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 Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:31 pm
Hank was pleased. The day was overcast, and threatened rain. He was in his rain slicker and marched along, holding Metz's hand and his umbrella. Metz had on her trenchcoat and her hair was tied up in a bandanna.
Also, Metz said they could get more peaches when they were done at the cafe.
The cafe was a little emptier then usual, which made Hank happy. He liked it when it was quiet, which was another reason to like the rain. He was a little bit puzzled though when Metz ordered a lot more croissants then she usually did, and asked for a cup of water and a large orange juice in addition to her tea and his small orange juice. She handed him the paper bakery bag and held the tray of drinks so they could sit under the umbrellas outside.
"Hank, we're going to have breakfast with an old friend of mine and her son today. They should be here soon. Her son's a little older then you, but it will be ok. You don't have to talk much f you don't want to."
Hank nodded his agreement and began to suspect that the promise of peaches after breakfast was bribery of some kind. Not that he ever really misbehaved, but when Metz talked to the lady at the Boring Center she sometimes looked worried when he sat by himself and looked at books.
Metz looked down the street at two figures coming towards the cafe.
"I think that must be Shiny and Ask now."
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:51 pm
Shiny was a tallish woman with blond hair and green eyes. Ask on the other hand was a kid with reddish eyes and two tone brown and yellow/orange hair. Though perhaps the oddest thing about him was his duel pair of wings, the top one was orange and the bottom pair was green.
"Metz! It's great to see you! I don't even want to ponder how long it's been. How are you? Is this little cutey Hank?" Shiny greeted them both in a flurry. Ask just waved and took his seat. He was a shy boy even if he was older then Hank.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:05 pm
Metz stood up to give Shiny a hug. She was slightly taller then her friend and darker of hair and eye. "It's been too long Shiny. I got you an orange juice and Ask some water. I hope you still like croissants? Yes, this is Hank. Hello, Ask, I'm Metz. How are you today?"
Hank stopped chewing mid-bite of his croissant. He didn't like to have his routine interrupted, but Metz seemed very happy to see this lady and her kid. He said, "Pleased to meet you," to Shiny, a bit stiffly, or it would have been stiffly had he not had a mouthful of pastry. As it was it just seemed unbearably cute.
He finished chewing and said, "Hello," to the other boy. He was a lot taller. Also he had wings. Metz had explained that he was special and different from the other children; he would develop powers and grow wings and grow very quickly compared to other kdis- so he wouldn't be in the Boring Childcare Center very long- but he wasn't expecting his mother's friend's son to be special like him too.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:11 pm
"It's nice to meet you too Hank. And croissants are fine and so is water and orange juice."
"Hi." The taller Ask said to Hank then he turned to look at Metz. "A pleasure to meet you too." Ask smiled just a little towards Hank as if sharing an inside joke about how silly mothers were with their need to be social. He took a croissant and put it on a napkin in front of him and sipped his water while waiting for the adults to sit down.
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:04 am
"It's lovely to meet you, Ask," said Metz, sat and turned to start catching up with Shiny.
Hank regarded Ask quietly. He was pretty sure Metz expected him to at least try and be friendly with her friend's son, unlike at the childcare center, but Hank didn't know what to talk about.
He didn't tell anyone about his secret things, and he was sure this boy could read already and wouldn't be interested in his own struggles to read and write more smoothly, or Hank's beginnining adventures in the kitchen with French Toast.
Casting about for a topic, Hank settled on the weather. He looked at Ask, and said as if he was imparting a great secret, "It looks like it will rain today."
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:02 pm
Ask blinked at the little boy then peered up at the sky. "Yeah, looks that way." He didn't seem surprised, or even like he had to look up to know it would rain today. Ask paused like he'd like to stop talking right there but he too was expected to make nice. "You like the rain?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:55 pm
"Yes. I like the rain. I don't like it when it's sunny. It's too bright and it hurts my eyes. Metz says probably cause I'm a mushroom and I like the dark and damp. Metz knows a lot of stuff. She says that's why I like the garden, too. Um. What do you like to do?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:30 pm
"I like playing outside, and going hiking and swimming." Ask paused to eat some of his croissant. "You were given a mushroom? That's neat."
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:22 am
"Metz didn't really give it to me. I took it without asking then she said I could have it. It was a glass mushroom.I only like the outside when it's not sunny. I play in Metz's garden a lot but not when it's very sunny because then it's too hot. Metz has a really big garden and it's all over grown."
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:32 am
"Oh a glass mushroom. That garden sounds cool, all overgrown like a jungle. I bet it's fun to explore." Ask was a fan of wild things as opposed to tamed things.
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:44 pm
Hank really did enjoy exploring the garden, but he didn't want to make it sound too wonderful and interesting; Ask might get ideas and if Metz invited him and his mom over Hank would have to show Ask all of his secret places.
There was an uncomfortable silence on the boys' side of the table while their mother's talked. Finally, he simply said, "Yes, it is."
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:24 pm
If Ask had a secret sensing antennae it would be perked up. "Oh? Have you found anything interesting in it?" He leaned forward. Yes give me your secrets. For I shall keep them and they shall be mine.
Ask wasn't diabolical at all when it came to secrets. Nope. Luckily he didn't seem to be as silly about other things, except for maybe snakes and farms of all things.
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 9:55 pm
Hank answered a bit faster this time, but not I'm-covering-something-up fast. "No, not really. There are some old tools. Some sparkly rocks. A snake skin once and toads when it's raining."
Hank eyed Ask from across the table and shoved more of his croissant into his mouth. If Metz kept insisting on meeting people he wasn't going to be content with the hidey-holes he had; he was going to have to find some better ones.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:42 am
"Don't tell my mother about the sparkly rocks, she loves shiny objects." Ask clearly wasn't going to get secrets out of another secretive person and he was smart enough to realize it. This is where you back off the secrets and maybe go for trust to eventually be let in on the secret. "And you found a snake skin? I hate snakes. I saw this girl once with snakes for hair and a snake tail."
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Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:54 pm
Hank didn't know what do say about that. It could be cool, but it was also kind of weird. "That sounds kind of gross," he said. "But I guess it was kind of neat? I'm glad I don't have snake hair or a snake tail."
Hank thought having snake hair would be severely unpleasant; plus, the snakes would know everything you did. How would you keep a secret?
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