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 Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:13 am
Sable had never come back.
His father had said he'd be gone for a long weekend; there was some scientist thing he had to attend, or something. He sent Rook and Levi out for movies and video games, he bought them a new board game and another deck or cards, and he even made enough meals to last them until Tuesday, just in case he was running late. Well, now the weekend had rolled around, and Sable still hadn't returned. He hadn't called, he hadn't email, texted, sent a carrier pigeon...nothing.
In reality, they were all quite lucky Rook had limited kitchen knowledge, otherwise they might have starved already. Saint continued to clean, Rook continued to cook and Leviathan continued to mess around and wait. He wanted his father to come home. He had trouble admitting it at this age, but the lobster-boy really, truly wanted his father to come home. Sure, Sable could be annoying, and he could be over-protective, but he was still his dad. And Leviathan still loved him.
"Leviathan."
Lev shifted and looked up from the gamer magazine he wasn't really reading. "What?"
Rook regarded his charge curiously; the boy had the strangest habit of hanging off the couch upside down when he was reading. "He is not coming back." Synthetics weren't very good at sugar-coating anything.
"...you think so?"
"He has not contacted us. If he were coming back, he'd have done so."
"We should find him! Maybe he's hurt."
"We were abandoned, Leviathan." Rook was not stupid. If Sable were hurt, someone would have contacted them to let them know. Unless Sable was in a coma, in which case, they couldn't do anything for him and the result of the matter would be exactly the same, except maybe Leviathan would be less hurt. The later wasn't really of interest to him.
"...oh." Lev set the magazine down. "What now? We can't live off pancakes."
Rook grunted, but he agreed. He was tired of making everything himself, anyways. He made sure he stashed enough money away for this sort of occasion, once he started to suspect maybe Sable wasn't coming home. "Juno."
And that was how, a few hours later, three boys stood on Juno's doorstep, waiting for someone to answer the door.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:01 am
"Check."
Ishi looked up at Juno and scowled as she regarded the board. She had managed to last a good half hour against him thus far, but the man was slowly backing her into a corner she couldn't get out of. She had no idea how a man who lived completely alone could have managed such a degree of mastery of the game, but that was the way it went. Frowning slightly, she moved her queen three squares to the left.
Juno grinned at her and moved a rook forward. "Checkmate."
Any reply Ishi might have made (and she was considerably full of those at the moment - the NERVE of him, doing that to her!) was completely negated by the sound of the doorbell. Smirking at Ishizuke, Juno stood and moved to answer the door, tipping her king over as he went. Scowling after him, Ishizuke began to pack the pieces away and stow the board. Juno couldn't help the satisfied smile on his face as he opened the door. It faded quickly enough.
"Rook?" he said, tilting his head to one side and regarding the trio. It was rare that Rook so unceremoniously appeared on his doorstep, and he had never come with Saint in tow. Or Leviathan at this age, for that matter. "Come in," he said after a moment, standing aside but not losing the incredulous expression. "What on earth are you doing here?"
Ishizuke had stayed away from the door when Juno opened it, but she had still moved to the foyer, looking curiously at the newcomers. One of them she recognized immediately, and not in any pleasant way. She scowled.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:19 am
Rook was the first to step in, followed by Saint and finally Leviathan. The lobster-boy took much longer, lingering on the doorstep. He wouldn't meet Juno's gaze and he only looked over Ishizuke breifly. But Rook wasn't speaking and Saint didn't know how, so it was up to Juno's latest and greatest to explain the very strange situation that left the boys with the scientist.
"...dad left. And he didn't come back."
Leviathan didn't say anything else. He didn't look up at Juno, he kept averting his eyes to other things in the room. He was in limbo. Sable was gone. He disappeared from the face of the earth. Not a word, not a sound. There was no proof of his existence. The boy swallowed and rubbed his eye. He would not cry in front of Juno! He absolutely could not. Leviathan swallowed hard again.
"......can we stay here?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 pm
Ishizuke stayed back while Leviathan lingered on the doorstep, and even after he had come in, she made herself scarce. The entire situation felt a bit...odd, almost like she was intruding on some sort of private moment. In reality, she likely should not have felt that way, but she couldn't help but wonder exactly what Leviathan meant when he spoke.
Juno seemed just as confused. Running a hand through his hair and exhaling in what was almost a low whistle, he looked at Leviathan, Rook, and Saint, and frowned. How could Sable have just up and left them? This was completely unlike the other man. He would never have abandoned them; it just didn't...make sense. At all. He looked at the three boys again and then down at Leviathan. "Of course," he said quietly. There was no reason for this to be happening. He would have heard something. Ushering Leviathan in, he closed the door and shook his head. "Tell me what happened," he said softly, laying a hand on Leviathan's shoulder.
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:51 am
Saint wandered away as soon as Leviathan and Juno were engaged in discussion. He wasn't particularly interested in reasons; the heartless was far more curious about his new surroundings. Rook was also particularly uninterested in the conversation; his curiosity was piqued by the girl standing the hall. The ashen Nobody slunk past Juno and his brother, eyes never leaving the girl Lev's age. "Hello, small one."
Meanwhile, Leviathan stay next to Juno, not concerned with his brothers venturing off. They couldn't, and wouldn't, get into much trouble here. He shrugged and twisted, trying to figure out how to explain. It never seemed weird to him. "Dad had to go away for the weekend. So he let me and Rook pick some movies and some video games and he made food for us to warm up. And he said he'd come back Monday, but made enough food to last until Tuesday in case his flight was delayed. You know how dad's like that." Leviathan sighed and shook his head.
"...he just. We never. I didn't think." Leviathan sighed. Should he have seen this coming?
"He just didn't come back."
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:06 pm
Ishi didn't miss the feel of Rook's eyes on her and watched as the Nobody came closer, holding her position and keeping her good eye fixed on his face. She had never met him personally, but she had heard of him, and the ashen skin made him easily recognizable. "You're Rook," she said boldly in response to his comment, lifting her chin to better look him in the eye. Angelique was not going to take kindly to this.
Juno kept his expression carefully blank as Leviathan explained the situation, allowing only the barest hint of a frown to mar his face while he thought about Sable. It wasn't right or normal for Sable to abandon his children. Sable was supposed to be the responsible one, who kept a firm hold on his children and strenuously resisted Juno's attempt to corrupt them. Or at least...he shook his head. "That's strange," he said when Leviathan finished.
"And you've tried to call him, I assume?" Running a hand through his hair and sighing, Juno went over all the possibilities. He had heard nothing in the news about any sort of plane crash, so the odds of Sable dying in that manner were low. But it didn't leave any conclusive evidence. So...what could possibly have happened? He didn't just up and leave. He was the 'good' parent. Juno was simply the stand-in for when Sable wasn't there.
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:34 pm
"You are Ishizuke." It went without saying that of all the pets, Rook was usually Sable's most trusted. Just because he had a little bit of an attitude issues did not mean he was not the most intelligent, nor the most responsible. Sable told him things. Mostly when he thought Rook wasn't listening. That was always a mistake. "You do not live here."
Leviathan just shrugged and sighed. "I dunno. Rook said he abandoned us. That doesn't really make sense, but." The boy shrugged again. Nothing about the entire situation made any sense at all. "Rook was tired of cooking, though. So he said come here." Rook was a very lazy creature and did not have any sort of nurturing instinct. He had hit his limit. Let Juno deal with his brother. (Though Rook was becoming increasingly possessive of the boy.)
"...what the hell is up with the girl, though? She wasn't here last time."
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:45 pm
"Mm," Juno said thoughtfully, trying to make sense of the situation. He wanted to call Sable, but he was certain Leviathan or Rook would have had enough sense to try that. Leviathan was a smart boy, and Rook was...old enough to know that. Juno wasn't entirely sure about the Synth's level of intelligence. His brain was never a part of the Synth he had been interested in. Nodding in response to Leviathan's comment about coming for food, he sighed softly. "Apparently, there will be a great deal more cooking than I had previously anticipated."
Ishizuke inclined her head, not sure whether to be pleased that he recognized her or worried. All she knew was that any moment, Angelique would come downstairs and all hell would break loose. "Neither do you," she answered, perhaps a trifle more cheekily than she should have. But she was not afraid of Rook; she wasn't afraid of any of the Synths. They were no trouble as long as nobody tried to outright attack them. Leviathan's words, however, made her jerk her chin up and glare at him.
Juno stepped in, protecting his furniture from what could have been a truly dangerous mess. "Ishizuke has been housed with me while her guardians attend some sort of convention." Shrugging, he idly toyed with his collar. "Mercury and Nereus' Synth is with us as well," he added, warning Rook before the worst possible thing happened. "And I will not have any sort of altercation in this house. It's hard enough to keep tidy with all these people living in it to begin with."
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:37 am
Rook shrugged and tipped his head to the side. "I do now," the Nobody replied smoothly. Dealing with a small child had done wonders for the man's patience. He was quickly losing interest in the cabbage child, his was much more interesting. Speaking of his little charge. "I do not foresee our paths crossing much, small one. But should you ever chose to harm Mine, do not think I will hesitate to pay you back tenfold." There was no heat to the threat, but Rook meant every word of it. He would always protect his Leviathan.
"...sorry," Leviathan muttered. He couldn't help but feel guilty; as long as the reason for Sable's disappearance remained unknown, he wouldn't be able to push himself as the cause completely out of his mind. And if it might be his fault that Sable vanished, that meant it was his fault Juno was being put out. And yeah, usually the pre-teen didn't much mind being the cause of others' inconvenience, he was a very important boy after all. But this was...different.
"I can help cook, if you want. And I won't fight with her, as long as she doesn't start it," Leviathan offered. He wasn't particularly in an aggressive mood right now, but he wasn't against defending himself, not at all. If someone had the gall to come at him, they had better be ready to have it thrown right back at them. "I've never really cooked before. But I could try." He gave Ishizuke a wicked look, not intimidated by her glares at all. And see? He was much more useful than her, anyways.
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:42 pm
Ishizuke watched Rook with minor interest, wondering where all that cool arrogance came from and biting back a sharp retort about his own status as sub-human, refraining from any such attempts to put him in his place. It would have been inappropriate, if desirable. As it were, she was not particularly impressed by his threat and looked instead at Leviathan. That face was...she didn't even know. If he was trying to make a point, it was lost on her. She turned briefly back to Rook. "If he tries anything first, I will make damn certain he pays," she said quietly, "and you won't be repaying anything." Most of what she knew of Rook was from old stories by both Mercury and Angelique, and indeed, Ange regarded him as some sort of shadowy demon, much moreso than anything else. Shaking her head, she looked at Leviathan, jerked her chin up in defiance, and returned to the couch, where she curled up once again with her most recent book on chess strategy.
Juno watched the exchanges impassively, wondering exactly what he'd have to do if things came to blows. Probably nerve gas the hell out of everyone. But that wasn't important at the moment. His son was...Juno couldn't even really identify the emotion. He settled on 'disturbed'. Looking at Leviathan so defeated, what little heart he had went out to the boy and he gave him a gentle, one-armed hug. "No, that didn't come out precisely the way I meant," he said, trying as best he could to retract the hurtful comment. "The three of you are always welcome at my house. And if you want to help in the kitchen, that would be fine. A sous chef could be nice." Indeed, Juno was fond of most kitchen work, but not so much of food preparation. If he could enlist an able pair of hands...he definitely would.
"No matter who starts it," he added, "I will make sure to finish it and everyone involved will suffer. My furniture was expensive." And the glimmer of humanity had disappeared once again.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:54 pm
Rook didn't even grace Ishizuke with a reply as he glided by her. Clearly, her guardians didn't warn her well enough. They didn't know the extent of his strength, nor were they aware of how easily Leviathan had overpowered him. The Nobody didn't particularly care to make his case to the insolent little brat, either. He didn't sense she would cause too much trouble, but if she did, it would be her own damn downfall. Underestimating them would be no one's fault but her own and Rook knew neither he nor His would hold anything back.
Meanwhile, Leviathan was torn between Juno and Ishizuke, not taking kindly to such blatant disrespect. The boy couldn't fathom why she hated him so openly; they'd hardly met. Only as toddlers, and if she was holding that against him, she was clearly shallow and insecure. They were toddlers, for Ifrit's sake. Leviathan just nodded at the comment about kitchen work, it didn't really concern him. The obvious dominance struggle did. Mismatched eyes flashed to Juno. "I'll finish her," he muttered softly, almost inaudible. They boy shook his head and shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going to go the bed."
And Rook in tow, the boy did just that.
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