The Parent Trap (Closed)

[Keara Aithne]

“For the love of…” Jamie’s voice trailed off as he turned his back on his mother, adopting a pose he’d likely picked up from Enver as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “When I told you to clean yourself up, I didn’t think I needed to tell you to get dressed.” With an exasperated sigh the ever dutiful son then made his way into the bedroom.

Jamie had had enough of his parent’s silliness and was determined to do something about it since he’d let things play out for several months and had yet to see any improvement in their relationship. If anything thing’s between the once seemingly love struck couple were deteriorating and now that he was back studying to obtain the future they wanted for him, he wasn’t around to distract Keara in her darkest moments.

Finding his mother curled up, naked in the corner of the room sketching was sadly par for the course these days. He did his best to watch over her but it was difficult playing the parent, as Keara was so out of touch with reality that she barely spoke and need to be reminded to do the simplest of things such as feed, dress, shower, etc. The formerly formidable female wasn’t the only one missing Enver’s presence, even the dogs were acting weird. Mainly Gizmo, but he’d swear the whole pack seemed more depressed these days. The puppies were grown and spent most of their time in his room or roaming the halls of the Asylum. Gizmo and Leeloo, tended to stick close to Keara. As it was, he’d seen the white ***** snuggled against Keara’s hip in the brief before he’d headed off to the bedroom. Gizmo had been cuddled up against one of Enver’s shoes that the strange mutt had taken to sleeping with, with his little head resting on the cap of the slightly chewed leather footwear. It was partially due to all this, and partially because he too missed his larger than life, doting father that he’d concocted the plan he had for tonight. As he moved about the bedroom, looking for an outfit for his mother he once again reasoned with himself that his plan would work.

A small twinge of doubt ran through him as he began gathering up all the sketches that lay strewn around the bedroom. He piled them as quickly and as neatly as he could before dumping them in the corner of the room with the others. This was another of Keara’s quirks. She’d been locked up in her cell for far too long and had let her inner artist run wild, meaning that she drew almost constantly with her mind almost exclusively on a single subject. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to understand that she missed Enver, as almost every picture she drew was of him. The pictures were everywhere and almost every style; some were done in charcoal, others pencil, some in colour, some painted. The worst of it all was that they littered almost every available surface. The walls, floor, ceiling even in places, were covered in images she’d fixed to the wall. The woman had quite simply lost her mind, so an asylum was a fitting pace for her to be staying as she frequently resembled a mental patient in both look and demeanour. He honestly preferred when she drew Enver though as she was calmer then, hence the reason he kept bringing her sketchpads, canvas, etc. Occasionally she crossed into a darker place where she seemed to draw self-portraits and those were the ones that scared him. The images she drew then were dark, violent even, never in colour and with so much shading at times it was difficult to even find the image lost within the darkness.

With a brief shiver of remembrance, Jamie laid the black steampunk-esque style skirt on the bed along with one of Keara’s simpler black corsets. He found her boots in the bathroom and placed them next to the bed, before grabbing a robe and returning to his mother’s side. Taking the pad and pencil from her hands, he placed the robe over her and began what was arguably the hardest part of his plan: getting Keara dressed and looking presentable. No child wanted to see their parent’s in their birthday suit but it was a sight he was unfortunately all too familiar with. The only thing Keara wore with any regularity was her jewellery which she never seemed to take off. The same rings adorned her fingers, the same necklaces wrapped around her wrists. Of course he knew the story of each item as on her more lucid days she loved to talk about Enver. She’d tell him the strangest stories. Silly things that most people would keep private or not really bother reminiscing over. It was mainly due to one of these stories that he’d chosen today of all days to put his plan into action.

Today was anniversary of Keara and Enver’s first ever non-date. The story went something along the lines of him publicly declaring his interest in her and asking her to meet him in their place under the city. Keara, not being big on the whole vampire community message boards at the time hadn’t even seen it but she’d been waiting for Enver when he arrived. Jamie thought it was kind of sweet how the two had kind of gravitated towards one another and hoped that that natural attraction would be enough to keep them together. That night Enver had kept one of the screens in his theatre free so that he could spend time alone with Keara, and so that was what Jamie had arranged for tonight. He’d asked Enver to book out a theatre for him and his friends, claiming it was a start of semester celebration. It was one of the perks of having Enver as a father and something he’d done in the past. Of course he’d made sure that Enver would be there, after all, as he’d explained to his father, he wanted to spend some time with him too. Now all he had to do was get Keara ready, get them in the same room and then hope they listened to him when he told them it was time to talk things out. The old saying about leading a horse to water flickered through his mind but he pushed it away, as he was sure deep down that this was something they both wanted.

“Come on you. Up you get.” He wrapped his hand around Keara’s wrist and helped her to her feet, making sure to keep her covered as he did so. Thankfully she didn’t pull away from his touch like she seemed to do with others these days. “Time to dress up and go see dad, I’ve laid some clothes out for you on the bed.”

If it was possible for the incredibly still woman to freeze up any more, she did. She missed Enver with a passion that made it hard to function and yet the thought of seeing again stole away what was left of her senses. It wasn’t that she wasn’t dying to see him, of course she was, it was that she wasn’t sure if he would want to see her. They’d seen each other here and there over the past few months but things were different between them. Strained. She hated it but didn’t know how to fix it. Unfortunately for her, her issues ran deeper than that. She’d lost touch with reality in such a way that she’d all but reverted to who she’d been when she first emerged from the accursed realm. It didn’t help that in recent months the existence of vampires had become public knowledge and that Enver seemed to be on a one man mission to make sure people didn’t fear them.

“Come on mum. Enough’s enough. If you don’t snap out of this funk you’re in, you’re going to lose dad for good. Is that what you want? Because honestly I don’t think it is.”

Keara cocked her head slightly to left and studied Jamie for a moment. She understood what he was saying; she just didn’t know what to say or do to bring her husband home. The fight had gone out of her, literally. It had been many months since she’d picked up any sort of weapon and went out into the world to hunt. Art had become her life.

Jamie snapped his fingers in front of her face, since he wasn’t sure she was even listening to him what with the near vacant expression on her face.

“Look. I didn’t want to tell you this, as I’m sure there’s nothing to it. It’s sensationalism is what it is but here goes. Dad goes out. He goes to parties. He meets people. And well… a few weeks back he was reported spotted taking some woman home.”

Keara flinched.

“So you see… You have to get over whatever it is that’s holding you back and talk to him. Really talk to him. None of the avoiding shi… stuff you’ve been doing. Work things out. You obviously still love him,” he gestured around the room to the images, “so fight for him.”

That said Jamie shoved Keara in the direction of her bedroom and set about the task of tidying up the living area. Without Keara around he found a couple of sketch pads the woman had filled recently and shoved them into his bag. He wasn’t sure if Enver knew about this disturbing little hobby of hers, but he was going to make sure he knew by the end of the night.

In her room, Keara dressed herself in the clothing that had been left out for her but her movements were almost robotic in style, her usually graceful style seemingly lost along with her mind. She couldn’t appreciate the feel of the silken skirt with all its ruffled layers as it brushed against her skin. She didn’t even note that the skirt was longer than her preferred style. This skirt ran to her ankles, but was pulled up and secured by ties half way up her thigh on the right hand side, leaving one leg exposed. The corset was made of soft, supple leather and had few frills. Her clunky boots with the chunky heel and decorative buckles finished her look. Walking into her bathroom she took in her appearance. The outfit was her. The face however seemed that of a stranger. There was no life in her dark eyes and the mask she usually wore in public to disguise her emotions was long gone. It was obvious to anyone that looked upon her that she was miserable, lost even. She’d once more become a shadow of her former self, only this time the gulf between who she was and who she had been was a lot wider as she knew now what true happiness was.

Half an hour later, Jamie led his mother towards the theatre, ever mindful to keep his fingers linked with hers. They weren’t holding hands in any traditional sense. The fingers of his right hand were loosely curled around the fingers of her left, the back of her hand occasionally brushing against his palm. Even joined as they were, it wasn’t enough for the nervous female that tagged along behind him, her eyes down as she tried not to be seen by anyone. Keara’s free hand had made its way to Jamie’s wrist and the manner in which she trailed behind him wasn’t entire unlike that of a child clinging to a parent in the middle of a busy mall.

Entering the building, Jamie’s eyes immediately began scanning for Enver. He didn’t know if he’d have to go up to the apartment to get his father or if he’d be loitering somewhere in the lobby, as he knew roughly what time Jamie and his friends were supposed to be arriving. Whatever happened from here on out was out of the young man’s control.

[Enver Marshall II]

"Next week, September the 29th, from seven until close. Right." Enver said at his cellphone to the woman on the other line as he confirmed his first book signing since his last tour with his...trio? Entourage? Since it was close to his second 'home base,' in the state of California, Enver trusted that he could handle the one location in San Diego for a night before taking a small plane to his home city in Cali.

While he was listening to the woman on the other end, another woman popped in his office with an ipad resting on her left arm. She zipped around his chairs and came to the side of his desk and showed him some numbers. Enver nodded his head, grabbed the wireless pen/pencil and gave his initial as his form of verifying and signing what he saw and appeared to be fine with. As she turned on her heels, a young guy, around the age of twenty-three or twenty-four came in with another ipad and came around the other side. He pointed at a couple things, wrote some suggestions and then handed the writing utensil to Enver. Enver made an x over a product he didn't want to carry anymore in the theatre, then did the same initial pattern as he finished his conversation.

He picked up another phone that was on his desk and sent a message to his manager, inviting her in to his office right before he assured the woman on the other line that he would be in San Diego, on time, with some extra security measures on the twenty-ninth of September. He said good bye a couple times before Enver just promptly hung up as his manager slid inside the office and took a seat at one of the two in front of his desk. The business phone was silenced and shoved in a drawer before he looked at the woman with a lazy smile. "Is everything ready?" He asked her, taking a moment to glance down at his watch to notice the time. "Are they here yet?" He asked as Enver moved around the desk to the coat rack where his suit coat was hanging at. "Not yet. No one is. Just a couple of older customers and a mom with some younger kids. Did your son cancel?" She asked, genuinely interested in Enver's thoughts on the subject.

"No." Enver frowned, but the thought went to the wayside as his personal phone rang, or more like chimed. He pointed to the door, indicating she should leave him and the woman didn't hesitate to get up and head out. He looked down at the name and grinned when he saw who he suspected it might be. With a swipe of his finger, the skype call was accepted and connected and Enver grinned to the gorgeous girl on the other side of the phone. "Grace, honey. How are you? How was daycare?" Enver asked her, watching the decals in her bedroom go up and down and up and down every few seconds. "Excited and busy bouncing, I see." Enver chuckled, grabbed his suit coat and slid it on.

"Come home soon?" She asked with a squeal as she jumped and somewhat spun around while on the phone with Enver. Enver nodded his head and then vocalized his answer. "Yep. Very soon, kiddo." Enver said before he sighed. "I was thinking maybe you could come here for a little bit. Might be better for daddy's job." Enver said, not really kosher with living in California anymore since he was shot at and Wilson almost died. "Yaaaaaaaay!" She replied plopping down on the bed with a loud thump as her butt hit it and bounced a few times. "Where's Marsella?" Enver asked as the phone was enveloped in darkness, due to the fact the phone was probably dropped, or lost under the bed. "Here she is, daddy!" The phone was pointed to the ceiling suddenly and the nanny came into view. "Hola, Mister Marshall. I took Grace to the park after daycare and we just finished dinner. This weekend there is a birthday party for one of her friends at school. Should I pick something up?" Marsella asked as she moved from the girl's room into her own room, that connected through the jack and jill style bathroom. "Sure. You know where the card is for emergencies. We'll call this one the poor planning emergency." Enver chuckled as she nodded her head and relayed the rest of the week's events and plans. The phone was passed back to Grace so they could say their goodbyes and Enver pocketed the phone and made his way out of his office and to the lounge, expecting his other child--much older child to be there or make an appearance shortly.

His steps slowed and then stopped when he saw not only his son, but his....absentee wife. Enver glanced around to see who was all around, cleared his throat and then felt his fists clench at his sides as his steps started once again. This was not only unexpected but not the place to do whatever was going to be done or said by his wife. When things started going south, badly, Enver did things that he thought would matter or make a difference. They hadn't mattered or made a difference. When he found out about Grace and the fact vampires were now out and about for all to know about, Enver decided to focus on things that did matter, things he could change. Estranged, and probably borderline divorced was the best way to sum up his life with Keara at the moment, which was no secret to his lawyer or personal assistant before they left. Enver was positive his choice would lead to a divorce, but it felt like he--rather they, had lost what they had at some point anyways. "What is this?" Enver asked, his voice cool, his eyes just as, while he looked at Jaime, expecting an answer that wouldn't make a scene.

[Keara Aithne]

Jamie resisted the urge to sigh at his father’s less than warm welcome. It was probably all too obvious what this was and Enver was trying to avoid it. All this time he’d been worried about how he’d get Keara to the theatre and what he should have been worried about was what Enver might do when he did.

“I think it’s time for a family meeting,” Jamie stated. “I don’t believe introductions are necessary but just in case. Mum, dad. Dad, mum.” Jamie rather flippantly gestured between the pair as he made the needless introductions.

Enver hadn’t even looked at Keara but the female had yet to notice as she too was avoiding looking at him. She should have felt his presence. She should have known he was here. But whatever she’d done to cut herself off from the world had numbed the bond she had with him. This was possibly part of their problem but Keara was too withdrawn to recognise it. Upon hearing Enver’s voice, Keara had moved closer to her son, half hiding herself behind him. She hadn’t been out in public in months and so she was more than a little overwhelmed and her emotions were a veritable whirlwind without that added anxiety. She wasn’t sure if Enver would want to see her but Jamie had been right, she needed to fight for her man. Still, looking at him was proving to be rather difficult as she was afraid of what she’d see, or rather not see, if she made eye contact with him. As such the once more timid female kept her eyes downcast as if the floor were the most fascinating object in the world. What she seemed unable to help however was the hushed sound of his name that echoed within her mind, and likely within his too, since her powers were once again at the mercy of her emotions. The whispered word was full of pain and longing as might be expected, but it was the overshadowing sense of awe that probably would have trip up any who heard it.

Keara trembled slightly at Jamie’s side. She may not have looked at him, but then she didn’t have to. The space between them, the absence of warmth in his voice, it all screamed that something was wrong between them and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. It was something she tried not to think about but now she was forced to confront it, much as she’d been forced to confront the fact that she might in fact lose her husband. When he’d left their home, he couldn’t have known that she’d notice or perhaps even care given how withdrawn she was, but it had been more than she could bear. Jamie’s words still echoed in her mind and the fear of truly losing him was the cause of her fear. A fear that was so strong that it was written all over her face and was the cause of her tremors running through her body. She ached to touch him and yet she didn’t move from Jamie’s side. She couldn’t. She couldn’t trust what she’d do if he rejected her.

Noting his mother’s fragile emotional state, Jamie detached her hold on his wrist and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. The female immediately accepted the comfort he offered and all but buried her face in his shoulder. His scent was calming to her and soon the trembling stopped. He rubbed his free hand up and down her arm and briefly looked down at her before he turned his eyes on his father.

“Look,” he sighed, “Can we just go to the screening room you booked out for me? As much as I’m eager to get on with this, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be airing your dirty laundry in public. And mum really isn’t comfortable right now, in case you missed the obvious. This is the first time she’s left home in months.”

Keara didn’t move or speak as Jamie held her. She was too busy trying to sort through the twisting mass of emotions being here had brought up in her. If he hadn’t of made her angry, she might not have been here at all and yet her anger hadn’t surfaced as it might once have. Keara didn’t throw anything, she didn’t go hunting and she didn’t scream or shout. She hadn’t spoken at all in fact. The spike in emotion had cracked something inside of her and as disconnected as she still seemed, the female was anything but unaffected. Being out in the open disturbed her, sure, but being in Enver’s presence affected her a whole lot more. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the soothing sound of Jamie’s heartbeat.

[Enver Marshall II]

Enver felt the curl of his lip rise as Jaime did a round of introductions. As if Enver could forget that he was married and vampirically bound to Keara, even if she choose to either pretend it didn't exist or abandon the idea of it altogether. He supposed he couldn't blame her with the way things had panned out, but while the cat's away, the mouse will play, the saying went. And play Enver did.

"I know who my wife is." Enver grumbled at Jaime as his arms crossed at his chest, avoiding looking at Keara while he said it. In fact, his eyes went to everyone else in the building, noticing who was and wasn't paying attention to the trio. This was his place of business and he did have an image to uphold, after all. His lingering gaze came to a screeching halt when he heard his name in his ears, a vaguely familiar tone and pitch to it. His eyes shot to his wife who was looking at the ground, but he knew full well it was Keara and that telepath stuff the both of them could do.

Instantly, he projected a learned telepath power on to her, one he had only used once or twice since learning it. Enver rendered any and all vampire abilities Keara possessed and knew, useless for a short stint of time. The stem of their problem was not due to either of them being a vampire, but simply that of a husband and a wife. In Enver's mind it was a very mortal problem, which meant that whatever happened or didn't, needed to be solved as mortal's solved them and not as humans did. "Stop that." He growled in warning before he took a step backwards. While Keara might not have any vampire abilities, Enver knew full well who was the stronger of the two. His talents rested with his hands, and that thought brought a cheeky grin to his face before his throat was cleared and Enver scowled at Jaime. "Fine." He agreed with a curt nod of his head before he extended a hand to theatre three. "If you weren't my son, I would sue you for false advertising, you know." Enver grumbled softly before he headed to the theatre that had been blocked for Jaime and his friends.

[Keara Aithne]

Jamie isn’t at all sorry for introducing his parents and it showed when he smirked at Enver’s grumbled comment. He smirked again when Enver mentioned suing him if he were anyone else. It wasn’t that Jamie didn’t believe him, it was that Jamie knew that Enver would take a shot at him one way or another and he was rather relieved to see it be more humorous than serious when it came. There was a good chance Enver would pay for the lost ticket sales out of his allowance but now he didn’t think his punishment would be anywhere near as severe.

The pair followed Enver to the screening room. The moment they were through the doors, Jamie yanked the strap of his record bag over his head and handed it to Enver. The only things inside were the two filled sketch pads he’d grabbed when Keara was getting ready. His, perhaps naive, hope being that Enver would realise that Keara still cares for him; seeing as how he was featured on almost every page. She’d drawn him in a number of ways, doing a number of things. Some were not for innocent eyes like his, but he’d learned to block those from his mind. The images that didn’t depict Enver, depicted Keara and none of those were flattering, if you could in fact see the image through the dark scrawls.

“I’m going to get mum settled,” Jamie explained, “and while I’m doing that, perhaps you could dig through my bag and see what I brought for you to look at.”

With that, Jamie led his mother to the opposite side of the theatre. He’d been purposely cryptic in what he’d said to Enver, as he didn’t want Keara to know her pictures were in there. Not yet at least. Not until after Enver had taken a look. He led his mother to the far corner and settled her into the corner chair. There were no seats behind her, so if he was lucky, she wouldn’t move to the actual corner of the room and withdraw into whatever state of mind it was she was usually in. Things had been going well since she’d gotten dressed but he couldn’t hold out hope that it would last.

“I’m going to speak to dad before I take off. You don’t need me getting in the way while you two talk things out.” He stood to leave and sighed when he noted the dagger in Keara’s hands. Taking it away from her he explained; “You don’t need this mum. Dad won’t hurt you. And you’ll be too busy talking to use it to take away the pain. Promise.”

The fact that she’d even summoned the item was progress in his mind as it had been many months since he’d last had to do that. So long as she was trying to block the pain, it meant she was feeling something. Anything. He didn’t care what emotion she was experiencing, so long as she was feeling something.

“And no toming home until you and dad are done talking. I swear I’ll clear and burn all the pictures on your walls of weird if you don’t give this a proper shot. You don’t want that do you?”

Keara was pouting from having had her blade confiscated. She didn’t fear Enver would attack her, but she knew she’d need something to dull the pain she’d inevitably feel and that not being able to let her blood was going to cause her some serious emotional discomfort. All these years and the female still couldn’t cope well with her emotions and Enver always made her feel more than anyone else. No matter what happened she knew she was going to suffer. She knew it the moment he blocked her from his mind. He’d taken away the most comfortable form of communication she had. Now she’d actually have to actually vocalise her thoughts. Something that made her thoughts real. Something she’d been avoiding for any, many months.

Jamie knew better than to wait for any kind of verbal reply, so as soon as she shook her head he spoke again.

“Okay mum, be good. Remember what we talked about. You’re going to fight for what you want. Right?”

Keara blinked and then nodded before looking to her feet.

“Good. I’ll see you at home later then. Love you.”

He leaned in and kissed Keara on the forehead but before he could walk back to join his father, his mother’s hand shot out to take a hold to his left hand, the hand not holding her dagger. She brought it to her face and rubbed her cheek against the backs of his fingers. He understood the gesture and smiled. She loved him too, even if she didn’t say it. Enver would likely have been expecting her to kiss his fingers, if he was watching, but she never did that with Jamie. That gesture was one of love and loyalty and saved for the man that claimed her heart, thus proving that she was capable of differentiating between different forms of love.

Jamie knew that Enver had likely heard every word of their exchange, just like he assumed Keara would hear every word of what was about to be said between him and his father, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from saying what he needed to say. He hadn’t taken her to the other side of the theatre to gain any real privacy, as he knew that with vampires, privacy was something more of an illusion. Dagger in hand, his shoulders dropped slightly before he came to stand before his father.

“So… what do you think of things I brought for you to look at?”

As the two most important men in her life began to talk, Keara settled lower in her seat. She didn’t really know what to do with herself since Enver had cut her off from the outside world and Jamie had taken her dagger. With nothing else to occupy her mind, or her hands, she fell into old routines and began picking at the hem of her skirt. She’d considered moving from the seat but wasn’t sure if Enver would take that as her not wishing to take part in Jamie’s plan. Something that was far from the truth. She wanted to be there. Needed to be there, but it didn’t make things any easier for her. Once settled however she began to relax in as much as she could in this foreign space; she was low in the seat, knees together, feet shoulder width apart with her toes pointed inwards. Her head was down and she was seemingly lost within her own world. Few would know that she was monitoring her surroundings as she was, or that playing with her hem was a nervous tick, as opposed to a sign of dismissal. Of course Enver would know, as would Jamie and really, that was all that mattered.

[Enver Marshall II]

For anyone who truly knew Enver, they knew his biggest downfall were two things. His ego and his pride. When both were 'attacked,' or 'threatened,' the worst could be seen in the male. So when Jaime tossed him a bag of whatever, and spoke, Enver's eyes narrowed. He knew damn well his wife was 'hurting,' but so was he. He tried, and failed to 'fix' whatever problem there was between them. And being the master of tinkering and fixing, when this couldn't be fixed by whatever means he tried, Enver took interest in other things. Like vampire rights and portraying a positive image when it came to vampires, with regards to humans. And sure, in doing that, he partied as well. Lived the life of a person who released a new book,and hosted some parties. Which meant he drank a little, and even smoked a little on occasions. A scene Enver was all too familiar and comfortable with. Only this time he knew when enough was enough. He may no longer had his wife at the end of all his doings, but he did have an almost four year old looking up to him and hoping he came home every night.

Jaime moved off to Keara and Enver half-listened as he opened the bag and looked at what he was giving him. Pictures of him, all sizes and shapes lined the bag, which caused Enver to sigh and toss it down on a seat. Great. She spent all this time drawing pictures of him instead of dealing with whatever their problem was. So she thought about him. Hell, he thought of his old man from time to time, even his mother and other people that had entered his life, but failed to remain in it. So she thought of him. Big deal.

While Jaime kept talking to Keara, Enver grabbed his phone and sent some last minute emails, read some news on the vampire front and patiently waited for Jaime to come back to him and more or less do the same routine. As if Enver needed some pep talk or something. When Jaime started making his way over, Enver put the phone back in his suit coat pocket and then cleared his throat. "I think you better scram, kiddo." Enver's right arm came out and pat Jaime on the shoulder before he moved around the kid and to his wife. He turned to see if Jaime took what he said to heart before Enver cleared his throat, pulled at his tie and looked down at his now seated wife. "You could probably sell those things in a year or two and make a truck load of cash." Enver pointed to the bag before went on. "The vampire man who almost died. The vampire man who saved a life instead of took it. Or finally, the man who claimed he was a vampire for some cheap Hollywood thrills and tricks. Desperate to make a come back. Take your pick." Enver sighed, then sat down two chairs from his wife. "So, how are we going to do this? Just sit here in silence after a few minutes, tell Jaime it went well and keep going the way we are?" Enver leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees as he hung his head and stared at the dark purple carpet in the theatre.

[Keara Aithne]

Enver told Jamie to scram, so that was exactly what he did. There were things he wanted to say and do, but they could wait. For now. It wasn’t like what he had to say would carry much weight anyway. Whatever was wrong between his parents could only be fixed by them. So as he left, he tucked Keara’s dagger into his inside jacket pocket as best he could and started to make his way home. He had a tome he could use, but he fancied a walk in the night air. In that way, the dagger was probably a welcome addition, as you never knew when you might be required to defend yourself in this day and age. One call to his dad would have the police pulling away if he was busted for carrying a concealed weapon, so he didn’t worry about that aspect of carrying the dagger either.

Alone, Keara continued to pick at the hem of her skirt. Jamie may have taken her dagger and Enver her ability to grow claws, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be able to hurt herself, as her nails were always strong enough to pierce the soft flesh of her palms if needs be. She wasn’t looking forward to this conversation now that she was here but she wasn’t afraid of her husband; only what he might say or do. But none of that was new. They both said and did things that hurt the other on occasion and so in some ways, this would be no different. At least this time, unlike the last few times Enver had come to see her, she would be present in mind as well as body.

“No,” she whispered as she finally gave up on picking at her apparel. “Please.”

She didn’t look to her husband to see if her word affected him, though she probably should have done. She had spoken very little over the past few months, such was the state she was in, so he likely wasn’t expecting a verbal response from her. She wasn’t entirely sure the words were there herself until she tried. Her instincts told her to close the distance between them but fear held her in place. She wanted to crawl into his lap, kiss his hands, his jaw, his lips. She wanted to be close to Enver and yet she held herself back. She didn’t deserve his attention, and yet it didn’t stop her from craving it. After a few more moments of self-doubt, she gave in to her desire to be closer to him. A normal person would have moved to the seat closest to him, but Keara was not normal. While she couldn’t bring herself to seat herself in his lap, she could bring herself to seat herself at his feet. The state of the floor didn’t bother her, after all she’d slept in the sewers at one stage. A little dirt was nothing to Keara. Settled at his feet, facing the same direction as him, her skirt barely covered her legs as she’d pulled them up to her chest, before she wrapped one arm around his leg and rested her head against his knee.

A soft sigh escaped her once she was close to him. She’d missed him more than she’d realised, more than she’d been willing to admit to herself even. She’d missed him every second of every day and yet still she’d sat in the darkest recesses of her mind unable or unwilling to break free of whatever it was that held her there.
“Almost… died?”

It was only once she was close to him that she was truly able to process what it was that he’d said. She didn’t know what he was talking about, but she wanted to know more. The thought of him being injured made her shiver. Had he died she’d never have forgiven herself for not having been at his side. Then her thoughts blackened and raced with fear. Was he here? Was he in California? Had he died in California he’d have had no way of coming back and would have been lost to her for eternity. She couldn’t imagine a world in which he didn’t exist and clutched harder at his leg as she squeezed her eyes shut. The act was meant to block out the worst of her emotions and chase away the thoughts but it didn’t help. Two minutes into their conversation and she already desperately wanted her dagger. The nails of her free hand curved into her palms, applying pressure but not yet breaking the delicate flesh, as she waited for him to elaborate.

[Enver Marshall II]

There was a silence that was neither bothersome or eerie. It just what it was. Enver had said his piece and there was nothing more to say for now. The choice was left in Keara's hands, as he asked her more or less what she wanted or how they were going to approach whatever future there was; between them or not, from this second onward. There was a no spoken, but what it meant, he hadn't the foggiest. No, they weren't going to sit here, or no they weren't going to lie to Jaime? Who the hell knew, and it was as frustrating at not knowing what the hell his wife was doing or thinking these past five or six months? Had it really been that long since they ceased to exist as a cohesive unit?

He sighed and then cleared his throat as Enver pulled out his pack of Menthol's and gave the pack a tap. A habit regained once again in the last fourish months. Not around Grace, but when there were awkward, aggravated, tiresome moments. He pulled out his lighter out, flicked back the top on the gold number and lit the cigarette. It might smell in here later, but he could afford for it to get cleaned. A lot of the damns that Enver used to have, vanished some months ago.

He stuffed the lighter in deep into his suit coat pocket as she asked about the dying thing. Enver took a deep inhale in, blew it out and then nodded. "Not everyone is ready for vampires to exist, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and cleared his throat yet again. "Chicago. Was touring there with the book I wrote and someone decided to try and use a large caliber handgun and use it for more than show. They missed, got my upper arm, but it hit my lawyer instead." He shook his head, reminding himself to set Wilson up with something nice. Did he like cigars? Booze? Women? Enver was sure he knew a few women that would be all too happy spending their time with a lawyer.

"Everything turned out well enough. Between Ms Knight-that's my personal assistant, and Lelantos." Enver glanced to his wife when he said his ex-wife's name, before expanding on her part in this entire scheme, "My bodyguard--and my quick thinking, the guy lived." Enver concluded then before he took another inhale of his cigarette, then once again blew it out. "Missed a lot of things." He muttered, his jaw clenching together as Enver sat up, giving him space between the woman on the floor and, well, him. He was no stranger to her sitting on the ground and at his feet, but tonight it just didn't seem to have the same affect as it once did.