A High Low

Jean yawned widely, watching vehicles go by in the opposite lane towards their town. He and his family rode in their amber wagon-like automobile, a decent-sized vehicle perfect for their young family, in the right lane of the backroads to their destination, the beach. They planned to spend the entire day there; or rather, the plan was for the children to spend all day there with their aunt and one of Celezar's eldest sisters, Rhumael. He sighed, tired yet looking forward to arriving and spending time with his mate...

He yawned again.

A smug chuckle from beside him made him deadpan and glance to his side with a raised brow. "Proud of yourself?" he asked.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Celezar kept his head forward but glanced his way with a cocky grin. "Very."

"We were up all night."

"Mm-hm."

"Mating."

The green eyes slanted with pleasure. "Mm."

"I think you broke something."

He laughed, finally turning his head towards Jean. He waggled a brow. "I can fix it."

"Hm." Jean smiled. "I'll think about it." He looked back out the window.

The scenery of the backroads tended to be his favorite part of long travels. In particular, these were part of towns that went behind homesteads, through forests, and under mountains. The path consisted of a four-lane road, two lanes going in each direction. Things would be different if they approached a city, but fortunately, Jean and his family lived far from any in Connecticut.

"Wake me when we arrive..." He covered his mouth as he yawned a third time, then cranked the seat back, putting him in a slightly reclined position. He glanced back at their children, who were still sleeping in their seats, before closing his eyes with a sigh.

A hand ran through his hair and massaged his scalp, relaxing him further. The bumps and soft rumbling of the automobile lulled him to sleep.

When he next opened his eyes, it was to his children cheering as the lighthouse came into view in the distance. "Lighthouse! Beach! Waves!" they chanted to each clap of their hands, bringing his lips up in a smile.

"Yes, we're almost there," Celezar chuckled, turning the wagon onto the path leading directly to the lighthouse and the beach.

The children cheered again, and Jean was certain they would be chirping loudly if they could.

Their automobile passed not a single vehicle on their way to the parking lot. They had left home early enough that most people had yet to arrive. The only people Jean could see on the boardwalk were people with dogs and early morning joggers.

"We came at a good time," Celezar said, looking ahead while bringing the vehicle into a parking spot.

From the rear-view mirror, Jean saw his children bouncing in their seats. Isel and Ivel didn't seem to know what was going on but wiggled in their seats regardless, two-toned eyes bright and darting around while emitting happy gurgles.

The automobile powered off. Jean unbuckled himself and exited, stepping into the seaside air. Inhaling, he closed his door and opened the door behind him where Darryl sat inside, reaching eagerly for him.

Unbuckling his seat, Jean helped him stand on the light pavement. "Ready, bean?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Darryl raced to the back of the vehicle and started bouncing around for the trunk to open.

On the other side, Celezar opened the door and took the youngest twins out. Jean went further in and helped Sescal and Celestal to their feet. They immediately joined their older brother, giggling. The three started their little chant again as he shut the door and came around to open the trunk. He gently shooed them out of the way to reach the trunk, and Celezar neared with their daughters' carrier as he opened it.

The children once more cheered when they saw the bag with their beach gear. He took out the baskets and umbrellas with ease, delegating one to a determined Darryl. After shutting the trunk, he hefted the items into his hands and followed after Celezar.

They had a bit of a walk until they reached their destination. Celezar informed Jean the day prior that his connection to the earth gave him insight into prime locations where they wouldn't be bothered. The children were happy for the walk, having plenty of energy to burn. Darryl raced ahead, closely followed by his younger siblings who would fall occasionally and pop right back up to zoom after him.

Some twenty minutes later, they arrived at a beachside with a small cave surrounded by large rock outcroppings that would hide them from prying eyes. Sea creatures dotted the sand, visible far into the clear, blue water.

Before Jean or Celezar had anything on the sand, Celestal and Sescal kicked off their sandals and ran toward the water.

"Oh, no, crickets." Celezar caught them with tentacles that emerged from the sand. The twins made low, irritated growls. "You need to wear your bathing suits."

He lifted them despite their attempt to keep running, little feet kicking the air, and removed their clothes to reveal swimwear underneath. After lowering them, they immediately took off and jumped into the water with happy chirps.

Jean placed an umbrella down and into the sand, opening it after weighing it down. He placed their second umbrella in the sand, then put the baskets and coolers underneath. Celezar sat beneath the first, setting their infants' carrier beside him.

Darryl helped him arrange and set up the area, complete with blankets, weights, more baskets, and bags beneath their second umbrella. Once done, he removed his daywear, revealing swimwear underneath, and raced to jump into the water with his younger siblings.

"Ah, Rhumael."

After Celezar spoke, Jean sensed his sister-in-law appear. He looked to his right from his place on the sand to see her standing a few paces from him, smiling toward the children. "Rhumael," he greeted with a nod.

She focused on him and returned the gesture. "Jean, Celezar." Her green gaze returned to the water. "Do they know?"

"Yep." Celezar nuzzled the infants, who purled softly, before moving to stand. "Everything is here, enough for a day."

Likewise, Jean stood and looked at their older children. "See you later, beans!" he called with a wave.

The twins and Darryl turned from splashing water on each other to wave back. "Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!"

Celezar waved at them, coming to Jean's side. Jean made eye contact with his infant daughters before lowering to kiss their foreheads. They seemed to like that, kicking their feet in the sand with little chirrs. He watched them throw sand at each other with a smile, then stood.

A large hand slipped into his. His smile widened, and he pulled Celezar against his body, looking into the hybrid's eyes. When he softly growled, a seductive smile formed on his mate's face, and the green eyes scanned his body while a black tongue licked lips ready for kissing. He slowly licked them, then brought Celezar closer for a slow kiss.

* * *

With limitless options before them, Jean hadn't the slightest clue how to spend his day with his mate. As he mulled it over, he and Celezar enjoyed the walk to the main beachside where more people had arrived for the day. Their steps were slow, in companionable silence, and Jean spent most of it wracking his mind. It was almost humorous; he and Celezar hadn't discussed what, exactly, they would do together. Perhaps it didn't matter.

"It's going to be real nice today."

He looked up at the clear blue sky. With his inhuman senses, he had an internal forecast that had yet to betray him. Initially jarring. Wonderfully convenient. "Yeah." His brows furrowed. "Since when do you care about the weather?" he added with a knowing smile.

He focused on his mate's dry expression as he sighed, "Since we had children, love. It's difficult to keep the little ones in whenever it rains. I've had to learn to distract them early on."

Jean softly chuckled, recalling Darryl's reaction when water came down from the heavens once he was old enough to ask what it was. He wasn't very old, likely his younger siblings' age, and with enormous green eyes while attached to Celezar's leg, he tearily asked why the sky was making noise and crying. The lightning and thunder frightened him further, but it wasn't surprising. Any six-month-old could have had the same reaction, inhuman or not.

"It's nice to see they've opened up to the weather changing," Jean hummed. "Snow on the other hand..."

It was Celezar's turn to chuckle. "I'm not entirely surprised none of them like snow. Their first months in Hallowed Ground--well, it's an eternally tepid climate. It doesn't snow there." He met Jean's eyes. "Perhaps they got it from me."

Memories of Celezar's scowl whenever it snowed brought a large smile to Jean's face. Celezar mirrored it, tugging him closer while coming to a stop. Jean immediately noticed the black in his mate's eyes. It was slight, just a rim of black around his inner sclera, but he had come to recognize it with painful ease.

"Talking about the weather is arousing now?" he murmured against the man's lips.

"Mm, when I'm around you..." Celezar teased him, moving to kiss his scarred eyelid. "Anything is."

"Hmph." Jean took the other large hand into his, turning to face him. "We never did talk about what we'll do today."

"We didn't."

"What do you want to do?" He kept his eyes distracted, focused on the black tongue licking smiling lips.

"You, preferably."

He chuckled as an arm slunk around his waist, a hand groped his ass. "Zarryel..." He did not, however, stop the older man and let his eyes close. Lips dotted kisses on the entirety of the left side of his scarred face, and he enjoyed the familiar apologetic action despite how unnecessary he felt it was.

But Celezar would never forgive himself...

"Zarryel."

"Mm?" The free hand gently, reverently ran through his hair.

"What's wrong?"

Silence, initially. "So little time," the hybrid then murmured. He sounded distracted.

Jean's eyes opened by a slant as Celezar brought him closer, so close he could feel the hybrid's many heartbeats within his chest. They beat steadily, comfortingly.

"Oh." Celezar tensed by an inch before relaxing. Before Jean could again ask what was bothering him, he took notice of a presence. It was distant, just on the fringes of his senses, and it wasn't human.

"What's that?" he asked, looking into its direction. His brows furrowed. "It's...different."

"It's a shifter," Celezar sighed.

Jean looked at him to watch his mate sigh once again, brushing a hand through his reddish locks and causing them to tumble over his face. "A shifter?"

"Mm, bear shifter, in this case."

"Oh..." His eyes roamed over the hybrid's face, noting his disappointment as the green eyes looked away from him. "Think it's hostile?"

A noncommittal shrug. "Eh. Could be..."

"Want to check it out?"

The green eyes slanted, focusing on him with an accompanying, knowing smile. "Do you?"

Jean hummed, then leaned forward and planted a rather chaste kiss on his mate's lips. "Only if you do."

"Naughty, Jeanie-boy." The corner of the parted lips curled up in an amorous smirk. "Someone could die, you know."

"Naughty?" The arm around Jean's waist lowered. "You're the one with the hand moving back there...."

"Oh, I apologize." Lowering his other hand to gently roam over the contours of Jean's ass, Celezar's tongue darted out to lick his lips. "I can't control these things sometimes..."

Jean briefly closed his eyes when a kiss pressed against his forehead. "I guess we're going, then."

"Aye, Boss."

He smiled, placing his hands atop Celezar's and moving them from his behind. "I'll take care of your horny ass afterward..."

"Oooh, aye, Boss~"

Turning away, intentionally ignoring the naked lust that formed on his mate's face, he held his hand out to his side, awaiting the familiar weights.

They came shortly, and without looking, he placed his sword and gun belt around his waist. "This shouldn't take long..."

Soft clinking met his ears, and Celezar shortly came to his side with his swords Sapphire and Ruby hanging from their scabbards at his waist. In his hands, he used a cloth to wipe down a large gunmetal rifle with a green sheen that was aptly named Emerald. Far too much time had passed since Jean last saw it, and he eyed it with appreciation.

"They shouldn't be too far." Celezar passed him an amused look, then motioned forward with a smirk. "Race you."

Before Jean had a moment to understand what he meant, Celezar disappeared. Smiling, he raced after him. He quickly caught up to his mate, running alongside him with a smile.

Their run took them back into a nearby town; the inhuman was making its way to human settlements quickly. They stopped atop a roof, and after landing, Jean smelled a different sort of human, ones with gunpowder, sweat, and reeking of danger. It took him a moment, but he recognized the smell.

Riding horses, they looked similar to inhuman hunters at a distance. They wore similar garb, bore guns, and several belts. The major visual difference was the lack of bladed weapons, vials of liquids, and blessed amulets. Their unseen difference was their different scents.

"Bounty hunters," he murmured with a frown.

The inhuman they were after was swift and dodging all the bullets that normally would have hit their target by now. Jean could sense the hunters were impatient and confused, frustrated. If they managed to land a hit, they may enrage it.

"They're out of their league," Celezar hummed. "It's a D-Class bear shifter. We're helping, Boss?"

"We're helping. This time." Jean jumped down with a hand on his holster. He sensed Celezar close behind.

They ran into the fray, positioned behind the hunters. Unfortunately, the shifter was running towards a more suburban part of town where there were fewer people. That meant many places to hide but fortunately, fewer possible victims. But bounty hunters were infamously trigger-happy.

Speeding up, they split; Jean went left. They communicated telepathically, directing each other where to go. Jean jumped lightly atop trees and roofs, keeping the shifter in his peripheral. It hadn't sensed him yet, it seemed.

He sensed Celezar jump in front of the hunters and figured this was his chance to overwhelm the shifter. Speeding ahead, he found a turn and jumped down in front of the shifter, making it halt.

It presented as a woman wearing a slightly tattered dress and short heels. What gave it away were the claws extended from its fingers and sharp teeth. Their claws were black and different from those Jean had seen on a demon, more akin to an animal's.

"Why are they chasing you?" He raised a hand non-threateningly. "I don't want to hurt you."

The woman's nose twitched, her eyes scanning him up and down. "You're an...inhuman." Her head cocked to the side. "But a hunter, too. An inhuman hunter."

He nodded. "Yes. But you didn't answer my question."

Fingers twitching, the woman swallowed. "They found out."

"How."

"I-I..." She slightly wilted, her face warming. "They've been after me for days...because...s-someone..." She completely deflated, her eyes tearing up, and she looked away.

He narrowed his eyes. "They attacked someone close to you..." When she nodded but began sobbing, his eyes widened. "Your mate."

She lowered to the ground, covering her face. After several moments of crying, she managed a nod. "Sh-she wasn't a bad person...! Th-they...they murdered her..."

His hand lowered. "I...cannot imagine your pain. We will talk to them. Is that alright?"

Once more, her head bobbed, her sobs striking him and making him clench his hand into a fist. "I-I want t-to go home..."

"I understand. Go around. We'll make sure they don't follow you."

Instead of waiting for a response, he quickly moved past her, the pain she felt too tangible for him. He heard Celezar talking to the bounty hunters ahead and slowed his running.

When Celezar came into view, he stopped at the hybrid's side. A slight smile flashed at him, but it dropped when he looked back at the hunters.

Jean looked over the many men, his upper lip twitching with distaste. Much like inhuman hunters, women were uncommon in the field of bounty hunting. However, he recognized their leader, Owen Mosley, who was standing closest to him and Celezar. The man wasn't a bad sort, all things considered. He simply didn't believe in inhumans.

Light blue eyes narrowed at him. "Well, well. Jean-Luc Lowell. Never thought I'd see you here," the man said, hooking a thumb on a belt loop. With his other hand, he gave a taller man beside him a gun. It was a sizeable weapon, even for a human. "I was just telling this man--your friend, I assume--that his claims are nonsense."

"I've told you as much as I can, Mosley, without making your mind spontaneously combust," Celezar retorted, crossing his arms.

Nodding, Jean said, "What he said is true. You're out of your league with this bounty, Owen. I'd hate to know your foolish actions cost you a life."

Owen's eyes narrowed further. He then exhaled with a shake of his head and looked away. "This isn't exactly the bounty we're after. Our bounty has been taken care of already."

"Then why are you going after them?" Celezar asked with a frown.

"Because the bitch went crazy after we took out our bounty!" Mosley snapped, glaring at them. "She gravely injured one of my men!"

As Celezar's frown intensified, Jean tried hard not to growl as he said, "You killed that shifter's mate. I'd ask you why--"

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Owen rubbed his face. "Lowell--"

"--but it doesn't take much for you to go after a bounty, inhuman or otherwise. You've already overstepped your bounds," Jean continued with a scowl.

"Jean..."

He briefly glanced at Celezar, then shook his head and turned away from the hunters, blocking out their voices.

He returned to where the shifter had been to make sure she had left, and he couldn't sense or see her anymore. A slight shiver ran through him when Celezar caressed him with his presence, making him close his eyes and slightly relax. Now all he wanted was to whisk Celezar away and cuddle and fuck until morning.

But he was glad the woman was gone.

A few minutes later, when Celezar returned to his side, he still felt...testy. Emotional.

Shutting his eyes, he deeply exhaled. Strong arms shortly wrapped around him, and he melted into them. "Sorry," he muttered.

"No need to be, love." Celezar's tongue flickered at his ear. "You're a loving person. Their actions bothered you for a good reason."

He sighed again, nodding. Celezar began to rock them side to side, calming him completely. "I can't...imagine a life without you..."

Celezar planted a kiss into his hair. "Don't. It won't happen." There was a possessive growl in his voice. "The day you go, I go."

The abrupt silence gave Jean the impression Celezar hadn't meant to voice this. He slowly opened his eyes and turned around. As he thought, his mate wore a guilty, worn expression, and his eyes avoided his. But there was no taking the words back.

Yet, Jean wasn't surprised. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against Celezar's. Slowly, the green eyes rose to look into his. He made a small, understanding smile. "I want to go home."

"Of course," Celezar murmured.

In the blink of an eye, their surroundings changed, placing them in their bedroom back home. Jean's body rose and fell in a heavy sigh, and he moved his hands to let them dangle off Celezar's shoulders. Celezar continued rocking them side to side, but his hands sneakily crawled under Jean's shirt, bringing a steadily growing smile to Jean's face.

"Guess we're doing the most obvious thing today, hmm?" Celezar asked with slanting eyes.

Giving an acquiescing nod, Jean softly chuckled, leaning forward to kiss him. As their lips met, Celezar made an irritated growl. He frowned and began to pull away, but the kiss deepened. Between it, he murmured, "What's wrong?"

Grumbling, Celezar hissed, "Halle is calling me."

This time, Jean moved back to see a deeply peeved expression on his mate's face. "Why?"

Looking away, Celezar's eyes became unfocused. After a moment, his shoulders fell and he closed his eyes. "Fuck..."

"What?" Jean's heart dropped when Celezar moved away,

Exhaling, Celezar rested against the wall beside the door. "You have to go back."

"Back...?" Jean's eyes widened. "Back to Isle Veni? Why?"

"Something happened, apparently," Celezar softly growled.

His mate's anger, resentful and resigned, hit Jean hard. His hands clenched at his sides.

"Dire enough that your mother summoned you." Celezar turned. The pain in his eyes was tangible, but he managed a small smile that only made his sadness more apparent. "She expects you tomorrow."