Intimate Friends

Three

Translations: Nous sommes désolés pour ta perte. - We're sorry for your loss.

Merci François, comment vont tes parents? - Thank you Francois, how are your parents?

As soon as she walked into the cathedral with her siblings Amira felt the tension around her, thick enough to cut with a knife. There were at least 200 people and counting that filed into the large space, Dakota's family taking up the first row in the sea of black and grey clad people. It was relatively quiet other than the soft music of a piano that seemed to float about in the background along with idle side conversations, some of which stopped or paused upon the arrival of the Lector children and their plus one.

Amira led the small party to the front to find Dakota's parents and pay their respect in the stead of Hannibal and his wives, her heels clicking at a slightly faster pace than Francois' behind her due to their height difference. Upon reaching the Yokobu family the parents of the deceased stood, surprise briefly by the siblings' appearance over their own parents but somewhat comforted all the same. Francois was the first to speak, a somber expression painting his beautiful features.

"Nous sommes désolés pour ta perte."*

Delores Yokobu, Dakota's mother, gave him a sad smile before she responded softly. "Merci François, comment vont tes parents?"*

He gave a curt nod and smiled fondly at the mention of the collective heads of his family before pulling back from the older woman to shake the hand of her husband Antone, only to notice his gaze squarely on the cleavage of Amira. Francois had to curb his usual mouth out of respect for Delores however and chose to step aside and let his sister speak to the couple. The young girl opted for English instead of French, her expression somber but friendly considering the setting.

"I'm sorry that this has to be how we meet but our parents are on a business trip. You know how that goes."

"We do, unfortunately, but it's lovely that you came in their stead," Antone spoke to the girl smoothly, finally taking a moment to look at her face before looking at the incubus that stood a few feet behind Amira before continuing. "Is this your...driver?"

Jonathan snorted at the man's blatant attempt to find out if his sister was available while his wife was right next to him, but Xavier simply smirked and stayed quiet while Amira opened her mouth.

"He's my boyfriend and bondmate, actually."

Both Delores and Antone couldn't hide the shock on their faces at the mention of the two young demons being bonded, unsure of what to say that wouldn't sound offensive. Just as Delores prepared to give the couple a compliment a rather shrill voice came from behind the party, prompting them to all look for the source as it spoke.

"Bonded demons? I should be shocked, but then again you are one of Hannibal's brood, aren't you?"

The snarky comment came from none other than Charlotte Moreau, wife of the head of Parliament. She was known for looking down on anyone she deemed beneath her but showed up to the funeral for the appearance of being sympathetic.

Jon had to grab Francois just to keep them from pouncing and Xavier's indifferent expression cracked out of place for a moment before he quickly recovered, but Amira simply chuckled and stepped through the three others so that she could be seen as well as heard clearly when she spoke.

"Charlotte? Funny, you don't look sick..."

This time it was Charlotte's turn to break face, her brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why on earth would I look sick, you insufferable child?"

"Well, when Daniel came to me last night he said you were incredibly sick so I assumed you wouldn't be here." Amira found herself holding back a cackle before turning back to the parents of the deceased and giving them her sympathies as she began to walk away with her family in tow only to hear Charlotte behind her speaking once more, this time with venom lacing her tone.

"You little black whore! My Daniel would nev-" the words found themselves caught in the older woman's throat as she began to cough and choke, her pale face quickly turning red.

Amira paused her walking but didn't face Charlotte, opting to instead cup her hand over her ear.

"Excuse me, what was that? I didn't quite hear you, Miss Charlotte, could you repeat that?"

Charlotte gasped for air and scratched at her throat insistently, her eyes bulging as she dropped to her knees while she slowly slipped out of consciousness. People were starting to gather around her, someone pulling out their phone to call emergency workers just as she passed out into the arms of those surrounding her. Amira had to hold back her laughter as the stretcher was brought in to carry the woman out, going back to walking only to be stopped by a rather excited Antone who ran up to the four before they could get too far.

He stood in front of them with a short huff before speaking to Amira, actually managing to look into her eyes this time.

"I'm so sorry about Charlotte, you know how she can be from your parents, I'm sure. I do have to ask though...is it true that you can read minds?"

Amira snorted softly, brown eyes boring into his as her brow quirked slightly.

"I don't read minds, just auras, specifically sexual auras. For example, yours says that despite being at your son's funeral you really wanna fuck me because you've never enjoyed the wonders of black pussy."

At her words, Antone paled just short of being translucent before turning almost as red as Charlotte had just minutes ago.

"I'm sorry, I just don't often get the chance to talk to someone like you..."

"And you won't again since you only see me as a hole for your barely working dick."

Antone balked this time but before he could speak again Xavier pushed past him, Amira's hand in his as they walked to their seats. Both found themselves receiving looks from people in the crowd but ignored them for the most part, even an older woman that was very blatant in her want of the young man. As they sat through the service a hushed conversation was had for their ears only.

"So...your boyfriend?"

"Drop it, X. It was a slip of the tongue."

"We both know that doesn't happen so let's move onto more important things, like why you didn't go your usual route of killing the old bat."

"Eh, she's more useful alive right now. Plus, I don't need the lecture from my dad about killing people so blatantly. Also, don't call me out for my slip if you're not going to acknowledge that you nearly killed Antone when he talked to me."

"...he looked at you like you were both a meal and a monster. To kill him would've been a service to the earth. You know that's probably where Dakota got it from."

"How romantic you are, killing for your girlfriend."

"Another slip of the tongue, mon petit? Or are we being fully honest?"

Amira shook her head at the young man, her literal partner in crime, slipping her hand into his and giving it a soft squeeze as she leaned over and nipped at his earlobe before answering.

"That depends...full honesty means admitting we killed the fucker in that casket everyone here is pretending to care about. Or that you were fairly close to fucking the old bitch that nearly flashed you."

"I can admit I considered it, but I didn't want her to end up worse off than Yanni back in grade school."

Xavier found himself grinning when Amira pulled back and met his playful gaze with her narrowed one.

"We don't speak of that bitch. She's lucky I didn't do worse..."

"I love you too, Mimi."