"Yeah, whatever." Reaching for her glass Fallon threw back her shot. There was no part of her that believed him, nor had he given her reason to. "Should I leave, then? Since I'm not welcome to randomly stop in as I've done the entirety of your living here?"

  

Fuck, now he felt guilty. Kieran frowned into his glass. "I don't want you to leave," he admitted. He just didn't want her poking around his life or his answers, either.

---

  

"Fine," she muttered. Then, softer and more earnestly she added as one last comment. "I hope you know you come before my job. You, Malou, Jesse. You're my family."

  

Kieran exhaled; some of the tension rolled out of his shoulders with the motion. "I know," he said, "I love you."

He still couldn't tell her - there was too much at risk if he did. Maybe if he had never made a mistake, he could tell her, but not when Topaz Urquart was a werewolf and it was his fault.

---

  

The repeated declarations of love unsettled Fallon all the more. As far back as she could remember they had never really been the sort to be so vocal with their affection. They were siblings, familial love was meant to come with that.

She waved it off dismissively. Kieran wasn't going to tell her and shs was through asking. "What happened to the stew?" She asked instead.

  

Kieran was relieved that affection scared her enough to get her off the subject, and exhaled, straightening. "Well, you distracted me from chopping my carrot," he said, tossing the carrot at her. "Grab a knife, you can help."

---

  

Fallon raised a brow at her brother. That her cooking skills were dreadful was — she thought — rather well known around these parts. But, perhaps she could chop a carrot at least. Merlin knew she had watched Malou do it enough. "Sure," she agreed and grabbed the knife to begin cutting. "Don't expect me to be of much help otherwise, though."

  

"Why do you think I gave you the stabbing-based activities," Kieran said dryly. He lit the stovetop with a flick of his wand and a muttered incantation, setting the pot on it. "I'm well aware I have all of the domestic skills in this family."

---

  

Fallon chuckled and began to chop the carrots into mismatched sized pieces. "Wish you could've spared me some. Might've made the whole marriage concept a bit less frightening." She said without looking from the vegetables.

  

"Eh," Kieran said impassively, "You're more likely to get married than I am, I think." He poured stock and water into the pot, and summoned the pork and onions from the other side of the counter. He handed the onion to her. "Chop this, too."

---

  

"Sooner than you might think, too." Fallon said. Things with Jesse were undeniably heading in that direction, or so she hoped. But then, she rather thought to be engaged by Christmas and that hadn't happened either.

She slid the chopped carrots to the side of her cutting board and began to work on the onion. "Why don't you think you're getting married ever?"

  

Ugh, Fallon was going to go and get married to her rich boy and Kieran was going to be here living in a tenement forever. Then he would have to visit her in Bartonburg and try not to poke too much fun at her boy for only being related to people who were legally married and happy about it.

In the absence of having actually met Hatchitt, and therefor being unable to find actual flaws to bully him for, Kieran had settled for focusing on The Class Thing.

"Well, I'm not exactly a paragon of financial or emotional stability," Kieran said by way of answer, "And I already raised you, I'm not interested in children."

Having sliced the pork, he dropped it into the pot.

---

  

"Children can be such awful little shits, too." She laughed. The younger two Abernathy's were proof enough of that. "Can't say I blame you for not wanting them." Finishing chopping the onion, Fallon slid the board with the cut vegetables towards him to dump into the pot. "You really want to be alone, though? Marriage doesn't necessarily mean children."

  

Kieran dumped in the onion and carrot. With everything in the pot, he covered it. "Eventually, that'll be stew," he said wisely; they had a while to go until then, though. "Marriage doesn't mean people won't be alone, either," he said, because their parents were a good example of that, "I think I'll be alright. I've never sought a kept woman."

---

  

"I suppose." In all honesty, Fallon didn't think she could picture Kieran as a husband. He was responsible enough for it, she supposed, but the title just didn't fit his personality well. A marriage of convenience, maybe. "I bet Eileen would marry you if you asked nicely." Fallon added jokingly.

  

Kieran laughed. "Eileen is like a second sister to me," he said, because she was - never mind that many people assumed they were common law married already.

---