Vanilla #10, Gingerbread #17, with Peaches - Bad Company
Author: askingxalice
Title: Bad Company
Summary: Oz ‘talks’ to Andy about Liam Kilpatrick. And by 'talks', I mean 'argues'.
Story: Phase
Timeline: June 2025 - Andy is 41, Oz is 39.
Challenge: Vanilla #10 (phobias), Gingerbread #17 (to grandmother's house)
Toppings/Extras: Peaches (Lose the expectation that someone will volunteer to tell you the things that you should know.)
Word Count: 860
Rating: Pg-13
Oz somehow managed to keep his hands from shaking until he got back into the car. Leaning his forehead against the steering wheel, the trembling started at his fingertips and traveled upward until his whole upper body was shaking, fear belatedly making his mouth go dry. He had to force himself to calm down before he could pull away from the curb, knowing that lingering would seem suspicious to the occupants of the house he had just left. As much as he wanted to run back in and snatch Chloe away, he didn’t. As much as he wanted to simply stay there, parked by the curb until it was time for Chloe and Diana’s play date to be over, he couldn’t. Both would have consequences he didn’t want to even fathom, much less bring into reality.
Thoughts raced across his mind in a jumble that made almost no sense. Flashes of memories growing up in Dublin, hearing rumors and whispers and news about what the Kilpatricks were known for and things they did best. By the time he made it home, his fear had morphed into a sort of anger he hadn’t felt in years, caused by complete helplessness on his part to do anything about the current situation his family was in. That, of course, just made him angrier.
Slamming the car door, it took everything he had to not slam the front door once he got inside. Locking it behind him, Oz didn’t know where to go now. To his office, to find an old pack of cigarettes stashed in his desk, to the kitchen and the liquor cabinet within, or straight to Andy? He didn’t have a chance to make his own decision, since Andy walked into the room a moment later.
“Hey,” He said, not looking up from some papers in his hand and missing Oz’s expression, “did you get Chloe dropped off alright?”
Oz’s answer was probably not what Andy was expecting. “Liam Kilpatrick,” he spat, accent thicker and purer, as it always was in times of high emotion.
That grabbed Andy’s attention, and he set the papers down on the coffee table. “...What?”
“Liam fucking Kilpatrick,” Oz repeated, stalking forward to pace around the living room, “someone I never hoped to ever fucking meet, just in case you were wondering, dear heart, is the father of one of our daughter’s friends. Did you know that?”
The pause before Andy answered was enough confirmation for Oz. “I didn’t see why it needed bringing up. You knew what kind of people she would be around.”
“I knew she’d be around Corlionis! I never knew a goddamn thing about Kilpatricks, and don’t you dare stand there and say you didn’t think it was important. You don’t have any idea what the hell those people are capable of. And Liam fucking Kilpatrick is one of the worst.”
“They’re mobsters, Oz,” Andy answered, tone of voice still blank and calm, and that’s how Oz knew that he was just as pissed. “I don’t see how it matters which mobsters her parents are, or which Corlioni, or which Kilpatrick. I didn’t know there were different levels of bad.”
“He’s psychotic!”
“And Nicoletta isn’t? You had no problem with Chloe visiting when you didn’t know about her husband.”
“I had plenty of problems! I still do!” Oz yelled, finally stopping his pacing to turn and talk to Andy directly. “I remember bringing them up multiple times before this!”
“And what would you have me do? Tell her that our daughters have to be punished because of their parents’ mistakes?” Crossing his arms, Andy sat down on the couch, and hoped this wouldn’t last forever. “Considering that would lead to more than just a sulking Chloe, and I rather enjoy living, I don’t think that’s an option.”
Just like that, all of the anger went out of Oz, and he looked deflated. Andy finally saw the fear in his gaze. “What if they hurt her?”
“They won’t,” Andy answered, surprised at his conviction. “She’s a child. They won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. We can’t do anything to separate Chloe from Diana, but neither can they. Diana loves Chloe as much as Chloe loves her, and I imagine that Diana is even more spoiled than ours is. As long as we don’t do anything extremely stupid, they won’t do anything to us.”
Sighing, Oz trudged over to the couch to sit down next to his husband, leaning his head against Andy’s shoulder. “I don’t like it.”
“Nobody is asking you to. I’m just asking you to tolerate it.” Andy soothed him, pulling him into a hug.
“I don’t like that either,” Oz sullenly muttered. “Maybe next time, Diana can come play over here. Maybe every time.”
“Because that won’t seem at all suspicious or insulting or extremely stupid.”
“You don’t ever want to take my side, do you?”
Andy rolled his eyes, scoffing. “You are such a child, sometimes. I’ll suggest to Nicoletta that we... switch off on playdates, how about that? Alternate between houses?”
“Will I have to talk to Liam Kilpatrick anymore?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“...Ugh. Fine.”
“Wimp.”
Title: Bad Company
Summary: Oz ‘talks’ to Andy about Liam Kilpatrick. And by 'talks', I mean 'argues'.
Story: Phase
Timeline: June 2025 - Andy is 41, Oz is 39.
Challenge: Vanilla #10 (phobias), Gingerbread #17 (to grandmother's house)
Toppings/Extras: Peaches (Lose the expectation that someone will volunteer to tell you the things that you should know.)
Word Count: 860
Rating: Pg-13
Oz somehow managed to keep his hands from shaking until he got back into the car. Leaning his forehead against the steering wheel, the trembling started at his fingertips and traveled upward until his whole upper body was shaking, fear belatedly making his mouth go dry. He had to force himself to calm down before he could pull away from the curb, knowing that lingering would seem suspicious to the occupants of the house he had just left. As much as he wanted to run back in and snatch Chloe away, he didn’t. As much as he wanted to simply stay there, parked by the curb until it was time for Chloe and Diana’s play date to be over, he couldn’t. Both would have consequences he didn’t want to even fathom, much less bring into reality.
Thoughts raced across his mind in a jumble that made almost no sense. Flashes of memories growing up in Dublin, hearing rumors and whispers and news about what the Kilpatricks were known for and things they did best. By the time he made it home, his fear had morphed into a sort of anger he hadn’t felt in years, caused by complete helplessness on his part to do anything about the current situation his family was in. That, of course, just made him angrier.
Slamming the car door, it took everything he had to not slam the front door once he got inside. Locking it behind him, Oz didn’t know where to go now. To his office, to find an old pack of cigarettes stashed in his desk, to the kitchen and the liquor cabinet within, or straight to Andy? He didn’t have a chance to make his own decision, since Andy walked into the room a moment later.
“Hey,” He said, not looking up from some papers in his hand and missing Oz’s expression, “did you get Chloe dropped off alright?”
Oz’s answer was probably not what Andy was expecting. “Liam Kilpatrick,” he spat, accent thicker and purer, as it always was in times of high emotion.
That grabbed Andy’s attention, and he set the papers down on the coffee table. “...What?”
“Liam fucking Kilpatrick,” Oz repeated, stalking forward to pace around the living room, “someone I never hoped to ever fucking meet, just in case you were wondering, dear heart, is the father of one of our daughter’s friends. Did you know that?”
The pause before Andy answered was enough confirmation for Oz. “I didn’t see why it needed bringing up. You knew what kind of people she would be around.”
“I knew she’d be around Corlionis! I never knew a goddamn thing about Kilpatricks, and don’t you dare stand there and say you didn’t think it was important. You don’t have any idea what the hell those people are capable of. And Liam fucking Kilpatrick is one of the worst.”
“They’re mobsters, Oz,” Andy answered, tone of voice still blank and calm, and that’s how Oz knew that he was just as pissed. “I don’t see how it matters which mobsters her parents are, or which Corlioni, or which Kilpatrick. I didn’t know there were different levels of bad.”
“He’s psychotic!”
“And Nicoletta isn’t? You had no problem with Chloe visiting when you didn’t know about her husband.”
“I had plenty of problems! I still do!” Oz yelled, finally stopping his pacing to turn and talk to Andy directly. “I remember bringing them up multiple times before this!”
“And what would you have me do? Tell her that our daughters have to be punished because of their parents’ mistakes?” Crossing his arms, Andy sat down on the couch, and hoped this wouldn’t last forever. “Considering that would lead to more than just a sulking Chloe, and I rather enjoy living, I don’t think that’s an option.”
Just like that, all of the anger went out of Oz, and he looked deflated. Andy finally saw the fear in his gaze. “What if they hurt her?”
“They won’t,” Andy answered, surprised at his conviction. “She’s a child. They won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. We can’t do anything to separate Chloe from Diana, but neither can they. Diana loves Chloe as much as Chloe loves her, and I imagine that Diana is even more spoiled than ours is. As long as we don’t do anything extremely stupid, they won’t do anything to us.”
Sighing, Oz trudged over to the couch to sit down next to his husband, leaning his head against Andy’s shoulder. “I don’t like it.”
“Nobody is asking you to. I’m just asking you to tolerate it.” Andy soothed him, pulling him into a hug.
“I don’t like that either,” Oz sullenly muttered. “Maybe next time, Diana can come play over here. Maybe every time.”
“Because that won’t seem at all suspicious or insulting or extremely stupid.”
“You don’t ever want to take my side, do you?”
Andy rolled his eyes, scoffing. “You are such a child, sometimes. I’ll suggest to Nicoletta that we... switch off on playdates, how about that? Alternate between houses?”
“Will I have to talk to Liam Kilpatrick anymore?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“...Ugh. Fine.”
“Wimp.”