fandomtownies | The Park, Saturday Morning

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The Park, Saturday Morning

With how Isabelle had been feeling lately, she was hesitant to call anything a good day, because any day could take a wrong turn into feeling like her chest was caving in if she happened to be reminded of the wrong things, but... Isabelle had an okay day happening today. She'd already gotten some training in early in the morning, she had a big, hopefully relaxing sleepover planned with Flick for tonight, and right now she was taking a moment to watch the flamingos in the park, just because they looked pretty and she had nowhere to get to in a hurry. She even wondered idly if a few of their kind could thrive in the rooftop greenhouse back home, although Jace would probably hate them,

Of course, she didn't know yet that her mother was on the island. But, she would find that out sooner or later. Just... not yet. For now, the only thing commanding her attention were the pink birds.

[ooc: Open! Whether it be for bothering Isabelle, or (a little later) Maryse, or for completely un-Lightwood-related park needs!]

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Not one person had shown up for Flick and he was glad of that. It meant he could let his guard down and not worry about entertaining guests or looking over his shoulder.

So, when he spotted Isabelle at the park, he detoured on his way to get breakfast and slid easily into the spot beside her.

"What's up, gorgeous?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows a bit. "You come here often?"

Isabelle offered him a tiny smile, looking over at him. "Yes," she said. "The birds remind me of a simpler time."

It was a joke.

"When we wrote letters to each other and had dinner around the table like a family?" he asked, going right along with her joke.

"Exactly like that," she sighed, leaning against his shoulder a little. Because she wanted to. "And had better manners."

"A simpler time but a time that's passed," he sighed, sliding an arm around her shoulders and moving closer to her. "All we can do is adapt and move on."

He kissed her hair and smiled a bit.

Isabelle slid her arm around his waist in return. She kept her eyes on the flamingoes, even as she kind of cuddled up close to him.

"Isn't that always the case?" she asked with another sigh.

"That's how the world is so yeah," he murmured, nuzzling her hair and ear and rubbing her shoulder with his fingers. "Change, adaptation and then change again, completely nullifying all that adaptation."

He sighed. "We just do our best and try and catch those simpler times when we can."

"I don't like it," Isabelle told him quietly. She was rubbing her fingers slowly against his side, but was otherwise still. "I'd prefer some things to just... stay as they are."

"I know that," he told her, kissing her hair again. "Believe me, I know that all too well. But, we can't always get what we want, Izzy. Just hold onto what you have and keep on going."

He sighed.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying as I am."

"And we're still on for a sleepover tonight, correct?" she checked, looking up at him. She didn't want to get too bogged down by the depressing stuff. She did enough of that on her own.

So, change of topic.

"You know it, baby," Flick told her, smiling down at her. "Got a bunch of stuff I'm bringing for us to enjoy. Food, drinks, and lots and lots of other stuff that I shouldn't talk about in public."

See, that was already much better. "I like the sound of that," Isabelle said, with a little smirk. "It'll be a nice Saturday night in."

"I've been looking forward to it," he said, brushing his fingers against her cheek and meeting her smirk with one of his own. "A nice Saturday night in."

And that, of course, was when someone cleared her throat behind them.

It was very much meant to announce her presence, and there was nothing sheepish or embarrassed about it.

Flick hadn't really expected to get interrupted by anything. He looked behind them, frowning at the older woman and not immediately picking up on the resemblance between who he was with and who'd just arrived.

"You lost?" he asked because that was his way of being nice.

Oh, Flick. That was absolutely the wrong thing to say.

Because Isabelle turned to look behind them, and immediately pulled away from Flick because she was overcome with the urge to rush the new arrival with a hug.

"Mom!"

Yep. Maryse embraced her daughter, but the look she gave Flick over Isabelle's shoulder was less than impressed.

Well, that was an amazing first impression to make. And then he was sitting on his own on the bench and wondering if it was time for him to slip away quietly or something.

Instead, he turned back around so he wasn't watching Isabelle and her mother's reunion and wouldn't feel like some intruder.

"By the Angel, I didn't know you were coming!"

That had been very much on purpose, but Maryse wasn't going to get into that. Instead, she offered her daughter a very brief little smile. "I thought it was time to see where my children have been spending so much of their time." Her gaze moved back to Flick. "And who's this?"

Apparently there would be no escaping for him. Yet, anyway.

"Oh, that's Flick," Isabelle replied, helpfully, as she pulled away from the hug. Finally.

So helpful.

Flick gave her a brief wave though he didn't turn to look back at them just yet. Disrespectful? Probably. But he'd been caught off guard and surprises tended to not be great for him.

"Yeah, that's me," he provided. "Hey."

"And does he also have a face?" Maryse wondered dryly. Never mind that she'd already seen it when he'd been rude to her the first time.

"... Usually," said Isabelle, who was catching on to how badly this was already going.

"I've got a very lovely face, thank you," Flick said idly, finally turning around so said face could be seen. Even smiled though it was a bit strained. "Hello, Mrs. Lightwood. Pleasure to meet you."

That was his attempt at trying. Really trying.

"I'm not sure I can say the same," Maryse replied, because she wasn't easily charmed and wasn't in the habit of offering feigned politeness when the other party had already been screwing up.

The lack of a smile, however, was pretty much standard for her. "Is Flick short for something?"

"It's just a nickname," Isabelle put in, trying not to eye Flick like he wasn't trying hard enough. "Like Jace. In fact, they have the same name."

He wasn't trying hard enough? What else did she want him to do? He'd been surprised and he felt like some bug right now.

"You can call me Jon, if you'd like," Flick offered and thought that was really trying since he didn't offer his name up that easily but since Isabelle already had... "I just go by Flick for the most part. Picked it up when I was a kid."

"Hmm." Well, Maryse didn't particularly care what he was called and why. Not very much, anyway.

And Isabelle... was finding this whole situation a lot more upsetting than she would've expected. She didn't even really know how to act here. "Mom, have you been here long?"

"Long enough to see I don't really understand what the three of you see in this place," Maryse replied. Then added, with another glance towards Flick, "Although I suppose some attractions are more simple than others."

Wow, he'd forgotten what it felt like to be subtly cut down by an adult. He kept his tongue, though. Even if he wanted to immediately lash out, he didn't. He kept it down.

"It's actually a pretty nice place," he offered, glancing around. "Lots of things to do, lots of people to meet that can help you out when you really need it. You get to learn a lot of things you wouldn't in regular schools."

That's what he got out of it. He shrugged and then joked, "Good food too."

"Yes, people seem to love mentioning the food," Maryse noted, dryly. "There was a boy in a tree yesterday who was very insistent that you have nothing to do but fatten yourselves up, here."

"Well, there's more to it than that but the food's a pretty good secondary reason to be here," he said, still trying to joke. "There's a few good restaurants in town if you wanna check it out. I'd be glad to show you."

Trying, Isabelle, trying. You see that?

Isabelle did see at least some of that. A little too late, maybe, considering how badly he'd blown it at the start, but still.

"Thank you," Maryse said, "but I think I'll be taking my meals at my hotel room."

"The Chinese place is good, though," Isabelle hazarded. "Not as good as anything back home, but still tasty."

Because it was his fault he'd been surprised? Come on.

"We tend to eat there when we order out," Flick agreed, nodding. "Can't really complain about the quality of food for the price. It's good. Good service too."

"Then perhaps I'll pay them a visit."

But probably not. And not with you, Flick. She looked towards her daughter. "Would you like to show me around, dear?"

"I guess," Isabelle said. Already mourning her original evening plans.

Flick pursed his lips but kept silent. He stayed where he was and rubbed his chin silently.

He figured he knew what was about to happen but maybe he'd be wrong.

"We had some plans for tonight," Isabelle added after a second, with only a very quick look over at Flick.

"I'm sure," Maryse replied calmly, "you can reschedule those." She looked over at Flick. "Isn't that right?"

Flick really appreciated you both remembering those and acknowledging him there, Isabelle.

"That's up to her," he said flatly. "These plans were for her benefit, not mine. I'll admit that I was looking forward to them for most of the week."

And he meant that in the most innocent way possible.

Great, now Isabelle was going to feel guilty about this. And she hated feeling guilty, as had become pretty clear over the last few weeks.

"Maybe we can just push them back to tomorrow night?" she offered to him.

The way her expression softened did not go unnoticed by her mother, by the way.

"Yeah, sure," Flick said, nodding at her. "Tomorrow night's fine if you're not too busy with things. Or if I'm not."

He wouldn't be but he was feeling defensive and prickly now.

"That's fine."

"Thank you," Isabelle said.

And then she did something a little more bold, by crossing over to him and giving him a quick kiss.

Hope he was paying attention when she was near, because when she whispered "Sorry, baby", she did so very quietly indeed.

That cooled his defensiveness a bit and he gave her a vague nod after she'd whispered that. He even put on a smile for the both of them. It was forced but still there.

"Have fun," he said, waving again.

Isabelle really wished he hadn't forced a smile like that, but she wasn't going to tell him that. He was trying, it would do.

She returned to her mother's side, and was already trying to steer her away. It felt like the sooner she had the two of them on different sides of the island, the better. "Mom, I have so much to show you."

Maryse merely nodded her goodbyes.

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The Park, Saturday Morning

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