164Hahaha, I've basically forgotten how to use this site.
~L
We had arrived separately, which was good for avoiding the awkward non-conversation that would have likely resulted if we were forced into the same vehicle, but meant I had to drive myself, pained ribs and all to Tiernay's place. As I hit a small pothole and pain made the edges of my vision go white, I promised that I would get June to drive me to the hospital as soon as we were done debriefing.
Still, I screeched into the parking stall labelled 'visitor' and hauled my ass over to the apartment to push the button on 312, which had the oh-so-ingenious label of 'Smith' on it.
"Hello?"
"It's me, Jess," I told June's voice over the intercom.
"Oh, one sec. –click–"
It was actually several seconds before the door started buzzing and I could pull it open.
"Sorry, I'm still figuring out Matty's system," June greeted me at the door. I watched her expression shift into a worried frown. "What's wrong?"
I groaned as I entered the apartment, the boldly male decor marred only by the veritable battlefield of Barbies and My Little Ponies littering the floor. I could also see June's subtle influence over the place with a large black and white landscape that I highly doubted Tiernay would have purchased on his own on the wall behind the pale grey couch, and several throw pillows in a contrasting pale yellow.
"Juuuuune," I whined, relief and knowing my best friend was there for me to lean on making me less stoic. "It huuuurts."
She immediately went into mothering mode, putting her arm around me and helping me to the couch. "What happened? Is it bad? Why did you come here and not go to the hospital? Why didn't you get Matty to heal you?"
At that last one, I snorted. The corner of her lips tugged downwards.
"You two do need to get over this little feud of yours," she admonished me, sounding more like a mother than ever.
"But Juuuuune," I whined again, then pouted when she gave me a look.
"Ah, there's only one person in the world who can whine with that much enthusiasm," a familiar voice chimed in from the kitchen, making my stomach twist up a little.
Instantly, I straightened and then tried to look like that movement hadn't caused me considerable agony. I didn't mind looking in pathetic in front of my best friend, but in front of Calc was a different matter. I told myself it was because I wanted to seem capable and able to do whatever it was he asked of me.
"Why didn't you tell me he was here?" I accused June with a glare. Her slightly mismatched eyes widened, wounded.
"I was going to, but then you were hurt and – and –and," June began, but trailed off with a helpless shrug.
"You knew I was going to be here anyway," Calc finished, emerging from the kitchen. He was looking as casually put together as always, a thin blue pinstriped collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up worn open over a white t-shirt and lean blue jeans. I was suddenly glad I was wearing my new jeans although my t-shirt/vest combo was one he had seen before, then snarled the thought away.
But then I noticed he was bearing a plate with crackers and cheese. "Snack?" he offered.
My stomach growled and my ribs twinged. Hunger won out.
I grabbed a handful of both the round crackers and the cheese slices, and began stacking them alternatingly, making a giant double-decker sandwich.
"You're hurt?" Calc asked mildly, setting the tray down in front of June so she could grab a snack too, just as I was about to see if I could fit my now skyhigh cracker stack into my mouth.
"Just a little," I replied, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing. "I'm a big girl, though, I can handle it." I took two layers off my tower and shoved the whole thing in my mouth in an attempt to stop the conversation.
"That's not the way you were going on about it," June the traitor said. "Why don't you let Calc heal you?" I threw her the most 'are-you-kidding?' look I could, considering my mouth was stuffed with cracker.
"Or I could give you a few days off," Calc replied. "Without pay, of course."
I squawked a protest, and ended up inhaling some of the flaky mess in my mouth. The ensuing coughing fit nearly caused me to black out in pain. Slowly, though, the fire in my abdomen faded, replaced by a gentle warmth. As my coughing faded, and I blinked the tears from my eyes, I found myself lying on my back with Calc's hand on my stomach, and all the blood in my body rushed into my face.
"Thank you," I muttered as I sat back up, embarrassed, then realised how idiotic I sounded and deliberately gave him the stink-eye. "This doesn't mean you have free reign to practise your vampire mojo on me."
He took his hand away from my stomach and mocked frowned at me, his weirdly violet-blue eyes crinkling at the corners with held-back laughter. "Does this mean I have to stop sneaking into your bedroom at night to watch you sleep?"
"Creeeeeeeeeeeeepyyyyyyyy," I sang, giving June a raised eyebrow look.
She started to grin with me, but then her entire countenance changed, brightening as her eyes went to the entrance. I followed her gaze to see Tiernay closing the door behind him, his helmet in one hand, his keys and a white bag in the other.
June stood slowly and walked over to him as he put his helmet on a sidetable. "I put Gabby to bed an hour ago," she reported without preamble, standing in front of him with her hands clasped behind her back. "She was not very happy that you were gone, though, so you should probably go in and say goodnight."
Tiernay's normally severe expression relaxed into an almost half-smile as he threaded his hand through the side of June's curly brown-grey hair. "Thanks, June." He lifted the small white bag. "I brought you dinner."
June simply beamed and took the box from him and they stood there in stupid couple bliss for several long seconds.
Calc plopped down on the couch beside me and leaned sideways towards me as I tried to ignore that his hair had grown to a slightly more shaggy length that made him look both adorable and hot. Stupid sexy Calc.
"Almost a little sickening, isn't it?" he whispered conspiratorially, breaking my own thoughts.
I glared at him in an effort to convince myself that I wasn't agreeing with him. I was a little jealous that June had someone new who took up a decent portion of her time, but for the most part I really was happy for her. And I honestly didn't mind that I was the only single girl left in our threesome, our other friend Mar having been married for what seems like forever now. I was just not in a position to offer any sort of stable relationship from my end to even contemplate looking for a guy.
"No, it's sweet," I whispered back fiercely. "And if you do anything to rush this incredibly, incredibly, snails-find-it-slow pace they are taking with their relationship, I will kill you." The threat was only half idle. I had tried to kill him, several times, but I didn't manage to succeed before he gave me a job (long story).
He raised his hands with a grin. "I tremble before your prowess."
June came and sat back on the couch as Tiernay disappeared down the hallway, probably to check on their daughter.
"What did he bring you?" I asked June, interrupting her far off gaze.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, as if she had forgotten about the box on her lap, and managed to open it, filling the room with the scent of sweet and sour.
"Ooo, he brought me Jade Palace!" she announced, then held it towards me. "Want some?"
"Definitely yes," I replied, not about to turn down free food. She set it down on the corner of the table to get a spare fork for the kitchen as I scooted towards the end of the couch in order for us to share.
We were yammering on about mundane things when Tiernay finally returned and took a seat beside June.
"So?" Calc asked in his mild tone, flipping through an architecture coffee table book of June's. Despite his casual manner, both June and I trailed off into silence.
"It was Zlex." Tiernay said the name like it was a foul taste in his mouth.
"You sure?"
"I would recognise that foul stench anywhere."
I held up my hand as if we were in class. "Can I ask who this Zlex is?"
Tiernay's eyes were bordering on black. "He's the one who kidnapped Gabby and orchestrated that whole scheme."
June gasped audibly and held her hands to her mouth for a second, before immediately grabbing Tiernay's hand. I was equally as shocked, although I kept mine slightly more internal.
Gabby was Tiernay's five year-old daughter who was held hostage until Tiernay produced some sort of ancient demon hoodoo bracelet, which happened to have gotten stuck on June's wrist. Thus, the aforementioned kidnapping, falling for each other, yadda yadda yadda, and now I have to deal with the uncommunicative vamp.
"That's what I was afraid of," Calc said wryly.
Understanding dawned. "Is that why you made Tiernay come with me? Cause you knew a demon would be there?"
Calc lifted his hands, attempting to look innocent, but I glared through that, unimpressed. "I had a sneaking suspicion, yes."
"And you didn't warn us?"
"I was sure you'd be able to handle it," he said, shrugging.
"And all the DOIs, I'm sure they weren't going to be a problem either." I couldn't help the hard sarcasm colouring my voice.
But at this, Calc's gaze raised out from his book, a slightly surprised look on his face. "DOI's'?" he asked. "As in more than one? How many?"
Tiernay and I looked to each other, as if visually calculating.
"At least ten," Tiernay answered finally as I ate some more food and nodded my agreement to his assessment. Calc's expression didn't waiver much, but I had worked with him long enough to know that the slight creasing between his brows meant that he was worried.
"That wasn't even the weirdest thing," I stated, pointing my fork at him to emphasize my point. "That demon was doing something to Tiernay."
I saw June's face go pale and felt a little bad, but if Calc wanted a full report, I was giving him a full report.
"He-slash-she-slash-it was staring into his eyes, then all of a sudden Tiernay's face went blank and my danger warning went into overdrive," I said, pointing to my forehead. I couldn't resist getting a few digs in, however. "I did manage to save him," I said airily, as if it had been of no consequence and Tiernay threw me another one of his condescending looks. I smiled back at him, fluttering my eyelashes.
"Tiernay?" Calc asked, and now the worry was quite plain on his face in the sharp frown he wore.
Tiernay shrugged. "I don't know. I was fine, then all of a sudden, it was like I was falling into a hole, then it was like waking up.
Calc's frowned deepened, but he didn't say anything.
But then he saw me looking at him, and he smoothed his expression over. "Well, I'm glad you're both okay."
I put down my fork and stretched my arms back behind my head . "Well, this has been swell. But I'm ready for my bed now."
Calc nodded. "I'll phone you tomorrow." I waved my hand absently at him.
"I'll go home a little later," June said. She had a slight blush on her cheeks, but that might have been because Tiernay's hand was in her hair, absently stroking her ear. She had told me once how sensitive they were.
"Yeah, that's fine." I pulled Calc up with me. "Come on, bossman, walk me to my car."
He followed me into the hallway after we said our goodbyes. "Has June actually started living there now?" Calc asked.
"No, she still technically lives with me," I replied as we piled into the elevator. "She does spend a couple of nights a week over there, though."
It was an oddly slow relationship, considering the two were soulmates, in the very literal term of the word. It was a vamp thing, having a soulmate. Apparently, every vamp has one, and when they find each other its magical fireworks and a lot of blood drinking and joining of the minds and stuff. Seems like quite an invasion of privacy, if you ask me, but I'm still getting used to the whole vampire culture in general.
I sighed as we pushed open the door into the chill early morning air. The sky was lightening on the horizon, but still not enough to call it dawn. "Still, that's another friend bitten by the man bug and doomed to a life of perpetual happiness."
Calc raised his eyebrows. "Jealous?"
I snorted. "Hardly. I can hardly fit sleep into my schedule, much less a boyfriend."
A grin crossed his face, and again I was struck by how goshdarned cute he was, only made worse by the subject matter of our conversation. "You could always go back to Canada, live a normal life."
"Pssht," I waved that notion away as I dug for my keys to my little silver coupe. "If I wanted a normal life, I would have been an accountant like my brother." I paused. "Actually, I sucked at math in high school; I probably wouldn't have been a good one anyway." I unlocked the door to my car and got in, rolling down the window as I started it up in order to continue our conversation.
"Anyway," I said, buckling up my seatbelt, "don't phone me before noon unless it is either Armageddon or World War III."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, and tapped the roof of my car before moving aside so that I could peel out of the parking lot.