Late, 4th November, 1893 — Kieran & Leeny’s Flat

The last couple of weeks had been a lot. Jude thought that was fair to say. The end of campaigning – the election, and the results – a new Minister, and still, a lot of people who also newly knew Jude, who had even perhaps actually voted for him. And there was a lot to be done now, to move forwards with that.

And on top of all that there was Kieran. The novelty of that changed relationship was no closer to wearing off or sinking in for Jude yet: not for all the diligent repetition of the kisses or the touching, the days or the nights spent together, nor that continued jolt of feeling of the I love yous.

He’d woken to stillness and darkness and the sound of Kieran’s slow breathing, and glanced at the window. Probably still the middle of the night. Jude lay there for a few minutes, and then quietly eased himself up, too thirsty to go back to sleep. Eileen hadn’t been home when they had come in earlier, but if Jude had to guess, it must be well after closing now. So if she had come back to the flat, hopefully she was already asleep and the coast was clear – carefully, he padded out to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of water as silently as he could.

Satisfied by his clandestine success, he took a sip, and then turned around to sneak back to Kieran’s room – and promptly sloshed half the water in the glass over himself, because Eileen was right here. In the kitchen, looking tiny and terrifyingly menacing in the dark. Shit. Jude mostly stifled his hiss of surprise, uncertain how he was going to explain this – but thankful that at least he was wearing underwear.

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Eileen Buchanan/Daffodil Grimstone

  

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Eileen was no stranger to Kieran having people over, but this change was different from the rest. If she didn't know him half as well as she did, she would have harbored more worries, but right now, as long as he was happy, she was happy. Key's happiness was all that mattered in the situation. Eileen could handle everything else. For once, it was nice to see him in a continual good mood.

Her shift at the ABC had ended late and she wasn't exactly tired when she got home. All she had done so far was change into something more comfortable, which was a nightdress that hardly hit her knees, but she was in her own home, and it was late, and she had never cared, nor had Kieran. Regardless of whether or not there was company this evening, Eileen sat on the kitchen counter with her dinner for the evening, which was just some scraps from the Cauldron she'd secured as she'd come home. Her entire existence felt like this and she was used to it, so she was fine with snacking until she was tired enough to go to bed. Her entire clock was nocturnal now, pretty much, so she was far too Aware of the rest of the house and its activities.

So when Jude exited Kieran's bedroom at this ungodly hour, she was not surprised, but as she sat, bare-legged, hair loose, atop the counter, she could only grin, in what she hoped was a somewhat threatening manner. "Wright," she greeted casually, chewing thoughtfully on the heel of a piece of bread.

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“Eileen!” Jude – well, exclaimed under his breath, wide-eyed, much too unprepared to see her to feign anything casual and careless back. And she had called him Wright, which felt like a bad sign – and she was wearing as few nightclothes as he was, and she was grinning: and all of these elements put together were rather disconcerting.

How much did she know? She and Kieran were much too close to keep secrets, he had figured, but he didn’t know how much Kieran had said to her yet, in the whirlwind of the last week or two; and if Kieran had mentioned to him how he ought to deal with Eileen, Jude, half-asleep and altogether unfamiliar with – all this, couldn’t remember it. And he certainly hadn’t spontaneously come up with another reasonable excuse to be in their kitchen in the early hours of the morning.

“I – er – I was just – how are you?” Jude said helplessly. “I didn’t hear you get in.”

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Satisfied by his alarm, Eileen softened her smile into something more approachable. Oíche jumped up to the counter next to her and she laid her free hand on the black cat's head, scratching absentmindedly between her ears. "I've learned to keep it down," she chuckled at the two-sided comment. "When I come in late." It was only fair after all. Key was pretty good about keeping it down in the morning when he was getting ready for work, and Leeny tended to sleep like she was dead, even if she couldn't crawl into Kieran's bed anymore when she felt like snuggling. It was an easy routine to keep, the pair of them having lived together for longer than they hadn't at this point. She wondered if Jude knew that, that he was casually throwing them off balance. It wasn't intentional, she supposed, and she didn't mind, but she just hoped it stayed somewhat settled and there would be no upheavals any time soon. She could readjust to a new normal, as long as it was turbulence-free.

"Need something?" She offered after another bite of her bread, still amused by his reaction and the general air of tension between them. Leeny had always liked Jude, obviously, and knowing of Kieran's feelings had always had her minding her manners around him, but she was a protective person, and Key was her person, as much as she wasn't sure he would say the same anymore and she just wanted him to be happy.

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   Jude Wright

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“Sorry,” Jude said guiltily. He didn’t know if she meant that comment pointedly or not – he wasn’t sure how loud, exactly, they had been earlier – but he was grateful that it was still dark enough in here that she might not notice the full extent of his flushing.

“Oh, no, I was just thirsty,” he said, hastily lifting his glass of water in illustration – although, having looked at Leeny munching on that bread, his stomach had the indecency to rumble audibly at that very moment. Still, even if he was hungry, he hadn’t planned to – make himself so comfortable here as to eat them out of house and home by it. (He did feel worryingly comfortable here already, but – he was trying to be considerate. And unobtrusive. And usually more dressed than this.)

He took another sip of water, trying to match Eileen for ease, though she had the home advantage so was certainly still winning. “I’ll try and be quieter next time, though,” he added, both a joke and a promise.

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At hearing his stomach rumble, Leeny offered him the remaining chunk of the bread from the counter without thinking. Though she hadn't grown up with much, had never had any more than she needed to survive, she had never, ever, balked at sharing either. She knew what it was like to sometimes go without, so she wouldn't have it in her own flat.

"Appreciated," she chuckled, allowing for a better smile this time, one that was warmer and a little less cat-like. It wasn't like she actually cared. Eileen had always been the kind to keep her nose down and (mostly) mind her own business, what the pair of them go up to in Kieran's bedroom was certainly none of hers, as long as they didn't wake her up too early in the morning; then she would start throwing things.

"How's my side of the bed treating you?" She asked lightly, mostly teasing, but curious to know where Jude stood in all of this as well. She wasn't going to flat out ask him, but figured this was as close as she was going to get.

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He took the hunk of bread she’d offered, tearing off a piece and only then realising that he had been quite hungry, after all. When he glanced up from it to murmur his thanks, Eileen was smiling – more gently still, enough that he felt the rest of the tension in his shoulders ease. He and Leeny had never been close the way she and Kieran were, but perhaps Jude had inwardly been worried she would be annoyed by this unexpected turn of events, that she wouldn’t understand or wouldn’t approve. But if she had disapproved of this, Jude fully expected that she would say. Eileen had never been one to hide her feelings on anything, particularly not her disgruntlement (which was often when the boots came out). So maybe – this was fine. Maybe they could still be friends as usual.

More at ease now or not, Jude still couldn’t help the pink flush that spread over his cheeks at my side of the bed. He swallowed a piece of bread before he answered, finding it almost hard to verbalise how he was feeling. He was – happy. Happier than he’d known he could be. (He thought, he hoped, that Kieran was too.)

He was also more daunted than he had ever been.

“Yeah, er, good,” Jude said, embarrassed at her phrasing of the question and more embarrassed at his complete failure to keep his cool about it. “It’s all very – new,” he confessed (new with Kieran; a new arrangement for him, generally). “And it feels... a bit fragile, too? Like I’m afraid it’s too good to be true, or something.” Maybe that was it. He was afraid something would go awfully, terribly wrong: he would do something wrong or say something wrong, or they would have an argument and everything would come crashing down around them. And Jude had never wanted anything so badly, and he had scarcely had time to let it sink in. He – wasn’t ready to lose this yet.

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   Eileen Buchanan

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He was still flustered and Eileen was torn by being endeared by it and annoyed. People deep into their feelings were always so predictable. It was sort of gross, really. She wouldn't begrudge them of course, they deserved whatever happiness they found together, Eileen would die on that hill, but it wouldn't stop her from being slightly nauseated by it. At least on the surface. Her persona of this tough, heartless bitch was carefully crafted to protect herself. Beneath it all, she was a little jealous at how easily they had settled into one another; she wanted something like that for herself.

His answer to her question saw something loosening in her chest. It seemed that, at least from where she sat, they were equally enamored with it and still being cautious. That was good. That Jude was treading carefully meant he wasn't likely to fuck it up any time soon. "I'm happy for you both," Eileen admitted, almost too easily. She loved Key too much to want anything but the best for him and if that was Jude, then so be it.

"I do have to warn you though," she began, tapping her nails against the counter as if she had to think about what to say next. "If you ever make him unhappy, I will have to kill you." Her tone suggested that it was indeed a very real threat, even if her expression said otherwise. Just because she was no longer Kieran's number one, didn't mean he had slipped from hers.

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   Jude Wright

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It was almost more natural to hear Eileen voice her warning than to hear her saying she was happy for them – Jude suspected that in the morning he might wonder if he had dreamt that part.

But it did have him finally relaxing, because this was more usual territory for them both. And really he should have expected it; Kieran and Leeny did come as a pair, closer than friends somehow and more like siblings. Or like odd, belligerent Irish twins. So –

“Of course,” he said seriously, “how will you do it?” The murdering, he meant; if he could see it coming he might be able to save things before he got too close to the edge, or realised he was on thin ice. In all truthfulness, Jude hoped he would see it for himself, if things soured one day and he was making Kieran unhappy. (They had not been particularly good at keeping on an even keel historically – and maybe there was some comfort in knowing that they had weathered bitter arguments before – but hopefully things would be... easier from here.)

“Though if anyone does get hurt here,” Jude added quietly, more earnestly than before, “I think it will be me.” There had never been anyone for him but Kieran, so if this ended badly, he imagined he would have done all he possibly could to save it. And if Kieran changed his mind one day, which was perfectly possible – Jude wasn’t sure how well he would recover.

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   Eileen Buchanan

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The wicked glint was back in her eye, along with a low chuckle. "Oh, you'll never see me coming." She hadn't actually put any thought into what it would be, but Leeny would make it quick, probably. She liked to pretend she was a cantankerous wench, but in reality she was a romantic at heart and she didn't want to see either one of them get hurt.

"I can kill him too, if that's the case. But then you'll be stuck with me." Far less likely, but she would give Key, a hell of a time if something did sour between them. This looked good on both of them, but she could also understand where Jude was coming from. Kieran, though she loved him, was not without his faults and he could be hard to love sometimes, as could she. However she had far more practice than Jude did and was probably a little more lenient on some of Kieran's worst habits. Hopefully he wouldn't be an ignorant asshat about it and screw it up somehow; he certainly couldn't do better than Jude.

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   Jude Wright

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No, he probably wouldn’t. Eileen was tiny – she was easy to miss. He hadn’t seen her coming here, pouncing on him from the kitchen counter, so.

And he was strangely touched by her commitment to equal-opportunity-murder, that she might have it out for Kieran as much as for him if things did go badly. Jude wasn’t sure she could really mean that, because he could not envision anything breaking up Kieran and Leeny’s friendship, could not fathom her ever picking anyone over him – but he appreciated the sentiment regardless. (And in truth, although Eileen was not as devoted to their politics as some of his friends were... it would hurt him to lose her friendship just as badly as anyone’s.)

“I can imagine worse outcomes,” he joked, with a quick brief smile to express his gratitude, sincerely, that she could even flippantly imagine being on his side. And in the interest of saving their friendship if things did continue going well – “But if we ever do – annoy you,” Jude added, trying to suppress a grin and look as serious as usual, “you can kick us out, and we can go to mine.” He also had a flatmate to worry about, but he was sure they could juggle everyone’s tolerance. He and Kieran had already, er, been spending a lot of time together.

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   Eileen Buchanan

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Leeny passed him a dismissive wave with her free hand. For the most part, their opposite schedules left Eileen out of the house when most of the shenanigans happened. She didn't get home until well into the early hours of the morning most of the time and slept into the afternoon. She shrugged. She knew it was probably easier for them to be here, her knowledge (and acceptance) of Kieran's preferences meant nothing had to be hidden. Without knowing much about Jude's roommate, she supposed it might be trickier. "I'm a pretty deep sleeper, my only request is you keep it down moving around out here in the mornings." She laughed. If murder was on the table for anything, it was waking her up before she'd gotten a good six hours in. It was an easy way to die. It was a clear house expectation though; Eileen was quiet when she came home at night and Key was quiet in the mornings when he left. The flow would adapt, she was sure. "And contrary to popular belief, I do have other friends I can visit, if you need the flat for whatever reason." She offered as collateral.

With that, Leeny hopped down from the counter and stretched. "Speaking of, I've hit the wall, and I'm working tomorrow, so I'm off to bed." She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder as she passed with a genuine smile.

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