A Rock and a Hard Place Who: Lance, Kenzie, and Zania Where: Lance & Kenzie's Place When: Late Afternoon
It was cold. And wet. And though Zania knew she should be inside, she had wandered next door to see what Lance was up to. She'd started up a fire in her own fireplace, since Nic had been kind enough to come by and make sure she had firewood, but she didn't know if Lance had gotten any for himself and Kenzie before the rain started. With a small pile wrapped in plastic, she hurried next door and knocked on the door. In addition to firewood, she'd brought food, and food was rarely turned down.
Lance and Kenzie had slept through the morning and he'd let her keep on sleeping, knowing she needed it. He'd gotten up at some point, only to find the house fucking freezing with no lights that worked. Great. He'd scows red around until he found some candles and lit those and he was just considering food when someone knocked. That was weird. Who would be out in this weather? Heading to the door he opened it, surprised to see Zania there. "Uhh hey?"
“Hey,” she smiled, water dripping from her dreadlocks. She could feel the cold, but not the way she would have if she were human. It didn’t bother her as much, though she knew she probably felt like an icicle. “I thought you might need some firewood. Nic came by earlier and brought me some, but Clem and I’ve got enough to share. Can I come in?”
Was she ever right. Lance was already dressed in three layers with his leather jacket over it. "Come on," he said waving her into the house and towards the living room, but he reached for the firewood as she passed. "Fireplace is in here," he said leading the way once the door was shut. The living room was still trashed, stuff strewn or broken, coffee table upended.
Zania handed over the firewood, following behind him into the living room. “What happened?” she asked, eyes wide as she took in the current state. “Did someone break in?” While she wasn’t a neat person, things in her own house never got to this state. She liked ordered chaos, but this was just chaos.
Lance shook his head, then shook the rain of the firewood before tossing some of it in the fireplace. "Kenzie had...I guess an episode. It happens. And I wasn't here to stop," he waved around the room, "this before it got bad." He pulled his lighter from his pocket and held it out to an edge of the wood, trying to get the bark to start.
“Is she okay?” Zania asked, looking back towards the bedrooms as she took a large pot out of her bag and set it on the counter. The she did the next natural thing, which was putting the sofa back into place, righting any furniture that was still in a condition to be set upright. As for the things that were broken, there was probably nothing they could do about those except throw them away.
Lance picked up a ripped pillow and ripped the fabric the rest of the way, lighting the edge on fire and tossing that in the fireplace too to get the logs going. Standing up he wiped his hands and shrugged. "I think she burned most of it off. I promised not to leave, all that." Kenzie's history was just as tortured as his, probably more so. Her flashbacks were stronger, that was for sure.
“Leave?” Zania asked, looking over to Lance. “Where does she think you’ll go?” They were all trapped inside the dome, so it wasn’t like he was going to disappear on her. Unless she meant… “Or are you not allowed to leave the house?” That seemed brutally unfair, in her opinion. It was also a quick way to cabin fever.
Lance gave Zania a pointed look. "I'm allowed to leave the house, but she means you." He had to wonder how Zania would react.
“What do I have to do with it?” Zania asked, taken aback. He’s promised not to leave… Kenzie? She frowned and took a step away from Lance. “I thought she was your cousin.” She’d heard of kissing cousins before, but she hadn’t realized that was an issue here.
Lance didn't get that look or the step back. "She is my cousin..." He made a face, not sure what was going on, but shook his head. "She thinks I'm going to fall in love and run off."
“Oh,” Zania said, the relief evident in her stance. “I thought maybe she was more than a cousin. Why does she think falling in love equals running off? Besides, you’ve already made it clear that’s not in the cards.” She couldn’t look at him as she said it, the joy she’d brought into the door quickly fading away. Maybe she shouldn’t have wanted to see him. It was just another sign she was getting roped in to something that would eventually hurt her.
Lance frowned and reached for Zania's hand, pulling her towards the couch to talk to her. Maybe it was time he explained some things. "So, for a long time it's been just us. We don't play well with others and it's okay. We need that. She needs that. Especially when she remembers her dad." Lance looked at Zania's hand, hearing Kenzie's warning about her wanting more in his head. "Maybe it's not what I'm built for, but even if I was, I wouldn't abandon Kenzie."
Zania followed him over to the couch, biting down on the inside of her cheek. This felt like the beginning of a talk and talks like this, initiated by a guy, usually ended with a breakup. She found it hard to look at him, instead looking at his hand in hers. “I was never asking you to abandon anyone,” she said. “You know that’s not just you, right? Everyone just had someone, or maybe no one, for a long time.” All she’d had was Nic, till they got here and Justin found them, but sometimes she still felt alone. With all these people with deeper connections that she couldn’t get close to, would she ever find someone that wanted to connect with her?
"Started before that. Before her dad beat her into the hospital. It's been us against them for a long time." He smiled a little leaning in closer to Zania. "She's jealous I want to be around someone else, but her job is being around strangers so it's only fair. Otherwise I'd sit here alone all the time bored out of my skull. This way, I get to have fun and you get something you want." He kept his voice low, just in case Kenzie woke up.
“So you’re not pulling me over here just to tell me you don’t want to see me anymore?” They had nothing solid, but it would still hurt. Kenzie wasn’t the only one that didn’t like feeling abandoned. “I’m not trying to take you away from her. I know she means a lot to you.” Maybe Kenzie just didn’t like her, though she thought they’d gotten along well enough last time.
"Why the hell would I tell you that?" Lance made a face. "It's more the whole abuse thing is heavy. We don't talk about it." And Lance didn't talk about his own father's brand at all. "I know you aren't. But, she gets irrational." The room was probably evidence enough of that.
“Because… that’s how those talks usually start,” Zania sighed. Either that or the guy started cheating on her, though that couldn’t be on the table when Lance had never promised not to see anyone else. If she found out he was screwing around, she’d just have to bite her tongue. “I understand. I can’t imagine what she’s been through. What you both have.” She gave a look around the room. “I can help clean up. And I brought spaghetti. Don’t worry, I didn’t make it.”
“Oh, fuck if I would know, I’ve never had one of those,” Lance said with a shrug. “We survived. Just like everyone else.” Though from a little more than most he supposed. “You could clean up or you could just come here,” he told her, pulling on her hand to get her closer to him.
“Never had a breakup talk with a girl?” Now that was a new one, though Zania didn’t mind. She just hoped she wasn’t the first. She supposed he couldn’t break up with a girl if he was never officially seeing one. “I think I’ll come here then,” she smiled, leaning in to kiss him. She might not have known where they stood, but he wasn’t pushing her away so she was happy.
“Nope.” Lance shook his head, but let it go when she kissed him. Then he was just dragging her closer, kissing her harder and guiding her towards his lap.
He didnt have any trouble getting her to move, as he was warm and she rarely turned down kisses like that. She was still damp from the rain, her shirt sticking to her skin, goosebumps on her legs below her shorts. If the fire didn't warm her up, he certainly would.
The damp was kind of a turn on, even if her skin was cold against his, and really, Lance just liked having her close, liked the sense of belonging that came with it. He’d never admit that part out loud and just went with stronger kisses to cover it up and mask it as pure want and not a need of another person.
Kenzie woke a little bit after Lance got up from the bed, but she stayed where she was, buried under the blankets and feeling like death warmed over. It seemed like it would be one of those days. Kenzie knew she ought to get up and go make some money, but the weather outside was awful and while she usually loved being out in the rain, she wasn't feeling it today.
Staring at the wall, Kenzie listened to her cousin out front, taking to someone. She couldn't exactly hear what they were dating, but it was definitely a female. The voices grew quiet, and that was when Kenzie climbed out of bed. Her hair was a dark, tangled mess, her eye make up smeared. Leaving the bedroom, she walked slowly to the front, where she saw Lance on the couch with his red head. Kenzie paused. "Should I go?" Because if her cousin was going to get laid, she figured it was only polite to give him space to do so.
Zania should have heard her coming, but she'd been distracted by Lance. And while she wasn't the most modest person, now was not the time to get caught up in fooling around. "No! No," she answered, sliding off Lance's lap. "Come warm up by the fire. I brought spaghetti." And definitely wasn't there to run Kenzie out of her own house.
Lance frowned at being interrupted and Zania moving away, but he got it. "Where ya gonna go, Kay? It's close to a blizzard out there." He nodded for her to come closer. "Come warm up."
It would figure, that Kenzie would panic over Lance falling in love with Zania and leaving Kenzie behind, and the first thing she sees when she finally gets out of bed is Lance making out with the redhead on their couch. She watched Zania slip away from Lance, and her eyes found her cousin's for a brief moment. "I don't know. I could go to Skylar's." Though she didn't really want to leave, and looking the way she did would probably only frighten Skylar anyway. Kenzie licked her lips and took a tentative step forward. "I like spaghetti."
Of course. Skylar. Zania felt like her circle of friends had expanded into this complicated web where she needed to much better track who knew who, especially in who was involved with who. She expected that Clementine had talked to Skylar, but how that went she had no idea. And that made her wonder about Kenzie and Skylar, even if she wouldn’t ask. “I brought it for ya’ll. It’s still warm, but if you want it hot, we can put it over the stove.” Though she didn’t really want to leave… hopefully food would allow her to stay, but not make things any more awkward than they already were.
“You don’t want to go out in that. Even to see your boy toy,” Lance said waving towards the window then pointing towards a chair by the fire. “Sit. Warm up. Then we’ll eat.” His hand went out to Zania, curling around her bare thigh, enjoying her close to him.
"He's not my boytoy," Kenzie grumbled. But she wandered over to sit by the fire, her eyes still on Lance and Zania. "I didn't think the weather was supposed to get this bad inside a dome." And she found it interesting that Zania chose to come over here, with food.
“I think there’s a lot going on inside this dome that’s not supposed to happen,” Zania said with a hint of amusement. She wasn’t sure what all Kenzie knew about, but she had to have noticed the ghosts. “My brother’s actually being haunted by someone. I think that’s weirder than the weather.”
“So was I,” Lance said about the ghost, shaking his head. “But seems like the weather’s nothing with everything else right?” He sighed and leaned back against the the couch, relaxing as Kenzie settled.
The mention of ghosts prompted Kenzie to lift a brow, remembering in a vague way the ghost she had met. Cory? Cody? Something like that. She hadn’t seen him since. Blinking, she looked at Lance in confusion. “Who’s haunting you? You didn’t tell me that.”
Zania looked to Lance for an answer as well, not having realized he was also being haunted. “Have you seen the ghost that’s haunting you?” Because that would help significantly.
Lance looked at both of them, surprised they cared. "Um yeah. I've seen her. I don't know if she'll come around again since she got what she wanted, but she was a pain in the ass thing. Just showed up demanding a ring I stole ages ago."
Kenzie made a face and then drew her knees up to wrap her arms around them. "That's kind of weird. I wonder if they can come and go from the dome whenever they want." If so, she was super envious.
Lance looked at both of them, surprised they cared. "Um yeah. I've seen her. I don't know if she'll come around again since she got what she wanted, but she was a pain in the ass thing. Just showed up demanding a ring I stole ages ago."
Kenzie made a face and then drew her knees up to wrap her arms around them. "That's kind of weird. I wonder if they can come and go from the dome whenever they want." If so, she was super envious.
“Did you find out her name?” Zania asked Lance. “The one haunting my brother hasn’t shown herself, but started throwing things at him the other day. She’s mad about something. And the one I met could walk through walls, so I’m sure he could just walk out of the dome if he wanted to.” But where would he go? And why? Zania thought that if she were a ghost, she’d want to stay in one place long enough to make friends… but then she wasn’t a ghost, so what did she know.
"Ember. But I met a Lydia too. Lydia was nicer. Ember was a pain in my ass and she needs to walk into that white light." He shook his head then chuckled. "It could be Ember tossing things at him. She could pick up her stupid ring. And insulted my manhood." Which hadn't sat well with Lance.
Kenzie rested her chin on her knee, watching her cousin. She had only met one ghost, who was definitely male, but it was interesting to hear other ghosts could touch things, and walk through walls. If she died, could she leave the dome forever, or would she end up in hell or something like that? Unable to help herself, Kenzie began giggling at Lance. "I don't think you ought to take a ghost's opinion of your dick seriously."
Ember and Lydia. Zania would have to mention those names to Justin, just in case one of those was haunting him. “How does your manhood even come up in conversation with a ghost?” Zania grinned, then nudged him. “You don’t have anything to worry about.” It wasn’t the only reason Zania hung around, but Lance was definitely good in bed.
"When she interrupts my shower. Not my fault she got a full view." Lance grinned a little and nodded. "I figured you were satisfied. And I've never gotten a complaint. Annoying little twat."
Kenzie released a loud, impatient noise as she covered her ears and lowered her forehead to her knees as not to look at them. "I don't want to hear about it. Talk about your sex life when I'm not around or I'm going to make things really uncomfortable for both of you."
“Don’t you work in a brothel?” Zania asked, cocking her head to the side. “I’d ‘ve thought conversation concerning sex was, like, super common or something.” Not that she’d meant to bring it up, but since Lance was being insulted, it felt normal to make sure he knew some ghost’s opinion wasn’t anything to go on. “Plus, I bet she’s just jealous she can’t get any. The ghost, I mean.”
"Yeah, considering I had to hear about Mannix..." Lance said then shook his head. "I told ghosty girl that. That if she could, I'd rock her world, but she was dead so what did she know."
Kenzie lifted her gaze up when Zania mentioned the brothel. For some strange reason she didn't like that Zania knew, and she assumed it had been Lance who told her, even though it wasn't necessarily a secret. "Okay, then let's talk about your sex life. Does he make you come more than once? Do you have to finger yourself, or does he get you off just with his dick?" Her gaze shifted to Lance and she shot him a look. "And you're insanely stupid for that remark alone." Because even if Kenzie wasn't into relationships or feeling things for people, she didn't think Zania would really want to know that Lance would openly admit to offering a girl a fuck, ghost or not.
For the first time since becoming a vampire, Zania actively thought about ripping someone’s throat out just for the fun of it. It would be easy. She could move so fast that Kenzie wouldn’t even see her coming, wouldn’t know what hit her till the blood was pouring down her neck and soaking her shirt. Zania glared daggers at the girl, a look that was turned towards Lance as well at the thought of him offering up sex to someone else so easily. She knew they weren’t official, but she still didn’t like it. “I think it’s time for me to go,” she said, standing and walking over to pick up the spaghetti. They could eat shit for all she cared at the moment.
"What the hell was that?" Lance demanded, nudging Kenzie with his foot and getting up to follow after Zania. "You don't have to go. She's being a child. You don't have to tell her anything."
"I'm being a child?" Kenzie glared at her cousin. "I thought it was super common to want to talk about sex, since I work at a brothel. Wasn't that what she said?" Christ! If Zania was that sensitive, she so wasn't the girl for Lance anyway.
While she appreciated the fact that Lance didn’t want her to go, it annoyed her that he didn’t even notice how he’d put his own foot in his mouth. She didn’t comment on that, though, as Kenzie continued to hold her attention. “That’s not what I said,” Zania snapped. “You were being sensitive about a side comment, so I asked a question. I didn’t say I wanted to be interrogated, nor did I ask you about your own. You know why? Because it’s fucking rude.”
This right here would be on the top five list for reasons not to date. The girls were squabbling for no good reason. "No, it's Kenzie. She lives for making everyone uncomfortable." He gave his cousin a dirty look, then turned back to Zania. "Stay. Please." He had a feeling if Zania left now, he'd never get back into her bed again and he was quite fond of being in her bed.
Kenzie clenched her jaw angrily, temper glittering her eyes. The girl needed to unclench something fierce, especially since she couldn't seem to see that assuming something about someone based on their profession was just as rude. As if working in a brothel meant Kenzie should be open to hearing about Lance's sex life somehow. Not that she was opposed to it, since they talked about it often, but she hadn't want to talk about it now. Biting her tongue until she tasted blood, Kenzie finally calmed, her expression calming as she climbed to her feet. "Yeah. I'm rude. And I live to make everyone uncomfortable. You should stay. Eat spaghetti. Make out on the couch." Since her shoes were still on from earlier, Kenzie started for the door, flipping up her middle finger toward Lance on her way out.
As mad as she was, and as much as she wanted Kenzie to leave, Zania knew that wasn’t a good idea. “I’m sorry, okay? I wasn’t trying to piss you off,” she said, hands balling into fists. Why the hell was this girl so difficult? She shot a look at Lance, then pushed him lightly towards the door. “Go after her,” she sighed. “I won’t leave.” She would, however, busy herself with serving up some spaghetti.
These damn complicated women. Lance was about to say something to Kenzie, yell after her that he hoped she froze, but Zania was pushing him after her. So he had to talk to his cousin. Lance stumbled after Kenzie, grumbling until he caught up with her. "What the hell, Kenize!"
"Fuck off," Kenzie yelled over her shoulder. Then she rounded on him and pushed his shoulder. "Don't you dare call me a child again. Or talk about me like I'm nothing! You should have my back, not hers, you asshole." Especially given her fears earlier, and it was like Lance was pissing all over her just because his booty call was around.
Lance took the push, but caught her arm. "You're acting like one. I was all sorts of nice to your booty call, you can at least not try your damnedest to run mine off!" He gave her a look, then felt his shoulders slump. "That's the goal isn't it? To run her off." It fell right in line with Kenzie's concerns from earlier. "I have your back, but not when you intentionally ruin things for me."
Staring at him as if he'd lost his mind, Kenzie pulled her arm out of his grip. "You really think that's what I'm trying to do? You don't think maybe I was pissed that you told her I was working at the brothel in the first place? What business is it of hers? Or that she can make assumptions about me, why, because I whore myself out to make sure we have money, ass? Screw you, Lance."
"What does it matter? You don't have any issues with working there." He took a step back though, hearing what she wasn't saying. That he was useless. He wasn't bringing any money in. "No one cares what you do, Kay. I don't care. If you hate it, quit." He took another step back, trying to fight the defeated feeling inside and already losing the battle.
"That's not even the point," Kenzie said, frustrated. "You don't know what issues I have, or don't have. If Mannix was in there, or Skylar, I wouldn't be cutting you down and calling you a child in front of them. You made me feel stupid. That's not having my back, and you know it. Instead, you turned it around and try to put the blame on me by accusing me of trying to run her off on purpose. You're going to do that just fine on your own by telling her that you told some ghost you'd fuck her if she hadn't been dead." She had to pause for breath, and Kenzie shivered, only noticing now how cold it had gotten. She sighed and rubbed her eyes before motioning to the house. "Go inside and tell her you're sorry. Eat dinner together. Just... think about what you say before you say it. 'Cause she likes you, and she doesn't want to hear about what other girls you'd potentially fuck."
"And I wouldn't be a rude pain in the ass!" Lance shook his head. "What was the goal of that comment anyway! Asking how it was? Really?" He shook his head. "I'm not trying to blame you, I'm trying to figure out what the hell you're thinking. And I didn't mean anything about the ghost. God. Seriously." He watched his cousin, the reached for her. "Come inside. It's too cold out."
God, it was like everything she said went in one ear and out the other. She was the child. She was the one trying to ruin things for him. Any reassurances he had given her earlier were fading, because he jumped as making her feel insignificant just to keep his bitchy booty call around. "I don't want to be around you," Kenzie said wearily. "Especially while she's in there. I'll be back later." She turned away and started off quickly, wishing she'd thought enough to grab her cigarettes inside.
"Seriously, Kenzie," Lance said, but she was already starting away. He stood us on the porch feeling useless for a long while. He didn't even go inside despite being told to. She didn't want to be around him. He couldn't be around the two people he wanted to be around at the same time. It felt wildly unfair.
Despite being inside, Zania overheard the whole exchange. She couldn’t avoid it. Not only was the door open, but her improved sense of hearing made it like they were standing right in front of her. When it was clear that Kenzie had left, yet Lance remained outside, Zania went to the door. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said to her.” She realized that now, having listened in. Kenzie had been rude, yes, but Zania had probably started it.
Lance looked back, surprised Zania was still there, even if she would have had to pass him to leave. "I...don't know. I'm sure it's fine. She's just upset." And he hoped he didn't find her dead and frozen somewhere.
Zania shook her head. It wasn’t fine. Kenzie had been upset before she’d gotten there and Zania had gone and made things worse. “Don’t make light of it. If it was nothing, she would’ve stayed,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him back inside.
Lance let her pull him inside, not fighting it, and closing the door behind them. "I don't know what to do otherwise."
Once they were back inside, Zania let go of him and went about cleaning up the mess that was their living room. It was the least she could do. “Generally, when you’ve upset someone, apologizing helps,” she said, picking up the items that looked beyond repair and taking them to the trash. “But only if you know what you’re apologizing for.”
Lance looked at Zania then the door. "What exactly did I do to apologize for?" And when did Kenzie get so fucking complicated?
“For chastising her in front of me. And putting her down. It’s not that I don’t agree with you, because she was being a bitch, but you’d already said she was having a hard time, so that probably did feel like you were choosing me over her,” she said, biting her lip. How did Lance not see that? It seemed so obvious to her.
Lance made a face. "So if I'd said nothing, let her talk like that, you would have left wouldn't you? And what are the chances you'd let me see you again?" Seemed like a rock and a hard place and suddenly calling Kenzie on her bullshit was a bad idea. He'd always been honest with her, but he supposed the situation was different this time.
Zania’s lips ticked up. “I might’ve left. But my leaving would’ve been to get away from her, not you. You weren’t the one pissing me off, except for when you called me a booty call and mentioned screwing a ghost.” The only reason he hadn’t felt the repercussions from those remarks was that he was already facing his cousin. “Depends on if you’d come after me. I like that you defended me, I just… wish I hadn’t put you at odds with your cousin.”
"Did I call you that?" Lance didn't remember that, though at this rate he was pissing everyone off. "I wouldn't hook up with the ghost girl. It's just not fun to have someone look you over and wonder how you manage to please anyone without coming back with something." He sighed and sat on the couch, running his hands through his hair. "I would have shown up again. Not ready to quit you." She was like a really good drug and he could feel that crash that came on the other side of not spending time with her.
“You might’ve. It was a term that was thrown around,” Zania said, following him over to the couch. It was hard for her to imagine how he could possibly be insecure about his performance in bed, as he’d more than capable when they’d been together, but she supposed she might be thrown too if someone made comments about her body. “Ghost girl ’s just jealous she can’t get with you,” she said, hand rubbing along his thigh. “I’d find some way to fight her off if she tried to steal you away.”
"Yeah, well you're...something." Lance definitely didn't have an answer for that and he figured calling her his drug of choice right now wouldn't fly any better than booty call. "I'm sure she is. I think she's been following me for a little while now so she'd know what she was missing. And I swear, she looked like a kid. Not really my thing."
“I don’t really like to be known as a piece of ass, even if that’s all I am.” It was clear from her tone that that bothered her, but he’d never promised anything more, so it was hard for her to argue. Still, she didn’t like hearing it. “But if she was your kind of thing… would you be interested?” Ghost or not, was he not happy enough with her?
"Hey, you aren't just that," Lance said, not sure what he was saying, but needing to say it. She wasn't just some random hook up or he wouldn't be sitting with her now. "The pain in the ass ghost girl that tried to freeze my insides by putting her hand through me? No. Or are you asking something else?"
“I guess I’m asking if… if someone else came along that is your thing, would you go for ‘em? Even though you have me?” Or am I not enough? It wouldn’t surprise her if he wanted someone else, as well. As much as she wanted to be someone’s one and only, that hadn’t been the case, even when they said she was. With Lance, she at least felt like he would tell her the truth.
Lance considered that then shrugged. "Don't know. Haven't noticed anyone else recently. Don't see a point." It was honest, as honest as he got.
“Okay,” Zania said with a little nod. It wasn’t a commitment, but at least he was honest with her. “I just don’t like sharing,” she told him with a little smile, though it was more than that. Whenever a guy cheated on her, she felt like it was her fault, like she hadn’t been good enough. Apparently, so far she was.
"Well, you aren't sharing. Am I?" He reached for her, pulling her closer to him.
“No,” she said, edging closer to him with a little smile. “I’ve never wanted to be with more than one person at a time. It seems like it would be complicated.” If there ever came a time when there was someone else in her life, she’d figure it out, but she seriously doubted it would come up.
“It does. I don’t do it much either.” He was more likely to just move on to the next thing. He pulled her in for a kiss. He should be out there looking for Kenzie, but for the moment, this was entertaining enough.
That was good to hear, enough so that she let him pull her into the kiss and forget about the argument she could have had. It wasn’t worth it, not if he wasn’t going to act on it, and hopefully he’d learned what not to call her in the future. She’d leave a note for Kenzie before she left, but for now she’d let Lance distract her. It was a good way to spend the evening.