Malevolence

~8~

Laurent could've sworn that he'd experienced the tensest situations someone could possibly be in. He grew up in the hood, he'd seen murders and crimes of all kinds. He's been in the middle of fist fights and knife fights before, and he'd even been jumped once or twice during his childhood.

But somehow, this car ride feels more volatile than any of those instances.

He's riding in the back of the rental car that Larry had ordered when they arrived in the city, Destiny and Larry sitting up front in silence. It's oddly reminiscent of the first time the three of them went to eat, but the mood is completely different, due to the silent war Laurent and Destiny are waging against each other. Destiny is very obviously fuming, her usual cheery demeanor nowhere to be seen. She's not even talking to Larry, and Laurent's sure that's confusing his brother given that he didn't witness their showdown.

Neither of them has said anything to tip Larry off to what happened in the hotel room, but it's only a matter of time, and both of them know that. Laurent's not too worried- he can't imagine that Larry will be able to just ignore the disturbing discovery he made, and he really doubts that Destiny will be able to just explain them away like she seems to be able to do with every other problem he brings up. This is more of a victory lap for him, a way that he gets to gloat silently to her before he reveals his findings and gets her kicked out of Larry's life forever, an outcome that he's been looking forward to for months now. He's still pissed at his brother, and he can't wait to ensure that he's safe enough for Laurent to leave him the hell alone so that he can attempt to recover from the emotional roller coaster that comes with being close with Larry. He's been wanting to distance himself from his brother ever since he made the Jessica comment, but his concern for the safety of his twin won out over his wounded heart. He can't wait to get rid of Destiny so he can finally relax and think about something other than Larry.

Destiny.... Destiny has different plans.

She already knows how she's going to spin this. Thankfully, her plan doesn't require her to pretend to be friendly with Laurent, which is good for her considering she would love nothing more than to strangle him right where he sits. No one's ever come this close to discovering what she's up to, and while it's almost impressive, it's mostly just infuriating. She's never had to outsmart her target's brother before, because no one has ever had even the slightest suspicion of her. Manipulating people and fooling them into believing she's harmless is her specialty.

Apparently, seeing through people's lies is Laurent's.

She'll give him credit, he's good. Withholding his affection from Larry has successfully accomplished what Destiny assumes he wanted- Larry is desperate to have him back to his normal self, which means he's less attentive to her. He's more willing to put her second to Laurent purely because it's so unnatural for him to be denied Laurent's attention for so long, and he wants it back. It's smart, but there's another consequence of it that she doesn't think Laurent sees quite yet. The stress of constantly bouncing back and forth between the two of them has put Larry on edge, and that's only something she's noticed because she's been around him so frequently. Ignoring Larry might make him want Laurent around him more, but it's also frustrating him, and combining that with the other turbulent emotions from work and other aspects of life, he's turning into a time bomb. He'll explode soon, and she doesn't think Laurent's ready for it.

While both Destiny and Laurent are in their own little worlds, masterminding their final stands in the fight for Larry, the younger twin is watching them both silently, completely lost. It's absolutely impossible to miss the tension in the car, but he has no clue what caused it, or how to make it go away. He wants it to desperately, because God is it making him uncomfortable, but he doesn't know what to say to fix it. Destiny is being uncharacteristically quiet, staring out her window with her legs tilted towards her door as she broods, which makes him think that Laurent did something again that made her upset. He wants to say something about it and demand an explanation from Laurent, because after his and Destiny's conversation in the hotel room he's growing increasingly angry at him, but he still doesn't feel like he can risk arguing with Laurent right now. His twin is the same as he has been for the past few days, which is to say he's uninterested and cold. He's still maintaining the distance he'd placed between himself and Larry, still closing himself off from their connection, so Larry has no way of telling what's running through his brother's head right now.