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 Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:29 pm
((Well, that was a lame title. Anywho. >>;; ))
Zack was lounging on the couch when he realized it was raining out. He had been reading all morning, Osha had been finger-painting at the kitchen table. No wonder the boy had been so quiet. Rain just had that effect on people. The black-haired man set his book down with a lazy yawn before addressing the redhead.
"So what you wanna do today, kiddo?" Osha just looked up at him. Zack sighed. What would a toddler like to do on a rainy day? Besides coloring? Hmm. Hadn't Dacian mentioned something about a Gavin? Zack walked over to the kitchen. "You want to go visit Gavin?"
Osha nodded eagerly. Play date! He set his painting down to dry and slid off the chair, toddling into the kitchen. He grabbed the paper towels and wiped his hands off quickly before trotting back to Zack and grabbing his hand. Since he was new, he'd have to show him where Gavin lived. Out the door he dragged his guardian, arriving at Gavin's door as quickly as possible. "Gavin!"
Zack grinned. Well, it had been a good idea! He turned and knocked on the door.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:35 pm
One had to wonder if Patricia had hidden security cameras around her floor of the apartment. As if on cue, the door opened after the first knock to reveal the monstrosity that was Patricia. Her already wild hair seemed more frizzed than usual, suggesting that she had been focusing on something very important before being so rudely interrupted.
She raised a delicate eyebrow and asked with a tinge of annoyance. "May I help you?"
She seemed to ignore the colorful little boy at her feet. Color. Ugh. There was a reason she wore all black.
Gavin, on the other hand, was curious at the prospect of guests. It had been quite some time since he'd seen anyone, and he'd been getting anxious. Playing with Hawk Man action figures could be entertaining for only so long. He needed something messy to do. Osha seemed to be an answer to his prayers.
"Best fwend ever!" he exclaimed in greeting, peering from behind Patricia's floor-length skirt.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:43 pm
Now, Zack couldn't hear the woman's agitation, but the raised eyebrow was clue enough. "Um...hi there," Zack started, absently running a hand through his own hair. Good. It was its normal, spikey, not-frizzy self. "I'm Zack, Osha's new guardian." He offered his hand for a shake. "Pleasure to meet you." He paused, listening to a few particularly good lyrics before continuing speaking. It must look funny to those watching. "Dacian told me Gavin was Osha's best friend...so I thought it would be good to come meet him," he explained.
Osha beamed as Gavin emerged from his house. He waved eagerly, stepping away from Zack's side to greet his friend. What had Ina done when they ran into each other? Oh. Yes. The redhead leaned forward to give Gavin an Ina-style hug before quickly letting go, watching Gavin's face. He had done it correctly, right? "Wanna play?" he asked eagerly, tipping his head to one side. He and Gavin always made pretty colors together.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:01 pm
Patricia eyed the headphones. Were those things on? Now how was she supposed to hold a conversation when someone would rather listen to music rather than her voice? Instead of shaking his hand, she instead nodded in a greeting that may or may not have been friendly. The guy obviously wasn't listening to her, so why should she extend offers of friendship?
"Pleasure," she replied, with a dull apathy. He probably couldn't hear her tone anyway. That just took all the fun out of it. "It's probably time Gavin saw his friends again."
About time was right. Gavin quickly returned the hug, maneuvering his tiny wings so that they didn't get squished. "Osha hug like Ina now!"
His orange eyes were wide, excited. "Yes! Yes! Play what? Picia not much fun at all."
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:11 pm
There it was. The god-what-an-inconsiderate-guy-he's-wearing-headphones look. At least it was coming from a middle-aged woman. Except, was she middle-aged? No, she'd have to be younger. Whatever. It didn't matter. She wasn't very friendly. Zack sighed, retracting his hand with a slightly dejected look. "So. Um...yeah. Friends." Well. This was really awkward. He shifted his weight uneasily, glancing at his feet before looking up at her again. That was the problem with lip-reading. You actually had to see their lips.
Osha beamed at his friend's exclamation. Excellent, he had done it right! He grabbed Gavin's hand and dragged him back into the appartment. The adults weren't being much fun. "Zack's weird," he paused to point at the black-haired man. "New daddy." He looked back at Gavin, considering his query. "Have games?" he asked, peering around. It had been a while since he'd been here last. He wasn't sure he could navigate.
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:29 pm
Well at least the guy had the decency to feel slightly uncomfortable. Still, she wondered how he was able to speak at a normal volume if he couldn't even hear himself. Must be one of those mysteries of life she'll never solve. "So I take it you haven't been here long."
It was more of a statement than a question. Not that she'd been there very long herself, but he didn't have to know that.
Gavin raced back inside after Osha--not that he had much of a choice considering Osha's grip. At the mention of a new daddy, it was then that Gavin noticed the difference. Osha used to have a mommy, not a daddy. Wow, that must be confusing. At least he'd gotten another mommy. Daddies were like Marc, and Marc didn't seem to like him very much.
"Picia weird too," he replied, with slight hesitation. He still missed his old mommy. She had been all hugs and sunshine, now this one was all cobwebs and nightmares. Not that Picia wasn't nice...just not your typical 'mommy.'
"Games?" he perked up. Games. He had games. Those were the fun things that Haki showed him, right? "I got puzzles!"
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:06 pm
The only reason Zack could function like a normal member of society was years and years of practice. Years. He had been wearing his headphones since highschool. Since before highschool, something like what, twelve? Annoyed the hell out of teachers and even his friends got annoyed after a while. Needless to say, he didn't make it in the music world either. Sure, he had a good ear, but that's no good when his beat never turned off. It would be safe to assume Zack had an addiction to the music; he'd suffer withdrawal if it got turned off.
It was a little weird. A mommy and a daddy were two entirely different things. Not to say he didn't like his new daddy, because that wasn't true. Zack was very nice to him and all, but he had the feeling Zack had never been a daddy before. His food always ended up smelling bad or tasting bad or looking black. There was a lot of ordering out...which was fun on occassion, but that got tiring after a while too. Osha paused. Wait. Gavin's mommy was new too.
"...maybe...we bad," he said slowly, looking at Gavin with wide eyes. It was a logical explanation.
Logic, however, did not stand much chance against the lure of new puzzles. "Show me?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:56 pm
Speaking of functioning members of society...it was almost a miracle that Patricia was one herself. 'Music geeks' back home meant the good-for-nothings who played fiddles more than they fed the cows. Fortunately Patricia had taken the initiative to modernize herself, a very difficult task for someone living in a town that refused to progress past the horse-drawn plow. You'd never know that's where she grew up, with how she was.
After a long pause, she finally said, "So are you just going to leave your kid here, or what?"
Gavin put a finger to his chin in thought. Maybe they had done something bad. "What we do?"
Maybe they did the same thing. There had to be a connection somewhere! It always worked like that in the cartoons.
He paused again to remember where he put the puzzles. The little hawk-boy was more of a pretend-play, action-figure person, so the puzzles were usually thrown to the side. There may have been one in his toychest in his room. "This way!"
He grabbed the little boy's hand and proceeded to take his turn dragging Osha somewhere.
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:25 pm
Zack shuffled again, glancing at his feet, the chipping paint on the wall, her feet, the doorframe and back to Patricia before her lips finally started moving again. Well, he was pretty sure she hadn't been talking before then. She probably would've hit him, or shook his shoulder, or even slammed the door in his face. (He found the fairer sex to be more...violent when they felt he wasn't giving them the proper amount of attention. Honestly, wasn't that for him to decide?) He tilted his head to the side. He was supposed to leave Osha with this woman he just met (and really didn't trust)...?
"...is that how you do these playdate things...?" Suffice to say Zack hadn't really gone to his friends' houses as a young child. He didn't pay visits until he was old enough to spend the night.
Osha was about to shrug when he lurched forward, stumbling along as Gavin dragged him down the hall. He assumed his friend was taking him down to the games. Meanwhile, the toddler tried to figure out what he and Gavin could have possibly done to get their mommies taken away. "...maybe...we make them angry...?" he pondered aloud, chewing on his lower lip. "...or...we make Dacian angry...?" He was the one that brought him his new daddy, after all.
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 2:24 pm
Patricia raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to know? I've never done one of these things either."
That wasn't entirely true. She did have a nephew back home that she had to babysit with some of his friends every now and then. But even then all she did was let them do whatever and make sure no one killed themselves or each other. As for her own experiences...friends? Pfft, who needs 'em.
The dragging ended once Gavin reached his room. It seemed that as he grew older, the less organized he became. Toys were thrown everywhere, crayons littered the floor, and his bed stubbornly refused to be made. The toy chest on the far side of the room spilled over with various playthings.
He let go of Osha's hand to make his way toward the void of toys and started digging around for anything that looked vaguely like a puzzle box. "Dacian's too nice to be angry...unless he still mad about the spaghettos."
The spaghettio incident was very fuzzy in his mind. It occurred right after his 'birth,' so it wasn't like he could remember all that clearly. All he knew is that he wasn't allowed near tomato sauce for at least three months since. "But why he be mad at you?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:39 pm
Zack frowned. He did not like Particia. He really did not like Patricia. He just asked a simple question because he, being himself, was inept at life. She didn't need to go and get all sarcastic at him, jeez.
He sighed dramatically. "So, what? Do you want me to leave him here and come pick him up later, or do you want me to hang around until he's ready to go home?" Nothing like being direct.
Osha didn't mind the mess. He wasn't very neat himself. Zack was always asking him to put away his crayons or clean up paint spills before they ruined the table. Honestly, he thought the table would look better covered in pretty colors, but his daddy didn't share his opinion.
He shrugged, flopping on the floor as Gavin dug through his toy box. "Iunno. I was jus' thinkin'." He was pretty sure he'd never done anything to make Dacian mad. He didn't really see him enough to make him angry. "So...it must be 'cos we made our mommies angry than," he reasoned, nodding sagely. It was the only possible explanation.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 12:24 pm
Patricia liked direct. Direct was wonderful. Sarcasm was always fun too.
She yawned dramatically to match his sigh. "Honestly, I don't really care. However, I would prefer to be alone since I'm not exactly used to entertaining guests."
Small children she could do. Anyone above the age of 15? You've got to be kidding.
"Iunno," Gavin said uncertainly. His old mommy certainly didn't seem angry. "Mine cry lots before she go. What about your mommy?"
As soon as he asked, his hand touched the corner of a cardboard box. Victory! The search for the puzzle had proved to be successful. He dragged out the box, revealing a cover full of wild animals along the safari. Twenty-five pieces. Jeez, this could take hours.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 1:49 pm
Zack snorted, adjusting an ear bud. She could really be anymore blunt, could she? All as well. "Whatever. You can bring him home when he's done visiting with Gavin, then? I live up at building three, apartment a, a'ight?" He waited for a response. He wasn't going to leave until he was sure she'd bring Osha home.
"Cry lots?" Osha frowned. Gavin didn't make people sad! But crying meant she was sad...how strange. He blinked, shrugging at his friend's question. He looked down. "Iunno. One day...she was just...gone." He shrugged again. His mommy just left him. "And then Dacian come. And one day, Zack shows up." And that was how it was.
He sighed, looking over as he friend pulled out the treasure. Twenty-five whole pieces? The most he's even done was nine pieces! He grinned. "Pretty colors," he noted, nodding his approval.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:58 am
Patricia raised an eyebrow in a slightly annoyed expression. Who did this guy think she was? A taxi service? After a moment of silently giving off the air of saying, 'Are you serious?', she shrugged.
"Fine. I'll bring him home when they're finished."
Which probably meant she'd walk the kid to the staircase, point in the general direction, and go back inside. If she was feeling generous, she might take the little boy to the door.
"Weird," Gavin said. Both mommies disappeared around the same time. Bing! "Maybe aliens got'em!"
Perfect explanation.
At the mention of the puzzle, he smiled proudly. He'd picked this one out himself. Picia made him pick at least one toy that would--how did she say?--make him more int...intel...inteligint. Yeah, that was it. Inteligint. Whatever that meant.
"Which piece first?" he asked, having no experience with this kind of thing.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:40 pm
Frankly, Zack didn't give a damn. She could be miffed with him all she wanted, as long as he didn't have to deal with her, it wasn't his problem. He shrugged, giving Patricia a little wave and a cocky grin. This is what Zack did, after all. Piss people off and walk away. True to form, he did just that, spinning on his heel and strolling back in the direction he came. It was time for him to crank the volume and catch up on some much needed video game time. Or, if he was lucky, he'd even get to take a nap before Osha came home, no doubt wanting dinner.
"Aliens?" Osha looked at Gavin with wide eyes. "Don't like aliens," he said quietly. Aliens were gross and slimy and as far as he could tell, very sneaky. And apparntly, mother thieves. "Hope aliens didn't them," he confided in his friend. He'd have to ask Zack if aliens took his mother when he got home. Did Zack know about aliens? Well, he was an adult. He must know. It was required.
Osha had a played with a lot of puzzles. Not all off them were his, but he couldn't resist. They were always so colorful and he could always match the different colors to put the pieces together. It was fun! "Corners," he nodded, "then sides."
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