Chapter Text
Pyro was late. Owen huffed as he leaned on the newly constructed table they were all sitting around. He had to admit, for a pampered rich boy who’s been asleep for more than half a millennia, Scott was pretty handy when it came to fixing the ruins up. It was almost livable at this point, of course that’s only because the humans finally took the hint that Scott wasn’t about to let his property fall into the hands of mere mortals. They seemed to have chosen to focus on maintaining the easier to defend beacons, instead of wasting what precious little time they had left putting this one back.
He glanced around the table at the others. Shelby sat alone on one side, she seemed mostly unbothered by the delay of the meeting, passing the time writing in a notebook. To his right sat the two newest members of their little family. Apo sat the furthest away, he wasn’t even sure how Cleo managed to convince her to come. She was curled up in her seat, looking like they wanted to be anywhere else. Cleo sat in the middle picking at their nails, she seemed annoyed at having to wait but not finding the issue worth complaining about. Finally, at the head of the table, was Scott. He sat in a relaxed pose, the kind you’d expect a member of nobility to assume, one leg over the other and his head resting on his fist. To the average person you’d think he was simply bored, but Owen was not the average person, now was he? He saw the way he glanced at the open spot between him and Shelby when he thought no one was looking. Like the lack of the other's presence was making him nervous.
They heard Pyro before they saw him. A frantic flapping of wings and spewing of apologies alerted everyone to his arrival. They watched them leave his bat form and move towards the table, stumbling over his own feet in their hurry to get to Scott's side.
“Sorry! I know, I know, I'm late. I'm sorry!” Pyro rambled as he stopped beside his seat, trying to catch his breath between words, “Sorry for making everyone wait! Did not plan on it happening! I'm so sor-”
“Yes, we get it, you're sorry.” Scott cut him off, eyes narrowing as he looked at his fledgling, a menacing smile gracing his face, fangs on full display, “What I want to know is why you are so late. Care to explain yourself?” Owen could see the fear in Pyro's eyes as he faced the elder. Finally, some entertainment. He could even see the other three looking on in interest.
“Oh yes, of course,” they began, “Well I actually left early to come here, so I could do some hunting on the way. So I'm out in the woods and just as I start feeding on a sheep, I hear footsteps and voices behind me. I look up and who do I see, but Drift and Avid.” Scott gives an annoyed groan at the names, this seems to give Pyro more confidence in his story. He gives a shaky smile as he continues.
“Just like those two to walk up while I was trying to have a snack,” he said, “Of course it didn't take long for them both to give chase. I had used my bat form right before in order to do the hunting, so I was on foot until I could transform again. Once I was able to do that, it was easy work to lose those two…actually I think Avid fell in a hole at the end there, which definitely helped.” Owen watched Pyro laugh a bit to himself at the memory, then he watched said laughter die off as they realized no one else had joined in.
“Uh…Anyways!” He goes on, turning away from the group slightly and trying to dispel the awkward air, “That’s why I’m late, but I’m here now!”
“Hm…Alright. I’ll accept it.” Owen watches as Pyro instantly turns back to Scott. The elder vampire is sitting fully upright now, looking at the younger with amusement. Though, now that Owen thinks about it, he wasn’t sure if Scott had taken his eyes off the other since he arrived. Interesting. In any case it seemed that Pyro hadn’t noticed the staring, he seemed more preoccupied in what had been said.
“You’ll…accept it?”
“I accept your reasoning.” Scott clarified, “You’ve been given a pass for being late. As long as you are more careful next time.”
“Oh.” Any remaining fear Pyro had been showing melted away, he smiled at the older man. “Thank you. And of course, I’ll be extra careful next time. No need to worry about me, Sire.” Owen paused at that, but before he could truly process the fact that Pyro was still using that term, another voice spoke first.
“What.” It was Apo. She was still tucked into her chair, but they were staring at the two vampires at the head of the table with a mixture of confusion, shock, and disgust on her face. An understandable reaction in Owen’s opinion. The two in question looked over at her, even Scott seemed surprised to hear them speak.
“What did you just call him?” she continued, not giving anyone a moment to jump in, “Did I hear you correctly? Did you just call him ‘Sire’? Is that something expected of us? Because I am not doing that. I am putting my foot down on that one. There is no way I am calling you by any sort of title! Especially not one that-”
“Enough.” The tone of Scott’s voice made Apo freeze, his blood red eyes glaring at her. He continued, “No, you don’t have to call me that. In fact, I think I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“You…You would?” Came a weak reply from Pyro, he looked hurt at the admission, hurt at the mere thought that he had been using a term that was unwanted after not being corrected for so long. Scott glanced at the man beside him and sighed, leaning back into his seat.
“I think,” He began, “that from now on, Pyro, you alone may call me ‘Sire.’ Since everyone else seems so appalled by the mere idea of it.” He smiled at Pyro, a smaller, more genuine smile. “Besides, it sounds wrong coming from any of you.” He looked back towards the crowd.
“What does that mean?” Apo pushed, “Coming from us?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. When you said it, I could tell you didn’t mean it. I could feel the disgust in your voice, the disgust at the gift I gave you that you agreed to take.”
“I- That- You- You know that’s not how it went down! I thought it would stop you from turning anyone else!”
“Either way,” Scott brushes past Apo’s sputtering, “When you say it, it feels wrong. When Pyro says it, it feels right. I know he means it. They respect me.”
Another kind word, another glance, another genuine smile, all of it towards Pyro. Owen wasn’t a fool. He knew exactly what was happening. Pyro was obvious, the devotion and loyalty made it clear how he felt about the other, but Scott? Now that he wasn’t expecting. He wouldn’t have expected the other to grow so attached.