|  Author | Topic: Picking Up the Pieces (Read 147 times) |
Jacob Hutchenson
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Karma: 4 |  | Picking Up the Pieces
« Thread Started on Mar 21, 2012, 8:29pm » | |
It was three weeks since Jessie's accident.
Jacob and his father's conversations had been much like cat and mouse. In some ways, the relationship had gotten better. His father had enjoyed the feeling of being needed by Jacob. Since his son had turned sixteen it seemed he had wanted little if any support from his father. He had forced much of the money, of what Jacob should be doing, on his son. Jacob hadn't exactly raced for any of those opportunities and a bitterness existed between them because of it. He kept providing to his son, over and over, unasked and Jacob just accepted it with a silent nod. Three weeks ago though when he was helping with Jessie... Jacob had asked him. Had wanted it, had leaned into his hand that could give him more.
It was the closest he had felt to his son in a long time. Also, it was the most power he had ever felt he had over his son. Jessie was something Jacob wanted, unlike the money and jobs he'd given Jacob before. Jessie was leverage.
Jacob had been busy doing some errands for his father. They weren't impressive. Most of the weren't even illegal. He had felt indebted to his father so it seemed like the least he could do. It occurred to him that his father seemed more needy than usual. Than he recalled him ever being before. He didn't think about it long, though. He just went and picked up supplies and held meetings. His father liked him to go to meetings because he was younger and attractive. If the owner of a publishing house or gallery was a woman they tended to respond to him better. Lately, Jacob's father could say that even men responded to him better.
Jessie had been moved into Jacob's place as soon as he was able. He had mostly recovered, but until he was completely better Jacob insisted he not go to work or leave. He worried like that. The guard behind his cobalt eyes was dropping and it was more and more clear that he worried about Jessie.
He was just getting back from an errand now. The mail was in his hand and he walked only a few paces through the door before Philip caught up to him, "Sir, you missed a phone call from your father. Also, there is a charity event tomorrow night your father wishes you to attend."
"I assume it's black tie," he said, flipping through the letters and then looking back up to Philip, "Is Jessie awake?"
"It is Sir." Philip held out a hand to take the mail from Jacob, which he readily handed over as they spoke, "Yes, Mr. Jessie was awake the last time I checked upon him. Inquired about you, as usual."
"Good. Philip would you please bring me a coffee?"
"No problem, Sir."
Jacob crossed the hall and went for the bedroom, where he assumed Jessie would be waiting for him.
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Jessie
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« Reply #1 on Apr 4, 2012, 10:57am » | |
The three weeks since the accident seemed to have flown by. At least, for Jessie it had. There also seemed to be a never ending stream of doctors, nurses and healers that visited. Each and plied their services and Jessie was on the road to a rapid recovery.
He wore glasses now. The eyes were a very delicate and intricate set of organs and even the most powerful of mages couldn't completely put them back to where they had been prior to the accident. The tiny scars that ringed his pupils made his amber coloring just that much brighter when the light caught them.
His leg had been fitted with pins and after surgery and healing, he walked with a walker first, then a cane. And now, he limped slightly and only when he was tired. All in all, the physical aspects of his recovery had gone as smoothly as possible.
Emotionally and psychologically, Jessie flourished under the constant pampering and attention. The time spent with Jacob had been the balm his spirit needed to quell the nightmares. He felt safe and very content in the arms of his lover.
Now that he had very nearly healed completely, Jacob had been away during the day. In this, Jessie felt guilty. He knew that Jacob's father had taken advantage of the vulnerable situation that Jessie had placed Jacob in. But the nights that they lay spent and in each other's arms, that guilt was tucked far back into a dark corner of Jessie's mind.
Also, now that he healed nearly completely, Jessie was becoming restless. He spent more time in the hammocks now that the weather was turning warmer and he was feeling better. But Jessie wasn't a man who sat on his laurels and let others take care of him for very long, He was growing eager to get back to work. He missed Roan's friendship and was more than ready to get back into the swing of things.
Jessie heard Jacob's conversation with Phillip and it brought a smile to his face. He rolled out of the hammock, walked into the bedroom he shared with Jacob at the same time Jacob walked through the doorway. Jessie's smile was brilliant and he walked to Jacob with his arms up and ready for an embrace. When they were chest to chest, Jessie's arms curled around Jacob's neck and his eyes closed.
"Welcome home, Jacob."
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Jacob Hutchenson
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« Reply #2 on Apr 23, 2012, 5:44pm » | |
Being in debt was a funny thing. Especially when it wasn't even for yourself. While he felt the weight of obligation heavy on his shoulders it wasn't something he could bring himself to confide in Jessie. After all, Jessie had been through so much in his life. Perhaps Jacob should have given him more credit but in many ways Jessie was vulnerable and he wanted to protect that. It was likely that Jessie could withstand a hurricane but not a cross look he might have passed him. Knowing how his relationship to his father changed because of him Jessie might not bring himself to look him in the eye.
That was how it was though, when you loved someone who could feel guilty for breathing. It wasn't like anyone else he'd known before who carried about them like a stench the air of entitlement. It was easy to be rather disinterested in life when that was the crowd it was composed of.
"Welcome back, Jessie." He replied, wrapping his arms around him and then nudging his lips with a gentle kiss of hello, "You're looking better every day." It was the truth so his smile flew more easily to his lips.
Mr. Hutchenson was use to his son being more or less just like him. They both had a set jaw and could have a rather unnerving stare if someone struck them the wrong way. Jacob would probably grow to be more and more like his father as the years passed with the exception being his more quiet than smirking manner. Most felt an air of Jacob being unsatisfied with them with his usual lack of candor, whereas his father's tight smile bearing down on them felt like a satirical buzz around the brain. Both, however, were unmovable and calculating men. If Jacob's father had been the sort to bear his heart he would have said that Jacob's reaction to Jessie's accident had unnerved him. After all, Jacob's composure had dropped that night and he cried when pulling Jessie out of the car. That wasn't the Jacob Hutchenson he had known and raised into adulthood. The prospect that a stranger was injecting something into his clan, especially a clan whose future now seemed so terminal by Jacob and Jessie's whispered relations, was rather unacceptable.
All the same, Jacob was now more at his father's disposal than he had been in, well, years. Jacob was about fifteen when he started to brush his father off. In a way it was like turning back the clock. Jacob was eight again and smiled and did as his father said. Then it was for love and now it was for guilt. Either way, he had his son back. It was all about fine-tuning that give in their relationship.
It was starting with the black tie event. But Jacob had a bolder intention than his father predicted.
"There's a charity...thing tomorrow night. Would you go with me?" He'd never taken a date, at least, not an honest date, to any of these events. In some ways Jacob felt like everyone already suspected him and that the secret was of little consequence now. What mattered was if Jessie felt well enough to go with him. Or, if Jessie was ready to make a rather private relationship with the son of a black-market dealer and owner of a reputable publishing house known. He was showing less caution these days.
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Jessie
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« Reply #3 on May 5, 2012, 9:37am » | |
If Jessie had anything, it was time to think. He'd been laid out for weeks and left with nothing much more to do while he healed. He had time to observe those around him more carefully and learn their little nuances of behavior better. For example, when Jacob's father called or came over, Jacob became tense; even more so than before Jessie's accident. And even if the elder Hutchenson was oblivious to it, Jessie could see the resentment in Jacob's eyes and the helplessness in the sag of his shoulders when his father's presence was near. Yet, Jessie said nothing about his knowledge of how transparent Jacob was; at least to Jessie. Dr. Hutchenson may not have been able to see it, but he was blind with manipulations and manuevering.
The utter relaxation of Jacob's shoulders, the lack of tension in his neck and the gleam in those stained glass eyes was the first clue. Jacob was up to something. As Jessie returned the kiss hello with a few of his own, Jessie couldn't help but be smiling. His own arms relaxed so that he was leaning away, watching Jacob's mouth as he spoke. "Mmm, I think you're a little biased, lover. But thank you. I feel much better all of the time. Especially when you're here." The statement was true, and Jessie's smile mirrored Jacob's before another soft kiss was given to the corner of Jacob's smile.
Jessie disengaged himself at this point, pulling back from Jacob and walking back towards the sliding glass doors that led outside. He got about half way across the room when Jacob asked him out on their first very public and very formal date. It caused a pause in Jessie's step. He didn't turn around to face Jacob, not quite yet. Was Jacob really asking him on a date, or was Jacob asking Jessie to pose as some business associate? Slowly, Jessie turned around then, needing to know the answer to his question.
"Of course, I'd love to go," he started slowly, the curious look clear on his face. "But in what capacity? I mean, am I to be your partner in business, or partner in life?" Jessie thought he already knew the answer to the question, but if it were the partner in business, he didn't want to slip up and make their private relationship very public before Jacob was ready for that.
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Jacob Hutchenson
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« Reply #4 on May 28, 2012, 8:37am » | |
"I thought partner in life," he said it so matter-of-fact. It didn't really occur to him that he wasn't one to verbalize his thoughts and feelings to Jessie. In his mind they spent time together, there was no other. Jessie had changed since he met him. There had been something hurt and boyish about him at first. Since the man who operated in human trafficing had been handled, Jessie had had a greater strength to his posture. Before it was as though he were afraid to speak with him and now his words were being inserted into the air with spine.
He thought when they first met that Jessie would have never spoken up for clarification. Especially not when it was a question that sounded like it needed an answer instead of permission for being asked. Did Jessie sometimes wake up and know he had changed? Did he think it was for the better always or did he miss the tenderness, however fearful it had been, which dominated him before?
"I'm not sure how they will announce us being there but I thought... it might be nice if you came with me to one of the events. Some of the people there you may recognize from your deliveries. I just have been thinking." Thinking that if his father was going to make him be a public figure... oh, he'd be public all right. Also, he could be secretive about so much that it felt good to be less secretive, "Our dates sometimes feel like we're sneaking off to places I hope no one recognizes me in because of... how things have been for me. Perhaps I'm getting older. I just am tired of it."
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Jessie
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« Reply #5 on May 30, 2012, 5:35am » | |
Yes, Jessie had changed. He was becoming more mature. Perhaps Jacob had a hand in that, whether he realized it or not. Where Jessie had been terrified of every shadow, including his own, just a few years ago; now he was more confident and able to keep his head held high. Jacob was the rock that he'd tethered himself to; and in the storm of his childhood crashing into his adulthood, Jacob was there to keep him safe.
The clarification was necessary. And truth be told, Jessie probably would never had dared to ask such a thing when he and Jacob first met. Then, again, Jessie had learned quite a bit since Jacob had first taken him to his bed and eventually his heart. He knew Jacob's secretiveness and why it was that way. So when Jacob replied, shock and happiness blended in Jessie's face that beamed with his smile.
He hurried back to Jacob and threw his arms around his shoulder. It meant so much to hear that Jacob was ready to become public - not only with his sexuality but with their relationship. Jessie didn't quite know what to say or how to say it. He simply held onto Jacob as tightly as he could. Kisses were peppered over Jacob's jaw and neck.
"Then there will be no more secrets." Jessie was finally able to muster as he leaned back enough to look into Jacob's eyes. "And your father can go to hell if he doesn't like it."
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Jacob Hutchenson
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« Reply #6 on Aug 12, 2012, 8:44am » | |
If Jessie stopped getting excited and giddy, Jacob would have thought he'd gone mad. Even so it still surprised him when he would throw his arms up and embrace him with exclamation. He couldn't remember the last time he had done something like that. Jessie was free like that, just felt an emotion and acted out on it like it were the more natural thing to do.
"No more secrets." A statement. A question. Now a darkened concern on his face as if someone informed him that his heart were leaking. There were secrets, weren't there? Things he had never told Jessie, things he thought he just shouldn't know. He hadn't thought about them, not really. When he had thought about him there were no moments where he felt he was being deceptive. It wasn't that he was hiding things from Jessie... but he was.
He recovery from the fault on his face was not a graceful one, but it happened with an over-expressed smile and nod. Was he quantifying what Jessie said? "Yes, this secret is no more." The big one, hidden for years and rotting the family's tree branch over his father's head. This secret. Not all secrets.
Just this big one. Then he would work from there.
"Do you have a suit for the occasion? It's black tie." Jessie had been a grease monkey but over the months. Wait, was it a year now? Well, over the time he was with Jessie had he gotten a suit?
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Jessie
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« Reply #7 on Aug 17, 2012, 8:32pm » | |
There was a certain rigidity to Jacob's shoulders when that darkness fell across his eyes. Albeit, it only lasted a few moments, Jessie was sensitive enough to Jacob's feelings to notice. A cold chill went up his spine, despite the warmth of the room and the embrace. Mistaking the sudden change, Jessie stepped back and gathered his own hands in front of himself. His chin lowered and he daren't look into Jacob's eyes for fear of what might be there. He could hear the over-expressed smile in Jacob's voice and it did very little to ease the tender fear that had struck Jessie to his core.
Once, Jacob had asked Jessie if there were any other secrets from his past. Admittedly, the secrets Jessie had kept were often life changing once revealed. But Jessie had told Jacob everything; his soul lay bare and naked and exposed before Jacob's discerning eyes. It'd been days that Jessie worried himself sick with the not knowing what Jacob would do with that knowledge. And now, Jessie began to feel that sickness come back to him. He worried what Jacob could be hiding, and did he really want to know?
He could act, his brother in law often told him that when Jessie got down to it, he could lie with the best of them. With that skill, he smiled brilliantly and looked up at Jacob finally. "I don't have a suit, but I can borrow one of yours?" His eyes were lit up with excitement, the shadow of doubt hidden behind those amber colored circles.
If anything, Jessie didn't want to disappoint Jacob, and he didn't want Jacob to feel as if this kid from the streets was taking advantage of Jacob's bank account, either. "I mean, we can have it altered, right?"
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Jacob Hutchenson
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« Reply #8 on Aug 26, 2012, 6:23pm » | |
"One of my suits?" The more common air between them was returning. Jacob was silly to believe that Jessie, being as sensitive as he was to him, had not seen the fishhook catch his smile. That was it, though, Jessie had gotten so smooth and he, afterward, felt so recovered it was as though the incident had been nothing. Playing a game of poker was quite different then holding onto truth, events, from loved ones. He understood how it marked Jessie so, except he had never had anyone to be completely honest with before.
"I doubt very much that my suits would look good on you. I'm built a bit differently than you. Come," he reached over to the table where his keys and mail had been set down through the course of events and smiled to Jessie, "Hungry?" Might as well through a late lunch or dinner on top of things. It was getting ready for a rather monumental occasion, one he thought his father was already somewhat prepared for. He... did not know, honestly, how this would affect business and everything else that was going on. He twirled the keys in his hand and looked to the door.
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Jessie
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« Reply #9 on Oct 1, 2012, 5:29pm » | |
Jessie would never presume or excpect Jacob to buy him a new suit, much less a tuxedo. But, he wouldn't turn down and wasn't surprised when the offer was made. He'd learned to accept Jacob's generosity. He wasn't surprised, but was always appreciative of the things Jacob gave. Even the smallest of tokens was appreciated and treated as if he'd been given the most precious thing ever to be made.
"Hungry," Jessie confirmed, taking Jacob's hand. The afternoon was spent at Jacob's tailor, with both of them being fitted for matching tuxedos, right down to the silk bow ties, cuff links and abalone button fobs. It was later that they finally sat down to dinner at one of Jacob's favorite restaurants. It'd become one of Jessie's, too. They'd been there enough times that the staff had wagers on whether the pair were a couple. There had never been any longing looks, hand holding or anything other than the typical business lunch or dinner. However, the wait staff still had placed bets on whether or not Mr. Hutchenson and Mr. Angelico were secretly doing the horizontal bop. The bet was up to 350 in gold that they were.
Jessie stabbed a flowerette of broccoli and dipped it into some ranch dressing before popping it into his mouth. He crunched with a thoughtful look upon his face. He wasn't looking at Jacob, instead up at the ceiling in a dreamy sort of way. His fork was pointed upright, but not rigidly, and it waved to and fro for a moment before Jessie brought his gaze back down to Jacob. "I don't know," he murmured, loud enough for Jacob's ears alone. "Maybe we should start early, get a practice run in." He glanced around the restaurant, as if to gauge the safety of public display of affection. "Not anybody here who will be at the party, is there?"
Just the thought of being public with Jacob, able to hold his hand as they walked down the street together, made Jessie flush with excitement and his eyes never once stopped dancing with joy. It'd been a long time in coming and Jessie couldn't wait. He didn't think about the negative implications such a move could have. Love was love. Right?
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Jessie
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« Reply #10 on Jan 28, 2013, 11:00pm » | |
"Maybe," He surrendered with a small shrug. When he decided upon something he didn't much waver on what the consequences would be. Certainly some would pass snide remarks that they "knew" it, even though they scarcely had more than a passing conversation with him. Others would smile as though genuinely happy, perhaps thinking that his relationship with Jessie explained something about him. Others would find it a fault that they could sink their claws into. Overall, though, the real threat was his father. In a world of editors are artists, art dealers (even if they were dirty), alternative lifestyles weren't unusual. His father, a raw lion among men, hadn't allowed for his son to be perceived as anything other than a calculating dealer. The thought of Jacob being a lover to anyone hadn't been widely spoken of even if he was appealing to look at. He was a nice vase. His shattered, stain glass eyes followed Jessie's fork conducting the conversation, "At least the staff, anyway."
Jessie was never one who really cared about what others thought. He only recently became guarded and that was to protect Jacob from incriminating photos and waggling tongues. Most that knew Jessie, even in passing, knew or assumed that he was gay. He didn't talk funny, dress any differently, but people seemed to know. It was a surprise to him that the elder Hutchenson didn't know. Perhaps he did, but chose to ignore it. Either way, Jessie sighed when Jacob gave no clue as to which direction he wanted to go. Jessie put down his fork and rested his hand upon the table. If Jacob wanted to make a public show of display, all he had to do was reach across and laid his hand upon Jessie's. Jessie looked up and into Jacob's face, questioningly.
Jacob was, initially, oblivious to what it was that Jessie was saying when he dropped his hand to the table. Sometimes people did that in conversation. But when it just stayed there, like a statement on the tablecloth, he blinked and reached over, his hand on the outside of Jessie's, and his fingertips touched down on the skin at the back of his wrist, "What is it?" As if he had to verbalize the sigh.
To Jessie, the bustling restaurant had become quiet, as if every customer and waiter were holding their breath to see what Jacob would do. So when Jacob touched Jessie's wrist, it seemed as if time started again and people went about their lives, regardless of what was happening at table 16. Jessie smiled, letting out the breath he held. Turning his hand over, he curled his fingers around Jacob's palm and gave a gentle squeeze. "Love you," he whispered a flush to his face and the tips of his ears.
Jacob lived in a surreal sort of world. What would it have been like if he moved across the coast and no one knew who he was and could have cared less? Was he so use to prying eyes and expectation that he would miss it... and feel at a loss without it? Generally, he took the attention for granted. When Jessie whispered to him, Jacob smiled and his eyebrows lowered when he did. He dared the question, "Why?"
That was a question Jessie had never asked himself. It seemed obvious to him that Jacob was a lovable kind of guy, so the question threw him off guard. He canted his head and laughed in his confusion. There were several reasons why, and to pick just one seemed unfair to the others. So, instead, Jessie took another route. Not letting go of Jacob's hand, his smile grinned. "It's bad luck to question a miracle, Jacob."
"Oh?" But the answer wasn't satisfying. Jessie, if anyone, would know what a satisfied look on his face was when he saw it. Instead it was the look for someone who had just had their eyes covered and been fed something they were suppose to correctly guess. He was waiting. Were Jessie going to deflect and he allowed it or offer up more?
Oh yes, Jessie knew that look very well. He sighed and let his back sag just a bit. "Jacob, there are a hundred reasons. You're kind, sexy, level headed, great in bed, you know everything to know about me and you're still here. I don't have one answer. I'm sorry, but I don't. I couldn't list them all in one sitting because it's not just the big things, but the small ones, too. And you listen." Jessie gave Jacob a hopeful look, not really satisfied with his own answer, but he wasn't very good at verbalizing how he felt. He was more tactile, more loving in his touching and caresses than his words.
"I suppose everyone feels this way at some point," he admitted without much yelling or dramatic flair. The fingers of this other hand adjusted the foot of his drink along the tablecloth, "It is easy to feel that you are not unique, that someone else with qualities somewhat comparable to your own would take the affections of someone dear to you away." His attention had been off somewhere, but now it was on Jessie's eyes, "I have thought that if you were not so damaged that I would not seem so wonderful."
It took all the strength he had in himself not to jerk his hand away. Perhaps this was a test, to see if Jessie still was the scared, vulnerable and sensitive guy he'd been when they had first met. Still, the hurt couldn't be hidden from his eyes. "I'd never do that to you," he breathed out. Jessie's face was turning redder. He could feel his heart rate climb with his blood pressure. "And would I be such a charity case if you weren't so perfect?" He hadn't meant for that to come out, it was the hurt that had caused it. Jessie shut his mouth tightly and closed his eyes, not wanting to see the expression on Jacob's face.
"I hadn't thought I was perfect." Attractive, Jacob had known he was attractive. Jessie couldn't be so blind as to not know he was as well. It was mostly in how the world responded to them. His eyebrows went up slightly, seeing Jessie had been bruised, "It was only a question, love, not an inquisition." Perhaps there had been some accusation under it, but he wouldn't even admit that to himself.
(Taken from live play! *Squee!!*)
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