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Glass Houses [Closed] - Printable Version

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RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 10-27-2016

She chose to drop the subject regarding his so-called friendship with Indigo. She would have plenty of time in her upcoming stay with him to bring it up again, and she would. Many times over until he realized his stupidity and got his act together.

The cheeseburger she had ordered looked promising, but she was sort of hoping it was a disappointment so she had further reasons to not like Indigo. Anita cut the burger in two, transferring one half to a leftover appetizer plate. “I dunno,” She pushed the plate towards Cain, as she always did when they ate out together. An insistence that he share whatever he had ordered with her. His sandwich didn’t look particularly thrilling to say the least, but it was habit by this point. “A week, maybe two. You know me. Full of surprises, et cetera.”

It became very clear, very quickly that Anita and Indigo had different ideas about the state of Cain’s ears. For one, Anita hadn’t noticed them fall. She didn’t spend much time watching them because she was used to them. Not even just with Cain, having spent time on the isles taught her the etiquette when it came to another person’s ears and tail.

Not that one should need special training to know not to touch another person without invitation, but that didn’t stop Indigo. Anita couldn’t help the way her mouth fell slight agape, witnessing the way she reached for Cain’s ears, and his subsequent outburst. Anita didn’t even get the chance to tackle the rave dilemma. “That’s actually really rude. I mean, sort of in general you should know better than to touch someone without their permission? But it’s kind of especially frowned up in lynx culture.” Anita did her best to keep her tone pleasant, as if she were simply delivering a lecture. She probably failed in that with her father’s habit of being condescending.

Anita quickly busied herself with a generous pull from her float as to not have to answer Indigo’s uncomfortable question, immediately. In her lap, that hand that had been brought to attention clenched so tightly it made her joints ached. She hated that stupid hand. Hated the pain and the uselessness, hated the way it drew people’s attention and reminded her of that day. Behind her glasses her eyes were wide from shock, and she was thankful she could police her mouth into a flat line.

She had thought witnessing Indigo reach for Cain’s ears uninvited was one of the rudest things ever, until the question had been dropped on her. “No,” Anita said evenly, finally choosing to address the curiosity. She tilted her head enough to force Indigo to watch her own reflection in the sunglasses; she knew it bothered people. “When I was ten I was abducted by people who wanted to murder my father.” Her tone, though monotonous didn’t waver. “They broke three of my fingers to taunt him.” She held up the hand, the tremble that coursed through it from being held in such a tight fist was a nice effect to highlight her slightly misshapen digits.

With her other hand she pushed a french fry into her mouth and let the words hang in the air, her burger remained untouched. Needless to say she was losing her appetite.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 10-27-2016

Cain moved his plate to the middle of the table, setting the whole sandwich on it. He didn’t bother cutting it. Anita could eat from his food or off his fork and drink after him. He didn't care. They were related. He traded his sandwich for a bite of the burger she pushed towards him. Hers was better. As usual. Cain was never good at ordering food except when it came to sushi.

His eyebrows raised and Cain nodded in a ‘yep what she said kind of way’ when Anita lectured on ear touching etiquette. “It’s like grabbing someone’s ass really. You kind of need to ask first. And even if you get permission, probably shouldn’t do it in most public places.” He added. Cain stole a sip of Anita’s float and pushed it back towards her.

Indigo chewed slowly at a bite of steak, taking her lecture sourly without making eye contact. She was jealous of their closeness. The way harmonious way they shared with each other as if it were second nature to them. “I mean I don’t see how it’s the same. But whatever, Cain. You know I don’t mean anything by it.” Indigo’s voice went syrupy and she pouted as if hurt by the haranguing she’d just received. She offered him a bite of steak and Cain waved his hand indicating he didn’t want it.

Acting like he hadn’t heard Indigo’s excuse, Cain bit again into the burger Anita had cut for him. He seemed content to make his lunch out of that half burger rather than his lame sandwich.

In the silence that followed Anita’s explanation of her hand injury, Indigo’s eyes flicked blankly between the hand, Anita’s face, and Cain. Her fork and knife were poised in the act of cutting her steak into still smaller pieces. Finally she dropped the utensils with a clang to her plate. She hid her face behind her hands and laughed.

“Oh my god.” She was choking down snorts and wiping at her eyes. “Good one. You’re such a crazy bitch.” Indigo used the epithet in that familiar way girls do with each other. Wildly inappropriate given they weren’t friends and given the seriousness of the conversation. She waved hands to dry her mascara and eyeliner which threatened to leak due to tears that had sprang to her eyes as she laughed hysterically. “You got me so good there for a minute. You have the best poker face girl. But seriously though. What happened?”

Cain put the hamburger down. His tongue ran over his teeth under his lips and he turned in his chair to face Indigo. “It’s not funny, Indigo.” His voice had taken on a dark character. Grey eyes with stormy fury underneath locked onto Indigo’s. Hers widened at his sudden change. “She’s telling the truth. She got tortured and our father was brutally murdered that night. It was easily the worst fucking day of our lives. It’s not fucking funny to me or to her.”

Though he knew that Owen was alive and well (in a way), remembering the loss of his father and Anita's injuries and the way she changed afterwards always left him upset. It had left a hole in him that he'd never let close up. His napkin was thrown onto the table over his food signaling he was done. “I need a cigarette.” Cain peeled 20s out of a stack in his wallet and threw them on the table. They fluttered down landing indiscriminately among the dishes. More than enough to cover the cost of the meal.

Indigo was left gaping as Cain moved away from the table. “I - I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Her voice was a childish whine. The kind employed by a naughty child who tried to lie their way out of punishment.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 10-27-2016

Anita paled in the face of Indigo’s laughter, which was impressive given her complexion. Her tail curled closer to her spine as she stared Indigo down behind her glasses. She was thankful for them now more than ever; they hid eyes glassy with tears that threatened to spill over. Anita was used to telling the story of what happened to her hand. She was used to the comforting noises, and pitying faces that people gave in response, but no one had ever laughed at her before. The hand she had been holding up curled into a fist again, and she dropped her legs from the chair. Grabbing her bag from the floor Anita, turned away from the table and located the bathroom before she could hear Cain scold Indigo.

She had barely made it into a stall before tears started to make their appearance down her cheeks. Anita covered her face with her hands, fingers pushing glasses into her hair as she did so. Leaning against the stall door she held her breath to stifle her sobs, shoulders shaking with the effort. Her left hand fell from her face to slam, angrily against the stall. She instantly regretted it as a sharp pain shot through her digits. She hated that hand so much.

And she really hated Indigo.

As her short moment of weakness subsided she stepped out of the stall and fixed her eyes in the mirror over the sink. She reapplied her stark black lipstick while she was at it. She pushed her sunglasses back down and the redness to her cheeks was the only indication she had been crying. She took a few deep breaths, rolling her shoulders and watching herself in the mirror, making sure the flat line of her mouth continued to reveal nothing. She adjusted her jacket, smoothing fingers over the bars on the left breast.

It wasn’t your fault.

Anita returned to the table just in time to hear Indigo apologizing pathetically. Cain wasn’t to be found and she was left to assume he went outside. Without a word to Indigo, Anita sidled past the table to join her brother. She found him smoking on the curb and when she was close enough she plucked the cigarette from his hand without asking. She took a drag and held it, letting the smoke settle in her lungs. It wasn’t the same as pot, but she still liked the tingling-burning feeling. “I don’t like her,” Anita reminded him needlessly, blowing smoke with her words.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 10-29-2016

Cain watched the cigarette be pulled from his fingers and didn’t protest. He glanced over at his sister noting a flush to her face. He pushed up her sunglasses with his index finger and confirmed his suspicion that she had been crying when he saw puffy and watery eyes staring back at her. Cain let the glasses fall back on her nose and sighed. “We don’t have to hang out with her while you’re here.” He offered and nudged her arm with his shoulder pushing at her playfully. “You and me can just chill and do whatever you want.”

He reclaimed his cigarette for another quick drag and offered it right back to her. “I’ll be done at work soon. If you want you can wait around here for me, or you can go ahead and take Daisy to my house. I can give you my key.” He shrugged his shoulders and drew his knees up to rest his elbows on them. “Its whatever you want.” Repeating that phrase he so often used.

Indigo was left picking up the individual bills that had fallen to the table. She watched Cain and Anita share a smoke out on the curb from the window while she waited for the server to bring the check. Indigo realized how little she knew about Cain. A murdered father. Kidnapping. Military family. Interesting boy indeed.

After paying, Indigo met up with the siblings. She stood awkwardly next to them for a moment and thrust the remaining money out to Cain. “Here’s your change.”

She knelt down next to Anita and busied herself with retying her tennis shoes. “For what it’s worth I didn’t mean to laugh at you. I thought you were joking around.” It wasn’t much for an apology but in Indigo’s book even the admission that she’d done wrong was as good as a genuine ‘sorry.’

Cain pocketed his change without counting it, stuffing the bills and coins into his pocket with his cigarettes and lighter. “Go see about the python. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” His request was more a demand. A dismissal.

Indigo took her cue. “Thanks for lunch. It was nice meeting you, Anita. Hope we can spend some more time together while you’re here.” She murmured these standard pleasantries before crossing the street at a trot to avoid incoming traffic.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 10-29-2016

Anita allowed her glasses to be manipulated, taking long drags of the cigarette. If anyone else ever dared to touch her or her glasses they'd quickly find themselves with a few broken fingers of their own. She lifted a hand to push the glasses back into place when he let them fall. She smiled briefly when he nudged her shoulder and leaned against him. “Okay,” she replied noncommittally to his compromise. She assumed he acquiesced to her so easily because he still felt guilty about not driving her home all those years ago. “I really do have plans for us,” she explained, not wanting him to think her earlier claims had been talk to ward off Indigo.

“I have a key,” Anita announced, and she sounded strangely proud about it. She held up one arm and pushed back the sleeve of her jacket to reveal the spiral ring of keys hanging from her wrist. Holding it at eye level she poked one that was decorated with an image of Princess Zelda. One of Akiko’s favorite video game characters. Which explained where she'd gotten it. Dropping her arm, she took one last drag of the cigarette and stubbed it out on the concrete. “I'll take Daisy back and then see you at your place. You don't gotta rush, or nothing."

Anita stood when Indigo appeared, her tail whipping back and forth around her feet. She shoved her hands into jacket pockets. “Don't worry about,” she muttered, because she doubted the vet tech would give the situation another thought, anyway. That was all she said to Indigo, ignoring her commonplace niceties that followed Cain’s dismissal of her.

She followed Cain back to the animal hospital. After clipping Daisy to her leash Anita hugged him goodbye and then they were off.

Anita had underestimated the walk from the Animal Hospital to Cain and Akiko’s house. She was used to walking everywhere, but between trying to keep up with the excitable dog and her general lack of sleep she was feeling the after effects of the journey. Anita and Daisy had made a few stops on the way, a gas stations for soda and cigarettes. An ice cream truck because Anita was a sucker for soft serve vanilla. She got a cone and shared it with the dog.

It was nearly dark when they finally reached the apartment. There were a few residents walking their own animals or jogging up and down the sidewalks. Cars lined the street in front of their respective domiciles, but one in particular stood out. A dark blue Corvette was parked in one of the spaces designated for Cain’s apartment. The sight of it was almost comforting, her mother had owned a car just like it when she was little. She remembered her parents driving her to school in it almost everyday. God, she almost wished that her parents would step out of that car right now. Her mother would open her arms to her for an big hug, while her dad leaned coolly against the hood.

Anita swallowed down a new wave of tears.

Juggling leash and plastic bag, Anita worked at getting the key around her wrist to the door. She was surprised to find that it was already unlocked. She thought it a bit strange, but it was entirely possible that Cain had forgotten to lock it. She uttered a string of expletives as Daisy pushed past her and into the house, eager to get inside. “Hold on, hold on,” she urged to the canine, tugging on the leash to bring her close enough again to unclip it. Daisy bolted off into the apartment, and Anita eventually realized why.

The TV in the living room was on and there was a lingering scent of greasy Chinese food. Anita hadn't seen Akiko’s car, and wasn't aware of the couple having any friends that would just drop by for an unexpected visit. Other than herself, anyway. But it wasn't really common of burglars to order Chinese food and play Call of Duty in their victim’s living rooms, either.

“Hello?” Anita called lamely, not bothering to kick off her shoes as she approached the living room and it's possibly uninvited guest.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 10-30-2016

After his talk with Julianna, Owen had been informed that she wished to ‘think over’ the situation. While he felt encouraged by their obvious connection and the contact they’d shared, he couldn’t help but worry that she wouldn’t ultimately ‘choose him,’ so to speak. He’d returned to Cain’s home, unannounced, like a dog with it’s tail between its legs. So close to her but so far away.

A sort of agony and self-loathing had set in. How had he let himself touch her that way when she wasn’t his. It didn’t mean to her what it meant to him. It didn’t meant to her what it used to mean.

Owen tried to drown his pain in carbohydrates, beer, and first person shooters. He’d returned to Cain’s house to spend more time with his son and with the hope that they could make contact with Anita.

His game was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and a female voice scolding Daisy who came bounding into the house and straight to him. Daisy’s whole body quivered as she wagged her tail at him. Owen patted her head and tried to shoo her from his food. “Hey,” he called, concluding that the voice had come from Akiko who perhaps had picked up Daisy for Cain, “I sort of just jimmied the lock.”

Giving up on fighting off the dog, Owen fed Daisy the bite of lo mein he had just been about to eat. The dog gobbled the noodles straight from the chopsticks and Owen stood bringing the carton of lo mein with him. He gathered another bite on his chopsticks as he walked. “Cain doesn’t know I’m back here again, so. Thought I’d surprise him by drinking all his beer. Fitting punishment.” He was referring to punishing Cain for ruining his relationship with Akiko - still thinking that it was her who had brought Daisy home.

He had a mouthful of tasty noodles when he turned the corner into the hall to end up face to face with his youngest child in a grown-ups body. Owen’s brows shot up and he covered his mouth with his hand, “Anita?” He said around the food before quickly chewing and swallowing. “I thought - you - I didn’t know -” Owen gave up on trying to explain and closed the distance to his daughter. He pulled her into a crushing hug, pressing the carton of Chinese food between her shoulder blades.

He was reminded that she had been the last of his family to see him before he died. Broken and crying and cradling her ruined hand. She looked so small and helpless. He hadn't protected her. He’d done his best to comfort her. Everything’s going to be okay, Anita. I promise. I promise. Daddy will make it okay. It hadn’t been okay. He had failed in salvaging the night. She was left burying her father at the young age of ten - not so much older than he had been when he lost his parents. Owen knew the loss well. Knew what he had done to her, and Cain, and Keievan. But she had been so much younger than her brothers.

Owen didn’t know what to say. The food container dropped from his hand landing with a splat and spilling slippery noodles and the occasional vegetable at their feet. A gold mine ripe for the taking by Daisy who eagerly began cleaning the mess ignorant of the emotional reunion occurring above her head. With his hand free of the food, Owen gripped his daughter tighter, lowering his head to rest his lips against her forehead. It was much easier action to do with Anita than with Julianna, their daughter having apparently grown into quite a tall young woman. He didn’t pull away just pressed his lips to her head and closed his eyes against what felt like a wave of salty tears. Owen never wanted to cry in front of Anita. Never wanted her to see her father as weak.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 10-31-2016

Anita was aware of a voice she recognized. And it wasn’t sort of a vague recognition. It was a voice that was in her dreams and some of her fondest memories. She froze in the hall as a figure appeared at the end of it. Illuminated from the back by the light of the living room, she couldn’t really make out his face, but her mind was more than eager to fill in the blanks. He was still impossibly tall even though she was taller than she had been when she’d last seen him.

When she had last seen him. It was hard not to think about that awful night ten years ago. Her hand ached and she clenched it into a fist; her tailed curled tight to her back when he said her name. She was hallucinating. She had to be imagining him. Which said a lot for the weed she had smoked at the park, because this had never happened before. This wasn’t real she told herself. Anita took two steps backwards as her father approached, confused and overwhelmed, but not quick enough to move out of his reach. She was crushed against his chest; against the warmth and the scent of him before she could really react.

Owen’s heart was beating against her ear, and he was warm and solid and everything that she remembered. “Dad?” A singular word that she could barely push passed the lump in her throat. “Dad?” She said it again as her arms finally lifted to wrap around his back in return. His lips met her forehead and she was crying again. Still emotionally raw from her interaction with Indigo earlier. Anita gripped the back of his shirt, like she might fall down; her knees felt weak as she sobbed against his chest.

“Is this real?” she asked, gripping tighter handfuls of his shirt. As if she could climb into his arms like she did when she was smaller. “I got really high at the park when I was walking Daisy home, so I really don’t know. I hope you’re real. Please be real.”

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 11-03-2016

The way she hugged him felt just the same. Anita had always clung to him from the very colicky start. When she was a little older, he’d carry her around and she’d clutch his shirt just as she was now. Just hanging off him like an extension of his body. He’d never minded. He’d always loved how affectionate Anita was.

But he couldn’t pick her up now. He couldn’t tote her around as he had before. She was too old for that now. So he just held her against him. She seemed unsteady on her feet so he held her up, pushing Daisy aside with his foot so he could step closer to support her.

“It’s me,” he said against the smooth skin of her forehead, “It’s me.”

Owen pulled away to take her face. His thumbs brushed uselessly at tears. They just smeared wetness over her cheeks. “You’re so - big.” His eyes were watering but he laughed to save himself from crying. His word choice had been odd. “Grown up,” he corrected still wiping at her face, “but I still see you as this tiny little baby.” And he did. She had been tiny and had always seemed extra frail to him when he held her after Ethan died. Like she’d slip away from him at any moment.

He pulled her back against him so she wouldn’t see the tears that leaked from his eyes. “God, I’m such a sentimental piece of shit these days.” He was laughing harder now more at himself, at the absolutely wild situation. He was able to hug his daughter again after ten years in the grave. Meanwhile, the dog was snorting like a pig while eating spilled noodles at their feet. It was ludicrous. He felt overjoyed. He didn’t even care that she had admitted to getting ‘very high.’ That was something he could care about later.

“Apparently your uncle Elliot is a talented necromancer. So, you know, here I am.” Near the exact same wording he’d used with Julianna. “I was hoping to see you. I missed you last time I was here.” He brushed at his eyes with the back of his hand before loosening his arms around her again so she could let go if she chose to.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 11-03-2016

Anita pushed her sunglasses into her hair when he took her face in his hands. She’d forgotten about them, even in the darkness of the house. Like the jacket she wore, they were her shield against the world, but she didn’t need to be shielded from him. The piercings in her cheeks felt strange beneath his hands, and she couldn’t stop crying, fat tears continued pour out of his despite his attempts to push them away.

She laughed, nodding when he referred to her as big. Though rarely used, she knew she had her mother’s laugh. Her hands replaced his own as if they could do a better job of levying the flow of tears. “Yeah, I’m-” She didn’t really know what to say. She was bigger, but she didn’t necessarily feel grown up. Anita had no fun facts about herself that she was willing to share with him. She didn’t want to tell her father what a disappointment she was. How could she tell him that she had run away from home, and from her mom.

How could she admit that he had left her all alone to him?

Anita had never seen her father cry, but she didn’t see it as a weakness. She was grateful when he pulled her into another hug, commenting on his own sentimentality and saving her from having to talk about herself. “You and me both, I guess,” she joked, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her tail swayed gently around her knees. He was everything she remembered about him. His laugh, his hugs, his voice, they were all the same. Anita was overjoyed that her memories of him had never faded. A part of her just wanted to crawl into his lap and be rocked gently while she cried it out, like they’d done when she was little.

Quick to cry, she’d gotten that from her mother, too.

“I didn’t know we had any uncle Elliot,” she replied, dropping her arms back to her sides as he released her. She could have held on longer, still not entirely sure this wasn’t some fever dream. “But I’m not going to complain.” She stepped around Daisy how was still vacuuming for any noodles she could have missed around her feet. As he continued to speak her tail stopped its movements. Anita took a step back so she could look up at him. Her mouth opened once but closing before she said anything. Her brow furrowed. “L-last time?” she asked, swallowing down the thick feeling in her throat. H-how long have you been…” she seemed to struggle for the appropriate word. “How long have you been back?”

How long had she not known her father was alive?

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 11-11-2016

Owen planted one more firm kiss on Anita’s forehead before she pulled away. He scrubbed his hand through his hair. An irritated movement. Of course Anita hadn’t known about her uncle. “To be honest with you I didn’t know about Elliot either. So don’t feel bad.” He shrugged his shoulder but couldn’t hide the look of displeasure from his eyes. Disappointment that Julianna had kept the information from him for seemingly no reason at all. She hadn’t lied per se. But why omit a simple fact as to having a brother?

Owen bent to retrieve the emptied container of noodles and chopsticks from the floor in the brief lapse in conversation. He was unsure what to talk about with Anita. He wanted to know everything.

When his eyes met her face again she seemed upset. He cocked his head and touched her chin with the backs of his fingers as he would have when she was a child. What’s the matter sweetheart? He used to ask her.

When asked about how long he’d been around, Owen instinctively turned his wrist over to stare at his watch. As if the timepiece could tell him much. The second hand clicked along unceasingly but the time displayed on the face did not help orient him in order to answer Anita’s question. He’d even lost sense of how long he’d been at Cain’s house that afternoon. One hour or six? He couldn’t say.

Humming thoughtfully in his throat pursed his lips and blurted out whatever answer felt kind of right. “Maybe a week ago I was here to see Cain?”

He moved into the kitchen to discard the trash in his hands, Owen arm looped around Anita’s shoulders to bring her with him.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 11-12-2016

Knuckles against her chin brought forth too many memories and her eyes fell away from him. She knew the silent question he was asking, but she didn’t answer. Her bottom lips was pulled between her teeth and she worried at it gently with her elongated canines.

Anita was suddenly unconcerned with her estranged uncle Elliot or the circumstances of her father’s resurrection. She looked at her own watch, instinctively. Both of her parents had worn watches. Between Owen’s job and all of their busy schedules the constant keeping of time had seemed important back then. Now her timepiece was just expensive and flashy. She was suddenly consumed with the information that he had been at Cain’s at least once, a week ago and no one had told her. She ducked out from beneath Owen’s arm, backing away from him and back into the hall. She adjusted her jacket- his jacket- over her shoulders and the too big sleeves fell over her fingers.

If she'd had her mother’s ears they would be pinned to her hair. Instead she cocked her head, mixed emotions playing on her features. Confused and hurt, she looked around like someone who was trying to find somewhere to go. A way to escape.

Who else knew and had kept the secret from her? Obviously Cain. What about Keiavan? Aunt Aphrodite? An anger was welling in the pit of her stomach; the feeling she got when she didn’t know what to do with her other feelings. Too much time spent pushing them to the back of her mind, too much time smoking them away.

“No one told me,” she said, the way she scanned her immediate surroundings was too reminiscent of Julianna looking for a shadow to flee too. “No one told me,” she repeated with a sharp inhale. One quick breath, and then another, her chest rising and falling as if she were on the verge of hyperventilating. Anita pressed her back against the wall, she slid down it until she was sitting on the floor. She brought her knees to her chest to rest her arms on top of them, hiding the bottom of her face. She was closing herself off to him, she had never done that before. She internalized all of her questions and all of her self-loathing.

This was her fault after all. She’d done this to herself.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 11-17-2016

“Hey -” Anita pulled away from him and his arm was left hovering in the air empty of his daughter before he let it slap down against his thigh. Owen shoved the empty food container down into the trash before whirling around to pursue her.

He in the kitchen at the sink and with Anita at doorway of the room, Owen had a view of her full outfit he’d neglected to notice in their initial exchange. She fiddled with sleeves much too big for her. An article of clothing that didn’t match the rest. It was his jacket. The jacket. The one he’d draped around her shivering shoulders that night to show her it would be okay. A small measure of shelter; whatever shelter could be had in the canvas material. Though she’d grown a lot since then it still hung off her making her look smaller to him.

“What is it?” He took a step towards her, hand out for her to come to him. Too much like Julianna in that moment, his heart rate increased thinking Anita might slip away. Thinking that she might run from him. But could she? He wondered if Anita had her mother’s abilities. She certainly looked like her mother, it wouldn’t surprise him if other traits had been passed down.

Too much like Julianna he watched as she receded into herself. Owen knelt in front of her. His hand passed over her hair and down to the collar of the jacket. He fingered the material, rubbing it between thumb and index. “You still have this?” He asked, off topic. The thought sent another wave of emotion through him.

With a firm touch, he encouraged her to put her arms and legs down. “Come here.” It was a demand not a request. Her hands enclosed in his, he rose, pulling her to her feet with him.

“Don’t be like this Anita.” Owen planted his hands on her shoulders, holding her in place for his comforting lecture. “I don’t have an excuse except that my sense of time is - I don’t know. Fucked up.” It was the first time he admitted out loud to anyone that he felt off in any way whatsoever since his resurrection. And his sense of time wasn’t the only thing bothering him.

“I wanted to stay longer but I had a lead -” he hesitated, his gaze dropped to their feet, “-on your mother. I had to leave. But I came back. To see you.” The hands on her shoulders tightened in encouragement. “That’s why I’m here.”

That and Julianna hadn’t agreed to go anywhere with him.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 11-18-2016

Anita watched him kneel closer over the barrier of her arms. Dual colored eyes searched his face as he spoke, though she didn’t know what she was looking for. She still worried that this was some bad trip or an awful dream. She feared waking up and having him taken away from her again. He touched the jacket and she looked away from him, eyes sweeping to the side. “It’s all I had left of you,” she said softly, the sound almost lost to a mumble spoken into her knees. The fresh flood of tears that welled up in her eyes was hard to miss.

She stood at his insistence, even though she didn’t want to. Anita didn’t look at her father as he spoke to her. Didn’t know how to be like anything else. This was just the mess that she was and now he knew it. She couldn’t hide it from anyone, most especially him. All these years and she had nothing to offer him but a train wreck.

She wanted to apologize, but she didn’t know how. Wanted to tell him that she was sorry for what had happened ten years ago, and for everything that followed. A domino effect of terrible things that had all been caused by her mistake. She sniffled, tears dropping down her face for the things she wasn’t saying.

“You saw mom?” she croaked, voice thick with emotion as she looked up at him again. Anita hadn’t seen her mother in person in almost a year and a half. Not that Julianna had never tried, but Anita had not been subtle about the way she had been avoiding her.

She started sobbing in full force, heaving breaths of emotions that shook her shoulders and she brought her hands up to cover her face. The sleeves of her jacket were a lackluster buffer against the noise. She didn’t even hear that he had come back to see her, almost didn’t care. Her tail curled tight against the line of her spine. “I’m so sorry,” she said finally, somehow managing the words of hiccuping sobs. “It’s all my fault,” she admitted out loud for the first time.

“Everything’s all my fault,” she continued, stepping away from him again. She didn’t deserve the comfort of his touch. Figment of her imagination or not. “I got you killed, and then they took away mom’s memories of you, and I- and I-” Her words ran out of steam, and she was dissolved to continued crying. She hadn’t cried like this since Owen’s funeral, when she had been pulled away kicking and screaming that he would come back. That he promised that he would come back.

Everything’s going to be okay, Anita. I promise. I promise. Daddy will make it okay.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 11-19-2016

Owen couldn’t tell what was going on in Anita’s mind but he could tell that whatever walls she had put up around her were being demolished by him. Was it his mere presence that upset her so much? Perhaps she felt betrayed that he hadn’t seen her sooner. That he’d seemed to prioritize everyone else over her. A pang of guilt caused his brows to knit together. He wanted to tell her that wasn’t so.

Things weren’t going the way he wanted them to. He’d learned one night ten years ago that he couldn’t control everything. It seemed as if every minute of every day since his resurrection he was reminded of that over and over.

He couldn’t control anything.

“Yes I did. Briefly.” He admitted this quietly but didn’t offer any other information as to how the meeting went. The lack of Julianna’s presence at his side would likely signal to anyone who knew them that things hadn’t gone perfectly. All told the meeting had not been a failure, but it wasn’t an outright success either. The feeling of her lips on his and her small frame tucked against his side returned to him. Had she really not felt what he had?

In the brief lapse of silence that took over during Owen’s thoughts Anita had started crying again. A trembling full force kind of sobbing. The sounds of it sent a miserable ache through his heart. Owen pulled her back against him, the hands that hid her face pressed into his chest. “Anita.” He was pleading. Please. Don’t. He didn't want to dredge up the past anymore.

But she started apologizing to him. “What?” He pushed gently at her shoulders and pulled her hands from her face forcing her to look at him through teary eyes. “No.” His fingers moved to tuck the hairs that he’d disrupted in his hug back into place.

“No.” It was more forceful. A command for her to stop. He would not accept the apologies of a child for mistakes he had made as the adult responsible for her.

Owen gripped her shoulders tightly to emphasize his words. “Why are you carrying this?” The burden of his death was not hers to bear. “How could you think this? You were just a child Anita. You did nothing wrong. Nothing.”

She had dissolved again and he was left with nothing to do but pull her into him again and hold her until she stopped. “Have you been carrying this around all this time?” He asked already knowing the answer. His lips moved against her hair when she spoke.

“You were only ten. What happened to me is your fault at all. That’s on me. I should have protected you better. I’m sorry I left you. I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s on me. You let me carry it.”

Owen ran his hand rhythmically over her hair. His voice had descended into a whisper as he spoke. “It’s not your fault.” He repeated. He would say it over and over until she believed him if he had to.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 11-26-2016

Anita ignored the command that was that singular word. She bat at his hands, feeling undeserving of the comfort he was trying to offer her. She cried harder, if that were possible. The sound of it was indeed louder, deep wheezing inhales between sobs as if she no longer knew how to take in air. “I should have known better,” she argued, refusing to give up the blame. She didn’t know what else to do with it, couldn’t give it away now. She had been carrying it for ten years, and she didn’t know what she would do without it now.

“I should’ve have known not to go with Katanya,” she said, pushing weakly at his chest as he tried to hug her, fighting him in more ways than once. If it wasn’t her fault than she had no excuse for the way she felt, no explanation for her shitty behavior. She cried against his chest, the sound muffled against his shirt as she shook in his embrace. “I ran away from mom,” she explained, somehow talking over the lump in her throat and the coating of saliva in her mouth that threatened to drown her words. Somehow her father was back, and her mother didn’t remember him. “I should have stayed with her! She needed me and I left her!”

Anita was determined to hold on to her guilt, because no one had told her otherwise until Owen. She had never given anyone the chance to absolve her of any wrongdoing, having never admitted the feelings out loud. Not even to Cain with whom she felt the closest. Anita wanted to be forgiven and he was telling her that it wasn’t her fault. She wrapped her arms around his back and clung to fistfuls of his shirt, just as she had before. Just as she’d always done as a child.

Sobs eventually gave way to quieter whimpers as she ran out of the energy to keep carrying on the like before. She could hear him now, repeatedly whispering that it wasn’t her fault against her hair. Anita finally let herself before comforted by the sound, by the words and his hug. She sniffled, turning her face so it was her ear pressed against his chest and she could hear his heart. She calmed, but she didn’t let of him. “I missed you so much,” she said, softly.