Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter XLV

~Saturday 24th February 2018~

"You can't keep him away forever, De, they need to talk about this at some point," Dakota sighed, glowering out the window, sick of this topic already. Torin wasn't as considerate as Vasile, he pushed and pushed until Dakota finally snapped. And the boy was really getting close that morning.

"He fucking choked him, Torin, he doesn't deserve to talk to him," Dakota seethed. Torin didn't get it, he hadn't seen the way Izelon was. He hadn't been the one to hold him whilst he was crying, he hadn't been there when he woke from the nightmares, he didn't fucking understand.

"He's sorry, Dakota," Torin countered in a firm voice, repeating each word pointedly as if he hadn't used that excuse four times already, "I don't think you get it, I don't think you understand who East really is. Loral told you, he's borderline DID, there's another side to him that he can't control. The same side we all have, his is just dissociated more. You can't stay angry at him forever, especially when this isn't your call," Dakota couldn't believe what he was hearing, his brother defending Easton after he fucking assaulted Izelon. After Izelon did everything for him, put himself in an uncomfortable position just for a little love, did whatever he could think of to please the boy in order to reap some affection as reward. Izelon was the victim here, and Dakota wasn't going to listen to Torin distort that to make him pity Easton, the fucker could die for all he cared.

"Look, I was thinking of getting Kalvin involved," Torin's tone had softened by this point, his words not sounding so harsh, "he's always been a good mediator, he might be able to help the two of them through this. They won't be alone together then, which I know is what you're afraid of," it did sound like a good idea, if Dakota was honest, "but you can't keep acting like this, De. this isn't your relationship. I get it, you're really close to Izzi, but you have to let him make the decision. If he wants to forgive East, you have to support him. You can't make him feel like he has to choose between the two of you, it wouldn't be fair. You, of all people, should know that," sometimes, talking with Torin was a good thing and sometimes his damn insight made Dakota just feel like a shitty person. He was in the wrong, yes, and maybe he had been a little rash banning Easton from the penthouse, but he couldn't help it. Izelon had protected him enough so far, he just wanted to return the favour wherever possible.

"Did you find out from Ray how he died?" Dakota asked, concluding that changing the subject was the best idea, having heard the question bouncing around in his own head for the past half an hour. They had simply been driving around, avoiding going home when they knew they had to. Easton and Loral were already there, with Pete close to the latter most likely. Dakota just didn't want to go, not only because he was still infuriated with his elder brother, but because he didn't want to be around his family. He was growing to hate them as the days passed, especially with Joshua and the triplets staying over.

"They were tracking a phoenix," Dakota's eyes snapped up from his lap, finding that his brother wasn't making some sick joke as he had anticipated. Grant had been tracking a phoenix? With only Raylen and Waverly helping him? Had he gone mad?

"Why the fuck would he do that? You don't track a phoenix without a hunt of ten or more," one of the first lessons Dakota remembered learning was about the danger of phoenixes. They were incredibly difficult to track alone, let alone trap or kill. Due to that, Dakota had never been on a hunt for one, and he didn't think his siblings had either.

"It was two actually," Dakota's shock only worsened, "male and female. The woman was pregnant, Ray thinks that's the reason it went wrong," phoenixes were tricky to begin with, overly aware of their surroundings, fast, and extremely defensive. Yet, with mates or children, they were fatal by all means.

"The hunt went wrong because dad decided to track a fucking couple without the right preparations. Male phoenixes are unpredictable at best, if he was protecting his young too, he would have been lethal. The hunt went wrong because dad was stupid," Dakota honestly couldn't imagine his father making such a foolish call. He couldn't understand why he would put, not only himself, but his children as well, at so much risk. Raylen and Waverly were lucky to survive with only a few flesh wounds.