Isaac Lahey is worth saving (salvageable) wrote in blackpoint, @ 2015-01-02 21:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | isaac lahey (au), kira yukimura |
who Isaac Lahey and Kira Yukimura (RTW)
what Isaac and Kira talk about ~the future~ and Isaac tries to invoke the right to go to class when he feels like it
when Christmas night!
where Isaac and Scott's apartment, featuring the couch.
rating/status G!
Christmas wasn’t normally a big celebration for Isaac Lahey. He had spent most of the past several Christmases in his room, staying out of his father’s way, or freezing at the graveyard while everyone sat around the table for Christmas dinner. There had been some traditions - gifts of socks, a slightly burned turkey from the supermarket, A Christmas Story somberly playing in the background, and a sad string of tinsel that hung over the kitchen window - but overall it was one day off from school that he wished would be the other way around.
Christmas in Hawaii had been an entirely new experience. He had been around close to a year to appreciate the changes that his new life brought, but Christmas was on a whole different level. There were mounds of treats baked by the different parental figures, numerous dinners to attend to, and multicolored wrapped packages beckoning under the tree. He had saved his money to spend on his friends, and, while he grumbled and had a mild panic attack as he saw the price tag, he had insisted on getting a real tree for the apartment. He had eaten twice as much popcorn as he had strung up on the tree, and a cheesy angel resided over the brightly lit shrine to the holiday. It was tacky and a bit sparse in some places, but he loved it.
He collapsed on the couch after they got back from dinner number five, groaning slightly as he tugged his coat off and tossed it in the corner to deal with later. “I think Mrs. S put crack in those sweet potatoes,” he said, sheepishly grinning up at Kira as he settled his sketchbook on the couch next to him, “because I couldn’t stop eating them. Do I look a little orange to you?”
The Yukimuras had always enjoyed Christmas, but it hadn’t been as big of a deal for them as it was for many other families. They didn’t do much in the way of gifts usually, instead doing one or two for each other and little more than that. Their Christmases usually involved a meal, watching movies together, and generally enjoying each other’s company. The sheer excess of opportunities in Hawaii was a little overwhelming, actually, but in the very best of ways. Kira loved her friends so much, and felt so lucky to have so many of them now and in such wonderful variety, and she wanted to spend the holidays with as many of them as she could. She and Isaac had made a schedule the day before (really, she’d made the schedule while he sketched and ate), and they’d made it to as many celebrations as she could.
When they finally arrived home, Kira was just as exhausted and full as Isaac. She’d taken her bag to the bedroom, laughing as she heard Isaac’s words and slipped out of her shoes. She moved back to the living room, settling back on the couch with him, curling her legs over his and leaning over to curl up at his side. “You do,” she said, reaching to pinch his cheek lightly. “Like a giant carrot.”
Isaac’s grin widened as Kira reappeared and he straightened up, swinging his legs around so his lanky frame wasn’t taking up the majority of the couch. Not that she needed it. Limbs tended to sprawl everywhere when they were together with little regard as to who they belonged to. He never would have pegged himself as a cuddler, but there were many exceptions when it came to Kira and his pack here.
“I’ve been called worse,” he agreed, playfully gnashing his teeth in the direction of her hand as she pinched him, “but I couldn’t stop.” The same could have been said about the turkey, cranberry sauce, pies, green bean casseroles… luckily for him he had being a teenaged boy and a werewolf going for him. “Hey, thanks again for the Christmas stuff. I think I’ve already worn down half of the pencils.”
Kira was a cuddler, and she was glad that Isaac had learned to accommodate that. It had taken some time and understanding, especially at the beginning when she’d discovered truly how touch-shy he could be, but they’d become as good as one entity now and she didn’t hesitate in this moment to adjust herself so that she was mostly on top of him, curling around his body as though it were another part of her.
“You’re a very cute carrot, at least,” she responded, tapping him on the nose in gentle, teasing reprimand for the gnashing of teeth. “If you’d stopped, I’d have worried about you. The day you don’t eat four times your weight in food will be the day something is terribly, terribly wrong.” She snuggled against him, clicking the television on. “You’re welcome. You needed some new, fancy things for college.” She spoke it with such pride, because she couldn’t have been prouder of him for getting accepted. It was funny to her to think that of the two of them, he was the one enrolled in college first, but she knew he was smarter than he gave himself credit for being, and she was so excited that he’d decided to take that step.
"I'm taking carrot top to a whole new level," Isaac weakly joked, winking up at Kira before she settled again, "but I think Lydia is more suited at being the token redhead than I am. I'm happy being the designated food Hoover of our group."
He flushed at the mention of college, barely able to restrain from pinching himself. He still remembered the day the letter came and the automatic assumption that it had belonged to one of the other Isaac's, a testament to how unfit for college he was if he couldn't recognize his own name. He had applied for the spring semester at the last possible second and had assumed that he'd get deferred to the fall semester, but the letter had been quite clear about the January start and a partial scholarship. It wasn't much, but it was enough to reduce the shock of loans from coma-inducing to just plain cardiac arrest.
"You're okay with me going, right? I know it came out of the blue for both of us, and I can defer if we need to go somewhere, so just say the word and I'll do it," he rambled, releasing the lock of black hair that he had been absently twirling around his finger.
“As cute a redhead as you’d make, I think you’re right. I’m too fond of this dirty blonde mess of curls anyway,” she said, ruffling his hair affectionately. “And you do your job well, Mr. Hoover.”
Kira couldn’t have put words to her excitement when she’d found out he’d applied to school, much less when the acceptance letter had come. It’d been hanging on the refrigerator ever since, and she spoke so proudly of him for getting in that she may as well have been his mother for how joyful she found it. She knew firsthand how much of a challenge he’d faced in getting his motivation together and getting his grades in the right place, and she couldn’t have been happier with the outcome if she’d tried.
“Are you kidding? It’s one of my favorite things ever!” she said, grinning. “I’m so excited for you, babe. And so, so, so proud. And I’ve already bought too many frames for your artwork, so there’s no going back now.”
“Ever?” Isaac parroted, shooting her a teasingly dubious look as he flicked her hair out of his face. “It’s even more of a favorite than meeting Captain America and babysitting for him? Camping in Jurassic Park? Eating tacos? Cuddling little Mo?”
His cheeks colored at her compliment as she teased him, doing his best not to reach over and pinch himself. He knew college probably was a bad idea and that the money he was putting towards it was most likely better spent on other things, but there was a part of him that liked making the people around him proud. Aaron and Kira had been a big part of making sure he finished high school, and Scott had fawned over his report cards with Kira when they got hung up on the fridge. Even though he wasn’t the best student that there ever was, there was a part of him that was looking forward to doing something he was good at. History and math never really held his attention, and everyone knew he was a lost cause when it came to science, but he could draw. What had started out as a distraction from things and a way to pass the time at the graveyard had turned into something he really enjoyed doing.
“How many frames are we talking about? We only have so much wall space,” he questioned, looking around the living room, “and they have to be portable.” While the walls were pretty blank because two teenaged boys lived there, there was definitely a limit to how many frames could be crammed up on the wall.
“One of,” she pointed out, grinning. As if on cue, Mo pranced into the room, hopped up on to the couch with them, and snuggled up as well. She’d clearly missed them while they were away all day, and Kira scratched at her ear as she cuddled close.
Kira knew that Isaac had spent much of his time so sure that he wouldn’t get the chance to go to college, that it wasn’t even vaguely in his sights. Seeing that change in him, from discovering that he could do it to deciding to do it to getting accepted, was such a glorious thing for her. She couldn’t wait to see him in college, just sure that it would be a much better environment for him anyway because of the difference in structure. He’d have a lot more freedom, and be able to take classes that actually interested him. She knew how well Isla had done in her own studies, and she was sure it’d be the same for him.
“Most of them will end up in my apartment anyway,” she said, laughing. Hers was still just her, after all, and there was plenty of blank space waiting to be filled with Isaac’s art. “Are you excited?”
"I can live with one of," Isaac conceded, doing his best not to squirm as Mo wiggled her way up to claim some of the remaining free space on his side of the couch. While he had made strides in being able to cuddle and being the center of the puppy piles Kira was fond of, it still took him a few moments to become comfortable with the bodies pressing against him on either side. However, being at home with his two leading ladies in a safe environment made the transition easier. Nothing but love and comfort was surrounding him, and he knew all he had to do was say the word and they'd adjust.
"I'm not looking forward to the homework part, but I'll suffer through it," he said, glancing over at the tv as it switched to commercials, "but you were always good at bribing me to get it done." He playfully tugged on the hem of her shirt, grinning as Mo lifted her head to chastise him for moving his arm turned pillow. "The bigger question is what kind of trouble will you get in without me?"
Kira adjusted a little subconsciously when Mo moved, lifting her body off of Isaac’s a bit so that he could settle in to having both of them around him. She’d been with him for long enough now to know his triggers well, and she could adjust herself without issue to accommodate them and keep him from feeling so completely overcome.
“You’ll make it through, I just know it,” she responded, grinning. “I’m a very good tutor, it’s true.” She reached to scruff Mo’s head when she lifted it to reprimand him, and leaned to kiss Isaac’s nose lightly. “Not nearly as much, I’m sure,” she responded. “I’ve got a few little short trips I need to take, but most of what I’ll do will be while you’re in classes during the day.”
“You won’t have the Lahey luck going against you now,” Isaac pointed out, half jokingly. He knew now that most of it hadn’t been his fault, and sometimes he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he still used the excuse when things went south. When a dam he was working on broke or the bag of books for the children’s school he had left outside were stolen, it wasn’t because the wood had been rotten inside or the Egyptian thieves were desperate - it was the Lahey Luck striking again.
“And, you know, one of the good things about college is that classes aren’t mandatory,” he hummed, knowing he was already walking into a losing argument but continuing onwards regardless, “so if something big comes up I can always help. No big deal.”
Kira rolled her eyes at that, nuzzling him a bit and resting her chin on his arm so that she could still look at him as they talked. She’d countered all of his mentions of Lahey luck, and she knew that Isaac knew what her words would’ve been without her needing to say them. Getting Isaac not to blame himself for things was still a definite work in progress, but it was something she was committed to, no matter how long it took.
She laughed as he spoke. “Oh, you’re just precious. That’s a fun joke,” she said, grinning. “You’re totally going to class.”
"I'm an adult, technically," Isaac pointed out, his eyebrows going up in mock indignation, "but I am incredibly precious."
He knew class was important and he'd go, but knowing he had the flexibility to not go if something came up was a bit of a relief because it meant that he was going, essentially, on his own terms. That and on a heaping load of debt that he'd eventually pay off, but he didn't feel forced to go, and that was almost enough to take away the constant proverbial educational yolk from around his neck. Kira was determined, almost an even match to his own stubbornness, so if she said it then he knew it would most likely be true even if she had to drag him to class full of medicine or in his pajamas.
"But, if it makes you happy, I'll only miss for special occasions or if Captain America needs a babysitter. There's no way I'm letting Isla take that from me."
“Incredibly precious,” she agreed, nodding. “Like a puppy man.”
Kira knew that he’d thrive in college for exactly that reason. The ability to make choices about one’s education was such an important thing, and Isaac had so long been without the ability to make his own choices. Kira intended to support every decision he made, but she’d encourage him along the way to make the better ones. He’d been through too much not to go to class, especially now that he had the opportunity. But, honestly, she was confident that he’d want to once he got into his education.
“Yes, good call there. I’m not giving that up either,” she said, then smiled. “You always make me happy.”
Isaac tilted his head to the side, looking for all the world like the puppy man that Kira had just labeled him. He let his eyes flit over her briefly, tracing the curves and edges that had become as familiar as his own over the past year. It was hard enough to believe that they hadn't been to Beacon Hills and the life there for a while, but sometimes he had to pinch himself that what he had with Kira was real. He kept waiting for the Lahey Luck to kick in, but besides a few hiccups with his inability to separate the show and their lives early on and his inability to be too far from his Alpha things had been going well. Amazingly, even, considering that her best friends would blow out his eardrums before taxidermying him for a bonfire if he ever did something to her. (Not that he ever intended on doing so.)
"Always is a pretty tall order, lightning bug," he said, dropping his head to plant a kiss on her forehand, "but I can settle for most of the time. It's better to exceed expectations than to underdeliver. I can't promise I won't always save the last of Scott's pies for you."
Kira beamed at the sweet look on his handsome face, watching him as he looked her over. There was affection in every look she gave him. While showing the love wasn’t at all beyond her usual, she made certain to show him as much love as possible at all times. He’d been deprived of it for far too long, and she wouldn’t let him go another day. “Okay, we can settle for most of the time and let you exceed expectations,” she said. “And that’s a condition I can live with.”