We Are Bulletproof

[In the group chat]

Guys
I need to borrow Cori

Something happened
Rip's in trouble and only Cori can get him out of it

Oh but he found Jack! So

Damnit.

Mik and Rip barely got home when Aunt Shel arrived too, startling Mik who was in the process of 'showing Rip the bed' in the spare bedroom. He heard her car pulling into the driveway, let out a sound of pure frustration and had to make a run for his own bedroom before she caught him. No sex tonight, he couldn't risk getting caught by his aunt! He'd told her that Rip was staying with them for the foreseeable future, and she was fine with putting him up in the spare room--the one all the way at the other end of the house from Mik's own bedroom...

What she was not fine with was the kiss she witnessed, over which she and Mik had A Talk. Aunt Shel wanted to protect him, he knew that. She didn't want to see him being taken advantage of; she didn't want him to come to harm. And coming from a place of love and caring about him, Mik knew that she only had his best interests in mind. Her point about Rip being that much older than him, and that the age gap posed certain compatibility issues, was well-taken. This wasn't the first time an older guy tried to hit up Mik.

A year ago, he'd been pursued quite aggressively by a guy called Ryan who worked at the shelter. At first it was flattering that an older man was paying him that much attention but it rapidly went downhill. The guy wouldn't leave him alone; there were calls at all hours of the night, texts checking up on him, and Mik swore he was even stalked. He had to take out a restraining order, something he never thought he'd have to do! Mik didn't think he was that amazing for anyone to become obsessed over him, but apparently he was wrong.

So yeah, he understood his aunt's concerns. She definitely didn't want Rip to turn out to be another creep but the thing was, Rip was nothing like Ryan! Aunt Shel didn't know Rip--she hadn't spent enough time with him to see what Mik saw. Which, again, wasn't her fault but now that Rip was living with them, Mik was sure that eventually she would come around to his point of view. Rip was a dear, sweet man. He was oddly shy in some moments, oddly bold in others, and despite his assertions that he wanted to be seen as a man by Mik, he still had so much innocence to him.

He was a little seed, just like Lieve said. Kept in isolation, he only knew what Keith taught him--and Keith was a freaking asshole who kept Rip like a sex slave. Small wonder Rip knew how to touch Mik, how to seduce him, but then when it came to things like kittens and fishies, he was like a child seeing everything for the first time. But now that he was out and free, Mik was sure that he would grow into a strong man and come into himself. Rip was not going to be a replicate of Jack! He just wasn't, that wasn't possible.

But!

But.

Mik didn't see him as a baby or a child. Those were pet names; he couldn't help himself when Rip was so cute. Rip didn't even act cute, he was cute. He was so cute and so sexy. Some people might have issues coming to terms with it--Mik didn't. He was cute and sexy too, so it took one to know one~

Now he just had to convince Aunt Shel that Rip wasn't a creepy stalker, and make sure Rip's soul grew out right. As devastating as it was on a personal level to know that he couldn't do it for Rip, he liked that there was at least someone out there who could. And it was like Mik said--Rip might choose him in the end. Rip might come to realize that even if his soul mate was with Jack, his partner could still be Mik.

It... wouldn't really be the same but it was still good. It could still work out! They were together now, and things were going well! Mik was optimistic and hopeful; he saw a bright future regardless of how stormy the skies were now.

Laying in bed, he smiled into his pillow. Lieve even said there was a chance that Rip's soul could recognize him as its mate... Well maybe if he made enough of an impression on Rip, he could be his new soul mate!

And

AND

If he could grow a whole soul out of a little seed and turn that soul into his soul mate, maybe--just maybe--his efforts would inspire certain best friends to stop being silly and ask certain other best friends out! Because if Mik could do all this for Rip, Lieve could certainly get a date with the guy he had genuine feelings for!

Orrr Mik could do a little prodding and poking on his own. He probably would.

He would definitely do it.

Grabbing his phone from the bedside table, he fired off a text to Cori.

Oh yeah, this thing was going down whether Lieve wanted it to or not!

Are you calm now? 😵

@Lieve Averesch

Did you find Cori? Was he home?!

@Lieve Averesch

"Hooo boy... what have you gotten yourself into, Mik?" Mik asked his reflection in the small bathroom mirror as he dabbed at his face, after having splashed some water into it. He still felt kind of shaky and truthfully, he should have been resting after that weird... heart attack thing, but he couldn't sit there and do nothing while Cori was out lost and alone and scared. The fact that someone tried to kidnap him was crazy. An innocent kid like that with no ties to anyone shady? Why him?

Mik suspected it had something to do with his mother's disappearance. Why else would people start attacking them out of nowhere? Allie, Cori, Mik, they were all assaulted in some way for getting mixed up in this affair. He had no concept of the unifying element behind this—whether it was a person or a particular event—but he knew that they were in quite a lot of danger.

Which was why they needed to find Cori and stick together, and hopefully by virtue of numbers, they would overcome this. Whatever this was.

Sighing, he slowly made his way out to sit on the bed and wait for Lieve. He had already checked himself out; the nurse at the station protested but ultimately they had to let him go. Mik did arrive with his own clothes... but since he'd fallen into the mud at the shelter and then was whisked away in them to the hospital in an ambulance, they were pretty grimy and nasty. Aunt Shel had promised to bring him a change of clothes but an emergency came up at the shelter, and Mik told her not to bother until much later.

Suddenly, his phone went off on the bed beside him. An unknown number? Mik replied anyway; it wasn't uncommon for people trying to get the shelter to hit up his personal number. It was listed under the shelter website as an emergency contact as well. Then his eyes lit up—Rip! He was still texting with Rip, probably with a goofy ass smile on his face, when somebody walked in. Mik didn't lift his head yet to see who it was; he juuuuust had to fire off one more text...

@Lieve Averesch @Trash Bat

Lieve did Cori get home?

@Lieve Averesch

"Are you... out of your mind?" Incredulously Mik looked Cori over, from the top of his head to the shoes on his feet. Why was he dressed like that? He looked like a creepy weirdo, buttoned up to his eyeballs, with gloves on his hands. Gloves over gloves, even, and sunglasses, despite it being a cloudy day. It had just started to rain, in fact, so Mik was out battening down the hatches and making sure the kennels were well-protected. He was tending to the doggies when Cori ran up, babbling nonsensically about being cursed and needing a place to stay until the rain stopped.

"Does Lieve know you're out dressed like this?" How could Lieve drop the ball like this?! Cori was a hideous mess! He reached out to take Cori by the shoulders, steering him inside where it was dry. What was that thing about a curse anyway? Cori had always been kind of quirky and Mik accepted that as him being him, but. Geez. Curses yet!

He took Cori into an inner office where he plonked him down and made him take off the coat. There was a big comfy couch there too, perfect for taking naps, which Mik threw himself onto while Cori sat in the loveseat with his hands between his legs, looking nervous and out of sorts. "You can stay here until the rain stops. Do you want anything to drink? Wanna go see the new kittens?"

"NO!" Cori shook his head so hard his curls flew everywhere.

Taken aback, Mik held up both of his hands with the palms out. "Okay... okay geez. I thought you liked kittens."

"I do! But I can't touch them!"

"Okay... sure. I have to go see if Aunt Shel needs help, so you sit tight and. Take a nap or something, calm down. All right? I'll check in on you later." He stood up, went over to ruffle Cori's unruly mop and then went back out. Raising Cori was kind of a community effort these days, ever since his mom mysteriously disappeared. Lieve was nice enough to offer him a place to stay, but their little group of friends took turns dropping by to make sure Cori was all right. (He was kind of an innocent thing, sheltered and protected by his mom and his friends.)

Aunt Shelby was tending to a puppy that someone had abandoned, and it had been struck by a car. It was in pretty bad shape and they weren't sure if the poor little thing would make it. Ooh, that made Mik so mad! Instead of handing the little thing over to a shelter, some asshole just left him by the side of the road and drove off! OOH PEOPLE!

"Everything okay Aunt Shel? It's really coming down out there!" He peeked in on poor little pupper, which was sleeping. "Aww... his leg looks bad. Do you think we'll have to amputate?" Mik frowned. Aunt Shelby didn't know, she said, but it looked quite beyond saving. Shit. If Mik ever found the person who did this—!

He turned when someone entered the front lobby of the shelter, and their motion-detector doorbell went off. Mik walked back out; immediately his expression changed from stormy to sunny. "Rip! You're here!" He ran forward to grab a hold of Rip's arm to pull him inside—and also so that the automatic door could close to seal them off from the sudden storm outside!