undergrounds | March open post

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March open post

I. The Department Store [OPEN]
Waltham Forest, Morning

A relaxed morning in bed with a cup of tea had turned into a trip to the store to buy a new set of sheets. The mattress was dry now, at least, even if it would probably smell like tea forever, but she'd somehow managed to scrub a hole right through one of the sheets so she'd need a new set of those. The new sheets came with new pillowcases, and she decided she might as well get new blankets too, because her blankets had also fallen victim to the tea disaster, and before she knew it the three hundred pounds she had left in the world became less than two hundred and fifty.

Loaded down with new linens, she headed for the cafe and bought a sandwich and a cup of coffee, ruefully counting out her change. She was so preoccupied with that, hoping that maybe the barista had miscalculated and maybe coffee and a sandwich wasn't really that expensive, that she failed to notice when she nearly walked right into someone, only barely stopping herself spilling coffee all over them.

"I'm so sorry," she said quickly, immediately readjusting her grip on the coffee.

II. The Mansion [OPEN]
Westminster, Night

Alex needed the money. Badly. And it wasn't like she was robbing an orphanage or a bunch of nuns or something. She did research. The guy whose house she was breaking into in the middle of the night was filthy rich and not very nice, and if the contents of his safe happened to go missing, well, that sucked for him. Getting into the mansion was easy, and cracking the safe wasn't much harder. There was some cash and a small bag of diamonds, which she took, and a lot of papers, which she left.

Before tonight, she'd figured out how many guards there were, and had so, so carefully avoided all of them. So it came as a huge surprise when she heard a floorboard creak and whirled around to find a guard pointing his gun at her.

A short fight later, Alex was running full speed towards the outside fence. She'd been shot in the shoulder and her hands were slick with blood from digging the bullet out, which made climbing the fence a lot more difficult. Some other guard must have heard the gunshot, because as her hand finally gripped the top of the fence, all the outside lights turned on, lighting the yard up as bright as day. She felt someone grabbing at her ankle, kicked out as hard as she could, and hauled herself over the fence onto the sidewalk. She almost landed square on somebody's head.

III. The Bus Stop [OPEN]
City of London, Early Afternoon

The bus was late. This bus was always late, and Alex knew its exact schedule because Edith rode this bus every week. She had to buy cat food, and it had to be specialty cat food from a specialty store in the City. Alex hadn't believed that at first, because an 85 year old werewolf who was obsessed with cats didn't seem like it could possibly be real. And yet, here she was, carrying around a thirty pound bag of cat food for Edith for the third week in a row.

She didn't hate it as much as she thought she would have. Cleaning dentures was gross, and doing the dishes and laundry and changing beds was tedious. But helping the elderly members of the pack generally felt kind of... good. Which was a weird feeling.

Alex was snapped out of her reverie by someone barreling past her, snatching Edith's purse as he went. Alex did the first thing that came to mind: she hurled the bag of cat food at the thief. It hit him square in the back, broke, and sent its contents showering over a near passerby. She ran over, picked Edith's purse up, and kicked the thief onto his back. He was out cold.

"Are you okay?" she demanded of the passerby.

IV. The Diner [CLOSED to Illya] (backdated to a couple weeks ago)
Camden, Evening

Three weeks to the day that Illya made his deal, Alex waited for him in a small diner near the British Museum. She'd scraped together a few thousand pounds and had it converted to rubles, so she would be able to buy weapons and transportation once she got into Russia. She'd mapped Pinksy Forest, partially from memory and partially by bothering immigrants in Little Russia, and she had some ideas of where the pack's new den might be. All she needed was a way into the country, and Illya, she hoped, would have one for her.

She was too excited to eat. If this worked out, she might be only weeks or even days away from going... not home, exactly, Russia wasn't home anymore. Back to where she started. To finally get closure for everything that had happened to her in the past six years. But she ordered some eggs and sausage for the appearance and sat, picking at them while she watched the minutes tick away on her phone, waiting for him to show.

V. The Confrontation [CLOSED to Kyle] (backdated to late February)

After Lupercalia, Alex spent days worrying that she had ruined whatever relationship she had with Kyle and wondering whether it would be easier to simply pretend she had never met him and move on. But he was a hunter, or at least somehow involved with the supernatural. And even if he'd never directly lied to her, he'd concealed the truth, and in her eyes that was just as bad. She wanted an explanation. Before long, she had worked up enough anger to storm all the way to his place with every intention of confronting him.

There were no obvious signs of life there. Maybe he was out. She raised her hand to bang on the door when she remembered that even if Kyle was a liar, his aunt and uncle might be clueless and innocent, and she didn't want to get them involved. If they came to the door, she would have to exchange pleasantries and possibly pretend to be there for some innocuous reason when all she wanted to do was shout at Kyle.

Instead of knocking, she yanked out her phone and called him. If he didn't answer, then she'd knock.

VI. Choose Your Own Adventure! [OPEN]
Anywhere, Any Time

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Alex was just as happy to move on to a different topic. She perused the menu carefully, ultimately deciding to choose based on price rather than what she actually wanted. "I'm not picky," she said, smiling at him.

"The wontons look good." They were also the cheapest thing on the menu, but hopefully he wouldn't notice that. Or maybe he would. "Or curry," she added quickly. That was a little more expensive.

He glanced up then returned to the menu, her smile encouraging his. This was good. Kyle reached out to take another sip of his drink as she spoke, then shook his head. He was oblivious to the price, but more concerned with her actually eating.

"Wontons aren't a meal. We can split an order, but get something else too. I'm thinking red. Curry. Maybe try yellow if you don't know? Someone told me that's the least offensive. It's what I started with."

"It's okay, I'm not that hungry," she said offhandedly. She glanced up and decided to elaborate, in case he was worried. "I had a big breakfast." She really needed to do something about her money situation soon. She could stretch a few hundred pounds a fair distance, but not infinitely.

She read the curry part of the menu more carefully, picking which one she wanted. "The yellow looks good. And hey, I can get it with extra beef," she added dryly, making a jab at his earlier joke.

He frowned at her. Kyle knew the lunch was an excuse for them to bond and be okay again, but he misconstrued her financial woes as choosing not to eat because she was still stressed or upset with him. He couldn't really say anything about it, so he focused on her remark about the beef instead. "You say it like you're joking, but it sounds good."

The waitress returned then and Kyle smiled to greet her. He gestured to Alex to order first. Either she would order a curry or he would order one for her. Then he ordered his own with extra beef and an order of wontons. As he did, he slipped the waitress his debit card behind the menu. She nodded, understanding his ploy, and casually accepted it with the menus. Then she disappeared.

"I hope you're hungry enough to share the wontons." He still had a very American mentality about food. Order too much, take home the leftovers or give them to a homeless person. He forgot it was less common to do so here.

Alex likewise ordered curry, but with the regular amount beef - he was right, annoying as that was, extra beef did sound good, but she wanted to save the two pounds it would cost. She frowned when he ordered wontons, but she couldn't exactly object without explaining why, so she didn't say anything. It completely slipped her notice that he gave his card to the waitress.

"I'll see after the curry." She made herself smile at him, because it wasn't his fault she was practically broke and she didn't want him to think she was upset about anything else. It would take time before they were completely okay again, but she wasn't upset with him anymore.

It was surprisingly easy to fall back into their friendship, even if it was different now. She smiled again as she sunk back into her chair, more naturally now. "We still haven't seen the new Star Wars movie," she said tentatively, testing the waters to see if it would be alright to start making plans to hang out with him again.

He nodded and took another sip of his Coke, pausing at her comment. He set his drink down and nodded. Kyle was clearly not quite so enthusiastic as in the past, yet even now he clearly was interested in spending time with her and was entirely genuine in his response. "We haven't.. We should do that, before it goes away. If it hasn't already."

"If it has we can... find something else. The winter gardens," she said hopefully. Alex didn't particularly care what they did, as long as they could still spend time together.

Sensing his lack of enthusiasm - at least compared to how enthusiastic he used to be about his space movies - she rather awkwardly grabbed her glass of water with both hands and just held it for a while before taking a sip, then kept holding onto it rather than set it back on the table, just to have something to do with her hands.

"Sure. We can do both," he replied somewhat offhandedly. It certainly wouldn't bother him to spend time with her. He just needed some time to get over his anxiety and the damn memory of being bound and ready to die. It had aggravated and triggered some of his old vulnerabilities more than a little, causing nightmares and general exhaustion. Alex was related to the memories, but not a part of them. He would work to separate them even more.

"I was planning to check out The Shard next week, see the view." Where once he might have insisted 'come with me' with all the confidence in the world, now he seems vaguely uncertain. "You should come, if you're not busy."

That made her feel better. The fact that he wanted to do both was a pretty clear indication that he did want to spend time with her, and the invitation, tentative as it was, made her smile. "I'm not busy."

Alex took another sip of water just as the food arrived. She set her glass down and thanked the waitress before pulling her bowl of curry towards herself. Bracing herself for it to be very spicy and determined not to be intimidated by it, she stuck a spoonful in her mouth and was surprised when it wasn't that bad.

"It's pretty mild," she said once she'd swallowed it.

Kyle, likewise, said thanks as the food was delivered. He started with a wonton, no sign of hesitation or waiting for her to go first or any of that nonsense. Nodding his approval, he looked to her for her review and his lips curved into a smile. "Is that good or bad?"

He then took a large bite of his own curry, agreeing that it wasn't particularly hot. Ideally, it might have been a little spicier, but he wasn't about to complain about any curry.

"Mm. Try this." His mouth still half full with a second bite, he pushed his plate toward her.

Alex shrugged. "Neither, just not what I expected." She tried his, and nodded. "Definitely spicier."

She used her spoon to pick a couple pieces of beef out of his bowl and drop them into hers. She didn't actually want to steal his food, so it was just the two pieces, though she might take more depending on his reaction. "That's what you get for making jokes about me eating steak."

"Good. Take more. And eat some damn wontons too." He flashed her a grin, grabbing a few more pieces and dropping them in her bowl. Then he withdrew his food to continue eating, borderline inhaling his meal. Another habit from the military. Kyle made a conscious effort to slow down and save some. "Let me know if you want more."

Alex had expected him to tease her back, not just drop more food into her bowl. She opened her mouth to object, but he'd already done it and was scarfing down the rest of it. She took his advice and ate a wonton, which was, as it turned out, pretty good.

"Alright." She wasn't entirely sure whether he was sincere, but she figured he'd stop her if he wasn't. She reached to steal the last piece of meat left in his bowl. "I mean, I am paying."

Kyle waited until she had taken the piece, feigning an offended expression for a half second, before taking a sip of his drink. It wasn't until she'd eaten the last of it that he shrugged and smiled. "I forgot to tell you.."

The waitress arrived then, cutting him off with a smile. "Anything else for you two? Dessert?"

Kyle looked to Alex to see if she was going to order before shaking his head with a thanks. The waitress nodded and said she'd return with the check shortly as he returned his attention to Alex. "You sure you're good?"

Alex didn't eat quite as quickly as Kyle, but she wasn't far behind. She was chewing another wonton when the waitress came back, and she shook her head in response to her question.

Once the waitress was gone and Alex had finished chewing, she frowned at Kyle. "Yeah I'm good. Forgot to tell me what?"

"It-"

Again the waitress interrupted, setting the bill and his card before him with a pen, ready to go. "Just sign here, please. Thanks again for coming in!"

She disappeared and Kyle gave Alex a vaguely sheepish grin, sliding his card back into his wallet and trying to brace himself the expression she was bound to give him. "It's my treat."

He looked at the check and frowned, glancing back up to her. "How much should I tip? I forget what's normal here."

Alex's frown deepened when the waitress set the check in front of Kyle. She tried to call the woman back, but she had already bustled off to the kitchen by the time Alex opened her mouth.

"I can pay," she insisted. "I'm not a kid or some charity case. You shouldn't have to pay all the time." She didn't want to feel beholden to him, but she also didn't want him spending too much money on her when he probably didn't make that much to begin with.

"This is only the second time I've paid for anything and it's what friends do." Kyle sighed, looking up from the check with a very pointed expression. "Are you saying we're not friends?"

It was a deliberate trap. Either she admit they were friends and accept his offer or she deny it and ruin their friendship. Given how much time they had just spent working to repair it, he was fairly confident of her answer. Even though he knew she would continue to protest. "You can get next time."

Alex's jaw locked in frustration and her head titled to the side. "That's not fair, of course I'm not saying that." She paused, gathering her thoughts to make sure she could make him understand why this bothered her so much. Finally, she settled on saying the only thing she could come up with, "I don't want this to feel like I'm just hanging out with you for money."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a ten pound note, which would cover a little less than half the check, and held it out to him. "Take it."

"Never crossed my mind," he replied honestly, neither accepting nor declining her money yet. Kyle felt like there was something else going on here, something that bothered her more than what she was admitting to and he worried he might be at the center of whatever it was. Which meant it was better to clear up now than to let it linger. "I have some money and I want to pay. That doesn't mean you're here for my money. Hell, you thought you were paying until I did. So what is it? Do you feel like you owe me? Or is this back to the bullshit of wanting to make sure I know that we're nothing more than friends?"

He sighed at the thought, writing in a few pounds for the tip, knowing he was probably over tipping and not caring. Kyle closed the check and pushed it away from himself, snatching the note from her hand and pocketing it. "There. Happy?"

Alex was astounded by how quickly she went from wanting to kiss Kyle to being extremely frustrated with him. "Yes, I feel like I owe you and I don't want to, that's the whole point!" She tried to keep her voice down, so the other diners wouldn't be privy to their argument. She didn't want to admit that she was nearly broke, because she was pretty sure that would just make this whole problem even worse. "I want to help pay for things, why don't you just accept that?"

She drew her hand back as soon as he took the note from her. "Yeah, thrilled. Come on," she muttered as she stood up and headed for the door. "We should go get my key copied."

Edited 2016-03-14 02:17 (UTC)

"You don't owe me anything and I've never said anything to suggest that you do," he whispered, leaning in to express his frustration without being overheard. Kyle knew Alex hated public bickering. And they did bicker a lot. "I can't do a nice fuckin' thing without offending you somehow."

He watched as she stood up and followed behind her, waiting until they were outside and away from the few people near the entry before speaking again in the same quiet tones. "Okay, no paying for things. I'll add it to the list behind no doing anything that could be perceived as affectionate."

Kyle ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself quickly. His anxiety was amped up with his frustration and it wouldn't be good to have either heightened right now. His body tensed suddenly and his hands clenched into fists, pausing on the sidewalk and having to close his eyes to breathe through it.

Alex paused near him once they were outside, taking a breath to try to get rid of some of the frustration. She was messing this up, she knew, but he wasn't exactly handling it great either.

"I like it when you do nice things," she snapped quietly. She glared at him for a long moment before saying, "We're friends. That means we both pitch in, alright? Sometimes you pay, sometimes I pay."

"I paid twice, Alex," he replied before opening his eyes again, his shoulders still taut. Kyle was staving off an anxiety attack and had to focus on her and the distraction to avoid falling into one. It was frustrating being triggered by something so dumb, even knowing it was just a side effect of his experience at the Festival and the rave days before. "It's not a habit. You can pay next time."

He forced his hands to uncurl from their fists and began walking, feeling the odd need to run away from nothing in particular and stubbornly wanting to fight it for no reason at all. "I should.. get home. Can I pick up the key tomorrow or something?"

It was pretty obvious he was on edge now, tense and almost jittery. It was more akin to the first time they met on the bench than his usual self. Try as he might, Kyle couldn't entirely suppress the collateral damage he'd experienced from everything.

"Okay, that's fine." Alex could tell something was wrong, but she had no idea what had set him off. This wasn't the first time they'd bickered over something objectively petty, and he hadn't reacted like this.

When he asked to pick the key up tomorrow, she started to recognize what was happening. She remembered that day on the bench, and she remembered all the times she had responded like this to something that nobody else gave a second thought to. The thing that helped her was physical contact, someone holding her.

"Hey," she called after him, and reached for his hand. She'd hug him if that felt necessary, but maybe just holding his hand would be enough to calm him down.

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