Larkspur [COMPLETE]

Father Figure

The next morning, Eileen awoke to the joyful news that Bellum was sick because of an experiment gone wrong and there'd be a free period. That didn't mean the other periods were any different, but Eillen found herself planning another party for the following night nonetheless. Finals were coming up and a free period meant more time to study. At lunch, as she was by herself picking flowers, Black Sheep approached her.

"Hey, Elly." The brunette looked up with a small, sweet smile, a pink lily in hand. "Hey Black Sheep, what's up?" The maybe Latina girl smiled before walking over. "Not much, what're you doing?" Eileen's face lit up as she picked another flower, a yellow one. "Picking flowers, thought I'd make a get well soon bouquet for Bellum, I may hate her class but that doesn't mean I hate her." The little lamb smiled. "That's very nice of you." "Thanks." Silence.

"Could I ask you something?" Eileen shrugged. "I don't see why not." "It's a little...personal." The hand picking the flowers slowed. "Go on..." She said after a short pause, Black Sheep bit her lower lip.

"Who's...your father?" The picking hand froze completely. Eileen refused to meet her eyes. "Why do want to know?" "I have this...theory, on why Maelstrom is so invested in you." Wouldn't hurt to hear it. "I'm listening." They both sat at the edge of the greenery, Eileen still avoiding BS's eyes.

"You said so yourself; you don't know who your father is and you never asked your mother because you didn't want to trouble her. What if, and this is just a theory, Maelstrom came into your life as a substitute father figure?" Eileen perked up a little, she never thought of it like that before.

"And the reason why you're drawn to him is because you feel like he's the father you never knew you needed?"

It was a curious concept for sure; what if that was why she never denied his advantages, pretended not to want his laser focus on her when in reality she loved it, unconsciously always did a little better in his class then the others? The only other person she put that much effort in for was Cleo, even though she knew even if she did fail that class Cleo would've been sure to cover up her mistakes, free of charge.

"If this theory was true..." She slowly spoke, knowing she had to be careful with her words. "What would happen if I was to use his attention to my advantage? If I let him do what he wanted with me?" Black Sheep paused to think about it. "I suppose, as a father would, he'd want to be by your side always. Protecting you and scaring others he sees as a threat." She had no idea how accurate her calculations were.

A faint rustle of the leaves had both of them turning around, Black Sheep kept her face impassive, so did Eileen, but her heart plummeted into her gut, beating madly at the same time. Like a statue, Maelstrom stood observing the two girls for a moment. Deciding Black Sheep wasn't a threat, he spoke. "Go back to class Black Sheep." The girl knew well enough classes weren't going to start for another hour, but she stood and walked away, the man watching her go. As soon as she left, Eileen stood, facing Maelstrom as he turned back to her, smirking as soon as their eyes met.

"She's a very smart girl, isn't she? She'll make a fine contribution to V.I.L.E one day." "Is that why you want me?" Demanded Eileen. "Because of my lack of men in my life?" His face softened slightly. "You were my weakness the moment I saw you, I had to have you, and I wanted to be your first." "That doesn't give you an excuse to take advantage of my weak points. I'm just a girl, my life has yet to truly begin and already you've scared a valuable part of me that I might never be able to mend. I may as well call Gray my boyfriend in order to forget your troubles."

As soon as the words fell from her lips, his face switched to pure anger and he pinned her to the brick wall on her right. Her body shook with the impact and her breath was knocked clean out of her lungs. In an instant, his face was up to hers, nose only an inch away, teeth bared and eyes flashing, she had never seen him so angry.

"Don't you dare say you will." His voice was low with fury, rippling through him and sliding onto her through his hands which gripped her upper arms.

"Don't even think about doing that. I've waited too long to have you as my own and now that I do I don't plan on sharing you with anyone. You go near any boy on campus and your secret will be out faster then you can blink." He came closer still so that his lips brushed over her ear. "You're mine." He purred in a low, alluring voice. "Don't you ever forget that." And just to illustrate his point, his lips latched onto the crock of her neck and sucked at her still sensitive skin, making one particular hickey pulse back to life. Eileen yelped, lips parting and palm pressing against his chest to grip the dark sweater. His teeth were harsher than the night before yet somehow she found herself loving it more. When he pulled back, she looked away, knowing her face was bright red, he chuckled before sliding his tongue up her cheek, despite herself she shivered.

"Come by my room tomorrow night, you won't regret it." Before finally walking away. A little after he left, Eileen finally brought herself to walk back inside where her group was waiting by their usual meet-up point just inside the back doors. Sheena as always was first to notice her friend and greet her with a friendly smile a ruffling of her hair.

"There you are you little disappearing flower, what took you so long?" Eileen's eyes darted to the man standing several feet away, he smiled once their eyes met before leaving the room. Her frown deepened.

"Just stopping to smell the roses." Black Sheep looked at her as though she wanted to say something, but thought better of it and looked away.

~

That night, for the first time in a while, Eileen found she couldn't bring herself to sing. She wasn't all that much of a drinking girl but she found herself spending most of her time at the 'bar' that night. (It wasn't really a bar, just a couple chairs around a few small tables where the drinkers sat and were served.)

"This spot taken?" She looked up and saw Black Sheep, she gestured to it wordlessly and the redhead sat down. There was a pause in which she was served a drink, taking a small sip before turning back to Eileen.

"That's some bruise you've got welling up on your neck." Eileen brushed her fingertips along her neck until she felt them run over the hickey Maelstrom had placed. She bit the inside of her cheek in fury, he was so going to pay for that.

"He's already made a move, Maelstrom, you've...been with him before." Elly glanced at her friend in faint surprise, she didn't know that much about sex but she knew what to say. And Elly didn't feel like lying.

"If I tell you anything, you have to promise me not to tell Sheena. I don't...need her influence right now." Black Sheep nodded. "I promise." Eileen sighed, pushing her glass to the side before starting.

~

By the time she was done telling her everything, Jean-Paul ran in and said Couch Brunt was stirring. The close down was a bit more frantic than usual, mostly because everyone knew being caught be Brunt meant a more bone-crushing punishment. Literally. The rest of the night was passed in blissful comfort and it wasn't until the next day, while working on a partner project in Countess Cleo's, when the two managed to further address Eileen's current issue.

"We should tell someone, Countess Cleo, she's your godmother, she'd take your word over his any day." Eileen shook her head. "That's the worst part; I don't want anyone to find out about this. I like his laser focus on me, how he worships my body, the aggressive way he handles any boy that gets to close." She noticed right then that Mime Bomb was looking her way and cast him a friendly wave. He smiled before giving her a playful wink, she blushed and looked away. "Well, almost every boy."

"Elly, I know you don't like admitting your weaknesses, like Sheena, but that doesn't mean you don't have them. You shouldn't let yourself be used like this." A light frown crested Eileen's face as she refused to meet BS's eyes. "It's not being used if you like it." Black Sheep sighed.

"So you say. Look, if you ever need help with any of this, don't hesitate to ask okay? I'm here if you need me." Eileen didn't say anything at first, she was grateful for the offer and didn't want to show it. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"I'll keep that in mind." Black Sheep smiled before returning to her work, Eileen waited until she wasn't looking before smiling softly.