Akeem

[wispofathing]

Bo-Kate Wisby’s back, and she’s done cut off your father’s extra fingers.

Curnen had passed through the rest of Berklee’s phone call in a daze, but that one sentence had stuck fast, and it circled round and round in her head. Bo-Kate Wisby. Bo-Kate Fucking Wisby. The bitch shouldn’t even have been able to get back to Cloud County, let alone done something that caused so much damage. But then… the writing had been on the wall for a year. Ever since Rob had sung Rockhouse’s dying dirge. Ever since Curnen herself had torn Rockhouse’s throat out with her teeth. It had been only a matter of time.

And she couldn’t even say she hadn’t felt it coming. Every time she played or sang, she had had to fight harder and harder to keep from singing or playing “Edward” yet again. Even now, the song was pressing against her mind. It was the only thing she could hear, it was the only song that would come out. The night wind had been crescendoing from a whisper to a roar at her for the better part of a week.

It would happen tonight. She knew it. But she wasn’t fully ready to admit what it was. Only that she couldn’t go home tonight. Her roommates were humans, they wouldn’t understand.

Winter and Phouka? She couldn’t bring this kind of darkness to their home. Fin and Willy? Her throat closed just thinking about it. Fin, maybe, if they were still separated, but… she couldn’t show this to Willy. She couldn’t.

And so her feet and the rising howl of the night wind directed her to a certain bookshop around closing time.

Comments

[leloupnoir]

Akeem had been putting some order back in the shop when the doorbell chimed, and he looked over, breaking into a smile at the sight of the Fae. "Curnen, hello." He finished sliding a few books back into place, then turned back to her, his smile fading slightly as he focused on her. "Is everything all right?"

[wispofathing]

"How come that blood on your shirt sleeve..." Curnen had whisper-sang to herself when she heard the chime, adjusting to the key set by the sound.

She shook her head like a wet dog trying to shed water as if she could literally dislodge that song from her mind before she fully registered that Akeem had said anything. Her eyes were huge in her face. And then she shook her head again, more slowly. "No."

[leloupnoir]

Akeem had taken a few steps closer to her, and he curbed the urge to take her into his arms - for now. Another part of him wanted to tear into whoever might have upset her, but he was more accustomed to reining that in. "Let me close up," he told her quietly, briefly putting his hand on her shoulder before moving to the door, flipping the sign to closed and turning the lock.

"Would you like to tell me about it?" he asked as he came back to her.

[wispofathing]

Even with the door locked against the night, Curnen could still hear the wind, and she moaned softly and shut her eyes tight. "I... had some bad news from home. No. No, not bad. Fucking disaster, more like."

[leloupnoir]

What did one say to something like that? Akeem put his hand back on her shoulder, sympathy obvious on his face. "Is Bliss all right?" His mind went to her first, as the only member of Curnen's family he knew, of sorts.

[wispofathing]

"For now," Curnen said slowly with with a slight frown like she was testing out that idea even as she said it. "Someone... very dangerous managed to make her way back home. She shouldn't even've been able to do that."

[leloupnoir]

"Is there anything you can do to help?" Akeem asked, afraid that the answer might be no, given the ocean that separated them. But he knew so little of what the Fae were capable of.

[wispofathing]

Curnen shook her head, her eyes squeezing shut. "Even if I could be there, I couldn't stop Bo-Kate. She's already fucked things pretty good." Her hands wrung each other awkwardly, but the nervous gesture got particularly nervous about her extra digits.

Cut off with gardening clippers. Fuck everything. Not that she wished anything good on her father, but damn.

[leloupnoir]

Things sounded dire, in a rather vague sort of way, and Akeem was not sure what to do. But she had come to him, and there was one universal thing to fall back on. "Would you like to go upstairs and have some tea?"

[wispofathing]

"I would, yes please." It was a stepping stone to what she really wanted to ask but hadn't quite found the nerve for just yet.

She would have to, though. She... didn't want to know what would go down if she was alone when it happened.

[leloupnoir]

"Come on, then," he told her. It was a quick enough affair to close up downstairs, let them out, then lead the way to his flat. It was as homey, and slightly messy, as the first time she had seen it, and he gestured for her to make herself at home in the living room, whether she preferred to sit on a cushion on the floor or in an armchair. "I'll just put the kettle on."

[wispofathing]

"Thank you," she said, almost a sigh of relief.

Curnen wanted to settle somewhere. She tried, really, but when she tried to sit down she ended up getting up again and fluttering about the living area like an over-agitated puppy. Calm was not a word that described her very well even in moments where she was grounded--something often tended to be moving. Twitching. Fidgeting. Only now instead of part of her body, it was the whole thing.

[leloupnoir]

Akeem put the kettle on and came back to the lounge to find her fidgeting. "Would you like a hug?" he offered, holding his hand out to her.

[wispofathing]

Almost before he'd completely finished the question, Curnen was reacting to the gesture and she all but flew at him and latched on like a lost, scared child.

It had been her observation away from home that 'hug' to most people meant an awkward wrapping of arms, but there was rarely any real warmth or comfort in the gesture. Or maybe for other people that kind of real hug was only for family or something.

So she was probably holding on too tight, pressing too close, but she couldn't really bring herself to ease up. If she did, something in her was sure, she'd come shaking loose.

[leloupnoir]

Akeem was really quite English, so hugs were not something he doled out casually. When he offered one, he meant a proper embrace, and given the state Curnen was in, he had hardly expected anything else than what he got: an armful of six-fingered Fae in dire need of comfort. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her hair. "It's going to be all right," he told her quietly, despite still not having a clear idea at all of what was going on.

[wispofathing]

"She hates us," Curnen whispered, turning her face into the curve of Akeem's neck. "She hates us and after almost sixty years she just waltzes back in and breaks one of our leaders. Rockhouse has had it coming for ages, but... it wasn't supposed to be this way."

Really, it wasn't supposed to be any way. Even after what she'd done, no one had been able to actually envision a world where Rockhouse... she couldn't even finish the thought. It was that impossible. They'd just seemed to have gone on with him effectively neutered, except enjoying that he couldn't hurt them the way he'd always done.

[leloupnoir]

Akeem listened, thankful for the added details but still far from having the whole picture. But he didn't need to to be there for her. "But your... your people, they'll rally against her?"

[wispofathing]

"Mandalay's side, yes," Curnen sighed. "But Mandalay's a child. And Rockhouse's side... I have no clue what the fuck they're gonna do."

[leloupnoir]

Akeem did not know what that meant, but one thing was clear: nothing was certain. Maybe things would not be all right. And what did you say to that? "I'm sorry," he said quietly, meaning to offer sympathy, not an apology.

[wispofathing]

Curnen nodded. It was all she could ask for from anybody. All she could do, all any Tufa could do was listen to the wind, and among other things it was telling her that she did not have a role to play in Cloud County. Her role for now was done.

And the rest of what it was telling her...

Curnen drew a deep breath, and made herself ask, "Could I stay here tonight?"

[leloupnoir]

"Of course," Akeem nodded immediately, his arms still around her. "You can take the bed. It won't be my first time sleeping on the sofa."

[wispofathing]

Curnen's head popped up at that, looking at him with huge, startled eyes. "Oh God, I couldn't do that."

[leloupnoir]

"Of course you can," Akeem told her sensibly. "Honestly, I can even sleep comfortably on the floor." Albeit not in his human form. "It's no bother at all."

[wispofathing]

"Thank you." Curnen's eyes fell closed and she nodded. "I'm scared to be alone tonight," she whispered. "I got roommates, but... they're human, they don't know."

[leloupnoir]

"You won't be alone," Akeem promised her, a vow he made to himself as well. "Do you want that tea?" It meant pulling away, but the kettle had long since boiled.

[wispofathing]

Curnen nodded and nearly willed herself to let go. And yet after that very conscious gesture, she rather unconsciously put her arms about herself instead.

[leloupnoir]

"Come on," Akeem invited her to come along with a wave of his hand, rather than leave her alone in the lounge. "Remind me how you take it?"

[wispofathing]

Curnen came with him into the kitchen, glad to remain close. She probably couldn't have resisted staying near him if shetried. "Don't usually," she admitted. She was a coffee drinker, primarily. "Milk and sugar when I do, though."

[leloupnoir]

Akeem poured them both a mug, then held one out to her, and grabbed some milk and sugar to let her fix it herself.

[wispofathing]

Curnen said nothing for a long moment, doctoring her tea. "Thank you," she murmured.

[leloupnoir]

Akeem let her have her space, blowing gently on his spiced tea before taking a sip. He nodded slightly at her words, then voiced the sentiment with a quiet, "You're welcome." He paused, then offered, "Would you like to curl up somewhere?"

[wispofathing]

Curnen tasted her tea, sighed softly and let her eyes fall closed, then she nodded. She wanted that very much, anything that would keep her from... forgetting which way was up.

[leloupnoir]

"Like this, or the wolf?" Akeem asked, glad to forego his own tea if she would derive more comfort from his other form.

[wispofathing]

Curnen's eyes went wide. That was an offer she hadn't expected at all, and even if she had known she could have asked for it, she probably wouldn't have dared. She considered that a moment before she said, "Tea first. Then the wolf."

[leloupnoir]

Akeem saw from her reaction that he had surprised her, and realised that she likely had no idea how much control he usually had over himself, given the only time she had seen him as a wolf. "Come on, then," he accepted her answer with a nod, and took his mug with him into the lounge, holding an arm out for her to come with him.

[wispofathing]

She followed him, though for a moment she felt a little overwhelmed. "You're very kind," she said, so soft and mumbled and shy it was almost a mush.

[leloupnoir]

It was a good thing that Akeem's senses were a bit more than entirely normal, or he might not have picked that up. "I do hope you wouldn't have come here if you'd expected me to turn you away," he told her gently, drawing her close so they might walk over to a large armchair together.

He was not normally this tactile with anyone he knew so little, but Curnen was an exception, it seemed.

[wispofathing]

"No," Curnen agreed, letting him guide her. "But it was... a hope. I wasn't sure."

She had learned not to ask for much from anybody in terms of emotional support or comfort. Hell a piece of why she was here was because she was too scared to seek out Willy despite his professed affection for her.

[leloupnoir]

"I would hate to disappoint," Akeem assured her, settling on one side of the large armchair, so that she had options to choose from. Beside him, on the arm of the chair, in his lap, whatever she was comfortable with.

[wispofathing]

Curnen settled in beside Akeem and curled up against his side. She'd been given permission, she wasn't going to continue questioning if he really was going to give her what she wanted. Needed.

[leloupnoir]

Akeem wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close, having no problem with the silence that settled between them. He stroked his thumb on her shoulder now and then, and sipped his tea. Once it was done, he would shift for her.

It was a good thing he had not had plans tonight.