Dark and His Queen

"Family" Dinner

                            Later while in the kitchen preparing dinner Laura had Dark working along side her.  She gave him tasks to do while she prepared the main meal.  She opted for fish cooked in a foil pouch served over brown rice.  Die showed up while they were cooking and Laura had him set the table.  Anti came home shortly after that.  "It smells so good in here.  I am getting so used to eating meals like this I swear that I am getting hungry around the same time every day."  Anti said.  Laura laughed.   "I am glad you like my food.  I know you guys don't need to eat so that makes it mean even more." Anti winked at her.  Laura pulled to tray out of the oven and set it on the stove top.  The rice had just finished cooking.  Laura poured everyone a glass of water and placed a scoop of rice on each plate.  She then carefully opened the foil pouches burning her fingertips a bit each time she touched it.  She then poured the juices from the pouch over the rice and then placed the fish and veggies on top.  They all sat down to eat.  Laura placed one hand on Dark's hand and her other on Anit's, who were on either side of her and began to speak not making eye contact with any of them.  "I need to say something before we start.   I had a difficult childhood and a difficult adulthood.  I have only ever been close to a two people my whole life.  I know this is so strange because you guys are demons and I am human and in any other situation we should be enemies, but you guys are the closest thing to family I have ever had.  I love each and every one of you.  I have come to look forward to our dinners here.  I just want you guys to know how much you all mean to me." The guys all just stared at her, not really knowing what to say.  "Sorry to get all emotional for a minute there.  I know you don't do feelings.  Let's eat before the food gets cold."  Laura continued trying to ease the awkwardness in the room.  Laura started to eat but the guys just sat there for a minute.  Then Anti got out of his chair, walked over to Laura and pulled her up out of the chair and hugged her tight.  Laura wrapped her arms around his back and squeezed him.  Anti let her go and Laura gave him a peck on the cheek. Die got up next and hugged Laura as well.  She pecked him on the cheek too.  When Laura sat back down to eat, Dark noticed a tear running down her cheek.  He took her hand, squeezed it and gave her a smile.  They all ate in silence.  When dinner was over they all stayed close to Laura.  Helping her clear the table, wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.  After, they all sat in the living room together.  They chatted about this and that. "Laura, can I ask you a question?"  Die asked. "Yeah go ahead."  Laura answered.  "Can you tell me what happened to you when you were a kid?  You mentioned your childhood being shitty and I was just curious."   Laura sighed and looked down at her lap.  Her expression became one of sorrow and pain.  "Laura, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."   Dark stated, moving closer to Laura, taking her hand. Laura knew he was trying to protect her and she appreciated it.   "Yeah, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.  I was just curious."   Die added.  "No, it's fine.  That is just a broad question.  What didn't happen to me?  Ok let's see, where to begin.  From a young age I remember having to have to take care of myself.  My dad worked at night so if my mother didn't feel like cooking or fell asleep on the couch I didn't eat.  When I got older I made sure my dad bought plenty of frozen dinners so that I could make my own food.  I didn't know how to cook seeing as she would never let me in the kitchen.  Also for as long as I can remember she was a sad and angry woman.  She didn't want to leave the house, she didn't want to do holiday things with me and my dad. She also always over reacted when I did do something wrong.  When I was small we had a butcher block that had wooden utensils on it.  She had one that she called the coolie spanker.  She explained to me that a spoon is solid and when she swings it, it catches the air and slows it down so it won't hurt as much but the coolie spanker had a hole in and so the air would pass through when she swung it causing it to move faster and hurt more."  "Wait.  She actually explained that to you about the weapon she was beating you with?"  Anti asked.  "Yup."  "Did she hit you with it?"  Anti asked.  "Yeah, one time so much that I couldn't walk the next two days."   "How old were you?"  Die asked. "I think I was what six or seven at the time.  Things just got worse as I got older.  I became her outlet for all her stress.  She was always mad at me even when I didn't do anything wrong.  She was also on a switch that I never knew when it would flip."  "What do you mean?"  Die asked confused.  "Ok example.  I was at the park across the street with my friends.  My mother paged me and when I called her she was practically breathing fire through the phone.  She was screaming, yelling and swearing so loud that I had to hold the receiver away from my ear and all my friends that were around could hear her.  She hung up on me and I headed across the street to go home.  Once I was on my porch I took a few deep breaths preparing myself for the shit storm I was about to walk into but when I walked into the house I was greeted with 'Hi honey.  Dinner will be ready shortly.  "I didn't know what had happened.  I thought maybe I had imagined the call at the park.  I thought maybe I was crazy.  She also got mad at me for stupid things when she was mad at other things.  Like one day she had a bad day at work and when she came home she was slamming things and throwing stuff.  At one point she opened the cabinet and the next thing I knew the peanut butter jar came flying at me from the kitchen.  She was seething with anger and screaming because the lid to the peanut butter jar was not screwed on properly.  The fucked up thing was she didn't even eat peanut butter so why the hell was she even looking at that jar.  When she was really mad and wanted to instill fear in me she would grab me by the arm, dig her nails into the soft part of my flesh, press me up against a wall and scream at me.  Then she would get mad when I would cry.  I think that is where my rage came from.  I was never allowed to cry.  I think she didn't know how to deal with that emotion so she used to just get mad at me.  So I learned to suck it up and push it down and turn it into anger.  Anger is an easier emotion then sadness. So my rage began to build from that age on and just got worse and worse until I could not feel any other emotion."   By time Laura was done recalling her story Dark was squeezing her hand painfully tight.  She placed her other hand on top of his.  He loosened his grip.  The guys sat there in silence not sure what to say.  "Not what you were expecting?"  Laura joked.  "Not at all."   Anti finally broke the silence.  "That explains a lot, but where does your compassion come from?  Was it your dad?  You didn't mention him much."  Die asked.  "My dad was a great man.  He loved me more than anything.  He counter balanced my mother's crazy.  But like I said he worked nights and he worked a lot in order to support us."   Dark reached up and wiped Laura's tears from her face.  "Oh, sorry."   Laura sniffled and wiped her eyes.  Anti glitched to her side in a moment.  "No!  You go ahead and cry if you need to.  We may not be good with feelings and emotions but we will never make you suppress yours."  Laura used her free hand to cup Anti's cheek.  Dark let go of Laura's  hand, knowing she wanted to hug Anti.  She wrapped her arms around him.  Anti squeezed her tight.  Die was standing close by when she let Anti go.  He kneeled down in front of her.  "I am sorry for making things so heavy.  I didn't mean to make you upset I just really wanted to know about you."   Laura took Die's face in her hands.  "You know for a bunch of demons, you three are all big softies.  Don't worry I won't tell anyone."   Laura winked and giggled.  That caused all the guys to chuckle.  Die gave Laura a brief hug.  Laura let out a massive yawn.  "Time to call it a night."   Dark announced.   "I agree.  All this emotion has worn me out."   Laura stood up.  "Ok, guys.  Have a good night.  I will see you tomorrow."   Laura turned to Dark and held out her hand.  "Shall we?"   She asked.  Dark took her hand and stood up.  "We shall."  He bowed and led her upstairs.  Dark changed out of his suit and climbed into bed with Laura.  He pulled her close to him.  He nuzzled his face in her hair.  Laura sighed happily.  "Are you ok after tonight?  I know that was a heavy conversation."   Dark asked.  "I am alright.  It is never fun to talk about but I knew they were both curious."  "Are you really as happy here as you said you were at diner?"  "I am.  I meant every word.  I feel like I am home for the first time ever."   Dark squeezed her tight. "I don't want you to ever leave."  "I am not going anywhere."  "Promise?"  Laura rolled over so she was facing him.  She placed her hands on his face. "I promise you.  I am here with you forever."   Dark kissed her. He kissed her for a long time.