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 Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:12 am
He'd gone out of his way to avoid this- he wanted to do well, but not badly enough that he'd willingly go into what Shigeo had ardently and arrogantly denounced as 'enemy territory'.
"Look, kid," he'd said, one arm slung over his twin sister's shoulder. His glasses had gone dark with the bright daylight, but Carlisle knew where the man's brown eyes would be looking (somewhere over the boy's head) and wasn't really bothered. "From what you said, this guy has a lot of misplaced aggression." (Like you, Carlisle had thought, looking guiltily at the bruise in the hollow of Sugita-san's throat.) "So, when someone like that's got it out for you, you don't go throwing yourself into his path. You get out of the way of the ******** Carlisle had asked what '********' meant, and that had just ended the whole conversation.
All of that ended up to him standing by the doors into the Liberty Center, waiting for Merroth, since he had no clue where the other boy lived and doubted it was anywhere near Black Way in Aekea. Knowing what he knew- he was a little smart, and had also asked Sugita-san (who knew everything) if she knew any people named Boston who might have a son named Merroth and a yacht- it probably wasn't even in this world.
(He was suitably intimidated.)
Still, he wanted a good grade. He'd found a book in Aekea's public library about William the Conqueror and had tried to read it during their in-class work time. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten very far. Spotting Merroth, he walked over with a sigh that seemed like it came from the very tips of his toes. When he was near enough to talk to the other, though, Carlisle forced a bright smile. "How were the rest of your classes," he asked, impeccably polite as usual.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:24 am
Equally to form, Merroth impatiently ignored the question and set off with the quick instruction, "This way." The way was round the side of the building, across a lawn, to a small door marked "Authorized Use Only." It was one of those weird exits that led somewhere other than Gaia. Somehow, they never opened unless they were supposed to.
This one opened for Merroth as soon as he reached for it. The little passage behind looked dark and scary, like where you might lead someone if you were planning to kill them without any witnesses. Surely people had seen Carlisle go off with Merroth, though, so as a murder plan this one had a few flaws.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:31 am
Aaand no answer. Carlisle had expected that, but it still bothered him. He brooded over it as he followed Merroth, since following didn't take a lot of thought at all. Seriously, would it kill him to... answer a polite question every so often? Well it was his prerogative, Carlisle supposed. If Merroth wanted to be unfriendly, that was fine.
The door and passage turned out to be pretty weird, too. You'd think there would be something... less spooky, and he began to seriously lend weight to Shigeo's words. Merroth's silence was not helping, either. Still, though, he had to keep his History grade up and Aunt Bella knew where he was going and he'd had to bring a note to the office this morning anyway, saying he wouldn't be going home in the usual fashion.
He tripped over the jamb as they passed through it. Yeah, Merroth so did not live on Gaia.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:52 am
But two steps later it was bright and sunshine and so warm it felt like walking into summer. The air was salty and fresh and seagulls called. Merroth took a deep and satisfied breath and closed the door behind them with a metallic clang.
It was nothing more than a door in a little stone brick setting, a freestanding stone fixture framed by a few trees. Beyond the leafy branches lay water. There was no depth to it, no sign of any corridor, and yet on the other side was a whole universe.
As thought-provoking as the anomalous, freestanding door to seemingly nowhere was, the giant white building that rose three stories above them deserved some mention as well. A line of smooth asphalt split it off from the ocean, dappled with bits of sunshine through the tall trees. It was a massive building, comparable to the Liberty Center and possibly larger. It was hard to tell from this vantage point how far the back side of it extended. Bits of tame garden surrounded the building, the foliage sculpted but not overtly so.
Taken as a whole, the building and its surroundings were analogous to a college campus. It had the look and feel of sprawling institution. Apartment complex, or even hospital. But it was too quiet. Just the noise of seagulls and ocean waves breaking on the shore. Merroth beelined towards the nearest door.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:29 pm
Almost automatically he turned to look at the door and found himself astonished. He didn't know what he had expected- to still be able to see the Liberty Center? Giving himself a little shake- focus, focus!- Carlisle turned back to hurry after Merroth and found himself stunned at the house. It was big.
"You live here?" He ran to catch up and decided it had definitely been a good idea to braid his hair back. (It would have been inconvenient during gym, since there had been some kind of fitness testing which he had done okay at, he guessed.)
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:56 pm
"Only the west part," said Merroth, which was almost plausible until he followed it with, "Boston and Emma live in the north and the east." When the door opened, the air within was cooler by enough degrees to make it a relief from the tropical heat and humidity. "CONSUELA!"
Immediately an older, heavyset Latina in a black and white maid outfit arrived. The frilly white lace headpiece, which had the the effect of making some maids look refined or ladylike, gave her the impression of an ugly old princess the king was unable to marry off. She was grumpy, imposing, and more than a little scary. "Sí, señor."
Merroth jabbed his thumb at Carlisle before Carlisle could get any polite ideas abotu introducing himself. "Está estudiando conmigo. Su nombre Carlisle, pero, es un baboso y no me gusta. Es... para escuela." Merroth made a sour face. "¿Podemos tener quesadillas pequeñas? ¿Y flan? Y té, y jugo. Y..."
The maid made a face of disgust and turned and shuffled away. Merroth immediately began waving his arms and bellowed after her, "NECESITAMOS CHOCOLATE. POR FAVOR. CONSUELA! NECESITO CHOCOLATE PARA VIVIR! GRACIAS!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:08 am
He did his best to nod and follow along, deciding that was by far the best course to follow here, especially when the frightening old woman came out at Merroth's call. It probably was for the best, too, that he didn't have to do any of the talking, because he didn't doubt he would screw things up since it didn't even seem like they were speaking the same language. Idly, since he was hardly listening to the foreign words, he wondered if Consuela was the woman's name. Carlisle didn't ask, though, since it seemed like it would be weird and kind of rude.
Instead, he settled on something he had only just realized. "You don't call your parents Dad and Mom?" Or Mother, or Father, or Mama, or anything, he added to himself. It just seemed a little weird, and without any knowledge of Merroth's rather disrupted childhood he couldn't really form a basis for the seeming lack of attachment.
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:15 am
"Shut up," said Merroth flatly, a response so instantaneous and automatic he was barely aware of making it. He set off towards his room, which meant Carlisle had to follow. The only thing that might save Carlisle from becoming lost if they were separated was the fact that the house had a lot of windows, so it would somehow be possible to find a way back outside to the door in the event of anything unfortunate.
Merroth's path through the house was clearly borne out of an intimate knowledge of its layout. He made sudden, rapid shortcut turns, including one onto a stairwell that appeared quite suddenly around a corner. If nothing else, Merroth's navigational confidence was encouraging.
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:08 pm
Carlisle hurried after quickly, muttering "Sorry" as he did so. More than one he almost lost track of the other boy- particularly around the quick turns. He sighed a little- this place was huge and intimidating. Overall, he preferred the crowded noise of his house.
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:03 am
They ended up in what was presumably Merroth's bedroom. It was tidier than expected, even considering the presence of a maid. The bed was perfectly made and any personal touches the room might have possessed were hidden from view. A row of windows illuminated the whole of the space, bringing the sun inside and opening the room the outside world. Merroth threw his bookbag on the bed and started to unbutton his shirt as he walked toward the closet, still ignoring Carlisle.
The computer sitting in the corner of the room looked much the same as every computer at the Liberty Center. While the difference might have been in the internal components, it was hard to imagine that a system visually identical to those at school could be so advanced as to evoke scorn for all other computers. More likely this was yet another manifestation of Merroth's ego at play.
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Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:46 pm
The absolute lack of personality in the room threw Carlisle. He had been in plenty of people's bedrooms in his time, and all of them had little somethings that made the bedroom that single person's room. This room just had... nothing. It made standing in the doorway even more awkward than it would have been otherwise. The computer, though, evoked puzzlement and maybe just a little bit of incredulity. Jeez, it looked like even he could figure out the machine and it took him like two class days to figure out the school's computers.
Since he had nothing to say, he just stayed quiet and shifted his backpack from one arm to the other.
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Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:01 am
Merroth pulled off his shirt, tossed it on the bed, and disappeared into the closet, reappearing a moment later with a new shirt and a vest. The only difference between his previous shirt and the new one was that the new one was rufflier, with big poofy sleeves. Slipping on the vest, Merroth turned left and exited the room.
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Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:08 am
Okay, there was some personality in the fact that Merroth threw the shirt on the bed but he (Carlisle) didn't know what to make of it. Doubtless Shigeo or Uncle Astaroshe would know, but he was unsure. (He hid a smile behind his hand at the similarity between their clothes now, although the feeling of happiness went away when he remembered that Merroth seemed to think his mother dressed him. He kind of wished the other boy were right.)
When the other boy left, though, all traces of mirth vanished. What the heck? But then, did he expect anything else? With a sigh, Carlisle swung his bag around so he could pull out the book on William the First and look at it, attempting to sound out the words silently while he waited. There wasn't a doubt in his head that Merroth would make something of the book, but at this point he just wanted something to do.
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Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:09 am
A moment later Merroth's head popped in the door. "Are you coming, Glow-in-the-Dork, or what?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:11 am
"Glow-in-the-Dork?" Carlisle echoed it without a thought, completely mystified. After a moment, though, he got it. "Oh!" Coloring a little- because he was stupid, not because the name actually meant anything to him, honestly- he closed the book and shoved it away haphazardly. "All right," he said, still embarrassed, and he followed.
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