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 Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:41 pm
Beauregard actually widened his blue eyes with enormous delight and he flapped his red fins with happiness, creating a breeze t hushed against the raevan's cheeks.
"Beauregard flapped in joy and wondered what RIVENER was going to do next!" The whale looked imensely pleased at Rivener's echoing reaction.
"I.."
The boy looked at Aphismet's face, his eyes wide and shocked clean of sarcasm or wry defense. Everything had gone quiet and Isi could hear the rapid pulse of his heart beating in his chest.
Was...Was that what he had heard? He heard right, right? Aphismet was...Offering his home...His family to...To him, a crippled boy who...Possibilities sprung to life like flowers in Isi's mind and he kept his stormy grey eyes focused on the young man. Knitting his brows, Isi didn't realize the full weight of the proposition until several moments after everything had gone silent (besides the Beauregard rendition of 'Billie Jean' in the background). Life with Aphismet, life without Old Maasi...What would that be? The idea of not having to clean up after the old lady, chase after her, yell at her, get beat and tricked and used by Old Maasi...was almost too much for the young boy to bear. How much stress would be relieved from his shoulders? How much happier would he be if he didn't have to worry and put aside his school books to look after her and deal with her ridiculous desires? How...?
The thoughts fluttered in his head like a mad storm of birds and Isi blinked with shock at Aphismet as the young man looked away and fiddled with the ice pack on his cheek. Could he possibly be able to be a child again? Ever since he had lived with Old Maasi, he was the one who had to be the adult. The feeling of being forced to grow up was not a pleasant feeling. In fact, it felt horrible. Was it possible to be a child again?
However, could he really do that to Old Maasi, the old woman who had given him her home, her life, and the soon coming raevan...? Isi measured the guilt against the new prospect, but then he found that there was no guilt at all. He felt like a toy to her, now that he thought about it. He wouldn't be beaten by her anymore, no more strung up in trees, no more of any verbal abuse no matter how harmless it was intended to be...Never once had she shown him a spot of affection besides the raevan. There was never a hug, a quiet evening by the fireplace telling stories, a soft grandmother kiss on the forehead. Now that he thought about it...
"I...I..." Isi found that he had trouble with forming the words in his mouth and keeping the grateful tears inside the grey sea of his eyes, "I would like...Th-that very m-much..." When he said that, Isi felt the heat rise up in his eyes and he leaned forward into his crutches, pressing his forehead against the cold metal. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and beared his teeth as he fought to keep the sobs of gratitude inside him.
Maybe that was what he was truely hoping to hear for all those seven years?
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:12 pm
Aphismet looked more than a little worried at Isi's reaction. He was crying? Aph had never been good at telling about the Good Tears from the Bad Tears, so he always assumed they were bad.
"Oh, Isi, wh-why are you crying? If you would like this, then w-why are you crying? Is it because my apartment is so small? I might end up making more money soon, if that helper position at the Carafe turns out well, so we could get a bigger place, you'd have your own room... Th-there's no need to cry!" Aph had leaned forward and was petting the boy on the back reassuringly. Not knowing quite what to do with his other hand, Aph fretted at his smock, wringing the corner nervously.
At the other side of the room, Rivener had smiled and continued to narrate his doings as he went about.
"Rivener threw the little whale into the air and watched it float away. He then floated out of his chair as well and chased it across the room, to... What's going on?" Rivener had flown over to Aph and Isi, and had overheard crying. The Frei frowned at Aph. Of course the human would have found a way to reduce a poor wounded boy to tears. Isi would leave and take the whale with him. That would upset Rivener greatly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:58 pm
The crippled boy shook his white brown hair, trying desperately to assure the young man that he was not crying of worry or fear. Smiling brightly, Isi leaned back from his crutches and stuttered, "No, no, I'm not bloody worried about any of that. I'm just...I can't wait to get away from her. I'm so ha-happy that you said that. I want family more than anything, not some old lady who plays mean tricks on m-me..."
Bearegard floated after Rivener and orbited his head, hiding behind the raevan's shoulder. He had never seen his owner like this before and it kind of unnerved him.
"Beauregard watched over Riv's shoulder in anticipation."
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:45 pm
"Shhh! you're killing the mood!" Rivener berated the little whale quitely, lifting a finger in front of his mouth. He explained under his breath, leaning closer for Beauregard to hear: "Sometimes you just have to let the dialogue happen; narration can detract from the overall feeling at certain points, and that was one of them. OK?" Riv smiled and petted the whale, then re-settled in place just above the couch, watching the show unfold before him.
Aph blinked at Riv, annoyed; this wasn't a TV show, and he didnt' appreciate being watched like a movie... But he wasn't going to yell at the Frei. He had to concentrate on Isi.
The man turned his gaze back to Isi, and smiled. "Oh, alright. I'm not very good at telling these kinds of things apart, bad crying and good crying... I want family more than anything else too, so we'll both be very happy. Now, please don't cry anymore, ok?"
Aph reached over to the coffee table and picked up the cordless telephone. He smiled and nodded his head at his new little brother, and then dialed. As the number was ringing, Aph asked one last time:
"You're sure this is what you want? There's no going back once the police picks up..."
Rivener turned to the whale and whispered: "Beauregard, I think now is your cue to sing some kind of heartfelt after-school-special song... Like that tune from "touched by an angel" or something..."
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:05 pm
Isi watched as his soon-to-be new brother picked up the phone and dialed. He could hear the ring from his spot on the couch and his heart beat in beat with it. Hugging his crutches close and pressing the unbruised side of his face to the metal, the crippled boy nodded and tried to stop his tears. "Yes," he said eagerly, "I'm sure, I'm sure. I'm tired of being hurt."
Just at that moment, Beauregard, from behind Rivener's shoulder, burst into song,
"looking down on empty streets, all she can see
are the dreams all made solid
are the dreams all made real
all of the buildings, all of those cars
were once just a dream
in somebody's head
she pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam
she pictures a soul
with no leak at the seam
lets take the boat out
wait until darkness
let's take the boat out
wait until darkness comes
nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
nowhere in the suburbs
in the cold light of day
there in the midst of it so alive and alone
words support like bone
dreaming of mercy st.
wear your inside out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy('s arms again
dreaming of mercy st.
'swear they moved that sign
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms
pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
tugging at the darkness, word upon word
confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
to the priest-he's the doctor
he can handle the shocks
dreaming of the tenderness-the tremble in the hips
of kissing Mary's lips
dreaming of mercy st.
wear your insides out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms again
dreaming of mercy st.
'swear they moved that sign
looking for mercy
in your daddy's arms
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Anne, with her father is out in the boat
riding the water
riding the waves on the sea"
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:18 pm
Rivener smiled. That was just perfect, the timing was impeccable. The choice, too! Riv wondered where Beauregard learned all these songs... was he built genetically to just KNOW?
Aphismet heard the phone click on the other end, as a police officer picked up. "Hello? Erm, hi, I'd like to report a case of child abuse... Yes... Yes, the child is here at my house, away from his parent... Yes, 24 Mercy street, apartment 5. Yes, thank you."
He hung up. "They're on their way, they'll most likely want to take your statements and then go see your grandmother. Chances are they'll easily see that she's unable to take care of someone, and then we can arrange to have you stay here." Aph smiled.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:28 pm
Beauregard, unluckily, never really talked of his own accord so he wouldn't have been able to tell Rivener that he learned all the songs by listening and watching whatever pieces of music he could find in Isi's home. He would spend hours just listening to the music he found on Isi's iPod or on the radio. He even watched the Thiller music video, so he knew all the moves! He wasn't about to show them that. He'd just have to keep milking them first and he'd wait until the perfect moment to bust out in Michael Jackson dance moves.
Isi was still tightly hugging his crutches and he looked up at Aphismet with a face filled with gratitude. He didn't look hard or sarcastic that one moment. "Okay, Aphi...Do...Do you think she'll be angry at me?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:22 am
Aph thought about that a moment. "I really don't know... I mean, I don't know what you're grandmother is like, so... By what you explained so far, I think she'd not even be fully aware of what's going on." Aph smiled reassuringly and patted the boy's head, tousling the hair. "Don't worry about wether she'd be mad or not: after the way she treats you, she has no right to feel any outrage. You're allowed to look out for your own safety, you know. Don't feel bad."
Aph closed his mouth to stop himself from rambling on about it, which he felt he might do. Instead, he got up and headed to the small kitchen area. "I know it's really late, but do you want some food? I saw this one dish at the restaurant, and I would like to try to make it. If you're hungry, you can have some... You like beef, right?"
Rivener saw that the drama was over. He pouted. It hadn't been that entertaining. But later, it seems that policemen would be coming over. With a malicious twinkle in his eye, Rivener began to formulate a plan to make things interesting. In the meantime, he floated up and away again, towards his beloved radiator, narrating as he went.
"Rivener floated away, dissapointed that the events were pretty much done for now. He awaited the arrival of the next act, while floating about with his new friend Beauregard." Riv turned to the whale and bowed deeply, smirking. "Sir, may I have this dance?" He then reached out to the whale grandly, ready to take its little fins and spin it around in ballroom fashion.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:16 am
Hoisting himself up from the couch with a pump of his strong arms, Isi slipped his crutches underneath his arms before his wek legs had the chance to buckle underneath his weight. Then the boy followed after Aphismet and into the kitchen.
Well, Isi thought, Aph must be right about his grandmother. Old Maasi was a pyscho and by this time, Isi doubted that she knew up from down. With her deteriorating state of mind and comprehension, the boy doubted that she even remembered his name anymore. Isi released the worry he had begun to feel only to replace it with curiosity as he watched Aphi cook. "Yeah, but I hadn't had it in a while. It's hard to cook beef on crutches. That would be awesome. Do you like to barbeque?"
Delighted andsurprised again by his new companion, Beauregard burst out into the son that's sung during Sleeping Beauty. He floated near Rivener and did a mock form of a cutsy in the air.
"I know you, I met you once upon a dream!"
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:39 pm
Rivener returned the bow in kind, and then took the little whale, dancing around to the music while laughing. If Aphismet had been paying attention, he would be terribly creeped out; Rivener had never seemed so happy. The Frei seemed to have found a perfect friend in the entertaining helium-creature. During one of the lulls in the song, Riv dipped Beauregard dramatically.
"I like you a lot, Beauregard," Rivener admitted in a moment of unabridled contentment, a wide, honest smile across his usually smoldering features.
Aph, unaware of his Raevan's emotional breakthroughs, simply smiled at the boy. "I love to barbecue, although I haven't done that in a very long time... We don't have a balcony, so there's no room for such an appliance here. Last time I had enough porch space to do that, I was only twelve. Before the, um, fire." Aph's tone had changed to regret, but he quickly shrugged it off. He returned to a smile. "I'm a pretty good cook, everyone tells me, so you're going to be the lucky guinea pig for most of my culinary experiments." He grinned. "I think if I can manage to work up from busboy to kitchen apprentice, I might learn how to be a REAL CHEF. That would be the best!"
Aph was chatting along as he worked, doing his best to keep the boy's mind off the police that would show up shortly, and off the whole situation with his grandmother.
"You must be a fair good cook too... What's your favorite thing to make?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:09 pm
The boy leaned on the counter, taking his arms off the crutches as he watched Aphismet cook. Listening to him talk, Isi was grateful for a distraction and he fell into it like a fly into a web. "I bet your'll become a great chef! Well...I can make a lot of weird dishes and a lot of basic ones, nothing too fancy; but I think I'm best at baking and not cooking. I can make one hell of a pie and I even have the right tools to make ice cream cake and jelly filled cookies." the boy bragged proudly. Since he wasn't able to do much other things, he took as much advantage he could in savoring and improving the things he could do. "One delicacy, I just can't find any delight in is flan, though. I could never force myself to like it. I have to say, though, brownies are my favorite things to make."
Beauregard grinned brightly at Rivener and opened up a perfectly straight teethed white smile. The whale was enjoying all this attention (for he never recieved anything but a tired command from Isi, since he was so busy tending to Old Maasi, or a slight pat on the head), and it flipped its tail back and forth in joy.
"Do you love me?
Do I love you?
Yes, do you love me?
For thirty years, I've washed your clothes
Made your bed, slept in your bed
Washed the dishes, gave you children-!
But...Do you love me?
I guess...I...Do."
Rivener recognized the melody from 'Fiddler on the Roof'.
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:49 am
Rivener laughed at the song. He thought it was the strangest thing for a little whale to say to him, and for a moment thoughts of tiny whale-Freis flitting about the room flashed into his head.
The Raevan was getting tired, now. It was late, and he'd been dancing around... He needed to go get something to eat. With a little frown of concern, Riv hesitated to go to the window. "If I open the window, you won't leave, will you?" he asked. Rivener had taken the habit of leaving the apartment through the fire escape window, and climbing the metal staircase to the roof, where it was dark enough to provide him sustenance. Aph had been working very late lately at the restaurant, cleaning up after all the patrons had left, and so Riv had to take care of himself for the most part. The Raevan didn't mind, he knew Aph would prefer to be with him; he'd said so. But the man needed to work his way up to a PAYING job before Mario's severance pay ran out.
Aphismet smiled, working on a marinade expertly as he listened to Isi. "Sounds interesting! I'm more of a meal-maker, pastries and baking are a mystery to me. All that precise measuring... I prefer cooking things that I can just follow my instincts with, and you can't do that very much with pastries. With both of us together, we could probably pull off a delicious five-course meal!"
Aph placed the meat into the marinade and covered it, placing it in the fridge so he could concentrate on making something to go with it. "Hmm, rice, potatoes, or a salad to go with the beef?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at the younger boy.
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 11:14 am
"Never!" answered the whale in the classic Star Wars heroic shout of denial. The fluttered in the room around Rivener's and he did a barrel roll of excitement as he looked anxiously out the window. Beauregard loved the air, the sky...It was like an ocean to him. However, if Rivener, his new friend, asked him to stay inside, he will. He's just hang out precariously in the window sill.
"We should," Isi agreed with a happy grin, "When it's not so late and we're not so tired." The crippled boy stretched his bruised face, wincing as he did so, with a yawn and he leaned a bit heavier on the counter, "Maybe we could make one as a celebration of finding family...Uh, I'd go with the potatoes."
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:59 pm
Rivener smiled. He was glad to know that they wouldn't have to follow the whale all around town again, causing who knew what kind of havok. He opened the window and floated out onto the fire escape. He could see Beauregard acting all excited, and felt bad for him... With a half-smirk, the Frei leaned back in and whispered: "If you promise to stay by me and come back when I ask, you can come to the roof with me!" Rivener waited for the whale to follow (which he was sure it would), and then floated up to the top of the building.
This was one the tallest buildings in the area; there were no streetlights that reached this high, and there were no other windows around to shed light on the Raevan. Here, it wasn't as dark as it was in the park, but it was still dark enough to provide a proper meal. He could see the nightsky. Riv breathed in the cold air, and suddenly regretted not putting on his winter coat.
Aphismet smiled and nodded. "I prefer potatoes most of the time, too. Especially with beef, it just goes hand in hand, you kn-"
*knockknock* "Police!"
Aph blinked at the apartment door in confusion for a split second before remembering that this wasn't just another calm night at home with his new family. "Oh!" He exclaimed, dropping a potato on the floor as he rushed to the door, unlocking it and flinging the door open. A pair of officers stood there, and tipped their hats to Aph.
"You called about a domestic abuse?" The first man asked as the two officers walked in.
"Er, yes..."
"Hi there," the second officer said gently, spotting the boy easily. He knelt and smiled, taking off his hat. He saw the bruise. "How are ya? Kinda late to be up, isn't it? ...What happened there?" he asked subtly, motioning to the boy's cheek.
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:48 pm
Isi jumping about the same time that Aphismet did, watched with wide eyes as the man hurried to the door. Hobbling over to the dropped potato, Isi carefully slipped down to his knees and picked up the potato so he could place it back on the counter next to the sink where it could be washed off. It was then that he regretted going down on his knees. It was a lot harder to get up than it was to get down.
The police walked in just as Isi had managed pulling himself up from the ground and ha finished readjusting his crutches underneath his arms. Shying away from the man who knelt before him, Isi replied awkwardly, "My adopted grandmother, Old Maasi, hit me."
The gentle interrogation began and Isi answered all the officer's questions, watching with curious eyes as the man took out a notebook, flipped it open, and began scribbling words down. He told the officer everything he wanted to know like Old Maasi's information and how she had been slowly slipping into insanity. He told them of her changing personality, how she had been drunk, and how he took care of her. Every so often, Isi lifted his grey eyes and glanced over at Aphismet who was being asked questions the same way he was.
Beauregard happily followed the raevan and flitted about him happily, soaring in the sky and stretching his new bounderies by flying farther and farther away, but always circling and coming back to Riv. He was singing a song, the love song in Lady and the Tramp as he flitted underneath the dark expanse of the night sky and pretended there was a moon.
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