WAHOO! A whole new set of classes just started so I was busy, but I managed to get this chapter out at least! so I hope you enjoy it!
Nicole has stopped Tessa from killing herself at least 10 times today, and she was rather sick of it. A few of the ways being; stopped Tessa from drinking bleach, eating Batteries, sticking a fork in an outlet- It was like playing the game Who's your Daddy, except Nicole was constantly on the role of the Dad and Tessa was the baby that kept trying to kill itself. If you are confused, look up the game.
They had to double baby proof the place! And Tessa was smart enough to figure out the baby proofing and get around it, so it was a non-stop battle!
"Don't." she pointed to Tessa was she started to approach the microwave. The young teenage mutant's hands had been bandaged multiple times today, and Nicole was not going to do it again.
Freezing, Tessa stepped back, going back to her exploration of the room. It was fine when Tessa went through books or what not, but the appliances were another story.
"I apologize." K.R said for the billionth time, "She has not seen much of the world."
'You keep saying that- Don't!" she pointed to Tessa again when she started to curiously open and close the closet, her fingers dangerously close to being jammed between the door and wall.
Though honestly that wouldn't have been that bad compared to this morning when Nicole walked into the kitchen and found Tessa with her arm halfway down the drain.
Or the blender. She just stuck her hand into the blender. She cut her fingers on the blade at the bottom than dropped the blender. There was glass everywhere. She got all upset, thinking she had made Nicole mad- which she kind of did- and tried picking up the glass with her bare hands. This caused her to cut her fingers even more.
Arinna just winced at the sight, attempting to assure Tessa it was fine afterward, "Uh… That's okay. We needed a new one anyway." No. No they didn't. Their blender was perfectly fine.
Or an hour ago when Nicole was about to start the oven to cook some cookies for Elizabeth, and when she opened the bottom, Tessa was in there! She was lucky Nicole hadn't turned it on yet!
"Wha- No! No no! Get out." Nicole ordered. K.R had come in and had a panic attack, quickly rushing Tessa out.
"That is a very dangerous place, Tessa." K.R told her, "You could get severe burns from within."
"I didn't get burned." Tessa says.
"It wasn't on." Nicole grumbled at her, double-checking the oven once more before finally turning it on and placing the cookies inside. Tessa was curious and moved to kneel in front of the oven, attempting to open it to peek inside, eyes widening when a wave of heat shot out.
"Look through the glass." Nicole slammed it back shut.
"What is this thing for?" Tessa asked with wide eyes.
"It is an oven. It cooks things." Nicole answered irritably.
"What are you cooking?"
"Cookies,"
"What are cookies?" she continued to ask questions.
"You don't know cookies?" Elizabeth gasped at her, "Cookies are amazing! And Yummy!"
"Yummy?" Tessa looked back at the oven, then joined Elizabeth at the table, "Can I have one?"
"Yeah yeah." Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose. "Give it a few minutes though."
Nodding, Tessa went back to look around the room. Picking up the saltshaker, she tipped it, jumping when white sparkles fell out. "Sugar?" she asks. She had already spilled an entire bag before, so it was no surprise she mixed the two up since they look so similar.
"Not sugar." Nicole sighs. She can hear Tessa gagging behind her and realizes she had poured a bunch of salt into her mouth, thinking it was sugar.
"Not sugar." she scratches at her throat, "Bitter."
"Salt." Elizabeth tells her, "It is good on stuff, not so much alone."
Nodding, Tessa put the shaker back and instead grabs the pepper. Nicole can barely contain her frustration when there was another assortment of gagging, "Spicy!" Tessa yelled.
"Pepper." Elizabeth finds this funny, "You don't just eat it." she starts giggling in a way that Nicole recognizes as Elizabeth about to mess with someone. "Here, try this. It is called a lemon."
Tessa takes it and starts to suck on it. A second later her lips contort and her eyes squint. She chucks the lemon in disgust, turning to cover her mouth.
Elizabeth couldn't laugh hard enough.
"W-What was that?" Tessa whines.
"A lemon. It was sour, right?" Elizabeth snickers. Tessa nods vigorously, grabbing the second one and handing it to K.R.
He stares at it, than at her. "...No thanks."
She moves it closer in an insisting motion, "It is sour."
"Yes, I saw. No thanks." he bats it away with his paw.
That was how most of the days seemed to go- showing Tessa things. Giving her a chance to taste, touch, and feel all these new things that she never had the chance to before. Nicole admits to being a little curious to exactly what kind of environment she grew up in, but wasn't going to ask her anytime soon. Not unless she was the one to bring it up.
Nicole had enough weird backstories to deal with anyway.
"I prefer sweet things." Tessa announces.
"Cookies are sweet." Elizabeth starts to bounce a bit when Nicole starts to pull them out of the oven.
"They are hot." she puts them on a plate and places them in front of the girls, "Let them cool down."
"Okay." they nod. The cookies were gone 5 minutes later, Tessa humming affectionately at the taste.
"They were.. Yummy." she tells Nicole. Nicole can't help but smile.
"Thanks." she watches Tessa go back to exploring the room. "Elizabeth, go take a bath." Nicole tells her.
"Aww." Elizabeth pouts.
"Go." Nicole motions to the bathroom. Grumbling and knowing how to start her own bath, Elizabeth trudged off, leaving Nicole alone with K.R and Tessa. A picture entranced Tessa and K.R was content with just watching her. At one point, the young mutant paused at a picture frame, picking it up curiously.
"Don't break that." Nicole warns her.
"Who is this?" she points to the man in the frame. He shared Nicole's face, his nose and color of his eyes being the only big difference between the two.
"My brother." Nicole answers.
"Elizabeth's Father." Tessa says. Nicole almost snorts.
"No." she corrects, "He isn't Elizabeth's Father, that was just a lie to get Agatha off my back and let Elizabeth live here."
"Than Elizabeth is not your child either?"
"No, we aren't related."
"Yet you treat her like your own."
"I…" Nicole closes her mouth, "Well-" she doesn't know how to argue, "She isn't-" Nicole feels torn, "I don't know." she admits.
"Tessa." K.R tells her, "It is possibly the same relation we share. We are not blood related; yet our bond is the same as any other sibling. They are not Mother and Child, yet they care for one another in similar ways."
Nicole couldn't say anything, scrubbing wildly at the dishes. Tessa seemed to accept that though.
Nicole had never thought of having children, and yeah Elizabeth grew on her but- Maybe she did care about her in that way? It was hard to say.
"He looks like you." Tessa catches her attention.
"What? Who?" Nicole asks.
"Your brother." she puts the picture frame back. Nicole nods slowly.
"...Yeah."
Michelle came into the apartment a second later, "Nicole, I require your newspaper if you are done reading it."
"Ohmygosh, why?" Nicole demands.
"For creative purposes."
Nicole grumbled something and motioned to the papers sitting on the table. "Fine." Michelle cheered and went to collect them.
Giving a small smile, Tessa placed the frame back, "What is his name?"
"What?" Nicole glanced at her.
"Your brother. What is his name?"
"Jeremy. I call him JerJer." Nicole smiled fondly. Tessa found that confusing.
"If his name is Jeremy, why do you call him by something else?"
"It is just a nickname." Nicole explains, "Like, you are Tessa, but I could call you Tes. It is just a shortened or fun version of your name. Like Michelle could be Elle or something. Or how Nicole is the short version of my name."
Michelle lifted her head, her face slowly morphing to confusion. "What?" she asked.
"What?" Nicole repeated the question.
"Your name isn't really Nicole?"
"Nope."
"Wha- well what is it then?" she had thought Nicole was her full name.
Nicole seems hesitant suddenly, "Nicoles." she mutters under her breath.
Michelle slowly pursed her lips, "Your name is… Nicoles? Is that not a boy's name?"
"It is." Nicole says with slight irritation.
"But you're a girl." Tessa points to her.
"My Dad, before I was born, was positive I would be a boy. Didn't even check with the doctor, just assumed. So he got everything prepared for the arrival of a little baby boy. Streamers, big cake with a boys name on it, and a banner that said Nicoles on it." she explained, "When I was born, it didn't take rocket science to figure out I was a girl- though it took my parents a good 30 minutes to, and instead of just changing the name on the banner or cake, or whatever- my dad just named me Nicoles because he didn't want to have to return any of the stuff and promised all his friends that the baby would be named as such."
Michelle slowly covered her mouth, hiding a cracking smile, "Are you serious?"
"Yes." she made a pose, "To be correct, my name is Nicoles Extra-ordinary Cater."
"Extra Ordinary?"
"He meant for it to be extraordinary, but he isn't the best at spelling and put some weird dash thing in between the two words and made it Extra-Ordinary."
"Oh my gosh…" Michelle can't stop laughing, "Please tell me you are joking!"
'I wish I was." Nicole sighed heavily. "I really do."
"I still don't understand." Tessa admits, "Why do you not just go by Nicoles if that is your real name?"
"Because it is a boy's name." Nicole scowled, "I mean, it isn't that odd is it- to go by another name? You brother's name is K.R. What does that stand for?"
K.R lifted his head, opened his mouth, and then shut it. Lowering his gaze, as if realizing he didn't have an answer, he says, "My name is just K.R."
Michelle found that curious, "Oh? I thought it was short for something."
"It isn't. Or at least- I don't think it is?" he glanced away, "I don't remember. It might have stood for something, but all I can ever remember are the initials K.R."
Nicole and Michelle glanced at each other, "Oh." they say.
"Well-" Michelle clears her throat. "K.R is a lovely name nonetheless."
He looked a little pleased with this, but walked away after. Nicole was worried they might have upset him, but it wasn't like she could help him through it. She didn't know his real name, and if he didn't either, she had no way of ever figuring it out.
00000-Two days later-0000
"Do you like music boxes?"
Tessa had been found hoarding Nicole's music box in the closet when Leatherhead opened the door and shifted the coat to reveal her face. Turning red at being caught, she lowered herself to the ground, "I-I'm sorry." she stammered.
Leatherhead glanced over his shoulder to look for the others. When he saw no one was noticing them, he smiled at her, "That is my favorite as well." he tells her. "When I first got here, I would come in here to listen to it."
Tessa dared to take a glance at him, "You did?"
Leatherhead motioned next to her, "Can I… join you?"
She didn't hesitate to move over, making as much room possible. With a bit of struggle, Leatherhead squeezed into the closet, coats hitting his face as he sat next to Tessa, tucking his knees up to his chest. His form seemed humungous compared to the petite mutant next to him. "This was my sanctuary when I first arrived." Leatherhead tells her, "Nicole didn't like me much at first."
Tessa fumbled with the outer lining of the music box, "She doesn't seem to like anyone at first."
He chuckled, "You have a point, but most people she tends to meet don't exactly make the best first impression. I know I didn't."
Tessa frowns and nods, recalling the night she snuck into Michelle's apartment, "Is that why you hid in here? She didn't like you?"
"She was terrified of me." when Tessa gave him a startled gaze, he smiles nervously, "She had this fear of Alligators from when she was little. She tried her best not to scream every time she saw me, which I will always give her an A for effort, but it was hard for her."
Tessa couldn't even see any fear in Nicole's eyes when she looked at him- did she hide it that well? "Does she still fear you?"
"No- at least, I do not think so. At some point we became friends and I stopped hiding in here." Leatherhead continues, "It is hard to believe others would just accept me as I am- so I hid in here to avoid them as much as possible. Is that why you come in here so often?"
"No." Tessa says, "...Maybe? I dunno." She shifted a bit, "I've never been surrounded by so many people before, and it was usually just K.R and me. The two of us against the world that was so heavily watched by others. That was all we were- a research experiment. We never held any value to anyone other than tools. It is different here."
"I value you." Leatherhead says.
The look on her face seems at though he physically hit her with his words, "You- don't mean that."
'I do." he insists.
She turns on him, "Why?!" in frustration she hit him in the shoulder- he didn't even flinch. When he sat in silence, her anger grew and she was ready to get up and storm away, but he spoke up in a voice so gentle, it made her freeze.
"You're like me."
Lowering her fist, and relaxing her shoulders, she asked, "Like you?"
"I wasn't created for the best reason. Horrible things created me. Creatures that could never be considered human. I was only a weapon to them. I got out, but even with that I thought I would never belong anywhere. My life would forever be a curse." He grinned at her, "But then Arinna found me. She took me in even though it was hard for her. Even now I think I'm just a burden to them- but I can't bare to leave everyone. I've grown to love them. And I never thought I would learn that feeling."
Taking a few hesitant breaths, Tessa started the music box. Neither spoke a word after that- they felt they didn't need to. They were comfortable simply sitting in silence, the music box being the only sound between the two.
An hour later they exited the closet, mutual small smiles shared between the two.
"I understand if you ever want to talk." Leatherhead assured her. She nodded.
"...Thanks."
Leather Head suddenly seemed nervous, "Do… That is to say- have you ever made a puzzle?"
"A puzzle?"
"We have a lot. Would you like to join me?"
"I'm not sure what a puzzle is." Tessa admits, "But- yes. I would love to."
Leatherhead bounced ever so slightly with joy, motioning for her to follow, "I have collected many puzzles." he grins, "From simple to complicated- my favorite one is the recent one I received from my good friend, Jake. The picture was taken in Africa on the setting sun."
"Ooh." Tessa perks up, "Sounds pretty.'
"It is- and puzzle building is very soothing, I assure you. But- you might find it boring."
"I won't." it sounds like a promise shared between the two.
-00000-Next morning-000000-
Jake was the one to find K.R attempting to pick up a phone with his paws early in the morning. Since they were worried Agatha might venture into Michelle and Nicole's apartment one of these days, Tessa, K.R., Picasso, and Leatherhead were staying with him for a while. He didn't mind at all of course but- Jake was starting to notice K.R. attempting to do Human things as of late. Such as picking up the phone.
When it had begun to ring, Jake had assumed someone else would get it since Nicole and Arinna were in his apartment, but as time went by, he realized no one was. So he got up to answer it himself, but ended up finding K.R seated on top of the table, his small cat paws attempting to pick it up himself.
"Um…" he says slowly, startling the poor guy enough to make him leap off the dresser. "What are you doing?"
K.R glances cautiously from him to the phone, "The phone is ringing." he said simply.
"And you were going to answer it?" He hoped it was obvious to what he was trying to point out as the phone cut off and went to voicemail.
K.R glanced at his own paws, his ears flattening, "Oh… I see you're point." he nods. "I suppose I'm still-" he trails off, "I sometimes forget I'm not human anymore."
Jake frowns, shuffling his feet. "It's…" he wanted to say it was okay, that everything would be alright, but how could he assure that? Perhaps a change in topic then? "Want to play a videogame? I'm sure we could figure out how to work the controller with your paws." he offers.
K.R found this interesting and his ear tilted upward, "I haven't played video game since I was 6." he admits.
Moving into the living area, the two were surprised to see Tessa seated on the couch, smiling down at her lap. Picasso was there, lying limply in her arms, the expression of complete boredom on his face.
Jake was astonished to see such a wide array of facial cues from a baby, and a turtle no less. He was a very unamused infant at times, but seemed content to just lay across Tessa.
"Tessa." K.R greets her. She perks up, glancing at them. "We are about to play a video game." he tells her. She tilts her head a bit, blinking.
"A what?"
"Video game." Jake explains. Her puzzled expression doesn't leave. Jake wants to gasp in horror, 'You've never played a video game?" this was a crime that could not continue!
Moving quickly he got the first game he could find set up and joined her on the couch, "You are going to love this." he assures her, "Video games are awesome." he hands her the controller. She holds it oddly, looking to K.R for help.
Through many grueling hours, Jake had taught Tessa how to play a video game. She was a natural at it, quick to follow Jake's lead in the high scores. K.R watched fondly, giving Tessa instructions or possible tips from time to time in how to win the game. Both often found themselves screaming at the screen when something startled them.
Jake laughed at them.
After a short time, the three paused when Arinna gasped behind, "Good gosh Leather head!" she yelled.
Turning to look over their shoulders, they could see Leather Head standing with his back to the wall, his spine straight and his eyes directed forward. Arinna was to his side, using a stepping stool to reach above his head with a pen. "You've grown 2 inches into 2 weeks! A new inch every week!"
"If you continue in this path, you will hit the ceiling." Michelle pointed out. "We might need to consider moving to somewhere with a larger roof."
"Where could we possibly move to?" Nicole snorted at the thought, 'Or a better question, how would we get Leatherhead even there?"
"We could use your van." Michelle offered.
"How would we get him in and out of the building?" Nicole pressed. Michelle paused to consider the options, unable to come up with many. It was a miracle that Arinna was able to originally get him here unseen.
"Are we really moving?" Elizabeth doesn't seem to like the idea.
"No." Nicole assures her, "Just speaking of what ifs. Besides, I doubt we could move anywhere and not be seen as suspicious. Other managers wouldn't be as forgiving as Agatha."
"Agatha is on the last straw with us anyway." Jake points out, "Not saying that I agree to you moving though, cause then I would have no friends that live here." he added quietly, "But it might want to be an option."
"I don't want to move." Arinna pouts, "I like this apartment. We just have to make sure everything is fine when Agatha comes along."
"You know, I can only convince Agatha that everything is fine for so long." Nicole said. "One day she will come into our apartments and figure out what is happening."
"I know." Michelle sighed.
After a short pause, with a small hesitation, K.R says, "I take it we are to blame for this."
"No." Michelle said quickly. "Well- kind of. Agatha has been suspicious of us for a while. It only got worse when you two arrived."
"I had to do the gardening work around the place for a while to make up for the disturbance." Nicole agreed
"Really?" Michelle inquired, "I had to mop all the floors in the building." The two chuckled, but didn't seem to notice K.R and Tessa's lowered gazes.
It had been almost two weeks since they first arrived here. They… liked it here. They felt comfortable and safe. That was unheard of to them- and a blessing.
No one here looked to them like freaks, and all of them were very kind. They never asked questions, accept for their likes and dislikes.
Arinna had even assured them that if they never spoke of their past, than that was alright. Everything was all right.
But it wasn't.
These people were kind to them but they caused nothing but trouble in return. Their very presence could completely shatter this safe house for everyone else. As much as they liked to stay here forever- they knew they couldn't.
It would be better to leave now and keep everything stable for a longer time over waiting for everything to crash down.
And that is why during that exact night, they rose from their bed and packed a few apples and two water bottles into Tessa's pockets.
The entire situation made them feel numb. Tessa felt sick knowing that she could close her eyes and make her way through this entire apartment by memory alone- that is how much she explored and took the time to examine each detail- each crevice.
Glancing towards the door leading to Jake's room, they sighed. This family was strange and unforgettable- in the best way possible.
"We should go." K.R tone was strained. They had lingered just a bit too long, their urge to stay getting the better of them.
"I know." Tessa sniffs. Lifting the bag over her shoulder, she crept to the window. She cursed herself for turning back and giving the apartment one last look- it made opening the window even harder.
Sighing, her heart heavy, she lifted her first leg up and out. She didn't get farther than that before a voice spoke up, "My friends, what are you doing?" She straightened, turning around in a panic to find Leather Head sitting up and rubbing at his sleepy eyes. "Did you require fresh air?"
"I-" Tessa was numb, unable to speak. K.R. seemed to be in a similar fashion. Blinking at them, confused to why they did not answer, Leather Head's gaze travelled to their bag. His eyes slowly widened.
"Are... Are you two leaving?" he whispers.
"We-" Tessa couldn't bare to look at him. "We shouldn't have stayed so long. It is dangerous for ourselves and everyone here."
"Why?" Leatherhead quickly got up, "We love having you here."
"It is too dangerous." K.R insists, "Those people…" he cuts himself off, his voice growing pained, "The people who did this to us will track us down eventually. They will try to hurt all of you."
"I shall not let them." Leatherhead speaks up.
"You won't be able to stop them.
"I will." he steps forward.
"You won't." Tessa sharply turns around, trying to stay as quiet as possible.
"I swear I will." Leatherhead reaches forward, hand grasping the window and closing it. It only got half way down before Tessa threw her palm out and caught it. The two struggled against the other's strength to either close the window or keep it open.
"You do not have to run away anymore. You can stay here." Leatherhead pleads with them. Tessa shuts her eyes, squeezing them closed as tightly as she can, as if she thought she could drown out the sound of his voice that way.
"No." her voice cracks, "We can't. We've already caused enough trouble for all of you."
"We can figure it out."
"How can you assure that?" K.R demands, "From our arrival the trust between the others and the landlord diminished. She will discover everything one day and we brought that day closer with our arrival."
"So you just leave? Family does not just leave!"
Tessa tried to silence him, "We aren't family-"
"Yes we are!"
He startled her enough to make her lose her train of thought. Fumbling for the words, she stuttered, "We- you… you hardly know us- we haven't- we've only been here three weeks."
"I know you enough to tell you are both kind souls that have gone through many hardships." Leatherhead's voice grows gentle. "These three weeks felt natural- as if you two were supposed to be here. Everyone has already grown accustomed to your stay- even Nicole. You are family. Now and forever.' Tessa's hand slip against the window and Leather Head was able to close it completely. When she started to sniff, K.R rubbing his face against her cheek to still her tears, Leather Head stepped forward and embraced the two.
"Better or worse- family faces the future together. So- it is okay. It is okay for you two to stay here. We will protect you. I promise. And in return, I know you will protect us too."
Tessa sobbed into Leather Head's chest, her arms reaching up to weakly grasp his back. K.R was quiet, his gaze nuzzled deep into the sleeve of Tessa's shirt.
The two stayed like that for a long time, exhaustion hitting hard, leaving them on the ground. Jake found them that way the next morning, piled on top of each other and sound asleep. He would never know of what happened the night before- no one but Tessa, K.R and Leather Head would. It would be their little secret.
For now, Tessa and K.R would stay. They were still uncertain of their choice to stay, but for now, they would stick with it and hope for a brighter and more stable future.
And we've reached the end! I really liked this chapter :) A lot of Leatherhead being a big softie :) ^_^
Anyway, once again, a time skip coming up here in a few chapters! :D