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 Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 8:35 pm
Antony was pleased. To him, twelve was old and wise, and to have a friend like that meant that it didn't matter what the kids his age said about him, or how they treated him.
"You know that park where we met?" he asked her in reply to her question. "I live about a block away from there. It's nice, Sandy says I can practice my skateboarding any time I want, as long as I have my homework done and I don't have anything else important to do."
He grinned back at Linyang. "What about you? Where do you live?"
He suspected that it would be a fancy area, but he had no idea where that would be.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:12 pm
"I live on Lapis Drive," Lanying explained.
She paused, realizing that he might not know where that is, it wasn't like there was a large sign saying where it was. Okay, there was, but she tended to chose to ignore the big sign. And chose to ignore the neighbourhood in general, but that was her.
"It's the place that is walled off by those red bricks and iron gates," she explained.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:24 pm
Antony's eyes grew wide, and suddenly he felt slightly awkward.
"Oh," he murmured softly. "There."
At least, he assumed that he knew where she was talking about. He had been told that there were different colours of bricks around the city, but he could only guess at which ones were which.
"I guess that means you're rich, huh," he said blandly. "That's the rich place isn't it?"
Well, he couldn't begrudge her that. All the money in the world wouldn't change his situation, after all.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:42 pm
"Yes, I suppose so," Lanying replied with a murmur.
She hadn't really given much thought about it, the whole place was so bothersome for her. Not enough children living there neither or if there were they were all so... dull. That was the word she was looking for.
"It's not really child friendly."
That was her personal opinion which was probably why she scandalized her nanny and her peers... and as soon as her mother finds out her mother as well when she requested to be taken to the local park. Besides no one was interested in Angels... well they were, but only as trophies. Angels that would have never fought and their owners probably couldn't use them.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:49 pm
"Child friendly?"
Antony had to stop and think about what that might mean. He had always been in places where there had been a lot of children, and therefore a lot of play areas, and a time or two he had even had foster siblings. Rarely, but it happened.
"Is that why you're out here?" he asked curiously. "I mean ... it's just ... I've never seen anyone from ... there ... before ..."
He blushed again. He didn't want to make it sound like she was an oddity, but truth be told the people in that area didn't mix with ... well, people like him.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:06 pm
"Hmm....." she thought about it, "Yes, but... also my grandfather and grandmother is from here, or... not from there. My mother isn't neither from there, but she tends to forget that."
Or try to, her mother was also scandalized by the fact her grandfather wished to continue to live outside of the gates, even though he could live very comfortably with them. It would be no burden to the family and he would always be well taken care of. Though Lanying suspected that the maids might drive him mad, which was why he chose to live on the outside.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:13 pm
"Oh, I see," Antony nodded thoughtfully. "So you ... spend time with your grandparents?"
He wondered what life would be like if he lived with his grandparents. Would he be better off than he was at the moment? Or was he better in the system? He wished that he could at least see them every once in a while, but Child Services forbade it for some reason.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:27 pm
"With my grandfather yes," the girl replied, "My grandmother died when I was little."
It was a pity too, it sounded like her grandmother was more modern in her ways than her mother. Which to Lanying sounded a bit twisted, but that was life for her. Her mother was always the one who wanted to be pampered.
"I visit him whenever I can."
Which wasn't often, it should be more though.
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:33 pm
"Oh ... I'm sorry," Tony murmured, his face growing warm again. "It's good that you can see your grandfather, though. I kind of wish I could. Child Services says it's not a good idea, but I don't know why."
But they knew best - or so they claimed. It didn't matter. No matter what Tony thought or did, he couldn't change anything. Sometimes it seemed to him as though he were one of the Angels he loved so much - that the people with big titles and fancy clothes could control him, his movements, his environment, with just their thoughts.
"My grandparents live somewhere on the other side of the city," he offered to Lanying, feeling for some reason as though he needed to explain, "but I've never seen them before. Met them once, that I can remember, but never seen them."
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:44 pm
She too wondered why, but she did not question the judgment of adults too much. If they said something like that, there must have been a reason for it, she was sure. After all, as her grandfather had proven not all grown ups were impossible to understand.
"The grown ups always have their reasons," Lanying murmured thoughtfully, "Maybe when you're older you can see them, it age always matters to grown ups."
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:52 pm
"Maybe," Antony agreed, "but probably not until I'm completely all grown up, if they'll even let me come then. I'm not sure, but I don't think I like them very much. They didn't seem to care much when Mom and Dad died."
He of course hadn't been able to see anything at the funeral, but his sense of hearing had been far more acute during his brief time of blindness, and he hadn't heard any sorrow in their voices at all. They hadn't hugged him, or told him he was going to be okay, or given him any sort of encouragement. They had just sort of ... been there. Like a presence that was unimportant. Like any of the guests. Or less.
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:11 am
Lan found that odd, she thought it was only her parents that had affection issues as she called them. It would seem that was not the case, though she was use to grandparents at least being more affectionate than parents.
"They should have," Lanying murmured, "But there are a lot of things grown ups do that isn't very understandable."
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:25 am
"No kidding," Antony frowned, pushing against the ground with his foot and swinging back and forth gently. "Everybody tells me different things, and then I get yelled at when I don't understand what they're trying to tell me."
He was quiet for a moment, but then he smiled again, looking up at Lanying. "But Sandy's not like that, she doesn't change her mind. She encourages me to try new things and to ask questions when I don't understand ... and she doesn't say I'm stupid for liking Angelic Layer, my old family did."
He was prattling again, but he didn't care.
"Hey, do you know if you can have stuff for your angel to use? Maybe not in battle or something but for practicing and stuff?" he asked eagerly.
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:51 am
"You mean a portal layer to practice on? A layer to own?"
Lanying blinked, she hadn't thought about it, she was glad Antony had brought it up. She was sure her mother might suggest it or something, it was good to n** that in the bud before it got out of hand.
"I don't think so... I don't know if the company sells anything and if they do it's more than what it would be worth," Lanying murmured, "I think you're supposed to go to the store and rent rooms to practice on.. or they have a large one where you can just simply practice....
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:56 am
That hadn't been at all what Antony had been getting at, but he thought it was a very good idea indeed - not that he could ever afford one.
"I actually meant things for the angels to use," he said hesitantly, "like ... well, I thought maybe a little skateboard or something, it might be neat if Cesar could do some of the stunts that I can't, and it would help with practicing for battle ... different moves, judging distance ... it's hard to tell sometimes because there's almost no shadow in a layer, they're so well lit."
He paused. "But do you think ... maybe we could practice together sometime? If I manage to save up enough for some clothes for Cesar?"
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