Chapter 17 - Failure?
Suddenly unsure, he raised his hand and tried to pull a little myst from the air by pretending his hand was the catalyst. Lilith next to him blinked, her eyes focused intently on his hand, excited for any sign of myst appearing.
Yet, one second passed. Then two. Unfortunately, nothing changed. Damian could not feel even the slightest hint of myst in his surroundings, let alone pull it out and use it.
On his other side, Lavinia's difficult expression basically confirmed his suspicion: "I see," he chuckled wryly, turning to look at his mother with a small smirk. "I was a failure."
"No!" Lavinia immediately cried out with wide eyes. Sitting up, she grabbed Damian's cheeks and looked intently, almost furiously, into his eyes. "Not a failure! Never say that again!"
"Brother!" Lilith exclaimed, equally intensely, before wrapping her arms around Damian's chest, her body trembling with barely contained emotions.
Neither of them could stand the idea of Damian doubting himself. Their son and big brother had always been full of confidence and self-determination, and the thought that he might start to doubt himself wrenched their hearts.
Damian blinked once. When he opened his eyes again, his expression had worsened by quite a bit, his face scrunched up in self-doubt. "I— I don't know. It… it's difficult, I—"
Despair and grief began to shine in Lavinia's eyes, and her hands on his cheeks loosened slightly. Instantly, a playful, mischievous light flashed through Damian's eyes, and he lunged forward to press his lips against hers.
Immediately, Lavinia's eyes widened, and she sat there frozen as Damian's tongue brushed passed her soft lips in an attempt to get inside. Instinctively, she almost parted them to let him in… only to come to her senses at the last moment.
In less than a second, the situation changed. Neither Lilith nor Damian realized how exactly, but suddenly, a loud thud reverberated around the room, and Damian had disappeared from the bed.
"Ugh," Damian groaned, as he slid down slowly from the stone wall of his room on the other side of the bed. "You taste… delicious…. Mom…" he chuckled in a pained tone, just before his naked ass hit the cold floor.
On the bed, Lavinia's eyes were closed, her brows twitching furiously. Her recently used fist was raised in the air. "Damn brat… dares to use my feelings against me…"
"B— Big brother!" Lilith exclaimed at the same time, jumping off the bed in a panic to check up on Damian. She ran up to him, her supple body moving enticingly through the room in provocative clothing. "Are you alright?!"
Damian's eyes watched her move with playful eyes, as the fires of desire rose unopposed. When she reached him, she crouched down and pressed her hands against his naked chest, her eyes filled with concern.
"I— It hurts, but… I think a kiss might… make it better…" he groaned dramatically, his face beginning to lean a little closer to hers.
Now, Lilith may be a genius and naturally suspicious of everyone, but none of those things mattered now. With Damian, she was a puddle of naivety. Blinking, she leaned closer to his face… Compelled to grin, Damian prepared to taste his little sister… when they both froze.
A snort echoed through the room. "Don't play his game, Lili, he's just being a little shit."
Realization flashed through Lilith's eyes… but it changed nothing. "Don't care! Let me go!" she complained, her face mere inches from Damian's.
Back on the bed, Lavinia rolled her eyes and released the hold she had on their bodies with a frustrated wave of her hand. Instantly, Damian and Lilith pressed their lips against each other, smiling as they did.
Yet, before they could part their lips and continue, Lavinia waved her hand again, and the two adopted siblings were forced apart. "That's enough! The idea was to wait, was it not?"
Lilith looked disappointed, but Damian chuckled and nodded, "Of course."
Damian returned to his feet in an elegant, fluid motion, stretching his tall, well-toned body. His motion suddenly confronted Lilith, who was still crouching, with what dangled between his legs.
Instantly, a heavy blush spread across her face, although whether from embarrassment or excitement, no one knew. Perhaps not even she. All she knew was she didn't want to look away.
Damian, however, pretended not to notice. Sighing contently, he ran a hand through his dark hair, and smiled at his mother with a mixture of charm and mischief.
"I thought I taught you not to manipulate your loved ones," she growled softly, a little frustrated she'd even fallen for his duplicity in the first place.
"I know, I know, but can you blame me? I had to teach you a little lesson!" he chuckled. "I mean, why would you underestimate me like that? Did you really think I'd let myself get down in the dumps by the expectations of another? It's not like I had any power over this, so it's certainly not 'my' failure."
Would he have liked to be an Eldkin who didn't need a catalyst? Sure… why wouldn't he? But he certainly didn't consider it a failure of his own.
Lavinia sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation, obviously not bothered by his nakedness. "Yes, yes… I won't deny that… I guess I've been building this moment up in my mind, and… well, whatever. Come back to bed, and I'll finish the story. I'm sorry about underestimating and throwing you like that."
Bending down, Damian picked up his little sister, who was still in a blushing, trance-like state, and carried her in his arms as he walked back to the bed. The motion brought her back to reality, and she purred contently in his arms.
"It's quite alright, Mom," he chuckled at the same time. "Whatever awakening I went through, it clearly worked well enough. I barely felt anything!"
His voice was mixed with a hint of joy and anticipation at his own improvement. Through the power coursing through his veins, he could tell he'd awakened as something. He just wasn't sure what yet.
If all he remembered was Elias' role in his awakening, he might have assumed he'd become a Moonkin, but because his mother later added her own blood and a third vial of something similar, he wasn't sure anymore. A small part of him was excited by the possibilities, but a bigger part reminded him to remain realistic.
Regardless, putting Lilith down on his bed, he got back in it himself and crawled back under the covers, once again hiding his naked body.
Meanwhile, Lavinia looked at him with a hint of pride and joy. Of course, she'd barely used a fraction of her real power when tossing him across the room, but to see him shrug off a blow like that still filled her with excitement.
She was far more aware of the power she used and the power a recently awakened Eldkin could reasonably withstand… and truthfully, he should have had a little more problem with that. Out of anger, she'd used a little more of her strength than would have been reasonable.
"Right…" she nodded slowly, a smile forming on her lips after all three of them had settled back into position. "Let's continue. Marcus wanted my help to create an Eldkin who had no need for a catalyst…"