Aces Wild (House of Cards Ser...

To say that the pancakes available from Denny’s at 00:godawfulearly in the morning weren’t terribly appetizing would be an understatement. Nate sawed through them, slathered them in maple syrup and swallowed the thick concoction down, feeling it hit his gut like a freight train. And yet across from him Ophelia ate her pancakes with a poise and dignity that belied her severely ill state, and the disgusting state of the food they were ingesting.  The other patron’s of Denny’s at this time were the kind you would expect to see out of a cheap Hollywood movie. A ‘just one step above homeless’ man, sitting in a booth and nursing his coffee to have an excuse to stay inside, a table of mostly drunk students who weren’t quite done cavorting about for the night, and what looked like a frazzled young woman who had pulled too many hours working this week, and it was only half of what she needed to work to feel accomplished. No one looked happy though that might have been Nathaniel’s own state of mind painting the room with an aura of gloom.

Nate knew that anyone else would be trying to pull him into a conversation to try and pinpoint just why exactly he was still up short hours before sunrise, especially as he had to work the next day, but Ophelia just provided him with silent, comforting company. And he returned the favor by not being one of the umpteenth masses to bother her about her health. She probably should be sleeping right now, she definitely should be trying to eat more than the few measly mouthfuls she’d already swallowed and he probably shouldn’t have dragged her out of the house in the Autumn without making sure she was wrapped up in suffocating layers. But Nathaniel had spent his entire life with Ophelia being independent and strong willed and he wasn’t going to try and take that from her now just because she was sick. Besides, Nate had long ago learned that pretty much any female will eventually start to talk if he just stayed silent long enough; it seemed to be hard wired into the X chromosome to fill in the silence.

“So what crazy costume have you and Grace decided on this year?” Ophelia asked, her interest seeming to be bland but Nate knew that she was always amused by the strange attire they pulled out of nowhere for the event.

Nate hated to disappoint but he just wasn’t into the idea for a change and was plainly honest. “Actually I’m not going this year. Grace has a date and I’m just… I think I’m going to use the night to catch up on my ever fleeing sleeping habits.” He replied.

“Oh.” Ophelia replied and if Nate hadn’t known her so well, he would have missed the surprise in her tone. There were days that it seemed the Sphinx had more emotional content than the woman sitting across from him, but Nathaniel was always used to looking past the surface and seeing more, it’s what made his photography so amazing. “I’ve seen your two closest male role models so I must applaud you on your ability to be mature without the need for excessive violence.”

Nathaniel nearly choked on his pop as she said that, knowing that it was a reference to his father and her own half brother. The tired waiter and the few other patrons all stared at Nate as he coughed and sputtered, nearly coming to an early demise on his drink before he managed a painful swallow and got the choking under control. If Ophelia honestly thought he was above excessive violence, then she certainly had never heard about Grace’s eighteenth birthday or the fact that he had nearly killed a man with his bare hands that night. That or his father and adoptive uncle were a lot more violent than he had ever heard about and Nate had been willing to bet money on the fact that he had heard all the stories his strange family had to tell.

He knew about his mother’s hi온라인카지노게임, the abuse and rape she endured. Nate knew that he was a happy accident that had helped keep his father from hating himself in a way that Nathaniel only knew all too well. It seemed that the Vega men had something dark inside that took over and it haunted them always. His Bisabuelo had died with his secrets, but his Abuelo and father both carried a violent temper that Nate hadn’t escaped even with his mother’s more laid back personality to balance him out. Ruefully Nate had to admit; that after seeing his little sister lay into an ex-boyfriend who tried to push intimacy too far, that maybe it wasn’t just the men who were prone to volatile passions.

“You give me far too much credit Professor. I am merely a man, capable of as much folly and foil as the next. But the fact that I’ve deluded you into a sense of comfort means my acting skills have improved.” Nate teased with a wink.

Ophelia gave him this look that could have been ‘are you kidding me’ to ‘there is an alien about you eat your brains’ but Nate knew that she was trying not to smile or laugh. She thankfully moved on to a safer topic of conversation, or at least one she didn’t know held demons for Nathaniel. “Is your photography professor really going all existential on your class this year?” she asked, making Nate laugh a little.

For three years Nate had had the same photography professor, an old badger of a man with about as much finesse as the average crowbar. He was a fantastic photographer, but he was a simple and straightforward man. There was even a long running joke that when he was doing a shoot with a famous model his directions to her were ‘you have very nice breasts but put them away, this is a high fashion shot’.

“It seems that he had a mid life crisis this past summer and started to read Kant, Nietzsche or someone like that. So yeah, this year’s project isn’t about showing our understanding of perspective or lighting. This yea we have to take an abstract concept and present it in a concrete form. A good example would be taking a concept like justice and showing images of what that is. Not just a picture of the Lady of the Law.” Nathaniel settled into an explanation, having helped several of his classmates understand the project after the prof had presented it. The idea was unusual, but not impossible and Nate had actually enjoyed the challenge inherent in it. And surprisingly he had also enjoyed helping his classmates understand the point of the project; a side effect of being a teacher’s son was that he was used to being asked to help teach.

“So what topic did you pick?” Ophelia inevitably asked, her eyes picking out the portfolio Nate had brought with him.

 “Ah… it’s not done yet. You know how it is, a magician doesn’t show his tricks, he just reveals the final product.” Nate quickly covered, hating to have to lie to Opi. Partially because he was convinced she could always tell when he was lying, but also because he had spent his entire life admiring her honest straightforwardness. But Nathaniel wasn’t about to willingly reveal this project to anyone but his professor. For once Nate had put as much of his own emotions and heart into a portfolio as possible and he felt extremely vulnerable about it. His professor would judge it on the content inside, without recognizing the subject of the photos. Other though, the people that truly knew Nate, would see much more than he was ever willing to risk. That was why Nate had the habit of always hanging on to it, just to ensure it was safe from prying eyes.

“Are you implying that what you do is magic?” Ophelia asked and her eyes glittered with humor.

“Damn straight darlin’.” Nate immediately drawled, faking a rather terrible Texan accent. Considering that he had picked up a faint Spanish accent from his father’s family, the Texan drawl really didn’t suit him at all.

“Keep that up and you’ll get yourself into trouble. You’re not a hooligan but you certainly are a heartbreaker.” Opi teased, her body language relaxed. Nate was happy to see that she was able to forget the constant pain, even just for a moment; and always was deeply honors that with him, Ophelia didn’t feel the need to wear a head covering to conceal her chemotherapy induced baldness. He’s helped shave her head when those gorgeous, ice pale locks started to fall out, and now her scalp was covered in only inch long, silken peach fuzz.

Before Nathaniel could continue to tease and joke with Opi, she gave long, comical yawn. It was real and her eyes blinked owlishly as she went from playful and alert to exhausted in an instant. Past experience warned Nate that she would be passed out in a few moments, though the chances that she’d get a full eight hours of rest were unlikely. But at least she’d get a few hours of sleep. “Well, I’ll pay for our oh so delicious pancakes if you’d go start warning up the car?” Nate suggested slyly, handing Opi his keys. The shrewd woman wasn’t fooled, Ophelia’s eyes narrowed and glinted dangerously; she wanted to argue with him about paying. And then another huge yawn interrupted her again and Opi capitulated to the inevitable. So she took Nate’s keys with silent dignity and allowed him the machismo of paying while she got the car started. Nate just dished out the whole twenty dollars their combined meals cost and wandered out after her a few minutes later.

Ophelia was in the passenger seat of his car, a fabulously fashionable cap protecting her shorn head from the cool October air, and she was out like a light. Nathaniel smirked and knew it would just be easier to take her to her own apartment. Getting caught carrying Ophelia James into the James household on the same night he’d all but run away from Grace James… Nate actually shuddered at the shit storm that would cause. Westley scared the daylights out of Nate and he had no desire to hurt his best friend’s surprisingly vulnerable feelings. She wasn’t fragile, but Nate knew that Grace only let the people she cared about hurt her. So it would just be easier to avoid the problem all together; besides Nate still had the spare keys from when he’d helped to set up the complex technology that allowed Opi to continue lecturing.

As Nate carried Ophelia in, it didn’t really bother him that she never properly woke up when he picked  her up, but it did bother him that she felt even lighter now than she had when he carried her a couple of weeks ago. She was fading away in body and spirit, and the only thing he could do was make sure she wasn’t facing it alone. Nate still felt like a useless tit though, because that was what her family was for and he felt like he should be able to do something to help Ophelia want to fight to live. She was a constant in his life and Nathaniel really wasn’t good with change.

Unlocking the door and maneuvering Ophelia inside was easier now that he had a little experience with it, but Nate was just glad he hadn’t dropped her. Her body felt as fragile as a rainbow, ready to break apart and disappear in a moment. As bold as he was, Nate wasn’t comfortable with the idea of changing Ophelia into her pajamas, and he knew she wouldn’t thank him for the invasion of her privacy. So instead he settled her into her bed and peeled off her jacket and shoes only. Nate was about to leave when Ophelia’s sleepy voice surprised him.

“They found a lump in my other breast. I go in next to discuss my options.” She confessed and for the first time in his life, Nate saw Ophelia James cry.

He had no words of comfort or lies of hope to give her in response. So Nathaniel just climbed into the bed behind Opi and held her until she cried herself to sleep.