Trenton

Participants:

kaylee3_icon.gif luther_icon.gif

Scene Title Trenton
Synopsis Luther meets the new guy in Kaylee's life.
Date December 03, 2010

Autumn is in full swing. The chill of the air shows in the puffing breath Trenton blows onto his gloved hands when he ascends the short staircase leading up to his destination. Seeing the yellowish light filtered through the curtains of Kaylee’s apartment, he looks heartened and it speeds up his pace. All the more to get inside where it’s warm. Once he’s reached the apartment, he stops just shy of knocking when a sharp but deep “Ow!” calls out and large shadow passes by the curtain, causing it to flutter. In the brief moment when he spots the man, Trenton pulls back his hand and sucks in a breath of surprised alarm.

His exhale puffs another plume onto his phone when he extracts it from his jacket pocket. Trenton sends a text out, hoping the cell service will hold.

R u home? I’m at ur place, there’s a burglar!


Inside the apartment


Luther hisses at the stinging from his chest. He pulls his t-shirt collar out some and looks down, although he’s unable to see where Willy the cat had tagged him. Given the futility, he lets go and rubs at the sore spot instead. Casting a glance at where the cat ran off to down the hall, Luther grumbles to himself and decides since he’s up now, to head towards the kitchen and rummage for a snack.

Maybe to grab some of Willy’s bologna for a sandwich. Retribution will be his.

Willy will no doubt have vanished deep under Kaylee’s bed. Not overly unusual behavior for a feline that bolts when you cough wrong. The old grizzled feline has been particularly jumpy since the day that Liz blew out all the windows in the place.


Kaylee’s Car - On the road


When her phone buzzes, Kaylee takes a quick glance at the screen. Brows furrow as Trenton’s name pops up on the screen. A sigh escaping her, before looking around. “Don’t try this at home kids,” Kaylee murmurs before opening the phone to read the text. Such a great cop she is.

Why are you texting me about this? You know I’m driving. Did you call security?

The words might be a bit snippy, but then it had been a long day and Kaylee had already told him she wasn’t interested in seeing him tonight. But, the man was persistent, that is for sure. She should have guessed he’d come to her, since she wasn’t going to him like she had been. A shift in routine since Luther’s return. Kaylee had no interest in introducing Trenton to Luther, at least not right now. .

Go have Bob escort you up and check under the bed for the Boogeyman. I’ll be there soon.

Kaylee had a feeling tonight was going to be about as fun as the rest of her day has been. “God, please don’t let him find the ice cream in the freezer,” she murmurs to an empty car.


Outside the apartment


Trenton paces outside, dancing in place partly from the cold and partly from alertness. He wears a frown along with his layers, glancing down to his phone beeping at him with Kaylee's response. "Why are you texting…" he reads quietly aloud at first, then blinks at the bubble's further contents. Trenton huffs. Pulling off his gloves for faster response, he fires off.

Still driving? Thought u would b back now.

Her added note about getting Bob to answer for the Boogeyman gets a further frown. Trenton's text comes after another minute.

He wnt home alrdy. Sec will call Bob. Guard's coming.

Resuming his pacing, Trenton stalks the exterior of the apartment, not quite decided on what his next course of action is. Checking his phone screen, then the door, then back to the phone screen, he psyches himself up.

"Boogeyman, huh? We'll see about that."


Inside the apartment


"C'mon bud. You're going to make me eat this sandwich alone?"

Luther lays prone on the carpet in the hallway, staring into the shadows under the bed where the boogeyman normally hides. Instead of a shadowy monster though, a pair of green-glassy eyes reflect the light. "It's your fave. Bologna." He renews attempt to lure the wary feline out by shaking one side of the sandwich. There's an interested sniff. Still, Willy's not going anywhere. "Alright then, suit yourself." Luther makes a show of taking a bite of the sandwich, chewing deliberately, swallowing. Still, no budge.

"Okay. I'll leave you alone. But you're really going to regret it when I break out the ice cream," taunts the man as he levers himself up.

In answer to Luther’s comments is a soft growl from under the bed. Willy settles in as Luther leaves him be, pink tongue flicking out to lick his nose and eyes turning towards the door.


Raytech Parking Lot


“Hey Rick.” Kaylee calls out, waving at one of her former employees. The man in question ways back on the way to his car, clearly in a hurry to get out of the cold and home to his new wife. .

Kaylee watches him while she reaches into the back seat of her car for a pair of cloth bags; the whole reason she was late. Having Luther back meant that she was going through food a little quicker…. Bologna too. Who knew. She had also finally decided to keep more of what he likes to drink on hand too.

Tucking her keys in her pocket and hitching the bags on her shoulder, Kaylee starts for her apartment. A glance tells her that the lights were definitely on in the apartment, maybe she left those on, Her head shakes slowly, was that what Trenton saw?

A shadow passes by the window and she slows, watching it. “Oh shit.” He was right, there was someone in her apartment, but not in the way he thinks. Kaylee would recognize that shape anywhere. It was time to pick up the pace… cause it looked like Trenton and Luther were going to finally meet.

Dammit.


Outside Apartment


“Mr. Sieler?” A voice comes from behind Trenton, turning he finds himself looking down at his protector. “Maria Esposito.” The woman was short in stature, but still managed to give off the air of someone who could kick his ass.

Trenton blinks as he looks down at the RayTech evening shift guard. His dismay at not seeing someone more matched to the burglar’s size, perceived or otherwise, is plain across his face. Still, he recovers himself and gestures to the closed door. “There’s someone inside, I think a vagrant or a burglar,” he reports to the guard. “Kaylee’s on her way still.”

While he looks like he’s about to claim further assumptions, the guard shushes him with a short chop of her hand and bodily nudges Trenton aside to the safety of the wall between doors of the apartments. And with the same hand, delivers a sharp knocking at the door. “Security! Open the door!”

Inside, the sudden knocking and announcing voice startles Luther from his search through the kitchen freezer. Furrowing his brows, he shuts the freezer door, abandons the hunt for the ice cream pints and half-eaten bologna sandwich, and heads to the front door. The second sharp knock from the outside spurs him to open up faster. Light pours out from the front room, illuminating Maria and Trenton and silhouetting Luther in its yellowish cast.

“Chief Bellamy?” Maria is as surprised as anybody to see her former department head. Seeing him especially the way he looks and standing in the doorway of the former COO’s apartment. All the rumors that flew around before certainly rush back and hold water.

“Esposito. Evenin’… it’s just Luther now, you know.” Luther clears his throat roughly, a mild discomfort at being seen this way stirs his insides. Instead of saying more, though, he simply stands there in the awkward moment. Unhelpfully. Inexplicably.

That’s when Trenton steps back over and casts his gaze up and down Luther. The instant analysis made, results in a small huff from the man. “What’re you doing in Kaylee’s apartment?” The question may as well have been shouted through a megaphone, although it wasn’t. It still elicits and turn and side-eye from Maria the guard, but she also looks back to Luther, expression searching the large man’s bearded face for an explanation.

“Waiting for me,” comes breathlessly from behind the pair.

Turning they find the burdened, slightly pink cheeked Kaylee. An apologetic smile is offered to the other two, though full attention goes to the guard. “Maria,” she greets the guard pleasantly, keeping it to first name on purpose. She was only the boss on paper really. A member of the board. “Thank you. I got it from here. I know both these gentlemen.”

And while the guard looks uncertain, Kaylee turns to both of the men, “Trenton, this is my best friend Luther. Luther this is Trenton who left me his number that night at the bar.” A hand motions to them in turn. Maybe not the best thing to say about a guy she was technically ‘dating.’

Attention fully on Trenton, Kaylee comments blandly, “I thought I told you I wasn’t up for getting together tonight?” He gets a pointed look before she turns that look to Luther, handing him the heavier of two bags full of food to carry in the rest of the way, “And you….you’re always welcome, but warn me next time you have Bob let you in?”

While Luther had noticed Kaylee’s approach, somewhere by instinct rather than actual attention paid, he nevertheless looks caught off-guard. Trenton’s use of familiarity with Kaylee certainly did, if Luther’s frown and furrowed brows are any indication. And with Maria in retreat after a polite self-extraction, there’s only the pair left to puzzle out. He takes the bag. His eyes don’t leave Trenton for long. “The night at the bar?” echoes Luther, having a moment’s digging through his memories. It comes to him eventually. That bar. He doesn’t go further with the digging, and shifts the grocery bag to the other hand before offering a handshake out.

Trenton likewise finishes sizing up Luther, deciding that while the other man is intimidatingly large in some respects, this ‘best friend’ of Kaylee’s is not at all what he’s expected. A drunk uncle, maybe. Still, politeness dictates. He takes Luther’s hand to shake, the gesture brief. “I know you said,” counters Trenton with a faint sound of having a good argument, “but I was going to surprise you.” Said the man to the telepath, his thoughts on what the surprise is actually now a blank when he looks back to Luther. “Bob let you in? But he went home like an hour ago. So you’ve been here the whole time?”

Upon hearing those words ‘getting together tonight’, Luther rumbles out a wordless version of: Oh. “I’ll get these in the fridge,” he excuses himself as well, backing up from the doorway. Trenton’s question of how long he’d been hanging out in Kaylee’s apartment goes unanswered. Though the way Luther evades the line of questioning and walks off to the kitchen, it doesn’t take a telepath to notice he’s a little more tense in leaving Kaylee and Trenton at the door.

”And what if he has been?” Kaylee asks in defense of her friend, letting Luther bail to the kitchen while she turns on Trenton with a hand on her hip. “He has permission to be here when I am not.” Unlike Trenton it seems.

Kaylee sighs and pressed fingers to the bridge of her nose, collecting herself for a moment. She was getting snappy and Trenton didn’t deserve that. “Look,” she says softly, a hand going out to rest on his chest. “I know your heart was in the right place and I really appreciate that you were looking out for me, but… I was serious when I said I wasn’t into hanging out tonight. I know you wanted to drag me to that new vegan fusion place, but I really just want to get into my sweats and eat ice cream.” There… she said it! Her plan was to be bad. Very bad.

“Probably going to demolish the whole pint,” Kaylee adds like the idea is taboo.

Trying his damnedest not to hover, Luther lingers back at the counter where he finds his abandoned bologna sandwich with one bite taken out of it. Right, there was that… which he picks back up and takes another bite of so he has something to do. Then. Vegan fusion place? He about chokes, turns, swallows thickly and pounds at his chest as the ball of breaded bologna goes down his throat roughly. He’s fine, he’s fine.

Trenton, though, is definitely not fine. Or, at least, he’s trying to be, but Kaylee hits him with the one-two punch. “Ice cream… I see.” He really is bad at containing disappointment. But one thing he’s good at is the ability to keep on keeping on. “Well, I mean, you’ve had a rough day, I see.” Ouch. “So, you know, count it as a cheat day.” Ouch… “I mean, a treat day,” he corrects (maybe too late). But, he reaches up to grasp Kaylee’s wrist, fingers curling and seeking to intertwine with her hand upon his chest, to hold her there. He looks deeply into her eyes, to share the moment before leaning in…

And coming to an abrupt stop as Kaylee’s elbow locks, preventing him from the display he wants to make in front of a man he clearly sees as a threat to his claim. She sees the purpose of it and he can see she has figured it out.

Little does he know she plucked it from his mind.

Sliding the other bag off her shoulder the telepath holds it up to get Luther’s attention, before leaving it on the floor. It was a roundabout way of asking him to put the rest of it away for her. She needed both hands for the next thing..

Trenton finds himself being pushed backwards out the door out of Luther’s line of sight, because her next words are not for his ears. “Trenton,” Kaylee says softly, calmly if with an underlying strained tone. “We’re not doing this macho ‘the girl is mine’ crap. Cause, I don’t belong to anyone. Not even you.” Ouch.

“Luther is my friend and will be around a whole lot more now that he is back, get used to it or walk away. I’ve got enough shit going on my own life, I don’t need to cater to your fragile male ego.” Double ouch. Kaylee can give as much as she gets, in fact, she’s on edge doesn’t help. Later, she’ll regret it and apologize to him… maybe even let him take her to that Vegan Fusion place, but for now… she just needs space from him.

Trenton looks confused at the (literal) push back, giving ground enough that he's a few feet back from the door by the time Kaylee speaks again. He's at once both caught in the act but also struck the sharpness of her words and the edge of her mood. At first at a loss, then recovering, he shakes his head slowly and relinquishes command of her hand. "Okay," he says as evenly as possible, "I'm sorry. I'll—"

His words pause for a moment as he spots Luther coming to the threshold of the apartment door and scooping up the second bag of groceries. "Text you later," finishes Trenton, taking another step back. There's no question that he's still puzzling out Luther's presence, but after another couple beats, Trenton turns and starts off back to the parking lot emptyhanded.

Lingering by the door, Luther stands there long enough to bear witness to the separation. Whatever thoughts might be running through his mind at watching the events unfold swirl away into the mental ether once Trenton's out of earshot. Then he exhales a longer breath he'd been holding. Why, because Kaylee's there still looking strained. It takes him the space of another breath, hoisting the bag to his chest, and offering a wry smirk to the telepath. "Best friend?" questions Luther in breaking the silence.

Already the regret for her tone is edging into her mood as Trenton steps out of her range, Kaylee couldn’t help but feel bad. He was a nice guy under all of it… Just not…

“Luther…” There is an unspoken warning in her tone for him not to start with her.

Which a moment later, Kaylee sighs out some of that pent up tension and stress, shoulders slumping. “Sorry,” she finally murmurs in apology. He especially didn’t need that. “That is not how I wanted you two to meet…” If at all, is what she doesn’t say. She glances back down the hall with a touch of guilt, before returning to the apartment.

Reaching out in an attempt to take the bag back, Kaylee offers her friend a guilt tinged smile. “Beside, do you think I was lying about who you are to me? I wasn’t joking.” She did call him one of her best friends before he left for Japan. “Look at us and say it’s not true.” Her chin lifts defiantly, daring him to say it, the smile pulling a bit more to one side. They spent more time together them two people probably should and even she recognizes that.

Heeding the warning tone, Luther steps back with the grocery bag in hand, and doesn’t give it back. Nope, it’s his to put away now. Though with all that she says, he glances away without meeting her eyes, uncertainty cast over his expression. First, on Trenton, “I wasn’t sure about him at first. But he seems nice enough. Concerned about you.” A belated olive branch offered, compromising in the way he speaks of the newly met man in his absence. But as he steps to the kitchen to put away the groceries, he adds in afterthought, “Vegan fusion. What’re they even fusing? A nut and a vegetable?” These newfangled terms for confusing foods has him just as much perturbed.

“Maybe it’s at Yamagato Park,” rumbles Luther as he puts away containers into the refrigerator. “Sounds like that’s where a place like that’d be. Japan.” A flash of thoughts about the country and his recent experience going there flares hot in his memory, slowing his hand for a moment, then he finishes sticking the food into the fridge and closes the door. To cover the pause, he busies himself with rummaging through the rest of the tote. And there in the more revealing light of her kitchen, she can see the fresh swelling and cut along his brow line, the faint, fresh bruising of skin around it.

“Concerned I’m going to die of a heart attack or get fat,” Kaylee says in a flat tone, glancing at the door again. A moment later, her expression softens a bit. “He means well, but it’s annoying. When I finally caved and agreed to dinner, I ordered a cheeseburger and you’d think I’d committed heresy.” Might make one wonder why she is still putting him with him. A hand waves it off and moves to follow him into the kitchen to try and help.

“I really don’t want to know what they’re fusing… I just want—” Before she can even reach for a can of green beans, the light shifts over his face and Kaylee freezes. “What’s that?” There is a mix of alarm and worry, fingers moving to capture his face and turn the injury into the light where she can see if better. “The hell happened, Luther?”

The comment about Trenton's concerns get a mixed reaction, a flash of annoyance (as Kaylee noted, it is annoying) and then smoothing out into neutrality for the time being. He's only just met the man, so Luther doesn't place too much weight on Trenton's opinion yet. He's still fussing with groceries, listening in when she interrupts herself and seizes his face. A short grunt of surprise accompanies the initial turn and exposure. Luther squints on the injured side. "It's nothin'," he says dismissively of the cut. But at the same time, he knows better than to lie to a telepath. "Some drunk punk at the Add-a-Ball got me with a pitcher's all. I'm fine." He tries to pull back, to retreat from her scrutinizing stare.

Fingers tighten slightly when he tries to pull away and she goes up on her toes a bit to get a closer look. There is a sound of uncertainty and concern. “It looks like it is getting infect—.” Whatever she was saying, stumbles to a stop when Kaylee looks at him and realizes how much she has invaded his space. Had she ever seen his eyes that close? The telepath clears her throat, suddenly self-conscious. Letting go, the woman takes an intentional step back. She can’t quite look him in the eyes.

“Go sit,” Kaylee croaks out the order, pointing at the kitchen table and chairs. “I’ll get the first aid kit,” she calls out already heading into the hall and the bathroom. She might daddle a bit and compose herself, softly cursing under her breath the warm flush she feels spread across her cheeks.

Luther wasn’t going to say anything. Still doesn’t, as Kaylee gets right up in his face, close enough to breathe on the enhanced scruff of his beard. Close enough to know he’s got a faint scent of not just a bologna sandwich, but lingering alcohol - whiskey if she were make the educated guess - on his breath. Close enough to note the slightest shades of blue amidst the storm grey of his eyes. As she lets go of him and steps back, so does he lean backward, blinking. “Alright,” the man rumbles out as she slips away quickly. Fingers scratch at the side of his beard, and in puzzling out what he should do next he grabs the half-eaten sandwich on the countertop and lumbers over to the table.

And from somewhere on the floor of the bedroom, the low meow from Willy sounds like the cat is judging the whole situation from his bed-bottom base.

By the time she’s composed herself and emerged from her sanctuary, though, she’ll find a bowl, a spoon, and a pint of ice cream laid out on the dining spot next to Luther. He himself is on the last bite of sandwich, chewing away in the peaceful silence.

There is surprise at seeing the pint of ice cream and bowl sitting ready and waiting for her. To be honest, she had forgotten that she told Trenton what her plan had been. The thoughtfulness on his part gets a hint of affection, but it smooths away before he can see it.

The woman makes a scene of dropping first aid kit on the table with a displeased frown. “A bar fight, huh?” The top is flipped open so she can rummage around for what she needs. Alcohol soak gauze pads are ripped open as she leans to look at the cut again, this time avoiding looking him on the eye. .

His scruffy chin is captured again, forcing him to turn his head where Kaylee can see what she’s doing. “They wouldn't have gotten such a lucky shot if you weren't three sheets to the wind I am sure,” Kaylee comments flatly, lips pulling into a thin line.

Even so, the telepath is protective of those she cares about, so a moment later, she says, “They better hope I never get my hands on them…” The threat goes incomplete, he knows her well enough she shouldn't have to say it.

Turning to the task at hand, Kaylee hazards a very brief glance down, “Brace yourself,” she warns just before she presses the gauze to the wound.

Grey eyes turn up to Kaylee as she plops the first aid kit down. Luther utters a wordless grunt of confirmation to the facts and small admission to the additional comment that he was full sail to Whiskeyville. “Should go back to the bar instead, bust the bartender for serving minors,” he says by way of judgment. “But another place would just open up so that’d be pluggin’ fingers in a holey barre— rgh!” He flinches back in her fingers, tugging her grip along. A hiss escapes, and he shuts the eye beneath the gauze. “That stings,” Luther complains, grumbling and shifting in his seat, “And your ice cream’s gettin’ cold.”

The sudden movement almost pulls Kaylee off balance, but only barely as she lets go. With motherly ‘tsk’, she captures his face again. “Hold still, you big baby. Trenton is even less of one than you.” Kaylee chides, tug his face over close again. Invoking the other man’s name in an attempt to get him to hold steady. “Sooner we do this, the sooner I can do damage to that ice cream.” Looking down, she gives him an amused look. “Be a good boy and I might even share.” Brows lift almost expectant, because she knows him.

“Anyhow,” Kaylee starts again, wiping gently the crust of blood for the edges of the wound. “You’re right. Taking out one bartender, will just result in another. Shut them all down and the kids go sneaking outside the Safe Zone,” the telepath comments about the bartender. She shrugs, “Which is exactly why I won’t, but those kids…” She trails off pressing her lips together, silently fuming again about his bruised honor and head.

“I can make up the spare for you,” Kaylee offers as she fishes out a few butterfly bandages. “If you need a place to stay tonight.”

Luther scrunches his face again as she tends to the cut, but the little trick works to keep him still. “Joke’s on you, Willy and I could’ve had some earlier,” he claims at the note about the ice cream. Whether or not there’s enough ice cream left to damage will be revealed soon as she’s done dealing with the damage to his face. Plus, there’s no way he would have given chocolate to the cat. Even he knows better.

“Pretty sure they’ll be back around,” Luther says about the drunken minor offenders and even the bartender, “And to be honest they’re not the problem.” Oddly forgiving for the moment, he tries to de-escalate her annoyance and frustration. “Plus, think I made a friend out of the whole thing. We went back to the apartment and watched River Styx ‘til…” Until they about passed out, he recalls in silence and only in his thoughts. Which are open to the telepath.

When she offers to make up a spare sleeping spot, though, he hesitates and blinks, a measure of guilt returning in the face of her kindness. Luther rubs his hands on his knees, waiting for her to apply the butterfly bandages and considering the invite. “I didn’t mean to cause you trouble,” he eventually says, the words carrying more apology for the growing list of things he’s done to impose upon her living space, her provisions, and her evening plans. And her likely more than social relationships. “I mean, I can catch a bus back to Phoenix Heights too.” Once she’s let go of his face, that is.

Keeping quiet for a moment as she pulls out a small packet of butterfly bandages, getting a few ready before turning back to her friend. “You’re never trouble,” she says even if her attention is fully on what she is doing. “That…” she motions towards the door, with the band aid between her fingers, “is not serious, so… get that out of your head. He wishes, but…” She sighs, applying the first band aid and not finishing that thought. “Why am I trying to explain myself?” Though that is more to herself than him.

“Look. We’re all adults, he wants to pout that is on him.” Kaylee adds the next band aid a little rougher than the last.

Oops.

“Sorry,” is offered in a murmur, before adding the last one quickly.

The woman goes about closing up the kit as she continues with her thought, “You’re my friend and it would be horrible of me to make you walk in this cold. It’s late, I have a spare room.” Kaylee clearly doesn’t see the problem; or she does and doesn’t care.

Hand resting on the kit, Kaylee looks at him seriously, with her other hand on her hip, “Now either go home, Luther Bellamy, or get another bowl and eat ice cream with your friend.” The order is given with a good-natured smile. “Though, I’m hoping you’ll stay.”

Luther doesn’t give further verbal protest but she can see his expression shift to an exploratory skepticism, firstly with her statement that he’s “never trouble”, due to obvious set past precedent, and secondly with her remark on the seriousness, or lack thereof, of the relationship between her and newly met Trenton.

The second bandage makes him close the eye beneath it, briefly. It’s almost like a wink. But not quite.

The persistent offer of the spare room shifts his gaze that way, considerations turning in his mind until he finally turns back. There’s a tiny balk at the use of his full name, an upward tick of angled brow in response to her good-natured smile. “Alright,” he ultimately relents to her invitation, spurred on by the ice cream, and he gets up from his seat to get said other bowl.

The man exchanges a second glance with the old tomcat emerged from his hiding place whose sentiment on the whole situation witnessed expresses via only a low and hungry meow.


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