Adapting

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Being a husband was one thing. Being a husband with a death clock ticking over Chaos' head caused him to be on edge, more so than usual. He managed to get a job, with the current Head of the family opening a grill out on New Zealand by the beach. Chaos helped Axel cook, and twice Chaos had exploded on customers, with Axel punishing him as a consequence. Needless to say, the business had been a little bit short. Chaos' temper was the same nowadays. Anyone would be if they had less than a year to make a child while the wife was gone most of the year. Chaos was a little unnerved that they had not even tried yet. Though, Chaos doubted that he could even get lucky enough to do that on the first try. Chaos also respected Alana enough to not even mention anything. Havoc tried to suggest things to him, but Chaos dismissed them. It seemed like Havoc was definitely on a roll. But, from what he heard, his twin was already a father. Born on Halloween, and named after him. It was sickening, because all he could think of was that the son was his replacement. Chaos sighed, tying his black cloak over his robes, as he walked to the spot that Alana picked. At least he cooked for this little picnic. Finger food did not suit him.
​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana ducked her head, leaving the school quickly as the gates were opened to make their Brightstone weekend official. Never before had Alana wanted out of the school so badly, especially not with the knowledge of going to see Chaos attached to it, but here she was scurrying off the grounds. The walk was longer than usual as she headed beyond most of the shops, not stopping at any of them. She spotted Chaos quickly, his large frame difficult to miss. She squinted her eyes for a second, taking him in to make sure it wasn't Havoc playing some sick joke on her. "Hi Chaos" she greeted her husband, coming to a stop in front of him. She stood awkwardly contemplating what to do next, and then decided to do nothing. She reached into her bag, ready to pull out a blanket and then paused. "Can we walk a little more? I need to get away from everyone" she griped.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos held the bag limply at his side, before he noticed something was off about her behavior, as she looked like she might have been upset about something. Alana asked if they could walk a little more, and Chaos looked over the area on the ground. Well, it was very nice out. Chaos reached around and rubbed his neck before sighing, "Okay. Are you allowed to go to the beach then? It isn't too far from here. If not, just stop me from walking further." Chaos figured that when she felt like she was further enough away from everyone, she would stop him somehow. Though, her being like this, his curiosity was peaked. Why did she feel the need to get away from everyone? "I'm going to have to ask. What happened?" Chaos wondered if something was said. He was sure that anyone at the party wouldn't have spread the news. After all, a lot of them didn't care. It was a family matter, and needed to remain as such. Did Slytherin lose the game? Maybe. Did practice go wrong? Maybe. Chaos couldn't figure it out. School life was foreign to him now.​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana gave him a quick nod to let him she'd understood. With her hands stuffed in her pockets, Alana would've been content to walk in silence. Giving him a brief glance and deciding he seemed genuinely interested, the Head Girl sighed. "Everything. This year is terrible. The prefect meeting was a disaster, and I keep waiting for the Headmistress to pull me and Felix in to her office about it. I'm like a magnet for running into students behaving ridiculously. My classes are stupid, and your brother is taking every opportunity he can to either continue this ridiculous lie about having a child or tell me that it could've been him I was engaged to." Alana let out an annoyed groan. "And we played our asses off the other day and still lost the game." Practice for the team had not been fun this morning.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos frowned, suddenly relieved that he didn't have to deal with school drama. He was on the Quidditch team once and played a decent beater. But hearing those things, and then he frowned a bit. Havoc was disturbing Alana, and it was not making him very happy at all. He decided his words carefully, before saying, "Havoc wasn't lying. He did have a kid. A son. And he is named after me." Chaos felt sick to his stomach, before wondering just what would have been like if Havoc had been chosen instead of him. Alana would have definitely died. Or something. "I'll have mother talk to him. He always listens to her." At least that bit was solved. Chaos' expression darkened considerably, and it was noticeable. It was making him incredibly angry. How dare Havoc! "As far as your other issues, well, I don't think I can help with that. Unless you needed to vent or throw something. Or get your mind off of it."​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana turned her head, the expression on her face aghast at the discovery of Havoc’s stories being true. She was speechless, a rarity for the Slytherin. What a crappy thing to do, Alana thought to herself as she realized that Havoc actually had named his son after his brother, seemingly writing his own brother off already. The thought left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, guilt causing her to look away especially once she heard his reassurance that he’d speak to his mother. Chaos was always trying to help her even when she did nothing to help him. Remaining silent for a few moments after he’d spoken, Alana realized that they were nearing the outskirts of the village. She reached out a hand, gripping his arm so he would stop. “We should stop” she said softly, jerking her head towards a group of trees to their left. “Tell me about the grill” she said as they reached the spot and she pulled the blanket out, dropping her bag so she could spread it out for the two of them. A distraction sounded like just what she needed.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos felt a hand on his arm, with Alana telling him that they should stop. He halted in his tracks to see that she was looking toward a group of trees. Well, that seemed better than the other place. He followed, and rested the basket he was carrying down onto the blanket in the middle, before kneeling down on it. She wanted him to tell her about the grill, which he was nervous about. Should he tell her about how they were struggling because of his temper? Before Axel decided to be the one that handled the people? Chaos bit his lip and shrugged, "Not the best. Apparently, I keep scaring away customers so Axel shoved me in the back after taking discplinary measures." Chaos couldn't really wear a happy, friendly face. Axel could without a problem. Chaos opened the basket up for Alana to peek in and get something to eat. Chaos' appetite was at an all time low right now. "Other than that, it is starting to pick up. I think Axel plans on bringing in his sister, Raven. She used to own that owl store nearby. before handing it off." Chaos figured that he would be better behind the scenes anyway than dealing with people and their complaints. Apparently, 'shove it up your arse' was not a good retort for someone that had their order wrong.​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana settled down onto the blanket as she listened to Chaos, a slight frown on her face as he spoke about his troubles. It wasn't hard to imagine the guy in front of her scaring away customers. Although friendly with her, Chaos just wasn't a people person, she'd learned. It was a bit sad too because Alana enjoyed being around people, when they weren't getting on her nerves anyway. She continued to listen even as she pulled out covered plates, peeking to see what each was. With a tsk and a slight shake of her head, Alana spoke. "Chaos. You could probably be in charge if you could hold your temper." She dug for a fork and then took a bite, closing her eyes and savoring the food. Chaos was a damn good cook. "Hey. Do you know why Styx isn't in the castle this term? I'm not complaining, but I am curious." She kind of hoped he'd stay gone until after she graduated.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Alana informed him that he could probably be in charge if he could hold his temper. Well, she was not wrong about that. Not at all. Chaos needed to control his temper, but everyone just pissed him off. "I like it better in the back anyway. I prefer seeing food sizzle than people making me sizzle." The little joke he made was unintentional which was why he did not even crack a smile. It wasn't often that he did. He might have when he saw Alana in her wedding dress once. But that was about it. When asked why Kalif, or Styx in her words, wasn't in school, Chaos thought about it. Chaos shrugged, "Some say it was because his best friend from school was just released from Azkaban, so he wanted to spend some time with him and get the family back in order. Or, it could be because his younger sister hasn't left her bed since her son died. I wouldn't be surprised if she died from the loss of two of her babies. She already lost two husbands in her life." Chaos figured that was a little dark, but it was all speculation. Maybe Kalif needed a break just cause kids got on his nerves. Who knows.
​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana rolled her eyes at his terrible attempt at a joke and continued to eat instead. She got herself more comfortable as she listened to him speak about her Head of House. She hadn’t realized that his life was so…complicated. As Chaos kept going, Alana almost told him to stop. She didn’t want to feel bad for the man, to feel any measure of sympathy for the man who’d caused a great deal of pain in her life. The whole family seemed to have a great deal of sadness, and Alana couldn’t help but wonder why they insisted on making things even more painful for themselves with their rules and laws. It was kind of sad. “I see” she said quietly. Lost in thought, Alana continued her meal in silence. It wasn’t until she was done and putting her plate down that she glanced at Chaos again. “So…um, do you have the pictures of the house?” she asked, wondering if he’d show them to her. He’d been talking about it a lot, obviously eager about it, and she knew she should show some more enthusiasm towards having her own space. Except it wasn’t her own, and she couldn’t make any financial contributions towards it. So, she'd been less than eager though she hoped that hadn't come across in her responses to him.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

There was no telling if Nataliia would die. She lost so many, and couldn't have children anymore. He heard that she had miscarried three times, and just gave up. Chaos didn't know the details really, nor did he really care. But Jean meant a lot to her, and all that. The Snow and Zhefarovich family suffered a loss, that was completely unseen. He finally reached for his plate, before trying to eat at least a little bit to show that he was at least being normal, ish. He was stressed and one could tell if they knew him long enough. When asked if he had pictures of the house, Chaos swallowed his small bite and gave a curt nod. He reached into his pocket of his robes before finding the only picture he had so far, while the interior was being worked on. He held the picture over to her, and said, "It's not much. My dad and mom put forth a lot in it, and so have I. It'll be ready in a month. They are finishing the stairs, and the kitchen." Chaos really did not think it was much. It was only five bedrooms. He was used to much more than that. "I am also thinking of putting in a swimming pool or a small area for Quidditch."​

 

[Alana Finch]

Reaching for the picture, Alana took a moment before actually taking a look. When she finally did, her heart sank. It was every bit as massive as she'd expected it to be. Her eyes widened in disbelief as Chaos casually mentioned that the house wasn't much. There was no doubt that it was beautiful, but Alana had never been comfortable with how rich the Zhefaroviches seemed to be and how cavalierly they spoke about it. She wasn't even sure Chaos realized it. She probably wouldn't have had she grown up in such wealth. Handing the picture back, Alana avoided his gaze. "It's really nice" she admitted quietly and then added, "quidditch gets my vote. Pools are nice but don't compare to the ocean." She forced a smile, changing the subject quickly.

Several hours later, Alana knew that it was time to head back to school. She kneeled on the blanket, ready to get up but not really wanting to. She'd actually enjoyed the last few hours. No one had bothered them, whether it was because they'd spotted Chaos or no one ventured this far she wasn't sure. Alana looked over at him and then, on a whim, leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. She backed off quickly, her red eyes still on him, a slight blush to her cheek. "Thank you, for the food. For everything. I needed to get out of that castle" she explained. Alana truly did feel better right now. Standing up, Alana brushed off her jeans. "So, uh, I'll see you around. Try not to kill anyone at the grill, mmkay?"

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos allowed a soft sigh of relief pass when she said that she liked it, though she would prefer a quidditch pitch, because of the ocean. Chaos could agree to that. It was pretty cool that they were discussing their future home. Though, several hours passed, and Chaos felt like the time just flew. He enjoyed his time with Alana, and was glad that no one came over and disturbed them. He remembered one time he was at Brightstone and some kid that was yearning for a beating disturbed him. Luckily he had not done that with Alana here with him. Chaos was not expecting what Alana did, which was kiss him on the cheek. Chaos looked at her as if she grew another head, not sure what to think. Sure, they were husband and wife, but she just initiated that. The former Hufflepuff stood up and dusted himself off. Dirt was just...messy. He made sure everything was clean, and she thanked him. She. Thanked. Him. Chaos couldn't help but snicker at the last comment. "Anytime. And I'll try." Should he try to hug her? Kiss her on the cheek? Chaos did none of that. He simply reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder for a brief moment. "Try to do other things that relax you, and keep you less stressed..." Chaos didn't know what else to really say. But, at least he could walk her toward the school, or half way. Something.​