Hello! It is technically past midnight here in the UK so no longer Wednesday but I am here to upload this :D This chapter feels as though it was written really recently but it's actually about four months old now. This story just came to me randomly and I knew that I wanted to tackle it. For a while I had been interested in revisiting some subject matter that I used to hold dear so that's what I did for this one. In this chapter, we see the early interactions of James and Lynne, before they are romantic, and the beginning of a bond between James and Jordan. I hope you enjoy :3
Ages:
James: 33
Lynne: 30
Jordan: 32
Misty: 26
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
There was something pleasant about the domesticity of life sometimes. The early morning Kanto sun shining through the windows and basking the kitchen in a warming light, I couldn't stop myself from squinting in it and enjoying the company. I watched as James scurried around the room as, now that his younger children had dashed off to school in their uniforms and ready for another day, he darted to and fro, tidying up the mess in their wake.
In between managing to pick up multiple breakfast items and cutlery in the single hand of his hold, he was somehow able to run a hand through his locks at the same time. I understood his thoughts to himself. It was fascinating, wasn't it? How empty bowls of cereal and toast crumb specked plates couldn't make it the final distance and reach the dishwasher with the help of preteens.
They needed a more mature assistance, perhaps from that of a parent. Or even better - the assistance of a father.
Clanging noises filling my ears but not obstructing my gladness in the morning light or the company either, discarded bowls and cups and plates were stacked into the dishwasher. James rooted around the room for more mess to find. That wasn't all that hard!
He was in the middle of crouching down with a tea towel over his shoulder and a dishcloth in his hand, wiping up dribblings of clearly forgotten orange juice when we were no longer the only two in the kitchen. And no, it wasn't any of his children returning after only just banging out of the front door, already having misplaced their book bags! The noise was too soft to be either Jayden or Jaxon.
An orange haired woman swanned into the room, at first not knowing she was in any company from the way that I blended into the citrus backdrop of the morning light and that James was bending down. However, the subtlest exhalations of breath from her and the quick attention she got from us soon alerted her to our own presence too.
Lynne was encouraged to hold a delicate hand to her chest when James bounced up off the floor, for a rare occasion almost resembling a jack-in-the-box. A coy one at that. He smiled as if that gesture was new to him as he returned to his full height, holding the dish cloth between both of his hands and it seemingly being the last of his worries that he was spreading sticky orange juice over his freshly washed digits.
"Good morning, Lynne." He greeted the woman with the same shade of hair as the fruit juice that he had just cleaned up from the floor, only growing shyer in expression from the way that he saw her nose twitch in gentle fright at not being alone. "How did you sleep? Well, I hope."
James answered his own question in a way. Between that and turning on his heel, away from her in order to squeeze out the dish cloth under the tap, I got the feeling that she would not properly answer him, instead bobbing her head and heading to the fridge to fix her own morning bite to eat.
I was stood incorrect, however, when, although she did start to swan in a different direction to where the lavender haired male had momentarily left the scene and she nodded her head, she made a beeline for elsewhere. She came to loiter by me, an immediate and very welcomed hand reaching out to me in order to stroke my cheeks.
Only just managing to contain my squeals of delight, I nuzzled her back equally as fondly, half paying attention to the way that she still spoke to James even though she had offered him an unspoken reply as well.
"I slept just fine." Her words ran smoothly so she could not be accused of being curt with James. Turning over his shoulder in the midst of giving his hands another wash, James elevated his lips and smiled in return to the woman.
He would never quite get used to her presence, he often told himself. It wasn't unheard of various people coming to crash and stay in one of the many rooms of his vast household but it goes without saying that people like Misty's mother were one in a million.
Oddly, her company was nothing but delightful and seemed to make him feel completely at ease. So he wasn't quite sure why he would never quite get used to having her around. He settled on the fact that he would never put his finger on that either. So, he often moved on.
"Can I get you anything, Lynne?" he began offering her, turning around by dominance at his hips and after reaching for a different tea towel, he massaged it in between both of his ring-less except for one fingers, drying them. His eyes moved as though he was scrunching invisible glasses closer to his nose – or trying to get more of her into his line of vision. "I didn't want to disturb you by waking you for breakfast. But can I get you anything now?"
Following these words, with a still slightly damp hand but maybe for different reasons other than the wetness of washing them, he loosely pointed over to the fridge which I had initially expected her to head. She was told that she could help herself to anything, anything at all.
Lynne was apparently very good at reading unspoken messages, as well as listening to audible ones too. Even while giving me one of the best cheek massages of my life! She could clearly focus on many things.
My cheeks flushing redder than ever and feeling my pulse reaching them, I tried to focus on the way that she practically curtsied in response to James' words before offering him actual sentences in return.
"I might get some food out, actually." She started and it didn't take long for it to dawn on her that it might've seemed like James was unable to cook to a good standard or even able to provide suitable food. In her mind she was hurried but she gracefully corrected the situation, hands still cupping my face. "Kill two birds with one stone, you know. I really have quite a lot of grocery shopping to get done this morning."
Managing not to be too distracted by the glittering silhouette of Lynne and the way that she made my cheeks tingle, I looked over at James and saw that instead of being offended by her initial reply to him, he had a new countenance taking over him.
His own cheeks started to ache for a different reason as he noticed the way that Lynne was using a sentence that she didn't often speak – a sentence that he often came out with, in fact. But before she could notice this herself, James' head ducked.
Then, when he was able to shyly glance her way once again, his hands were at last as dry as they could be and two tea towels were residing on his shoulders. One on each.
"Oh, well you're more than welcome to add anything to the online shopping order." He offered, his gaze only just able to resist flicking as he looked at her and distracting himself to keep composed enough. His lavender locks started to feel the company of smooth fingers. "Anytime. No trouble at all."
In spite of the fact that I had noticed that Lynne was a touch less animated than usual during that morning in Kanto, she could not refrain from her nose scrunching in a different manner than before after James took the time to add more words to the conversation.
Creases forming on the side of her demurely sloped nose, she to herself and she smiled to James too, her touch abandoning me in order to absentmindedly hold a single hand over her own heart.
However, no sooner had this action taken place, her digits slid away from her. And I was forced to watch as she replied in a slightly wan manner.
"I'd really quite like to get out of the house this morning, James." Lynne answered, causing me to act far more outwardly than James who only continued roaming a hand through his own hair and seemed to find it easy enough to bob. The second curtsy displayed from the orange haired woman made me wonder if things were all that easy for her. "I should scoot off now."
She looked as though she wanted to apologise to him. He too had to have caught on to the way that her eyes were not able to look at either of us and instead flickered to the corridor leading to the bigger hall as well as the clock on the wall.
But then, her eyes focused on carrying her away from the kitchen, her pristine and pretty floral dress swirling around her ankles and painting quite the stunning picture at not even nine o'clock in the morning.
It seemed as though nothing could stop her and I thought of such. She was clearly up and dressed in the morning and ready to do exactly what she needed to do. She could not be stopped or swayed. Again, I was wrong.
"Sure." A reply came from James when he apparently had no choice other than to go along with the woman's wishes.
But the truth was, he held no grudges over the fact either. An accepting and quiet smile elevating both corners of his mouth, his head nodded and he prepared to go back to his own tasks at hand. He still needed the rest of the kitchen to be ship shape! He didn't have the time or desire to insist to Lynne in such a manner that drew the line between gentlemanly and possessive.
I jumped down from the window sill above a row of kitchen counter tops and was preparing to actually help this time around. I had inwardly been curious when I believed that I saw Lynne's eyelashes of her right eye flickering as James uttered that one word to her. But now I had a better view and she was motioning properly, I could not be mistaken.
Before Lynne could clutch or even reach for a purse that complimented her dress so very perfectly because it was made from the exact same material, she turned back to James once more. I caught the way that a softly lip gloss swiped lower lip fell into her mouth and she hesitated. But then, she could not do herself the injustice of keeping her wants silent.
"Could you do me a favour if it's not too much trouble, James?" she wondered aloud and once again, James had been bending over and this time it was to stretch over the kitchen island area to mop up mess from there. It was humorous when he seemed to faultlessly bounce back to his full height, apparently indicating his eagerness to offer any favour at all. Lynne's lips pressed together before speaking again, elevating a small fraction. "Could you keep an eye on Jordan for me today? I shan't be too long. He just didn't sleep all that well either."
It slowly started to dawn on James like only just realising you should have added a jacket to your outfit when the cold gradually starts to gnaw on your bones. The taller he allowed himself to stand as he basked in the company of Lynne, he realised it had gone over his head the way that not only was she not as animated as usual, but she had appeared to previously confirm it with words.
It had gone over James' head. That was a first. He needed to put things right. He wanted to put things right.
"Sure." He spoke this word again, because of his soft eagerness to comply with anything she asked of him, it seeming as though he had hardly been listening to her at all. Additionally, it seemed to Lynne like he wasn't taking it seriously enough. And she needed him to be serious.
Smoothing down the skirts of her dress though it had been stitched and sewn and ironed to perfection, she added more words that James could not go along with just for the sake of doing so.
"You won't have to do much at all, I shouldn't think. I expect he will sleep until I get back. Maybe even all day." Lynne continued apparently trying to paint the picture of what James needed to do for her without going into too much detail.
I watched his hands abandon his hair for good and start to stretch out before folding over his chest, loosely lingering against the cupboards behind him and his kitchen counter tops. He nodded his head. He clearly was listening. But Lynne needed him to understand. She didn't realise that he did completely underneath layers of composedness.
"Yes. Perfectly fine." He responded to her as he started to bounce his lower spine away from the counter tops before back against them again, making soft thumping noises and rattles too from all of the dishes and plates hidden away. "Not a problem."
Lynne's eyes were as round as planets at the best of times and possessed the hue of the oceans of our particular one. Still, I watched them fall far narrower than usual at the way that James wasn't asking any questions at all. Not about what he needed to do. And not even what was up with Jordan.
Truthfully, she started to wonder if he even cared. But she tried to reassure herself that she was doing an okay thing by taking some time to herself and enjoying a well-earned breather. Her floral purse was reached for and clutched with some clacking noises. Lynne attempted to nod her head many more times, acting like as well as being confident in her need for some space, she also had unfaltering faith in James.
That faith – that falsified faith – showed its true nature.
"If-" Lynne began again, her feet pointing in the direction of the door demonstrating the kitchen to where lead the front door even though her body had no intention of going anywhere it seemed.
James finally stopped banging his hips thoughtfully against parts of his kitchen. He did a rare thing by interjecting Lynne.
"Yes, of course I will phone you if Jordan needs you." He completed her sentence and no sooner had he recognised that his tone might have been misconstrued as impatient; he took some steps forward to join Lynne and offered her a smile that in its natural state was equally as reassuring as it was genuine. "You have nothing to worry about. You can trust me."
And in that moment, Lynne knew that she liked the way that James did not question her whether she felt as though she could trust him or not. He was telling her. And I knew that it was this that made her, after taking one more moment to make sure that she was absolutely sure, allow her lower lip to fall into her mouth one more time before she lost interest in clutching her purse.
"Thank you, James, I so appreciate it." she started and then James started to feel not only two porcelain hands gripping delicately yet pointedly on either of his shoulders, but he felt a lip gloss decorated kiss being left on the hollow of his cheekbone too. He tried not to allow his cheeks to match the shade of her lips. "You are such a sweetheart."
James had to try harder to keep the natural complexion of his face! Instead of perking up just the recipient, the kiss on the cheek seemed to give energy to the giver too, for she pulled away and swanned in the decoration of the front door with more of her usual moxie.
The lavender haired male didn't bother to muster up any words in response to her, knowing full well that he would stammer them so it would be futile. Instead, he smiled and he nodded his head. He started to wonder if it wasn't enough when her movements started to slow down again and she paused in the doorway of the kitchen, one of the hands that had graced the round of his shoulder then pressing up against the wood of the frame.
Swiftly but softly all the same, he spoke words to reassure her another time. He thought that was what she needed.
"Don't hurry back." James tried to tell her before in his own mind, these words swirled and whirled and he started to think that they came out wrong. He corrected them in another swift manner, one clumsier that time. "I mean… Unless you want to."
He fumbled. And while his toes invisibly danced in his socks and his cheeks threatened to flush to match the red roses in the dead centre of the kitchen table rather than just the glossiness of Lynne's lips, she apparently thought that his words were the complete opposite of how he ostracised himself.
Lynne did not speak words in response to James. It seemed as though she had forgotten her purse - that was why she headed back. But that apparently was not the only case when she fetched that second and did something else first.
First and foremost, she did not just place a hand on either one of James' shoulder and fully embraced him instead. In return, he did not wrap his arms around her back out of the anxiety that his hands had grown orange juice smeared yet again and he would somehow ruin her gorgeous dress.
His face scrunched up against her shoulder as he knew he was missing out. But she appeared to guess why he didn't hold her back. So she held him more, held him tighter. And in the end, he didn't miss out at all!
We all finally said farewell to each other for the rest of the morning after that. Lynne headed off for some well-earned time to herself and after giving James a bit of a look that he did not catch on to; I helped him gaining control of his kitchen again.
Yes, I really did enjoy the domesticity of life. It seemed laughable when you compared it to my younger days and being quick on my feet on the battle field and holding trophies high with my best friend in the entire world. I still enjoyed that sort of thing too. But I did cherish the easy-going pace of that life. And sometimes – no, often – it was equally as exhilarating!
James had a demeanour full of gratitude after we had fully organised and mopped up the kitchen and he showed this to me with grace to his shoulders and lightness at his feet. I tried to be equally as thankful for it instead of narrowing my eyes, suspicious at how Lynne made him so radiant!
It was quite a job for me to hold back but I managed to succeed. After we were done and after I was rewarded my own glass of orange juice, I was sitting in the centre of the kitchen island and slurping it like there was no tomorrow when, after pacing and debating it for a bit, James left a kitchen chair from having a rest seated on it.
He made his way down the long hallway of part of his home and I knew where he was going. Lynne had not given him instructions exactly and what she had said was that Jordan didn't sleep well and probably would be snoozing for the rest of the day. So why was James heading to knock on his door? Politeness, I supposed.
I just hoped he wasn't trying to suck up too much to Lynne. But because I was too busy sucking on the straw to my orange juice, I didn't really care!
I heard him stop outside the spare room of his household, managing not to grow distracted by the emptiness of the rooms that some of his children had left in their wake when they headed off on their Pokémon Journeys. I imagined James raising a hand to knock before allowing it to slump to his hair, running it through his silky locks to postpone the inevitable.
But eventually, he knew what he had to do and he actually knocked on the light wood of the door. I was done with my refreshment at that point and peeping around the doorway to see for myself.
"Good morning, Jordan." He called to him from the other side of the door, tapping very softly as if he was proving to himself that he was doing something to look out for him rather than properly wanting to wake him. He seemed not to stir at all from the way that a long silence rung out. "I'm just chilling around the house this morning. Come find me if you like." James continued and it was then that he started to hear a sleepy moan from inside the room. The step he took back was comical! "You're more than welcome to sleep, though. I'll see you when I see you."
And with that, James was done. Although more groans from Jordan escaped from inside, they were ones speaking of dreamland rather than ones echoing that he did not wish to be disturbed in the slightest. And while the lavender haired male's body moved backwards to take him off to where else he needed to be, for just a moment or two longer, his middle finger lingered on the wood of the door and stroked down.
I didn't know why. Maybe even he didn't know why. It was an unspoken thing between man and piece of that man's house. It was a wordless thing between sleeping man and man on the other side of the door. Something was being communicated. I wasn't sure what.
James went on to communicate with me. After he had finally left Jordan to it and came down the hall again, noticing me loitering there, he told me of his plans of the day. They seemed okay to me and I decided that I would stick around with him until he headed off in the afternoon himself. I went with him. After all, sometimes Ash and Misty needed alone time too!
I followed him into the bedroom of him and his wife which, when I think about how much that couple and their Meowth tortured me when my best friend was but a child, it was certainly an absurd notion to swallow. But in those moments of my life, it was just my life.
And I sat on the foot of Jessie and James' bed while he seated himself on the chair in front of the vanity that was strictly speaking meant to be his wife's. But the way he reached into some drawers there and pulled out items that belonged to him, it seemed as though he might have used it equally as much as her.
"I might be doing what I am doing later but I am looking a bit worse for wear, even for a pirate." James murmured to himself or perhaps to me from the way that he looked into my eyes from the reflection in the mirror. I merely jutted my head, not saying anything in agreement or otherwise. And I watched him hold back a fragment of a yawn before running two sets of hands through his hair.
That time as he ran all of his fingers through his hair, he started to tuck and tidy his hair away into a messy bun. And when they were no longer occupied with that, they delved and rummaged into the box of the lowest draw of the dressing table, pots and squeezable tubes presenting themselves.
For another time after he erected his spine back against the back of the chair once again, James caught my eye. However, I knew that it wasn't out of embarrassment of what he was holding.
"Word of advice for you, Pikachu…" he started and a decade old instinct caused one of my eyebrows to ping upwards, as if to say that I didn't wish for his advice at all! Fortunately, I was able to mellow it. "Don't go chasing after ten year old kids for years and years. I think these marks under my eyes come from all of your shocks."
In spite of it all, my chest grew inflated and stuck out, me oddly feeling rather smug for what was being said! But when after I ballooned back down once again and James smirked to himself, silent as he focused on applying eye cream and moisturizer to his face, I knew that he was speaking utter nonsense.
That particular man who once had an R shape slapped on his chest had had a baby face when I first knew him and that had only continued more than a decade following that time in all of our lives. Most people didn't believe that he had children of the ages that he had, and most people didn't even think he was old enough for marriage!
I found myself with an invisible fish hook pulling up the corner of my lip when I looked into the mirror back at James when he was not looking at me. I sure hoped that he did not mistake it for fondness!
Luckily, he was far too occupied with other things. And he spoke of this after he was done pampering himself and he was letting the various serums sink into his skin.
"I'll have to ask Misty if she needs Katie picking up from school later seeing as I will be dressed in a way she seems to quite like." James started speaking again and I followed the gestures of both of his hands to the reflection in the mirror that showed a silhouette of a roguish costume hanging on the back of him and his wife's bedroom door. "It might make her feel better about the drop offs that she has been having."
He caught my eye again and he wanly smiled and this time, I did not share it in return. And it was not because I had used up all of my fondness with looking in his direction. I wanted to be filled with light and I wanted to smile. But instead my mind flickered with seriousness.
At least Katie had a devoted uncle like Uncle James who was all set to make things better for her, I told myself. But in truth, one of the reasons why I had ended up staying there that night and that part of the day too in the Morgan Household was because I could not stand another morning seeing Ash and Misty's orange haired little girl so forlorn about going to school.
It took all of my wholehearted strength everyday not to wander there and not only check she was doing okay but take her away from class and promise she would never have to go back! I knew that would be no good for anybody. But one thing that battling on a field could never teach me was the intense love for the children that Ash and Misty would go on to have. Nothing could have prepared me for the white hot desire of protection and determination to do right by them always.
I was learning to be cool about it. But I still often clenched my jaw at how darn cute they were!
I supposed that James must have felt the same way about his own kids. No, he definitely felt that way about his own kids. And now that two more of them had flown the nest, this time to head on the same Pokémon Journey together, it was no wonder that he liked to occupy more and more of his time by visiting hospitals and the sick child residents of them dressed up as a roguish pirate.
Anything to console their fears and the worst times of their lives. And anything to stop him from realising how quickly time was passing.
I realised how fleeting it was, when I zoned back to reality, and James had already started applying the thick and dark black eye makeup over his lids and was nonchalantly humming to himself. I didn't have hardly a moment or two to focus and enjoy watching him, however, because another thing I realised was that, unbeknownst to us and the other things that we had been occupied with, the round of running water had sounded from another corner of the house.
And now that person was done with drenching their body from the water in the shower and washing themselves too, they were standing right outside the door of Jessie and James' bedroom. They did not bother to knock either. Though they had been shown it the polite thing to do by display of example, they did not reciprocate.
The door of the bedroom suddenly swung open and the broad shape of Jordan in the doorway appeared. James only just managed to catch his eyeshadow brush as it tumbled down towards the floor in surprise.
"Hi." Jordan greeted. Pads of fingers and somehow even knuckles and palms too, James' black kohl covered hands could only just muster up a wave in response. The sudden presence had been an unintentionally stifling one. "Can I sit?"
For the first time since being in that bedroom, my eyes swung around and I looked with my own vision rather than it bouncing through the reflection of a mirror first, and seeing everything in a partially distorted way. My eyes travelled and followed Jordan, taking in his movements as he made strides towards the bed.
Even in his sleepy looking state, there was something looming and undeniable about his presence. Yet despite the words that he had uttered himself, he still did not sit for quite some time.
In fact, James had started wiping clean his black glittered hands with a make-up wipe from a crinkly packet and he had started speaking to him in response to and Jordan still hadn't taken a seat on the bed and certainly not one next to me either.
"Sure." That word from the lavender haired male appeared yet again and seemed to be his catchphrase for the day. Undoubtedly, in between massaging and wiping his hands back to their usual pristine state, he caught onto the way that Jordan hovered by the bed, standing, but not moving a muscle apart from that. "Go ahead. You can sit."
James encouraged because even through the distorted reflection of the mirror he could read Jordan's motions as clear as crystal. His strong hands had begun to join together with fingers entwining over his chest and he had been looking down, peering gingerly, as though he did not feel comfortable to be sitting there at all even though he had spoken of such himself. And though I was sat there too.
For one, single, dreadful moment I started to wonder whether that was the reason that Jordan hadn't wanted to sit!
But I just had to breathe through this nervous notion of mine and I was glad I did because, after James tossed the soiled make-up wipe into the bin and started to reassume applying unmistakable thickness to his lids, Jordan got the courage to indeed take a seat.
Granted, it was very gingerly at first and not only his hands had clasped together but his arms started to wrap around each other too, pointing down towards his lap as he sat. But it seemed as though he just needed proper permission because once he had received it, he sat there. And he started to relax enough to allow his eyes to wander around the room.
He had never seen a bedroom quite like it. He thought that posters of musicians and the occasional vinyl hanging around the room were for a teenager's dormitory, not for the marital bedroom of a couple! Granted, it did look sleek, his eyes told himself of such as sea green orbs wandered upwards, towards every inch of wall and scanning around.
The wall decorations had frames, making them look more part of a studio rather than university housing. And they were few and far between rather than hugging onto every possible space of painted wall. It was intriguing watching Jordan look around the room as if it was the first time looking at everything. I felt my eyes being the opposition of his and starting to draw closer together as I too focused.
Unbeknownst to either of us, there was somebody else who was focusing. It was James all right yet he was not just focused on applying his pirate make up. Sure, he was still doing that to some degree. But eyes that were having their lids slicked with black paint wandered and followed Jordan equally as much as he was doing to the rest of the room.
He kept to himself but he started to see how sleepless the yellow haired male appeared against the light soaking through the windows that was more white rather than the citrus hues of first thing. He had never before noticed how swollen his eyes could appear and his lips too, fuller than normal and decorated with tufts of growing facial hair above and below.
James tried not to stare. But Lynne had asked him to keep an eye out, hadn't she? So wasn't he doing that?
"What are you doing?" Jordan seemed to suddenly ask, snatching James away from thought and prompting him to look away and appear as though he was focusing on doing his make up, so much so that he accidentally poked himself with the make-up brush! Jordan reacted as though he hadn't seen it. But I knew that he must have done. "What's with the make up?"
The sheer relief that could have washed over James' features if he had not been too busy hurriedly blinking, trying to stop liquid from escaping as an involuntary reaction to something getting into his eye! Or rather, something jabbing at his eye.
Instead of reassurance making its way into his own body, all James could do was wince and squint and try not to ruin his eye make-up. All the same, he of course took the time of day to answer Jordan, then any relief becoming part of him being due to the other male fortunately not catching him staring.
"I'm going to the hospital later to dress up as a pirate for the kiddies there." James explained, for a second time in a short space of time using his hands to gesture to the costume hanging on the back of the door. Jordan broke his own gaze with him to take in the sights of the garments for himself but for some reason this caused James to add, fumbling as if he was under a spotlight. "It's… It's just something I do."
The sound of his words more than anything captured the often unfocused attention of Jordan there and then. A word was written all over his face before he actually uttered it.
"Why?" he wondered, snub nose telling of a sleepless night bunching up together and his arms and hands finally unhooking from their prior position and folding over his own chest in a hugging motion instead.
James had been asked that question many times before but he really focused on thinking about it when conversing with Jordan. Probably because he could see right through bullshit.
"Uhhh…" he considered, one hand of his pulling his lower eyelid down slightly and running a cotton swab underneath it to swipe away any residue from his upper lid that he had accidentally smeared down. Not that it would've mattered. That would soon be swiped in its own line of kohl. "Just something I fell into when Misty was in the hospital having her twins." He answered. But he realised that didn't really answer it. "I like making a fool of myself. And that is the environment where it can't go wrong. And you can give people some potential laughs and happiness."
Jordan was prompt to summon his own response. The word 'oh' did not hesitate to tumble out from between his lips. Nevertheless, he inadvertently started to mirror James and he too took some time before adding more words, for rare, new occasion thinking about what he wanted to say before actually saying it.
"It would have been fun if someone did that when Lynne was in hospital." He spoke truthfully but not uncomfortably. James still did not have much to reply other than a glance into the mirror in which he tried to share a moment of content with Jordan but ended up having it with me instead. Regardless, neither of us had much time to ruminate because the yellow haired male had more questions. "You do your own make-up a lot?" he potentially sensed some hesitance from James. That did not stop him slipping in another wondering. "How did you learn?"
Although James would not be applying any lipstick on that day, his lips were pursing in the mirror was if he was going to! Eyes covered in black flickering from left to right, his lips bunched together as he figured what he was going to say to Jordan.
Now, he knew Misty's father to be a reasonable fellow. At least, most of the time. And he knew that if he was unreasonable then it was usually towards Ash and seeing as he was not Ash, he should be relatively safe.
But still, James had gotten into the habit of not speaking about that kind of thing, especially not with other men. I knew him not to be ashamed, per se. Rather just wary. Private. Definitely not dishing out that kind of information willy-nilly to just anybody.
Apparently, Jordan was starting to be somebody, rather than just anybody.
"Uhhh…" That noise made an appearance again. James tried to make out like it was him starting to do work on the lower lash line rather than gathering the words that would not make Jordan turn on his heel and utter short, sharp words to him. "It tends to be just costume make up. At least these days." He answered truthfully but still not wholly. He did not add more until his left eye was utterly complete. "Just learnt from watching Jessie. Somehow I picked it up when I would focus on her while playing guitar and trying to train myself not to look down at the frets and strings."
From being close to him on the bed, I undoubtedly saw the way that the yellow haired male had started to look around again at the decorations of the room rather than over at the person that he was conversing with. This led me to believe that he had switched off entirely.
If James caught onto this too then surely he would've been filled with lightness to the lungs, knowing that Jordan hadn't listened to a word that he said anyways. But he was far too focused on creating the perfect look of his second eye. And Jordan had been listened to everything.
This was shown to me more than it was to the lavender haired male when his neck snapped back away from peering elsewhere and he retorted honestly.
"That's weird." He replied and this no doubt made James look into the mirror to gauge more of Jordan and me while painting along his lower right eyelid. His eyes widened and not to give himself a bigger canvas to work with. Jordan started to relax on the bed, two hands going back behind him to support himself. "I don't think I could ever teach myself something like that."
After the initial silent albeit noticeable countenance of James, it started to dawn on him that Jordan found his method of learning the ways of make-up to be weird rather than the act of him being able to do it himself. Because of this realisation, as he looked at the yellow haired male in the reflection of his mirror, he started to see him at a slant.
And once Jordan had grown distracted all over again by altering position on the bed, leaning further forward and trying to see the tiny posters that hung above the vanity mirror with a restless leg banging against the bottom wood of the frame, James was offered the inclination to think of words of his own.
He took a leaf out of the other male's book and came out with them.
"I'm sure you could learn." James tried, at that point in their lives knowing Jordan to be a crafty man and the little wooden objects that littered his daughter's home to be concocted with love by the hands of that same father of hers.
Decorated with sleep and a natural hollowness that came with unrest of the soul, Jordan's expression also flashed with bluntness towards James. He looked as though he doubted this notion!
Nevertheless, this did not nudge him into silence. In fact, it prompted into more words still.
"Do you think you could do mine for me now?" Jordan wondered and James' initial reaction as he turned around in his seat to actually see the other male with his naked eyes was to think he was joking and laugh but thankfully, he swallowed any fragment of this. He instead heard that typical, single word of agreement from James. Jordan couldn't refrain from making an addition. "But do you think you could do it-"
Because James assumed that he knew Misty's father was going to say, he completed his sentence for him.
"Do it manlier?" he finished and I watched as he was then already turning back away from Jordan but not out of hurt, instead peering down into the box of makeup that he was silently wondering how he was going to locate any 'manlier' products other than thick, black eye decorations that he was already doing to himself.
James was only just ridding himself of his makeup brushes and preparing to bend further down to rummage in the box when a shake of the head from Jordan told me that he was stood correct and actual words made it unmissable for the lavender haired male.
"Do it properly." Jordan corrected. I was the only one of us other two to notice the way that because James had just reached for a product, it slipped from his hold and made its way back into the bottom of the box at the correction that came.
He couldn't stop himself again from turning around and looking at Jordan directly. And it was after the two of us shared a look between ourselves that he mumbled that word of compliance again and set to actually complying.
Armed with a handful of products that he hoped that he would like because they were similar to what his life partner, Lynne, would wear, after a good few moments of choosing and also finishing off most of his own make-up look too, James broke the distance with Jordan for the first time on that morning.
It was funny how Lynne had asked James to keep an eye on Jordan but that was only the first real time he was approaching him. Yet this was the case. I for one had to admit that he properly kept a better watch from him at a distance, because he was all the better equipped to see how he was doing.
But in truth, I also knew that he could read the signs because he was not unobvious to them within himself too. He knew when eyes grew too pink and tired and cheekbones looked as though they had had the life sucked out of them. And while Jordan did not look too bad, one could never fully know. So in which case, James would be there. It was his honour.
"Tell me if anything hurts or burns or you just in general want me to quit it." James made sure to tell Jordan first and he dumped all of the products down on the bed and not seeming to care that a dribble of foundation trickled onto white bed sheets. He proceeded to go down onto his knees and in front of Jordan. He was occupying his hands with opening a tinted moisturiser while he didn't know whether to look up at the man or not. "You had this kinda thing done to you before?"
Jordan had been quite able to keep his focus on James and with an invisible fish hook yanking up just the one of his eyebrows and displaying an expression that was judging the words that he had chosen. Then, he understood he had been asked a question so could not keep that look for much longer.
He wanted to resume his position with his hands behind his spine and leaning back because that was comfy for him but he somehow needed to sit up straight to assert some dominance with what was going on between those two males.
"Daughters would do it for me." He answered, managing to distract one of his hands from a part of him still wanting to support him from behind by waving it dismissively. James within his own being wondered how 'daughters' and 'dismissive' could go in the same sentence together but he knew how it was for Jordan. Besides, he was busy beginning to smear make-up onto his fingers. "Not Misty, though." Jordan found the smallest of smirks taking over his face which he secretly hoped to share with the other male. When he was left hanging, he shook his head and it was lucky James was not applying products to him at that point. "My father would turn over in his grave if he knew I asked you to do this to me."
And with a sigh, along with his admission, Jordan relinquished the urge to keep his shoulders high and straight and he leaned backwards, supporting himself with strong arms instead. Additionally, his eyes fluttered shut. And it was in this moment that James' fingers started to make contact with his face.
An initial reaction from Jordan was to, out of surprise even though he had been warned, opened a single eye and look at James in his kohl decorated ones. However, he soon felt it better to keep his eyes closed during and he let the lavender haired male crack on with him.
Though Jordan did not see it from his closed eyelids, I of course saw the way that James' lips pressed together soon after he heard words from the other male and I knew it not to just be concentration as his fingers started rubbing in circular motions, applying tinted moisturiser to the bigger male's face.
Not that they hardly spoke of it during those moments of their lives which is funny to say looking back, Jordan and James really were birds of a feather. United in their quirks and their struggles, they would go on to have perhaps one of the strongest bonds I knew.
Even so, even then, inclinations of it were clear. James took his time in tracing along the face of Jordan and rubbing the product into his skin, secretly feeling just as out of depth with it all as Jordan who was sitting there with his eyes closed.
I wondered if that was why the lavender haired male soon chose to come out with his own words. Or maybe it was an entirely unplanned thing at all.
"Charlie would turn in his grave if he knew I did any of this to myself or if I was doing it to you…" James spoke in a voice lower than usual, concentrating as he rubbed his fingers along Jordan's face and finding his fingers stopping briefly under his jawline. Though the bigger of the two's eyes felt as if they should open, his eyebrow instead twitched as he listened. "I mean, he would if he-" he started to correct himself, rubbing the product into Jordan's chin before stopping there, forefinger and thumb hooking his face. "Ah well. Let's face it. The bonkers man is dead enough inside to turn in his grave over me well enough even while alive."
And my eyes growing as round as the records on the wall, I couldn't help but feel as though this was entirely the wrong thing to be saying to Jordan! On any day, in fact, but especially not on that day. While it was true we did not exactly know why he was being kept up, it was safe to assume that some sort of demons from the past were bothering him if it made Lynne weary as well.
However, taking me off guard and taking James off guard too and making him realise where his hands were lingering, Jordan's eyes started to open again. And when the two of their gazes were encouraged to link up after James initially ducked his head at everything that was occurring, the two of them couldn't stop themselves from omitting chuckles that were actually instigated by Jordan!
A shake of the head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing but was also delighted at the wit, Jordan's head ducked as much as it shook. And now that he had a prominent layer of tinted moisturiser on his face and James was about to move onto setting it with powder too, it made features of his that were often too overlooked by his other ones come alive thanks to James' handiwork.
When you met Misty's father, you were automatically in awe of the sheer size of him. Standing at a generous height, he appeared to be bigger than even that because of his presence and the sheer bulk of him. When he wore a vest top, you could effortlessly see sculpted arms popping for miles and the way that his chest strained proudly forward. In his swimming trunks when he engaged in jovial water activities with his daughter, you could see the muscles of his legs which he once used to chase round a toddler Misty every second of the day.
But now that James was almost softening his exterior to match his already soft interior, other attributes of him were rather noticeable. He had sunken eyes that seemed bedded into his skull that also puckered out in places also, wordlessly telling stories of everywhere he had been and the family history coursing through his DNA. From certain angles and in certain lights, he could give James a run for his money with bone structure in his face!
And once he had been powdered by James and he was still laughing at the mischief between them, his dimples couldn't help but be noticed. He was equally as much of a presence, the lavender haired male started to realise. In time, he would wonder whether he would ever get used to him being around either. And yes, in the same wonderful way as it was for Lynne.
Moment after moment and as each product became applied and the boys spoke in between, quite a civil and top layer relationship between the two of them started to dive deeper and deeper. But the truth was they hardly spoke about anything all that serious at all. And they certainly did not speak about the things that had previously been on Jordan's mind and keeping him up at night.
There and then, he was in the present moment and the present moment alone. Such a peculiar thing for that man, Jordan would realise at a much later date. Such a new phenomenon for him to feel that peace that Lynne made him feel but with someone else.
"I'd like to come with you to the hospital some time if that's cool with you." Jordan suddenly put forth, and though his eyes had to be open since James had run a smooth line of navy blue under his lids that he thought would best bring out his sea green orbs, he could not meet the gaze of the person who had one hand on his knee while he checked the evenness of his own work. "Think it would be nice to see those places as happier kind of ones rather than…"
He did not finish his sentence. Not that he needed to. It might have been a time for James to mirror Jordan, equally unable to make his eyes remain still as he was closer to a male than he had been in years after consistently filling his life with female friend after female friend. Yet in that moment, the lavender haired male didn't need him to finish his sentence and he didn't need to copy him either to feel the closeness.
For a moment, his lips bubbled together and a jolt from his irises told me that he felt nothing but empathy. And then, his words showed that. Though, of course, that same word couldn't help but be tumbled from him again.
"Sure. Would love to have you there. Anytime." He told him sincerely yet I was the one who noticed that he had started to speak in short sentences again, just like he had done with Lynne. That was his realness shining through. His own vulnerability. That matched Jordan's. And would go on to be equally treasured as James did with the yellow haired males'. "I would invite you there this afternoon but-"
But James did not need to finish his sentence! It seemed as though humour following a moment of rawness was going to be their thing, I was starting to observe. In spite of it all, Jordan's lips couldn't help but start to part like the sea in some very special stories and his teeth shone almost as much as the lip-gloss that James would go on to apply for it.
Another thing I would have to get used to was them finishing each other's sentences. This moment on that morning was one of the first times.
"But maybe not today." Jordan completed his sentence for him and that time, James was without hesitation able to look at him back in the eye. And not only this, more sentences of reassurance started to come out with him.
Again, they were short and sharp! But they were true. When James said the word 'anytime' and in that single word, told Jordan that he was welcome any time, for a rare occasion, Jordan believed it right away. There was no voice in his head to say that he didn't mean it. And there was no echo telling him that the kids would find him insufferable in comparison to James.
Instead, Jordan looked forward to that day. He would have to get used to looking forward to more things with James around.
But for the time being, they just cracked on with their make-up morning! But eventually, that would be put to an end. You see, as afternoon was slowly beginning to approach and the light in the room changed all over again to the hotness of a fresh midday, someone let themselves in through the front door of the Morgan Household and started to call.
They knew who lived there but they didn't want any of those people. They knew who they wanted. So they called for them.
"Dad? Dad, are you about? Can you come here please?" the voice asked and the voice was Misty. Standing up immediately from practically in between the parted knees of Jordan, James stood up off the ground and shared a look with me without a moment of hesitation.
She didn't sound quite okay. And if she was asking for her dad then it had to be something. Jordan did not stand up in quite the same way as James but he was there straight away too.
"We're in Jessie and James' bedroom!" Jordan called; it becoming clear to James where Misty got her loudness from, from the way that his kohl decorated lids couldn't help but crease together! I for one had just enough time to stuff the tips of my own ears into the holes. "Come in. Just open the door."
Following her father's instructions, Misty must've nodded to herself and brought herself the right way. But something stopped her when she landed outside and the sudden realisation that Jordan had uttered the word 'we" dawned on her.
In spite of it all, she hesitated and unbeknownst to the rest of us, she sniffed while possessing cheeks that could've given her flaming red hair a run for its money.
"Uhhh, I think I'll wait for one of you to open the door." She sniffed again and although there was a lump making its way from the pit of my stomach and to my throat wondering what had happened, for a brief moment, I felt light with the amusement imagining the expression on her face.
And then, I was light increasingly longer when, while Jordan was none the wiser and starting to stand up, wondering why his daughter was being so hesitant, James revolved his eyes in his black slicked sockets and one arm folded over his chest. The other remained loose, gesturing, and I could see that the roguish pirate he would need to be that afternoon was beginning to take over him in preparation.
"Jeez, what does she think is going on in here?" James wondered, giving me a look and probably hoping I would share one back but I was too busy squinting my eyes together, enjoying a private laugh in case things were so wrong for Misty that I would be unable to laugh for the rest of the day.
It seemed like she had stopped laughing there and then anyway! A groan erupted from the other side of the door. This one was different from her father's sleepy one in which James had heard earlier on in the day.
Apparently the yellow haired male knew exactly what this meant! Trying to appease James' look of annoyance as well as getting ready to console his daughter on the other side of the door, he finally started to take strides over to his end of the door.
"I'm coming to see you then you can come in here." Jordan spoke to his daughter in a reasonable and level manner that was probably the way that he conversed with her when she was a toddler and just up to his kneecap. If he had his way, I knew he would scoop her up there and then on that day too!
And in truth, he was bordering on doing that with James standing behind him, both arms then folded but a level of pirate swagger about his stance. And he had no reservations about holding his arms wide open to her as soon as the door had been opened to her and he saw her forlorn silhouette standing there, clearly in need of a daddy hug.
Misty sniffled to herself, speaking of such. And after one look at her father, she rushed into his arms and allowed herself to be crushed by him in the adoring manner that he had done for her since the moment she was born.
She confessed all when she felt like all bones were going to pop out of her sockets but in the most comforting and grounding way.
"I got in such a silly fight with Ash…" she admitted, a look of bewilderment and despair taking over her features before her eyes closed and she snuggled further up against the comfort of her dad. In the meantime, James stood closer to the two of them, forgetting his natural act and starting to look as genuinely concerned as me. But then, the tables turned again. The tables turned as Misty found herself opening her eyes again in the middle of it all, mustering up the most accusatory look to her best friend. "What the hell have you done to my dad, James?"
And with that it became clear that it had not gone unnoticed to her the kind of antics that they had gotten themselves into! Granted, it wasn't the kind of antics between a mystery pair that she had feared when she knew of a closed door. But still, it was the kind that couldn't be ignored. And the inclination to laugh was of the same quality.
Though James and I were empathising with Misty and Jordan was too for that matter, the man who once had an R printed on his chest shared a look with me and our serious expressions faded away to giggles. All James could do was take a step back and stand back and shrug!
Funniest of all, Jordan hardly said anything, embracing his daughter closer. Apparently he didn't care how he looked. He only cared how he was. Protective. Supportive. Nurturing. Stable. Everything that he had always been and everything that he had failed to be when she was a toddler. He was trying to be all of those things in those moments. And that is what counts.
And as for James and I, well, all we could be was amused! But once that settled down, we were filled with gratitude. Gratitude to see Jordan give things another go. Gratitude to witness Jordan being everything we knew he could be. With a little bit of added glitter, of course!
Now, isn't that the best kind of Jordan? I certainly think so.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) Even though getting dressed up and wearing make up is obviously such a big thing for James in the anime, it's not the sort of thing that often makes it's way into my stories. It was an important part of this one though. And I so loved portraying the dynamic between him and Jordan - a little unsure and new but real hints of what was to come for them. And of course, James with Lynne too! I must get back to depicting their journey together. It's something that is always a pleasure to tackle :) Thanks again and I will be back on Wednesday with another chapter so see you then!
Amy signing out :3