1.46 A Feather Light Touch

Malcolm stretches after getting about an hour of sleep.

“No, dad, it's Spooky day, we're going trick or treating early after the sleepover. I wasn't supposed to come right home after.”

They head out right as the mail girl is coming by.

“I think it's great that you can come out with me so early, but...”

“Did you have to wear polkas dots and that lime green tie?”

“Making fun of the older generation is how our generation can look past it's own awkwardness.” Malcolm replies sagely.

“Is that what it said on the costume package?”

He grins. “Nah, this is called 'stock broker'.”

Jet is being extremely careful today, and he gets the feeling that it's going to pay off. He'd be a bit more confident if nerves hadn't made him trip over his own two feet more than once already.

Everyone else is out of the house at holiday parties until the evening, probably, and even if they weren't there is a plan. Everet's gang is good for something, and at the very least, Jet will be notified if one of his parents heads back up the hill towards home earlier than expected.

The Swift's are having a large party (very large as Dannigan's new fiance is loaded), and Dustin has been invited as a guest of honor (mostly because the woman is a huge fan and would love to meet him, so Dannigan needed to make sure he would show up).

Lots of celebrities are in attendance.

Meghan had been lead to believe it was a normal costume party.

Jyo and Malcolm drive around just for kicks, because they have time together and don't want to let the day end after the great night they both shared.

They get through most of the residences in town and head into the hills for the expensive treats.

“I'm going to see if I can use the restroom real quick.”

Malcolm nods as they stand outside of a large, new money mansion. “I'll be here.”

The owner lets her in, and promptly comes over to offer him candy.

“Thank you.” Malcolm says politely. He feels a little silly to be doing this, but Jyoti wanted to, so here he was.

He stops for a second. “Wait...”

“Nice costume, kid.”

“Looks good on me, right?”

“Yeah, you can rock a mullet.”

Malcolm grins.

Loki grins. “Now run along home, kid. It was a great day, and your girl got tired. She left first. What a nice time you two had.”

Malcolm pauses for a long moment to digest this, then leaves.

“Thanks.” Jyo says when she comes out of the restroom and back outside. “Where's...”

Jet will have most of the day alone with Christian, just as planned.

Christian is not a very bold person on her own, but Jet is plenty bold enough for both of them. They can just relax and enjoy one another's company. He planned a time for them to be completely on their own. The water is perfect, he tells her. It's not private as in, indoors, but there's nobody around for a mile, so in that way it is.

“Okay, I trust you.” She tells him with wide eyes and a coy smile.

He takes her hand and leads her over to the hot tub. “I won't let you regret it. We'll start at your pace, until you tell me you want to try mine.”

She looks at the small smirk that plays on his lips and feels a quick shiver of excitement. Not trusting her voice, she merely nods.

“Luke. I thought so.”

She looks a lot less excited to see him than the last time she was awake. Not that he can blame her for that. Or the weary eye that she was appraising him with.

She puts a hand on her hips and looks him over. Wait. “Where's Malcolm?”

He shrugs. “I think he got tired, decided to head home first. Did you know this was my home, when you both came here?”

“No, really we were just out having fun.” But... why is she bothering to explain any of this? “And I don't believe you that he got tired. Where did he go?”

“I sent him home so that you and I could talk for a moment.”

She glares. “Ugh. That's creepy, Luke, that you can't be honest for one second. Why didn't you just ask me to talk first?”

“And upset your boyfriend? No, this way you can decide on your own.”

“Decide? I don't have any decisions to make. He'd have every right to be upset. I mean, I'm upset with you anyways. What was all the BS, out at the pier? Why'd you try to take advantage of me? And then leave me there alone. Malcolm- you know, my boyfriend as you've mentioned- at least he's courageous enough to confront people directly to try to make things right. Here you are, an adult or whatever, and you can't even talk to a couple of kids without using your bizarre mental influence crap-”

“Easy.” He waves a hand to try and calm her down a bit. “Decide on whether or not you wanted to talk to me, that's all I meant.”

“But I'm not even sure I want to know you, Luke. I couldn't make any decisions when I don't even know your real name, and this is the first time I'm actually, you know, seeing you when I'm awake-”

“I'm sorry about that.”

She shifts her weight on her feet. To leave? To stay? But she has so many questions. “I really want to know what all that was about, but how can I trust you?” She holds in the part where she kind wanted their first meeting in real waking life to matter.

“Well-”

“I was BEING FACETIOUS!” She raises her voice. “Of course I can't trust you!”

He snaps his head back inadvertently when she yells at him. “I do owe you more than just an explanation, but if you're this upset I'm not sure we'll ever get to it.”

“People get upset when they've been abandoned, lied to, and when someone who claimed to be a friend turns out to be not even an acquaintance, LUKE.” She fires back.

He sighs and shakes his head slightly. She was so passionate, but it was all so misplaced. “You don't have to be afraid of me. And... my name is Loki.”

“Loki, huh? Sounds faker than Luke.” She chooses to ignore the other comment. “What's your last name, Loki?”

“Beaker.”

“Beaker. What the heck is that?”

He shrugs. “What's a Jyoti Sparrow supposed to be?”

“I don't know, a drug-induced cartoon fantasy name my parents dreamed up when they were younger?”

He can't help himself and laughs. “Your parents we on drugs, huh?”

“I don't know. Who cares?”

“I've told you that I do. Let's start over.” He extends a good-natured hand in greeting. As I've said I'm Loki, and I'm very pleased to meet you.”

She finds herself extending a hand to meet his. “Are you going to explain yourself?” There's a hopeful note in her voice that she can't quite stamp down, despite the anger that she genuinely still felt. She was starting to feel conflicted, when facing him directly. It was ironic, considering that she's just spent most of the night making out with Malcolm instead of studying; she can still feel the pressure of his touch on her, of his arms around her when she thinks about it.

Her face starts to heat up and she knows that she's blushing. She inwardly chides herself. Luki was going to get the wrong idea. She really, really likes Malcolm, more than she ever thought was possible when they had first started dating, so the light butterflies in her stomach that he was alive and real were annoying at best.

“I just wanted to apologize, and this is my opportunity to do that. Please don't think poorly of me for sending him away.”

She smirks a little bit. “Are you afraid of him?”

Loki laughs softly. “I don't mind if you think that. Just keep in mind that when we first met, he wasn't with you. It's not as if I meant to come between you, I was just happy you and I could meet.”

“Shouldn't you have shown up earlier, though?” Shouldn't you have not left me alone, like so many other people? She refrains from adding.

He studies her face. “I'm sorry, Jyoti.”

She turns to go, and he places a feather light touch on her arm.

“Don't leave just yet.”

She shrugs him off. “Loki, right? You said that was your name. I don't see why you couldn't trust me with that to begin with.”

“I didn't mean for it all to confuse you.”

“I want you to stay out of my head. If you think of me at all as someone important, you'll need to earn my trust back, and leave my boyfriend and I alone.”

He nods. “Agreed.”

She blinks. “Wait, what? You agree?”

“I've come to the realization that I don't know which of my own visions are correct. It's true that there were many in which I saw us together, and I wanted to know more about you because of them-”

She crosses her arms over her chest.

“-but my desires may not matter when it comes to the future, and your desires are something that have to be taken into account-”

“None of this is sounding very romantic.” She observes mildly, interrupting him. It was like he was trying to convince himself that he hadn't done anything wrong.

“No, I agree with you that what I did was wrong-”

“Stay out of my head.” She snaps.

He takes in a deep breath. “Right. You're right, I'm sorry again. We were able to share so much in your dreams that I'm forgetting myself.”

“Can you get to the point? It's cold out.”

Christian needs no prompting to cuddle up next to Jet in the hot tub. He lets her play coy for a while and then gently brings her chin to his with his fingertips, savoring a long, pure kiss. When the kiss becomes more demanding and deepens, he pulls her under the water.

(Did he just drown her? What is he, a shark? xD lmao sorry- Seems romantic and all Jet, but how are you going to manage that in a wetsuit?)

I guess he was able to take it off somehow?

Nevermind, there it is.

xD Shut up you guys I can't take this seriously anymore. xD

Yeah I don't think woohoo means what you guys think it means. A for effort though, it's snowing outside.

Loki never did get to the point. Jyo left, and after sleeping in at home during the day, she finds herself back at his house. She knows she should stay away, but she can't. She intends to get her explanations, or at the very least, some closure.

After the party, Dustin and Meghan head over to Eugene's old place to check up on the cousins. 

Leon.

Everet.

Everet claims that he's wearing his father's old investigator's coat as a lark for spooky day, but Dustin knows better. He takes a good look at his cousin's son and just knows. He's getting ready to turn his back on the organization. He wonders what the ramifications might be to the family in the long term.

He reminds Everet that he's not alone, and if he needs help dealing with things, Dustin will be there.

Tiger Lily greets Jyoti at the door, as if she's been missing forever. “What? I'm allowed to stay out late.” She snaps defensively.

Tiger Lily is quiet and doesn't even bark, but her glassy eyes betray her needs.

“Food, right...” She is reminded that she doesn't have to explain herself to a dog.

She adjusts her hair back to her original color, keeping it short.

And falls asleep, exhausted.

Someone gifts the family a large painting and it fits into Eugene's nook perfectly. Although there are plans to bury him next to Lize in the graveyard soon so that they can be together.

Jyo spends as much time around Malcolm as possible in the winter, staying over when she can. The place is cramped but it's true that nobody minds if she crashes on the couch, or in his room. He has a sleeping bag and keeps things largely pg-13 with her when they are alone, stopping if things get too 'out of hand', which is both exciting and frustrating for her. She teases him a little too much as punishment, but more often than not it's Malcolm who keeps her on her toes and not the other way around.

There's an intensity in the way that he watches her at times that she can't ignore that thrills her with possibility, although waiting for more is difficult. He says he wants to do things the right way, take it slow. Have they taken things anything but slow? She wonders.

They're waiting for graduation, but they haven't agreed on what it all is that they're waiting for, exactly. Malcolm already has a job lined up, but he doesn't tell her more as he wants to be sure that he's got it first.

She gets the feeling that he's going to propose, if he gets the job.

A part of her still hopes... that it's a job really far away from Starlight Shores.

Hullo Eugene.

Jyoti knows something is up with her brother lately. He's actually gotten caught for being out late, and has a fake after school activity that doesn't exist on the school's official list. “Interactive Art'. He claims that it's for only a few advanced students, so wouldn't be on the list. Jyoti knows better than to believe him.

Everet's been around less and less, which is making her suspicious.

She's sure he's getting more and more involved in their cousin's 'business', but there is so much change in the air and she's busy worrying over her own future, so she has a hard time nailing him down on specifics.

Would Eugene be proud of his son?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's just ignore that Jyoti's hair is off in a few places, these pictures are in order but my game had been crashing out. Turns out Starlight is plagued with glitches, they just take a while to pile up. Even Master Controller can't overcome an intersection that doesn't join to a main road and kicks everyone out of their vehicles (usually dropping them) several times a day.