Stop...I'm Already Dead

[Rose Hunter]

Rose pulled the door to herself tightly, making sure that the back door to the animal shelter was firmly bolt shut. She looked down at the little puppy she was bringing along with her to see Liam. It’s just, there wasn’t anything she could do except for cave to the adorable little eyes. She couldn’t cage him anymore than he wanted to be caged. Thankfully, she already had plans with Liam for the evening and figured that the best way to utilize her time was to spend her evening with two of the nicest guys in Storybrooke. Liam, and.. whatever she decided to name this little guy until someone finally took him home. “Okay, come on,” she said, making her way towards Granny’s Diner. She figured the only way to make up for the fact that she was bringing a dog over, was to also show up with food. She narrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember if there was a saying about men and food. Either way, she knew it chalked up to be a good thing.


Once she tied the leash on a post outside, she head into Granny’s quickly to place an order for two bacon cheeseburgers with a large order of fries for them to share to go.
Back outside, Rose knelt down, giving the dog a few of the fries as a treat. She bit the side of her lip, rearranging everything so that she could carry the food, as well as the leash. There were a few stops along the way, but it felt like before she knew it she was knocking on Liam’s apartment door. “Oh, bugger..” she muttered quietly to herself, holding the food up as the dog began to wrap the leash around her legs due to his circling around her.

Liam Jones




Outfit
Puppy

[Liam Jones]

Not living with his brother felt very, very weird initially. Like something was missing. By now Liam knew he had lived for centuries without him, but not willingly. He had been held captive – one of the reasons why he could not live with Killian anymore. They called it ptsd. At first the most obvious manifestation was Liams obvious fear of anything involving the sea. He feared what he once loved, couldn’t even bring himself to board the Jolly Roger anymore, despite the ship never having been the source of his pain, but the fear of the Leviathan getting to him. To his own surprise though, he was beginning to set down ties of his own. He was still hesitating to mingle with the people Killian loved, his new family, not for fear of being rejected, but simply because he enjoyed seeing how unconsciously happy his little brother was about having them. And he was settling as well after all. He was having friends here, he was happy and recovering. At night Liam was still kicking out, he would attack whoever was in his home with him, no exception, so living with anyone was no option anymore. 

Liam had just made tea – he adored the variety of leaves in this land, but the milk was all wrong, so he went for sugar to sweeten it instead of milk making it less bitter – as he heard the knock on the door. A grin spread on his face. He had an idea who this was. Though he had had no idea of the state he’d find her in in front of his door. The former Captain chuckled. 

“Hello, Rose.” He immediately reached for what Rose was holding and placed it on a counter inside, before kneeling down, to stop the dog from tying her up further. He unclipped the leash and picked him up, moving the leather back around her feet to start loosen it. “Who’s this little buddy you brought? Seems like he wants to have you all to himself! Come on in.”

Rose Hunter

[Rose Hunter]

After Liam had taken the boxes from her, she placed one hand on the side of the door frame to try and steady herself as he moved the leash around her legs. “Thank you , darling,” she said, picking up most of the leash before heading into the apartment. “I think I’m going to name him Bear… but I couldn’t leave him at the shelter,”[/b] she said apologetically before looking at Liam and smiling slowly at him. “ I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages,” she said before wrapping her arms around him in a hug, tightly. She let go of him, taking a step back before bending down to unfasten the leash from Bear’s collar. “I hope you’re alright with bacon cheeseburgers,” she mused, beginning to unbutton her jacket as she walked farther into the apartment.




Rose paused, looking at a jacket that was haphazardly laying on the side of the couch. It was a sad realization of their friendship, but she knew it wasn’t Liam’s. She stared at it for a moment, bringing her fingertips to the fabric. She wished Graham was capable of leaving his jacket at her place, or better yet, that she could forget what his face looked like. She took in a deep breath, moving her hand away from the jacket before she turned on her heels to look at Liam. “It’s.. so lonely here in Storybrooke. You’re so lucky you have your boyfriend,” she said, moving to one of the boxes. Rose picked up a few of the fries, placing them in her mouth as she started to take her shoes off.


Liam Jones

[Liam Jones]

“Bear? That is an adorable name.” And befitting. If he was correct that little puppy would become quite the big dog one day, a great little guardian for a woman as physically fragile as Rose seemed to be. Not that he doubted her mind, but her body was just not as well trained as those of some men and women he had encountered in this world so far – honestly some of those women didn’t even resemble women anymore. Everyone was entitled to their own standards, but to Liam it was just weird to question whether this mass of muscle was male of female. He didn’t get the concept of it, but as long as they were happy, who was he to complain? After their hug, in which Liam thought he might have held her just a little too long, he grinned.

“Bacon cheeseburger. I know what bacon is and what a cheeseburger is by now, but what the hell is a bacon cheeseburger?” Given though that Granny had yet to present him with anything that was completely inedible, he was unlikely to complain and likely to just nod along and agree with everything. While she made herself at home, he walked to the small incorporated kitchen to fetch them something to drink. He opted for coke, water and orange juice and managed to place the item on the coffee table just in time for Rose to comment on his boyfriend. His boyfriend. How in the hell did she get the idea he had a boyfriend? How did she get the idea he was gay, when he was very, very much into women. And then he saw the jacket. Of course.

“That’s Mullins jacket… you thought he and I are together? He’s not my boyfriend, Rose. He’s married. Or was, back in the day. His wife died. He’s just one of my oldest friends. He was originally in the Navy with me and stayed with Killian through it all. He’s not… he’s not my boyfriend.” That being said it wasn’t like Liam didn’t have experiences with men. He had.

Rose Hunter

[Rose Hunter]

A look of horror spread across Rose’s face as Liam explained that she had just falsely accused him of being gay. Shit. Rose looked between the jacket to Liam. “Oh of course, I..of course..” she said, closing her eyes before shaking her head slightly. Well, this was certainly awkward. But a look of confusion replaced her expression, her eyebrows furrowing together. With a slight tilt of her head she looked back in his direction. “But were you not lonely on the long voyages? I mean… We… When I was on…the ship with Hook, and he… there.. I…” Rose started, realizing that she was failing at putting together a coherent sentence. “ It’s just that the men on the ship talked about how they…….turned to each other. For comfort.” she said, her own frazzled nature taking away from her ability to talk clearly.




“ I am.. so sorry,” she said again, placing her hand against her chest. But then she tried to think back on everything else in their friendship. She was fairly certain she’d walked around him in just her underwear while getting dressed on occasions simply because of the fact that she believed he would not eye her. “Oh my god,” she said, placing her hand on her stomach. “ Did you,… I…” she started again, before putting her hands up. “ The.. burgers.” she finally stammered out, placing her hands on her hips. Well, this was a great way to start an evening.
Rose bit the inside of her cheek at the awkwardness that seemed to fill the room. Well, if he wasn't into men, then why was he single? He was handsome, nice.. It seemed that if he were looking, he'd be perfectly suitable for girls to be drawn toward. Or maybe they were and she just hadn't been paying attention. 

Liam Jones

[Liam Jones]

Liam was highly amused at her stuttering. He knew he had been brought up in a different way, respecting women and men alike and finding no offense in sharing intimacy of a sort with another man. It wasn’t like he was hurting anyone with it. He had been faithful while engaged, of course. Before being in a committed relationship, though, he did seek comfort, even in a man sometimes. It did not make him prefer men or even want them. He watched her squirm a bit. The poor woman. It seemed like she was a bit afraid of him making a big fuzz out of this.

“Rose, calm down. No harm done. Let me explain.” He pointed to the seat. He sat down himself, pulling the burger to him. It was still hot, good. “I did turn to men for comfort. I slept with men. Many sailors did. During many months on sea especially a navy vessel did not hold female company. Sometimes you got lonely. Sometimes you got drunk. We sometimes spent nights together then. That’s it. But that does not mean I prefer men. Or that I find them particularly attractive. I was engaged to a woman 300 years ago, Rose. Needless to say that engagement is off the table for obvious reasons.” Said reasons being his fiancée was dead for around 250 years now.



Rose Hunter

[Rose Hunter]

Rose blinked, trying to process everything that Liam had just said to her. It was just, she personally couldn’t understand how he didn’t find men attractive if he was sleeping with them. The voyages and long journeys, she understood it, hell it wouldn’t matter even if he was attracted to men. She thought he had been this entire time and it hadn’t changed the way she adored him. But trying to wrap her mind around being intimate with someone you weren’t attracted to was too difficult of a concept for her to even try to begin to understand. But, he had taken his burger out and it seemed like he wasn’t going to let this misunderstanding ruin his evening. She may as well not let it ruin hers either.

“ Well, I do apologize,” she said, deciding to give up on trying to understand any of it. “And now I know to be more appropriately dressed when you’re around,” she said teasingly before getting up to go get her own burger ready. Rose sat back, crossing her legs before pushing the hair from her face. “ So how come you haven’t tried to be involved with any of the girls here in Storybrooke then? Clearly you like relationships,” she said, referring to his former engagement. “ It just seems like a waste of a perfect gentleman,” she said. Rose looked down at the burger in her hands, bringing it to her mouth before she took a bite that was far too large, letting the ketchup and mustard plaster itself against her nose and cheeks.

Liam Jones

[Liam Jones]

“No need to apologize, lass.” It was but a simple misunderstanding and Liam assumed it was born from the different times they have lived in. He was a bit older than she was, years even. His time was different. And then Storybrooke was even more different. Misunderstandings could only be normal then. Liam leaned back and propped his feet up on his coffee table. He was at home, he could follow his own rules, not the old repressing protocols. 

“I don’t mind. You’re quite nice on the eyes and you can trust you. Had I wanted to well hurt you, I surely would have done so by now, right?” And he really really had no intention to do so. He was no violent man. He had been raised to appreciate women. Again he smiled.

“You forget that I have been raised in a different time, Rose. Back then relationships were more arranged. I had to beg for her parents approval. I think that’s still in me. Besides… even though I might like being in a relationship, I firmly believe love should be the basis of one.” He wanted nothing less. “Maybe you should get that shirt off, or you will get it dirty and I do not know how to wash it. Why are burgers so unhandy anyway. They're not very easy to eat, are they?"


Rose Hunter