Life Lessons

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Ruby Winters was a young woman of around twenty two, not that her parents would remember this fact. She was their youngest child. A mistake. Surplus to the achievement of creating their eldest. It hadn’t taken long for Ruby to stop ‘bothering’ her mother with her drawings as a toddler, knowing the response would always be the same; ‘Lovely’, without so much as a glance. She had taken up the piano, to which her father had told her was a waste of time and energy, after all... they didn’t need two pianists in the family. As she grew older, Ruby tried to ask her father to school her in the family business, to which he had told her it was not her place to know the family business. The business would belong to her elder sister one day, it was a useless endeavour to show Ruby how it worked. Eventually Ruby simply ceased interacting with her parents. She spent her days living in the farthest part of their sprawling mansion from them, not that they noticed. The young woman tried finding a job as anything at all, but as soon as they saw the name ‘Winters’, she was laughed away, most companies telling her to just go ask daddy to make her a pony, or whatever it was little girls wanted these days. Such statements barely made sense, as she had only the faintest understanding of what her family did. She knew they were part of a partnership that owned an extremely popular theme park that only the very wealthy could afford, such was her reason for staying away from it; She wanted nothing at all to do with anything Winters.
While she had grown up wanting for nothing in the material sense, the youngest Winter’s daughter was extremely poor when it came to personal relationships.

Jack tried to forget what his mother was forcing him to do to Joe. He had loved her for as long as he could remember, before he even really knew what love was. He buried his nose in her silken hair and breathed her in as his fingers danced up her smooth thigh. He wanted to hear her breathing his name just like she had the first time they took part in this dance.

Ruby could feel hot tears dripping down her temples as blood ran freely from her wound. She was fighting back as best she could, but the man attacking her was too strong. He was clearly a host with this kind of strength, but how was he able to hurt her like this? In her blind panick all the young woman could do to try and save herself was jab her fingers into his eyes.

"We can't." Yet again Joe pushed Jack away. She found herself sitting up, pushing her hair back. "Where is my sister? I need to make sure she is safe before this wedding fiasco is over."

"Freeze all motor functions." Milo barked. He'd followed the screams against his better judgement. It horrified him to realize the host was not obeying. "Freeze all functions, Steven." He said firmly. "Ruby, repeat what I said."

Jack sat up, running his fingers through his own hair as he stared down at his feet. 
What if I said I didn’t want to tell you?” He asked, though it sounded miserable, more than childish. 

Ruby was shaking, fighting back sobs as she tried to understand what Milo was telling her to do. “FREEZE ALL MOTOR FUNCTIONS!” She shrieked, still trying to push the host away. He wasn’t obeying. This hosts was free from control in this new narrative it seemed.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Joe grumbled. She pushed off the bed, indeed surprised to find herself in nothing but a t-shirt of his. 

Milo pulled out his tablet and all but fried the host to stop his actions. "Your father is going to have a fit when he finds out you were here. This narrative isn't ready. Can you guess why?" He growled, ripping off his suit jacket and wrapping it around her bleeding shoulder.

Kraven glanced up slightly from where his head was bowed, smiling a little when he saw those long bare legs. “Suits you...” he purred, lifting the bottom of the shirt slightly and taking an appreciative look at Joel’s pert bottom.

Ruby sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth when Milo bandaged the wound. “He won’t give a rats ass!” She growled.

"It's not the first time I've worn your shirt." Joe said softly, brushing his fingers away. "And not the first time you've said that either. Jack...what do you want from me?" She asked, turning back to him. 

Milo gave a soft sigh. "About you he may not, his narrative he will. This is all he cares about and about this he'll have a fit. He might very well try to kill you. Despite what you think, I don't want that."

Jack stared back up at Joe for what seemed like forever, wishing he had an answer. It seemed the longer he was alone with her, the more confused he became. “What would you do if your father suddenly decided to hand the family fortune over to Ruby?” He asked, seemingly out of the blue.

Just as Jack was doing in that moment, Ruby was simply staring up at the person she was with. “You hate me.” She pointed out softly. “I don’t blame you... I’m just saying you have nothing to gain by stopping the inevitable.”

Joe didn't hesitate with her answer. "I'd be happy. I could go and be whatever I wanted without worrying what it would do to the so called family. I could love whoever I wanted without worrying..." She didn't finish the last part, this time looking away from him. "Why do you ask?"

"How did you get here?" Milo asked her. "Your sister made a point to tell me that you wouldn't be coming back and certainly not with her."

Jack nodded, understanding her perfectly, and it helped him understand his elder brother a little better. “I guess I never thought about the freedom... just the power and the money.” He confessed. 

“She did? Is... is that why you sent my bag back to the estate?” Ruby asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"power is worthless. You and your family can have it. I just want to live my life the way I want to and...write...". Joe admitted softly, no longer able to meet his eyes. 

"Jospehine and my brother...reminded me of my place in the narrative of life." Milo said, scooping Ruby into his arms. "Then your sister threatened to kill any Kraven who came near her sister. I figured I'd better send your things back a safer way..."

Jack was again watching Joe with a curious expression. He rarely got to spend time alone with her, and see this side of her. “I remember...” he breathed. “You always had a notebook with you at camp... said you enjoyed using a pen and paper over a touchpad.” He mused with an almost wistful smile.

“Everyone always does everything Joe tells them to...” Ruby breathed, enjoying the new experience of being swept up into the arms of another. “How could they not... she’s so beautiful...”

"Daddy told me once that writers go to hell." Joe sat on the bed beside him. "When he saw the calluses I had from writing, he held my hand in boiling water and told me never to do it again or he would break me." She laughed at the thought. "Can you imagine me being broken?"

"Joe is... damaged. Have you ever looked deeply in her eyes? She makes me sad." Milo admitted. "I hate when she and my brother come to the park. They are...Ken and Barbie."

“You don’t know the meaning of the word.” Jack breathed, taking Joe’s left hand and kissing the skin that was worn from holding the pen. “Besides, what is your dad, if not a writer? He creates narratives.l

Ruby smiled sadly at the comparison. “Joe used to buy me barbies for my birthdays... until she saw I’d been pulling the heads off and keeping them in a big jar filled with water and red glitter.”

"Maybe he didn't want me to go down into the darkness with him." Joe said thinking of the night she'd told her father she was pregnant. He'd nearly killed her. It was a wonder she even still managed to have the baby, much to the shame of her family.

Milo looked down at her, a strange look on his face. he wasn't sure what to think of this. "Why is Joe good to you when your mother and father aren't?"

“He loves you more than anything.” Jack assured Joe gently, having forever been in the dark about her pregnancy. As far as those outside the family knew, Joe spent a year at an elite school in some other county, returning when her ‘sister’ was born.

Ruby shrugged her shoulders, sucking in a sharp breath through her teeth when the motions caused pain to ripple through the injured one. “Maybe she pitied me.” She breathed. “People often pity stray animals in the street, right?”

"I wish that were true." Joe breathed. "You know...I'm not one of those people that needs it but...to know that I was loved even for a little while. It would be a comfort." 

"They do?" Milo asked, setting her down once they'd made it to the lower levels. "Why do they pity stray animals? Don't they know how to take care of themselves?"

“Why would you think you weren’t loved?” Jack asked, reaching out and gently pushing some of Joe’s dark hair behind her ears. “Kid sister loves you plenty.”

“How do you know how to take care of yourself, if no one ever showed you?” Ruby asked sadly, glancing down at her bloodied and torn dress now she was back on her feet.

Joe's eyes were sad as she searched Jack's face. She wished she could tell him the truth, at least before the Kravens ended her.

"I don't remember things like that. No one ever showed me. I don't remember my mother and I remember very little about my father." Milo told her, starting up his vehicle. "I'm taking you to the med bay."

“What?” Jack was still looking into Joe’s face, worried by these dark thoughts she seemed to be having. “Did she do something to make you think other wise?”

“I’m fine.” Ruby insisted. “It just needs a fusing patch on it. You have one of those, right?”

"I'm getting her away from my family. She deserves better." Joe told him, closing her storm colored eyes. "That's why I'm here. I'm trying to save her."

"They have it in the med bay." Milo said evenly. "They won't hurt you, if that's what you're afraid of."

“She isn’t your responsibility, duchess.” Jack breathed, daring to brush his lips to Joe’s the moment she closed her eyes.

Ruby still wasn’t agreeing. “Then get one and bring it to me, I’ll do it myself.” She replied rather stubbornly.

The fire that hit her stomach was so familiar and welcome that Joe found herself kissing him back. This dance they did could only go so far but it was one of the only things she truly loved.

Milo shook his head. "Those are registered and chipped. Someone would know if I just took one without signing it out. Is there a reason you don't want to be seen, Ruby?"

Jack slid his fingers up into Joe’s dark hair, but was careful not to make her feel trapped. Every time he kissed her it was like they were thirteen years old again and his stomach was doing back flips.

Ruby hesitated, her pale eyes looking up at Milo like she was simply observing him. “If someone sees me, they will tell my family.” She finally breathed. “They’ll have noticed Joe is missing by now, and like always... blame me.”

Joe didn't know why but she didn't stop things this time. Perhaps it was because she knew that soon he planned to end her, no matter what had transpired between them. 

"Why do they blame you. you simply follow your sister wherever she goes. She seems to demand it." Milo pointed out.

It didn’t take long for Jack to pull Joe into his lap, his fingers pushing his large shirt off her smooth shoulders. Just Once... and she had never let him back into her life again. She was forever the one that got away, the one he thought of when he was with his ‘dolls’.

“I’m not some mindless drone, you know!” Ruby huffed haughtily. “But for the record, my parents think I cause Joe to make poor decisions.”

As always Joe stopped things before they got too far. This time she was putting on the clothes the park had provided and heading toward the door without a word. She had to find Ruby and make sure she was safe. She couldn't afford to let her own selfish desires get in the way. They cost too much. 

"Is that because..." Milo didn't finish, his ice colored eyes sweeping over Ruby's face in a way that revealed he knew things he wasn't telling.

Jack groaned and simply lay down where he had been sat. Joe did things to him no other woman ever had, or probably would. It was making what his mother wished for him to do that much harder.

“What? That I’m a massive disappointment, and ruin everything I touch?” Ruby asked with a snort, not understanding the way Milo was looking at her.

Joe soon found herself in the same situation as her sister had. It took her a long time to scream however. It wasn't until the degranged man had torn a hunk out of her shoulder that she screamed at all.

"Nevermind." Milo whispered, shaking his head. He was glad they'd reached the infirmary door. He reached out for the handle when they heard the scream of pain.

The Scream caused Ruby to suddenly grab hold of Milo’s arm, worried that the fault among the hosts was spreading.

"I'm leaving you here. I have to see what's happened now. Damn these hosts. Your father's narrative is a mess." Milo growled.