#lei threads

[forsakenmyths]

( @ericbrandonrp )

The move to London had been good for them.  Lei had settled into work on her art and photography full time.  Eric still took jobs, but she knew she could never change that part of him.  All she ever asked of him was to be safe, to come back home.

That day, she had been outside watering her garden.  Spring was giving way to summer, so many of her flowers were in full bloom.  She heard someone coming up the path, so her head looked up.  It was then she saw the sun hit his red hair, and her heart fluttered.  Her eyes stayed on him, which meant her mind drifted, as did the watering can - which she quickly set on the ground.

“You’re back,” she beamed, walking over towards him.  “How was the trip?”

[corruptedandforsaken]

( @ericbrandonrp )

The raindrops he had been trying to wipe off his jacket were back on it again in an instant once he stepped outside to see what Lei was doing. The beanie on his head was quickly soaked, but that didn’t matter - Lei was with him, and he sank into the embrace even if her arms around his neck made it rather uncomfortable. He could prevent the panic attack, however, as he gently wrapped his fingers around Lei’s wrists and pulled her arms away from his neck and moved them to his shoulders.

“I know,” he muttered against her lips, and although it was rather cold outside, he felt warmth fill him just by being so close to Lei. His arms moved around her waist to hold her closer and not let that warmth escape. “Wha’ you doin’ out here in the rain?”

Sometimes, she forgot how his neck could be, and she made to whisper a soft sorry when he moved her hands.  His answer to her greeting brought a smile to her face.  

“I needed out of my head.  The sound..when it’s gentle like this, I like it.  Been thinking about my Grandma lately.  Holidays were our time.  I miss her still, you know?”  In some ways, she missed her parents, but they had made it clear she was unwanted.  That didn’t lessen the sting around this time of year.

“Want to go in?  Get warm?  I was going to put up decorations later...and there is a stew going that’s been simmering all day.”  Her hands cupped his cheeks for a moment, pulling him into another kiss.  

[forsakenmyths]

@openensos

“You’re acting like it was my idea to have detention facilities put illegal contraband in easily accessible, sealed up little baggies.”

Curled around his hoard like a dragon, Kobal’s stretched himself in her living room with his less than legal cache. Charcie needed up top product (synthetic this time) and he’d offered his services - little did his brother know he was paying him fifty percent for his time and skills once the consumers started consuming. Fifty-five for this first grab, a one-time cushion bonus.

Kobal pats at the baggies underneath hjs arm. “They’re like little party favors. Hey. You can stop crossing your arms at me, missy, I didn’t take any with drugs in ‘em.” He taps sooty fingers to his chin and clicks his tongue. It’s like he’s been conditioned not to lie to her at this point. “Okay, I did but I didn’t bring them back here.”

Lei has that ‘swallowed a lemon’ expression that makes his core cool down in… guilt? Something gross like that. “Your face’ll freeze that way if you keep it up. Come on. Make a contraband angel with me. I gotta move this shit soon so we may as well enjoy it. Like… here.” Selecting a bag, he finds an eyelash curler. “Yeah, I have one of these. Pilfered it twelve years ago. A bug guillotine. But I’ll use it to snip your big toe if you don’t stop pouting.”

“You are bringing this shit to my house.”  She hissed, head tipped to the side as she watched him.  Seven hells, she loved Kobal, but sometimes, she wanted to punch him.  Hard.  

“It’s still illegal product.  That you brought here.  A lot of it.  I don’t have the security for this.”  Kobal knew about her past.  He knew how she had tip toed the line between good and bad in Wonderland, because he’d been there for a lot of it.  The need to survive pushed you to areas that you never saw yourself being apart of.  

“Oyster drugs confuse me.  I don’t like them.  They muddle my head in the wrong ways.”  The hatter grumbled the words, pressing her fingers to her temple.  She had tried those chemicals long ago.  March liked them, but she had never understood the draw.  

When he teased her about the expression on her face, she flipped him off while sticking her tongue out at him.  Lei tried to resist laughing, failing horribly.  “Just...clue me in before showing up like this, okay?”  She moved closer to him, punching his arm with minimal effort.  “I’m not pouting.  Frustrated and pouting are two different things.  Now...who is all this shit for?”

[forsakenmyths]

( @openensos )

“No… I do not want to go home…”

His speech is slurry and stunted as he stumbles the Parisian streets with Lei, too cheery for the tragedy that has befallen his family less than two weeks ago.  She will see through his bravado. She always knows.

When Brant stumbles and somehow manages to catch his balance it’s with his arm over her shoulders, eclipsing her with his taller frame. She’s small but incredibly hardy - their years of friendship have proven that; Brant always found you didn’t have to spend a lot of time with Lei to make that fact obvious. She is strong in ways other could only dream of. He admires her for it and is glad to know her.

And now? After the death of his sister and the uprooting it has done to his family, he needs strength. He’s going to need her now more than ever before.

Despite her friendship with Charles, Lei had always understood Brant and Lily best.  The three of them were all creatives at heart, which sometimes, Lei thought, made Charles feel left out.  She had watched Charles and Brant attempt to understand the other; however, those times always seemed to end up in a clash of words that made the entire moment pointless.

After Lily’s death, the tension between the two of them was thick, and Lei was stuck in the middle.  She had not seen Brant in a few days, which worried her, but a check of his favorite spots resulted in her finding him.  The two of them shared a few more drinks before she convinced him that it was time to go home.  The two of them paid their tab and left.

“You can crash at my place.  You know that.”  Some might have looked down at her for having the company of men she wasn’t married to, but damn convention.  These were her best friends.  Brant and Charles would always be welcome.  Maybe she was carrying too much on her shoulders, but Lei never knew when to stop to take care of herself.

Her arm wrapped around Brant’s waist, helping to hold him up as they walked.  “I’ve got you,” she promised.  “My place?  Cuddles?  And in the morning, I’ll make us breakfast?”  Her hair was down, loose curls from the braids she’d worn all day hanging in her face.  

[forsakenmyths]

( @openensos )

“…”

When Charles blinks it’s as if he comes to, the layer of film that has glazed over his eyes in the past few weeks dissipating.  His gaze falls to his own lap where the palm of his left hand is being bandaged by fingers that definitely aren’t his mother’s. Or his sister’s.

Who then?

Ah. Right. Lei. He’d invited her over, that’s right. Or had she come to see Brant? He can’t remember right now. It is hard to recall even the most recent happenings these days. There is a far bigger event that dwarfs all others in his life.

“Merci.” He thanks her automatically, glancing around to see what could have happened. There’s a tea kettle off the burner and an empty mug. He must have grabbed the kettle without a mitt. He hadn’t even felt what he had done but he wasn’t going to say that. It would only worry her more. “It does not hurt.”

Lei understood the pain of loss.  She had dealt with her grandmother’s death during the war.  The resulting chaos was something she was still sorting through.  Her parents did not think her worthy to manage such an estate, especially seeing as she had not married.  Lei worked hard to prove her parents wrong.  Their dislike of her was rooted in other areas, not necessarily a judgement of her skills as an adult.

Her understanding, as well as her own mourning of Lily, was why she checked on Charles and Brant often.  They were as best of friends to her as Lily had been, and to see them now, to see the way her death had ripped them apart, felt as if there was another death to mourn.  One that would never have a stone marking some place in the cemetery.  

She had found Charles standing in the kitchen, hand already red and wanting to blister.  Quickly, she turned off the stove, reaching for a cloth to dampen with cool water to place over the scorched flesh.  She caught his eyes blinking, looking up to meet them.  So many people seemed to fear Charles.  His features gave off the impression that he could be cruel, and he could, but he hadn’t always been that way.  

“You’re welcome, mon cher.”  She was wrapping a small bandage around his hand for the moment.  Between Charles’ studies and her grandmother’s medical issues, Lei had learned to tend to minor wounds as a nurse might.  Hearing his last, she met his eyes, “Even still, we should keep it bandaged for now.  How about I make us both tea?  I brought some sweets.”  Lei offered, holding his inured hand gently in her own.

[forsakenmyths]

( @hatpinblade )

Hatta heard the elevator ding.  She lifted her head to see who it was, only to lay her head back down on the hammock.  “Mally,” the hatter sighed happily. kicking her foot against the wall so the hammock gave a gentle swing.  It had been sometime since the hatter had seen Mally about, and reconnecting with an old friend was always something that was needed in life.

“How are you?”  She questioned, turning her head towards the dormouse.

[corruptedandforsaken]

( @indissoluta - Christmas time! )

The blind date with Henry had turned out to be something she found herself forever grateful for.  He wasn’t like other guys she had dated -- by any means.  He was properly nice, kind, and funny.  It also helped that the two of them shared so much in common -- from art to writing to the movies they loved.  

“Are you going any where for the holidays?”  She asked him, flopping down on the couch, bending her legs under her.  Lei would be staying put.  Yes, she had family, but it’s not like she would be going home to her parents house.

[corruptedandforsaken]

Lei let herself into Remy and Torin’s place, sitting down in the floor for a moment to love on the dogs that swarmed her.  She giggled as the sniffed and licked her, but she finally pulled herself away.  “Pumpkin King, where are you in here?”  She called out, finally finding him in his workshop.  The petite brunette hopped up on the table, looking over at what Remy was tinkering about with.  “How are you?”  She asked, smiling.  Lei hadn’t seen him since the Angels had returned, and she knew without asking that Remy was happy to have Michael back.