i will not fall, i will not fade

It was a far fetch, he knew, and South Kensington really wasn’t a cheap area. He was afraid Julia said no immediately, but she managed to surprise him with her answer instead. His brow rose. “I—well, I think we can make an appointment quite soon. I can imagine it’s a quite sought-after property, so…” Honestly, he would go there immediately, but it was too late for today. Perhaps he could call tomorrow.

“It does have a back garden.” He smiled. “That would be your job, though, because…” Gareth shook his head, “I’m hopeless with plants. I just can’t manage to keep them alive.”

"Then we should go soon, before you miss out again. Lord knows my schedule's open, so make arrangements for whenever."

The confirmation of a garden had a hundred different ideas pop into her head; herb section, vegetables, and definitely a variety of flowers. "I may be a little hopeless in the kitchen, but I understand plants. Oh, I've always wanted to grow roses, ever since I saw Queen Mary's garden back in school."

While she was cleaning the floor, Ian didn’t move from his spot, just watching her the entire time. In all honesty, though he of course wouldn’t admit it to anyone – much less her – he was a bit impressed. Even if he disliked the fact they had sent an absolute rookie to do the job. Tony should know better. But for someone only doing this job for three weeks, she was good. Didn’t forget anything, thought of every single detail. The floor was squeaky clean, the body was gone (well, not quite yet, but he trusted she knew how to get rid of it for good).

His arms were crossed over his chest when she stood up, gaze following her carefully. Ignoring her question when he asked in return, “How did you learn all this?”

#a little bit off ✠ catherine posts #ericbrandonrp | ian #the hand that feeds ⭒⭒ [mundane]

It took her brain a moment to catch his question - she was expecting a dismissal. He'd make it very clear he wasn't pleased with her existence from the moment she stepped into the place, so the sudden inquiry threw her off-kilter.

"Just, um, research? Mainly." Movies, documentaries, and a lot of YouTube videos, not to mention extensive internet searches. Cat was not going to do a sloppy job, especially crime scene cleaning. Her future quite literally hung on how well she did, and if she fucked up, everything was at risk, much less her life.

"The other dudes weren't very forthcoming with a lot of info, so I taught myself." Part of her thought Tony was trying to set her up to fail to get his way, so she spent every waking moment picking up everything she could to leave no room for the mobster to nitpick.

“My English sensibilities?” He let go of the fork for a moment to squeeze Julia’s hand in return. “I can’t demand of you to pay.” Gareth shook his head. It would be unfair. Though he, too, thought that relationships were a fifty-fifty thing, the idea with the house had been his very own, and he had actually played with the thought before he had even offered Julia to stay with him. Plus, he was earning more money than her at the moment, even though he wasn’t currently working actively.

“It’s…actually a house in South Kensington.” Not exactly known to be a cheap area of London. His gaze dropped to their hands, lips pursed. “I had already looked at it before I even met you, but…things got inbetween. Now it’s back on the market and…” Gareth shrugged his shoulders. “I think it can’t be bad if we take a look at it? It’s a quiet neighbourhood, and there is actually a tube station not too far away. Not many tourists get lost there, either. But…well, I was thinking about buying it and…that won’t be cheap.” He squeezed Julia’s hand again. “But I don’t want you to pay for it.”

South Kensington? Of all the places Julia expected to find herself, that was not one of them. As intimidating as the thought was, she was comforted knowing that Gareth would be there. His calm presence was more soothing to her than she'd admit to. He was 100% right though, there was no way her savings could cover something like that, but the every day stuff, she could handle.

"You win this time," she smiled. "I couldn't manage that even if I wanted to. It sounds like a good fit though, when can we go check it out? Does it have a yard, too? I've always wanted to take up gardening, but never had any kind of space for it."

He hadn't moved from his spot the entire time until she returned inside, except that his hand was now resting on his brow, covering his eyes. Really, who teh fuck had Tony sent him here? She was at least trying, but that wasn't enough for Ian.

His hand dropped down as he shot her an unimpressed glance. "I'd rather burn it. I don't like anyone's blood on my clothes." Funny, for a professional killer. "Have you done this fucking job before or is this your first time?"

#a little bit off ✠ catherine posts #ericbrandonrp | ian #the hand that feeds ⭒⭒ [mundane]

"I've been at this for three weeks," she replied, scrubbing diligently. "They normally would have sent Max, but he was out of town. The rest of the boys are terrified of you, so Tony sent me."

'Terrified' was an understatement - the covert digital chatroom Tony ran for his cleaners went dead silent until someone finally admitted how pants-wetting horrified they were of Ian Harris. Everyone else had chimed in, so Cat stepped up. Was she regretting her bravery now? Absolutely. But the job still needed to be done, and she still needed to accrue her bennie points to get the OK for her club. It was a catch-22 in every sense of the term.

The floor was turning out cleaner than it had been before the killing; she stripped off her gloves and tossed it into the garbage bag holding the other bloody remnants of her ministrations. Cat finally took out the aerosolized ammonia spray and gave the area a quick swipe - if any blood had the balls to remain, the chemical would ruin any testing that could be performed on it. The smell was horrible, but she wanted to be thorough.

She put everything away, zipping up her duffle bag. "I'm going to take the teeth and fingertips off, then dump the body. I'll remind Tony to move on the pig farm. Do you need anything else other than me to leave?"

rpmemes-galore

legends of avantris : dimwits of the dimwood ep. 4 … sentence starters

"Get fucked, bee!"

"I can't ration this."

"Ooooh, close, buddy, close."

"I lost my left nipple that day."

"No, I could get naked, though."

"I invented magic not magnets."

"His new mortal enemy is taxes."

"Oh, we're going to kill my family!"

"It's gonna be in your fur for weeks."

"Can't stop me from getting naked."

"There's a lesson here: taxes are bad."

"Just stand back and watch the mayhem."

"This is so much worse than the poisoning!"

"If you would just put your clothes back on…"

"Look around you. You see nothing but foes."

"I was gonna ask you if this was all worth it…"

"I just wanted to be respected… and have gold."

(dazed) "I don't want to go to the circus, father..."

"I missed a lot of them. Those fuckers can jump."

"Hi, my name's (name), and I'm an agent of chaos."

"It's probably gonna be worth more than gold soon."

"You see my clothes covered in blood? It's not mine."

"Oh, and we gave them a weapon of mass destruction."

"This is simultaneously the best and worst day of my life."

"My dream is a nightmare filled with bloodshed and clowns."

"He was very excited to become a murderous rage weapon of war."

"Well, hold on, I think the monster that ate both (name)s makes a good point."

"We saved a life and we stole from these crooked crooks. It's all win-win for me."

"We're becoming infamous, you know. That's pretty cool when you think about it."

"It's gonna really hard for me to point them all out when they're wearing clothes."

"I always knew the creator of the universe was gonna be intelligent enough to graduate from clown college."

"The worst part about it was that it was supposed to come with a side of French fries, but none of them even said, 'oui oui'!"

#this corrosion ✠ pls specify muse #before the rain ✠ memes

Usually he would have stood up and helped Julia fetch the food, but today he was just too tired; and he somewhat didn't think she was going to let him, anyway. So he just leaned back in his chair, feeling a tad bit of guilt, watching as Julia filled the table with their dinner. It did look and smell delicious.

Gareth reached out to grab the bottle of wine and filled both their glasses before he picked up the cutlery. "You're going to have to show me that lovely home one of these days," he joked. "It...could be a bit bigger." He had actually realised this only now that they were living in the flat together. Before, he and his wife had lived there as well, but he hadn't been home half of the year, so he had never really noticed. Now things were different, though. "I was actually...looking at some ads for houses in London..." he bit down on his lip for a moment, unsure of Julia's reaction.

Julia gave the table a last survey to make sure they had everything they needed, then started on her food. At his teasing comment, she did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him cheekily.

She looked away from her plate to Gareth, hearing the slight hesitance in his tone. It made sense why it was there, she HAD just moved in, and now he was considering a whole new house? Before her pessimism got the better of her, she considered the matter while chewing.

"That would actually make a great deal of sense," she started. "Everything you need is in London, and if we're going to chase at me working with the Crown's medical section, the closer we are the better. Neither of us drive, for the moment, and the public transport's much easier to access." She gave him a reassuring smile, reaching over the table to give his hand a squeeze.

"Taxes are going to be absolute shite though, but I'm sure we'll manage. I have enough savings squirrelled away - don't protest, I'm going to pull my weight even though your English sensibilities make you want to be chivalrous."

rp-meme-glaceon

THANK YOU for sticking around!

Thank you for following me

Thank you for dealing with my awkward phases

Thank you for dealing with my emotional moments

Thank you for sending in Asks

Thank you for waiting patiently during my hiatuses

Thank you for being such a good group of followers!

He followed her with his gaze until she returned to the table and started reading from the receipt. The more Julia was listing, the higher his brow rose. Every single meal she had picked sounded absolutely delicious – though it had him wonder what had brought this on. Was there some kind of anniversary? Anything to celebrate? Not that he remembered.

“Anjou pigeon?” Gareth leaned back in his chair. “When did you cook all this?” he asked jokingly, a playful smirk tugging on his lips. “I say…let’s start before it gets cold, because that would really be a shame.” God, he was starving, he realised now that Julia had listed their supper. Couldn’t even remember when he had last eaten – had he actually had breakfast today? Perhaps a quick bowl of cornflakes, because those were usually always in the house. “You didn’t have to do this, you know. I—I appreciate it, but…I’m happy with pizza as well. Admittedly, I’d rather have homemade pizza, but I’m not picky.” Well, he could be at times.

Julia nodded and returned to the kitchen to start plating everything. The food had been piping hot when she'd pulled it out, and by now would be at a comfortable temperature.

She brought the plates out, setting them down simultaneously before sitting. "I wanted to do something nice, is all. I unpacked the last of my boxes earlier, so I wanted a little party. I can't begin to tell you how long some of my things have lingered in moving boxes over the past few years." She gave a quick laugh, an embarrassed expression crossing her face but leaving as fast as it came.

"A therapist once told me to celebrate even the smallest victories, so I'm trying to do that. I have a lovely home with a wonderful man, not everyone gets to be so lucky."

"Where's Santa's fucking Little Helper when you need him?" Max. The man who was usually always there to do the job; Ian actually hadn't seen or heard from him in a long time, he realised now. Odd. Should he be worried? Not that he cared much about any other human beings than himself, but over the years he had grown quite fond of the cleaner.

He frowned as he was watching the woman. "What the fuck are you doing?" He pointed at the body. "Do the fucking neck. The feet and the neck. And I hope you have another fucking canvas with you because you are bathing him in his own fucking blood again now and spread it. Do I have to fucking do this myself?"

#a little bit off ✠ catherine posts #ericbrandonrp | ian #the hand that feeds ⭒⭒ [mundane]

Breathe. Ignore the smell of blood and meat and just focus on the job. Anything smart out of your mouth is just going to aggravate him further - unless this was just his default. Either way, better to keep to the body and not the hitman.

Finally, the corpse was secured in his new canvas outfit, and Cat hefted it up and onto a shoulder without protest. It looked like nothing more than an ungainly old rug, if anyone was out snooping, but she'd parked the car close enough to keep the trip short. She went to deposit her burden in the trunk of her car, closing the lid quietly before returning inside.

"If the blood on your sleeve is fresh, you can still save the shirt. I have products with me to help." A feeble olive branch, but one nonetheless. She knelt by her bag, pulling out what she needed to start on the drying blood puddled on the hardwood floor.

rpmemes-galore

send me a prompt for one muse to find the other in the following situation:

feel free to specify which muse is in which role

( fury ) : incredibly angry

( hostage ) : held captive for ransom

( frozen ) : suffering from hypothermia

( tears ) : sobbing openly, unable to stop

( haunted ) : trapped in a haunted house

( fall ) : having fallen off a cliff or tall tower

( hungry ) : half starved and malnourished

( splash ) : having fallen into a body of water

( ends ) : having just broken off a relationship

( defend ) : unconscious as the result of a fight

( rest ) : trying to sleep, but unable to fall asleep

( fear ) : having just woken up from a night terror

( ER ) : in the hospital after an injury of some kind

( tall ) : stuck somewhere too tall for them to get down

( feverish ) : suffering from a high fever and severely ill

( soak ) : shivering and drenched to the bone in a rainstorm

( shipwreck ) : unconscious / injured, washed up on a beach

( student ) : getting extremely frustrated while learning new skill

( exhausted ) : too tired to stay standing, too stubborn to lie down

( lost ) : wandering in the middle of nowhere, with no idea where they are

( party pooper ) : alone, surrounded by party decor after no one else showed up

( magic ) : injured as result of a spell. either enemy’s or their own malfunctioning

#this corrosion ✠ pls specify muse #before the rain ✠ memes

"Perhaps I do." He hid the grin behind the glass when he took another sip. It would at least be hilarious; but he didn't want Julia to get into even more trouble than she already had. She didn't deserve this. She was a great nurse, a wonderful human being; everyone deserved a second chance. And perhaps a third and fourth, too.

"It's in your blood then." Gareth smiled softly, his hand moving down to squeeze hers for a moment. He knew how much she hated talking about her birth parents, so he never pressed for answers. It was entirely on Julia to talk about it if she wanted - if not, he didn't mind. It didn't bother him. "So." His brow rose. "What did you...cook?"

#dontcxckitup #v. v - primum non nocere #i researched their actual menus #that place be fancy af for us peasants

She laughed at his first response, catching the corner of his smile in her peripheral view. If he was feeling better already after the ordeal of his day, she was proud of herself. She knew how draining it was, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to provide a healing environment for him. Personal experience had shown her how essential it was to have support in ever facet it came in.

Julia returned his hand squeeze, basking in his unspoken support. Her life truly had gotten better, moving in with him.

"Cook? I'm going to absolutely butcher the Italian, but um . . ." She got up to pad over to the kitchen, grabbing the hand-written receipt from the counter. She returned to him, reading off the slip of paper. "Devon crab with baby artichokes with parsley for starters, ravioli with zucchini and buffalo ricotta, and what's this say - marinated Anjou pigeon with potatoes and greens." She gave him a sheepish look; it might have been too much, much too fancy, but she knew he liked the cafe from previous conversations. She'd wanted to do something nice for him, and part of her was afraid she'd gone overboard.

formaechao

When writing characters who are assholes, you’re either like, “Dude, you need to tone it down!” or “teehee, you’re such a bastard, I love writing you.”

There is no in between.

His fingers curled around the wine glass' stem, but his full attention was on Julia. Especially when she was pulling him into another kiss. God, he could really get used to this. "You know, the army is always looking for nurses. The payment isn't great, but...it would be a start, and..." Gareth shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose having the British Army on your CV always looks good." Though, frankly, his experience with the medical staff hadn't all been too terrific.

"I could ask around, if you want." He finally lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip of the wine, keeping it in his mouth for a bit. It was rich, not too sweet, but thankfully also not too bitter.

"I think you want to watch me verbally eviscerate your medical team," she teased, flashing him a smile before pulling another chair out to sit. The thought was hilarious in so many ways; but what was better, was that it could be a possibility.

"My gran served in the Civil Nursing Reserve during the Blitz - my adoptive gran, anyway. I don't know what my da's mum was up to, and my mother's mum was chronically pregnant. Think that might work in my favor?" How she kept the distaste from her expression from mentioning her birth parents was long habit, she hated bringing them up. Twenty-odd years, and the trauma still lingered like ancient cigarette smoke.

To clear her palate, she took a sip from her own glass, free hand dropping to Gareth's good knee. It was more difficult being negative when in contact with him.

"I didn't fucking ask..." He froze on the spot. Staring at the woman in front of him. She wasn't even a professional? Who the fuck had they sent him? Really, he felt the need to reach into his coat and pull out his gun and just put a bullet in her head as well. Two bodies. He could deal with them - there had been worse. Ian didn't trust people easily - actually, he only trusted two in the entire world - and he trusted this woman even less.

"Tony can go fuck himself, I want a fucking professional for this fucking job, not some fucking amateur wannabe trying to play the fucking game with the big fucking guys." His brow rose. "I could fucking kill you, you know that?" And Tony as well while he was at it.

#the hand that feeds ⭒⭒ [mundane]#a little bit off ✠ catherine posts #ericbrandonrp | ian

Her spine practically froze at the absolute nonchalance of his tone. He really could, couldn't he? Just pop, and down she'd go. Her heart went into overdrive while she tried to think of something to say to lessen her potential mortality rate.

"I know, sir," she replied after a moment. "But the professionals weren't available. I do a neat job and I'll be out of here in a few minutes." To keep herself calm, she simply continued taping, wrapping around the corpse's torso a few times. The neck would be next and last, and then she'd start on the bloody floor - if she made it threw the next few minutes.

"Wouldn't pigs be more suitable for the job?" An eyebrow was cocked up, though his gaze and attention were on something else entirely: his left sleeve. More precisely, the red spot on his left sleeve. That prick had actually dared losing blood on his shirt! Now he had to get rid of it. He hated the thought.

A disgusted grimace was briefly crossing his features before Ian finally looked up again. "I'm fine." His shirt was not. "Why did they send you, though? I haven't seen yer face before."