the joker and the thief.

[zazu]

as kenny walked along the deserted pathways of the campus, she felt the wind brush her brunette curls against her cheeks and found herself thinking of the boy she’d left in her room. she knew that leaving him there was asking for trouble. he’d told her that he wanted her to stay where he left her and to never go wandering on her own. the way the curls brushed over her skin reminded her of the tender way he brushed his hands over her cheeks in the rare moments they had together where he wasn’t worried about something. he only seemed to have two different emotions when he was around her. either he was worried sick that something was going to go wrong and someone would hurt her, or he was lost in the moment and entirely happy to surrender his attention to her. as much as she loved the attention, it just made her more confused. he’d told her that he wanted her and that he cared about her, but he didn’t say anything serious. he danced around the things she needed to hear to make her real decision, but she didn’t want to push him away. she was so worried that if she posed the questions she needed answers for, he might run away and never come back. he’d been gone for five years and she was desperate to hold onto him, even if it meant keeping her fight inside of her. she wasn’t one to sit down and take everything laying down, but she just didn’t feel that fighting him would end up well. her heart wouldn’t be in the fight and she knew it, which was the only way she could win the argument. she wanted to make him compromise, but with oliver, she sometimes believed it was more pertinent just to let him have his way. of course, she couldn’t resist the urge to press her luck, and now that her mind was clear, she realized what a mistake this had been. she didn’t want to face an angry oliver.

she stopped as she came into the quad, looking at the grass covered in snow, watching the winter wonderland for a moment before she let herself lay down in the powdery white substance. she circled her arms slowly, her legs moving out so she could create a snow angel, perfect in all its beauty, but she knew it’d be broken sooner or later. she could feel the water soaking through to her skin but she didn’t care. the biting cold of the water kept her on her toes, bringing her to the most focused she could be. she wanted to think about oliver, to be able to come to some idea or conclusion without seeing him and feeling her heart drop. the way he made her feel made it hard to really come to a legitimate conclusion, so she needed to separate herself from him to make some legitimate conclusion. the problem with that was how oliver wanted to be with her every moment. sure, she didn’t see him when she was in her classes, nor did she see him when she was at her lacrosse practices, but she knew he was there. he materialized outside her classes every time, walking with her to wherever it was she needed to be. then there were times that she wanted to relax and he had things he needed to do, and she was forced to come with him, dragged along when all she wanted to do was go home and sleep. she was living the lives of more than one person and it was taking its toll on her, even if she was good at hiding it. the weekend was coming around and she had no work for once, having worked overtime all week and she intended to sleep. inevitably though, oliver would drag her out of bed to go do errands with him. she loved being with him, but when they went out, she wasn’t even allowed to appear as anything to him. the only time he was willing to show his true affection for her, was when they were alone together.

she sat up slightly, eyes having adjusted to the dark. as she did, she saw the familiar form of oliver stalking towards her, obviously slightly frantic by now. she knew that this was about to get quite bad when he realized that she’d simply slipped out into the night without telling him. she swallowed slowly and pushed herself so she was sitting, knees pulled up to her chest as she watched him. the look in his eyes as he saw her made her look away, more worried of the look on his face rather than what he was going to say. without looking up she muttered, “please don’t yell at me. i didn’t mean to scare you and to do what you told me not to. i just … wanted some time to clear my mind and to think about things. things i can’t think about when you’re around.” she pulled her hair around her face, as if hiding behind her hair could keep her from being in trouble with him. she felt like she was eleven again and being chided for having not listened to him in some way or another. she was embarrassed, scared and worried. she didn’t want to see disappointment on his face, nor did she want to hear him being angry with her. though she pretended to be tough and rock solid on the outside, she was more vulnerable than anyone would have imagined. when the men in her life got angry, it was her reaction to curl away from them, so afraid that they were going to take their anger out on her. her foster father only did that once, given his wariness of the foster son who took her under his wing, but his violent anger had scarred her. she never forgot the way that he looked at her when he yelled. she knew oliver would never hurt her, but it wouldn’t change her irrational fear of men getting angry around her – at least the ones she knew were truly dangerous.

tagged for , dallas oliver fitzpatrick.
post status , finished.
lyrics credit , to snow patrol.
format credit , to moi, zazu.
word count , one zero three four.
she's wearing , looking chill.
my muse is , just say yes by snow patrol.
my notes are , this is gonna be dramatic.

[dallas]

Oliver smiled in his sleep; his long limbs stretching out on the bed and slipping under the covers instinctively for the warmth they provided. He was dreaming, and if the smile wasn’t an indication of the type of dream, then the boner tenting his boxers and sheets would be. Of course it was about his young lover, Kendra. Normally it was; even when he’d been with other women, it was usually her face he saw in sleep. At first, they had jolted him awake in cold sweats, and he wondered at how his childhood friend could exhaust such desire from him. Eventually, he grew used to it. And now, since the woman he dreamt of was in the same bed as he was now, it seemed perfectly natural to think of her. At the moment, his mind was conjuring images of the night before. He recalled every moment, every feel—the contours of her slender form as his hands roamed over the flesh. “Mmm,” the man mumbled under his breath, twisting in the sheets. His arm passed over the pillow resting besides him. Almost instantly, his eyes popped opened. Her side of the bed was empty, and his hand rested on a cold pillow. For a second, Oliver merely stared at the wrong scene. The sheets had been tossed back, and the remnants of where she’d lain could still be visible. In slight shock, he ran his hand over the bedspread; they were cool to the touch as well. His jaw tightened as realization slowly dawned on him.

“KENDRA?!”

Even bellowing her name, Oliver knew she wouldn’t be there to respond. Within seconds, he had thrown the blankets off of his half-naked form and scrambled to his feet. “What the fuck did I tell her?! WHAT THE FUCK! She’s got no fucking sense!” All he could comprehend at that time was the sheer anger that she would even think to disobey a direct command. She knew the risks—he thought she understood them. However, by her actions tonight, he wasn’t so sure the girl possessed an intelligent bone in her body. Or, at the very least, lacked the common sense necessary for self-preservation. In a temper now, the man hustled around the room, shoving his legs into some pants and yanking a shirt over his form. Before he stormed from the room, he had the sense to grab a jacket and sling that around his shoulders too, considering the snow outside would make it a shitty night to be outside. What the hell was she thinking?! It was not only freezing outside, but there were shady guys that didn’t fucking like Oliver. They were the kind of guys that would take out everything in his life, including those closest to him. Kendra was the only person in his life now; she’d be the primary target to hit him the hardest. He had known to go back into her life—to become involved again—would put her in this danger. And yet, despite what his mind told him, he hadn’t been able to resist being with her again. They were closer now, admittedly, but just having her with him set him at ease. Now, however? Now he was anxious.

He all but ran out of the building, having no idea where she went or how he would fine her. “Kendra!” Oliver yelled as he bounded from the doorway. Luckily, it didn’t appear to be snowing at the moment, but the blanket of snow over the ground was clear indication it had. His eyes went to the snow, noticing a trail of footprints that lead off in one direction. He began to follow them before noticing that there were several other tracks too; a pair even that seemed to have come after the first. Oliver wet his lips, a sudden wave of nausea coming over him. What if someone had stalked her? What if they… Hell, he couldn’t even finish his thoughts. Oliver didn’t want to imagine what may have happened to her. All he knew was, he had to find Kendra right then and he had to know she was okay. He trudged through the snow, clutching his jacket around his form as the cold swept in. Ahead, there was a figure playing in the snow. Oliver’s stride slowed down and he swallowed, eyes going wide a bit. Was that her? Oh please, let it be her. Now, he jogged forward, growing more and more confident that he knew who laid back in the snow.

As soon as he was close enough, the girl sat up, immediately on the defensive. Oliver paused completely, watching as the blanket of brown hair shielded her face, and her soft words pierced the air between them. But, he wasn’t interested in hearing anything right now. At that moment, relief coursed through him, warming his blood as he dropped to his knees before her. Oliver reached for her, fingers wrapping around her upper arms as he dragged her tiny form against him. “Fucking Christ Barbie,” he breathed into her hair, enveloping his lover, “don’t ever do that to me again.” It never occurred to him how close to tears he actually was, but when his chin rested on her shoulder and he stared at the snow, he realized his stare was blurry. This only made him clutch her harder as he fell back onto his bottom, taking her with him.

>_< crap, sorry.

[zazu]

KENNY

had promised oliver that she understood the rules and that she could abide by them, but her nature was rebellious and she had a hard time always behaving. it didn’t help that she thought he was overreacting violently, since she’d only been seen with him once out together. even when they were out in public, he kept his hands to himself and didn’t give any indication of his real affection for her. in her eyes, he was giving no one any idea of what they were. then again, she had no idea what exactly they were. he was in her bed every night and walked her to and from class every day, but what did that make them? she failed to see what any of this was pointing to and that might have been the whole reason she was so reluctant to succumb to his rules. it just seemed pointless to keep their relationship completely platonic and nothing when they were outside. if people were going to use her to get to oliver, what did it matter if she was dating him or just a friend? either way, she meant something to him, so how did the extent have any bearing? she never thought she’d be one of those girls who thought about this kind of thing and then worried about what it meant for a relationship, but she supposed it came down to how head over heels she was for the boy she’d known for so much of her life. she knew that figuring out what to call her relationship with him should’ve been the last thing on her mind, given that she was in the line of fire, but she somehow didn’t care all that much. being with oliver simply made her so passive, that thinking about it seemed like a joke. it was the irony that his presence in her life was putting here there. she didn't mind though - she loved oliver and wanted to be with him.

OLIVER made her confused, and she didn’t like it. she’d made her place in the world by keeping every little fact under her thumb to make sure that everything worked out. she’d managed a scholarship to a prestigious university all of her own accord, and she’d worked so she had the money to pay for food, clothes and anything else she needed. she kept her feet underneath her, but when oliver came into her life, it was like pulling the rug out from under her feet. she loved having him around, but she didn’t love the chaos and confusion that came with it. she knew that part of life was about taking the good with the bad, but it set her off balance to not be controlling every aspect of her life. she knew that part of him being involved with her, was his desire to control the schedule of her life, making sure that she never had a moment where she could be taken advantage of. life was never going to be normal for her – she’d long since accepted that – but it still ticked her off to have her life so off balance. that wasn’t to say that having oliver around ticked her off, no, that was quite on the contrary. waking up in his arms in the morning and falling asleep after having had mind blowing sex, was something she could and had gotten used to. for every complain she had about her new lifestyle, she had two or three comments to shut it down. it seemed to her that no matter how she felt about the changes, the long term meant that she needed to accept it. this was the kind of revelation she’d been waiting for, what she’d needed to go think about. she knew that it’d taken a while for her to implement it with issue, but she didn’t want to tell oliver to get lost. she couldn’t be sure where things were going and until she knew, she wanted him to stay. no matter what happened, she wasn't ready to let him walk out of her life again.

HE didn’t respond to her quiet commentary and it worried her, looking down at her feet. she didn’t notice him as he fell to his knees, grabbing her arms roughly. she looked up, her eyes wide, taking a sharp breathe in, unsure what he was going to do. she never thought he’d hurt her, so she didn’t know what he was doing. before she had time to start panicking, she was pulled into his arms and she understood, relaxing into his arms, leaning against him happily. his words were muffled as he breathed into her hair, but she could hear him well enough to know what was going on. it took her a moment to realize that he wasn’t angry with her – she’d sent him into a panic. now that she realized it, she felt upset with herself, angry that she’d made him anxious and stressed. she felt him fall back onto his butt in the snow, their bodies pressed together tightly. she pulled away enough to look him in the eyes, narrowing her own as she saw an almost invisible line of liquid in his eyes. her hands held his face, tucked into the ends of her sweatshirt so they didn’t freeze as she spoke, her tone making it very obvious how bad she felt. “oh my god ollie … you were on the verge of tears. i’m so sorry … i didn’t want to scare you. i just wanted to get out and then come back in and avoid stressing you out. i’m so fucking sorry …” she pressed her cold lips against his before curling up more against his chest, shivering slightly. she hadn’t notice the water soaking into her clothing, but now she was beginning to feel it. she slid her arms around him, underneath his jacket, trying to warm herself up. where she was pressed against him, there was no problem with staying warm, but her hands were cold, as was her face. “i’m so confused ollie. i just wanted to make the confusion stop, that’s all.” her comments were said sleepily, yawning briefly. she was ready to go back to sleep, but she was still in trouble.[/JUSTIFY]

TAGGED FOR , dallas oliver fitzpatrick.
POST STATUS , finished.
LYRICS CREDIT , to snow patrol.
FORMAT CREDIT , to moi, zazu.
WORD COUNT , one zero five zero.
SHE'S WEARING , click right here.
MY MUSE IS , just dance by lady gaga.
MY NOTES ARE , awee, he's crying!

[/BLOCKQUOTE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SUP]

[dallas]

the utter relief he felt at knowing she was safe made him weak. her arms wrapped around her instinctively, crushing her to him to make certain that this was her and not some apparition that his mind had conjured up. in his current state of panic, it probably could have happened. but he felt her lean heavily into him, which he supported without a word's protest, just glad to know that she hadn't become the victim of some horrible crime he really didn't want to imagine right now. he felt her shift in his arms, and reluctantly, the slackened around her so she could pull back and cradle his face. he blinked back the tears she commented on, unaware of their existence until then. but even with her sweet words and heartfelt apology, they only managed to smack him back to reality. he now remembered why he had come out into the cold in the first place, and what had almost caused those tears: her carelessness for her own safety. she had to be nuts, really. not only was it like, below freezing, but she clearly hadn't taken anything of what he'd told her seriously. this running away from him was not going to work at all.

now, as she began to curl up against him to share in his body heat, the ball of fury rose in him again. how could she be so stupid? she knew everything now, he'd told her! and yet, it seemed as if she couldn't follow a simple direction as to keep her ass out of danger. oliver had done his best to be wherever she was, to keep an eye on her. and yet, she was making it increasingly difficult to watch over and protect her. this was not the first time in the past couple of days where she had tried to get away from him. why?! what for?! all he heard that first night of their reunion had been laments to how they had been seperated for five years, and how much she missed him. now, when he was back in her life and pretty much her provider once again, she wanted to get away from him? to think about things? to clear the confusion? the only one here confused was him. he didn't understand what the problem was, or why she had to be so damningly disobediant. and she had to know he wasn't going to let her get away with it. if he was lenient, she would take advantage and do it more often.

once more, his fingers wrapped themselves around her upper arms and he physically removed the girl off his form, pushing her back from him about a foot. oliver glared at her now, the tears gone and instead replaced with the incredulous anger he felt at her betrayal. "are you fucking stupid?!" his voice had risen in volume, and it was almost like he was screaming at her now. quickly, he got to his feet. "i can't believe you're so fucking dumb, kendra! i told you that first night, you can't just off doing your own shit now. there are people after me who'd love to go through you just to hurt me. you want that to happen, do you?!" oliver, in some frustration, let out a loud yell and threw his hands up. "imagine my surprise to wake up in an empty bed and to later find my girlfriend having a jolly old time in the fucking snow, without a damn care to her safety or how i would feel! fuck your apology!" he was beyond angry; he was livid. his emotions were being to boil over and no longer, was he in control of his actions. oliver wanted to hurt her as she had him, to make it known just how serious he was about this. the man stormed towards her, brought his hand back, and smacked it across her cheek. the slap stung his hand and he stood there, breathing out heavily before he pointed a finger at her, kneeling down to her level with a very serious expression. "you're mine, kendra. they will know this and it's not just my paranoia talking. you're not going to run off anymore like you did tonight. if you do something this fucking stupid again, so help me god..." he growled.

>_< crap, sorry.