sticks a n d stones

[Ginny Weasly]

"Okay then."

Ginny pulled away, shifting herself so that she was facing him fully while she sat on the couch. She grasped both of his hands, biting her lip for a moment.

"My iwsh, love, is for you and I to get married...next week. Not in a few months...not in a year. Next week."

Her eyes searched his, worried that he would say no.

[Xaver]

When Ginny pulled from him, Xaver visibly stilled, the dark pools of his gaze both curious, and nervous.

He had not forgotten, in the events that were quick to transpire and overlap those of the earlier evening - but he had been hunted, for hours, before he'd come across his family. He'd murdered a man, not minutes before. In some sick, twisted reality, the thought didn't weigh too heavily on his conscience - for, indeed, the act had overall been in self-defense - but Xaver couldn't help the remaining feelings of defensiveness and self-preservation. Worry, and consciousness of the wrong, and wronged..


He had left his family for too long.

Sure, the consequences of such an act had slowed the chances of an attack on his family.. But Xaver regretted, and hated, every moment he had to spend away from the two living beings that were what made him whole. What kept him sane. Ginny and Cody were what, truly, was keeping Xaver alive, in so many senses. If it wasn't for them, the drive behind his creature, would have faded long ago...

He wasn't sure where Ginny was going with the conversation.
And that worried him.
For, indeed, he had been gone so long. And, as was obvious, nothing good had happened to him over the course of his absence. He didn't know if she was going to drop the weight of choice on him - force him to chose which life he wanted.. Though, Xaver knew he had no choice with his kingdom, though he wanted nothing more than to be at home... With his family.

He had lived a long, and complicated life, sure - however, Xaver wanted to settle down. He wanted to be a family man. Be there for Ginny. Raise Cody..
He didn't want to be the father that left his family with nothing but a name that would live on.. And a headstone.
He wanted to be there in the flesh. He wanted to live life in full color - he wanted to be with them, d_mn it. ...Life, however, had other plans for the Fallen lord, for the time being at least.

Fate was a Bl*CH.

Xaver relaxed into the couch, trying for confidence, as he tried to see through the air of nervousness about his redheaded goddess, though he couldn't grasp what she was so nervous about..


"..is for you and I to get married.."


He blinked, staring at her for a long, calculated moment, before a smile slowly, then surely, stole its way across his features, rewriting every harsh line and renewing the spark in the molten blues of his gaze. He leaned toward her, and brought his hands to her face, gently tilting her chin up, and claiming her mouth for a kiss. He pulled back after a moment, but only just, brushing feather-soft kisses over her chin, and nose, and jaw, before quietly chuckling into the soft shell of her ear.

"Wish granted, my love. And only as you want it."

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny smiled as he did, accepting his kisses, and giving him a few of her own. But she shook her head slowly after he spoke.

"Wait, I've two more." Three wishes was the usual, was it not?

She paused, sighing as she tried to figure the best way to word it.
"The next is more for our child's sake, actually." She lost her smile, gaining back her thoughtful frown, "You see, he is very angry with us. His biggest wish is to see the Kingdoms we rule over."

Ginny shook her head again, "I know how dangerous it is. I don't want him to, but he's going to meet with danger a lot in his life. And a short visit to your realm couldn't do much harm to him, could it?"

It could, she knew that. The dangers posed by both kingdoms were great. But Cody was desperate to know more. Especially of his father's realm, which held so much mystery for him. He wanted to know more, to experience more. He wanted to see where his dad disappeared to all these days.

Ginny didn't voice the third wish, and in fact had no plans to yet. It was a privet wish, one that had been nagging her recently. One that she didn't expect to be granted for a while yet.
One that Cody had voiced to her.

[Xaver]

"Wait, I've two more."

Xaver couldn't help a low, bemused chuckle, at this.

He didn't care if she made two, or two hundred more wishes in his ear - so long as it was to his ear she whispered her desires, and him, she desired. He knew nothing of genies, or myths of the sort - such things didn't transpire over into his own world, and he'd never heard mention of such a thing. Her pressing want for two more wishes, however, piked his interest, and so he nodded.
He leaned back, to see her face as she worded her next inquiry, though his handsome features became more prominantly curious, and thoughtful.

"..a short visit to your realm couldn't do much harm to him, could it?"
Xaver's smile was halfish, and grim.

"It is his right, I do suppose..." he said quietly. "He'll need to visit the worlds other, of which he was truly born to."

Xaver sighed, sinking into the couch with weighted thoughts, though he was soon to push them away, as he planted another kiss atop Ginny's head.

"And your third and final wish, dearest mine?"

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny tilted her head, obviously trying to pass the third off as some insignificant thought. Some passing idea that had hardly been formed.
In fact, she had been thinking of it a lot.
And Cody had asked a few times.

"Cody wants a sibling." She said airily, adding a small chuckle.

[Xaver]

Xaver looked at her.

And blinked.
Trying to fight the huge, bemused grin that eventually stole its way over his mouth and brought a deep, rumbling laugh to the confines of his chest.
He couldn't help it. Thinking that her last wish, at least, would be something concerning something troublesome, perhaps - something... for there were so many things..

But another child?

It was, truly, the last thing he'd expected to hear.

Xaver leaned foreword, pressing his forehead to hers, a hand rising and gently cupping the side of her face, the grin over his features refusing to wane.


"And is that your wish, as well?"

[Ginny Weasly]

"Well..." Ginny looked to the side, not sure if his laughter was good or not.

His reaction made her cautious to continue.
"To be honest...I have been thinking about it."

She fumbled with her hands, "You know, before Cody gets too old to accept a sibling."

"And," She shrugged, "Before I get too old to have anymore."

"Plus, you know...I just...miss having a baby to take care of."

All good reasons, in her eyes. She hadn't really been thinking of them. She just wanted to convince him. Was his laughter at her expense?

[Xaver]

Xaver couldn't help his immediate reaction.
The flooding of joy to his senses was overwhelming.

He brought her hands between his own when she finished, and drew them to his mouth, breaking away from her face to press kisses over the backs of them.

"I've always dreamed of a large, warm family. You and Cody are the only sense of love and home I have ever known or wanted... Though I also believe, I have enough love for however large a brood of children your desires require."

Xaver grinned.

"I may be behind, however, on a few time-managing skills.."

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny smiled then, shaking her head slowly.
"You are going to hate that you agreed to this, you know." She said, her tone slipping from seriousness into a joking, teasing voice.

"If I am able to get pregnant again, you are going to rue this day for agreeing." She slipped her hands from his and threw them around him. She hugged him, kissing his cheeks happily.

"I won't sleep, I'll be sick a lot, and in a much worse mood than most of the time."

[Xaver]

"Just another side, of you.."

Xaver smiled, easily, accepting her kisses.
He brought his arms around her, and gently lifted her, pulling her onto his lap, and holding her close.

He grinned.
"Let us rue the day, together."

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny laughed, hugging him tightly and kissing him.
"Sounds good to me." She said, giggling happily.

She kissed his forehead, "Though, they are all gonna look like you. Any child we have is going to look like you."
She smirked, "You'll have a bunch of little copies." She giggled, "Not that I mind."

[Xaver]

Xaver couldn't help the grin that stole over his features, full of amusement, and joy.
"I have a feeling," he said, tones low, and warm, as he nuzzled his face into the base of her throat. "That our next will have your hair. Maybe your eyes. Maybe a girl. Who knows."
He pulled back, just far enough to see her face.
"Neither of our families had many girls. In our generations, at least. So who knows.."

He smiled, light-heartedly.
Xaver could care less what the sex of any child could be, though despite the unlikelinesses, he had a feeling...

[Ginny Weasly]

Ginny smiled, "A cursed child that would be." She told him, nodding playfully.

"The only good thing about looking like me would be the color of my hair." She reached up, tugging on a strand gently. Then she reached out, her fingers skimming over what was left of his black hair.

"Your hair distresses me, love."

[Xaver]

Xaver's smile was small, as he settled back into the couch, leaning easily, his arms still circling her waist. His fingers entwined over her hip, he relaxed, comforted by her weight over his thighs, crossing his legs at his ankles. The dark, ocean blue depths of his eyes followed the trail of her fingers, over her hair, then found her eyes, when her fingertips brushed what remained of his own.
A muscle in his cheek twitched, in an effort of a smile, though the expression had faded into a quiet, open reserve.

"Because it is shorter than you are accustomed, my love?"

[Ginny Weasly]

"A bit." Ginny admitted, her fingers rubbing his scalp gently as she spoke.

"Mostly because without you even telling me, I know this hairstyle wasn't your choice."Ginny knew that something bad had happened.
She smiled slightly, "It makes you look frightening."

Ginny kissed his forehead again, "And you aren't frightening. You are warm, and kind, and loving, and sweet, and very very nice." She leaned against him, her side against his chest, her head on his shoulder.

She was silent for a moment, thinking.

"Will you tell me what happened?"