Fettered

Cellular Degradation

All Eveline wanted to do was draw and play with dolls. Most of the time, she could get Jack or Marguerite to do her bidding, play with her and dote over her, and all was well. But there were times, especially if she saw him getting amorous with Pers, she would demand Lucas play with her. As much as he hated being bossed around by some stupid kid, he had no other choice but to oblige and keep up the charade.

Today, she wanted to play house with her dolls. She knelt on the floor across from him, two dolls in her hands. He had one as well and he tried his best not to look bored as he played with her.

Eveline spoke in a deep voice and mimicked Jack's accent. "Aren't we just so happy ta be a family?" Then she took over the other doll, shaking it gently to show it was speaking, which sounded almost like his mom. "Well, I would be, if it weren't for Persepenny."
Lucas looked at her strangely and said, "Whatchu got against Persephone?"
Eveline cleared her throat and pointed at his doll.
He felt himself want to roll his eyes but channeled this desire into a forced smile. He spoke with the same voice, dropping it only an octave or two, bouncing the doll up and down. "What's wrong with Persephone?"
Back to imitating Marguerite, "She's a real handful. Evie feels left out because you spend all your time with her, Lucas."
Lucas bit his tongue, quite literally so he could hold back a sigh. He tried to act like a concerned big brother. "Ya don' think I spend enough time with Evie?"
"Well," said Eveline as Jack, "come ta think of it, you do spend an awful lot of time down in yer room with Persepenny when you could be spending time with Evie instead."
What Lucas wouldn't give to be able to walk away. "Aww, I'm sorry. I didn' mean t' make her feel that way."

Now with quivering lip, Eveline put her dolls down and crawled over onto Lucas's lap to give him a hug. Lucas forced himself to hold her and pat her back. She put her face in his shoulder.

"We should play together more," she said.
"Okay, Evie. We'll do that."
"You're the best big brother." Her arms held him tighter. "Love you, Lucas."
He grimaced, expertly hiding the displeasure in his voice. "Love you, too, Evie."

She placed a kiss on his cheek and he pulled her back, standing her to hopefully convince her to get off his lap.

"All right, all right," he said, "we gonna play house with these dolls 'r not?"

Eveline giggled and jogged back to her dolls, picking them up to resume play. The faster he finished with her stupid games, the faster he could get back to the lab.

Eveline wasn't the only pain in his ass, though. He often found himself dealing with an absolutely psychotic Mia. The bitch was far too entrenched in Eveline craziness, and Lucas wasn't sure her brain would ever work right again. She would punch and kick basically anyone and start a fight, but Lucas was her favorite target, followed by Diane (by association?).

Today was no different. Lucas was headed to fix the garage door that was on the fritz to get Jack off his ass about it, where the bitch cornered him and Diane. But the bitch acted like he was in her way and started screaming at him like a lunatic. When he told her to go fuck herself, her face contorted with red rage. She threw her fists at anything in sight, including Diane. The moment she connected with Diane's nose, Lucas lunged at the bitch and grabbed her by the arms. He grappled her to the ground, knee in her back.

"Get off me!" The bitch screeched, kicking and thrashing.
"Pers!" Lucas called, struggling a bit. "Persephone, get in here!"
She called from the basement. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'!"

Her footsteps echoed upstairs until she reached the landing, and she took her sweet time rounding the corner. She stood in the doorway, hands on her hips as she stared down at them.

"What?" She demanded.
"Help me get this bitch outside! I'm takin' her t' th' guest house!" He had to exert more force to keep her down.
Pers sighed. "All right, lemme get the duct tape."