Christmas at the Cabin: Chapter 3
Rating/Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters
A/N: here is the super long Chapter 3. It is based off of the third pain of christmas: hangovers. sort of. . . :D There is drunkenness, so that you know.
Chapter 3
“The Man Who Could Never Get Drunk”
Trikk groaned softly, slowly waking up, sunlight streaming down into the room. Slashera was still snuggled up against the woman, and Trikk blinked, moving her arms slowly, stroking up and down the girl’s back as the night before came flooding back to her mind. Rolling over just a little, careful as to not unsettle the child, the girl gripped the alarm clock, noting that Slade’s bed was empty and freshly made up, and turned the clock face to her. And gazed at the digital numbers reading 10:00 AM. Her eyes widened considerably. They’d slept in . . . . Yawning, eyes shut tight, the girl rolled back over and wrapped her arms around the little girl, deciding that if they’d already slept in, a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. With that, she dozed off again. The warm smells of breakfast cooking wafting into the bedroom brought the author out of her doze three minutes later, and she blinked, rolling back over and sitting up, facing the door. . . Slashera grunted, unsettled a little, and sat up, rubbing her eyes, “Wh-what’s going on?” “Slade is making breakfast,” Trikk murmured, then turned and smiled at Slashera, “Let’s go get you some socks to wear and go see what he’s making!” Slashera beamed at her, “ALRIGHT!”
Minutes later, Slashera had on socks, as did Trikk, and the girl was sitting sleepily on the woman’s hip as they entered the kitchen. Slade turned his head, clearly exhausted from working on the circuit breaker all night, and cast them a tired look, “Mornin’. . .” Trikk smiled, “I see that you got the electricity back on. . .” He rolled his eye, “Yeah, at like 5:30 this morning. I had to get some sleep. I just woke up about an hour ago. . .” he turned back to the scrambled eggs he was working on. “I guess Mama Trikk and I were pretty tired too! We just woke up!” Slashera said happily. Trikk’s eyes widened at the girl’s comment, and Slade’s spoon clattered into the pan, some egg bits flying out of it.
The man tensed, and quickly took the spoon up and set it on the counter, turning and blinking at Slashera, “Wh-what was that?” “I said me and Mama Trikk only just got up ourselves!” Slashera said, oblivious to the tension in the air. Slade walked over, frowning, eye locked on Trikk. And whether he wanted it to be there or not, she saw that territorial look in his eye. That hidden danger. She gulped, and wrapped her arms tighter around the little girl subconsciously. As Slade frowned, muttering to Slashera, “What did you just call her?” “Mama Trikk! She is my mama, after all, isn’t she Father Slade?” Trikk frowned and took a step back as Slade came to tower over her. His eye held an inner fire, a possessiveness. A part of him didn’t want to share any parental title to the girl with anyone. Not even Trikk.
Slashera frowned, as Trikk gazed up at Slade, her grip on the girl tightening a little bit more, refusing to back down further. “And why is Slashera calling you that?” he muttered, and Trikk could practically hear the venom in his words. She frowned, “Last night, after I read to her a story, she called me that. I decided that she could if she wanted to. Because she chose to call me that herself,” she replied in a low voice, her eyes daring him to retaliate. Slade frowned hard at her for a moment longer, but then the man turned to Slashera, smiling, “I think it’s a wonderful name.”
He turned quickly on his heel and headed back to the stove. And Trikk let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. . . “Why don’t you two pour some hot cocoa and head on out onto the porch while I get breakfast ready?” he remarked. Trikk nodded, and turned to Slashera, “Go out on the porch, little one. . .” she sat the girl down on the floor, and the girl nodded, grinned, and turning, ran, opened the screen door, and went onto the porch. Turning, Trikk walked behind Slade, found the fresh pot of cocoa on the counter on a pot holder, and began to pour two mugs, one for herself and another for Slashera, glancing at the man as he worked over pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. She half expected him to say something, but he didn’t say a thing . . . maybe that was a good thing . . . turning, she headed out onto the porch.
Slade sighed as soon as the author exited the kitchen. To be honest, he wasn’t sure how he felt about Slashera calling Trikk “Mama”. At first, he’d felt a sort of anger or irritation towards Trikk upon hearing the title. He’d toned it down for the sake of her and for Slashera, but in truth, he was greatly confused about how he felt. The way Slashera had titled her . . . he felt as though it made him and Trikk both parents on a level greatly different than just being Slashera’s Father and author. He supposed it was similar to two parents that had been divorced but now were both involved in the child’s life . . . but still, that didn’t even sound right. Not really . . . So what were they supposed to be?
He frowned, and glancing out the window, heard Slashera talking about the movie they’d watched the other day to Trikk. He supposed that in different ways, Slashera was both his child and her child . . . like an adopted child. Yeah, that made more sense . . . or at least more sense than the alternative, that he and Trikk had . . . he shuddered. To be honest, he had never imagined sex with Trikk . . . well, he had to admit that on the rare occasion he had imagined it . . . but that was probably just because of his male hormones, of course. He certainly wasn’t really attracted to her sexually! Besides, every time he did think about it, he shuddered. He sighed, and closing his eye, shook his head. Why was he thinking of such things anyway? It was just a title. He knew for a fact that Slashera had for a long time thought of Trikk as her brain mom. What was different now? Nothing. In a way, he supposed he was getting the family he’d always wanted. With him as the Father, Trikk as the Mama, Slashera as the little sister, Lilac as the big sister, and Jareth . . . as the 3rd cousin twice removed that the father really didn’t like but had to put up with because of the mama. He chuckled. Yeah, sounded like a family to him . . . maybe a dysfunctional one, but a family, nonetheless.
About thirty minutes later, Slashera and Trikk walked back into the kitchen, just as Lilac came through the door to the cabin. Trikk frowned, blinking at the witch, “I thought you were getting Jareth?” “He’s not at his home,” Lilac replied, frowning, “Just a note that said that he’d be back soon. Whatever that means.” “That means that we get a few moments of peace without him here,” Slade remarked with a smirk. Trikk darted her eyes over to the man, frowning at him, clearly sending him the message to not go there this morning, and as she and Lilac moved to sit at the table, where Slade and Slashera already sat in their own chairs. . . “No!” Slashera suddenly said, frowning at Trikk. Trikk paused, blinking and frowning at the girl. Slashera frowned, “You’re my Mama Trikk! You sit beside me! Like Father Slade!” Trikk frowned and darted her eyes to Slade, who was moving food onto his plate. For a few moments she stayed like that, looking to see what he would think, but then he blinked, setting the bowl of eggs he’d had in his hand down on the table, “Well, if you’re waiting on an invite from me, you won’t get one. Just sit wherever you want. I don’t care.” Trikk blinked, and slowly, her and Lilac switched spots. And so breakfast began.
“So what’s everyone got planned?” Lilac suddenly said halfway through the meal, biting into her pancakes. “I have to take some lights off of the damn house,” Slade muttered. “Awwww! But it was so pretty!” Slashera said, frowning at him. “I’ll keep the lights on the windows and doors and I’ll keep the lights on the chimney. I’ll even keep the icicle lights up. But that’s it. We can’t lose electricity again, little one,” he murmured. Slashera smiled, “Okay. . .” she turned to Trikk and Lilac, “So what are we gonna do?” “Well, we could go play in the snow,” Trikk said, smiling at her, “Go to a nice clearing in the woods . . . have a snowball fight, build snowmen, make snow angels . . .” Slashera beamed, “I’ve never done that before! That sounds like fun!” Lilac laughed, “A snow day it is for us then. We’ll get all bundled up after breakfast and go.”
An hour later, Trikk, Lilac, and Slashera left the cabin and Slade behind as the man tiredly worked on the roof to get lights off, and headed down a path. Luckily, the criminal mastermind had given them a map of the entire area. As Slashera laughed and ran ahead, skipping in the snow before running back to them then running back out again, Lilac frowned, and glanced at Trikk, who was frowning, watching the child run, her hands shoved into her coat pockets, “Wanna talk about it?” “Talk about what?” Trikk replied, a black scarf firmly around her throat, her breath coming from pale lips as a puff of warm air. Her hair was down beneath her beanie, while Lilac’s and Slashera’s were down their backs in braids.
“About that ‘Mama Trikk’ thing this morning at breakfast. Is that new? I’ve never heard Slashera use it before. . .” “Yes, she only started last night,” Trikk murmured. “And how does Slade feel about it?” “I don’t really know. He got this predatory, territorial look when she first called me that this morning. I didn’t know if he was going to attack or not to be honest. . .” Trikk remarked. “It must be hard,” Lilac remarked calmly. Trikk frowned and turned to the woman.
Lilac smiled weakly, “Well, you’re both mine and Slashera’s brain mother, but we’re also from very different stories. In mine, hey, it’d be no big deal. But Slade, he . . . he’s training her to be the perfect apprentice in her story. He wants her sole devotion. And to do that, he’s becoming the only parental figure in her life. He wants to be her sole parent, and when he hears her calling you ‘Mama’, he may feel as though his plan is threatened. . .” Trikk sighed and shook her head, blinking at the witch, “But he knows that won’t cause the storyline to deviate at all. I don’t understand. . .” “Maybe he doesn’t even understand. I think he knows that it’s not really threatening his plans, but knowing something and feeling something are two different things sometimes. Like, you can know he is a villain, and a mass murdering villain at that, right?” Trikk frowned and nodded. “So why do you feel like you can sleep soundly in the same bedroom with him? Or eat his meals?”
“Because I know he won’t try anything,” Trikk murmured, blinking. “And how do you know that?” “Because if he hurts me, I’ll stop writing about him,” Trikk replied with a shrug. “You don’t think there’s something more? Something that is the reason why, despite how much you know about his dark side, you still trust him? Perhaps more than most would consider necessary? Or sane?” Trikk frowned, blinking, “So despite what he’s done, I still feel as though he’s trustworthy for me?” “I don’t know, do you?” Lilac said, blinking at her. Trikk frowned, and turning, gazed at Slashera, “I’ve always . . . sort of liked Slade. So many men in life will claim to be good, even if they do awful things . . . at least . . . at least Slade’s upfront about it. He’s more . . . honest, I suppose, even if he is dishonest. . . He’s honest about being dishonest, I guess . . . and I guess. . . I guess that’s why I feel I can trust him.” Lilac smiled at her, “So you trust that he is dishonest when it suits him? And that’s what makes him trustworthy?” Trikk smirked at her, “Kind of crazy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but if life wasn’t crazy, I think it’d just be boring,” Lilac murmured with a smirk. Trikk laughed, “So, what was your point?” “Oh, yes, my point. Sometimes, you can feel one way, but know something else, and despite that knowledge, you still act on your feelings. And I think that’s what Slade did. For at least a moment. He feels as though any parental figure at all threatens his plan and must be eliminated. So when he heard ‘Mama’, he saw you as that, not his author. So he was perhaps ready to harm you. But then he thought it through, and realized it wasn’t that big of a deal. Does that make sense?” Trikk smiled, “Actually, I think it kind of does. Thanks.” “So, are you okay with the title?” Lilac asked.
Trikk frowned, gazing at the witch, who was turning her head to face her author as they walked, “I’m . . . okay with it. . . I’m worried, though. . .” she turned and gazed at Slashera, sadness in her eyes. “You’re worried you can’t fit her expectations of a mother, aren’t you?” Lilac murmured gently. “Perhaps,” Trikk whispered, “She’s been let down by one maternal figure already. I don’t want another to let her down. . .” “You won’t,” Lilac murmured. Trikk frowned and turned to the witch, “How do you know?” “I just do. Trikk, it’s obvious you care for her. And want her happy. And as far as I’m concerned, because of that, you’ll be an excellent mother for her. You already kind of were, even if it wasn’t official until now,” Lilac replied. Trikk smiled, “Thanks.” At that moment, Slashera ran up, grinning, “We’re there!” Trikk grinned, “Let’s go then little one!” Slashera grabbed her author’s and Lilac’s hands, and in no time, the three were running for the clearing.
Minutes later, Trikk stood across from Lilac and Slashera in the large snow covered clearing. The three had chosen to start off with a snowball fight. Trikk smirked across at the two girls, “Oh yes, 2 on 1 is so fair. . .” she winked, and began to lean down towards the snow. Slashera frowned, “But Mama Trikk, Lilac and you will switch in a little while! Then you’ll be on the 2 team!” Trikk chuckled, “I know. . .” with that she shot up and let loose the snowball she’d made. Slashera squealed, and dodged it, giggling, hiding behind Lilac. Who smirked, “SO NOW WE START HUH?!” She quickly leaned down and picked up some snow to make a ball with, as Trikk let another one loose, flying straight for the Witch. Who quickly dodged to the left as Slashera dodged to the right, both girls landing on their feet in the snow.
Trikk smirked, and let loose another, which hit Lilac square in the shoulder. Lilac gasped, then grinned and tossed her snowball to Slashera, “THROW IT!” Slashera grinned, nodded, and turning to Trikk, pulled her hand back then threw it forward as far as she could go, letting the snowball fly through the air. Trikk laughed and dodged to the right, quickly making a new snowball. Only to have the snowball curve around and smack her in the back of the head. She frowned and turned to Lilac, “Enchanted Snowball? NOW THAT REALLY ISN’T FAIR!” “Gee, I wonder what Jareth would say if he were here,” Lilac murmured, referring to how Sarah had complained in the Labyrinth, inciting the Goblin King’s anger. Trikk growled, glaring at the witch, “THIS IS DIFFERENT AND YOU. . . HEY!” She gasped, as she jerked around, staring at Slashera, who giggled and grinned at the woman, having thrown a snowball of her own at Trikk’s head, hitting her beanie square on. Trikk grinned, and let another one loose, heading for the child. Who easily dodged and met Trikk with one of her own, which Trikk dodged. Only to be hit in the shoulder by one from Lilac. She grunted, turned, and after making another snowball, prepared to fling it at the witch. Only to get smacked in the thigh by one from Slashera. She turned to the girl, frowning, and before she could redirect her throwing arm to let the snowball go to Slashera instead, another one from Lilac smacked her in the stomach.
Trikk gasped, and staggered a bit, then frowned at both girls, who were blinking at her, their hands behind their backs, “NOW GIRLS! GANGING UP ON ME REALLY ISN’T. . .” she stared, as the two girls turned and winked at one another, before turning back to her and holding up four snowballs, one in each hand. She sweat dropped, “Oh dear. . .” Trikk dodged two of the snowballs, but the other two, well . . . one hit her knee, and another hit her chest. The girl grunted, and took a step back. Lilac grinned, “ALRIGHT! MY TURN!” she jogged over and high-fived Trikk who grinned and rushed over to Slashera. Time to plan a strategy!
In no time, Slashera was hurling snowballs at Lilac from around Trikk, who stood before the girl as a shield, taking each snowball hurled their way by the witch. After each side had landed about 30 snowballs on the other, the two older girls switched again, and the third round went much like the first, although Trikk did manage to dodge more snowballs the second time around. And so the process continued, with Lilac and Trikk switching each round, with the three girls gradually getting better at dodging and throwing the snowballs. By the time they’d reached the twentieth round, Trikk was exhausted, and as she ran over to go back to her lonely side, the girl groaned, and paused. She seriously felt like right then, she couldn’t take another step. Holding her arms out straight at her sides, the girl groaned, closed her eyes, and fell back into the snow, sinking down in it, gazing up at the sun above her, as the other two girls rushed over. Lilac smirked, “Given up?”
“Yeah, you win,” Trikk said, smiling nonetheless as she began to move her legs back and forth horizontally and her arms up and down in the snow. “What are you doing?” Slashera laughed. “Making a snow angel,” Trikk grinned, before finally stopping, standing up, and turning to face her handy work. It wasn’t perfect, but at least one could tell it was an angel. “See?” she pointed. Slashera grinned, “I WANT TO MAKE ONE!” she flopped back next, and began to move her arms and legs in the same manner Trikk had before. The two older girls watched the child giggle and laugh as she played in the snow with a smile on their faces. Then the girl clamored up and turned to her angel, pointing, “SEE!” “It looks amazing. Better than mine, even,” Trikk answered truthfully. Then the author turned and grinned at Lilac, “Your turn.” The witch smiled, and flopped back, and after making her angel, sat back up and got up, moving away. “Okay, now that both of you have made angels better than mine, let’s all just do it!” Trikk laughed, and the girls laughed together as they flopped back into the snow.
About half an hour later, all three girls, despite their previous plans, were so exhausted and cold that they couldn’t bring themselves to make a single snow man. So, after making a vow to make one in the next few days, all three headed back to the cabin, with Slashera on Trikk’s back as she was given a piggy back ride.
Slade growled and gripping the last spiral tree on the ground beside his door, having taken down everything else off of his house and around it with the exception of the lights on the windows, doors, and the chimney, and the icicle lights lining the roof, swung the tree back a bit after wrenching it off of the ground. The man twisted and turned and flung it, roaring angrily, into the pile of light displays he’d made nearby, which was at least fifty feet tall. The thing landed with a thump on top of the pile. He sighed deeply, and turned to the Slade-bots nearby waiting patiently, and pointed at the pile, “You lot. Get that taken away. Back to the warehouse.” The Slade-bots nodded, and set to work piling the lights into trucks parked nearby.
Slade frowned, and was about to turn to head into the house, when he saw them. The three girls walking calmly back up to the cabin. Or rather, two of them were walking. The third, Slashera, was on Trikk’s back. He smirked and called, “COLD?!” Trikk laughed, “DO YOU HAVE TO ASK?!” He laughed right back at her and headed inside. When he’d eaten lunch, he had made venison chili. He could easily heat that up to warm the girls up.
After some chili and cornbread and some milk, the three girls definitely were warming up. “So, what’s next?” Slade said, frowning, leaning on the couch, his arms folded. Trikk blinked and turned to Lilac, “What do you think?” “I’m thinking some cheesecake and a movie,” Lilac replied back, winking. Trikk grinned, “You pick the movie and I’ll get the cheesecake.”
In no time, the group was watching the version of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey. Slashera sat in the center of the couch, with Trikk on her right and Lilac on her left, all three girls having their feet propped up on the coffee table. Slade sat in a kitchen chair he’d grabbed from the kitchen table, which now had four empty plates on it with crumbs from the cheesecake they’d eaten on the previously clean dishes. Quite frankly, he found the Grinch to be the most sensible person in the whole movie. Especially with the line he said regarding how each thing for Christmas wound up in the trash. That was certainly true on many occasions. . . He found the two women battling over lights to be absolutely nuts. Hell, he hadn’t been so competitive to go out and buy an expensive gun to fire lights onto the house, or to go into the house and take all the light bulbs. He would admit that he had been kind of obsessed, but not that much, at least. The Mayor was just a fat jerk. And his assistant was a leech trying to be in the Mayor’s spotlight. He supposed that the two “mothers” to the Grinch were . . . somewhat likeable, but they were terribly naïve. Cindy Lou Who was about as crazy as they came. How could she not tell that that was the Grinch taking the tree? Of course, she’d never seen Santa, but that was no excuse for her to stare at the Grinch in his Santa costume and still think it was Santa. And what was up with the Whoville people’s noses? What were they, a cross between humans and rats? They all seriously needed nose jobs . . . He supposed the dog was alright . . . the voice of reason with the Grinch, he supposed . . . and at times some comic relief. . . as the movie finally turned off, the man sighed. At least the madness was over now.
Trikk stretched on the couch, grunting, as Slashera grinned, “WELL THAT WAS FUN!” Lilac smiled and sat up, “Yes, it was, little Slash . . .” “So do you guys want to watch another movie?” Trikk asked, and turning, smiled at Slashera. Who beamed at the woman and nodded, “YES! THAT SOUNDS LIKE. . .” at that moment, the door to the cabin slammed open, and the sound of staggering footsteps was heard, along with a very drunken “HEY GUUUUYS! I’M BAAAACK!” Jareth gave a hiccup, and the four shot up and rushed to the doorway leading into the muck room from the living room, and stared at the Fae as he staggered and leaned against the washing machine, clutching an almost empty bottle of a red color in his hand. His cape was crooked, and the Fae had man black feathers in his hair for some odd reason. He turned and grinned a crooked smile at them, clearly as drunk as he could get, “HOW’S IT hic! GOIN’?! hic!” Slade frowned, “Fine, until you stumbled in.” Trikk stared at the Fae, “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, AND WHY ARE YOU SO DRUNK?!” she snapped angrily, hands on her hips, as Slashera stared, hiding behind her “Mama” and Father, peeking out between the two adults’ inside legs. Lilac frowned and crossed her arms, easily reading the Fae’s mind, “He was at a party in his castle with all of the other goblins, drinking mead and wine and various other alcoholic drinks into the morning and up until now. Which explains his attire,” she muttered in a voice that clearly said that she did NOT approve.
Jareth frowned, and staggering forward, pointed a finger at the air beside Lilac’s head, “Now, wassa matter with you lotttt?” he turned and gazed at Trikk with glazed over eyes, “I just wanted to have a bit of fun, is all!” he stumbled forward and a hand landed firmly on Trikk’s shoulder, and he gazed into her eyes with a drunken gaze, “Wassa wrong with doing that?” he slurred. She wrinkled her nose at the alcohol on his breath. “Nothing’s wrong. But I cannot see much fun in drinking so much to make yourself drunk, unappealing, stupid, and without any sense of balance,” Slade muttered, shoving the man away from Trikk, glaring at him. “You say that like you nevah been drrrrunk, before!” Jareth staggered against the sink in the muck room, pointing a finger at Slade. Slade frowned, glaring at the Fae, “I’m pleased to say that I have never been drunk in my life.”
“You never tasted alcohol before?” even Lilac was surprised as she asked Slade that. She’d thought for sure the mercenary had had at least one drink in his life. . . Slade blinked and turned to her, “No, I have had alcohol. My running record is 10 bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey, one after the other. But I have never been drunk before. I am unable to get drunk. Just ask Trikk. She designed me that way. . .” Lilac frowned and turned to Trikk, who shrugged, gazing at the witch, “I don’t like men who are drunk. And it was more or less a side effect of his extremely fast immune system anyway. Besides, I felt it would be rather dangerous to take a mercenary who already doesn’t mind killing and make him drunk enough to lower any inhibitions he might have. I consider the fact that he can’t get drunk a favor I’ve done for the world.” “And for me,” Slade remarked firmly, “I view people who drink so much they get drunk and act like fools as ridiculous idiots,” he snarled.
“Don’t knock it . . . til you . . . try it,” Jareth said, hiccupping, “Bessssiiiides . . . there ain’t no one who can’t get drrrrunk.” “Sorry, Jareth, but if that’s the rule, Slade’s the exception to it. He’s the man who could never, can never, and will never get drunk,” Trikk murmured, “It simply can’t be done.” Jareth frowned at Slade, “I don’t understand. . .” Slade sneered at the Fae, leaning forward, “Then you’re even dumber when you’re drunk, Goblin King. And I never even thought that that was possible.” “For me to get drrrrrrunk? hic!” Jareth said, jolting with the hiccup. “No, for you to get any dumber. Seriously, shouldn’t you be brain dead at this point?” Slade said with a smirk. Jareth held up the hand with the bottle in it, and pointed one finger at Slade, tipping to the side and catching himself on the dryer to keep himself upright. Frowning at Slade, he said loudly, “Still, there’s no way you can nevvvver gggget dddddrrrrrrrrunnnnkkkkk!”
Slade chuckled and shook his head, “You’re just making a bigger fool of yourself,” he slurred, and then smirked at Jareth, “We’ve already told you that I can’t get drunk. Just accept that I’m better than you in that way and get over it,” he shrugged. Jareth smirked, “Oh no. . . I’ll test your claim.” Trikk frowned, “Excuse me?”
About thirty minutes later, the entire kitchen table had been stripped of its table cloth and was covered with bottles of various beers and liquors and whiskeys and wines, as were the kitchen counters, the coffee table in the living room, and the top of the refrigerator, as well as any free space inside the refrigerator. And Slade sat at the table, blinking at it all. And turned to Jareth, and then smirked, “You know, you didn’t have to gather all of this here . . . but if you really want me to humiliate you, I’ll do it.” Jareth sneered back, “Fat chance. There’s NO WAY that you’re going to be able to drink all the liquor I’ve bought and not get drunk.” Slade smirked, “Another competition? Well then, let’s make a little deal. If I don’t get drunk off of all of the drinks you’ve brought here, you admit that I won the light contest yesterday. Since we never really decided on the victor.”
Trikk, Lilac, and Slashera knelt on the couch, leaning on their folded arms over the back of the piece of furniture, Slashera in the center, Trikk and Lilac on the sides. Trikk groaned, “I really, really don’t know if this is a good idea . . .” she darted her eyes to Lilac, who glanced back, reading the author’s mind. You . . . you can wipe this memory from Slashera’s mind later, right? Lilac smiled and nodded right back, Absolutely. Trikk sighed, and turned to face the men. Jareth smirked, “DEAL! AND IF YOU GET DRUNK, YOU ADMIT THAT I WON YESTERDAY!” Slade smirked, “Very well.” Turning, he grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels, ripped off the top along with a bit of the glass bottle, and brought the jagged edges to his lips, throwing his head back, his Adam’s apple pumping up and down as he drank deeply, some of the whiskey streaking down his cheeks, eye shut tight. And so the contest began.
About an hour and a half later, Slade had had to undo his blue jeans a little, to accommodate the huge belly he’d gained from all the liquids he’d drunk, and there were some stains on his blue muscle shirt. However, the man had not gotten drunk yet. And he was down to the last five bottles. Jareth stared and shook his head, staring at the man, “I’m . . . not believing this. . .” Slade chuckled darkly, and smashed a red wine bottle on the edge of the table, shattering the top off, and threw the bottle back, guzzling it down, with a contented look on his face, as wine streamed down his cheeks and his beard and dripped onto his neck. Before slamming the bottle crashing down on the table top again, empty, shattering the whole thing. Smirking, he turned to the only Jack Daniels bottle that was left, and glanced up at Jareth, “Believe it.” he snarled, and lifting the bottle to his lips, bit the top of it and ripped it off, glass flying everywhere, spitting it onto the table before throwing his head back, guzzling that down as well. Then the man was slamming and shattering that glass bottle down on the table as well. Then he turned to the Budweiser bottle before him, and after gripping the neck of it and breaking the neck off of it with beer flying onto his clothes, the mercenary threw his head back and drank that as well.
Trikk groaned, and covered her eyes with a hand, “Alright, now he’s just showing off. And it is SOOOO gross.” Lilac sighed, having turned away from the drinking mercenary long ago, watching Frosty the Snowman with Slashera, who had actually fallen asleep and was snuggled up against the witch, “He’s your villain.” “Haha,” Trikk muttered. As Slade broke off the top of some Vodka with his teeth, turned, and spat the glass and cap in his mouth out, to have it land squarely in the sink. He laughed, held the Vodka bottle up a bit in victory at that, some of the liquid sloshing around, and turning to the Vodka, the assassin threw his head back, mouth open wide, catching most of the vodka that spilled out from the opening on the bottle and into his open mouth, the rest of it sloshing onto his face and shirt and arms. Trikk groaned, rolling her eyes. Only one more. . . Turning to the final bottle, a tall bottle of wine, Slade smirked, and turning to Trikk, held up the bottle towards her with an alcohol covered hand, “Wanna have the honors, Trikk?” Trikk stared at the man who had alcohol dripping from his beard, then narrowed her eyes, “No. Right now, you disgust me, you asshole.” Turning, she slid down to sit with her legs folded and arms folded in the chair, “AND YOU’LL BE CLEANING UP THAT KITCHEN TOO! I DON’T WANT A SINGLE GLASS SHARD ON THE GROUND!” Slade shrugged, and turning, actually uncorked the bottle, and threw his head back, guzzling it down, before moving the bottle away, “Well you’re a downer.” “And even though you’re not drunk, you’re an asshole right now. Get over it,” she snarled, glaring as she watched Frosty and Santa ride off after the snowman had been brought back to life.
She heard Slade get up, and walk in the prescribed straight line along the side of the table he and Jareth had already agreed on as the test for his drunkenness. She heard Jareth groan, Slade give a whoop of happiness, and then, silence. Lilac frowned and turned to Trikk, “Wanna get out of here with Slashera?” Trikk frowned at the witch, “What’d you have in mind?” “Well, from what I could tell yesterday, the town’s going to have its Christmas parade at 7:00. That’s thirty minutes from now. Wanna go?” Trikk nodded, smiling suddenly, “Sounds great.” She stood and turned, frowning and facing Slade, who still looked content, beside a rather morose Jareth, “I hope you’re happy. You’ve made a complete fool of yourself without having to be drunk, and I am greatly disappointed in you right now. More disappointed than I’ve ever been with you, you jerk. Now, Lilac and I are going to go to the Christmas parade with Slashera. When I come back, the both of you better have cleaned up, cooked a good dinner, and cleaned this kitchen until it shines. Understood?” she snarled. Slade frowned, and tilted his head, staring at her, an unreadable emotion in his crystal blue eye, “You really are disgusted with me . . . you’re really mad. . .” She narrowed her eyes at him, and spat out, “Believe me, I’m beyond mad or disgusted.” She turned to Lilac, who stood with the slowly waking Slashera in her arms, “Let’s go.” Lilac nodded, and the two Disapparated as soon as the witch touched Trikk. Leaving the two men standing there.
Slade stared ahead of himself as it finally connected in his mind, and slumped back into his chair, staring at the floor brokenly, “She really is mad at me. I mean super mad . . .” “Yeah so?” Jareth shrugged, “I’m going to take a shower. . . I’ll be back in a bit to help clean. . .” Slade sighed, still lost in the pain he felt, “She’s . . . she’s really mad. . .” Jareth frowned and turned in the doorway leading into the muck room, staring at the man, “Yeah, but she’s a woman. You can’t please ‘em all the time. Don’t worry about it. At least she’s coming back.” Slade frowned and turned to the Fae, blinking, and Jareth saw the hurt in the man’s eye. Jareth stared at the man before walking over slowly and laying a hand on his back, stroking it slowly, “Hey man, it’ll be okay . . . seriously, girls get mad and irritated sometimes . . . no big deal. I’m sure she still cares about you. . . It’ll all smooth over in no time. Just you wait and see. . .”
Slade sighed and shook his head, and put his head in his hands, “I don’t know, Jareth. She’s never been this mad or irritated with me before. . .” “Well . . . what do you care? You don’t give a shit about what she thinks anyway,” Jareth whispered, gazing at the meta-human. Slade looked up, frowning at him. Jareth stared at him with even wider eyes, taking in the pain and hurt swirling in that crystal blue eye, “Holy shit, you really do . . . but you’re a villain! I mean, it’s not like you love her or anything, right?” Slade frowned, “No. of course not.” He stood, and blinked at Jareth, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about what she thinks of me. I care more about what she thinks of me than any other person on this planet, Goblin King. And the fact that she’s mad and irritated with me to this extent. . .” he sighed, and gazed out of the window of his kitchen, “I just. . . I don’t know if I can deal with that. . .”
“I don’t understand. I mean, how do you not love her, but you care so much about what she thinks?” “I don’t understand it myself, to tell you the truth,” Slade whispered, blinking, then turned to face Jareth, “I just know that I care. Maybe it’s just something about the relationship one has with their author. . .” “But I have a relationship with her as my author, and I don’t understand how you feel,” Jareth whispered, frowning at Slade. Slade blinked at him, and turning, gazed outside again, then turned and gazed at the stocking he had that she’d made him, and walking over, slowly stood before it, gazing at the chibi face. Now, it seemed like the most beautiful thing to him . . . because she’d cared enough for make it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, not caring that it spread alcohol into his hair, “I guess you just don’t know her like I do. Not that you don’t have a relationship with her, just that you don’t have the one I have with her. . .” Jareth frowned, and walked over slowly, “I still don’t entirely understand . . . but. . . I know that it crushes you to have her so upset with you . . . and I surprisingly don’t want you to feel so down. You’re no fun to mess with when you’re down to be completely honest.”
Slade glanced at the Fae. Jareth suddenly smiled, “We just have to make it up to her. Big time. Let’s go take a shower, clean up this place, and cook an awesome dinner!” Slade chuckled and rolled his eye, “I don’t think so . . . you’re getting nowhere near my kitchen to cook.”
3 hours later, Trikk, Slashera, and Lilac re-entered the cabin, with Trikk in a significantly better mood and Slashera sucking on a candy cane that a man from a big fire truck in the parade had tossed at the three girls. Lilac was sipping on some apple cider some people in the town had handed out. Suddenly, the three girls stopped and stared. They could see the tree lit up, and the candles they’d put in the kitchen and living room were burning, and three tall red candles were on the table, illuminating the room just a little bit. All other lights were off. Trikk closed her eyes and took a big sniff. And the heavenly smells of a good dinner floated into her nose. Slashera smiled, “Something smells yummy!” They’d already wiped the drinking contest form the child’s mind. Trikk smiled, “Yes, it does.”
The author walked further into the house, to stand in the kitchen, gazing at the table. Platters of fresh grilled and seasoned shrimp lay on the table, as well as a large garden salad in a massive bowl surrounded by various dressings. Baked potatoes were stacked up on a platter in another part of the table, beside a stick of fresh butter, a bowl of shredded cheese, and a bowl of sour cream. In addition, a huge platter of five thick steaks sat on the table. And a light tone of Christmas music floated on the air. Each place setting was absolutely spotless, with glasses at each spot and silverware. Trikk smiled. “How was the parade?” Slade’s voice whispered from the hallway. And she turned and stared as out walked Slade. The man was wearing some fresh black dress pants, black shined shoes, and a white silk shirt with a black tie. His hair was combed and styled perfectly, and a light hint of cologne could be smelt on the air. He smiled weakly at her, his crystal blue eye glowing in the low candle light. She smiled, “It was good. And you clean up pretty well, Mr. Wilson,” she replied calmly. Slashera suddenly squealed, and ran up, “FATHER SLADE! YOU LOOK AMAZING!” she gasped, and the man smiled, kneeling and closing his eye as he wrapped his arms around the child, “Thank you, my little one.” She pulled back and grinned at him, “I got you a candy cane!” she handed one to him from her pocket.
He chuckled, “Thanks little one. I’ll save it for later,” he murmured, sticking the candy cane in a back pocket of his pants. “Glad you guys are here. We were getting hungry,” Jareth said, standing up from the couch and turning around. He was wearing black dress pants and shoes too, but with a black silk shirt and silver tie. He smiled at Trikk, “And the fact that Slade’s an amazing cook didn’t help things.” Slade smirked at him, “I’m far better than you, anyway.” “Yeah, haha, now ladies, dinner is served,” Jareth murmured, bowing. Trikk blinked and moved to her chair from that morning, only to have Slade reach in and pull out both her and Slashera’s chairs. She blushed a bit, and sat down slowly. “Allow me to take that,” he whispered, easing her out of her coat, gloves, hat, and scarf, before doing the same for Slashera, before taking both sets of clothes to the couch as Jareth pulled out Lilac’s chair, took her unneeded outside clothes, and put them on the couch.
The men continued to be perfect hosts, pouring tea for the ladies and for themselves, and even serving each of the ladies before themselves. Then the group sat to eat, and any time the girls needed more tea, the two men got up and poured them some more. Then, they finished off the evening with a slice of some of the chocolate pie that the girls had made the day before, with the men serving the pie and taking plates back and forth to the sink. Then, the girls all headed off to bed, with Trikk helping Slashera get ready for bed before heading to get dressed for bed herself while Lilac went to her mobile home as the men cleaned all of the dishes.
Trikk was brushing her teeth as Slade reentered their room. After putting on some lounge pants, the man sighed, turned to face a muscle shirt he’d just pulled out, and then tensed. And she knew what was coming. Gritting his teeth, he rushed into the bathroom, jerked his pants and boxers down, and began to pee into the toilet with a groan. Glancing at her, he whispered a quick “sorry” and moved around to put his back to her so that she wouldn’t have to watch him pee. At least not have to literally watch, anyway. She chuckled, and pulled the toothbrush away, “And like that, the nice, classy charade shatters.” He groaned, hanging his head, closing his eye, “Damn, I didn’t know I had to pee so bad . . .” She laughed, eyes closed, “That would be all the alcohol.” She turned and began to brush her teeth. “I guess I’m not immune to that part of alcohol, huh?” Slade muttered, gazing tiredly down at his pee as it filled the toilet. Trikk chuckled, and spat out the toothpaste before beginning to rinse her mouth out, wearing a white T-shirt and blue gym shorts. Turning to him, she smirked, “Guess not. Maybe you should move a chair in here? You could be a while. And then you’ll be back in a few minutes.” “I dread the thought,” Slade groaned, rolling his head back, sighing.
“The dinner was good, though,” she murmured, smiling weakly at him. He turned his head around and smiled at her, “Thanks, Trikk. I tried. I’m . . . sorry. For how I behaved earlier. . .” She smiled, “It’s okay. I might have over reacted a bit. . .” “No, you didn’t,” he shook his head as she put her retainer in, hanging his head, sighing, “I got drunk on winning, even if I didn’t really get drunk on alcohol. And I acted like a jerk. And I’m sorry,” he whispered. She frowned and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms, “Slade, it’s alright. Besides,” she smirked, “I think you’re about to get your payback. Have a nice night in here.” Turning she walked into the bedroom. “You little . . . you know, that was a rather rude thing to say!” he called, glaring after her. “This coming from the Narcissistic Bastard Extraordinaire?” she called back with a laugh, “Oh, and by the way, you’re forgiven!” He turned and frowned as he began to wipe himself off then pull up his boxers and pants. He walked to the sink, washed his hands, then looked up into the mirror and smiled. Everything was back to normal. The way it was supposed to be.
A/N: so yeah, wow. . . hope you liked it. . . a lot of emotions and thoughts swirling around here. the whole time I was writing Slade's conversation with Jareth, I was thinking of this song (I do not sing it, nor did I post it on youtube):
To be honest. . . I'm not entirely . . . sure? about my relationship with my main male mind character. . . lol. A friend has called him my "Super-villain" boyfriend. . . but I'm still not sure. Maybe you should never really know. lol. Maybe I'm just crazy. . .;) Hope it didn't freak you guys out. Please comment!
A/N: here is the super long Chapter 3. It is based off of the third pain of christmas: hangovers. sort of. . . :D There is drunkenness, so that you know.
Chapter 3
“The Man Who Could Never Get Drunk”
Trikk groaned softly, slowly waking up, sunlight streaming down into the room. Slashera was still snuggled up against the woman, and Trikk blinked, moving her arms slowly, stroking up and down the girl’s back as the night before came flooding back to her mind. Rolling over just a little, careful as to not unsettle the child, the girl gripped the alarm clock, noting that Slade’s bed was empty and freshly made up, and turned the clock face to her. And gazed at the digital numbers reading 10:00 AM. Her eyes widened considerably. They’d slept in . . . . Yawning, eyes shut tight, the girl rolled back over and wrapped her arms around the little girl, deciding that if they’d already slept in, a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. With that, she dozed off again. The warm smells of breakfast cooking wafting into the bedroom brought the author out of her doze three minutes later, and she blinked, rolling back over and sitting up, facing the door. . . Slashera grunted, unsettled a little, and sat up, rubbing her eyes, “Wh-what’s going on?” “Slade is making breakfast,” Trikk murmured, then turned and smiled at Slashera, “Let’s go get you some socks to wear and go see what he’s making!” Slashera beamed at her, “ALRIGHT!”
Minutes later, Slashera had on socks, as did Trikk, and the girl was sitting sleepily on the woman’s hip as they entered the kitchen. Slade turned his head, clearly exhausted from working on the circuit breaker all night, and cast them a tired look, “Mornin’. . .” Trikk smiled, “I see that you got the electricity back on. . .” He rolled his eye, “Yeah, at like 5:30 this morning. I had to get some sleep. I just woke up about an hour ago. . .” he turned back to the scrambled eggs he was working on. “I guess Mama Trikk and I were pretty tired too! We just woke up!” Slashera said happily. Trikk’s eyes widened at the girl’s comment, and Slade’s spoon clattered into the pan, some egg bits flying out of it.
The man tensed, and quickly took the spoon up and set it on the counter, turning and blinking at Slashera, “Wh-what was that?” “I said me and Mama Trikk only just got up ourselves!” Slashera said, oblivious to the tension in the air. Slade walked over, frowning, eye locked on Trikk. And whether he wanted it to be there or not, she saw that territorial look in his eye. That hidden danger. She gulped, and wrapped her arms tighter around the little girl subconsciously. As Slade frowned, muttering to Slashera, “What did you just call her?” “Mama Trikk! She is my mama, after all, isn’t she Father Slade?” Trikk frowned and took a step back as Slade came to tower over her. His eye held an inner fire, a possessiveness. A part of him didn’t want to share any parental title to the girl with anyone. Not even Trikk.
Slashera frowned, as Trikk gazed up at Slade, her grip on the girl tightening a little bit more, refusing to back down further. “And why is Slashera calling you that?” he muttered, and Trikk could practically hear the venom in his words. She frowned, “Last night, after I read to her a story, she called me that. I decided that she could if she wanted to. Because she chose to call me that herself,” she replied in a low voice, her eyes daring him to retaliate. Slade frowned hard at her for a moment longer, but then the man turned to Slashera, smiling, “I think it’s a wonderful name.”
He turned quickly on his heel and headed back to the stove. And Trikk let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. . . “Why don’t you two pour some hot cocoa and head on out onto the porch while I get breakfast ready?” he remarked. Trikk nodded, and turned to Slashera, “Go out on the porch, little one. . .” she sat the girl down on the floor, and the girl nodded, grinned, and turning, ran, opened the screen door, and went onto the porch. Turning, Trikk walked behind Slade, found the fresh pot of cocoa on the counter on a pot holder, and began to pour two mugs, one for herself and another for Slashera, glancing at the man as he worked over pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. She half expected him to say something, but he didn’t say a thing . . . maybe that was a good thing . . . turning, she headed out onto the porch.
Slade sighed as soon as the author exited the kitchen. To be honest, he wasn’t sure how he felt about Slashera calling Trikk “Mama”. At first, he’d felt a sort of anger or irritation towards Trikk upon hearing the title. He’d toned it down for the sake of her and for Slashera, but in truth, he was greatly confused about how he felt. The way Slashera had titled her . . . he felt as though it made him and Trikk both parents on a level greatly different than just being Slashera’s Father and author. He supposed it was similar to two parents that had been divorced but now were both involved in the child’s life . . . but still, that didn’t even sound right. Not really . . . So what were they supposed to be?
He frowned, and glancing out the window, heard Slashera talking about the movie they’d watched the other day to Trikk. He supposed that in different ways, Slashera was both his child and her child . . . like an adopted child. Yeah, that made more sense . . . or at least more sense than the alternative, that he and Trikk had . . . he shuddered. To be honest, he had never imagined sex with Trikk . . . well, he had to admit that on the rare occasion he had imagined it . . . but that was probably just because of his male hormones, of course. He certainly wasn’t really attracted to her sexually! Besides, every time he did think about it, he shuddered. He sighed, and closing his eye, shook his head. Why was he thinking of such things anyway? It was just a title. He knew for a fact that Slashera had for a long time thought of Trikk as her brain mom. What was different now? Nothing. In a way, he supposed he was getting the family he’d always wanted. With him as the Father, Trikk as the Mama, Slashera as the little sister, Lilac as the big sister, and Jareth . . . as the 3rd cousin twice removed that the father really didn’t like but had to put up with because of the mama. He chuckled. Yeah, sounded like a family to him . . . maybe a dysfunctional one, but a family, nonetheless.
About thirty minutes later, Slashera and Trikk walked back into the kitchen, just as Lilac came through the door to the cabin. Trikk frowned, blinking at the witch, “I thought you were getting Jareth?” “He’s not at his home,” Lilac replied, frowning, “Just a note that said that he’d be back soon. Whatever that means.” “That means that we get a few moments of peace without him here,” Slade remarked with a smirk. Trikk darted her eyes over to the man, frowning at him, clearly sending him the message to not go there this morning, and as she and Lilac moved to sit at the table, where Slade and Slashera already sat in their own chairs. . . “No!” Slashera suddenly said, frowning at Trikk. Trikk paused, blinking and frowning at the girl. Slashera frowned, “You’re my Mama Trikk! You sit beside me! Like Father Slade!” Trikk frowned and darted her eyes to Slade, who was moving food onto his plate. For a few moments she stayed like that, looking to see what he would think, but then he blinked, setting the bowl of eggs he’d had in his hand down on the table, “Well, if you’re waiting on an invite from me, you won’t get one. Just sit wherever you want. I don’t care.” Trikk blinked, and slowly, her and Lilac switched spots. And so breakfast began.
“So what’s everyone got planned?” Lilac suddenly said halfway through the meal, biting into her pancakes. “I have to take some lights off of the damn house,” Slade muttered. “Awwww! But it was so pretty!” Slashera said, frowning at him. “I’ll keep the lights on the windows and doors and I’ll keep the lights on the chimney. I’ll even keep the icicle lights up. But that’s it. We can’t lose electricity again, little one,” he murmured. Slashera smiled, “Okay. . .” she turned to Trikk and Lilac, “So what are we gonna do?” “Well, we could go play in the snow,” Trikk said, smiling at her, “Go to a nice clearing in the woods . . . have a snowball fight, build snowmen, make snow angels . . .” Slashera beamed, “I’ve never done that before! That sounds like fun!” Lilac laughed, “A snow day it is for us then. We’ll get all bundled up after breakfast and go.”
An hour later, Trikk, Lilac, and Slashera left the cabin and Slade behind as the man tiredly worked on the roof to get lights off, and headed down a path. Luckily, the criminal mastermind had given them a map of the entire area. As Slashera laughed and ran ahead, skipping in the snow before running back to them then running back out again, Lilac frowned, and glanced at Trikk, who was frowning, watching the child run, her hands shoved into her coat pockets, “Wanna talk about it?” “Talk about what?” Trikk replied, a black scarf firmly around her throat, her breath coming from pale lips as a puff of warm air. Her hair was down beneath her beanie, while Lilac’s and Slashera’s were down their backs in braids.
“About that ‘Mama Trikk’ thing this morning at breakfast. Is that new? I’ve never heard Slashera use it before. . .” “Yes, she only started last night,” Trikk murmured. “And how does Slade feel about it?” “I don’t really know. He got this predatory, territorial look when she first called me that this morning. I didn’t know if he was going to attack or not to be honest. . .” Trikk remarked. “It must be hard,” Lilac remarked calmly. Trikk frowned and turned to the woman.
Lilac smiled weakly, “Well, you’re both mine and Slashera’s brain mother, but we’re also from very different stories. In mine, hey, it’d be no big deal. But Slade, he . . . he’s training her to be the perfect apprentice in her story. He wants her sole devotion. And to do that, he’s becoming the only parental figure in her life. He wants to be her sole parent, and when he hears her calling you ‘Mama’, he may feel as though his plan is threatened. . .” Trikk sighed and shook her head, blinking at the witch, “But he knows that won’t cause the storyline to deviate at all. I don’t understand. . .” “Maybe he doesn’t even understand. I think he knows that it’s not really threatening his plans, but knowing something and feeling something are two different things sometimes. Like, you can know he is a villain, and a mass murdering villain at that, right?” Trikk frowned and nodded. “So why do you feel like you can sleep soundly in the same bedroom with him? Or eat his meals?”
“Because I know he won’t try anything,” Trikk murmured, blinking. “And how do you know that?” “Because if he hurts me, I’ll stop writing about him,” Trikk replied with a shrug. “You don’t think there’s something more? Something that is the reason why, despite how much you know about his dark side, you still trust him? Perhaps more than most would consider necessary? Or sane?” Trikk frowned, blinking, “So despite what he’s done, I still feel as though he’s trustworthy for me?” “I don’t know, do you?” Lilac said, blinking at her. Trikk frowned, and turning, gazed at Slashera, “I’ve always . . . sort of liked Slade. So many men in life will claim to be good, even if they do awful things . . . at least . . . at least Slade’s upfront about it. He’s more . . . honest, I suppose, even if he is dishonest. . . He’s honest about being dishonest, I guess . . . and I guess. . . I guess that’s why I feel I can trust him.” Lilac smiled at her, “So you trust that he is dishonest when it suits him? And that’s what makes him trustworthy?” Trikk smirked at her, “Kind of crazy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but if life wasn’t crazy, I think it’d just be boring,” Lilac murmured with a smirk. Trikk laughed, “So, what was your point?” “Oh, yes, my point. Sometimes, you can feel one way, but know something else, and despite that knowledge, you still act on your feelings. And I think that’s what Slade did. For at least a moment. He feels as though any parental figure at all threatens his plan and must be eliminated. So when he heard ‘Mama’, he saw you as that, not his author. So he was perhaps ready to harm you. But then he thought it through, and realized it wasn’t that big of a deal. Does that make sense?” Trikk smiled, “Actually, I think it kind of does. Thanks.” “So, are you okay with the title?” Lilac asked.
Trikk frowned, gazing at the witch, who was turning her head to face her author as they walked, “I’m . . . okay with it. . . I’m worried, though. . .” she turned and gazed at Slashera, sadness in her eyes. “You’re worried you can’t fit her expectations of a mother, aren’t you?” Lilac murmured gently. “Perhaps,” Trikk whispered, “She’s been let down by one maternal figure already. I don’t want another to let her down. . .” “You won’t,” Lilac murmured. Trikk frowned and turned to the witch, “How do you know?” “I just do. Trikk, it’s obvious you care for her. And want her happy. And as far as I’m concerned, because of that, you’ll be an excellent mother for her. You already kind of were, even if it wasn’t official until now,” Lilac replied. Trikk smiled, “Thanks.” At that moment, Slashera ran up, grinning, “We’re there!” Trikk grinned, “Let’s go then little one!” Slashera grabbed her author’s and Lilac’s hands, and in no time, the three were running for the clearing.
Minutes later, Trikk stood across from Lilac and Slashera in the large snow covered clearing. The three had chosen to start off with a snowball fight. Trikk smirked across at the two girls, “Oh yes, 2 on 1 is so fair. . .” she winked, and began to lean down towards the snow. Slashera frowned, “But Mama Trikk, Lilac and you will switch in a little while! Then you’ll be on the 2 team!” Trikk chuckled, “I know. . .” with that she shot up and let loose the snowball she’d made. Slashera squealed, and dodged it, giggling, hiding behind Lilac. Who smirked, “SO NOW WE START HUH?!” She quickly leaned down and picked up some snow to make a ball with, as Trikk let another one loose, flying straight for the Witch. Who quickly dodged to the left as Slashera dodged to the right, both girls landing on their feet in the snow.
Trikk smirked, and let loose another, which hit Lilac square in the shoulder. Lilac gasped, then grinned and tossed her snowball to Slashera, “THROW IT!” Slashera grinned, nodded, and turning to Trikk, pulled her hand back then threw it forward as far as she could go, letting the snowball fly through the air. Trikk laughed and dodged to the right, quickly making a new snowball. Only to have the snowball curve around and smack her in the back of the head. She frowned and turned to Lilac, “Enchanted Snowball? NOW THAT REALLY ISN’T FAIR!” “Gee, I wonder what Jareth would say if he were here,” Lilac murmured, referring to how Sarah had complained in the Labyrinth, inciting the Goblin King’s anger. Trikk growled, glaring at the witch, “THIS IS DIFFERENT AND YOU. . . HEY!” She gasped, as she jerked around, staring at Slashera, who giggled and grinned at the woman, having thrown a snowball of her own at Trikk’s head, hitting her beanie square on. Trikk grinned, and let another one loose, heading for the child. Who easily dodged and met Trikk with one of her own, which Trikk dodged. Only to be hit in the shoulder by one from Lilac. She grunted, turned, and after making another snowball, prepared to fling it at the witch. Only to get smacked in the thigh by one from Slashera. She turned to the girl, frowning, and before she could redirect her throwing arm to let the snowball go to Slashera instead, another one from Lilac smacked her in the stomach.
Trikk gasped, and staggered a bit, then frowned at both girls, who were blinking at her, their hands behind their backs, “NOW GIRLS! GANGING UP ON ME REALLY ISN’T. . .” she stared, as the two girls turned and winked at one another, before turning back to her and holding up four snowballs, one in each hand. She sweat dropped, “Oh dear. . .” Trikk dodged two of the snowballs, but the other two, well . . . one hit her knee, and another hit her chest. The girl grunted, and took a step back. Lilac grinned, “ALRIGHT! MY TURN!” she jogged over and high-fived Trikk who grinned and rushed over to Slashera. Time to plan a strategy!
In no time, Slashera was hurling snowballs at Lilac from around Trikk, who stood before the girl as a shield, taking each snowball hurled their way by the witch. After each side had landed about 30 snowballs on the other, the two older girls switched again, and the third round went much like the first, although Trikk did manage to dodge more snowballs the second time around. And so the process continued, with Lilac and Trikk switching each round, with the three girls gradually getting better at dodging and throwing the snowballs. By the time they’d reached the twentieth round, Trikk was exhausted, and as she ran over to go back to her lonely side, the girl groaned, and paused. She seriously felt like right then, she couldn’t take another step. Holding her arms out straight at her sides, the girl groaned, closed her eyes, and fell back into the snow, sinking down in it, gazing up at the sun above her, as the other two girls rushed over. Lilac smirked, “Given up?”
“Yeah, you win,” Trikk said, smiling nonetheless as she began to move her legs back and forth horizontally and her arms up and down in the snow. “What are you doing?” Slashera laughed. “Making a snow angel,” Trikk grinned, before finally stopping, standing up, and turning to face her handy work. It wasn’t perfect, but at least one could tell it was an angel. “See?” she pointed. Slashera grinned, “I WANT TO MAKE ONE!” she flopped back next, and began to move her arms and legs in the same manner Trikk had before. The two older girls watched the child giggle and laugh as she played in the snow with a smile on their faces. Then the girl clamored up and turned to her angel, pointing, “SEE!” “It looks amazing. Better than mine, even,” Trikk answered truthfully. Then the author turned and grinned at Lilac, “Your turn.” The witch smiled, and flopped back, and after making her angel, sat back up and got up, moving away. “Okay, now that both of you have made angels better than mine, let’s all just do it!” Trikk laughed, and the girls laughed together as they flopped back into the snow.
About half an hour later, all three girls, despite their previous plans, were so exhausted and cold that they couldn’t bring themselves to make a single snow man. So, after making a vow to make one in the next few days, all three headed back to the cabin, with Slashera on Trikk’s back as she was given a piggy back ride.
Slade growled and gripping the last spiral tree on the ground beside his door, having taken down everything else off of his house and around it with the exception of the lights on the windows, doors, and the chimney, and the icicle lights lining the roof, swung the tree back a bit after wrenching it off of the ground. The man twisted and turned and flung it, roaring angrily, into the pile of light displays he’d made nearby, which was at least fifty feet tall. The thing landed with a thump on top of the pile. He sighed deeply, and turned to the Slade-bots nearby waiting patiently, and pointed at the pile, “You lot. Get that taken away. Back to the warehouse.” The Slade-bots nodded, and set to work piling the lights into trucks parked nearby.
Slade frowned, and was about to turn to head into the house, when he saw them. The three girls walking calmly back up to the cabin. Or rather, two of them were walking. The third, Slashera, was on Trikk’s back. He smirked and called, “COLD?!” Trikk laughed, “DO YOU HAVE TO ASK?!” He laughed right back at her and headed inside. When he’d eaten lunch, he had made venison chili. He could easily heat that up to warm the girls up.
After some chili and cornbread and some milk, the three girls definitely were warming up. “So, what’s next?” Slade said, frowning, leaning on the couch, his arms folded. Trikk blinked and turned to Lilac, “What do you think?” “I’m thinking some cheesecake and a movie,” Lilac replied back, winking. Trikk grinned, “You pick the movie and I’ll get the cheesecake.”
In no time, the group was watching the version of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey. Slashera sat in the center of the couch, with Trikk on her right and Lilac on her left, all three girls having their feet propped up on the coffee table. Slade sat in a kitchen chair he’d grabbed from the kitchen table, which now had four empty plates on it with crumbs from the cheesecake they’d eaten on the previously clean dishes. Quite frankly, he found the Grinch to be the most sensible person in the whole movie. Especially with the line he said regarding how each thing for Christmas wound up in the trash. That was certainly true on many occasions. . . He found the two women battling over lights to be absolutely nuts. Hell, he hadn’t been so competitive to go out and buy an expensive gun to fire lights onto the house, or to go into the house and take all the light bulbs. He would admit that he had been kind of obsessed, but not that much, at least. The Mayor was just a fat jerk. And his assistant was a leech trying to be in the Mayor’s spotlight. He supposed that the two “mothers” to the Grinch were . . . somewhat likeable, but they were terribly naïve. Cindy Lou Who was about as crazy as they came. How could she not tell that that was the Grinch taking the tree? Of course, she’d never seen Santa, but that was no excuse for her to stare at the Grinch in his Santa costume and still think it was Santa. And what was up with the Whoville people’s noses? What were they, a cross between humans and rats? They all seriously needed nose jobs . . . He supposed the dog was alright . . . the voice of reason with the Grinch, he supposed . . . and at times some comic relief. . . as the movie finally turned off, the man sighed. At least the madness was over now.
Trikk stretched on the couch, grunting, as Slashera grinned, “WELL THAT WAS FUN!” Lilac smiled and sat up, “Yes, it was, little Slash . . .” “So do you guys want to watch another movie?” Trikk asked, and turning, smiled at Slashera. Who beamed at the woman and nodded, “YES! THAT SOUNDS LIKE. . .” at that moment, the door to the cabin slammed open, and the sound of staggering footsteps was heard, along with a very drunken “HEY GUUUUYS! I’M BAAAACK!” Jareth gave a hiccup, and the four shot up and rushed to the doorway leading into the muck room from the living room, and stared at the Fae as he staggered and leaned against the washing machine, clutching an almost empty bottle of a red color in his hand. His cape was crooked, and the Fae had man black feathers in his hair for some odd reason. He turned and grinned a crooked smile at them, clearly as drunk as he could get, “HOW’S IT hic! GOIN’?! hic!” Slade frowned, “Fine, until you stumbled in.” Trikk stared at the Fae, “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, AND WHY ARE YOU SO DRUNK?!” she snapped angrily, hands on her hips, as Slashera stared, hiding behind her “Mama” and Father, peeking out between the two adults’ inside legs. Lilac frowned and crossed her arms, easily reading the Fae’s mind, “He was at a party in his castle with all of the other goblins, drinking mead and wine and various other alcoholic drinks into the morning and up until now. Which explains his attire,” she muttered in a voice that clearly said that she did NOT approve.
Jareth frowned, and staggering forward, pointed a finger at the air beside Lilac’s head, “Now, wassa matter with you lotttt?” he turned and gazed at Trikk with glazed over eyes, “I just wanted to have a bit of fun, is all!” he stumbled forward and a hand landed firmly on Trikk’s shoulder, and he gazed into her eyes with a drunken gaze, “Wassa wrong with doing that?” he slurred. She wrinkled her nose at the alcohol on his breath. “Nothing’s wrong. But I cannot see much fun in drinking so much to make yourself drunk, unappealing, stupid, and without any sense of balance,” Slade muttered, shoving the man away from Trikk, glaring at him. “You say that like you nevah been drrrrunk, before!” Jareth staggered against the sink in the muck room, pointing a finger at Slade. Slade frowned, glaring at the Fae, “I’m pleased to say that I have never been drunk in my life.”
“You never tasted alcohol before?” even Lilac was surprised as she asked Slade that. She’d thought for sure the mercenary had had at least one drink in his life. . . Slade blinked and turned to her, “No, I have had alcohol. My running record is 10 bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey, one after the other. But I have never been drunk before. I am unable to get drunk. Just ask Trikk. She designed me that way. . .” Lilac frowned and turned to Trikk, who shrugged, gazing at the witch, “I don’t like men who are drunk. And it was more or less a side effect of his extremely fast immune system anyway. Besides, I felt it would be rather dangerous to take a mercenary who already doesn’t mind killing and make him drunk enough to lower any inhibitions he might have. I consider the fact that he can’t get drunk a favor I’ve done for the world.” “And for me,” Slade remarked firmly, “I view people who drink so much they get drunk and act like fools as ridiculous idiots,” he snarled.
“Don’t knock it . . . til you . . . try it,” Jareth said, hiccupping, “Bessssiiiides . . . there ain’t no one who can’t get drrrrunk.” “Sorry, Jareth, but if that’s the rule, Slade’s the exception to it. He’s the man who could never, can never, and will never get drunk,” Trikk murmured, “It simply can’t be done.” Jareth frowned at Slade, “I don’t understand. . .” Slade sneered at the Fae, leaning forward, “Then you’re even dumber when you’re drunk, Goblin King. And I never even thought that that was possible.” “For me to get drrrrrrunk? hic!” Jareth said, jolting with the hiccup. “No, for you to get any dumber. Seriously, shouldn’t you be brain dead at this point?” Slade said with a smirk. Jareth held up the hand with the bottle in it, and pointed one finger at Slade, tipping to the side and catching himself on the dryer to keep himself upright. Frowning at Slade, he said loudly, “Still, there’s no way you can nevvvver gggget dddddrrrrrrrrunnnnkkkkk!”
Slade chuckled and shook his head, “You’re just making a bigger fool of yourself,” he slurred, and then smirked at Jareth, “We’ve already told you that I can’t get drunk. Just accept that I’m better than you in that way and get over it,” he shrugged. Jareth smirked, “Oh no. . . I’ll test your claim.” Trikk frowned, “Excuse me?”
About thirty minutes later, the entire kitchen table had been stripped of its table cloth and was covered with bottles of various beers and liquors and whiskeys and wines, as were the kitchen counters, the coffee table in the living room, and the top of the refrigerator, as well as any free space inside the refrigerator. And Slade sat at the table, blinking at it all. And turned to Jareth, and then smirked, “You know, you didn’t have to gather all of this here . . . but if you really want me to humiliate you, I’ll do it.” Jareth sneered back, “Fat chance. There’s NO WAY that you’re going to be able to drink all the liquor I’ve bought and not get drunk.” Slade smirked, “Another competition? Well then, let’s make a little deal. If I don’t get drunk off of all of the drinks you’ve brought here, you admit that I won the light contest yesterday. Since we never really decided on the victor.”
Trikk, Lilac, and Slashera knelt on the couch, leaning on their folded arms over the back of the piece of furniture, Slashera in the center, Trikk and Lilac on the sides. Trikk groaned, “I really, really don’t know if this is a good idea . . .” she darted her eyes to Lilac, who glanced back, reading the author’s mind. You . . . you can wipe this memory from Slashera’s mind later, right? Lilac smiled and nodded right back, Absolutely. Trikk sighed, and turned to face the men. Jareth smirked, “DEAL! AND IF YOU GET DRUNK, YOU ADMIT THAT I WON YESTERDAY!” Slade smirked, “Very well.” Turning, he grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels, ripped off the top along with a bit of the glass bottle, and brought the jagged edges to his lips, throwing his head back, his Adam’s apple pumping up and down as he drank deeply, some of the whiskey streaking down his cheeks, eye shut tight. And so the contest began.
About an hour and a half later, Slade had had to undo his blue jeans a little, to accommodate the huge belly he’d gained from all the liquids he’d drunk, and there were some stains on his blue muscle shirt. However, the man had not gotten drunk yet. And he was down to the last five bottles. Jareth stared and shook his head, staring at the man, “I’m . . . not believing this. . .” Slade chuckled darkly, and smashed a red wine bottle on the edge of the table, shattering the top off, and threw the bottle back, guzzling it down, with a contented look on his face, as wine streamed down his cheeks and his beard and dripped onto his neck. Before slamming the bottle crashing down on the table top again, empty, shattering the whole thing. Smirking, he turned to the only Jack Daniels bottle that was left, and glanced up at Jareth, “Believe it.” he snarled, and lifting the bottle to his lips, bit the top of it and ripped it off, glass flying everywhere, spitting it onto the table before throwing his head back, guzzling that down as well. Then the man was slamming and shattering that glass bottle down on the table as well. Then he turned to the Budweiser bottle before him, and after gripping the neck of it and breaking the neck off of it with beer flying onto his clothes, the mercenary threw his head back and drank that as well.
Trikk groaned, and covered her eyes with a hand, “Alright, now he’s just showing off. And it is SOOOO gross.” Lilac sighed, having turned away from the drinking mercenary long ago, watching Frosty the Snowman with Slashera, who had actually fallen asleep and was snuggled up against the witch, “He’s your villain.” “Haha,” Trikk muttered. As Slade broke off the top of some Vodka with his teeth, turned, and spat the glass and cap in his mouth out, to have it land squarely in the sink. He laughed, held the Vodka bottle up a bit in victory at that, some of the liquid sloshing around, and turning to the Vodka, the assassin threw his head back, mouth open wide, catching most of the vodka that spilled out from the opening on the bottle and into his open mouth, the rest of it sloshing onto his face and shirt and arms. Trikk groaned, rolling her eyes. Only one more. . . Turning to the final bottle, a tall bottle of wine, Slade smirked, and turning to Trikk, held up the bottle towards her with an alcohol covered hand, “Wanna have the honors, Trikk?” Trikk stared at the man who had alcohol dripping from his beard, then narrowed her eyes, “No. Right now, you disgust me, you asshole.” Turning, she slid down to sit with her legs folded and arms folded in the chair, “AND YOU’LL BE CLEANING UP THAT KITCHEN TOO! I DON’T WANT A SINGLE GLASS SHARD ON THE GROUND!” Slade shrugged, and turning, actually uncorked the bottle, and threw his head back, guzzling it down, before moving the bottle away, “Well you’re a downer.” “And even though you’re not drunk, you’re an asshole right now. Get over it,” she snarled, glaring as she watched Frosty and Santa ride off after the snowman had been brought back to life.
She heard Slade get up, and walk in the prescribed straight line along the side of the table he and Jareth had already agreed on as the test for his drunkenness. She heard Jareth groan, Slade give a whoop of happiness, and then, silence. Lilac frowned and turned to Trikk, “Wanna get out of here with Slashera?” Trikk frowned at the witch, “What’d you have in mind?” “Well, from what I could tell yesterday, the town’s going to have its Christmas parade at 7:00. That’s thirty minutes from now. Wanna go?” Trikk nodded, smiling suddenly, “Sounds great.” She stood and turned, frowning and facing Slade, who still looked content, beside a rather morose Jareth, “I hope you’re happy. You’ve made a complete fool of yourself without having to be drunk, and I am greatly disappointed in you right now. More disappointed than I’ve ever been with you, you jerk. Now, Lilac and I are going to go to the Christmas parade with Slashera. When I come back, the both of you better have cleaned up, cooked a good dinner, and cleaned this kitchen until it shines. Understood?” she snarled. Slade frowned, and tilted his head, staring at her, an unreadable emotion in his crystal blue eye, “You really are disgusted with me . . . you’re really mad. . .” She narrowed her eyes at him, and spat out, “Believe me, I’m beyond mad or disgusted.” She turned to Lilac, who stood with the slowly waking Slashera in her arms, “Let’s go.” Lilac nodded, and the two Disapparated as soon as the witch touched Trikk. Leaving the two men standing there.
Slade stared ahead of himself as it finally connected in his mind, and slumped back into his chair, staring at the floor brokenly, “She really is mad at me. I mean super mad . . .” “Yeah so?” Jareth shrugged, “I’m going to take a shower. . . I’ll be back in a bit to help clean. . .” Slade sighed, still lost in the pain he felt, “She’s . . . she’s really mad. . .” Jareth frowned and turned in the doorway leading into the muck room, staring at the man, “Yeah, but she’s a woman. You can’t please ‘em all the time. Don’t worry about it. At least she’s coming back.” Slade frowned and turned to the Fae, blinking, and Jareth saw the hurt in the man’s eye. Jareth stared at the man before walking over slowly and laying a hand on his back, stroking it slowly, “Hey man, it’ll be okay . . . seriously, girls get mad and irritated sometimes . . . no big deal. I’m sure she still cares about you. . . It’ll all smooth over in no time. Just you wait and see. . .”
Slade sighed and shook his head, and put his head in his hands, “I don’t know, Jareth. She’s never been this mad or irritated with me before. . .” “Well . . . what do you care? You don’t give a shit about what she thinks anyway,” Jareth whispered, gazing at the meta-human. Slade looked up, frowning at him. Jareth stared at him with even wider eyes, taking in the pain and hurt swirling in that crystal blue eye, “Holy shit, you really do . . . but you’re a villain! I mean, it’s not like you love her or anything, right?” Slade frowned, “No. of course not.” He stood, and blinked at Jareth, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about what she thinks of me. I care more about what she thinks of me than any other person on this planet, Goblin King. And the fact that she’s mad and irritated with me to this extent. . .” he sighed, and gazed out of the window of his kitchen, “I just. . . I don’t know if I can deal with that. . .”
“I don’t understand. I mean, how do you not love her, but you care so much about what she thinks?” “I don’t understand it myself, to tell you the truth,” Slade whispered, blinking, then turned to face Jareth, “I just know that I care. Maybe it’s just something about the relationship one has with their author. . .” “But I have a relationship with her as my author, and I don’t understand how you feel,” Jareth whispered, frowning at Slade. Slade blinked at him, and turning, gazed outside again, then turned and gazed at the stocking he had that she’d made him, and walking over, slowly stood before it, gazing at the chibi face. Now, it seemed like the most beautiful thing to him . . . because she’d cared enough for make it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, not caring that it spread alcohol into his hair, “I guess you just don’t know her like I do. Not that you don’t have a relationship with her, just that you don’t have the one I have with her. . .” Jareth frowned, and walked over slowly, “I still don’t entirely understand . . . but. . . I know that it crushes you to have her so upset with you . . . and I surprisingly don’t want you to feel so down. You’re no fun to mess with when you’re down to be completely honest.”
Slade glanced at the Fae. Jareth suddenly smiled, “We just have to make it up to her. Big time. Let’s go take a shower, clean up this place, and cook an awesome dinner!” Slade chuckled and rolled his eye, “I don’t think so . . . you’re getting nowhere near my kitchen to cook.”
3 hours later, Trikk, Slashera, and Lilac re-entered the cabin, with Trikk in a significantly better mood and Slashera sucking on a candy cane that a man from a big fire truck in the parade had tossed at the three girls. Lilac was sipping on some apple cider some people in the town had handed out. Suddenly, the three girls stopped and stared. They could see the tree lit up, and the candles they’d put in the kitchen and living room were burning, and three tall red candles were on the table, illuminating the room just a little bit. All other lights were off. Trikk closed her eyes and took a big sniff. And the heavenly smells of a good dinner floated into her nose. Slashera smiled, “Something smells yummy!” They’d already wiped the drinking contest form the child’s mind. Trikk smiled, “Yes, it does.”
The author walked further into the house, to stand in the kitchen, gazing at the table. Platters of fresh grilled and seasoned shrimp lay on the table, as well as a large garden salad in a massive bowl surrounded by various dressings. Baked potatoes were stacked up on a platter in another part of the table, beside a stick of fresh butter, a bowl of shredded cheese, and a bowl of sour cream. In addition, a huge platter of five thick steaks sat on the table. And a light tone of Christmas music floated on the air. Each place setting was absolutely spotless, with glasses at each spot and silverware. Trikk smiled. “How was the parade?” Slade’s voice whispered from the hallway. And she turned and stared as out walked Slade. The man was wearing some fresh black dress pants, black shined shoes, and a white silk shirt with a black tie. His hair was combed and styled perfectly, and a light hint of cologne could be smelt on the air. He smiled weakly at her, his crystal blue eye glowing in the low candle light. She smiled, “It was good. And you clean up pretty well, Mr. Wilson,” she replied calmly. Slashera suddenly squealed, and ran up, “FATHER SLADE! YOU LOOK AMAZING!” she gasped, and the man smiled, kneeling and closing his eye as he wrapped his arms around the child, “Thank you, my little one.” She pulled back and grinned at him, “I got you a candy cane!” she handed one to him from her pocket.
He chuckled, “Thanks little one. I’ll save it for later,” he murmured, sticking the candy cane in a back pocket of his pants. “Glad you guys are here. We were getting hungry,” Jareth said, standing up from the couch and turning around. He was wearing black dress pants and shoes too, but with a black silk shirt and silver tie. He smiled at Trikk, “And the fact that Slade’s an amazing cook didn’t help things.” Slade smirked at him, “I’m far better than you, anyway.” “Yeah, haha, now ladies, dinner is served,” Jareth murmured, bowing. Trikk blinked and moved to her chair from that morning, only to have Slade reach in and pull out both her and Slashera’s chairs. She blushed a bit, and sat down slowly. “Allow me to take that,” he whispered, easing her out of her coat, gloves, hat, and scarf, before doing the same for Slashera, before taking both sets of clothes to the couch as Jareth pulled out Lilac’s chair, took her unneeded outside clothes, and put them on the couch.
The men continued to be perfect hosts, pouring tea for the ladies and for themselves, and even serving each of the ladies before themselves. Then the group sat to eat, and any time the girls needed more tea, the two men got up and poured them some more. Then, they finished off the evening with a slice of some of the chocolate pie that the girls had made the day before, with the men serving the pie and taking plates back and forth to the sink. Then, the girls all headed off to bed, with Trikk helping Slashera get ready for bed before heading to get dressed for bed herself while Lilac went to her mobile home as the men cleaned all of the dishes.
Trikk was brushing her teeth as Slade reentered their room. After putting on some lounge pants, the man sighed, turned to face a muscle shirt he’d just pulled out, and then tensed. And she knew what was coming. Gritting his teeth, he rushed into the bathroom, jerked his pants and boxers down, and began to pee into the toilet with a groan. Glancing at her, he whispered a quick “sorry” and moved around to put his back to her so that she wouldn’t have to watch him pee. At least not have to literally watch, anyway. She chuckled, and pulled the toothbrush away, “And like that, the nice, classy charade shatters.” He groaned, hanging his head, closing his eye, “Damn, I didn’t know I had to pee so bad . . .” She laughed, eyes closed, “That would be all the alcohol.” She turned and began to brush her teeth. “I guess I’m not immune to that part of alcohol, huh?” Slade muttered, gazing tiredly down at his pee as it filled the toilet. Trikk chuckled, and spat out the toothpaste before beginning to rinse her mouth out, wearing a white T-shirt and blue gym shorts. Turning to him, she smirked, “Guess not. Maybe you should move a chair in here? You could be a while. And then you’ll be back in a few minutes.” “I dread the thought,” Slade groaned, rolling his head back, sighing.
“The dinner was good, though,” she murmured, smiling weakly at him. He turned his head around and smiled at her, “Thanks, Trikk. I tried. I’m . . . sorry. For how I behaved earlier. . .” She smiled, “It’s okay. I might have over reacted a bit. . .” “No, you didn’t,” he shook his head as she put her retainer in, hanging his head, sighing, “I got drunk on winning, even if I didn’t really get drunk on alcohol. And I acted like a jerk. And I’m sorry,” he whispered. She frowned and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms, “Slade, it’s alright. Besides,” she smirked, “I think you’re about to get your payback. Have a nice night in here.” Turning she walked into the bedroom. “You little . . . you know, that was a rather rude thing to say!” he called, glaring after her. “This coming from the Narcissistic Bastard Extraordinaire?” she called back with a laugh, “Oh, and by the way, you’re forgiven!” He turned and frowned as he began to wipe himself off then pull up his boxers and pants. He walked to the sink, washed his hands, then looked up into the mirror and smiled. Everything was back to normal. The way it was supposed to be.
A/N: so yeah, wow. . . hope you liked it. . . a lot of emotions and thoughts swirling around here. the whole time I was writing Slade's conversation with Jareth, I was thinking of this song (I do not sing it, nor did I post it on youtube):
Click to viewTo be honest. . . I'm not entirely . . . sure? about my relationship with my main male mind character. . . lol. A friend has called him my "Super-villain" boyfriend. . . but I'm still not sure. Maybe you should never really know. lol. Maybe I'm just crazy. . .;) Hope it didn't freak you guys out. Please comment!