Hey, thanks for checking out thsi little fic. :) It's my first one with Jason, and I hope I do well by him in the chapters where he actually shows up... even if I am going to make this a slash fic. Oh well... I hope you all enjoy it anyway. For those of you who don't liek Jason seeming gay at all, be at ease with this one. There won't be any explicit moments between him and my OMC. Just the usual cuddly stuffs we all find so sweet... so if you don't mind just inserting female pronouns and a feale name for my OMC in our mind while you read, that's fine by me. I'll post warnings if I have anything deeper happening between the two, kay? Thanks again for reading!
"What do you mean we're being evicted?" Laurent Spencer staggered against the door frame, his little boy clutching his jeans as the landlady glowered at them. His knuckles were pale, almost white (which was quite the feat for an Italian/Native American) as he clutched the peeling wood. The woman's eyes briefly strayed to his grip on the frame, her eyes hardening further.
"Just what I said, Mr. Spencer. You and your little monster are out of here in two days." She sneered at Laurent's son. The little boy whimpered and clung harder to his father, now hiding more of his body as well as his whole face behind those legs. Jared patted him reassuringly on the head, frowning at the woman. She continued talking. "Actually, today was the first of the two. You're out tomorrow night."
The young man sighed heavily, attempting to control himself. Stressful situations like these always made him break down into either a fit of rage, or a fit of shaking and tears. At the moment, he felt as if he could throw a chair at her and curl into a fetal position on the floor all at the same time. And it was tempting. He looked down at his little boy. Kiran hated it when his daddy got emotional...
"You owe us two week notice, Ms. Sylva."
The woman snorted in a piggish fashion. "I had given you two weeks notice. Do you not check your mailbox every day for any possible letters or warnings?"
"I never needed to... you never gave a hint... please, ... my son..."
"Enough of your excuses, young man!" She snapped at him, boring a manicured nail into his chest, right where his heart was beating loudly, "I am tired of you and your little freak scaring away other tenants! And no, I never gave you a hint that you were leaving because it is your responsibility to check that box! I should not have to tell you a thing, Mr. Spencer."
"What exactly about my son and I scare the others?" It was becoming an increasingly good idea to throttle the woman with her own poorly permed and colored hair. And throw that chair he had thought of earlier.
The landlady's piercing blue gaze shifted down to the poorly hidden child again. Her eyes were scornful. "That little child is hideous, of course! Any sane person would have abandoned it in an orphanage years ago, not expose others to its disgusting face."
Kiran sobbed quietly and looked up at his daddy's face with sad hazel eyes. His father could feel those sad, tear filled eyes on the back of his skull along with the painfully tight grip of his little fingers. If only Ginger was still alive and able to drive this witch away from him and his boy. But she had left when he had confessed that he didn't want her sexually anymore, that he wasn't attracted to women as he had thought. Ginger had even left little Kiran, their first and only baby who had been born deformed. Now it was Laurent's job to protect the little tyke.
"My little boy is a he not an it; and I am more than happy to leave this flea bitten, broken down apartment building now! You are more of an eyesore than he ever was or ever will be," at that, Kiran whimpered slightly, "and I love my little boy no matter what combination of good looks he was born with. He's my baby, and I will not stand for you insulting him and me like that... Ms. Sylva."
The rage building inside of him was swiftly dwindling to a point of raw pain in his chest, partially from the woman's nail still boring into his chest and partially from varying emotions. The look on her face would have been priceless, he noticed, if it hadn't been for the fact that his little boy was crying on his jeans, he felt like screaming, throwing up, and crying all at the same time, and they were less than forty-eight hours from being kicked out onto the street. Even with that knowledge, he smirked slightly and looked down at his son, softening the smile for him. The landlady continued to stand there her nail boring into his chest, that angry and shocked look on her face. Apparently nobody ever talked to her that way.
"Now if you will excuse me," he purred, gripping her wrist gently to pull her hand away from the doorway, and pushed her slowly backwards, "I have some packing to do before I leave with my little boy tonight. I will not stnad for you treating him so cruelly any more than I have to. Good day, Ms. Sylva." Laurent slammed the door as soon as she was a safe enough distance from the frame and leaned his forehead against it.
Kiran had let go of his jeans once the door closed, and he stared at his daddy with wide eyes. He really didn't want to leave this apartment. It was all he had ever known for as long as he could remember. There were glimpses at times of a different sort of life with a beautiful woman hovering above him with a smile on her face, but those were long ago, he knew. And they were only snippets of memory, like how a baby can remember little things at random points that made the biggest impact on them. Kiran wanted to have that woman there again to love him and his daddy. No, he didn't want her there… he needed her there.
"Daddy… why was she being so mean?"
"Because she's a mean woman with nothing better to do than pick on the little people, kiddo," was the mumbled reply against the pressed wood of the door.
"But you're not little, daddy; you're bigger than she is. That's why she's always looking up at you when she's talking."
Laurent chuckled and pushed himself away from the door. He smiled at the little boy, scooping him up in his arms and hugging the six year old to him like a starving man would bread and water. The man carried his son with him into the bedroom they shared in that dinky little apartment, deposited him on the bare mattress, and pulled an old suitcase out from underneath the bed. It was big enough to carry most everything they had, which wasn't much.
"Want to help me pack up our stuff, big guy? We're going to go look for another house that's cheaper than this one and far away tomorrow. You'll love it, I know you will."
His son nodded eagerly, hopping off the mattress with a smile to search for his few toys. Laurent didn't have a game plan yet for where they would search, but he was going to make himself happy about the whole thing just to take his son out of that sour mood. That woman always made Kiran upset, varying in levels depending on what she said, making this eviction a slightly positive experience. Maybe his little boy could finally stay happy for a full twenty four hours if they found a different place. Somewhere he wouldn't be scorned, picked on, hated for his looks, judged.
It took only about forty-five minutes to get everything they owned stuffed into that suitcase, and Laurent let Kiran keep his little Transformers toy (one that Laurent had owned since he was a child) outside. That was the only thing that made the suitcase impossible to zip closed as it were, but Laurent would have been more than happy to let his little boy hold his favorite toy when they left. It would make him feel more secure.
"Ready to go, Lil' K?"
Kiran was already a the door when Laurent finally dragged the suitcase through the narrow bedroom door and into the little hallway. The boy was practically bouncing with excitement, making his father smile broadly at him. Laurent's son opened the door for him, holding it open while his father fought it through that narrow door as well. They both walked slowly down the stairs, Laurent trying to seem cheerful while his son was genuinely happy for some reason. Maybe his words had more impact than he though they had.
The little rust bucket Camaro Laurent had inherited from his dad years ago just barely held the bag in its trunk, groaning at the size and weight of it. The young man just patted it's hood gently in passing as he walked the key back into the main office of the apartment, leaving little Kiran out in the car to play with his toy and keep the old car company (and as a form of apology for the large bag). That Camaro always cooperated when Laurent's little boy was involved, it seemed.
Ms. Sylva wasn't in the main office at the time- probably out serving up more evictions- but instead, her young assistant was at the front desk. The girl looked up from whatever she was working on with the computer and smiled sweetly, her cheeks tingeing a light pink. Laurent knew the girl liked him, and he usually used that to his advantage, even if he wasn't attracted to her.
"Hello, Mr. Spencer," she spoke quietly, as per usual, staring at him openly.
Laurent leaned against the desk and smiled back at her, attempting to look extremely charming. He was surprised the girl didn't faint right there with how dark her cheeks became. "How are you today, Alyss?"
"Fine, Mr. Spencer."
The look on her face was almost as priceless as Ms. Sylva's had been almost as hour before when the young man dangled his room key before her face. She glanced between it and him a few times, obviously not getting that he was giving his only room key back to the front desk. Finally, it donned on her, and she shyly took the little ring with the single key on it, her eyes downcast.
"Are you leaving, Mr. Spencer?" She didn't look at him as she asked the question.
Not by my own volition, he thought bitterly. "Yeah. Just thought a change of scenery for Kiran would be good." He also knew that the girl absolutely adored Kiran, which he used to his advantage almost as much as he did her crush on him. "Know any good places for sale that aren't too expensive?"
She looked deep in thought for a moment, almost like she was counting up all the different places she knew that were for sale, had a room available, or any other form of room and board. Alyss hung the key on a hook under the desk and looked up at Laurent's golden brown gaze. "There's this really nice place for sale near a lake not fifty miles from here. Diamond Lake… something like that. Anyway, it's really cheap since the owner died and nobody else seems to want it. Probably because of the local legends. But it's really pretty."
Laurent though about it for a bit. A place near a lake would be rather nice for Kiran, and since there seemed to be no huge lot of buyer there, that would make it secluded on top of being a likely beautiful place. Yes, that would work quite well.
"Does the owner have directions to get there, or a price posted?"
"Best offer I suppose, Mr. Spencer. He just wants to get rid of the place, as he said. And if you give me a minute, I can write up some directions from here to there." She smiled sweetly again, probably trying to make him show interest in her for being so pretty. But it wouldn't work. She wasn't his type at all, cute girl or not.
"Sure. I'm going to give the news to Kiran, okay?"
"Okay, Mr. Spencer."
He walked out of the building to the gentle beginning of a cool nice. A nice reprieve from the eighty-five degree temperatures they were bound to be getting within less than a month. Summer was soon, making the idea of a lakeside house even more attractive. And Kiran was bound to be very excited about it as well.
"Hey, buddy, what do you think of a house near a lake? You can go swimming, take walks on the beach, and if there are trees there, then we can go hiking together. How does that sound, kiddo?" Laurents leaned into the side of his Camaro, eliciting a groan from the car.
Kiran just smiled and nodded at him, too preoccupied with transforming his little robot to say anything. But Laurent knew the boy had heard him by the way he worked more earnestly on the little toy, how his smile reached his eyes too when he glanced at his daddy briefly. "Okay, bud, it's a deal. We're going to get that house!" The young man ruffled his son's dark brown hair gently before walking back to the main office. Alyss was already ready with the instructions when he came back.
"Thanks, Alyss. Would you like to come visit sometime when we get the house all set up there? Then we can talk again, and you can play with Kiran. I'll call you when you can come over."
Her cheeks tinged again, and she cast a coy look up to him through her lashes. Laurent just smiled in a very friendly manner and winked at her before walking out. As he left, he could hear the sound of swiftly dialed buttons as Alyss undoubtedly texted her friends about how 'that hot dad' had winked at her and had invited her over to his house later. It was cute.
Laurent climbed into the little car, smiling at his son. "Ready to go find this place, Kiran?"
"Yup!"
Seeing his son so happy just because of the prospect of a lakeside house made the young man feel all warm and tingly. Then again, the body was partially ecstatic because he had successfully transformed his little robot with his daddy's help for the first time ever, but that didn't change Laurent's ever lightening mood. He was about to be a real homeowner… and be away from mean people who didn't understand his little Kiran. They could finally be happy with each other and with their surroundings, and Laurent wouldn't have to play superhero dad every time someone looked at his kid. Because nobody would be looking at his little boy unless he let them anymore.
It only took two hours to reach the place, and Laurent loved it from the very beginning. It was scenic, far away from most civilization, and spacious. The lake was the major seller for him though. The water was clearer than the drinking water in the apartment had been, and the sun seemed to hit it at just the right angle every single moment. It was dazzlingly beautiful, making Laurent feel this place was worth any amount of money. More than he had, that was for sure.
An old man met him as he parked near the water and climbed out of the car. The seller, who was the old man it seemed, didn't seem like he wanted to be there for much longer than necessary. "So how much you offering for the place, boy?"
Ignoring the harsh tone and the odd feeling that crept over him when the man already knew what he wanted there, Laurent smiled at the man. There was no friendly response, just the same piercing yet dull stare. Keen but not smart. "What do you want for it?"
"Whatever you're willing to offer. Why else would I have asked what you wanted to buy it for?"
"Okay… well, can I see the house?"
"What for? You won't have it for long. The last property owner didn't. Do you want it or not?"
"Only if I see the house first."
The old man sighed deeply, coughing immediately afterward without covering his mouth. "Then come with me, boy, and be quick about it."
"Mind if I bring my boy with us?"
"Don't. Just leave him there; children aren't meant to be around during business transactions. It's bad luck around here."
Laurent didn't respond, instead opting for the silent sheep type as he followed the old man into some of the thinner woods to the left of the car. After about a minute of walking at an amazingly brisk pace for such an old, stiff looking old man, they reached a cute little cabin. It looked old, but well kept. Laurent also took a liking to it immediately; it was quaint.
"Reckon you want to see the insides as well?"
The young man nodded. He was led into the cabin to see that it was practically stripped bare expect for a gas stove and sink in a room with a beautiful view from the window, a moderately new couch probably from the last owner in the room with the fireplace, and a queen sized bed in the last room. Every one of those rooms had breathtaking views of the surrounding area via large windows. Connected to the bedroom was a small bathroom with indoor plumbing (unlike in the kitchen, where he would have to carry water from either the bathroom or the lake for cooking and washing). Laurent loved it.
"I can see from the look on your face that you like it, boy. I'll take $100 for it, if it's okay with you that I end this transaction as soon as possible. I want to be far away from here by the time night falls."
Laurent glanced out the bedroom window to see that the sun was slowly descending into the horizon, though it was probably only about three o'clock. The words the old man had said finally sunk in, and he leaned against the window sill, trying to control the laughter and happiness bubbling up within him. Just $100 for the whole thing, or per month? It didn't matter. That old man really was stupid if he couldn't see what kind of gold mine he was sitting on here!
"Do you mean once a month or…"
"Just give me a hundred here and I'll be gone from your life in a jiffy, boy."
"Sold!"
The transaction was complete in less than five minutes, Laurent pulling out four twenties, a ten, a five, four ones, and assorted coins to pay the old man. Once finished, the man nodded to him wordlessly and left the cabin without a single word. Laurent followed within a few moments to see the man talking to Kiran briefly before hobbling off in the way most upset old folks do.
"Well, we got it, kiddo!"
Kiran didn't look too excited anymore, his eyes only for the little cop car his Transformer had once been, seeming to contemplate if he wanted to change it again. "What's wrong, buddy?"
"That man told me not to go walking around in the woods on my own. And he said I should try to keep talking with other adults for when you're gone." Kiran's eyes were welling up with tears, "Are you planning on leaving me, daddy?"
"No, sweetheart! I would never leave you. Did he say anything else?" Laurent glanced angrily at the receding figure of the unnamed old man he had bought the property and cabin from. He hoped the man wouldn't come back.
"Yes. He told me to tell you that he'll pray for you… and for you to be careful what you do."
"I wonder why…"
"I don't know, daddy, but I know he was serious about it. He even touched my hair before he left, and he looked sad," Laurent's little boy pouted before looking down at his car again. He began to transform the little car, and his father smiled. At least he was easily distracted.
"Well, c'mon, big guy. We need to get ourselves settled in for the night before we can go exploring. You'd like to go exploring right?"
Kiran nodded happily, getting out of the little Camaro with a giant smile on his face. "I'll help, daddy, if we can go around the forest later!" Laurent smiled in response and tousled his son's hair.
They set to getting the bag out of the car and forgot all about the creepy old man, his warnings, and the sad look on his face when he left. And they were so preoccupied with lugging that bag to the cabin that they totally missed the masked man glaring at them from the trees to the right of the car, throwing metaphorical machetes at them with his angry gaze.
Jason didn't like visitors. Ever.
Good? Bad? Boring (inevitably)? Well, this is just a sort of introduction of two of my main characters for this fic. Doesn't Kiran remind y'all of a child Jason? There's a purpose for that. ;) You'll see! Tell me if you think I should continue, btw... I'm still slightly unsure of if this will be good for the awesome readers on . So, please, review and let me know what you think of this! Thanks, loves. :D You're all awesome.