Heir of Sallow

It's not a weakness to share all of your burdens

They slept for a long time. Levi and Ominis both came home and were filled in on the situation. They all went to bed for the night, her father remaining in the living room, opting to lean back in sleep in her uncle's chair, in which Ominis's only grumbled for a moment or two about.

Charlie lay on the loveseat, curled up but not sleeping. She watched Theo and Alec with probably the same intensity as her father did, since she couldn't hear his soft snores.

The morning came, sun rising and shining through the windows before there was finally movement from Alec. He inhaled and picked his head up, blinking blearily. Charlie watched as her father leaned forward in the chair rather suddenly. Alec caught the movement, his eyes widening just slightly. Charlie watched him subtly pinch the back of his hand.

"Good mornin'," His voice was rough and gravelly from sleep.

"Alec Gunn." Her father mused. "Hi."

Charlie snorted, which brought both of their attention to her.

"Charlotte, did you even sleep?" Her father asked, the corners of his mouth dipping down.

"Couldn't," she answered honestly, sitting up and wincing when her back cracked in a few places. "We need more comfortable furniture."

"These aren't meant to sleep on, they're comfortable when they're used properly," her father said dismissively, moving his gaze back to Alec.

"You have your own vows I'm sure. Would you be open to a legilimens digging through your head to see what they were?"

Alec opened his mouth but no noise came out.

"Dad, you don't even know if Fennic would accept to do it."

"He would if I asked him," her father said, his voice amused.

"You making one of my best friends scared of you isn't something to brag about, dad," she muttered.

"Are they awake?"

The three looked up towards the top of the stairs, where her mother was moving down them quietly, wrapped in a robe, her dark hair pulled into a bun.

"Alec is," her father supplied.

"I'll get started on breakfast then, Charlotte, would you like to help?"

"Can I stay here, please?" She didn't want to leave. She wanted to see Theo wake up, make sure he didn't try to leave before she got to talk to him and see him. It'd been almost another week of not hearing from him. She was tired of it.

"He's not goin' anywhere, Sallow," Alec said, rubbing the sleep from his face.

"Is he going to wake up under that spell again?" Her father asked, and she stiffened slightly. That was a good question.

Tessa scoffed, a noise she didn't usually make and it made Charlie's head tilt in confusion. "No, I got it all out." She said, sounding insulted.

"I'm sorry," Alec said then, "I truly thought he'd slipped out of the curse, I didn't realize he could fall asleep under it and wake up again. I never would have brought 'im here if I knew that." Alec looked genuinely aggrieved by what had happened the night before.

Her father was silent before he nodded. "Charlie trusts you. Lately, she's going making good choices regarding whom she looks to as a friend. So, I too, will trust you." He said. He looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, "You were the third who was protected. With Theodore and Charlotte, correct?"

Alec nodded.

"So when Charlie said you were a fan... You weren't talking about as a curse breaker." Not a question.