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Glass Houses [Closed] - Printable Version

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RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 11-30-2016

“You were young, Anita.” Owen offered her this excuse to unshoulder her blame, whispering it into her hair. He waited out her crying, it wasn’t so different than what he used to do when she was a newborn. A red-faced and crying infant with colic had taught him more about patience and discipline than the military had in his entire career. When his best efforts at comforting her failed, time always won out. Sometimes time beat them both. He couldn't count the times he'd drifted off half lounged on the couch with a fussing baby on his chest and woken to her fast asleep.

He smashed her face harder against his chest, “I know. I’m sorry. I missed you too sweetheart.” Even though he had been dead, the words felt true in more ways than one. He had missed her. But he had also missed out on being with her. Something that could never be fixed. There would always be a gap there. As there would with his other children and Julianna.

A familiar engine outside signaled the return of Cain after work. Sure enough a few moments after the engine cut out, Cain was pushing his way inside, a jingle of keys and greetings to Daisy who’d run to see him.

He hesitated at the door with Daisy jumping excitedly at his legs staring at his sister and father in the hallway. “Dad?” Cain pushed Daisy away from him and dropped his keys noisily into the catchall in the foyer by the door and moved cautiously towards the pair. It was evident to him that Anita had been crying. His ears pinned to his head as a wave of guilt rushed over him. He never got around to telling Anita about their father and there he was.

Owen gestured at his son to come to him and when Cain obeyed he was pulled under one of Owen’s arms. Both children grown and smashed against his chest.

“You better not have smoked in here. The landlady hates it.” Cain issued his hypocritical warning to a puffy eyed Anita.

Owen released the kids and folded his arms over his chest gazing at Cain with his best fatherly look of disapproval. There was the issue of Cain having failed to tell Anita about him and Cain’s recent breakup of which Cain had made Owen aware during a desperate phone call for advice.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 12-01-2016

Anita nodded against Owen’s chest, as to indicate she was finally willing to listen to him and surrender the responsibility for what had happened all those years ago. She felt lighter somehow, like she could breathe again. She continued to hold and be held by her father. There was less desperation in the way she clung to him, but she was content to be near him nonetheless. She had never outgrown her cuddly nature, she had just found herself with fewer people to cuddle up to. His familiar scent and the sound of his heart against her ear were as comforting as they’d always been.

Her tail twitched to the sound of Cain’s car and she turned her head towards the door to watch him enter. The house was in a eerie sort of half darkness so she doubted Cain could see the way she was glaring at him; the expression mostly hidden against her father’s chest. His ears were broadcasting his feelings to the room. Anita could tell he felt guilty, or at least apologetic for not mentioning their resurrected father to her.

Reluctantly, she made room for her brother when Owen pulled him into the hug as well. Dual-colored eyes rolled upwards to look at him as she issued a warning she would have ignored had she had time to consider smoking. There was the slightest of angry pouts to her bottom lip, and instead of responding to him she very pointedly turned her head away from him. An immediate silent treatment, content to look off into the other direction until Owen released them. She was reluctant to let go, but was forced to regardless. Her tail curled upwards as he crossed his arms.

Inwardly, she gloated that Cain was getting such a shitty look from their dad.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 12-02-2016

With both a disapproving look from his father and the clear silent treatment from Anita, it felt to Cain that he had a target on his chest. His ears remained pinned to his scalp and his tail curled protectively around his leg.

“What?” His voice rose at the end of the question with the urgency of his anxiety. “What could I possibly have done now? I just got here.” He seemed on the verge of whining.

Cain turned from the duo too much like one another and moved into his kitchen, flipping on the light as he went. “Come on Daisy.” He called to the dog as he scooped a serving of food into her bowl. The dog obediently followed Cain but merely sniffed at the food disinterestedly. She nosed at the pile of nuggets that was called dinner and even took one in her mouth. It was neatly deposited on the floor next to the bow. Unwanted.

Owen gave Anita a knowing glance before he followed Cain into the other room. “You didn’t tell your sister.” He wasn’t quite reprimanding his son but it was as close to it as he could get.

While messing with the dog’s dinner Cain’s back was turned to the door, he whirled around at his father’s accusation and threw his hands up. “What - what was I supposed to say?”

Owen repeated the frustrated gesture, hands up and slapping back down against the thighs. Father and son in a display of the power of genetics in gesticulations. “Words, Cain. Try some words.”

Cain’s tail had uncurled from his leg and a fine line of hair raised along the edge of it signaling his growing frustration with the encounter. “Did you say words to mom?” He shot back veering off topic. But he did so because he knew it would wound or at least stun his opponent even if it was a low blow.

It worked. Owen faltered for a half second, his mouth half open. The subject of Cain's behavior was forgotten for the moment. “I - yes. We said some words.” He folded his arms protectively in front of his chest as he carefully monitored Anita out of the corner of his eye.

Meanwhile, Daisy happily waddled out of the kitchen in search of a toy or her bed and left her dinner largely untouched which drew the attention of her owner. Cain’s hands went up again. “Oh my fucking god. What did you feed her?” He demanded of both father and sister at once, eyes darting back and forth between them.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 12-03-2016

Anita continued to look away from her brother, even when she could tell he was getting anxious. Cain didn’t like feeling in trouble, and he liked the silent treatment even less. For someone who was so terrible with his own words, he always got bent out of shape when someone withheld their own. He was getting whiny, she rolled her eyes and turned her face back to where he stood, eyes tracking him as he huffed off into the kitchen, their father close behind him.

She pulled her phone from her back pocket, fiddling around with apps on the screen to make it seem like she wasn’t eavesdropping. Even though that was very obviously what she was doing since she made no effort to leave her spot in the hall. She scrolled through Instagram, a familiar smug feeling rising up at listening to Cain get scolded. Just like old times, some things never changed. Her mindless fiddling stopped when she heard Cain shoot back with a comment about their mom. Tail swaying she shifted on her feet, suddenly uncomfortable with the new topic of conversation. Owen was quiet for a noticeable amount of time, and she wondered what had come of his conversation with their mom.

Anita considered texting her, but her fingers faltered as they hovered over her contact info on the screen, until she inevitably chickened out. Clicking off the phone she shoved it back, deep into her purse.

“Dunno,” Anita replied when the topic of Daisy’s unauthorized snacking was broached. Her voice suggested that she wasn’t interested in being the unwitting mark for Cain’s misplaced ire, but a ridge of hairs rose on her tail to match his. “Smelled like Chinese,” she finished, turning her back on the pair in the kitchen and moseying off into the living room. She dropped her bag on the floor and kicked off her shoes before flopping on to the couch. She easily picked up the game controller Owen had abandoned and queued up to join a new match.

Rylan had been having trouble sleeping. Disinterestedly, she sat in the window seat of her apartment and chain-smoked cigarettes as she watched the Valesport nightlife pass on the sidewalk below. She blew smoke in a heavy sigh and watched as it was carried off by the breeze. Her thoughts were occupied by a man that claimed to know her. Claiming to be her husband, the father of her children and forcing her to face the problems she had not-so-easily been ignoring. She ran her free hand through her hair, ears briefly falling as she did so.

Green eyes were drawn to a moth that flitted towards a streetlamp as she slowly inhaled in the cigarette. She watched as it danced around the light for a few moments, before her gaze fell to her phone. It sat quiet by her feet. It was usually quiet, as she wasn’t very talkative, so her friends and relatives had long stopped trying to reach her unless it was important. Leaning forward, she abandoned her cigarette in the ashtray and picked it up. Quickly tapping in the code unlocked the device and she thumbed through her messages, until she found the thread highlight by Cain’s name. She didn’t know if he would be awake, but she thought she remembered his hours at work running until fairly late. Thumbs hesitated over the keyboard as she tried to think of something to say to him; he was very fickle when it came to conversation.

>>Is Anita with you?

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 12-03-2016

“Chinese? All that MSG! That’s going to make her sick.” Cain followed after Anita not keen on letting her escape his outburst. She was queuing up a game and he stood in front of the TV childishly blocking the screen. “You can’t just drop in on me at work, blast my ass in front of my coworker, and feed nasty shit to my dog, Anita!” Apparently he’d worked up a list of transgressions his sister had committed to provide himself some cover for not having kept her in the loop.

Owen became suddenly aware that was not doing well at mediating the tension between the two siblings. He wasn’t sure he completely understood the root source of their agitation with one another. It had been that way at times when they were children. Suddenly fighting with one another and suddenly best pals again. Such could be the relationship with siblings.

But this felt different.

Anita felt different to him. So much more detached than she used to. Skirting the conflict and running away to pretend at not caring. When had she become like that?

He wasn’t so much angry at Cain as disappointed that he didn’t seem to take his role as older brother very seriously. It was easier for him to forgive Anita for her running away from the family in his absence but it was harder for him to excuse Cain.

Owen moved into the living room. “Listen -” He started to say moving nearer to his son whose anger had gone off the rails. His golden tail fluffed out and flicked back and forth, thumping occasionally against his leg.

Cain huffed and brushed past his father storming outside to sulk and smoke on the porch. He realized his anger was out of proportion to the situation but his recent conflict with Akiko left him feeling emotionally raw and sensitive to new assault. His phone vibrated in his pocket and for a brief second Cain had hope that it was Akiko contacting him. A message from his mom. Cain pulled a cigarette from his pack and balanced it on his lips while he considered typing a response to her.

> yes.

He sent the quick affirmative to her question and lit the cigarette. Taking a long drag, Cain decided to try to actually extend the conversation this time. And he sent an extra message:

>help.

Inside, Owen took a seat next to his daughter, sinking into the comfortable couch. Throwing his legs up onto the coffee table Owen leaned back into the cushion. He seemed content to sit in silence and observe until she felt the need to speak. But he couldn't help himself.

"There's usually a sniper in that alcove on the left there." He remarked as he watched her navigate the map on the screen. "You can toss a flash bang or frag up there and flush him out." Video games like with driving, Owen had a hard time not backseat driving.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 12-03-2016

The youngest Hart exhaled sharply through her nose, but didn’t look at Cain. She cancelled her queue, no point in joining a match when he was standing steadfast in front of the screen. She didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, she attempted to switch over to her own gamertag on Cain’s console, because she’d noticed that his kill-death ratio had been significantly ruined. Which put her into second place behind Akiko.

“I didn’t feed her anything,” she shot back, tabbing into the start menu of the game. She couldn’t deny showing up at his work and talking about him in front of his co-workers, but she wouldn’t be blamed for the dog. “It was a fucking accident, okay? Damn.” Her brow had furrowed and the corners of her mouth had fallen downward. Cain wasn’t the only feeling emotionally exposed, and the rapid blinks of her eyes as she focused on a point behind his shoulder suggested she might cry again. Anita’s tail swished angrily back and forth across the cushion next to her.

Anita didn’t watch Cain as he walked away this time. She just said, “I guess I just won’t come visit anymore,” spitefully to his back. Otherwise, she remained focused on the game, joining a match with her own character. Which was noticeably more feminine than her brother’s. The female gunman on the screen was decked out in fancy camo and a pink gun that Anita had unlocked from various achievements.

She let herself be absorbed in the game for a moment. She didn’t react when Owen sat next to her, racking up an impressive kill-streak until she was inevitably taken out by the sniper he mentioned a few seconds too late. Anita used her re-spawn timer to shift her position. She stretched her body across the open length of the couch, her knees over the armrest and her feet hanging off the side. She let her head rest against Owen’s thigh. She wanted to be close to him, but she didn’t want to seem needy, so she pretended he was just convenient. “Thanks,” she replied, drawing out the vowel of the word as she followed his advice. Her character lobbed a grenade into the alcove and she was able to pick up the kill.

It was very clear that he would be in charge of driving any conversation.

Rylan held the phone in both hands, as she eagerly awaited a response that she wasn’t even sure was coming. The phone lit and she smiled, but it deflated a touch when she caught sight of her son’s short, one-word answer. Assuming he didn’t want to be bothered, she started to set the device down, but it buzzed in her hand.

One ear fell lopsided at his vague request for assistance. Perhaps, he was just overwhelmed by Anita, she had that effect on people. Rising from the window seat she moved to the closet, rummaging through boxes half-open on the floor. She pulled a zip-up hoodie in the colors of Cain’s vet school from the bottom of a box and pulled it on. She was peripherally aware of it being a bit chilly for her liking in Boston. She stepped into a pair of worn, black Converse and pulled her hair out of the hood of the jacket. She shoved cigarettes, lighter and phone into her pockets before stepping into a shadow.

Rylan chose to exit the umbra from a shadow cast by a large tree at the end of the street that Cain’ and Akiko’s house was situated. She didn’t like to just drop in on them, especially when she wasn’t entirely sure that Cain’s message had been an invitation. She walked slowly up the sidewalk towards the house. Ears stood at attention, tail swaying as she moved. Even in the darkness she could make out her son’s silhouette smoking on his porch.

“Hey,” she greeted simply, as she approached him. “Is everything alright?” Her question was asked almost timidly, she stood in front of him with hands pushed into the pockets of her jacket. Her tail stopped moving to fall at her feet. “Is Anita being a handful again?”

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 12-03-2016

Owen found Anita’s choice of character and style quite amusing. The flashy pink gun was questionable from a tactical standpoint, to him at least, but it was nonetheless entertaining to watch her take down the other players with such a weapon. He was easily taken into the game and tensed up when Anita was exposed to the sniper’s shot.

“Nice.” He complimented her on taking out the sniper by his advice with the expert aim of the grenade. The game was realistic enough that throwing a grenade wasn’t exactly easy as one had to get the arch correct, as he’d learned the hard way. Anita shifted positions and Owen let his hand rest on the side of her head. His fingers stroked idly along her hair periodically stopping their movements when he was taken in by the action on screen.

“So are you in school, Anita?” He asked when the drama on screen wound down as the match ended. “You’re about that age…” He mused more to himself, calculating in his mind how old his youngest should be. If she had gone to college she would likely be around the age of her third or last year. It occurred to him that Anita was not in school. During his previous visit with Cain something about her 'drifting' around came out. But Owen would leave it up to Anita to describe her situation.

Similar to his mother, Cain stared at the transcript of their texts, awaiting a response to the conversation he thought he’d started. When no message came through, Cain huffed to nobody at all and locked his screen. Apparently his mother was satisfied with the answer that Anita was with him and wanted nothing further from him. How easily Cain had forgotten that she had called him recently, and even called Akiko to try to get in touch with him.

His mood was fickle somewhere between needy and isolative, if that was even possible. He leaned back on his elbows at stared at the sky. No stars could be seen due to the combination of Boston city lights and an overcast evening. He blew more grey smoke above him and felt something like a lump growing in his throat. Everything was catching up to him. The loss of Akiko. The return of his father. The mess his family was in.

Movement on his periphery caused Cain to bring his focus back to the street. It was easy for him to make out the shape of his mother as she made her approach. Not too many people had a silhouette quite like hers, or his for that matter. Feline ears standing at attention and tail swaying below.

“Mom?”

Cain felt his own ears perk when she addressed him, but they fell quickly again to his scalp when she reminded him that everything was kind of a mess. He slid over on the porch stair, making room for her next to him. “Yeah, she’s just …” he drifted off, not sure how to explain to his mother what the matter was. It wasn’t Anita per se. Deep down he was glad to have her there with him. They’d bonded over lunch and she agreed to help him with Daisy while he worked things out with Akiko. If he worked things out.

Cain stared at the burning end of his cigarette as if deciding whether to ash it or not. He did flicking the ashes onto the ground below the porch. “I don’t know. It’s everything. Akiko hates me. Anita just drops in on me, you know. Dad is here. He’s all annoyed because I didn’t talk to Anita about anything.” Cain rambled off his list of problems in no particular order without bothering to give any context to any of it. Once he got started they all just spilled out one after another.

He crushed out his cigarette on the step next to him and set the butt down. Cain pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his cheek on them with his face towards his mother. “They fed Daisy Chinese food.” He added with a heavy sigh. If she wanted complaints Cain was good at thinking up things to complain about. More items circled in his mind to mention to her.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 12-03-2016

Anita’s tail stopped its lazy movements where it had fallen over the edge of the couch. Her jaw clenched with the effort of her teeth grinding together, molars rocking back and forth over one another. Another habit from her mother, the one singular thing she seemed to do whenever she was annoyed. Julianna was an infinitely patient woman, so you knew you were in trouble when she resorted to the teeth grinding. It didn’t carry the same meaning when Anita did it, but it was close. “I’m twenty’ she answered softly, since his tone hit her ears like he didn’t know; at the very least wasn't sure. She drummed her index fingers on the bumpers of the controller and considered ignoring the first half of his question.

“No, I’m not in school.” She closed out of the game, under the impression that he wanted to talk to her and she didn’t want to seem rude or disinterested. She leaned her head into the hand that played against her hair. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him, she just didn’t want to delve deeper into the mess she’d made of her life.

Both of her brothers had gone to college and made something of themselves while she wandered around the country doing nothing at all. At least, she considered smoking and drinking and her other more unmentionable activities, nothing when it came to Kei and Cain’s accomplishments. Anita didn’t think she would ever have the opportunity to brag about her achievements to her father. Now, she had been given a second chance and had nothing that she was proud enough to admit. She let the controller fall to the floor and rolled over on the couch so she was staring at the leather and the fabric of Owen’s shirt. Her head remained resting on his leg and she drew her own legs towards her chest. “I don’t do anything,” she admitted, the words almost lost to her lowered tone. Her injured hand drew circles against the couch. “I’m just the disappointment.”

Rylan sat down next to Cain with a gentle sigh. She stretched her feet out in front her, crossing them at the ankles. She lit a cigarette of her own as she silently listened to his problems. Dad is here, he’d said, and she didn’t know what to make of it. Did he mean the man that she had met at the bar? Or did he mean someone else entirely? An ear fell lopsided as she inhaled on the cigarette, and pushed the problem down to the end of the list. The line of questioning that immediately flooded her brain would be more for solving her issues than her son’s.

She smiled gently when he finished the compalints with Daisy. There was nothing mocking in the soft curl at the corners of her mouth; there was no judgement in her expression. “I’m sure Daisy will be fine,” she replied, and her melodic tone was just loud enough to be heard. She didn’t bother to resist the urge to gently pet the fall of long blonde hair on the back of his head. It was just one touch that didn’t reach high enough to risk his ears. Fingers moved the curled ends of his bangs away from his eyes, before her hand returned to her side of the stoop. “Why don’t you tell me about what happened with Akiko?”

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 12-07-2016

“Twenty. Right. I figured that.” And he had after making some mathematical calculations in his mind he’d figured she was around that age. Not even old enough to legally drink. She was still so young.

The controller was abandoned by Anita and fell to the carpet underfoot with a clatter of the joysticks. She turned towards him and Owen leaned down to retrieve the controller from the floor and balanced it on the arm of the couch next to him. A habit. How many times had he yelled at the kids to not throw the controllers. To not leave them laying around. Picking it up was one of the rote actions buried in him that kept surfacing to remind him of who he used to be.

“What do you mean you don’t do anything? Who’s disappointed in you?” Owen asked, pressing her to give him proof of the beliefs she had about herself. He certainly hadn’t meant to give off any indication that that was his impression of his youngest. That she was disappointing. The more time he spent with her as an adult the more he felt that she took after him even though she displayed behaviors that reminded him of her mother.

“I don’t even have a high school diploma. Did you know that?” He offered not knowing how much Anita knew or remembered about him. His troubled past didn’t seem like something he would have ever discussed with her. In fact, he wasn’t sure any of his children knew anything about his childhood or life as a young man. “I got kicked out of school after I was picked up by the police for my third shoplifting offense. I joined the military so I wouldn’t have to go to juvenile detention.”

“So if you graduated high school and have a clean record then you’re less a disappointment than me.” A sad smile crossed his face as Owen looked down at his daughter’s head. He captured the hand that fiddled at the couch and pressed his mouth gently against the backs of her fingers which retained deformities from previous injuries. “But I’d love you anyway.”

He released her hand, trading it for the controller to queue into another match. He wanted to try at least one game with Anita’s pink gun character. “Is there anything you could see yourself studying at school?” He pried further to see how much he she would let him pick her brain.

“I know she will be fine.” Cain agreed with his mother sighing at length as he released the resentment he was holding on to over Daisy’s illicit snacking. He had to actively resist the urge to flinch and pull away from her touch as it was his automatic reaction to a hand coming towards his hair. An automatic assumption that someone would touch his ears. He had to admit that the gentle touch of his mother’s fingers along his hairline was a comfort he needed at the moment.

Cain shifted his posture back into one that stretched out his legs and allowed him to lean back. He rolled his eyes back upon being questioned about Akiko not sure how where to begin. “I don’t know. She just.”

He faltered and waved his hand in a circle as he searched for the right word. His breath left him in a sharp sigh before he continued on.

“Snapped, I guess. It’s this whole thing with this co-worker of mine I was hanging out with. She posted these pictures of me on Instagram. They were kind of suggestive, I guess. And I lied about what I was doing and Akiko saw the pictures and she found out I was lying and she got upset. I think she thought or thinks I was cheating on her.” Cain stopped suddenly and put his hand on his mother’s arm, “But I’m not. You have to believe me. I didn’t cheat.”

He groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. When he stopped the neurotic movements, the skin of his cheeks were pink from the blood that had rushed there when he ran his hands over his skin.

“It wasn’t just that either. She, I don’t know, feels like maybe I’m not happy. With her or whatever. So, she broke up with me. Um, well, we’re ‘taking a break to think about what we want’ were her words.”

When he did speak at length, Cain had a style of speech that was akin to a car sputtering to life after a jump start or a quality like the stalling out of someone learning to drive a manual. His language was peppered with half committed ‘I guesses’ and uncertain ‘maybes’ a verbal expression of the self-doubt and self-consciousness that plagued him.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 12-08-2016

“I dunno,” she mumbled when asked for a list of those she’d disappointed. “Everyone probably,” she continued. Poking at the couch all the while. Like most of her feelings of self worth she had come to this conclusion on her own. It was possible that no one was disappointed in her. It was also possible that no one blamed her for her behavior, or condemned her for the choices she’d made. Her own guilty feelings skewing her perception of the way others perceived her. Too often she compared herself to her brothers, and too often she found herself lacking.

She tilted her head back to look up at him when he revealed that detail about himself. She hadn’t known that about him; she wasn’t sure if she knew anything about his life before their mother had come into it. He’d caught her attention with brief mention that he had been a delinquent. Anita toed the line in being one herself, her only saving grace was insofar she’d not been caught. Silver tail picked back up with its gentle sway when warms lips met the back of her hand. She smiled, reclaiming her hand and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like ‘I love you.’ Pushing herself into a sitting position, she sat up next to her and crossed her legs.

Anita turned her attention to the television, and almost offered to put him back on Cain’s account. Both to mess with her brother and to save her position in second place. She shrugged her shoulders at Owen’s question. “I dunno," she repeated. The phrase was her default answer for everything. Questions that were too difficult to answer. Her response could have been true. It was just as possible that she hadn’t put any thought into it, as it was that she’d thought about it a lot. For the time being, she didn’t seem keen on the discussion.

“What are you going to do about mom?” she asked. Changing the subject. More likely to answer his questions, if he also answered hers.

Rylan smoked and listened in silence as Cain recounted the details with Akiko to her. She hummed as she recalled the pictures in question, having seen them herself. The images were mild, it was the accompanying captions that were getting him in trouble. Rylan suspected there were some hidden motives behind his friends choice of words, but for the moment she kept the thought to herself. Letting her son speak. She smothered her cigarette against the side of the steps, and kept the butt close, mindful of the way Cain had done the same.

Her free hand lifted to cover the one that rested against her arm. She patted it reassuringly before it was pulled away from her. Rylan was quiet for a moment when he had finished speaking. Absorbing what he had said and carefully formulating a response. Cain was a series of unmarked landmines and every conversation was a new way of navigating them. She opened with, “I believe you.” Green eyes scanned the anxiety in his features; she wore the same soft smile on hers. It was meant to be comforting. It was meant to say, I’m listening to you and you feelings are valid, without the actual words pushing him away.

“A break is a good thing,” she said, dipping her head to catch his gaze. Her brows lifted in a believe me sort of manner that was meant to stifle any immediate protests. “It means she still wants something from you,” she voiced, unaware the words were similar to ones Owen had said to him. “And sure,” she continued, going through the motions of lighting another cigarette. “You don't know what she wants.” Smoke fell with her words. “But I can give you a few guesses? She wants to know that you want her. You were keeping secrets from her, choosing this other woman over her. Even if that wasn't your intention it's how you made her feel. She left the ball in your court, love, and you can fix this if you want to.”

She paused, looking away from him to glance upwards at the overcast night sky. She watched him from her periphery when she asked, “do you want to?” Her less obvious question being were you happy?

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 12-17-2016

Owen was not satisfied in the least with Anita’s unwillingness to share. And there she was asking prying questions back at him and expecting openness. He narrowed his eyes at her and nudged his daughter with his shoulder. “I dunno.” He mimicked her cop-out answer with eyes glued to the screen as he struggled with the mechanics of the video game. Owen was better at calling out the best moves in the game than he was at executing them.

For good measure Owen let a moment of silence fall between them. Extra emphasis on the dead-end that a lack of communication got them before he answered her question.

“I found your mother. Well, she found me. Actually… I was in the right place to be found, I guess. Anyway, I told her who I was.” His fingers mashed hard at the buttons and triggers as his character was pummeled with bullets. His escape route proved useless. Owen sighed in frustration and let the controller drop to his lap as he waited for the re-spawn, his failure replaying out on the screen first. Glancing over at his daughter, he continued on, “I think she sensed that we had a connection…” Owen snatched up the controller moving his character back into the fight. “But, you know, ultimately, she asked for more time to think things over.”

He shrugged as he ran back into the fray. “So I left. I can’t force her to do anything. Maybe she’s happy with her life as is. Who am I to barge in and ruin whatever she might have going right now? People move on.”

Owen’s character was once again respawning. The video game proved a poor metaphor for giving up as it was perpetuated on infinite second chances. The irony was not lost on Owen. A sort of desperate look on his face as the character returned to battle again and again.

Cain sat up and opened his mouth as if to protest against the idea that a ‘break was good’ as his mother had claimed but her expression and the way she seemed to have more to tack on to the idea shut him up. His jaw clamped together and he looked away from her watching cars pass.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt her.” He argued as if his mother had suggested it. And she hadn’t. Cain was defensive by default. “And I’m not unhappy.” Another counter argument that didn’t belong.

“Well I’m not unhappy with her.” Cain knew that everyone around him could sense he was just unhappy in general. Unhappy with himself and his body and the way people saw him or the way he imagined people saw him. He knew that he let that unhappiness spill over into and made toxic every positive relationship in his life from the girlfriend he loved to his mother. But knowing it didn’t make it an easy fix.

“I do want to fix it.” He was nearly whining. Cain let his head fall against his mother’s shoulder and scooted closer to her so that their thighs touched. His tail swished in agitation across the wood of the step behind him. “I guess I feel like maybe she’s already realized she’s better off without me. And I kinda don’t want to hear that from her. Maybe it would just be easier to let her go.”

There was nothing but defeat and self-loathing in his voice and he hid his face against his mother’s arm. Owen had spoken to him about his feelings that he didn’t deserve Akiko, didn’t deserve the affection she had for him, but the lesson hadn’t quite sunk in.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 12-18-2016

Anita made a face. It hadn’t occurred to her how annoying her most commonly used phrase could sound. She continued to frown and did not budge under the weight of his shoulders on her. He didn’t say anything else, and for a brief moment she felt her temper flare. Which was likely the feeling her father was trying to cultivate. To emphasize her own withdrawn answers. Unlike Cain, she did not immediately react to the emotion. She would just let it settle in the pit of her stomach until she was alone and found and outlet for it that would do nothing to make her feel better.

She turned her attention the screen, cringing as the gunman’s lifeless body flopped over onto the ground. The tempo of her tail increased in an agitated pat against the couch as Owen spoke. There was resignation in his tone, or so she thought. It was possible she was just imagining it, because she didn’t like the things he was saying. To Anita, it sounded like he had already given up. Accepting a ludicrous idea that his mother wouldn’t want him anymore. Her brow furrowed, muscles in her jaw tensing as she ground her teeth together.

“That’s...that’s not fair,” she snapped. “She didn’t 'move on,'” she threw her hands up on the air before falling and crossing against her chest. Her head dropped to the back of the couch and she angrily stared up at the ceiling. “She was forced to forget you, that’s not the same. You can’t just leave things like this. It’s not right. She’s not happy, she’s confused. She’s an alcoholic.” Anita was relentless. She didn’t want to believe the idea that her mother could stay exactly the same even though her father had returned. She had already managed to convince herself that it was his job to fix it.

“Alcoholics aren’t usually happy,” she continued. “Probably at some bar downing a bottle as we speak.” Her head popped up and she reached over and took the controller from him when her character was once again defeated in a hail of gunfire. “I can’t believe you’re just going to let uncle Kama get away with what he did to her.” The last was said under her breath, eyes fixated on the television as she easily maneuvered across the map. Anita was familiar with the shred of animosity between Owen and Kama; intentionally trying to use the tense relationship in her favor.

Rylan snuffed out her half-smoked cigarette and shifted to accommodate for the way Cain tried to burrow against her. She was surprised by the needy way he was clinging to her, something he hadn’t done since he was very small. She freed the arm that was trapped between them smoothed her hand across his back, a gentle and reassuring rhythm. She tilted her head and let it rest against his

“It’s never easier to let go,” she murmured, her hand moved from his shoulders to his hair. Content to cuddle her son against her for as long as he would allow. Her fingers made small, petting movements against wild curls that spilled across his face. She was quiet for a few moments, letting her own words sink in, before she hummed, in that short resonant way that always meant she was thinking. Her index finger toyed with a lock of blonde hair.

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret, okay?” Her tone dropped to a whisper to emphasize her words. She nudged his head away from her shoulder so he was forced to look at her and her hand dropped back to his shoulders. “Akiko misses you, Cain. Believe me. I have an inside source.” By source, she meant Aphrodite. Rylan was getting near constant updates on the feelings of her son’s girlfriend, even though she wasn’t asking for them. Aphrodite seemed to be wrapped up in the drama of it all. Playing the part of a rich and glamorous trophy wife didn’t seem to be entertaining her nowadays.

“You have to understand that Akiko didn’t leave because she wanted to. She doesn’t want to be away from you, she doesn’t want to break up with you. She wants you to fight for her. She wants to know that you miss her too; that you love her enough to do something about the fact that she is gone. I know...that talking isn't always easy for you, but you need to tell her the same things you’re telling me.”

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 01-06-2017

“Life isn’t fair, Anita.” Owen snapped back at his daughter more quickly than he’d intended. The losing streak he had going in the game and Anita’s pressuring of him did nothing for his mood. He fell silent and let her vent her theories about her mother. Alcoholism. Unhappiness.

Sure he’d seen it. Julianna had a sort of air of desperation about her. The way she’d downed the shots in quick succession. Owen even wondered about the way she’d flirted with him. Was it like drinking for her, another avenue to distract her from whatever she was running from?

Anita snatched at the controller and Owen let her have it, almost flipping it into her hands. His anger rose quickly when she mentioned her uncle. It had the desired effect in that it riled him up. His nostrils flared. “You know what I know about addicts?” His index finger jabbed towards her. “If they don’t want to change, there is nothing anyone can do for them. And what’s the first step to change?” His hands spread out as if to give her the opportunity to answer, but Owen continued on. “Admitting there’s a problem.” Words straight from a recovery handbook.

“What can I - a stranger - tell her about changing her life? She needs time Anita. And I’m giving her that.” He wiped his hand over his face and huffed to exhale as he tried to get his anger under control. “Your uncle won’t be getting away with anything.” What he meant by this vague threat, Owen didn’t elaborate.

__

Cain closed his eyes and let his mother speak to him in that soft comforting tone of voice she used. How many times had she used that on him when he was a kid? With scrapes and bruises and now bigger hurts. He didn’t flinch when she moved his hair. It felt sort of...nice to him to let her pet at the unruly hairs that fell around his face. He had his mother’s genetics to thank for the curls and volume. It never occurred to him that he was very much like her in other ways.

When she finished, he sighed and opened his eyes. His spirits were somewhat lifted. Just enough to motivate him to do what needed to be done. “Okay.” He said at last. “I’ll try.”

He lifted his head from her shoulder and slipped his arm around her back. “Thanks.” He pulled her close and pressed a kiss against his mother’s cheek. “I love you mom.” He muttered the words as he pulled away from and pushed himself up to stand. His eyes avoided hers and Cain bent to retrieve his cigarette butt.

“Anita probably wants to say hi. “She’s still here.” He offered moving towards the door knowing full well his father was also still there. “We have a visitor too.” Cain recalled the beat down he’d received for not informing Anita about their father’s return so he gave his mother a small, vague warning. Better to not scare her away.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - megs - 01-07-2017

Rylan was pleased to hear that he was willing to make the effort, and she could only hope that he truly would. She had come to the conversation thinking she was going to have to do a much more thorough job of convincing him, and had prepared much more to say on the matter.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, softly, leaning against him as he hugged her; tilting her cheek to accept his affection. She cupped his face in her hand and smiled at his murmured admission, but knew she didn’t have to say them back. All his life she had been saying those words to him. Surely he knew by now, and she didn’t not want to embarrass him.

She lifted her chin to watch as he stood, but remained seated. “I'll be in in a moment,” she replied, reaching for her cigarettes with the intent of having one more. Facing Anita was one thing, but facing her daughter and the man who claimed to be her husband at the same time, set a strange sort of nervousness in her belly. Holding the cigarette tightly between two fingers she lit if with a flash of her Zippo and hoped the slight tremble to her hands was not too obvious. She smiled, and hoped it was convincing.

Anita was silent. She clipped her words but her anger remained unbridled. The furrow of her brow and the twitch of her tail gave her away. It tapped against Owen’s thigh with an impatient insistence. She was also suffering in the game, her fingers pushed rapidly at keys as she was continually taken down by a sniper. She played her way through the match, staring dismally at her score when it popped up on the screen. She exited to the lobby menu and dropped the controller on the couch as she continued to brood.

“It’s bullshit,” she muttered. Not specifically to Owen’s excuses but the entirety of the situation. All of it was so fucking absurd. She repeated the word several times over, ‘bullshit, bullshit, bullshit,’ seething all the while as she stared at the movements on the television.

The front door opening drew her attention, her head snapping in the direction of the noise. Her nose wrinkled, her frown deepened. She could smell it, she could smell her. The perfume that their mother had worn nearly all their lives wafted towards her, with floral notes that flooded her sharp senses. Her eyes narrowed and she quickly leaned forward to shove her feet back into her boots. She tightened the laces with with a suspicious sense of urgency.

“I’m going to smoke,” she announced, pushing away from the couch and grabbing her bag from the floor. More accurately she was going to run. She still couldn't bear the thought of facing her own mom. A bitter taste on the back of her tongue as her stomach did flips and her skin went clammy. She stomped down the hall, brushing past Cain on her way to the garage. “I can't believe you,” she said to him without stopping, turning to walk backwards and watch him as she did so. She meant a lot by the words, couldn't believe that he'd not told her about dad, couldn't believe that he'd failed so miserably with Akiko, and couldn't believe he had called their mother to tell on her, most likely. She disappeared through the door that led to the garage.

RE: Glass Houses [Closed] - saronym - 01-10-2017

Cain turned away from his mother and moved to enter his house. He’d barely passed into the foyer before Anita was pushing past him and expressing her dissatisfaction with him yet again. There was something about his sister’s attitude that he didn’t grasp. He wasn’t aware that he’d brought the scent of his mother inside with him or that Anita was planning to run because of that smell and all the emotion it dredged up.

He let his little sister brush past without resistance like water parting when an object hit. “You can’t stay mad at me forever.” He countered weakly and immediately made a mental note that this wouldn’t be a good line to try on Akiko.

“Mom’s outside.” He announced to his father as he crossed the threshold into the living room. He hovered near the doorway and crossed his arms protectively over his chest. Ears pinned to his head and his tail made agitated movements near his feet.

Owen had been staring blankly at the TV screen. He’d let Anita excuse herself in a huff because they’d upset one another. Her excuse for a smoke break sounded like her admitting she needed space and time to process. Like her mother, he was willing to acquiesce. Perhaps it was the fact that Owen was still nursing a wounded pride. Wounds left by his encounters with Kama and Darcias who seemed quick to remind Owen that he didn’t have a place in his own family.

You think because you've been brought back, by no act of benevolence, that everything suddenly concerns you again?

The words had hurt more than Owen was willing to admit because they felt true. Ten years was a long time for people to move on and readjust. Sure, there was a piece missing in his family where he used to fit. But he felt sort of like a water damaged puzzle piece that won’t be forced back into place. Bloated and distorted.

Owen nonetheless pushed himself up from the couch at Cain’s announcement. He walked past, pausing only to let his hand fall on his son’s shoulder for a moment. He would be lying to himself if facing her again didn’t make his stomach turn flips. The threat of rejection and denial was palpable.

He swallowed down his fear and pushed open the front door. He stepped out on the porch and let the door close behind him but stayed behind her for the moment. He stared down at the small frame that her shoulders made, watching the slow movements of her cigarette when it passed to her lips.

“Hey you,” He said with a kindness in his voice he wasn’t sure he was capable of given his nervousness. “Can I join you?” Owen remained standing in the doorway, ready to retreat should she dismiss him.