|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:24 pm
Now that Duncan was here, the atmosphere as Anita saw it had changed dramatically. She was all smiles, Duncan was all smiles, and Mordekai was eagerly getting things rolling. At the mention of a lack of people, and the resulting silence between brothers, Anita stepped in.
”Oh, yeah, sorry Cruz couldn't be here. He really wanted to come but this weather kicks his butt.” It was certainly no fib, Cruz had whined a lot about not getting to attend a birthday party, especially for Duncan, but in the end he drifted off to sleep next to Tango and Anita slipped out the door with little fuss. She hoped the mention of someone else not being able to make it, completely unaffected by Mordekai's poor scheduling, would lighten things up on that topic.
Anita smiled and waved Duncan off as he excused himself. When he was halfway up the stairs, she pushed off from the island and glanced around the kitchen, wringing her hands idly. ”Is there anything else we need to get ready?” There weren't really any party favors to speak of, which meant even if everyone arrived as intended that it was still meant to be a calmer sort of event. Even so, it felt like there was something missing and Anita puffed her lips as she went over the checklist. Presents were out, Duncan was home, food was prepared-- ah! Anita snapped her fingers and pointed at Mordekai, ”Cake!”
Did Duncan even like cake? Pie was an alternative, she supposed, but it was strange to think of a birthday party without at least some sort of equivalent. He needed to make his wish, after all.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:25 pm
Duncan looked to Anita before he made his way upstairs, his brows raised. He smiled warmly, though, and bowed his head. "Oh, it's alright. I do remember him being quite cold during New Years, too. So long as I see him sometime!" He chuckled and left for the stairway, clearly content.
Mordekai blinked at Anita while leaning against the kitchen counter. He opened his mouth to speak, then raised his brows when Anita reached a revelation. The change in expression was enough to get to laugh a bit, and he pointed right back-- "Cake! Right! I was gonna get that out. It should be in the fridge..."
"...You can't even remember if a cake is in the fridge," Johan noted, quietly.
Mordekai moved to the fridge and opened the main compartment up slightly-- it was difficult to see past him, given his height and how relatively small the refrigerator actually was. After a few moments of tired staring, though, Mordekai furrowed his brows and leaned forward to rummage through what food was in there.
This earned a pointed stare from Johan, who hadn't moved from his spot near the stovetop. He took a few steps closer to the fridge to glance into it, but it was difficult to see, even from his vantage point.
"Did you even order a damn cake? Here, move aside."
"Wait—"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:26 pm
That must have been what Mordekai was heading to the fridge for just before Duncan got inside, Anita figured as he was so quick on the uptake. She grinned as he made his way over there but, as before, it dampened with Johan's comment. This time, she kept her mouth shut but it took biting her lip to actually do so. It wouldn't matter in a few moments anyway, once the cake was out.
At least, that was what she figured until Mordekai gave pause. She and Johan both reacted the same way when he leaned in further to root around. A cake shouldn't have been difficult to locate, especially in a fridge like that.
Anita frowned when Johan approached. Mordekai was scatterbrained today, that much was evident, but the continuous negativity wasn't helping anything.
”It's not in there?” she stood on her toes to try and peek around them but both men were too tall and in the way, ”Would it be anywhere else?” That would be silly, keeping a cake anywhere but the kitchen, and another quick survey of the room confirmed that to be the case. It had to be somewhere, though, and it was likely just a simple matter of misplacement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:26 pm
After a few more moments of staring at the fridge, Mordekai glanced back at Anita and shook his head warily. "It's not," he managed, somewhat quietly-- he looked back at the fridge to survey it again. Once he realized this was futile, he finally stepped back and looked around the kitchen in response to Anita's question-- it was nowhere.
Johan looked between Mordekai and Anita-- after some hesitation, he decided to walk to the fridge and look himself. "It wouldn't be anywhere else." Johan paused before rustling through some beverage cartons, then glanced back at Mordekai. "You're sure you ordered it?"
"I'm damn sure," Mordekai muttered-- he scratched the back of his head and sighed, "I swear I ordered one..."
"If you ordered one, you probably kept the receipt. Do you remember where you put that?"
"Ah-- yeah-- lemme go get that." Mordekai glanced apologetically at Anita before quickly excusing himself from the kitchen. Johan closed the fridge and watched as he went-- Duncan met with Mordekai midway up the stairs, however, and though he traveled the rest of the way down, Duncan frowned and looked to Anita and Johan.
"Ah-- is everything alright? Is there a reason why Mordekai's going upstairs?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:28 pm
Anita nodded when Mordekai glanced back at her, and they looked around the kitchen where they stood at the same time. She closed her lips tightly and turned away from both men so she could roll her eyes without inciting anything as she went back to leaning against the island.
The two Kantors spoke before Mordekai was off again. His look of apology was met with a small smile. Anita understood the culminating embarrassment when several hiccups decided to happen all at once. The worse factor was getting it called out in your face every time. What mattered was that he meant well for Duncan and this situation was still salvageable.
With Duncan's return, Anita brought back her full smile for just a second. She glanced at the stairs when indicated.
”He's just grabbing something,” she rebuffed before Johan had a chance to add in even a hint of displeasure, ”How ya been since New Years?” Anita offered Duncan a light pat on the arm in passing as he got into the kitchen, her other arm still leaned on the island counter with her back against its edge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:29 pm
"I see," Duncan replied; he nodded in understanding and glanced to the counter, his brows raising slightly at the sight of the three gifts. He smiled to Anita, and laughed quietly-- he sat on one of the stools and sighed lightly; he was clearly tired, but he was calm, and the presence of good company and the smell of food was enough for him.
"I have been busy," he replied, "I recently joined the curatorial team at the museum I work at, and I've been looking into teaching again, so everyday has been nothing if not exciting." The latter statement earned a look of quiet surprise from Johan-- Duncan smiled at him then looked to Anita. "How has life treated you since New Years, Anita? I hope 2014 has been a good year for you so far."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:29 pm
Anita listened to Duncan with a content smile. The poor guy was obviously tired, having to work on his birthday and travel through snow bluffs. It must have been a long day. Her brows raised at the mention of him teaching again. Tucking her hands into her jean pockets, Anita leaned back against the island and shrugged as he turned the inquiry to her.
”So far so good,” she grinned, keeping her tone chipper, ”Gonna be busy when Spring hits, 'cause of new releases, but it shouldn't be any worse than last year.”
It was unlikely that Duncan or Johan wanted to hear her talk about her unimpressive retail position at a video game store, so she left it at that.
With Duncan sitting, she felt inclined to do the same. It was a little unnecessarily awkward with Johan standing to the side, silently observing, but what else was there to do besides chat while Mordekai was still looking for the cake receipt? She took up the stool next to him and folded her arms on the counter, long legs dangling and swaying gently. With a quick scooch closer, Anita leaned farther forward and tilted her head at Duncan.
”What'll you be doing as a curator? I think-- yeah, I remember Mordekai mentioning you used to teach when we first met. Were you thinking of doing the same or different subjects?” Getting the topic back on Duncan seemed like the best idea. It was his day, after all, but she was also genuinely curious. Just as well, it was one hundred percent more likely to be a topic Johan held some amount of interest in, rather than her boring year so far.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:31 pm
"I'm glad." He smiled warmly in return at Anita and adjusted his placement on the stool to be more comfortable. Despite being so tired, he was nonetheless engaged with what Anita was saying, and raised his brows; "Ah, I see-- well, best of luck," he chuckled, "Your work is with-- ah-- GameStop, yes? The game place at Gambino?"
Duncan waited as Anita sat on the stool, but felt the need for something to drink. He carefully hopped down from his stool and bowed his head, "Ah, excuse me," he began quietly while walking to the counter, "I'm quite thirsty."
He searched through the kitchen cabinet closest to the faucet and loaded it with water, then glanced to Anita. "Would you like a drink? And, oh, a variety of things-- I'm still training under someone to take on more work, but a fair bit of it is cataloging, recording, writing--" he laughed, "Ah, lots of writing-- I don't believe I'll be held accountable for management and liaising quite yet."
Duncan raised his brows at Anita's latter inquiry and laughed softly-- he nodded. "Yes, I did teach back in the day... it looks like I'm going to go back to teaching the humanities-- World History and English, namely," he smiled over at Johan, who glanced back with a wary but slight smile, "In fact, that's how I met Johan back when he was in high school."
"It was," Johan responded, in short. He turned his attention briefly to the three gifts on the kitchen counter, then, and gestured toward them before walking closer to the two-- Johan glanced back up the stairway, and when he realized there was no sound nor sight of Mordekai to be seen, he looked back to Duncan. "Would you like to open your gifts, Duncan? Mordekai may be a while."
"Ah--" Duncan looked to the presents, "Well... how long might he take, son?"
"He has a habit of taking his time with things. I can't say." Johan sat down on one of the counter stools, "I'll go upstairs and help him if he doesn't return in a few minutes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:31 pm
Anita's brows lifted at Duncan's attention to detail. Had she ever mentioned precisely where she worked? At the very least that it was a video game store in a mall, surely. ”Depot,” she clarified with a grin, ”it's a subsidiary. Like there's still Electronics Boutique's floating around even though GameStop bought 'em all out.” Still, at the heart of corporate, she might as well have been a GameStop employee. They functioned the same.
She smiled and nodded as Duncan excused himself and went for the cabinets. ”Oh, thanks. I'll have water too, please.” Anita smiled and hummed lightly as he explained his work situation, her legs gently kicking back and forth. The rubber toes of her sneakers tapped against the side of the island without a sound.
At the mention of meeting Johan this way, Anita pursed her lips and offered the younger Kantor an interested glance. It was subtle, but the small smile on his face perked hers back up as well. ”That's nice. Kinda nostalgic, huh?” She clasped her hands, fingers entwined, and looked over at the three gifts when Johan prompted. Her eyes drifted to the stairs, as well, just as Mordekai's extended absence was mentioned.
He must have been having trouble finding the receipt. Anita frowned. Would it be right to start without him? He already seemed embarrassed about his fumbles with the event, holding up the gift giving – or missing it entirely – would probably add to it.
”He might wanna be here for that,” Anita mentioned lightly as she pushed away from the counter, ”I'm just gonna tell him we're starting, so he knows.”
She gave both men a quick smile, then jogged to the stairwell and up the first half. From there her steps were softer, hand sliding on the railing as she raised her chin and glanced at the second floor. Anita had never been in this part of Duncan's house before, it almost felt off limits. Like a kid innocently trespassing, she took careful steps and peeked into the open doorways. ”Mordekai?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:32 pm
"I see, I see. Forgive my limited experience-- I've only ever been to GameStops to retrieve video games for my niece and nephew-- Jerri and Jillette, you remember them."
He nodded quietly at Anita's request and reached into the cabinet for another cup. He filled it with water and walked over to the counter to place the cup there for Anita-- he hesitated then turned to look at Johan. "Anything to drink, Johan?"
"No thank you."
With that, Duncan walked back toward his designated stool. He chuckled and nodded, then resumed sitting. He took a sip of his water before responding. "Yes! I'm afraid I'm not looking to teach at the same high school I met him at, though-- I have my sights set on a few project high schools in Barton-- they're quite interesting."
Duncan raised his brows at Anita's sentiment, then nodded, "Ah, of course. Thank you, Anita." Duncan turned back to drink from his glass and Johan briefly watched as Anita went upstairs. He frowned softly and returned to his glass of whiskey.
The upstairs of Duncan's home was significantly less decorated, other than with the occasional vase of flowers, but was just as clean. The hallway itself had a lone two counters, one long one just in front of the stairs and another diagonally from it in front of an open bathroom. Despite the size of the downstairs area, the hall wasn't exactly lofty.
Two other rooms were visible from the staircase. The room with its door directly from the stairs had its door cracked slightly open. Other than the white noise of idle conversation from Duncan and Johan downstairs, the only other noise available was that of idle papers and clothes shifting on the wooden floor. When Anita called Mordekai's name, though, a familiar voice came from inside the room:
"Oh!"
The blond swung the room door open the rest of the way to reveal a small and cluttered room, though most if it was documents, clothing, and empty prescription bottles. He looked over at Anita, brows raised, until his expression settled into an apologetic smile.
"'Ey-- ah-- sorry 'bout the delay, got kinda distracted..." he waved the hand his wallet was in; he walked out of the room and closed the room door after, "But I finally found it! Was in my wallet."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:33 pm
The quiet of the upstairs was foreign. Even despite the size difference between the first and second floors, houses larger than apartment rooms made Anita feel small. Without a lot of bodies, activity, and noise to fill the space like during Thanksgiving, there was a weird sense of emptiness that made her think back to Durem and the duplex.
Mordekai's exclamation gave Anita a quiet start. Her rubber sole scuffed with a short squeak against the wood floor as she halted, momentarily returning his doe eyed stare. The interior of the room was barely spared a glance.
”It's okay,” she laughed quietly when he closed the door. A firm smile set in place with his assurance. They could get this birthday back on track, and hopefully Johan wouldn't dip back into the negatives with Mordekai's success.
”Awesome! I just came up to let you know Duncan's gonna start opening his presents,” Anita thumbed over her shoulder back toward the stairs, ”Didn't think you'd wanna miss that.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:33 pm
"Oh! Yeah..." Though Mordekai looked initially pleasantly surprised at Duncan opening the presents, a tinge of anxiety followed that soured his smile. He nevertheless tried to perk back up and continued toward the stairs.
"Sorry 'bout the hold up, after you,"" Mordekai gestured toward the stairway, "I-- called 'em in and they're still open, so I'm gonna go pick that up after.""
While briefly waiting for Anita to start going downstairs, Mordekai glanced over the upstairs overpass and toward the kitchen. Though Duncan's back was turned away from where they were upstairs, Johan glanced up with furrowed brows at his brother, who waved slightly at him.
"Hey, I found the thing-- and if y'all are hungry, feel free to start eatin' at any time.""
"Duncan's going to start opening his gifts.""
"Yeah, I heard--"" he leaned forward against the overpass and Duncan looked back, amused and quietly laughing, "Duncan! You should start with the pretty one!""
Duncan looked back at the three gifts-- neither Mordekai's nor Johan's gifts were particularly decorated, with one being a beat-up cardboard box and the other in a neat black box. Given this, Duncan chuckled and pointed toward Anita's gift, then glanced back.
"Am I to guess you mean this one, Mordekai?""
"Yeah!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:36 pm
For his hesitance, Anita offered a short smile to try and reassure him before being ushered back downstairs. Neither of them seemed to want to waste time when Duncan's gifts were on the line, so she stepped down quickly, holding the rail while skipping every other step with her long legs. While Mordekai hanged back to peek over the rail, Anita stood at the foot and wrapped an arm around the bannister to watch the brothers' brief exchange.
Duncan's laughter was a nice sound to come back to. Contagious as it always seemed to be for her, Anita hugged the bannister and swung lazily on one foot with the other stretched out. She grinned curiously up at Mordekai, then leaned to the side to peer into the kitchen and see which the “pretty one” was.
”Aww, you don't have to start with that one,” Anita chuckled, hiding her face against her thick sleeve.
Her own gift had been somewhat quickly wrapped but she had taken pains to at least make it presentable. There was a card taped to the flat top, with Duncan's name in a large and bubbly scrawl across the white envelope. The wrapping itself was a faded paisley, blue and grey, and had been pulled in one piece over a shoebox. White tissue paper lined the interior and layered over the gift itself, hiding a pair of thick industrial gardening gloves.
”I hope they fit, I wasn't sure...” she flexed her fingers, ”but Spring'll be here soon, so y'know--”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:36 pm
Duncan picked the gift bag up from the counter and laughed quietly at Anita's remark. "Oh! But Mordekai requested it, and the packaging is quite beautiful, so I think I will."
Duncan glanced up at Anita from the bannister, and saw that Mordekai was pacing his way back down the stairs. Mordekai glanced back at Anita and gestured toward the kitchen, hop in his step and all, and enthusiastically went to Duncan's side. The blond pat Duncan on the shoulder gently.
"Open it! Open it!"
"Alright, alright." Duncan studied the gift and took the card off the top, making sure to gently open the envelope and read the contents inside. He smiled warmly after doing so and felt over the top of the giftwrap a bit to find the best place to begin unfolding it. Once he opened the shoebox, his eyes lit with pleasant surprise-- he pulled out the gardening gloves.
"Even just the card was thoughtful, Anita, but this too! Wow! Thank you. Oh, these look like just the right size, let me try them on." He pulled one glove over his hand to test, and it fit neatly over his palm and fingers. He chuckled at Anita's remark, too, and nodded. "Yes, it's just around the bend. I was just considering getting a new pair, too, my current pair is quite worn-- thank you so much. Oh! I'll be sure to tell you when the flowers start blooming this year."
"Aren't you gonna start planting a lot of new flowers this year, too? That's awesome!" With a quiet and cheerful 'that's right' to Mordekai, Duncan set Anita's gift down on the counter and nodded, then looked between the two remaining gifts. When he did so, Mordekai leaned his back against the counter and turned his head to look, as well, then smiled wryly.
"Second prettiest one, maybe?" Mordekai managed to say that as Duncan chose the clean black box. Duncan offered Mordekai a sheepish grin before chuckling and opening the lid.
Inside the box was a collection of thick books. Upon inspection, all of them were books by Vonnegut. Duncan looked immediately up at Johan and the two exchanged calm smiles.
"I've been meaning to read more of Vonnegut's work. Thank you, Johan," Duncan slid his palm across the book spines, "What a collection! We'll have to talk about it once I'm finished with reading these, you realize."
Johan nodded. "Of course. I hope you enjoy them."
Mordekai didn't have much to say in response to Johan and Duncan's short exchange, but he smiled all the same as Duncan set the box down on the counter and reached for the last box. His smile went from quietly content to a tinge nervous, though, and he adjusted his back against the counter while Duncan picked at the edge of a strip of duct tape to open it. Even if it wasn't the most magnificently decorated, it was by all means sturdy, and just before Duncan found a peelable edge, Mordekai laughed despite himself.
"Maybe you shouldn't open it," Mordekai noted, while Duncan still struggled with the bits of duct tape, "I don't think I can beat those other two gifts, man--"
"Oh, hush!" Duncan smiled reassuringly up at Mordekai then refocused on the box-- he finally managed to peel the duct tape up enough to rip it the rest of the way off. The sound of cardboard pulling up rang through the mostly empty room, and despite Mordekai's consternation, he continued to watch with uncertainty anyway, masked mostly by a halfhearted grin.
Inside the box was a brand new pair of oxford shoes.
"New shoes! To go with Anita's shoe box," Duncan laughed-- he lifted them up by the cuffs and inspected them, side by side, then smiled up at Mordekai. Before he could issue his thank you, though, underneath the shoes was a folder, filled thickly with piles of paper.
"Oh!" Duncan set the shoes down on the counter, then lifted the folder up, "What's this?"
"Ah--"
When Duncan opened up the folder, his smile immediately disappeared, and so did Mordekai's.
"I found it the other day..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:38 pm
Anita dislodged herself from the bannister as Mordekai finally came down and made his way to the kitchen. She lingered back a bit to watch the event unfold, craning her neck to see around Mordekai before he leaned himself against the counter and out of the way.
The card itself was generic and cutesy, not having mention of age or specifics outside of it very obviously being a card. A visual metaphor of being over the hill drawn in childish crayon graced the front, while the center was originally blank. Two colors scrawled across the interior in two very different scripts, one written with a black ballpoint and the other a green highlighter. The highlighter script was short and extremely messy, difficult to decipher, though beside it was a second blurb of black text which translated.
”Happy birthday, Duncan! Sorry I didn't go. Hope to see you soon. Thank you for xmas presents! The croccy is very nice. – Cruz ♥ ” Beside it was a crude drawing of what looked vaguely reminiscent of the croc plush in question. Underneath that was a small drawing of a paw signed in Anita's scrawl for Tango.
As Cruz's text took up a considerable amount of one side, Anita wrote her message on the other starting from the top left corner. ”Duncan! It's been a crazy year, and a crazier time since we met. I'm sure we would have gotten acquainted eventually regardless, but I'm glad we bumped into each other how we did. Things have been kind of bumpy but you've been a really great addition to my list of friends and I'm very grateful to be invited to any of your holidays. Thank you so much for your kindness, warmth, and the gifts! Let's put all the bad stuff behind and smile. Hope you have a wonderful birthday and an even better year! – Anita”
Duncan's smile at the card, and exuberant appreciation for the gloves, was well met by more smiling and giggles from Anita. ”Oh, good,” she sighed when he tried them on and they fit well. At the offer of flowers, Anita's eyes lit up and she meandered closer, hovering in the kitchen doorway. ”Yeah, please! I'd love to get in the garden again when it's all bloomed up!”
She couldn't help but wonder what new flowers Duncan intended to plant. They would look lovely, of course. Would that mean new fairies, too? Excitement for Spring bubbled in Anita as Duncan went for his second gift, this one from Johan. Books were always a nice gift, and though she hadn't read any of Vonnegut's work herself she tucked the name away for later. If Duncan was interested in them, they were worth at least a perusal.
Last but not least was Mordekai's gift, wrapped quaintly. At his sudden hesitance, Anita gave a quiet consoling 'oh' that was quietly overtaken by Duncan's own rebuttal. Of course it would be a great gift. She laughed excitedly with her shoulder leaned against the doorway at the reveal of shoes.
”Enjoy your box!” she snickered, folding her arms and getting more comfortable. The appearance of a second gift inside made her brows raise and she watched with a calm smile as Duncan retrieved the folder.
Her smile, too, dropped when both of theirs did. In the resulting quiet, Anita peeled herself from the wall and left her arms at her sides, posture slack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
