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beyondconfessor · 3 years

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Principal Decisions [13/24]

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Lilith/Zelda Spellman

Summary: “Not even a thank you?” Lilith asked before tutting. “Didn’t your mother teach you manners?”

N.B.: Also posted on AO3. This is pure fantasy, please suspend your disbelief.

Zelda glared at the nurse. It was in the small hours of the morning, and the young girl, barely out of training, was shivering under her stare, voice shaking as she advised, once again, “a doctor needs to sign you off before we can discharge you.”

“Ridiculous, go and get one then.”

“He’ll be around later,” she said.

Zelda huffed, and the girl, apparently seeing that as an opportune moment, decided to exit the room. Apparently considering her ops for the shift completed.

Honestly, after a bad night’s sleep, the last thing she wanted was to be dealing with the fact that she would need to cancel today’s class––and if things continued in such a way, she might have to cancel tomorrows as well, because apparently, she was entirely reliant on some fucking doctor who hadn’t bothered to check on her since yesterday, to provide permission for her to leave.

There’d also been the whispers of a repeat MRI and CT scan, which was the very last thing she needed. It’d been a very small bleed with a minimal fracture and was likely to be absolutely fine. There was no reason to make such a fuss. After all, she was a grown, fucking woman. She should leave. Get up and leave.

It wasn’t like Lilith had any real power over her. She could just put her shoes on (given that she was dressed in a new set of clothes provided by Hilda) call a cab and take her back home where she’d find her emergency credit card and pay it that way.

And yet she didn’t. She sat on the chair next to the hospital bed, dressed, hair combed, make-up done and waited.

There was a knock on the doorframe then, and then Lilith was entering the room, her handbag in tow.

Zelda stood up, smoothing down her skirt and reached out to take the bag.

“Not even a thank you?” Lilith asked before tutting. “Didn’t your mother teach you manners?”

“Thank you,” Zelda said tightly and reached for the bag, only for it to be pulled out of reach. Well, she was hardly going to chase for it.

Crossing her arms, Zelda glared at her, waiting for Lilith’s grin to falter. It didn’t, and instead, Zelda was left to step back and look away, hating how the very sight of Lilith was making her heart beat fast in her chest.

“What do you want, Lilith?”

“Oh, a great many things,” she said, before stepping forward. “How about a proper thank you for finding your bag and bringing it to you.”

“If you had brought it with you in the first place, we wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m going to ignore your bad attitude because you’ve suffered a concussion, but I would be more thankful if I were you. I didn’t have to bring it, I could have waited for you to come out of the hospital and claim it yourself.”

Zelda scoffed. “You are insufferable.”

“And you adore it. Now…” she paused and her bright blue eyes looked at Zelda with wide-eyed innocent, patiently waiting for her.

“Thank you, Lilith. I most appreciate the effort you went to,” she advised flatly, seething at the woman.

“Not at all, happy to do it for my favourite client,” she said, handing the bag over to her.

Zelda snatched it with a roll of her eyes, trying to ignore the growing flutter in her chest as she opened it up. Her phone was there, thankfully. There were a few missed calls but nothing to worry about.

Lilith hovered and Zelda’s eyes flicked up to hers. The woman’s face was no longer mischievous, only curious as she seemed to study the cut on Zelda’s forehead.

Earlier, she’d looked at in the mirror and had been horrified to note how terrible the bruising was. Her face looked positively gaunt, and even the make-up Hilda had brought wasn’t enough to cover how unwell she felt, but it was certainly a mark-up from how she’d been.

“Did the doctors say if you can leave?” Lilith asked.

“No,” she sighed. “And the nurses are saying I might have to get another CT or MRI scan completed, which I don’t see the point in.”

“You were unconscious for the entire hospital ride. And were barely coming in and out when you arrived. I would say there’s significant reason to warrant another test.” She frowned, stepping forward then and Zelda bit back the urge to shrink away.

“I’m fine. I’ll speak to the doctor and get…” she felt woozy all of a sudden and then Lilith’s hands were on her shoulders, pushing her back onto the chair to sit down, concern awash as she looked over Zelda. “I’m fine,” she assured.

“Have you asked for the day off from work?”

“Today only,” she said. “Faustus insisted.”

“Blackwood?” Lilith enquired. “Is he your boss?”

Zelda felt nausea roll in her stomach as she looked at Lilith, and wasn’t sure if it was because Lilith knew Faustus or because she had a concussion. “Please don’t tell me he was a client of yours.”

“He was not, but he was…” Lilith sighed, “We used to run in the same circles a few years back. It’s a long story, but no, he and I were adversaries, nothing more.”

Zelda smiled, feeling the relief rush through her. It was an interesting piece of information nonetheless, but if she were to advise of knowing Lilith, it would likely say more about herself than anything else. It’d be difficult to feign only a professional relationship for Sabrina’s wellbeing if she knew such tantalising secrets about Faustus.

“I’m going to get a nurse.”

“I’m fine,” Zelda said, pushing Lilith’s hand away as she looked away. “It’s just a minor blood pressure problem. Nothing a glass of water won’t fix.”

Lilith gave a disapproving look but reached over to where the jug of water sat and poured her a glass despite her disbelief. Zelda took it, took one sip and then held it in her hands, feeling the embarrassment wash over. She wasn’t a child that needed to be taken care of. She was a grown woman who had a hundred things she needed to do before tomorrow and was already behind on the every growing list of things.

“I’m not going to spurt medical advice, because you clearly won’t listen.”

Zelda huffed. “I know myself.”

“Quite. Well, what I will say is that sometimes taking a break will allow you the ability to get ahead in the work you’re falling behind on. You’ll only break yourself if you keep pushing.”

“I’m not a child,” she said lifting her eyes to glare at the woman. She didn’t care how dark Lilith stared back, she was pushing well over the lines of their relationship. “And you’re not my mother.”

“Stop acting like a child then.”

Zelda stared at the woman, feeling an anger burn but Lilith stepped forward and suddenly Zelda felt very small under the woman’s eyes, and she didn’t like it one bit. Never had anyone’s presence so much as made her tremble since she was a little girl.

She met the stare and glared back. “You’re not my partner,” she advised sharply. “You’re someone’s services I request at the best of times, and my niece’s principal, otherwise. Do not overstep that.”

Lilith’s expression fractured then, and she stepped back. All at once, Zelda realised the mistake she made in her words, and yet she couldn’t find the ability to take it back.

“As you prefer,” Lilith said with a nod of her head. “Well, since you’re all fine here, I suppose I’ll head off to comply with my…principal duties.” And then Lilith had turned on her heel and left, and Zelda was left sitting in the room, feeling the words churn in her stomach.

She hadn’t meant to snap, but Lilith had been pushing further than she should. Honestly, she was not mentally unwell. She was exhausted, yes, overworked, of course, but she was hardly depressed and in need of some shoulder to cry on––despite what the dominatrix may think.

No. What she needed was something else. Perhaps this would be a good break from Lilith. A time to self0reflect and draw away before her feelings became any more tangled.

As it was, the doctor requested another MRI, and then, when that had come back showing that the bleed had stopped, she was permitted to go home, only if someone were to pick her up.

At least now she had her phone and was able to have Hilda arrange to pick her up as discharge papers were supplied to her, with a request to obtain another MRI and CT scan within a week and follow-up with her GP. As well as some standard lines about avoiding cigarettes and alcohol for a while.

“Though perhaps this is an opportunity for you to quit smoking,” the nurse advised. “If you were a non-smoker then you would have been less prone to bleeding from the hit.”

Zelda scoffed, snatching the papers from the nurse and leaving with Hilda. Her sister took to acting like a mother hen, helping her into the car and out of it and despite her snapping that she was hardly an invalid, her sister continued to help her all the way to the parlour where she sat her on the couch with a blanket and went off to make her tea, having apparently already made her soup.

If there was one thing she couldn’t resist, it was her sister’s cooking. It gave her time to contemplate Lilith and her relationship quietly and realised that she’d indulged too long in the service. No matter what…relief she may find from it, it was clear that their emotions were becoming too blurred.

It was time to cease seeing her. She didn’t need to see the woman again, and hardly needed to advise as such. She would avoid booking in anything further.

It seemed simple enough as she managed a headache, increased with light sensitivity. Even still when she returned to her position in the school the following day and managed whispered conversations in the halls as she slowly walked from her office to her lecture hall and then back.

The headaches were awful, and daylight, her computer’s screen and the stress of her work agitated it, but she preferred it to the insistent ache that previously drew under her skin.

At least while she was recovering, it seemed that her sex drive had all but disappeared entirely, leaving her at peace during the night.

And it seemed as she focused on her work, weeks passed and Shirley returned, resuming her class without so much as a thank you. All she received was a brief email requesting the most recent assignments to be sent back to her––Zelda had already marked them, but complied, relieved to wash her hands from the stress of that particular workload.

But even as she returned to how things were, she was as reliant on Prudence as she’d been beforehand. It seemed that her newfound headaches were some post-concussive effect, even though there was nothing medically wrong with her brain, Zelda’s doctor suggested that perhaps it was a good opportunity to take a break.

Christmas was coming up, the session was ending, she could extend her leave instead of taking on the winter subjects.

At the very least it would give her an opportunity to spend with her family. Zelda complied, placing in her leave to Faustus who complied with a grimace, knowing that he had no say in it otherwise, and Zelda found herself in December watching as Ambrose and Sabrina decorated the Christmas tree.

Hilda and Sabrina had picked it from the Putnam’s, and Harvey had dropped it off, providing a much-needed brightness to the room, especially with the fire.

Although Zelda continued to take it easy––at the instance of Hilda who continued to mother her despite Zelda’s attempts to ward her off––it was nice to sit on the couch, hot cocoa in hand and watch at Sabrina tossed tinsel at Ambrose.

It reminded her of when both of them had been young, and they would decorate the tree together. It’d been far too many years since she’d born witness to the crafting of the Christmas tree, usually working late in the office, so to sit here and watch it brought both nostalgia and the awareness that she’d missed out on a lot.

“Cuz!” Ambrose said, carefully holding an ornament from years long forgotten. “I remember when you made this.”

Sabrina paused, looking at the ceramic ornament. Zelda recalled it too, Sabrina had been barely three years old and had squished the pattern into what she’d assured Zelda was an angel but turned into more of a blob with arms than anything else.

Sabrina frowned at it, turning it around in her hands. “We don’t need to keep this any more,” she said.

“We certainly do,” Zelda said, standing up and taking it from her hands before Sabrina could whisk it away. “This was the first decoration you made. We’re keeping it.”

“Do you have any of Ambrose’s?”

Zelda hummed, looking through the Christmas box, “I don’t think so. Hilda used to do all sorts of crafts with him, but a lot of that was left in England when they came over,” she said, glancing up at her nephew, “and I suspect that the things that were brought had been disappeared away.”

Ambrose flushed, giving a short laugh before shrugging. “Things change,” he said.

Zelda’s eyes narrowed, but she smiled, not pushing it. “So they say,” she said. Taking the decoration gently in grip, she set it up high on the tree, looping it so it was unlikely to fall. “Now, what are we choosing for the top of the tree this year?”

“Last year was the star,” Ambrose said. “And that ended up falling off half a dozen times.”

“We could go with the angel,” Sabrina said, digging it out from the box. The angel was still in its glory, carefully looked after, blowing on a trumpet. It was an old heirloom, but one Zelda wouldn’t mind if it were to disappear. She took it from Sabrina’s hand and turned it around, feeling memories of her childhood fade as she placed it up on the top of the tree.

So be it, new memories. She stood back, admiring the tree. Neither Ambrose nor Sabrina were particularly gifted in decorating anyway, but Zelda was not so needy to require the tree to look like it came out of some hallmark movie.

“Well, with that in order, shall we pack up the boxes and help your Aunt Hilda finish baking for your teachers?”

Sabrina’s school term still had another two weeks remaining until they broke for Christmas, of which there was to be a final football event that she’d agreed to attend. Zelda wasn't sure if it was an important match or not, and had trouble enough trying to keep up with how sports were ranked in any regards, but Sabrina was attending and she would follow.

She hadn’t heard about Theo in some time, however, and as much as she wished to assume that it was due to him settling in the football position, Zelda suspected that he ended up quitting in the end.

It was frustrating, and it burned Zelda more than she wished it did, but in the end, the boys would only torment him further and it would be unfair to put Theo through that.

The day was enjoyable, however. Zelda’s headaches had begun to ease without the stress of work, and she and Sabrina had thankfully ceased arguing for once. Seeing how Sabrina had taken to earning her own income, using the money to go out on dates with Harvey and her friends, Zelda relinquished her ban and agreed to continue paying her her pocket money.

She had expected that it might leave Sabrina to depart from the bookstore, but instead, her niece took to it, seeming to enjoy the work, and given that Hilda had nothing bad to say, Zelda found herself…oddly relieved.

Perhaps she’d made the right decision, and in turn, perhaps she wasn’t a failing guardian to Sabrina.

In the kitchen, they baked gingerbread cookies. Then Ambrose and Sabrina iced them all as Hilda began the preparations for dinner, leaving Zelda to sip at her whiskey and feel a sense of contentment with her family.

She’d missed them. Truly missed them. The past week especially had made her all the more aware of what she’d missed.

“Oh,” Sabrina said, “Um, Aunt Zee? Roz’s family invited me to go skiing with them for the holidays.”

“How soon?” Zelda asked.

“Christmas Eve until January Third?”

Zelda bit back an ache. “So you won’t be here for Christmas or New Years?”

“Well, no, but that’s fine. You’ll have Ambrose and Aunt Hilda.”

Ambrose gave a small noise. “Actually, Luke and I…are planning to celebrate New Years with a couple of friends.”

“Doctor Cee’s hosting a New Years party, you could come and share that with me, Zelds.”

“I’ll pass,” she said, feeling the ache grow in her chest. The last thing she wanted was an overcrowded party with teenagers trying to sneak alcohol. She had enough of that at the University. No, she would stay home, watching the fireworks on the television if need-be and then go to bed. It was hardly a big deal.

“I can cancel,” Sabrina advised softly.

“Do not even think of doing such a thing. Skiing sounds wonderful for you. As I understand it’s a yearly trip for the Walkers.”

Sabrina nodded, a small smile on her lips and Zelda couldn’t help but remember when she’d been so little and had seen the snow for the first time. Zelda remembered making snowmen with Hilda and showing Sabrina how to punt snowballs at Ambrose.

And now her niece was off adventuring with her friends. It’s what she wanted for her.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured.

__________

#zelda spellman #lilith #madam spellman #zelith #caos fanfic

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snippychicke · 4 years

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Aftermath--Three

Chapter Three is here! The last of the set up chapters, after this is mostly just...fluff.

No warnings, I think. A surprise waits inside, however.

First | Previous

Otto had spent most of his adult life working for the commission. A few time jumps to different eras and decades, but mainly staying somewhere in the 1960s since it seemed the more precarious times. Nuclear war liked to develop at the drop of a pin, and even the most well-meaning change could spell Armageddon thanks to trigger-happy Americans and Russians.

(Though a few times it was the UK and France. And once China, which the rest of the world hadn't realized had nuclear weapons until it was too late.)

But no matter where or when he was, he was with his brothers. Oscar might have mingled with the civilian population once in a while, but he, like Axel, either had other responsibilities or would rather relax at their temporary home than deal with the locals.

He wasn't used to civilians and their quiet, dull lives. Granted, Lorelei often had her radio on to break the silence if she were home, and the grainy black and white TV was usually turned to the news. (She also had a habit of chattering while changing the dressings on his eye every morning and every night. Even if half the time her southern drawl made her words hard to understand, her tone and lit were pleasing to listen to.)

It was still dull, with nothing but the pain to distract him from his thoughts. Losing Oscar had been hard enough, the wound still fresh on his heart. Even now, he expected his younger brother to try and ambush him just to get a reaction out of him. Or hear him trying and failing to sing to the more upbeat music on the radio, stumbling over the English words.

Then he lost Axel; his last memory of his older brother being of his hands around his neck and Axel's face twisted in both rage and grief of not controlling his actions. Otto found himself praying to some unknown power that Axel was out there, somewhere, carrying on.

Otto feared if their position had been reversed, he wouldn't be strong enough. He struggled as it was, but the thought of finding Axel gave him strength. Believing his brother was out there gave him the motivation to keep trying to regain his strength.

And startling Lorelei was becoming decent amusement as well.

"Why are you doing pushups?! Shit, your eye is bleeding again!" (It often did at inconvenient times, leading to her fretting like a mother hen. She wouldn't rest until he allowed her to fuss to her heart's content. )

"Why are all my kitchen knives impaled in the garage wall?" (Relearning to aim with just one eye was becoming a chore. And he gave in to the need to take a break just as she returned from work. She quickly forgot about the knives as soon as she saw he was bleeding, again, and about five seconds from passing out.)

"Jesus Mary and Joesph, I swear Otto, you may not be a serial killer, but you definitely have a screw or two loose!" (He swore she hadn't dusted the cobwebs from her ceiling in decades, but considering how small she was compared to him, he couldn't wholly blame her. To his amusement, she tried to steal the feather duster he had found, jumping pathetically to try and reach it as he held it out of reach. It reminded him of Oscar, and then it wasn't quite as amusing.)

It wasn't that he was getting soft towards her; it was simply that he had a sense of honor. The reverse of an eye for an eye; she had been kind insane enough to help him. The lengths she went to and fussing over him as if she genuinely cared, made him feel indebted to her. He could tell Raymond didn't trust him, giving him a dark look when he visited every day.

But he couldn't harm her. He had no reason to (and it certianly wasn't because she tried so hard to show him kindness. Like when she tenderly brushed his hair away from his forehad when she feared a fever. Being so careful during dressing changes, her voice soft and soothing, her touch gentle. She quickly picked up on his body language and did her best to distract him when his thoughts got dark.)

It was nearly two weeks before he was feeling well enough to think about leaving seriously. Two weeks no sign of Axel. He kept an eye on the news for anything bearing his brother's mark, but there was nothing—no trail for him to follow, making him antsy.

The longer he stayed, the farther Axel was. (He refused to believe there was any other reason. Axel was out there. Somewhere.)

It felt a bit wrong to leave when Lorelei was at work with nothing more than a note saying thank you on the kitchen counter and assuring the small room was in perfect condition (or as best as could be, considering the old worn everything.)

It took him a while to find the small cat house, feeling like it was halfway across the suburb of south Dallas (or it could have been that he wasn't quite up to strength just yet.) The ragged curtains were still drawn shut; a few of the cats lounging in the windows enjoying the sun while others relaxed on the small steps thanks to the little cat door Oscar had crudely cut shortly after they had 'moved in.'

The cats welcomed him with plaintive meows, rubbing and threading through his legs. The fact the place smelled like an unclean catbox was enough to confirm Axel was no longer using it as a base. The large bag of dry cat food was spilled across the kitchen and living room, yet the cats were far more interested in him as he searched the small house for any sign of Axel.

But every trace of their residence had been cleaned away per protocol, with not even the vaguest of hints where Axel's next destination was.

Except, for some reason, his and Oscar's bags were still stuffed in the hallway closet, packed and ready for a quick retreat, just as they had left it. The ache in Otto's chest strengthened at seeing his little brother's pack buried beneath his, the white and black milkman hat sticking out from where Oscar had quickly stuffed it before that last mission.

Otto could still remember chastening him to take better care of it if he honestly wanted to keep it, and Oscar had groaned he would fold it correctly when they got back.

Except his little brother didn't return with them that day.

Only the cats were witness to him, pulling the hat out and falling to his knees as he clutched it to his chest, biting his tongue to trap the scream of agony from escaping.

--+--

Lorelei supposed she shouldn't be too surprised when she returned to an empty house. She had noticed a restless shift in Otto for the last few days. The kind she had seen before in others that had stayed with her to recuperate before they too moved on.

At least he was kind enough to tidy up after himself (was it embarrassing that he was a better housekeeper than her?) And he had even left a piece of paper saying thank you that she pinned to her fridge.

She knew Raymond would be relieved when he found out he had left. Even though Otto proved he wasn't about to hurt either of them, her soul brother was about as distrustful as could be when it came to him (granted it was somewhat earned.)

But she was going to miss him and his odd antics. Like how he had sat at the kitchen table, all of her knives laid out before him along with an old whetstone he had found somewhere in her junk drawer, and spend probably at least a few hours just sharpening the dulled blades. (Generally, after he used them for target practice.) His determination to find some odd house chore she had slacked on and finish it without so much as a word.

He had been silent, but it wasn't the oppressive silence like her father's had been, where she knew he was boiling about something (like her existence). Sure, once in a while, it would be broody or antagonistic when Raymond visited, or something reminded him of something dark in his frankly mysterious past. But otherwise, it had been amicable.

Even when she was chatty out of nerves or after a particularly stressful day, he hadn't seemed annoyed. Instead, she sometimes would catch a faint smile as she prattled on. Or even a light huff of laughter when she made a joke, and he shook his head slightly because her jokes were usually terrible puns.

"Oh, I'm an old biddy," she sighed to her comatose patient the next day, setting up another saline flush along with the IV antibiotics. "Here, I keep telling everyone that I'm fine being by myself, yet here I am getting attached to an absolute stranger. I should just get some cats, huh?"

The man was silent, which she expected. The doctors had just been in to check the healing stump of where his leg had been. Which meant the nurse had dosed him with plenty of pain meds just an hour before. Partially to help negate the pain from the procedure itself, but also so he wouldn't try to grab the nearest person as a hostage.

That encounter still left many of the other nurses hesitant to enter the room. It had been the day after the John Doe had been brought in the emergency room, found by a couple of hunters just outside of town with a traumatic amputation of his left lower leg.

One minute he had been asleep (or assumed) as the doctors discussed treatment plans, and the next, he had jumped up, grabbed one of the nurses, and had a ballpoint pen pressed against her throat while swearing something in an odd language as everyone scrambled.

What was with white-haired men and being violent? Granted, she had never seen Otto like she had the John Doe, his pale blue eyes wild with both rage and pain.

Which was why restraints were now strapped to the remaining three limbs. The straps rattled against the metal sidebars as John Doe stirred, making Lorelei pause. His young face was twisted into a grimace, and she moved to brush his forehead out of instinct.

"Bror?" He mumbled, making her stomach twist in guilt. She didn't think her rambling would wake him.

"Shh, it's okay, hun. Just get some rest," She smoothed his messy white hair, smiling as he relaxed back into sleep.

"Lorelei, you know you're crazy, right?" One of her fellow nurses asked as she slipped from the secured room and into the nearby nurses' station, "Going into that room by yourself. You saw what he did to Mary Lou!"

"Well, how would you feel waking up without a leg and a bunch of people hovering over you, talking in a different language," she shot back defensively as she grabbed John Doe's chart.

"Not homicidal," her coworker responded, working on her own chart notes. "I mean, I'd scream for sure, but I doubt I'd be able to move the way he did. Hell, I doubt I'd ever been that quick."

---+---

Lorelei supposed she shouldn't have been happy to see Otto sitting on the front steps of her home the next evening. She had a crappy day, her feet were killing her, and she was planning on just crashing in her bed. Yet seeing him on the cement step, two large backpacks sitting on the dilapidated porch, made the end of her day a little better.

He looked up, the bandage still wrapped around half of his face, but she was pleased not to notice any blood staining the gauze. She wasn't so happy to see the melancholy expression on his face.

She took a seat on the step next to him, feeling warmth radiate him to chase off the chilly December air. She wasn't brave enough to look at him, and instead plucked a piece of dead grass from the lawn. "Don't tell Ray, but you make a decent house guest. Not many men clean up after themselves, let alone fight me about dustin' or sweeping them cobwebs out."

She peeked a glance after a pause and felt relief to see a faint smile on his face as he focused on the dusk colored sky. "I won't ask what you've been up to, as long as it ain't gonna be bringing any police around here."

"No," he answered her joking comment gravely.

"Kay, good." She tore at the blade of grass some more. "So... Are you looking for a place to stay, or are you just here to say bye for good?"

This time he did meet her gaze. His dark eye looked haunted, and she could see the telltale marks of crying by the red rims and puffiness of his lids. Her fingers ached to reach out and try to soothe the crease around his good eye, to bring some sort of comfort, so she shifted to sit on her hand instead, hoping he would think her fingertips were cold. "Because like I said, you're a nice house guest. You do your own share of the chores, and you can stay as long as you like. Just no more using my good steak knives as darts, you got me?"

"Yes," he answered solemnly, making her heart jump. "...Do you like cats?"

His question surprised her for a moment before she smiled. "Yeah, I do. I was just telling my patient that I should get a few."

He nodded his head without elaborating further, though she swore there was a thoughtful expression on his face as he watched the last glimmer of the sun fade away.

The silence this time was broken by her stomach growling, earning an amused glance from Otto as she blushed. "Right. Well, I'm hungry,' she hurriedly jumped up and offered her hand to him. "Shall we?"

He accepted her hand, the callouses firm against her skin. It still surprised her how tall he towered over her. "Let's see; I have fish sticks or hot dogs. It's up to you…."

---+---

Lorelei woke the next morning to a blank and white angular-face cat kneading her pillow; its purr a deep growl. As soon as the cat realized she was awake, it butted its head against her as a greeting, its purr becoming louder.

"Where did you come from?" She asked as she sat up, allowing him to crawl into her lap. The cat, of course, didn't answer but continued to knead her lap. She picked up the cat and descended the stairs, following the smell of sausage and the quiet mewl of other cats. A group of them were sitting expectantly at Otto's feet, jumping when he would toss a piece of an egg at them. All of them boney and looking as if he had found them wandering the streets.

"Dare I ask?" She asked, shifting the cat to protect her modesty as he glanced over at her. She didn't miss the quick once-over before he shrugged and returned towards breakfast.

"You said you liked cats."

Living with him was going to be fun, Lorelei decided as she allowed the cat down to join its brethren at his feet and instead shuffled towards the fridge. "True. I did say that." She just didn't expect so many. They were all weaving around him, eager for a treat, which made it hard to count, but she swore there were at least a dozen. "So… do they have names?"

"Bebis."

She waited for him to elaborate and frowned when he didn't. "Are you saying they are babies, or that they are all named Bebis?"

"Both," he answered, shooting her a quick half-smile as he flicked another piece of an egg at them.

"Oh no, that isn't going to work. I mean, I fully agree they're babies, but they need their own names." She busied herself with setting up the kettle for coffee, trying not to think how easy it was moving around each other, or how much happier she felt compared to the last two days.

It was the cats; she decided as one jumped up on the counter to pester her. Definitely the cats. She blushed when she noticed Otto watching her out of the corner of her vision as she baby-talked to the small tabby that looked like it hadn't eaten in weeks.

Just the cats.

Next Chapter

#the umbrella academy #tua #tua swedes #tua otto #tua Oscar #tua Axel #otto x reader #the umbrella academy fanfic #jason bryden #fic: aftermath

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thealternateuniverse · 4 years

Text

EST (Part 1)

word count: 2204

WARNINGS: Drugs and Language

Please bear with my typographical and grammatical errors.

"Hello Colson, it's nice to see you again. How are you?" Dr. Martin greeted but my mind is somewhere.

"Colson?" She waved her hand and that's when I am cut off from my train of thoughts. "Sorry. I'm....good." She gave me a troubled smile. Dr. Martin is my therapist and will be my only therapist. She's Pete's therapist when he was in rehab and he recommended me when I came to realization that I need to get my shit together. I was hesitant at first cause she is a female but Pete convince me to try trust another female aside from Ashleigh and other close girls from my circle. Dr. Martin was patient since the start, she understand how fucked up I am. I've been trying to get help but after one session I give up. "So what happened?" She look at her charts. Our sessions were smooth. She got me to trust her and I've never felt relief than ever. "I.....well I tried being sober for a day. No alcohol, weed, coccaine, just cigarettes." I tried. But the day felt long without my poisons. "Okay, how did you feel?" I spaced out for a moment. "It was horrible. It felt like a year but it wasn't so bad. I felt myself " Dr. Martin nodded. "Uhuh. I know it's hard to get out from those habits Colson, but take it slow, the process is not overnight. For example, make a list of those habits and cross one out if you haven't done or take one in a day." I really wanted to be better so I'll give it a try though I can't live without those sometimes. "Okay. Next how about you? I mean you? Not your habits." Me? How am I really? "I......don't know doc, yesterday when I was sober I realized how lonely I was. All I want is a someone who understands me. Sees me as Colson not MGK. Someone who stays despite how fucked up I am. Listens to me when I rant. Takes care of me when I'm sick, holds my hand when I'm fighting my demons, tells me about her day. And loves me unconditionally." I sighed. Fuck this mommy issues. Dr. Martin put down the chart she's holding. "You know what, I remeber the nun said to me before. We are so focused and fixed to what we want that we didn't realize it was already given to us but in a different package. Anyways, that's all for now. I'll see you on thursday." I shake hands with Dr. Martin and left her clinic. What does she mean by that? I shrug it off.

I got home with groceries. It's me being sober cause I realized I don't have anything in my fridge but booze. "Colson, where have you---ohh." Ashleigh was shock to see me holding a bunch of grocery bags. "Uhm need a little help Ash." Ashleigh helped me with some, putting all the bags on the kitchen counter. "I can't believe this." She mumbled but I heard. "What? Is it bad? I don't have anything in my fridge." Ashleigh shook her head in disbelief. "Whatever. Okay, I already arranged your schedule the whole off tour is yours and then I booked a trip to Germany. We're all having a break." I look at her intently. Ashleigh's been my manager for almost 10 years and I couldn't be who am I right now if she didn't let me stay in their home. "Thanks Ash. You're the best." I hug her she hugs me back. "Colson, you're creeping me out. Are you dying?" I laughed. As in laugh hard. "No....oh my god. I'm just sober." Ashleigh smiled in relief. "This is me saying thank you for staying." A tear dropped fron the corner of her eye, she wiped it off and slaps my arm. "Stop it. Of course I know how fucked up you are and you can be. We're family here." I hug her again and we begin to put the items in place.

--------- "Ash. It's okay, I'll do it." Ash is everywhere with her phone calling everyone to cancel my appearance in redfest.

"Dude. You can't even get up. It's your health that matters." Slim scolded me. All of the EST family are here.

"I feel better now. We didn't travel overseas just to cancel." I force myself to get up. When I can manage they all nodded. Ash is on her phone again.

"Dude. Are you sure?" Rook taps my shoulder. "God damn it, it's just sore throat and fever." But it's not just sore throat and fever. It's my body reacting without drugs. I am tempted to take some line of coke but I remember I'm clean for 3 days. "Rest dude. We still have 3 hours, don't worry about everything we got it." Slim patted my back. "Thanks." I slept the whole afternoon and Nicole my PA woke me up when its. "Na ah. Chill, don't get up yet. There's plenty of time." Nicole is a very efficient assistant of mine, she's the longest assistant I had so far plus we don't have that sexual tension unlike my past assistants. She's nice and chill so we don't have a problem getting along, she's more like a sister to me. "I'm fine, I feel better now." She just shook her head. "Ashleigh strictly told me to take care of you while they take care of everything. So chill." She left the room and comes back later with a tray. "And you need to eat stubborn ass or you won't have energy for later." The tray contains a mac n' cheese, fajita and a soup. "I'll eat, now go away." She didn't budge and stayed on her place. Whatever, I let her be and I feasted on my food. The food tastes bland, maybe because I'm sick but I force myself to eat. Nicole played mother hen and took care of me, she even gave me an energy drink. "Drink this, instead of snorting some angel dust later." I uttered thanks and drink the drink. I feel better afterwards but I'm still sick and I think I'm going to puke. "Okay time for your make over." I got up from bed and went to backstage to change, the show is starting at 8 so I make it all quick. Everyone's busy in the backstage since it's not just me but Noah, Thugger and the others are also here too. "Kells! You okay now?" Noah went to me and greeted me with our handshake. "I feel like shit but I'm good."

The show started and Thugger hyped the crowd, thank god he's here and the crew or I'll be damned. Noah appeared also after Thugger and then it's my turn.

The show was hard and I almost forgot I'm not feeling well. I ran backstage after the encore, hyperventilating and nauseous, Rook ran after me and help me through the way. One of the crew placed an oxygen mask while I'm half running to the comfort room. I relaxed my breathing before removing the mask and puke my guts out.

"That's nasty." Rook commented but I just flip him off. I puke all the contents I ate in dinner and everything is yellow. Drei massaged my back while I puke and I couldn't thank him enough for that. "God damn you Colson and your stubborn ass." I really wanted to lay on my bed. I feel sicker every minute. "Kells. I got you." Didn't knew Noah followed us here. She has towel already and some wipes. She helped me clean my self and wrapped the towel around me. I'm half naked by the way. "Where the fuck is Nicole, you aren't supposed to be here." Noah just rolled her eyes. "Shut it. Just be glad a lot of people cares for you." Everyone went to an after party that night while me I chose to stay in my bed and sleep.

---

"Colson! Thank god you answered!" Halsey called the next morning. I feel better now. "What? Are you scolding me too?" I can imagine her rolling her eyes. "Of course! You should take care of your self! And I know you're stubborn and won't listen so I won't make anymore fuss about it. Anyways I'm in Australia with Evan. And guess what???? We're official!" I giggled at her enthusiasm, it's good to hear and see that she's happy with him. "Oh really? That's good to hear. We'll see each other when we're in LA. I'm happy for you Ash. Really." My past with Ashley/ Halsey was rough at the start, we're good now though and that's how look for each other telling about our days. "Okay when are you coming back?" We're on our flight to LA now. "Well we've check in already. I'll text you when I'm at the states." Our flight's being called and everyone settled already. "Okay cool. Bye." The flight from Dubai to LA took 16 hours and I realized I hated flights.

-----

We arrived at LA at 12 noon the next day, everyone was exhausted and went to their own places. I was left alone in my house. I just lay there on my couch thinking of what happened these past few days when my doorbell rang. For sure it's just Slim or Rook forgetting something. They have their own keys so I don't know why they use the doorbell. "I swear to god Rook if you're just going to ann--" I opened the door but no one is outside. I shrugged it off, maybe someone from the neighborhood just messing around. I'm about to close the door when someone popped out from nowhere. "Hi....hi oh my god wait." A girl maybe around 9 or 10? I dunno she's tall for 9 or 10, maybe 11? "Hello. Uh sorry can't entertain fans right now. I'm not in the mood. Does your parents know you're here?" Tsk young fans can be agressive sometimes. This is not the first time.

"Uhm no. Actually one of my parent lives here. " I look around if her parent's house is just around. "Uh from what block?" I asked again. The kid might be selling girls' scout cookies. "Right in this house. Hi dad." She lunged me with a hug. "I'm Casie by the way I'm your daughter." She said happily. I pulled her away from me. "Hey dude. I don't know who your parents are but I'm sure it's not me. " I laughed awkwardly. This kid is crazy, no one pops out of nowhere proclaiming they're my child. Man I should get used to this. The kid pull something out from her bag. An envelope.

"What's this?" I asked when she hand it to me. "That's the proof that I am your kid." She shrug as if it's not a big deal. I open the paper and read all it's content searching for any discrepancy to prove she is not my kid. But there's nothing, it was stated in the document that I am the father. How the hell could this happened? "Is this a prank? Am I in some tv show or what?" I asked and scanned the area if there's any camera hidden. You gotta be serious, this ain't funny. "Do I look like I'm kidding? Okay, my mom is Emma she's from Cleveland and you two met at a Blink 182 song concert. Then poof! You had me."

Emma?? Wait what the fuck? Emma? As in Emma Cannon? "Shi----Shoot. Get inside kid." I let her in before someone sees or hear us. "Wait here and eat that." I offered her the pizza we brought home. I went to the kitchen to call Ashleigh. "Ashleigh! Oh my god I know we're all tired but what I will tell you will make your tiredness go away." I heard a baby's cry on the background, must be Ashton. "What is it kells? It's better be important." Ash sounds like she just woke up from a nap. "I have a kid. A daughter." Silence.

"What the fuck is that a joke? You called just for that?" I can tell she's pissed off but I am not joking right now. "I am not joking Ash. A kid showed up with documents, plus she's claiming Emma to be her mother." I heard her sigh. "Are you sure it's not some fan? Or a prank? Are the documents legal?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm stupid but I'm not dumb. So get your ass here and tell the others." I hang up before she can answer. I went back to the living room and the kid is still sitting there. "How did you got here?" I asked.

"Does your mother know you're here? And how old are you?" I met Emma 11 years ago so this kid must be around 10. "I'm 10, my school is just around here in LA, I'm in a boarding school by the way." She didn't answer my question but that explains why she's in LA. Why the hell Emma let her in a boarding school? She's just 10. "Mum visits me weekly, so no worries." Damn now I have a kid.

#machine gun kelly #machine gunner #colson baker #est #slim #rook #bazexx #ashleigh #casie baker #kells #hotel diablo #redfest #estxx #mgkfanfic #mgk imagine #mgk

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