A Weekend at the Evans Household [Closed]

Shem lowers his hand and turns to Indigo. "Should we head to bed soon? I dont know about you but Im kind of exhausted." Shem chuckled.

Indigo yawns and stretches. "Now that you mention it, I am pretty tired. Okay then, bed time." She takes him by the hand and leads him upstairs. "Let's just stick to sleeping tonight, huh?" She says with a playful smirk.

Shem turns bright red and walks with Indigo upstairs into the bed room. In the room, Shem takes off his shirt and looks in the mirror again, a bruise on his chest where Sarah's mace hit him. He looks at his white hair again and smiles. "Not too bad...I think its beginning to growing on me." He turns to Indigo and smiles.

Indigo walks up to Shem and wraps her arms around his middle. "I think it looks cute." She smiles as she rests his head on his chest, swaying to imaginary music. Indigo looks up at Shem and runs her fingers through his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. "One of these days I'm gonna end up hurting you doing that." She lets go of Shem and flips into her bed, rolling around to get under the covers and comfortable, pulling off her outer clothes in the process. "Are you just gonna stare or come snuggle?"

Shem smiles, "Cant I do both?" Shem walks up to the bed, tossing his shirt on a near by chair, kicks off his boots and peels off his socks. He gets under the covers with Indigo, and removes the last of his outer wear. Taking off his broken glasses and puts them on the bed side table he puts his head on the pillow. and turns to Indigo, bringing himself closer to her, wrapping his arm over the soft skin of her stomach. He kisses her on the cheek. "You are so damn beautiful..."

Indigo giggles at the tickling and nuzzles her head under Shem's chin. "I'm also damn lucky." She curls her legs around his, tucking her arms between their chests.

Shem kissed the top of her head. "No, Im the lucky one. I love you so much Indigo..." He strokes her back with his hand as he slowly drifts to sleep. "Youre.....my.....everything..." Shem mumbles as he falls asleep.

((Skip to next morning))

Indigo's eyes open slowly as she hums, waking up slowly. She looks up to find Shem still sleeping soundly. She kisses him on the cheek before getting out of bed, careful not to disturb him. As she makes her way to her dresser to find some clothes, she passes her mirror and spots something out of the corner of her eye that practically makes her heart stop. Her eyes grow wide and she no longer feels tired as she whips around to the mirror. What she sees makes her let out a quiet but still audible scream.

Shem opens his eyes and smiles, hoping to see Indigo there but frowns when she wasnt there. He sits up and stretches and looks at Indigo. "Hey beautiful..." Shem notices something wrong. "...what's wrong?" Shem gets out of bed too, only in his boxers, nearly hitting the bedside table as he got out.

"No no no! Why are they back!" Indigo turns around to confirm that, once again, her torso was covered in the purple scales.

Shem walks up behind Indigo and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Indigo, youre scales are back..." He turns her around so she faces him. "...but who cares? Like I said a long time ago, scales or not, you are beautiful to me." Shem gives her a peck on her lips. "Dont worry, everything will be ok." Shem smiles.

Indigo looks shattered. Shem's words barely register as painful memories flood back to the the front of her mind. The protests, the angry men, the blood.

Shem looks Indigo in the eyes and lets go of her shoulders. He knew something was going on in her head. Thoughts....bad ones. Shem walks over to the edge of the bed and sits down, patting next to him. He didnt care if he was still in his dang underpants, he needed to comfort her. "Indy, I know something is wrong. Do you want to talk about it?"

Indigo puts her hands over her forehead. Absently, she sits beside Shem, tears welling up in her eyes. "I- I thought I was free..."

Shem wraps his arm around her shoulders and brings her in close. "The scales are there for a reason, Indigo. I understand that they are different. Hell, I destroyed a part of the city when I was 15 and branded a monster. But listen to me..." He looks at her in the eyes. "I love you, and I know these scales are burden to you, but like I said, theyre here for a reason, and Ill be here for you no matter the cost"

Indigo finally breaks down into tears. Shem was being far too kind. Once again, at the mention of being branded a monster, the memories returned, demanding greater attention. Screaming, grabbing, cutting... Her mother. Through shaky breaths, Indigo finally managed to say, "W-When I first showed you my scales. That night, I didn't tell you everything. I- I never told you why I hide..." Some more tears rolled down her face. This would be painful. More of the repressed memory floated to the front of her thoughts. "I'll kill you, you damn freak!"

Shem stood up and kneeled in front of Indigo and wiped her tears away. "Why? You can tell me anything Indigo..." Shem showed concern on his face.

Indigo closes her eyes, sending fresh tears down her cheeks. She pulls Shem up to her, hugging him tightly. "I was eight years old." She squeezes him a little tighter. "I- I was on my way to school... With mom..." More of the memory surfaced. The blood, the screaming, "Where's your mommy, little freak?"

Shem hugs her back just as tight. Shem didnt say a word but continued to listen to Indigo's story.

Indigo swallow hard. "There were protest going on. I never really knew what they were for specifically."

A young girl, wearing a purple dress and a bow in her white, shoulder length hair, on her shoulders, purple scales are revealed slightly, walks along the sidewalk holding the hand of an extremely tall woman. The woman, Anastasia Evans, wears more formal attire, her blonde hair is done in a tight bun and on her wrists are large golden forearm guards. As the two walked along the sidewalk, the sound of an angry crowd grows louder. The young Indigo seemed unfazed by the noise, but Anastasia's face grew increasingly more concerned. Eventually, as they turned a corner, a large brick building can be seen, surrounded by people, most of which were faunus. The crowd stood, yelling at a man standing at a podium. The only thing it seemed keeping them from rushing the stage was a line of police officers. Many of the protesters held signs or waved flags bearing the White Fang insignia. Indigo seemed only slightly perturbed by the sight, but Anastasia sensed danger and gripped her daughter's hand tighter. Regardless, Indigo pulled her mother along, not wanting to be late for school and seeing her friends. At the edge of the mob, Anastasia kneels down, placing her hands on Indigo's tiny shoulders. "Listen closely, Indigo. I'm going in to see what this about. Stay here. If anyone talks to you, ignore them or run. Understand?" Indigo was slightly confused, but understood her mother's seriousness. She nodded. Anastasia kissed Indigo on the forehead before activating the golden cylinders on her forearms. With a series of clicks and hisses, Radii Solis activates, the long golden spikes extending over her hands and out the full five feet. She shoves the now dulled spikes into the crowd, pulling people to the side and clearing a path for herself to enter the mob. To a normal person, the 7' 4'' woman with enormous golden spikes for arms would be easy to pick out of a crowd. The same task is not so easy if you are only 40 inches tall. Indigo sat on the curb, facing away from the crowd, practicing her addition on her fingers. For a long time, the crowd's noise faded into the back of Indigo's awareness. Until she felt a hand grab her shoulder. It was not a hand she recognized. Before she could even turn to face the stranger, she was assaulted by a gravely voice, yelling over the white noise of the mob. "What the hell is this!" Indigo fell on the street, Anastasia's instructions echoing in her head. More men and women, some with horns, some with antlers, others with various kinds of ears joined the verbal assault. She didn't even have time to think about what they were so angry about before she began running as fast as her feet would carry her, she knew the way home, it wasn't far, she could make it! But grown men and women were faster than a child. It wasn't long before a hand grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling it down to reveal more purple scales on her back. "There's more!" "I've never seen skin like that." "They aren't fake!" "What a freak!" Indigo started crying, a little girl surrounded by at least ten adult and teenage men and women, all outraged at the skin of an innocent child. Some tried plucking at the scales, some hit her, trying to to get revenge for an insult that couldn't be helped. Indigo screamed for her mother or father, flailing madly, trying to escape the forest of grabbing hands and kicking feet. "No one's gonna help a monster like you!" As if in response to the promise, a golden spike forces it's way through the horned man's stomach with a splash of blood. Anastasia towers above the group, her eyes and face darkened with fury. That was the last thing Indigo saw before she blacked out; Her mother and the stunned mob. Indigo would awaken for a moment to be in her mother's arms, the both of them covered in blood.

Shem listens to the story, and when the story ended, he lets go of Indigo's hug and looks deeply into her eyes. "I didnt know Indigo... I'm sorry..." Shem tried to form other words but he couldnt. He knew of being treated like a monster. "But dont worry, Indy, you are beautiful. No one is going to call you that anymore, no one is going to hurt you because of your uniqueness. I'll make sure of that...  WE will make sure of it." Shem hugs Indigo tightly again.

Indigo inhaled deeply though her nose. The silence hung for a few moments before Indigo finally lost all restraint, fully breaking down into hysterics. She dropped of the bed onto her knees and buries her face in Shem's shoulder.

Shem holds Indigo tightly. Not a word was said except for a "there, there" and a "Im here for you, Indigo" now and then. Shem didnt know what else to say but he felt like he was doing the right thing.

After ten minutes of crying, ten minutes of release, the pain of nine long years of fear and hiding, poured into Shem's shoulder, Indigo finally pulled back. Her face was red and puffy from the crying. "Sh- Shem... Thank you." She took a shaky breath. "Th- Thank you, thank you for loving me. And everything else."

Shem held Indigo's head, wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. "No...thank you..." Tears rolling down his face now too.