For Kate, dated 5-21-12

[likesthestooges]

The path to Kate's hut was a familiar one, it was a trip he'd made several times before, although usually for very different reasons than he was going now. He idly wondered if Lilo was home, he was interested in meeting the little girl that he had heard so much about from Kate. It amused him that Kate was not looking out for someone, not because it seemed unlike her but almost that it had taken this long.

Which was what he wanted to talk to her about now, children. Kate was one of his closer friends on the island and he felt like he should probably give her a heads up about Henry. At least, that was what he was telling himself, really he just needed to talk to someone about him who could react in a way that wasn't completely neurotic like Josh. Of course, Josh's neurosis provided their own insight Aidan couldn't get anywhere else.

Rubbing his eyes in an attempt to push out the cobwebs of his brain, Aidan knocked on the door of Kate's place. This was the first time in a few days he had left Henry's side for more than to just get a bite to eat and the unpleasant sleeping arrangements were starting to take their toll.

Comments

[girlsolo]

Lilo's at school and Kate...is having a nap. Jersey and boy-shorts and completely unmoving, face down, half-drooling into her pillow. At this point, she's long since given up the pretense of cool for Imri who finds her like this or in some other teen-mom-on-parole position two-three times per week. Her other booty calls mostly fly-by-night and she's the one making them, so she doesn't even lift her head to mumble, "Door's open, babe. Unless that's you, Daniel. If it is, go'way. Don't want to get up."

[likesthestooges]

"Am I intruding in on the allotted time of a different friend with benefits?" Aidan asked, chuckling a bit as he opened the door. He was only half joking about it, if she really was expecting someone else then he could come back another time.

"But I promise I don't have any intentions of making you get up."

[girlsolo]

Aidan. Kate considers it and decides he's worth skipping a nap for. She lifts her arm without looking his way waves her arm lazily for him to come in.

"Daniel's got kid duty, not Kate duty." She rolls up to her side and looks him over. If he's slept half as much as she has in the last few days, she'd be surprised. "You look like you need this nap as much as I do. Too bad. I was thinking about getting you up." In other words, you okay, babe? what's up?.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan gave a tired, half-smile at the comment. He appreciated the offer, but that's not what he was here for at the moment. Maybe in a few days once Henry was feeling better he'd come find Kate to help blow off some steam.

"I just wanted to come by and... apologize in case you'd tried to find me the last few evenings."

He knew that their arrangement (if it could even be called that) didn't require an apology or any sort of explanation, but Aidan still felt it was the right thing to do. Plus, it gave him an excuse to talk to someone about Henry, even if he knew with Kate he didn't really need an excuse.

"Someone from my world showed up and he's been in the clinic for the last few days."

[girlsolo]

Kate's about to give him hairy eyeball for the apology, but what he says after stalls it. Clinic. People from home. Her eyebrow lifts, lips press together, eyes soften with concern.

"C'mere. Sit." She pats the bed beside her. Aidan's more than a booty call and he knows it. If he needs her she's here.

[likesthestooges]

"His name is Henry," Aidan said, sitting down next to Kate on the bed. He wasn't even sure how to explain the situation to Kate, or anyone, that wasn't a vampire. How did you explain the relationship between you and someone you turned into a vampire.

"During World War One, I went to fight over him Europe. You could imagine the opportunities for a vampire in that time and situation. I took multiple gunshot wounds to the chest clearing out trench and Henry was the medic who tended to me. I... saw something in him that I thought shouldn't die after just one lifetime."

[girlsolo]

Okay. This is a serious talk. Kate pulls herself upright with a slightly mournful sigh in the direction of her pillow. She rests her hand on his forearm, steadying him.

"So you turned him." Kate can guess that much. She cocks her head and asks the next, most obvious question. "Was it a love thing?"

They'll get to whether it was consensual or not in a few minutes. If it wasn't, they're going to have a few unpleasant words about it.

[likesthestooges]

"Not at first," Aidan admitted. He loved Henry dearly, but it wasn't love at first sight. "Keep in mind, I wasn't always an upstanding, bagged-blood only vampire. My vampire name used to be Death."

It was the first time he'd ever told someone on the island that, not even Josh knew that. It felt right that someone like Kate was the first one to know, even if she didn't know it was such a big deal.

"More like he wanted to be stronger, but he was lacking a certain... killer instinct. I helped him get over that. But once you turn someone, they're bound to you. They're your family and responsibility. For all intents and purposes, Henry is my sun and I love him like one."

[girlsolo]

Kate's known for a long time that Aidan wasn't a good boy. And that he's got a lot more bodies on his account than Druitt. She could be pissed, but she used up her hypocrisy quotient on telling Lilo she had to go to school today even if she didn't want to.

"Don't get me wrong." Her lips press together tightly, but she's not going anywhere and that's clear. "I'm not happy about you having been the vamp equivalent of a hitman or whatever, but I'm not happy about me having been a smuggler who traded in Abnormals either. You've been working on your redemption a lot longer than me, though. So we'll call that between you and whatever gods you believe in."

But she's not sure what to make of connecting it to Henry. "You saying the island just inherited another potential serial killer in your son or just telling a story?"

[likesthestooges]

"No, Henry is... he's not like that," Aidan said with an empty laugh. Sure, Henry had made some very stupid mistakes, but he wasn't like Aidan, not in that instance.

"The upside of being able to choose your children is that you look for people who don't have the traits you hate most in yourself. But I was just- I guess just telling a story. I've learned that one way or another the bad things you do are going to come out, and I'd rather you heard it from me than see it on a tv show about my life."

[girlsolo]

Kate nods. "I get that." She chews on her lip for a minute, trying to figure out why Aidan wants to tell her of all people, though. Yeah, they're friends and they fuck and she's probably important to him, but it's kind of weird in her head.

"So. Henry's here. He's your son. You love him. Check check check. He's in the clinic. He okay?" That seems like a logical question, but she's tired, so she can't really say.

[likesthestooges]

"He was tortured before coming here," Aidan said. He didn't want to get into the extent of the details, not even with Kate, but that much he could tell her.

"He'll be mostly recovered in a couple of weeks, but I've been staying there while he recovers. I haven't seen him in almost 80 years so I've... been making up for lost time."

[girlsolo]

"If he's gonna be okay, you might want to think about getting some sleep." Eighty years was a lot to catch up on, but the island would give them time.

Eighty years. Jesus. She'd really been at the Sanctuary and on the island too long if she didn't even blink.

She cocked her head and scooted closer. "You know me and talking, not really besties, but...gotta ask. You okay?"

[likesthestooges]

"I plan to, as soon as I head home," he said. Of course, he left out just when he was going to head home. It would be relatively soon though.

"And I'm alright. It was just... not something I thought I was going to have to deal with again. At least not like this."

Which begs the question, what else from his past might show up and surprise him?

[girlsolo]

"Yeah. I hear that." Kate rubs at the bracelet on her wrist, the smooth blue stone cool under her fingers. She's been wearing it a lot more lately. "Island's good at fucking with our heads. Something like this happens, you start wondering what else is going to show up and bite you in the ass or smack you upside the head."

You start wondering how many other alternate realities you got married and wanted kids in. Pretty soon, you start thinking maybe up is down and it's a great idea for you to raise a six year-old who punishes her friends with voodoo dolls in pickle jars.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan sighed and rubbed his hands across his face. Two-hundred and fifty years was a long time and it left a lot of people who would want to bite him in the ass or smack him upside the head.

"Next time it might not be someone so friendly, yeah. But thanks for listening. I'll let you get back to your nap."

[girlsolo]

"How 'bout I make an exception to my no sleepovers rule and you take that nap with me?" Kate says, and it's so straight, without even a purr in it that Aidan will probably think she's a pod person.

Seriously, though, as hot as the boy is, she's too tired to even think about anything except maybe jerking him off so he can sleep. "Hospitals suck for getting any rest and Lilo will be back too soon for us to sleep long anyway."

[likesthestooges]

"Thanks, but I need to get something to eat, then head back to the clinic," he said. Aidan really did appreciate her offer though, he knew that was a big deal for her. He just wished he was more awake to give that much thought.

"Enjoy the rest of your nap though."

[girlsolo]

No point arguing with a will like her own. He'll do what he wants anyway, and as long as he's not in danger (he doesn't seem to be right now), she'll let him. So she leans over and kisses his cheek. "Get some rest, hot stuff. I'll be her if you need some help getting to sleep or even if you don't."