Fireproof

Dave stared vacantly out the window of his 4th floor apartment; he held a cup of coffee in one hand but hadn’t taken a sip of it yet. It was 4 in the morning and the city below starting move faster, he couldn’t hear the cars or the people outside. He couldn’t hear anything, as always it was so stoically quiet in his home that he could hear his own heartbeat.

His apartment wasn’t really like a home though, it was a nice place to live and he was thankful for his circumstances, but he often felt like he was living on a blank set. He kept it very clean and orderly, a habit he picked up from his time in the army, but nearly all the beige furniture had been there when he started renting the place. His sister had said jokingly that it looked like a serial killer’s apartment and he couldn’t argue with that.

He kept making plans to decorate or make the space cozier, but he never seemed to find the energy to go outside. He wasn’t scared, per se, but he struggled with these feelings of emptiness, of coldness that left him cooped up inside most days. The counselors at the VA said that this was normal and that it would eventually pass – that he needed to get back into the workforce and get some hobbies. He had been searching for jobs and had even taken up playing video games but he would always find himself back here – staring at the window, his mind being pulled down to the past until he felt like he had fallen in ice.

He had come to the city searching for a better life, a way to escape from where he came from and the old-fashioned views that had always kept him in line. He had envisioned parties and beautiful men, music and lasting memories, new experiences to overshadow the ones that held him down, however, nothing had turned out that way – It was his own fault, he knew that but he didn’t know how to fix it. He didn’t know how to start feeling like a person again.

Someone lightly touched his shoulder and he jumped spilling some coffee, which he realized had gone cold, on his shirt.

“Hey, you with me?” His sister, Nora, pulled her hand back, watching him with a friendly concern.

He cleared his throat and glanced at the simple black and white clock on the wall, it was now 6 A.M. He looked around in confusion trying to remember what he had been doing for the past two hours.

“See anything interesting?” Nora continued conversationally and then curled up on the loveseat next to him, her eyes scanning the city below.

“Not really, just the same old traffic.” He trailed off, not sure what to say next. He wasn’t trying to be difficult but sometimes it took him a moment to come back down to earth. Luckily Nora had always been patient (Also extremely stubborn).

“Any news on that interview?” She tried. She had gone to bed before he was able to tell her anything.

Dave’s eyes lit up, “Yeah! I think I got it. Yeah, I thought she hated me, but she called me yesterday and apparently one of the guys just retired. She said she thought I would be good for a ‘special’ team that he was on? I don’t know what that means but… I go in to get started next week.”

Nora shoved him, “Why wasn’t the first thing you said!?”

He laughed and shrugged her off, “Honestly, I forgot about it.”

“Well, I’m glad because you need a damn job – somthin’ that’ll get you out of the house.” She poked him in the temple “And outta your damn head.” Then she added in a softer tone, “And you’ll be a good firefighter. With your hero complex and all.” Nora’s Texas accent came out thicker the more worked up she got.

Dave chuckled, “Yeah, it’ll be nice to get back out there.” He said with very little enthusiasm.

“Hhmm. So, what are we doing tonight?”

He thought about it for a moment, “What do you mean?”

She pulled a stiff white pillow from behind her back and cuddled it to her chest, “I’m leaving tomorrow – I’m not spending my last night in the city holed up listening to meditation tracks or whatever the hell you listen to.”

He laughed, “I’m sorry I’m not exciting enough for you. But if you want to head out, I’ll probably just stay in tonight.”

She immediately shook her head and kicked him lightly with her foot, “Not a chance – You are going out there and you’re going to have fun whether you want to or not! End of discussion.”

She bounced off the couch leaving him with a lingering smile. He sighed and took a sip of the icy cold coffee with a grimace.

A brief smile came over his features; maybe a night out wouldn’t be so bad.

**************************************************************

~On the other side of the city ~

“I don’t understand how we have a child who literally combusts and yet you’re the one causing all the fires!” Ben yelled over the sound of the TV playing Saturday morning programs.

“Would. You. Get. Off my dick!?” Klaus was beating at the small grease fire that he started on the stove. The towel he was using also caught on fire and he dropped it and proceeded to stomp on it.

They had been in this particular apartment for a little over a year now and it was certainly more suited to their particular needs. No carpet, higher ceilings, and two whole bedrooms which meant that Klaus was able to have his own space.

They liked to call it their ‘haunted house’ and as opposed to their first place, this apartment was homier and more decorated. Klaus had been able to piece together the furniture and decorations (Lots of old metal stuff and high ceiling décor) and it reminded Ben of Klaus’ room at the academy. Lots of art, lots of hanging lights and lamps for a calming vibe and a lot of cozy messy areas.

All cloth and wood items in their home was covered by fire proof or fire resistant blankets and they had 6 fire extinguishers permanently hanging in every room. Kids toys were always strewn about every room no matter how much Ben tried to keep them up – Klaus rarely picked things up unless he had stubbed a toe on it and Kenzie was already just as messy as he was.

Their apartment looked like “The Haunted Mansion” meets a spiritual hippie shop meets an extremely pyro phobic mom and they were quite fond of the area even if it was more expensive than the last apartment.

Klaus grimaced as he looked over the remains of the bacon in the blackened pan, he tossed it loudly in the sink and started running the water. “Eggs and toast, it is!”

“Kenzie, could you turn that down a little, please?” Ben called over his shoulder.

Something with songs was playing and she was jumping up and down, dancing to the characters in the TV. She was yelling and clapping, completely enthralled with the show she had probably seen 300 times.

The 3 ½ year old was grinning, never taking her eyes off the screen as she picked up the remote and hit the volume button a few times. Both men cringed a little.

“The other way, Kenz’!” Ben called out a little louder.

“Sorry!” She finally adjusted the volume the right way and continued to dance.

Klaus opened the window and using an unburnt dish towel to start wafting the smoke out of the area, thankfully all of the fire alarms were muted during the day so they were saved by the added obnoxious beeping. He coughed and waved it around, “Jesus – that’s it, we’re going vegetarian.”

“You always say that until literally anybody else cooks meat.”

Kenzie bolted into the kitchen, immediately clinging onto Klaus’ leg, “Mommy! I’m hungry, when can we eat? Also, there’s a fire!”

He looked around in alarm, “Where?!”

“She’s talking about the one you started.”

“Oh- good – “He picked her up and set her on a chair, “Good news, foods ready now.”

“Yeah, go ahead, get started, I’m working on the toast now.” Ben glanced inside the toaster.

Klaus was scraping a pile of scrambled eggs onto the toddler’s plate then some onto his – with the empty pan he pretended to put some eggs onto Ben’s plate. He did the same with orange juice then plopped down at the table with a tired huff. Ben came over with the buttered toast and passed it out – pretending to put some on his plate – They couldn’t afford to waste the food, but Kenzie would get upset if they didn’t have a place made for Ben.

“Thank you!” She said, then added, “Can I have some Ultra Death?”

Klaus slid backwards, “That’s what I forgot – “He went to the fridge and pulled out the 1,200,000 Scoville unit hot sauce. It had been a glorious day when Julio who worked at their favorite food truck discovered the key to Kenzie not having meltdowns every single time she ate. It made sense in hindsight since she seemed to hate most foods that weren’t sweet with a passion.
Everything must have tasted like cardboard.

He opened it very carefully and started to sprinkle the hot sauce on her eggs, “Tell me when, Pumpkin Pie—”

She watched him intently, “Hmmm…. When!”

“Use your fork, Kenz’” Ben reminded her, picking up his own and taking a bite of invisible eggs.

Kenzie continued chatting throughout breakfast, talking about her Tv shows, about what she was thinking about, about what she saw out the window and what she dreamed about. With the child there was rarely a moment that wasn’t filled with some noise – between her and Klaus, there was no such things as awkward silences in their household.

As they were finishing Ben noticed that Kenzie kept reaching up and scratching at her head, pulling at her hair. “Is your head itching, Kenz’?”

“It’s been itchy all morning!” She complained, taking both hands and rubbing at her scalp.

The men looked at each other in alarm and Klaus stood up, “If it’s lice- that’s it – everybody’s going Vin Diesel. Including you, ghost boy.” He pointed at his brother and started moving his hands through Kenzie’s wildly curly black locks.

“Maybe it’s just dry scalp?” Ben offered.

“What – is that the one thing she got from “Luci”? She’s got oily hair like I do.” He started separating her curls away and his head tilted as he reached her scalp and then began to dig through with more concern. “What the fuck is that…” He mumbled.

“Why can you say fuck, but I can’t say fuck?” She chided.

He moved some hair on the other side, “Sorry, pumpkin… Ben?”

Ben came over and inspected where he had pulled the hair away, his eyes went wide and he pushed his brother’s hands away to get a better angle. Klaus’ hands flew to his mouth and he stumbled away. “Oh my god…”

“What is it!?” Kenzie asked as everyone got quiet around her.

Ben’s jaw dropped as he saw the two small horns that were just starting to poke through her scalp. He pressed on them lightly and they didn’t seem to hurt her, although she did reach up and scratch at the skin around them.

Klaus was having an angry, silent meltdown behind them, “HORNS!? HORNS! WHAT THE FUCK!?” He mouthed, gesticulating wildly In the air.

Ben turned around and mouthed, “Calm the fuck down! It’s okay!”

“Oh really!? You’re telling me to calm down!? My daughter has HORNS!” He mimed angrily.

Ben moved closer to his brother to silently yell at him, “Well, at least it’s not lice!”

“Oh fuck you!”

“Fuck you!”

Kenzie twisted around in her chair and immediately the silent film fight stopped abruptly. Klaus pulled his arms in and bit down on his knuckle inconspicuously.

“What’s the matter?” She asked innocently.

Klaus put his hands on his hips, “Nothing, love –“ His voice cracked.

Klaus shot one last glance at his brother then he moved to kneel beside her at the table. He took one of her hands and put it between his palms, “So- Guess what! It’s a very big day!”

“It is?”

He nodded, “Yes. Your horns have started to come in! You’re getting so big!”

She looked over at her uncle who flashed her an encouraging smile, “I have horns?”

“Uh huh! You’re growing up so fast!”

Her face lit up, “Will they be big!? She asked excitedly.

Klaus’ eye twitched, “We don’t know yet! We’ll just have to let them grow! Either way, they’re going to be beautiful, just like you.” He hugged her and pushed her wild hair away from her face.

“Can I see them!?” She hopped up out of her chair as Klaus stood up.

“Yes! Why don’t you go see them before I do your hair?” He patted her on the back as she bolted to her bedroom to inspect her brand-new horns.

Klaus crossed his arms, “I’m going to get arrested for putting implants in my daughter’s head.” He whined.

Ben moved to stand next to him and nodded, “Probably.” He looked towards Kenzie who was in her bedroom in front of her mirror nearly falling over trying to get a good view of her new growths.

“What are we going to do?”

Klaus threw his hands out defeatedly and sighed, “Pigtails? I don’t know!”

“We should probably get something to help with the itching – is there an ointment for that?”

“For pediatric horn growth?” Klaus said skeptically, “No idea – Why don’t we look it up on Web MD? I’m sure that’ll tell us.”

“They’ve got to have something that soothe the itching –“

Klaus nodded, his breathing was finally starting to even out, “Yeah- yeah, I’ll try to find some on my way home tomorrow. Who knows how much that shit costs.”

Ben tilted his head, “You’re working tonight?”

“Unless you’ve got the 200$ we’re short for on rent – then yes, I’m working tonight.” He moved to lean against the counter while Ben stared absently at what the toddler was doing.

“Who’s staying with her?”

Klaus thought about for a minute as if trying to bring up an old conversation, “Oh! It’s Glen.” He pouted, “He’s retiring and wants to spend more time with her. So sweet…” He twisted a rag between his hands while he spoke.

“He knows that we’re not going to just cut him out just because he’s retiring right?” Ben said with a fond smirk.

Klaus shrugged, “I would hope so—” He waved a hand absently, “We’ll deal with all the sappy, sappy stuff when he gets here.”

Kenzie sprinted into the kitchen actively jumping up and down – her energy was incorrigible, and she grabbed onto Klaus’ hand and bounced excitedly, “I saw them! I can feel them!”

She moved to Ben’s hand and started pulling him as well, “Did you see them!?”

Ben was down on her level a moment later, “I saw them! They’re so cool – what are we going to do with you? You’re getting so big!” He squished her against his chest and she giggled happily.

Klaus was watching them fondly with his hands on his hips, “So what are we doing today, team? I’m thinking park? Maybe the one outside of town with less spooks?” He glanced at Ben and nodded towards the little one with a raised eyebrow, “Some ‘free’ Hat shopping maybe?”

Kenzie dawdled between them, “we’re gonna steal some hats?”

Ben snorted.

“Honey- it’s only stealing if you get caught.” Klaus reminded her.

“And don’t repeat anything your mom says outside of the house.” Ben decided to move on – “I think that’s a good idea then we can get back in time for mom to get some sleep before he goes to work tonight, yeah?”

Kenzie cheered and Klaus bent down and scooped her up – “Let’s get that hair all fancied up – I’m thinking Pigtails!? What do you think?”

“I like pigtails.”

“Wonderful! And they look so good on you!”

Klaus wandered away with the child on his hip to finish getting her ready and Ben took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose and close his eyes.

“Only in this family…” He murmured lightly to himself.