Ferdinand's Point Of View
"Syl... time to go." I whispered into the theater.
"Haah... do I have to go? Look at that adorable sleeping face." Sylvester pouted.
"You don't have to go, you can stay here it doesn't matter. You just said you would go, and it's getting late so I'd like to go and be back before tomorrow." I shrugged.
"No, no. I'll go. Can't have you going into Maihzdin alone." He sighed.
"Cole do you want me to carry him back to my room? You guys can eat and sleep in there, since the bed's bigger." I said.
I knew it would also piss Bellamy off so it served as a bonus reason. Anything to irritate the giant toddler was a major checkmark in my book.
"Yeah that's fine. Tristan ate a bit already so he should be fine for a while." Cole said.
I walked over to him and scooped Tristan up. He immediately opened his eyes, slowly taking in his surroundings.
"F-Ferdinand...?" He asked sleepily.
"Yes love, it's me go back to sleep. I'm going to put you to bed with Cole now, okay?" I said softly.
"Are you leaving me now...?" He asked, giving me the most heartbreaking frown.
"Don't look at me like that, we'll be back before you know it. It'll be fine, don't look so sad." I said kissing him softly.
"But... I don't want you to go... I had a terrible nightmare today, and you weren't even there. Then you barge in, announced that you'll be leaving and taking Sylvester with you, and disappeared again like a fart in the wind. I don't like it, I've barely seen you today..." He said, tears forming in his eyes as he gripped my shirt tightly.
"It's not like that, love. Everything I do is for your benefit. We need the on-site physicians so they can give the kids a check up. They can't do that without their equipment. I have to go get it myself, because Maihzdin has its own Mafia King. It would be extremely rude if I just sent my men, it could even start an unnecessary war between us, and we don't need more enemies." I said trying to reason with him.
I honestly wasn't even sure we could make the journey. Even now while walking with him in my arms, the need to be inside him was maddening. I had no way of knowing what would happen if we stayed away for too long. I was hoping to make the trip as short as possible.
"Okay... but when you get back, you have to do whatever I say for a whole day. Got it?" He huffed.
"Absolutely." I replied kissing him again.
This time he held me by my shirt and deepened the kiss. It was such an unexpectedly fierce kiss, I stopped in my tracks in front of my room. He was relentless, and it was as enrapturing as it was torturous.
He broke away from the kiss, his eyes flickering brightly. Then he cast his glare to Sylvester as well.
"You too Sylvester! I mean it." He said, glaring.
"Me too what? You gonna kiss me goodbye like that? I won't object!" He said, snatching Tristan out of my arms.
"No dummy! That's not... what I meant... stop! Let me... finish! Ngh!"
Sylvester wasted no time kissing Tristan into submission. Just like that he was no longer glaring, he just looked resigned to his fate.
"Aw C'mon. You didn't kiss me with half as much passion as you kissed Ferdinand with. You really are playing favorites." Sylvester said pouting.
"I've been with you all day Syl, you've given me so much TLC I don't know how you're not sick of me by now." Tristan said, hugging Sylvester tightly.
"How can you say that? Are you tired of me?" He asked, looking wounded.
"No... but I haven't been waiting on you hand and foot like you have me. I'm such a burden... and I'm broken... You're going to get tired of me for sure." Tristan said, putting his face into Sylvester's neck.
"You're not broken, you just had a rough go at things. We all have baggage. We all have damage. Just think about it, Ferdinand's parents were murdered before we graduated from high school. Cole's father killed his mother and then Cole killed his own father. My parents don't speak to each other anymore, my mom is an alcoholic and has basically ignored my existence since the old man left her. We all come from hurt." Sylvester said, rubbing Tristan's back.
"Hm? What about Bellamy?" Tristan asked, thoughtfully.
"Ah... well... Bellamy has a different kind of trauma..." Sylvester grimaced.
"What kind of trauma?"
"Uh... well..."
"You guys are still here? You could have been halfway to Maihzdin by now..." Bellamy said, standing in the doorway.
"What's it to you? Tristan didn't want us to leave, so we gave him a little extra time." Sylvester said.
"I doubt that... What the heck are you talking about that's got Cole looking so scared?" Bellamy asked.
I looked over at Cole and he really did have a face that said he'd like to be anywhere but here having this conversation.
"We were talking abou– Mm?"
"Shhh... you definitely don't want to do that." Sylvester said covering Tristan's mouth.
Tristan nodded slowly and then gave Sylvester a scrutinizing look.
"Okay we really do have to go now. Tristan be a good boy and wait for a bit longer okay?" I said, giving him a kiss on the forehead.
"I make no promises..." He replied, leaning into my hand.
"We'll be back soon. I promise." Sylvester groaned, giving Tristan a tight squeeze.
This time Tristan did pull Sylvester in for a deep kiss, catching him completely off guard. Sylvester returned the sentiment tenfold, before laying Tristan on the bed. Sylvester gave him a sad lingering look before turning away.
I understood how he felt all too well, Tristan could no doubt feel it as well. I glanced back at him once more and saw that his eyes were glowing brightly.
"C'mon Ferdinand. I'm going to cave any moment now. You feel it too don't you? If we don't go now, we never will." Sylvester groaned.
"Here, I made a list for you guys. Take some guys with you too, you'll need the extra hands." Bellamy said, handing over a folded piece of paper.
"Santiago and his men will meet us there." Sylvester said.
"Okay, then I'll take Tysse, Dahnnie, and Zaire." I replied heading for the door.
Sylvester was right. If we didn't go now, we'd get pulled into that bed with Tristan and never leave.
We headed downstairs and out the side door leading to the garage. I chose a large blacked out van as our vehicle of choice and Sylvester chose a similar van.
We drove to the security box and Sylvester pulled up beside my van. Then he hopped out and climbed into my van.
"Hey Solomon, call Tysse, Dahnnie, and Zaire. Tell them to drive that van and meet us in Maihzdin." I said to one of my men on the night watch.
He nodded and called them over on his walkie-talkie. Dahnnie and Zaire came from the other security box, while Tysse came jogging up from his perimeter sweep. They all climbed into the other van and got situated.
Before I could take off, the gate opened and we were met with headlights from the other side. The car pulled up beside us and it was Rohlander and a few other guys.
"Hey boss where you headed?" He asked.
"We're going to Maihzdin, to try and get some supplies for the clinic." I replied.
"Can we come? We just finished getting the first half of the refurbishing done on the other house. I still got energy to spare." Rohlander said.
"Sure. I can only take two of you though, we need space for the supplies if we get them." I replied.
"I'll stay here. You and Hoaruhs can go." Jaihme said.
"Yeah I'm beat. I'm going to go lay down for a bit." Ahriel added.
"Hoaruhs...? Any objections?" Rohlander asked.
"None. I will protect the boss with my life, always." He replied dutifully.
"Then climb in, we're already late." I said, unlocking the doors for them.
"Ahriel, you drive back. Make sure you park it back in the garage in slot 8." Rohlander said, before closing the door.
I pulled out ahead of the other van, Tysse had opted to do the driving. I hit the main road a little faster than I had initially planned. The deep gnawing feeling inside me grew with every mile I drove further away from the mansion. I gripped the steering wheel tighter.
It was a maddening feeling, because the further I got from Tristan, the more I wanted to turn back around. I could see Sylvester out of the corner of my eye, fidgeting as well.
'Haaah... This is going to be a long drive...'