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He hadn't meant to set foot in the apartment until sometime in May, but after his unfortunate run-in with Lucifer and escaping with a broken arm and bruised ribs, Gil had no desire to hang around Heropa where imPorts could be found at every corner. He didn't want to worry anyone, though it had been too late regarding Kenzi. He hated to see her stressed about anything, so he tried to stay out of her way and give her some peace of mind.

After a brief nap in his depressingly empty bedroom, Gil fixed himself up and decided he had to do something around the apartment. Maybe he could go fetch some food and prepare dinner.

He could hear Kenzi moving about and he carefully tiptoed out of the room and toward the front door where his shoes were. Cautious not to exert too much weight onto a non-carpeted floor, he had almost made it toward the front hall when he shifted the wrong muscle and he hissed aloud, gingerly pressing his hand over the bruised ribs.

Kenzi thought she could start unpacking while Gil rested. Maybe locate Sir Apple who had disappeared at some point during the trip. Rustling in one of the boxes gave her a clue as to where the dragon had hidden so she left him be after she was sure it wasn't a rat.

Without the use of her powers unpacking was taking longer than she had hoped but it was something to focus on, up until she heard a hiss from Gil behind her. Eyes narrowed she turned to focus a hard stare on him.

"Where do you think you're going?" She rose from the box she had been digging through, arms crossed as she started toward him.

Though he had expected her ire, Gil still shrank back behind the wall as if to avoid her as she approached him. It hurt to breathe at times, but it much more manageable these days than it had been the first couple. In fact, he was fairly certain he was making a fast recovery with all the rest forced upon him, therefore pitching in around the place wasn't as big a deal as anyone would have thought.

"F-For a walk..." His voice wavered and he took a step back, fingers delicately rubbing his torso. "And there's nothing in the apartment, so I thought I could pick up some things to cook later..."

Edited 2014-04-29 08:54 (UTC)

Normally his nervousness around her would amuse her but she was dead serious about him staying put for now. She tilted her head to one side, hip cocking out in the same direction as she stared him down. "I don't think so. You are going to keep resting and I'll take care of dinner." She didn't care how quickly he was recovering already, he wasn't going anywhere until he was able to move without pain. At least, not while she was in the apartment with him.

He had gathered enough sense that any and all protestation would fall on deaf ears and yet he still made an attempt. "I'm fine. All I've done is rest."

He never slept for long, whether it was through the night or day. He managed four hour the other day, but the longer he found himself restricted to the apartment the stronger the desire to bust out was. Now he could understand why Oz had often slipped out from his studies or the Vessalius manor. Only in Gil's case he had nothing to do. He was beginning to go stir-crazy.

"Sleeping all day is just as bad." Conscious of where his hand hovered, he let it fall back to his side and straightened himself, swallowing lightly.

Kenzi's expression softened. She could sympathize with how he felt, she busted herself out of a Fae hospital just because she couldn't take being there and she was never the sort to rest when she needed to. She hated not having something to do because then she thought too much.

"Fine. We'll go out together." That way she could keep an eye on him. "Fresh air would do you some good."

Just as Kenzi relaxed, Gil found himself mimicking her, shoulders that had been pinched seconds ago finally settling back down.

"You don't need to," he said quietly.

He also didn't want her to feel she had to follow him around and keep an eye on him. He doubted Lucifer was coming back to finish the job. Not to mention he really was beginning to feel a lot better physically. He couldn't do much with his broken arm, but he could manage with the one good arm he still had use of.

"I've troubled you enough," he finally added, sounding guilty.

Kenzi took a step toward him as her glare returned. "I'm going with you." Clearly he underestimated just how protective Kenzi could get. Even if her powers were completely out of control she was going to do everything she could to protect him if she needed to. She was already thinking about hunting down Lucifer and making him pay for hurting someone she cared about.

"Besides, maybe I need to do some shopping too. Sir Apple needs his food, y'know."

He straightened his shoulders, conscious once again to appear he physically fit for something as trivial as grocery shopping. A week ago he had had dark bags underneath his eyes and now the only purplish bruising that remained were hidden beneath long sleeves and his bandages around his torso.

He did his best not to deflate at the mention of the little dragon. He could hear him prying around in other areas of the house and suddenly worried about leaving him alone by himself in a brand new apartment they were renting.

"I'll be..." Gil winced under her scrutinizing gaze. "... Fine."

Kenzi watched his movements. Even if he said he could handle it on his own she wasn't going to let him.

And as far as Sir Apple went she wasn't too worried about leaving him alone. He was just getting to the know the place and knew better than to scratch up or chew on anything other than boxes or his toys. And, at the very least, he wasn't a fire-breather...as far as Kenzi knew anyway.

"I'm going. End of discussion." There was no arguing with her on this.

His expression contorted, conveying mild exasperation before he shuffled his way over to the door to get his shoes.

"You really don't need to." He sighed, bending over carefully to retrieve his shoes. It hurt to lean that far down and he finally gave up after a few seconds. The trick to a speedy recovery was not dislocating any more bones than necessary. He shoved one foot into a shoe, glancing back at Kenzi.

"I can pick up whatever we need on my own. You've been on your feet all day."

Kenzi let out a disapproving noise as Gil tried to get his shoes on. "Look! You can't even get your shoes on yet." She moved over to help him with, whether he wanted it or not.

"I've already decided I'm going, so I'm going. Stop trying to argue with me on this." Her irritation came out in the door and anything else nearby rattling. She was getting better about not simply exploding over small things at least.

He jumped back, lifting a hand as if to tell Kenzi to keep her distance.

"Hey! I can put my own shoes on!" he exclaimed, face growing hotter by the second. He used his other foot to drag the second shoe closer to himself, practically a childish act of defiance while trying to disprove he needed her help as if he was one himself.

To drive the point home, he shuffled back another foot, taking the shoe with him.

It he weren't injured Kenzi would force him to be still but she was afraid to hurt him further. So, instead, she let out a heavy sigh and watched him with her arms crossed.

"Stubborn idiot."

It seemed impudent to dare ask or allow someone else to help him get his shoes on, something he wore for hour on end and tracked dirt and other germs inside, no matter how often he cleaned them and changed his socks and bathed.

He stuck himself against the wall and this time, slow and careful, bent down to lift his shoe and foot a few inches off the floor. He leaned his backside against the wall for support, ignoring the slight pain that shot up his rib cage to get the other shoe on. After a few seconds of struggling, mainly due to being overwrought by Kenzi's dismay, he succeeded in slipping his foot in and he parted from the wall.

"I'm a stubborn idiot, I know." His good arm reached for the opposite shoulders, fingers lightly gripping it. "I don't want you to worry any more."

Everyone had a limit. Kenzi might have been teetering the edge of a breaking point for all he was aware.

And Kenzi wouldn't have minded if it meant that he wouldn't potentially hurt himself again. But he wasn't going to allow it so she just stood there and watched him with a displeased expression on her face.

Her frown deepened at his words. "That's just too bad because I'm gonna worry. You're injured, Gil. Lucifer could've kiled you and we don't even know if the dead can come back here. I can't...I can't lose you." She could feel tears threatening and a building pressure that needed to be released but she refused to let either out.

In truth she was on the edge of breaking down entirely. After everything back home and then Chilton and now Gil... She couldn't take much more but focusing on something helped. And right now focusing on Gil was what was helping her.

Gil knew the threat of death had worried her. Unsurprising, after everything she had been through and continued to deal with. Her friend from the network who had disappeared and then turned up, maybe injured. Maybe he had died. Who could tell when their existence was an unstable one in this world?

Her voice echoed in the hall around them, no furnishment or other belongings to absorb the way her voice wavered. There was nowhere to hide from fretful gazes or inflections bouncing off one naked wall to another.

It added weight to the lumbering guilt he already carried on his shoulders since the attack.

"Like I said, I'm feeling fine now." He swallowed hard this time. "You're not going to lose me."

Maybe he shouldn't have come here. He doubted Shade, Kaine, and Harlock would have doted on him at all even with his injuries. He was only making things worse for Kenzi.

Edited 2014-04-30 02:55 (UTC)

While his words were meant to be reassuring she had trouble being put at ease by them. If he didn't die there was always the fact he could just up and vanish one day. That wasn't something she liked to think about but lately it'd been on her mind more often than not.

She sucked in a breath, lightly shaking her head as if to clear it. "I'm still going to store with you." She tried to make her tone lighter when she spoke.

If he hadn't come up here she probably would have gone to him. Either way he was going to end up with a fussy Kenzi.

"Alright," he conceded and stepped further away from the wall.

He moved to where his coat hung, pulling it off its hook and slipping it around his shoulders. He couldn't put his broken arm through the other sleeve with it in a sling, so he settled for the strange and discomforting sensation of a coat ready to fall off one shoulder if a strong wind blew past him or he moved too fast.

His hand slipped into the pocket to feel around for his wallet and keys. One light jingle later, he withdrew the hand and suddenly found himself staring at it. Without a word, he reached for Kenzi's head, almost patting her hair down, but without lifting the hand yet.

"Rather... I can't promise I will always be here." They both knew it. It would be an insult to her intelligence to say otherwise. "But I have no plans to die," he paused. "Again."

Kenzi snagged her bag from where it hung while Gil put on his coat. She had to scoff at him, knowing full well that coat wasn't going to stay put for long.

The feel of his hand on her head caused her to relax, eyes closing as she let out a soft sigh. When he didn't remove it she reached up to grab it but not pull it down. After a light squeeze of his hand she released it and let her hand drop back to her side.

"I know." She nodded slowly. "And you better not or I'll have to do something drastic."

He hadn't expected her to do that and so he jumped slightly, the hairs on the back of his neck rising and his face growing warm again, but he never yanked his arm out from her grasp. He swallowed again, though it did nothing for his throat, suddenly a lot drier than he remembered it being a minute ago.

It was nerve wracking sharing an apartment with her, a precious friend or not. He could already hear Break and Oz making fun of him somewhere in the back of his mind and he began to move faster out the door.

"You don't need to do anything so dramatic." He bit down on his lip and again his hand reached up to ruffle her hair this time (it was easy when he towered above her). "What do you want to eat?"

He should really expect those kind of things from Kenzi by now. She was going to show affection the one way she best knew how, physically. Luckily for Gil she didn't catch the way his face reddened so she couldn't tease him.

She followed after him, snorting when he ruffled her hair. "I do too." Once his hand was out of the way she smoothed her hair back down and made a thoughtful noise.

"I dunno. What do you feel like?"

"You should decide," he said.

It was the least he could offer her. If she wanted takeout or something similar, he could always order a side dish for himself or not eat at all. He didn't feel particularly hungry and he rarely sat down and indulged in large portions. The last time he had overeaten had been back in the Nightray manor, eating bits of Vincent's dishes he refused to. Little brothers.

"Should we leave..." he hesitated, nose wrinkling before he quietly continued: "Sir... Apple here by himself? The wooden floor is new."

"Pizza would be nice or maybe Chinese. I'm not sure which is better around here though. Anyway, I thought you was gonna cook something."

Which was the opposite of Kenzi. The girl could eat a ridiculous amount of food and not put on a pound.

She glanced back toward the little dragon that was shuffling through some boxes like he was looking for something. "He'll be fine. He's more interested in the boxes than anything right now." She gently pushed Gil forward before pausing to close and lock the door behind them.

More than likely they'd come back to a few boxes having been knocked over and a dragon sleeping in the middle of the mess.

"Are you —"

Sure?

He doesn't get the chance to finish his question as he's forced out the door. Hearing the door shut behind them, he sighs and eyes it warily — like that pesky little dragon would somehow receive warning vibes on behaving himself while they were out.

He tugged his coat closer and moved aside to allow Kenzi room to pass.

"I could make something if you want? Or you could get pizza. Whichever you would like." He wasn't about to kick up a fuss for once about whatever she wanted to eat. Provided she wasn't prepared to scarf down an entire pizza, dessert, and some unhealthy drink all at once.

She didn't bother to answer his unfinished question, she just continued on. Sooner they got what they needed and returned the less likely there'd be a mess to return to.

She found it strange that he wasn't protesting too much to her wanting pizza but wasn't going to question it. And, Gil, have you met Kenzi? That was a typical meal for her. "Pizza it is then. But first the store since I really do need to get Sir Apple some food."

"What does he eat?"

He had never actually bothered to ask before what the little dragon required as food. He was never Gil's responsibility, but if they were going to share an apartment he understood he had to occasionally chip in where Kenzi didn't have the time.

And he wasn't a cat; Gil preferred Sir Apple's presence over a feline nuisance any day.

He squinted as they walked out from the shade of the building and into warm and bright sunlight. Tolerable weather, though; nothing like Florida's humid climate.

"Meat, he prefers it raw but a little cooked is fine. Bugs, I've seen him catching them on his own. He loves fruits but hates veggies." Turns out the little dragon is an omnivorous thing, although he has his favourites. "But he'll also eat just about anything else if you don't watch him." Which was why he started getting a little fat before.

The funny thing is that Sir Apple was practically a cat in overgrown lizard form. His mentality was similiar, typically affectionate when he wanted to be and not when others wanted him to be. And if he was upset he'd certainly let you know it by either being sulky or destructive. And like a cat, he loved boxes.

The mild weather was certainly welcomed over Florida's already nearly intolerable heat. Kenzi was glad they had the freedom to move and quick travel.

Edited 2014-04-30 06:18 (UTC)

He slowly canted his head, his eyes narrowing with a mixture of skepticism and confusion behind them. That... sounded oddly fussy for a creature that had come from — what was it again? — right, a video game. A bizarre video game at that.

"There's a grocery store a block away. It's small, but clean and packed with fresh produce." He slowed down for a moment, albeit reluctantly, rubbing his shoulder again. "At least he'll take care of the bugs on his own... Will he need um, a box? A litter box."

It sounded like a stupid question, but he wasn't about to allow Sir Apple to go wherever he pleased. Was he house trained? Could he go outside? More importantly did they have to pick up after him? He knew there were laws about dogs doing that...

"That's good. He'll at least get his fruit."

Kenzi paused when Gil asked about where Sir Apple would go. "Ah..." Back in Florida he just went outside somewhere because it was so easy for him to get in and out. But here it was a little different. "He, uh, yeah I guess he might. But I'm not sure if he'd even use something like that." He was seemingly tame but still a wild creature, a very smart wild creature. Since she'd been staying up here he was getting in and out somehow, or so she assumed, to go outside somewhere.

"He definitely can't go in the house unless there's a paper or box," he quickly shot, suddenly quite concerned about damaging a recently renovated apartment and upsetting the owners. They had warned him earlier on any damage to the property they might throw him and Kenzi out and explained how the value of the building would go down if that happened.

"Ow..." he grumbled, regretting his knee-jerk reaction then. Shouldn't be moving so hastily, he reminded himself.

"I know that." She shot back at him with a scowl. A scowl that softened when she realized he hurt himself again.

"You need to calm down so you don't keep hurting yourself. If I have to I'm gonna tie you down to the bed when we get back." She was joking but she sounded dead serious.

And he was forgoing his own advice, jumping at Kenzi's threat.

"Don't say such w-weird things!"

Where on earth did she pull those ideas from? It was bad enough that his mind went to the worst possible place, but to anyone who passed them by in the street, overhearing someone talking about tying another down on a bed was...

It implied things!

Since when do you have such a dirty mind, Gil?

She stared back at him with a flat stare for a moment. "See, there you go, getting all worked up. You should have just stayed home and let me do the shopping." Of course, if he'd done that she would have come back with a bunch of snack foods.

"If I stay there any longer I'm going to get depressed."

Which was the truth; he couldn't stare at bare walls or sleep all day. He needed something to do, not only because being inactive for so long was unhealthy overall, but because the longer he was alone with his thoughts, the more troubled he grew.

Kenzi opened her mouth, wanting to point out that he wouldn't have to stay locked up in the apartment for that to happen but decided against it. After a moment of silent debate she shrugged. "Okay, yeah. Guess we can't all be like me and can find some way to entertain ourselves."

As they've barely furnished the place or got their own belongings moved, Gil had no books to bury himself in or even a TV to glance at every now and then.

If it wasn't so costly, he might have gone to the theater to see a movie or two in the past week, but there's also the fact he can't even start his job until his arm is healed and he needs to save the money he does have.

Stupid Lucifer.

He looked up to see the slightly rusted sign of the grocery store down the street. It was an old establishment and building and from the outside, looked old-fashioned compared to most of the other buildings.

"What sort of fruits did you want to pick up?"

A TV was one of the first things on Kenzi's list to get. She couldn't stand not having one, even if she wasn't watching it it was good for background noise while she was home. Sure, she had music but it wasn't the same.

Stupid Lucifer, indeed.

Kenzi had plans for him, assuming she could get her hands on him.

She gave a thoughtful hum, "He really seems to like bananas and apples." The dragon prefers fruits that aren't citrus.

There's a quiet, surprised noise from Gil at that.

"Alright, we'll pick up those. Does he eat a lot of them?" Bananas come in a bundle, but he started to wonder just how many apples they should buy and if they won't get too soft before Sir Apple gets through eating most. "I wonder what the landlords will say if they see him."

They were alright with a pet or two, but this isn't a dog or cat they were likely expecting.

He crossed the corner of the street and when he approached the grocery's entrance, he pulled the door open for Kenzi.

Edited (TENSES) 2014-05-17 03:50 (UTC)

She shook her head. "That's usually just part of his meal. He usually gets some sort of meat as well. So he doesn't eat that much." If they got too many Kenzi would eat them herself.

She hadn't thought about what the landlord would say. Dragons weren't a usual pet. "Well, we're allowed to have lizards or snakes right? Technically he's a lizard."

She smiled at him when he held the door, it was a bit of a terse smile due to the fact he was injured and shouldn't be holding doors. "Thank you."

"A very large lizard..." He remarked quietly. That thing weighed his head down when he decided he wanted to be clingy, especially if Kenzi was elsewhere.

He merely nodded at her thanks and joined her inside the store. It was chillier inside, as the entrance was located right by the vegetables and fruits section where the temperatures were maintained at lower degrees to keep the food fresh.

"Apples and bananas should be in the middle." He pulled a cart from the side and began to push it forward.

"There are totally lizards larger than him." He's not gator sized at least.

Kenzi exhaled and shivered a bit once inside. She hadn't really been prepared for the sudden temperature drop.

When Gil grabbed a cart Kenzi quickly shooed him away from it. "No. You're supposed to be taking it easy, pushing a cart is not taking it easy."

Some of the colour drained from his face recalling the alligator that had broken into their home back in Heropa and then the other one he and Ace had encountered. Tough hide and violent — a dangerous combination.

He didn't relent from the cart, frowning down at her for insinuating he couldn't handle something like a cart.

"It's just a cart. I need to do something."

Kenzi held her hands up and gave a little laugh. "Fine, fine." But she was going to keep a close eye on him and everyone else around. She doesn't want his injuries exacerbated.

She turned and started for the fruits she was after.