Can't Take My Eyes Off You

G

Grakul Gellantara

Well-Known Member
Messages
124
OOC First Name
Beth
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual
Age
11/1988
The small blonde child clutched the hand of the man she had recently come to look upon as a respectable male family figure. In fact, she even addressed him as 'grandfather', at times, instead of simply by his name. He was no true relative of her, but he looked upon Larissa's daughter very fondly. Now, as they walked back from a long day at the local primary school, Grakul smiled to the child.
"So, what did you learn today?" He asked cheerfully, genuinely interested.
 
Lily bounded merrily alongside the man who assumed the role of a maternal grandfather, even though this was not an official status. She smiled up at him, swinging her hand in his. "Today," she began in her German accent, though she spoke almost perfect English by this stage, "we learned maths!" she giggled as Grakul momentarily hoisted her up into the air, letting her dangle from his strong arm. "We were learning about times tables, and.. And did you know there are numbers smaller than zero? There are!" And the child went on, spewing tales of her exciting school day, before informing Grakul about the ton of homework she had been given to do.
When they finally reached home, Lily headed straight inside the house and carried her school bag upstairs to the study. She instantly set about working on her homework, dating it appropriately. She did not notice Grakul wandering off to find her mother.
 
Grakul walked the journey home with little Lily, and was pleased to see how obedient she had become as she grew up. Once he had escorted her up the stairs and into the study, and was sure she was fully focused on her homework, Grakul headed back down the stairs of the house, trailing his way into the living room. But Larissa was not there, not in her usual place. She had returned from work, as he soon realised, but was instead clattering about the kitchen. Grakul smiled to himself as he turned to exit the room and found his way into the kitchen, joining Larissa by the stove.
A pot of vegetable stew simmered on the stove top. Grakul was silent as he moved, and crept up behind the blonde, slipping his hands around her waist and giving her sides a sudden squeeze. He grinned as she jumped in surprise. "Only me," he piped up as she looked round at him. Almost glaring. "What's wrong?" he asked softly.
 
Larissa stood in the kitchen, her eyes unfocussed but staring into the stew she cooked. She stirred the vegetables, adding ingredients hither and dither. She was not really paying any attention to the world around her and was alarmed to feel something firmly grabbing her sides. It had come out of nowhere and taken her completely by surprise. Larissa turned her head to look round, her eyes falling on the face of Grakul. Her blue orbs stroked over his skunk-coloured hair. She wondered what he was thinking. She wondered what she was thinking. And then he asked. That was something she did not expect of him, for whatever reason, and definitely not now. He was just using her, wasn't he? Just using her to get what he wanted.. But then, it seemed like he really cared.
Larissa glanced towards the kitchen doorway, lifted her wand, flicked it, and sent the door to a gentle close with prominent 'click' of the lock. She wanted to talk in private, and that was not easy with an inquisitive child and an intrusive husband. "Tell me something," she began, eyes flitting between his, "when.. When we kissed, did it mean anything or was it just you trying to get your own way?"
 
Grakul watched those beautiful blue eyes with shock and amusement. Really, he thought, this beautiful woman must think so little of herself. "Larissa," he cooed, shifting his hands from her waist to her face, smoothing the saddened creases, "how could you even think that? You don't realise, do you?" Grakul waited patiently as she seemed to calm down. And then, gently, he leant close to her face, tilting her chin upwards. He kissed her lightly upon the lips.
"Larissa," he spoke again, whispering now, "this is not just some pent-up emotion tumbling forth in whatever crude manner it cares to. This is more than that. This is me showing you the attention you deserve, the comfort you have earned, the appreciation you require.
 
Unable to quite believe what she heard, Larissa still allowed his hands to caress her pallid face. Then, he kissed her again. It was like the start of February all over again. Her heart began to thud heavily in her chest at his words. She liked what he was saying. She liked how he was acting. It was wrong, but it made her feel so special, so needed, so valuable and worthwhile. How she felt about Andrew, she didn't really know any more. She had never 'loved' him as such, but she cared for him, she cared for what they had, and she wanted to preserve that, regardless. Still, now that Grakul had set her mind straight, Larissa couldn't help thinking what if.. But these were dangerous thoughts. And yet..
Andrew wasn't due home for a good hour yet, and Lily was upstairs doing her homework like the well-behaved and intellectual young girl she had been raised to be. Larissa looked back up at Grakul. She put the dinner out of her mind. That was not important in the scheme of things. Not just not.

The stew bubbled heartily, popping and spitting its liquid state all over the top of the stove. The vegetables were getting a little over-done. The heat was far too high and the food really needed stirring.
Upstairs, Lily Sedgwick was muddling on through her homework. Maths, Science, English.. It was all such a headache but she thundered on, not remotely aware of the drama of life within the confines of the kitchen. In fact, Lily only looked up from her writing when she heard the slam of the front door over an hour later, signifying the return of her father.
 
It had been a long and tiring day at work and Andrew was glad to get home. He twisted his key in the muggle front door, which had special enchantments placed upon it by Grakul to keep out the unwelcome ones, and pushed it open. Once through the doorway, Andrew swung the door to and called out his usual greeting. "Hello," he spoke in German, "I'm home. Lily," Andrew was pleased to see the little girl running down the stairs to greet him. "How was your day? Where is your mother?"
 
Lily practically cheered as she heard her father's arrival and threw down her pencil. She stood up and scooted her way down the stairs, taking two at a time and very nearly tumbling head-first down the lot of them. She reached the bottom and leapt upon her father, arms swinging around him and holding him close. "Daddy!" She beamed with German tones, "it was really fun- but really hard, too. We did sums and we learned about what the air is made of and.. And.. Oh," Lily said, realising the second question she had been asked. She stared around, "Um.. I think she was here.. Somewhere." In truth, Lily had been so absorbed in her own little world she knew nothing of her mother's whereabouts. She decided to help her father go and look.
 
Andrew listened to the excited child before patting her on the head encouragingly. "Well done, Lily, I am glad you have been hard at work. Now, shall we go and find out where your mother has gotten to?" The two of them headed into the living room. Nobody was in there. That only left the kitchen and the dining room. Andrew and Lily went straight for the kitchen, for even if Larissa was not in there, that was where the delicious food was kept. Andrew lifted a hand to the kitchen door, twisting the handle and wondering why the door would not budge. However, after twisting it a second time, the door clicked open. It did not even begin to cross his mind that the door may have been locked, and for what reason that was.
"Hello, darling," Andrew nodded to his wife as he entered the room. Hello," he said then, acknowledging Grakul's presence. It had been hard to get used to Grakul moving in with them originally, but it had been a part of his release conditions. Now the man was part of the family and Andrew liked him for how supportive he was of Larissa and Lily. It seemed that since her miscarriage, Larissa had really bonded with Grakul and looked to him for guidance.
"How was your day? Students behave? Which one was it this time?" Andrew was tired from work so he did not physically have much time for Larissa these days, still he would always enquire out of habit.
 
At the sound of the front door, Larissa's eyes bulged. She and Grakul leapt apart, returning herself to her duties at the stove and leaving Grakul to hover awkwardly beside the fridge. A moment later, the handle to the door turned. Larissa flicked her wand at it, allowing it to be opened, and the locking spell removed. Her husband entered with a look of exhaustion. He did work hard and Larissa was thankful for the income, but still.. It pleased her, in the worst of ways, that she had Grakul to look upon for extra support.
"Hello, my love," Larissa replied habitually, scarcely casting her eyes from the food she attempted to recover from its overdone state, "very reasonable," she said, the hairs on her back standing on end, only too aware that Grakul still stood hesitantly behind her. "I had Lucy in the morning, and Domino this afternoon. Both were rather well behaved." She noticed her husband walking over towards the food, peering down into the pot, and then looking her straight in the face. "I.. I took my eye off it for a moment," Larissa explained carefully, she could see Grakul shifting in the corner of her eye, "things on my mind again." She didn't need to specify what had been keeping her brain occupied, for she knew Andrew well enough to foresee his conclusion that it was all to do with her loss.
 
Grakul breathed deeply, trying to keep his heart beating at a slower rate. He watched Larissa as she talked. She was very precise in her manner, her words, and her actions. She was very good at fooling them all into believing that nothing was, or had ever been, an issue. Grakul began to question what else Larissa had managed to keep from them all, but he dare not ask just yet. He was beginning to feel for this woman. It had only been since his release that their relationship had really changed. The dynamics had shifted very gradually. It was the Christmas which had just passed that had changed everything to start with. It was the looks. That feeling when they hugged that was like electric jolting through their bodies. The accidental brushing of hands on hands. The skin passing in on the snug corridor of the landing.
Christmas, 2036.

"Good morning, Lily," Grakul's face shifted into a broad grin. He smiled long at the child as she danced merrily about the room with her dolls, pulling her sheets around her like a cape and wearing them while bouncing on the bed. She invited Grakul to join her, and the two jumped around, uncaring of whether or not the bed was going to crack under the pressure. They laughed noisily as they hopped, forgetting not to wake up Larissa and Andrew, and, of course, Ted the raven.
Ted had been squatting on the open windowsill, watching the two of them giggling. He let out a loud squawk which immediately alerted and awoke Larissa.
 
The blonde stirred from her peculiar dreams and rolled out of bed at the raven's call. She stumbled sleepily along the corridor and into the room she could he a riot of sound billowing out from. Larissa entered her daughter's room to the noise of laughter and the bed being slowly broken. Ted released another loud tone as she entered the room, sending Larissa's hands to her ears. "Alright," she started loudly, "alright, enough. Don't make me muffliato the two of you. I know it's Christmas and you're having fun but really, calm it down, alright kids?" She smiled as her eyes met Grakul's. He was always happy to join in with playing Lily's games. Andrew was always too tired to do the full dad thing, these days, and she was grateful to have Grakul around. Even if he was an ex-convict.
 
Grakul stopped jumping and pressed down on Lily's shoulders to make her stop, too. He heard her sigh something about being a super-hero and needing to practice her flying. This made Grakul grin. He beamed over at Larissa, a shine in his ageing eyes. "Come on, Lils," he said affectionately, stepping down from the bed and offering Lily a hand, which she took. "Let's go and see what presents The Christmas Wizard has left for us!" He grabbed the child's hand and she led him through the narrow doorway. In passing, Grakul had to shuffle past Larissa. Their hands brushed in the process and for a moment, just a moment, their eyes met. Nothing more came of it, and Lily dragged Grakul away down the stairs.
 
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