Beating Hearts Baby (Kate)

[Adrian]

As Kate ranted, Adrian would step forward. She was getting more and more heated, and Adrian, in direct opposition to her, was remaining calm, cool, and collected. Such was the irony of their situation. When Adrian had met Kate, she had seemed much like the epitome of self-collection, while Adrian knew himself to be quite the hothead. And yet, now that Kate had flown off the handle, Adrian was the one who kept the determined visage.

It was all a part of his famous Hanlon determination, that seemed to have skipped a generation in his father. Adrian had been determined to give Kate a fright to make her think twice about making a joke about HIM being scared. But here and now? Adrian was much, MUCH more determined to calm the angry Kate. This time, much more rode on it. Adrian had no doubt in his mind he would prevail.

~"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!!?"~

By the time she got to this part of her diatribe, she would be, quite literally, screaming in Adrian's face. Adrian blinked twice, and nodded. In a voice so soft one would have a hard time realizing it came from him, even if they were looking at him, he would reply.

"I do, fully and truly. If you would please sit down, I want to clean your feet."

The dining room table was nearby, with a few simple chairs around it. Adrian reached out to get one, settling it to the side of them for Kate to sit upon. His blue eyes regarded hers with a sort of quiet determination she had likely never seen in the boy before. He gestured to the chair, blinking once again.

"...please."

[Kate]

She ranted at him, screamed at him... and he remained calm. It was so frustrating... it made her anger swell... At least until the point where he asked her to sit down so he could clean her feet. That one shocked her a bit. The blonde went, only because her feet were hurting. At least, that was what she told herself.

Except now instead of yelling, she was silent and stubborn. Like the cat had got her tongue and there was no turning back. She sat there with her arms crossed. It would probably be another twenty minutes in the traffic before her boys got here. He had that much time to try and smooth talk his way out of this. His eyes unnerved her a bit, because she hadn't ever seen that look... but she stayed silent like the grave after so much screaming.

What exactly was his game plan now?

[Adrian]

Adrian wouldn't say anything, at least, not at first. He knelt before Kate, taking one knee as if he were proposing. However, instead of holding up a ring, Adrian would hold up one of her legs with his hand, and would run his other one gently over the bottom of her foot, just enough to get a feel for where the glass was without agitating it or pressing it in further. She had quite a few of the larger shards stuck in her foot, and Adrian frowned at the fact. Her perfectly beautiful foot was covered in blood, and now, so were Adrian's hands, but he showed no outward signs of noticing or caring.

He looked up into Kate's angry eyes, his own blues' softness still contrasting greatly. "This may hurt. I apologize in advance."

He bit his lip, and took the first shard, and slid it out of her foot as gently as possible. Thankfully, the shard was smooth and came out easily, without much pain. The second one, however, was much more difficult. It had shattered in such a way that it was somewhat barbed, and had multiple edges which could cut. There was no good way to grab at it. "This one will hurt," he said, and took a hold of it and tried to pull. It tore a bit of Kate's skin as it came out, and also sliced the hell out of Adrian's index finger and thumb, but he merely blinked a bit in reaction, ensuring that it was out of her foot before bothering at all with his own injuries.

Except, he didn't bother at all. As soon as the shard was out, he moved to the next one.

Within a few moments, Adrian's fingers had been cut up multiple times across multiple fingers, as he had attempted to use fresh fingers each time so as not to cut up just two of them beyond recognition. It had worked, but only just so.

"There," Adrian said, looking up at her and mustering forth a little smile. "That foot's all better. Now for your other one..."

This time, Adrian switched hands, holding her foot with his cut up hand and repeating the process with his fresh one. At the end of the process, Adrian's fingers were once again cut up all over, but the glass was out of Kate's feet and in a little pile underneath the dining table. Adrian still showed no outward notice of his fingers bleeding, although it was quite noticeable.

"Stay there, Kate," Adrian said as he got up. "I'll bring something to wash up with." Adrian turned and went to the bathroom, giving Kate a bit of time to herself as he began to gather stuff to clean Kate's feet. Whether or not she would get up or remain seated, leave or stay, however, was yet to be seen.

[Kate]

She sat there in silence, emerald eyes staring down at him as she sat there. His fingers pulled at glass, and she made no comments. Winced once when he pulled out a large piece of glass, but that was all that crossed his face. If he did this sort of thing all the time, well she wouldn't be able to stay. And he wouldn't be able to stay with her. Kate wasn't able to handle things like that, no matter how funny it could be for someone. He had fought so hard to keep his laughter down. Such an ass.

He went off to get something to clean it up, and she stayed right where she was. Her lips trembled, but she didn't cry. The blonde sat there with her shoulders slumped forward and her feet still bleeding. Those emerald eyes were mostly closed as she weighed and debated. The moment he came backk, she'd say something to him.

"Promise never to do that sort of thing again."

That was all she said, looking at the floor, not even looking at him. She waited for his response.

[Adrian]

Adrian had gathered a large bowl, and filled it with warm water and soap, with a hint of rubbing alcohol. He also procured a towel and a wash-cloth as well, and took the entire concoction back to the front room. When he arrived, Kate had a request waiting for him. Adrian, however, was not concerned with anything but helping Kate at that exact moment. He looked at her, his light blue eyes holding to hers, and he responded, at first not answering her request at all.

"Put your feet in this, let them soak. It will sting, but this will insure against an infection."

Once she did as he asked, Adrian, at this point kneeling in front of her, would reach up and take her hand in his own, his eyes losing some of that cold determination and showing more hints of sadness and not just a bit of fear.

"Schadenfreude has its time and place, and I've come to understand that neither are associated with you." He bit his lip, and squeezed her hand softly. "Never again, Kate. Never again."

Adrian tried his hardest to fight back tears. Apologizing was never something he did easily, and the fact that he knew he needed to, because he had honestly scared and betrayed the trust of someone he completely cared about only made it that much harder to bear.

He let out a little breath, and began to pull her legs from the water, first running the washcloth over them to clean the blood that hadn't completely soaked into the basin, leaving her feet clear of any bloodstains, only the cuts would remain. He then took the towel to dry off her feet, and moved all of his cleaning tools off to the side, so she could once again set her feet on the carpet. The entire time, the boy seemed distracted, as if he were fighting internally over something. Finally, with the washing finished, he rested his head against Kate's knee.

"I... I'm sorry, Kate."

[Kate]

He didn't answer her right away. Kate didn't know how to respond to that in the least bit. She placed her feet in the bowl, and it did sting. But then he promised, and apologized. A sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned down to where his head rested on her knee. One hand lifted and moved his hair back, away from his face gently. She then brushed her lips on his forehead softly.

"Adrian..."

She didn't know what to say. Her emotions were running weird. She had been scared and worried, for him mostly. Then angry at him, and upset. And now she just felt drained. Very, very emotionally drained.

Kate just ran her fingers through his hair, trying to keep herself calm. Trying not to give into that emotional break down that was building up. Adrian was tugging on her heart strings without even realizing it.

[Adrian]

Her hands running through his hair, it felt so good, so right, but Adrian, as self-pitying as he was at the moment, could only barely register it. He knew he was being whiny and pathetic, and he could even comprehend that, in some way, this was Kate forgiving him. He was still too wracked with doubt and loss, though, to respond in kind immediately.

His hands still bled. In his desire to clean and dress Kate's wounds, he had completely ignored his own.

Finally, he would lean his head up, resting his chin on her knee instead of his forehead. His blue eyes would look up at hers, the barest hint of wetness in the corners of both. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the semi-formed tears away. Hanlon's didn't cry. And yet, even still, he couldn't find the words to say, either. And so, for the moment, he just gazed into her eyes, as she did into his, taking in the moment for an eternity, it felt.

Just looking at her like this was already starting to make him feel better about himself.

[Kate]

Kate was about to say something. To apologize herself, to try and make things better. One hand was in his hair, still soothing even as her emerald eyes locked onto his blue ones. How much emotion did he create in her? What was with this? Falling for another guy when she was trying so hard not to do that. The pale woman's fingers never stopped trying to comfort him, even as there was a sudden sharp knock on the door. That would be her boys.

"Adrian... everything is fine. I promise."

She pressed another kiss to his forehead, gentle as a feather. The blonde didn't really know what else to say or do at this point. There was another knock at the door, a little more aggressive. Her boys didn't like to wait without an answer. Doubly when they thought she could be in some sort of trouble. They'd try to kick down the door soon if it wasn't answered.

[Adrian]

Adrian let out a little sigh, but jumped at the sound of the door being knocked upon. In all the hubbub, Adrian had forgotten about Kate's boys coming to pick her up. He frowned, getting up to open the door. When Kate told him everything would be fine, he smiled, albeit a bit meekly, and tousled her hair a bit, the way she was doing to his only moments prior.

"... I know, Kate. Thank you," he said, his smile widening, his own words helping to reaffirm the truth in his mind, making him feel a bit like his old self again. He quickly stepped over to the door, opening it just as Croaker had his shoulder lowered to bash the thing in.

"Whooaa, there, buddy," Adrian said, one hand on the doorframe, looking a bit nervous. "Here I am. Kate's here. There was... a bit of an issue, but everything is fine now. If she still wants to go..." Adrian looked over his shoulder at her, to see if she was still seated, or moving to get her shoes, or something of that nature, "then you can take her. If not, I could very easily take her home myself later on."

Adrian shrugged, waiting to hear what Kate had to say on the matter. As he did, though, he went to the kitchen, opening a cupboard and pulling out a box.

"You guys like granola bars? Chocolate chip!"

[Kate]

There were four of them this time. Croaker being up front, followed by a guy about half a foot taller than him and even bigger... Murgen. The third was actually the same height and weight as Adrian, with some good looks himself, Swan. Then Captain completed the foursome. They looked at Adrian as they muscled into the apartment.

Kate hadn't moved the entire time, still sitting at the table. Captain picked a cell phone from his pocket and made a few calls. A couple of stand downs and all for the rest of the squad. Kate looked up, emerald eyes slightly smiling at the group. Of course the big guys accepted snacks, and despite how they were scowling... they were taking a liking to Adrian.

"I'll be staying boys."

It was a simple enough statement. But the boys didn't look like they were leaving any time soon.

[Adrian]

Adrian handed out the granola bars to the guys, two for each, of course. These guys were huge, one granola bar wasn't enough to satisfy their hungers. When Kate announced she was staying, Adrian smiled, wholly relieved and satisfied to hear that from her. He didn't know what was going on, and he was sure the bodyguards were just as confused, first getting an angry text message and then, upon arrival, seeing a rather chaotic scene, but both Adrian and Kate appeared unphased by it. And now they were being offered snacks.

"So..." Adrian said, letting out a low whistle at the awkward moment of four big dudes now hanging out at his place with Kate and him. ".... who wants to play Twister?"

[Kate]

Kate laughed, she couldn't help herself. Twister with the boys? The female just laughed, and laughed, and laughed until there were tears streaming from those emerald eyes. The boys seemed bewildered at her reaction, they looked at each other and Adrian. She started to return to normal, still giggling.

"Sorry..."

Another burst of giggles escaped her. She just couldn't see it. However, the guys thought it was a good enough idea. And why not? They played Rock Band, Left 4 Dead, DDR, and all the other games with their Mistress, why not Twister? Sunglasses began to come off, as well as jackets and ties. Adrian may have meant it as a joke, but they were taking it seriously.

[Adrian]

Kate seemed to enjoy the idea enough, but, much to Adrian's surprise, the boys started taking off articles of clothing, making themselves more prepared for the upcoming game.

Oh sheesh.

Defeated, Adrian went to a closet in the hallway, where he kept a bunch of board games and the like he rarely ever actually used. He found the box containing the game, and brought it out, opening the box and unfolding the mat and spinner. By this point, the guys had already gotten their jackets and ties off, and Adrian, as initially flustered as he had been, was starting to get used to the idea. He grinned, and rolled up the sleeves to his shirt past his elbows.

"Kate, if you would like to do the honors?" Adrian said, putting the mat out as far from the broken glass window as possible, and setting up the spinner nearby. Adrian was already shoe-less, and made sure the boys got their shoes off before they tore up his mat.

[Kate]

She lifted an eyebrow and smiled at him. The boys were rolling up their sleeves and smiling at each other. Croaker had even taken his button up shirt off, leaving only a white tank top under. Kate walked over, a little gingerly because of her healing feet. She'd reach down and give the spinner a tap with a finger.

"Right foot blue."

Her right foot placed it's self on a blue spot. She looked at Adrian for a moment before turning her gaze on Croaker. Pointing at him with a smile to indicate it was his turn next. The big man spun, getting left hand yellow. This was going to be rather interesting. Swan, the smallest, stepped up next. He got left foot green.

"Your turn Adrian!!!"

[Adrian]

Adrian shook his head when his turn came up, still a little in disbelief that this was actually happening. However, he couldn't back out now, and so, with a little shrug, he flicked the spinner. It spun a bit, before landing on a color.

Left hand green.

Well here goes, Adrian thought, putting his left hand down on the nearest green dot. Murgen was up next, and Adrian shuddered to think the result would be once that big fella got mixed up in the middle of the game.

He laughed, despite his reservations, as Murgen spun right foot yellow and put his limb down. This was going to be interesting.