I'm the kind to sit up in his room. Heart sick and eyes filled up with gloom.

[godofcologne]

When Thomas woke up, the sun was streaming in through the window, and he could see brilliant blue sky through a space in the thin curtains. His mouth felt bone dry, but his head didn't throb, a pleasant surprise. Some part of him had expected the vampire safe tequila to have given him every effect of real alcohol. As it was, Thomas couldn't

Comments

[manicpixydream]

"Sometimes you say stuff and I have no idea who you think I am, like wrinkles, come on, but then I remember you've never met Rose and thank god for that." She'd imagined it more than once, and stopped for the sake of her own mental health. Still it left her being the stereotypical girl Cullen. Most of the time.

"You've never seen me really smashed. Well ok maybe that one time, but I got over it pretty quick, yeah? I dunno, I never went for the full alcoholic experience, not like Edward. It might be whatever hocus pocus, but our tolerance is pretty high." Alice frowned in thought, staring at the ceiling, so it was completely believable she didn't notice all the towel tugging she was doing. "I wanna try this magic booze stuff though, that sounds pretty great, plus surprisingly few retail goods for vamps in my experience of the world. I mean I don't know any sparkly lushes personally, you know? I'll ask Jasper."

Jasper would tell her, if she asked. He'd spent a long time drinking as hard as you could, so if anyone had matched Edward's intake, it'd be him. As much as she hated to dredge things up. For a second she missed him so hard it was almost like a physical thing in the room with them, but it passed. It always did. She'd write him later.

"You are a pervert," she said idly, still thinking about what she'd write to Jasper before turning to face him again, grinning. "Just 'cause you aren't skeezy. I am not giving you pictures, you're gonna have to work for them, probably same for an invitation if I think about it." If she thought about it, Pandora might not be super happy that she'd told Thomas about any of it, but Pandora could deal. Thomas got kept in the loop. That's the way things were.

[godofcologne]

The way Alice was tugging at his towel was sort of funny, though Thomas suspected that she wasn't really thinking about it and surpise naked time wasn't really a good thing. The surprise part usually didn't go well.

"Yeah, sounds pretty neat if you want to get drunk without being able to get undrunk on your own," Thomas grumbled, though he added with a smirk, "Lucky for me, everyone's seen me tipsy so often they can't tell if I mean to be or not. And what better excuse for drinking myself into a coma than surprise family reunion?"

He trailed a few kisses down Alice's throat. "What sort of work are we talking about for pictures? Can't I just beg for them on my knees? That usually works." His hand caught Alice's wrist at his towel and Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Disapprove of my towel colour choice, Alice? And I am not a pervert. I'm just a kind soul who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by turning them away."

[manicpixydream]

"You mean you had to sober up the slow human way, oh poor Thomas, from the sounds of it you needed all the drunk you got between your father and my brother, who by the way you never told me how that ended, except I'm assuming someone had to pull him off whoever again." Family reunion, yeah, that was one way of putting it. Maybe they could drop him in the woods and use him as a fox for the hunt she'd cooked up with Mal.

"I think you can figure out how good boys get rewarded all on your own, yeah?" Alice inched forward, nose to nose, with a knowing smile. "Your towels have this annoying habit of being on you is all, plus yeah, you are a pervert, plus are you saying I'm just a pity date? 'Cause that's insulting, Thomas. That's the worst thing you can say to a girl."

[godofcologne]

"Ugh. Don't remind me. I was still drunk when we ended up at Lestat's party and I saw dear old Dad again," he grumbled. "Watching for him to do something homicidal when I can barely put one foot in front of the other's not fun."

Still, with the way Alice smiled and came up into his face, the last thing he wanted to talk more about was Lord Raith. "I could," he answered, "but a hint would help. You know, just a little one." He closed the inch or so of space between them and kissed Alice again, long and full of slow heat. "And I am not a pervert. Being free with my affections is a good thing. But I should probably shut up before I say something else stupid, huh?"

[manicpixydream]

"Note the stark lack of denial on the pity date front, it's no wonder you're fending them off with a stick, you're only like, made of charm, god I almost want to stick you in a room with Rosie, someone'd die and I'm fully not sure who so keep that in mind if you ever really piss me off, yeah?"

Alice returned his kiss with one of her own, and she tried for his sake to feel happy and light and all the stuff he seemed to like sipping on, but her head still hurt, and besides, King Nathan was not a nothing problem. Sympathy was done with, sure, but it was still a trouble on his shoulders, a tension in his eyes, and it was probably going to get worse. And Vlad. And Edward. And everything demanding Alice's attention that weren't Thomas' lips could go to hell. Like Jasper said, the man had a way about him.

She tried not to be super conspicuous, running her fingers over the scar on his shoulder. "You should usually shut up," she said, grinning, kissing his jaw. "If only to give me more airtime which clearly I do not get enough of, and since we're all cozy and talking too much about all the wrong things, I'm wondering about the fine print on that pass you gave me ages ago, I mean hell of a time to bring it up since I've been using it so much but you know, circumstances."

Probably this was going to make his life a lot easier, but she had to know exactly how much harder it would make hers before she did it for sure.

[godofcologne]

"You know you're not a pity date. You're just fishing for compliments," came the unrepentant answer as Thomas' hand drifted up Alice's spine, savouring the soft skin beneath his fingers. He grinned and arched into the touch of her lips at his jaw.

Maybe it was just in comparison to the actual bad night of Vegas, but the afternoon was shaping up to be much better. Everything else was a complicated web, but Alice was an island of clarity. He knew exactly where they stood, and Thomas took refuge in it, at least for the moment.

"You know me, Alice. I don't do fine print. Too empty-headed to stipulate fine print and ripe for taking advantage of." His eyes danced with mirth as he turned his head a little and kissed her again, hand sliding back down Alice's back and over her hip. "Well, since you have all the answers, what should I do with my mouth instead of talking?"

[manicpixydream]

"You think you're so totally funny." Empty-headed was a fight she could see through to the end if she thought for one second he believed it, but more curious was who he thought believed it, and that she really didn't want to know. There was twisty and then there was twisty. King Nathan showing up made Alice remember a lot of stuff she'd seen and wanted to forget.

"Yeah, you don't have a head for details I know, but I'm thinking maybe moving in here wasn't the most genius move I could've made, yeah?" Even getting the words out, Alice bit a lip and pressed against him just a little more under his drifting fingers. "Or at least I think there's some stuff I could make better if I wasn't you know, crowding your space, at least to some people I fully won't mention, and Lacci's offered. I mean not that that won't cause major broodface 'cause it will, but I know Edward, he'll calm down about it eventually if you give him the right space, you know? And Lacci's willing to deal with it." Dru was another story. Dru didn't seem likely to change her mind any time soon.

"Except if I left, you know, I'm thinking I might still stay here sometimes, yeah? Like a secret second room or something, 'cause to be honest Thomas, you're kinda relaxing to come home to, and I'm sometimes maybe not so super great at remembering I um, you know. Need you. So I haven't totally made up my mind." Alice knew exactly where they stood too, and it was the only reason she could get through admitting she wasn't going to be able to plow through everything via sheer willpower alone, 'cause damn that was hard, and Thomas would get it. Ok, so she was always prodding people to lean on each other and usually she was better about that kind of thing, but she was supposed to be an unstoppable force of nature, not an unstoppable-as-long-as-a-demon-siphoned-off-her-head kind of thing.

"And your mouth, well I got a few suggestions and a lot of time on my hands, yeah?" Kissing him was way easier than waiting for him to answer anyway, plus it had the advantage of being one of her favorite things to do these days. Her head still wasn't on right, but even if he wasn't feeding, the comfort of being with someone who did get it, who was just going to be her friend while their backs were against the wall, that was pretty damned good.

[godofcologne]

Some days, Thomas wasn't sure how Alice managed to turn simple sentences into long rambling explanations. But she was kissing him back and there were still faint trickles of emotion sinking into him, though it seemed to have slowed. Perhaps there just wasn't enough pressure behind the Alice brain dam for the Hunger to feed through touch alone. He didn't particularly care about the why behind it, not when he could occupy himself with the nice way Alice was curled up next to him and her very skillful lips.

Practice definitely made perfect.

Coming up for air, Thomas hooked a leg around Alice's waist with a grin. "If you're ready to move out, I'm not going to stop you. But I'm not sure if you should move in with Lacci." He shrugged a little, the grin still on his lips, though it warred with tension. "I had the headache to prove they had another nice big fight in Vegas. Probably about Dru and Edward's Big Night O' Terror. I'm not sure if that's fixed."

Thomas shook his head, as if shaking away the thoughts of that particular argument. "Never mind. But can come stay with me anytime," he continued with a smirk. "Now that there's no one to get all offended or hide behind the curtains."

[manicpixydream]

Alice couldn't really help the sigh of relief, and sure, she knew Thomas wasn't going to take offense, but letting her come in and out like she owned the place, that was still the kind of thing she needed to hear out loud before she did it, especially now she didn't have her psychic goggles on. It was more about boundaries anyway and Thomas was pretty easy with those most of the time.

"You know they're not gonna stop fighting, believe it or not it's actually a kinda good sign for him, I mean he used to give the silent treatment for years and not hours, but it's a factor I guess." Really Lacci should talk to him first, just for her sanity, but- "It's just you know, Lacci offered 'cause she wanted to help, and it was sweet, and I think it'd be fun, but I'm not going anywhere yet, I mean definitely not right now." Thomas' leg had done a hell of a lot more damage to his towel situation than she had, and her smile was wicked.

"You sure you aren't gonna get all weird about me crawling into bed with you when you're asleep? 'Cause I can watch you if it'll make you feel safer, I can watch and watch and watch." Alice's eyes were like plates, and somehow being only a few inches away didn't stop her from pouncing on him, kissing him fiercely through giggles, letting her hand wander along the length of that leg.

Pixie magic, she'd say, not that anyone would ask.

[godofcologne]

Alice's hands were really good at what they did. And so were her lips, even if she was giggling and threatening to crawl into his bed and be creepy. "You have better things to do than watch me sleep," he dismissed. "As sexy and alluring, and not at all creeping stalkeresque as that sounds."

The way her hand wandered along his leg had Thomas pressing himself unconsciously against her hip. "Yeah, they fight, they fuck, they repeat. I know that drill." He smiled innocently. "Or did you not want want to think about that part of living with Lacci?"

Teasing and all that aside, now that they were talking about Edward and Lacci again, Thomas' expression grew a little serious. "When he was all apathetic or whatever, I sort of eavesdropped on the argument," Thomas said without a trace of shame. He tapped the side of his head. "You know, up here. Hard not to notice what they were feeling. I though, I was positive for a minute there, that Edward enjoyed hurting her. The taste of despair. Arguing snapped him out of it this time, but I can't say for sure if one day he's going to suddenly stop caring about her too."

Thomas shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, hands at Alice's hip pulling her closer. "Just, if you're staying with Lacci, be careful?"

[manicpixydream]

The giggling didn't stop with the creeping stalkeresque comment and, yeah, she was really going to have to stop making jokes like that if she wanted to make up with Edward, but not like, right away. Not when things were so nice and Thomas understood it was her job as someone who cared about Edward to mock the crap out of him, since it was clearly his job too.

Her expression got serious though, and her giggling quieted while she listened. To the part about living with Lacci and the empathic eavesdropping bit, 'cause it was all one ballgame to her, a scarier and scarier one.

"Thomas," she said quietly, still pressed against him but not totally meeting his gaze. "You know how I get all ew gross at the whole Edward and sex thing, and yeah I grant you it's probably entertaining and I fully don't mind getting teased about it." She took a breath. "It's just- it's kind of on purpose. Not anymore I mean, but it started that way, just this little thing that made us family, you know? 'Cause Carlisle isn't my sire, he isn't Jasper's, we just kind of landed there, and it was hard enough getting Edward to feel like a friend, forget about brother and sister, you know?" She looked up at him now, her eyes full of something like worry, but much, much older. "It's little things that make family and you build them over time but with Edward every single step was a fight, and I earned being his sister. He earned being my brother too but it's a different deal, that kind of family, and we pretend it isn't. I'm just telling you I know my brother, I have to know him, and if he really stops caring, I'm gonna know best, even before you and your feely radar, I will, 'cause that's the kind of thing I have to know."

The fact that it was possible was a sour deal to admit, and Alice didn't feel super content with herself saying it out loud, but Thomas was Thomas, and he got everything she could give, 'cause he was just as onside as she was.

"I'll be careful, I always am, but this thing isn't going away and neither am I, yeah? Family doesn't."

[godofcologne]

It occurred to Thomas that maybe Alice took so long to say anything to him because she knew he wouldn't listen the first time or the second. But this time he heard it and remembered Harry, how Karrin Murphy had said similar things to him once. Thomas sighed, and it was resignation and understanding rolled in one.

"Yeah. I know how that goes." Thomas relaxed a little, as if Alice had confirmed something he suspected but hoped wasn't true. "I just wanted to make sure you knew all the important stuff that happened in Vegas, just in case."

Just in case he had to make a quick getaway. Just in case Lord Raith danced faster than Thomas did. It was insurance, and the words tasted bitter on his tongue. He replaced it immediately with the taste of Alice, kissing her deeply, drawing out just a little more emotion, a little more slowburning heat. "Never mind. I won't backseat drive. Edward's your brother. Your deal. I'll be the getaway driver when you bundle him into the backseat for deprogramming."

[manicpixydream]

"You're not backseat driving, it's ok, I mean- I get that you're worried and I'm kinda glad, you know? I don't want this to be a problem but it's still nice to be able to share the load a little, and if you're gonna be there I'm not saying no." There was some change in his expression and Alice couldn't pin what, which was only the most irritating.

"He's your deal too, he's your friend, I'm just saying I'll know when to watch out for myself, yeah?" Everything she'd said was true, so this was too. She hoped. "Anyway he's gonna have to deal with me and Lacci being friends, and he got over me living here pretty quick. 'Course if you're just trying to get me to stay I'm convinceable, yeah?" That kiss was a good start, all trying to leave her breathless like it made a difference.

"That's why I came here, right? Solve everyone's problems and keep your spectacular self in bed as much as possible, I mean I'm just one girl trying to weigh all my responsibilities.|"

[godofcologne]

"I just--" Thomas paused, trying to find the words. His hand ran through Alice's hair, and he held her gaze. "I don't want you being in there to trigger whatever is wrong with his head," he said carefully, "Because if he does do something to Lacci, I'm not going to wait for you to smack sense into him, family or not." Despite his best efforts to remain calm and careful with his words, steely resolve slid into Thomas' voice, an unexpected fierce protectiveness.

The words hung in the air for a silent second until Thomas blinked, shook his head, and gave a self-conscious little laugh. "Is that what I sound like when I'm lying? Because I don't believe you for a second."

[manicpixydream]

"Probably a good reason for me to be there first then, yeah?" Thomas had set off a spiral of wanting to see more than she had in awhile, and it hurt, but that wasn't why she sat up, rubbing her forehead and sighing.

"Look I know you need to tell me this stuff and I want to know, but I didn't come in here to talk about how you're gonna take Edward out of he looks sideways at someone you care about, you know? You're drawing some pretty deep lines in the sand and I don't think that's where you wanna go right now." Alice didn't think Edward was going to hurt anyone but himself, and possibly a whole bunch of humans if it got that bad, but she hadn't been around to see him change, not really. She thought she knew what was going on, it'd all gone down more or less the way she'd always predicted - in the sane non-psychic way, even - but this magic in his head was a new player.

Lines were for when people were going to be on either side of them and Thomas was firming up where he'd be, and it was sad. It all just made her really fucking sad.

"Can we wait to talk about taking my brother out until he demonstrates like, a clear and present danger or whatever?"

[godofcologne]

When Alice sat up, Thomas followed suit, though instead of staying on the bed he stood up and crossed the room to rummage in his dresser. He came out with a silver pentacle amulet in one hand and slipped it over his head as he let Alice talk. Next came boxers and a pair of jeans. His hand reached automatically for the Desert Eagle, but he paused. No need for that until he left the room.

They were watching, they had to be, and he had pretty much just thrown down the gauntlet. Told the lawyers that he didn't trust Edward. The sight of Evangeline's card, tucked neatly under one corner of the iron box, confirmed that much. But it hadn't been just for the unseen listeners' benefit, what he'd said. He needed to know it. He needed Justine and Karrin and Harry to know it. Just in case Lara had put their father in play with a plan Thomas hadn't seen yet. One to toy with his head. They'd knew that was him and anything else different was a request to send in reinforcements.

"You're all practically indestructible, remember? No need to worry about me ever actually taking out your brother." He turned back around to face Alice, and the grudging truthfulness wasn't quite as close to the surface anymore. Thomas shrugged, as if they'd been talking about something inconsequential, and ran a hand through his hair. "I apologize for talking about a contingency plan."