Loosely based off magic AU but does not affect plot of Magic AU

[wing_leader]

If anything, Kohl could say that the breaking in period of the security unit was a better test of patience than anything else. Six weeks of dealing with men, the recruits and the seniors with nothing better to do than be the gossip mill. Namely, Kohl had become the wheel of the gossip mill. Nearly every test he excelled at and Chan was consistently altering the man's training to make it challenging, which was on occasion, hit and miss. He kept to himself even though he was rooming in with Arm. His Thai was abyssmal while it was well known that his daughter might as well have been a native with how well she spoke it. No one really knew why he was here, outside of the main family and Chan's knowledge. And everyone was intrigued by him.

He didn't do the gym showers. He kept to himself. Commadre seemed to be a foreign concept for him. He rarely said more than two words to Arm in their rooms!

That all seemed to change when the pool test came about. First was timed laps, and then the second half was escaping from the ropes while underwater. The dozen and a half recruits (down from nearly 36) were there in skin tight shorts, waiting for the lap qualifications to start. It was Kohl that came in with shorter swim briefs and every muscle defined. All of his ink was on display then which was cause for a buzz considering some people were questioning his loyalty. They looked like he was actually part of another family.

And the fact he had been hiding all that muscling all along was cause for some crushes and some jealousy across the board. Kohl ignored the looks and listened to the instructor and then nodded at his specific instructions. He was tasked to go double the length in 1.5 of the time allotted. Fine by him.

That was probably another thing that either pissed off the other men or made them more infatuated with Kohl: He simply accepted the instructions and planned on accomplishing them. Not once did Kohl ever voice uncertainly about completing a task.

Comments

[wing_leader]

"Hey." Kohl stopped, turned Maggie around and cupped her face. His eyes bore into hers as he spoke slowly and distinctly. "Maggie. This is crisis humor. I love you, and I will read anything you put in front of me, okay?" He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Even cheesy fan fics of...I don't know, what's the current popular series now?"

"You'll have to ask Khun," Kinn said as he didn't follow any of that.

"Right." Listening to the explanation. "And... is it still working?" He looked to Kinn. The man thought about it and then nodded. Yeah, it was working. As far as Kinn knew, perfectly fine.

"Okay. That's a plus, then." Back to getting some clothes on and figuring out this next problem.

[liveforthemoment]

Maggie's eyes met Kohl's they didn't hold their usual glint of mischief and humor. "I know. I wanted you both to know you don't have to though. It's a lot of boring shit that reads like an Ikea instruction guide. Like I said before I am not even sure how much you would be able to read some of the languages are old dead ones."

What she didn't say was that she was considering breaking the bond, just so that when things went wrong with her it couldn't follow that link and effect Kinn too. Yindee had to have at least one of her parents to help teach her about who she is. the little one could have a very confusing path ahead if she got both power sets, not to mention the path she would have inheriting the business.

[wing_leader]

"And I want you to know that fighting for your life is not a burden," he murmured back, stroking her cheek.

Kinn went ahead for some extra clothes for them, trying to use his worry like armor. They needed someone who wasn't going to lose it even though inside he was crumbling faster than coffee cake. "Which library do we start in?" he asked quietly, bringing water bottles for them all.

[liveforthemoment]

Maggie's eyes lowered and she nodded. She leaned into his touch then looked up to him. " I want to make love to you two before we leave here. I feel like that is something we need to do."

She looked to Kinn, " The third tower." it was the highest tower and a hard climb up the steps, but it was where all the oldest books were kept.

[wing_leader]

Kohl nodded slightly. "Deal."

Kinn wasn't so thrilled about being up on the third tower, but he trudged on none the less. Reaching the library, he set the bottles down and made certain Maggie and Kohl got up here safely. "At least the view is stunning as ever," he said, motioning to the windows that were nothing but a swirling kalidascope of purple, black, and sparkles.

Kohl watched the entertainment outside for a minute before he went to get to work. "Okay. Where do we start?"

[liveforthemoment]

Getting up to the tower was a serious pain in the crack, but none the less she made it up there. Moving to turn on the electric space heaters right away. The woman did not do cold at all and it was nippy up there.

She looked thoughtful a moment " We can try looking for witches who had the ability to heal others and not just self healing. There are books stored in baggies that you can't touch with bare hands. You have to wear gloves."

[wing_leader]

Kohl nodded. "Are any of the spelled with extra protections?"

Kinn stared at him for a moment. Kohl shrugged. "'Rista has a few that are booby-trapped." He was already picking up a pair of gloves. "I rather not get zapped in the ass if I'm not supposed to touch it."

Kinn shook his head, already going to one section to find the topic Maggie had mentioned.

[liveforthemoment]

" The ones like that will actually tell you to put them down. The entire place is so well guarded a lot were released when they were brought here."

Maggie started in another section, she was faster thumbing through things being the nerd she was.

[wing_leader]

Kohl took his time going through the books, accustomed to do this type of research. Kinn's brows were knit together as he slogged through the books, some of the terminology gumming up his comprehension. When he snapped a book shut in frustration, Kohl came over to him and help out a bit, also coming to the conclusion that it wasn't relevant.

[liveforthemoment]

after some time Maggie stood up closing another book that showed nothing to her. Her ears were ringing and her eyes stung. " I need a break. I am going to the onesan." she said starting the trek down the steps. She was hoping that the little break would help some thing settle in her brain and help them make sense.

[wing_leader]

"Okay," Kinn acknowledged, smiling gently. "Love you."

It was a few more minutes before he looked to Kohl. "What are we going to do?"

Kohl's face was a mix of somber and sad. "Live each day as if it's the last one."

"And you can be so calm about this....why?"

"Because this time, I'm told there's going to be an expiration date instead of it being stolen all at once and without warning."

[liveforthemoment]

Maggie smiled from the steps. " I love you too. Both of you." she lingered for a second more before she was gone.

Maggie had been gone about thirty minutes, when there was something that was curling around the tower, energy, glowing a soft golden color. Then the tower lurched, in fact the whole side of the Castle did things rattling and less secure things tumbling from their places.