Return of the King || Felik's Flat

Aragorn straightened his long sleeved button-up nervously, the white fabric allowed his tanned skin to stand out more than usual. He wore a neat pair of blue jeans that fit comfortably. On his feet were a pair of new white on blue converse, clean as could be and his name stitched into the sides. His hair was brushed out to try and keep his curls out of his eyes, but it had failed. His dirty blonde hair bounced back into its natural curls.

He plucked at one curl with a free hand, the other busy holding onto a small bouquet of rainbow coloured roses. He hadn't known what else to do. He let out a deep breath that he had been holding for a little while. He wasn't good at apologising, certainly not for something that was possibly out of his control.

Gorn kept a tight hold on his emotions, pulling his grim expression into a nervous, worried smile as he stepped up to the door. He hid the roses behind his back and took a deep breath as he knocked with his right hand. He had no idea what to expect, he had just managed to track her down.

Feliks - with his back turned to Karma so he felt secure enough to pretend that she couldn't see him - was making faces at the small boy who was perched happily on the floor beside the table when the knock came on the door. Stopping mid-giggle Adrian and Feliks both turned their head to the side before looking towards the door and the unfamiliar sound it was making. No one knocked on the door - Feliks didn't exactly like visitors, and certainly didn't invite them. The mirroring of father and son ended with the expressions on their faces, Feliks's curiosity quickly morphed into one of displeasure while Adrian only cooed louder, excited by this unexpected turn of events.

Before any other reaction could be made, Feliks was out of his chair and moving towards the door. If someone was going to disturb his evening, he was going to be the one to have the pleasure of telling them where to go.

Pulling the door open with more force than was ever necessary, Feliks blinked slightly at the scene that was before him - or more exactly the boy. Curly hair falling in his face, nervous as a love sick puppy, he looked like the kind of chump Feliks would have had picked on in a heartbeat.

He knew exactly who he was here for.

"Roses, really?" he raised an eyebrow, as he leaned against the door frame. "At least you did go for just red - though still a little cliché don't you think? Lets could have gone with a lily, or maybe an orchid, their delicate frame is far more interesting than the rose." What had started as an insult and rolled into an artist's tangent, but Feliks didn't really care. The boy was nothing to him so he could think whatever he wanted.

"Tyurma!" Feliks finally called out, though he made no action to move away from the door. "I think its for you."

Focusing on cooking dinner - it was her turn after all - Karma froze as well as her boys did when the sound of knocking reached her ears. Her gaze went from the stove to the door, then to Liks and Beds. The similaries in their expressions caused her to giggle before she turned back to her meal as she heard Liks go answer it. Her shoulders flexed slightly under the white fabric of one of Link's button up shirts, moving upward and then back, sending the shirt up slightly to reveal the jean shorts the fabric was half tucked into. Her hair up in a messy bun with a few curls escaping, she looked as domestic as she ever did, feet bare as they padded back and forth before the stove.

Stirring the mixture happily, she hummed the tune that had cut off at the knock before moving the pot off the stove and snagging the crawling child attempting to follow his father. Lifting him above her head, she was rewarded with an excited cry from the boy that morphed into a "Ma!" and a bunch of nonsensical words. She nodded along as she placed her son in his high chair, snapping the tray into place once he was secure and placing his drink - in its baby-oriented container - on the tray before him.

It was only then that the scent of the creature at the door finally made ts way throgh the strong - and much closer - scents owhatshe had been cooking for dinner. She tensed, suddenly wishing that she hadn't disregarded the sounds of their conversation - she had assumed whoever was at the doorway had the wrong address and that Liks would send them on their way. She appeared at the entrance to the kithen, trying and failing to see around Liks to the person at the door. Instead, she arrived just in time to hear her name called, and padded over to the space just behind Liks to see who it was.

"Gorn?" The confusion that clouded her expression as she took him in - gaze flitting only over his. face - disappeared before she was in motion again, sidestepping Feliks to throw her arms around the other boys neck, hugging him almost feverishly. A half-laugh escaped her lips, then she was suddenly away from him, holding him at an arm's length to try and get a proper look at hik. "You reek." She observed, quite happily from what showed in her expression.

"What are you doing here?" Finally remembering herself, she stepped back into the apartment, standing beside Liks on the doorstep and looking up at Aragorn with a dazzling smile. "How did you find me?"

Aragorn looked at the boy that opened the door with an expectant raise of an eyebrow. He wasn't sure who he was and figured he must have been one of Karma's that he'd never met. The minute the guy opened his mouth, a slow contempt formed in Gorn's mind. He always forgot what kind of assholes existed outside of his own books and friends, and he was pretty sure he was one of them at one point.

He cleared his throat and pursed his lips, his confidence slipping. He withheld a cold remark and responded with a level, smooth tone, "Apologies don't come cheap, even if cliche is the price to pay. Thank you for your opinion, however and I'm, I suppose the word is, honored to have received it."

Gorn raised his eyebrows high on his forehead and waited for the 'Tyurma' he called back to come to the doorway. He assumed Karma was definitely behind this one.

And behind turned out to be exactly where she was. Karma appeared beside the man in the doorway. His smile returned in its full brilliance, forgetting his fears and worries for a moment. He had expected her to be angry, but as her arms flew around his neck his surprise was extreme.

He hugged her around the waist briefly before she removed herself from his grip. He scoffed and replied dryly to her 'stink' comment, "I missed you, too, Karma."

He raised his eyebrows. What was he supposed to tell her, he went around like a detective to find out where she was so that he could bring her a bouquet of 'cliche' roses so that he could explain what had happened in the time he was gone, and then hope she'd accept his apology? No. He went for a joke instead.

"Let's just say I followed my nose," He poked it softly and smiled. He held out the colourful roses towards her. Glancing at the still unnamed boy before him, he added, "Your new boyfriend doesn't approve."

Letting out a soft snort, Feliks raised an eyebrow of amusement at the boy's response. His head canted to the side and he took another appraising look at him. He was still far from happy at his appearance at his door, and didn't like the little kid, but he certainly was mildly amusing. Feliks supposed that had to be good for something.

Before he had a chance to speak up though, Karma had already taken his call and in fact threw her arms around the boy apparently dubbed Gorn, at least by Tyurma. Again his eyebrow went up but the expression on his face couldn't quite be called amusement. It could be called anger either. There wasn't a word that quite fit what the expression was doing properly. He still hadn't made to move from where he was leaning upon the door.

"Actually, he doesn't approve of anyone appearing on his doorstep," Feliks stated, not making any deal about the fact that he didn't bother correcting the boy's assumption. "So I repeat her question, and yes I want you to hear the threat. How did you find here?"

Karma's gaze fell onto the bouquet of flowers, eyes widening in glee before she took it from him, touch exceedingly gentle. "These are for me?" She asked softly, before breaking out into another grin and hugging them to her chest. No one had ever gotten her flowers before. "Thank you!"

She gave a soft laugh, shaking her head. "None of my boyfriends seem to like you, Gorn." She teased lightly, unconsciously taking a half-step closer to Liks as she rolled her eyes. "But Liks isn't my boyfriend. He's the father of my child."

The sound of plastic hitting plastic could be heard from the other room, and Karma disappeared in time to catch the small cup before it hit the ground, giving Adrian a mock glare that caused him to giggle. Taking back his cup, he began to bang it against his tray, singing a loud song that called for dinner. Reappearing beside Feliks and laying a hand on his arm, she cocked her head toward the kitchen. "Bedalito's doing his hunger song, can you feed him while I talk to Gorn please?"

Aragorn smiled at her reaction to the flowers, a little pleased with himself. He delayed answering Feliks's question a half a moment more and then looked to the older boy curiously, "I'm not sure you know how spectacular my nose can be, now that it's been upgraded."

"No, they seem to be intimidated by me for some reason," He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Suppose it could be reasonable over the last couple years."

When Karma spoke of a son, Gorn's eyebrows shot up his forehead in surprise. He could hear the child inside but he had assumed that it was just a sibling or something to Feliks. He lowered one eyebrow so that only one cocked upwards. He glanced between the two, "Things sure have changed over the, what, summer? It's only been a summer, hasn't it?"

Gorn frowned, turning his gaze down to his feet to remember how often he had seen Karma during the last school year. In all honesty, he hadn't really. He'd been focused on more things. He hadn't even recalled seeing her much in the hallways. Summer surely couldn't have been enough time for a child.

Feliks wasn't going to ruin her enjoyment for her. He supposed flowers were flowers and girls got enjoyment out of those things - at least his sisters did - however he still thought roses were the easiest to buy. Flowers should reflect the person, if you were going to bother to do anything about them. Not that Feliks did much about flowers.

It was just what he thought.

He glanced over his shoulder as his boy started to speak up, cocking his head to the side he tried to pick up a beat to the child's song like he always did. Still looking over his shoulder he smirked, though the effect may have been lost, "Not intimidated, pup, just annoyed. Next time you follow that nose of yours. Try checking that the inhabitants want guests."

Just because it would annoy the boy, or at least cause he hoped it would annoy the boy on some level, Feliks kissed Karma quickly before sauntering off to his singing son.

"Ain't life just tricky like that?" Was the obnoxious remark he made before he disappeared. Again leaving it to Karma to correct the biological creation of her son if she wished. Feliks was perfectly happy - for reasons he didn't quite understand - to leave the pup in his door way think what he was presently thinking.

Vaguely, Karma supposed she should let boys come to her door more often if she always got this kind of reward, but that thought barely registered before she was facing Gorn again, grinning up at him. "Here we'll... step outside." She glanced after Liks one more time before sliding the door closed behind her, keeping her back to it, almost... protective. It wasn't much by anyone's standards, but this was her family, and there was no one and nothing that she would let hurt them, not if she could help it.

Not that Gorn would hurt them or anything, but he was a were, after all. The distrust between their species was bigger than them.

"So, why are you here?" Karma asked, playing with the head of one of the roses as she gazed downward almost shyly.

"He's good," Gorn admitted, pursing his lips as he did whenever he was giving a compliment he didn't like giving. He felt a twinge of old jealously that he hadn't felt in a rather long time, surprising him to say the least. He had thought that the feelings that caused jealousy had at least subsided to a small thing that only existed in a close friendship.

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as Feliks walked away, flashing his gaze up once more to look after him as Karma shut the door. He let his gaze linger on Karma long enough for him to notice the way she positioned herself. He kept his face in a neutral expression as his gaze dropped again but couldn't stop his shocked hurt. He had hoped he hadn't changed so much.

"I wanted to come and apologise to you for any of the pain I've caused over the past few months. It's been hell for me and I know it must have been at lesat a little painful for you." He smiled briefly at his feet, "Just thought I'd check up on you."

Karma blinked blankly up at the boy, following his gaze only half before relaxing against the wall beside the door and raising an eyebrow. "Who? Liks?" She grinned, and gave a half laugh. "Yeah." There was something else in her voice, a soft sort of tenderness that rarely made its way out of the firm locks her mind had on her emotions when the boy was around.

"Oh." She played with the roses still, glancing back at the doorway before looking up at him. "It wasn't pleasant." She murmured. "But I could never blame you for it, not really." Pushing herself off the wall, she looked up at him as she took a small step forward. "It wasn't your fault." She reached up and pressed her hand to the side of his face, caressing the skin softly.

There was a small smile, before that slipped away as well, and she was left with noting. "I-" She wavered slightly, looking away. "I don't think you should visit me anymore." She said, voice strong despite the fact that it broke over 'visit'. "We- We can still hang out at- like school or- of course but- but not here. You can't-" Her voice shrunk slightly, hand falling from his face to her side. "Not here." She said with absolute certainty. "You can't be here."

If Gorn could find her...

She wouldn't let that thought continue before she was stepping away again, leaning against the wall with the exact expression she'd had before. "Anything else?" She asked, back to flower petal stroking and biting her lower lip.

"He's good for you," Gorn said softly as he listened to the tone in her voice. He couldn't remember if he'd heard her talk with so much affection before about anyone. He smiled a moment as he thought about how happy she seemed.

Gorn's expression brightened when she said she couldn't blame him. He had been hoping for that reaction, instead of one that consisted of hating him and sending him away at the mere mention of it. At the touch of her skin against his, he almost crumpled into her. He was mentally exhausted from all the worrying he'd been doing and she had nearly released a floodgate of emotions he'd been holding back. He leaned into her hand instead, closing his eyes briefly until she pulled away from him.

He sensed something was wrong when her tiny smile fell from her softened expression. Had she always looked like that? No, he decided as he took in her features for the first time in a long while. She hadn't always looked so kind. He stared at her while she spoke, listening as sadness overwhelmed him. He stuck his hands in his back pockets and looked on her with sad yet understanding eyes, "Whatever you say, Karamel."

He shrugged slowly as he asked a question he hadn't wanted to ask yet, "What happened to red eyes?" He paused, "How did you have a little kid? Other than the obvious."

"Don't give me the puppy look." She whined, pouting up at Gorn before glancing away from him, down the hallway. She smoothed down her shirt, fidgeting uselessly as she tried to resist the guilt that was trying to crop its way up into her person. This was for Adrian. With that thought, even the hint of guilt was gone.

She froze, her breath stopping as pain, real, red hot and breathtaking, spread like saccharine poison through her veins. She let out a whimper, then turned away from him before he could see her fully crumpling expression. The loneliness that barely poked its head above eye level in her paradise of a new life came back with a vengence, punching her in the gut. Bracing herself with a hand to the wall, she wound an arm around her stomach and trembled. It hurt.

Why did it hurt?!

"Arsen." She whispered, nearly flooded with memories as his gaze swam in her mind's eyes and the continued blasts of loneliness nearly brought her knees. "He-" She squeezed her eyes closed, wondering if the word would actually pass through her lips, wondering if she was strong enough to actually put the pain into words yet.

"He- He-" Resting her forehead on the wall, she shook her head. "He left me."

"Sorry," He smiled a little. "I can't help it anymore, it just comes naturally these days." He was still sad but he'd learned to make jokes during painful moments, it always helped. Even if he was rather bad at them.

He forced himself to stay standing as his heart throbbed. He hadn't expected as nearly much pain at the mention of Red Eyes and the sheer emotional weight almost tore him to pieces. Tears burned in his eyes as he listened to her. He shook his head and as she finished, he rushed forward and threw his arms around her. He wished he could comfort her in some other way but a hug was all he could give anymore.

"I'm sorry, Karamel, I'm really sorry," He whispered and tucked his face into her neck. Anger flickered in his mind, a flame he didn't want lit trying to burst.

Remembering he felt what she did was eye opening, even as she wrapped her arms around him and melted into him. Closing her eyes against him, she hid her face in his chest, shaking her head slowly. "Sorry." She murmured, fingers curling in the back of his shirt. "I-"

She fell silent, soaking comfort from the familiarity of Aragorn's touch. Even though his scent sent half of her reeling, she was used to the rest of him, and he hadn't really changed all that much. There was definitely more muscle than she remembered, but perhaps she was just slighter. He was no Liksie, but he was stronger now.

"Don't." Her voice broke, and she shook her head again. "Please don't- I don't want to- I can't-" Her hold on him tightened, and for whatever reason she couldn't seem to stop shaking her head. "I don't think I can let myself think about it, Gorny." She whispered, swallowing thickly. "It- I- It- hurts-"

Aragorn stroked her back softly as she hugged him back, shooshing her quietly, "It's okay, Karma, I know."

Despite his anger towards the situation, an ache within him began to soothe him as his own smothered pain leaked out. He couldn't help but feel slightly content as he hugged her. He hadn't realised what exactly it was there for until then. He sighed and kept stroking her back. He didn't feel quite as lonely.

Her arms tightened around and he shook his head, "Then don't think about it Karamel, think about Feliks and your son, or, if it helps, Danni. Or me. Or both of us." He grimaced as he tried to take her mind off of it.

"Why would I want to think of your cruddy princess boyfriend?" She whined, wrinklong her nose as she tilted her head back, looking up at him. The comfort of his familiarity was shocking in its strength, especially when she realized that it was usually Gorn who comforted her when things went wrong with.... the other one. The emotions that presented themselves to her were met with confusion, even as she glanced from his eyes to his lips. She gave a soft laugh. "Doesn't it figure that the one time I think of kissing you you went and made yourself poisonous."

Stepping backward slightly to distance herself from him, she offered a grin. "Focusing on Liks and Bedalito is what I have been doing, but...." something crossed her face, something buried deep and scared, "it won't work forever. I know that." Karma's voice had dropped, became soft and almost frightened, if that were an emotion she could have. "I don't know what I'll do when- if he comes back."

Aragorn scoffed, "I dunno. Why would you want to think of darling Danie?" Gorn laughed and shook his head as he added, "For Halloween, he had me dress up as Peter Pan. Can you imagine? I was in green tights and leafy garments that barely covered me up. He ended up being Tinkerbell. He pulled it off, as you can imagine. He did all that even though we weren't together. He had the staff do that as well, do you remember? I think Cookie was Wendy."

He smiled briefly as matched her gaze, keeping in mind that it was a bad idea to do what he wanted to do. He kept his smile until she unintentionally, or perhaps intentionally, teased him about a kiss. His smile turned into a frowning pout, "Oh, what cruel fate! And I'm single, too."

A crease formed between his eyes and caused himself look older, concern both hardening and softening some of his features. He was feeling very touchy-feely today, he realised, and put a hand on either side of his face, "You take your son and run. Because if I know him like I remember, and I'm pretty sure I do, you have to run." He smiled tightly, "I know I'm being very, very negative, Karma, but please. For your sake, and for your family's, run like hell. Even if he can find you, just keep going."

He felt very sad. Was that what it was? He couldn't be sure, could he? If she ran, he could never physically see her again, nor could he ever physically speak to her. But that was a sacrifice for her safety he would have to make if it came to that. He would try and stall him while he could, even if it meant death. Truly that scared the young boy, but that was what he wanted to do when he finally got out of school.

Giving a laugh, Karma shook her head. "I remember also dressing as Tinkerbell. Same costume too, though if I remember correctly you liked my version better..." Her voice had gone from teasing to... Well... still teasing, though there was a note to it that was almost indecent. "Princess Perfect disn't seem to like it much, though... or your reaction to it." She grinned, taking his hands and holding onto them. "You're sweet to come and apologize, you know I can never stay mad at you."

Rising to her tip toes, she brushed her lips against his, the touch barely there before she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for always being there for me."

Her eyes turned sad, and she shook her head. "I'm not running." The words were final, even as she rethought the issue that plagued her on the nights Liks wasn't there to chase her nightmares away. If they tracked her, and she was here, what would she do? The flat had more than the usual defenses against every magical creature, from elves to fae, including both demons and angels. The fedelius charm had worn down - the neighbors had seen them, and she hadn't been as careful in the past as she should have been - and though no one could speak of it, Gorn being here was a testiment. It was no longer safe here.

Then again, he wouldn't have made it past the doorway before the wolfsbane kicked in, the deadly herb combination was spread over the iron of the walkway. To his credit, a demon wouldnt have made it past the Welcome mat.

"I will have to go to him when he gets here, you know that, don't you?" Leaning into his touch, she closed her eyes briefly. "If I go to him, there's a much better chance of my family living if I find him before he finds me. It's not something I like to talk about, but it's true." She sighed, then shook her head. "I don't feel comfortable leaving them here, but it's better than leaving them in a temporary home. It's the only reason we're still here." Offering another grin, she shrugged. "I'd invite you inside, but you'd die within a second, and not pleasantly."

Aragorn blushed softly, laughing nervously and avoiding her gaze. He laughed, his voice catching in his throat and shocking into another octave. He cleared his throat and smiled, "Yeah, he didn't talk to me for the rest of the night because of that." He scoffed and shook his head hard, "You were bloody distracting."

His heart skipped a beat and his body urged for more, but he shut it down. He smiled softly down at her, remembering again that he was rather tall, "Don't mention it, love."

Gorn's eyes were ripe with pain. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together in a thin line. He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides limply as he lost any hope of her running.

"Yes," Gorn choked on his words. He cleared his throat to keep his voice from hitching again as he continued, "Yes, I know. And even though I'm obviously not the right person to be saying this, I'll protect them if you have to leave. But I won't talk to them, if that would make it better."

He chuckled and glanced at the door, "I appreciate that. Would you like to go back inside and be Mamma Bear?"

"We aim to please, Mr. Hawthorn." She purred, biting her bottom lip and gazing up at him through her eyelashes. "And single, you say? Isn't that convenient? I'm relatively single myself." Tracing her fingers down the side of his face, she smirked slightly leaning toward him ever so slightly before winking and stepping away. "Shame you're poisonous."

"Hey," Her eyes softened as she looked up at him, stepping into another hug before she could think to do otherwise. "Don't worry about me." She said, her words soothing. "I'll be fine. Always am, probably always will be." She offered a sad smile. "Besides, if anyone could ever handle Hothead, it was me."

Glancing behind her, she gazed at the door a moment, before looking back up at him, clearly undecided. "I don't want to leave you here." Karma whispered. "I don't want to abandon you too."

Gorn smiled and nodded, "Wishing I hadn't gotten lost in London." He scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I can't believe I got lost. Me with my impeccable sense of direction."

He hugged her back quickly, tears popping into his eyes suddenly. He forced himself to stop before they fell but his eyes already looked puffy and red. He didn't like crying, it was annoying and it showed his vulnerability. Sometimes he couldn't help it though.

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried, Karamel." He smiled and joked, "But, hey, if you're really that keen on keeping me around, you could just build me a dog house in the backyard. We could play fetch."