(no subject)

[thomas_kemp]

WHO: Thomas, Victor and Kat
WHAT: Hanging out and beer
WHEN: Thursday Night
WHERE: Victor's



Lena was still in hospital as the infection of her back was getting worse and not better. He would have been with her, of course, but once visiting hours were over he was forced to leave the hospital and all he did at home was worry. Which, in turn, worried Jamie. In order to let poor Jamie have some time to actually focus on the end of his senior year, Thomas purchased a few nice bottles of beer and he headed to Victor's place.

Victor was playing fetch with Ace when he heard the knock on the door. Ace immediately rushed over to it, but he wasn't barking, which Victor took as a good sign. "Do we have a visitor, boy?" Victor stood and dusted his pants off, shooting a grin at Kat. "I hope he doesn't jump up," he commented as he went to pull the door open.

"Come on, Ace, back up. Thomas! Hello!"

Feeling a little guilty for not calling first, Thomas waved while looking slightly ashamed. "Sorry I didn't call, I just...can I come in?"

"Of course you can come in," Victor replied as if Thomas shouldn't have to ask. He stepped aside and held Ace back so Thomas could move past them. "Kat's over, and this is Ace."

"Hello, Ace!" Thomas immediately put the beer down and crouched to pet the dog. "I love dogs. And Kat!"

Comments

[thomas_kemp]

"Yes, please," he said, feeling a little ridiculous. "I'm probably driving my son mental. So I came here to spread it around a little."

Victor chuckled and he helped Thomas stand up before wrapping the man into a hug. "We can take it. What's going on?"

"Lena's still sick and I can't help." Thomas went to lean against the breakfast bar in the kitchen. "I'm used to being a caretaker so not doing anything is making me all anxious."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She nodded in agreement with Victor's words and poured Thomas a beer. She handed it to him, "you are doing something. You're being there for her. And that's sometimes more then plenty."

She ruffled Ace's fur as he came along to sniff around Thomas' feet. "well there are puppy distractions, which are the best kind of distractions."

[thomas_kemp]

Thomas accepted the beer and he sipped at it before nodding. "They are. I wish we could have a dog," he said, though he had already expressed that in Kat's presence the other day. "I always wanted one when Jamie was growing up because it would have been nice for him to have a pet and we lived in such a terrible neighborhood so the protection would have been nice. But it was just another mouth to feed and most of the time I couldn't even feed two, so-" Thomas glanced up from his beer and he laughed at himself. "I am really great at bringing everyone down, aren't I?"

"Come on, raincloud," Victor said, taking Thomas by the shoulders so he could steer him towards the living room to sit down.

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She followed them, "it's alright. But hey it's something to possibly look for if you ever move. Miranda's and mine's apartment complex doesn't allow dogs so Victor won all the boyfriend points and said we could get one." With a grin she sat and then leaned down to pet the dog, "And we got the fuzziest puppy, yes we did."

She looked at Thomas, "things will be okay eventually. And sorry for the grandparents. Again."

[thomas_kemp]

"Good point," Thomas said, glad his little comment hadn't bummed everyone out. He sat down and took another drink of his beer. "Our apartment complex does allow dogs, but like I said, it's just too small. You could get me one too, Victor. I'd even give you more boyfriend points."

Victor roared with laughter at that and he shook his head. "You're on your own, mate."

"Ah well," Thomas shrugged, laughing as well. "And it's fine, Kat. They made me feel much safer. Though I have to admit, I've never been hit on by a Titan and an Olympian before."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She laughed, "sorry Thomas,my boyfriend points to give out. And like I said if you ever look for a bigger place you could keep it in mind. Jamie will probably lose his mind, in the good way, with a puppy around."

She sighed, "They do that surprisingly a lot. And not to make you feel less but she's asked that about Victor too. Just wait until you meet Peitho, she's special." She took a glass for herself and poured some beer into it. "you don't know 'would like earth to eat me' until your quasi step-grandmother wants to educate you in the finer arts of pleasure."

[thomas_kemp]

"Greedy," Thomas said with a wink. "And a bigger place would be nice, but expensive. And I assume Jamie will move out eventually and break my co-dependant heart. Maybe I'll get a cat instead, to fill the void." At least now when he was being a raincloud, he was joking.

"You don't strike me as a cat-person," Victor mused.

"Nope. They hate me. Every cat I have ever known has given me at least three scars. I don't know what I did to deserve it!" Thomas protested with a laugh.

"It's okay, by the way. It doesn't make me feel less that she hit on Victor as well."

"Not the first time I met her," Victor explained. "I was fairly sure Hecate wanted to murder me that day. I haven't met Peitho yet, but it sounds...interesting."

"Lena knows Peitho," Thomas said, without actually meaning too. Then he added, "whoopsie, I think that was too much information."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She nodded, "Completely greedy." She smiled then, "maybe. Maybe not. He might not want to, knowing you'd be lonely. Jamie has a problem with caring a lot."

She chuckled, "maybe you give off an anti cat thing."She shrugged then, "winter. She's different then. Told you, triple goddess thing. Summer and Spring she's bright, and Autumn and Winter she's a lot more spooky. And oh yeah. Interesting is a word."

She blinked, "maybe just a little."

[thomas_kemp]

"Jamie does seem to suffer from that," Thomas said fondly. "He's such a good boy."

"I remember that was why," Victor said with a nod, "I just worked on trying not to upset her."

Thomas chuckled and then he shrugged. "I can't imagine my grandparents teaching me about any of that, but my mother was possibly the most open person I have ever met and she was rather...explainy at times," he sighed. "Still not Peitho though. Lena says she's the goddess of persuasion?"

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

"He needs to remember to do that for himself too," she did worry for her friend.

"Oh my mother was very open too. Peitho is just more so. I have boxes of things that I don't even know how they work, just because she send them to us. And if you ask she explains. A lot." She nodded then, "she is, and that's not always great. I've seen her persuade people. I have a lot of creepy people in my family." She bit her lip, "And now I'm the raincloud. Change of subject."

[thomas_kemp]

"Yes he does," Thomas nodded. "He gets that from his father."

Victor looped his arm around his girlfriend and he leaned to kiss her head. "But she loves you and that's important. You have a lot of wonderful people in your family too. People who have helped to keep the people you love safe. Thomas, Jamie and I have you to thank for that."

"It's true," Thomas joined in. "They also offered me money. I had no idea what to say."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She smiled to the kiss and the words. "I know, just sometimes I remember they can be dangerous too. But they do love me." She smiled at Thomas' words, "which is proven by that. Hermes would have asked for something back if I wasn't there."

"And I can't say do or don't to that. I'll let you make that choice. Nothing bad about it. Even I have a few certain things I'd ask the money for if a ton of bad crap would happen. Like if I can't get a job and the loan people are making noises." She shrugged, "nothing bad about that."

[thomas_kemp]

"Yeah, if he had asked for something back, I might have burst into tears," Thomas said honestly. "If I was in a position where I couldn't feed Jamie again, I would say yes without hesitating. We're okay at the moment though."

Victor raised his eyebrows at his friend. "Do you just forget you exist sometimes?" he asked in a tone he didn't use often.

Thomas looked a little taken aback. "Uh...I really do."

"Like you said, you can see where Jamie got this from. You have to take care of yourself too." Victor didn't often 'scold', but he said every word quite firmly.

"Yes, officer!" Thomas replied, though there was no hint of sarcasm in his voice. He was clearly a little intimidated by Victor verbally spanking him.

"It's former detective, actually," Victor winked.

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She smiled but was glad victor had spoken up. "And this is why he's awesome boyfriend. But he is right Tom. You can't just focus on Jamie. You are important too." She'd just make sure Thomas remembered that.

"Don't wait for Jamie to be in trouble, okay?"

[thomas_kemp]

Thomas put his glass down and he smoothed his hands over his face with a groan. "You're both right, I just forget. When Jamie was growing up I never spared a thought for myself. Ever. I was doing it by myself and I was so worried I'd screw it up that focusing on myself just got too hard. It was too much to worry about two people so I worried about the one who couldn't worry about himself. It's a bad habit. If I keep getting called on it, I'll get out of it eventually."

"Oh I intend to call you on it!"

With a chuckle, Thomas said, "it seems that way. My mother does it too. I'll speak up if I'm in trouble. I will. I just worry a bit about hospital bills and the like. Later, I mean. Jamie wants to be an artist and I don't know how lucrative that is and if I can't work to help out-" Thomas sighed. "Welcome to my issues."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

"So will I," She sipped from her beer before going to hug Thomas. "Hey look, if Jamie ever has issues with that you know I'll help right?" She drew back, "Thomas you keep forgetting you're my friend too. Anything I would do for Jamie, I would do for you too." She shrugged and smiled at Thomas, "I wouldn't even hesitate. Another thing I'd go to my grandfather to if I needed it. That's not something you have to worry about." She would always help out people she cared for.

[thomas_kemp]

Grateful for the hug, Thomas gave her a squeeze back. "Thank you," he said with feeling. "It makes me feel less worried about the future."

"I'd help in any way I could as well," Victor spoke up. "Neither of us would hesitate." He smiled widely at Kat and Thomas loved seeing how fond they were of each other.

"You guys are pretty great," Thomas said quietly. "I didn't really have friends in my twenties and I could have used them. It's really nice having them now."

"Oh, Jesus, Thomas. You're going to make me cry," Victor protested.

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She returned Victor's smile, glad for him. "Of course Thomas. You know we're here for you." She chuckled then, "I think he's cute when he gets all sniffly. I got to do that a couple of days ago" she gave Victor a cheeky smile before sitting back down on her seat.

[thomas_kemp]

"It's true," Victor said after smiling back at Kat. "Made me well up while I was driving."

After taking his glass back and sipping at it again, Thomas looked curious. "While you were driving? What did she say? Or is it a secret?"

"That's up to Kat," Victor said, smiling over at her. He didn't feel right just blurting out that they had been talking about children and naming them after his parents. But if she didn't mind, he certainly didn't.

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

He didn't seem to mind so she just shrugged. "The subject of kids came up and what to name them. And because I never got to meet Victor's parents I figured naming our kids after them would be a good way to honor them." She smiled at Victor. "So he got all sniffly. It was adorable. But hey he got me a dog so I figured it was a good thing to say." there was more to it, but she wanted to keep it light.

[thomas_kemp]

"It was pretty much the sweetest thing anyone has said to me," Victor added.

"Kids!" Thomas was immediately excited by that. "Aww, I miss having a kid around, asking ridiculous questions. They come up with the best things, they really do. I think it's really nice you'd name them after Vic's parents."

"I'm really looking forward to it," Victor grinned. "In a patient, 'it will happen when it's supposed to happen' way, of course. But I've always wanted to be a father."

"Being a parent is the best thing," Thomas beamed. "I can't have any more though, so you might have to remind me to leave yours alone. It's very likely."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She beamed at that, "Well I have to win some points. You already get all the boyfriend points."

"And you'll be great at it, and in the meantime you can fuss over the puppy." Smiling she ruffled Ace's fur. "And I don't think Ace minds one bit." She laughed then, "what and miss adorable uncle Thomas? Unlikely."

[thomas_kemp]

"You have way more points than you think you do," Victor assured her. "Way more." And then he scratched Ace's ears. "I don't mind one bit either because he's perfect! Aren't you, boy?"

"Just as long as adorable Uncle Thomas doesn't turn into Fugitive Thomas who stole a baby," Thomas said with an amused sigh. "I would love to have more, but we dodged a bullet with Jamie not having Huntington's. I'm not willing to risk it again."

That made Victor think. "I should maybe get tested to see if I'm a carrier for anything. My parents died young, before some things would have shown up. Just as a precaution."

"Very wise," Thomas nodded. "We had no idea because my grandparents died in a car accident so there was just no way my father even knew to look out for it."

[shades-of-fate.insanejournal.com]

She smiled to that, even though it didn't really matter. As long as she made him happy she was happy. "Please don't. I don't want to have to call my grandfather. But I can understand that."

"That is wise. I should probably do that too. My mother's mom she died giving birth so we don't know there. Besides Greek weirdness there's nothing from Hermes. I think. Best to be sure about things like that. Raincloud gives good ideas." She grinned at Thomas. "And if I am interrupting male bonding just let me know."

[thomas_kemp]

Thomas chuckled and he shook his head. "I don't want you to have to call your grandfather either! I promise, no babynapping."

"We'll do that then," Victor said, turning to kiss Kat lightly.

"Hah! You're not interrupting anything! I don't know if what Victor and I do when we're alone can really be referred to as 'male' anyway."

"Last week we spent two hours swapping recipes," Victor confirmed.