"Lily. There’s a girl version…" Who: Lily and Lance Where: Lance’s place When: Morning, after Mannix and Lily’s “vampires are real” discussion Warnings: Language
Lily couldn’t think of anything she enjoyed doing more in the morning than going on runs.. well, she might be able to come up with an idea or two, but running was right up there. It made her feel good and in its own way, it was pretty therapeutic. As therapeutic as kick boxing? No. But it was still pretty great. Today, she needed to put herself in as good of a place as possible as she was planning on having a heated discussion with Jack about his decision to check out of the hospital early, vampire blood or not. The whole concept of vampires was something that Lily was surprisingly grasping onto quickly, thanks to Mannix. It also had her wondering what else could be out there. Bigfoot? The Loch Ness Monster? Maybe Little Leprechauns would start popping up and get all violent about their pots o’ gold. Either way, the possibility of something else lurking out there wasn’t going to keep her locked up indoors.
She slowed her running pace to a light jog as she approached what appeared to be a still figure laying on a porch coming up on the right. She frowned, not knowing what she should do. It could be someone just sleeping.. but who would sleep like that on their porch? What if the person was dead? Lily slowed to a stop at the path to the porch, glancing around a few times. It appeared no one else was around, which wasn’t terribly surprising considering the time of day. With a sigh, she took a hesitant step towards the body, then another. “Hey!” She wasn’t trying to get within poking distance of the person, but supposed she might have to if it came down to it.
Lance had crashed on the porch, flat on his stomach, one arm down the stairs. Drinking had gotten the best of him, but it wasn’t the first time and odds were it wouldn’t be the last. The voice jerked him out of his stupor, head jerking up way too fast and the world spinning as he tried to look around and failed. Groaning he held his head, closing his eyes as his vision swam. Fuck whoever woke him up.
Well, the movement was a good sign. Still, she decided it’d be best to stay where she was at a comfortable distance a few steps away. “Are you okay?” Dark eyes scanned over the tall guy, not being able to see anything off about his appearance from where she was, which was another plus was for him. If she were to leave right now, she would at least feel better knowing she wasn’t leaving someone to die or some morbid shit. “Is this your house?”
Lance held his head with one hand and a hand up for her to stop talking. He couldn’t listen to her just yet, not with his head splitting open. Why was she talking anyway? He finally blinked his eyes open, looking at her and sure he was seeing thing. Where had the girl version of Jack come from? He rubbed his eyes, trying to sit up and feeling his stomach turn over. “Yes…” he said, biting his lip against a wave of nausea. “Why would I be here if I didn’t live here?”
The groan earlier, the motion for her to shut up, his seeming to be out of sorts. Lily put all the clues together and couldn’t hide her grin at the realization that the stranger wasn’t knocking on heavens’ door or about to morph into some strange mutant beast, he just must have been recovering from a good night. At his question, she gave a light shrug of her shoulders. “Stranger things have happened.” She wasn’t sure if she should keep talking, but came to the conclusion of why the hell not? “I know I’ve woken up in random places before. You should drink some water.”
“To people who do stupid shit like sleep on strangers’ porches,” Lance said, rubbing his forehead and waving her advice off. “I’ve been hungover before Jack.” The name slipped out, but he was too busy thinking about how not to throw up that he didn’t even catch it.
Lily chose to ignore the attitude, feeling oddly compassionate for the moment. Being called by her brother’s name, however, threw her for a complete loop. She blinked before letting out a laugh. “Do you know Jack?” She looked down to herself, finding the idea of Jack with a nice long ‘do and some curves entertaining. “About this tall.” she held her hand to an approximate height of Jack before continuing. “Curly hair, devilishly handsome, more often than not with a bruise?”
Finally Lance managed to focus on her and realize that it definitely wasn’t Jack. It was hot that was for sure. “Yeah I know him.” Especially the devilishly handsome. Not something he wanted to talk about. Or think about. “My cousin works for him. And hooks up with Mannix.” He rubbed his forehead again, blinking at her. “Who are you?”
Lily’s eyes sparked with interest. “And who is your cousin?” She didn’t always get the juicy gossip on who her brothers were involved with, even though she loved the information. She didn’t really do anything with it, it was just fun to know.. and depending on if things ended badly, let her know who to be wary around. She had never really had to worry about girls breaking their hearts because as far as she knew, they tended to keep themselves pretty distanced in the emotional department. If someone did hurt one of them, however, they would have a different type of Ryker to deal with. “Oh, name’s Lily. Jack and Mannix are my brothers. Who are you?”
“Kenzie,” Lance said, looking up almost sleepily. He was starting to function again. His head was pounding but that wasn’t new, and the urge to throw up was gone for the moment. “Lily. There’s a girl version…” He tilted his head and eyed her. “Lucky me.” Because she did look like he brother in some of the best ways. Not that it mattered what her brother looked like he reminded himself.
Kenzie. She would remember that for later. Lily let out another laugh, shaking her head. “I’m way too sweaty and you’re way too hung over for you to be flirting with me right now. Besides, if you know my brothers, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you.” She bent a knee, holding her foot to stretch as she continued to stand where she was, deciding she was just about done with her run anyway. “How do you know my brothers, anyway? Just through your cousin?”
“Definitely don’t have anything against sweaty,” Lance said with a grin, even if it wasn’t quite as charming as it could have been with his paler demeanor. “Just Kenzie. We used to be out there,” he said waving towards the walls, wherever the hell they were.
Lily couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. She was trying to be good given his relationship to Jack and Mannix, but the boy was making it hard. She went to casually stretching her other leg before pointing to the steps of his porch. “Do you mind if I take a seat? Or better yet, why don’t we get you something to drink?” She didn’t think he was going to say no, so she began making her way closer. It donned on her that going into a stranger’s house probably wasn’t the smartest idea, but.. if he knew her brothers, she could probably trust him to some degree. If not for being a trustworthy person, then at least for the fear they had a tendency to strike into people.
Lance watched her for a moment, mostly her legs and the way she was moving before hefting himself up using the column of the porch. “Sure. Come on in.” It wasn’t much, but they’d needed somewhere to live after getting stuck in the dome. He drug himself towards the door, finding the moonshine bottle still sitting outside, and picking that up. Thank god Kenzie hadn’t finished it because he was in dire need of more to even out this hang over.
Lily followed along behind him, entirely amused by their height difference. Standing at about 5’6”, she had to adjust her gaze upward to even look him in the face, which from what she’d seen of him so far, she would say was pretty hot despite his feeling under the weather. “You should eat too. The unhealthiest thing you can find, because that’s what cures everything. It’s science.” Lily science, but whatever. It worked.
He was already taking a sip out of the jar, looking back at her and grinning. She was a pipsqueak of a thing, but that was hardly bad. “It’s good science. Totally valid.” He’d been through more than enough morning afters to know that much. Leading the way into the house, he wandered towards the kitchen, assuming she was following.
Once inside and in the kitchen, Lily leaned against a counter. “You know, you should always offer a lady a drink.” She wasn’t talking about water. Water was for children. “All that running left me absolutely parched.” She grinned, standing upright and moving closer to Lance the Tall Man. She put a delicate, inked hand around the jar he was holding, but didn’t pull on it in case he was serious about his alcohol. It wasn’t always as easy to come around as it used to be, so it would be understandable if he didn’t want to share, but just smelling it was enough to make her drool as if it were some delicious dish.
She earned herself one hell of a raised eyebrow, both at that hand and the tattoos, but also just what it was she had her hand on. Not that he was completely against sharing. Or like he’d paid for himself. “I know my mother would hate me if I forgot my manners.” Not that he really had a mother, but there was enough charm in him to play the game the right away. After watching her with a smile he let go of the jar, letting her have it.
Lily nearly giggled with glee as he relinquished the jar, eagerly taking a drink from it. It burned, but she loved it. She loved the way it felt as it slid down her throat and make her chest and stomach warm, and the way she felt after drinking it. Granted, with her drinking history, she would need more than a few sips to really feel a good buzz start, but she wasn’t about to be greedy. “You are a perfect gentleman! Thank you.” She offered him a smile before taking one more small sip then handed the jar back to Lance. Even with no drink in hand now, she remained close to him. “So what do you do here?”
Lance watched her with a gentle amusement, thinking that was adorable in its own way, her enjoyment at the drink and more. He took the jar back when she gave it to him, taking another sip himself to take the edge off his hangover. “Here? Nothing.” He needed to find something though. For the moment he was just wandering.
“What do you do all day, then?” Waitressing wasn’t glamorous, but it was something to keep Lily out of trouble for at least part of her day. If she didn’t have the responsibility of showing up there, who knows where she would be right now. Probably having the time of her life. She took back to leaning against the counter, crossing her arms. “Your full time job can be keeping me company.” She smiled and gave a nod of her head, as if that made the suggestion final.
“I wander. I do things. I considered working for your brothers, but decided against it.” Lance shrugged, raising the jar to his lips for another sip until she gave him that offer. “Keeping you company? That sounds like a boyfriend.” Which he didn’t do.
Lily nodded her head to his response on what he did with his days, but it quickly turned into a shake of her head at his mention of relationship. “No, I didn’t say your job would be listening to me bitch at you about everything. I said keep me company. There’s a difference.” She was kidding, of course. Truth be told, while Lily certainly did relationships, she was probably better off not doing them. She always wound up with the wrong guys, and if they were bad enough, the guys wound up dealing with Jack in a very final, unfortunate way. “I’ll keep you entertained, don’t worry.”
Lance looked as if he was considering that. “Keep you company...which means what if it doesn’t mean being your boyfriend?” He was pretty sure her bitching was for a girlfriend, but she had his interest. He wanted to know now.
“Whatever our hearts desire.” Lily bit her lip in thought, looking off to the side. “You might be glad to know I spend a lot of my time at the bar, so that’s a plus? I also enjoy cuddling up with my kitten at night.” She rolled eyes. “This is starting to sound like a romance ad. All I’m missing are moonlit walks on the beach.” She pushed herself off from the counter to stand upright again. “But that’s fine, I can always find someone else to keep me company.” She offered him a grin before her gaze moved to the tattoos on his arms.
He watched her, not sure what to make of the petite woman. “I could do some of those things. Especially the bar related things.” When her eyes landed on his ink he turned his forearms out, giving her space to see the full bands. “Like?”
Lily faked a frown. “You wouldn’t be okay cuddling my kitten? Her name is Princess, and she’s a love bug.” He didn’t seem like the cuddly type, but one never knows! Sometimes the biggest of men have the biggest sweet spots. At his question on her opinion of his tattoos, she swapped the frown for a grin and gave a nod. “I’ve always liked minimalist tattoos.” She didn’t have any herself, but it didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy them. She continued to observe them, seeing a slight variation toward the bottom. Leaning a little closer, she ran a finger lightly along what seemed to be small words. “Does that say something?”
He raised an eyebrow at the comment. “I was sure that was some sort of suggestion around your pussy not an actual cat,” he said tilting his head. “Never had a cat. Had the other type of pussy though.” He watched her touch the ink and nodded. “It does.”
Lily blinked up at him before bursting into laughter. “I’m not the kind of girl that refers to that as her kitten.” She took hold of his arm to bring it closer to her, trying to make out the words clearer. “Maybe you should try the kind of pussy you haven’t had yet, then.” She was referring to her cat still, but wasn’t about to clarify. She liked the idea of his mind running rampant with whatever ideas he came up with. “Hmm.. never again?” She looked up to him to see if she had read it correctly.
She got what she was going for, his mind running rampant at the thought. He wanted to try both. Maybe not this instant considering the fact that he still had a headache, but he liked the idea. When she got the words right he nodded, then motioned with the other arm. They were different tattoos, but not many people got close enough to realize that the writing was even there.
Lily moved her hands to his other arm to bring it closer to her, pursing her lips as she made out the words. “Not alone?” She returned her gaze up to him, “what do they mean to you?” Part of the reason she loved tattoos was because each carried their own backstory, even if the tattoo was generic. In Lance’s case, they weren’t generic at all, which made her all the more curious. “And, it’s your turn.” She looked down to herself briefly, knowing her arms, chest, torso, hips, and even her legs were decorated. None of her tattoos contained super hidden words for him to find, though. Still, she figured it could be fun.
“Not alone,” he told her with a nod. “They’re reminders not to go backwards.” Which was very much the truth. He had to stay where he was, safer, stronger. Not fall back into the awful world that was his father. “I think inspecting yours would take far more work than just a few comments.” His fingers did reach out to trace ink on her arm, admiring it. “I’d love to see all of it.”
Lily smiled. "I like that." Little did she know she could easily relate to Lance in that aspect. Her gaze shifted downward to her arm as he reached out to trace her own work, enjoying the touch. She leaned in closer and grinned. "You're right.." Her eyes moved up again to look at him, a glint of mischief in them. "That's one of the perks of keeping me company." She lifted the other arm he wasn't touching, "there's more here." She then moved her hand over her chest, just below her throat, "and here." Again, she moved her hand, this time over her torso. "Here." She kept her grin, taking his hands this time to move them to her hips. "Pretty much here." And finally, she leaned over slightly to run her hands over her thighs. "And here. Lots to comment on." She nodded her head in agreement.
All the appropriate warning bells went off in Lance's head, the ones that said,yes, this woman is a little over the top, but he didn't stop her from doing anything she was doing. He was completely hungover, but he wasn't stupid. "Guess I'll have to take you up on that job offer then." He flexed his and a against her hips, a teasing little squeeze, just to see what she'd do.
Lily let out a laugh, having not expected the squeeze. "Perfect. Send me your resume and HR will get back to you." She remained where she was, content for the moment. "So did you have those done here or before?" She motioned to his tattoos again, resting her hands back against the edge of the counter to support herself.
“What should be on the resume again? And special qualifications?” he asked raising one eyebrow and following after her as she moved back to the counter. “Before. Right when I turned eighteen.”
Lily counted out on her fingers as she spoke, “Past experiences of company keeping, favorite pick-up line, references. The usual. If you don’t have experience company keeping, I’d be more than willing to teach.” She winked, carrying on without missing a beat. “Special qualifications would be being able to keep up with my drinking ability.” She may have been on the smaller side, but the girl could hold her booze. “Kitten handling is also very important.” It was difficult for her not to laugh at that one, but she actually managed to keep her game face on. She gave a nod to his response on his tattoos, remembering when she got her own first. “Do you think you’ll get anymore?”
Lance nodded, as if her logic was sound. “No girlfriend, but there’ve been plenty of women, none of ‘um are complaining, always up for learning something new though. I can probably drink you under the table and I know about one sort of kitten handling.” Probably not the small animal though. He looked at his arms, then shrugged, thumbs tracing circles on her hips. “Not sure yet. If something speaks to me, then definitely.”
Lily continued to hold her air of seriousness, nodding as she followed along with him until he said he could probably drink her under the table. “Challenge accepted. And, I’ll raise the stakes by betting I can handle a kitten better than you.” The previous poker face she had worn began to crack, pushing herself up from her lean against the counter to get a little closer, enjoying the feel of his fingers tracing patterns on her skin. “What does the winner get?” As if he didn’t have a choice to not opt into the spontaneous competition.
“Not taking that bet right now,” Lance said shaking his head. “I’m not stupid. You have the advantage and I don’t lose.” He slipped his fingers up a little bit more, a little higher. “But I will take that be for sure. Both of them. But I if I fail at one version, I’m going with the second.” As for the prize, he considered that. “The job. You win, you get your companion. If I win...you find me something else.”
Lily was finding it a little harder to focus as his hands crept upwards, but narrowed her eyes for a moment while she managed to consider the stakes. “Fine. You name the time and the place, and I’ll be there.” She hesitated, “except.. what if I win one and you win one? We need a tie breaker.”
“Time...place,” Lance said tilting his head back and forth. “Tomorrow night, your place?” Seemed fair. “What kind of tie breaker?”
Lily nodded firmly, mind wandering over where she’d be getting the alcohol from. It was time to go hard and prove herself, which meant she would be getting a lot, but she had a few ideas on where to go. “Perfect. I’m working early tomorrow and have the next day off, so that will work.” She brought her hands up, resting them against his chest. “A race? After we’re already drunk. Less about running and more about being able to make it back without passing out on a porch, Mr. Wanderer.”
“I made it home last night, that was what mattered.” His cousin he needed to check on because he’d been out cold when she got back. “Race it is. But it won’t matter. I’ll win.” He leaned in closer. “Or distract you.”
Lily let out a soft laugh, raising her brows. “Oh, really? Two can play that game.” She inched closer again, running a hand up to the back of his neck. Dragging her nails lightly along, she moved it back down to where her other hand remained on his chest. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
He arched a little, the same way a cat would at being pet and grinned. “I’m lookin’ forward to you distracting me.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I never know what I’m getting myself into.”
Lily bit her lip as he arched, distracting herself by speaking again. “Famous last words.” She ran her hands down his chest, dragging her finger along the button of his pants. “I should get going, I’ve got to pay my brother a visit.” She looked up to him, a grin returning to her soft lips. “But, I’ll see you tomorrow. And prepare to be my companion, because I’m going to kick your ass in all three ways.”
Lance let her touch him, just raising an eyebrow at what she was doing. When she said she was off to see a brother, he had to wonder if it was Jack, the other man’s image popping into his head all too easily. He forced himself to ignore it, then nodded. “I highly doubt that, but maybe you’ll get lucky.”
“I don’t get lucky, ...” Lily’s voice drifted off, a bewildered expression overtaking her face. “You didn’t tell me your name.” She knew she had asked, but he must have either forgot to answer in his hangover bliss or danced around her question. Only she would wander into a stranger’s house, cozy up to him, request he be her keeper of company, and invite him over for an evening of drinking without knowing his name. “Do you remember mine?” This could be interesting.
“Everyone gets lucky.” Lance grinned that she didn’t know his name. “I’d make you guess, but you won’t get it.” He shrugged, like that was an unfortunate thing. “It’s Lance and you’re…” Something with an L too. He’d caught that. But he’d said it too. “Lily,” he said finally landing on it and grinning. There were times when his brain still functioned.
Lily grinned after he paused, but nodded with approval when he spat her name out. “Clearly, you’re the lucky one.” She took a step back from him, not wanting to break the contact, but knowing she needed to if she wanted any chance of behaving. It was going to be hard to be stern with Jack after having had such an entertaining and enjoyable morning.