Gen practically leaped off the couch, her heart jumping in her throat. "Jesus," she muttered, pressing a hand to her chest. "You scared the hell out of me," she admitted, shaking her head. She was kind of glad though. Things were going too far with him the way he was. "What would you like?" she asked.

-------

Landon rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't," he said. "I was just trying to think of something to distract us."

Sven grinned and shifted in his seat. "Anything with mushrooms."

-------

"That's what I was doing," Victoria said, tugging at a lock of his hair.

(... do you have any ideas on what we should do, plot-wise?)

Gen rolled her eyes and headed to the kitchen. "Do we even have mushrooms?" she muttered to herself as she puttered around.

------

Landon smiled. "I meant distract us from your distraction, sweetness."

(Uh...have Seb ruin some moments and stalk everyone? I feel like we need a new bad guy to swoop in and cause chaos.)

"I was just kidding!" Sven called, laughing. "Whatever you feel like's fine!"

-------

Victoria pretended to pout. "I like my distraction better."

(Ikr, we need a bad guy ... Okay, I'll bring Seb in in a sec.)

Gen made some soup quickly and spooned it out into two bowls. She stuck spoons into them and headed back to the living room.

--------

"I like your distraction better too," Landon laughed.

Sven glared at Gen as she approached with the soup. "I just got out of the hospital and you give me soup?"

-------

Victoria leaned in, letting her breath play across Landon's lips, when her cell rang. She jumped guiltily. "You still have my phone ..." she said, falling backwards onto the couch with her arms above her head. "Go ahead and answer."

"I'm sorry," she said with a raised eyebrow. "Did you want jello?"

-------

Landon sighed and lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he asked, though he was tempted to just yell 'what?' into the phone.

Sven snorted and took the bowl. "I was actually kidding. You need to learn to pick up on that, babe ... Ah, tomato ... my favourite ..."

------

"Hello ...?" Seb asked, not having expected to hear a man's voice. "Is this Victoria Reed's phone?"

Gen laughed and tapped him on the nose. "Maybe you need to learn to pick up when I kid," she said brightly, sitting beside him.

------------

Landon frowned. "Depends," he grunted. "Who the hell is calling and why?"

(Well, goodnight then. Sorry, that took longer than I thought I would. Question. Can you see me as a teacher based on what you know about me--which I know isn't much?)

Sven pretended to think long and hard about that. "Do you mean to say that you have a sense of humour?"

-----

"I'll take that as a yes," Seb grinned. "I'm a journalist, my name is Sebastian, Victoria and I have met before. Could you please give her the phone? There's a matter I'd like to discuss with her."

(Welp ... that certainly is a difficult question. I really am bad at reading people. But what I can say is that it did strike me that you're very patient, and that's an essential quality to have in a teacher. Am I far off? :) So you want to be a teacher, eh? It's a noble profession.)

"Ha ha," Gen said dryly. "You're so funny." She stuck her tongue out at him and spooned soup into her mouth.

--------

"No," Landon said. "You can talk to me."

(Yay! I think I'm pretty patient. And yes, I would like to be a teacher. An elementary school teacher actually. Third grade is what I would hope for, but I would have to go where they needed me.)

"I know," Sven muttered before taking a huge spoonful of soup. "I'm a freaking scream."

-----

"And who might you be?" Seb asked.

-----

Victoria crossed her arms behind her head so she could watch Landon. He seemed angry. 'Who is it?' she mouthed.

(:) That's great! Good luck with that! My third grade teacher in school happened to be my favourite teacher ever. She was just perfect - I hope you get to achieve your goal, m'dear.)

Gen snickered. "So you're a screamer, huh?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

-----------

"Landon Michaels," he said sharply. "What do you want?"

Landon looked at Vic. 'Reporter,' he mouthed back.

Sven grinned wickedly. "No no no, I make people scream ... Women in particular ..."

------

"I want to set up a meeting," Seb said casually, making a note of Landon's name. "Like I said, I've got some things I'd like to discuss with Miss Reed."

-----

Victoria frowned, trying to remember the name of the guy that had harassed Gen in the hospital some days earlier. "Sebastian?" she whispered.

Gen almost spewed her soup all over. She covered her mouth and shot Sven a look. "Oh really...?" she asked, giving him a wicked grin on her own.

-------------

Landon laughed without humor. "Go to hell," he said simply.

He nodded at Victoria, a frown creasing his forehead.

Sven pursed his lips to keep from smiling and nodded calmly. "Jup. The neighbours always complain ..."

---------

"Oh, come now," Seb laughed in good humour. "Don't be like that ... all I want is a friendly meeting. You're welcome to come along."

---------

Victoria cursed and made cutting motions under her chin, meaning Landon should hang up.

Genevieve shot him a suspicious look. "Always?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping he was kidding. He wasn't...with other girls while we were...falling in love was he?

--------

(You mean Seb)

Landon scowled. Without saying a word, he hung up the phone as Vic suggested. He sighed. "This guy wants to set up a meeting with you." He frowned. "I don't like it."

(Shit! Thanks ... You know I really have too much characters ... And I'm already making another one! It's like a disease ...)

"Whatever do you mean?" Sven asked innocently.

------

Seb scowled at the dead line and pressed redial.

-------

"A meeting?" Victoria asked. "Damn it ... I'd hoped he forgot about us ... He came round Sven's hospital room once asking all kinds of questions he really had no business asking about. He creeped me out."

Genevieve squirmed uncomfortably. She really didn't want to ask and sound like a psycho bitch. She quickly set her bowl down and stood, quickly walking back to the kitchen before she said something stupid.

----------

"Want me to kick his ass?" Landon asked, only half joking.

"H-hey!" Sven called after her. He got to his feet and followed slowly after her. He was a little light headed, but some food in his stomach helped. "What'd I say?"

-----

Victoria chuckled and patted his head. "That's sweet, but you can't even make out with me without putting yourself in a world of hurt. This Sebastian is pretty weak looking, but ..."

Genevieve leaned on the counter, gripping it's edges. "Nothing," she said faintly, staring into the sink. Now all she could think about was Sven being with other girls while she flirted and teased him. It felt wrong.

--------

Landon smiled. "I won't be wounded forever," he pointed out with a grin. "Seriously though, should I get some friends and beat him up a little?"

Sven walked up behind her and rested a hand on either side of hers against the counter. He whispered into her ear; "Don't hide from me. That's my job."

-----

"Nah," Victoria shook her head. "I can handled a pipsqueak like him, don't you worry. You're forgetting, I'm Themis. I eat guys like him for lunch."

Gen took in a shuddering breath. "Do you really want to know what I'm thinking?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

--------

Landon grinned. "Yeah, but Ace has been out of commission for a while. People are starting to forget who I am," he teased.

"Yes," Sven said, pressing his lips to her earlobe. "I want to know everything that's going on in that red head of yours."

-----

Victoria snorted. "It'll be a while before I'll let you out there again. Alone, anyway."

Genevieve smiled faintly, but it vanished quickly. "I can't stop thinking about...about all the girls you...you..." she stuttered, unable to finish her thought.

---------

Landon smirked. "And I bet you could keep me here," he said with a nod.

Sven sighed softly, wrapped his arms around her, and rested his forehead against her shoulder. "Babe ... Is that it? Didn't I just tell you to learn when I'm joking?"

-----

Victoria nodded confidently. "Jup. I have many ways, Landon, of keeping you under control. Only a few of which involve violence."

Genevieve wanted so much to lean into him, but she didn't want to cause him pain. "I know you were joking," she said tightly. "But I still can't get the...images out of my head." And in every one, you're with a girl and it's not me.

-------

Landon chuckled. "You are a hellcat," he told her with a nod.

Sven started laughing. He tried to keep it gentle - to spare her feeling and his ribs - but couldn't exactly keep in the mirth. "Gen ... I'm going to tell you a secret and it has to stay between us, okay?" He once again pressed his lips against her ear. "I'm a virgin."

-------

Victoria grinned. "Why, thank you."

Now Genevieve couldn't breathe. She gripped the edges of the sink until her knuckles turned white. I'm not. She frowned deeply, not saying anything for a long moment. "Oh," she said softly, turning to face him. "I..." she said uncomfortably. "I'm..."

------

Landon smirked at her and rolled his eyes. "So what's with this guy anyway?" he asked. "Why show up at Sven's room? I have to believe Gen wasn't too thrilled about that."

Sven, still chuckling, pulled her into a hug and ran his lips across her jaw. "Stop worrying. It's fine if you're not ... I've just ... never really been interested in sex. Until you came along, that is."

-------

"He was asking about the whole incident with the Dog," Victoria said, all seriousness again. "No, Gen didn't like it at all. He seemed to know a great deal about what happened ... Things the police didn't even know."

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