I doubted if I should ever come back (Percie)

[Deleted]

Phoenix squeaked as he was pulled into a bone-crushing hug, letting himself be engulfed by his panting, sweating boyfriend as guilt overwhelmed him. "I'm sorry...!" he whined. "I didn't mean t'get in trouble, I just forgot I owed that guy money and that I was walking by that alley and..." He trailed off. That wasn't something they should get into now. It was over and done with.

He let Oriel turn him every which way, staying limp and pouty until he got embraced again. Phen paled when he heard Oriel speak towards Percie, and he quickly pulled away and gave the woman an apologetic look. "He doesn't really mean that...!" he protested. He turned back to Oriel and gave him a nudge on the chest. "Be nice," he said quietly. Like that would help at all. Oriel did and said what he wanted to, and Phoenix could apologize for him all he wanted, but there was no stopping his protective, possessive boyfriend.

He waited until the detective was done speaking before taking Oriel's hand and tugging him to the couch, pulling the taller boy down with him. "She saved my life, okay?" he told Oriel while Percie was out of the room. "Please, just.... Try t'behave?" Phoenix gave a strained smile and looked down to point out the kitty in the room. "That's Watson," he explained. Phen nuzzled himself against his Squishy and buried his face into Oriel's shoulder, peeking up only when Percie came back into the room. "U-um, okay...." he murmured. "O-Oriel, uh... P-Percie knows my... Dad..." He swallowed hard and smooshed his face back against Oriel's shoulder. "He's, um, I guess he doesn't want t'meet me himself so he hired Percie to...." The scrawny boy was shaking like a leaf, still overwhelmed with all that had happened tonight.

[Deleted]

Of course he didn’t mean to get in trouble, Phoenix never meant to get in trouble, but regardless, through some sort of magic or fate, trouble kept finding Phoenix. Though from the sound of it, it seemed like this was a case of Phoenix’s past trying to catch up with him. Well…not while Oriel had anything to say about it, he was ready to punt that trouble right back into the past where it belonged. “You owe him money?” he asked, crouching down to look Phoenix in the eye. “How much? Tell me and I’ll go curb-stomp that fucking bagboy once for each dollar he thinks you owe him.” Oriel was only half-joking.

Oriel offered this hag, Percie, a smug little smirk, quite confident that he’d hit a nerve somewhere. Well, even if he didn’t, Oriel liked to assume he did, it’s what he was good at. The smirk only grew as Phoenix attempted to apologize for him. Oriel neither confirmed nor denied Phoenix’s assurances to the lady, and merely snorted defiantly. “What? I’m always nice!” he insisted, enjoying that worried looked on Phoenix’s little face. He gave the boy a quick kiss on the nose.

Oriel followed the woman along with Phoenix into the next room, taking note of the ink she had on her shoulder. And…a scar? Oriel growled silently. He didn’t like her explanation for why she picked up his boyfriend from the side of the street either. He didn’t like that she was skilled enough to fight someone off like that. Oriel didn’t like the way the bitch carried herself. Like a cop or something. It made the New Yorker and former street kid in him naturally defensive and distrusting.

“Hmph,” he said in response to Phoenix’s please. Oriel was trying, but he wasn’t going to make any promises. “She’s feeding you pie?” he asked, looking at the cat Watson, daring it with his eyes to come and sit in his lap so he could stroke it like an Evil Overlord. “Sure that shit ain’t laced with roofies or something?” Oriel trusted the cat more than he trusted the lady.

Oriel leaned back and peered over the pie that she placed before him after returning to the room. He turned his head down to Phoenix, who was burying his face into the younger boy’s shoulder. “Your dad?” That word sounded strange on the orphan’s tongue. “Thought you told me he…?” He left. Didn’t know him. Oriel scowled and released a groaning sigh as he sat up and wrapped an arm around his trembling lover. “Oh, for the love of—calm down already. You’re shaking so much, you could probably sing an opera.” He trailed his fingers through the other boy’s hair.

[Percie Hobbes]

She decided to ignore Oriel for the time being, she had more important things to do at the moment than acknowledge some teenage ego. There was softness in her eyes however when she regarded Phoenix and his posture, wishing that she could spare him what was obviously painful news. She was grateful that Oriel ordered him to calm down; perhaps with the other boy there Phoenix might stay calm long enough that Percie wouldn't have to worry about him hyperventilating and passing out on her. Still, she knew that the other boy needed space and that she was potentially asking a lot of him in such a short space of time. He was obviously still dealing with the shock of whatever had happened in the alley.

Thinking on it for another moment she rose to her feet and walked to her desk where she fished out a business card and turned it over to write her personal cell number on the back. She did the same for a second card and returned to the boys sitting on her couch. "Phoenix, as far as I know your father doesn't have plans as of yet to meet you. I'm trying to discover his motivations but he's not necessarily open," she frowned remembering their brief meeting. She'd have to call Derek later with an update. "I'd still like to touch base with you periodically, two or three times a week even if you can work it into your schedule so that I can keep updating him, in return I'll tell you what I've observed about him." It was a strange way to do business but Percie was convinced now more than ever that there was something special about this case for whatever reason and that her handling of it would rest primarily on her instincts rather than tried protocol.

She put one of the business cards on the table and slid it towards Phoenix. “I understand that you’re still processing a lot of this information and that you need time to make a decision,” she said soothingly in the voice she had always used to get timid or scared victims and witnesses to convey their information. “I wrote my personal cell number on the back so that you can contact me once you feel comfortable enough to do so. I’d rather not follow you around without you realizing it,” she admitted. She leveled a gaze at Oriel. “I’m also giving you a card in case you need to contact me for whatever reason.” She didn’t add that she thought the other boy would hunt her down if she didn’t anyway and she did NOT need him calling her names or questioning her integrity in public as it could mess with her business. In addition, Oriel seemed like the type of boyfriend that might very well take her card from Phoenix and keep it from him. By giving him a card of his own and basically open access to her at any time she hoped that he felt empowered enough to leave Phoenix’s card alone so that his boyfriend could reach a decision.

“Please feel free to finish your pie though, it’s very good and I’d hate for it to go to waste, we can talk about something else if you prefer?” she asked as she leaned back and drank through her whiskey rather quickly before going back into the kitchenette in the back of the house for more…this time in a much larger glass she usually reserved for iced tea. She doubted she’d get any other work done tonight but if she was lucky, a normal conversation would lead Phoenix to reveal trivial things about himself that she could use in her report.

[Deleted]

"I dunno... Prob'ly a lot..." Phoenix mumbled a reply to his lover. To be honest, he'd probably been high on dust when he'd made the deal with the guy, so it was a miracle Phen even remembered him. "Don't do that. I don't want anyone else gettin' hurt because of me..." He'd done enough damage already. He would, of course, try to keep the interactions between Oriel and Percie decent, but there was only so much he could do....

"Well, I've eaten some of it already, and she's eaten some too, so I think it's fine," Phen grumped, pouting down at the cat as though he could fix all of their problems. He cooed at Watson until he hopped back up into his lap, and gave a childish giggle, his features lightening once again.

He attempted to stop his shivering with the 'encouragement' of Oriel and the cards that Percie was handing them. He blinked at the numbers before peeking back up at the woman, feeling grateful that she was offering her help when she didn't have to. When she shouldn't, even - Phoenix didn't want to think how his.... His dad would react if he found out. "Um, o-okay," he agreed to her suggestions, nodding faintly. "That... That sounds good. Th-thank you." Phen swallowed and picked up the card from the table, glancing at it again, and then at Oriel, before pocketing the number. "I r-really appreciate you... Not just stalkin' me," he mumbled with a weak smile.

He stayed quiet as she offered the same to Oriel, taking one of his boyfriend's large hands in both of his own and tracing along the lines of his veins in hope that he wouldn't snap at the woman for some reason or another. Maybe, he hoped, at least the run over might have tired him out enough to be a little less... Feisty.

Phoenix reached forward and picked up his plate of pie again, balancing cat and dessert in his lap. "I-it is good," he agreed, nudging Oriel to eat his own, too. He pondered what to think about as Percie left the room again, looking up at Oriel through his eyelashes. "I could brag about you," he smiled. When she returned, Phen had managed to down a little more of his pie, but even as good as it was, he just didn't feel all that hungry. "Oriel cooks," he commented, nodding towards the younger boy. "He's really good. You should have seen how skinny I was before I met him."

[Deleted]

Well, fine. If Phoenix didn’t want Oriel hunting down that would-be-shanking jerk, then Oriel would hold back…probably. But he was walking him home from now on, especially if Phoenix didn’t get out from work until after dark.

“Well, it ain’t that hard to not roofie your own slice of pie, ‘nless you’re an idiot or something.” Oriel glared at the cat who chose Phoenix’s lap over his own and he flopped back on to the couch with an indignant, dejected scowl.

The scowl stayed on his face throughout most of Percie’s little explanation, as he continued to comfort Phoenix within the embrace of his arm. He didn’t like the idea of this woman talking to Phoenix, especially about some dude who claimed to be Phoenix’s father. The guy lost the right to call himself that when he took off. And he had no right to stick his nose in Phoenix’s life now, after all this time. The arrogant bastard was just going to drudge up a bunch of drama that Phoenix didn’t need. Ever.

If it were up to him, then he’d tell this Percie-hag to go shove that whiskey up her cunt and let the boys go on with their lives. They were happy. They didn’t need this.

Mrr…..it sucked that the run over there had taken up so much energy. Now he had no choice but to eat the fucking pie. One Phoenix started looking like he was doing better, and had taken up his own pie again, Oriel took his arm back and leaned forward to grab the pie that the witch had brought him. “Brag about what? That I give good head or something?” He smirked, taking in about half the slice in one bite. By the time the woman had returned, notably with a much larger glass of alcohol, the pie she’d served Oriel was nothing but crumbs sitting on the plate. “You’re still skinny,” he mumbled, stealing Phoenix’s plate from him and taking a small amount on the fork then holding it up to his lover’s lips. “You need more fat on your bones.” If Phoenix took the bite, then Oriel would take another rather large bite for himself before feeding Phoenix another small one.

[Percie Hobbes]

Percie was just close enough to the door in time to overhear Oriel's comment about giving good head. She nearly choked on the alcohol she was drinking. Would Derek want to know details about Phoenix's sex life if she told him his son was gay? She shuddered at the thought of those cold, dark eyes glaring at her as she delivered the news. Would he be comforted by the fact that his son's possessive, heavy-handed boyfriend was good at pleasuring his son at least? She seriously doubted it. A light flush from the alcohol and from thinking about sex in general (she'd been celibate for a while now) and she continued to work through her alcohol with distressing speed.

She was surprised to hear that Oriel cooked, not surprised when the boy insisted on feeding Phoenix. Could the boy do nothing for himself? She knew the irritation stemmed from her own independence and the alcohol working its way through her barriers. She didn't want to think of Phoenix as a mark, she had rescued him for god's sake; she wanted to take care of him. Something about his too-skinny, twiggy ass awoke all of her mothering instincts and if Oriel's behavior didn't improve to a satisfactory level once he calmed down and realized she wasn't a threat she'd have to make sure that he realized that she would do what was necessary to separate the boys.

She'd seen too many toxic and potentially toxic relationships while she was a cop. Too many beaten women (and more than a few men) sobbing not to take their husband or boyfriend to jail because "He didn't mean to hit me I swear!" She'd always taken perverse satisfaction in shoving them into the back of her squad car, or kicking chairs around in interrogation rooms and heaven help them if they got violent, thinking she was weaker than them. They might be able to intimidate and harm their lover's, but she was untouchable. She brooded for a moment and drank more of her drink than necessary as she recalled a particularly painful memory from her days as a cop, before she'd been a detective. Sadly…she would always remember her first dead body being a woman she had separated from her abusive husband too many times to count.

"You're still skinny," Percie said without any heat as she watched Oriel feed him. It was tender but it still rubbed her the wrong way. She was really going to have to reexamine this situation when she wasn't through almost half a bottle of whiskey. She weighed the pro's and con's of talking to Oriel and decided to make a deal with the devil as it were. She would need Phoenix to be communicative with her which meant she needed Oriel to not keep him away from her. "What sort of things do you like to cook?" she asked finally, leveling a hazel stare at the younger boy.

[Deleted]

As much as Phoenix had developed a strong dislike (not hatred... Phen couldn't hate his family, because it was the reason he was even alive) for the man who fathered him... He couldn't deny that his heart leapt at the chance to meet him, if he really was who Percie said he was. Even... Even if he was a jerk, at least he'd know. He'd be able to see what he might look like when he grew up. As far as he knew, the man was full-blooded Korean, unlike his half-racial mother, who had given him some Chinese blood, hence his surname. It was why his cousin, Xun, looked quite a bit different. But anyway...

He snorted at the comment Oriel made about his prowess in bed, peeking towards the doorway to make sure Percie didn't hear (she did). "Noo, I'm not gonna tell her about that...." he mumbled, cheeks flushing. "There's plenty more t'brag about." Even if Oriel didn't think so himself, Phoenix could go on for hours. Although, there was a good portion of that that involved the bedroom... He was musing over this when Percie returned, still quite oblivious that he had pushed her into drinking so much so soon.

"It's not my fault," he whined at both of them. "I-I think the drugs did shit t'my metabolism or somethin'..." Yeah, like he knew how that sort of science worked. He let Oriel take his plate without protest, unsurprised when Oriel held a forkful up to his mouth. He allowed the younger boy to feed him the morsel, munching on it quietly while he looked between the two of them when Percie spoke directly to his boyfriend. Phen just continued to pet Watson, letting his warm, heavy weight comfort him, though not as much as the warm, large, familiar presence of his most precious person.

"I bought him a cuttin' board and knives for his birthday," he chirped when he got the chance. "He just turned seventeen. My Squish- er, baby's growin' up." Phen bumped his forehead fondly against Oriel's scruffy chin. It was obvious to any onlooker that the pixie boy was completely devoted to his younger lover. "U-um... We... We don't need t'intrude any more on your time tonight, though, you know... We can leave you and Watson to have the rest of the night t'yourselves..." Phen ruffled a hand through his hair (which, he realized, he should probably be getting cut again one of these days), giving the woman an apologetic smile.

[Deleted]

Oriel had, for the most part, gotten into the habit of taking care of Phoenix like a mother hen, making sure he was fed everyday, getting on him about homework(mostly because he needed help himself and it was just easier to do it all together at once), Oriel even did the older boy’s laundry(though again because it was just easier to do it all at once and Oriel was going to do his own anyway). Feeding the boy personally, like he was doing now, was something he did when he didn’t think Phoenix had eaten enough. He’d already resigned himself to the fact that Phoenix was not ever going to have an appetite as big as Oriel’s, he’d even stopped over feeding his lover in an attempt to prove his point(though the after effects of those days were quite stimulating), but Oriel would do this from time to time when he was convinced that Phoenix was just being finicky.

“That ain’t no excuse for leaving food on your plate.” Oriel would have served him less to begin with but…well, obviously Percie didn’t know any better.

The boy needed to be taken care of, that much was certain, at least in Oriel’s eyes. After all, what would Phoenix do with himself if Oriel wasn’t around? He’d probably starve, never get any sleep, and waste away in some corner somewhere. The incident tonight only proved that even more to Oriel. What if that dealer came back when Oriel wasn’t around? He knew that Phoenix had a past about as rocky as Oriel’s, but Phoenix wasn’t in any sort of shape to be fighting off a bunch of headstrong debt collectors. Oriel was definitely going to have to keep a closer eye on his boyfriend.

That said, and despite all her seemingly good intentions, Oriel didn’t want this cunt anywhere near Phoenix, especially not without Oriel around. Who knows what she’d convince him to do, and Phoenix was(sorry to say) just naive(read: stupid) enough to take anything she said at face value. If he hadn’t, Phoenix wouldn’t have so blindly followed her home after the promise of kittens and cake. Yeah…a woman who drank as much as this manipulative twat was bad news.

“The hell’re you calling a baby?” Oriel snorted disdainfully. He wasn’t a kid and ain’t never have been. Oriel collected another fork full of pie as he glared suspiciously back over to the woman. He wasn’t comfortable answering a single one of her questions but…fine, he’ll bite. “Cookies,” he offered with a sneer. “Sometimes stir-fry. Sometimes simple meat and potatoes. Sometimes I just throw shit together and see what comes out.” He looked to Phoenix, who was giving a gentle opening for them to finally get the fuck out of there, and while he was a touch thankful, he wasn’t quite done dancing yet. Oriel fed Phoenix one last bit of the pie then gave him a once over. “Heh,” he snickered, “think you got more on your face than in your mouth.” With a quick lean in, Oriel pressed their mouths together, licking off the excess pastry crumbs that had accumulated around his mouth while keeping one provocative eye on the she-bitch. Oh, yes, he was having fun.

[Percie Hobbes]

There were times in Percie's life where she had to try very, very hard to remember that not everything that was meant to be a challenge was to be taken up. When she was younger...really before she'd gotten shot and had her shoulder shattered she had quickly picked up on anything she saw as a dare. She would have loved to have taken Oriel up on whatever challenge he was throwing her. But she was a thirty-five year old former cop who'd had a little too much to drink early in the night. She watched the display in front of her blandly and fought off the urge to roll her eyes at Oriel's less than polite answer. "What in the name of the chocolate mousse are you trying to do?" she wondered in her head. "I am years older than you and I saved your boyfriend from a drug dealer. I suppose it must really rub you the wrong way when your control is taken from you." she thought pityingly in her head as she rose to her feet and finished off her glass.

"Excuse me," she said simply as the boys began kissing on her couch. She picked her cellphone up from the desk on her way by and took herself into the entry way to make her phone call. She pulled Derek's contact information up on her phone and checked the clock. It was just a little past ten...that fell into the realm of 'evening' didn't it? Like it mattered, Percie had ingested enough alcohol to where she wanted to take her frustration out on someone and felt that calling her client was a fantastic idea at the time. She punched the number and heard it ring. When the phone picked up she didn't even wait for Derek to say hello. "It's Percie," she said simply before launching into her "update".

A few minutes later she was frowning at her phone and then walking back into her office to grab her keys. She took one look at the boys on her couch and opened one of the drawers of the desk, fishing out a few conspicuous foil packets and flinging them at the love-birds. "I'm leaving, don't steal anything and lock the door when you're finished," she ordered imperiously as she scooped up her keys and left through the office's front door. The bar she'd been ordered to meet Derek at was within walking distance, a fortunate twist as she was too drunk to drive her car. She should have been worried about leaving the boys in her office, but her guns were locked in a hidden cupboard, she never left personal information lying around and her computer was so password protected even she had a problem getting into it sometimes. Nope, it’d be fine because Phoenix would keep Oriel in line or the boys would be so distracted by their hormones that they wouldn’t be a threat. She smiled brightly despite the thoughts swimming in her head…she was going to get to drink more…and on someone else’s dime!

[Deleted]

When Oriel had been hospitalized, the only times Phoenix had been able to eat or sleep or do much of anything was when other people had forced him to. That was sort of a special case, since he'd also been worried sick about his boyfriend nearly dying, but that would be the case now no matter how Oriel left him. Phoenix was so dependent on the younger boy that he wasn't even aware of his own dependency; Oriel was the rock in his life that he needed to function, now that he'd replaced Phen's drug habit. And he was blissfully unaware of how unhealthy that was.

"You're two years younger than me," he mumbled as an explanation. Phoenix's eyes darted between the two of them as Oriel gave his not-so-kind sounding response, a crease forming between his brows as he frowned at the tone in his voice. "Honey..." he whined. But there was no more arguing from him as his mouth was filled with another piece of pie and then promptly mashed against his lover's. He gave a muffled sound of initial protest (he didn't want Percie to have to watch this, what would she think?), but as probably predicted, Phen melted under the dominant boy's touch, and he sunk back against the couch and just accepted whatever Oriel did to him. Soon enough, he forgot where they even were.

He forgot, at least, until Percie returned, and jolted a little as he felt a few small somethings hit his leg. He'd managed to slip down until he was laying on the couch, already breathing hard from what Oriel was putting him through. "Y-y-you're leavin'?" he managed to gulp. His head was fuzzy, and he tried to think of what this could mean, but Phoenix came up with nothing. "O... Okay...." He picked up one of the small packages and looked at it before blanching guiltily. But by that point the detective was already gone, so Phen just looked up at Oriel with wide eyes. "... 'Least she gave us these..." he mumbled, shoving the packet in his boyfriend's face.

[Deleted]

Oriel wasn’t sure what he expected the woman to do in response to his “challenge”. What could she do? Tell him to stop? Kill him with ‘niceness’? Heh…maybe she’d even go as far as to try and join in on the festivities, but that would probably be taking it too far, even for Oriel…well, maybe not for Oriel. But he was having a grand time, wondering what the woman would do next against Oriel’s provocation.

While Phoenix had quickly and easily gotten lost in the moment, Oriel was still very much aware of what he was doing and where he was doing it. Ha ha! What better revenge was there against a pedo-abductor like her than to do the nasty on her very own couch? Percie left and Oriel smiled, plunging even deeper with his tongue into Phoenix’s mouth, sliding his hands down his lover’s hips, and grinding his knee right where his legs met one another. The woman wasn’t gone very long, but was still for a noticeable amount of time.

Oriel barked out a laugh when she chucked the flat silver packages at the two blissful boys. Oriel was no thief, but he was going to enjoy this moment. “Yeah,” Oriel said, looking down on his boyfriend with a wicked grin. “It’d be a shame to let ‘em go to waste. Wouldn’t you say?” With an equally wicked cackle, Oriel deposited his mouth over Phoenix’ once more.

Fade to Black?

[Percie Hobbes]

((continued from this thread HERE))

Percie found out that drinking!Derek was much more fun that grumpy sober!Derek. She slowed her drinking down a touch and even managed three or four glasses of water between her drinks. When he mentioned dancing she lit up, "Yes! We should go dancing some time," she grinned. She wasn't a very good dancer but it would be good for stress relief. Before she knew it their tab had been paid and she and Derek were wrapped around each other for support as they stumbled down the street to her home. She could put Derek on the couch before crawling up to bed and snuggling down for the night herself.

"Yeah that one," she pointed to the left of her house as they stumbled up the porch and she fumbled with the keys in the lock. After finally getting the door unlocked she pushed it in with a little more force than necessary and had already stumbled inside when frantic movement and flying clothing made her remember why she had left her apartment in the first place. Panic seized her; she really did not want to deal with a confrontation after drinking. To that end she did the only thing she could think of. As the door swung shut behind her she grabbed Derek and kissed him, hard. It would occur to her later that she could have just altered his memory of the event, but she was drunk and not thinking straight and frankly kissing him was wonderful. She opened her eyes momentarily and pulled her mouth away to jerk her head in the direction of the back door when the small action caused Derek to take action of his own. In a matter of seconds Percie was reduced to a pile of goo.

[Deleted]

Derek would not mind going dancing. And certainly not with with this woman. As head-strong as she was, Derek would never admit to actually enjoying her company, especially when there were drinks involved. He would have to continue their relationship after the whole matter with his son had been concluded.

Upon arriving at the house she indicated, Derek helped her to it, practically carrying her with one arm beneath both of her. He was hardly steady on his feet himself and was under the impression he might just crash on her couch - Derek had already forgotten what had been taking place on said couch moments before their arrival.

This was also why he was taken by surprise when Percie suddenly grabbed the taller, older man and locked their lips together. And why he didn’t even consider her actions to be a ruse. Derek was all for women throwing themselves at him, desperately. He responded immediately and pushed her back up against the wall, his arm sliding down to her lower back and other hand up to cup her face. The ploy would have worked perfectly if not for the impulsiveness of one curly haired, half-naked boy, who decided to give the older gentleman a ‘well-deserved’, swift kick in the rear on his way out the door.

Derek jumped at the impact, halfway thinking that Percie had just pounded him in the ass with her fist, but movement from the corner of his eye had him turning his head to see two blurry figures dash off into the night. “What was—?” Derek didn’t get a chance to question it, as Percie pulled him right back in for another kiss and his drunken mind decided that she was more important than the fleeing children. He hooked his arms under her rump and picked her up, kicking the door shut behind him, and carried the woman to the bedroom.

((wrap?))