ATH Not-So-Temporary Thread

[Lady Mimicry]

Zero couldn't help looking pitiful, that look, that expression he was notorious for evident as he stared at the hardwood floors. Froot Loop wanted to console him, but he wouldn't have it.

"I hate him, Froot Loop," Zero said angrily, fist clenching, "Dammit." His fist connected with Froot Loop's wall, ice fragments slicing through the cheery wallpaper. Justus started crying.

"I'll never rid myself of that cyborg b*****d, he'll always be here, haunting us. This should be an amazing day, Froot Loop. I feeling ******** about it, but she's far from happy...and you know that's all I've ever wanted."

Zero left then, making his way towards the front door. He needed air. The door slammed, then shattered into tiny shards. Tokka squealed.

"Clover," he said, tugging at her lab coat, "daddy broke the door."  

[Felixitous]

Clover carefully pushed Tokka away with her foot. "Yeah, not my problem."

Trigger heard the door slam and flinched, biting her lip. Every inch of her wanted so bad to believe him, but the scars on her arms reminded her of the last time she trusted someone.

But then, she thought, A year. An entire goddamn year we've been together, longer, actually, and even before that...

She got up and walked out, clutching herself tightly. She followed him out, something in her screaming to go back and hit herself in the stomach, to get that filthy parasite out--but the rest of her was going to put it all on the line. MK had never looked at her with those eyes, be they lovingly, sadly, happily, anything. She remembered thinking him handsome, but he was nothing compared to Zero.

She saw him ahead and jogged to catch up. She wrapped her arms around him, pressed her face to his back which smelled sharp and cold, almost like mint, like him, and wouldn't let him keep walking.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I'm so sorry. It's hard for me, but I'm going to trust you." She ventured a chuckle through the newest batch of tears falling down her cheeks and went on. "Just know I won't hesitate to shoot your balls off if you turn on me, okay?"  

[Lady Mimicry]

"Trigger," he said, sniffling, "I'm sorry, I broke the door..." He didn't want to turn around and face her, instead wiping furiously at his eyes. Yeah, he was really heartbroken over that door. It was a nice door, firm and sturdy.

He leaned against her, crying. "So, you aren't leaving me? Or threatening my reproductive parts just your way of saying goodbye?" He chuckled then, turning around to wrap his arms around her shoulders.

"Thank you, for trusting me."  

[Felixitous]

She kissed him and leaned his forehead against hers. "No, no, I wasn't going to leave you anyway, you big idiot..." She looked at him, his face in her hands. "I love you, so I'm going to try and keep from being paranoid and all that, but I'm going to need help, okay? Just...just bear with me, please, I know it's a lot to ask, but dammit, somehow I ended up in love with you and I don't want this to end." She hadn't expected that little gush.  

[Lady Mimicry]

"I'll be there," Zero said, "right beside you."

Three years passed...

Zero, as promised, hadn't betrayed Trigger. Still golden-hearted and goofy. Six months after Trigger had announced her pregnancy, their daughter, Ban, was born. Eighteen months after that, their twins, Lucifer and Logan. They hadn't been the only couple procreating. In fact, Aramis and Froot Loop also had twins, Gabriel and Adair.

Tokka, five now, peered down the hall. Good. He wanted to be alone. Finding a bathroom, secluded from the busiest parts of the house, he slipped inside and locked the door. He climbed the bathtub and pulled the curtain closed. Slipping the razor from his pocket, he rolled his sleeve up and brought it against his skin, the red line following its serrated path.

Just another scar to add to the several he already had.  

[Felixitous]

Tokka, however, did not know about the cameras.

A sneaky eleven-year-old girl with glasses ran off to inform Trigger of her son's (not-so-)newfound hobby. Trigger, still just as curvy as she had been, bounded off and slammed open the door, throwing all her bulk against it, hard enough to nearly shatter it. She threw open the curtain and sank to her knees beside him, quickly taking the razor. Her hair concealed her face a moment, until she looked up. She wasn't crying. She didn't even look upset. She took Tokka's arm and looked at him.

"You listen to me. You are not going to do this s**t. You see this?" She held up her own arm for comparison, where cuts so deep that the scars were still visible even years later still lay, running vertical from her wrist to her elbow. "Take a damn good look. You either cut ******** right and get the job done, or you don't do it at all."  

[Lady Mimicry]

Tokka thrashed and squirmed until he escaped Trigger's grasp, falling against the side of the tub. Sitting up, he glared and dug his claws into his arm, dragging them through the skin and down to his elbow. Blood rushed out, he'd never cut himself so deeply before.

"This right enough for you, mommy?" He fell over then, kicking and screaming. His tantrums, the rare occasion he had one, were notorious.  

[Felixitous]

Trigger grabbed him by the wrists, holding him down as she tried to stem the bleeding. She leaned so her face was inches from his. There was a quiet fury evident in her expression, one that stilled even the most vicious of men. "Listen up, hon. If you don't stop this now, you never will. I've lost a lot to the way I am, and I am not going to lose you too." She picked him up and carried him to Clover, who, by now, was rather adept at closing up wrist-wounds. He was patched up quickly, and Clover gave him little notice.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Zero waited outside Clover's room, pacing. Ban was sitting on his shoulders, her fingers threaded through his hair. She swung her feet, tapping her heels against his chest. "Daddy, can I play with Lisa?"

He nodded wordlessly and set her down, smiling as she scurried off to find her companion. His smile was soon forgotten though as his eyes lingered on the door. Tokka's going to be okay, he reassured himself, We're going to be okay.
***
Tokka, meanwhile, was tucked away in the corner, his arms hugging his knees against his chest. The bandages wrapped around his arm were tinged-pink and occasionally he plucked away alittle gauze. Now that he wasn't so angry, he was just upset with himself. His eyes followed Clover around the room, sighing inaudibly.  

[Felixitous]

Trigger sighed and came up behind Zero, putting her arms around him. "Calm down, he's okay for now. I'm going to talk to Clover about getting him some more permanent help." She wouldn't let him turn out like her. She was bad enough.

She grabbed Zero's face and looked at him. "Listen to me, he'll be okay. This...this was probably my fault. I thought--I don't know." She sighed and hugged him. It always meant a lot that Zero had just taken Tokka up as his own, without any question, and even before she'd finally let him in. What had she done to deserve someone like that?


At some point, Clover stopped what she was doing and sighed, hanging her head. "Look, you're fine. Completely. I've done everything I can short of shove pills down your throat that you're way too young for. Please, leave me alone." She'd been putting up with his weird lurking for three years. Three years. It was enough.  

[Lady Mimicry]

"I don't want to," he said quietly, "I like-like you, Clover." Tokka buried his face into his arms and his tail wrapped lazily around his ankle. He stayed like this a minute or too, but didn't expect her to say anything.

"I'd better...apologize to mommy." Uncurling his tail, Tokka stood. He could hear Zero and Trigger outside, knew they'd be talking about him. He waved once to Clover, then stepped into the hall.

"Mommy," Tokka eyes remained downcast, although he habitually brushed his hair away from his face, "I'm sorry I'm crazy."

Zero kissed Trigger's forehead and released her. "I'll be downstairs. Love you, Tokka." He blew him several kisses before disappearing down the staircase.

"Bye, Daddy."  

[Felixitous]

Trigger sighed and picked him up. "It's nothing to apologize for, baby. You've just gotta try your best to stop, okay? I know it's hard, believe me, but you've gotta do this for me." She kissed his forehead and sat on the couch with him, Lucy and Logan playing together in their little playpen.  

[Lady Mimicry]

"Mommy," Ban whined, "Justus' is weird. I want a new friend." Lisa was a wonderful friend, but she wanted someone her own age. Somebody that didn't think kissing and spreading cooties was better than hide-and-seek. Nothing was better than hide-and-seek. Justus was a strange cookie.
***
From the corner of the playpen, Gabriel had been staring at Lucy for awhile. There was nothing good about that stare either. Tucking his rattle under his arm, Gabe crawled over and smacked Lucy, then squealed with delight as he yanked at his hair. Stupid Lucy. Obviously satisfied, the disgruntled babe returned to his corner.  

[Felixitous]

Trigger laughed and picker her up, too, kissing her forehead. "Sorry sweetie, but he's about all you got aside from your brothers." She briefly considered--no. No, he wasn't very fond of children. They scared him more often than not. There was always the park...

She looked at Zero and smiled. "Ban wants more friends. Would you happen to want to go take a walk?"



Lucy was a big baby. Not that he cried; in fact, quite the opposite. He was just rather round. He didn't looked happy though, and crawled over to Gabe and simply laid on him, pinning him. When Gabe started to squirm and found that he could not move, Lucy smiled and tugged on his ears. Served him right.  

[Lady Mimicry]

"I'd love to." Zero pulled Lucy off Gabriel and scooped Logan into his arms. He'd bring the babies along too. Make an event of it. Ban tugged at Trigger's ears, eager to explore the park while Tokka seemed less than pleased, but he'd go if Trigger went.

"Don't let Justus come, mommy," Ban said, "He'll spread his cooties."