Percy was still looking at the Polaroid while we walked the aisles,
the man’s expression having barely left its state of absolute
confusion the whole way. His eyes looking from it to me and then back
to the picture once more before finally commenting, “she fucking
looks just like you; Hell, even has your dad’s jacket.”
“Apparently her Jacket,”
I countered, laughing a little as I told him, “take a look at the
back there and tell me if
that looks like it was my dad’s.”
Percy nodded, flipping the picture over and reading the back before
looking at the front once more. Ready to make a point before
immediately checking the back once more and asking, “is this real?
Mary, there’s no way-”
“Found it in Elizabeth’s storage locker.”
“Eva’s 19th, and it’s from 1966,” Percy read out,
the gears visibly turning in his head, “your mom had to be like,
what… close to sixty when she had you? That can’t be right. We’re
talking older than my grandma I’m pretty sure, you know that,
right?”
“Werewolves age slower, with the rate of aging slowing further and
further the older we get. Healing factor increases to try
counteracting the increased time it takes injuries to heal and other
strains on the body, fails to but overall makes everything go slower.
Our periods come with bigger distances between them, thus menopause
sets on later,” I explained, a small smile crossing my lips as I
decided to try and get a reaction, “Honestly we’re lucky they
still just last a few days, but guess it’s mostly the body just
taking a while to get there. Mine moved down to every two months,
getting a few days farther apart each time. Technically I’ll
probably be dealing with them for like a century and a half, maybe
close to two, if I actually life that long. Healing factor doesn’t
fully counteract age’s effects, and even calmer werewolves tend to
live dangerous enough lives.”
If I was expecting a comical reaction of disgust or too much
information Percy didn’t deliver it, still looking at the picture
in confusion. Something obviously having clicked for the man even as
he passed the photo back. His voice strangely distant as he asked,
“heard anything else about her?”
“No one wants to talk about her, apparently she’s a horrible
person. I know she was in the Purists too for what that says,” I
explained, a small sigh escaping me at the thought. Percy didn’t
know how long I was in the Purists, even if he knew I was there,
couldn’t ever fucking know. I was probably making things worth
making him associate the two of us even more even as I continued,
“can’t say I’m surprised people are weird about it, but like…
it’s frustrating, right?” The two of us continuing down a few
more aisles until I tried changing the subject myself, “where are
you staying by the way? Can’t imagine you’re still in your room,
even if The Lady’s getting the house fixed up, you at the dorms?”
“Oh, um, no… dorms closed for winter,” the man admitted
awkwardly, clearing his throat a moment before adding on, “stayed
in my truck bed last night, probably do the same tonight. Anna said I
could crash on her couch for two nights only if I really needed it,
but trying to save that for if it gets deadly cold, you know?”
I stopped, closing my eye a moment and letting out a low sigh as I
told him with no room for argument, “you’re staying with me.”
“Mary, I can’t-”
“small apartment, but I know there’s a couch and we can get an
air mattress while we’re here if you want,” I interrupted him,
already turning the cart that way, tossing a bag of cat treats in
besides the other necessities I’d gotten. The man following behind
looking ready to protest while I pointed out, “think about it this
way, with everything going on? On the small chance someone’s
targeting you or me, good idea for us to be in the same place, and
even better idea for you to not be sleeping in a camper shell where
someone could shoot you without you even knowing they walked up.
Besides, much as I trust whatever security The Lady will have, I’ll
feel a lot better if I know you’re there for Martin too.”
Percy froze, a half hundred looks crossing his face before he sighed
and relented, “alright, but you let me cook a couple meals for you,
alright? I ain’t letting you accuse me of just taking advantage of
your hospitality.”
“Hey, if you wanna do your chili, I ain’t gonna complain,” I
offered, seeing the man smirk at the counteroffer.
A nod of his head, and he teased me, “never said nothing about
chili, but I get the sense you’re dropping a… subtle hint
about what you want.” and he had to chuckle a little at that,
already taking his own notes on my list while he added on, “take it
you’ll be expecting cornbread too while I’m at it.”
“Would I need to ask for you to make fries with your burgers?”
“Glad to know you never change,” Percy smiled at that, finishing
off his additions to the list while we continued shopping.
Cat supplies, air mattress, and a few smaller things we needed added
to the cart, and we finally came to the toy aisles. Percy and I
silently walking up and down them a half dozen times while I looked
everything over and tapped away at the cart’s handle. A steady beat
slowly turning faster and more uneven as I looked everything over,
checked my notes tried thinking of what you got a little kid.
Neither of us saying anything until Percy finally asked, “you
didn’t think this far ahead did you?”
“I did, just didn’t make coming up with anything easier,” I
admitted with a low sigh, “he’s four, haven’t really seen him
outside pictures and video calls since he was a few months old. I
mean, I know what he likes, I listen to him talk about his shows and
movies, but like…”
“Not sure what to get a four year old?” Percy asked, the man
pulling out his phone while he walked behind me. Typing away at
something before asking, “he likes dinosaurs right, you mentioned
that? Maybe something to do with that.”
I stared him down a second, eventually unable to control myself as I
let out a small laugh, “did you just fucking search up ‘gifts for
a four year old’?”
“well, ‘gifts for a four year old boy’ specifically, but also I
have less experience with kids than you,” the man admitted with an
awkward laugh of his own, head bowed as he slid his phone back and
admitted, “weird to think you’re a mom sometimes. Still keeps
catching me off guard.”
Not really something I could argue with, following along looking at
the toys as I did try narrowing it down to the dinosaur themed ones.
I had already gotten him a set of dinosaur themed blankets and sheets
for his last birthday, something I’d gotten a little teasing for
being dangerously close to gifting clothes. Maybe just getting
something to do with a t-rex or the like would be good, but at the
same time…
I sunk to the ground, resting my forehead against my knees and
letting out a low sigh, Percy gently patting the crown of my head
while he chuckled, “would it help if I picked something?”
“He’s my kid, I should be able to pick something.”
“I mean, yeah, but he’s a boy, I have the experience there. I
imagine you were playing with dolls and all that, no harm in using my
expertise here,” Percy said, his expression only breaking as I
looked up at him confused and he asked, “what’s wrong?”
“I’m trans, did you forget that?”
Percy blinked.
“Fucking Wolf Gods you did…” I muttered, smiling almost so wide
at that it hurt a little as I let myself be helped back to my feet,
“how did you forget?”
The man took a moment to answer, letting his head wobble a bit before
slowly admitting, “honestly every now and then I think about when
we were kids and I just kinda forget you weren’t a girl then. Trust
me, if anyone finds out you’re alive without you saying, it ain’t
gonna be your dad, it’s gonna be me accidentally fumbling through
explaining why I referred to my childhood friend Mary.”
Somehow that was the nicest thing he could have said, and I had to
giggle a little at that as I tried reassuring him, “if you need to
misgender me a little to get around that go ahead, but… well, if I
get revealed because of that I can’t complain.”
“Mary, I value our friendship infinitely more than I value your dad
getting a little angry about people knowing his daughter’s a trans
werewolf,” Percy countered, finally stepping forward and grabbing a
box off the shelf he held out declaring, “remote controlled T-rex,
says 4+, I would have gone crazy for that at his age.”
“you hated dinosaurs, you said-”
“If I liked dinosaurs,” Percy relented with a barely held
chuckle, “come on, what do you say though? Good pick?”
Actually probably a perfect pick, and I awkwardly moved to take the
box in my good hand before Percy frowned and snapped to sit the box
in the cart for me. Percy taking the cart from me as we started
towards the food aisles and I complained, “I was doing it fine
pushing it myself Mr. Chivalry.”
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Percy smirked swiping a few things off the list, looking around to
make sure no one was listening before scolding me, “don’t know
what you did, but I just realized you haven’t moved your
right hand the whole time I’ve seen you and you’re doing
everything left handed for once. Least I can do is help a little
while you finish healing.”
Okay fair enough, and I let him know what happened by holding up the
hand in question. Watching him hesitantly reach up to squeeze the
injured palm between two fingers, sending a bolt of pain through me
and a look of disgust across his face as I started, “Vergil got
attacked, hand got fucked up grabbing his gun, got lucky there was no
silver in it. Can almost feel my fingers again, but going to
be a little longer before I’m perfect. Really I’m lucky-”
A whiff of silver on the air, and I paused a short moment to look
around at the store once more. Nothing seeming wrong at first, but at
the same time…
Woman looking at a clothes rack maybe ten feet away, clothing well
made, all natural, plain colors and lack of patterns, only color a
nice looking red coat. Hair long and well cared for, ears not even
pierced, on shorter side and not looking athletic but carrying
herself confidently. Not the sort of girl I figured would actually be
interested in a rack of cheap polyester Hawaiian shirts. A quick
sniff of the air confirming the silver was stronger her direction,
too strong for it to just be jewelry, large quantity, probably a
knife or two.
She was after me, and my mouth was half open to tell Percy before
thinking better of it.
He’d be worried, probably try calling things early, get worried
about everything that could go wrong if I told him I could take her
in a fight. Fuck, he’d just heard I had an injured hand, chances
were if he knew I was in danger he was gonna try and handle
everything himself. That was the last thing I needed, and my mind ran
a thousand miles an hour before finally telling him, “I need to use
the bathroom, you good getting your ingredients?”
Percy thought about it a moment, double checking the list before
telling me, “Yeah no problem, I’ll hang around before I get
anything cold in case you take a bit. Just let me know if you want
anything else, alright?”
I shot him a thumbs up and rushed off, stopping once I was a decent
distance away to confirm the woman was following me. Halfway
pretending to look for a bathroom before starting that way, plan
still formulating in my head as I went down the small hall that led
to the doors. Plans of checking if there was anyone else in the room
or thinking of how to lure her out from here stopping as I saw the
family restroom.
Everything falling into place as I knocked at the door, started
opening it, looked to see the woman coming closer…
And Barbie stood there staring back at me, head tilted as she
announced, “girl left.”
“fuck!” I started past her and trying to say, “must be going
after Percy, she-”
“Had her phone start buzzing when you were looking around down
here, said three words with some guy, left out the front of the
store,” Barbie explained with a roll of her eyes. Making me stop
dead in my tracks as I looked back at her, the ghost pacing towards
me as she half-bowed and added on, “didn’t even rush it, just
seemed like she’d changed her mind. You sure she was even after
you?”
She was suspicious, seemed to follow me soon as I started going, was
definitely carrying plenty of silver. I wanted to say definitely, and
at the same time…
“I don’t fucking know,” I sighed, leaning back against a wall
and slamming the back of my skull into the tile hard as I could.
Someone from the nearby aisles looking down the hall to check on the
noise and something feeling off about the back of my skull for a few
seconds while I asked, “you think I’m being paranoid? I mean,
everything going on, like… what do you think?”
“You’re asking the girl you were convinced might be a
hallucination for her opinion about your mental health?”
“Pretty sure you’re real now if that helps?”
Barbie rubbed the bridge of her nose for a long moment, taking in a
breath she didn’t need to hold it there for several seconds. Only
after I thought she was about to disappear again rather than answer
admitting, “not sure there’s anything that qualifies as paranoid
for you at the moment. I’m not sure you’re exactly a prime
target, but we don’t know how your guy’s discriminating that
yet.”
Not the worst point to make, and I had to add on, “not like I
haven’t given plenty of people reason to want me dead either, so
not like I can’t be surprised if it is a little random.”
Barbie giggled at that, a sweet little giggle that made my heart want
to melt, and I had to close my eye even as she reassured me, “I
think we can rule that out at least, though I like the honesty. Not
sure this would be a Purist thing though.”
“Guess we can,” I mumbled, pushing away from the wall and
starting back as I told her, “we’ll talk tonight. Right now I
need to go see my son.”
Barbie left me off with some basic greeting, and I tried not to make
too much of a show while I walked back through the aisles. Percy
easily found filling the cart with several cans of beans and picking
out a selection of peppers as I walked up. The man looking back at me
with a cocky smile even as he complained, “well, ain’t gonna be
my best work, can’t make it too spicy for a four year old, but I
think I can make it savory at least.”
“I’ll pick up some chicken nuggets for him. He’s grown up in
Canada, good southern food’s going to put him in a coma from
seasoning alone if we don’t let him have a reprieve option,” I
admitted, the man chuckling even as I noticed him going for the
sweeter side of peppers. A quick look in the cart raising a brow as I
asked, “when did you pick up movies?”
Percy didn’t hesitate to swipe up the two boxes he’d gotten,
holding them up with a broad grin to announce, “Elf and Muppet’s
Christmas Carol, they were in the fucking bargain bin. We used to
love these as kids, figured we could have a movie night and introduce
little Marty to some culture.”
I couldn’t hide my smile to even try fucking with him a little,
following the man along as he pushed his cart and telling him, “you
know you’re better at this planning thing than me. I was going to
walk right out of here without any dinner or entertainment plans for
the next few days.”
Percy laughed at me for that, even as I watched him grab some romaine
and other ingredients while he comforted me, “it’s skill like
anything else, and truth told with what you’re going through it’s
a miracle you’re held together as you are to do this all. How many
recipes you know how to cook?”
Complicated question, and I made a few hesitant noises before
admitting, “I mean, I can make… basic stuff? Andrew at the
Covenant taught me to make a few things as long as they’re mostly
premade, can throw some scrambled eggs mixed with cheese on a toasted
bagel with deli ham and call that a light meal. I have a few cook
books, but… well, few times I’ve tried anything from them they
never turned out well. Samuel taught me to make an omelet this
morning and I actually did decent.”
“Well, ain’t no shame in that, knowing how to cook doesn’t come
with the adulthood,” Percy said, checking his cart as he told me,
“alright, let’s pick up some pizza on the way there for tonight,
that’ll let me make sure the kitchens clean and I have everything.
Then I can show you to make a cobb salad tomorrow, that’s good for
getting everything you need in one place and easy. We’ll use the
leftover lettuce for the chili day after, cornbread with that, you
deserve those recipes anyway. By then we’ll have plenty of
leftovers for a day, or we can do takeout again, get stuff prepared
for your Christmas Eve dinner, right?”
“You came up with that on the spot?”
“I know what I don’t need as much of when it comes to certain
meals, know what uses a lot of that,” Percy admitted, almost
looking fond about the whole conversation as he added on, “also it
ain’t much in the way of planning. I make enough chili to feed four
people for a few days, kid ain’t gonna put much more a dent in
that. Salad’s just a zero skill meal that you can do a lot of
different things with and sits easy in a fridge if you don’t mix in
the dressing.”
I nodded, smiling a little at the thought even as I realized I still
had to plan a fucking Christmas dinner. The only thing keeping me
from stressing about that the slight humor I felt in how everyone was
acting as I asked, “why does it seem like everyone likes to feed
me?”
“Well it could be because making sure your friends are fed is a
great thing to do, and you give the feeling you forget to eat on the
occasion,” the man started, stopping dramatically a moment before
reaching out to poke my stomach. The wolf on edge but not growling as
the man told me, “also because I’m helping you out. I’ve known
plenty of lesbians, Mary, they all love a little meat on a girl.”
“I like guys,” I told him, realizing that wasn’t exactly right
as I tried saving it, “pansexual, like both of them, you know?
Hell, wouldn’t mind both of them, but don’t think they tend to
have the same taste in women.”
“Hey, don’t exactly remember how things were in school, but times
changed there too. Guys love their girls thick now,” Percy
countered, looking over me before cringing a moment. A small chuckle
escaping him as he quickly worked the buttons of his flannel. Slid
off his shoulders to the fresh black undershirt he wore underneath as
he held the flannel out to me and told me, “might want this.”
I frowned, taking the flannel but just looking it over as I told him,
“The jacket’s leather, I’m not getting cold in here.”
“No, I um,” Percy hid a half-chuckle, leaning in to whisper, “tie
it around your waist, might want to pick you up some jeans while
we’re here too.”
I frowned, not sure what he meant as I looked down at myself and
sticking a leg awkwardly out as I saw what he meant. The thigh of one
leg not completely torn open but still split, held together by some
strands of fabric, the scarred skin underneath visible. Not really
embarrassing, I’d been in the Purists too long for that, but at the
same time…
“Just saying everyone’s trying to get me to eat, and I’m
getting fat, didn’t even realize these were that tight,” I
complained, tying the sleeves at the side of my waist and rubbing my
eye, “these were fucking loose on me when I got them, you know
that? It’s been, what? Fucking year and a half, how am I putting on
that much weight, I just…”
I trailed off, not even sure where I was going as the man smiled and
told me, “hey, if those pants were loose when you got them you
couldn’t have had much meat on you. You look fine to me; Hell,
could probably put another twenty or thirty pounds on and still look
the same. I haven’t got anything cold yet, want me to come help you
look?”
I shook my head, already walking off as I told him, “I’m gonna
just grab a couple extra pairs of sweatpants, I don’t like dressing
like this anyway and they’d be easier to take off. You keep
shopping, I’ll be back.”
A few more aisles, stopped at a shelf and quickly finding a few plain
black pairs in my size before thinking better of it. Going up one
larger and with three in my hands before a small chuckle escaped me
that turned into a full laugh. Some man from farther down the aisle
looking at me confused even as I started back and asked, “you
there, Barbie?”
“Of course,” she answered, appearing to walk beside me,
“something funny to you you need to share?”
“Just… this is all funny to me. Making dinner plans for the week,
picking up movies I used to like as a kid, fucking fucked a pair of
pants and have to pick up more,” I had to stop from another fit of
laughter, going to brush the hair from my face and stopping in place.
Fingers coming away wet as I tried not to start breaking into a sob,
“was it always supposed to be like this? Is this just, what it’s
supposed to be like for people with normal lives?”
And she didn’t answer at first, watching me half-cry in the aisle
before finally telling me, “You know, not sure if I know either.
Sorry.”