Despite what Higgs thought, all seemed to be going well between Kans and Merida. A little too well, if he had any say in it. They spent a lot of time together, Merida trying new things on Kans to help with the Midas touch or she was checking in on Edgar, who seemed to be doing better. Although he loved his uncle dearly, Merida was his maid...

***********************

"Ms. Dunbrough."
"Hmm?" Merida said, looking around. She finally looked up. "Oh, Mr. Higgs. What are ye doing up there?"
"I've been here practically all month..." he said with a growl as he slowly descended the webbing. "Or have you completely forgotten about me since you've discovered the travesty of my uncle?"
Merida blinked for a minute and then smiled, patting Higgs on the cheek.
"Yer eenil, I ken ye. I havenae forgotten ye, Mr. Higgs."
He pulled away from her. "I am not anal."
"Not anal, eenil. It means yer jealous."
"I am not jealous. Don't treat me as if I were a child."
"Then ye best act like an adult."
"Why are you getting angry with me? I was just making a statement."
Merida sighed. "Mr. Higgs, I ken ye for a good moment to know that ye dinnae just call me out on a whim. Ye ken I've been trying to help ye uncle."
"I know that..."
"Do ye miss me?" she asked, batting her eyes as she leaned into his torso.
Higgs moved out of her way and crossed his arms. "That- that's not why I called you out."
"Then what would it be for?"
"I just... I... I want to make sure you're not getting carried away."
Merida smiled pensively at her employer as he tried so hard to seem unaffected by the lack of attention.
"Higgs, I ken ye feelings. I'm spending most of my time with yer uncle and Edgar than with ye. Ye dinnae have to be ashamed of that."
"Who said that's what it was in the first place? You're making accusations."
"Alright, alright... An it makes ye feel better, Kans feels bad aboot keeping me to himself. He's mentioned it several times. It's just that he's becoming more confident and watching him realize his own potential... Ye were good practice, Mr. Higgs."
"I see... well... I mean... if he's happy..."
Merida grabbed one of his hands and held it in hers.
"Ye will always have me, Mr. Higgs. Yer uncle is verra interesting and has so much emotional trauma that I could spend months just trying to tame it all, but I became yer maid and I will remain in yer company. Ye dinnae have to worry about me switching sides."
Higgs looked away, embarrassed, and pulled his hands from hers.
"Of course... but... I will tell you what I told Uncle Kans. He got mad at me for it but it's for your own good: don't get carried away. Please... He's opening up and that's great, but with new life comes stupid mistakes. Please just try..."
"Trying is the best I can do for ye."
She pat his arm and walked away as Higgs blew out and ran his fingers through his hair.
"For someone who isn't jealous, you sure are acting that way."
"Why do you keep sneaking in on my conversations?" Higgs grumbled, looking up.
"It's part of being a vampire. One of the few quirks I like. Besides, even if I wasn't a vampire, I could have heard your desperation halfway across the mansion."
"I'm not desperate."
"Didn't look that way to me. 'Oh, Merida, you haven't noticed me all week!' 'You like my uncle better than me.' 'Don't get too carried away with my uncle (because I want you for myself).'" Radek mocked as he put his hands to his face.
Higgs sneered and then yanked the webbing he was holding onto and made Radek lose his grip. He landed on his feet (of course) but he snarled just the same.
"You know nothing." Higgs snarled.
"I've lived a lot longer than you have, kid, and I know desperation when I see it. Don't sell yourself short or invulnerable to an infatuation. To be honest, I think the girl is good for you. You should ask her to court you."
"Ew, no, not Merida. She's a combination of a sister, mother, and companion. Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, I've tried getting close to my maids before and all I've ever gotten was disappointed and betrayed. She knows it's all platonic."
"What if Kans liked her? What if he got all the boldness he needed and finally got the nerve to confess to her? I mean, they're closer in age than you two are..."
"I told you, I don't like her like that. And if Merida could make him do that, then all power to him and to her. She helped him mold his own path, so why not give him the prize as well?"
"You're settling."
"I'm being practical. You said it yourself, he's closer to her age..."
Higgs just grumbled and pushed his uncle away from him. Radek watched his nephew carefully and then tapped his finger on the banister.
"Your maid is good at threats, right?"
"What?"
"Ms. Dunbrough; her main exhibit is her use of colorful and hard to understand threats, right?"
"I guess... what's this about?"
"I'm going to take a page from her book from me to you: Kans is happy with her, the happiest I have ever seen. He's stood up for himself, he is actually able to eat, and I've never seen him smile so bright as he has in all this time. My little brother deserves happiness like this. If you try and take that away from him in any way, shape, or form, I don't care if you're my baby brother's son, I will rip your fucking head off."
Higgs turned swiftly to his uncle as he gripped the banister, the marble crumbling under his fingers.
"If you think I would do that then you're an idiot, Uncle Radek. I'm only trying to keep bad things from happening to ruin that happiness. I've been on edge ever since things have been going so well. Merida is sunlight but for some reason, rain clouds always follow. Somehow, someway (and not by me), something will go wrong. She's too impulsive for it not to..."
"Adding to my threat then, if I feel you get some sort of satisfaction in those rain clouds, the same ending applies."
"I think you need to feed. You're becoming murderous-"
Suddenly a horrified scream filled the mansion and a crash in the kitchen caught Higgs and Radek off-guard.
"I'M SORRY! NO!!! I'M SORRY!" Kans yelled.
Higgs took off but Radek was quicker and pulled Higgs out of the way and into the wall as he ran fast as lightning to the kitchen.

***********************************

When Higgs finally got there, Radek was trying to comfort Kans, who was in the corner screaming at him. Higgs looked over and made a face at Merida. She was a solid gold statue, her arms out like she was trying to stop something, her face locked in a calm nature.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Kans screamed, sobbing hard.
"I'm just trying to get information on what happened. Kans, you- KANS!" Radek yelled, fighting his brother's hands.
"Uncle Kans, what happened?" Higgs asked casually.
Kans looked over at him and although Higgs wasn't mad at his uncle by no means, the pensive look on his face made his emotionally unstable uncle believe he was and he lost it. He bolted from the room and Radek turned to his nephew.
"I will fucking kill you later." He snarled.
Higgs was a bit confused as his uncle took off after his other one but he looked at his golden maid and crossed his arms.
"I told you to keep yourself in check, woman. Now look what you've done?" He sighed. "I guess I should take you to your room so if you change back it's not here... if you change back." He lifted his maid up and put her under his arm. "The thing about the Midas touch is we have no idea what it does to people and how it works. So... thanks, Merida, for making our worst fears be realized."

***********************

Radek sniffed all over to find his brother but he couldn't locate him. He was hot and sweaty, but if he let the sun touch him, he would burst into flames and it would be a hell of a recovery...
"Radek?" Radek turned as Jamison came up on a horse. "What are you doing out in broad daylight?"
"Something happened at Higgs' mansion... Kanassett is gone."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I don't know what happened but somehow Ms. Dunbrough ended up... she... she's a statue. Kans touched her skin somehow. He freaked out and then your son didn't make it any better with his pissed off face and Kans bolted. He probably thinks Higgs hates him."
"I'll go look in the chicken coop."
"The chicken coop?"
"Kans always ran there for some reason back at home. I know Higgs has one up there. I'll search for him. You need to wait until dark."
"May I switch locations? I don't think Kans is going to want to be there with Higgs anymore and I'm really pissed off at him."
"Well, was it his fault?"
"He was acting jealous and childish and even though I know he didn't wish for it in a million years, I keep thinking he is happy something happened. I don't know... I'm probably misinterpreting a lot here but... I want to kill him. Literally."
"I'll go ask Margaret if it's alright to switch venues and I'll go look for Kans. I'll also have a talk with Higgs."
Radek nodded and Jami sighed, pushing his hair out of the way. He kicked his horse to ride up the hill and check on things with the mansion first and then check the coop. It took Kans a minute to find one.

*****************************

Jamison rode up the hill and knocked on Higgs' door. It opened and he found Higgs holding Edgar in his arms.
"Is he alright?"
"Fever spiked again. I wish I knew what was wrong with him. He's calling for Merida but our dear maid is... in a golden bind." He snarled.
"May I speak with you for a moment regarding that?"
"Did you talk to Uncle Radek?" he asked, letting his father inside.
"Why do you ask?"
"He threatened me on the Merida-level just before things went haywire. I had no ill will towards Uncle Kans, you know that. I would never wish anything to take away his happiness and... even though I was acting like a child about some things, I never wanted this to happen. I feared this would happen and have been tense all month about it. Now look what she went and did..."
"Higgs, I'm sure there is an explanation for all of this. Out of everyone, Kans is probably more scared of you than anything that was done. Merida is your precious maid and he just turned her into a golden statue; I'd think about how you approached him."
Higgs sighed. "That's why I wanted her to be cautious. I knew that's what would happen and now Uncle Kans is afraid of me and afraid of himself and I'm sure he thinks he's a monster AGAIN thanks to Merida-bloody-Dunbrough!" he yelled, slamming one of his feet into the ground so hard it cracked the tile.
"Higgs!"
"No... don't... don't hurt Merida..." Edgar mumbled in his feverish state.
Jamison touched his son on the arm. "Higgs, please be calm about everything. It's bad enough of what happened but you acting this way will only scare Edgar as well as Kans. I'm going to look in your chicken coop for him, if you don't mind."
"The chicken coop?"
"He always goes there if he can find one. Put Edgar back to bed and find some cool water for him. I'll see about getting Lucas to come and check on him after I deal with Kans."
Higgs nodded and scuttled up the stairs as Jami went to see about his older brother.

*****************************

As suspected, half of Kans' body was outside of the chicken coop and Jami knelt down beside it. He touched his leg and he stirred for a moment before pulling his long legs inside the coop. Jamison wondered many times how his large brother always fit himself into a coop.
"Kans... it's me."
"I know."
"Why are you in the chicken coop?"
"Chickens don't judge me... and they're the only animals that aren't scared of me."
Jami peeked in and saw that it was true as the chickens minded their own business, one even sitting on Kans' head in the back just cooing.
"You know that no one is mad at you, right?"
"You didn't see the look on Higgs' face."
"I'm pretty sure it had to do more with Merida than with you. Rad has relocated you guys to my mansion down the hill."
"Alright."
"You... should probably get out of the coop."
"Leave me alone."
"Well, I would, but the problem is that you can't wash during the Midas touch since the water will turn to gold so... the chicken coop smells..."
"I don't care. I want to be alone for a few bloody moments, is that so hard to ask anymore?!"
"Alright, alright... Just... know that Higgs is upset that you're upset. He's not mad about what happened, per se, but I'm worried about you."
"It's nothing new, Jami. It's the same thing as kids as is now except I can't get past my childhood fears and insecurities. As much as the curse is annoying to all of us, at least you and Rad had a chance to be cured. I have none. What woman would be crazy enough to last for sixteen months with me and help me? It's a ludicrous thought but with Ms. Dunbrough... for once... I thought I could have a chance. But now I know it's impossible for me. Just... let me be, Jami."
Jami nodded and sighed, heading back to his own house.