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 Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:20 pm
Korea seriously considered flaying Ewan alive.
He had talked her into signing up for this program where you're followed around by a midget from some local high school for a day to inspire them to be business-y or some such thing. Ewan had assured her that he'd be doing it, too, and that they could hang together, which they hadn't had time to do lately. That was why she agreed. But when she talked to the coordinator the day of, she'd been told Ewan had not signed up.
Nevertheless, she was committed. She'd already cleared her day and had nothing else to do. So she pulled on the t-shirt which marked her as an idiot with a highschooler for a shadow and stalked to Memorial Hall, where the highschoolers were to be collected. She was handed a folder by the coordinator containing instructions for the topics she was to cover and the places she was supposed to take her pet high school student.
She looked at the student's information sheet. It had only his name and his high school. She'd never heard of it, but she wasn't particularly local, so that failed to surprise her. She assumed it was local. The college wasn't likely to bus people in from any great distance. But that wasn't really the interesting part. The interesting part was his name: Wendell Morgan Van de Burg. He sounded like a spoiled rich brat. Joy.
She walked into the conference center and looked around at the crowd of midget-types with a feeling of panic. How was she to find...Wendell? There had to be a million of the midgets wandering around, looking stiff and awkward in suits. With the exception of one emo boy. She thought at first that he had wandered in by accident, but he carried a folder like the others. Maybe he'd know this Wendell person? He certainly looked less homogenous than the others.
Korea made her way across the room, self-consciously pushing her brown hair behind her ears and adjusting her sweater's collar. She wasn't exactly comfortable talking to people she didn't know unless she had alcohol in her system.
"Hey," she said to the emo kid. "Do you know which of those junior executive types is Wendel Van de Burg?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:28 pm
The dark haired boy, who's hair was obviously dyed, looked up at the college girl who had approached him with his one visable green eye. As usual, he was wearing his skin tight t-shirt, skin tight black pants, and a black hoodie that was zipped up in the front.
Something seemed to bulge around his stomach which made everyone else pretty much stay away form me. In fac the had a wide burth around him with the others occationally staring or whispering to their friends about him. He didn't seem to mind either actions. The counselor, who was trying to herd the midgits around, had told everyone to dress up proper for their tour of the high school. Wendell had pointedly ignored him. He was not putting on a penguin suit.
Then the girl said his name, she must be his guide. Great, she looked about as happy to be here as he was. Maybe it wouldn't be all bad. "I'm Wendell, but call me Nexus." Yeah, he thought it was a cool name. Even though only Maxwell and Clara called him that. "I take it you're person they've conned into trying to guide this charade of money grubbers?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:44 pm
Oh. This was not what a Wendell ought to look like. Wendells ought to be blonde boys with over-brushed hair and round glasses who used words like preposterous and talked about international exchange rates. A Wendell ought to be bookish and stuffy. Nowhere in her mental image of a Wendell had an emo kid with dyed hair and green eyes shown up.
"Nexus. Right. First lesson: you should only sign up for things with your friends when you're certain your friends have actually signed up."
She tried to hide her incredulity at his choice of a nickname. Logically, Wen or Dell were neither of them appealing, and she could understand why he wouldn't want to be called Wendell, but she wasn't sure where the name Nexus came from. It sounded like something out of a science fiction novel. As in, "Beware the coming of the Nexus! It will devour us all!" But then, the person she was considering seemed to be a bit strange anyway, and quite all right with that, judging by his indifference to his peers' actions.
"I'm Korea." She waited a beat for him to give the obiligatory stare or to quickly hide his amusement. Everyone needed that moment to recover after hearing her name. She'd learned to live with it.
"I've got this folder full of things which are supposed to interest you future CEOs and a script. Would you like me to give you that tour, or was there something else you'd rather -"
Her cell phone ringing interrupted her. She checked the name and saw it was Ewan. Oh, she had things to say to him.
"I'm sorry, Nexus. I have to take this." She flipped her phone open and growled, "Ewan, you are a dead math person."
He talked quickly, explaining to her that Fiero had escaped her dorm room and wandered over to his off-campus apartment, and could she maybe come get him before his date came over?
"I have..." she looked at Wendell, "...people with me. Or had you forgotten about the Future Business Owners thing?"
It was apparently important that Fiero not be at Ewan's apartment unless Korea wanted him to learn about mansex. That decided it. She wouldn't expose a human toddler to that, and she wasn't about to expose Fiero to it either.
"Uh, Wen...Nexus. I need to pick someone up. It won't take more than twenty minutes. D'you want to come, or would you rather I turn you loose on campus?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:55 pm
Wendell didn't even bat an eye at her name, he didn't really seem to care. After all, his name was Wendell. He waited until she was done with her call to this "dead math man". He sounded like someone who would be visiting his dad's place soon. Must be the guy who had convinced Korea to sign up and thus had given her the first lesson she taught him. When she said she had to go somewhere, he hoped it was away from here.
"I'll go, anything to get away from all these.....preppies. Want me to drive? No one would sit next to me on the bus so I took my car here." He held up his keys that had a skull as a keychain. He walked out into the parking lot, away from all the chatting teenagers. He stopped infront of a black herse that read Van de Burg Mortuary and Funeral Home on the back. He unlocked the doors and took off his hoodie.
Underneth the jacket was a front baby carrier with no baby. But once he set it down, it was clear there was a dark black orb inside. It had a cracked bleeding heart in the middle. He placed it next to him and started up the engine. "Ok, where is his place?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:03 pm
Korea climbed into the hearse. That explained what business he was going into at least. She couldn't help feeling ghoulish riding in a hearse, and being driven by a teenager. She hadn't been driven by a teenager since she was a teenager, and those times had tended to end with her making out in a secluded spot with the lights out and a stick shift digging into her hip. She sincerely hoped this ride wouldn't end up the same. She bit back a grin: she doubted it.
"He lives close by. Five blocks west of here down Main Street and then left onto Orchard Drive. His apartment's the one which has "rocks with character" on the front lawn. It's impossible to miss."
She gave the orb a second glance. It was probably just some weird emo thing, but it did bear a certain resemblance to the orb Fiero had come out of. She reached over and was about to pick it up when she thought the better of it. Some people didn't like having people touch their things. She was one of them. It would be really rude to do it to someone she barely knew.
Instead, she asked, "Did you get the orb at the mall, or was it a gift?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:09 pm
Wendell didn't seem upset about driving around in the herse at all. It had great gas milage and was well mantained by his dad. That and people tended to get out of his way when he drove so he got places a lot faster. He listend to the directions Korea gave him and followed them. She seemed like a decent person, she hadn't made fun of him once and she was calling him by his nickname. He saw her go for his orb, which didn't move at first, but then she pulled her hand away so he felt better. Her question made him wonder if he should even tell her. But what the heck, he'd only know her for today. It wasn't like he'd see her again.
"No, it appeared in my room with a letter from someone named Jareth. I've named her Invidia, latin for Envy or Jealousy. She's my muse for my poetry and music." He hooked a thump behind him where the coffin would usually lay. It had a guitar case, sheet music, his back pack, random bits of clothing, and lots of journals with scribbles all over it.
He turned the courner and saw the house. He smirked a bit and slowly pulled up infront of the house. He reached int he back and pulled out a top hand and coat. He put them on to look even more creepy. "I'll go knock." He grinned at her and got out of the car and knocked on the gay man's door. Sometimes it was fun to freak people out.
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:39 pm
Jareth. The person who claimed to be the goblin king and who had given her Fiero's orb. That was unexpected. Not totally, as she had suspected there was a similarity between his orb's origens and Fiero's but it was still odd to think that there were others who had been the recipients of similar gifts. But before she could ask more about it he was grabbing a jacket and a top hat.
Korea was about to protest that the top hat and tails were not necessary, and that it would not make Ewan likely to greet him warmly. Ewan didn't tend to appreciate that sort of behavior. With the exception of being gay, Ewan was really quite normal, and strange high school students wearing top hats and tails would not amuse him. It was far more likely that Ewan would just close the door as soon as he opened it. He had no problem being rude like that.
She hastened out of the car and followed him up the walk at a brisk clip. She could hear Fiero's childish voice exclaiming his version of her name as she drew closer. Ewan probably wished he could gag Fiero. He wasn't accustomed to or fond of loud noises of that sort. He was more of a music person.
Ewan opened the door and Fiero barreled out past Wendell and hugged Korea's knees. It had gotten warm enough that he didn't bother with clothing, despite her best attempts, so he was still basically naked. Not that anyone would know, since he was only human shaped from the waist up. She recalled, however, that she had dressed him when she left him that morning. The current location of his clothing didn't bear thinking about she decided.
"Hey," Ewan said cautiously, making the statement include Korea and Wendell. "I guess you're reunited with Fiero. Sorry to have spoiled your day. But you've got to go now. Kris will be by really soon and I don't want to explain the presence of a small child-thing, a girl, and a high school-aged emo kid in my apartment."
"But, Ewan," Korea protested, her face taking on the expression of an ingenue, "I wanted you to meet Nexus. You're going to be dead very shortly, and - coincidentally - he's going to run a funeral home when he's older. And I'm cold, besides. Can't we come in, just for a minute?"
Ewan winced visibly, but opened his door wider to invite them inside. Korea had known that playing on his good upbringing - claiming to be cold - would guarantee her an invite. Then she could set Wendell on him a bit. Emo boy versus gay math genius, round one, she thought.
Fiero gazed at Wendell with fascination, and then looked in the direction of his hearse. He tugged on Korea's jeans as Ewan showed them reluctantly into his living room and whispered too loudly, "He has someone like me."
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:52 pm
Wendell blinked as something wooshed past him then clung to Korea's legs. What in the world was that? Well, he had seen stranger things. He continued to act emo, despite the hat and coat. His appearance was very weird and right now he was enjoying it. The uncomfortable feeling this Ewan was giving off somehow felt nice. Suffering was good, it meant you were alive.
As he walked in he looked around, his hands stuck in his pockets. He just stood, not one to really sit anywhere and stared off into space until he was spoken too. Then he heard the small thing, supposidly called Fiero, say someone like him was in the car. Like him? Did he mean Invidia? Was his orb going to somehow hatch this strange looking thing. "What does he mean like him?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:20 pm
Pulling Fiero onto her lap and smoothing his fiery hair back from his face while he struggled Korea looked at Ewan, who was regarding Wendell uneasily. He turned his attention to Korea long enough to mouth "Nexus?" and then went back to staring at Wendell. Korea gave a slight nod in response and then answered Wendell's question:
"I suppose he's referring to that thing Jareth gave you," she said, choosing her words carefully. She'd told Ewan about Fiero, but she wasn't sure if Wendell wanted anyone else to know. Ewan would understand what she meant anyway, but would hopefully take the hint that he was to play dumb. "Fiero - the little hellion on my lap - has very similar origens, which we could discuss later. I don't really want to ruin Ewan's date."
She smirked. "After all, he goes on so few."
Having won the final word and had enough fun tormenting Ewan she stood up, keeping a firm grip on Fiero's hand and held the door for Wendell to precede her from the apartment as a well-dressed young man was getting out of the dark green sedan he'd parked behind Wendell's hearse. He gave the hearse an unsettled look as he walked past it, and then gave the unusual trio Korea, Wendell, and Fiero made an even stranger look as he brushed past them to ring the doorbell.
Fiero, once outdoors, raced to the hearse and levered himself up to look in through the windows to look for Wendell's orb.
"Where is it? Can we get in? Can I play with it?" he asked rapidfire, not really directing his questions at either human in particular.
Korea shrugged and waited for Wendell to make a decision.
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:28 pm
Wendell nodded as Korea did a brief explination. He wondered how many of those orb things this Jareth had given out. He looked at Fiero and wondered what Invidia would look like. Would she have the same colors as she did now? What would she look like with all those ribbons. He smirked a bit at the mention of a date and turned to leave with Korea. He tipped his hat all creepy-like to the man who rang the bell and continued on to his car.
He blinked at Fiero and his rapid fire questions. "Clara would like you. You act a lot like her. And no, please don't play with Invidia, she's not very social. Here, how about you ride in the back. It's got curtains on the windows and everything. Like a secret room in a car." He opened up the back of the hearse to let Fiero in if he wanted. It would let him roam about and keep him away from Invidia for a bit. Even if the floating thing didn't want to go in he grabbed a notebook from the back and threw his coat and hat back into the clothes pile.
He unlockd the doors for the hearse, opening Korea's door for her as he a gentleman at times. Once inside he started up the engine and headed back to campus. "So what do we do now? I seriously doubt either of us is really intersted in what sort of rubbish they have in that folder of yours."
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:17 pm
Korea smiled at the small courtesy of having her door opened and sat down. Fiero had been only to happy to explore the secret room in the back. She couldn't help thinking once more that it was so weird to be driven in a hearse and have a pulse. She hadn't imagined that her day would go like this when she got out of bed and pulled on an outfit that made her look mature and responsible. Somehow mature and responsible seemed ridiculous when being driven about in a hearse.
Fiero, on the other hand, was thrilled with the secret room and had tried on Wendell's hat. It was too big, but his pointed ears kept it balanced precariously on his head. He leaned forward to peer at Invidia, even if he couldn't get at her.
"Um. Are you into photography or anything like that? We've got a pretty great art building." She had no idea what emo people did for fun, or if they were even allowed to have fun. It might go against the definition of being emo. "And we've got a nice gym slash sports complex." She just stopped herself from saying that she doubted he'd be interested in that.
"Really, there's tons of stuff to do on campus which isn't at all scholastic in nature. Or we could grab coffee at one of the student centers..." She was at a total loss.
"I wanna know how he got someone like me!" Fiero piped up from the back. "Can we talk about that in the tall place where people don't go?"
"He means the roof of the Kennedy Building. It's where the astronomy class meets, but only at night, obviously, so it's deserted during the day. I used to go there to study when I had a roommate and the weather was nice."
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:26 pm
"I'm a poet and musician. Not much of a drawer. Besides, mom and dad would only send me to college to get a business degree so I'd have a better understanding of how to run the funeral home. I'd just need to hire someone to fix up the bodies. Though I think my friend Maxwell would do it." He drove around to the coffee house, because he needed java. It was an important part of his diet. "Why don't we get coffee then head for the roof?"
Invidia shook herself at the peering Feiro, not liking being observed. Wendell picked up her carrier and put it back on. 'Bundle of Joy' was on the front and Invidia seemed comfortable in it. He locked the car, got out his guitar, and headed for the coffee shop. "As for how I got her, she just appeared one morning in my room."
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:05 pm
Korea was a little surprised that Wendell knew his way around town with such facility. Well, he did go to a local high school. It wasn't totally unlikely that he'd know what was what. It spared her having to give directions at least.
"Coffee sounds good," Korea replied amiably. Which was just as well, as that was where he was driving.
She knew very little about the mortuary business. She'd gone to Angela's funeral, but that had been a very awkward affair. Ewan's presence, making biting remarks to her under his breath had been a bit distracting, even though she had been too distressed to appreciate his sharp humor at the time. Angela had been her roommate after all.
Korea followed him into the coffee shop with Fiero trailing behind them, his eyes fixed on Invidia's carrier with unwavering attention. Korea shot the guitar a wary look. It had been her experience that emo poetry and musicianship left much to be desire if one was not emo oneself. She'd never been able to properly appreciate the stuff. Or so she had been told on numerous occasions.
"That's basically how I ended up with Fiero. He was this self-propelling paperweight basically. I didn't expect the thing to turn into anything living," she said as they found seats and placed orders. "I know very little about any of this. Jareth was not forthcoming in his note." The last was said dryly.
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Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:59 pm
"Yeah, mine consisted of one sentance. Heck my friend Maxwell's only had six words. So he must not be a man of man words." Wendell ordered a large mocha latte with cream and caramel. He placed his guitar against his chair and set his notebook filled with poetry and music on the table. "I kinda wish he was here. And Clara. We aren't usually apart all that long. But they wouldn't let him come along, even though he works for my dad. He helps him prepare the bodies. Says it's practice for his future career as a serial killer."
Wendell liked the joke, mostly because he got dark humor. However Wendell hardly looked the business type. His hair was messily dyed but brushed to perfection. His clothes were tight against his slender body, he almost seemed slightly malnurioused, but that was from his lack of eating meat mostly. Even with his hoodie off, he kept his gloves on. They were fingerless gloves that extended down to the middle of his lower arm. something seemed kinda bulge around his wrist area but otherwise he was your typical emo boy.
When the coffee arrived he sipped it quietly and shuffled through his music. "I need to finish working on this song for Clara. She kept the baseball team from stuffing me in my locker so I thought I'd write her a song. Usually we just go shopping at the thirft store, I think she'll like this better. So what do you do for fun? You hardly seem the 'lets all be friends' type of person." It wasn't an insult, more like a statement of her indifferent behavior similar to his.
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:28 am
Korea smiled. She thought she might like this Maxwell's sense of humor, even if he was a good four years younger than she was. She'd had friends who were that much older than her when she was younger. But what was she thinking? She'd never meet the kid, and when would she have time with six courses to see him even if she did somehow meet him.
"I didn't know other people had gotten orbs," she said. "I was told my wish was supposed to come true. I wasn't even aware of having made a wish. I don't know."
She stirred her black coffee. It was too bitter to drink, and so she had added accoutremonts: sugar, creamer. She missed the days of liquid creamer. Not that she'd been drinking coffee when creamer still came in little tubs and in liquid form, but she'd remembered watching her parents pour it in and stir it. It had made swirls in the blackness of the coffee and then lightened it gradually. It wasn't so amusing to watch powdered creamer work.
"Likely," Korea said, agreeing with Wendell's belief that Clara would prefer a song to a shopping trip. "And I don't have fun. I have eighteen credits and six classes this semester and the equivilent of a toddler to look after."
A smirk crossed her lips. "Okay, lesson two: don't grow up. Independence is overrated and you don't mature at the same rate you age. Really, I like to hang out with Ewan watching bad movies on mute and making up the dialogue."
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