Forgotten childhood memories

He looked at her as she touched his face, hearing what she said it wasn't quite clear if he understood what she meant. She suggested helping him feel less lonely, and he frowned a little as she looked at him with so soft eyes. Jane had looked at him like that more than once, and he felt like his brain once again played games with him. Was it really Jane next to him right now? All he really felt was a warm body pressed up against his own, her words speaking to him as he sighed, turning over on his side as he looked at her. "You paint," he argued, albeit she hadn't done that much with no real paint to go around. His arms moving down, pulling her closer, wanting to share the warmth between them, "you can have one of my pencils and all the paper you want," it was quite something for him to offer it. It wasn't artist material he had, but anything used for creative purposes wasn't deemed needed. "While I work, you can sit and draw all you want," he encouraged her, their breaths mixing somewhat as they were laying face to face. He was gentle, not even wanting sex or anything, he just wanted someone to hold and talk to. He just wanted to feel less alone. "Would you like me to help your loneliness?" Because she had hinted at feeling much the same.

"I'm afraid I would hate you wasting your potential drawing my face," he sighed, but it was clear he wouldn't have a say in the matter. And he wouldn't really hold it against her, it was more his way of saying he wasn't proud of his looks. Helping her by letting her take care of him? It sounded a little weird, but he wasn't going to argue about that. Nodding he also took the offer of her cutting his hair. It was in the way all the time, but he feared that once it was cut people would start to see just how thin he had gotten.
Her admittance made him scoff, perhaps because he couldn't see how he was desirable in any way. Hell, when he had gotten to kiss Jane he felt like he would never kiss anyone ever again. He still felt like that, it was just rooted deep down in him. He wasn't attractive because of his body, and he'd bet that Dove only seemed to like him because he treated her nicely. "I like you too Dove," he admitted. She was shy and quiet, but she was also a total opposite of Jane, and he didn't like being reminded of her when he was still grieving her loss. "I just don't want you to waste your time liking me when I can't offer you anything, not even a long life together," he sighed, leaning down he connected their foreheads gently. "I'm too tired to talk about all this," he finally admitted to his body feeling so drained. He needed sleep, and moving slightly he just held her close to his chest, giving her fire red hair a kiss, "sleep." He sounded almost like he was pleading with her, but it was only because of what she had said earlier.

His confession made her chuckle sweetly. But his addition made her shake her head. "Do you think I can offer the same? Whatever happened to Jane could happen to me as well. That is just how things are for us people from The Blocks." she said with a giggle. She wouldnt look that far ahead just yet. But him being too tired to speak of it was understandable. "I'll sleep." she promised, cuddling up closer to him, closing her eyes with a sigh. She was truly different from Jane, warm to the touch and quiet as she slept.

When morning came, she was in the kitchen making food. She had been reluctant to leave but she rather wanted him to have something to eat when he woke up. Sorting out a few things, she decided on a sort of porridge. The kids in The Blocks had loved it, a true Winston recipe. She poured up some into a bowl, grabbing a spoon before she went to check on Eugene. She sat down by his side, reaching over to touch his forehead. "Wake up sleepyhead. I brought you some food." she said in a soft voice.

As Eugene finally drifted off to sleep, he felt like he could sleep forever, but as he felt hands on his forehead he scrunched his face slightly. Opening his eyes he saw Dove and he could smell the food. "Good morning," he muttered, his voice raspy from sleeping. He moved carefully, his limbs aching slightly and as he was handed both his medicine and the bowl of porridge he looked almost surprised. She had really decided to go all out, huh? Looking at it there was plenty of food, but he decided to tackle his medicine first. The house sounded quiet today. "Where is everybody?" he asked, downing his medicine with a glass of water before digging in to the porridge. It actually tasted good! Strange, as he wouldn't have thought that by the looks of it.

"Well, this place is nice, but it was just a temporary solution. All the kids have been moved out and spread between safe places made for them." she explained, giving him some space before she looked out into the room. "I'll clean up after them. It was very nice that you opened your home for them and us." she said, sending him a soft smile. "So the least I can do is make you food." she said, looking towards the window. She did wonder if the medicine was working. "How does it make you feel? Medicine. I've never tried any myself, well, I once was given a glass of strong rum for a sore throat. But I do wonder?" she asked, nodding towards some of the medicine that was lying around.

The kids had finally been moved out? He wasn't sure he was going to miss all the noise, but the house felt so empty now. The question about the medication made him sigh, but he shrugged lightly. "Sometimes it feels like I can't really breathe before I've eaten it," he confessed. Was that sad? He guess it was. He remained silent for a while, eating the porridge until he felt quite stuffed. Placing the bowl on the nightstand he looked at her. She was pretty, perhaps not conventionally so, but Eugene didn't really feel like he was in any sort of position to judge really.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asked, if not he would urge her to go have something herself. He wouldn't want her to starve and not when the fridge had food. "You can have anything you like," he assured her.

"That must be a weird feeling." she remarked with a slight raise of her eyebrow. But she had figured out by now that the limping wasnt just some weird gimmick. As he put the bowl away she smiled at the question. "Yeah, I had a small bowl myself." she admitted, looking down at the floor as he was just so nice to her. "How are you feeling today? And dont lie. I'll know if you do." she said with a sigh. It was quite easy to notice how his limp worsened, his hand tensing around the cane like he was trying to suppress showing how much hurt he was actually in.

"Better after a night of sleep," he had to admit. He was happy that she had gotten something to eat as well. He reached over, touching her hand. He felt like he was craving some sort of touch, any form of comfort as his mind felt in shambles. "You were right last night," it was quite a lot that he even admitted to it, "I'm taking the day off, but only if you are too." He thought that was a fair deal. He didn't want her to feel trapped, he could take care of himself, but he had a feeling she would want to stay with him. Frankly he wanted to get to know her better.
"I need a quick shower ... How about you light up the fireplace and we can sit and chat?" he suggested as it was the furthest from work he could think of. He felt like he just needed a shower having worked with oil, grease and metal so much these last couple of days. If she agreed he would get up, unbuttoning his shirt until it was like he heard Jane's voice you can't just do that. So he stopped, sending Dove an apologetic smile as he grabbed his cane and limped off towards his bathroom.

He took her hand and she let him, just smiling softly as she looked at their hands. She wasnt blaming him for reaching out, frankly it was quite nice. "I guess I can save the cleaning for when you're working." she said with a shrug. It was not a hassle. The suggestion of lifting up the fireplace made her hum. She could do that. He began unbuttoning his shirt and she didnt really mind. She wasnt that frightened by skin. But he stopped and looked apologetically to which confused her. He left and she sat in wonder before she went to do as he had asked. She wasnt exactly adept in dealing with a fireplace, but she would try. She stacked a bunch of wood before crumbling up some old newspapers. Lighting it, she leaned in to blow on it gently until a small flame appeared. Then she closed the lid and moved over to the couch. She removed a few things, just clearing up the space. She grabbed an item off the table, before she recognized the design. A small frown appeared on her face as she turned it. It looked exactly like something Jane had made when they were kids. She felt her eyes well up just a slight bit as she sat down with it. Turning it, she saw the engraving on the bottom as well. A big J with a bird next to it. She must have forgotten it or left it. "Oh, I miss you Jay." she mumbled, pressing the item to her forehead.

After his shower he got dressed in something more casual, just a long sleeved sweater and sweat pants. It was baggy on him, but it wasn't too bad. Entering the living room he saw the fire was lit, and as he turned his head he saw Dove sitting with one of Jane's inventions. He smiled sadly, having forgotten it was even out here, but happy to see it wasn't gone. He moved over, standing behind the couch, "she's all over this place," he said, chuckling sadly before he moved over, sitting down in the couch. "You can keep it if you want to," he assured her, placing his cane beside the couch as he leaned back in the seat. His medication was slowly working, so he felt a little better now.
Looking at the fire he wondered what to say, but he didn't have to think long. "She was the only friend I had growing up," he hadn't really talked about her, at least not what she had meant to him. "She would come by, tell me of all the things she did when she wasn't here; All the friends she made, the things she saw," he sighed smiling at the memory. "I remember I was so ... Jealous of her; She could run so fast and jump really high, all the things I've never been able to."

Eugene chuckled at the story about Brock getting painted all over. It did sound so much like Jane. Dove leaned against him, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. He felt a little guilty doing it, but he found so much comfort in it. His eyes rested on the flames, the soft pops from within the fireplace sounding so cozy to him. "I wish I could've spent more time with all of you," he said, turning his head to look at her. Was she even enjoying being close to him? He couldn't imagine that it felt comfortable to sit this close to a skeleton.
"Did you choose your name yourself?" he asked, maybe because Jane hadn't been called Jane, but Jay and none of those names had been really something cohesive. Which was why he had just stuck to calling her Zippy. His hand mindlessly caressing her arm he looked towards the fire.

Lainey? That name sounded almost too ... Normal for her? Though it was pretty too. Hearing how she had been left made him press her a little closer, just to comfort her slightly. She returned the question of course, and he couldn't blame her. "My dad's still alive, he's just busy with work ... He does write me sometimes on the phone, but I don't know how he's really doing," he said, "and my mother, well, she died shortly after my birth." He swallowed looking down as he somehow felt guilty for it. His father had never blamed him, but maybe it had been different if he had come out healthy and not this sickly. "I don't really know if I have any other sort of family; My father was adopted from a young age, but he's not close with them ... And it's not like I'm out here making small versions of myself." He had to chuckle softly, shaking his head as he looked down a faint smile on his lips.

He couldn't help but scoff as she slowly seemed to realize what he meant. Her way of trying to cheer him up made him laugh a little, shaking his head as he really couldn't believe he was having this conversation right now. "It's not like I don't want to," he argued softly, leaning his head up to look at the ceilling. Him and Jane had been sort of intimate once, but it had been too much for her and he cared more about her feeling good than having himself satisfied. Breathing out through his nose he ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "There's just not a lot of girls lining up to be with the skinny kid who has to take medicine every fucking hour," he muttered, closing his eyes as he didn't even know how to take out his frustrations. Besides it just felt like a distraction anyways. "And I wouldn't want to just ... Do it, you know, I need to trust the other person enough and I haven't been able to do that." Gods he felt this sounded so miserable, but it really wasn't his main focus in his life.

"I trusted her with my life, she was my best friend," he said, frowning as he straightened out his neck, looking at the fireplace, "we never ... I mean we kissed, but I don't think it meant a lot for her, at least not as much as it meant for me," it was quite the thing to admit. Perhaps not what you wanted to tell someone you also liked. Jane had been his first love, had been all he ever wanted, and now she was gone. He had to bear the burden of living without her. "I don't know what you've experienced, but I don't want you to ever think that you need to have sex with me in order to comfort me or make me feel better," he said quite truthfully, he touched her hand gently, turning it to touch her palm. "I like you, Dove, Lainey, or whatever you want me to call you now - You being here has helped me more than anything I've tried since Jay died," he said truthfully.

As the days went on, Eugene found more and more comfort in Dove being there. She did her drawings, he did his crafting, and every night they had dinner together. They slept in the same bed, they even began talking more during breaks. He was starting to open up again, something he thought he never would've, but this sweet red headed girl had made him feel something again. One night they had even kissed, both of them surprised and taken aback, but also made them feel closer. However as things progressed, Eugene was starting to feel that guilt again. The same he had when he was with Jane; He couldn't do much. He felt like a burden, like someone who wasn't worthy of whatever this between him and Dove was evolving in to.
Eventually he had sought out his father, begging him to come home, wanting his help with the cure, but his father could do very little. Except for a mysterious serum. He didn't say where it had come from, but that if he took it, he would start to feel better. Eugene went home, hiding the small vial from Dove as she was out it was much easier. He headed in to his workshop, sitting down in his chair as he looked at the vial. That was when he started to hear a familiar sound. Looking over to the chest he still kept the small power source in, he reached over to open for it. It looked strange. Glowing and reacting to the vial. What was this?
A bright light started to shine, blinding him slightly as he looked at the vial with the serum and then at the power source, putting two and two together. Beep was scurrying across the floor, running in circles as the power made his small battery burn to a crisp. Ingesting the serum he groaned as it didn't go down smoothly, his skin starting to burn and itch as the venom spread through his body, the power source lighting brighter as it reacted with whatever he had in his system now. He screamed, feeling nothing but pain before he collapsed on the floor, the power source shutting down, and that would be where Dove eventually found him.

The days went by pretty neatly, Dove opening up more. She had allowed him to just call her Lainey as it was her actual name. She had made a few drawings of different things but as she said she would've, she was working on a drawing of him. When they had kissed, she had been rather surprised but also rather happy. It felt nice, which she didnt keep secret from him.
But there was also something that seemed to bother him as well that she couldnt figure out. It wasnt until he was gone for long just to return with some weird serum. She didnt trust it, not really. She was in the kitchen, cleaning, letting him work in peace. It wasnt until she heard him scream that she dropped everything in her hands, breaking a plate as she rushed to check on him. Seeing him on the floor she dropped down on her knees next to him, reaching out carefully to touch him. "Eugene?" she asked, pleading that he wasnt gone.

His heart still beating, but his body fighting to stay alive. Dove hadn't trusted the serum, but he hadn't thrown it away. If it could help him, if his father had spoken the truth, then what harm could it truly do? His breathing sounded like his lung was struggling to keep up. Eventually it just so happened that Raven and Victor stopped by, helping him out of the workshop and in to his room to his own bed.

Raven put on the kettle, making some tea as Dove sat by Eugene's side. "I think she's falling for him," she suddenly said to Victor. The two of them hadn't really spoken about their shared kiss, and not addressing it was perhaps what the two of them did best. Breathing out in a small sigh she opened the cupboards, seeing how neatly Dove had placed everything. Was she really enjoying playing housewife? It wouldn't surprise her. Raven had even heard that she wasn't spotted around her usual areas, pulling tricks and whatnot. "I've found a way in," she said, referring to the mission they had agreed on. "One of the servers there, I know her from some time ago and she owes me a favor - she'll get me in, but it needs to be a really good dress," she said, not knowing how they were going to pull it off.

Seeing the human in such a condition was quite nervewrecking. He was the only other beside Jane that had the skills to produce what they needed for the people in The Blocks. Dove explained a sort of serum that he had, and Victor didnt quite understand. "Well, it's bound to happen with all the time they've been spending together." he said with a shrug. Were they much different?
She mentioned a way in and he frowned a little as he drew in a deep breath. He stood with a glass of water, the water just tasted better up in South. "A dress? How much?" he asked, frowning a little. They had money to spare, but he also didnt know what to think. "Where will you be going?" he asked, scratching his neck a little as he thought it through.

"I know, I just thought ... Well with Eugene and Jay it was sort of implied, well ... Never mind, as long as they can make it work," it wasn't her business, and Dove could do what she wanted. Though it didn't make her worry less for that reason. She knew that her and Victor would have to talk eventually, but for now Raven couldn't handle the thought of facing everything at once. That was why she turned the focus to the mission.
"At least expensive enough to pass as a decent escort," she couldn't enter
a party like that as someone fancy, no, she had to be at least an escort to fit in. She didn't mind, she just didn't know how to handle it, and she didn't see herself as very lady like. "It's happening up North in some private mansion; There's going to be a lot of strangers up there, but luckily it's a masquerade, so everyone is going to wear masks," she explained taking a deep breath pouring the boiling water over the tea bags in the cups. "I don't know if I'll be charming enough," she said, frowning as it hadn't ever been a worry to her before. She would have to start flirting and the closest thing to flirting for her was hitting people.