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▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀TW: Mentions of child abuse (Jonah) and
Toury alluding to an uncomfortable underage pastime
Timestamp: Immediately following Time Enough
Location: Mr. Phoenix’s Classroom
Tourmaline and Jonah
@Aces Away and @LovelyComplex
Toury alluding to an uncomfortable underage pastime
Timestamp: Immediately following Time Enough
Location: Mr. Phoenix’s Classroom
Tourmaline and Jonah
@Aces Away and @LovelyComplex
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Toury sat at her father’s desk in room 210 with her feet up on the wooden surface an her head tilted back and staring upside down at the wall clock, arms crossed over her chest. Jonah wasn’t even late, but Toury had gotten there early after her time spent with her girlfriend at the convenience store parking lot the past few hours, and she was already getting bored in the dark and silent room. He better have food on him or she would riot. Nevaeh’s black lipstick was still imprinted on her cheek, untouched as it had been since the goth girl put it on the Tantalizer’s skin, and if Toury closed her eyes and breathed deeply, she could still smell the subtle cucumber scented soap of her lover from when the blonde had been wrapped around the brunette.
When the door opened silently and changed the airflow on her cascading locks and exposed skin with ten seconds to spare before he’d have been late- shame as she’d wanted to tease him- and Jonah strolled through almost as quiet as the door, Toury lifted her head up and raised an eyebrow at the boy that hopefully be a fruitful investment of her time. The aroma of greasy fast food that trailed on the newer air currents and into her nostrils had her smirking expectedly at him.
“Welcome to my domain, Cheerio, you got food for me?”
Jonah didn’t answer the obvious question. Instead he placed the bag on Mr. Phoenix’s desk. “Do you know why I asked you here?” He asked, placing his backpack alongside the food. As he waited for her response, he went to the chalkboard and began idly setting up a game of hangman. Why not? It would keep them busy during their back and forth. He drew four lines for his chosen word.
He turned to Toury and continued, “You must have an idea of why I asked you here.” Since the beginning of Toury’s business relation with Jonah, not only has she observed him on the job but occasionally, he did ask about her brother, taking interest in the boy, curious if he had anything to offer. It wasn’t an obvious thing to notice, since Jonah was excellent at weaving his intention in his words without giving too much a way. He was a clever boy, Toury knew that. Still, Jonah had faith that Toury paid attention. At least in regards to topics that mattered to her, like her family, especially her step brother.
“Why do you think I asked for the information that I did?” Toury rolled her eyes and didn't yet get up to play Jonah's little game. He hadn't made it worth her time yet. She wasn’t stupid, of course she knew that the strategic minded boy had had an eye on her brother for a while, and that he was occasionally curious enough about Dot Dot that she would shut down the conversation rather decisively. Pulling a barely warm fry from the bag, she popped it in her mouth before taking her feet off the desk and leaning forward in the chair to look up at Jonah. “You seemed pretty confident that you'd be able to tell me who was bullying Dash. This meeting doesn't start until I have those answers.”
“Oh, I have more than enough information for you but aren’t you one for fun? Give me a letter and I’ll feed you with the food you want,” Jonah teased, holding out because he could. As he waited for her to start the Hangman game, he added more definition to the gallows. “Come on, don’t be a party pooper.”
Toury narrowed her eyes at the boy's challenge, well aware she was being played with. She stared him down for a long moment as he held his ground, and eventually Toury decided that if he was willing to test this whole meeting by adjusting the terms of the arrangement, then he better have had something good for her. Her lips, back to candle apple red after fixing it up post-Nevaeh, turned down slightly to show him her displeasure.
“D, for dicks who like to try and be cute.”
“Cute,” Jonah repeated after her, writing a D on the side and drawing a head where the noose should be. “You really think I’d do Dash? Oh silly Toury, I’m not that simple.” Twirling the chalk between his fingers, he glanced at her and decided he wasn’t done playing. “You care an awful lot about this. To the point that you are willing to meet up with me and trade information so I can hire your brother. You ever considered how he would feel if he found out the lengths you would go to protect him and micromanage him?”
“What is this, family therapy?” Toury rolled her eyes and finally stood up to stand next to Jonah at the board. If she were in flats, he would have had a good three inches on her, but she was wearing heels that put them eye level. Jonah has been a trip to deal with since the first time Toury stole a tater tot from his tray while perusing new targets at each lunch table. She'd realized by the look in his eye as she bit down into the crispy golden goodness that he would be better as an ally then a source of amusement, especially with her brand of manipulation being all but useless with him. You live, you learn, you form ties and alliances to bring down those who have wronged you.
“Dash can be upset as he wants, he can flip his shit on me and I'd probably cheer him on,” she grit her teeth as she thought of the sight of his side this morning. “Until he's not hiding bruises from me, I'll keep going behind his back on things too,” she glared at Jonah for his last comment. “Don't tell me that you don't do things for your family in the shadows, I wouldn't even believe you if you did. The second Dot Dot came up to me he was under my protection and he knew it, he should have expected it to be worse when our parents got married. Now, P, for you're starting to piss me off.”
Jonah smiled, “Now, now, Toury. You knew what you were getting into that fateful day you stole my food, which, by the way, I still haven’t forgiven you for.” He knew that what he had to offer was way more vital to her than his desire to have Dash in the House. Dash would bring in revenue, that was easy to see and the numbers didn’t lie. His success rate at pool would tip the tables in the House’s favor. He would be an investment that guaranteed success. But like most things, hiring a boy that was naive and still had their younger child directing their soul was a risk. A gamble. A danger to his small operation. Dash may not even agree to the terms so the one that had more to lose and less to win in this deal was Jonah and he would make sure Toury understood that the House ran on his terms. As long as she worked for him and wanted to keep their relationship amicable, he would assist wherever she needed. She just needed to play games with him, from time to time. “I’m surprised you answered me. You could’ve kept things going, for a little while longer. I suppose if therapy is what you seek, I’m free real estate.” He wrote a P to the side and drew a lanky body.
She wasn’t good at this game or perhaps he chose too hard of a word. Jonah went to the side of the board and painstakingly slowly began writing the name of Dash’s bully, just like he promised. Backwards. He deliberately kept out the third because that would be a dead give away.
“How are things? With you, your girls, your newfound lover? Just because we have a business thing going doesn’t mean you always have to act tough around me. We’re both seniors. At a pretentious highschool. You’re allowed to chill and get to know me beyond my business.”
Toury's crossed arms tensed as he read her, her eyes glaring at the letters he was providing as she tried to decipher the game he was playing. “More like re-found lover,” she provided a bit cagily before forcing herself to relax. “I've been dating Nevaeh since late sophomore year, she just understands my fun and I'm very open with her about who I'm playing around with,” he wants her to act a little softer? He wants her to play his games? Fine. “You notice how rarely anyone has actually been able to say they got to the final stage with me? It's because I don't need to to get what I want from them and I respect my girlfriend enough to talk to her about any drastic maneuvers beforehand,” She tapped the black lipstick kiss on her cheek, very obviously the girl’s in question. “As for my girls, we've all been extremely busy today, I'm sure the update texts will be rolling in from both of them soon.”
Tracing the word he was writing, Toury decided to stop trying to read it like he was giving her a direct answer and look at it like a word game much in the same sense of him starting their meeting with Hangman. She thought of the crossword and word search books she would blow through with her father on a lazy day and the thought immediately brought her to the backwards words that she used to struggle to find amidst the jumble of letters on the page.
“Ardson?” She vocalized with a thoughtful hum, trying to run through her mental list of classmates for what was now obviously a part of a last name. She cut out anyone that couldn't or wouldn't hurt Dash, and the already small target pool she'd been working with immediately shallowed out to a single prick. “Richardson? Malcolm fucking Richardson?”
He was dating Anna-Marie, one of the bitches on the cheer squad that used to be ‘friends’ with Helen and Amy when they were still impressionable. She's had her own interactions over the years, been aware of his wandering gaze and the look that it put on his girlfriend's face. And now he was using Toury's brother as a personal punching bag?
“Is there a four letter word for murder, Jonah?” She asked in a suddenly sickly sweet tone, her sharp nails looking like claws as she tensed and untensed her fingers. The falsely cute smile she wore was dangerous as she already began running scenarios in her mind on how to ruin this boy's life so bad that he trembled In fear the second he so much as thought about Dash. She wanted to completely take over his mind so he couldn't even focus on her little brother until it was too late and she'd sucked the rich boy dry of any cockiness or entitlement and left him a confused, listless husk of his former self. “Because this boy is about to be dead in everything but the most literal sense.”
“Kill,” Jonah answered without hesitation. That, however, was not his four letter word. “Would you like to use those four letters for our game?” Jonah’s energy did not match Toury’s at all. If anything, he was lethargic, tired and still. He allowed himself to relax in the presence of company. He brought the chalk in a new area of the board and started lazily making a swirly. That was not part of the game; he was killing time. “And yes, yes it is Malcolm. Good job.”
“I'm so pleased,” Toury drawled, not pleased in the slightest. His offer to use the letters from KILL in their game did have her pausing long enough to look him in the eyes again. He was still playing with her, but in which direction was this nudge he was offering going to send her? If there was anything she'd learned about Jonah Goldstein it was that he was similar enough to her that he enjoyed seeing friends and family succeed even in the smaller things just as much if not more than he enjoyed watching targets flounder and suffer under his games and tests. She looked at her little circle and stick figure with a guess left for each limb and decided that if she was wrong with all three letters and Jonah was prompting her to fail then that would be a miscalculation on her part. A learning lesson. And for him? A loss of access to one Dash A. Day.
“Go for it, Cheerio, lightning round that shit. K, I, L.”
Quietly, methodically, Jonah drew two limbs. An arm and a leg. But she did get one letter. Two more chances and then she would be out of luck.
“In my bag, feel free to open it — there’s nothing important in it to me — that’s everything you will need. I’d suggest you shred the information after use or sell it, I don't care. Malcolm can burn. I’m sure you’d be doing this school a service. Do with it as you please. Just don’t get caught with it,” Jonah glanced first at his bag then at his pocket watch, not because he cared about how long this would take, but because he was a creature of habit. Checking his watch was one of those habits. That or maybe there was another reason he stopped what he was doing to grab onto something he considered precious. A sentimental item that has always been on his person. At least for as long as Toury’s known him.
Locking eyes with his peer, he advised, “Anna-Marie would be the best route for you to go, if you want to get back at him. You might even be able to convince her to ruin him with you, since she thinks he’s being unfaithful. Just make sure she thinks it’s her idea.” Jonah finalized, deciding to offer the chalk to the other girl by placing it on her father’s desk, waiting for her when she was ready to finish the game. “Clue: This is something you can’t save. Something you can lose. Something that can’t be bought. Something you may even consider priceless. What am I?”
If Toury were a lesser woman she would have groaned in irritated realization the second Jonah pulled out his damn timepiece. As it was, she stayed silent and let him advise her on the newfound information and her future steps, taking his counsel seriously and already using it to form her future plan. Anna-Marie was a vapid bitch and Toury herself had had a bit of fun playing with her at the start of Freshman year before Helen caught her eye, and later Amy though they hadn't done anything together. Before Nevaeh caught her heart. Was the girl dating some nasty college boy at the time? Of course. But things like that didn't stop the at the time solitary Tantalizer.
When Jonah set the chalk down and gave her a riddle that she didn't even need anymore, she snatched the stick up and stalked up the board with a purpose, writing the other three letters out in her sharp but swirly script. Jonah really was cute, with his little games and riddles, and she felt a kindred spirit in him. She couldn't wait until he found a boy to play with for more than a fling, being privy to that would be a form of payment in and of itself.
She dropped the chalk, letting it crack in half from the shock of the fall to its holder, and walked past Jonah while running her fingers along his jaw gently and playfully, just grazing it with her acrylics with no actual intent behind the motion aside from it being one of her favorite moves. She knew nothing she did or said would interest Jonah in tha capacity, it was more just habit than anything. Then, she stood in front of the boy's bag on her father’s desk and opened it with reckless abandon, uncaring of anything else he may have stashed in there aside from the manilla folder staring her down from the largest pocket. He'd already stated he didn't care, so she wasn't about to pussyfoot around it. With her reason for agreeing to their late night meeting finally in hand, the blonde turned to look at the wavy haired boy with a happy smile instead of the frowns or smirks she'd been gracing him with the whole time, waving the folder like a kid showing off the goldfish they won at a fair game.
“Well, now I actually am pleased.”
Jonah didn’t react to her entering his personal space to caress his face. If this was his eldest nephew, he’d react poorly. If this was an Elite, they’d get horny. If this were another girl, they’d either be extremely into it or want to throw hands. For Jonah? He was indifferent. It was like wind against his cheek, that came and went and was forgotten the moment it stopped. He looked at the remnants of his bag and began cleaning up her mess, returning his school supplies back into its bag. “Glad to be of service to you. Do I get your blessing? See if your brother’s willing. It would be a temporary position. One night only. An experiment to see how many people underestimate him and who thinks they can get an easy win during my game nights.” That and because they both know that Dash’s attention span was limited. Any longer than that and Jonah would become an unpaid babysitter. He zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulder. “Oh and you can have my food, I chose this place because I know you like it.” He wasn’t hungry anymore. Downside of focusing on business more than taking care of himself. He’d have some nosh when he was home.
“It’s cute that you think I wasn’t going to eat your food anyways, it’s kind of our main thing,” She winked at him, snatching the bag immediately and digging into it for it’s precious contents, coming back out with a handful of fries and popping a few in her mouth. She had a feeling that Jonah knew enough about her habits and personality by now that he was aware that if he were to ever tell her to leave his food alone she actually would. She oblivious to the fact that people had food insecurities and eating disorders, and she wasn’t here to bother or hurt her friends, but Jonah had a habit of letting his food get cold as he let his brain run at supersonic speeds, and that first tater tot had been the start of her keeping him aware of the bad habit. In her own way, of course. She wasn’t just the type to walk up to someone and say ‘that’s the third time this week you’ve let your fried potato side dish go cold, what are you thinking of so intently?’ with something as simple as words. She let Jonah sit in silence as she finished her handful of fries, downing them with her water bottle before giving him the answer he’d been waiting so patiently for.
“Permission granted, Jonah Goldstein,” She finally allowed, once again breaching his personal space with the confidence of someone who can handle themself far better than anyone actually realized. Jonah had the same confidence, it was a good quality for the type of relationship the two had. Because they weren’t just friends, there were far too many business transactions between them for it to be a simple taunting friendship developed through a mutual love of manipulation and games that sent people spinning like dreidels. She knew not to get in just anyone’s face, knew who had restraint and who had triggers, and she acted accordingly. “But I swear to all vengeful deities I can call upon, if anything happens and you fail to cover Dot Dot-” because it wouldn’t be that Jonah didn’t try, it wouldn’t even be that he didn’t do his best, she knew the boy was highly capable and something extremely disruptive would have to happen in order to cause Jonah to falter enough to fail Dash. Still, cover all bases and all that. “-I will be extremely displeased. You’ve seen what I can do when I’m annoyed or bored, but you’ve never seen me upset. Dash is fucking pure in the most vulnerable ways and if you even toe the line of putting him in any danger I don’t approve of I will sever all access to him and act accordingly.”
Her frown was harsh, the nail poking Jonah in the chest for emphasis was pointed, and just for Jonah- because this is all hypothetical future shit and they are on great terms right now- her eyes were scared. Toury loved her family and what it had become over the years. She loved working for her step-mom and the stupid family game and movie nights where Dash would never stay sitting in one spot for more than a few minutes, bouncing from her to their dad to their mom with a constant running commentary that never failed to anything but make the night even better. She protected Dash because he needed it. She made an offhand comment to him about learning self defense and he went and found Malcolm Richardson and fell for his bullshit and lies. She misstepped and now he was getting hurt while thinking he was getting help. Dash needed all the protection he could get. Hell, his whole little Limit Breakers lunch table of gaggling gremlins did. But Dash was hers to take care of, and she took the self-assigned job extremely seriously.
So seriously, in fact…
Just because we have a business thing going doesn’t mean you always have to act tough around me.
“Jonah, tell me this is the right choice. Tell me I’m not letting myself ruin Dot Dot and I’m actually a good sister.”
He wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t like he expected her to open up to him but he wasn’t surprised. Jonah had already thought of all the possible responses she could’ve said to him and for once, she decided to rewind, going back to when he allowed her a safe space to share, without the hardened shell. The games had ceased and it was now just her and him. Friends. Gently, Jonah grabbed her chin and brought it up, high. His eyes softened, which had more value than she likely realized. The way he looked at her was through a familial lens. “Right? Wrong?” Jonah returned his hand to his side and kept his focus on her. Subconsciously, he dug in his pocket and took a coin out. He rolled it between his fingers. “There isn’t a map on being a good sibling, a good child, a good friend, a good lover…” Jonah continued, the word lover having more emphasis due to his own buried thoughts.
“You do what you think is best, based on what you believe, and if it happens to not have the best results, you pick yourself up, adjust how you see things, and you keep going,” Jonah advised, hoping it would help her in more situations than just with her brother. “You are protective, to the extreme, but I get it. Dash is a child at heart.” As he looked at her, he thought of his nephews and asked, in a rhetorical manner, “Wouldn’t you want him to find out these unsavory, dark things through someone he can trust rather than him finding out on his own? Or through people like Malcolm? I’m sure you know this world leaves very little room for magic and fairy tales.”
Flipping his coin in the air, he grew silent, watching it turn slowly in the air until it landed on the back of his hand. “I can’t take back the lost time I have with my nephews, and what they’ve been through. I can’t relate to my older brother who had to uproot my and Hirsch’s lives for protection. I was only a baby when my sister convinced my mom to drown me. That obviously didn’t happen… I know out of all my family, I’m the most fortunate and that’s because I was protected and prepared. To see the dark. To see the demons Eiran had battled most of his life. To see how hard it had been for my family to free themselves. It was because I was given the choice to look into their world, that I formed a self that quite frankly, I’m proud of. Eiran knew he wouldn’t always be there to be my shield so he guided me in other ways. It was AJ’s father that gave me my toolkit. That’s a story for another day, though.”
Tourmaline listened intently to Jonah as he gave her perspective and personal insight, each sentence daring to send her on an emotional journey she was not ready for. Moreso did the look he pinned her with. There was something about it that made her feel incredibly warm in a way she hadn’t since her Tantalizing Trio had been solidified, or Nevaeh, or her dad having Dash and his mom over for dinner the first time. He was looking at her the way that she looked at the people she deemed close enough to her heart to garner her protection and vulnerability. And what he was saying was right. She knew more than most just how empty of magic and fantasy the world was, both in and outside of their little highschool ecosystem, he was right about that. All the Tantalizers did. Then he shifted to a personal anecdote that threatened to break her tainted little heart. His sister convinced his mom? And this is the woman Decky Boaz lived under with his brother until they blew into Beverly Hills halfway through freshman year? The small glimpse Jonah gave her into his life had her reeling, but she refused to show it, instead keeping steady eye contact with the over-tired boy and absorbing every word. When he’d finished, she let the silence sit heavy for a moment out of respect for his openness and honesty. It had helped immensely, and the impact was more potent with his experience being used as the example.
Finally, she smiled at him warmly and cupped his cheek, kissing the other lightly before stepping back from him and turning to reach for the tissue on her father’s desk so he could wipe off the mark she left behind, talking to him as she did so. “You’re a good man, Jonah, and a good uncle. I’ve seen the way Decky looks at you when you’re not the one watching him, you know,” She handed him the tissue and leaned against her father’s desk. “The kiddo with the curls too. Whatever you’ve done for them since they showed up here, it’s been right. It’s really cute seeing Decky’s grumbly standoff-ish scowl fight to stay on his face as he admires your routine or catches sight of you at lunch or the quad. It’s like a pitbull turning into a frenchie. And I’ve seen the kid run face first into you in a hug any time you’re in the same hall, you’ve obviously helped the both of them a lot,” She tilted her head at him and let her lips quirk up just the slightest bit more, knowing he would likely ignore the next part but saying it anyway. “I know you don’t sleep well, but you work hard for yourself and others. You should sit down some time and just rest your eyes,” She nodded to her dad’s comfortable desk chair. “I can always sneak you in here for a rest when I know dad won’t be here, I know his habits and schedule by heart.”
“Rest,” Jonah repeated after her, barely processing the word. It was as if the concept of sleep was a foreign language to him. “If only,” He chuckled to himself, feeling warmth in the pit of his stomach at the mere fact that his nephews looked up to him. “We have one year left, Tourmaline.” Jonah switched his coin with his pocket watch and grasped it. “I don’t want to waste it.” He looked down and opened the watch. Staring at the moving hands, he faintly disclosed, “I lost someone dear to me, many years ago. He loved time, space and dreams. Life, he made me realize, is such a fragile thing... I don’t want to run out of time and not have anything to leave behind. My family deserves more than that. They deserve to be happy.” Sleep would come when it had to. While he was still awake, he would do what he could to build. That was his duty to carry. His promise to himself.
Toury didn’t really know what it was like to lose a person on such a formative level. Her birth mom was still alive and unfortunately Toury had to spend every other weekend with her while she berated all of Toury’s dangerous and promiscuous life choices. Her mother didn’t like the way the highschool girls doted on her and taught her how to do her make up so young, or how they were teaching her how to flirt by watching them with the boys. She was worried that they were ruining her good little girl that she’d worked so hard to mold. Toury never fit that mold in the first place, but that didn’t stop her mother from judging every story she tried to excitedly tell, shooting down her grin with admonishments like an all knowing god sending meteors at its creations. By the time Toury realized her mother had been worried about something else, it had already happened, but they’d been fighting so hard at the time that Toury couldn’t bear to tell her. There was a very brief, very unmemorable month back in middle school where Tourmaline all but disappeared into herself, muting her clothes and fading into the background, unnoticed due to the fact that she’d never made friends her own age. It was that little twerp Dash Day bounding up to her and talking a mile a minute that had reminded Toury how wonderful life was with constant splashes of color.
Then, highschool came, dad married Dash’s mom, her mom, and Toury finally started forming bonds. Helen, Amy, Nevaeh. Jonah. Dash was always the first one that saw Toury first instead of her seeing him, and without him making her believe again none of the other bonds would have been possible. Without momma Mads’ steady and warm love Toury wouldn’t have grown into the woman she was today. Her family even before it formed properly was her saving grace, and it was all thanks to one bubbly stumbling ball of eager excitement. She knew she was almost pathologically protective of her brother, but there was so much more behind it than anyone realized.
Still, she never lost someone, so she could not quite empathize with the pain and emotion that must overtake Jonah every time he looked at his pocket watch, but she could sympathize with the empty look in his eyes. She’s never lost someone, but she’s lost a piece of herself before, and the look in his eyes was very similar.
Regardless, while she understood his sentiment, it was now a mission of hers to get this man to close his eyes for at least five minutes sometime in the near future. Her bones ached just looking at him.
“You better not drop out of exhaustion on me, I would break my heels catching you,” It was backhanded wording to tell him that she’d be there for him, to catch him if he falls both physically and metaphorically, but Jonah did love his word games and Toury was the daughter of an English teacher. It was another thing that allowed them to bond. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she stood up from her lean against her dad’s desk and fished it out of her pocket, glancing at her mom’s contact over the text message. “Sorry, one sec.” Opening it, she frowned.
Toury blinked at the message. Looks like Dash made new friends again. And of course she kept a bag of spare clothes and toiletries in her car for him, have you seen the way that kid runs around? He’d look like a wilderness survivor by the end of the day if she didn’t. She texted back an affirmative to her mom and put her phone away, returning her attention to Jonah and wondering just how many people he fielded these sorts of texts for.
She was tired too.
“You take care of a lot of people Jonah, are you letting them take care of you too?”
“Are you getting a soft spot for me?” Jonah slyly grinned, burying his melancholy to go back to what he preferred, playful banter. “It’s almost as if you care,” he teased, pocketing his watch and backpedaling to the door. “It’s almost as if you like me enough to consider me a friend. So sweet.” It was reassuring to know that he wasn’t just a business contact for her. Seeing Toury break down her walls and let little ol’ him in was heartwarming to say the least. He didn’t know if he deserved her kindness but he was glad she trusted him enough to give him it. “You know, dear, it’s late. I imagine you’ll be seeing your Dot Dot around midnight at this rate.” Jonah, whether it was intentional or not, was directing the conversation away from him and making a swift exit. She saw enough of him for one night. “I’ve kept you long enough, a bed awaits me,” he half joked. Was he actually going to go to sleep? Probably not. He was certain though Hirsch was waiting on him and wouldn’t go to sleep himself until he knew the whereabouts of all his family. That they were safe. “We both could use some sleep.”
“You are not about to go to sleep, don’t lie to me!” The Tantalizer called after- and yes, he was right- her friend, who she did indeed care about. It was his fault for opening that door for her. She also wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he completely side-stepped her question on whether or not he let others take care of him back. That was a no, then. That would have to change, and soon. He also wasn’t wrong, they could both use some sleep, but it seems it would elude them both for some time to come. Huffing at his teasing now that he was gone and the door once more closed behind him, Tourmaline smiled a bit. “So sweet,” She mocked to herself as she turned back to her father’s blackboard and began cleaning everything up. “We could both use some sleep, he know’s I’m not sleeping either. Always acting so damn-” She swiped through Malcolm's half done backwards name with vigor before taking out the hangman too. Finally, she took out the little whimsy spiral he’d drawn while waiting for her to choose another letter. Jonah may not really realize it, but especially when he was playful and teasing like that it really changed the air around him. Others might not receive or recognize it the same way she does, but to her? The snarky smile and playful banter on her friend’s lips only ever made her think one thing. One of her favorite words that could be a complement, a flirt, an insult, anything she wanted it to be with the right tone of voice. A word that to her was as versatile as the boy who just left. “Cute.”
Grabbing the thick file and stuffing it in the back of her waistband, covering it with her shirt and jacket, Tourmaline looked at her father’s room and made sure she left no traces as always before strolling out- forward, like a normal person Jonah- the classroom and towards her beloved car, Stupid Cupid. When she was finally behind the wheel and headed out of the darkened parking lot with the file hidden from view, she let out a sigh and pulled up the directions to the Lyon’s Den, heading out to her brother and whatever he threw himself into head first this time.
When the door opened silently and changed the airflow on her cascading locks and exposed skin with ten seconds to spare before he’d have been late- shame as she’d wanted to tease him- and Jonah strolled through almost as quiet as the door, Toury lifted her head up and raised an eyebrow at the boy that hopefully be a fruitful investment of her time. The aroma of greasy fast food that trailed on the newer air currents and into her nostrils had her smirking expectedly at him.
“Welcome to my domain, Cheerio, you got food for me?”
Jonah didn’t answer the obvious question. Instead he placed the bag on Mr. Phoenix’s desk. “Do you know why I asked you here?” He asked, placing his backpack alongside the food. As he waited for her response, he went to the chalkboard and began idly setting up a game of hangman. Why not? It would keep them busy during their back and forth. He drew four lines for his chosen word.
_ _ _ _
He turned to Toury and continued, “You must have an idea of why I asked you here.” Since the beginning of Toury’s business relation with Jonah, not only has she observed him on the job but occasionally, he did ask about her brother, taking interest in the boy, curious if he had anything to offer. It wasn’t an obvious thing to notice, since Jonah was excellent at weaving his intention in his words without giving too much a way. He was a clever boy, Toury knew that. Still, Jonah had faith that Toury paid attention. At least in regards to topics that mattered to her, like her family, especially her step brother.
“Why do you think I asked for the information that I did?” Toury rolled her eyes and didn't yet get up to play Jonah's little game. He hadn't made it worth her time yet. She wasn’t stupid, of course she knew that the strategic minded boy had had an eye on her brother for a while, and that he was occasionally curious enough about Dot Dot that she would shut down the conversation rather decisively. Pulling a barely warm fry from the bag, she popped it in her mouth before taking her feet off the desk and leaning forward in the chair to look up at Jonah. “You seemed pretty confident that you'd be able to tell me who was bullying Dash. This meeting doesn't start until I have those answers.”
“Oh, I have more than enough information for you but aren’t you one for fun? Give me a letter and I’ll feed you with the food you want,” Jonah teased, holding out because he could. As he waited for her to start the Hangman game, he added more definition to the gallows. “Come on, don’t be a party pooper.”
Toury narrowed her eyes at the boy's challenge, well aware she was being played with. She stared him down for a long moment as he held his ground, and eventually Toury decided that if he was willing to test this whole meeting by adjusting the terms of the arrangement, then he better have had something good for her. Her lips, back to candle apple red after fixing it up post-Nevaeh, turned down slightly to show him her displeasure.
“D, for dicks who like to try and be cute.”
“Cute,” Jonah repeated after her, writing a D on the side and drawing a head where the noose should be. “You really think I’d do Dash? Oh silly Toury, I’m not that simple.” Twirling the chalk between his fingers, he glanced at her and decided he wasn’t done playing. “You care an awful lot about this. To the point that you are willing to meet up with me and trade information so I can hire your brother. You ever considered how he would feel if he found out the lengths you would go to protect him and micromanage him?”
“What is this, family therapy?” Toury rolled her eyes and finally stood up to stand next to Jonah at the board. If she were in flats, he would have had a good three inches on her, but she was wearing heels that put them eye level. Jonah has been a trip to deal with since the first time Toury stole a tater tot from his tray while perusing new targets at each lunch table. She'd realized by the look in his eye as she bit down into the crispy golden goodness that he would be better as an ally then a source of amusement, especially with her brand of manipulation being all but useless with him. You live, you learn, you form ties and alliances to bring down those who have wronged you.
“Dash can be upset as he wants, he can flip his shit on me and I'd probably cheer him on,” she grit her teeth as she thought of the sight of his side this morning. “Until he's not hiding bruises from me, I'll keep going behind his back on things too,” she glared at Jonah for his last comment. “Don't tell me that you don't do things for your family in the shadows, I wouldn't even believe you if you did. The second Dot Dot came up to me he was under my protection and he knew it, he should have expected it to be worse when our parents got married. Now, P, for you're starting to piss me off.”
Jonah smiled, “Now, now, Toury. You knew what you were getting into that fateful day you stole my food, which, by the way, I still haven’t forgiven you for.” He knew that what he had to offer was way more vital to her than his desire to have Dash in the House. Dash would bring in revenue, that was easy to see and the numbers didn’t lie. His success rate at pool would tip the tables in the House’s favor. He would be an investment that guaranteed success. But like most things, hiring a boy that was naive and still had their younger child directing their soul was a risk. A gamble. A danger to his small operation. Dash may not even agree to the terms so the one that had more to lose and less to win in this deal was Jonah and he would make sure Toury understood that the House ran on his terms. As long as she worked for him and wanted to keep their relationship amicable, he would assist wherever she needed. She just needed to play games with him, from time to time. “I’m surprised you answered me. You could’ve kept things going, for a little while longer. I suppose if therapy is what you seek, I’m free real estate.” He wrote a P to the side and drew a lanky body.
She wasn’t good at this game or perhaps he chose too hard of a word. Jonah went to the side of the board and painstakingly slowly began writing the name of Dash’s bully, just like he promised. Backwards. He deliberately kept out the third because that would be a dead give away.
N….O….S….
“How are things? With you, your girls, your newfound lover? Just because we have a business thing going doesn’t mean you always have to act tough around me. We’re both seniors. At a pretentious highschool. You’re allowed to chill and get to know me beyond my business.”
D…R…A…
Toury's crossed arms tensed as he read her, her eyes glaring at the letters he was providing as she tried to decipher the game he was playing. “More like re-found lover,” she provided a bit cagily before forcing herself to relax. “I've been dating Nevaeh since late sophomore year, she just understands my fun and I'm very open with her about who I'm playing around with,” he wants her to act a little softer? He wants her to play his games? Fine. “You notice how rarely anyone has actually been able to say they got to the final stage with me? It's because I don't need to to get what I want from them and I respect my girlfriend enough to talk to her about any drastic maneuvers beforehand,” She tapped the black lipstick kiss on her cheek, very obviously the girl’s in question. “As for my girls, we've all been extremely busy today, I'm sure the update texts will be rolling in from both of them soon.”
Tracing the word he was writing, Toury decided to stop trying to read it like he was giving her a direct answer and look at it like a word game much in the same sense of him starting their meeting with Hangman. She thought of the crossword and word search books she would blow through with her father on a lazy day and the thought immediately brought her to the backwards words that she used to struggle to find amidst the jumble of letters on the page.
“Ardson?” She vocalized with a thoughtful hum, trying to run through her mental list of classmates for what was now obviously a part of a last name. She cut out anyone that couldn't or wouldn't hurt Dash, and the already small target pool she'd been working with immediately shallowed out to a single prick. “Richardson? Malcolm fucking Richardson?”
He was dating Anna-Marie, one of the bitches on the cheer squad that used to be ‘friends’ with Helen and Amy when they were still impressionable. She's had her own interactions over the years, been aware of his wandering gaze and the look that it put on his girlfriend's face. And now he was using Toury's brother as a personal punching bag?
“Is there a four letter word for murder, Jonah?” She asked in a suddenly sickly sweet tone, her sharp nails looking like claws as she tensed and untensed her fingers. The falsely cute smile she wore was dangerous as she already began running scenarios in her mind on how to ruin this boy's life so bad that he trembled In fear the second he so much as thought about Dash. She wanted to completely take over his mind so he couldn't even focus on her little brother until it was too late and she'd sucked the rich boy dry of any cockiness or entitlement and left him a confused, listless husk of his former self. “Because this boy is about to be dead in everything but the most literal sense.”
“Kill,” Jonah answered without hesitation. That, however, was not his four letter word. “Would you like to use those four letters for our game?” Jonah’s energy did not match Toury’s at all. If anything, he was lethargic, tired and still. He allowed himself to relax in the presence of company. He brought the chalk in a new area of the board and started lazily making a swirly. That was not part of the game; he was killing time. “And yes, yes it is Malcolm. Good job.”
“I'm so pleased,” Toury drawled, not pleased in the slightest. His offer to use the letters from KILL in their game did have her pausing long enough to look him in the eyes again. He was still playing with her, but in which direction was this nudge he was offering going to send her? If there was anything she'd learned about Jonah Goldstein it was that he was similar enough to her that he enjoyed seeing friends and family succeed even in the smaller things just as much if not more than he enjoyed watching targets flounder and suffer under his games and tests. She looked at her little circle and stick figure with a guess left for each limb and decided that if she was wrong with all three letters and Jonah was prompting her to fail then that would be a miscalculation on her part. A learning lesson. And for him? A loss of access to one Dash A. Day.
“Go for it, Cheerio, lightning round that shit. K, I, L.”
Quietly, methodically, Jonah drew two limbs. An arm and a leg. But she did get one letter. Two more chances and then she would be out of luck.
_ I _ _
“In my bag, feel free to open it — there’s nothing important in it to me — that’s everything you will need. I’d suggest you shred the information after use or sell it, I don't care. Malcolm can burn. I’m sure you’d be doing this school a service. Do with it as you please. Just don’t get caught with it,” Jonah glanced first at his bag then at his pocket watch, not because he cared about how long this would take, but because he was a creature of habit. Checking his watch was one of those habits. That or maybe there was another reason he stopped what he was doing to grab onto something he considered precious. A sentimental item that has always been on his person. At least for as long as Toury’s known him.
Locking eyes with his peer, he advised, “Anna-Marie would be the best route for you to go, if you want to get back at him. You might even be able to convince her to ruin him with you, since she thinks he’s being unfaithful. Just make sure she thinks it’s her idea.” Jonah finalized, deciding to offer the chalk to the other girl by placing it on her father’s desk, waiting for her when she was ready to finish the game. “Clue: This is something you can’t save. Something you can lose. Something that can’t be bought. Something you may even consider priceless. What am I?”
If Toury were a lesser woman she would have groaned in irritated realization the second Jonah pulled out his damn timepiece. As it was, she stayed silent and let him advise her on the newfound information and her future steps, taking his counsel seriously and already using it to form her future plan. Anna-Marie was a vapid bitch and Toury herself had had a bit of fun playing with her at the start of Freshman year before Helen caught her eye, and later Amy though they hadn't done anything together. Before Nevaeh caught her heart. Was the girl dating some nasty college boy at the time? Of course. But things like that didn't stop the at the time solitary Tantalizer.
When Jonah set the chalk down and gave her a riddle that she didn't even need anymore, she snatched the stick up and stalked up the board with a purpose, writing the other three letters out in her sharp but swirly script. Jonah really was cute, with his little games and riddles, and she felt a kindred spirit in him. She couldn't wait until he found a boy to play with for more than a fling, being privy to that would be a form of payment in and of itself.
T I M E
She dropped the chalk, letting it crack in half from the shock of the fall to its holder, and walked past Jonah while running her fingers along his jaw gently and playfully, just grazing it with her acrylics with no actual intent behind the motion aside from it being one of her favorite moves. She knew nothing she did or said would interest Jonah in tha capacity, it was more just habit than anything. Then, she stood in front of the boy's bag on her father’s desk and opened it with reckless abandon, uncaring of anything else he may have stashed in there aside from the manilla folder staring her down from the largest pocket. He'd already stated he didn't care, so she wasn't about to pussyfoot around it. With her reason for agreeing to their late night meeting finally in hand, the blonde turned to look at the wavy haired boy with a happy smile instead of the frowns or smirks she'd been gracing him with the whole time, waving the folder like a kid showing off the goldfish they won at a fair game.
“Well, now I actually am pleased.”
Jonah didn’t react to her entering his personal space to caress his face. If this was his eldest nephew, he’d react poorly. If this was an Elite, they’d get horny. If this were another girl, they’d either be extremely into it or want to throw hands. For Jonah? He was indifferent. It was like wind against his cheek, that came and went and was forgotten the moment it stopped. He looked at the remnants of his bag and began cleaning up her mess, returning his school supplies back into its bag. “Glad to be of service to you. Do I get your blessing? See if your brother’s willing. It would be a temporary position. One night only. An experiment to see how many people underestimate him and who thinks they can get an easy win during my game nights.” That and because they both know that Dash’s attention span was limited. Any longer than that and Jonah would become an unpaid babysitter. He zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulder. “Oh and you can have my food, I chose this place because I know you like it.” He wasn’t hungry anymore. Downside of focusing on business more than taking care of himself. He’d have some nosh when he was home.
“It’s cute that you think I wasn’t going to eat your food anyways, it’s kind of our main thing,” She winked at him, snatching the bag immediately and digging into it for it’s precious contents, coming back out with a handful of fries and popping a few in her mouth. She had a feeling that Jonah knew enough about her habits and personality by now that he was aware that if he were to ever tell her to leave his food alone she actually would. She oblivious to the fact that people had food insecurities and eating disorders, and she wasn’t here to bother or hurt her friends, but Jonah had a habit of letting his food get cold as he let his brain run at supersonic speeds, and that first tater tot had been the start of her keeping him aware of the bad habit. In her own way, of course. She wasn’t just the type to walk up to someone and say ‘that’s the third time this week you’ve let your fried potato side dish go cold, what are you thinking of so intently?’ with something as simple as words. She let Jonah sit in silence as she finished her handful of fries, downing them with her water bottle before giving him the answer he’d been waiting so patiently for.
“Permission granted, Jonah Goldstein,” She finally allowed, once again breaching his personal space with the confidence of someone who can handle themself far better than anyone actually realized. Jonah had the same confidence, it was a good quality for the type of relationship the two had. Because they weren’t just friends, there were far too many business transactions between them for it to be a simple taunting friendship developed through a mutual love of manipulation and games that sent people spinning like dreidels. She knew not to get in just anyone’s face, knew who had restraint and who had triggers, and she acted accordingly. “But I swear to all vengeful deities I can call upon, if anything happens and you fail to cover Dot Dot-” because it wouldn’t be that Jonah didn’t try, it wouldn’t even be that he didn’t do his best, she knew the boy was highly capable and something extremely disruptive would have to happen in order to cause Jonah to falter enough to fail Dash. Still, cover all bases and all that. “-I will be extremely displeased. You’ve seen what I can do when I’m annoyed or bored, but you’ve never seen me upset. Dash is fucking pure in the most vulnerable ways and if you even toe the line of putting him in any danger I don’t approve of I will sever all access to him and act accordingly.”
Her frown was harsh, the nail poking Jonah in the chest for emphasis was pointed, and just for Jonah- because this is all hypothetical future shit and they are on great terms right now- her eyes were scared. Toury loved her family and what it had become over the years. She loved working for her step-mom and the stupid family game and movie nights where Dash would never stay sitting in one spot for more than a few minutes, bouncing from her to their dad to their mom with a constant running commentary that never failed to anything but make the night even better. She protected Dash because he needed it. She made an offhand comment to him about learning self defense and he went and found Malcolm Richardson and fell for his bullshit and lies. She misstepped and now he was getting hurt while thinking he was getting help. Dash needed all the protection he could get. Hell, his whole little Limit Breakers lunch table of gaggling gremlins did. But Dash was hers to take care of, and she took the self-assigned job extremely seriously.
So seriously, in fact…
Just because we have a business thing going doesn’t mean you always have to act tough around me.
“Jonah, tell me this is the right choice. Tell me I’m not letting myself ruin Dot Dot and I’m actually a good sister.”
He wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t like he expected her to open up to him but he wasn’t surprised. Jonah had already thought of all the possible responses she could’ve said to him and for once, she decided to rewind, going back to when he allowed her a safe space to share, without the hardened shell. The games had ceased and it was now just her and him. Friends. Gently, Jonah grabbed her chin and brought it up, high. His eyes softened, which had more value than she likely realized. The way he looked at her was through a familial lens. “Right? Wrong?” Jonah returned his hand to his side and kept his focus on her. Subconsciously, he dug in his pocket and took a coin out. He rolled it between his fingers. “There isn’t a map on being a good sibling, a good child, a good friend, a good lover…” Jonah continued, the word lover having more emphasis due to his own buried thoughts.
“You do what you think is best, based on what you believe, and if it happens to not have the best results, you pick yourself up, adjust how you see things, and you keep going,” Jonah advised, hoping it would help her in more situations than just with her brother. “You are protective, to the extreme, but I get it. Dash is a child at heart.” As he looked at her, he thought of his nephews and asked, in a rhetorical manner, “Wouldn’t you want him to find out these unsavory, dark things through someone he can trust rather than him finding out on his own? Or through people like Malcolm? I’m sure you know this world leaves very little room for magic and fairy tales.”
Flipping his coin in the air, he grew silent, watching it turn slowly in the air until it landed on the back of his hand. “I can’t take back the lost time I have with my nephews, and what they’ve been through. I can’t relate to my older brother who had to uproot my and Hirsch’s lives for protection. I was only a baby when my sister convinced my mom to drown me. That obviously didn’t happen… I know out of all my family, I’m the most fortunate and that’s because I was protected and prepared. To see the dark. To see the demons Eiran had battled most of his life. To see how hard it had been for my family to free themselves. It was because I was given the choice to look into their world, that I formed a self that quite frankly, I’m proud of. Eiran knew he wouldn’t always be there to be my shield so he guided me in other ways. It was AJ’s father that gave me my toolkit. That’s a story for another day, though.”
Tourmaline listened intently to Jonah as he gave her perspective and personal insight, each sentence daring to send her on an emotional journey she was not ready for. Moreso did the look he pinned her with. There was something about it that made her feel incredibly warm in a way she hadn’t since her Tantalizing Trio had been solidified, or Nevaeh, or her dad having Dash and his mom over for dinner the first time. He was looking at her the way that she looked at the people she deemed close enough to her heart to garner her protection and vulnerability. And what he was saying was right. She knew more than most just how empty of magic and fantasy the world was, both in and outside of their little highschool ecosystem, he was right about that. All the Tantalizers did. Then he shifted to a personal anecdote that threatened to break her tainted little heart. His sister convinced his mom? And this is the woman Decky Boaz lived under with his brother until they blew into Beverly Hills halfway through freshman year? The small glimpse Jonah gave her into his life had her reeling, but she refused to show it, instead keeping steady eye contact with the over-tired boy and absorbing every word. When he’d finished, she let the silence sit heavy for a moment out of respect for his openness and honesty. It had helped immensely, and the impact was more potent with his experience being used as the example.
Finally, she smiled at him warmly and cupped his cheek, kissing the other lightly before stepping back from him and turning to reach for the tissue on her father’s desk so he could wipe off the mark she left behind, talking to him as she did so. “You’re a good man, Jonah, and a good uncle. I’ve seen the way Decky looks at you when you’re not the one watching him, you know,” She handed him the tissue and leaned against her father’s desk. “The kiddo with the curls too. Whatever you’ve done for them since they showed up here, it’s been right. It’s really cute seeing Decky’s grumbly standoff-ish scowl fight to stay on his face as he admires your routine or catches sight of you at lunch or the quad. It’s like a pitbull turning into a frenchie. And I’ve seen the kid run face first into you in a hug any time you’re in the same hall, you’ve obviously helped the both of them a lot,” She tilted her head at him and let her lips quirk up just the slightest bit more, knowing he would likely ignore the next part but saying it anyway. “I know you don’t sleep well, but you work hard for yourself and others. You should sit down some time and just rest your eyes,” She nodded to her dad’s comfortable desk chair. “I can always sneak you in here for a rest when I know dad won’t be here, I know his habits and schedule by heart.”
“Rest,” Jonah repeated after her, barely processing the word. It was as if the concept of sleep was a foreign language to him. “If only,” He chuckled to himself, feeling warmth in the pit of his stomach at the mere fact that his nephews looked up to him. “We have one year left, Tourmaline.” Jonah switched his coin with his pocket watch and grasped it. “I don’t want to waste it.” He looked down and opened the watch. Staring at the moving hands, he faintly disclosed, “I lost someone dear to me, many years ago. He loved time, space and dreams. Life, he made me realize, is such a fragile thing... I don’t want to run out of time and not have anything to leave behind. My family deserves more than that. They deserve to be happy.” Sleep would come when it had to. While he was still awake, he would do what he could to build. That was his duty to carry. His promise to himself.
Toury didn’t really know what it was like to lose a person on such a formative level. Her birth mom was still alive and unfortunately Toury had to spend every other weekend with her while she berated all of Toury’s dangerous and promiscuous life choices. Her mother didn’t like the way the highschool girls doted on her and taught her how to do her make up so young, or how they were teaching her how to flirt by watching them with the boys. She was worried that they were ruining her good little girl that she’d worked so hard to mold. Toury never fit that mold in the first place, but that didn’t stop her mother from judging every story she tried to excitedly tell, shooting down her grin with admonishments like an all knowing god sending meteors at its creations. By the time Toury realized her mother had been worried about something else, it had already happened, but they’d been fighting so hard at the time that Toury couldn’t bear to tell her. There was a very brief, very unmemorable month back in middle school where Tourmaline all but disappeared into herself, muting her clothes and fading into the background, unnoticed due to the fact that she’d never made friends her own age. It was that little twerp Dash Day bounding up to her and talking a mile a minute that had reminded Toury how wonderful life was with constant splashes of color.
Then, highschool came, dad married Dash’s mom, her mom, and Toury finally started forming bonds. Helen, Amy, Nevaeh. Jonah. Dash was always the first one that saw Toury first instead of her seeing him, and without him making her believe again none of the other bonds would have been possible. Without momma Mads’ steady and warm love Toury wouldn’t have grown into the woman she was today. Her family even before it formed properly was her saving grace, and it was all thanks to one bubbly stumbling ball of eager excitement. She knew she was almost pathologically protective of her brother, but there was so much more behind it than anyone realized.
Still, she never lost someone, so she could not quite empathize with the pain and emotion that must overtake Jonah every time he looked at his pocket watch, but she could sympathize with the empty look in his eyes. She’s never lost someone, but she’s lost a piece of herself before, and the look in his eyes was very similar.
Regardless, while she understood his sentiment, it was now a mission of hers to get this man to close his eyes for at least five minutes sometime in the near future. Her bones ached just looking at him.
“You better not drop out of exhaustion on me, I would break my heels catching you,” It was backhanded wording to tell him that she’d be there for him, to catch him if he falls both physically and metaphorically, but Jonah did love his word games and Toury was the daughter of an English teacher. It was another thing that allowed them to bond. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she stood up from her lean against her dad’s desk and fished it out of her pocket, glancing at her mom’s contact over the text message. “Sorry, one sec.” Opening it, she frowned.
From: Momma Mads👓🎻:
Hey Sweetie
Dasher is at Lyon’s Den Gym and the whole thing turned into a sleep over
Could you drive his go bag to him? Love you
Toury blinked at the message. Looks like Dash made new friends again. And of course she kept a bag of spare clothes and toiletries in her car for him, have you seen the way that kid runs around? He’d look like a wilderness survivor by the end of the day if she didn’t. She texted back an affirmative to her mom and put her phone away, returning her attention to Jonah and wondering just how many people he fielded these sorts of texts for.
She was tired too.
“You take care of a lot of people Jonah, are you letting them take care of you too?”
“Are you getting a soft spot for me?” Jonah slyly grinned, burying his melancholy to go back to what he preferred, playful banter. “It’s almost as if you care,” he teased, pocketing his watch and backpedaling to the door. “It’s almost as if you like me enough to consider me a friend. So sweet.” It was reassuring to know that he wasn’t just a business contact for her. Seeing Toury break down her walls and let little ol’ him in was heartwarming to say the least. He didn’t know if he deserved her kindness but he was glad she trusted him enough to give him it. “You know, dear, it’s late. I imagine you’ll be seeing your Dot Dot around midnight at this rate.” Jonah, whether it was intentional or not, was directing the conversation away from him and making a swift exit. She saw enough of him for one night. “I’ve kept you long enough, a bed awaits me,” he half joked. Was he actually going to go to sleep? Probably not. He was certain though Hirsch was waiting on him and wouldn’t go to sleep himself until he knew the whereabouts of all his family. That they were safe. “We both could use some sleep.”
“You are not about to go to sleep, don’t lie to me!” The Tantalizer called after- and yes, he was right- her friend, who she did indeed care about. It was his fault for opening that door for her. She also wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he completely side-stepped her question on whether or not he let others take care of him back. That was a no, then. That would have to change, and soon. He also wasn’t wrong, they could both use some sleep, but it seems it would elude them both for some time to come. Huffing at his teasing now that he was gone and the door once more closed behind him, Tourmaline smiled a bit. “So sweet,” She mocked to herself as she turned back to her father’s blackboard and began cleaning everything up. “We could both use some sleep, he know’s I’m not sleeping either. Always acting so damn-” She swiped through Malcolm's half done backwards name with vigor before taking out the hangman too. Finally, she took out the little whimsy spiral he’d drawn while waiting for her to choose another letter. Jonah may not really realize it, but especially when he was playful and teasing like that it really changed the air around him. Others might not receive or recognize it the same way she does, but to her? The snarky smile and playful banter on her friend’s lips only ever made her think one thing. One of her favorite words that could be a complement, a flirt, an insult, anything she wanted it to be with the right tone of voice. A word that to her was as versatile as the boy who just left. “Cute.”
Grabbing the thick file and stuffing it in the back of her waistband, covering it with her shirt and jacket, Tourmaline looked at her father’s room and made sure she left no traces as always before strolling out- forward, like a normal person Jonah- the classroom and towards her beloved car, Stupid Cupid. When she was finally behind the wheel and headed out of the darkened parking lot with the file hidden from view, she let out a sigh and pulled up the directions to the Lyon’s Den, heading out to her brother and whatever he threw himself into head first this time.
