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storypaint ([personal profile] storypaint) wrote2009-09-10 07:57 am

In Chains (Vanessa/Juno)

Title: In Chains
Fandom: Juno
Length: 596 words
Prompt: [livejournal.com profile] femslash_today's 1500th post kink meme: Juno, Juno/Vanessa, Alice in Chains t-shirt
Pairing: slight Juno/Vanessa; past Mark/Juno
Other: Post-movie.

Excerpt: When she heard the knock at the door, she thought it was just Mark coming back for that last box he'd forgotten. She'd been up nearly all night with the baby, who had colic, and she wasn't in the mood to talk to Mark at all, really,but Vanessa had been raised to be polite. As a small note of rebellion, she didn't bother to change out of the stained Alice in Chains t-shirt.

When she heard the knock at the door, she thought it was just Mark coming back for that last box he'd forgotten. She had considered chucking it altogether, but she hadn't gotten around to it and it was still tucked there under the coat rack, an irritation brushing her skin whenever she walked by.

She'd been up nearly all night with the baby, who had colic, and she wasn't in the mood to talk to Mark at all, really,but Vanessa had been raised to be polite. As a small note of rebellion, she didn't bother to change out of the stained Alice in Chains t-shirt.

(Dessert-colored walls. Dessert-colored walls. Mark had always thought he was so smart. The room glowed when the light hit it just right. She loved it.)

Vanessa was utterly taken aback, then, when she opened the door to see Juno MacGuff on her doorstep. The girl hadn't even wanted to see the baby, Juno's stepmother had told her. So why was she here?

She seemed so tiny, with the baby taken from her. Just a few months earlier, Vanessa had listened to her stomach, had felt the baby kick. Now she had deflated petitely and somehow delicately. She stared up at Vanessa as if she wasn't quite sure why she was here, either.

"Would you like to come in, Juno?" Vanessa asked, stepping back out of the way.

"I guess so," the girl answered, wandering in and looking around as if it were her first visit. Vanessa felt a little embarrassed. With the baby, she wasn't cleaning the house as much. It was so messy, toys and bottles everywhere.

Juno smiled. "Looks like you're having a good time, the two of you," she said.

"Yes," Vanessa answered, too fast. She was beginning to worry. Birth mothers could contest for their babies, couldn't they? And they would win? Juno couldn't-- she wouldn't--

She tried to slow her breathing. The girl turned her lazy grin toward Vanessa again. "Don't have a heart attack. Just visiting." She waved her hand in what Vanessa assumed was supposed to be a reassuring gesture.

"Oh," she answered. "...Okay."

Juno wandered into the living room, stepping around little plastic objects that didn't match the white decor. She stood in the middle of the room, shut her eyes, and sighed. Vanessa stared.

"I still like it here," Juno said, not opening her eyes. "Can I stay a while? Just a few hours?"

Vanessa opened her mouth, thrown off-guard. "I suppose," she answered. As if on cue, the baby began to sob.

"I could meet your son," Juno said softly. "Count his toes, make sure they didn't miscalculate at the hospital."

"Ah, okay," Vanessa consented uncertainly. She'd never quite understood Juno's wry humor.

"Well, let's go get him then!" the girl said, darting past her up the stairs, and all Vanessa could do was follow. When she stepped into the nursery, though, Juno was just standing by the crib, looking down at the little screamer.

She was beautiful in the room's golden glow, her hand clutched to the guardrail as though it were a lifeline, and Vanessa swallowed that thought and picked up her baby.

Juno reached out to brush a finger along the child's forearm, a black-painted fingernail scraping along Vanessa's arm, and Vanessa couldn't breathe again. Maybe it was the look in the girl's eyes.

"Thanks for letting me stay," she mumbled, and Vanessa just nodded.

The room felt a little brighter.