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 Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:04 am
After the initial excitement of Niven's "rebirth" had died down to a dull roar, Aodh was brought to remember the angel girl from the cafe. He would never admit that he initially forgotten her name and continued to do as such until he found her number crumpled in his jacket pocket.
Right, Guinevere. That was it. A pretty name. He dialed her number carefully and cradled the telephone between his shoulder and ear as he began to make breakfast.
Niven sat on a dining room chair, watching his father curiously and kicking his feet. He honestly had no idea who he was calling or why, but he wouldn't be adverse to meeting someone new at this point. He could stand and walk and run now, and he was almost certain that he could speak if he had wanted to. Maybe he'd speak to this new person. Maybe not.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:55 am
The funeral was in a week.
It left time for her relatives to fly up, time for the house to be cleaned, and time for Guinevere to decide what to do with herself, since her father had hardly been helpful about the whole affair. But at least she knew what was going on, and that she wasn't crazy, and what? Oh, right.
She also knew that her power was oh my God the most depressing and useless thing known to man. There was that, too.
The mop was next to her, and she looked at the spot on the linoleum where her mother had been lying. Sighing, she picked it up and began to scrub at it furiously, faster and faster until her arms hurt. There had been no mess, no blood, but it still felt dirty in a way that she couldn't quite explain, and she was sure there were other stains that her relatives would notice and shake their heads at. She had to get the house ready, if not just for her guests, then for her sanity.
The ringing of the phone stopped her, and she dropped the mop, looking at it as if she wasn't quite sure how to pick it up. It would be her relatives, or the mortician, or someone else with unpleasant business to discuss. She was sick of the whole business and it had barely begun, but she was the adult now, wasn't she? The Lady of the House, so to speak. She had to deal with it, even if she didn't want to. Reaching for the phone, she answered "Guinevere here, how may I help you?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:06 pm
Aodh had always been a particularly observant young man, and he couldn't help but feel a little awkward with the way his call was answered. Granted, his number was listed under "private caller", so perhaps she simply had nothing to recognize his name by. Either way, though, he was certain that something was wrong, but that was none of his goddamn business unless someone said otherwise.
"Guinevere, it's Aodh," he said after a moment's awkward pause. He was getting very good at those, "I have something to tell you, and I'd like it if you could come calling. You can come to breakfast if it's not a bother, but it's really up to you. I realize you likely have a life."
Niven tilted his head innocently. Guinevere? So it was a woman! How odd. Perhaps she would be kind, though. He wouldn't mind if someone was coming for breakfast and they were kind.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:00 pm
"Oh, Mr. Murray. Good morning." Her knees nearly buckled with relief as a friendly voice chatted about normal things. Breakfast, even. She had forgotten all about having breakfast today, what with one thing and another.
"Come over?" she repeated slowly as his words sunk in. She glanced at the mop in her hand, then at the spot on the floor that she was beginning to think would never feel clean again. She had to clean that spot, then she still had a lot of work to do, preparing food and beds and finding places for relatives to stay, since apparently her mother had a whole clan hidden away in distant corners of the world. "I'm a little busy, but thank you for inviting me. I have, um, a lot of cleaning to do. But maybe tomorrow or the next day or..."
She was interrupted by her stomach rumbling. "You know what? Sure, where do you live?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:17 pm
Something was definitely very wrong with Guinevere. Aodh gave Niven a look like he might know what was going on, and the boy only gave a wide-eyed frown and a shrug. He had no idea what you were saying, Daddy, how was he supposed to know?
"Are you certain?" Aodh asked, "I don't mean to impede on any plans you have, though boring and borderline slave-like they may be. It can certainly wait."
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:35 pm
Guinevere gave an abrupt laugh. "Oh, no, they're hardly plans, not plans at all, really. I can come over." Se glanced around her house and gave a little shudder. Even Pucci had disappeared to places unknown, and in the crackling silence that ensued once Aodh finished speaking, she realized how much she didn't want to be alone. "I'll be there soon, okay?"
--------
Her bike skidded to a halt in front of his house, and she practically leapt off it, striding up to the door and pausing before knocking, a few final sounding thumps. Collecting herself, she took a deep breath and tried not to look winded or alarmed. There was no backing out now, and it was hardly polite to show up at someone's house looking like something the cat dragged in.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:52 pm
There was actually a rack out by the side door with a big red bike chained to it, and it was open for Guin if she so wished. Aodh, however, was very busy making pancakes. Niven already had a plate Daddy had cut into tiny little pieces and was watching the door intently. When the knocks finally came, he grinned broadly and looked to Aodh.
"I heard it, I heard it," he said softly, "COME ON IN, GUINEVERE! THE DOOR'S OPEN!" Frankly, it always was, which was an invitation to robbers and he knew it. As of yet, though, he had never been robbed. He had, however, forgotten his keys, so there.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:31 pm
Opening the door, Guinevere blinked as she stepped into the house. It was so big, bigger than she was used to. Good thing her house wasn't this big, or she'd be angrier at her mother for kicking the bucket. This one was nice, but probably harder to clean.
"Good morning!" she said, even though she had already said it on the phone. "Thanks for having me over." She just wished she was more presentable. Her hands were red from furious scrubbing and she itched at them absently. "Sorry about the," she paused, and settled for "Everything," gesturing at herself, "I was in a rush to leave the house, and I can't find my cat, and..."
"It's sort of busy for me right now." She gave him a helpless sort of grin, and then actually bothered to look for him. Instead, she saw a white haired little boy with delicate wings, and though it took her a moment to realize the implications, her face lit up when she did. Going up to him, she said "Hello there, little man. I've heard a bit about you, you know?"
She might have the ability to sense death, but Guinevere preferred new lives any day.
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:38 pm
Aodh didn't bother to turn around before responding to Guinevere. It didn't take a genius to know why a young woman was apologizing for "everything". It was likely the same reason every woman ever had.
"Oh, it's fine! I'm a mess maself," he admitted. He had apparently slept strange, which was kind of a bad thing with wildly curly hair. It stuck out all over like it was supposed to...except in one little spot where it was nearly flat to his head. He hadn't bothered to fix it yet, and he wouldn't until he had to leave the house.
"Yenno, you sounded a bit off when I--" but he was too soft and too slow, as Guin's voice cut him off. He turned then to smile at her.
Niven had done the same, watching the girl approach and following her with his head. When she actually reached him, he finally put his buttery fork down and smiled broadly at her. That was it, though.
"Ah...he doesn't talk much."
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:17 pm
Guinevere thought of Nikolai and nodded firmly. "I'm used to it." she said, tilting her head at Niven for a better look. "Interesting wings you've got there." Squinting at them, she decided. "You know, I bet there are spoilers on here. I'll wait till I read the book."
Turning to Aodh, she met his blue eyes and gulped, because they were nearly the shade Aaron's were, and Aaron had been staring into her own eyes so recently, telling her things she hadn't wanted to know. Blinking, she recollected her poise. "You should have told me right away that he had been reborn! I have stuff I could bring for you and all if you needed anything." She was avoiding what he started saying, avoiding it as hard as she could, because if he finished, she would do something like answer honestly. And Aodh was reassuring, and reassuring people asking her what was wrong led to things like crying and other stuff that were on the list of Things Not To Do In Other Peoples' Kitchens.
"You know, I had a friend who didn't talk to me for two years? Of course, most recently reborn heralds are pretty quiet."
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:34 pm
"Nah. Everyone expects it," Aodh laughed, "It's just a few pages like the scenes in movies of 'oh god don't go in the basement', even though you know they're going to." He simply assumed that he had not been heard when he'd been interrupted, but he didn't have plans to go over it again any time in the foreseeable future. When something was wrong, the last thing you wanted was someone to ask you what was wrong. He fluffed his hair and nodded to another chair at the kitchen island.
"Take a seat, take a seat, and I did," he continued with a little laugh, "He's been a little boy all of an hour. It's nice to know he's not entirely strange, though."
Niven looked up to Guinevere and reached for her hand. She was a nice woman, and that was a good thing. It was nice people that had saved him. He didn't even care that Daddy called him strange.
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:35 pm
Guinevere laughed, but his words had suddenly made her realize that she was sitting down to breakfast with a horror writer and his horror novel child just a day after her mother died and her father, Death, had given her a good talking to. At this rate, the Addams Family was probably going to end up adopting her before the week was out.
"As long as I was the first." she said primly, offering Niven a smile. "He's charming, not strange!" The blood splotches didn't faze her much either, she'd be a hypocrite if they did. "I'll come over and get his measurements sometime to make some clothes for him if you'd like." She sat down at the table, enjoying herself in spite of herself and putting her napkin in her lap.
Come to think of it though, wasn't it odd that Aodh had called a girl he barely knew so soon after his son was born? She didn't see anyone else here, either. Of course, she was used to thinking of parents as beings that sprouted from nothing solely to raise her, but she had known Aodh as a person first. Looking around stealthily, she asked "So will your family and friends like him?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:35 am
"Really, now?" Aodh asked with a little chuckle, bringing the plate of fresh pancakes and sausage to the table, "Help yourself," he gestured before beginning to fill his own plate. He hadn't realized how hungry he was in all of the excitement, but now he could, and he was pretty sure the day could only get longer.
"Uhm," he began when asked a question, and then politely chewed and swallowed to avoid being totally impolite. When he spoke, it was just a bit awkwardly, "I, um. Don't really...have any? My family's back in Scotland, and I never really had the time to make friends. Not really."
It was always working with him. When he wasn't writing, he was signing, or at a meeting. Sure, he loved his job, and he could never trade it for anything else, but maybe it was due time to start being social; being normal. That wasn't a word he had ever known, but there were likely hundreds of other people on Gaia just like him, if not stranger.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:04 pm
"Ah." said Guinevere, and shot him a surreptitious glance over her pancakes (which were delicious).
Was she going to end up like Aodh? Her last family member had just died, and her father did not appear to be coming back, at least not for any real length of time. Already she was beginning to feel the thoughts nagging at her, the idea that she couldn't slow down, that seeing the rest of her family for the funeral was a chore. Even deciding to visit Aodh had been difficult, and it hadn't just been because she knew about her less than cheerful new power.
What would happen next?
It was something she had been thinking sort of half dazedly since yesterday, but it was suddenly thrown into sharp relief. Aodh was nice, she liked him, but would she, too, end up telling momentous news to someone she barely met in a café because there was no one else to tell? It wasn't like she even had that many friends in the first place. She wasn't sure Aodh himself even counted yet.
"Must have been kind of lonely," she offered tentatively.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:55 am
"Ah, on and off," Aodh shrugged, giving a dismissive wave of his hand, "I have Niven now, and I've met you, and unless you plan on escaping any time soon I'd consider you a friend." He'd lived his whole life so far with his bird and his books, so with Niven around he was only beginning to realize just how lonely he had been.
Niven looked to his father, and then to Guin. Hm, she was a nice lady, but she seemed so very uncertain! Something bad had happened, he could just sense it, but he could do nothing except eat his pancakes.
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