Who is Magpie?
Chapter 44- Better than the Last

They went to Ezekiel’s room first, taking the back halls. The shorts Jessamine wore, while they made her legs look wonderful, were also now uncomfortably wet. He had wanted to have clothes purchased for her and ready for her in her own room, but things hadn’t quite worked out so smoothly. He found her a pair of his sweat pants, and she insisted on a pair of boxers, a little too worried about going commando even after cleaning up in the bathroom.

Once she had changed he wanted to give her a tour of the house, but he refused to put on a new shirt. There was a brief moment when he offered to put on the old one that he claimed smelt of strawberries, but finding that more embarrassing than him showing off the bruise, Jessamine conceded. She only blushed once when Bronx intentionally made a ‘getting off’ pun, while claiming he was referring to the trial.

After that, getting embarrassed would have been pointless. Most people glanced at it and didn’t comment, or if they did it was more to the affect of congratulating her on her fight and recognizing that she had already been rewarded. Some still looked wearily at her, or made an off handed comment about her having the alpha wrapped around her finger, which Ezekiel shut down with an abrasive warning growl.

Quick apologies came from all, but it didn’t leave Jessamine feeling any better. Though, it had been what she was expecting before. She worked in her mind to remember that some cheers for winning a fight would not erase her past, and it would likely be a long road to true acceptance.

In a way, feeling uncomfortable made her feel better. Before, it had seemed too easy. She was waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under her, for someone to say it had been an elaborate ruse to test her, or embarrass her; hell having filmed the whole thing and making her watch it as someone critiqued it wouldn’t have been beyond the Fae’s trickery.

The tour began in the foyer where there was a curved staircase to the second floor where Ezekiel’s office and bedroom were, along with Bronx’s room, Jessamine’s , and his family for the time being. From the foyer was also the main meeting room, a short hall to the kitchen, and a second short hall on the same wall to the dining room. Behind the stairs was the long winding hall that ran to the medical bay, the hall running behind the dinning room, and branched off into rooms with equipment and tools, with the very end ending in the tactical and support vehicle garage.

Nearer to the main doors were a second main flight of stairs that went directly to the third floor and that hall split to also head towards the guest wing, and on the opposite side was the long hall that ran passed all the different training rooms. There was a second detached building used only for large parties, to prevent guests from wandering the house and getting lost or into mischief. Ezekiel mentioned that she had been there when she was a toddler for a party, and she wondered if she would remember anything if she went, but decided that most people didn’t remember that early.

By the time the tour was through, and she had heard almost more names then she could remember, but she worked hard to repeat them even after the person passed them. If she could remember everyone in the flock in the Garden by their names, she was determined to remember everyone here. She wished she could take notes as they went, jot down little hints and tips to remembering, but that only brought her back to what Kai had said about gathering information on them.

Jessamine and Ezekiel had walked up and down the halls alternating which sides they walked on, which hands they held, if they touched at all, if his arms wrapped around her and if hers mirrored the hold. Each time his fingers grazed her hand, reaching out to grasp her fingers they had to readjust whose hand went on top, finding their similar heights and conflicting dominant personalities battling for comfort. When they had made it back to the start Jessamine felt exhausted by it, wanting to understand her emotions while her wolf continued to make her feel restless when they were more than a few feet apart.

She led him up the stairs, just barely pulling him along as he walked beside her, letting her guide the way. She opened the door to his office and stepped in with him, closing the door behind promptly. From there she pulled him in front of her and gently leapt up to wrap her arms and legs around him in the tightest hug she could give. She smelt his hair, the refreshing scent of his garden filling her lungs. It wasn’t like the Garden, where she wasn’t even allowed outside and almost died when she went. This was her garden, like the one in the attic that she had meticulously maintained if she had been able to grow every thing she had ever dreamed of.

As she held him she felt that anxious knot in her chest loosen and she realized it hadn’t just been her that had felt that way. He wrapped his arms around her, doing the same as she did and smelling the sent of lilies in her hair. This was them; how her wolf had first greeted him, trusting him to catch her as he trusted her to watch his back.

They stayed like that, like their souls had gone through a drought in their days apart and needed to replenish their reserves, even as a light tap came at the door. Jessamine held on tighter, not wanting to be put down quite yet, as he turned to open the door.

“Gma,” he greeted. “Please come in.”

At that, Jessamine slowly lowered her legs and then unwrapped her arms from his neck, moving them first to a regular hug, and then releasing one arm to keep one around him, just as he did to her.

“Hello Mrs. Ashford.” Jessamine greeted, rather self-conscious that their first meeting she had nearly attacked her.

“Please Gma or Willow is fine.” She waved away the idea that Jessamine should be so formal and then stepped toward her. “I have something of yours.” She reached into her pocket and retrieved a long steal hair pin and holding it out toward Jessamine. “You left this in the medical bay, and I’ve held onto it in the hopes of giving it back.”

Jessamine picked it up from her warm hands gratefully. “My fifth pin. They’ve all returned.” She smiled, pulling the other pins from her hair and holding them all lined in her hands. “Thank you, truly. I was sure the last one was gone when Ezekiel didn’t have it on him.”

She looked over to see him pouting, handed him one of the pins she had been wearing, and he turned it in his hand thoughtfully. “They’re all different.”

Jessamine nodded. “I designed each one myself and commissioned them from a skilled steal worker in secret. Each one is based off something that was lacked when someone died on an assignment with me.”

Willow smiled warmly at her. “How thoughtful of you….”

“It’s not.” Jessamine interrupted. “I didn’t do it out of thoughtfulness or loving memory; they died because they fucked up. I was no where near two of them when they died, on the opposite side of whatever stupid plan had been made, but I was still blamed for every one. Nothing brings people together quite like the uniformed hate for a scapegoat.” She took at deep calming breath. “The only thoughts I had were to be more prepared than they had been, because the next time a similar assignment came up I would be in their position.”

Willow continued to smile. “It’s not a bad thing that you fought for yourself,” she reassured, reaching out for Jessamine’s other hand and then pulling her in for a hug. “You were trained in a flock, where they work together for a common goal but only the strong survive. You’re in a pack now, we protect our own here regardless of their role.” She released the hug to look at her again. “Jessamine, we will not leave you behind.”

Jessamine pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, biting it as hard as she could, but she couldn’t prevent the few tears that silently rolled down her cheeks as she nodded in thanks. Willow excused herself then, promising to see them shortly at dinner, but when the door clicked shut Jessamine lost all her composure. Turning to Ezekiel she buried her face into his chest, silently shedding every tear she didn’t know she had been hanging onto.

He rubbed her back gently, holding her with the other arm as tightly as he could. When the tears slowed down he lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around him for a fuller hug. Everything she needed was in that hug, and when the tears ceased completely she was ready to brave a dining room full of judgement.

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