[for Liam] There Are Words To Be Had

[liam_did_it]

Alright, so sometimes he puts his foot in it. Sometimes he even does these things intentionally for the laughs. There are occasions when he truly just doesn't think and yeah, he's even had to admit to being wrong once in awhile. Right now, however, Marcus feels anything but wrong. He's pissed off. Extremely

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[marcusisaspaz]

Liam set his phone on vibrate so he could talk to Chuck uninterrupted. So it wasn't until they'd been in the park for a while that he checked his messages, his jaw tightening as he listened to Marcus. His cousin sounded as angry as a redhead could, and Liam thought he probably knew why.

A couple of button presses had his cell calling Marcus back. "Sorry, cuz. I didn't mean to just bail, but I had to get Chuck out of the building for a bit. Do you want us to head back there, or do you want to meet us somewhere?"

[liam_did_it]

"No. Whatever. I don't want Tiny to listen in on this one, she'll just try to turn it into a joke or insist it's no big deal or worse...she'll tell that fucktard I'm looking for him and he'll beat feet." Marcus made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. The things Chuck did sometimes made absolutely no sense to him. "How is she, did that worthless lump of waste actually hurt her?"

[marcusisaspaz]

Oh yeah. He was right. Liam looked down at the pond's edge where Chuck was feeding bits of roll to the ornamental fish and spoke softly enough that she couldn't hear.

"She has a bruised shoulder and a wrenched arm," he said in an even tone that hit about twenty below in temperature. "And that piece of shit is lucky I didn't shove his damn shoe down his throat or ram it up his ass."

[liam_did_it]

Marcus was home alone so he didn't think anything of actually punching the support column he was standing next to. "You know, I told that cac that I'd rip his head off if he ever touched her again. He seems to have a memory retention problem."

Chuck might be mad at him at the moment and Marcus might not have had a chance to explain himself or apologize for his word-choices, but that didn't do anything to quell the protective streak he had for the small girl. It certainly did nothing to subdue the anger he had towards anyone that would violently attack someone so much weaker and younger than they are.

"You want to help me give the jerk a lesson in manners or should I just take care of good ol' Jere myself?" He popped his knuckles and idly studied the dent he'd put in the column.

[marcusisaspaz]

Liam heard the impact and felt a deep satisfaction at the knowledge that Marcus was of course just as torqued off as he was. He'd be punching things as well if the sight wouldn't upset Chuck. Liam had promised he wouldn't fight, and he wouldn't. Not where Pixie Girl could see him, anyway.

"Considering the amount of weed those two suck down, the lack of long-term memory isn't a big surprise," he said, still keeping his voice down. "And no way are you taking care of good ol' Jere without me. Especially if the other dungball decides to show up too." He gave Chuck a smile and a nod when she glanced back at him over her shoulder. "Call your play, cuz. I'll run it with you."

[liam_did_it]

The redhead rolled his dark eyes at the football metaphor. If it weren't for Liam actually playing the game, Marcus wouldn't know anything about the sport. It didn't interest him. Well, maybe the cheerleaders did...

But this was about Chuck and keeping his fragile little friend safe. "Just bring Chuck back here with you later. I'll make sure Alisha keeps her distracted so we can pay Tweedledum and Tweedledumber a visit."

[marcusisaspaz]

Liam wasn't a massive sports fan himself, at least when it came to those sports that didn't involve horses. But the minute he hit middle school, the football coach and choir director had each looked at different aspects of his natural abilities and then damn near arm-wrestled each other for who would get the lion's share of his extracurricular time. This being Montana and peer pressure being what it always has been and always will be, football won out.

"You got it, man," he replied. "We're almost out of food for the fishies, so I don't think we'll be too much longer."

[liam_did_it]

"What is with her and those damned fish?" Marcus sighed, the most boring creatures on the planet and she was obsessed. The most intelligent and beautiful (horses of course) and she was completely terrified. "Alright. I'll go see if I can talk the best housekeeper in all of Manhattan into doing a favor for me."

Marcus was grinning at Alisha who had a wary look on her face. She knew when this rascal of a boy was up to something and could see it in his dark eyes--something was up and her little papi wasn't likely to take 'no' for an answer.

[marcusisaspaz]

A soft chuckle slipped out while Liam closed his cell. The things Alisha did in the line of duty ... With a smile still on his face, the Montana boy rose and went to join Chuck at the pond's edge.

"How are your little scaly frands, Tiny?" he asked, watching the cluster of brightly-colored koi eagerly gulping down the bits of bread his friend dropped in the water.

[verbal_vomit_1]

Even though the weather is a bit chilly and her feet are cold enough that she can no longer feel them, Chuck has her shoes off and her socks balled up in the openings so that she can walk right to the edge of the water and curl her toes against the damp, moist ground. "They're Manhattan fishies. They'd be happier if you'd forked over one of the cookies of yum but are willing to make due with the rest of my breakfast, gluttonous boy."

She looked up at him and gave her dark haired companion a bright smile. Maybe she'd try to talk him into a detour on the way home so she could pick up some new fishies of a smaller variety for the bowl in her room. "What did mah dweeb want? That's who you were talking to, right?"

She hoped.

[marcusisaspaz]

"Would they?" Liam chuckled. Without another word, he pulled a black-and-white from the bakery bag and handed it to Chuck. Normally he would only have surrendered the baked good after a certain amount of moaning over wasting one of his favorite treats on a bunch of oversized anchovies, but right now he felt like indulging the little blonde. If sacrificing one of his dozen cookies made her smile, it was worth it.

Returning her smile, he nodded at her question. "Yeah, it was. Your Dweeb wanted to know how you're doing and when we'd be back."

[verbal_vomit_1]

Chuck gave him a look that was a cross between utter disbelief and total gratitude for parting with one of his treats. She'd buy him more anyway, it always made her laugh that he liked the cookies so much. They were just...cookies to her. "These are very sophisticated fishies. They live on the Upper West Side, frand. They know what's what." She began crumbling the cake-like object in her fingers, dropping bits into the water and getting the icing all over her hands. "Why wouldn't I be fine? I'm with you. And the fishies

[marcusisaspaz]

Liam watched her feed the huge goldfish, feeling quietly torn. On the one hand, he was glad Chuck felt safe and good with him. On the other ... he was going home after the week was over. He hated the thought of leaving his Pixie in an abusive situation, but he'd just have to trust Marcus to keep an eye on things. He had no choice.

When she held up the chocolaty half-cookie, he gave it a mock-thoughtful look. "Tell you what." Taking a gentle hold on her wrist, he leaned in an took a bite. After happily chewing and swallowing, he gestured at the remainder. "Go ahead and feed them the rest. I can wait."

[verbal_vomit_1]

She wrinkled her nose and smiled at Liam as he basically ate out of her hand. "You sure? I don't want to be blamed for fucking up your guy time with Marcus or whatever he wants you to go back for." Even as she asked, Chuck was crumbling the last of the cookie into her palm and sprinkling the bits into the water. "Nom nom nom, fishy fishes. Enjoy that because frand here is making me leave soon."

Cookie gone but fingers covered in stick, melting icing Chuck looked up at Liam for a moment and then glanced down at the water's edge. Thoughts churning in her little blonde head. There was certainly no swimming allowed in the pond and they frowned on too much in the way of shenanigans where the boaters were concerned but...

Chuck knelt down in the grass and waved her hand just through the water's surface. She laughed as the fish startled and disappeared as quickly as they'd shown up to feed. She also gave a bit of a giggle as she noted how close Liam was standing and how cold the water was on her hand. Surely no one would notice one small

[marcusisaspaz]

Chuck's aim was good. Her splash came at a moment when he was distracted by the fleeing fish, and his last-second dodge only insured that the water caught him in the neck and chest instead of the face. Liam yelped as fingers of water still winter-chilled found their way down his shirt.

Catching up to his hastily-retreating friend, Liam caught her uninjured arm by the extra fabric of her oversized (as always) hoodie and proceeded to use the soft knit to mop up as much of the water as he could. "You are so lucky," he laughed, "that picking you up and tossing you in with your fishy frands would get me in more trouble than it's worth."

[verbal_vomit_1]

Even though Liam said he wouldn't do it, as an insurance policy, Chuck gave the boy her best big-eyed-tiny-kitten expression as she looked up at him. "That water is strictly for fishies. People swim in pools, not ponds, Liam." Then she pulled the sleeve of her hoodie over one hand and used it to dab at stray droplets of water on her friend's neck. "You missed a spot."

Country Boy not(mostly) dried off, Chuck sat down to put her socks and shoes back on her feet. While she tied her shoe laces, the tiny girl kept glancing up at her blue eyed boy thoughtfully. "Do you like visiting New York, I mean besides your family being here, do you like the city?"