”Will be road,” Viktor adjusted. Will be road again, with some work, like everything else here.

The sigh huffed out at him as she questioned what he’d said. Not only would all of this have gone quicker without questions, but the surprise would’ve been better – more surprising. Grumbling under his breath, he waved the bandana at her, then tucked it back in his pocket. ”Good, squeeze tight.” Harmony wrung a snort out of him with her follow up. His fingers tugged at her lightly at her wrist, as though testing it out for later as he drew her out of the car. Not for today, they would have other ways of celebrating this – when Harmony found out what he’d done.

That part still had him nervous. He could still say no to the offer of them staying here. Just come out here every day, work on the house, imagine them here. He didn’t want to though. Harmony had seen something worth coming back for in him, maybe she would see it in the house too. A place for the pack to be together, like he had promised to find when nagyapa had told him to become Alpha. The nerves had his heart beating harder, maybe hard enough that Harmony could feel it through her back.

His fingers curled against her stomach, like he could catch the argument he thought he heard slipping free in his hand. Harmony had looked at the house for long moments before she looked back at him. Viktor frowned faintly, his head tipping to the side, his lips pursing further before a snort slipped out. ”Bought? With five dollars in pocket? No. Not rob bank, not have gold hidden in curtains.” Any money they’d had was left behind when they’d fled the village. If the men had found it and taken it they would have nothing but blood money. Cursed money.

She wasn’t running screaming, that was a positive sign. Viktor curled his fingers into Harmony’s and walked with her up to the house. The porch had some loose boards, but nothing rotten enough to send them both down into the crawlspace. ”Don’t worry, safe enough,” Viktor promised, following her up. There was a heartbeat’s hesitation when one of the boards rattled, but they reached the front door without an accident.

Viktor glanced up, squinting up into the eaves of the porch roof before he reached up there and plucked the keys from the hook that held them up there. Not safe, but they wouldn’t be there anymore. He unlocked the door, pushing it open to reveal the dusty hall beyond. There were a couple of spindles missing from the stair rail, he could replace. The wallpaper peeled in places, but like the porch, it was solid enough for him to be able to draw Harmony in safely. ”Not bought,” he echoed.

The smile that he’d been squelching for days melted through as he threw his other arm up. ”Met man in town. He appreciate me fixing car. Offer job and house. Bargain for both. We stay here – all of pack – have house of our own, if we fix it up. Has promise, yes? For us. I promised to keep safe, to find somewhere for all of us.” Including Harmony. He’d tried to tell her that when she’d left the day he’d been attacked, had told her when she’d come back. She was part of the pack now and even if she didn’t want to put arm grease into cleaning the house up with him, that wouldn’t change.

Without a word Harmony was turning to him. Viktor caught her as she did an arm looping at her waist, the other hand coming up to brush over her cheek, skimming her hair away from her face as he dipped his head. He pressed his lips against the temple he'd bared, his lips curving faintly. "It might look bad, but it's not. Bones are solid, even if all ugly, like me," Viktor drawled, skirting that line between joking about it and the feelings he was suspecting were running through her as they had done his when he'd realised they could finally have a home - one they wouldn't have to travel the world to find again.

Tagged: HARMONY * Word Count: 924

The house in the village had not been a mansion – although nagyanya had told them all stories about how the Tsar had lived in the old days in Russia. Huge granite palaces, gilded domes as pretty as jewels, lavish interiors filled with art and gems. Riches beyond belief that had all but vanished by the time war had come to rage at Leningrad’s city limits. Nagyanya had carried none of that with her into battle and what little she had was lost when she had deserted her squadron of night witches. Maybe the pack had once been richer, luckier, but the war had put an end to that too, leaving them living simply in the wilderness.

Harmony would have laughed, but after that, and the years spent sleeping in hangers or the cargo hold of the plane, the motel room had seemed luxurious. Soft bed, hot water – at least until it ran out - all that belonged to Harmony slowly spreading through it to fill out the hollows that had been left by the absence of his family. This house, not so much luxury, but Harmony was still here, looking around the gloomy space, which meant it had promise. Once the windows were cleaned – the cracked panes replaced when he got to them – it would all look better anyway. Maybe.

His gaze had been catching on every fault in the place that might have turned Harmony off of the idea of digging down more roots here. All would take work, but he’d never shied away from that before. Work was worth it to have a place of their own, somewhere to keep pack safe. He’d known that the rest of them would want this, but whether Harmony would had been the lingering question. Her turning into him made it clear, even if she squeezed him instead of finding the words to say it.

Viktor said them instead, reminding her of those promises he’d made before and after she’d gone. As though the sentiment embarrassed him a little he segued into it being a joke about his own looks. In her eyes he always saw himself as someone else – someone who could do all of this. ”Little bit,” he corrected her, the fingers of the hand that had been at her temple hovering between them with his thumb and forefinger just an inch apart. The hand settled between her shoulder blades, rubbing in slow circles. ”Plenty rough, you just like.” Despite the wounds they had scored into one another (the ones they had healed together, along with so many others), there was genuine affection there. Szerelem. Love. A corner of Viktor’s mouth ticked up, his head turning to touch his lips against her wrist. Eyes not as pretty as the ones looking back at him, the ones he saw the better version of himself reflected in.

Harmony kissed him and then turned away from him to investigate the house. Viktor slipped his hands into his pockets and followed her, not one hundred percent sure if touching something here would have it give way. She was not so hesitant about that, even if the creak of the floorboards seemed to give her pause. Instead of studying the house, the way he had when he had walked through with the owner, he was watching her to see the house through her eyes. ”Four and attic, we put Tazi up there for now.” It wasn’t cobweb draped and damp the same way the basement was, move the boxes and they could make it work. ”Big bedroom upstairs for us. Bathroom attached. Others have to share bigger bathroom.” It wasn’t like the whole family hadn’t shared just a single bathroom in their home. They made do and he doubted any of the others would complain about it in the same way that he knew Harmony would.

”Kitchen,” Viktor confirmed, amusement tugging at his lips even as his brow furrowed. Not much of one for now. He moved to a corner of the room, picking up a chair that had remained tumbled there. It leaned drunkenly on just the three legs, leaving him propping it back against the wall. ”Island? With water?” What? His frown deepened as he tried to keep up with what Harmony said. He didn’t know, not really, although lights he could maybe do. Viktor bent, squinting faintly at the overhang of the counter. If electrics were safe, then yes, lights were possible. As he’d expected, the list of things to do were already piling up.

The jab should have had him spluttering, but Viktor was already staring at the windows where the curtains were blowing in the draft that came through the rickety frames. ”Curtains there already. Still cover windows, yes?” He gestured at the window, as though Harmony could possibly have missed them. ”Wooden furniture be sturdy, strong.” He went to thump a fist down on the counter to prove it but thought better of it at the last minute. ”What is L-shape couch?” he muttered, turning back before Harmony had him shaking his head again. ”Why bring team to clean? We use arm grease, clean ourselves.” Aliz would likely refuse, but the house was for all of them, they would all work. He would have said including Harmony, but he was already softening. She was designing their home after all. ”Should start making list,” he murmured, coming around to join her, slipping his arms around her waist. Undoubtedly she already was.

Tagged: HARMONY * Word Count: 911