See chapter one for disclaimers and warnings.

RECAP: Upon arriving, the state of the safehouse sets all of Terius' Pareyic instincts on edge. After Serverus shows them around the house, tempers flare when Terius wants to clean the place from top to bottom. Escaping the situation, Severus shows off the backyard of the safehouse.

Terius watched both of them disappear through the kitchen doorway.

He had two options—use the magic anyway, or use it outside of the mansion and make them equally miserable at the inconvenience. Well, maybe it wouldn't make them miserable—he seemed to be the only one affected by the new restrictions. It would definitely be easier to manipulate the spellwork if it were inside the mansion.

He was an Air Elemental after all and affecting the Air within the mansion's confines, no matter how subtly, would help to put him at ease and keep a better reading on his new Bonded. From the way they were sticking to each other, he had a feeling they would be a handful.

A sigh escaped.

A very large handful.

Still, as much as he would like to imagine it, Terius knew he wouldn't be using magic to deliberately upset or irritate them this early in their bonding. His instincts would not let him and to push too hard up against that, would only produce a headache that he didn't have the stomach for.

Of course, if it was a matter of his stomach versus his head, there was no doubt which one would win out. He was a good Pareya after all and this was simply something that he'd figure out as they went along.

If Severus wasn't going to allow any sort of magic though, then Terius figured he'd simply have to put up with the rest of the house being cleaned—at dragel-speed.

It'd be a pain. It'd be thankless work.

But it'd also be clean—and done.

Sleeves rolled up into place, Terius continued on through the house on his own, towards the general direction of outside, per Severus' curt nod. He was pleasantly surprised to find a sizable backyard with two large gardens occupying most of it.

Or at least, some largely overgrown monstrosities in the general shape and position of what must've been kitchen gardens at one time. The urge to take a large sickle to the thing and hack away at it, was quite strong.

There was a simple hedge in the center, with a few decorative pots and plants, encircling a simple garden plot, but Terius could already guess that they were potions ingredients and not there to brighten up the space. One side of the small square plot seemed to be for potions ingredients and the other for herbs.

He could recognize a few basic greens and some vegetables in the back row, all the way at the end, while the rest were unidentifiable. From the careful attention to the plants in the little center square plot and well-weeded rows, Terius knew it was a beloved garden.

Severus had at least thought it worth the effort of maintaining and now, he watched Terius' inspection, with a thinly concealed air of worry. As if he was afraid that somehow, Terius would not approve.

That was an interesting twist of emotion, Terius mused. He moved to take better stock of the small square plot. At a glance, he could pick out some basic root vegetables and some unfamiliar ones, that looked edible enough. A reference spell could help with that, he mused.

He didn't dare poke through the beds, for fear of disturbing anything too much. If this little square was all that Severus was interested in, then that meant he could work on the other two large plots that took up the second half of the back yard.

"Do you really spend time here?" Draco asked, doubtfully. He stood with his back to the large backyard and stared at the house.

The outside of the house itself was almost as appalling as the inside and it definitely wasn't a glamour. From the barely concealed horror on Draco's face, it was clear that he didn't think much of it at all and he didn't really want to stay.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is a functional safe house, Draco," he drawled. "Functional. A simple cleaning and a few repair spells will clean the worst of it. The wards extend to the back. Everything you see visibly here is safe and ours. Anything that is greyed out, is not and you should never venture beyond the wards."

Draco frowned. "Severus," he said, warningly.

"It is a simple direction," Severus said, abruptly. "The house and the yard. You may both do as you like. I need to take care of those-cauldrons."

"We need to make a plan of some sort," Terius countered. "The cauldrons can wait. They've waited this long already."

Severus bristled. "The plan is to stay alive," he snapped. "And the longer we manage it, the better off we are." His dark eyes flicked to Draco, before his shoulders hunched forward, making him appear even more miserable than before.

"How long?" Draco asked, bravely.

"I don't know." Severus bit off the words.

"Go," Terius said, stepping forward. He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder, attempting to reassure him. "Play with your cauldrons or whatever it is that would put you in better humors. The sooner you are sufficiently clearheaded, the better it will be for the rest of us." He lifted his chin, his building glare daring Severus to contradict him. "I have work to see to and if there is anything in this yard that you wish to keep, I suggest you ward it."

Draco leaned into him, ever so slightly. He looked almost as miserable as Terius felt, but he refused to meet Severus' angry stare.

After a long moment, Severus scowled and turned away, his robes billowing behind him. An off-handed spell was cast over one shoulder and it was a small area ward, that encircled the small center garden plot.

Terius watched him disappear into the house, taking his anxieties with him. He was glad the door didn't slam, but the instinctive stab of unhappiness left him rubbing his chest, faintly. The bond was taking much faster than he'd expected and apparently, it wanted him to keep both his Alpha and Submissive content.

He rubbed his forehead. They would need to find a Beta as soon as possible or even another Pareya. Someone-anyone-who would help to carry the mental burden that was now weighing heavily on his shoulders.

Draco scowled after Severus. "He's so bloody stubborn!" he muttered. A half-hearted glare was tossed at Terius, as he pulled away now, seemingly confused as to why he'd gone to Terius in the first place. "And his potions are important. Don't make them sound like that. He likes them."

"I figured as much," Terius said, simply. "But my work is important too. It isn't something I am doing for my own amusement. I don't understand what's wrong with using blood magic when it would solve a great deal of our current problems. I don't know your blood strength or his, but mine is quite fine. It really wouldn't affect it, at least, not in the way that I understand it, regardless of realm."

Draco huffed. "I'm not the potions master," he said, crisply. "And I think I'm going to hate it here."

Terius winced. That was a second stab of disapproval and he hated it. "Because it looks like a mess or-"

"My father's dead," Draco said, quietly. "And I expect that means Mother as well. She was—she-" he faltered. Pulling all the way away from Terius, he retreated to the creaky back porch.

Terius watched him go, unable to find words that would help in that moment. More than words, he simply wished to hold him, until every speck of sadness was blended into something happier.

Instead, he watched Draco poke at the broken outdoor furniture and then decide against actually sitting on the half-rotted wooden stairs leading down to the yard. The mansion really was in a horrible state.

He had no idea how Severus had managed after all this time, potions or not. There was no need for the overgrown, dilapidated appearance, and that was the first thing that Terius decided to tackle. He was already making notes for dinner, the necessary meal planned out, along with possible leftovers for the next day.

Severus had said he could use magic outside or rather, he hadn't said that he couldn't, so that was what he'd do. They'd need some ingredients for the simple meal he had planned and he'd have to put his transfiguration skills to work to create all the necessary dishes and utensils needed.

He knelt on the ground, digging through the grass to reach the dirt, with his clawed hands. Once there was a small, fist-sized hole, he used one spell to clean the dirt from his claws and another to make a tiny cut on one finger. A single drop of blood was squeezed into the rich, dark earth.

And the magic answered.

It was energy that surged up from the ground, pulsing upward and outward, aiming to go wherever he directed it. "And that should take care of the outside," he muttered to himself, watching as the magic tore over the house, settling it into place.

Window shutters were straightened, cleaned and repaired. Siding was cleaned, repaired and coated with a layer of magical preservation. The yard was straightened up. The back porch and patio were blasted free of the encrusted grime and dirt, leaving behind a shiny, if somewhat threadbare look.

There were two rickety wire chairs around a small, square table, in the center of the yard, with a low hedge around it. Terius guessed it had come with the house, because Severus didn't seem like the type to fuss with garden furniture, unless it was a sturdy worktable of sorts—of which there were three at the far end of the garden, towards a sizable garden shed, hidden in a corner.

He had no time to check the spell from there, because it had already reached. A shiny, sparkling newness was now left behind, everything renewed or repaired like new.

Draco's squeak of surprise would've been adorable, if Terius was in the mood to notice. Instead, he'd frowned at watching the way the spell had caught Draco by surprise. It seemed his Submissive couldn't even read the intent of a low-level blood magic spell like this.

That didn't bode well at all.

A/N: Welp. He cleaned that house alright. LOL. Or at least the outside of it, the next chapter should be Terius powering through the inside of the safehouse. :P Poor, poor Severus. Oh well. Maybe some potion-making will put him in better humors...

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing (Stay safe and take care)!

~Scion