The Collector

Jet looked up as Party entered the living room as he was packing away his sheets and pillow; he had to admit, Kami’s couch was so much more comfortable than even the best bed in the rundown motel attached to the diner. Party’s cheeks had finally returned to their natural paleness, rather than the unnatural shade Jet had seen previously.

“You look brighter,” he remarked with a happy smile.
“That’s what six days of great sleep and even better food will do to you,” Party grinned back.
“Where’s Ghoul?” Jet asked, folding the last sheet and placing it neatly on top of the pillow.

Party gave a short amused snort and jerked his thumb behind him.

“Washing his hair.”
“Kami does like his hair clean,” Jet nodded, settling himself on the couch again.
“Yeah, I think she’s tired of cleaning plaster dust out of the bed,” Party smirked, taking a seat next to Jet.
“He’s doing okay though, isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Party nodded with a grateful sigh, “those pills really seem to be doing the job. He’s almost back to normal.”
“No pills are that good,” Jet chuckled, inspiring a laugh from Party too.
“Well, normal for him, anyway,” Party corrected himself.

Jet turned his head as the kitchen door opened. Kami stood in the doorway, her long hair tied back into a loose ponytail and an apron covering most of her long blue dress.

“Hello, my lovelies,” she called cheerfully. “My goodness, Party, you’re barely recognisable as the ailing waif you were a week ago!”

Party leapt to his feet and was pulling Kami into a hug in the blink of an eye.

“That’s because of you and your unbelievable kindness! What would we do without you?” He replied giving her an extra squeeze before letting go.
“Oh, get away with you,” she shook her head, embarrassed by the gushing praise.
“I’m serious!” He objected.
“I know you are,” she laughed in return.
“He’s such a diva, isn’t he?” Came a new voice entering the room followed by a light laugh.
“I’m not saying anything you wouldn’t,” Party called to Ghoul over his shoulder, with his arms still wrapped around Kami.
“Did you hear me object?” Ghoul smirked.
“Well, that makes you a diva too, then,” Kami replied with a twinkle in her eye.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ghoul chuckled, heading towards Kami and Party, giving them both a light kiss on their cheeks.
“Who wants breakfast?” She asked in reply.
“Breakfast?” Jet’s eyes widened as he placed a hand across his belly. “I’m still full from dinner last night!”
“Any more food and those new clothes you made us won’t fit!” Ghoul added.
“Did I hear someone say breakfast?”

Kobra entered the room with Red, both returning from the rear of the shop where they had been since even before Jet had woken.

“Where does he put it?” Party commented, shaking his head.
“Hollow legs,” Jet suggested, raising an eyebrow.
“I work it off!” Kobra replied with an indignant pout. “Red and I have been out back doing a workout.”
“Seriously, Kobra, giving it a different name does not make it any better,” Jet smirked and chuckled to himself.
“We have!” Kobra cried. “We were working through a series of kicks. I wanted to check that my ankle’s healed.”
“He’s winding you up, baby.”

Red snaked her arms around Kobra’s waist, turning him to face her. Once looking at her, the expression of indignation faded from his face, as he saw the look of amusement on hers.

“Yeah,” Kobra nodded briefly, and rolling his eyes. “He’s a real joker,” he added in a blunt, unimpressed tone.
“So, breakfast?” Kami prompted again, holding in a laugh as she realised just how easy it was to raise a smile on Kobra’s face and make him forget his ill-temper.
“Okay, I’m going to put some breakfast on,” Kami pursed her lips momentarily, “Jet, sweetheart, could you help me please?”
“Of course, Kami,” he replied brightly, pushing himself up from the deep, comfortable couch.
“Yeah,” Ghoul smirked at him, “you really need to learn how to cook.”

Jet arched an eyebrow, unamused by the comment. None of them were particularly good cooks; Jet could manage some fairly decent eggs on a good day, Kobra’s cooking was often at least edible, Party’s definitely wasn’t and a can of Power Pup was always a better option than whatever Ghoul could manage to get to a plate.

“Yeah, because I’m the one who really needs to learn,” he added, shaking his head as he turned to head for the kitchen behind Kami.
“Make yourself comfortable my loves and we’ll be right back with a lovely, tasty breakfast,” called, heading through the kitchen door with Jet following behind her.

Behind them, they heard Kobra’s inevitable question.

“Red? Can you cook?”

With the door closed, Jet moved close behind Kami and slipped his arms around her waist, leaning in to breathe in the scent in her hair and kiss her softly on the neck.
“This has been a lovely week,” he murmured as he continued pressing gentle butterfly kisses up her neck to her ear and back down again. “I hardly ever get to see you for this long.”
Remaining wrapped in his strong and well-toned arms, but turning to face him, Kami wasted no time in leaning in to enjoy a passionate kiss, running her fingers through his hair and pulling him as close as she was able to, it was a few minutes before they pulled gently away from each other and gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Even though I gave Party and Ghoul our bed?”
“Especially because you gave them our bed,” he replied smiling at the use of the plural pronoun. “You really are amazing, you know that? I don’t know what we’d do without you. I don’t know what I’d do, either.”
“Oh, my sweet Jet,” she laughed softly, curling a lock of his hair in her fingers. “You really never need to find out.”
“I guess we better get some breakfast on before they start checking up on us?”
“I suppose so,” Kami sighed, pulling back from his embrace, briefly holding on to his fingers before letting go to turn towards the fridge. “What do you fancy?”

Jet moved closer once again, taking her by the shoulders and kissing the back of her head, raising a light laugh from Kami as she looked over her shoulder in time to see Jet wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Do you really need to ask?”
“Thursday,” she replied sternly but with a wide smile.
“Thursday?” Jet offered a mock pout. “That’s three days away. You want me to wait three whole days?”
“What makes you think it’s any easier for me?”

Jet took a deep breath, letting go of her shoulders as she opened the fridge door and started removing packets and boxes and placing them on the counter. Heading for one of the cupboards, Jet removed some plates and bowls and placed them on the opposite counter.

“They still don’t know. The guys, I mean, about us,” he commented, opening a drawer to pull out some cutlery and serving utensils. “After all this time.”
“Well, we are very discreet,” Kami smiled, looking over her shoulder.
“And you still want to be?” Jet asked with an expression that bordered on sad.

Kami turned; Jet was struggling to look her in the eyes, his shoulders sagged and he swallowed as she continued to look at him. The sadness almost radiated from him and Kami found herself mirroring his expression.

“What is it that troubles you about our relationship, sweetheart?” She asked kindly.
“I...” he began before shrugging and briefly throwing his arms out to the side in exasperation. “It’s not our relationship that troubles me, it’s...” Jet shook his head, unable or unwilling to explain.
“You feel you’re lying to your friends?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, still with a pained expression. “But it’s not just that.”
“Red? You want to tell your sister?”
“No, well, yeah, but that’s not it,” he replied, frowning and, if it were possible, his shoulders sagged a little more.
“What is it, Jet? Please tell me.”
“I... I don’t want to hide this. It’s a great thing we have and it’s much more than just sex... well, to me, anyway,” he added, lowering his eyes.

Kami approached him and slowly raised his head with a finger under his chin.

“I love you, Jet,” she smiled. “This is most definitely not just sex for me either.”
“I love you too,” he beamed, delighted to hear her say the words. “So, why keep it a secret? It’s been nearly seven months.”
“Sweetheart, these things have a way of getting out, I don’t want you to be in a situation where you’re threatened by someone who knows they can get to you through me.”
“I understand that it’s dangerous for you to be with me...”
“That’s not what I meant at all!” Kami insisted. “I would do anything for you, all of you. Haven’t I just housed and fed you for a week?”
“I don’t want to argue, Kam,” Jet took her hands and kissed them both. “I hardly see you enough, I don’t want to spend the time we have arguing. But...”
“But?” She stared at him, her head tilted and eyes wide forming an expression lying somewhere between frustration and anger.
“But if you’re already risking everything to take care of us all, what difference does it make if the guys know about us? Who are they going to tell?”

Kami opened her mouth to speak but paused as she struggled to find a good counter-argument. What was she afraid of? It certainly wasn’t being in danger, she already was simply by having the Killjoys staying in her home. It was true that she was concerned about Jet being able to be threatened by targeting her, but that could happen anyway. It was always possible that someone would find out about them, there were many sharp-eyed people out in the Zones that would sell any information for a few carbons. It made no difference whether the Killjoys knew or not from a danger perspective, but it seemed it would make Jet very happy if they did. From either a logical or emotional perspective, announcing their relationship to the Killjoys made sense.

“How do you want to do it?” She asked smiling.
“We could tell them after breakfast, maybe?” Jet suggested with raised eyebrows.

Kami nodded; it seemed like a good idea. It would make Jet happy, and that would, in turn, make her happy. Stepping closer, she pulled him towards her and into a passionate kiss. If Jet had any doubts about her certainty, they were dispelled in an instant. Locked in their embrace, they almost didn’t hear the door open.

“No, don’t stop, I’m just getting an apple,” Ghoul piped up cheerfully, heading for the fruit bowl standing on the counter behind where Kami had placed the breakfast items.

Jet and Kami separated immediately, Jet’s eyes wide and staring at the shorter man who didn’t seem remotely surprised.

“Ghoul... we... ah... we were going to tell everyone later... after breakfast,” Jet stammered as Ghoul looked back at him smirking and enjoying Jet’s obvious discomfort.
“No need, man,” Ghoul replied before taking a bite of his apple. “We’ve known for months,” he added covering his mouth with his hand as he chewed and spoke at the same time.
“You... no way! We were...”

Ghoul laughed and shook his head. The idea that they had been careful to keep their relationship under wraps was apparently highly amusing to him.

“Oh, Jet, man! Nobody goes for a ride every Thursday and Sunday for at least six months without having somewhere very specific to go. And it’s pretty obvious given the expression you have on your face when you get back!” Ghoul laughed loudly at the absurdity of the idea.
“What expression?” Jet asked indignantly.
“I don’t think you want me to describe it in front of Kami, but let’s just say, you were pretty relaxed when you got back.”
“But, you didn’t know it was Kami,” Jet insisted.
“Not at first, no,” Ghoul shrugged.
“You didn’t know,” Jet mocked.
“Oh, Jet, really?” Ghoul shook his head, laughing and taking another small bite of the apple. “If it makes you feel better, you stick with that.”
“You all know?” Jet appeared suddenly deflated.
“Yeah,” Ghoul nodded, answering immediately before changing his mind only seconds later. “Actually, no. Red doesn’t know, so if you tell her, we’ll all act surprised. But wait until after breakfast.”
“Why?” Jet asked suspicious of Ghoul’s motives.
“I need time to tell the guys to act surprised. I can’t just blurt it out, can I?”
“That’ll be a first,” Jet grumbled.
“Kami, if you wouldn’t mind sorting out his mood, I’ll finish this lovely apple before breakfast.
“Thank you, Ghoul,” Kami smiled. “I’m really glad you know. I’ll get back to making breakfast for you and don’t worry, I won’t let him cook.”
“Hey!” Jet cried at the insult, only to be instantly distracted by Kami’s lips on his.

A light chuckle was all they heard before once again they were alone in the kitchen.

“Now,” Kami spoke softly, pulling her head back briefly. “What can I do about your mood?”
“You’re doing it,” Jet grinned.
“What about breakfast?” She offered an innocent smile in return.
“We’ll have brunch instead,” he replied, smiling as he moved back into the kiss.

Notes

Hey my lovelies!

Well, this came right out of left field!! I wasn’t expecting this at all, but it does mean that there is at least one other chapter remaining.

I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!!
Sas xx