Around 6:00 pm at Knox's home. Outfit.


Gifts in hand, Fauna stepped into the fireplace, called out Greyfriar's address, and appeared with a snap-crackle-pop in his home. She coughed a bit and blinked, dusting the soot off her clothes before stepping out. It was not the most glamorous way to travel, but after failing her apparation test last year, she'd pick the public floo system over the muggle bus route and walking through the snow any day.

"Hi!" Fauna glanced around the empty living room, relieved to discover that unlike last time when she'd visited him in the fall, no stinky potions wafted in the air, and the stacks of Daily Prophet newspapers had been cleared away.

She followed the smells of cooking into the kitchen, where Greyfriar stood over the stone hearth. Fauna paused by the doorway, unsure if he'd heard her earlier, and cleared her throat. When he turned, she grinned at him and moved forward to give him a hug.

Hugs seemed like the standard greeting now, or at least she hoped they were. The former Headmaster had become more than a Headmaster to her, and someone she looked up to like a few of the other adults in her life. However awkward this night might be with all three of them (Greyfriar, Devlin and herself) together, she felt glad to see him and glad that he was looking out for Devlin during this difficult time.

"I come bearing gifts," she said brightly, pulling back. "Er, I can give them to you guys now or later. Do you want any help in here?" Fauna offered, hoping that help meant something along the lines of 'stirring' or 'chopping'; simple tasks. Cooking was far too much like potions in that she often blew something up.

She glanced around, wondering where Devlin was. Fauna needed to talk to him about what Kitty had told her, though she hadn't decided whether to tell him before or after dinner. First she had to reassure him that she wasn't mad about it. Then she had to try to figure out how many other people knew, because if they ever flapped their mouths, the Ministry would not look kindly on an unregistered animagus who had used his power to break into St. Mungo's.

((Outfit Picture on left))

Devlin stood under the hot spray and closed his eyes, letting the steam and nearly scalding water cleanse him. Not just to clear away the dirt and oils from the last couple of days, but to cleanse him of all the negative feelings and weight on his shoulders. Running his fingers through his hair, he massaged some soap into his scalp and thought about Fauna. He was worried. She had told him that she supported him and that they would overcome this together, but that was before his name and worse, his crime, was plastered all over the Daily Prophet. She was supposed to be there that evening and for the first time since their romance begin, he was apprehensive about seeing her, or worse, facing her disappointment. For some reason, the thought terrified him.

Stepping from the shower, Devlin wrapped a towel around his waist and made his way into his new room. The bare walls and half unpacked boxes strewn about did little to improve his mood. The state of the boxes was a good indication of his state of mind, half undone. Part of him longed to unpack and have an actual room in a home again. But the other part of him knew that it was a moot point. After years of living with several other guys, both at school and home, left him with little to decorate his new abode with, and if he did, he would be reminded every day the family he no longer had. Letters from Lucy, as abundant as they were and would be, were nothing compared to carrying his baby sister on his shoulders. Besides, he had no intention on living with Knox longer then he had to. The moment his probation was up and he was no longer forced to reside under his 'fathers' watchful eyes, he was out of this hell hole. Why unpack when you were just going to have to pack it back up?

Having not heard Fauna's entrance, Dev didn't hurry to pull on some boxers and a pair of black sweats. Leaving his white tank top crumpled on his bed, Dev took a seat and picked up a well worn St. Christophers pendant from his nightstand. He weighed it in his hand, the familiar weight being him something of a sense of peace, as little as it was. Running his thumb across the worn inscription, he thought about his mother and how disappointed she would be if she could see him now, awaiting a criminal trial as the defendant rather then the lawyer. Pressing it to his lips, he whispered softly against the metal, as though it acted as a medium between him and his dead mother, "I'm so sorry..." Leaving his lips pressed there for a moment, he finally sighed and pulled the chain over his head, letting the pendant fall against his bare chest with a thud. Picking up his undershirt, he sat there and toyed with the thin fabric in thought.

Knox had is shoulder-length hair tied up in a half-pony tail and with his pointy sideburns and thick beard, he looked like some kind of portly samurai.  With an apron.  His sleeves were rolled up, revealing a hairy scarred left forearm, as he knelt over the fire, trying to reheat some potato soup his neighbor had brought him for Christmas.  Knox wasn't a cook and with the unexpected family drama at the Ministry, Knox's mind hadn't been on preparing for a meal.  The last couple days with Devlin had been dangerous silence or savage yelling matches.  Christmas itself, forget about it.  Perhaps, like Knox, Devlin was seeing this dinner as another chance at some happy holiday, with Fauna as the mediator. And now that the day was here, he was very excited to see Fauna and part of him wanted to prove to her he was fine.  Unlike their last visit when he was very much not fine.

When she came in, he returned her hug.  She looked warm and fresh.  Her presence had always been very light, very bright even when she was upset or throwing some teenage tantrum (not often, but teachers had those memories of their students at their most immature moments, and the ability to never hold it against them.  What happens at the second year history final, stays at the second year history final).

"Good to see you, good to see you," he boomed, "Look at you! And gifts! Maybe after the meal.  The tree's still outside - I never have the heart to cut it down.  Under the... lamp, I suppose."  There was a wrought iron floor lamp with a Persian shade and tassels by his big chair. 

The atmospheric noise changed just slightly as Knox noticed the shower go off, and he remembered again about the little beast who now lived in his den.  The cottage was already very small, just the two rooms upstairs and a small attic coppola, orginally designed as an owl roost.  Now, Knox was pretty sure it was bats. With all Knox's books, papers and hoarded documents and manuscripts the cottage was even smaller still.   An estranged bastard son made life all the more cramped, but there was nothing to do now but deal with it.

Fauna's sunshiney smile brought Knox back to what he was supposed to be doing - being a proper dad on a proper Christmas holiday.  He handed her a knife. 

"Bread's ready.  Oh! And I saw you in the Prophet!  In the S.A.W.S. article.  Can't keep out of trouble can you? I clipped it for you if you hadn't already.  You did well, though.  They aren't going to let up.  Nothing easier than bullying kids," he rambled on as he started pulling ceramic dishes out of the oven he'd been stoking to keep things warm. 

It was meager, by holiday dinner standards.  But Knox was meager, by cook standards.  The main course - the potato soup was left overs from his neighbor who seemed to pity the funny old wizard down the lane with his criminal son moved back in upstairs.

Greyfriar, resembling Uncle Iroh, returned her hug, and let her know she could put the gifts under the... lamp. Chuckling under her breath, Fauna did just that, and took the knife when he handed it to her. Cut bread? That was easy enough!

The smell of potato soup felt very homey to her, and she preferred this small, informal gathering to a more elaborate or fancy meal. Neither her mum, her grandma, or herself were known for their cooking skills. Fauna cut the bread on the cutting board, the warm crisp outer layer crumbling slightly beneath her fingers, and listened to Greyfriar talk about the Daily Prophet article.

"Well, you know," Fauna joked, glancing over her shoulder. "It wouldn't be my seventh year if I didn't get into trouble."

Her face split into a pleased grin. He'd clipped the SAWS article for her, which some might say was a small gesture, but it meant a lot to her. He cared, and approved. "Yeah, I mean, it was such a surprise when one of the reporter types actually responded to my letter and offered to get our side of the story. I think it made a difference in getting people to go to the Mixer, too."

Fauna laid out the pieces of bread on a platter and set it on the table, then turned to peek at how the soup was reheating over the fire.

"Thanks for coming to that and speaking, by the way. It was a great speech," She told him with a grateful smile, wiping her hands on her jeans. Despite herself, Fauna glanced up, thinking the noise from the shower was coming from upstairs instead of the den. 

"Is it alright if I go get Devlin? Maybe he didn't hear..." she trailed off, her expression shy but resembling a kid's waiting to open presents on Christmas morning. What she really wanted was to steal a kiss from her boyfriend without Greyfriar witnessing it. They hadn't had a moment alone since, well, since they'd started dating in early December.

Suddenly, Knox swore and straightened up.  His voice bellowed in the tiny kitchen nook, and seemed to rattle the pots and pans. He was shaking out his hand, having burned his finger on a hot stoneware plate.   Mention of Devlin had caused his attention to skip, just for a moment, but the burn gave him a chance to wear the dark scowl and yell as he so often wished to when thinking about Devlin lately.

Gods, part of Knox cared about the kid, and he really wanted some kind of idyllic relationship with the young man, one they could be be proud of.  Merlin knows that Knox had never had a family and while most of the time he preferred it, he had his loneliness.  He often wondered what it would be like to have had a family with Meredith, but his Hogwarts family had always kept those feelings at bay.  He had a whole castle of youngun's to keep him busy, to entertain him, to make him feel like he was making his mark, make him feel loved.  But as much as he wanted it, he and Devlin got in each others' way of that perfect relationship and it always ended up bad.

If only Dev would just stay upstairs like he had since he arrived then this dinner would go well.  But the expectant look on Fauna's face made Knox feel like a creep for hoping so.  Old Greyfriar was no spring chicken - he knew what teenagers were up to when they went to 'check on' or 'see about' in the upstairs of cottages and in the basements of houses.

He tried again for the stonewear plate (bearing hot falafel cakes), this time with a thicker trivot, and tried to smile at Fauna.

"Sure. Um, yes.  See if he's ready.  He's been holed up there since London."  Knox wasn't sure how that sounded, but he hoped it sounded... not royally pissed off.  He'd tried hard to sound like a normal person speaking about their normal son who was normal and that the both of them weren't in a wand-to-wand stand off.

He dropped the plate loudly on the counter.  Raised his eyebrows at Fauna and tried again to smile.

When Greyfriar swore, Fauna jumped, then hurried over to the sink to wet a towel for his hand. She gave it to him and stared at him, about to ask him if he was okay. He smiled at her reassuringly and then told her she could go get Devlin. Fauna attributed any gruffness in his voice to the burn. The clatter on the counter made her jump for a second time, and she felt bad for a moment, leaving him by his lonesome in the kitchen.

"I- up there, then?" She pointed, heading for the stairs.

"I won't be long," she told him, hesitating, then scurried off.

Fauna wasn't any more used to this situation than Greyfriar was. She'd never had a boyfriend before, which meant she'd certainly never done the 'dinner with the parent' gig before. If it had been the other way around and Devlin was visiting her at her house, her mother would have likely spouted off a dozen rules about 'no boys in the bedroom', but as it was, this responsibility was all on Greyfriar's shoulders.

Poor man.

Fauna only wanted to snog Devlin for a minute or two, she told herself, peeking in the bedrooms until she spotted a door open just a crack.

Without thinking about it (privacy only existed in the Blake household when the door was completely shut), she pushed it open to find Devlin seated, boxes stacked around him.

He was shirtless. He was wearing some kind of silver pendant. He had a tattoo! And... he was shirtless.

Color flooded her face. Fauna shuffled back slightly, the floorboards choosing just that moment to creak. She cleared her throat and glanced away, then looked back at him with a sheepish grin.

"Uh, hi."

Hi indeed.

"Er, I was... you know, sorry. Not spying," she added, hovering in the doorway and fiddling with the collar of her sweater, which suddenly felt way too warm.

"Is it okay if I come in? I'm supposed to tell you... but we don't have to go downstairs right away," Fauna paused, thinking about what that sounded like, and then let out a little laugh as she moved forward to kiss him.

((Any godmodding was approved by Elle))

Devlin heard the shout from downstairs and, for a moment, he sat very still. Part of him knew that a decent human being would at least stick their head out to see if everything was alright, but the bitter little boy that had been practically locked away in this hellhole for nearly 3 whole days was as far too angry to give a damn. Maybe if he just sat there and claimed he hadn't heard anything, Greyfriar would bleed out before he got around to coming downstairs. Showers could be awfully loud.

Nah, he couldn't do that. As much as he despised the old codger at this particular point in time, the man was literally the only family he had left. His mother was dead and his adoptive father disowned him, tearing away his beloved siblings like they didn't share at least half of each others genes. Knox was all he had left and he couldn't deal with his death on top of everything else. Besides, Fauna liked the grouchy old git for some reason and Dev had a feeling he would lose her if he let something bad happen to Knox. He sighed and stood, preparing to go down for the first time in days to see what was happening.

Before he could close the small space between his mess of a bed and the cramped doorway, the worn door swung open to reveal a surprisingly calm Fauna. Dev relaxed immediately upon seeing her face, partially because he knew that Greyfriar must be alright for her to look so peaceful but mostly because he just liked her face. It made him happy. Especially when it got all flustered and cute, like it was doing right now.

"Er, I was... you know, sorry. Not spying, Is it okay if I come in? I'm supposed to tell you... but we don't have to go downstairs right away,"

He followed her gaze before she turned away and realized that he still was shirtless. Unlike someone with an ounce of decency, he didn't move to put his shirt on. In fact, he kinda even puffed out his chest, hoping she enjoyed what she saw. "Uh... yeah, sure..." He started, grinning in amusement at her flushing and fumbling. "Let me just..." He begin to say as he started to turn towards the bed, attempting to straighten the threadbare blankets. Before he could, however, a pair of arms slid around his neck and a pair of soft, mint tinted lips pressed to his. Caught off guard by her sudden forwardness, Devlin lost his balance and fell back onto the bed, pulling her with him.

Landing on the firm surface of what was supposed to be a mattress, Devlin felt the air rush out of his lungs as her body landed on top of his. For a second he had to pull away to gasp for air but when he could finally breathe, he was suddenly aware of the fact that she was laying on top of him. His heart started to hammer in a way that he hadn't felt in a lot time and a playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "My, a bit forward tonight aren't we Miss Blake?" He chuckled. Before she could pull away, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pinned to her against him "... Not that I particularly mind..."

Her sudden movement must have surprised him (and to be honest, it surprised her), because he lost his balance and they fell on the bed. The mattress let out a squeak. Fauna let out a squeak. She froze, broke off their kiss, and stared at him in both mortification and happy surprise.

If anyone had told her she would have ended up on a bed with Devlin Matthews (on top of Devlin Matthews!) a few months ago, she would have scoffed and laughed it off. And then daydreamed about it. But this was real!

She started to pull away when he did, about to apologize, when he smiled. He had that playful, charming little smirk that made her heart rate speed up. Fauna smiled back ever so slightly, smile widening when he wrapped his arms around her waist and chuckled at her.

"You know me," Fauna replied with a breathless giggle, though not like McFloozy's whenever Devlin graced the Great Hall with his presence. No, her giggle was low, playful, maybe even a little sultry...

At least that's what she told herself.

Now that she was laying on top of him and he'd put his arms around her, she really didn't feel like moving. Fauna stole a glance at the door, which was still ajar. She heard a pot clang downstairs and looked back into his eyes, considering kissing him again. Then she caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his chest and on impulse, traced it lightly with her finger. Fauna didn't know Spanish, but at least picked up on what 'amor' meant.

"Where'd you get this?" She murmured, resting her head underneath his. He actually had chest hair, and it tickled her nose. The chuckle that escaped from her mouth likely got lost in there.

 "It's kind of badass, Dev," she admitted in an admiring tone, resting her hand over his heart and peeking up at him.

"You know me,"

Devlins smile widened a little at her breathless giggle. She was so damn adorable he was getting diabetes from just looking at her. But he didn't mind. He could stare into those baby blues and hold her soft and warm curves against him all day long. Screw dinner, it was probably bland and tasteless anyways. The taste of her lips was all he needed. With that thought in mind, his eyes flickered towards her soft, pouting lips and he worried his own through his teeth, wondering if that moment was the right time for a kiss.

Just then a pot clanged downstairs and Devlin was flung from his revelry and back into the dingy little upstairs den. He quickly looked away, realizing how foolish he must have looked, and tried to think about anything other then how soft her chest was against his and how warm her breath was on the nape of his neck. When her fingers brushed the tattoo over his heart, he felt a shiver run down his spine and he wondered if she could feel how hard his heart was hammering.

"Where'd you get this? It's kind of badass, Dev,"

"My brother Luke did it... He has his own shop, a muggle one, in East London..." He said softly, his hand reaching up and engulfing hers. He brushed his thumb across the smooth skin of her knuckles absentmindedly. "La Muerte no Puede Terminar el Amor..." The Spanish rolled effortlessly off his tongue, the tone of his voice changing just so into one that spoke of elegance and romance. "...Basically... it more or less means that Death cannot end love...and the dates..." He trailed off for a second, thinking of his apology whispered against the silver pendant earlier, before adding softly "... Are my mothers birth and... um... death dates.."

Quite suddenly, Devlin felt a strong urge to change the subject. Picking her hand up off his chest, he kissed the tender palm lightly. He carefully rolled her off of him and onto her side without his arms unraveling from her waist. Curling her fingers into a fist, he kissed her knuckles one after another, hazel eyes intent on her hand like it was the most interesting thing in the world. After his lips brushed against the pinky knuckle, he finally met her gaze once more. Giving her a cheeky smile, he chuckled "I am pretty badass aren't I?"

Holding his hand, Fauna listened to him explain that he'd gotten the tattoo from his brother, and smiled a little as she felt a low rumble in his chest as he spoke. She raised her eyebrows at the Spanish, intrigued by the sound of the words. When he mentioned his mother, her smile faded and she gave him a sympathetic look, trying to figure out what to say, but he moved abruptly and shifted her over so she was lying next to him.

Then she was distracted by the light kisses on her hand. One for each knuckle. She watched, fascinated, as he turned something that seemed so simple into something romantic and sensual. Fauna never would have thought she'd be undone by kisses trailing over her hand, but there was such intensity of emotion and gentleness from him that she felt like she could happily get lost in this room and never return to the outside world. Her lips curved up into a warm smile as she studied his face, eyes meeting his when he glanced at her and chuckled.

Fauna let out a soft sigh. He wasn't just devilishly handsome- he was devilishly handsome and giving her that cheeky grin of his. She smiled back and shook her head teasingly. "Mmhmm, you are."

She held his hand with both of her own and hesitated as an idea entered her head. Fauna knew she had to say it at some point, and depending on how the dinner went, she wasn't sure if she'd get an opportunity later.

"You are, you know. Sneaking into the girl's dormitories last year," she nudged his arm lightly and gave him a mock-scolding look. "Messing with the egg project between me and Chance."

She giggled, but it came out as uneasy, suddenly realizing that mentioning another boy (especially after Chance had admitted he'd liked her at the mixer) was probably not going to make this easier.

The traces of amusement faded from her expression and she met his eyes with a more serious look. "I'm not mad," Fauna gave his hand a light, reassuring squeeze. "Kitty told me."

If Devlin got pissed off at Kitty, well, that was Kitty's problem, Fauna reasoned, and she had no loyalty to the girl to try to hide where she'd found out his secret anyway. At least the truth was out, even if Fauna felt sure she'd just ruined their romantic moment.

Left in the kitchen with a smarting index finger, wet rag and the sound of Fauna's footfalls rushing up the narrow wooden staircase out of sight. 

He sighed and threw the rag roughly into the sink where it landed with a smack in the ceramic basin.  He grumbled something that a grandson was the last thing he needed.  He stood for a minute in his tiny kitchen.  The house was a full as it had ever been - he'd never needed anything larger than his impossibly small stone house.  This was supposed to be happy, and he even faked a smile at that thought, but he felt more like he was being punished.  For what, he couldn't say.  Or wouldn't admit.

With another low sigh, he started to hum and rumble an old folk song as he laid out the rough wooden table with four mis-matched chairs.  A plate of hot falafel made with roasted red peppers and plenty of garlic.  There was the neighbor's potato soup, as well, what was left of it.  Bread, butter.  Bean and onion tamales, thawed from the local shop's freezer.  A bottle of his favorite reisling.

With the table laid down, he looked up at the ceiling, half expecting to see his light swinging.  All seemed still and quite in the house.  And chilly.  He got his wand up off the desk and set a fire in the hearth.   

He took up a cigar and went and stood on his stoop, leaving the front door open beside him.  He lit up and decided to give Devlin and himself a cigar's worth of peace.  It was Christmas, after all?

For a moment, it was like everything was alright. As they laid there on that lumpy cot with its threadbare blanket, bodies pressed together and fingers intertwined, Devlin felt like he was invincible. As long as he was with her, nothing bad could touch him. Not the aurors, not Theodora, not even God himself could tear them apart. It was absolute bliss.

"You are, you know. Sneaking into the girl's dormitories last year, Messing with the egg project between me and Chance."

And with that, their moment of peaceful perfection was shattered. Stopping dead, Devlin stared at her blankly, his face quickly becoming a solid, unreadable mask. Her tone was jocular, but that didn't mean he could let his guard down. He had been fooled in the past by girls who pretended not to care, when in reality they cared more then anything and if you didn't say just the right thing, they would fly off the handle. Licking his lips, he considered what he could say that wouldn't turn their beautiful embrace into a bitter argument.

"I'm not mad, Kitty told me."

While her reassuring squeeze made him sigh lightly in relief, realizing that she wasn't like other girls and didn't have the cunning to trick him like that, her mention of Kitty did not lend to any sense of peace. It was infuriating that, of all people in the entire world, Kitty chose Fauna to tell this little tidbit to. He didn't want Fauna caught up in this mess and furthermore, didn't Kitty know that Fauna didn't have a criminal bone in her body? That there was no way she could deal with the guilt if she lied for him? He made a mental note to have a discussion with the snooty little Slytherin the first chance he had. She needed to understand that if her little slip up caused him to end up in jail, he would take her with him.

The irritation he was feeling must have shown on his face because Fauna suddenly got very quiet and perhaps a little nervous. Trying to swallow the bile that rose in his throat, he smiled as best as he could. "I'm... I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It wasn't how I wanted you to find out..." He started, adding mentally that he never intended for her to find out in the first place "... The egg thing was... uh... well, I will admit it, I was jealous. I don't like how Ryker looks at you..."

His eyes finally found hers, all the anger replaced by a gentle longing as he reached out and cupped her cheek, stroking the soft skin with his calloused thumb "... I am a very possessive guy I guess... I just... I just want you all to myself. Pretty selfish, I know, but I can't help myself with you..." Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss and pulled her against him firmly, as though he were afraid that she would float away if he let go.

By the look on his face, it was clear she had just ruined the moment. He sighed, though in relief or irritation she couldn't tell, and Fauna propped herself up on her elbows, staring at him anxiously.

He then gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes as he apologized, mentioning Ryker. Oh hell. Now she felt like she had to tell him to try to be nicer to her friend, and that would make things so much worse. She began wishing that she'd never brought it up, so they could have stayed in this hazy dreamland forever, and his expression wouldn't look so closed off. She'd really sprung the news on him, she just realized.

She opened her mouth to claim that it was just an egg project, yet when his eyes met hers and she saw that he looked like himself again, Fauna decided to leave it be. Relieved by the change in his expression, distracted by the caress on her cheek, she almost missed what he told her next. If she'd thought about it, really thought about it, she might have worried, but at the moment it just sounded like an odd, offbeat compliment. Like him being jealous of Ryker wasn't a problem at all.

Fauna leaned into his kiss and wrapped her arms around him, thrilled at being so close and marveling at the fact that she was, well, maybe not in bed with him, but at least on the covers! That was a big step. Risqué, for Fauna. She probably would have never been able to get away with this at her mum's house.

A contented look spread across her face when she finally pulled away, hands still resting on his shoulders. She ran her fingers lightly down his shoulder blades and then leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek a few times. Fauna grinned and shook her head at him.

"I don't expect you to tell me every single thing about you right away..." she remarked. "There are things you don't know about me, you know," she widened her eyes at him teasingly. Not things that related to criminal activities, obviously. But on the other side of the spectrum? Yeah, there was the matter of those Sunday meetings...

Suddenly, she remembered what she'd wanted to ask him, and a worried line appeared between her brows.

"Um, is Kitty the only one who... knows?" Fauna mumbled, looking into his eyes. The jealous side of her wanted him to say no, of course not, and that Kitty didn't mean anything to him. But the part that was concerned for him hoped for something different.

"I mean, just 'cause... is there anyone at school that I should sorta, well, keep an eye on? I know Kitty won't tell anyone." She wouldn't want to risk getting arrested and ruining her reputation.

Knox's stomach grumbled.  The cigar had only burned back a few inches, only a handful of minutes had passed.  He glanced up and back, and had the roof over his stoop not been in the way, he'd have been able to see the tiny lit up window of the room that had once been his den. 

Perhaps he'd let them alone up there too long.  He wasn't entirely sure of his responsibilities in the case of those two.  How much privacy to allow them? The poor kid had just spent a few nights in the Ministry's dungeons for feck's sake - he needed to be with friends, maintain some sense of normalcy.  But on the other hand, Devlin's reputation among his female students was well known, even to the school staff at that time.  It was still hard for Knox to imagine what sweet, responsible Fauna saw in screw-up, manipulative Devlin.  An unwelcome image of a pregant Fauna sent the old bear (now paranoid father) into a coughing fit.

He doused the cigar, only barely smoked and left it on the ledge before storming back inside.  Perhaps some parents struggled with the delicate balance between being a responsible father or a 'cool' dad, and letting teenagers be teenagers and giving them space to let them grow and all of that bullshit, but Devlin might be convicted of a major crime soon, so Knox decided to err on the side of 'orrible, paranoid old man.

Up the narrow creaky stairs, only a few strides for Knox, and another step or two in the tiny corridor.  If the kids had any notice that his patience had worn down, they had only a very short, but very loud, warning before he laid the back of his fist on the closed door.

BAM

Louder than he meant to be.

"That'll do.  Let's go."

"I don't expect you to tell me every single thing about you right away...There are things you don't know about me, you know,"

"Is that so? I look forward to finding them out..." He said with a smirk, his eyes twinkling as he stared into hers. Sensing that the moment was right, he attempted to lean forward to kiss her. However, his attempt was cut short when she suddenly turned her head away and he got a mouthful of hair. Soft and sweet smelling hair, but not the lips he had been aiming for. He would have tried again but when she looked back at him, the expression on her face deterred him. Looking away, he focused on the smooth curve of her neck instead.

"Um, is Kitty the only one who... knows? I mean, just 'cause... is there anyone at school that I should sorta, well, keep an eye on? I know Kitty won't tell anyone."

Attempting to be oblivious to the worried expression on her face, Devlin nuzzled her, pushing his face into the warm knitted collar as he searched for the nape of her neck. Finding it amongst the layers, he pressed a kiss to her collarbone and smiled. "A few close friends know... But no one you need worry about..." He murmured, his breath tickling the smooth, fragrant skin between soft kisses. His hand inched up her shirt, his fingers brushing against the warm flesh of her lower back, tracing circles against the skin.

"Let's not talk about it right now... allright?" He muttered, his lips trailing over her neck and back to hers, catching her bottom lip between his. His hand tugged open her sweater and begin to pull it free as his lips parted to deepen the kiss, pulling her on top of him...

BAM

The banging on the door caught Dev by surprise and he jolted. The sudden movement caused the entwined pair precariously balanced on the edge of the bed to fully tip over it. With a surprised yelp and a grunt, the two toppled to the ground with Devlin hitting first. The air was forced from his lungs as Fauna came down on top of him. "Mother..." Devlin gasped as he tried to catch his breath.