redrighthanded | IC; Duplicity Inbox

[ The corner of his mouth hitches up slightly as he searches for mugs in the cabinets, charmed by the way she phrases their previously discussed meeting. There's only one clean cup, so he elects to give that to her, washing coffee dregs out of another before dumping tea bags into them both. His right hand works as deftly as his left, though with a faint grating noise of stone against stone.

He glances back at her again as she continues, his expression darkening slightly, tail twitching catlike above the floor. ]

A matter of unpleasantness?

[ She finds the edge of a piece of embroidery on her jacket. The stark contrast against the gray that she picks at, over and over. ]

I... forgive me, I am so sorry this is all so frightful, I have never been in this position. I hope I do not try your patience it is just... not something I was ever taught to... to discuss well. How silly that must sound to someone like yourself, when you are clearly so much of the world than I, but - oh I am talking too much again, aren't I? I just barely know how to say it...

[ She clears her throat, trying again. ] I had a... a... [ It really shouldn't be so bad, now, but the truth is her face still goes bright pink when she has to talk about anything like this. Flushed up to her cheeks and spreading into her ears. ] ... an intimacy with a man who now finds me abhorrent.

[ He doesn't try to interrupt her, just listens in silence as she works her way through it. When the kettle whistles, he pours hot water into the two mugs and takes a bottle of milk from the mini fridge under the counter. These he brings over to the table, setting them down carefully before easing himself into the chair opposite her, ignoring the creak of the wood as it takes his weight.

He narrows his eyes at her slightly as he pushes her cup towards her. The way she blushes is cute but what she's describing hits an understandably sour note for him. ]

Yeah, I heard a little. Jacob kicked the crap outta him. [ He rolls a shoulder in a shrug. ] Which saves me having to do it.

You know Jacob...?

[ She has tried tea many different ways now since she came. So interesting, all of them. This one sweet, this one bitter. All of them with that tang. This will be just as nice she assumes, picking it up. Cradling it against her fingers. ]

Jacob is a good man, a decent man. I am afraid for him.... Master Stoker... Stoker is... I find myself at no... no ground to be made, no matter what I try he just does not see me as ... as anything but a monster.

[ It hurts, it clearly hurts, she has never heard this word, really, before she came here. Now it has been hurled at her, with such vile implications, over and over. ]

But I never wanted anyone else to get hurt. It was humiliating enough and now Master Stoker says he will take retribution to any other Submissive that acted on my behalf.

[ He nods at her question, sipping his scalding tea. It's black and bitter and cheap, but it makes things feel a bit more normal to sit and drink it while they talk. ]

Wait around long enough you might get to see him.

[ The bitterness of the tea feels appropriate as she outlines her problem. Hellboy's expression darkens and he sets his mug down so he can start searching his pockets for his cigarettes. ]

Speaking for the monsters, this Stoker guy is going to get what's coming to him, even if it's not because of you. You piss off enough people, you're gonna have to deal with the consequences.

[ She frowns, finally looking up to meet his eyes, curious and perhaps - for once frustrated. ]

To seek violence against others, I cannot bear it. It goes against everything I was ever taught to be.

Yeah, well. [ He gives a tiny shrug as he slots a cigarette into the corner of his mouth. ]

It wasn't your choice. He's made his bed. [ His words are harsh, but he tries to make his tone gentle. He breaks a match off the book from his pocket and strikes it against his stone wrist. ] He shoulda thought about that before he went around hurting people.

[ There she shakes her head, about to say something -

Distracted, curiously. By what he's doing before she catches herself. ]

I do have a choice. A choice to ask no one to do cruel things, least of all on my behalf. He might expect violence and hate from this world, but what should I be if I expect or allow the same? I should be as bad as all the things he called me.

[ She has a point, her words tracing over advice that Hellboy has offered himself more than once. He makes a thoughtful noise, drawing on his cigarette and letting the smoke trickle out between his teeth as he reaches for his cup of tea. ]

And if he keeps pulling this act on other people? You can't control everyone, kid.

[ Jacob groans as he, for one of the first times ever, comes through the door. He's aching, muscles sore and shoulders stiff, as he removes his collar and drops it, shrugging off his coat and letting it fall to the floor. He doesn't see Gilia, already focused on Hellboy perched on their bed and he shifts to settle himself in the big man's lap, sighing and resting his forehead into Hellboy's neck. ]

You look as pissed as I feel luv. Whose got your goa-

[They aren't alone. He realises it too late, too used to this space being a sacred space the two of them share. He's never brought anyone back there, never let anyone in, and his head turns in the direction of the unfamiliar shape in the room.

Only to realise it isn't unfamiliar at all. Why is Gilia here? Why is Hellboy so bloody tense about it? Or is he tense about Jacob's arrival, and not hers? ]

... Am I interrupting an assignation?

[ It takes Gilia a second to realise what is happening. The way Jacob just trudges in the door like world was on his shoulders. She wants to speak to him almost immediately because he was next on her list and did not Hellboy just say if she waited, she would see him herself?

But she doubted he meant like this and the privacy she has invaded without meaning it - what can she do, half risen to greet him, herself.

She whirls, sharp on her heel, immediately facing the wall. ]

No! [ Her voice sounded pathetically squeaky even to her own ears. ] Nothing of the sort! Master Hellboy is being a perfect gentleman! I came to talk to him about a problem! And I - and I wanted to talk to you as well Master Frye! And - well you are here now. That is very good. Very good, I found you and I ought suppose I will talk to you when you...

[ Was it acceptable to use one's sacred gifted powers to flee any given room from embarrassment? Oh fungus and shells and other dreadful words she ought not to say, she was dreadful at this. ] - after I... finish staring at this wall...?

[ If she pretend no one could see each other, then she could die of shame peacefully. ]

[He frowns as she whirls around, hair and dress flaring out. He can't help share a look with Hellboy, as if to say, do you know what's wrong with her?

And then he gets it. Gilia is as innocent as sweet as any person he's ever met before, and perhaps the very intimate nature of his return back to this cramped little home from home has embarrassed her.]

Gilia, you can turn around. I promise everyone still has all their clothes on. And I'm not moving. Not after the day I've had.

[ This wall is a very good wall, she decides. It's doing a very good job at being a wall. It is has a flat side, which is good for a wall to have, and it's holding something up, another key function of a wall. It even seems to be holding something very heavy up, which deserved to be acknowledged. A roof was a good thing to have too, after all. Someone had given it the coat of paint a sensible white. She hoped that made the wall feel nice, since it was doing a good job, it should get something nice and -

Oh. Right. Jacob. Well then. Yes. Maybe she should tell him what a fine this wall is. A nice neutral topic that does not involve anyone acknowledging anything. ]

It is quite fine. I am so sorry to have intruded on your time together!

[ But she does dare to peek over her shoulder a little bit first. ]

[ Despite his prediction to Gilia, Hellboy doesn't expect Jacob to arrive so quickly or without a care to who else is in the room, though he doesn't exactly object when the younger man piles into his lap, except to try to protect the cup of tea that gets jostled when he climbs on top of him. ]

Hey, watch it -- [ Gilia, on the other hand, is far less sanguine about it. Hellboy raises his eyebrows as he exchanges a glance with Jacob, confused and slightly troubled by the difference in the young woman and the writhing, gleeful sea creature who had begged for him to fill her over and over.

He resists the urge to settle his right hand around Jacob's behind and studies the back of Gilia's head, meeting her glance back with a shadowed gaze. His patience for all of it is rapidly wearing thin. ]

She's here to talk about the guy you beat up. [ He supplies the information for Jacob's sake, though he doesn't look away from Gilia. ] Came to warn me off from doing the same.

[Jacob makes a soft noise as the tea is lifted out of his grasp, but when he settles and Hellboy brings the cup back in reach, he takes the cup and takes a swallow. It's not as sweet as he'd like, or as milky, but it did something to warm his insides as he tried to work out what the fuck was going on. Thankfully, Hellboy fills in the gaps.

Of course, he knows nothing of the strange sexual creature Hellboy expects- this is the woman Gilia knows: meek, innocent, and more than a little ridiculous. ]

The Stroker guy? Tim Stroker? [ Dick Stroker, more like. He bites that back though. Gilia won't appreciate it. ]

It's dealt with. He shouldn't come near you again. Why? Has he been bothering you again? He promised me he wouldn't when I was over there.

Master Stoker, yes.

[ Does she like the man? Not in the slightest. Will her manners ever allow her to call him anything less than the absolute proper thing? As likely as her ever wanting to sleep with him again.

But she had best face them both, as much as she just wanted to slip away from clearly a moment that was theirs, rather than anything she should be intruding on. Turning back to them and smoothing her hands against her dress in some effort to keep something of her own composure. ]

He also threatened all of you, blamed me for it - [ No, she could not look either of them in the eye. Her head down, wringing her fingers against themselves. ] - I could not bear it, when I saw, the money you owed, then I know you were forced to go and serve him. Over this. Over more violence and I - I cannot bear it. I do not want any more of it, please.

[ Hellboy lets the tea go without complaint, by now more than used to sharing with Jacob, and besides the younger man is cold and clearly tired against him. His left hand falls automatically to Jacob's thigh, rubbing him idly as he studies Gilia with a frown. He's tempted to ask if this guy has any ancestors who wrote bad novels about vampires, but maybe it's not the best time. ]

Like I was saying, we can't control what he's gonna do. Even if we don't go looking for him, is he gonna stop looking for us?

[ Jacob shakes his head at all of this.]

It's finished. It should bloody well be. Fine is paid, I did my 24 hours, he has said he'll leave you alone, Gilia. I've spoken to his friends- the general consensus is that back home, something happened to him that made him this way. They're trying to help him... heal, I guess.

[That really isn't their problem, but he feels very much like they're not helping. He takes another swallow of tea, and leans into Hellboy, relaxing more when the big warm hand moves to his leg.]

I don't think thumping him is the long-term solution.

Because he lives next door to my new Dominant. Who also calls himself not 'human'. I have to go out of my door every day and be reminded of him when I had set myself to forget he ever existed.

[ She picks at a nail. This should be a happy thing. Jack makes her happy, she is so glad to be his.

But here he hung over her. Like a chokehold. ]

I am relieved to hear you say that. We made it abundantly clear to one another that we should never speak to each other again. So Chieftan Jack, my Dominant, he spoke to him for me. In their exchange, he made it perfectly clear that he would bring down every bit of power he could on any Submissive, especially if they were Uncontracted.

[ Hellboy doesn't like most of what he's hearing and doesn't bother hiding the frown that darkens his expression. But he's quickly discovering how little he can do -- how little any of them can do -- when it comes to this sort of thing, as unfair as it feels. ]

Fine.

[ Though it's not, which his tone makes clear. But he likes Gilia, as little as they've interacted outside of the festival, and doesn't want to make things worse for her if he can help it. ]

But if he decides to make the first move against either of you, I'm not gonna promise anything. Guys like him don't last long around me.

He wouldn't last long in a fight against either of us. I almost-

[Jacob pauses, aware that Gilia probably won't want the messy details, and Hellboy might not either for that matter. So he shrugs it off, wrapping an arm around the big man's shoulder. ]

He wouldn't be a threat. It's the authorities here that are the problem.

[ And there she stands, with big eyes. Absolutely horrified. The implication is more than enough to make her want to be ill. Of violence freely given? No. That did not happen, not in her world, and how sorely it showed with how pale she seems to go. ]

I cannot stop you if you must, but I beg of you, please, make it the last thing you do. I want no violence, and this all started because of my own foolishness.

[ Gilia's clear distress isn't something Hellboy enjoys seeing and he definitely doesn't like being the cause of it. He raises his hand off Jacob's leg and holds it out to her, palm up, offering it for her to take if she wants. ]

Hey, it's okay. We're not gonna do anything unless we have to.

[Jacob feels a pang, wishing he could do something to put her mind at ease, but his normal methods would be offering up violence. Clearly that's not something that Gilia likes. But Hellboy's seems to know what to say, his deep voice calming. It's all he can do to agree with him, trying to match that tone.]

We won't. We'll only do anything if we really have to, as a last resort.

[ When they reassure her - what else can she do, but believe it? Because contrary to anything anyone else might say she knows one simple truth to this all. They are good men, perhaps of a life so far away from her own. Not in terms of place, that seemed trifles to the real differences, in upbringing, understanding of the world. But this remained true to her, what she believed. They were good men. Even if the violence scared her.

With Hellboy's offered hand, she steps forward. Taking him carefully by the fingers, like she would any other.

But there, in front of them, she does the one thing that she felt needed to be done, said, acted upon. With her hand lifted in Hellboy's, slowly and gracefully as she can, she sinks to her knees in front of them both. Her coat and skirts pooling underneath her. A small ceremony, in turn, where she takes Jacob's hand as well, and then as reverentially as she dared, she kissed the back of his knuckles, then in turn, gave the same to Hellboy's own hand. Turning her eyes up, and the sincerity of everything she feels is painted in it, as she meets their gaze, Jacob and then Hellboy as solemnly as she could. ]

Thank you. Both of you. Thank you, from all I am as Queen and all I am not as a woman, you have honoured me twice over. For defending my honour as you have, for being willing to do so again, and listening to my request, even when I know I have neither right nor position to ask it from you. Were I still of my rank, I would shower you in gifts and position in my lands, but I have not but myself, and my own ardent thanks, and I can do no more, now than hope it suffices.

IC; Duplicity Inbox

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guess whose notifs got eaten again.....

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