→ ( CLOSED - please bathe me now, wash me clean, )

[aberth]

WHO: Adam Parrish & Saya Wallace.
WHERE: As of yet unnamed mechanic place.
WHEN: 03.02
WHAT: Weird requests, mostly. Also the fixing of cars.
WARNINGS: It's probable that there will be mentions of past abuse.

[ No matter what happens, life just has a habit of continuing on.

Adam keeps thinking something should have changed - what with Russia, with moving, he feels different. But of course, it's a day like any other. He gets dropped off at the garage by Gansey first thing, his bike in the trunk in case he needs it during the day, messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He nods at Saya as he passes her to leave his stuff in his locker, then gets on down to work.

Oil changes, flat tires, 'funny noises, i don't know man, it sounds weird'. It's all stuff he's done before and so it's easy for him to zone out and not think too much of what he's doing. By the time break rolls around, Adam is sore and distracted as he finds his lunch and takes up residence on a crate of spare parts. Saya is across the room from him and he watches her thoughtfully as he starts eating his fluffernutter sandwich ( that's Gansey's fault, he made Adam's lunch for him like an actual dad would, but it's the kind of lunch that is so very teenager - sandwich, chocolate bar, apple, a stick of gum. Adam had been hilariously bemused ).

Still, he stops chewing when he thinks she's in ear shot, swallowing quickly. Adam has to drag the very depths of his courage to speak. They haven't really talked to each other since he found out her secret, but now he needs to man up. ]

Hey, can I talk to you?

Comments

[instars]

[She's coming into the break room, which is also their office, which is also a bit of a storage room for odd things - not tools, because Saya is meticulous about how she keeps them, but rather, things like shipping boxes and for some reason several shirts that are too masculine for Saya but too small for Adam.

She's digging through a box when he speaks to her.]

Yes, of course. But take this box.

[She hands him a box - it's empty - and nudges her head.]

And come with me. And speak.

ARE THEY THE SHIRTS OF THE MEN SHE'S MURDERED.

[aberth]

[ Adam does as she asks, abandoning his lunch on the side of the crate to follow her with the box. ]

What are we doing?

[ Because he wants to figure out that kind of thing before he talks about what he needs to do. ] Is this empty?

THEY'RE HER OWN SHIRTS for when she's a boy

[instars]

You'll see.

[She's making a beeline for one of the cars - it's one that's been sitting for a while, closed up, because they haven't had the right part to fix it. She opens the hood and looks at the box.]

Yes, here. Line it with this.

[She hands him a warm looking towel.]

What would you like to ask me, Adam?

oh good adam can't deal with murder shirts

[aberth]

[ His pulse is a frightened thing despite how much he's been telling himself that she's harmless. He can't help it. Not when his own emotions are so strong. Still, he lines the box up and takes the towel, peering at her like he's trying to figure out what's going on with the car. ]

I had some questions.

[ His accent, usually clipped, has a faint twang to it. ]

About what you can do.

[instars]

[She looks at him for a slight moment, and thinks.

She could tell him nothing.

Or she could tell him lies.

Or she could tell him the truth.

And at the moment she's not sure which it will be. But then she tilts her head, and finally she nods.]

I'll answer what I can.

[And then suddenly she turns and lays across the engine of the car, so far into it the's almost balanced on one toe, her other leg rising into the air, her arm deep in a crevice in the back.]

[aberth]

[ Adam finds a place to sit and watch her, which just so happens to be against a car across from the one she's working on. He slides down to sit on the floor, his head against the door. ]

Is it a porter given power?

Or have you always been a --. [ What does he even call her, Christ. ]

[instars]

Ananasi.

[She gives him the proper name. Why not? He can't use it against her. She dips her arm into the car again, but clearly comes back with nothing.]

I shifted for the first time when I was fifteen. That's when shifters manifest.

[aberth]

[ Ananasi.

He tucks that knowledge away in his thoughts and tries to think of his next move. ] Is it something that happens to everyone in your world?

[instars]

No.

[She finally gets whatever it is she was fishing for.]

Shifters are very rare. I would not keep it a secret otherwise.

[And when she stands up, there's a kitten in her hand - greasy, but clearly all white, with huge blue eyes. It looks only a couple of weeks old, and it's meowing at this absurd treatment.]

Box.

[aberth]

[ Adam blinks, slow and dumb like before he's scrambling up to hold out the box. ]

Why the hell is there a kitten in the engine?

[ All his serious thoughts are halted for once, because what the actual fuck. ]

[instars]

The mother moved them there when it got cold last night, I think. I didn't see her come in with them.

[She sets the kitten in the box, and goes back in, and pulls out another one, this one also white, but with pale ginger stripes up his fuzzy tail. He meows and meows.]

But I saw her this morning. She was hit by a car.

[Second kitten goes in the box, and they meow and meow.]

Do you want them? They'll die if someone doesn't take care of them.

[aberth]

I don't think Chainsaw would be pleased. [ And Adam knows that kittens are a very expensive business.

But they're soft and cute and one of them is trying to claw its way back out. ] Hey, hey, stay there. It's not safe for you to come out. [ So many sharp things. ] Are there just two?

[ He'll consider the missing mother problem soon. ]

[instars]

Ah. The raven.

[She cocks her head, leans down into the engine, and then stands back up.]

Yes. Just the two.

They're going to need a bath before they kill themselves trying to clean the grease off. And that one- [She points to the white one, who is louder than her brother] - is deaf.

[She looks at him, and carefully takes the box. They're so small.]

Here. You can ask while we wash them.

[aberth]

[ Adam lets her take them, but he also hovers a little like he's reading to catch them if the handover is unsuccessful. Still, when she mentions the kitten's deafness, he blinks and then nods firmly as though he's decided something. ]

Okay. I'll get a basin. Warm water, right?

[ And right, he was supposed to be talking to her about her spidery thing. But he'll come back to that. First he has to help her with the cats. ]

[instars]

[She nudges them with a finger, and nods.]

Warm enough to not feel hot against your skin. I have some soap that will do the job.

[She moves them with the knowledge of someone who has done this before. Back when Saya was a real girl, an normal girl, she volunteered for the humane society. Animals aren't bothered by her, generally; she doesn't smell like anything.

She leaves with them for a moment and comes back with some scentless gentle soap that she uses herself, and meets Adam where he's set up a basin of water.]

They'll need to be bottle fed.

[aberth]

[ Adam nods, a serious look on his face. He's taking to these kittens the same way he'd take to a failed engine or a flat tire. He wants to do it right. ]

What are they going to do without their mom?

[ Christ, this is sad. ]

[instars]

Without care from humans?

Die.

[She says it blankly. She does not have a problem with death.

The deaf kitten meows and nips her finger as she's dipping her in the water, scrubbing her with soap.]

[aberth]

I'll take them to a shelter.

[ He'll take them home and then imprint on them, so they'll be Adam's small children forever. ]

I'm deaf too, you know. [ He doesn't know why he says it, but his gaze is trained on the kitten in Saya's hands. ] Left ear.

[ A pause. ] People won't want a deaf kitten.

[instars]

[She turns her head just a little, and with very little ceremony she moves so she's on his right side. She doesn't say a word about that. From now she'll always only approach him on the right side.]

I don't have a scent.

[Since they're telling small details about each other.]

It's not the same.

[She washes her carefully, and hands her to Adam.]

You're very likely right. She's striking, though.

[aberth]

[ Adam takes the kitten and uses the towel in the box to dry her off. He's careful about it, gentle and sweet. She mewls at him loudly anyway. ]

I was scared of you. At first.

[ It's easier, because they're washing something small and innocent and delicate. She won't attack him like this. ]

[instars]

[She's taking care of the boy kitten, who is sweeter, less feisty.]

Yes. I know.

[She wrinkles her nose a little, so he notices it. It's a strange thing for her to do.]

I can smell it. When you're afraid. If it's any consolation, I didn't mean to frighten you.

[aberth]

[ Adam is left to wonder how often she's smelled stray fear off him. He is often afraid, but only years of practice keep it from coming to the surface. ]

Is there anything about you that I should be scared of?

[ He sets the little white kitten on the floor and she wobbles until he reaches out and pets her again. ]

[instars]

[She finishes washing the boy kitten and dries him off, and takes one of Adam's hands in hers. Her fingers are long, and warm, and she makes his forefinger a hook.

And then she puts his finger in her mouth, slowly, and without much force, so he can pull away, and unhooks her chelicerae from where they rest up in her soft palate. They're not sharp, and they don't prick him at all, but they're definitely a body part that humans do not have.

And then she lets his hand go.]

If I bite, my venom can kill a man in ten to fifteen minutes if I'm in human form.

But I won't bite you. I won't bite you, or Gansey, or Blue. Or Kitty, for that matter.

[aberth]

[ Adam is clearly uncomfortable from the moment she takes his hand, his pulse fluttering wildly, and his fear a strange and obvious thing. But he doesn't pull away. He lets her do what she needs to do and then when she lets him go he reaches for the kitten before him as if it can soothe him. ]

Why would you bite someone?

[ It's important to him to know. He doesn't want to hate Saya. He just needs to protect everyone. ]

[instars]

If they were physically hurting me.

[She considers it for a moment.]

If they were physically hurting you. Or Kitty. Or Gansey.

[Really, that's the list. Kitty is only on it because she's Saya's source of income.]