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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 5, 2017 20:47:12 GMT -5
Her hand was freezing cold - her blood was thin, keeping her central nervous system alive was more important than her hands or feet. In contrast with her hand, Elias's was warm and comforting. Her eyes shut then, her body relaxing just a fraction more - it had been two months since her last affectionate contact, and while it didn;t hold a candle to Elias's struggle, she felt a surge of relief from that simple touch.
You're not mad that I killed Newel?
She shook her head negative, her eyes opening tiredly again as Elias tried to meet her eyes. She didn't blame him for not meeting her eyes - she didn't know what it felt like, to have done what he did, but she understood the difficulty. "No," she said, her voice equally as soft as his. She focused on her hand - she added a little more pressure to his, a half-second squeeze that she hoped helped his nerves. The morphine was still strong in her system - it would take a long while for them to wear completely off. "I didn't tell anyone..." she suddenly found it hard to breathe and stopped talking for a moment to try and get enough oxygen in her blood. Her heart monitor let out a beep, but then she seemed to stabilize and everything was okay again. "I didn't tell anyone because you're more important than him."
Her breathing was suddenly difficult again, and this time her monitor let out several beeps of warning. A moment later, a nurse came in and quickly fitted an oxygen wire over the girls face. "Shh honey, it's okay," the nurse said, his hands soft as he carefully adjusted the wire to stay off her bruises. He looked at Elias really quick, pointed to the nurse alert button - "Just in case" - and left the room. The girl seemed to breathe easier with oxygen-rich air, squeezing Elias's hand again softly. "I poured bleach on him," she said quietly, "I didn't know if you left anything on him... so I poured a gallon of bleach on him."
A shiver went down her back, chilling her more. "Christ, it's cold," she whispered, beginning to shiver.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 10:04:01 GMT -5
She poured bleach on him. Elias was normally careful about leaving no trace of his involvement in an execution, but he got sloppy sometimes. And he'd been sloppy with Newel. He hadn't gone in with a good idea of what he was planning to do and after he had done his job, he'd gone and left his fingerprints all over the man. She poured bleach on him. "Thank you."
And that wasn't addressing what she had said about Elias being more important? He felt his brain might have short-circuited then, for he hadn't been quite aware of the nurse's presence until the nurse alert button was pointed out to him. Even then, all he could do was stare at the door after the nurse left.
"Yeah...you're not really generating much body heat at all." Elias stroked Juniper's hand absently with his thumb. If not for the feeling of skin under his, he might've been able to trick himself into thinking that he was holding onto a cold piece of metal. He looked around the room to locate the thermostat and stood, removing his hand from Juniper's grip temporarily to turn the heating up. The next time he reached for Juniper's hand, it was with both of his.
"I'm sorry, I'm not...I don't usually...do this? I'm not very good company." Sitting there, seeing Juniper in a worse state than he'd ever seen her in, Elias couldn't help but feel guilty all over again. She could have had a good life with Oliver as her step-father. Oliver had been a good man. Elias had shot a good man. And while Juniper was suffering from her grief and from the combined wrath of her mother and Newel, Elias had collected enough cash to match a teacher's salary and tried to forget. I'm a bad person, Juniper. And you think I'm worth covering for?
She wouldn't think that if she knew.
"I don't have anyplace else to go, so I can stay as long as you want me here. When you want me to leave, just tell me." The moment reminded him of the first time he'd set foot in Juniper's room. At the time, he'd been driven by ulterior motives and his mind had been miles away at the nearest ice cream parlor. This time, he had all the time in the world. Ivan knew he wouldn't be back for a few days at least and so no calls or texts were coming in about new jobs. Cleo would call when she was free to take him home and she'd made it very clear that he shouldn't expect any news from her for at least 3-4 business days. Other than that, there was really no one else who would contact him out of the blue. "Or...tell me what I can do to help you. Do you need anything?"
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 6, 2017 10:41:38 GMT -5
Juniper shut her eyes tiredly as Elias stood up, letting go of her hand to go turn up the heat in the room. Warmth immediately spilled from a small unit next to the bed, and the girl shivered a little more. It was a good sign - her body was trying to heal at long last. Her lips had been slightly blue, as well as the veins on the inside of her wrists. They could be seen almost halfway up her forearm, making her seem all the more fragile. "You're better than anyone else," she hummed quietly, smiling slightly as Elias held her hand with both of his. He was warm, and she was grateful for the contact.
She forced open her eyes again, although her vision was still blurry from exhaustion. She looked at Elias again, hazy with morphine and antibiotics. "I don't need anything," she said in her quiet voice, gratefully squeezing one of his hands. "I'm just tired and sore," she said, the managed a weak smile through the drugs. "I feel like I just did a year's worth of Algebra in one sitting." Her tone was joking - at least she was finding her old sense of humor back. "Without a graphing calculator."
She lapsed into a dazed silence, eyes closing again as she let the drug-haze slip over her again. The silence was, oddly enough, comfortable and easy. Maybe it was her odd taste in music playing in the background, or the way her hand finally felt warm between Elias's, but Juniper was grateful underneath the haze as she let her body relax, slipping into a half-doze. The heart monitor fell into a slow, steady rhythm as the girl finally managed to get some decent rest.
"...wake her up and tell her?" "No, that's a bad idea... she's still under the influence of the morphine, she won't take the news well." "What are we supposed to do, then? She's completely on her own." "I disagree. That young man seems to be there for her more than her own family."
The two doctors spoke in hushed voices, just coming into the room. Perhaps they didn't realize their voices carried, or they assumed the music would cover - either way, they were wrong. One was a woman with her blonde hair tied back, and the other was the doctor that had shown Elias in. He was rifling through some paperwork now, shaking his head in astonishment. "There's nothing we can legally do here." He handed the clipboard to the woman, who also rifled through the papers with her brows furrowed. "I'll talk to him," the doctor sighed, striding forwards and gently touching Elias's shoulder. "Young man - Leo, correct? Can I talk to you outside the room for a moment?"
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 11:06:38 GMT -5
Elias watched Juniper as she fell asleep, a small smile on his lips leftover from the relief that had come from knowing that Juniper hadn't lost her sense of humor. As creepy as it sounded in his head, he didn't take his eyes off the girl's unconscious form, didn't take his hands away from hers, even as voices carried through the door from the hall. What news?
Looking up as the doctor and some woman he didn't recognize walked in, Elias frowned slightly. But he nodded when the doctor asked to speak with him and stood, releasing his hold on Juniper for the second time that day and hoping that she wouldn't wake up while he was away. What news? Bad news? Of course it was bad. They wouldn't have said that "she won't take the news well" otherwise.
As Elias was led outside, his mind tried fervently to come up with some inkling of what they were going to tell him. Tried and failed. Could it be that something happened to her mother? But it wasn't as if Juniper was close with her mother...even the doctors must know that by now. Besides, they said that she was completely on her own. Mrs. Danine probably hasn't visited once. What about Oliver? They couldn't have any leads on Oliver's murder, could they? Elias watched blankly as the doctor closed the door to the room once they were outside.
No...they can't have any leads...I couldn't have left anything. I don't think I left anything. What if the news had to do with Juniper herself? Was she dying? No, that couldn't be it. She was at the hospital. They were taking care of her. Was she in trouble? But why would she be? Then--
His thoughts broke off abruptly when he realized that the doctor had started talking. False blue eyes refocused, brow furrowed as Elias met the doctor's eyes. What news?
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 6, 2017 11:20:53 GMT -5
The doctor paused talking, seeing 'Leo' suddenly focusing. He took no offense, all too used to communicating with people who were spaced out from seeing people so horribly hurt. He offered an almost fatherly smile before starting over.
"Miss Danines mother filed to put her daughter into foster care. It's generally illegal to disown a child before they're eighteen in the States, but it looked likes the Danines' lawyer managed to pull several strings and erased the legal bond between Juniper and Mrs. Danine." He shook his head, clearly disturbed by the thought of a mother doing that to her child. "You're the first person who she managed to communicate efficiently with, and you seem to know her fairly well. We wanted to ask if you know how we should break the news to her."
He shook his head again, flabbergasted by the idea of this sixteen-year-old, who was gentle and kind, being put in foster care and moved from house to house, most likely until she was eighteen. Not only that, but foster homes could house some violent people - he had plenty of patients in his office who were beat up by foster siblings, or even parents.
"It said in her paperwork that her step-father left over ninety percent of his company to her - and the penthouse skyscraper - but it's illegal for her to be on her own since she was disowned, not emancipated. All in all, it's a complicated situation."
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 11:47:10 GMT -5
Oh Marina...knew you were cruel but not this cruel... As disturbing as this news was, Elias could only feel relief that Juniper was still entitled to everything that Oliver had left for her in his will. Silver lining? And he supposed that not having to live with her mother anymore had its perks. No more potentially abusive suitors to worry about. But the foster system? Is that any better?
"Well..." Elias pursed his lips. The solution was right there in his hands. But you can't, Elias. You're not exactly the epitome of "responsible adult." "I'm turning nineteen in a few months." You can't stay here with her! "What if I agreed to be her legal guardian? Can she stay in the penthouse then?" Yeah, some guardian you'll be, what with all the "business trips" you take. But at least Juniper won't have to be a foster child.
Despite the voice in his head insisting that this was probably the worst idea he's ever had, Elias stood his ground. He'd spent too long being the guy who gets paid to do other people's dirty work. He'd spent too long trying to come to terms with the guilt and the fear that one day, he'll be consumed by the things he has done. He'd already decided that Oliver was the last good man to die at his hands, already told Ivan that if the target didn't deserve to die, Elias wasn't going to take the card. Then you're doing this out of selfishness? Think that this'll help assuage your guilt?
Well, yes. Yes, he did think that keeping Juniper out of the foster care system would ease his guilt. He's spent so long doing bad, bad things. Been in so many situations where he knew that pulling the trigger would be the wrong thing to do and letting the bullet fly anyway. This is my one chance to do right by someone for a change.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 6, 2017 12:07:25 GMT -5
The doctor pondered on this, rubbing his jaw. "...I'll have to do some research, contact a lawyer for you and her, but I think that some more strings can be pulled to convince who needs convincing. If Juniper agrees to it when she's healed, then I don't see why she couldn't add you to a temporary living will." He seemed to be talking half to himself, still running the light stubble over his jaw. He seemed to snap out of it after a moment, and he offered a hesitant nod. "Yes, she'd be able to stay in the penthouse then, as long as she completed her high school years fully."
He reached out, opening the door again to the hospital room. The woman was watching over Juniper, adding a syringe of something or other to the morphine drip. She only added half the vial - the other was recapped, put in her pocket. "She's going to be here a little longer, until she can eat something without her body rejecting it. If you want to spend the night, I can get an overnight pass for you."
He led them back inside, stopping at the girls' side with a shake of his head.
"Poor girl," he mumbled to himself, seeing her shiver violently in her druggy sleepy. He reached down, turning on the heating mat under the bed. He seemed to temporarily forget about Elias, scanning over her scars carefully, pulling the collar of her shirt a little this way, a little that way. He continued to mumble to himself, adding a syringe of something of other to the Antibiotic drip. The woman shook her head, brushing the red curls from the girl's face and fixing the oxygen wire. "I can ask for the pass to be put at the door if that makes it feel better for you. There's a pull-out guest bed in the window seat, too."
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 14:38:34 GMT -5
Elias hummed to show that he understood what the doctor had said before reentering the room. He was about to say that yes, he would like that overnight pass, when Juniper's heart rate picked up at an alarmingly rate and Elias felt his throat close up. What's happening? He was about to ask if everything was alright when Juniper's eyes flew open and she cried out. "Dad," she said. And god, if that didn't make Elias want to shoot himself.
He could only watch as Juniper relaxed again due to the morphine, as the doctor adjusted the IVs connected to her body. Is that the only way she'll get to sleep? He didn't move an inch as the doctor continued working around Juniper, helping her in ways only a doctor could. A noble profession. Quite the opposite of your own.
"..." The first time Elias tried to respond, no sound would escape his throat. So he coughed and tried again. "Y-yeah. I'd like that pass. Thank you." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, a little rough around the edges as though his throat were dry. And it was, though it wasn't from lack of hydration.
Still unsure of whether he should be doing something other than watch the doctor and the woman do their job, Elias shifted from side to side, his hands in his pockets and shoulders drawn up. He looked about as uncomfortable as a person could look. His phone buzzed quietly, a lifeline, something to distract him, if only for a brief moment.
#1 Wingwoman 7:01PM Hey Eli, know i said it'd be a few days but things change i can fly you home tomorrow if you want let me know
Oooo...bet you want to go home don't you? Elias frowned at Juniper's unconscious figure, at the tubes running from her body (her body was so frail), feeding drugs and nutrients and oxygen into her bloodstream. You want to go home. But he can't. He can't leave her like this. Is this just pity, then? Do you pity her?
"No..." Elias whispered, though his voice wasn't any louder than a passing breeze, throat still too dry to produce proper sound. His eyes followed the doctor and the woman as they finished up and left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts, the sound of breathing, and the quiet drip drip of liquid. "No...that's not it." Maybe I feel bad for what I did to her. But I don't pity her. "That's the worst thing I could do to her."
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 6, 2017 15:07:40 GMT -5
Juniper remained asleep for a long time afterwards, and not even a muscle on her body twitched or clenched from dreams or night terrors. The machine keeping track of her heart and lungs beeped softly next to her, almost to the beat of quiet Fall Out Boy playing from her playlist the doctor had started for her. The heated mattress seemed to be helping, however, since her shivering had almost stopped and her skin was a slightly healthier color. The only time the silence was disturbed was when a nurse came in for less than five minutes with the overnight pass, showing Elias how to unfold the surprising soft window bed and then taking his leave, shutting off half the overhead lights for the night and shutting the door softly.
The night passed calmly enough - it rained sometime around three, but that passed quickly and left a cloudless sky in the morning. Juniper blinked open her eyes, feeling surprisingly well-rested and non-pained as a Doctor quietly removed IVs and monitor pads. She was still a little hazy, but her body had already processed through the drugs and she was beginning to feel the real world around her. Vaguely, she remembered the feeling of hands clasping hers and talking to someone. Elias. She flinched as the nurse took off the oxygen wire, and she struggled to breathe normally at first but after a few exercises with a nurse, she felt the air come back into her body quickly. They had put iron in her bloodstream, making it easier for her body to spread the oxygen.
She seemed to be recovering pretty quickly, pushing herself up into a sitting position as she looked around in confusion, flexing her still-cold hands in her lap. Glancing to her left, the first thing she noticed was her phone and a plate of food that the nurses must have left before taking their leave. To her right was a bed, and under a blanket was a person - she could only assume it was Elias. Suddenly feeling a pang of her usual self, the girl reached to her left and grabbed a few of the grapes in a small cup, and tossed one at the lump under the blanket. It bounced off the top, landing quietly on the other side of what Juniper assumed was the pillow. "Morning?" She more asked than greeted, unsure how he would react to a piece of fruit being thrown at him.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 16:29:23 GMT -5
Elias spent much of the night alternating between looking out the window and staring up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of hospital equipment and Juniper's thankfully even breathing. He had planned, initially, to stay up all night, but the exhaustion ended up getting to him and he dozed off.
Something small and round hit him in the shoulder and Elias let out a low grumble, eyes flickering open to see a grape roll to a stop by his pillow. "If you wanna kill me in my sleep you'll have to do better than that." It took him a few seconds, but he wiped the sleep from his eyes and turned slowly so that he was facing Juniper. He'd taken out his contacts before he went to bed last night, since it wasn't exactly healthy to leave contacts in for so long. So his eyes were brown again, and he supposed that he planned on keeping them that way. Leo Crawford would just have to deal with having poop-colored eyes.
"Good morning." He yawned as he pulled himself up and out of bed, running a hand through mussed-up hair as he went to sit in the seat next to Juniper's hospital bed. "How you feeling?"
If he were being honest, Elias was a bit surprised that the night had passed so uneventfully. He was surprised that neither of them had woken up in the throes of a nightmare, but he supposed that the morphine must have been doing its job of keeping Juniper's subconscious from wandering too far. Good. Juniper deserved to rest easy for once.
Looking over at the plate of food that the nurses must have left, Elias gestured towards it with his chin. "Do you feel up to the task of eating?"
You're just prolonging telling her what her mom did. Just tell her. Tell her quick, like ripping off a band-aid. Elias knew that he was just prolonging the inevitable, but to tell her what Mrs. Danine had done and then to follow up with asking if she was ok with him being her legal guardian? That...Elias wasn't sure how Juniper would react to that news. Elias wasn't even sure if he was ready to make that commitment himself. It's better if I wait a little. We just woke up.
Excuses.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 6, 2017 19:44:49 GMT -5
"I'll use an orange next time," Juniper said wryly, leaning against the raised back of the hospital bed and rubbing her eyes with her hands. She let her arms cross back over her lower stomach - she could feel her ribs on the tops of her arm. "Maybe a grapefruit, if I feel ornery enough." She offered him a tired smile, although there was a hint of color in her skin tone this time and her blue eyes were beginning to glitter again. "Are you leaving your contacts off?" She asked, reaching up to mess with one of her red curls only to find that her hair had been cut short, and dropped her hand. It made her seem more like the child she actually was - they were a little wilder now, framing her face gently.
"I'm feeling better than yesterday," she offered, giving a slight shrug and another one of her wry smiles. She didn't seem to remember the nightmare she had or the troubles her body went through. As Elias made his way over to the seat next to her bed, Juniper tucked a stray curl behind her ear and pushed herself into a more comfortable position - she winced, her ankle giving a tiny pang of protest. "Still dead tired, but I suppose that'll pass eventu...ally?..." She was looking past Elias now, her expression going from friendliness to hesitant anxiety as a man walked into the room. He was dressed sharply, with close-cut part red and part gray hair. Instinctively, Juniper reached out for Elias and put her hand anxiously on his arm, her heart beginning to patter.
"Good morning, Miss Smith - and Mr. Crawford, I assume." He sat in the other chair and opened a leather folder, clicking a pen open and stretching his arm to pull the sleeve from his wrist. When no one answered, he looked up with slight confusion over his features, then seemed to understand. "Ah, my apologies. My name is Doctor Kenneth Frence, and I'll be the lawyer taking into account your new living arrangements, Miss Smith. Please, call me Kenneth."
Juniper looked puzzled still, shaking her head slowly. "Wait, no - hold on..." she shook herself clear, still reaching out nervously to Elias. "My last name... it was changed to Danine. And what do you mean my new living arrangements? Is mom in trouble?"
Kenneth glanced at the girl over his slim wire glasses, then took his off his face as he realized that this young lady didn't know what had happened. "Juniper, I'm sorry, but your mother disowned you," he said in the most gentle voice he could muster, looking away before he could see the crushed expression on his clients face. "You're a legal orphan now - hence the name change - and Doctor Bianchi informed me that this young man is old enough for you to legally live with him in a destination of his choice. Mr. Crawford has already been confirmed genuine - now it's purely up to you two whether or not you're put in foster care, or living with him."
Juniper looked a mix between stunned, hurt, and a strange stroke of relief. She didn't say anything, far too shocked at the news, just glanced over at Elias with wide, confused blue eyes. "...What?" She asked quietly, still stunned.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 20:10:11 GMT -5
"Yeah, they make my eyes dry anyway." Elias shrugged. He'd tossed his contacts in the trash and he planned on throwing away the rest of them, too. Eye color wasn't exactly a game changer when it came to his work anyway.
He was going to agree, say something along the lines of, "Yeah you're looking better than you did yesterday," when a sharply dressed man came into the room. Elias knit his brow, feeling Juniper's hand meet his arm and sensing a new sort of tension in the room. I swear if he's coming to talk about what Marina did...Ugh...I should've told her already... He reached up with his own hand, giving Juniper's outstretched hand an awkward pat of what he hoped was translated as reassurance.
The man, Kenneth, explained the entire situation in way less words than Elias would have used, so he supposed it was better that a professional came to break the news after all. When Juniper turned to him, eyes wide, clearly confused, searching for some answer that she didn't have but he did, Elias managed a small smile. "Surprise?"
"The doctor told me yesterday. Apparently your mom pulled some strings, got you disowned, and wants to send you into the foster system. I offered to be your legal guardian so that, you know, you don't have to be a foster kid. You can stay here and finish school and when you turn eighteen you'll be your own person." Elias's eyes flickered over to the lawyer before settling back on Juniper's face. "You still have everything Oliver left you. Including that penthouse. The doctor said that you can't legally stay there alone, but you can stay there if, well...if I'm legally bound to take care of you. I think." He frowned, looking over at Kenneth again. "Right?"
Elias knew that there was no way he could just stay in this city. No way he could just up and leave New York, quit the only job he's ever had and the only job he'll probably ever have. But he could try. He could try to cut down on his trips, he could ask someone to check up on his apartment and water his plants once a week and he would return maybe once a month to make sure everything's ok. No more late nights at Sister Margaret's, I suppose. But that's fine. He can give that up. Juniper was sixteen. That's only two years, probably less, before Elias could go back to his normal life. In the grand scheme of things, two years was by no means a long time. And I at least owe her this much.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 6, 2017 20:55:56 GMT -5
The attorney nodded his approval to Elias, turning once more to Juniper and putting his glasses back on. "Exactly. Now, Juniper, it says here and you are legally a citizen of both Canada and the United States, but came here about five months ago due to 'family complications'. Do you mind explaining to me what, exactly, that means?" He placed his pen tip on the paper, looking up at Juniper expectantly. She just looked at him for a moment, then slowly withdrew into herself as she pulled her hand back from Elias and folded her hands in her lap nervously.
"...I was raised in what the Canadian government would call extreme poverty," she began, lowering her blue eyes on the ground. "It was just me and my father, who worked as an electrician. Right after my sixteenth birthday, my father was driving me to school when a semi-" she broke off, her emotions suddenly welling up in her eyes as tears. She wiped a few that dared to escape. "A semi-truck slammed head-on into us, skidding on the ice. My father was killed almost immediately, and I was left with... yeah," she motioned towards her scars. Kenneth finish writing what she said, then glanced up. "Where was your mother through all this? Paperwork says that she still had partial custody but did nothing to help."
"She didn't help us at all," Juniper agreed, shrugging slightly. "I remember she sent my first art kit when I was eight. That was the last time I heard from her before my dad died." Kenneth scrawled all this down on his paper, nodding thoughtfully. "Alright. It says here that you're five foot five, and when you moved here you weighed about 145 pounds, and you were very muscular and labeled as highly athletic by Doctor Bianchi. In three months, you gained another ten pounds of pure muscle - and you've lost almost two-thirds of your muscle mass in the past two months after your step-fathers death, and you're severely underweight at 92 pounds. Juniper, you should be at least 120 pounds," he looked up at the girl, still calm. "How did you go from A to B so quickly?"
The red head glanced down, pondering her answer. "Fear," she replied. "I was too scared of my mother and her boyfriend to leave my rooms much. At first, I tried working out to pass the time, but without calories, it just burns you away. After that, I just... didn't eat I guess. I didn't want to see them in the kitchen, getting drunk together. After a few days, I didn't feel hungry anymore, and then I began losing muscle again, and then I felt too weak to fight back."
Kenneth nodded, writing it all down. "Well, I think I can pull some favors, yank some strings - Juniper, you won't be going to the foster system. I firmly believe that most of the system is corrupt and I don't want you in harm's way yet again. I'm going to get you checked out now - a car is coming to take the both of you to the penthouse. Juniper, your art supplies and clothes were packed up and sent over already - Leo, I've set up a temporary bank account for you to purchase some clothing and other necessities over the internet. Do not leave the penthouse until I call you. Reporters will crowd and ask too many questions, and I don't think either of you are up to that."
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 6, 2017 21:24:54 GMT -5
Listening to Juniper's story from her point of view hurt a lot more than reading it off of a computer screen. None of what she had said came as a surprise to Elias, but to hear it coming from her was like...it was like when he got ambushed in Cairo and was left for dead by his own "teammates." Oh well, not like he wouldn't have done the same thing.
Elias nodded to show that he'd heard the lawyer's words. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Do not leave the penthouse 'til he calls? What is this, like, house arrest? Elias ignored the voice in his head, standing and pushing his chair off to the side so that it would be easier for Juniper to get off the bed. "How long do you think we'll have to stay in the penthouse? Before the buzz dies down and all." Cleo was still waiting on him for a day and time. And in maybe three days, Elias could expect to see a flood of messages and missed calls from Ivan asking where he was, complaining about a stack of gold cards that he was keeping for Elias that were very time-sensistive and pay really well.
Elias's eye twitched at the thought of Ivan giving those cards away. Yeah, they're our cards! But if you're so deadset on staying with this girl...I mean I guess now you really have no choice. Who would've thought you'd be a parent so young! "Not a parent." He mumbled under his breath, turning away from Juniper and going to get his phone from where he'd left it by the guest bed. Yeah...if there were going to be a bunch of reporters sticking around for the next few days, he might as well tell Ivan now that he didn't have to wait on Elias to give the cards away to other mercs. As much as Elias prided himself in his abilities, he wasn't delusional. Clients might ask for him specifically, but at the end of the day, Jackson or Leone or Carlysle could complete those jobs just as well as Elias could, if not even better. It's no big deal...it's no big deal.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 8, 2017 16:01:22 GMT -5
"You have no need to thank me, young man," The lawyer replied with an almost fatherly smile, although there was still an edge of business to the expression. He watched his client carefully as she slid her feet onto the ground, tucking a red curl nervously behind her ear. Juniper glanced over at Elias for a split second before getting to her feet carefully, testing her once-prominent muscles before feeling safe enough to take her hand off the table next to her. She was still wearing off-blue hospital scrubs - the colors made her skin seems sickly.
Kenneth rubbed his jaw again, pondering over the question. "Well, Mr. Danine-" Juniper flinched slightly at the name, although she just grabbed her usual clothes from the table "-was a widely-known and appreciated public figure. With his open adoption of his step-daughter and the way he passed, I'd say a week or so, give or take two or three days. However, the Da-" he corrected himself "-Smith Skyscraper has its own security team on a set payroll, so no cameras will be seen inside." He watched Juniper as she vanished into the bathroom, seeing her carefully walk on the balls of her feet. A dancer, he recognized, seeing a glimpse of his own daughter in the teen. "I'll go check her out right now - then I'll show you to the car."
A half hour passed, and Juniper found herself almost overwhelmed by the chaos outside of the hospital. She was standing just inside the doors, a hand on the latch to push it open when a security officer gently restrained her. "Wait a moment please," the officer told her carefully, "the security team is clearing the reporters." As he spoke, several cameras flashed - even though the glass doors were reflective from the outside, proving pictures unrecognizable. Soon enough, Juniper was with Elias in the back of a sleek black car, wearing her regular skinny jeans and her fathers flannel unbuttoned over a black t-shirt with a shallow V-neck that allowed glimpses of her horrible scarring. The driver had rolled a glass window between the two and them - for privacy, allowing the two to speak without being overheard. The girl was holding a journal against her almost protectively, an old battered thing with her fathers' name written in fading sharpie on the back. Joseph W. Smith. It was the last personal piece she had from her biological father, and she always had it with her - albeit, usually out of sight.
"This is crazy," Juniper offered weakly, shivering as she looked over at Elias. "What a summer, huh?" She glanced out her window again, and a few sparks of herself came back alive as she noticed how a more or less abandoned shop had been wiped out by the floodings. "We're just drowning in drama." She smiled slightly to herself at her own stupid pun, glancing down at the journal in her hands as they headed towards the skyscraper in the distance.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 15, 2017 16:58:48 GMT -5
Elias hadn't been in such a sleek, fancy car since that mission in Paris. And that was probably a year ago. He was a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people waiting outside the hospital for a glance at or a picture of Juniper Danine. Or Juniper Smith, he supposed, what with Marina disowning her daughter and all.
"Yeah...this is...wow." Elias managed a small smile, unable to peel his eyes away from the chaos in front of the hospital until it was out of sight. He knew, of course, that no one in that crowd knew or cared who he was, but the attention was still a bit nerve-wracking. For someone who's job was to be inconspicuous and deadly, to make sure that he leaves no trace, all those cameras could ruin him.
He didn't say much else until the car pulled up in front of the skyscraper, though his eyes did catch the fading name on Juniper's journal. As much as he wanted to ask about it, Elias was smart enough to figure that talking about someone's dead father wasn't usually a great way to break the silence. Besides, silence was good. Silence was friendly and safe.
Staring up at the skyscraper as the car drew closer to it, Elias couldn't help but let out an appreciative whistle. "Can't say I've ever lived somewhere this impressive." Stayed, yes, but never lived. Being able to spend the night in a rich person's abode as part of a mission (or as a sweet add-on) was always so nice. Especially when you could exploit their wealth for other luxuries. But it never lasted long because letting it go on for longer than a day or two would be dangerous.
All Elias could hope for was that one day, he'll save up enough in his bank account to get a fancy home for himself. Where he could just live. But that didn't happen often for people of his trade. They either die before it could happen or just never find a time in their lives where they could simply exist.
"Guess this is where we'll be staying then?" He frowned slightly, looking over at Juniper. "I mean...I'm not exactly entitled to this property. So thanks for trusting me enough to let me live with you." I'll try to do right by you.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 15, 2017 17:49:28 GMT -5
"I should be thanking you," Juniper replied after another short moment of silence. She was still watching out the window, running her pianists' fingers over the spine and cover of the journal in her hands. After a moment, she glanced back over at Elias with a small smile. "You're keeping me from the foster homes, or the streets. So... thank you for staying with me." She reached out and touched his arm gently in appreciation before recoiling again, glancing up at the window between driver and passengers as it slid down. "Juniper, Leo - we'll be there just around this corner. I suggest grabbing stuff and getting ready to duck inside quickly."
Juniper nodded a little, offering the man a small smile. "Thank you," she said quietly, then flinched as a loud flash went off right in front of the window next to her. She looked almost sick at reporters crowded around the car, and the driver let out a long, loud honk. They creeper forwards through a security gate, where several large figures pushed back the reports who were yelling for attention. "Soulless basta***," the driver grunted, honking once again for good measure before parking in front of a set of wide glass doors. The doors opened up to a fierce wind, and Juniper immediately began to shiver again as she felt the chill wind nip her skin. Glancing at Elias, she ducked from the car and headed for the doors.
It was warmer inside, lit brightly with clear lights behind bubbled glass. A few security guards welcomed them inside, then pointed towards an elevator - two key cards were given to them, each of them equipped with a scan bar and a reading chip. After a moment's hesitation, the girl stepped into the elevator with Elias and swiped her card into the reader - it reminded her of a hotel room. The ride took a solid three minutes, but that seemed like nothing. Juniper was distracted by the sight of the city, all lights and cars and people, from the wide window of the machine. She was almost disappointed when the silent elevator stopped, the doors opening to reveal a high-luxury penthouse.
"Oh my god," Juniper squeaked, eyes wide as she cautiously stepped from the elevator. Everything was sleek and modern - thick, faux fur carpeting was a velvety smoke-gray, furniture was lavish and soft; decor was artsy, dark, and tasteful and colored either black or dark red. High-tech living to the max - the closet door slid into the wall, a Roomba was waiting in a corner, and the kitchen - it was massive, all white and light gray granite and high-quality supplies and food. AN ice machine produced perfectly cubic squares of frozen mineral water. "This is... a lot," Juniper choked out, obviously overwhelmed by the wealth surrounding her. She turned to Elias with huge eyes, then cautiously made her way down a hall.
Five doors - all of them labeled. The first three doors were white with black lettering: Library, Entertainment, and Storage were lined out, but the last two doors were a dark red that matched some of the decorations splattered across the penthouse, directly across each other in the hallway. One was labeled Juniper in bold, white lettering - the other was labeled Guest. The young girl stopped in front of the door that was labeled with her name, her hand on the doorknob - but she didn't open it. For some reason, it all felt so very real. As if the moment she opened the door, everything would be real. So instead, she let her hand slide from the metal and across her chest with her other arm, hugging herself as she looked at the soft, ashy carpet firmly adhered to the ground. "Jesus," she said weakly, running a hand through vibrant red curls. "It's... so much."
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 15, 2017 21:06:22 GMT -5
Elias did his best to ignore the reporters, to keep his face turned away. Nothing good would ever come out of the newspapers having his face on their pages. With his luck, Ivan would find out about it somehow and kick him to the bottom of the list. He wouldn't have a job for months, and that was only if he was lucky. Sometimes Elias wonders if he should strive to be better friends with the guy who hooked him up with employers, but then he remembers that Ivan is too professional and uptight to let something so simple as friendship dictate his actions.
The elevator ride up to the penthouse was surreal. Here Elias was, standing in a fancy elevator in a fancy building, dressed in his everyday clothes because he wasn't here pretending to be someone else, he wasn't here trying to impress the target so that they took him home, he wasn't here trying to act like he was interested in someone when what he really felt for them was disgust and his heart was pounding in anticipation of seeing the life drain from their eyes. No. This time he was here. As himself. With a girl. A pretty rags-to-riches girl who's name hadn't appeared to him on a gold card. He felt no disgust, no anticipation, only a certain apprehension about spending the next who-knows-how-long living with her. Bizarre.
The penthouse was insane. Elias wasn't as affected by the sight as Juniper seemed to be, but his mind still short-circuited for a second as he took it all in, as he processed the fact that he was living here. This wasn't just somewhere he would get to stay for a day, a night. This was...this was temporary, yes, but more permanent than any of his other stints in fancy, expensive homes. Eat my heart out... He followed Juniper down the hall. For some reason, the door labeled "Library" made his chest tighten. Oh come on, you haven't actually read a book in years.
"Juniper." He whispered, reaching out, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. He hoped it was reassuring. He didn't know what else to do. "Juniper, deep breaths, ok? Take your time." Elias supposed that he had expected a reaction like this. He knew about Juniper's past, had experienced her past in his own way, and he knew how overwhelming wealth could be. You dream about having enough money to get by all your life, you hope that one day you won't have to go day-to-day wondering if you can afford to buy this or that or if you'll be able to eat tomorrow. And then you're met with all this extravagance and it's crazy because how can anyone have this kind of money to spare? "I know it's a lot to take in."
I'm going to be living here.
If he were being honest with himself, the thought scared Elias. A lot. From what the lawyer had said, he wouldn't even be able to leave the building for some weeks at the very least. He wasn't going to be able to go home. He wasn't going to be able to take any jobs, either, and...well, he supposed money wasn't exactly a problem for him at the moment, but he was still paying rent and utility bills on his apartment back in New York. What a waste that is, if he isn't even living there and if he isn't able to make any kind of income while he's here.
Then there was the problem of Juniper. He wants to take care of her, he really does, but he's scared of her, too. The morphine at the hospital and her sickly condition may be distracting her from finding the truth about him for now, but Juniper was so intelligent. Elias knew that once she was all back to normal, it wouldn't take much effort at all on her part to finally put the pieces together. Wow...that would really suck for you, huh? You're all attached to her and stuff now. Weak. And he was weak. For coming back for her, for caring, for offering to stay with her so that she could stay out of the system, he was weak. And he was tired, but he didn't want to stop.
For the first time in his life, Elias felt like an adult. There were so many things wrong with this situation, so many things that he had to sort out both with his work and his mentality. He knows now how Wade felt taking him under his wing. He knows now, even, what his parents probably felt like when he and Marja were born. He'd heard that they were in love before that. He'd heard that they were good people. They were good people, just not cut out to be adults, not cut out to be parents.
"I know it's a lot to take in, but you'll get used to it. Do you want water or tea or something?"
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 16, 2017 8:54:06 GMT -5
The flame-haired girl didn't respond at first, her nerves stretched to the breaking point as she looked back up at her door. Then, she just nodded silently and realized she was holding her breath - for what purpose? She didn't know. She took a few deep swallows of air in hopes of calming herself down, then she seemed to feel the hand on her shoulder just then. It seemed to offer the young girl some comfort, her tense muscles beginning to slowly ease into a more relaxed position. "Tea sounds great,"" she choked out, backing away from the door as if it was going to burn her.
She walked back into the kitchen with Elias, absently opening cupboards until she found a shelf stocked with the teas she and Oliver had both enjoyed. Biting down on her step-fathers memory, the girl pulled a bitter apple tea down and turned towards the sink to fill up the water boiler. She stood there for a moment in confusion, seeing no faucet handles to twist or turn. "I'm confused," she stated almost comically, touching the curving spout curiously. She jumped as it turned on at her touch, and she recoiled as the water pooled at the bottom of the basin. "What even?" She asked, laughing slightly in her bewilderment as she touched it again. It turned off. "Why is this so amusing?" She mumbled to herself, turning the water back on to fill the boiler.
Things seemed to finally settle down for Juniper then, as she pressed the lever on the quick boiler and settled one of the tea bags in a thin ceramic mug that was a deep red. "This is insane," she said, head cocked as she watched the water come to a rapid boil only after a few seconds. She wasn't just talking about the water boiler, but the entire situation - pouring bleach over the man her mother dated, the way Elias volunteered to stay with her to keep her from the horrible foster systems. Pouring boiling water into her mug, the tea bag staining the water a warm amber, the girl began to pick through her thoughts.
After she stopped pouring, she slammed the thoughts under a lid. She didn't want to figure it out - the reason Elias was so comfortable with killing Newel, the way he was so casual about the whole thing. He vanished after Oliver died.
But he came back, didn't he? whispered a comforting voice. Surely, if he was involved, he wouldn't have returned. Especially to the funeral.
He had pretended to be someone he was so obviously not. Everyone has their secrets, the same voice reasoned. Maybe there was someone here who hated him.
Juniper shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, having been staring off into space through the wide wall of windows that showed access to a huge balcony with a covered hot tub and an outdoor bar, a grill and outdoor lounge complete with a fire pit with fire-proof glass. "I've never been so high," she said softly, silently sipping her tea. "The city is beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen so many lights before."
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 16, 2017 10:13:45 GMT -5
Elias helped himself to a mug of citrus green tea with the leftover water in the boiler. All these new, luxurious appliances were of no surprise to him. But he feigned surprise anyway when Juniper discovered that the faucet turned on and off with a mere touch and the boiler could bring water to a boil in the blink of a eye. This was not to say that Elias felt at home, not at all, but Leo sure would have.
Actually, he didn't know why he bothered pretending to be surprised at all. It wasn't as if he'd ever told Juniper that he'd grown up penniless. Can't even act a part now, can you?
No, he couldn't...because what part was he trying to play? Leo had been off the table for weeks now and Elias...no one wants to meet, let alone live, with the real Elias.
"Yeah?" He followed Juniper's gaze out the floor-to-ceiling windows. There was a grill and a fire pit, two things Elias had didn't know how to use. And then there was a bar, something he knew all too well. He snuck a glance at Juniper, and suddenly he felt a wave of unexplained shame. "Not even on like a...school trip or something?" What did he know? How much school had he experienced? I say five years if we're feeling generous today. "Or...I mean, I guess you just stayed at the mansion the whole time after you moved here?"
The tea was delicious, but it was always on that edge, that line between being pleasantly warm to hot enough to burn. Maybe some part of Elias wanted it to burn, but the greater part of him was still engulfed in that void of self-preservation. He really was weak, in that regard. A stronger person might still have a sister and a father figure. Sometimes Elias wished he were stronger.
Most of the time, he didn't regret a thing.
Right now? Right now, Elias was terrified of the truth of who he was. He was ashamed of himself in a way that he'd never been before. Not when he abandoned Marja, not when he watched as Wade gave up everything to keep him safe, not those countless times when he'd stolen or tortured or killed.
"Honestly," his voice was barely above a whisper. "This isn't the highest up I've been. But I've never felt so...out of it? This is a new experience for both of us."
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 17, 2017 7:31:11 GMT -5
Juniper shrugged one shoulder, taking another quiet sip of her tea as she leaned her back against the counter. Her fathers' flannel, which used to fit her so well, was now slipping from her shoulder. She was so skinny. "Online classes," she said softly, "was what I was supposed to be doing. Then again, when Newel came into the house... well, things changed," she finished, touching the side of her neck with one hand - there was still a bruise there, from who-knows-what.
She nodded in agreement at his last statement, not saying another word as she let the silence settle around them like a heavy blanket. Strangely enough, the silence wasn't awkward - it was a result of a mind lost in its thoughts, in memories and ideas. The girl with blazing hair finished her tea in silence, dropping the tea bag into the trash can. She jumped as there was a tiny click, then settled again - it wasn't just a trash can, it was a chute. They wouldn't have to worry about taking out the liner - all the trash would tumble away immediately. Shaking her head slightly, Juniper turned towards the sliding door that opened onto the massive balcony, to the night time sky and the lights.
Touching the door, it slid back on its own and Juniper paused for a moment before walking outside to explore. She ran her hand over the thick metal of the railing, coming almost to her elbow - her pale hand trailed along the cold surface, feeling condensation dampen her skin as she went. She looped around the hot pool - big enough for a dozen people - and spotted a turn - the balcony went around the corner. Curiously, she followed the tiny path to see a small garden, a miniature greenhouse. Packets of seeds and a row of basic gardening tools lined the wall, the bags of soil and mulch waiting to be opened.
Mind spinning but oddly blank, Juniper lowered herself to sit on a long, curving bench with lights underneath. Absently, her hand trailed along a spade - it was used, it was clear, and Juniper felt a clench over her heart. Oliver used to garden. She glanced away quickly, looking out over the city that her new home towered over. The silence was blessed for now - but what happened when she decided to face reality? Turning her thoughts away from that for now, Juniper let herself marvel in the beauty her city had from so high in the air. Her thoughts turned to Elias - she hoped he found the beauty in the view, even if he had been higher before. So few people stop to admire the sights.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 17, 2017 11:34:57 GMT -5
Elias had always loved sightseeing. Growing up, the only views he had were of brick walls and dirty back-alleys occupied by the wandering stray or shady people making even shadier deals. Being able to travel to other countries was certainly what Elias counted as a pro of his career. He always had time to go sightseeing aside from completing his task and he'd grown fond of sweeping valleys and forests and glistening lakes, grown fond of pretending he was a tourist and tagging along to the ends of tour groups coming by. He took pictures, though never pictures with him in it, and marveled at all these sights and sounds that were so foreign to him, sights and sounds that so many people would never be lucky enough to see.
He was lucky.
As he finished up his tea and tossed the tea bag away, Elias played with the idea of joining Juniper out on the balcony. This city was no New York, but it had its own charms, its own little quirks. Elias didn't know if he wanted to really see it. Every city was beautiful on the outside, was beautiful to tourists who didn't have to live there. But the breathtaking skyline was always hiding something deep within its core. This, Elias was a firm believer of. Everything was ok if he was just a tourist, but once he gets to know a place, there are things that he cannot forget, things that will forever tarnish the beauty of that place that he could have loved.
New York, for example, is tarnished by the likes of him. That is why he cannot ever leave. It is the one place that he will allow to be tarnished in his mind, for he does not know if he could live knowing the dirty little secrets of every other place on Earth. Elias was certain that if he tried, he could find work in this city, too. He could find a mercenary job-fair like Sister Margaret's and he could make a living using this city as his base. He doesn't want to. This was Juniper's city, he does not want to put his own dirty mark on it, nor does he want to know of the mark it already had.
So he played with the idea of joining Juniper on the balcony, but in the end, Elias just set his mug by the sink and wandered back down the corridor to the door labeled "Guest." That's what he was. A guest. Temporary. Good. It means you don't have to stay here forever. And there was comfort in knowing that. There was also guilt, for he wondered if Juniper expected his stay to be more permanent than he planned it to be. He wondered if Juniper expected him to stay here until she graduated high school and of course, that's what he had led her to believe, isn't it?
But no, Elias can't just stay here. Those busy, rich parents who spent weeks at a time away from home, leaving their children to fend for themselves? Yeah, Elias imagined that that was the kind of guardian he would be. Don't be sorry, the only reason you're here is so that she's not thrown into the system or onto the streets you owe her nothing more than that. He supposed the voice was right.
Princess Ivan 4:23PM Yo wtf? Cleo told me u ain't comin home
Eli i got this great gig for u are u sure
Just two bullets and u won't have to worry about rent for two years
Elias pushed open the door to the guest room. It was...it was like a hotel room, really. Had nothing of his in it and when he left, he would leave no trace. The room itself was probably bigger than his entire apartment back home and in the center was king-sized bed with red covers. This bed could swallow mine. There was a bureau, two doors, a vanity, and a desk. He supposed one door led to the bathroom. The other maybe a walk-in closet. There were two large chairs and a television. He didn't need all of this. You don't need it but you love it, don't you?
Yes, he did love it. Too bad he's just a guest.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 17, 2017 12:36:31 GMT -5
Juniper was outside for quite a while, just watching the lights flicker and shine hypnotically almost two thousand feet below her. A chill wind eventually swept in, making her shiver despite the heated bench under her. It snapped her from her blank daze, and she rolled her shoulders as she got to her feet again. "I guess it's time to go in," she murmured to herself with a quiet voice, rounding the corner again and stepping inside. Since Elias had vanished into the guest room, Juniper took her time to really look around and let the sheer modernness of the place sink into her skin.
She kneeled by the door, untying her ratty shoes and putting them at the entrance. The carpet was impossibly plush and soft underfoot, and the flame-haired girl glanced around to find that the entire living room was covered in it. Couches and arm chairs littered the area - beautiful little glass tables, a long coffee table, a tv screen with gaming consoles and games stacked almost all the way up the walls. White, gray, black and reds - it was still all so much. She left the room as quickly as possible.
A moment later, Juniper was standing in front of the door of her room once again. This time, she didn't let herself think as she opened the door - it swung in silently, showing her that her step father had put a lot of thought into the decor. Her ceiling was and three walls were painted with eerily realistic galactic patterns - one wall was blank white, and a tall, narrow row of shelves next to them had paints and brushes, rollers and paint thinners. A painting wall. There was a small bed - she hated big beds - in the corner underneath a glass skylight that could be opened with a press pad on the wall above where her pillow lay. A wide, curving desk with more art supplies in the drawers - no TV, no computer, just an entire wall with the entire Xanth series lined along one - all 42 books. The carpet was black, just as plush and soft as the living room, and there were three light switches. Juniper flicked them on one at a time - a lack light, making the solar system come to life around her on the walls and the white wall glow almost too brightly. A normal light, a clean white radiance, and then the third made lights under the carpet give the room a low, gentle glow.
Walking forwards, Juniper recognized an old picture frame on the stand next to her bed. Sitting down on the black covers, she picked up the photo of her and her biological father - she was no older than thirteen in the picture, smiling brightly with her father proudly putting his hand on her shoulder as she held up a massive fish she had caught in the lake they visited. It made her heart clench, and she exhaled slowly as she grabbed the two rings hanging around her neck. I'm so tired.
"Elias?" She asked from her door frame, putting her hand on the wall as she looked inside the guest room. "I'm going to bed. I think these walls are sound proofed, so..." she shrugged, then rubbed her face. "I'll see you in the morning?"
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 17, 2017 19:07:47 GMT -5
Elias spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the guest room, sitting around, looking outside, ignoring the messages flooding into his phone as Cleo, Ivan, and some others tried to contact him. He'd told Cleo about a change in plans, but hadn't specified. He couldn't bear to think of the pile of burning ashes that would be his reputation if he told any of them the truth of why he wasn't going home.
Brown eyes snapped to the doorway in surprise when he heard a voice. It was just Juniper, but his heart still leaped to attention. He'd been zoning out. Can't do that. Don't do that. "Yeah, see you. Sweet dreams." He tried to smile.
The night passed as it normally did. He stared at the ceiling for hours, riding that line between being too exhausted to stay awake and too afraid to fall asleep. Eventually, he betrayed himself the way he did every night and dozed off. Maybe it was the nerves that came with falling asleep in an unfamiliar place or maybe he was just too tired, but no dreams visited him the entire night and it passed without incident.
Sunlight streaming through the floor to ceiling windows of the guest room woke Elias at roughly 7AM. Tired eyes still laced with sleep squinted past his covers at the view outside. He could hear the sounds of the city below, but all he could see were high-rise buildings and the sight was serene. He could almost fool himself into believing that this was New York, except he'd never seen his own city from this vantage point before. His own apartment was only on the fifth floor of the complex and Sister Margaret's was underground. Aside from those two places, and the grocery store, Elias didn't really get around New York. Too risky.
It was about 7:30 when he rolled out of bed and wandered into the bathroom to clean himself up. It was 8:00 when he changed into some casual clothes and stepped out into the corridor. Even just looking down the hall, Elias could tell how expensive this home was. Ridiculous... It gave him goosebumps, filled him with anticipation that would never be fulfilled, and Elias feared that he might actually get used to this kind of living one day. He feared that one day, he might see all this luxury and feel nothing.
"Juniper? You up yet?"
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 18, 2017 7:45:41 GMT -5
Juniper didn't sleep much either, tossing and turning as she stared at the galaxies on her walls. She loved the colors, loved the patterns - but her gaze was always drawn back to the picture of her and her biological father on the one time they went fishing together. She sighed, giving up and tossing the covers off of her around 6:00 am. She changed into an exercise tank top and shorts, wandered into the storage room, where a treadmill was set up next to a few other machines. She spent the next long while running, listening to angry music from ear bugs as she felt her heart pound in her chest. She knew that she wasn't in any shape for burning calories, but she didn't care at the moment - she just needed to move.
The girl stopped running when she began to feel light headed, leaning against the hand rail when the loop stopped. She gasped for air for a minute or two before grabbing the change of clothes she brought, ducking into the tiny bathroom in the room. Juniper scrubbed viciously at her hair under the water, still angry for no reason - but once she dried off and put on her tank top, flannel, and skinny jeans, she felt calmer as she pushed her way out of the storage room just in time to see Elias peep from his room.
"Oh, hey," she said with a small smile, hair bright red curls slightly darkened by water. "Yeah, I've been up for a while." She pushed into her room for a moment, dumping her sweaty clothes into a laundry basket before coming back out, raking her hair back with one hand. "Breakfast?" She asked him, wandering down the hallway with bare feet against the plush carpet as she ducked into the kitchen. She didn't really wait for an answer, just pulled a mixing bowl from under the island and a few ingredients, beginning to toss some crepes together as a pan heated up on the stove.
"Blueberry, raspberry, or strawberry?"
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 19, 2017 18:08:36 GMT -5
Elias remembered being four years old and happy. He remembered the naivety of a toddler who didn't know the dangers that came with their neighborhood or the uncomfortable atmosphere associated with the cramped living conditions he was growing up with. He remembered not knowing that their family was riding the poverty line and that each meal was a struggle for his mother to bring to the table. All he knew was that he liked seeing his mom smile at him and Marja every morning as she brought them each a plate of cheap, store-bought frozen waffles or pancakes. He remembers wondering why his mother never ate with them, but never questioning it.
Elias doesn't remember when that smile started fading away and he doesn't remember when she stopped smiling altogether, but she did.
"Uh...raspberry?" It came out more like a question than a statement, but he liked to pretend that he sounded sure of himself. "Thanks."
Elias remembered being sixteen years old and uncertain. He remembered his skepticism and nihilism, remembered that and also his foolish grasp onto the last remaining flickers of hope that this was not all that life had to offer him, that there must be more. He remembered a stack of pancakes and dollops of maple syrup, remembered the vivid colors of berries decorating the clean, white plate. He remembered his shock when the flavors hit his tongue, remembered that it hurt to smile but that he smiled anyway. And he remembered that Wade had smiled back.
"What are you making?" He'd never learned how to make food from scratch. His meals consisted of raw fruits and vegetables and take out containers of Chinese food left scattered on his coffee table next to the empty pizza boxes he always forgets to take out. "Where did you learn how to cook?" He hovered at a distance, watching Juniper toss around what looked like pancakes in a pan, but not daring to get too close in case she wanted her space. But even from a distance, he could smell the little pancake things cooking and his stomach let out a quiet grumble.
Homemade.
The thought made him shiver.
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Post by Strawberry Scream on Aug 21, 2017 8:03:52 GMT -5
Juniper carefully added pureed raspberry to the thin batter, folding it with a spatula as she worked. "They're crepes," she replied calmly, her voice softer than usual. Turning to the stove, she spooned a little of the red-patterned batter onto the hot surface and tipped the pan, creating a wide circle she kept an eye on until she carefully flipped it over. She let it rest for another quarter minute, then let the thin crepe slide cleanly onto a plate. As she let the second one warm in the pan, Juniper glanced down as Elias asked where she learned how to cook.
It was an immediate flashback, a memory that brought a genuine smile to her face as she flipped the second crepe. Her eyes softened at the memory, and she pushed a stray red curl behind her ear. "When my dad was gone for a long time when I was a little girl, this nice elderly lady would come by and watch me. Sometimes, she would bring me a toy or a pack of crayons - things I kept for years, since we couldn't afford much more than our bills. But mostly, she brought over ingredients and taught me how to cook. Simple things - bread, crepes, ground meat, pasta, just things that she knew we couldn't afford." The memory was sweet, and Juniper didn't even realize there was a slight smile on her face as she put the fifth crepe on the plate. "I grew up fast, and she stopped coming over to watch me. I still have the recipes memorized, even though my father could never afford more than a few cans of something or other at a time."
The batter was gone, ten crepes in its place. She put the bowl in the sink to wash later, then carefully tipped two of the crepes onto another plate. "Just put some of the raspberry puree on them, fold it over, top it with a smudge of whipped cream, and you're as golden as a state bridge. She pushed the two over to him, along with the raspberry and whipped topping.
She rolled up a plain crepe, taking a bite without any toppings. She moved around the kitchen once again as she finished off the food, cleaning the bowl and pan in the sink - despite the fully automatic dishwasher. She didn't say anything, but she was humming softly to herself - a good sign that she was starting to heal, to be herself again.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Aug 29, 2017 16:50:26 GMT -5
Juniper Smith's files had told Elias about her family, her social status, her home, her school, height, weight, medical conditions, hard and fast facts that could have applied to a multitude of different people. He found that what little information he just got from Juniper, about the old lady and her father's hardship, was more valuable than anything he had gotten off of the internet. He wanted to know more.
"Thank you." Elias accepted the plate and, as per Juniper's instructions, put a spoonful of the raspberry purée onto his crepe, folded it, and topped it with some whipped cream. Noticing that she had started eating her own crepe without any toppings, Elias frowned slightly, picking up one of his own crepes and bringing it to his mouth. "You're not adding anything to yours?"
The crepe was heavenly. He hadn't had something so...perfect in ages. But he said nothing about it, just finished off his crepes as he watched Juniper go around the kitchen cleaning up. "You're not using the dishwasher?" Elias supposed that habit was a hard thing to break, if she were used to washing dishes by hand at home. He wondered briefly if she'd even had a dishwasher in her home in Canada. Elias had had a dishwasher, but that was when he was still very young. Eventually, it broke and they hadn't had the money to fix it.
Wordlessly, Elias placed his used plate in the sink, listening as Juniper hummed quietly. She's in good spirits, I suppose. That's good. I'm glad. "...are you planning on going back to school on Monday?"
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