“I don’t think Nia even knows about that.” Anna pursed her lips. “We never told him about it. We told his doctor to keep it from him- seems to have worked so far if Nia hasn't questioned it. Plus, he already told us he hasn’t told Leo a thing about our family or who we really are."

Jon glanced down at the top of her head. "So you think I'm overreacting."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement, making Anna look up at him with a smirk. "No. But you have to trust your son sometime. He's gonna be in charge of all of us soon enough here."

Jon scoffed, returning her smirk. "Being the King of Drand doesn't stop him from being our son…but maybe you're right. If anyone here has good intuition…it's you."

Anna hummed, her eyes wandering as she became lost in thought- then, she continued quietly, "we need to tell him everything. About Vasara, D'sion- the core. He can handle it."

Jon gave one final sigh and nodded, letting Anna return her head to his chest. 

Meanwhile Nick was upstairs, rummaging for a shirt in his bedroom closet. He finally landed on a suitable lounging shirt, and as he took the garment off the hanger, a sheathed blade caught his eye, sitting up proudly in the corner of the closet. He stared at it for a moment and pursed his lips, throwing the shirt on the bed and closing the closet door. 

As much as he'd like to take his frustrations out on a few training dummies, or maybe even spar with his sister…he actually was quite sore. Nick pulled his work shirt off of his body with a grimace, letting a breath of relief escape him as he dropped his arms back down, torso bare.

After a moment of reprieve he looked down, peeling the gauze on his chest back to take a look- it was mostly healed now, and he couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the core for its benefits.

It wasn't all bad. 

He moved the gauze back into place, pulling the wraps off of his arms. Those wounds were now fully healed so he disposed of the bandages in the nearby trash can.

Kato, his brother, leaned against the bedroom door, arms crossed. 

"Another attack?"

Nick only nodded, pulling the new shirt over his head and wincing once again. Kato frowned at him. 

“You alright?” He entered the bedroom, taking ownership of the chair at Nick’s desk as the other crawled into the bed, face down. “You don’t seem too excited about this one.”

Nick did have a habit of finding his interactions with signa fun- he took them as practice and relished in the adrenaline of the fight. Kato knew him well.

At 5’10”, Kato stood just two inches taller than his older brother, and unlike their younger sister, Ashley, he didn’t resemble any of the others in their family. Kato was adopted by the Morello’s on their way to Ceros when he was just seven years old from his hometown of Norless, Aranduil. 

Well, adopted was the legal way of putting it- but Kato wouldn’t change a thing one way or another. The Morello’s had accepted him with open arms, and that was all he cared about.

“I’m not.” Nick mumbled into the blanket under him, turning his head to the side to breathe. “I don’t mind takin’ care of ‘em when it’s just me…but Leo was there this time.”

“Ah, that Nightingale you have a crush on.” Kato teased- his brother only grunted in disdain, making Kato chuckle. “Was he hurt?”

Nick hummed. “Nah.”

“Then why are you upset?” Kato tilted his head, genuinely confused. “Oh, is it because you didn’t get to use those neato powers of yours?”

Nick hesitated. “N….no, I did.”

The room was quiet for a moment while Kato processed his brother’s words. “So you…used your powers in front of someone who doesn’t know about them.”

Nick sat up, wearing an exasperated expression. “I had to! I used the shield- he was about to take a hit for me!”

“Aww, he likes you back!” His brother teased him some more and Nick groaned, leaning down to push his face into the blanket to hide his blush. Obviously his brother wasn’t taking this as seriously as he was. “So, he knows then?”

“Yeah.” Nick mumbled. “He knows.”

Kato waited for more for a moment before continuing. “So, I mean-” He was obviously looking for a safe way to word his next statement. “You’re obviously home, not in Nightingale custody- so that’s good, right?”

Nick pulled himself back up with a sigh, slumping his shoulders. “Well, he actually- asked me…out.”

Kato made a face of bewilderment, furrowing his brow. “Before or after the big reveal?”

“Before.” Nick replied. He moved to sit cross-legged on his bed instead, tucking his fingers under his legs. “And he told me this isn’t a deal breaker.”

Kato simply nodded and leaned back, placing a hand on his chin in thought. “He’s kinda weird, then, right?”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Nick threw his hands up, letting them fall back in front of him. “I just told him I’m- y’know, a demi-signa- and this man just lets that slide- and for what?”

“He must really like you.” Kato scoffed, looking at his brother with his arms crossed. “No, but seriously- do you think he knows someone else like you, then?”

“He must.” Nick looked down at the blanket he sat on, thinking. “And if he didn’t report me…You’d think he’d offer to take me there myself to get help- but he didn’t.”

“He doesn’t trust them.”

“He doesn’t- and if a Nightingale doesn’t trust the organization he works for…” He pursed his lips, thinking back to his conversation with his parents. “Then dad’s paranoia seems more justified, right?”

Kato shrugged. “I guess- he hasn’t told you why he hates them, yet?”

“No, nothing. Maybe I should ask Leo about it when I see him again- he actually thinks I might be someone like his subordinate, Lior.” Nick wiggled to sit up straighter. “He has these powers that he said were given to him by Daianha, and they’re like what I can do- but I’m still picked up by Lior’s senses that I’m a signa, apparently.”

“The doctor did say you have a strange core, right?” Kato asked, thinking back to one of their many conversations about Nick’s experience. “It’s not a normal signa core, it’s clear.”

“But it has a dark chunk in the middle.” Nick finished the thought, tilting his head, then he paused, brow furrowing. “The Nightingale doctor back home never mentioned it to me, and I was too afraid to bring it up- but obviously it’s still there….”

Kato followed his train of thought like a line of bread crumbs. “You don’t think- do mom and dad know?”

Nick felt anxiety bubble in his chest that churned into a sickly prickle of anger, but he worked it down and sighed, rubbing his eyes. “They have to. The doctor wouldn’t not tell them something like that- but that means they’ve kept it from me, thinking I don’t know.”

Kato made a silent “eek” face and looked away, sitting up straighter. “So you think this has to do with why dad wants us to stay away from Nightingale?”

Nick shook his head. “No- I mean, maybe? But he’s always hated them, even before this core showed up. Maybe he’s just doubled down because of it?” Nick inhaled sharply- he was quickly forming a headache from the discussion, his brain unwilling to process through any more information. “I’ll- talk to them. That’s the only thing I can do- tell them everything I know. It’s the only way this is gonna start making sense.”

Kato nodded, then leaned forward, hands locked together. “We can talk about that later.” He could tell his brother was burnt out already. “But you gotta tell me about you and Leo- how did he ask? Was he nervous? He strikes me as the secretly anxious type.”

Nick rolled his eyes but smirked, happy to change the subject to something a little lighter. “Yeah, he was a wreck.”