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Greenie

Greenie is sort-of a pushy bottom, very needy, a little petulant and bratty,
but that's because he's hopelessly in love with Merlot, and he's afraid
that if he doesn't keep Merlot's attention constantly, Merlot will grow bored
of him and leave. He has low self esteem. Growing up with an eye patch,
not to mention being gay, makes life a little difficult. He is loyal to a fault.
Someone who hurts his friends will live to regret it. When he loves you,
he really, really loves you. When he hates you, he really, really hates you.
He's had this dream of finding true acceptance and belonging,
ever since he was a kid. As he grew, it metamorphosed into wanting to find someone
who didn't care if he walked around the house in just a t-shirt
or in his underwear, someone he could work to impress, someone who wasn't
repulsed by the scar that lay under the eye patch. He’s found that in Merlot,
he just doesn't know it yet. While Merlot is at work, Greenie has long hours to sit
and think while doing his watercolour paintings, he gets to wondering.
So much in the art field is about aesthetics, and he already has one obvious defect.
What happens when he gets old and starts having more?
He is head-over-heels for Merlot.




Merlot

Merlot loves Greenie back, but is a little overwhelmed
by all of the affection.
He never had anybody want him so badly, and he's never really
sure how to respond, which only serves to worry Greenie more.
Merlot is the type to get flustered and tongue-tied and to fiddle
with his hands trying to think of a way to accurately convey his
love... which usually leads to wild sex. Greenie doesn't mind that
at all. Merlot is rather fond of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and the opera,
as well as the Ramones, The Police, and the Clash.
The only opera Greenie could ever stand was Bizet's Carmen
but the Chopin is
growing on him. Merlot works on one of the city's largest newspapers.
He loves gardening, cooking, and Greenie's paintings. Merlot was
once very promiscuous, especially in his late teens. girls, boys,
whoever he could catch. He never shared a strong bond with any
of the people he slept with, then, and when one of them tried to
attach himself or herself to him, Merlot would back off and give the
cold shoulder. People strived for his attention, but he never felt
anything for any of them. He was looking for something, someone,
but he wasn't sure what or who, and he sure wasn't going about it
the right way. He got himself under control in college, but the residual
effect still haunts him, and having such strong feelings for Greenie
is terrifying for him. He'll make lewd little comments which can be taken
as jokes or declarations... and usually this is on purpose. He doesn't want to scare Greenie off,
but usually, he actually means what he says.

.



Others

Greenie and his Siblings

Greenie has two older sisters, Lizzie and Nettie, two younger brothers, Blakely and Jacob, and an older brother, Aaron. Lizzie is a camp counselor during the summer, works at the city Parks and Rec department, and majored in recreation in college. She always looks sleepy and dresses straight out of REI. 'Nettie' is short for Antoinette, and she currently works at a coffee shop called Ground Zero. She's running out of colours to dye her hair. Blakely is the youngest, and has terrible posture, which he probably learned from Lizzie. He's 7, and likes to build model robots. Jacob is an 8th grade scene kid. Nettie did all of his piercings, and dyes his hair for him. Their mother is probably spinning in her grave. Aaron is the oldest and has a nine-to-five desk job which he hates, but it pays the bills. He's married to a jazz singer named Jeanne and has a son, an adopted daughter, and a house in the sub-urbs.

Margot, Sister of Merlot

Merlot has an older sister named Margot who SWEARS she's not an alcoholic, despite the fact that 3 out of 5 Sundays she wakes up hung over. She took courses at a community college in fashion and psychology, but she's flaky as breakfast and flighty as stairs, so she never really graduated. Merlot really isn't sure what she does for a living. He suspects she picks up rich boyfriends and mooches off of them. She is often seen face down in a couch with one high-heel and a minidress on, snoring lightly. She was pregnant once at 19, and put the child up for adoption. She hates the smell of peanut butter.

Ages:

Merlot: 23
Greenie: 19 20
Margot: 27ish? She stopped counting.
Aaron: 32. He feels old but looks young.
Lizzie: 24 25
Nettie: 22 23
Jacob: 13
Blakely: 7 and two thirds 8 and an eighth Why do kids care so much about fractions?

Just so you know, I pretty much hate the way this is written. I have a habit of over-writing things. Argh.

It was the rainy season in the city and as yet another cloudburst ravaged storefronts and storm drains, people ducked under awnings and into buildings, their eyes set on the downpour which sent them swimming in the air. There is little that cats like less than water, and a sea of ears were pressed flat against a sea of heads beside the mounting gutter-streams. Peregrine "Greenie" Conway had taken sanctuary in a small pizzeria, oddly NOT one of the huge corporate chains which dominated the city. The place was crowded, and people stood in the doorway, trying to get out of the rain. That's a fire hazard, but who would fear a fire in the rain? Greenie drew mindless ketchup designs on his plate with a french fry, staring out the window now and again to the monochromatic world, muted by a great sopping blanket of grey. It was hard to miss Merlot's burgundy hair, though it was wet and soaking the tall man's overcoat, already peppered with dampness in the way that only a mad dash through the rainstorm would achieve. Merlot resisted the urge to shake his head and fling the water from his longish hair. Instead he tried to calm his breathing, having run from his office building through the driving rain, missed his bus, and sprinted into the pizza parlor to escape the weather. He cast his eyes about, seeing a few empty seats, most next to giddy couples or sour old men with soggy newspapers. He laid his hand on the back of the chair opposite Greenie, asking politely if the seat was taken. "Hm? Oh! No, go ahead," Greenie answered, trying his damnedest not to stare, or sound too eager, or too cold, or too interested or to boring, or too anything at all. Merlot sat across from Greenie and attempted a smile, which was returned weakly. Rain depressed the city. Food was its only consolation, and as a waitress came to take their orders, it was kismet, or even destiny for those who believe in it, that they answered the same thing at the same time, and thus the first of many bonds was born.

The rain dwindled and the people spilled like sand into the street. As they were crowded out of the pizzeria at elbows and shoulders with the muttering throng, Greenie and Merlot held together. Each was loathe to loose the other into the dying wind. Merlot deliberated. Feeling the knots in his stomach, he mumbled an invitation to a cup of conversation, and Greenie gladly crooked his elbow in the proffered arm. They walked in step, their breath hanging in the air as they side-stepped puddles and dripping overhangs.

Coffee spurred their tongues to speak, and they were long in sitting and sipping modestly from their steaming cups. The attraction was there. It had caught them in the storm and urged them to huddle together.

Greenie tried to keep his hair over his eye patch, but there was no obscuring it. Merlot watched Greenie worry his bangs subconsciously, and wondered if he should broach the subject. He gathered that Greenie saw the cotton square as a sort of blemish, and without thinking said, "It really is rather cute." Greenie gave him a questioning look, the statement coming out of a long silence. Merlot indicated his own eye with an index finger, and Greenie understood.

"Oh, that," he whispered, staring into his cup miserably. Merlot smiled humbly.

"It is."

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It was November, and leaves skidded across the pavement in little gusts of wind. Merlot clutched his rolled-up newspaper tight to his coat as the tassles of his scarf were flicked up into his face. He faught the wind and was glad to duck into the protection of a familiar stoop of an inviting-looking brownstone. Greenie was home for the Thanksgiving holiday, with his brothers and sisters and neice and nephew and sister-in-law and all the rest of his extended family. Merlot rang the bell, hearing it echo inside. He was tucked into a stifling hug when Nettie answered the door. She was quite fond of him, for no reason he could see. Unbeknownst to him, she liked him because he seemed to make her kid brother Greenie sigh less and smile more. Plus, he had a great wit and pretty good fashion sense. She always had been a bit of a faghag. Merlot shrugged off his coat and scarf in the mudroom and hung them on the coatrack, alongside eleven others. Nettie told him Greenie was in the den, and Merlot made a beeline there, waving hello to the many family members and dodging when Erika and Blakely ran by, playing tag.

Greenie was reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when Merlot stepped into the den, and he jumped when Merlot fell heavily onto the sofa, right next to him. Greenie closed the book and let a bright smile spread across his face as he hugged Merlot tightly. "Thanks for coming, Love," the younger of the two said. "Lizzie and Nettie have been in the kitchen all day with Jeanne." Merlot laughed and ruffled Greenie's hair. "Lizzie and Nettie? In a kitchen? The apocalypse is upon us." Greenie chuckled. It was true. Lizzie had always been a fan of no-prep foods (fruit, cereal, mixed nuts) and Nettie went out to eat more often than not, so it was very rare to see either of them cook. Still, it WAS Thanksgiving, and they'd insisted that Aaron NOT try to cook for the whole family this year.

Merlot began unrolling his newspaper and Greenie looked over with a raised eyebrow when merlot pointed at a picture on the page. Greenie read, then his one good eye widened and he looked up at Merlot, half in shock, half in wonder. Merlot had brought the real estate pages, with an ad for an apartment circled in blue ink. A one-bedroom apartment. "Just something to think about," Merlot said, smiling softly and kissing the top of Greenie's head. Was Merlot seriously asking Greenie to move in with him? His hands trembled as he stared at the ad, his heart racing. "I..." he began, his voice quiet. Merlot leaned back to look at him. "Okay," Greenie said, taking a while to work up the courage to look at Merlot. "RE-!" Merlot quieted himself, coughing after his outburst. "...Really?" he asked, trying not to show how his heart was bursting within him, overflowing with hope. "Y-Yeah," Greenie stuttered, smiling genuinely, squeezing Merlot's hand. Maybe he DID have something to be thankful for this year.

Here's a recent entry in Greenie's notebook. That's November second, not February eleventh, by the way.

As of 11/05/07, the ages have been updated! Next birthday: Merlot's turning 24!