Locks of Love [Lorelai]

[Levi DAmico]

It hadn’t occurred to Levi to question her credentials and experience in removing bullets until she was knelt beside him, scalpel in hand and ready to dig into his flesh. Up until then she had shown that she knew what she was doing – at the least in terms of cleanliness – and since she had been the one to suggest removing the bullets in the first place, Levi had automatically assumed she knew how to go about these things. The lack of hesitancy in Lorelai’s movements had done enough to put Levi at ease quickly enough, but the instant that knife began to cut, his body was quick to be overcome with pain. His stomach muscles clenched involuntarily, biting hard on the bullet she was trying to dig out. Levi didn’t make a sound – too proud to – and kept his eyes focused on what she was doing, breathing long, dull breaths in the effort to relax. Levi wasn’t good with pain; his threshold for it being particularly average, but he coped by becoming angry because aggression was a tool he was used to. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite a tool he could use right now, which left him glaring vainly as the whole scene unfolded, painfully, before him.

[Lorelai]

Lorelai worked on Levi in silence as she removed the bullets from his chest and never once glanced up to look at his face; though between each bullet she did gently rub his forearm for support. It didn't help her to think too much about what she was doing or the pain she was likely causing him, as she wasn't so insensitive as to think that pocking around in his chest with a scalpel and tweezers wouldn't cause him some considerable discomfort. To get through the task at hand, she had to ignore the fact that she was cutting into someone she cared about and believe that everything she was doing was to help him. She wasn't lying to herself, she was just trying to keep her emotions under control.

Once all of the bullets had been removed, she sprayed each wound with the antiseptic spray, covered it in a small square of sterilised gauze and taped it into position. She had patched him up as best she could, and believed that each of the wounds was shrapnel free. She was by no stretch of the imagination a registered nurse but she'd done her best. Wiping her hands on the tea towel, more out of habit than necessity, she then leaned over the injured man and lightly pressed her lips to his.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you Levi." Her turquoise eyes looked into his umber ones, her watery pools filled with concern for his well-being. "I think I managed to remove everything. Hopefully you will heal soon."

It was only after apologising that she realised Levi hadn't taken anything for the pain, a fact she likely over looked as most vampires couldn't take anything even if they wanted to, and even if they could, it might not have the desired effect. Levi however wasn't most vampires and so he could have probably used a little something to numb the pain, something Lorelai was horrified to recall after the fact.

"Oh Levi. I should have asked if you wanted anything by way of a pain killer. Can I get you anything now?"

Her voice wavered slightly out of guilt. She'd been so focused on treating the wounds, that she'd neglected the man. Two delicate hands came to rest on his arm as she offered him an apologetic smile; one that seemed to offer support as well as sympathy. She still didn't know how he knew where she was or why he came looking for her but she was grateful, and as such knew that every wound she'd dressed was ultimately her fault. Of course none of it was her fault, not really but she took the blame upon herself regardless. Had she stopped for a moment to consider the two questions haunting her, the first might have been obvious. Of course the blonde couldn't even begin to hope that Levi might feel a quarter of what she felt for him, as while he didn't generally pull away from her kisses, he didn't tend to return them either.

[Levi DAmico]

Perhaps it was cowardice, but for a few moments under the agonising torment, Levi had wanted to surrender to unconsciousness... or reach for booze. He couldn’t reach from where he was, however, flat out on the couch like that, so he lay there enduring. Besides, he’d just wanted it over with. Like pulling off a band aid – a really big band aid, in fact, multiple band aids which were imbedded in your chest and abdomen – it was better to rip them out in one go, as quick as possible. He was quiet, but for the occasional growl or curse whenever Lorelai had nicked something particularly sensitive. Levi had half-expected to get used to the pain by the time she’d started working on the last bullet hole, but he didn’t. The removal of that final bullet was just as painful as the first, but at least, with it over, he could breathe easy. His body was still burning – that ******* anti-septic spray wasn’t helping – but at least without the intrusion of a scalpel, a pair of tweezers and Lorelai’s finger, it could settle and start the healing process. Levi unclenched his eyes, unclenched his fists, and looked the woman over as her words faintly buffeted his ears.

“Scotch,” he growled.

These were the only thoughts he had and they weren’t the best ones. Logic had been silenced by need, however, so the request stood. The last thing he needed was to address Gino Valachi drunk, but then again, being pained and aggressive wasn’t exactly an improvement. Levi was already infuriated by this whole deal and they would all be lucky if the two men weren’t to come to blows this evening. Levi knew it was a bad idea to get up too, but he did it anyway. Biting down on his rage and agony, Levi stupidly pulled himself into a seated position, swinging his legs around to come over the side of the couch. So of course his stomach was on fire by the time he’d changed position and this just pissed him off more. At least he wasn’t looking at Lorelai at this point, keeping that furious umber gaze on the table in front of him, peering into the bowl which housed those bullets. If Lorelai hadn’t been present, he might have moved to swipe the bowl off the table. As it was, he sat there stewing. Maybe he’d feel better in a few minutes. Or maybe he’d feel better after he’d punched Gino in his smug, ******** face.

[Lorelai]

Lorelai nodded when he said he wanted a scotch. Much like everything else in his place, she had no idea where it was but she was sure she'd find it if she looked long enough. She didn't see a bar in the front room, so it was likely in a kitchen cupboard somewhere, along with a glass to pour it into. She'd never worked as a barmaid but she'd spent enough time in Silks when she first came to the city and later a lot of time in other random bars and so knew that scotch was something people didn't tend to drink by the glass load.

On her way to the kitchen, she picked up what she could carry from off the floor. The bowl of bullets remained behind while she tidied everything away. The clean towels were placed back in their drawer, the first aid kit was neatly packed away and returned to the bathroom and the dirty towels were placed in the hamper. While she didn't feel right making Levi wait those few minutes more for his "medication," she wasn't the sort to just carry things through to the kitchen and leave them to be sorted out later.

Having put away the things she had taken with her, she returned to the front room with an empty glass in one hand and the bottle of scotch in the other. She set them down on the coffee table, knelt on the floor, and set about pouring out a couple of fingers worth of alcohol before handing the glass to Levi. She'd brought the bottle with her, because despite knowing that this wasn't a drink people tended to swallow by the pint, it was one that people tended to keep having refilled and so she was ready to pour another if he required it. She wasn't sure how much pain he was in but from all the grumbling and such, she knew it was probably quite a bit and so one glass of medicinal nectar probably wasn't going to cut it.

"It possibly isn't the best idea to place the bullets in your garbage but I'm not sure what else we should do with them. I usually take them to the junkyard but that might not be the best course of action either."

Lorelai wasn't the sort to over think these things and while she was smart enough to know that dumping evidence on your doorstep was a bad idea, it was yet to occur to her that there might be a better way of disposing of the shrapnel. It was only really occurring to her now because Levi was the one that would be affected if the evidence were to come to life. While she had little regard for her own life, she valued Levi's above all others; well almost, Prudence was obviously top priority due to the strong bond she shared with the woman, but Levi was a very close second.

[Levi DAmico]

Levi never did like the comments he’d heard numerous times before, comments depicting him as a lush. Could he deny the weight of evidence against him though, when bottles of alcohol were stashed in nearly every cupboard of every room he ever occupied? He probably couldn’t, but Levi stood his ground, reasoning that it was better to be prepared than not. After all, it wasn’t just bottles of alcohol he had stashed around. There were books, guns, newspapers, medical kits, knives, phones, cash, cigarettes – pretty much anything he could think of. He had to have spares, extra supplies just in case. He had to have the means to facilitate his plan Bs, Cs, Ds, etc. Levi had taken to squirrelling away necessities like that and building a repertoire of backup plans ever since his stint in Istituto Don Calabria, a private correctional facility in Venice for juvenile delinquents, paid for and managed by the Mafioso. Being part prison and part school, the facility’s aim was to educate and rehabilitate boys from the ages of seven and seventeen. It was a steep learning curve as much as it was a way of keeping boys like Levi – boys born to Malavita – out of the real prisons or in the least, teaching them how to manage if they were stupid enough to get sent down.

Levi was just nine years old when he had been sent to the Don Calabria Institute. He’d almost killed a kid over a stupid argument about a bicycle – to this day he couldn’t remember the details – but it had cost him eighteen months in that facility. There, Levi learned the hard lessons of keeping his mouth shut, his head down, but his nose in everything. He also learned about the power of numbers, how he could gain a following and divide his enemies. Levi was nowhere close to ruling the roost when he was pulled out, but he’d managed to survive and make a fairly decent living in smuggling, blackmail and framing people for his crimes. Levi had lived in a criminal family all his life, but he’d never known what it took to be a made man until he’d spent those months in that correctional facility. He’d gone in as a ball of fire and fury, ready to consume and destroy anything in his path, but he’d come out with his eyes opened to the way of the world. There was fire in his heart still, but now he knew how to control it better, how to be economical, how to strategise.

When Lorelai came back into the living room with a bottle of Scotch in one hand and a glass in the other, Levi had had the chance to cool down some. He looked across to her, some of that angry fire turning into pleasant warmth, and he took the offered and filled glass with some humility. He grumbled his gratitude and then gulped down the medicine before returning the glass to her. Levi was glad she didn’t take his actions as completion and instead, refilled the glass when needed. Three quick shots of liquid fire would do enough to burn away some of the pain and since he was already on his way to recovery in terms of mood, he seriously considered Lorelai’s subsequent words rather than just shrug them off.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said calmly – his voice no longer so gravelly. “I’ll deal with that later.”

It was at that point that Levi got to his feet and held out a hand for Lorelai. He didn’t like her down on the floor like that – not after her ordeal tonight – and he just had to check her over and make sure she was ok before he got on with getting dressed or whatever.

[Lorelai]

Lorelai poured Levi a couple more shots before he was finished. She was more than happy to serve him and despite the fact that there was more than enough room on the sofa, she sat patiently at his feet, looking up him with affectionate concern. It was possibly a good thing that Levi didn't talk much as Lorelai was quite distracted by his semi naked body now that she no longer needed to look upon him with cold, clinical eyes. Of course she tried not to stare at him, as that would have been rude; especially what with the state he was in.

As he got to his feet and stretched out his hand to her, she reached up and let her delicate fingers curl around his for support before joining him on her feet. The evening had been a strange one thus far but she was taking it all in her stride. Now that he was better able to heal, each wound having been treated and dressed, she felt a little easier about the whole ordeal.

"Are you sure?" she asked, soon forgetting about the bullets as he began to check her over.

His touch wasn't uncomfortable or unwelcome as he pushed her hair back from off her shoulders and tenderly cupped her cheek. Lorelai leaned into his touch, momentarily closing her eyes as she absorbed the feeling of his hand upon her; with everything that had happened, she'd completely forgotten about the nick in her throat, though this seemed to be the place Levi started when the time came for him to check her over.

"It doesn't hurt Levi," she whispered, "Not really. It stings a little but I don't think it's too deep. It's healing already... right?"

She didn't move as he inspected her, and as much as she liked Levi, she wasn't used to him being the one to touch her. In most of their encounters, she was the one making all of the advances; if they could be called that, as Lorelai rarely thought of herself as being sexually aggressive. She simply enjoyed showing others how much she cared about them and as such, there was nothing wrong with a well meant kiss; even if it wasn't reciprocated.

Her hands came up to rest on his shoulders as he stood before her. Her instincts would have had them resting on his chest but what with all his injuries, those instincts had to be ignored. So to were the instincts to let her hands travel over his skin, something she desperately wanted to do, because Levi had made it quite clear that there was nothing between them; kissing was one thing, caressing was quite another.

[Levi DAmico]

“Looks like it,” he muttered idly, umber eyes set to focus on that mark of crimson on her neck.

It was healing as far as he could tell. In little over an hour that shallow gash became little more than a scratch. There was a soft, rosy stain on her skin where the blood had trickled down earlier, but now most of it had dried and flaked away like flecks of paint. Levi flicked the rest of it away with his thumb, being careful not to apply too much pressure and cause her any discomfort. The area just looked irritated, but otherwise fine, so it put Levi at ease for the moment. He didn’t seem to mind that he was touching Lorelai in an almost loving fashion as he was inspecting her. He didn’t seem to mind that her hands were set on his shoulders and that there was barely a hair’s breadth between them either. Levi was almost used to this proximity and used to thinking nothing of it, only his focus strayed from her injuries soon enough and moved to her lips. Umber eyes definitely lingered there before they met her gaze, and then a moment of realisation dawned on him. Levi stepped out of the contact, letting his hand slip back to his side. He looked down and away from her and decided that he needed an excuse to get out of there and away from any lecherous thoughts that had caught him by surprise.

“I should probably get dressed,” he said and he immediately turned away from her to stomp down the hall to his bedroom.

Just because Lorelai hadn’t been hurt did not mean that he was about to forgive and forget everything that had happened tonight. It could be argued that the men had more than paid their dues with their own blood, but Levi was still pissed off about it all. Gino still had to pay as far as Levi was concerned. It was his **** up after all; Michelle had told him as much when he’d revealed that Gino was their boss. And it made sense now why Gino was so quick to call Levi to try and clean things up when this was all his ****. Gino’s reputation was flawless for a reason: he didn’t tolerate disobedience, let alone betrayal. So telling Levi not to go in there was the perfect way to make him go in there as your personal waste disposal expert. This was not just about a bunch of idiots kidnapping a loved one and holding them ransom, Gino had outwitted Levi and as a result, had put him in a detrimental position. The man was currently holding all the cards and Levi couldn’t let that go even if he wanted to. If he wanted to come out of this smelling rosy before the Commission, he would need to work with Gino and accept whatever mercy the man would offer.

Angry thoughts were swirling in the Italian’s head, leaving his body to move on autopilot as he took out another white dress shirt from his closet and proceeded to put it on. Levi was staring at a blank space of white wall where a mirror would have hung if he’d had any use for it. Of all the challenges of trying to fit in with the rest of society, not having a reflection was one of the more difficult ones. He could fake a normal kind of body temperature with enough hot coffee and hot showers, but it was probably the chill of the Canadian air that made it most convincing that he was still alive and breathing just like a normal Human. Even a lukewarm body could produce a misty breath on these nights after all. The reflection thing was difficult in general, but Levi was confident that with a bit of tweaking, he could get technology to help him wallpaper over the cracks until he found some more adequate filler. Maybe in time he’d find a way to somehow project a reflection; he’d managed to will himself into swallowing food and drink again after all.

[Lorelai]

Behaving grew all the more difficult the longer they stood together. His eyes were upon her face and for a moment she could have sworn that his eyes were upon her lips. As their eyes met, she was tempted to kiss him again but before she could push herself up onto her toes, he was gone. Levi broke away from her and quickly headed down the corridor to his bedroom. Of course Lorelai followed as he hadn't told her to stay and she was worried that he might need some help getting into fresh attire, much as he'd needed a little help getting out of the damaged clothing earlier. Though to be fair to Levi, he hadn't asked for her help then, she'd taken it upon herself to help him undress. If the pair could be defined within their relationship, undefined as it was, it was clear that Lorelai was the submissive one, even if she was often the one making most of the advances. It was a role she was happy in. She wanted to help him. She wanted to please him. And she'd do whatever she had to. To stay close to him.

She stood at the door just long enough to watch him put the shirt on and was thankful that his movements didn't seem as strained as they had when they first entered the apartment. Whether this was due to removal of the shrapnel in his chest, or the scotch he'd downed to numb the pain she didn't know, but it seemed to her that his pain and/or discomfort had eased a little.

Lorelai stepped into his bedroom and moved to stand before him so that she could help him button his shirt. She likely wasn't needed for the task but she was still stuck playing nurse. She didn't want him to have to do a single thing alone that she could assist him with. While her mind told her that she was only doing what was right, she was lying to herself. She wasn't playing at being his nurse at all, she was fussing over him like a worried lover.

"Please let me help you," she said once more staring up into his eyes. "I know our kind can take a considerable amount of damage and still be standing, and that things could be worse, but I can help you. I want to help you."

It wasn't until she'd finished speaking that she realised he was putting on another shirt. Was he going out? Was he going back to work? She hoped not but then as she thought more about it, she realised she couldn't recall ever seeing him not properly attired for business. This made her wonder if he owned anything that he could simply relax in. The moment her mind touched on the thought of him relaxing however, her cheeks coloured, as she found herself wondering what he slept and if in fact he slept in anything at all. It took her a few moments to recover from these thoughts, as now having seen him without his shirt on, she was much better able to fill in some of the blanks in her imagination.

"You should wear something more comfortable Levi. You need to relax, and I cannot believe that you can relax in such formal clothing."

The urge to rummage through his wardrobe and drawers swept over her but she caught it before she could react. As much as she might want it to be, it wasn't her place to choose a more appropriate outfit for him and try to get him to change. She was there merely to help him get cleaned up and as such her job was done. At least that was the reason she believed she was there with him, though she honestly hadn't had time to give it all that much thought.

[Levi DAmico]

Levi was so distracted with his thoughts and anger that he hadn’t really heard the soft steps of Lorelai as she’d followed him into his bedroom. Though, he must have been aware of her on some level because he didn’t flinch or strike out. He only consciously knew she was there when she moved into his line of sight and promptly began to fix the buttons of his shirt, all but dragging the garment free from his grip. A sharp breath escaped the Italian and umber eyes fixed to blue in a punishing stare, though his hands had dropped to allow her to carry on. As much as Lorelai thought she was helping, she really wasn’t. Levi’s pride was smarting as much as his injuries, and having her dote on him in this manner was like rubbing salt into the wound. He’d been stupid enough not to recognise or respond to the threat of Gino tailing him, he’d been careless with letting Lorelai too close and now she’d paid for it, and then he was blinded by his rage and went rushing in, guns blazing, and put himself right where Gino wanted him. Really, the last thing he needed was this girl – this girl who wasn’t supposed to be involved in any of this – treating him like he was the victim.

When Lorelai was finished fixing his shirt buttons, Levi grumbled and stepped away from her. She made a mention of not liking how he was dressed, suggesting that he should relax, but he was in no mood to. Besides that, he didn’t have the time or what she might have considered the proper attire to relax. Levi’s wardrobe was strictly business; shirts, slacks, suit jackets, waistcoats and maybe the occasional blazer and leather jacket. Nevertheless, when Levi addressed his closet, he didn’t reach for the typical suit jacket. He would have done, and indeed he felt he should have done, but Levi’s hand changed its course at the last moment. He took hold of a dense, black leather jacket and threw it on the bed, eyeing Lorelai as he turned back to close the closet doors. Maybe she would appreciate the small peace offering that he felt he was giving her and maybe, if he showed a small sense of casualness toward Gino, the older Italian might take some kind of pity on him. Of course, the chances of that were small; Gino was wise to Levi’s games and tactics. Levi wasn’t one to gamble if the odds were against him, but with the odds stacked so high that he was basically in a losing position whatever he did, it couldn’t hurt to gamble now.

“I’ve gotta go back to the office,” Levi said, finally revealing his plans to the doe-eyed blonde. He stood directly opposite her, between her and the bed, and took the time to tuck the tail ends of his shirt into his trousers. “But if you need to stop off at your apartment first, I’ll get us a ride over.”

The pause hadn’t been all that deliberate, though it did give him the time to steel his plans. He definitely had to go back to his office, to greet Gino, but he wasn’t prepared to let Lorelai out of his sight just yet. Despite his plans to keep his lives apart, he had to bring them together. There really was no other way. When Levi was ready, he fetched his jacket from off the bed and proceeded into the living room; he’d have to get the rest of his affects in order before he left of course.

[Lorelai]

The softest of sighs escaped her lips as Levi pulled away from her and went to his closet. While she was now beginning to notice his gruffness, she attributed it to pain rather than any actions on her part. She watched as he tossed the leather jacket onto the bed and while it had been her hope that he might wear something more casual, something that might allow him more comfort, she wished he'd chosen something different. The vegan in Lorelai didn't want to have to be near him if he was wearing quite so much dead animal. Shoes and belts were one thing but an entire coat was quite another. A smile stayed upon her lips as she looked at him but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

She knew now that he had dressed to go out and that they would not be staying in his apartment. As he walked off she followed, all too readily. Her words temporarily caught in her throat. At first she'd imagined that she would be going home alone, as Levi tended to pay a couple of visits a night if he could and so when he mentioned the office, she had not even begun to hope that he might extend an invitation to her to join him there; if that even was what he'd done? It momentarily confused her too that they might need a ride there as with their tomes they could be there in the blink of an eye.

Focus Lorelai, he's taking you with him... to his office.
Is that good?
Well it isn't bad. He's generally very guarded about his work life.

"I don't need to go home Levi," she told him, keeping a little distance between them as he set about readying himself to leave. "I look all right? Don't I? To go out in public. I don't have any... blood on me do I?"

She subconsciously rubbed at the fading mark on her neck and looked down at her dress. She couldn't see anything but then it wasn't like she could peer into a mirror and take a proper look at herself. Having cast her eyes over her attire, she suddenly felt very self-conscious and began to rake her fingers through her hair, pulling it down and around her shoulders as she did so. She wasn't sure who exactly Levi worked with or how many people would be in his office at this time of night but of one thing she was certain; she wasn't dressed appropriately. Lorelai didn't usually worry about her style of dress but Levi seemed the sort that was consumed by his image and she wasn't sure that she would do him justice standing on his arm as she was. A light flush of colour passed across her cheeks and then as her fingers fell still, her right hand curled into a fist and she brought it to her lips so that she could bite the nail of her index finger in that odd, nervous way that she did. She didn't want to embarrass her friend in any way and she was almost certain that just by being with him at his place of work that she'd do just that.