dawn_is_breaking | RP With Malcolm Bright

RP With Malcolm Bright

Dawn knows that the decision for Malcolm to introduce her to his father was not an easy one, when they first started dating he had been very firm in the idea of them never crossing paths which she had accepted without question but as time progressed and they had become more and more serious she thought it was worth asking about again.

Not because she wanted to meet Martin Whitly but because she wanted Malcolm to be able to keep moving forward in their relationship, especially since now they've admitted that they can see having children together in the future. But before that can happen Malcolm needs to know and see that Martin won't be a wedge between them. That he won't drive or scare her away from the man she loves.

But it isn't going to be easy, she can already see how tense Malcolm is and she reaches over to take hold of his hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze as the car Malcolm's mother sent for them slows to a stop outside the prison.

"Hey." She says softly, "I love you."

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This is as tense as Malcolm has been in a long time. With Dawn, his anxiety seemed to be abating on a day to day basis. He also hadn't been visiting his father as frequently. Now, being here is bringing all of the feelings flooding back. Malcolm's hand has been shaking all day, though Dawn won't feel it in her grip. Just holding her hand makes him feel a little bit more comfortable.

"I love you too," he replies with a smile.

After going through security, the two of them walk down the long hall to Malcolm's father's cell is.

"If he says or does anything that makes you uncomfortable, we can leave immediately," he says. In his mind, this is a privilege for his father. He gets exactly one chance before he and Dawn are gone.

Dawn nods in agreement as they walk down the hall towards Martin's cell, unlike Malcolm she feels calm and a little curious about the man she is about to meet. She knows how conflicted Malcolm is when it comes to his father and she is interested to see them interact.

She takes a deep breath and gives Malcolm an encouraging smile as the guard reminds them of the rules and then finally opens the door.

She doesn't know what she was expecting but the cheerful almost gnome like gentleman in a knitted cardigan isn't it, he's standing ready to receive them the way one might at a dinner party.

"Malcolm! My boy! Oh what a wonderful surprise, and you've brought company!"

Martin is nothing if not deceptive and disarmingly charming. Malcolm feels his chest constrict as he tries to take a deep breath.

"Yes... this is my girlfriend, Dawn."

Surely Martin already knows that. He's heard of Dawn, though Malcolm isn't sure if he's seen her before today.

"And aren't you just as lovely as the morning sun of which your namesake is from." Martin says, giving Dawn his most charming smile.

"You'll excuse me if I don't get close enough for handshakes though, Malcolm's last paramour slapped me when we met and I'd like to keep my nose intact since Ainsley tells me you're quite the fighter."

"7 years of jujitsu." Dawn says calmly and pleasantly.

"My my," Martin says and lifts his eyebrows at Malcolm. "I guess we know whose usually on top in this relationship don't we?"

Malcolm's face turns the color of a tomato and he swallows his anger down, not wanting to give his father the satisfaction of seeing him either embarrassed or angry. "If Dawn was going to hit you, I'm sure it would be because you deserve it." It's not a great retort, but Malcolm is never on his best game when he's around Martin.

He clears his throat. "I wanted to give you two a chance to meet."

A wide grin spreads across Martin's face because even though Malcolm might be trying to hide his embarrassment he can't hide the blush on his cheeks. He doesn't respond to Malcolm's retort and instead motions for them to sit in the provided fold out chairs the guard has set up for them.

"I hope there's no ulterior motive this time." He says, his eyes flickering to Malcolm's. "The last time I met a partner of Malcolm's she was trying to get information."

"No. My love for your son has nothing to do with who you were or what you are, Dr. Whitly." Dawn says coolly as she has a seat and if Malcolm watches carefully he can see a flicker of something in his father's eyes. Something that looks a little like he's impressed already by Dawn's manner.

Malcolm's ready to storm out of this cell, but he won't. Not only will that mean that his father has won, he has Dawn here to help him. He closes his eyes for a brief second, then sits down.

Whatever she's doing, it's endearing her to him. Not that he came here for his father's approval. After all, Martin might simply be impressed because Dawn is beautiful and blonde.

"Are you suggesting that the last one was only interested in him for me?" Martin asks with an innocent voice. Malcolm decides to say nothing for now.

"I refuse to make any such judgements on a woman I didn't personally know." Dawn says, looking Martin steadily in the eye. "I'm merely clarifying my feelings for your son so you understand the reasons why we are here."

Martin's brow goes up, "And why are you here? If not for me?"

"I'm here for Malcolm. You play a large role in his life, active or not, and if we're going to be together for the rest of our lives then I want to know all parts of him and for him to fully know that I won't get scared away by this."

There's a pause between them and Martin's easy going grin slips away a little, his eyes growing more serious but curious.

"You don't scare easily, do you my dear?"

"No. I've seen far worse than you, Dr. Whitly."

Words like that are to Martin what a red flag is to a bull, Malcolm thinks. If she doesn't think Martin's scary, he'll rise to the occasion. Malcolm hopes not.

"So..." Martin drawls, recovering. "The rest of your lives? Does that mean that my son has proposed to you?"

"No." She says and turns her attention away to Martin and to Malcolm, smiling softly and reaching over to take his hand in hers.

"But we're both honest with one another and know how strongly we both feel about this relationship."

"Just because I haven't asked her yet doesn't mean that I'm not serious about her," Malcolm replies. Martin is trying to pick at the corners of their relationship in order to see what he can pull up. So far, nothing.

The fact that Dawn hasn't broken down, slapped him or made any kind of comment that he can turn around on her is visibly starting to annoy Martin. This is masked of course by feigned indifference and humour.

"Yet. Well when you do finally pop the question just remember to have my invitation sent here with plenty of time for me to find something suitable to wear."

Malcolm is half impressed, half worried. It's all fun and games until Martin snaps, and Malcolm knows what Martin is capable of. He decides to hopefully defuse the situation by getting Martin to talk about his favorite topic: himself.

"How have you been? Read anything good lately?"

"Just the usual." He says with a dismissive wave of his hand, seemingly not falling for Malcolm's try at switching topics. "But my boy, I'm sure your lady love doesn't want to spend the whole visit discussing literature."

"I don't mind talking about books, I read often." Dawn says and tilts her head slightly, "But what would you like to talk about instead, Dr. Whitly?"

"Isn't that obvious? You of course. I'd like to get to know the woman whom my son has fallen so madly in love with."

"All right. What would you like to know?"

"Let's start with the basics. Where are you from?"

"England."

"Any siblings?"

"A younger sister."

"Alive?"

"Yes."

"Good, that's one less thing for Malcolm to blame on me." He says with a cheeky grin. "Parents?"

"My mother passed away a few years ago."

"And your father?"

"Alive."

"But you don't talk?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He was abusive."

Martin sucks air in over his lip and raises a finger, "Ah. There we go."

Of course Martin had to dig until he found something. Malcolm squeezes Dawn's hand.

"This isn't a therapy session and you definitely aren't a therapist," Malcolm tells him. "No one's here to talk about their trauma."

He reminds himself that they can get up and leave at any time - and Martin doesn't want that. They hold the cards here.

"But it's so interesting." Martin says with a little pout. "Trauma can shape a person, so you can't blame me for being curious as to what it shaped Miss Granger into."

"Did it give her more empathy, or less? A temper perhaps? Or just some of the classic Daddy issues?"

"Why talk about her Daddy issues when we can talk about mine?" Malcolm retorts. Not that he wants to, but if goading Martin keeps him away from bothering Dawn, then Malcolm is fine with it. He hopes that Dawn stays poker faced and doesn't give him anything.

Dawn stays silent, watching the interaction between Malcolm and his father calmly. Martin meanwhile makes a soft 'pfffffffft' noise and rolls his eyes.

"Fine, fine. Let's talk about something neutral, work perhaps? Have you had any fun murder cases lately?" He asks and then lifts a brow at Dawn. "You don't mind talking about such things, do you my dear?"

"Not at all, Malcolm and I often discuss his work at home."

"At...home?" Martin looks at his son, "Are you two living together? My goodness, it IS serious."

He chooses to ignore that comment. Normally he hates giving his father the joy of hearing about his cases, but he'd much rather talk about that than have him probe into Dawn's past, or their relationship.

"We found a victim in a burned out house whose body, after Dr. Tanaka examined it, was discovered to have been frozen before it was burned."

"Reminds me of the one time your mother tried to cook frozen fish sticks. Burnt on the outside and frozen on the inside." Martin says with a chuckle and turns to Dawn.

"Do you cook, my dear?"

"Yes. I enjoy it as well."

Martin tips Malcolm a wink, "I figured she was a culinary type. You've put on a few pounds since you were last here, something that's a miracle in itself."

Not even 5 seconds and he's back on Dawn again. They're probably fighting a losing battle. Malcolm rolls his eyes towards Dawn.

"Anything else you want to say to him?"

In a way she can understand why Martin keeps swinging the conversation back to her, he wants to try and get information about her, she just can't tell if it's for some ulterior motive or purely because he's a father and wants to know about the woman his son is in love with.

"Just that I'm glad we came today."

Martin looks a little surprised by that but recovers quickly and stands up, walking to the edge of the red line and extends a hand.

"As am I. Shall we shake on it, Miss Granger?"

There's a tense moment of silence between all three of them and before Malcolm can say anything Dawn stands up and calmly gives Martin one of her hands. It's a test, of course it is, to see if she really isn't afraid of him and as they shake hands she keeps her eyes locked on his.
Steady, calm and eventually he smiles, charming as always, and then releases her hand from his gentle grip.

"I can see why my son has fallen for you."

Malcolm can't trust his father. In his mind, he'll always have an ulterior motive for getting to know Dawn. If Martin can manipulate her, he can manipulate him.

He watches like a hawk when Martin takes Dawn's hand. Dawn can handle herself, but that doesn't mean that he won't still feel protective of her.

"And why is that?"

Martin chuckles and puts his hands into the pockets of his knitted sweater, "Because she's your equal. Intelligent, beautiful, brave with just a smidge of trauma."

"More than a smidge," Malcolm replies. "Speaking for myself only." Martin doesn't need to know anything about Dawn's trauma. He meets her eyes for a second, knowing that what Martin is saying is true, but not wanting to admit it in front of him. Malcolm reaches for the hand that Martin held just a moment ago.

"Goodbye, dad."

"Feel free to visit, anytime." Martin says with a grin and Dawn gives him a little nod as she takes Malcom's hand, lacing her fingers through his.

"It was good to meet you Dr. Whitly." She says and lets Malcolm lead her out of his cell, once they have walked down the corridor she gives his hand a squeeze.

"Are you okay?"

Malcolm is quiet for a long moment, his hand trembling in Dawn's. He shakes his head slightly, then sighs.

"I... I don't know," he tells her. He's still high on adrenaline and feels like he can't think straight at the moment.

"Take a moment to breathe." She says quietly and brings his hand up and onto her chest, placing it over her heart so he can focus on the steady beat.

"I'm right here."

He closes his eyes for a moment and breathes deeply, focusing on the beat of Dawn’s heart under his fingers.

“I’ll feel a little better once we leave the hospital,” he says.

Dawn is one of the only people he would ever allow to see him like this.

"Of course. Would you like to head straight home or maybe go somewhere we can take a walk?"

He nods. Walking is a good idea. Malcolm feels like he needs to be in motion, moving away from this place.

"There's a park a few blocks from here."

He takes her hand, squeezing it.

Once outside she inhales deeply, enjoying the fresh air and allowing it to help push away the afternoon's intense experience. She and Malcolm walk silently, hand in hand for a while until she finally breaks the silence.

"Feel a bit better?"

"Yeah."

Thankfully, it's a nice day and the park is relatively quiet. It's a nice break from the dark, cold hospital that they just left.

Malcolm takes a deep breath. "So. How bad was it?"

She gives his hand a little squeeze, "For me? Not that bad actually."

"This might be a weird thing to say but I can see why your father got away with murder for so long, he's not only very charming but he's very good at turning conversation around to benefit him."

Malcolm nods. "He does it all the time. He got away with it for years. He tricked my mother, and you know my mother isn't stupid." Malcolm runs his free hand through his hair. "I can't ever let my guard down with him."

Dawn knows that Jessica isn't stupid although the other woman will probably always think she is because she wasn't aware of her husbands killing, but Dawn has nothing but respect for Malcolm's mother. She's a strong and loving woman.

"Do you regret taking me to see him?" She asks after a moment, glancing at him.

He's quiet for a moment. "I don't know," he finally replies. "You wanted to meet him, and I understand that. You held your own against him... you were great." Malcolm looks up at Dawn, his eyes sparkling blue. "But he doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve to know somebody as wonderful as you, especially if he's going to try to use it against you. Against us."

"If he's really as smart as he thinks he is, he should know it's useless to even try." She says and leans in to kiss him softly. "Because it won't work."

She kisses each of his cheeks after, smiling a little. "I love you Malcolm, with all my heart."

"He thinks it will," Malcolm mutters. In his heart, he knows it won't, but he doesn't want Martin to even try. He and Dawn's relationship is great; he doesn't want to invite drama into it.

"I love you too," he replies, resting his forehead against hers after she kisses him.

She stays that way with him for a little while, their foreheads resting against one another's before slowly pulling back.

"You know what you need right now?" She says, lacing her fingers through his. "You need a nice, hot bath. With a glass of whiskey and a beautiful naked woman in that bath to help scrub your back and rub your tight, stressed muscles."

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RP With Malcolm Bright

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