in which kit rook is a reckless boy angry at the world, and he learns that not everyone is out to get him.
| ᴋɪᴛ ʜᴇʀᴏɴᴅᴀʟᴇ + ᴛʏ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋᴛʜᴏʀɴ |
| ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴀʀᴛɪғɪᴄᴇs / ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀs |
| ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴀᴜ |
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IN HIS SEVENTEEN YEARS OF LIFE, Kit had lived in many different places.
Johnny moved around a lot, so they'd often be changing cities every three or four months. Berlin, Tokyo, Rio, Reykjavik, Paris- at this point, he'd almost seen it all.
But Los Angeles was different. He'd seen cities like it, sure- hot and alive, with uncountable tourists and miles of beach, but it had a feel to it that just made Kit confused.
Already, after not even twenty-four hours, he kinda liked it there. Or at least, the couple square miles he could see from his bedroom window and the few allyways he explored late last night, when he was sure Jem and Tessa were asleep.
He hadn't talked to them since yesterday. They'd allowed him to simply hole up in his room, bringing him both breakfast and then lunch. Kit didn't understand why they weren't yelling at him to come out, to talk to them or do something. It's what anyone else would've done.
But he knew that despite how strangely kind the couple were, they'd have to come knocking on his door eventually.
It was late afternoon, the sun shining through to his nicely furnished room, when a knock came to the door.
Kit looked up from his place on the bed, where he lay glaring at the ceiling. He'd taken a shower earlier, in the nicest bathroom he'd ever occupied. Even the soaps had his hands twitching to steal. So his hair was still slightly damp, and he pushed it out of the way as he went to reluctantly open the door.
There stood Jem, in all his glory- he had a small, understanding smile on his face that nearly infuriated Kit. What did he know of what Kit was going through? What gave him the right to be understanding?
"Kit," Jem said. "You may stay in there all day if you wish, but tomorrow we are bringing you to meet some friends of ours for dinner. My cousin won't stop nagging me to meet you."
Kit remained nuetral. "If I have to, fine." He went to slam the door, but it was caught by the man's foot.
"Now that's the thing." Jem tilted his head. "We want you to want to go. You can't just stay in there forever, you know. You're going to school on Monday, and you have to interact with us at some point."
Kit shrugged. "I can find a way."
Jem stared at him. "As I said, stay in here as long as you want. But at 6 o'clock tomorrow, you are going to be dressed and ready to go meet my family." He stepped back. "Goodnight, Kit."
• • •
As much as he hated to admit it, Kit was bored.
He'd been staring at the same wall for about a day and a half now, and it had gotten old. Going through the whole room's possessions repeatedly had also gotten rather dull.
