Anything to keep Kevin out of the living room.
Notes:"This story participates at the Challenge of the superfluous organized by the facebook group Il Giardino di Efp"
Prompt used: 12 Stained carpet 34 Lavender detergent
Well in the end maybe I managed to make a collection, because here ye, here ye, this shot (one of the most comical I've ever written with these two, I warn you) no longer follows the chronological order but is a kind of spin off of the previous one, with a missing moment before they go to the airport.
AKA My little purple disaster
After all those weeks, now it has been more than a month, that Jessica has been staying there at Killgrave's house, the detective has realized one thing above all: he is extremely proud of the oriental carpet in his living room.
She still remembers when he gave her an in-depth tour of the entire villa and they stayed in that room for a time that she deemed too long.
"It comes from the Iranian city called Nain , you know? Excellence in terms of refinement in Persian craftsmanship," he has told her the first time, bending over to caress the precious fabric with his hand. "It is produced with a wool of higher quality than the average, it also has silk inlays especially those concerning its geometric pattern.
The first time Jessica preferred to listen to him, remaining silent.
"In the Nain city the production started very late, around the early 1930s, which means that very few items were produced and even fewer were exported," Kevin has explained, joining her in the living room one afternoon as she watched absent-mindedly a teleshopping of knives, perhaps as she daydreamed she could use them on him.
"And since when have you been this carpet great expert?"
This time she hasn't succeeded in remaining silent.
"My dear, do you still know me so little?" Kevin has chuckled, sliding closer to her on the sofa. "I happen to be a big connoisseur and admirer of all the most beautiful and elegant things," he has murmured, stroking her cheek with the tip of his index finger, without her shrinking at his touch, strangely. "Obviously for the second quality you are the exception that confirms the rule!" he added soon after.
"On the other hand, when it comes to being a dickhead asshole you are always the living epitome!" she has snapped, walking away.
The third time Jessica has gone to the living room to enjoy the fireplace on a particularly cold day in early January.
He probably must have had the same idea and that's how they have ended up crossing each other, warming themselves at the same fire and looking at the same carpet in the center of that room.
"You know, Jessica, the quality of a Nain carpet is determined by the number of 'La' of the carpet: as a matter of fact the word 'La' in their language means 'layer'." he has started the conversation again. "The carpet can range from 4 to 12 La, this one has 6, not bad at all as a result. A Nain 6 La has three threads in each fringe, with a knot density of around 850,000-1,000,000 knots per square meter! " he informed her, enthusiastic.
"That's exactly what I would do to your tongue to stop you from babbling about this fucking carpet again!" Jessica has blurted out, more and more convinced that that is a new form of torture devised by the sadistic persuader to torment her once more, now that he can no longer control her.
"You know what I'm telling you, Jess? It's minus ten degrees outside but it's nothing compared to your oh-so-cold bloody attitude! " he has scolded her, insulted, taking his cashmere coat in order to go out, under the girl's amused eyes.
There are only two days left until the agreed departure for the mission which consists of bringing one of Killgrave's former victims closer to his family.
Jessica took the opportunity to work a bit on the investigation she still has in progress, this after entrusting Kevin with a respectable case this time.
Now the detective is lying on the sofa, fumbling with her cell phone, trying to track down where a robber can hide and with him also find the stolen goods.
It's just after three in the afternoon, but that doesn't stop her from drinking a bottle of Amarone of Valpolicella , without even using a glass.
Killgrave is not all wrong with his wisecracks about the girl lacking some elegance.
It's one of her allowed drinking days, but she's opted for something less devastating than hard liquor, after all in all she's making progress.
Her gaze falls on the carpet below, that beautiful ivory carpet with geometric and floral patterns.
"'And, Jessica, you won't believe me but every knot on this carpet is handmade, which makes it worth over fourteen thousand dollars!'" she makes fun of Killgrave's way to talk,, as she glares at the object that makes the charmer oh-so-proud.
"Fourteen thousand bucks for this fucking slightly grown tea towel ?!" she mutters aloud, skeptical, drinking again. "Shit, people just don't know how the fuck to spend their money; or well, it's not that he really spends money or if he does it's not exactly his money! "
After yet another large sip that makes her empty the bottle of half of its content, she puts the bottle on the table and continues her business.
She has the smart idea of triangulating the latest sightings of that thug and that leads her to a brilliant deduction.
"Of course! I figured out where you hide, you son of a bitch! " she rejoices, but in doing so she gives an involuntary kick to the leg of the table, with enough force to make it tremble.
Unfortunately, among her powers Jessica does not have super-speed and is unable to grab that bottle of wine in time, which inexorably falls from the table.
The impact on the wool, as soft as it is precious, prevents the bottle from shattering, but not from pouring out its contents, almost completely.
Jessica is almost in shock.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, no, fuck, what the fuck have I done?" she immediately gets up, starting to spin back and forth around the carpet.
She picks up the precious bottle, even if it is now of little use, as she observes that purple stain spreading out without any mercy under her eyes, defiling the purity of that ivory.
- Fuck, Jessica, congratulations, you poured a very precious wine that comes from Italy and costs about two thousand dollars a bottle on a rare oriental carpet that is worth at least fourteen thousand, the whole thing is almost ironic! -
As a matter of fact, despite the situation, Jessica starts laughing, but it's more likely a hysterical laugh.
- Come on, nothing bad happened, you can fix it! - she tries to stay positive, moving the surrounding sofas, coffee table and furniture.
She goes to get some tea towels in the kitchen but when she tries to dab the huge stain it only makes things worse, with the fibers that are now impregnated with the smell of wine.
"Oh, shit, shit, shit!" Jessica has a nervous breakdown, such as to lure Ingrid into the living room too.
"What happened ... Oh Mein Gott !"
The waitress's fright is such as to reveal her Swedish-German origins. "What have you done, Frauline Jones? Herr Killgrave will go on a rampage! "
"Oh, thank you very much, Brilliant Mind Barbie, I really haven't figured it out yet by myself!" the detective rolls her eyes.
"We could take it to the laundry, no, there's no time, we could call a home laundry, no, they wouldn't accept, we could ..." the waitress panics, but Jessica is beside her in an instant, with her hand pressing on a precise point of the blonde's slender neck.
"Do me a favor, A Thousand-Useless-Ideas Barbie, , shut the fuck up!" Jessica mutters, waiting for the young girl to faint in her arms.
She closes her in the wardrobe, hoping that she will remain unconscious for a time long enough.
"I'm a fucking idiot, first I had to ask her where she keeps the detergents!" the detective curses herself, deciding to do it on her own.
Jessica wanders around the villa for a while until she finds some sort of storage room that can help her.
She grabs a lavender detergent, sure that this will please a certain someone, and goes back to the living room to get busy.
It is no great mystery that household chores are not Jessica's cup of tea (more like glass of scotch) and she does not even bother to read the instructions, but pours the thick and viscous cleaning liquid directly into direct contact with the fabric, without even diluting it.
Result? If nothing else it remedies the smell of wine, given that the carpet now gives off a very good and enveloping scent of lavender, but the reaction with the previous stain without the correct treatment creates a myriad of shades ranging from the darkest purple to the most tenuous wisteria.
When Jessica, with another of her thoughts, remembers that in the closet there is also a vacuum cleaner and uses it in an attempt to dry the carpet a little, she ends up making the color spread out even on those few parts that miraculously were still left intact.
Even running two hair dryers over it at the same time doesn't make things better.
"Jessica, have you seen Ingrid? I can't find her anywhere… "
Daniel takes her by surprise, who, unlike her now girlfriend, is much less formal with her.
"But ... oh, dammit, Jessica, what have you ..."
Jessica has only one thing left to do.
When, after sunset, Killgrave returns, he finds Jessica waiting for him directly in the hall.
"Hello, is everything alright? How did the case go?" she is affable and also rather helpful, taking his coat.
This is because he doesn't want him to open the wardrobe, finding his passed out waitress and cook inside.
"Wonderfully, my darling!" he smiles at her, pleased by that unusual attitude from her. "Your suspicions were well founded, in that witness protection mission one of the policemen in charge was corrupt and, as you can imagine, it took me very little to make him confess!" he explains triumphantly.
"If it took you so short, why did you come back just now?" she frowns, even though in her heart she is grateful that he did.
"Because after seeing me at work, detective Costa thought it was best to ask for my help with the interrogations he had pending, with some badasses who didn't speak ... and ooh, I did feel a lot like I was in an episode of Broadchurch ! " Kevin chuckles. "And Costa was so satisfied with my work that he couldn't stop complimenting me… spontaneous compliments, you know? Not because I ordered him 'Tell me I was good.'! " he clarifies, with a smile that does not abandon him.
He has such enthusiasm as a child's, which makes him somewhat tender, but Jessica has no time for tenderness.
"Huh, I want you to tell me every detail, but let's go talk about it on the terrace," she tries to prod him.
"After you already took off my coat? And with such a cold that it is close to snow?" Killgrave points out.
"So let's go to the kitchen, you'll be hungry, don't you want a slice of cake?" she decides, dragging him with her, for the simple reason that to get to the kitchen she doesn't have to go through the living room.
"Made by you? No thanks!"
"You, silly, I mean Daniel, he made one this afternoon." she replies, opening the two-door fridge.
"Good to know ... and in any case no, we'll have dinner soon."
"Well, speaking of dinner ... tonight we should resort to a delivery ... or, well, why don't you take me out, to one of those restaurants you like so much?" she ventures.
Anything to keep him out of the living room.
Killgrave's eyes widen so much they might pop out of their sockets.
"Jessica, are you sure you feel good? Maybe you have a fever, "he worries, placing his lips on her forehead, but he feels it cold.
"I'm fine, the truth is ... I told Daniel to take a day off so we won't have any interruptions."
"Interruptions from what?" Kevin looks at her, increasingly bewildered, even more when she takes the initiative and pushes him against the table, clinging to him.
"From the reward I want to give you because you were really good today!" she invents an excuse which, if it is not credible, is certainly more than welcome by him.
She kisses him, waiting for him to kiss her back, and it doesn't take long for Kevin to shake out of his initial numbness, to play greedily with her tongue, to gird her hips possessively, to rub his pelvis against hers, to show her how much he is enjoying it.
It doesn't matter that she is enjoying it, too, Jessica doesn't even waste time wondering why.
Anything to keep him out of the living room.
To her surprise, Kevin is the first to break the kiss, parting from her.
"My darling, wait for me here, these are occasions that must be celebrated properly, I have just the right bottle of wine." he leaves the room before she has even time to reply.
And then she remembers that to get to the cellar you have to go through the living room.
"Oh shit!"
She tries to chase him but it's too late now.
Kevin has already reached the living room, has seen the sofas and furniture moved and has already noticed the reason.
"My carpet!" he exclaims, astonished. "What is ... what happened?"
"I swear I didn't do it on purpose. I accidentally spilled the bottle of Amarone I was drinking… and trying to clean the carpet with lavender detergent I only made things worse! " she confesses the naked truth, preparing for the worst. "Please don't blame your staff, by the way it's not true that Daniel took the day off, I knocked him out along with Ingrid because they were becoming way too nosey," she gives him more information. "If necessary, I swear I'll make those fucking 850,000 knots by hand, but ..."
Jessica can't speak anymore because Kevin is kissing her, even more passionately than before, if possible, cupping her face with his hands.
"I'm not mad at you Jessica, if anything I love this carpet, it's even more beautiful than before!" he reveals to her when they part from each other.
"Are you fuckign kidding me?" she barks, confused.
"And why should I? Besides, I can only appreciate that some of the alcohol you wanted to harm yourself with poured over the carpet," he chuckles. "And then, look at it. It's just wonderful: it's purple to the eye, it smells like purple, with all that lavender… I think it's purple to the touch too… we could lie down on it and carry on what we were doing oh-so-well… "he murmurs, a breath from her lips, the desire burning in his big dark eyes.
"What we were doing before was my pure attempt to distract you, that's all!" she points out, bitterly. "So shut up or I swear you'll end up in the washing machine with your fucking carpet, drowning in your beloved lavender detergent, at sixty degrees!"
In response, he pouts at her.
"No, that's not true, I was joking." she brings the smile back on his features. "I would separate you and I would use a gentle cycle for you," she specifies in a softer tone, giving him a quick peck.
"Not in a washing machine, but, you know, I have a large bathtub with Jacuzzi and we could ..."
"In your dreams, Kevin!" she starts to walk away, but he still has a card to play.
"Not so fast. Distraction attempt or not, earlier you talked about a dinner out… you knocked my cook out, again, "he points out, remembering what happened at Christmas. "I don't even think about calling a delivery. Well… at least you owe me this, my little purple disaster! "
Considering it could have been a lot worse, Jessica rates that solution as the lesser evil.
"Okay, we'll go out for dinner." she agrees.
"And you will let me buy you a suitable dress!" he adds to it.
Jessica is aware that among the clothes she has brought theer, there is not one suitable enough for the restaurants that Killgrave usually fancies.
"Okay, as long as I can choose the color, I've already seen too much purple today!"
"It seems fair to me, my little purple disaster," he smiles.
"One more thing," Jessica feels compelled to point out. "Don't ever fucking call me that again!"
TBC
Notes:What can I say? By now I have my own personal headcanons:
- between Jessica and Ingrid there is bad blood, regardless of jealousies or presumed jealousies (I am particularly proud of the nicknames Jessica gives her!)
- Jessica: chores = Jessica: cooking ... which means epic fail!
- At a certain point I got a Killgrave that sounded a bit like the voice of a documentary… but if you think that dear David often and willingly lends his voice to many documentaries… do you see that it all makes sense? XD
- Sorry the Broadchurch easter egg, but it had to be repeated, I couldn't resist ... anyway, damn the authors, how useful would it have been a redeemed Killy in a second and third season?
- Jessica's angry reaction or not, I really think Kevin will not stop calling her that XD
I had a lot of fun writing it, I hope you too read it. Pleeeease don't be shy, let me know and kudos are highly appreciated.
ps how super beautiful is my new avatar by roemesquita on devian Art? 3
Oh I almost forgot, that carpet and all related information seriously exist, but I can't link the site here
see you next time ... if nothing different happens it will concern JJ and ... the TARDIS! ; P