A Broken Crew

Chapter 17

A soft, low song can be heard from the kitchen. There's no words, not exactly, it's more like a crooning. The melody is slow and calming, the kind of tune one would hear for a lullaby. In the kitchen, Mikko is the one singing, gently running his knuckles down Grey's spine. He has Grey completely calmed down again, and actually almost has him asleep. Grey isn't fighting it, either. Be it by magic or something else, Mikko's voice holds a distinct power that is hard to resist.

"That's so sweet..." Maggie says. "They are just the cutest. They remind of you and Dakota, August." August smiles. "Yeah, they kind of are like us." He tries again to sneak off of the couch.

Kacey is on to him right away, giving him a quick frown. "Stay." He shakes his finger like talking to a puppy. He then tilts his head slightly to listen to the song. "I don't even know if that song has words." He remarks quietly."And that's just about the only time we hear Meeks' voice- when he's singing. His actual voice sounds way different."

"He's very sweet." Maggie says. August sighs loudly. "Mother help your son, I'm being held captive on the couch without fair reason." Maggie laughed. "Kacey, is there a reason you're keeping my son 'captive' as he claims, there?" she asks playfully.

Kacey giggles and looks at August. "He should take a break! You've both been so busy helping us, and I don't think I've seen him sit down for more than a few minutes!" His tone is light and playful - only to August is it clear he's lying: to protect him.

"He's right, you shouldn't push yourself sweetheart." August sighed again. "I'm not!" he whined. "You guys do so much for me, and it's not pushing myself to help!" Maggie kissed him on the cheek again. "Just take it easy sweetheart." August nodded, fighting the urge to cough. "I'm going to go check on Atlas, okay? Let me know if you guys need anything." August nods. "Okay, you can let me up now." he said. "I'll tell my mother... eventually... if I feel like it's necessary to. Okay? She doesn't need any more stress."

Kacey plops onto the couch, then falls over into August's lap, giggling. "Exactly! No stress!" He has a light bulb moment. "HHHHHHH!!! THAT'S IT!" He looks up at August. "Stress! August, maybe the reason everyone has been upset or not feeling good or whatever is because they're all stressed out! I know Grey is, he barely ate! And Mikko has been jumpy, that only happens when he's stressed!" Kacey latches onto the idea like a puppy to an old boot.

"I'd bet... with what Grey has been through, it's no wonder he's stressed out." He thought for a moment. "We'll have to find a way to destress everybody, when Dakota gets back..." He pondered this for a while. "What do you think we could do Kacey? We really don't have much time before Dakota has to figure out what he's going to do about the deadline or whatever it is..."

Kacey thinks for a moment. "We always play charades whenever we need a break from stuff.. It ALWAYS calms everybody down. What if we played charades??"

"Maybe..." August mused. "I don't know if we could get Dakota to do it though." He chuckled a little bit. "Dakota's actually a lot shyer than he looks." Just then the door opened and Dakota limped in. "Don't freak out." he said. "It's not as bad as it looks." August jumped up and ran over to him. He was holding his shirt to his face, and it was red with blood.

Sorry this chapter is a bit short than others! Promise the next chapter will be extra long!