Craving Purity

22

"Uno!" Kayden screeched, slamming down his red four car onto the pile.

Tristan and Levi shared an evil look, both of them putting down draw four cards and leaving Kayden groaning in annoyance as he drew eight cards.

It had been a week since Levi was saved from his foster father, and he was thankfully not as traumatized as himself and his soulmates thought he'd be.

After his experience, Levi decided to take a break from work, and since Rita was hiring new people for training, she gave Levi a month off of work, though he declined her when she offered paid leave. He didn't take a break out of fear; he decided to break so he could focus on getting to know his new family and he didn't need money at the moment because he finally got rid of his apartment.

Levi often found himself at home with Oatmeal and spent a lot of time with Winston's newly revealed soulmate, Tristan, who despised the idea of being stuck in the mansion.

Kayden had been staying home as well to get to know the two new humans in the house. They played a lot of board games and all got along very well, even with Tristan's anger and constant shit-talking about Winston.

"Uno," Tristan said, smiling when both Kayden and Levi groaned, showing they didn't have the cards to force Tristan to draw anything or to skip his turn. On his next turn, Tristan slapped down his last car and clapped for himself. "Good job me! That's another game, boys."

"Asshole," Kayden said in a low voice.

Levi was surprised by how sore of a loser Kayden could be, especially because he was so sweet and welcoming.

Tristan smirked at the sore loser in the room. "I'm going to call the doctor," he said, fake dialing an invisible phone in his hand. "And get you a surgery to remove the stick from your ass."

Kayden threw a card at him, hitting Tristan in his shoulder. "Jerk," he muttered.

Levi smiled at the two arguing boys and leaned back against the couch, Oatmeal purring in his lap. "You two are impossible," he said, rubbing his kitten's ears, though it was a long shot to call her a kitten as she was now the size of a raccoon and getting bigger every day.

"It's not my fault he's a sore loser!" Tristan said, hopping up from the ground. "Let's go outside! I'm bored in here."

Kayden and Levi shared an uncomfortable look. It was no secret that Tristan was still determined to run off, even if he actually enjoyed Kayden and Levi's company. He liked to take care of himself but Winston wouldn't let him leave.

"You two don't trust me?" Tristan asked, mocking hurt.

Kayden rolled his eyes. "You've been trying to run since you got here three weeks ago, Tristan," he said, putting the Uno cards back in a bag. "Neither of us wants to be on Winston's bad side."

"Pussies," Tristan said, making Oatmeal hiss as he insulted her Master. "You're really afraid of Winston? He's not scary at all!"

Levi laughed at that. "He's the only one of them that can light shit on fire when he gets mad! The rest of them just invoke emotion," he said, looking at his scarred arms. "I've already got cut scars, I don't need burn scars too."

Kayden nodded in agreement. "I don't want to be on his bad side," he agreed, walking to the kitchen and grabbing a sparkling water. "Either of you want one?"

"I don't drink TV static, thanks though," Tristan said, walking to the back door. "And I guess I'll go outside alone then."

Kayden and Levi shared an exasperated look. They both knew that it'd be even worse if they let Tristan take off and weren't with him.