Tweek in Life

Chapter Seventeen

It had been a few years since Firkle had last been in town. I had no idea why he was back or what his connection was to Remi or Tyler for that matter, but the psychotic goth was a good ally to have in our upcoming battles. If we could convince him to join us, that is. Choosing to gather information before making any calls, I sat back to watch the man interact with those around him. He kept Tyler pulled in close, his hand partially hidden within the streamer's pants. His attention belonged completely to Remi as the boy, now decked out in goth gear, introduced his friends and Sylvia. He started with Star and Cael. "This is Star, she's Tweek's daughter and my girlfriend's sister. She looks sweet, but she'll remove body parts if you make her too mad."

"Get Poe back alive or I'll make you wish you had." Star hissed as she met the man's eye.

Firkle looked my child up and down before grinning wildly, "What a cute psycho. Star, was it?"

"Yes," the girl raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

"How do you know Poe?"

"Poe carries the stardust. I like stardust." Star didn't explain further, but the goth seemed to get it anyway.

"Keep chasing that dust, little space worm. I'll get your dust bunny back," Firkle nodded as he set his large hand down on the child's head, not quite ruffling her black hair, not quite patting the head. "Pete did say the little creep had a girlfriend."

"He called me his girlfriend?" Star pushed her hair behind her ear, a dusting of red across her nose.

"Well, more along the lines of a piece to his overall puzzle." Firkle scratched the back of his head. "Poe's a bit of a nonconformist in a lot of ways."

"Poe's a goth. He's not supposed to conform." Cael rolled his eyes. He pinned his gaze on Remi, not liking the boy's strange behavior. "Remi, dude how the hell is Cryptic Kitten over here supposed to get Poe back?"

"He'll get him back," Kaldi cut in, her little yelps and cracks of the neck drawing the older goth's attention her way. She met his gaze with a calm and even one as she stood beside Remi like the queen she was. Her small hand dropped the boy's and reached out to shake the man's. "Kaldi Tucker, my -ACK- friends call me Kava."

"Firkle Smith. You sound awfully confident in me, why is that?" Firkle watched the little girl with big eyes, already taking in the fact that if Star wasn't the girlfriend, Kaldi was.

"Remi didn't learn to lead from following Tyler's example." Kaldi blinked slowly, her head snapping to the side as she let out a yelp. She stepped forward so she was directly before the man, her blood stained monkey caught in a death grip as she tried to push the plushie into her ribcage out of nervousness. "You have his eyes."

"You're a sharp one, but tell me, how does a doll like you shatter at the eye?"

"A mean man threw a bottle at me, but he's no longer alive." Kaldi said it in only a way a child could and still sound innocent. She turned her mismatched gaze on Remi, the boy instantly moving to her side and taking her hand. Kaldi leaned against him, her body grew tired easily and she often turned to her loving Remi for aid when it happened. We had been to see three different specialists in the last month and aside from recommending physical exercise to strengthen her muscles, the most they could offer was a form of steroid we just weren't comfortable putting our four year old on unless we absolutely had to. "I'm tired."

Firkle reached out, lifting Kaldi from the ground to set her on the chair beside him. "Is that better?"

"Rem-"

"Please don't do that." Remi's voice was barely a whisper, the tone claiming the Goth's attention as the boy took a deep breath. "My lady has a lot of issues, but so do I and I would rather you not remove her from my side like that."