The flower and the little lamb

He had seen her with Jake a couple of times while he resided here at the mansion with his older brother. She had a rather peculiar look to her, one that was quite pleasant. Larry couldnt help but feel curious about her, and whenever Jake would leave her, Larry would be asking him all sorts of odd questions, that just seemed to annoy Jake - He rarely got any answers though. One day Jake fell ill, nothing bad but he was bedbound with no exceptions. He had asked Larry to go to a special location, and it wasnt that Larry couldnt find his way there, but he was just really scared to. Eventually he had gathered the courage to go, looking a bit around as he swallowed hard. "Hello?" he called out, frowning in both worry and something frightened. "Friend of Jacob? This is Larry,"

Nessa liked nature, more so when she was finally at the spot where Jake had taken her the first time they met. She took off her shoes, knowing that her mother would probably send her off to a bath as soon as she returned. She giggled to herself, feeling the grass tickle the sole of her feet. That’s when she heard a stranger’s voice, tilting her head to the side as she looked to the voice. ”I-I am Nessa,” she said with a rather shaky voice. She preferred staying mute, or opting for Hebrew. The english language was hard for her tongue for some reason, but she had gotten better. ”Larry,” she said to herself, almost as if she was tasting the name, looking at him with soft eyes. ”Jake is where?” she asked a bit confused.

Larry wasnt trying to scare her, so when he approached her, his hands were in the air but it wasnt anything than an overexaggaration of seeming defenseless. He lowered his arms after a bit and stared at her as he stepped out from the trees. Larry always had his resting face in the dumbest of ways, with his mouth being slightly open to show his crooked teeth, his eyes wide like a doe and a small hint of a confused frown. This time he was admiring her peculiar beauty that he finally got to see close, rather than from afar. Her question dragged him out if his trance, he shook his head and slapped his cheek lightly, “In his bed. He caught a human disease. Kyle said that he has to stay there for a week for it to go away,” he said, scrunching his face in confusion. He didnt understand illness, not for the mortals at least. “He told me to come here, keep pretty girl company,” he then said as he scratched his neck and looked a bit around. He didnt like the lack of flowers, so he lifted his hand and covered the background of this hiding spot in beautiful flowers that sprung up between trees and bushes but never in the grass they stood on.

"Yeah, pretty girl," he repeated as he ruffled his hair and looked at her with shy eyes, "That's you," he mumbled, not really sure why he felt the need to emphasize on it at all. He smiled a bit as she clapped at the flowers, the smile growing at the words he didnt understand, yet she said them so happily that he didnt mind not knowing what she said. He looked to her with surprise as she stepped closer, widening his eyes at the finger coming towards him before she poked his forehead. He scrunched his face like he was expecting the words, cowering as he heard her voice but didnt see her lips move. "Whats going on?" he asked with confusion as he stared at her. She didnt sound like before, she sounded different. He stepped a bit back and placed a hand on his forehead as he closed his eyes. "Why are your lips not moving?" he asked as he opened his eyes again and felt quite scared at the fact.

Nessa chuckled at his words, it was kinda weird standing here with a stranger. She wanted to express herself, but it was hard when you were limited to such a narrow vocabulary, Maybe it was wrong of her to make the connection between their minds, but she wanted to know. She frowned as he seemed scared, not really understanding what fear was, but she knew confusion. *I didn’t mean to startle you – As you’ve seen I can’t really speak that well,* her voice sounded, a bit of sadness behind her words. She wanted to speak, act like everyone else, but the words kept making things difficult for me. *I’ve made a simple connection of our minds, I cannot hear what you think, but you can hear my voice, and if you focus, I can hear yours as well in my head,* she explained, still not sure how to explain it well enough. *I just don’t want you to understand me,* she said, opening her mouth to giggle a bit.

He nodded at her words and tried to not seem as scared as he felt. He could understand that she would rather use an ability like this than have to speak with a voice that clearly wasnt used to it. He touched his forehead where her finger had been as she explained, with his eyes fixtated on his finger. It seemed like an odd thing, a simple touch to make such a connection. He moved his hand away and looked at her as he nodded. He softened up in a dumb-ish smile as he then looked around, "This is Jake's place," he tried to say in his mind but couldnt really bring his focus to let her hear him. He repeated the words again with his voice as he looked out on the small river. "This is Jake's place," he mumbled as he looked back at her, feeling like he was intruding a private space. "It's far from the mansion. I dont like that," he said as he scratched his elbow, not feeling quite comfortable being here, even though it was with the pretty girl he had seen Jake with.

Her blue eyes watched him rather carefully, not wishing any harm with her actions. Things were so easy with her family and Jake, as they had just accepted her weird ability rather quickly. She nodded at his spoken words, looking out at the lake. *I think the mansion is so big that I get lost in the hallways,* her voice responded, a faint smile on her lips as she looked once more at the flowers he had made bloom. *I like flowers,* voice sounded, looking back at Larry, chuckling to herself. She was always rather giddy, almost like an innocent child at times. *I don’t know how to go home – My sister told me she would pick me up as per usual,* she said, her brows furrowing a bit as she looked down. It was a bit embarrasing, not really being able to move around without getting lost. However both her parents only wished for her safety, so could she hold that against them?

"Hallways arent filled with folks that stare or bump into you," he argued with raised eyebrows as he already started imagining the crowd. It made him uncomfortable so he turned his eyes to the flowers and tried to focus on them, on the happy thoughts they made him have. He had always found comfort in flowers when Keaton had died. It was weird, but he did find flowers to be far more comforting than people, especially people he didnt know.
"Then dont go home?" he asked with a raised eyebrow even though he wasnt sure what else to tell her. It had always been hard for Larry to talk to people as he usually would end up confusing himself with his slow thought process. It was always easier to just make flowers and candy. He widened his eyes a bit to himself as he realized that he didnt really have to say anything at all! He cupped his hands together and closed his eyes as he formed a few pieces of candy in his hands, to then open and present them to her. "Candy, for you," he said with his dumb-ish smile over his lips. He let her take the candies before he looked around and frowned a bit. "Mansion is safer. Keith is at the mansion, so it must be safe there," he said to himself as he then looked at her, "I could take you to Jake?" he then asked, even though he didnt really want her to. He was just too dumb to listen to himself at times.

Nessa looked at him with a rather confused look. Not go home? But she was meant to see Jake today, now he wasn’t here. She felt a little confused and looked down with a frown. Sometimes all she had to deal with her instincts, making her want to seek out the safety of what was known to her. He held out his hands, some small wrapped candies in bright colors, making her look at him as she took them. *Thank you, Larry,* her voice sounded, making her open one of the candies, popping it in her mouth. Candy and sweets was still weird to her, but she liked them. She barely got it, as her mother seemed rather focused on feeding her a healthy diet, but once in a while Eaden would come by to speak to her mother and see her. When he did he would have a small bag of sweets for her, and she smiled at the thought. Safer at the mansion? She nodded a bit confused, but walked to him, wrapping her arm around his with a smile on her lips. *Take me to the mansion then – If Jake is alright, we could check on him together?* she suggested.

He smiled as she took the candy and pulled his sleeves down over his hands again. He just felt better when his hands were covered, he couldnt explain why. He looked around as he then asked if they should go for the mansion to see Jake. He nodded at her suggestion and looked at her arm as she had wrapped it around him. He felt small butterflies in his stomach but couldnt figure out what it meant. He walked towards the mansion, feeling more relaxed as they got to the gardens were he always felt so safe. Nothing could go wrong in a place this beautiful, he always thought to himself. He walked her inside and went to Jake's room as Kyle stepped out and looked at them. "Jake's sleeping right now. He has had a rough night, so he needs the rest," he said with a small smile as he then looked to Nessa, "He did say that he was sad that he couldnt see you. I'll wake him up in a couple of hours to give him his medicine," he then said as he looked at Larry. "Take Nessa to the living room next to your room. There's boardgames in there for you two to play if you'd like," Kyle said. Larry nodded and looked at Jake's door, frowning a bit as he wanted Nessa to talk to Jake, but it didnt seem like Kyle would allow it. He walked to the living room and made a confused face as he couldnt see where the boardgames were. "Ummmmm...." he dragged on the sound as he started looking around.

*My parents say I’ll need it later, so I’m trying my best – for some reason I know how to read and speak Hebrew fluently,* Nessa said as she looked at the guy coming into the room. Keaton chuckled and ruffled up Larry’s hair and returned his hug. Being back from the dead had made him realise what he had left behind, and he felt bad for leaving behind his brother like he did. ”Larry, you know you are smarter than you think – just in different ways,” Keaton said with a small smile before he looked to Nessa, nodding. ”Call me Keaton, Kit, Keith – whatever you find easy,” he said with a chuckle before Larry explained what he was looking for. He let go of his brother,walking over to a small commode opening up a couple of drawers before he chuckled to himself. ”They were hiding over here,” Keaton said and looked to the girl on the couch, feeling something was off with her, but didn’t comment. Most people probably thought that about him as well. Nessa got up from the couch, walking over to look at the games. ”Don’t know them,” she said in a rather shaky voice, frowning as she hated how she sounded, shaking her head. She knew she was getting better, but those words just seemed to tangle up in her mouth.

"Hebrew?" he asked, but even if she explained, he probably wouldnt remember it. He made a sour face as Keaton ruffled up his hair, but he didnt mind it all that much, as he was just happy about having his brother back. He shook his head at Keatons words, "Dumb as a door, that's what daddy said," he receited as he scratched the back of his neck with a small smile. He watched Keaton go to a commode and pick out the boardgames, his mouth dropping open like had Keaton just pulled a magic trick. He ran over to his brother and snatched the games that he almost slammed on the table in excitement. He looked to Nessa and smiled a bit, "No words will be needed when we be playing these," he said in a happy tone before he moved his eyes back to the games, "Keith you joining too?" he asked, but it wasnt much of a question, as it was more a demand.
He frowned as he saw Ludo in the bunch and pushed it away, shaking his head, "Ludo is boring," he muttered as he looked to Nessa, "You pick a game," he said with a dumb smile as he pushed the pile closer to her. "Oi Larry you are always so goddamn noisy," Lucia said as she stepped into the room. She didnt seem as chippy as she usually was, but she was still adapting to her time in hell. She had been gone for a long time, but had recently decided to come back to the mansion. Larry had shown her many flowers in the garden and she had come to care of the dumb guy, but today she wasnt having it. "Louisa," Larry said with a big smile as he looked at the hybrid. She groaned and shook her head, "Lucia, L u c i a, Larry," she said as she approached the table and looked at the games. She was feeling quite lonely today, but couldnt really bring herself to admit it.

Keaton decided not to comment on what their father had or hadn’t said. To be honest, he had never really like his family, but Larry was his brother. He felt the need to protect and be there for him. Keaton nodded at Larry’s question, of course he knew he wouldn’t have much of a choice, but spending a day playing a game didn’t sound too bad. Nessa looked at all the games, furrowing her brows as he pushed away a game. She had never played it, so she wouldn’t know what games were good. Her blue eyes searched the selection, but she was more confused by their names than anything else. Her eyes fell on a rather weird looking game; Snakes and Ladders. What did a snake have to do with ladders and vice versa? She looked up as she heard a new stranger enter the room, moving her chin down rather sheepishly as she felt like she was getting scolded. So many new names made her a bit confused, she just sat for a while, playing with one of her fingers. ”Kit,” she mumbled in a shaky voice. She felt a bit scared of pronouncing the girl’s name wrong, as she had literally just groaned at Larry for doing that. ”Luca,” she tried, frowning and looking down. She felt like she could cry, not feeling as safe as she had before when it was just Larry. ”Lucai,” she said, her voice still shaky, a few tears trying to escape. ”Lu-luci,” she stammered, feeling frustrated because she couldn’t say it. Her lower lip quivered as she got up and moved out of the room to the kitchen as she felt like she had embarassed herself. [/color]

Lucia turned her eyes to the girl, quick to notice how she was stumbling over words. She felt quite bad for scolding Larry now as the girl seemed to think that would mean she would be scolded as well. Lucia sighed deeply and went over to the window as she rubbed her cheeks, listening to the girl trying to say her name. "Luci is fine," she mumbled as the girl suddenly just left, making Lucia pound her head against the side of the frame, "Fucking A-class idiot here," she announced as she looked at the others. Larry was watching the door Nessa had left from, and suddenly he seemed to realize that he probably should have followed, running out the door and stumbling into the kitchen as he looked at Nessa, "Lucia is a meanie. Dont listen to her if she says something rude," he said as he scratched his neck looking at Nessa with worried eyes. He didnt really know what to say, but instead he pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down as he looked at her, drawing a circle around his mouth, "Watch," he said as he started saying Lucia's name slow, focusing a lot on the movement of his mouth, hoping that would work.
Lucia looked to Keaton and shook her head, "Do you ever feel like you just fuck everything up all the time?" she asked as she lightly hit her head against the frame, the pain making her feel a little better in her shitty state of mind. She just wanted to be with Taylor, but had been scared to as things had gone so well before they went to hell and everything went to shit. This was somehow worse than watching her parents die as she couldnt seem to find a way to deal with it.

Nessa had moved to the kitchen, hoping to escape from the embarrasing moment and feeling a bit confused. She felt like she wanted to go home, feeling like she couldn’t fit in with the rest of the group. She turned her head as she heard someone stumbling into the kitchen, being a bit surprised to see it was Larry. She felt a bit awkward, not knowing how or what to answer. She had just felt like she was put on the spot, and failing like that had made her feel awful. Walking closer, she watched as he tried teaching her how to speak. Her lips quivering as she tried over and over again, her breathing she tried to keep calm, but she felt herself failing again. *I can’t do it,* her voice sounded in Larry’s head as she looked down in shame.

Keaton had gotten to know Lucia briefly, but he had mostly been with Melania, trying to catch up to this new world. ”Yeah, sometimes I feel that daily,” he chuckled a bit at her words, walking over to her. He didn’t mind that she was pounding her head against the frame. ”He came by again today … That banshee guy … He didn’t look too good, but I told him that you weren’t here,” he said calmly. Keaton had grown up in a Texan household, and you learned rather quickly to mind your own business.

Larry felt a bit at a loss as his help didnt seem all that helpful. He looked down and fiddled a little with his hands, frowning a little at her words as his brain was churning for other options, cupping his hands together to make a few candies appear that he gave her. Why was all he could do being making candy? It annoyed him that he wasnt smart. He wished that he was smart like Keaton, being helpful and all that, not just some dumb guy that only made candy when he was battling his two working braincells. He ruffled his hair and groaned a little before he closed his eyes and rubbed his cheeks. "Ummmmm.... uh...." he said like the sound was helping his brain think. He then gasped and got a big smile on his face, feeling like a lightbulb could light up above his head like in one of those cartoons that he had seen once in his life but never forgotten. "Lu. You can say those words. It's not all of it, but it's not wrong," he then said rather proudly in the moment as he looked at Nessa with careful eyes, suddenly afraid that his idea would make things much worse.

Lucia nodded at his words but didnt stop pounding her head against the frame. She groaned deeply and felt like she should have just stayed in bed than actually getting up. But she also felt that just getting out of bed had been a small win of the day. It wasnt much, but she was taking what she could get. She frowned a little as he mentioned Taylor, a shameful look in her eyes as she made one last pound that was a little too hard, her face winching with pain as she looked to the frame and hit it with her fist. "Thank you," she said, even though she knew she couldnt keep this going if Taylor was going down a dark road himself. As much as she had stayed away, it was only because she craved him to be close, but she feared what may follow with that. She wasnt quite ready to face her demons yet and staying close to Taylor would make her feel easier to get to her vulnerability. She just needed time. "Am I an ass for hiding, Keaton?" she asked as she looked down at her thighs, clenching her jaw for a bit as she exhaled deeply.

Nessa looked at him, taking a piece of candy to simply roll between her fingers. She liked sweets, but right now she felt like she had a bellyache. She looked away, thinking that she must have insulted Lucia. As Larry spoke again she looked at him, a smile appearing on her face as she flung herself at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck and giving him a hug. “Thank,” She whispered against his wild hair, smiling more genuinely as she let go of him. She stood for a bit as she had let go of him, looking at her hands where the candy had once been, now laid a small golden pendant in the shape of the candy he had given him. She frowned, wondering how it had happened, but of course she knew little of her ability with what people described as miracles. She took his hand, placing the golden pendant, fit for a necklace, in his palm, closing his finger around it to signal it was his now.

“You’re not an ass for hiding,” Keaton said, shaking his head as he looked out to the woods. He felt hungry, but it wasn’t easy coping with his blood demon needs in a house full of other creatures. He knew that Lucia wasn’t the best at handling darker creatures, so he usually kept his distance, but it mostly came out as him respecting her private bubble. “You’re healing,” he added, taking a deep breath to calm his inner demon. The demon that wanted him to act like a brute and feast upon every living creature, yet he kept it under control. “In an airplane safety instruction they tell you something very specific about the gas masks that drop down,” he said with a thoughtful look. He had not been on many airplanes, mostly just traveling within his state for work. “To put on the mask yourself before you help others,” he said with a smile on his lips. He knew it was easy just to help others, but once they had been helped, what were you left with yourself? He shrugged, as it really wasn’t his business, but she had asked for his opinion. “Take things in your time, he takes things in his, and hopefully you’ll be meeting in the middle,” Keaton said as he looked back into the room.

//Out I think <33//