Realistic or Modern Family Ties: 1980s Gangs - IC (Ended)

[Misty Gray]

Sullivan Family Home
~ Sutton, Dublin ~

Sinead Callahan​

Aliana asked Sinead if she thought she could trick Lucy into throwing the party they were discussing, prompting the redhead to flash a mischievous smile. "Like Luce would ever make you do it alone. I think that deep down, she loves the stress and chaos of it all!" She softly smiled as Aliana told Michelle she could stay as long as she needed to and that she'd be able to find some work. "Oh yes. Remind me, Michelle. What kind of jobs have you been doing until now?"

Then Aliana went on to ask Michelle how her mother, Alex, was. Sinead looked to her niece with interest as she anticipated an update. Back in Chicago all those years ago, the Sullivans and Romanos had been at war. However, Conor and Alex started a secret relationship, crossing the line as their families were enemies. But Sinead had got to know Alex a little when the secret came out, as well as getting along again when Alex showed up in Dublin back in the sixties. When Conor chose to be with Aliana, Alex left Dublin with Michelle. Since then, Sinead hadn't see anything of the Italian woman. So, she was of course interested to hear how Alex was doing and hoping she was well.

Apparently it wasn't that straightforward, with Sinead seeing the way Michelle's eyes narrowed at being asked by Aliana about her mother. Sinead warmly smiled as Michelle started off by saying Alex and her husband were well, travelling. However, her face soon dropped as her niece's response turned snarky. "Oh wow. I would love to travel the world..." Sinead trailed off, hoping to soften the mood.

Alex didn't wait long before continuing, her words becoming something more of an attack on Aliana for being with Conor. Clearly she was unhappy with having to grow up with a stepdad and barely seeing her real father, not to mention Alex had struggled. Sinead took a sip of her own drink, sending Aliana an apologetic glance, despite none of the conversation being at all her own fault. When it seemed like Michelle had finished, Sinead suddenly stood up. "Oh, hey. You know, I left the cupcakes in the kitchen..."

Sinead had taken a step to try save the day with more treats, but she halted on the spot and quickly spun back around. "Actually, no. That's not on, missy!" she firmly addressed her niece, sitting back down to face her. "For starters, if you're going to play the blame game, maybe it's your dad you should be speaking to. Conor was big enough and old enough to make his own decision on that. You have that out with Conor, not Ali." She then then let out a sigh, not liking having to say these things, but seeing Aliana attacked was much more unpleasant than that. "Conor would not have taken his decision lightly, so he must have known it wasn't going to work out with your mum. You can't force matters of the heart."

Melanin-Gxdess (Aliana, Sydney)
BasDorcha (Michelle)

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Sullivan Family Home
~Dublin, Ireland~

Aliana Sullivan

​

Ali had - in no way whatsoever - intended her question to strike a nerve within Michelle. Had she known it would be such a sensitive topic she wouldn't have said anything at all. The attitude in the girl's voice was definitely picked up on even though she seemed to be happy that Alex had been traveling the world with her step-father - away from the mafia life, Aliana found herself wrapped up in. But it had been deeper than that, with Michelle expressing her distaste at having to spend holidays amongst divided households and her mother struggling. Ali's eyebrows furrowed at the thought considering she knew for sure Conor would never allow that. Even if he and Alex were no longer together he would always take care of his child by any means necessary. Ali opened her mouth, only to close it when she realized she didn't really have anything to say. Instead, Sinead broke the awkward silence by stating how she wanted to travel. She couldn't even find herself to respond to her comment.

Michelle's words were definitely an attack and Aliana was feeling it completely. For decades she'd felt responsible for breaking up a happy home even though that had never been the case. Alex was the one who decided not to tell Conor about their children until she was 10 years old and just pop up thinking things would be okay. Remembering this Aliana couldn't help but frown at Michelle and shook her head. "None of that is true," she stated, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "D-Did your mother tell you that?" She asked, glancing over to Sinead who had gotten up from her seat. It seemed like the woman wanted to escape the conversation and despite Aliana not wanting to be left alone in it, she knew it would be selfish to do so. But just as she was about to leave the room, she turned back to Michelle and stood up for her, and shifted the blame to Conor. Ali was grateful for it and sent the woman a small smile.

If she were being honest, Aliana didn't believe Conor could be at fault either. When Alex reappeared in Dublin with a ten-year-old she had thrown a wrench in not just Conor's life but Aliana's as well. Ali and Conor weren't dating or even a couple - they were just sleeping together and enjoying each other's company. But their feelings for each other had been growing and they were just on the edge of admitting it when Conor broke things off. It hurt Aliana to suddenly become second best, but he had a kid and needed to make it work so she got over it. It led to her falling in love with Thomas Dempsey and letting Conor do whatever it was he thought he needed to do - make things work with Alex. Unfortunately, things didn't work out for Conor and Alex or even Tommy and Ali. In the end, Ali and Conor ended up together - the former understanding he would still need to have a relationship with Alex for the sake of Michelle.

Swallowing the lump forming in her throat thinking about the past had brought about, Ali shook her head. "I-," she started, her voice cracking. She'd subtly pulled Sydney closer into her chest for comfort - unbeknownst to her daughter. "You have no idea what you're talking about," she said. "It was much more complicated than that and if you're going to blame anyone it should be-," Ali stopped herself, shaking her head. She didn't want to bad mouth Alex - she hadn't this far, so she shouldn't start now, right? And really, Aliana had no reason to explain herself to Michelle, to begin with. Taking a deep breath to choke down the emotions about to come pouring out she looked at Michelle again, this time with a stern expression on her face. "When you can stop playing the blame game we can discuss this again, but not while you're pointing fingers."



Sinead ( Misty Gray )
Michelle ( BasDorcha )

Local Pub
~Bethnal Green - London~

Nikita Blake

​

Kit watched as Jeremy both answered her question and ordered the top-shelf whiskey. Her eyebrows shot up in amusement, considering she was just going to scare the man into giving it to her for free. It was a quieter approach, but way less fun when it came to former soldier. Instead of using the cup provided to her she grabbed the body of the bottle and drank straight from it. Once she put it back down she wiped her mouth with her hand and shook her head. His words hadn't been what she wanted to hear so she groaned and slammed her fists on the counter. "Fuck!" She shouted, bouncing her legs up and down on the leg of her chair. "It would make killing people so much better if she'd have died - revenge is the best!" Though she was aware of how Harper's death would have affected her family members, Nikita knew that when people acted out of emotions they made less than intelligent decisions. Some of those decisions included orders like, "Kill everyone involved." Her favorite orders to hear.

But alas, the girl was alive and no such words would be spoken. Nikita had been banging her head on the bar top out of frustration and boredom when Jeremy asked if she wanted to go to Dublin - home of the Sullivans. From what she'd heard they were responsible for the explosion at the nightclub, which meant they were responsible for what had happened to Harper. Though his offer to end her murderous drought sounded amazing, she only took orders from Spencer, Darcey, or Bruce. And since she didn't hear the words out of their mouths she couldn't let herself obey them. One of the lovely perks of having your commander's drill obedience and loyalty into your brain. "Ugh, don't give me false hope. You know as well as anyone else I can't disobey my bosses," she said, knowing it had been rumored through their ranks that she literally was unable to do anything against their word.

Jeremy suggested another activity and as she followed his gaze to the women giggling in his direction she gagged. After a moment to think, she figured if she couldn't get her hands messy then perhaps she could play mind games. She looked back to Jeremy and noticed the look he was giving her - as if his heart had been broken. She would know, considering the amount of hearts she'd broken in the past just because she enjoyed watching the light in their eyes die out. The guy was heartbroken and considering where he had just come from she put two and two that it had been Harper. A sly grin spread to her face at the thought of Harper completely shattering his heart, though it could have been mistaken for her growing anticipation of the entertainment they were about to find for themselves.

"Obviously we're not goin' to Dublin tonight," she said, crossing her arms. She leaned back against the bar once more, looking past him and at the girls blatantly staring at them. "The redhead seems awfully into you." Grabbing the bottle, she drank from it once more and set it down before jumping to her feet. She hadn't even waited for him to respond before she walked over to the group of girls, who had gotten quiet on her approach. Nikita made it seem as if she meant no harm, nodding her head over to Jeremy several times with a fake smile planted on her face. She knew it was super obvious the redhead had been into Jeremy - after all, she had been the only single one. But Kit had other plans in mind. Instead, she turned to the brunette with the ring on her finger and boosted the woman's ego, lying and saying she was his type - obviously, blondes were. As if forgetting completely that she was married she looked at Jeremy with a smile whilst the redhead glared after her. Kit smirked and waved Jeremy over, trying to contain her excitement about the explosion that was about to occur.

Jeremy ( BasDorcha )

​

 

[Pyroclast]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Billy, Bruce and Shona King​

Even if what Trevor was saying was true, Billy wished that it wasn’t. He didn’t want to listen to his father go on about how much he cared about them after 25 years of silence, or how he had felt when he had heard about the nightclub bombing despite not knowing any of the people inside. In Billy’s eyes, Trevor had no right to be upset by the event given that he had no relationship with any of his kids. Those feelings had to be earned. He wondered where he had been all those years, whether he had been living it up in some hot Mediterranean party town or if he had been lurking in a nearby London borough right under their noses. They could have walked past each other on the street for all Billy knew.

Spencer interrupted Trevor’s speech and caught Billy’s eye, reminding him and Alex that they didn’t owe him a second of their time. While he felt deeply uncomfortable in Trevor’s presence, he was concerned that leaving would make him look weak, like meeting his estranged father for the first time was something he couldn’t handle. Glued to the spot, Billy turned his attention back to Trevor when the man asked his eldest brother why he wasn’t saying anything. Spencer then made it clear he was waiting for something from Trevor and challenged him to cast his mind back to a fishing trip they must have gone on together years ago. Since Billy had barely a flicker of a memory of his father, he also had no memories of seeing what he had put Spencer through. Bruce had never liked to talk about it, so he only knew as much as Spencer had told him, which, given how stoic his brother had had to grow up to be, wasn’t much. But this time he could tell Spencer was referring to one of those untold stories.

“Alex, Billy, you don’t need to be ‘ere for this,” Bruce spoke up, reiterating Spencer’s point. “Don’t let this bag of piss waste any of your time, go on. Me and Spencer will handle it from ‘ere.”

The fact that Bruce seemed to not want them to hear what Trevor had done on the fishing trip made it sound worryingly worse. He was ready to hear what Trevor had done and react accordingly but at the same time, his respect for his uncle made him reluctant to challenge him. "Spence?" he said, taking a step closer to his brother. He wanted to see if Spencer wanted him to stay or go, but Bruce blocked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Go on," his uncle insisted, and handed him a random wad of cash. "Get us another round and we'll meet ya' out there when we're done."

Billy shifted his eyes onto his father for one last look before giving in and letting himself out. Bruce looked expectantly at Alex, hoping that he would find it easier to leave now that he didn’t have to be the first. “Alex, I think Shona would like an update,” he said, thinking that he could still get Alex to feel helpful elsewhere. “Go let her know what’s goin’ on, yeah?”

When Alex and Billy had eventually left and it was just Bruce and Spencer alone with Trevor, Bruce turned to his nephew’s father. He hoped that being alone with people who already remembered how awful a person he had been meant that Trevor would more likely speak freely and in more detail, less concerned about provoking a reaction from his younger sons. “Well, Trevor,” Bruce said, in a darker tone. “Now that it’s just us, you ain’t got no reason to act like a decent guy. Spencer, ask him one more time if he remembers that fishing trip.”



For a bachelor who didn’t have children himself, Erik was surprisingly understanding when Shona explained what a mess she had let her life become since bringing Eddie home. What really surprised her, however, was his offer to act as a nanny for them - so quick and casual, like he hadn’t needed to give it any thought at all. Shona looked up at him, her tired eyes pricking with tears. “You would do that?” she softly asked. Shona hadn’t spent much one-on-one time with Erik but he had been around long enough for her to know he was a sweet man and one in whom she could trust - not at all like she had imagined a hitman from New York to be. She smiled when he said he was expecting to become an uncle at some point and would benefit from some babysitting practice.

Darcey then asked if Ava was currently visiting in London and Erik explained that she was and had even met Billy. “Well, if she’s got the time and you’re willing to help me clean up the house a little bit, I’d love to have her over for dinner,” Shona offered with a smile. “Call me nosy, but I always like getting to know people’s families. And if she’s going to be having her own little one soon, I’m sure she’d like to meet Eddie!”

On the subject of having his own children someday, Erik choked on his drink. An involuntary grin came over Shona as she watched in amusement. He seemed to stumble on his words. Considering how cool he had been when offering to be their nanny, Shona hadn’t been expecting such a contrasting attitude towards becoming a father. He finally settled on reasoning that the state of the world would make it hard having children.

“Well, it ain’t no walk in the park,” Shona agreed. “Only been with my little guy for 2 weeks and I can already give a thousand reasons why having kids is hard.” A soft smile reached her eyes as she gazed at her little baby, now comfortably nestled in Darcey’s arms. “And ten thousand reasons why it’s worth it.”

With the pub once again open and more people coming in, Shona didn’t notice that anyone new had entered until a little boy yelled out her name. Before she had time to turn around, he was already clambering up onto the chair beside her. “Callum!” she cried, pulling him into a warm embrace and kissing him on the forehead. “What a nice surprise!” The boy asked for his dad but was instantly distracted instead by the baby in Darcey’s arms, clearly excited at the sight of him. “Yes, say hello to your cousin, Eddie!”

While her nephew was occupied with the new baby, Shona looked up and found Savannah. There was a man with her, whom she assumed to be a bodyguard. The first feeling she had upon seeing her friend wasn’t of hostility or awkwardness from what her family had recently done, but rather of how much she had missed her. Before she could decide how to greet her, however, Savannah brought up what had happened, apparently wanting to get it out of the way. Shona looked away for a moment, not sure exactly how to respond. Of course she was furious and upset that Spencer had lost his nightclub and that she had come close to losing some of her favourite people in the world, including her husband…but on another level, she trusted that Savannah had had nothing to do with it. Raising her head to meet the woman’s eye again, Shona gave her a faint smile and reached out to hold her hand. “That means a lot,” she said quietly, as if her husband might hear her. “But before you sit down, there’s something you should -”

Before she could finish her sentence, her attention was grabbed by the opening of the back room door, where Billy stepped out. There was a darkness in his eyes and a red tinge to his cheeks; he didn’t even acknowledge the rest of the room before snatching his half-finished pint off the table and downing it in one go. Shona grimaced slightly at the sight. He didn’t look to be in the mood to talk about what was going on, especially in a room full of people, but she was eager to know how Spencer was getting on and how the interaction with Trevor was progressing.

Unexpectedly, his mood seemed to switch as soon as he saw Callum. “Hey, look who it is!” Billy cheered with a laugh, bounding over to the boy’s chair and lifting him out of it. With a playful growl, he swung him into a rough hug and gave him a tight squeeze before planting him back down on his feet. “You met your cousin yet? Cute, ain’t he?” Scrubbing a hand through Callum’s hair, Billy’s eyes fell on Savannah and his face fell serious once again. Anticipating what she had come to talk about, he simply shook his head at her and said, “Now’s not the time.” He then glanced at Erik and got that feeling he often got when looking at him - a desperate urge to let his guard down. But he couldn’t, not when there were so many people about. “I’m gettin’ another round,” he announced, slapping the wad of cash Bruce had given him in the palm of his hand. On his way to the bar, however, Shona grabbed his sleeve. “Billy?” was all she had to ask, and Billy let out a frustrated sigh, not looking her quite in the eye. He didn’t want to talk about it in the slightest, but he knew he owed her something. “They’re just talkin’,” he clarified. “Dunno how long they’ll be.”

When he reached the bar, he asked the bartender, Toby, for another round of the same. Frankly, he wanted to leave, but he wasn’t sure if he would need to stay yet, so he let Toby pour him another pint anyway. Meanwhile, he rounded the bar and poured himself a shot of vodka, and then a second. And then a third. Toby had sent Billy home more times over the years than he could remember, but usually because he was having too much fun - this time, he could tell the mood wasn’t right. He clapped Billy on the back and said, “Don’t look like party drinkin’ to me, mate.”

Billy just shrugged him off and left the bar. His chest was beginning to tighten and his eyes searched for Erik again. His gaze lingered on the man for a moment, that temptation to let his guard down intensifying the longer he looked - but before he could, he turned away again. Instead of going back to the party, he fished his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and headed for the exit.

Interactions
Misty Gray Spencer, Trevor, Callum, Savannah
Melanin-Gxdess Erik, Alex, Darcey

 

[Misty Gray]

Syd Porter's House
~ £100 and I'll snitch with the location, Dublin ~

James Porter and George Sanderson-Sullivan
​

James nodded in agreement when Finn said it was hard to pull servicemen out of combat. When he'd made his decision to step down from the mob back in the seventies, it had been difficult. Even with Lucy and Thomas to focus on, it had taken him years to get used to a different lifestyle. Not long after he finally had, he ended up in Rikers for six years. As much as he'd tried to maintain his retirement whilst behind bars, Gabriel had forced him into that lifestyle again. Top dog in the prison, having to ensure the smooth drug supply and knock the other prisoners down into place, James had in some ways been back to his old ways for the last few years. Once again, he was now having to readjust. With Conor pissing off the Morettis and the Kings now, it was difficult to sit back and do nothing. James was annoyed with Conor, but if he were to pick up his gun and get back to his old ways, it would be for the safety of his family and not to help his brother-in-law out of a mess.

With the conversation moving on to Syd, James was surprised to hear Finn say the younger man had someone distracting him. "Wait. Who?" he curiously asked. When Finn elaborated that Syd had been giving Roxie the eyes, James let out an exasperated sigh before shaking his head. "Ah shit..." he trailed off, clearly not excited by the news. It was nothing to do with Roxie, nor the idea of her and Syd back together. Despite the rough start when he first met her, James had grown to like Roxie and she was now a trusted part of the family. "That's not going to go down well..." he began. He had been about to point out that Roxie had just lost her fiancé and she was likely still grieving. The last thing he wanted was for Syd to rush into anything, make a move, and push the woman away or have her think he was being insensitive. James didn't want Syd to end up facing rejection if he misread Roxie's signals at all.

James hadn't been able to express why he was concerned before Lucy joined them and asked if they were gossiping without her. When she sat next to him, James put his arm around her and sent her a brief smile. "Blame me for the gossiping. I'm a bad influence," he joked. When Lucy mentioned Syd and Roxie had been left decorating, James shifted uncomfortably in his seat, sending Finn and George a curious glance. "You left them both alone?" he asked his wife. "Is that a good idea? You know... their history, Roxie grieving..." he trailed off.

George smiled when Lucy asked about Robert and Melissa. "I feel like I haven't seen them in forever either, though it has only been a few months. They've both grown up too quickly for my liking, but they've both been doing well in college. They're supposed to be coming over to visit for the summer. Between just us, they are hoping to be able to transfer over here to finish their studies. It's not straightforward or confirmed, so Finn and I are keeping quiet on the matter, so as not to get Lucas' hopes up." He then smiled to himself. "It wouldn't be as wild as New York, but I think they'd find plenty of people their age to hang out with here."

Bellz (Finn, Lucy)

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Alex King, Darcey Hargraves, and Erik Snowden

​

Hearing Trevor basically telling him to calm down nearly set Alex off again. He believed he had every right to be angry and want to bash his face in, so who the hell was he to tell him to calm down? Years of pent-up anger and aggression and poor emotional skills all because Trevor couldn't find it within himself to be a proper human being. It wasn't until he called him son that Alex's eyes grew wide and he let go of the man's collar. With a pained expression on his face at the realization that he was, in fact, his son, Alex shoved him away and shook his head. "I am NOT your son," he said firmly, pushing his hair out of his face. "Nor will I ever be."

Just as Alex was putting distance between himself and Trevor Billy spoke up, asking why Trevor was really here. Alex figured the man would just spew more lies about wanting to make amends or something so he just looked off to the side. Trevor calling him son had only added fuel to the despair he had been feeling when it came to his DNA. For years he tried to prove he wasn't anything like him only to actually realize that he was a bit like him. Even if he was changing the way he was now, he couldn't deny that his past activities and actions had mirrored the man's own. It made him sick to think about so he tried to focus on what Bruce and Billy were saying to Bruce. His uncle pointed out how the apology seemed to be all about him and not really about them. Alex then looked to Trevor to see how he would respond and frowned when he heard it. "Good. So now that you've seen us, you can piss off to wherever you drove your hearse from."

The moment Spencer turned to him and Billy, suggested they were free to leave, Alex took him up on it. He had nothing else to say to the man and if he were being honest, he could feel that squeezing in his chest again. It felt claustrophobic in the room and he wanted to get away so he didn't hesitate to walk to the door. Before he twisted the knob, however, he paused, and turned to Trevor one last time. "What kind of a man abandons their kids without so much as a single thought? Then to come back 'round when they're adults and have moved on you-," Alex let out a dry chuckle with a shake of his head. "You're a real piece of work." He then turned to Spencer, still upset about him not informing him about giving Trevor money when he first reappeared. "Yeah, I'll make sure she's updated," he said drily. "Won't leave anything out either." His last sentence was more so a jab at his older brother for keeping secrets and he knew he would pick up on it.

Erik picked up on the surprise in Shona's voice and figured no one had offered something along those lines yet. He glanced over to Darcey to make sure it would be okay to do, but she had been too engulfed with Eddie to pay attention to him so he just looked back to Shona. "Of course. Listen, back in New York Ava used to get stuck with the kids that used to pop up all over the place. She used to be so tired and I was too caught up in my own shit to ever help. So, now that I'm-," he paused, nearly about to say sober, but decided to choose a better word... Again. "More mature, I try to help women like you whenever I can." At the mention of dinner and bringing Ava over, Erik nodded his head enthusiastically. If there were anything he loved in this world it was Ava and introducing her to people. She had raised him and he was proud of her for doing so as well as her accomplishments. "I'm sure she'd be all for it!" He was just about to respond to her comment about children when he heard the door open again, followed by the voice of a young boy. He had run up to Shona saying her name so he didn't see any reason to suddenly react. Until, that is, who he saw was accompanying him.

Both Erik and Darcey had been thinking the same thing when they saw Savannah standing next to an unknown man. Her timing couldn't have been any worse with Trevor being in the next room. It was almost as if someone was playing some huge, cruel joke on them and cameras were going to pop out from somewhere. Before any of them had a chance to explain that maybe she should leave and try again tomorrow, Savannah spoke about what happened. Though Darcey was maintaining a stoic face because Callum was looking at the baby, it was clear that she was not happy to see her. It wasn't anything personal, but the moment Alex and the others saw her she wasn't sure how they would react. Today was supposed to be a celebration of new life in the form of Eddie, but it had already been turned so sour. With tensions so high so worried they would explode. However, Savannah had been there for Callum and to allow him to see his father. Hearing that made Darcey calm down a little, but she wasn't sure the same could be said of the boys and Bruce.

Their eyes all moved to the room the boys had all disappeared into, watching as Billy walked out first. Erik noticed how solemn the look on his face seemed and his first thought was wanting to hug him. But, he knew he couldn't do that here amongst so many people. Instead, he watched his mood change when he interacted with Callum. Maybe having all these kids around while bad news went around was a good thing. Billy informed Savannah now wasn't the time to talk about what happened at the nightclub, and both Darcey and Erik understood why. It seemed like things had gotten even worse when they went inside the room, which only made Savannah's sudden appearance even harder.

The moment Billy reached the bar, Alex finally emerged from the room. When his eyes caught sight of Savannah he stopped in his track, hands already balled into fists from his interaction with Trevor. Seeing her only made him tighten up his hands as he frowned. "What the fu-," he had started walking towards her, cutting himself off when he saw Callum. His expression softened, watching as Callum climbed down from his chair to run over to him. Alex sent a quick glare to Savannah once more before leaning down to hug and pick up Callum. "Hey there, bud! Came to surprise me, eh?" He said, his voice cracking. When leaving the room he had been on the edge of tears but they had long since disappeared. His eyes then found Shona's as he remembered he was to give her an update on the happenings of Trevor. "Wanna do me a favor?" He asked his son, nodding his head over to the table he had been sitting at early. "My jacket's over there and my wallet is inside the pocket. There's a gift in there for ya so why don't you bring it here?"

He waited until Callum was out of earshot before he quickly updated Shona - whilst ignoring Savannah for the time being. "He's fine," he reassured her about Spencer, "He's a big boy and can handle himself. Trevor's got a crock full of bullshit to spew, but I'll let Spencer tell you about it." He paused looking over to Savannah and the man accompanying her. "You picked a helluva time to visit, Sav, the fuck are you doing?"

Meanwhile, Erik had followed Billy outside after seeing the drinking he was doing behind the bar. He didn't know much about Trevor and had never wanted to ask about the man. Everything he knew had been learned through idle gossip and rumors from the men who worked for the King family. He was a horrible person like his own father and that was all he needed to know. Shoving his hands into his pockets he glanced at Billy, watching as he shoved a cigarette into his mouth. "...Those kill people, you know," he started, "I heard it's quite the shitty way to go."

Bruce, Shona, Billy ( Pyroclast )
Spencer ( Misty Gray )

​

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Spencer King and Trevor Stewart​

Spencer had looked his brothers in the eyes as they seemed keen to leave the office, sending them a look which showed he had no issue with either of them getting out of there. He didn't blame them and wished he could do the same. Spencer watched on as Alex made sure to tell their father how much of a piece of shit he was for walking out on his kids and then having the nerve to return after so many years. Spencer caught Alex's eye again as his brother turned to him. Alex told him he would update Shona on the situation, followed by a snide remark about not leaving anything out. It was a clear dig at Spencer for keeping secret Trevor's attempted return all those years ago. Not wanting to argue or have to defend himself about it in front of Trevor, Spencer simply nodded his head. He knew Alex wasn't the only one annoyed with him for keeping quiet.

Trevor managed to keep his mouth shut when Bruce referred to him as a bag of piss and his two youngest sons continued to express their strong distaste for him. Then, on Bruce's word, both Billy and Alex made their exit out of the office, clearly keen to get away from the situation. Trevor knew showing up wasn't going to go down well and getting any of his kids to show anything other than hatred was a big ask. Trevor was a risk-taker and nothing could change that. Even with everything that he did and the reactions he was receiving, he still weighed up the probabilities and believed there remained a possibility that things could tip in his favour. Perhaps not any time in the immediate future, however.

Once it was just himself, Bruce and Spencer in the room, Trevor took a moment to prepare himself for perhaps another round. "You've got the lads well trained and under the thumb, Bruce," he couldn't help back remark, pointing to the door his two youngest sons had just exited through.

"No..." Spencer spoke up. There was a pause as he kept his father and uncle hanging on for his next words. He finally got up from his chair and grabbed the back of it to tilt it onto the two back legs, then dragged it along the wooden floor. The noise filled the room until the chair was pushed out of the way, against the wall. Walking back into the centre of the room where he could see both Bruce and Trevor, he stared his father down for a moment. "What you just saw there," he said, glancing back to the door his brothers had exited through. "That's called res-pect. And it's mutual respect, between Bruce and my brothers." Holding up the retracted penknife, Spencer used it to point at Trevor with, before slotting it into his back pocket. "Reason you ain't dead right now is because my wife and kid are just feet away in my family's public house. I may be many things, but I'm not a fucking idiot. You brazenly walked into this building, where witnesses inside and outside saw you. That's why, when we're done here, you'll walk right back out the same damn door."

Despite the brief intermission, Bruce soon turned the subject back to the fishing trip Spencer had mentioned. With just the three men in the room, it was clear the subject wasn't about to be skirted around now. Spencer quickly nodded his head when his uncle asked him to make his point again. "I'm telling you again, Trevor. Cast your mind back to how much of a bully you were. Do you, or do you not, remember the god damn fishing trip?" Spencer firmly asked, a venom to his voice as he did.

Trevor didn't flinch, making sure to share eye-contact between both Bruce and Spencer. "Well, ain't you a tough guy," he told his son. Though his tone could be judged as holding some sarcasm within it, it was mostly laced with a sense of pride for how strong Spencer was now. Still, he knew he had to address what he had been asked, so he quickly nodded his head. "Alright..." he began, pinching the bridge of his nose as he let out a deep sigh. Pulling his hand away he looked back to his eldest son. "To begin with, you need to remember that it was normal and acceptable for parents to smack their kids when they misbehaved. If I recall, you were often in bother at school too, where it was even legal for the teacher to hit you with that cane. You did get in trouble a lot and were often being lippy-"

Spencer interrupted his father by practically laughing in his face. He looked to Bruce whilst pointing at Trevor. "Are you hearing this wanker?" he asked. In a split second, Spencer stopped laughing and looked directly to his father again. "Lippy? Yeah, that's going back to that whole thing about respect again. As the years went on, I had none left for you... Now, back to the fishing trip," he persisted. "Did you ever think about how much that could damage a kid?!"

"Hey. I wasn't making excuses, I was just stating that much of it was normal, that most parents did it. But I took it too far. You were just a kid and it did turn into bullying," he admitted. He thought back to the fishing trip and nodded his head as any parts he had forgotten about came back to him. "What I did, especially tripping you up in front of the others that day, it was inexcusable. I was the biggest child there. Instead of taking those comments on the chin and being proud of your achievement, I took my own embarrassment out on you." He reached up to run his hand over his hair, shaking his head in disappointment. "All of that shit, the way I hurt Laura, you, your brothers, and I've no doubt hurt Harper too... I've spent years hating myself for it. I can't take that shit back, but I want to make up for it."

Spencer quickly shook his head. "There's no way any of us could ever trust a thing that comes out of your mouth... And, for the record, I don't care what is and isn't legal. I would never raise a hand to my kid, no matter how much he misbehaved. Maybe if you weren't such a c--t to Mum and the rest of us, I might not have been so mouthy with you."

Spencer turned to Bruce, with an uncertain look in his eyes. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand in the same room as Trevor without doing something he might end up regretting. He didn't know what to do with Trevor but didn't want to discuss it in front of the man. He didn't want to tell Trevor to step out of the room if it wasn't what Bruce had in mind, but he hoped his uncle would get the idea about what he was thinking.

Pyroclast (Bruce)

 

[BasDorcha]

Sullivan Family Home
Michelle Romano​

]Michelle looked at her drink, swirling it thoughtfully. The divorce had brought up a lot of unexpected feelings over the last two years. She thought about the fact that her mom had dealt with ongoing depression for a while after she left Dublin the last time. Sure, monetarily they had what they needed until Alex married her stepdad, and he took over finances. Mom had never spoken out of line about Aliana or anything with the situation, but Chelle had seen it all her life.

“You both assume my mother may have said something, or that I’m uneducated about the situation – but I saw the depression my mother went through afterwards. She went up and down for years after we left Dublin. It tore her up loosing Dad. She had hoped she could give me a real family, and eventually she did, but do you know what it’s like growing up knowing that there’s a whole other side to your family that only sees you once or twice a year? He was over here, moved on, having a happy family, while I watch my mom go through days of dealing with darkness.”

Michelle also knew it was a chemical imbalance, but when her mom had been around her dad, it didn’t seem as bad then. “My mother didn’t have to tell me. She tried so hard to paint a picture of perfect civility, but she was never the best at telling me what she really felt about the situation, but there’s nothing else that explains why… she was the way she was.” Michelle lost some of her momentum and mumbled to a stop. This was the reason she tried so hard to make things work for her own kids, with her ex-husband. She wanted to prevent her kids feeling this way.

Sighing, she reached for the pitched and poured her drink back to the top. She had failed her kids, and made the same mistake her mother had, leaving her children to have split holidays and only seeing their father at certain times. A few tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them back, still staring at the drink. She had felt miserable lately. Michelle had practiced keeping her issues to herself, it helped with her small political career, but alcohol always brought it out the worst.

“It’s not a blame game. It’s a fact. Regardless of how it go to the point, Dad loved you more than Mom. I’m not stupid, I know you don’t choose who you love, but if Dad had never met you, he may have loved mom enough to stay. Could be I was the problem though, I suppose. Dad didn’t want a family with us, and my husband didn’t either.”

Mentions: Conor/Sinny - @Misty Gray , Aliana - @Melanin-Gxdess

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Le Hosptial
~ London, England ~​

While Harper was absolutely shocked when Jeremy just up and left, she couldn't bring herself to say anything when he did. Her mind had been willing her to, screaming at her to fucking say something but she was in a daze.

She was left with her thoughts and the stupid beeping heart monitor. Harper was trying to think if she had done the right thing. Surely it was the noblest thing to do right now, he didn't deserve to get dragged into her shit. Most people would appreciate the fact that they were upfront about that. Jeremy was anything but appreciative and that made Harper angry. He just didn't understand but then again, did she actually understand her reasoning?

She couldn't lose someone she loved again. What Harper had told Billy about her girlfriend had been hard enough when he came out to her. Harper had been completely alone in her grief when the person she thought she could see spending the rest of her life with killed themselves in a selfish act. After Harper's own brush with death, she wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night knowing Jeremy could go through the same thing she did. Though Harper's death wouldn't be her own decision, of course.

Harper's eyes watered and burned as her lip trembled in a rare moment of emotion since surviving that explosion. A sob formed in her chest, causing it to heave and she cried out in pain as the pressure stretched her broken ribs. She sucked in a deep breath and held it, trying to rein in her tears as she shook her head. Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep. Her heart rate accelerated, causing the monitor to scream at her to calm down. In her frustration, Harper pulled off the stickies from her chest, bringing the whole monitor to tip over and crash to the ground.

The silence was deafening as Harper looked towards the door, wondering if any of the nurses heard. When no one came she placed her head in her hands, digging her nails into her face as she dragged them down it. A small knock on the door sounded and Harper didn't look up as Greg walked into the room silently. When she did look up, she was enraged by the sight of him. "Out! Now!" She screamed at him with such force that it scared herself. He tried to reason with her and Harper shook her head, "Did I stutter?! Stand outside the door!" He froze on the spot, "What are you waiting for?! GO!" Harper screamed and as Greg hurried out of the room, a group of nurses pushed past him.

Seeing the heart monitor on the floor and the redness of her face, they insisted that she needed to calm down but Harper wasn't going to calm down. Sensing this, one of them ordered more meds and a sedative, and Harper shook her head stubbornly before ripping her I.V. out from her arm. She tried to swing out of bed, causing her to cry out in pain again. She felt crazy. Maybe she was crazy? While trying not to hurt her, the nurses fought to keep her in bed. Harper swung her arms, grasping at everything and anyone she could. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her, she was never one to act like this. Sure she was mad at Jeremy but normally she let stuff like that slide off her back. Harper felt out of control.

She clocked a nurse near her in the jaw, sending her spiraling towards the ground, and just when Harper was standing, the prick of a needle in her neck caused her to gasp. Taking a wobbling step forward on her casted leg, her knees felt like jelly, and a rush of cold flooded her body. She fell sideways away from the bed but a few male nurses caught her before she hit the ground. Harper had been placed back in bed as she stared up at the white ceiling the last thing she heard was the doctor explaining her agitation must have been from the morphine before she fell into a medically induced coma to keep her complacent.

mentions: Jerky Jerk BasDorcha

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Savannah Callahan & Callum King
​

Although there was an atmosphere around them, Savannah was grateful that Shona managed to smile back at her and reached out to hold her hand. The blonde nodded her head when Shona spoke quietly to tell her it meant a lot. She understood it was a difficult situation, after everything that had happened. As well as the trouble Conor had caused, Savannah hated that between everything, she had to lose people, like Shona, who she had been friends with for some time. Shona was about to tell her something, which sounded serious, but before the woman could finish, Billy entered the main bar area and he looked extremely troubled. Knowing something beyond her arrival was going on for the Kings, she turned to look at Danny, sending him an apologetic look in case she had just brought him into the middle of even more problems than they'd already anticipated.

Once Billy noticed Callum, his mood visibly softened as he greeted his nephew. Savannah couldn't help but smile fondly as she watched him happily interact with the boy, who excitedly laughed in response to being hugged. The boy always liked roughhousing and he was clearly pleased to see his uncle again. Billy's face fell serious when he set eyes on Savannah, causing her to match his expression. He told her now wasn't a good time, obviously causing her to think he was referring to the aftermath of the explosion. "When would the time be?" she rhetorically asked. There was no way she could stay in Dublin knowing what had happened and even if she stopped having feelings for Alex some time ago, he was Callum's father and she had to know he was okay.

Billy soon announced he was going to the bar, causing Savannah to look back towards the bar, her eyes were drawn to Kerry who was dealing with some other customers. Savannah didn't begrudge her friend for choosing a side, especially after how horrible Conor had been about not letting her come to Dublin. Still, it did hurt to realise she'd probably lost another friend as a result of both her break-up with Alex and her uncle's recent actions.

With the way Shona grabbed Billy's sleeve and seemed to be questioning him, there had to be something going on with the Kings. Savannah looked away, checking Callum was still okay and close by. She then turned to Danny and let out a sigh. "Are you okay?" she asked him. Although she felt extremely uncomfortable, she didn't intend on walking away. Callum wanted to see his father and Savannah wasn't going to deprive him of that just to spare her own discomfort.

Savannah looked around just in time to see Alex walking into view. He looked even angrier than Billy had and he only frowned more when he saw her. He was about to address her in what she could only deem an unpleasant manner, but he cut himself off upon seeing Callum. Savannah folded her arms and stayed quiet as she gave Alex and Callum the chance to catch up with each other. Callum smiled brightly when Alex informed him he had a gift for him and that he could get his from his jacket pocket. "Oh wow. Sure! I've got a present for you too," he proudly informed him. Callum set about finding Alex's coat, taking his backpack from Savannah's hand in the process, so he could rummage for the gift he'd brought for Alex.

As she watched Callum for a brief moment, she couldn't help but pick up on a few words as Alex spoke to Shona. It sounded like Trevor was back in the picture. Given what she'd been told about the man back when she was close to the family, it made sense tensions would be even higher than expected. She turned back to face Alex when he addressed her directly, wanting to know why she was there. "I came here so Callum could spend time with you and your family," she firmly told him. "What happened to the nightclub had nothing to do with me and I will not have anyone dictate how or when I let my son see his father," she informed him, clearly unhappy with the arrangements that had been previously made. She wasn't letting Conor decide when Callum could see the Kings. "After what just happened, I couldn't stay away. I know you and others have formed this bad impression of me, but I would never keep you from seeing our son."

Melanin-Gxdess (Alex) Pyroclast (Danny, Shona)

 

[Misty Gray]

May Thatcher's Place
~ East London ~

Christian Brooks​

The way Tom had been looking at Christian seemed to ease after a time. The private investigator felt some relief at that, but at the same time, he wasn't sure why he even cared what May's brother thought about him. He was just helping her to find her biological father, after all. Business was business, right? Tom soon stood up from the table and took the dishes to the kitchen sink. Christian caught May's eyes as she looked to him and apologised for kicking him. She also explained how Tom was overprotective. "Don't worry about it. Here I was thinking I'd be having a boring Sunday," he lightly told her. When she asked if she owed him anything for helping her, he thought for a moment. Usually he would want some payment up front, but given that the identity of her father was already looking like a complicated matter, it didn't feel right taking anything from her yet. As much as he hated it, he may never be permitted to tell her the truth on this one. "Nah, not yet. I'm willing to waive the deposit as a reward for this fine meal," he told her.

When Tom returned, he told May he was going to stay in a hotel for the night and would come see her the following morning. He didn't waste much time before leaving the apartment. May then went on to apologise again, in case Tom had said anything weird. Christian quickly shook his head to tell her there was no need to apologise. He'd encountered protective brothers and fathers before. When she asked if he still wanted to go out to the club, he smiled back at her, not doubting she would have the perfect dress for the twenties night. The way she blushed and played with her hair made it clear that this may be considered a date. Christian was attracted to her and he indeed wanted to go out with her that night, on a date. However, the photograph in his pocket was a reminder of why he couldn't. Not yet. If he was made to keep secrets and lies from May, then he wouldn't be a trustworthy person for her. He could not in good conscience get close to her if he was lying to her.

"What are you doing to me, May Thatcher?" he quietly asked her. Clearing his throat, he lightly shook his head. "As much as I would like to go out with you this evening, I shouldn't let myself get distracted from our business together. How about I work on this case first and once I have some information for you, then we can arrange a night out?" he asked. He expected a bright and attractive woman like May wouldn't care either way, but he still approached the matter in a delicate manner.

BasDorcha (May)

 

[Bellz]

Blake McCarthy
Adam Harper's House
~ Drumcondra, Dublin ~​

Blake nodded her head in understanding when Adam said he hadn’t said anything about her to Elena yet. There wasn’t any need to at the time because they both were unsure of where they were going to be. Blake completely understood. The blonde let out a small laugh, "Crazy how long we decided to hold out on each other, isn’t it? I’m a complete flirt when I’m drunk. I feel like Ali thinks I’m coming on to her sometimes but how could I not, she’s gorgeous!" Blake said teasingly with a wink before Adam went on to say that he would tell Elena and that he wanted her to know all about Blake as well as her kids "I think Nat and her would get along nicely, they are around the same age right?"

Blake had grown worried regardless of her confidence and Adam reached out to caress her cheek, causing her to look at him with a soft smile. "You’re right." She murmured, "I’ve rarely met people I’ve not liked and vice versa. If she’s anything like you then I’m sure she’s absolutely wonderful." She hummed sweetly before he leaned in to kiss her. She smiled into the kiss, enjoying the moment before he pulled away and flashed her a boyish grin. Blake raised an eyebrow as he asked how hungry she was on a scale of one to ten. "Depends on what you mean by hungry, sir." She teased.

"If we are talking food, I'm about a 7 out of 10. I am feeling like a burger and some fries, can you make that happen?" Blake said before moving closer to him on the couch until she was able to swing her leg over his lap and sit on it facing him. "If you are talking about another kind of hunger...then I'm about a 10 out of 10. And maybe after," She said, her fingers slowly crawling up his chest. "You can remind me of exactly what I’ve been missing out on since we’ve been apart?" Blake asked, biting her lower lip. "I feel like I can't quite remember our last time together when we...ya know? I might need a refresher. A reintroduction if you will."

"I’m not expected to be home tonight, so we can make this an all-nighter if you aren’t too old for that now." She said, a devilish smile forming on her lips.
with: Adam Misty Gray

 

[Misty Gray]

Adam Harper's House
~ Drumcondra, Dublin ~

Adam Harper​

Blake asked if Elena and Natasha were around the same age, prompting Adam to pause to think before nodding his head in confirmation. "Yeah, they are. I reckon they would get along. And there's a few in Nat and Thomas' friend group around the same age. I think Elena will have a really good shot at settling in here," he reasoned.

As expected, Blake caught on to the hidden meaning behind his question about how hungry she was. Of course, if she really did want food more than anything else, he was going to go right ahead and order takeout. "Oh, you know what I mean, Ma'am," he teased in return. "If that seven is going to rush right up to a ten, then I will make sure you get your burger now..." he assured her. When she moved closer and went to sit on his lap, he mischievously grinned as he studied her face. She then went on to cover the other kind of hunger, prompting him to knowingly nod his head. "Oh, you know that's what I'm talking about... A ten is pretty urgent, so I guess that burger will have to wait." He rested both hands on her hips as she moved her fingers up his chest. "I'm not sure if I should be offended or consider it a challenge that you can't remember the last time. Gotta up my game, huh?" he teased.

Adam playfully grinned when Blake said she was able to pull an all-nighter. "I've got plenty more years left in me, love. How about I give you that refresher now and prove it? We can work up that appetite." Adam move his hands up to Blake's waist, nudging her forward a little as he leaned in to kiss her. He allowed the kiss to grow more passionate but soon broke away so he could lift his shirt off over his head. He flashed Blake a smirk before moving to help her remove her top. After running both hands down her back, he moved them back up to unhook her bra. Adam looked up into her eyes before moving his hands down to the back of her thighs. He swiftly stood up, lifting her up with him from her position straddling his lap. He then turned so he could put her down on the sofa on her back and get on top of her...

[FADE TO BLACK]​

Bellz (Blake)

 

[Pyroclast]

Syd's House
~ Nowhereville ~

Syd Porter
​

Still turned away from her, Syd pinched the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat, in a hurry to regain control of his emotions. “I’m sorry,” he said, attempting a more cheerful tone to make her see that he was really okay. “God, I shouldn't be - I don't know what this is, I'm sorry -”

Syd eventually turned around but her words still weren't easy to listen to. Never had he expected Roxie to change her perspective on what had happened between them - mostly because he had changed his. "Roxie, I might have been right about your family but what I did to you was wrong," he tried to remind her. "I know things look different in hindsight but at the time, you were right to be upset. You were right to leave me."

Once, Syd had wanted her to understand why he had spied on her family, but he had long since accepted that what he had done was wrong and that he didn't deserve Roxie's forgiveness. Now that she was finally seeing things from his perspective back then, it didn't seem helpful or productive at all. All it was doing was upsetting her and sending her to spiral down into a tangled web of pointless regrets.

He knew where this was coming from - her anger towards Ricky and grief over Matthew were combining into what seemed to be some kind of misplaced guilt. He had to listen to her blame herself for Matthew’s death, for the trauma their children were suffering as a result. Syd just stared at her, open-mouthed, completely taken aback by her outburst. Only a moment ago they had been decorating a room for their son’s thirteenth birthday party and now Roxie was crying, filled with self-hatred and guilt that she couldn’t contain. Well, Syd knew what it felt like to become suddenly overwhelmed with those kinds of feelings. They were ones he had been battling against since his first day as a member of the Irish Mob. He understood guilt and grief and self-hatred and how suddenly they could surface, and how hard they were to bury again.

She was going so fast that Syd couldn’t get a word in to try and calm her down. He tried to shake his head but she reached up to hold his head in her hands, looking firmly into his eyes. When she admitted that she had spent over a decade trying to convince herself that she didn’t love him, Syd’s jaw dropped open again and he tried to look away as tears threatened to prick at his eyes again. The grief and guilt he could understand, but this regret seemed to come out of nowhere and he didn’t want to believe that she meant it. It was far more likely to him that she was just spiralling - she couldn’t possibly mean it, not after what he did to drive her away, not after she had got engaged to the perfect Matthew Moore. Not after he had spent thirteen years trying to get over her.

“Roxie, please!” he begged, wishing he could just calm her down so he could tell her how wrong she was about everything being her fault. But then, before he knew what was happening, she had her lips pressed against his. At first he froze, then his heart started racing - and before he knew it, he was kissing her back. When she pulled away, his head was left spinning. Speechless, he just stood there with a dumb look on his face as she began to apologise. Her lips were just as soft as he remembered, and her touch somehow had the same effect on him as it had all those years ago. It felt wrong this time, of course, but also safe, familiar, romantic…and suddenly reminded him just how much he missed her.

His racing heart didn’t slow down as he was left gazing into her glistening blue eyes. In fact, when she suggested that she should probably go, he was overcome with an urge to stop her. Just as she moved away, he caught her by the waist and reeled her back in, bringing his lips to meet hers in a magnetic kiss. The whole world seemed to stop - time, reality, everything. It could have been 1972 all over again for all he knew - his mind was entirely fixated on her.

Interactions​

Bellz Roxie

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Billy King​

The cool evening air was a relief after the stifling atmosphere of the pub's back room. Billy sucked in a long drag of his cigarette, adding to the tension already constricting his lungs, and when he tried to exhale he realised he couldn't breathe properly. He wrapped his arms around himself as what felt like a horrible mix of fear and anger coiled around his chest, though he had no idea what he was afraid of. The energy coursed through his veins like a burning fire, begging him to shout and scream and throw his fists.

Before the intensity could reach a peak, however, the pub door opened and Billy backed up against the wall, bringing the cigarette back to his lips and trying to act casual. His first thought was that Bruce or Spencer had sent for him - maybe to help dispose of a body - but when the man stepped out into the street he only saw Erik, and he somehow knew why the man had followed him outside.

Exhaling a shaky cloud of smoke, Billy did his best to repress the anger and panic. “Hey,” he mumbled, stiffly. Never having been in this situation before, of course, Billy had no idea what to do or how to feel - but now that Erik was with him, he knew he wanted the man to stay. That is, until he made some remark about him smoking cigarettes. “Fuck off,” he muttered in response, still trying to get his breath back. He didn’t mean it literally, of course. “Sorry, I just…I don’t know what I’m doing. He just came out of fuckin’ nowhere…” Even though the panic was still constricting his chest, Billy already knew he would rather be outside with Erik than walk back through the doors of the pub. Dropping the half-finished cigarette on the ground, Billy raised a hand to his head and then looked at Erik, instantly finding comfort in his safe blue eyes. “Can we just -” He stepped forward suddenly, stopping only inches from Erik’s chest, and let out a strained breath. He dropped his gaze, a blush coming to his cheeks from being so close to him. Suddenly he knew what to do with all his pent up energy. “Let’s get out of ‘ere.”

Aware that there were people around, Billy grabbed Erik’s wrist roughly and pulled him away. He turned down the narrow alleyway around the back of the pub, under the sheltered rear exit, and once they were alone he pushed Erik up against the wall. Somehow, being out of the light, out of the public eye and out of the pub, Billy finally felt like he had escaped. The alcohol in his system suddenly hit him and all the panic and anger fell away, replaced by desire and excitement. His heart was beating heavily still but this time it was purely for Erik. Trevor didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered - nothing but the two of them, alone, in that moment…

In a burst of passion, Billy sprung up and pressed his lips to Erik’s. His whole body came alight as a hot tingling sensation swept through him from head to toe. All those voices in his head that had told him it would feel wrong and disgusting, that it would leave him feeling dirty, Billy didn’t believe them anymore. In fact, nothing in his whole life had ever felt more natural.

Interactions
Melanin-Gxdess Erik

 

[Pyroclast]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Bruce King​

It was interesting for Bruce to see how Spencer interacted with his father. While he still wasn’t pleased about the fact he had never told him of Trevor’s previous visit, he couldn’t deny that the man seemed fully able to deal with the man without Bruce’s help. The way he stood up to him, put him in his place, fought him with the utmost strength - he was far beyond the 13 year old boy that Trevor had first left.

Once Spencer had corrected him on the reason Billy and Alex had walked out and reminded him of where he stood, he again prompted Trevor to recall the fishing trip. It didn’t surprise him in the slightest to hear the man shrug off responsibility yet again, excusing the way he treated his son on societal norms and on Spencer’s behaviour. Bruce could feel himself getting riled up from his words, but Spencer seemed able to react enough for both of them, so he allowed him to get his anger out instead.

It was hard to tell what Trevor really believed in. He kept dropping remarks that made him sound exactly like the manipulative, cruel, irresponsible waste of oxygen Bruce had used to know, but then he would change suddenly and apologise or reel off a full admission of responsibility that sounded like something a therapist may have taught him. It turned out he did remember the fishing trip and what he had done, which to Bruce made it sound like he had thought about it since, suggesting that he had felt guilty about it at some point. Of course, guilt didn’t excuse his actions - and neither did the belated acknowledgement of what he had done.

Bruce couldn’t help but look away when Trevor mentioned how he had hurt Laura. The way her name sounded in his voice made his skin crawl, like he didn’t have the right to ever talk about her after he had ruined her life and brought it to a premature end. The man explained that he had been hating himself for what he had done to her and to his children, but Bruce didn’t care in the slightest. Thankfully Spencer wasn’t falling for it either, immediately standing up to him and challenging his words. However, based on the choice of language he used and the look he sent him afterwards, Bruce could tell that Spencer was reaching the end of his tether.

“Stay there,” Bruce commanded in a low voice, with a finger pointed in Trevor’s direction. “Don’t wanna hear another fuckin’ word out your mouth.”

Trusting Spencer to keep the man in his place, he moved towards the exit and opened the door. Avoiding everyone’s gaze, Bruce beckoned Kane over. He held the door open for the bodyguard and said, “You take this one, ‘ere. Don’t let ‘im leave, don’t let ‘im talk to no one. In fact, he opens his mouth, you knock his teeth out, got it?”

Once Trevor had left with Kane, Bruce stepped back into the room and shut the door, now alone with Spencer. “Obviously we need to figure out what the fuck we’re doin’ with ‘im,” he pointed out, walking over to his nephew. He perched on the edge of the desk so that he was directly facing Spencer, and folded his arms. “But first, I think you’ve got some explainin’ of your own to do, don’t ya’?” His eyes were serious as they bore into Spencer’s, clearly not happy with what his nephew had kept from him. “You had twelve years to tell me, Spencer.” He paused, giving the younger man an expectant shrug. “Now I can admit, the fact you managed to handle it on your own makes me proud. That assures me that when I kick the bucket, you’ll step into my shoes and never trip. But Spencer, that trust I have in you, I don’t appreciate you takin’ advantage of it. I understand you wanted to protect your brothers and your sister but I don’t need you protectin’ me. You make a natural leader, but I ain’t dead yet, son, so don’t you ever lie to me again. Do you ‘ear me?"

Once the minor issue had been addressed, Bruce gave a sigh before turning the conversation back onto Trevor. "Now, it ain't you I'm really angry at, obviously," he clarified. "But that fuckin' prick there's gotta' be dealt with. Personally I don't feel like we have to kill him. I don't care about the fucker enough to risk anyone goin' down for his murder. What I do know is, I don't want 'im anywhere fuckin' near Harper. Or your brothers for that matter. And if he even so much as looks at Callum or Edward I ain't opposed to pullin' his fuckin' eyeballs out their sockets." Bruce clenched his jaw as he considered doing it regardless. He was still reeling from seeing the man's face after so many years. "Maybe we just ship 'im off somewhere far away, where he ain't got no one to bother. I don't give a flyin' fuck if he's sorry or if he wants to make up for what he did. There ain't nothin' he can do to make me okay with 'im bein' around, so if he's about to worm his way into our lives again, he ain't gonna get far."

Interactions
Misty Gray Spencer

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Spencer King and Trevor Stewart​

Spencer maintained a stoic expression when Bruce seemed to pick up on his cue and commanded Trevor to stay put while he left the office. On the inside, he was relieved that he might be able to get a few minutes without having to look at his father or even have him in the room at all. He wasn't intimidated by the man like was had been as a kid. What he was scared of what that if he spent much longer in the same room as Trevor he would end up killing him on impulse and getting himself into a whole other kind of mess. With Bruce out of the room to find Kane, the office fell into a short silence as Spencer stared his father down. If ever there was a time for Trevor to let his mask slip and belittle his son like he had all those years ago, Spencer expected it would be now. For whatever reason, Trevor stayed quiet ad didn't engage in some cocky remark while there were not witnesses. Spencer really didn't know if that was more frustrating. At least he would know where he stood if Trevor displayed his old behaviour. "What are you playing at? You couldn't just stay gone?" Spencer lowly asked.

"I'm not playing at anything-" Trevor began, but fell silent when he heard footsteps approaching the office. Bruce soon opened the door and told Kane to keep Trevor in line outside the office. Even a man as cocksure as Trevor wasn't about to go pissing off Bruce's hulk of a bodyguard. He was sure the man would indeed love nothing more than to knock out his teeth, so Trevor made a point of keeping his mouth shut as she stepped out the office.

Once it was just the two of them, Spencer listened as Bruce pointed out that they needed to decide what to do with Trevor. There wasn't time for the younger man to think of an answer as Bruce perched against the desk, arms folded, and pointed out Spencer had some explaining to do first. Spencer knew it was coming since the moment Trevor had let slip about the matter in the bar. Still, it didn't make it any easier now, with his uncle practically staring him down. Spencer briefly closed his eyes and nodded when Bruce pointed out he'd kept quiet for twelve years. As a kid, Spencer had hated getting in trouble because it tended to mean a crack across the back of the head and some kind of verbal put-down from his father, But something about being berated by his uncle felt worse. After everything his uncle had done for him, Spencer hated feeling like he'd let the man down. Bruce was the only person Spencer looked up to and the thought that he'd disappointed him was hard to swallow. It wasn't that Spencer believed he was wrong to pay Trevor to disappear back then, but he knew he shouldn't have gone behind his uncle's back.

Spencer opened his eyes again, looking to Bruce as the man admitted he was at least proud of him for handling the situation. The older man was assured that Spencer would be able to take his place if something were to happen to him. However, any relief was short-lived when Bruce said he didn't appreciate him going behind his back and warned him not to lie to him again. "I just wanted him gone before he had chance to get to any of ya. I didn't want him here putting hope in anyone's minds, especially as Billy and Harper were pretty much still kids. And yeah, I didn't think you needed to see him either. I blamed myself for not protecting Mum, so in some way I thought it was something I had to fix myself that time around. Like it was my second chance to stop him hurting us." Spencer shook his head, worried he was sounding like his father making excuses for lying. "Look. Forget my excuses... I still believe I was right to make him disappear as soon as he showed up, but I know it was wrong of me not to tell you. I've never lied to you about anything else and I'm sorry I did that time," he apologised, making sure to maintain eye-contact to reflect his sincerity.

Spencer nodded when Bruce confirmed he wasn't really angry with him. From the way the man then spoke about Trevor, it was clear his father hadn't managed to redirect any of Bruce's anger onto Spencer. "As much as I want to kill him, I don't want to get done for his murder. I know if I was him - thank fuck I'm not - I wouldn't have strutted in here without some kind of insurance. I mean, public place and all that is why he knew we wouldn't kill him here." Spencer nodded when his uncle said he didn't want him near any of their younger family members. "Piece of shit better not go anywhere near 'em, else I might not hold back from earning myself a murder charge." Spencer pushed some loose hair back, away his face as he battled the many thoughts flooding his mind. Bruce suggested shipping Trevor off somewhere away from them all. The older man made it clear there was nothing Trevor could do to fix all of the horrible things he'd done in the past.

Spencer rubbed his chin as he thought it over. Of course he wanted Trevor well out of their lives, especially where he couldn't have any kind of effect on Billy and Harper. "That piece of shit's not making himself cosy with our family - he wasted his fucking chance. But I want to know why he's here. This so-called business he has, that story about being in an accident. The man never gave us reason to trust him in the past, so I want to know what his deal is. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I just don't believe he showed up here out of the kindness of his pathetic heart. What if he's got some kind of leverage - something to make him so confident he can just stroll on in here one day and expect to walk back out again?" Spencer folded his arms. "We could get Christian up off his arse to do some investigating?"

Pyroclast (Bruce)

 

[Bellz]

Lucy Porter
Finn Sullivan
Syd Porter's House
~ 6969 Nunyanfookinbusiness Dr. Dublin, Ireland ~ ​

Lucy had let out a laugh, leaning into her husband as he put his arm around her. She watched as James shifted uncomfortably in his seat at mention of Syd and Roxie decorating in the other room. Raising her brow, she listened as he questioned whether it was a good idea to leave the two of them alone. Scoffing, Lucy rolled her eyes and waved a hand at him. "James Ronan Porter, I am full of fabulous ideas. Besides, they are two grown adults. They can stay in there and decorate together if they wish or they don’t have to. I simply suggested they could do it together." Lucy nagged before offering James a small smile. "Don’t you trust me?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him like she’d done a million times before.

"Suggested?" Finn asked, "You were pretty demanding, Luce. You run a tight ship even when you aren’t in your own home." Her cousin teased to which Lucy scoffed again, "Oh hush you!" She said rather harshly though there was a large playful smile on her face.

When she had moved the conversation onto Robert and Melissa, Lucy clapped her hands together excitedly at the prospect of having them home. "Oh that’s so great!!" She exclaimed quietly, making sure she wasn’t too loud. "I don’t find the appeal of New York anyway. I think I’ve realized I enjoy the silence that the night offers here. Being able to hear the crickets sing. And also being able to see the stars. The amount of smog in that city was enough to suffocate someone." The blonde said as she shook her head.

"All these kids are growing up too fast, it seems like yesterday they were all tots running around and breaking all of my good china." Lucy said with a sigh as she looked to James before looking to George and Finn. "Now we just have grown men breaking my champagne tower." Her eyes narrowed, "Though I think Leo and Thomas have made up, I’m still not over all that hard work I put in going to waste." The blonde huffed, folding her arms. "That’s the last time I’ll be doing that."

"But your kids have always been so well behaved, you two. All of us parents who had to deal with the chaos that is our children are very jealous. But they have such good role models in their lives that I’m not surprised in the slightest. Georgie and you are the smartest people I know." Lucy said to Finn, smiling at him before smiling at George. "What is Robert and Melissa studying again? Excuse my poor memory, I’m becoming more senile by the minute."
with: James + George Misty Gray

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Alex King, Darcey Hargraves

​

Hearing Savannah explain to him that she was the only one allowed to dictate when Callum would see him and not Conor, Alex let out a sharp scoff. "A little too late for that sentiment, don't you think?" He bitterly responded. For the past few months, it seemed as if Conor were standing in the way of Alex seeing Callum. Savannah seemed to offer little to no support and Alex found her arguments truly lacking the conviction she displayed now. However, he believed if she had responded this way months ago then maybe things would be different. Maybe Conor wouldn't have gone and beat up Spencer for trying to stand up for him. Maybe Conor would have had a little more thought about bombing the nightclub and thought about the possibility of his entire family being inside. Alas, that wasn't the case and it was now too little too late.

Watching as Callum ran back over to him with his wallet in hand, Alex managed a smile and knelt down to the ground. "Right, so," he started, reaching inside, pulling out a 20. "This is for you to spend on whatever you want." He handed the boy the money before putting his wallet into his back pocket. "You can spend it on snacks, toys. Whatever you want, yeah?" After ruffling the boy's hair again he stood up to face Savannah once more. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak he heard the back room opening and watched as Bruce emerged. His eyes followed his uncle and he noticed the darkened expression on his face - understanding the reason behind it. When Kane walked with Bruce to retrieve Trevor, Alex instinctively pulled Callum closer to him, resting his hand on his head. There was no way in this world Alex was going to allow Trevor to come anywhere near Callum, let alone breathe the same air as him.

Darcey looked up the moment Kane's hulking figure moved from his post by the door. Looking to Bruce, she noticed how he seemed focused on a particular goal - not looking at anyone sitting in the room. She worried about what Trevor's appearance was doing to him and what later issues they'd have to deal with because of it. As Darcey had been around for what seemed to be a lifetime, she shared the sentiment of hating Trevor and what he had done to the people she considered to be her family. Noticing how antsy about Spencer Shona was getting, Darcey turned to her with Eddie outstretched. "Here, love. I'm afraid that if I hold on to him for too much longer I'll end up wanting one of my own," she joked, attempting to calm her nerves. Once the men had gone once more she turned her attention to Savannah, Alex, and Danny as they spoke.

Alex was still on edge and trying to keep his emotions under control was proving to be very difficult. Unless you were paying attention, one could miss the way he was shaking and how rigid he stood. It wasn't that Trevor had scared Alex, but it did bring up subconscious emotions he never knew he had about the man. He worried that he would find some way to his kid and hurt him in some sort of way, but Alex would never even allow the man within a foot of him. Taking a deep breath he finally looked back up at Savannah and shook his head. "Now's not-," his voice wavered and he had to pinch the bridge of his nose to get himself under control. Seeing this Darcey slid her seat back a bit before calling out to Callum. "Hey, I didn't get a hug when you came in!" She said, trying to give Alex an opening to speak to Savannah without Callum listening.

It took a moment before he moved his feet, but once he had he walked towards her and gently grabbed her elbow to pull her to the side. He glanced suspiciously to Danny - considering he had never met the man before, yet here he was walking around with his ex and his child - before turning back to Savannah. "Look," he said in a low voice, "As you can see, we're dealing with something bigger than your uncle right now and I- I can't take Callum tonight." As much as he knew it would break his son's heart, he knew in the state he was in he wouldn't be able to be the fun dad right now. His mind was scattered and he'd be too distracted - maybe even take his frustrations out on him and that was the last thing he wanted. "I'm fucked in the head and I'm not goin' to upset the kid so can you just-," with a heavy sigh, Alex crossed his arms. Asking her to show sympathy for him when he had shown her none in the past was coming out extremely difficult. "For tonight, just keep him. I'll pick him up tomorrow."

***
Erik Snowden​

Erik let out a brief chuckle hearing Billy tell him to fuck off. He hadn't taken it personally, knowing tensions were high and he was probably overwhelmed. With his hands in his pockets, Erik kicked at the ground with his foot while listening as he quickly apologized. "Don't be. You're upset and you're allowed to be upset," he stated with a shrug of his shoulders. Though Erik had a very different set of daddy issues - though he definitely would have preferred Roger just abandoning him - he still understood the emotions behind it. Through the rumors, he heard the man hadn't been around for the majority of Billy's life and this was the first time he had seen him. Overwhelmed probably didn't even begin to explain how the man had felt about all of this. Erik nodded his head when he told him he came out of nowhere and noticed him getting antsy. It could have been the anxiety of the whole situation, coupled with everything else that was going on, that had set him on this path and Erik felt bad. He hadn't done anything and knew this, but he wished there was something he could do.

The moment the two of them locked eyes, Erik's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't anything new - the way his body reacted to Billy - but fuck if it didn't send chills down his spine. Billy suddenly leave from the front of the pub and before Erik could suggest someplace else, Billy was already pulling him along. Erik's feet skipped along the ground until he was able to catch up with Billy and his movements. "Where are we going?" He asked curiously as they turned down an alley. Really he shouldn't have been surprised by his actions - Billy had done such things numerous times in the past. Taking him places and not telling him; wanting to keep it a surprise. An alley was no different and it could've just been somewhere away from all the people and all the noise... Until it wasn't.

Billy kissed him. And not some small, insignificant kiss either. He'd pressed Erik up against the wall and caught him off guard - his face turning red because of it. Erik had dreamt about this moment and though it was under different circumstances and a different taste, he'd melted. His heart was beating faster than he ever felt before and he wondered if Billy would be able to hear it. Erik brought his hands up to Billy's cheeks and held his face in his hands as he passionately returned his kiss. He'd never thought he'd fall for someone so quickly and even stay interested in them for so long, but Billy had changed that completely. Just when he figured it would never happen and they would continue to share fleeting moments, Billy had gone and kissed him. He broke the kiss only to catch his breath, pressing his forehead down to Billy's. "It's about time," he whispered before wrapping his arms around him and pulling him in for a hug.

Bruce, Shona, Billy ( Pyroclast )
Spencer ( Misty Gray )

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Sullivan Family Home
~Dublin, Ireland~

Aliana Sullivan

​

Michelle mentioned Alex being depressed and even torn up over the ending of her relationship with Conor and Ali looked surprised. If the woman had mentioned it to Conor, he had never said anything about it or even showed worry for the woman. Though it may not have been her place or her business to know about the mental state of her husband's ex, if she were talking about their past relationship and it was kept from her then Ali had a problem. However, that was a concern to bring up to her husband the moment he returned from New York. "Moved on?" She asked, letting out a scoff. "It ate your father up that you couldn't be here with us, but he knew you needed your mother and vice versa," she said, shaking her head. "Any lesser man would've said fuck it and kept you from her." As Aliana defended her husband, she downed the rest of her drink and blinked back tears. It wasn't just the anger at her step-daughter's audacity making her tear up, but the idea that she may have been right. She wondered if she could've done more to get Alex and Conor back together - that maybe the night he comforted her after finding out Tommy was killed shouldn't have happened.

Hearing that Alex apparently hadn't said anything - which Aliana still didn't believe was true - made her frown. "So, you're just coming to untrue conclusions from the eyes of a child? Without having all three sides of the story?" It was a rhetorical question as she was making sure Michelle understood how annoyed and disappointed she was right now. She was being attacked for what she felt was no reason. It was bad enough she was stressing about her husband being in enemy territory but now she was stressing about whether or not she actually was to blame in this situation. For years she felt bad about it and just as she was finally getting past it, Michelle brought it up to her again.

She turned to Michelle once more and the moment she stated Conor loved her more than Alex, tears left her eyes. It was something about the way she said it - the pain behind her voice that made it feel as if it were Alex speaking and not Michelle. Aliana and Alex had never really interacted - Aliana wanting to stay far away from a complicated and awkward interaction. But, she had seen what she looked like and Michelle resembled her so clearly. Ali's breathing got shallow while she fought the urge to start sobbing and she started rubbing the back of Sydney's head once more. The final words out of Michelle's mouth nearly broke her and Aliana had to shake her head to keep from crying. She felt horrible about the whole situation both past and present. Feeling useless was a horrible thing and these past weeks it's exactly what she had been feeling.

"For starters, Conor loves you the same way he loves Leo, Rhiannon, and Sydney because that's the sort of person he is - he loves all his kids. He wanted you here with us but to take a kid from their mother at such an age, especially when she was all you knew at the time, is selfish. You can hate me for your parents breaking up all you want but I won't let you bad mouth my husband." Hearing how much her voice cracked - from both how sore it still was and the tears - Ali carefully placed Sydney onto the spot next to her and stood up. The young girl had still been in her own world, oblivious to what was going on as Aliana started to quickly leave the room. "She needs juice," she mumbled, walking past Sinead. Her chest felt heavy and her throat felt tight - signs she was about to burst from holding in the tears for so long. She'd walked into the kitchen and stood in front of the sink, gripping the front edge before covering her mouth to muffle her cries.

Sinead ( Misty Gray
Michelle ( BasDorcha )

 

[Bellz]

Roxie Carriveau
Syd Porter's House
~ If the piano is plonking, don't come knocking ~ ​

The look on Syd’s face after she pulled away might have been funny if the seriousness of the situation weren’t weighing so heavily on Roxie’s shoulders. Her emotions were all over the place and even though she’d perfected keeping them contained and locked away she felt as though she were basically throwing them up all at once. "I shouldn’t have-" She started to say, wanting to make it clear that she was sincerely apologetic for kissing him. She was sorry that she’d put him in such a position but a selfish part of her wasn’t sorry at all. The guilt she was beginning to feel even more now that she’d acted impulsively was just about to grip her and never let her go but Syd beat it to it. His hands caught her waist, spinning her around until his lips pressed firmly against hers once more.

Roxie’s hands moved up his shoulder, into his hair as they had all those years ago. That hair never seemed completely brushed even though it was. It certainly wasn’t now as she ran her hands through it, pulling him as close to her as she physically could. The guilt that she had been feeling before was threatening to consume her and ruin the moment that she had been locked in. Roxie kissed back with such force and passion she felt like nothing had changed between them. For a moment, in the fever of the moment, it felt like perhaps they were back in 72' again, that they would break the kiss and none of the turmoil that had been through had happened. Matthew wouldn't have suffered, Ricky wouldn't have betrayed her. The kids would have parents who were happy together.

A few tears fell from Roxie's closed eyes, desperately wishing that things could be that simple. She broke the kiss for a moment, breathing heavily as she pressed her forehead against his. Her eyes watched Syd for a long moment and before he could say anything more, Roxie captured his lips with hers once more, effectively silencing him.

She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to cry. The guilt she felt and would feel after what they were about to do was something that she could deal with after today. In this very moment, it was just him and her, feeling what they needed to, saying more than either of them could ever put into words. Roxie was tired of people around her thinking she was perfect. Matthew had been the perfect one, he'd been the one that kept her grounded and on the right track. Roxie was a good person, she meant well...but for another small instance in her life, she was doing exactly what she wanted to do...even if it wasn't morally right. Never mind that her pure conscience was screaming at her, telling her what she was doing was wrong.

Roxie wasn't going to stop, not unless Syd insisted on it. Once again, she pulled away, moving her head back just a little bit to see his face. Her hands caressed his scruffy cheeks softly as her eyes looked from his lips to his own. The smallest of smiles formed on her face. Despite the separation, despite everything Roxie couldn't deny just how safe she felt in Syd's arms. Especially when everything felt like the whole world was about to cave in. She remembered the first time they kissed...after going shopping for a new dress after he spilled alcohol all over her favorite blue one. They were young and dumb then...Roxie had never really understood what it had felt like to be in love. As she looked into Syd's blue eyes, she was reminded of what it felt like.

She'd felt the same with Matthew after years of guarding her heart and her children from another chance of heartbreak. That hadn't worked out, she and the kids had lost everything. But her therapist had said something to her a long time ago...something that Roxie didn't necessarily believe in until this moment. There's no great loss without some small gain. "I've wanted to do this since the moment I first saw you." She whispered to him. The phrase would hopefully ring a bell in his mind, though it was long ago...it was the thing he'd said right before he kissed her. The kiss that had led them both down this rollercoaster...that had given them three beautiful children and regardless of the outcome at this moment. It gave them an understanding of each other that if it weren't for Matthew, they would have never had now.

[I think we all know what happens now...god bless the piano.]

with: Syd Pyroclast

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Savannah Callahan & Callum King
​

Savannah watched on as Callum returned with Alex's wallet. The boy's father then proceeded to hand him a £20 note with the instructions he could spend it on whatever he wanted. "Really?!" Callum asked, his eyes practically lighting up. "Thank you, Daddy! I want a Batmobile, a milkshake, and lots of popping candy," he informed Alex in a matter-of-fact manner. Callum was about to tell Alex about the gift he had for him but he and Savannah redirected their attention to Bruce as the man walked into view. Alex made a point of pulling Callum closer, clearly uncomfortable by Trevor's return. Anticipating the boy would want to rush towards Bruce, who was clearly under a lot of stress, Savannah crouched down to Callum and helped him to put the £20 note into his jacket pocket then made sure he zipped it up properly. "We'll go to the toy shop while we're here this week and find the Batmobile," she said, distracting him from wanting to find Bruce.

Savannah stood back up once Bruce and Kane had walked out of sight. She looked to Alex, seeing how on edge he really was. Despite all of the arguments and bitterness towards each other, she didn't like seeing him looking so anxious. He began to speak, but his voice wavered and led him to fall silent. Darcey soon stepped in to occupy Callum so Alex could speak more freely. Savannah sent the woman a small, grateful smile to her for helping.

Savannah caught the suspicious glance Alex sent Danny and as much as she wanted to pull him up on that, she knew there was no point escalating tensions and emotions further. As long as Alex didn't make a point of being rude to Danny, of course. Alex had pulled her to one side so they could talk in private, causing Savannah to let out a small huff at his action. She listened as he pointed out that the Kings were dealing with their own issue at the moment. "I see that," she told him, her voice holding more concern than anything else. She nodded in understanding when he said he couldn't take Callum that night. She was sure she'd be a mess too, if it was her whose deadbeat, abusive father had decided to show up after so many years. Though it wasn't her place, she would have loved to have given Trevor a piece of her mind too, but as it stood, she just didn't want the man anywhere near Callum. The boy already had Peter and Bruce, so he didn't need some guy showing up in his life trying to claim the title of a Grandad.

"It's fine, Alex. I get it," she assured him, her tone reflecting that she understood. Alex had shifted his responsibility and wasted her time on many occasions, but this was not one of those times. She knew this time he was making the right decision. "I'll bring him to your place in the morning," she told him, overrding his offer to pick Callum up. If there was any chance Alex was going to be late or not make it, she didn't want to be sat confined in a hotel room trying to reassure Callum he was going to show up at any given minute. She allowed her features to soften as she studied Alex's face. "I hope you can all get through this. I know the man is the last person any of you wanted to see," she sympathised. Not wanting to overwhelm Alex anymore than he already was, she turned away from him, sending Danny a ressuring smile. "Callum, come here a minute, darling," she beckoned the boy over. When he reached her, she leaned down to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "So, do you remember how you got excited earlier, when we walked passed the cinema? Well, I really wanted to go see a movie too," she said, pulling a small pout. "So, we thought me, you, and Danny could go get milkshakes and watch a movie tonight. Then in the morning, you'll be able to hang out with Daddy and the others, as we planned. That way we all get to hang out with you whilst in London, okay?"

After a little thought, Callum quickly nodded his head. Whilst he really wanted to hang out with Alex, the boy wanted to make Savannah happy by watching a movie with her. "Okay," he agreed. Before anything else, Callum reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a black toy car, then held it up to Alex for him to take. "This is the present I got you. It's my second favourite car," he informed him. "I can't give away my favourite because then i wouldn't have a favourite," he explained.

Once the boy was finished, Savannah let him say bye to everyone before they left the pub. "Sorry about all of... Well, all of that," she apologised to Danny as the three of them walked down the street back to the hotel.

Melanin-Gxdess (Alex) Pyroclast (Danny, Shona)

 

[Pyroclast]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Bruce King​

After hearing Trevor reel off his long list of excuses as to why he had been an abusive and absent father, Spencer’s reasons for not telling Bruce about Trevor appearing twelve years ago were much easier to digest. It stung a little to hear Spencer mention the blame he had placed on himself for not protecting his mother, because Bruce felt the same guilt. Only, Spencer had been a child then whereas Bruce was her older brother. If anyone had been equipped to save her, it should have been him.

Bruce placed a hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “Alright,” he said with a nod of acknowledgement. “We’re past it, now. I forgive ya’. To be honest, Spence, you didn’t do nothin’ I wouldn’t have done. Gettin’ ‘im back out the picture before the others saw ‘im was a wise thing to do. But for future reference, don’t keep anythin’ from me. You’re right, I didn’t need to see ‘im, but I do need to know if somethin’ like that is goin’ on around us. You’re gonna be the one to take over from me when I pop my clogs, so I need us to be on the same page.”

When Spencer pointed out that Trevor’s choice to meet them in a public place was probably geared to avoid being killed on sight, Bruce let out a small grunt. “Makes me wonder if he’s been watchin’ us, tryna’ find the most convenient time and place. I’m glad he didn’t come knockin’ on one of our doors, else I ain’t sure he’d still be breathing, but I also ain’t happy that he interrupted a family get together. Somethin’ I’ll be makin’ sure he pays for, on top of everythin’ else.” That was part of the reason he had hated to hear Trevor’s apologies. The thought of him writing off all the damage he had done to the family with a simple apology just didn’t seem fair. No apology from him would ever have been enough to make up for the pain he had caused, for the life he had taken. Bruce would much rather the man be punished for his actions than grant him the forgiveness he didn’t believe the man deserved.

Ultimately, Bruce was glad to know that Spencer felt exactly the same way about Trevor - not trusting his explanations or apologies, believing that there was some ulterior motive behind his surprise visit. “Leverage, eh?” Bruce narrowed his eyes in thought. Whilst he had known the man well decades ago, he hadn’t kept track of him since. He didn’t know what he got up to, how he earned his living or what kind of people he had in his circle, if he had one at all. Something must have driven him to seek out his sons and daughter, though, and he couldn’t believe that it was just the attack on the nightclub that had prompted him. The man had always been after something, and his ability to appear polite and charming only made Bruce trust him less.

“Mm,” he nodded. “It ain’t paranoia when it’s Trevor we’re talkin’ about. None of us have reason to believe a dicky-bird that comes out that weaselly bastard’s mouth. And you’re right, I don’t think we know enough about ‘im anymore. Didn’t matter so much when he was out of sight out of mind, but if he’s around, I want to know where. I want to know who he knows, what he does, how he acts when he ain’t tryna’ win us over, if any of what he said adds up - basically, as much as we can find out. So, yes, Christian could be useful to us there. I’ll give ‘im a ring when we’re out of ‘ere - for now, I’ll have ‘im thrown out the pub and get someone followin’ him so you can rest your mind.” With a sigh, Bruce raised a hand to briefly massage his forehead, before standing upright and placing a hand on Spencer’s arm. “You should go back to Shona and Edward, now. Don’t let Trevor spoil their day, too.”

Interactions
Misty Gray Spencer

 

[BasDorcha]

Local Pub
Jeremy Gray​

Jeremy had laughed a small, cold chuckle when she mentioned giving him false hope. If she had said yes, they may have been out the door that second. It was probably a better thing the one person he ran into was unable to disobey an order, or they’d both be in for some shit. He sighed, filling his cup again, almost to the brim. It had been a very long time since Jeremy had gotten drunk. Sure, he would get a nice buzz when out at dinners, or parties and the likes, but he hadn’t gotten truly drunk since he was away and not constantly needed by the King’s.

A strong buzz was filling his head, and another two gulps only spread that warm feeling everywhere. He just wanted to forget her for a moment, needed one second of peace where he wasn’t in pain and dying inside. When Kit walked away, he watched her with bored curiosity, trying to focus on what he had planned instead of where his mind wanted to wonder. For a moment, he squeezed his hands so hard they turned white. The urge to run back to her wasn’t getting better.

The tall, cut man headed over to the girls and Kit with the movements of a guy much more confident in himself then Jeremy should appear. For once, Jeremy was exuding that bad guy persona that so many women claim to love. He looked at Kit questioning why she was talking to the brunette, then shrugged, leaned forward on the table, looking at both ladies before picking up the woman’s hand. The brunette blushed and lifted her left hand for a faux hand kiss, Jeremy never quit bringing it all the way to his lips. He couldn’t. It made his skin crawl.

“Hello beautiful, what’s two lovely gals like you doing here?” He looked between both of them, only releasing the hand after a suitable flirtatious moment. Crawl, crawl. He hushed his brain. Looking at the redness and frustrated look forming on the redheads face, he started to put two and two together. To him it didn’t matter which one it was, let Kit have her fun.

“Sara…. And this is my friend Elizabeth.” It was a hit to the gut. That immediately put the redhead out of the running. What were the chances she’d share a name with Harper. SHUT UP, he yelled at himself. For the rest of the night he forbid himself to even think her name.

“Sara… That’s a perfect name for such a perfect woman. I wonder what my name would sound like…” He paused with unusually perfected timing, letting his eyes look into hers as he fought the urge to throw up from the crawling sensation. “…as you screamed it out.” The woman blushed and immediately turned to a subdued and bedroomed eyed lady of the night. The lack of effort it took to sway a married woman made him sick. He picked up his cup and took another long drink. The redhead looked ready to take a swing at her friend.

Mentions: @Melanin-Gxdess - Kit / Rando hussies

 

[BasDorcha]

May's House
Maeve Thatcher
​

May was crushed when he suddenly backed out. She forced her face into the practiced pose, her years of training perfect for handling disappointment. She smiled and nodded, understandingly. “Yeah, no, that’s fine.” May felt it was a subtle change, her going from who she felt she really was, to another person entirely. This other person was her built in defense systems. Maybe he really meant to see her again later, but she had learned that most men rarely came back when they said they would.

There was a slightly wet glitter to her eyes as she blinked rapidly a few times and stood, clearing his dishes and the table of the mess they had made. May felt awkward and like the world’s biggest idiot. Why would a guy like Christian – cool, confident, mature, attractive – want anything to do with a little lanky kid like her. When she returned to the table, she had brought a pouty look with her, though she tried to smile through it. She was off her game no matter how hard she was trying.

She leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, looking at her hands replaying when he quietly asked what she was doing to him. Her cheeks flamed. She was annoying him. She knew it. Or was she just boring him, weighing him down with stupid things that weren’t what he really wanted to do. Clearing her throat, she figured she should let him go, she had held him hostage long enough. Sure he said he wanted to go, but men said all kinds of things they didn’t really mean.

“Well… You must be ready to go then, I’m sorry I kept you so long.” If she could get him out the door… Then she could deal with her rejection alone, instead of on display. “And you know… once you have an answer, you have all my information.” A blush flushed her cheeks again. “I guess you’ve have it a while.” She stood awkwardly next to him, less than an arms length away, twisting her hands. It seemed her practiced exterior was either out of practice, or she just couldn’t bring herself to uphold it in front of him. If this were the bar, May would be flittering around like butterfly, brushing off advances, and pretending like none of the remarks, grabs, or leers affected her.

One gentle rejection hurt worst then a million lewd and crude come-on's. She knew it may prove to be temporary, but for a brief moment, she had thought things were starting to change.

Mentions: @Misty Gray - Christian

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, East London ~

Spencer King and Trevor Stewart​

Spencer was relieved when Bruce told him he forgave him for keeping secret that Trevor had shown up 12 years ago. His uncle went on to assure him it had been the right thing to do in getting rid of the man before any of his siblings could see him. Still, Bruce reiterated that he mustn't keep anything from him in the future, which Spencer understood and agreed with. Although Bruce had forgiven him and said the matter was in the past, a part of Spencer felt like he now needed to somehow make up for it, or at least prove himself a little more than he already had over the years. With the reminder that he would be the one to take over if Bruce were to die, Spencer let out an apprehensive sigh. "Steady on, mate. You've got plenty of life in you yet," he remarked. Still, he nodded his head while maintaining a serious expression. "But I get it. I have to be prepared for anything. We all do"

Spencer didn't like the idea that Trevor could have been watching them, causing him to frown when Bruce said it could be the case. He was also sure his uncle was right, and that if Trevor had shown up on his own doorstep, Spencer couldn't say for sure that he'd have held back as much as he had today. "Well, whether he has been watching us or not, the prick's going to be the one getting watched from now on. If he's up to something, we have to know what." His uncle confirmed Christian could be useful with such a task and that he'd give him a ring to get on the case.

Spencer managed a small smile when Bruce said he'd get Trevor thrown out of the pub and have him followed, adding that it would help him to rest his mind. "Cheers. Technically, I still have a few days off from all this! Typical that prick would show up and cut it short," he remarked, referring to the time he'd agreed to take away from business to help Shona with Eddie. Granted, he had already been mentally preparing for some business - the matter of dealing with Conor. Before Spencer's mind could wander to another man he'd gladly kill, Bruce stood up and placed his hand on his arm, telling him to go back to Shona and Eddie. "Yeah, you're right," he gave in, making a genuine smile as he thought about them. Reaching out, he placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Thanks, Bruce. For everything," he told him, meaning dealing with Trevor and forgiving him for keeping secret what happened 12 years ago, but also for everything the man had done for their family.

Leaving the office, Spencer left Bruce and Kane to finish dealing with Trevor. He made a point of not acknowledging his father as he passed by him to get back to the bar. When he emerged back into the pub, he caught Kerry's attention and asked her to sort him out with another pint. He barely acknowledged anyone else, but had noticed Billy wasn't around. Given Erik was also absent, he figured the man had gone off with his friend for a breather. Spencer wasted no time before returning to Shona and sitting close to her, oblivious that Savannah and Callum had left only minutes earlier. "I'm here now," he reassured Shona, moving to place a kiss on her lips. Spencer then set about delicately taking Eddie from her so he could cradle his son close to his chest, perhaps for his own comfort just as much as it was for the baby's. Something about his father showing up made him feel even more protective over his wife and son. As easy as it would be to just go home, he refused to let Trevor spoil the family's time together. "I'll update you on the situation later," he told Shona. "Eddie don't need to be hearing about worthless piss stains like that right now... None of us do. I just want to spend the rest of the day with people who matter."

Pyroclast (Bruce, Shona)

 

[Pyroclast]

Sicilian Avenue
~ Bloomsbury, London ~

Tatiana Moretti​

Tatiana couldn’t help but smile broadly at Jocelyn’s words. She had never considered herself an angel before, not with what she did for the family business. Her hands were coated with the blood of both men and women, all soldiers or traitors or enemies. In contrast to the men Jocelyn had encountered, however, Tatiana held some personal sense of morality in her violence - she wouldn’t say she had violent tendencies, but rather violent skills. And those skills she had, she would never use them on Jocelyn - they were reserved only for people who she or the firm decided were deserving of pain. In Tatiana’s eyes, Jocelyn was the angel, not her. But realising this made her understand that she was reciprocating the woman’s feelings.

“Well…I’d like that, too,” she softly told her, reaching out to hold her hand across the table. She wasn’t going to say it, but she had a feeling the Jocelyn’s partial muteness was part of what intrigued her about the woman. Nobody had ever made her wait this long to have a proper conversation, yet somehow the pair had managed to build a connection without it. Someday, she believed she would find her voice again…but if it didn’t, she didn’t see why they couldn’t still have a meaningful relationship.

“Prego.” The waiter appeared at their side again and placed the two matching cocktails in front of them. Tatiana’s hand didn’t let go of Jocelyn’s, and she made sure to smile warmly at the waiter before he could dare to react. “Grazie,” she said. “And before we order anything else, I’d like to make a purchase.”

“A purchase?”

“Yes.” Tatiana directed the waiter’s eyes to the wall beside their table. “This painting, here, of the women on the balcony.”

At first the man smiled, then he proceeded to give some context behind the piece and ask her about her interests in art - which, she admitted, didn’t go very deep - before eventually settling on a price. He promised her he would get it wrapped up safely for her before the end of their meal, and carefully unhooked it from the wall to carry it into the workshop downstairs.

Once he was gone, Tatiana looked briefly at the empty space on the wall before settling her eyes on Jocelyn and sending her a smile. “I can’t draw or paint like you can,” she shrugged. “But I wanted to give you something beautiful. So, it’s yours.”

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