[Open - Folly Cemetary - Father's Day]

[irishcoffee]

It was without a doubt, Maggie's least favorite day.

Mother's Day wasn't far behind it but she only had vague memories of her mother. She'd been six when the woman had dropped back out of The Folly. Long enough for Maggie to remember her, but not long enough for anything to remain in her mind beyond little shadows in her mind.

Her father's exit. That she remembered clearly, considering she'd been the one that found him when the last of his attempts to bring her back to the Folly had failed. Magic drained after five years of these attempts, he'd been unable to fight the depression, unable to see anything beyond the loss of the love of his life.

Unable to see the daughter he'd be leaving behind.

She'd seen first hand what magical exhaustion did now that she was fully in her magic now. When she'd been eleven and sent to her foster home, it hadn't been as easy to see at all. She still hated him for leaving, still wished she'd been enough to keep him from giving up, but now, she was a little more accepting of it all.

When she saw a vaguely familiar woman at his gravesite, it took everything she had not to pull the earth, wind and water to her to blast the woman, and the trash around the headstone, into the forest so deep even Bella wouldn't be able to find her.

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

Comments

[irishcoffee]

"Probably not by carrying it," Maggie laughed as she looked around the room, "but we can get your clothes and things, then get a truck for the rest of it. Is there much more than this?"

[everywere]

"Just clothes," I say. The rest isn't mine. It's the house of a Drop In that disappeared that I took over. It's still pretty bare bones though, decorating isn't really my thing.

"There are a few others things but I might leave them here."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie frowned a little. "Why would you leave anything here? The house is huge, Jack, it's not like there isn't room."

[everywere]

"Well, the furniture isn't mine," I admit. I'm not really partial to it, all I cared was that it was functional. "Or the dishes or any of that stuff. Just the clothes and... well, you should come see the basement."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie's eyebrow raised, if anything, higher. "This isn't going to be one of those horror movie things, right? Where everyone in the audience is yelling at the clueless witch to not open the closet door because it's filled with...preserved fingers and toes or something?"

[everywere]

"There might be a part like this in a zombie movie," I admit as I head downstairs, not bothering to put on any clothes. No one was going to come in here and he liked looking at her naked. Down at the door to the basement I punched in the code on the door.

"Promise not to be too weirded out?"

[irishcoffee]

By this point Maggie's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Jack. Just show me. Then unknown factor here is driving me more than a little crazy with curiosity. Though if there are actual zombies behind the door, maybe we should discuss containment first?"

[everywere]

"There's nothing alive behind here. Or undead," I say. I open up the door and reveal another door behind it, metal and far more secure. I place my palm on a scanner and it beeps and the door opens with a hiss. I know it's extreme, but I don't want anyone else getting ahold of this stuff.

The room beyond the door is full of weapons; from blades to guns to explosives and lots of each kind.

[irishcoffee]

"Feeling a little better about it then." Maggie commented a second before the door opened and she looked inside the room. She whistled low when she saw everything there then turned to look at him. "Was this here? Or did you amass these things over time?"

[everywere]

"All this is mine," I admit. It's maybe a bit excessive, but I didn't have anything better to do with my time until now. Besides, a part of me insists that these are necessary, that I have these to be prepared for situations where they might be necessary.

[irishcoffee]

Maggie looked at the arsenal and touched a few of the items before turning back to him. No where near shocked, more mildly curious. "Was this all of the deep, dark secret or is there more to it? Secret sex toy dungeon behind all the guns?"

[everywere]

"You're going to be disappointed when I say no, aren't you?" I say, smiling at her. I'm glad that she's not weirded out, although I know that I really shouldn't have expected her to be. It's just a testament to my obsession though that I have all this.

[irishcoffee]

Maggie walked over to him and took his hands. "Maybe. I'm not really one for whipping posts, though." She looked up and gave him a wicked wink. "Just so you know."

After a minute, she looked around the room, cataloguing what she saw there. "I think we're going to need a van or truck or something. If the residents see me walking through town with this sort of thing, we may very well find ourselves with a panic. My house has a full finished basement, so you'll have more room for the arsenal there."

[everywere]

"We don't have to bring it all," I tell her. It's overkill to have this much, I know that. Who even needs plastic explosives anyway? Part of my mind can think of a dozen reasons to have it, but none of them are practical here.

[irishcoffee]

"Honestly? I'd rather move it all to the house. I can put up some defenses there that would deter anyone from wandering in and shopping through. Not that I think anyone would, but if they were at the house, I'd know if anyone got close, got curious, or had breached."

When she looked up at him, her smile melted a little. "Jack? Is something wrong?"

[everywere]

"Just... remembering how abnormal I am," I say with a shake of my head. I wish I could feel less pathetic about that, I know that's not a very attractive and endearing quality. I don't want Maggie to think that she has to constantly prop up my ego.

[irishcoffee]

Maggie's eyes rolled. "Do any of us get to pretend we're normal here, Jack? My best friend is dating a vampire so lethal I've made her live deep in the forest away from the other humans. We've got...something here that's not human, I'm honestly not sure he's even alive, and frightening as hell. But he's helping patrol the more supernatural elements. Last I heard he was hanging out with another hunter who uses shadow to help trap the more feral creatures we get here sometimes. Not to mention we live in a town that, for all intents, doesn't exist in any real time. We all left normal a long time ago."

[everywere]

"You're right, you're right," I say, sighing. I don't know if others being strange also makes me less strange, but I know that I shouldn't feel so out of sorts. Part of it is that I'm not used to feeling unsure of a situation, I'm trained to know how to respond to everything.

"I'm glad you like my kind of strange."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie smiled and wrapped her arms around him, hands settling at the base of his spine. "I love you, Jack, and I don't think you're strange at all. Any more than I believe that you think I'm strange. We're just...enhanced in a way. It's what we do with that enhancement that defines us, not why it was done or given to us in the first place."

[everywere]

"I love you too," I say, feeling a weight lift from me at her words and the way she feels with her arms wrapped around me. I force myself not to wonder what I've done to deserve someone so special and just enjoy it.

"Even if you are strange."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie laughed and her hand slid down to smack his ass. "Hey. Watch it with that, or you'll be moving into the spare room instead."

[everywere]

I growl as she smacks my ass and gives me a warning. I like hearing her laugh though, especially how I just freaked out on her here. I'm glad she can not take that personally, as a reflection of how I feel about her.

"Are you threatening me?"

[irishcoffee]

If anything, the low growl made her smile widen...and because she was perfectly happy living dangerously, she smacked his ass again.

"Maybe. What if I am?"

[everywere]

I growl more deeply and find myself responding, grinding my hips against her. I kind of like her being fiesty like this and I wonder if I can get her to keep it up. It's kind of hot when she's being demanding and bossy.

"You'd better back this attitude up."

[irishcoffee]

"Hmm, now who's being all threatening?" Her voice stuttered, just a little, when he moved against her and the squelched desire of earlier came roaring back to the surface. "I'm the one letting you and your arsenal here move into my house. If I decide you're getting the spare room and not my bed, you'll take it. And like it."

The look she gave him was searching as well as daring - this was new ground for her. A little exciting, a little scary, and causing all sorts of little reactions.