Jagged Embrace

Chapter 20 - Will

"You boys have spent quite a bit of your operating budget recently," Mason said as they unloaded the groceries into her small kitchen.

That was true enough. Traveling with an extra person meant they needed a motel room all the time, and since she couldn't touch her own money, they had to use theirs to feed her. Ander had drained her accounts recently, so some of that would return to them, but it took a while since he had to move it several places before it made its way into their accounts. Will made no comment and continued to unload the supplies for the chili. He and Mason always made the chili together, ever since he was ten and she'd let him in the kitchen. Overall, Mason was a shit cook, but there were a few things she made that were damn good. One of them was her chili.

"If you're gonna keep her with you, are you gonna keep paying for her?" she asked as she pulled out the cutting board.

"For now, we just need to work more. She can be a lookout," he teased.

"You gonna tell her about that?" Her eyes bored into his.

"Don't need to, she'll just think she is watching out for monsters." Will gave her his charming smile.

Mason shook her head and took out the onion. "You think Ander is gonna be okay with that? Supporting her, I mean," Mason said, and chopped the onion.

"Yeah, I do. She makes him feel better, less spacey. They like to talk about their feelings," Will said with a chuckle. "Besides, he has a shit ton in savings. He never uses it for anything except new tech."

Mason stopped chopping, a frown fixed on her mouth. "How long do you intend to keep the girl around? You know it can't last."

Will clenched his jaw. Christ, couldn't he have one day without her riding his ass about this? "I don't know, Mason, and I don't care. I just want to have fun and enjoy her while I can. It's not serious. Why do you keep acting like I'm trying to fucking get married?" His voice was louder than he intended it to be.

She raised an eyebrow and then went back to dicing. He stood there, unsure of what to do, and thought for sure she would keep bickering with him, but instead she told him to grab the tomato sauce and talked about nothing in particular. After a few minutes, they were back in their typical chili routine, and he found that he was laughing.

Once things were on the stove, he returned to the den to find Maeve and Ander sitting together on the couch, talking about the gorgon. Ander appeared tired but calm, and Maeve sat so close to him it seemed like she wanted in his lap. Will ignored the growl of irritation in his skull. There was no reason to get pissy; they weren't doing anything. Although when he got closer, he noticed they held hands, but then, he didn't really do that stuff, so maybe it was good Ander did it for him.

"The chili won't be ready for a few hours," he announced. "Mason had to go upstairs for a while. I'm gonna go to my workshop, unless," he paused and peered at Maeve, "you can think of something else you want to do."

She blushed and reached for her necklace, and cleared her throat. "Actually, I wanted to lie down with Ander for a bit. I didn't get much rest last night," she said quietly, her cheeks growing more red by the second.

Will couldn't help but smile at her words. "Sure, I'll go work on some mods for the Jeep," he winked. "You staying here?" he asked, and looked at his cousin.

Ander nodded.

"I'll get you both up when the chili's done," he told them and approached Maeve.

Ander turned his head away as Will pressed his lips against Maeve's. He wanted to linger, but it was weird with her holding onto Ander's hand. Will stood. He still wanted more, but he could be patient. Now that he'd feasted on her, he had enough self control to wait at least until tonight.