darker_london | Bonding (Anna, Mara, lots of people, open)

By the time Peter, Tasha and Anna approached the house at 137 Prince Albert Road, it was already quite full. Flynn was sitting on Quinn's lap, Stuart and Abby were in the kitchen arguing over silly things and swatting each other with ladles. Jax was visiting too, and Thomas was reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone aloud to Mara as she snuggled up against Spectre on the sofa.

Mara looked alarmed though, when she felt the presence of angels approaching. "Someone's coming!" She said quickly, obviously frightened.

"It's alright." Thomas said, marking his spot in the book. He kissed her head and he went to the door. "I'll make sure it's alright." Thomas opened the door to a rather shocked looking Peter who was poised to know. "Peter!" Thomas grinned and he kissed his best friend on the forehead. Then he hugged Anna and Tasha and led them into the house. "Mara, this is Peter, Anna and Tasha."

Mara looked terribly shy, but she waved at them anyway. She was scared of Peter because he felt like an angel, and she didn't want anyone to make her see things again. She hid behind Spectre's arm a little until Anna bounced right over to her. "Hi, Mara!" Anna said happily. "I'm Anna. Do you like playing tea party?"

Mara looked slightly interested then. "I...I don't know how to play." And by that she sort of meant in general...

Anna had been expecting that from what her daddy had told her. "That's okay, I can teach you. Abby, do you have tea party things?!"

Abby looked absolutely charmed. "I have a wonderful surprise for you both. I'll show you something very special, come on." She held out her hands for both girls and Anna bounded over to her to take one. Mara sort of scrambled behind them, steering clear of Peter as she did so.

Once they were gone, Thomas turned to Spectre. "If Abby breaks out her precious tea set, I'll give her a gold medal. She used to try to bite my hand off if I touched it. Though...to be fair, I was trying to fill the cups with mud..."

Current Mood: giggly

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"Goodness me!" Spectre exclaimed, and swatted Thomas playfully on the bum with the Harry Potter book. "What a wicked child you were!" Although he was happy joking with Thomas, he kept one eye on Mara until she was out of sight. It hadn't escaped his notice that she'd given Peter a wide birth, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. He gave Peter an apologetic smile. "She'll get used to you, I'm sure," he said.

Though she avoided the book-whacking, Tasha attached herself rather quickly to Thomas, clinging onto him and snuggling against his chest because he was generally awesome.

Thomas giggled at Spectre and then he wrapped his arms around Tasha, kissing her hair. "Hey, Sweetheart." He whispered, glad just to be able to hold his friend.

Peter smiled at Spectre reassuringly. "It's alright, I understand." And he really did, and wasn't upset in the least. "I'm just glad she seems to be okay with Anna. Anna was very excited all the way over in the car. I brought you boring things to look at." Peter said, taking a seat on the sofa and pulling out pamphlets of the school Anna and Caleb attended. "It's not the only school around, but it's a good one. You can look at them whenever." Peter looked up at Thomas and Tasha and he smiled at them too.

Tasha grinned back at her dad, then looked up to kiss the bottom of Thomas' chin. It was easy, given their relative heights. Tasha wasn't short, but Thomas was tall. "Hey, you," she said lovingly, and gave him a squeeze. "I missed you."

"Thank you," Spectre said to Peter, and though he planned on studying them more intently later, started flicking through the pamphlets briefly. On one particular page he giggled, then looked up and blushed. "Sorry. Cute kid..."

Kait didn't know Julian as well as Renee did. She didn't feel particularly comfortable about going into Peter's hospital to visit someone who had just had an overdose on heroin, especially when she didn't know them well. And he probably wouldn't want to be crowded anyway. So she had hugged Renee and wished her the best with Julian before the other girl had left.

She'd heard a lot about Mara from journals, and even though she hadn't met the girl before, she thought she would not be unwelcome at Spectre's house. Tossing it up in her mind, with many reasons to go and just reasons of shyness holding her back, she decidedly put a bag on her shoulder and made her way over to Prince Albert Road.

"I missed you too." Thomas said fondly to Tasha. "Want to go talk somewhere, or would you rather say here?"

Peter laughed at Spectre's giggle. It was really good to see him like that. "Well we can always tell them their choice of brochure child worked!" And he winked.

Spectre laughed as well, then. "I might just do that! They could probably use the positive feedback." He grinned, and folded the pamphlets and placed them on the table. "I'll look at them closely later, but it looks really nice. And your opinion means a lot. If you think it's a good school, I'll probably go with that. I know you'd only give your kids the best."

"I don't want to take you away," Tasha said, lowering her lashes. "But if you don't mind spending time just with me, that would be nice," she added with a smile. She looked up when she heard the door again, and waved when she saw it was Kait. "Hello, darling," she greeted her, before turning back to her more intimate conversation with Thomas.

"Hello there!" Spectre greeted Kait more effusively. "Come in, hug me!"

Kait was more than happy to give Spectre hello hugs. As her arms wrapped around him, she looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened to see that so many people were already here. "Oh, is this a bad time?" she asked him, biting her lip in case he'd already had plans and she'd accidentally interrupted them.

"Never a bad time!" Thomas said, hugging Kait tightly because he loved her. "I'll be back soon." And then he took Tasha's hand and he led her away with him.

Peter looked up at Kait and he smiled. "Hello, Sweetheart! Adrian was giggling at children. But in a good way, not in a point and laugh and mock way..."

Abby re-entered the room and she smiled. "Who's mocking who now?!" She said, taking a seat and Stuart immediately moved to sit in her lap which made Quinn and Flynn burst into giggles themselves.

"Adrian's not mocking children." Peter said helpfully.

"That's probably best, Darling." Abby said, patting Spectre's leg before wrapping her arms around Stuart. "I gave Mara my old tea set. I think she said thank you 13 trillion times. They're having a good time up there." And Abby winked at Spectre.

Spectre grinned widely at Abby. "Thomas is going to give you a medal later," he told her, and left it just a little mysteriously at that. In fact, he felt quite inclined to give Abby a medal himself.

Tasha followed Thomas, and when they were alone, she took his other hand so that she was holding both of his in hers. "How are you doing being back again, sweetie?"

Kait smiled at Thomas before he left and moved over to hug Peter as the banter of so many people washed over her. She didn't immediately have anything to contribute, but it felt nice to be included and welcome.

"A medal?! Is it for beating him at arm wrestling?!" Abby said excitedly.

"You beat Thomas at arm-wrestling?" Peter said, incredulous.

"Well I did threaten to hide his teddy bear if he didn't let me win. And before you ask when this was, it was yesterday." Abby winked. "That so deserves a medal!" And Peter just chuckled.

Thomas squeezed Tasha's hands lightly and he kissed her forehead. "Very well actually. I'm all me again. It feels just....really good. I can't even remember why I acted the way I did last time. I can't imagine doing or saying those things...which is uhm..probably for the best." Thomas lapsed into silence for a moment and then he cleared his throat. "And how are you, Tasha?"

Mara was enthralled by the beautiful tea set Abby had just given her. It was gorgeous and so delicate and pink. And Abby had said she was saving it for her daughter but she wanted Mara to have it instead. Mara didn't know it was because Abby couldn't have children. She just knew it made her feel amazingly special. And Anna was good at that too. They sat and sipped at their pretend tea, until Mara looked down at the little saucer and asked, "your daddy. He's an angel right?"

"He used to be." Anna said, putting the teacup back on the saucer. "But he wasn't born that way like us."

"Does...does he make you see things?" Mara asked with an involuntary shudder.

"No." Anna said, shaking her head. "He never would." Not even if he could, which he couldn't anymore. Peter had given up that ability the second he'd received it. Peter Kemp did not want to be an angel. "My daddy's a good man. He's not my birth daddy. He died and then my mutti got sad. I lived with my aunt, but then she couldn't take care of me so I had to live in a Children's Home."

"Like an orphanage?!" Mara squeaked. She knew all about orphanages. There were some orphans in the books Samson had made her read, telling all about how God provided even when things were hard. "Was it...horrible?"

"No." Anna said easily. "Well...there was a bad man there too." And she looked away for a moment.

"Ooh, I need to try that one!" Spectre joined in excitedly. "I don't think I've ever beaten anyone at arm-wrestling! And of course, I have to let Mara win... Ooooh! We could have me beat Thomas at arm-wrestling on the DVD!" Having so many of his friends around was having a very good effect on Spectre. He bounced on the couch excitedly, and really felt like his old self again.

Tasha moved closer to Thomas, and snuggled up to him again. "Doing better than I have been," she said. "Things were really hard, with what happened to Hope and Fiona, for a while. But Hope's come through it amazingly. She's just... god, I love her so much, Thomas. I'm really fucked off that Emma's gone, though. Being abandoned by another parent is seriously the last thing Hope needs, you know?"

Kait laughed at seeing Spectre show such enthusiasm for being beaten during arm-wrestling. The bouncing, of course, was tremendously cute.

"Then everyone would know Thomas is a sissy! I'm all for it!" Abby proclaimed happily.

"I'd let you win." Flynn added, just because he was nice, and Quinn gave him a little squeeze and Flynn squeaked.

"I know." Thomas sighed. "I wish I knew where she went, but I'm here now so...I really don't. I thought she knew better. I'm incredibly disappointed. Hope and Fiona and Zoe deserve better than that and so does Liz. I'm glad they have her. I couldn't think of someone more trustworthy than Liz. Or Peter." Thomas said, smiling at Tasha.

Mara looked over at Anna and she lowered her voice. "Did he make you see things?!"

"He didn't make me see things. He made me sleep and then...he was a bad man. But my daddy worked at the church there and he stopped the man. And he adopted me! My daddy saved me just like your brother saved you." Anna smiled and she reached out for Mara's hand. "We're a lot alike."

Mara smiled back and she accepted Anna's hand. "You want to be my friend?! You can come over any time!" She may have been a little overeager, but she just wanted a friend so very badly.

"Of course!" Anna bounced a little. "And I only live about five minutes away so you can come over any time too! I have a kitty! His name is Ludwig. And my brother Caleb is a ninja, but he's a very good one. And my mummy makes the best food and we have a pool. Oh! Have you seen A Little Princess?!"

"No!" Mara said, knowing she absolutely must now.

"It's the best movie ever. I'll show it to you! I even have a doll named Emily like Sara Crewe. You'll really like the movie. Maybe you can spend the night next weekend. If you feel like you want to. Or I can come here and bring the movie with me."

"I...could you come here?" Mara asked, feeling ashamed. But them Anna's hand was in hers.

"Of course, Mara. I'll come here." And Anna leaned in to give her new friend a hug.

"Well, that's because you're a darling!" Spectre declared. He grinned over at Kait, glad she was enjoying this get together, even if she was being rather quiet aside from her laughing. Spectre giggled when Flynn squeaked. "Oh dear. There's not a manly man among us!" And he winked at Peter.

Tasha smiled back at Thomas. "That's certainly true. They're the most amazing pair. We're all very lucky to have them. And you." She gave Thomas a squeeze. Then she bit her lip as she thought about something else. "You would have seen what happened to London College... are the kids okay up there?" she asked.

"There really isn't..." Peter conceded, and Stuart pouted in Abby's arms.

"Hey, I haven't done anything unmanly...yet today." Quinn protested.

"He's right, he hasn't. But yesterday he squealed about a spider and he made me get rid of it, and I think that counts for two days of unmanly."

"You and your rules." Quinn grinned and he leaned in to kiss Quinn.

Peter grinned. "Awww, love. But not awww, spiders. Ew spiders." And he shuddered.

"They're...as okay as they can be. Jubilee is with Bianca, Mary and I most of the time. She asks the most darling questions. A lot. She'll be just fine. And Juliet...she isn't there. She's here. A ghost. I didn't know if you knew."

Anna smiled and she took Mara's other hand. "Want to go back downstairs? You can meet my daddy for real and know he's okay. I promise he'd never hurt anyone." Well. Unless they deserved it.

"O...okay." Mara said, nodded and firming her jaw. She would be brave.

Anna led Mara back down to the livingroom where they went to stand in front of Peter. "It's nice to meet you Mr Kemp." Mara said, turning furiously red. "Uhm...thank you. For coming for Adrian and I."

Peter gave Mara a sweet smile. "You're very welcome, Mara. And I'm very glad to meet you too. I will always come for my friends and family." And he held out his hand, which Mara shook.

Spectre beamed to see Mara finding the bravery to come and greet Peter. He just knew it was in large part due to Anna's influence. What a darling girl she was. "Peter's a wonderful man indeed," Spectre said, and he smiled warmly at Mara. "And you're a wonderful girl. Both of you are," he said, including Anna in that as well.

Despite the circumstances, Tasha's lips quirked into a little smile. "Of course she is. Poor Juliet..." She shook her head sadly. "Poor all of them. I'm so glad Jubilee has you and Bianca and Mary to take care of her. I'm sure that's as much a comfort to her as it is to all of us." She sighed, and gave Thomas a loving squeeze. "You're amazing, you know that? Dead or alive, you're with us everywhere. How many others can we say that about?"

"You can say it about pocket lint!" Thomas said, nuzzling into Tasha's hair. "I'm sure there's pocket lint in the beyond! Undead pocket lint!" Only Thomas...

Mara climbed (carefully) in to Spectre's lap. "I made a friend, Adrian! Can Anna come stay the night this weekend!? She's going to show me The Little Princess and her doll! Is that okay?"

Peter beamed at Anna as she crawled into his own lap. The room was full of lapsitters! Peter just nuzzled his daughter and he whispered in her ear that he was proud of her in German. It was only for her. No one else had to understand.

Tasha looked up at Thomas with wide eyes. "Good god, Thomas. That's absolutely terrifying. I might have nightmares!" She gave him a pouty lip, but she couldn't keep the amusement out of her eyes.

Spectre held Mara close and kissed the top of her head. "Of course it's alright, Mara! Anna can most certainly stay over on the weekend. Any weekend it's okay with Peter, is okay with me." He smiled over Mara's head at Peter, though most of his attention seemed focused on Anna. As it should be. They both had the most gorgeous children in their arms, so why would their attention be anywhere else?

"Well, just cuddle up to Hope and she'll keep the evil undead pocket lint away. That is the cure to lint you know? Hope." He winked at her then.

Anna grinned as her father spoke just to her, and she reached up to take his face into her little hands. "Ich liebe dich." She said softly, and she kissed his cheek. And Peter melted into a little puddle of goo, as he so often did when his children were around.

Abby turned away, frowning gently at Stuart and then she moved to stand up. Stuart slid off her lap and Abby made her way into the kitchen. She needed to like...cook or something. Anything to keep her from remembering that she was not going to have what Peter had. What Spectre had. It wasn't in the cards.

Kait's thoughts were similar to Abby's. It wasn't that she couldn't have children of her own, exactly, and certainly the worry that she could die in childbirth as her mother had had been averted. But giving birth to a child who would then be immortal too... It was a thought Kait had been battling with. It was half the reason she had been surrounding herself with other peoples' children, in the thought that they would be enough.

Seeing the happiness of Anna, the shyness of Mara, and the cuteness of both, Kait thought it could almost be. She waved her fingers at Mara and smiled when the small angel looked at her.

Tasha laughed softly. "Hope cures everything, I'll have you know," she said. "Especially the Hope I can cuddle up to." She sighed happily. "You make everything better too, you know. I can talk to you, and the world just seems... so much brighter. All the good things stand out, and the bad things kind of fade away. Maybe that is hope."

Spectre stroked his fingers gently through Mara's hair. "Sweetie? Would you like to say hello to our friend Kait? I'm sure she'd like to get to know you." He also wanted to go check on Abby, as he was quite sure he knew what prompted her leaving. But he wasn't going to leave Mara without making sure things were okay in here.

"Or I'm darn shiny. I think you're darn shiny too, Tasha." Thomas said fondly. "You give me hope too. Or a bollocking if that's what I need!"

Mara bit her lip and then she looked over at Kait again. "Hi." She said softly.

"Kait plays the piano." Flynn added. "She's amazing."

"I like music..." Mara said lamely. She wasn't good at smalltalk.

In the kitchen, Stuart walked up behind Abby, and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck softly. "I love you, Abigail."

Abby turned and she smiled gently at him. "I know. I love you too. You should be aware that I'm probably going to bake about 14 dozen cookies now though..." She had to do something to get her mind off of goddamn babies.

Stuart chuckled. "I don't think anyone is going to mind."

Kait smiled warmly at Flynn as he complimented her. Then she turned her eyes back to Mara. "I like music too. I could play for you sometime. Or I could teach you how to play a tune on the piano? Would you like that?" she asked.

Mara sat up straighter in Spectre's lap. "You think I could learn?! I can sing! I have a good voice like Adrian's!" She said, pointing at Spectre. And then she kissed her brother's cheek. "I could be in your band!" She said with a giggle.

"Mara on tour!" Flynn said happily, snuggling in to Quinn's arms.

"You could learn. And I would love you to sing while I play. I could bring you words to learn, if you want." Kait was in her element. It hadn't occurred to her that her small suggestion would bring out such happiness in Mara, though it made sense as soon as she pointed to Spectre and kissed him. She didn't have words for how happy it made her that she had given such a moment of happiness to the girl.

Spectre saw that Stuart followed Abby, and since Mara didn't seem inclined to move from his lap, he decided it was better to stay where he was instead. Abby wasn't alone, that was the important thing. Of course she wasn't. She had Stuart. "My little girl's so smart," Spectre said happily. "She's going to learn so many things!"

Tasha laughed good-naturedly at Thomas. "You only need a bollocking very occasionally! But I'm always happy to administer it." She winked at him, knowing that it was a rather disarming expression.

Mara beamed at Spectre and she nuzzled his nose before she leaned against his chest. "I would very much like for you to bring me words to learn!" She said to Kait. "And I can sing with you. Thank you." She smiled sweetly. "You're very nice."

Thomas chuckled, feeling so at ease with Tasha. She was one of his closest friends, and he adored her. "And you have no idea how much I appreciate it, Tasha." He was used to people pointing out when he was being stupid. His family was always rather quick to do so, and thus he did it quite readily for Peter. He wasn't so good at doing it for himself though. And it meant the world that Tasha actually felt she could tell him to shape up. It felt like she was family too.

"Well, you can feel free to show me any time," Tasha responded easily. "Generally by taking me out for naughty ice cream when I'm supposed to be maintaining peak fitness," she added with a wink. "I really appreciate you, too. I know you'd do the same for me. That sort of honesty from people like Deirdre and Stephie helped me to be the person I am today."

Mara made Spectre giggle, both by being cute and tickling his nose. He adored her so much, and loved to see her bond with such a sweet girl as Kait. Already, Mara was making wonderful friends, and it set Spectre's heart very much at ease. He knew that, despite everything she'd been through, Mara would be happy. And everyone around her would do everything they could to preserve that.

"Well then. I'll give you a bollocking if you need it too. You want ice cream now? We can always bring back a tonne for everyone else!" Thomas stood and he extended his hand to her. "I'm getting my Spectre like...three cartons. He needs ice cream." Thomas decided. And really, with all the love in the house, ice cream would be the perfect addition.

Tasha took Thomas' hand, and let him help her up. It reminded her very much of what Thomas was all about. "Sounds good to me! A tonne of ice cream it is. And we can prove how strong we are by carrying it all. To the ice creamery!" She made a wanky super-hero pose, then took Thomas' hand again. God, she just loved spending time with him.

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An Original RPG

Bonding (Anna, Mara, lots of people, open)

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