Aaannnnd.... it's here. Late, but here. Whoo hoo!
~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2: Athena
The Market was a bust. A catfight between two of the Vestal Virgins knocked over a cart of pottery and pretty much stopped traffic dead. This in turn started a bit of a brawl which, while entertaining, didn't last very long. After that, there was not much of anything to do.
So I headed back to the house. The proper name for it is actually an insularae or something. Another Greco-Roman thing Jalil has despaired of ever teaching me. I weep for my lack of knowledge. Not.
As soon as I reach the house Nico opens it, a little smile upon his face. "Master Loki is in the kitchen."
Oh. Great. "Thanks, Nico." I mean, Loki's on our side now, but it's still hard to be friendly with a guy that wanted you dead at one point. "I'll be in my room." Er, just please tell me you changed the sheets while I was gone...
"Of course, Master Christopher."
"Hey, how many times do I have to tell you? Just Christopher, okay? None of this 'master' stuff." Creeps me out. Big time. Little twelve year old calling you master all the time, you'd be freaked too.
"Of course M- Christopher."
"There you go. That wasn't so difficult, eh?"
I head up the stairs and into the west part of the house. And yeah, it's *that* big. I push open the door to my room cautiously. Did Nico...? Yes. He'd cleaned it all ready. Good. I had memories, I didn't need physical evidence staring me in the face.
Coward. I am, really. I mean, I'm going to have to face him sometime. What difference does it make whether it's now or in a few hours?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do not love David Levin. He is my friend. Only my friend. And even then, he's a pain in my ass. He's an egotistical maniac with a hero complex a mile wide. He doesn't mean a thing to me. Not a thing.
"Chris, where were you all day?"
In denial.
"Not here. I did watch two of the Vestal Virgins duke it out next to an oil stall though. Needless to say, that kept me occupied for a while."
April rolls her eyes. "I'll bet. How exactly did that happen?"
"All I saw was the brunette take down the blonde. At that point every male in the place ran over to watch."
"Mhmm."
See? She doesn't believe me. It hurts, really it does...
"What're you and Nico making for dinner?" Lord knows I love the kid, and he tries, really, but 20th century food is a far cry from what he makes. I would *kill* for a burger, smothered in grease and hot off the grill... nachos... twinkies... chips and dip... slobbering here...
"You brutes have a small pig roasting over the fire. I'm having a salad."
"A salad. Good Lord, how do you live with yourself?" Vegetables. Eww.
"Without the blood of innocent animals on my head."
"I prefer it in my stomach, actually."
"Pig."
"Exactly."
And throughout our little conversation, David sits brooding in the back corner, somehow managing to sit in the one spot of shadow in the whole room. Not that that's unusual, mind you. I just wish he'd lighten up once in a while.
Time for a subject change.
"How goes the rediscovery of gunpowder, Dr. Spock?" Subtle, eh?
"Not good," is the gloomy reply. "It wasn't exactly something I ever read up on, you know."
Psh. Like you didn't read about *everything*.
"Don't glare at me. The only thing I know is that there's sulfur in it, and more importantly, goes boom when lit." That covers the basics.
"How scientific of you."
"That's me. I'm a scientific kind of guy."
"I could use your help tomorrow, if you're free."
"Let me check my schedule." Hmmm... "Yeah, I could pencil you in." I only have, oh, let's see... nothing to do. Funness.
"Thank you for gracing me with your presence."
"You're really getting good at that sarcasm thing. Kudos."
Then he mumbles something under his breath that sounded like 'imbecile', but he's smiling, so I won't take too much offense.
"Hey David, you all right?"
Ah, April. Our pseudo-mom.
"You're even quieter than usual today."
"I'm fine."
Yeah. You look it. Well, actually, you do look *fine*, but that's digressing again.
April comes over to lay a hand on his shoulder. "You sure?"
He shrugs, not so much to knock off April's hand but to show he doesn't need it. "Yeah. Just worried about pitching the plan to Athena."
...
...
... Athena?
"Whoa! Rewind and freeze!"
Everyone in the kitchen turns to stare at me.
"Athena's coming over? Tonight?"
Damn April to hell. She's finding all this very amusing.
"Why yes, she is. We invited her to dinner. David has to talk over plans with her."
"Well in that case, there's really no need for me to be here, is there? I'll just head out to the inn down the street, grab a little fried dormouse on the way..." Exit, stage left.
"Oh for Christ's sake, Christopher," Jalil sighs. "She's not going to molest you."
"Tell that to Athena. Hey. Hey! Now I get it! You're using me to soften her up! You bastards! I will not be a willing sacrifice!"
A look of offense crosses April's face, and her green eyes widen and begin to water. "Chris, do you really think so low of us?"
"Yes." Let me make that perfectly clear. "It's true, isn't it?"
"Damn it. I thought that would work."
"It was overdone April. Try to tone it down next time."
"Asshole. Like you know anything about theatre."
A long-suffering sigh. "Christopher, I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this." Jalil stands, and somehow managing to look even more serious than usual, pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket.
"Ah! Paper! Save me!" I begin to run around the table, flailing my hands hysterically. So sue me. I'm a five-year-old underneath the alcoholism, really. And I have to get my kicks somewhere.
"This is a recipe for cheesecake."
I stop dead in the middle of the room. "Cheesecake?"
"Cheesecake."
I see where this is going. "Oh, you really are stooping low today, aren't you?"
"Just manipulating the enemies weak spot." The corner of Jalil's mouth quirks. "The Achille's heel."
Why do I get the feeling something just went over my head?
"You mean my stomach."
"Our original idea was TV, but I don't have time to reinvent that right now." Jalil begins to waft the paper slowly back and forth in front of my face. "You stay for dinner, make nice with Athena, and you can have the recipe. Nico can have some made by tomorrow morning."
Cheesecake. God. I need something to wipe the drool from my mouth. Second time in five minutes. "Just for the record, I resent being used as a bargaining chip."
Jalil smiles. "You'll do it then?"
"For cheesecake, I would have made nice with Ka Anor."
April grabs onto my shoulders and steers me towards the stairs. "She's coming over after the afternoon games."
"Isn't that like, now?"
"Yeah. So get washed up and change into something decent. How about... the plum! That plum color's perfect. It goes great with your skin tone."
"FYI, I have never, and will never, worry about what goes and what does not go with my skin tone."
"Just wear it."
"But..."
"No buts."
"Fine, Mommy. But I'm warning you, if she tries to grab me again things are going to get real ugly real fast."
She rolls her eyes again. "Just flirt a little. It comes to you as naturally as breathing."
"It does?" Do I flirt with anyone?
April grins and winks. "I've seen you work a room with more charm than I ever could."
Oh great. Not only am I Christopher the Useless, I'm Christopher the Bargaining Chip and Christopher the Hopeless Flirt.
"I'm serious Chris. Get going."
"All right, all right. Slave driver." Sometime in the last few minutes, David disappeared again. Fuck.
~~~~~~~~~
It must have been three o'clock before I crawled into bed. Craaaaawled. For a pathetic moment I actually considered having Nico drag me to bed. For a really pathetic moment I considered having him drag me to David's bed. And only partly because it was on the ground floor and not up a flight of stairs. Lord, am I pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. Path- etic.
At least Athena didn't grab me. I think it was more a mental molestation. Ick.
I flop onto the bed face down. Probably going to end up suffocating like this. Oh well. I'll flip over if it becomes too hard to breathe. But the bed is so damn comfy... maybe not.
~~~~~~~
I wake up with a crick in my neck and drool all over my pillow. Bleh. Didn't suffocate though, which is a plus. I mean, how stupid a way would that be to die? It's right up there with falling asleep in your cereal and drowning in your milk. For some reason a lot of stupid ways to die involve sleeping. Or being stabbed repeatedly with a blunt object. But the last one could probably get really messy. Blood stains are a bitch to get out of carpet... Shit, more early morning rambling. Morbid morning rambling.
Crap. *And* alliteration. Never a good sign.
Coooooooffeeeeeee...
"You look like shit."
"Finally, truth in advertising." Give me my coffee, damn it. I snatch the precious, *precious* caffeine away from the evil red-haired imp that's sitting at the edge of the table. Oh wait. That's just April.
"Back in the land of the living?"
"Ask again in five minutes."
"What is that?" she screeches suddenly, and I wince. The girl could probably crack glass with that voice. I feel around on my face and...
Oops. Must have missed a spot or two. "Drool."
"How'd you get drool on your forehead?"
"Talent." And a pillow. Ta da!
"I see."
And then she starts slamming around pots while she makes breakfast. Has she no respect for the nearly dead?
"Athena liked David's proposal, by the way."
"Yippy skippy." Watch me jump for joy.
She sighs. "I don't know why I bother talking to you in the morning. I wonder why I bother talking to you at *all* sometimes, but especially in the mornings."
"Because you love me."
"Riiiiight." There goes another one of those damn hair ruffles. "More coffee, Mr. Egomaniac?"
"Please."
Another figure slides blearily into the seat across from mine. David. Whew. There's a morning pick me up for you.
...
Never mind.
"Bad night?" April inquires perkily. I don't know how she does it without being annoying, but she pulls it off.
"Had worse."
I feel the blood rise to my face. Okay, maaaybe it didn't mean anything. I always seem to hear things no one else does, but it still kind of stung.
"You and Christopher both," she continues on blithely.
That's it.
I throw back the rest of my coffee and head for the stairs.
"Yeah. Me and David. That's a laugh."
Two pairs of eyes watch me closely as I head back up to my room.
~~~~~~~
"Have time to play psychiatrist today?"
Jalil sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Depends. I'm not up to dealing with your dysfunctional childhood right now."
"How about my dysfunctional adolescence?"
Another sigh. "Sure. Why not?" He waves a hand towards the seat beside him.
"Aren't you supposed to have a recliner or something?" Ouch. The patented 'you-are-an-idiot' glare. It's actually quite amazing how so many blank looks can mean so many things coming from Jalil.
"Just sit Christopher."
"Nice bedside manner."
"That's a different kind of doctor." A third sigh. "Why do you come here to torture me?"
"So someone can be as miserable as I am." Pretty simple reason, actually. Share the wealth and all that.
He sets down his papers and gives me another look. "What's wrong Christopher?"
"Are you up to sorting through the messy aftermath of the quintessential one night stand?"
"Christopher – "
"I know, I know. Bad Christopher. You're going to catch syphilis, or some other horrible venereal disease, blah blah blah. I know. Can we skip that part?"
"Seems we all ready have..."
"Okay, so we were drinking, right? And then I brought them home, and what happened next had better be obvious, and then they were gone when I woke up."
"So...?"
I take a deep breath and fidget unnecessarily. "Weeeellll..." Here's the real kicker.
"Christopher..."
Eep. A Jalil-growl.
"Ithinkimightbeinlovewithsaidpersonnothingseriousbye." I jump out of the chair and head for the door.
And then I'm back in the chair, with Jalil's hand planted firmly on my chest. Damn it. He's a quick one, sometimes.
"You came in here and interupted my work," he states seriously. "I'm getting the whole story."
"That was the whole story."
"Bullshit. Start again."
So I told him. I mean, this is Jalil. I tell him everything now. My gay crisis, about my parents, about suicide, drinking, sleeping with everything that moved, anything and everything. He judges me, don't think he doesn't. But he sees everything the way it is, without the coloring of feelings and emotions. The good thing (and the bad thing) about Jalil is that he can just lock all that shit away. But about David... I can't dump that on him. He's involved to a point, you know? So I tell him everything, except the identity of the person who has me even more fucked up than usual.
Funny thing is, I don't feel any better.
"Nice way to screw everything up," he notes.
"I knew that." Duh. Thank you, Captain Obvious. You're supposed to be the smart one! You're my father confessor! Give me something to work with here!
"Tell the person."
"Are you insane?" Point blank. "That's just stupid."
"What have you got to lose?"
"My dignity. Pride. Self-respect. Etcetera."
"Whatever."
"Whatever? Whatever?!" Jalil said whatever. As a whole sentence. Mountains will crumble. Cities shall fall. April will elope with Nico and Jalil will go around saying 'dawg'. The world as we know it is ending!
Breathe, Christopher. Breathe. And cut back on the coffee.
"Some help you are."
He shrugs and picks up his papers again.
Grrr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This... sucks. O_o To quote Christopher, grrr. This fic is just not going where I want it to go. Double grr. *sigh* I'll try to get it back on track, but really, I can promise nothing.
~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2: Athena
The Market was a bust. A catfight between two of the Vestal Virgins knocked over a cart of pottery and pretty much stopped traffic dead. This in turn started a bit of a brawl which, while entertaining, didn't last very long. After that, there was not much of anything to do.
So I headed back to the house. The proper name for it is actually an insularae or something. Another Greco-Roman thing Jalil has despaired of ever teaching me. I weep for my lack of knowledge. Not.
As soon as I reach the house Nico opens it, a little smile upon his face. "Master Loki is in the kitchen."
Oh. Great. "Thanks, Nico." I mean, Loki's on our side now, but it's still hard to be friendly with a guy that wanted you dead at one point. "I'll be in my room." Er, just please tell me you changed the sheets while I was gone...
"Of course, Master Christopher."
"Hey, how many times do I have to tell you? Just Christopher, okay? None of this 'master' stuff." Creeps me out. Big time. Little twelve year old calling you master all the time, you'd be freaked too.
"Of course M- Christopher."
"There you go. That wasn't so difficult, eh?"
I head up the stairs and into the west part of the house. And yeah, it's *that* big. I push open the door to my room cautiously. Did Nico...? Yes. He'd cleaned it all ready. Good. I had memories, I didn't need physical evidence staring me in the face.
Coward. I am, really. I mean, I'm going to have to face him sometime. What difference does it make whether it's now or in a few hours?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do not love David Levin. He is my friend. Only my friend. And even then, he's a pain in my ass. He's an egotistical maniac with a hero complex a mile wide. He doesn't mean a thing to me. Not a thing.
"Chris, where were you all day?"
In denial.
"Not here. I did watch two of the Vestal Virgins duke it out next to an oil stall though. Needless to say, that kept me occupied for a while."
April rolls her eyes. "I'll bet. How exactly did that happen?"
"All I saw was the brunette take down the blonde. At that point every male in the place ran over to watch."
"Mhmm."
See? She doesn't believe me. It hurts, really it does...
"What're you and Nico making for dinner?" Lord knows I love the kid, and he tries, really, but 20th century food is a far cry from what he makes. I would *kill* for a burger, smothered in grease and hot off the grill... nachos... twinkies... chips and dip... slobbering here...
"You brutes have a small pig roasting over the fire. I'm having a salad."
"A salad. Good Lord, how do you live with yourself?" Vegetables. Eww.
"Without the blood of innocent animals on my head."
"I prefer it in my stomach, actually."
"Pig."
"Exactly."
And throughout our little conversation, David sits brooding in the back corner, somehow managing to sit in the one spot of shadow in the whole room. Not that that's unusual, mind you. I just wish he'd lighten up once in a while.
Time for a subject change.
"How goes the rediscovery of gunpowder, Dr. Spock?" Subtle, eh?
"Not good," is the gloomy reply. "It wasn't exactly something I ever read up on, you know."
Psh. Like you didn't read about *everything*.
"Don't glare at me. The only thing I know is that there's sulfur in it, and more importantly, goes boom when lit." That covers the basics.
"How scientific of you."
"That's me. I'm a scientific kind of guy."
"I could use your help tomorrow, if you're free."
"Let me check my schedule." Hmmm... "Yeah, I could pencil you in." I only have, oh, let's see... nothing to do. Funness.
"Thank you for gracing me with your presence."
"You're really getting good at that sarcasm thing. Kudos."
Then he mumbles something under his breath that sounded like 'imbecile', but he's smiling, so I won't take too much offense.
"Hey David, you all right?"
Ah, April. Our pseudo-mom.
"You're even quieter than usual today."
"I'm fine."
Yeah. You look it. Well, actually, you do look *fine*, but that's digressing again.
April comes over to lay a hand on his shoulder. "You sure?"
He shrugs, not so much to knock off April's hand but to show he doesn't need it. "Yeah. Just worried about pitching the plan to Athena."
...
...
... Athena?
"Whoa! Rewind and freeze!"
Everyone in the kitchen turns to stare at me.
"Athena's coming over? Tonight?"
Damn April to hell. She's finding all this very amusing.
"Why yes, she is. We invited her to dinner. David has to talk over plans with her."
"Well in that case, there's really no need for me to be here, is there? I'll just head out to the inn down the street, grab a little fried dormouse on the way..." Exit, stage left.
"Oh for Christ's sake, Christopher," Jalil sighs. "She's not going to molest you."
"Tell that to Athena. Hey. Hey! Now I get it! You're using me to soften her up! You bastards! I will not be a willing sacrifice!"
A look of offense crosses April's face, and her green eyes widen and begin to water. "Chris, do you really think so low of us?"
"Yes." Let me make that perfectly clear. "It's true, isn't it?"
"Damn it. I thought that would work."
"It was overdone April. Try to tone it down next time."
"Asshole. Like you know anything about theatre."
A long-suffering sigh. "Christopher, I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this." Jalil stands, and somehow managing to look even more serious than usual, pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket.
"Ah! Paper! Save me!" I begin to run around the table, flailing my hands hysterically. So sue me. I'm a five-year-old underneath the alcoholism, really. And I have to get my kicks somewhere.
"This is a recipe for cheesecake."
I stop dead in the middle of the room. "Cheesecake?"
"Cheesecake."
I see where this is going. "Oh, you really are stooping low today, aren't you?"
"Just manipulating the enemies weak spot." The corner of Jalil's mouth quirks. "The Achille's heel."
Why do I get the feeling something just went over my head?
"You mean my stomach."
"Our original idea was TV, but I don't have time to reinvent that right now." Jalil begins to waft the paper slowly back and forth in front of my face. "You stay for dinner, make nice with Athena, and you can have the recipe. Nico can have some made by tomorrow morning."
Cheesecake. God. I need something to wipe the drool from my mouth. Second time in five minutes. "Just for the record, I resent being used as a bargaining chip."
Jalil smiles. "You'll do it then?"
"For cheesecake, I would have made nice with Ka Anor."
April grabs onto my shoulders and steers me towards the stairs. "She's coming over after the afternoon games."
"Isn't that like, now?"
"Yeah. So get washed up and change into something decent. How about... the plum! That plum color's perfect. It goes great with your skin tone."
"FYI, I have never, and will never, worry about what goes and what does not go with my skin tone."
"Just wear it."
"But..."
"No buts."
"Fine, Mommy. But I'm warning you, if she tries to grab me again things are going to get real ugly real fast."
She rolls her eyes again. "Just flirt a little. It comes to you as naturally as breathing."
"It does?" Do I flirt with anyone?
April grins and winks. "I've seen you work a room with more charm than I ever could."
Oh great. Not only am I Christopher the Useless, I'm Christopher the Bargaining Chip and Christopher the Hopeless Flirt.
"I'm serious Chris. Get going."
"All right, all right. Slave driver." Sometime in the last few minutes, David disappeared again. Fuck.
~~~~~~~~~
It must have been three o'clock before I crawled into bed. Craaaaawled. For a pathetic moment I actually considered having Nico drag me to bed. For a really pathetic moment I considered having him drag me to David's bed. And only partly because it was on the ground floor and not up a flight of stairs. Lord, am I pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. Path- etic.
At least Athena didn't grab me. I think it was more a mental molestation. Ick.
I flop onto the bed face down. Probably going to end up suffocating like this. Oh well. I'll flip over if it becomes too hard to breathe. But the bed is so damn comfy... maybe not.
~~~~~~~
I wake up with a crick in my neck and drool all over my pillow. Bleh. Didn't suffocate though, which is a plus. I mean, how stupid a way would that be to die? It's right up there with falling asleep in your cereal and drowning in your milk. For some reason a lot of stupid ways to die involve sleeping. Or being stabbed repeatedly with a blunt object. But the last one could probably get really messy. Blood stains are a bitch to get out of carpet... Shit, more early morning rambling. Morbid morning rambling.
Crap. *And* alliteration. Never a good sign.
Coooooooffeeeeeee...
"You look like shit."
"Finally, truth in advertising." Give me my coffee, damn it. I snatch the precious, *precious* caffeine away from the evil red-haired imp that's sitting at the edge of the table. Oh wait. That's just April.
"Back in the land of the living?"
"Ask again in five minutes."
"What is that?" she screeches suddenly, and I wince. The girl could probably crack glass with that voice. I feel around on my face and...
Oops. Must have missed a spot or two. "Drool."
"How'd you get drool on your forehead?"
"Talent." And a pillow. Ta da!
"I see."
And then she starts slamming around pots while she makes breakfast. Has she no respect for the nearly dead?
"Athena liked David's proposal, by the way."
"Yippy skippy." Watch me jump for joy.
She sighs. "I don't know why I bother talking to you in the morning. I wonder why I bother talking to you at *all* sometimes, but especially in the mornings."
"Because you love me."
"Riiiiight." There goes another one of those damn hair ruffles. "More coffee, Mr. Egomaniac?"
"Please."
Another figure slides blearily into the seat across from mine. David. Whew. There's a morning pick me up for you.
...
Never mind.
"Bad night?" April inquires perkily. I don't know how she does it without being annoying, but she pulls it off.
"Had worse."
I feel the blood rise to my face. Okay, maaaybe it didn't mean anything. I always seem to hear things no one else does, but it still kind of stung.
"You and Christopher both," she continues on blithely.
That's it.
I throw back the rest of my coffee and head for the stairs.
"Yeah. Me and David. That's a laugh."
Two pairs of eyes watch me closely as I head back up to my room.
~~~~~~~
"Have time to play psychiatrist today?"
Jalil sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Depends. I'm not up to dealing with your dysfunctional childhood right now."
"How about my dysfunctional adolescence?"
Another sigh. "Sure. Why not?" He waves a hand towards the seat beside him.
"Aren't you supposed to have a recliner or something?" Ouch. The patented 'you-are-an-idiot' glare. It's actually quite amazing how so many blank looks can mean so many things coming from Jalil.
"Just sit Christopher."
"Nice bedside manner."
"That's a different kind of doctor." A third sigh. "Why do you come here to torture me?"
"So someone can be as miserable as I am." Pretty simple reason, actually. Share the wealth and all that.
He sets down his papers and gives me another look. "What's wrong Christopher?"
"Are you up to sorting through the messy aftermath of the quintessential one night stand?"
"Christopher – "
"I know, I know. Bad Christopher. You're going to catch syphilis, or some other horrible venereal disease, blah blah blah. I know. Can we skip that part?"
"Seems we all ready have..."
"Okay, so we were drinking, right? And then I brought them home, and what happened next had better be obvious, and then they were gone when I woke up."
"So...?"
I take a deep breath and fidget unnecessarily. "Weeeellll..." Here's the real kicker.
"Christopher..."
Eep. A Jalil-growl.
"Ithinkimightbeinlovewithsaidpersonnothingseriousbye." I jump out of the chair and head for the door.
And then I'm back in the chair, with Jalil's hand planted firmly on my chest. Damn it. He's a quick one, sometimes.
"You came in here and interupted my work," he states seriously. "I'm getting the whole story."
"That was the whole story."
"Bullshit. Start again."
So I told him. I mean, this is Jalil. I tell him everything now. My gay crisis, about my parents, about suicide, drinking, sleeping with everything that moved, anything and everything. He judges me, don't think he doesn't. But he sees everything the way it is, without the coloring of feelings and emotions. The good thing (and the bad thing) about Jalil is that he can just lock all that shit away. But about David... I can't dump that on him. He's involved to a point, you know? So I tell him everything, except the identity of the person who has me even more fucked up than usual.
Funny thing is, I don't feel any better.
"Nice way to screw everything up," he notes.
"I knew that." Duh. Thank you, Captain Obvious. You're supposed to be the smart one! You're my father confessor! Give me something to work with here!
"Tell the person."
"Are you insane?" Point blank. "That's just stupid."
"What have you got to lose?"
"My dignity. Pride. Self-respect. Etcetera."
"Whatever."
"Whatever? Whatever?!" Jalil said whatever. As a whole sentence. Mountains will crumble. Cities shall fall. April will elope with Nico and Jalil will go around saying 'dawg'. The world as we know it is ending!
Breathe, Christopher. Breathe. And cut back on the coffee.
"Some help you are."
He shrugs and picks up his papers again.
Grrr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This... sucks. O_o To quote Christopher, grrr. This fic is just not going where I want it to go. Double grr. *sigh* I'll try to get it back on track, but really, I can promise nothing.