The Alternative

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

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- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Alex went to his room and settled in, falling asleep not longer after Coral left thanks to the pain meds they had given him. Charlie was downstairs, cleaning up a little when Coral touched his hand. He smiled and gave a nod, there wasn't much of a pony going back to work just yet. "Sure, I'll stay around. Maybe I can help out a bit."

----

Peter listened to her lecture and considered her words. Maybe she was right, what if things didn't turn out better when they over through the government. But things went well here, everyone was happy. They didn't need a different government, they just had to get rid of the Aryans. That wouldn't make them any better than the Goverment was now, they couldn't just erase the Aryans from the world. He frowned, rubbing the back of his neck as he silently thought it all over. It was overwhelming and frustrating. He couldn't go against his father, even mentioning any if this around him would only anger him. He looked at Adela and gave her a harsh stare before standing up. "Time is up...I won't be able to give you your lesson today. But..." He hesitated. "When you come for the next lesson...can we talk about the other forms of Goverment? Not that I agree with you, my father is doing a fine job running things here. I'm just curious."

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral frowned, "no, when I say stay here while I make breakfast, that doesn't mean clean up, that means relax for a change. Okay?" She put her hands down and sighed, smiling a little before she lifted them again, "what am I going to do with you?"

---

Adela kept her eyes on his, unwavering, hoping she would at least reach some aspect of him, before he suddenly stood, telling her time was up, that he couldn't teach her more defensive moves today. Adela was about to get annoyed, expecting this reaction, hating that she was right, wanting to yell at him again. But... then he said 'but'. She held her breath, her eyes widened. It took all she had to not grin like an idiot, instead, she managed to keep cool and collected. She took in a steady breath and nodded, only a small smirk on her lips. "Sure. I can look up some other types of Governments for you. I'll even bring some books." She stood up and went to turn off the music, slipping the large disk away before she turned back to look at him, "anyway, I'm glad we're not having my lesson today, I promised Alex we'd spend some time together." he brushed past him and headed out the door, "see you next week." And she disappeared.

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

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- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie smiled turning and going to sit down at the table. "Fine, I won't do anything. I'll just sit here and be a useless." He grumbled, resting his head in his hands. He didn't like sitting still, but honestly at the same time it was good to rest.

----

Peter watched Adela go before going off to attend to what else he had to do, which was a lot. Now that he was older his father gave him more responsibility, and expected it all to be done timely and correct. If anything was wrong he was sure to get a lecture or worse, depending on the mood his father was in.

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral smirked and went over, her hands moving daintily, "you're not useless, you're my company." Almost instinctively, Coral moved forward, in her mind it was only natural to want to give Charlie a kiss right then. But just at the last moment she stopped herself, letting out a surprised breath before she turned pink and turned away, going to make some more apple turnovers.

---

Wolf was working in his office when he looked at the clock and hummed, he stepped out before he called, "Penny, make sure my son and his tutor have some cool water for after their work out, all right?"
The girl looked up, surprised, "oh, I'm sorry sir, but Adela is already gone for the day."
The man glared, "oh, really?" Soon enough, Wolf was at his son's door, knocking as he stepped back and waited, tapping his foot.

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅

- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie watch as she moved forward, leaning close but she pulled away before anything could happen. He frowned and stood up, moving over to her. Was she upset about last night? Maybe he hadn't pushed her to quickly. "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to upset you." He said, gently placing his hand on her arm. "I shouldn't have done that last night."

----

Peter heard the knocking and quickly went to his door. He opened it quickly and looked at his father with a mixture of confusion and fear. "Yes sir? What can I do for you?" He asked, trying to be on his best behavior so he did t upset his father any further than he appeared to be.

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral looked over, turning a little pink. "No... I mean- it's not like that." She sat down, "I'm just... when I look at you..." she sighed and looked at him quietly, "did I ever tell you how I lost my tongue and what happened after?"

---

Wolf furrowed his brow, "why aren't you teaching Adela special defense? Did she have somewhere she needed to go?"

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Sir Gabriel93

Alex (Smith)

▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅

- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie looked at Coral and shook his head. "You mentioned it was a solider but you haven't said anything else about it." He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but if she wanted to talk about it he'd listen.

----

Peter shook his head, looking down towards the floor. "She wasn't in the mood, she said something about going to get more books and go see her friend Alex."

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral smiled sadly and began slowly, her hands feeling heavy as she moved them to make her story come to life. "I was engaged at the time to a very influential young man, after the rape and after losing my tongue though, he wouldn't speak with me anymore. His entire family shunned me." By this point she was shaking, as he had said before, when your hands shake, your voice shakes, but she couldn't help it this time. "When I look at you, I remember how good it felt to be with him. I find myself wanting you more and more. But I'm scared." She looked up, her eyes full of tears, "do you understand? I want you but..." she couldn't finish, instead, she looked away.

---

Wolf looked at the boy skeptically, "oh really? Are you sure? Because last time I checked Adela was not the kind of girl to go back on her promises. You on the other hand..."

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅

- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie watched her sign and felt terrible, he understood her fear even though there was no reason for her to worry. When she looked away he stood up, going over and taking her hands in his. “You shouldn’t be scared though, I’ll never to that to you. I care about you Coral, you mean so much to me…and I haven’t felt this way since I lost my wife.” He gently touched her cheek, gently bring her face to his. “You are a wonderful, beautiful woman and I will never leave you. No matter what. You’ve stayed with me and Alex, despite our flaws, why would I leave you for yours?”

----

Peter looked up at his father, giving his a sharp glare. “We had an argument, she was upset. There was no point in doing a session if she was going to be angry through the whole thing.”

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral looked surprised before a small smile appeared on her lips, she seemed to relax as she looked at him, "you've never told me about your wife. What was she like?" The woman asked before she took his hand into hers.

---

Wolf sighed heavily, "Peter, I've told you before, I want you to get along with this girl. I want you to be her friend. Do you understand?" His eyes told Peter that Wolf would be surprised if he ever understood anything he said. "What was the fight about? Who started it?"

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅

- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie held her hands, giving her a sad smile as he thought about his wife. "You remind me of her a lot. She was strong and independent, just a joy to be around and always happy." He paused, realizing his voice was probably shaking by now. He never talked about his wife, talking about her brought back painful memories. He could still hear her scream and see her laying there in a pool of her own blood. He let go of Corals hands, deciding to sign instead of speak, he could at least keep his hands steady. 'Alex has her eyes, and her stubbornness. She knew I was loosing my hearing but I was always too proud to admit it. Alex doesn't remember much before coming here, he was pretty young but she'd scold me endlessly for not doing anything about it. I should have listened, because when we came here I could barely hear someone yell at me...but she thought ahead...she always did...and had taught Alex the alphabet and he taught me..." He trailed off again, lowering his hands. It was painful to talk about his wife, even after so long he missed her terribly.

----

Peter shrugged, looking at the ground. He knew he was supposed to get along with her, but she was just so frustrating. "She accused me of not reading the book. I got upset and we argued for a bit until she played music and we discussed some different governments."

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral watched him gently, strangely enough feeling jealous about a woman she had never met. But the way Charlie looked so helpless, moving to sign language when his voice began to lose strength... Coral reached forward and gently kissed him on the lips, before pulling back to look hi in the eye and so that he could see her hands, "for her sake... I hope I can take good care of you."

---

Wolf gritted his teeth and felt his entire body tense, "it was that simple, was it?" He knew it wasn't. He knew his son and he knew the kinds of things he would say when provoked. After all, it was not beneath Wolf to have a servant eavesdrop for him, that being said, Wolf's fist came out, knocking itself hard against Peter's chin. "You idiot! Next week, I better damn well not hear of you insulting her again!" He snarled, frustrated, and turned to walk out, slamming the door behind him.

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅

- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie gave her a small smile, feeling a little better after the kiss. “You’ve done a wonderful job so far.” He told her quietly, before pulling her into a tight hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve changed my life and Alex’s too, we’re a complete family now.” He told her, not wanting to look at her. She’d call him silly, because he was such an emotional wreck.

----

Peter fell to the floor when his father struck him, dazed as he placed a hand on his chin. It hurt, his father never held back when he hit him. Slowly the pain became a dull throb and he stood up, going to his desk to work on some of the assignments Adela had left for him to do in the previous weeks that he hadn’t done yet.

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -

[YourToxicJinx]

A∂єℓα

Remember make believe in you
All the things I said I'd do
I wouldn't hurt you, like the world did me
Keep you safe, I'd keep you sweet
Everything that I went through,
I'm grateful you won't have to do
I know that you will have to fall
I can't hide you from it all

Coral listened to him and honestly felt touched by his words, she had hoped that he felt that way, but she couldn't be sure. Biting her lower lip, she looked down and let out a breath that would have been a laugh, she pulled away from his hug and gently touched his chin, making him look her in the eye before she signed, "I'm honored to be a part of your family."

See, here's the bloody, bloody truth
You will hurt and you will lose
I've got scars you won't believe
Wear them proudly on my sleeve
I hope you'll have the sense to know
That sadness comes and sadness goes
Love so hard and play life loud
It's the only thing to give a damn about

[Sir Gabriel93]

Alex (Smith)

▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅ xxx ▅▅▅▅▅▅

- “You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.” -

a


Charlie smiled, letting out a little chuckle as he looked at her. “And we’re honored to have you. Now enough of this mushy stuff, weren’t we trying to make breakfast?” He asked, wanting to change the subject back to something that wasn’t quite so emotional.

- “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.” -