I spent Sunday hanging around the mansion with my mom, before she had to take off for her flight back home in the evening. Sunday evening was wasted helping Illyana finish up her English homework, which she had apparently all but forgotten about all through Spring Break, giving us exactly 5 hours to throw together a project on Shakespeare.
And just because Wisdom is from the land of Shakespeare, does not mean that he is any help in the Shakespeare department. Although he certainly did try to help, which was disgustingly adorable. It was like when the Beast was trying to eat oatmeal with his spoon, looking like a neanderthal, and Belle just sat back and watched with a fond sort of pity.
Anyway, we somehow managed to scrape together a project, finishing sometime around 1 am, upon which time we all went to bed and passed out, vowing to never watch another Shakespeare movie again. Except for the Romeo and Juliet with Leo in it. And the Lion King. And 10 Things I Hate About You. And She's The Man.
I can't live without She's The Man.
My point in saying all this is that Sunday was so busy that Wisdom and I had absolutely zero alone time together. And then of course, our Monday morning commute with Rogue, who has apparently decided that I'm not actually an ENFJ after all.
You guys can't see me right now, but I'm totally rolling my eyes so hard that it hurts.
"I think I was just putting too much emphasis on your Se usage."She said, sometime around the half hour mark of our drive, apparently not giving a rats ass that I literally had no idea what she was talking about. "I have a really hard time believing you're an Ni auxiliary user, that would imply that you're forward thinking. And you're really not. Remember that crap you went through with Julia Roberts being... a career woman or whatever?"
"Julia Roberts?" Wisdom knit his brow at Rogue, who glanced back at him through the mirror.
"Yeah, she referred to herself as Julia Roberts for a while. It was... pretty weird."
"I wasn't referring to myself as Julia Roberts. I was using her as a comparison." I clarified with an eye roll. Geeze Rogue, get it right.
"Typically introverted sensing types are known for using past experiences, or comparing." Wisdom said, and Rogue enthusiastically nodded with an intensely thoughtful frown.
I glared back at him over my shoulder, because I'm pretty sure I made it clear that he was not to speak to Rogue about this personality crap, and then he gave me a little half grin and a wink, and my glare turned into a pathetic attempt at trying not to smile back.
"That's a really good point." Rogue said, oblivious to the way my cheeks were glowing red when I turned back to hide my giddy little schoolgirl smile by looking out the window. "And it helps prove my point, that you don't plan for the future. Si types are stressed out by the thoughts of an ambiguous future."
Wisdom leaned forward and rested his forearms on the backs of our seats, "Well, that does sound like Julia Roberts."
"Oh please, what do you know about Julia Roberts?" I asked, crossing my arms and turning to quirk an eyebrow at him, unable to hide my smile at all.
"I've seen Notting Hill." He shrugged with a toothy grin in return and I couldn't help but laugh.
Rogue glanced over at me and rolled her eyes, clearly realizing that she was getting nowhere with this personality assessment. If only she would remember that for next time, it'd save me a headache.
After that, the morning went by fairly quickly; Apparently Professors don't waste any time after Spring Break and just jump right the heck back into things, because both of my morning classes were jam packed, and I have a test at the end of the week. So yay. Thankfully lunch rolled around, and it wasn't until I was hauling mine and Wisdom's lunches out of my backpack that I realized we were actually -finally- alone.
My mouth twitched involuntarily into a smirk as I handed him his lunch, "So, I've been thinking."
"Uh oh." He smiled back at me as he pulled his bag of chips open.
"I think you should tell me more about yourself." I finished my thought, and watched his smile falter ever-so-slightly.
"Come again, love?"
"You know, tell me about you. Your favorite colour, your favorite... I don't know, movie." I shrugged, suddenly feeling incredibly self conscious by the way he was just staring at me, "It's just that, you know basically everything about me-"
"-Because it's my job." He interrupted, knitting his brow slightly.
"Sure, I know that. But it kind of makes it... unfair. You know?" I pressed my lips together and picked at my sandwich, "You have an unfair advantage over me. I mean, all I really know about you is that you're British, you're trying to quit smoking, you're a bit of a mama's boy..." He gave me a half smile and resisted the urge to argue the mama's boy point. "And you know... everything. You probably even know my favorite flavour of ice cream, and like, my bra size."
He pressed his lips into a small smile and stared at me silently for an uncomfortable stretch of time, before finally saying, "Orange." He leaned back in his seat a bit and popped a chip into his mouth, "My favorite colour is orange. Can't say I have a favorite movie, I haven't got much spare time when I'm working, but I did enjoy Die Hard."
"I've never seen it." I admitted with a smile.
"Well, that's to be expected, you're probably not allowed to watch R rated movies." He grinned, giving me a wink as he popped another chip into his mouth.
I rolled my eyes at his joke and tried not to look too amused.
"I don't really like ice cream. And I can assure you, your bra size was definitely not in your file."
"There's a file?" I felt my eyes widen a bit, and he gave me a nod,
"Just your standard background check, information on your mutation, your family and the likes." He explained, "Frost may have filled in some of the blanks for me."
We both fell silent for a few moments while I processed this, and wondered to myself what exactly Emma would have "filled in" for him, that wouldn't have been in a background check. Seriously, the only thing I can think of is my bra size, and judging from the knowing grin on his face, I'm willing to bet I wasn't too far off the mark.
Eventually, Wisdom cleared his throat and said, "My mum lives in a Nursing Home." He began, idly drumming his fingers on the counter top. This is a tick he has, and I've figured out that he does it when he's craving a smoke. He was silent for a moment, fingers drumming away, before eventually continuing. "She hates it there, mind you. She's far too stubborn for her own good and insists that she's perfectly well enough to care for herself. I try to visit her as often as I can to help her adapt, but of course, since I've been here, I haven't been able to and she hasn't exactly been pleased with me. I give her a ring every night, but it's not quite the same." He gave me a relaxed smile and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, "And unfortunately she refuses to even attempt learning Skype."
I smiled silently and waited for him to continue. This is something of a learned trait, since my first instinct is to never be silent. He was quiet for a few moments, likely deciding if he should keep going or not, before sucking in a breath and continuing.
"Fortunately she's not entirely alone when I'm away. My sister, Romany, stops in now and then for visits."
"Ahh, there's a sister!" I said, before taking a bite of my sandwich.
"There's a sister." He confirmed with a nod, "We're not close, but she helps pay mum's expenses, and we try to get along. For mum's sake, you know."
I nodded knit my brow thoughtfully, "Why don't you get along?"
"Well, as it turns out, she takes after my father. I never quite measured up to either one of their standards." He shrugged and stuffed a chip into his mouth, "And I never saw fit to try."
I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth and dropped my chin down onto my fist with a smile, "Listen to you, you're like a British James Dean."
Wisdom let out a wry laugh and gave his head a shake before popping another chip into his mouth, "At any rate, Romany has always been that obnoxious, stick-up-her-arse, little miss perfection." He chewed thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "She'd like you."
My eyebrows shot up and I pressed my lips into a frown, "I don't really know how to take that."
"I just meant on the... spectrum of women. That I've... " He flipped a hand in the air and let his thought fall flat, clearing his throat instead, and I realized that he was trying to compliment me. I felt myself involuntarily break out into a grin and dropped my eyes down to the table between us,
"That you've what, Wisdom?" I asked, before peering back up at him from beneath my lashes.
"Ah, she's playing coy." He gave me a half grin.
I might have giggled a little bit. And I'm pretty sure I swatted at him playfully from across the table. I'm not proud of myself, what can I say.
"Can you-"
"Hey." Doug said as he sat down in the seat next to me, apparently completely unaware that he'd interrupted our conversation completely. He dropped his messenger bag on the ground with a sigh, "Sorry I bailed on you Friday, Russell melted a Pop Tart in the toaster and tried to fish it out with a wooden spoon. And then he panicked and threw the toaster into the bathtub. I'm pretty sure we won't be getting our deposit back when the semester is over."
"I'm disappointed that I haven't met this roommate of yours yet." Wisdom said with a lopsided grin.
"Yeah." Doug replied, completely dismissively, before turning back to me, "Anyway, how was the weekend with your mom?"
"It was fine." I shrugged before going back to picking away at my sandwich, "She found a dress right away, and I'm getting better at not rolling my eyes every time she talks about Keith."
"That's great." Doug said with a nod as he rooted around in his bag for his lunch. He hauled out the brown paper bag and dropped it onto the table, and if I hadn't been looking directly at him, I would have completely missed the way he totally side-eyed Wisdom for a split second before asking, "Anything else happen?"
Judging from the way Wisdom leaned back in his seat and fixed his curious gaze on Doug, he hadn't missed it either. "Nothing of consequence."
Doug's eyes flicked back to me and he raised an eyebrow, as if he were expecting a different answer from me. I knit my brow and shrugged, "Um... no?"
"Huh." He said, turning back to his bagged lunch and casually lifting a shoulder, "Sounds like I didn't miss much then."
I smiled, "Just a few rousing games of UNO with Bobby and Ray."
He returned my smile, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was just off with him. He took a big bite of his sandwich and turned to drop his elbows onto the table, "So what were you guys talking about? Looked pretty interesting."
"Pete was just telling me about himself." I gave Wisdom a quick smile as I spoke, "You know, because I was saying how unfair it is that he knows everything about me."
"Yes, the lady can be quite persuasive." Wisdom grinned back.
"As if." I rolled my eyes with a laugh.
Doug quirked a brow at Wisdom, "Really? Do you discuss your personal life with all of your clients?"
"I don't suppose I do." He replied.
They stared at one another in pregnant silence before I finally forced a smile and said, "This isn't exactly Wisdom's job. Not like... his normal job, you know."
"Sure." Doug replied with a curt nod, "But it isn't any less important, right?"
Wisdom cocked his head thoughtfully as he eyed Doug, "Of course not."
There was something about the way he said it, as if he were trying to make it abundantly clear to us that he felt the opposite were true.
Doug pressed his lips together and flicked his stare towards me, "Can I talk to you for a sec?" He sent Wisdom another glance before adding, "Alone?"
I frowned at him and opened my mouth to ask what the heck his problem was, but he'd already gotten up and started away from the table, apparently expecting me to follow. I slid out of my seat and followed him ten feet away from the table, and when he came to a stop, he fixed me with a stony, piercing stare.
"What's going on?"
"Uhhm..." I puckered my brow in total confusion and blinked at him dumbly, "You wanted to talk to me...?"
"No, I mean, what's going on there." His eyes darted back to Wisdom quickly before settling back on mine, "Between the two of you? What exactly happened this weekend?"
I could feel a blush creeping up my neck and stubbornly shook my head, "Nothing happened."
"The last time I saw you two, you had a rocky business relationship at best. Now you're suddenly batting your eyelashes and tittering away like a little school girl. And he's practically undressing you with his eyes."
"What?!" I gaped, "You're completely insane-"
"Am I?" He interrupted me with a very pointed stare and the blush spread across my cheeks against my will. It's not as if he were wrong, exactly. Seriously over exaggerating, yes. But not completely wrong. And there was no way I would have been able to lie about it, because he already knew. With his stupid ~*~understanding~*~ ability.
"It's not like that." I said firmly.
He rolled his eyes, "Oh please, Kitty. Give me a little bit of credit. I could read the sexed up body language between you two from across the cafeteria."
"Are you... jealous?" I narrowed my eyes at him curiously and he let out an offended little scoff.
"No! I'm not jealous! Come on, Kitty!" Doug replied with a frown, acting the opposite way of someone who was not jealous would act, "He has a job to do, remember? A pretty important job, too, if you ask me."
"Okay, you are way over reacting right now, Doug." I snapped, starting to feel my patience growing thin, "Nothing happened. And even if it did, I don't think it's any of your damn business."
He glowered at me a little bit and dropped his voice a notch. "Someone needs to point out what a God awful idea this is."
"It's fine, Doug. I told you, it's not like that." I repeated, with practically no more patience left. And without thinking, I added, "We're just having fun."
That was the wrong thing to say, because Doug gave his eyes an exaggerated roll before letting out a scoff, "Just having fun. Oh please, by all means then! If this is all just a big ol' joke to you, if you're just having fun!"
"Doug-"
"No seriously, that totally makes it less stupid. I can see you've clearly thought this out! And I'm sure he can manage to do the whole, bodyguard thing, and not at all be distracted. By all the fun." He spat that word out as if it were laced with venom. "It's not like he's got any sort of rule against this type of thing, right?"
I seriously regretted telling Doug about Wisdom's no nookie rule in that very moment, and felt my face heat up with anger, "You're being a total ass right now. I'm not just some poor damsel waif, lilting off on the sidelines pathetically, Doug. I can handle myself, you know. I don't need anyone to protect me from danger. I am the danger."
"Yeah, sure. You are the danger, Heisenberg. The girl who got attacked- and almost killed- by a crazy, giant animal man. In her own bedroom."
"That was a fluke." I all-but growled, "It won't happen again."
He clenched his jaw and let out a slow breath before giving his head a shake and letting out a deep breath, "Just be careful, Kitty. You can't afford to be reckless right now." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again, "What is it about this guy, anyway?! I mean, you just- I get that you're on the rebound, but God, Kitty, use your brain! Don't rebound with him!"
And that was the moment that something in my brain snapped. He'd pushed one button too many, and my patience had run completely out.
"I already had my rebound." I sneered before disdainfully adding, "Conductor."
The frown on his face disappeared and he blinked at me dumbly with his mouth hanging open slightly. After a few moments staring at me like this, he clamped his mouth shut and gave me a determined nod,
"Right. Well... maybe it's for the best if I... stopped bothering you then."
"Good." I spat.
"I hope the fun is worth it." He spat back as he turned to walk away.
"I will." I called out angrily.
"That doesn't even make sense!" He snapped back over his shoulder.
"I know!" I bit back, lifting my chin as I watched him stalk back over to the table and grab his messenger bag. He dumped his lunch back inside and hauled the bag up onto his shoulder and marched off.
After a few soothing breaths, I made my way back to the table and sank down into the chair with a frown.
"What was that all about?" Wisdom asked, and a part of me got the feeling that he didn't really need to ask. He's a pretty perceptive guy.
"Nothing." I crossed my arms and glared at the rest of my sandwich, "Doug's just being an ass hat." I glanced up at him and gave my eyes a roll, "He doesn't think... He thinks that us... that this-" I flipped a hand between us, "Is a bad idea."
"Is it the age thing?" Wisdom asked with a smile stretching across his lips, "You are legal, right? I feel like maybe we should get that out of the-"
"You're friggin' hilarious." I deadpanned, "No, it's not the age thing, grandpa. It's the, how can he be expected to do his job if you're distracting him, thing."
He sat back in his seat, staring at me in that unnerving way as he thought silently, before letting out a breath, "And what do you think?"
"I think he's being a stupid, jealous jerk." I snapped. It's true, that perhaps he wasn't actually being jealous at all (whatever, he totally was) but what can I say? I had a bad experience with jealousy- So thanks for that Piotr.
"Well, I think-" Pete began, standing up to move around the table and sit down next to me with a playful little grin, "That you can't possibly be more distracting than Candy Crush."
I pursed my lips in a vain attempt to keep from smiling.
"I've had a lot of time to think things over this weekend." He twisted in the seat to face me fully and put a hand on the back of my chair, "And I've come to the conclusion that you're quite capable of fending off attacks on your own. I've spent enough time watching you in that Danger Room of yours to know that my presence is merely a precaution, in the off chance that you're blindsided again."
I looked at him though the corner of my eye, "I'm aware."
"However," He slid his fingers down my wrist slowly, winding his way down to my hand where he smoothed his thumb across my knuckles with a smirk, "You can't blame the man for being concerned."
"Are you talking about you, or him?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "Is this your way of apologizing for lying to me about the whole wedding thing?"
He gave me a knowing grin and brushed his lips across my knuckles, "Of course not, Pyrde. I tend to be a little bit less... verbal when I apologize."
My face went bright red. Instantly.
"Come along then, Petal." He said, releasing my hand and leaning back away from me, "You've got a spelling test to get to in ten."
I rolled my eyes at his ill timed age joke, and tried to will the blush off of my face.
Seriously Wisdom. It's not a good idea to mix the flirting in with the age thing, people will start to talk.
A/N- You guys are the best! All of you are the best!
I'm going to do something that I rarely ever do, and I'm going to address a few reviewers right here. Why? Because I can, that's why ;)
To the guest reviewer who is concerned that I might be offended by the age gap concerns; I'm not offended. Not even a little. In fact, I totes get it. Totes m'goats. That said, there's 13 years difference between my husband and I, so I also get the *other* side of it (the side that's like, meh) lol! Please, don't think you've offended me, I'm a pretty easy goin' gal. I'm also not entirely sure why I just referred to myself as a gal, so moving along...
Guest reviewer -Claire; Chill, sweet pea. I haven't forgotten about anyone.
chantastic; No offense to any of my other reviewers out there, like, at all... but this was my favorite review for this chapter. Why, you ask? Because when I was trying to figure out Wisdom's *thing*... his character presence if you will, I was literally like "Sort of like a George Clooney, Jeff Winger, meets a British dude, type." (Also, psych student Rogue would like to add that he's an ENTJ. As are... Jeff Winger and George Clooney. But let's not get into that, that's seriously a thread you do not want to pull at. Psych student Rogue is cray, guys.) But... BUT... that's not it. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that in the gigantic gap that was the Once Upon a Time winter hiatus, I read... basically all of the Once fan fiction out there. Pretty much all of the Captain Swan stuff I could find. I led a very sad existence for a few months there.
Also, it should come as no surprise to anyone that I'm a fan of Hook. The hair/eye combo attraction Kitty has, is 100% from me.
Pentastic (and everyone else who seems to enjoy Wisdom "because of me"); Thank you! And you're welcome!
Couplest; #maturity #pornstarloud #magnets #Iamthedanger
And to everyone who enjoyed the Batman line; You're very welcome. (Imagine that I said that in the Batman voice, okay?)
Thanks everyone! Keep the reviews rollin' in!
