bite down, alyssa

Alyssa had known being a single mother was never going to be an easy thing. Being a single mother and trying to work at a mechanic shop just made things all the worse. Especially when the babysitter she had lined up for emergencies decided she wasn't going to answer her phone and Alyssa's boss wouldn't stop ringing. Eventually she broke down and dialed the number listed only as "Bitch" on her phone, not really wanting to leave her son with that harlot but having no other valid choices except to take him to the shop. Again. When the woman answered and said she'd send her husband instead, well... Alyssa could only thank the gods she wasn't going to have to have a screaming match with the woman when she picked her son up. Even if it was a man she didn't even know that she was entrusting her son to. God she was a horrible mother, wasn't she?

So Alyssa got to the shop and worked hard to the remainder of her coworkers shift that had gotten hurt. Hours passed before she managed to get home, tossing her coat on the couch as she passed to immediately climb into the shower. Once there she tried to wash off any lingering grease. Even though her hands were pretty permanently stained blackish with grit. Time passed too quickly and just as she was pinning her damp hair up and wrapping a towel around her ink clad form the doorbell was going off. Just her luck. A babysitter she didn't know and she didn't even... Alyssa sighed and wrapped the towel tighter before padding to the door and opening it just in time to hear her son reply to the man at her step with a gentle "tails". "Sorry. Sorry.. Just got home a few minutes ago. Hi, I'm Alyssa and, ah, come on in. Make yourself at home while I get dressed in more than a towel." She gestured into the small apartment before backing away to go to her bedroom to get dressed.

When Alyssa opened the door she was expecting a lot of things. An older guy with a suave face and an asshole air. Or a guy around her age with an asshole smile. Basically anything other than the gentle looking guy with the sad smile on his face. If anything it made her hate the harlot even more than before. Alyssa wondered if this poor guy even knew what his wife was doing. She smiled at her son in greeting but didn't say anything.

As she went off to change into a pair of slimming jeans and a light grey sweater, Miles busied himself by staring at John like his was the most interesting thing since the playground. Eventually she wandered back with her hair still pinned up and her face devoid of any make up. "So... Thank you for today. And, uh, it's nice to meet you?" There was a pause as she just looked him over. Yeah. She definitely felt for the guy. "Since I'm sure your wife doesn't have anything at home for you, would you like to eat with us? A proper thank you for the last minute babysitting and all."

The mechanic watched John and Miles interact with a small amount of trepidation. Call her a worrier but she never could fully trust anyone around her son. No matter that John hadn't done anything visible to her son, and that Miles actually looked quite happy to be held by the male. She would purposely ignore the fact that she actually felt bad for the poor bloke to be married to such an awful woman. Really. Alyssa sighed internally, wondering how she'd ever befriended that shrew to begin with.


But she shoved all those thoughts aside for the time being and merely nodded at the man's words. "Go ahead and make that call." Alyssa smiled graciously at the male. Who was still smiling. Probably because he'd get a few more hours free of the she-demon. With that the woman waved her hand a bit and disappeared behind a wall that hid where their kitchen/nonexistent dining area was. Once there she started going through her cabinets and fridge to survey the contents. Wondering if he was allergic to anything and just about to call his name when- "Oh fuck!" She shut the fridge quickly and poked her head around the corner to give the man an embarrassed grin. "It's... John, right? I'm Alyssa by the way. I sort of forgot that bit. Are you allergic to anything? Any preferences for food? I was thinking some spaghetti and beer might just do."

Alyssa didn't even think about cussing in front of her son. He was around the mechanics far too often for her to be trying to shield him from cursing. Instead she just grinned at her still quiet son, a bit impressed he hadn't started demanding to be put down. Probably to happy with his new found friend to be putting a fit. Not that she would be complaining. Even if she didn't fully trust John.

She nodded a bit at his response and disappeared back into the kitchen to pull a beer from the fridge. After a second she grabbed a juice box as well and walked back to them. "Well, no shrimp in this house so you'll be fine I think. Here. Have a drink. Find a seat. Make yourself at home." She let out another gentle smile that might have looked out of place on such a heavily inked woman. Alyssa held out the two drinks to the boys with her ink and grease stained fingers. "No, no. You're my guest. Just keep Miles entertained and we can call it even?"

"You boys just have fun then and leave me to dinner." The single mom smiled to herself and disappeared into the kitchen with that decided, cracking open her own beer before washing her hands once more. That done she got to work boiling some water and rooting around for the thawed hamburger meat and pasta sauce. Pans clanged around quietly as she fussed about, trying get everything to work properly and not wanting to somehow burn the meat again.

In the living room Miles just kicked his feet back and forth, swinging them in the air like little painful pendulums. His bright green eyes peered around the room with the sort of curiosity he could only have gotten from his Ravenclaw mother. Boredom was pulling on his features despite being home and he was just about to pout when the nice man spoke up. Miles' head bounced up and he grinned at John, nodding his head right along and scrambling off the couch to high tail it to his room. "C'mon!" There were puzzles in there. Good puzzles. The fun kind of puzzles.

Looking up from her task of heating up the pot of water and turning on the burner for the meat Alyssa was greeted by the sight of her guest leaning against the door frame, watching her. Something in her heart clenched painfully at the sight and she turned her head away to go back to the task at hand. All while trying not to think about the last time she'd cooked for a man -she'd ignore the fact he was married and she wasn't actually interested- alone in her home. At night. Even years later she couldn't stomach the sight without feeling the familiar loss. "Alright, have fun. I'll call you in when it's done." Alyssa pushed her hair behind her ear and went to start browning the hamburger from the sauce as the boys wandered off.

Miles on the other hand was completely taken to the man he'd spent the last few hours with. A large smile was pulling at the boy's features and childish excitement was threatening to have him bouncing off the wall. Only his own nature of being a strangely calm child kept him from doing more than bounce on the heels of his feet. The young boy jerked his head up when the man returned and he nodded once with the grin still on his face. Turning to lead the way, Miles took the man to the door proudly labeled "Miles D. Miles" on a whiteboard stuck on the door. He pushed open the door and gestured happily for John to enter the heavily decorated room. His walls were meticulously painted to look like a forest at night, trees giving way to a starry night on the upper walls and ceiling. A few constellations and a crescent moon were painted with care for proper position, to anyone that had spent many nights in the forest at Hogwarts the sight might be vaguely familiar. The floors were a deep brown to match the dirt floor. His bed was off in one corner, messily made with Avengers sheets and a Hulk plushie on the pillow. To the side of it was his small table with a few toys, an Iron Man styled lamp, and a 3D circular puzzle of the world.  There were no toys laying about the floor as each was put away in cubbies designed as tree trunks but there were some puzzles in various stages of completion on top of surfaces as well as a toy model car that could be disassembled and put back together. "Play now??"