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nikerymis texted me today, demanding I alleviate her boredom. I told her when it doubt, think naughty thoughts. We didn't actually wind up with naughty:
Megan: When in doubt, think naughty thoughts. How about American Revolution soldier and a Brit making out in your tower. Their ghosts haunt it.
Nikery: Oooh, clandestine meeting spot when they lived, perhaps?
Meg: Yep, yep. It probably ended tragically but they are happy ghosts? Maybe their descendants meet there.
Nik: They can be meddlesome ghosts and encourage fraternization between said descendants
Meg: Sounds perfect. So maybe modern boys don't get along at first.
And that distracted me, and I assume saved her from boredom, and she said it would be neat to see how we both executed the same premise.
I post this with a warning: I am not the greatest at contemporary, and cannot do anything period to save my life. I'm not looking to be accurate right now, when/if I get around to proper research, I'll probably ask for help. Right now, I'm just playing around. It's also keeping me from freaking out. So, there are going to be a lot of flaws in this. I beg your patience and forgiveness. If the story holds together, at some point in the future I will work harder at making the history stuffs more accurate. Suffice to say, every last bit of it is made up.
Also, it's not finished yet. This is like the first eight pages or so.
Nikery, I wait with much glee to see what you will come up with eventually <3
"You've always said you prefer honesty, no matter how painful the truth is, so I'm going to be honest. Mother, I hate you."
"Yes, dear, that's nice," his mother said absently. She looked up from the glossy guide book that had become her bible from the moment she'd decided upon Operation Get to Know Each Other.
Personally, he wanted to know why he couldn't have gotten to know his new stepfather and stepbrother at the beach. At least there, if he wound up hating the stepbrother, he could have consoled himself by molesting a well-tanned surfer boy.
But, no. High school history teacher mother decided to drag them – kicking and screaming, he had definitely kicked and screamed the entire way – to the historical spot she'd always loved but never been able to visit.
He glared at her. "You are so totally the reason I'm gay, mother."
"Oh, now I know that isn't true. I've had six gay men tell me I almost turned them straight." She sighed. "Those were the days."
"Mom! What have I told you about telling me things like that?" Gene shuddered. "I so wish I'd taken summer classes after all."
Rolling her eyes, his mom closed her guide book and tucked it into her tote bag. "Honestly, Gene. This grouchiness needs to go away. David is used to you, but I don't want you making a bad impression on Teddy. Just because you can be an ass doesn't mean you should be one all the time."
Gene shrugged. "Best to begin as I mean to go on?"
"You are so much like your father," she replied, rolling her eyes again. "Sadly, the methods that worked on him won't work on you."
"I'd ask, but I totally don't want to know," Gene said. His mother smirked, and he held up his hands to ward her off. "Seriously, mom, shut up. I really don’t want to know. Parents aren't allowed to admit they have sex. That's just gross."
"Men," his mother said. "Come on, Mr. Prude. David sent me a text while you were trying and failing to flirt with the straight boy at the counter. He's meeting us at the little coffee shop we passed on the way here."
"I really do hate you," Gene said, glaring at her. Mothers were totally not supposed to notice their sons flirting, and they definitely weren't supposed to point out when they failed. At least he'd never have to deal with a girlfriend; from what he'd seen, those were even worse than mothers.
Obediently taking the bags of stuff she'd already managed to purchase – he could hear the Visa crying already – he trailed along behind her as they hiked back to the coffee shop. "Let me go put this stuff in the car, mom."
"That's fine, dear," his mother said, her tone distracted, and Gene didn't even have to look to know she must have spotted David inside. Hiding a smile, he took the car keys from her hand and went to put all her purchases in their car, whistling as he made his way back to the coffee shop.
He supposed there were worse things in life than putting up with Ye Olde Tourist Spot if it made his mom so happy, and she could do a hell of a lot worse than David.
Even if between the two of them, he spent an awful lot of time feeling like he was stuck in the never ending high school history class from hell.
Not that he had much room to talk – being an English major didn't really do much to get him out of the dork department. Still.
Double checking the car was locked, he stuffed the keys into a pocket of his cargo shorts and high-tailed it back to the coffee shop. He saw his mother and David – and stopped short as he drew close enough to see his new stepbrother.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
Theodore North, a rattlesnake in human guise. Pretty as fuck, but venomous and snotty. He bared his teeth in a mockery of a smile. "Eugene, what an unpleasant surprise."
"Please do not tell me I'm related to you now. And if you call me that again, asshole, we're going to repeat Theta Chi all over again and this time the cops won't put a stop to it."
"Oh, dear," he heard his mother said.
"Of all…" David said at the same time.
Gene barely heard them, his attention only for the asshole across from him. There was no fucking way goddamn Theodore North was his stepbrother. How the hell had he not figured this out sooner?
He could see Theodore was wondering the same thing. Man, those green eyes looked like they were about to burst into flame. Gene hoped the bastard spontaneously combusted.
"The only reason you're still alive, Eugene, is because those cops came."
Gene braced his hands on the table. "Yeah, you wanna put your money where your mouth is, slu—"
"Eugene Thomason!"
The unhappiness, more than the anger, in his mom's voice made him shut up. Glaring furiously at Theodore, he sat down and folded his arms across his chest.
"Teddy, that's enough," David said sternly.
He snorted in amusement that Theodore went by 'Teddy.' A warning look from his mother, however, forced him to keep his mouth shut – though he could see from the nasty look he got that his amusement had been noted.
"I cannot believe…it was the two of you who got into that ugly fight?"
"Yeah," Gene said bitterly.
He glared at the coffee table, wishing he could just get up and leave. Damn it, he'd finally mostly stopped thinking about that night. It was over a year ago. He should be over it.
Except, you know, not. Theodore – Teddy, hahaha – had been visiting his campus for the photography competition. Gene worked for the campus paper, he'd been doing interviews of the competitors.
They'd hit it off as friends immediately. Back then, he'd stupidly thought Theodore was a good guy. Hell, he probably would have made a few moves except he'd been utterly gone on his boyfriend. Theodore had taken third place, and left, but had come back to take a special summer course. Man, that'd been an awesome summer.
Until the party at the Theta Chi house, when he'd caught his friend making out with his boyfriend like the world was going to end in five more minutes.
After that, he didn't really remember much. He'd smashed Robert's stupid cheating face in, then he'd gone after Theodore. After that, he really only remembered the cops pulling them apart.
Luckily, they'd just gotten off with being read the riot act and ordered to keep their heads down the rest of the summer. A week later, Theodore had left. Gene hadn't seen or heard from the bastard since.
His mother had fallen for David nine months ago.
How in the hell had he managed to miss Theodore was his stepbrother? Man, talk about a bad movie. "What a fine comedy of errors this is," he said bitterly.
"That's enough, Gene," his mother said, sounding tired and sad.
David cleared his throat. "I think you boys should learn to put things behind you."
Gene started to speak, but a swift kick to his shin made him stop. He glared at his mother, but kept his mouth shut.
"You're brothers now, so you can't keep on like this. I wish we'd figured it out sooner, but what's done is done."
No one said anything.
His mother sighed. "I agree with David. What's done is done – I know, sweetie, don't give me that look – and nothing good will come of fighting like this."
Personally he thought they were both crackers. Would they handle it any better to know they were suddenly related to the slut who'd pretended to be his friend and had been messing around with his boyfriend the entire time?
Survey said no.
Sometimes, parents were just a little bit stupid.
"Here," his mother continued. "I purchased these for the two of you, in hopes it would give you a chance to get to know one another…" She sighed again.
Gene frowned and picked up the sheet of paper she'd set down on the table.
Historical Scavenger Hunt
Despite his best effort, Gene found himself interested. It was such a stupid, cheesy tourist trap type thing, but he'd always liked scavenger hunts. Especially big ones like this, where you had to trek fuck everywhere.
And, double plus easy because they only had to take photos of stuff, rather than lug around a bunch of crap.
He'd probably have a blast, even if it was a history lesson tourist trap, except he obviously was supposed to do it with fucking Theodore. They were signed up as a team – and the whole thing started in thirty minutes.
"I'd rather shoo—" Theodore was cut off as David abruptly stood and yanked him up, then dragged him out of the coffee shop.
"Sweetheart, I had no idea," his mother said softly, forcing Gene to look away from the pleasing sight of Theodore getting yelled at – complete with angrily waving arms.
"How could you?" he said with a sigh. "Shit, none of us figured it out. But I don't see how you expect me to get along with the bastard, not after what he did to me."
His mom bit her lip, fiddling restlessly with her iced latte. "Well, you could always try talking about it. Maybe there are things you don't know. I'd imagine a couple of drunk, angry men didn't bother to discuss things."
"He was fucking my boyfriend," Gene said flatly. "There was nothing to discuss."
"Will you at least try not to kill each other, then?" she asked. "David and I…damn it, I was so excited about the two of you meeting. David's told me so much about him, I just knew you two would get along."
It was the 'damn it' which did. His mother never cussed, except when she was really upset. The last time she'd said the f-word, they'd been standing over dad's grave, and she'd taken the lord's name in vain quite creatively.
"I'll try mom," Gene said. "I'm sorry I started acting like an ass."
"That's all right, sweetie," she said, and patted his hand. "To be honest, I would have taken it with about the same amount of grace." She gave him a Look. "Though, I'm serious about the talking about it. Men would fight a lot less if they learned to talk instead of throwing punches."
"Mom," Gene said.
"Oh, stop whining. You're twenty one, whining isn't cute anymore." She reached into her purse and pulled out a ten. "Go get something to drink, and when you get back I expect you to act civilized, all right?'
"Yeah, mom," Gene replied, and kissed her cheek before accepting the peace offering and going to order his own iced latte.
When he sat down again, he ignored Theodore, who proved his own civilized nature by ignoring Gene.
See, they could act mature.
Emphasis on the 'act' cause all he wanted to do was finish what the cops started.
"Do you have a camera?" Theodore asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Gene asked.
"A camera," Theodore repeated, and Gene could just hear the unspoken 'dumbass' at the end of it.
He nodded, figuring telling Theodore to shut the fuck up would not please his mother. "Yeah." He reached automatically to touch the digital camera tucked into another pocket of his shorts, and recalled abruptly that Theodore had helped him pick it out. They'd poured over cameras for like two hours; the shop clerk had been ready to commit murder or suicide by the time Theodore had finally given him permission to buy one.
That had been the first week of summer; he'd dragged Theodore with him because he and Robert had been arguing again and he'd wanted to have fun instead of brooding. It was when he'd first accused Theodore of being fussy.
He'd almost thrown it out, after the fight, except even he wasn't stupid enough to destroy a four hundred dollar camera.
"I've got one on me, but it's not digital," Theodore said. "I left that one back at the hotel."
"Okay," Gene replied, not really caring.
Theodore looked at him like he was an idiot. "So, you know, we'll probably need your camera for the fu—the scavenger hunt."
"Oh," Gene said, finally getting it. He looked at the piece of paper, then back at Theodore. "Okay." Catching a warning look from his mother, he finished his latte and stood. "We'd better go, if we're going to be there on time."
"Yeah," Theodore said, and Gene wondered if that same look of pending execution was on his own face.
Dropping a kiss on his mother's cheek, he waved farewell to David and led the way outside.
They walked in silence along the streets, and Gene was briefly distracted from imagining all the lovely ways he could Theodore by a group of period actors. Man, he was glad they didn't have to dress that way anymore, though the boots were kinda cool.
"So what's the big deal with this place?"
"I thought David was a history buff too," Gene replied. "Shouldn't you already know?"
Theodore rolled his eyes. "My dad studies ancient history, asshole."
"Fuck you," Gene snapped.
They fell back into silence.
Theodore sighed. "Look – I know you hate me."
"You think?"
"Shut up!" Theodore snapped. "Look, I'm just trying to say – we're never going to get along again, obviously. But my dad has vowed to cut off my balls if I upset your mom again, and she seems cool, I don't want to upset her. So I told him we'd try to get along, and I think we should in front of them. Otherwise, I don't give a fuck. Okay?"
Gene shrugged irritably, biting down on an urge to tell Theodore to go to hell. It wasn't fair to make their parents miserable, just because he and Theodore hated each other. He knew that. He didn't like it, but he knew it. "Okay."
Theodore sighed, and if Gene didn't know better he might have thought it sounded like relief. "Um, and call me Teddy – if you keep calling me Theodore, my dad will know something is up." He rolled his eyes.
"Sure," Gene said, and started to smile in sympathy – then realized what he was doing, and silently cursed.
Another silence fell as they walked along.
A few yards from the place where they were supposed to start the scavenger hunt, Teddy finally spoke again. "So what is the reason this town is so famous? You know, other than it being about the American Revolution."
"Well, it took place then, and it happened between the colonials and the redcoats, but it wasn't so much about the war – just a massive personal tragedy." Gene frowned in thought. He'd heard the story a bajillion times growing up, but had managed to avoid his mother and her history obsession since graduating. "The mayor of the town, Thomas Northfield, was staunchly against the rebellion. His son John however, was for it. He worked secretly against the redcoats, passing messages along, stuff like that. His best friend, a man named William, was a redcoat. One night William found out about his friend's deception, and they apparently had a huge fight in the mayor's house. The mayor wasn't there, it's mostly his journals and all that tell us what happened – he was in the village when an alarm went up about a fire. When they got to it, however, the house was beyond saving."
Gene drifted off, eyes moving to the old wooden tower just visible above the tops of the trees a little ways off. "They said they found the bodies in the tower the only part of the place that didn't burn down. Northfield's journals say it looked like they died of gunshot wounds, and he bemoaned that if not for the fire, it's possible they could have been saved."
"Depressing," Teddy said. "Sounds like a movie my sister likes to watch."
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure my mom watches the same damn one," Gene said with a snort.
Then he realized he and Teddy had just gotten along, and scowled. "Come on," he snapped. "Let's fucking get this over with." Not bothering to wait, he bolted for the tourist center where the hunt would begin.
"Dude, would you slow down?"
"Who the hell says 'dude' anymore?" Gene asked.
"Me," Teddy snapped. "Now stop moving for two goddamn seconds so I can get a few pictures."
Gene heaved an aggravated sigh, somewhat mollified when he saw a tick in Teddy's cheek. "Dude, we're supposed to be hunting. There are exactly twenty five pictures we have to take. You're on what, number six hundred and twelve?"
"Shut the fuck up," Teddy said, and turned away to snap several pictures of some stupid purple flowers. "You never could hold still."
"Just take your damn pictures so we can finish this before next week." Gene kicked irritably at a rock, rolled his eyes, then turned and continued up the path. The dumb purple flowers lined it, and he kicked a snapped off bundle of them.
When they refused to go as far as he wanted, Gene bent and picked the bundle up.
Lilacs mean it's safe to come.
"Fuck!" Gene dropped the flowers as if burned. "What the hell was that?"
"What's your problem?" Teddy asked, coming up behind him, making Gene jump again.
Gene shook his head. "Nothing. Let's just get to the damn tower."
The tower didn't look nearly as old as he thought it should, but a sign just inside said it had recently undergone restoration. It smelled like dust and rock, and also like too many people had tramped through.
Oddly, at the moment, it was totally empty.
A flash of purple caught his eye, and Gene looked up reflexively – a small bundle of the purple flowers, dried, hung from the top of the archway.
Lilacs mean it's same to come.
"What in the hell?"
Teddy just looked at him, then turned away to snap pictures.
Gene put a hand to his forehead, willing away the headache that had come up out of nowhere. Maybe he just needed more caffeine; he hadn't had that much in the way of coffee or pop, and normally he drank a great deal.
Shrugging it off, he shot a disgusted look at Teddy's camera happy back, then started climbing the stairs to get a picture of the plaque hung where the bodies of William and John had been found.
nikerymis texted me today, demanding I alleviate her boredom. I told her when it doubt, think naughty thoughts. We didn't actually wind up with naughty:Megan: When in doubt, think naughty thoughts. How about American Revolution soldier and a Brit making out in your tower. Their ghosts haunt it.
Nikery: Oooh, clandestine meeting spot when they lived, perhaps?
Meg: Yep, yep. It probably ended tragically but they are happy ghosts? Maybe their descendants meet there.
Nik: They can be meddlesome ghosts and encourage fraternization between said descendants
Meg: Sounds perfect. So maybe modern boys don't get along at first.
And that distracted me, and I assume saved her from boredom, and she said it would be neat to see how we both executed the same premise.
I post this with a warning: I am not the greatest at contemporary, and cannot do anything period to save my life. I'm not looking to be accurate right now, when/if I get around to proper research, I'll probably ask for help. Right now, I'm just playing around. It's also keeping me from freaking out. So, there are going to be a lot of flaws in this. I beg your patience and forgiveness. If the story holds together, at some point in the future I will work harder at making the history stuffs more accurate. Suffice to say, every last bit of it is made up.
Also, it's not finished yet. This is like the first eight pages or so.
Nikery, I wait with much glee to see what you will come up with eventually <3
Lilacs
"You've always said you prefer honesty, no matter how painful the truth is, so I'm going to be honest. Mother, I hate you."
"Yes, dear, that's nice," his mother said absently. She looked up from the glossy guide book that had become her bible from the moment she'd decided upon Operation Get to Know Each Other.
Personally, he wanted to know why he couldn't have gotten to know his new stepfather and stepbrother at the beach. At least there, if he wound up hating the stepbrother, he could have consoled himself by molesting a well-tanned surfer boy.
But, no. High school history teacher mother decided to drag them – kicking and screaming, he had definitely kicked and screamed the entire way – to the historical spot she'd always loved but never been able to visit.
He glared at her. "You are so totally the reason I'm gay, mother."
"Oh, now I know that isn't true. I've had six gay men tell me I almost turned them straight." She sighed. "Those were the days."
"Mom! What have I told you about telling me things like that?" Gene shuddered. "I so wish I'd taken summer classes after all."
Rolling her eyes, his mom closed her guide book and tucked it into her tote bag. "Honestly, Gene. This grouchiness needs to go away. David is used to you, but I don't want you making a bad impression on Teddy. Just because you can be an ass doesn't mean you should be one all the time."
Gene shrugged. "Best to begin as I mean to go on?"
"You are so much like your father," she replied, rolling her eyes again. "Sadly, the methods that worked on him won't work on you."
"I'd ask, but I totally don't want to know," Gene said. His mother smirked, and he held up his hands to ward her off. "Seriously, mom, shut up. I really don’t want to know. Parents aren't allowed to admit they have sex. That's just gross."
"Men," his mother said. "Come on, Mr. Prude. David sent me a text while you were trying and failing to flirt with the straight boy at the counter. He's meeting us at the little coffee shop we passed on the way here."
"I really do hate you," Gene said, glaring at her. Mothers were totally not supposed to notice their sons flirting, and they definitely weren't supposed to point out when they failed. At least he'd never have to deal with a girlfriend; from what he'd seen, those were even worse than mothers.
Obediently taking the bags of stuff she'd already managed to purchase – he could hear the Visa crying already – he trailed along behind her as they hiked back to the coffee shop. "Let me go put this stuff in the car, mom."
"That's fine, dear," his mother said, her tone distracted, and Gene didn't even have to look to know she must have spotted David inside. Hiding a smile, he took the car keys from her hand and went to put all her purchases in their car, whistling as he made his way back to the coffee shop.
He supposed there were worse things in life than putting up with Ye Olde Tourist Spot if it made his mom so happy, and she could do a hell of a lot worse than David.
Even if between the two of them, he spent an awful lot of time feeling like he was stuck in the never ending high school history class from hell.
Not that he had much room to talk – being an English major didn't really do much to get him out of the dork department. Still.
Double checking the car was locked, he stuffed the keys into a pocket of his cargo shorts and high-tailed it back to the coffee shop. He saw his mother and David – and stopped short as he drew close enough to see his new stepbrother.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
Theodore North, a rattlesnake in human guise. Pretty as fuck, but venomous and snotty. He bared his teeth in a mockery of a smile. "Eugene, what an unpleasant surprise."
"Please do not tell me I'm related to you now. And if you call me that again, asshole, we're going to repeat Theta Chi all over again and this time the cops won't put a stop to it."
"Oh, dear," he heard his mother said.
"Of all…" David said at the same time.
Gene barely heard them, his attention only for the asshole across from him. There was no fucking way goddamn Theodore North was his stepbrother. How the hell had he not figured this out sooner?
He could see Theodore was wondering the same thing. Man, those green eyes looked like they were about to burst into flame. Gene hoped the bastard spontaneously combusted.
"The only reason you're still alive, Eugene, is because those cops came."
Gene braced his hands on the table. "Yeah, you wanna put your money where your mouth is, slu—"
"Eugene Thomason!"
The unhappiness, more than the anger, in his mom's voice made him shut up. Glaring furiously at Theodore, he sat down and folded his arms across his chest.
"Teddy, that's enough," David said sternly.
He snorted in amusement that Theodore went by 'Teddy.' A warning look from his mother, however, forced him to keep his mouth shut – though he could see from the nasty look he got that his amusement had been noted.
"I cannot believe…it was the two of you who got into that ugly fight?"
"Yeah," Gene said bitterly.
He glared at the coffee table, wishing he could just get up and leave. Damn it, he'd finally mostly stopped thinking about that night. It was over a year ago. He should be over it.
Except, you know, not. Theodore – Teddy, hahaha – had been visiting his campus for the photography competition. Gene worked for the campus paper, he'd been doing interviews of the competitors.
They'd hit it off as friends immediately. Back then, he'd stupidly thought Theodore was a good guy. Hell, he probably would have made a few moves except he'd been utterly gone on his boyfriend. Theodore had taken third place, and left, but had come back to take a special summer course. Man, that'd been an awesome summer.
Until the party at the Theta Chi house, when he'd caught his friend making out with his boyfriend like the world was going to end in five more minutes.
After that, he didn't really remember much. He'd smashed Robert's stupid cheating face in, then he'd gone after Theodore. After that, he really only remembered the cops pulling them apart.
Luckily, they'd just gotten off with being read the riot act and ordered to keep their heads down the rest of the summer. A week later, Theodore had left. Gene hadn't seen or heard from the bastard since.
His mother had fallen for David nine months ago.
How in the hell had he managed to miss Theodore was his stepbrother? Man, talk about a bad movie. "What a fine comedy of errors this is," he said bitterly.
"That's enough, Gene," his mother said, sounding tired and sad.
David cleared his throat. "I think you boys should learn to put things behind you."
Gene started to speak, but a swift kick to his shin made him stop. He glared at his mother, but kept his mouth shut.
"You're brothers now, so you can't keep on like this. I wish we'd figured it out sooner, but what's done is done."
No one said anything.
His mother sighed. "I agree with David. What's done is done – I know, sweetie, don't give me that look – and nothing good will come of fighting like this."
Personally he thought they were both crackers. Would they handle it any better to know they were suddenly related to the slut who'd pretended to be his friend and had been messing around with his boyfriend the entire time?
Survey said no.
Sometimes, parents were just a little bit stupid.
"Here," his mother continued. "I purchased these for the two of you, in hopes it would give you a chance to get to know one another…" She sighed again.
Gene frowned and picked up the sheet of paper she'd set down on the table.
Historical Scavenger Hunt
Despite his best effort, Gene found himself interested. It was such a stupid, cheesy tourist trap type thing, but he'd always liked scavenger hunts. Especially big ones like this, where you had to trek fuck everywhere.
And, double plus easy because they only had to take photos of stuff, rather than lug around a bunch of crap.
He'd probably have a blast, even if it was a history lesson tourist trap, except he obviously was supposed to do it with fucking Theodore. They were signed up as a team – and the whole thing started in thirty minutes.
"I'd rather shoo—" Theodore was cut off as David abruptly stood and yanked him up, then dragged him out of the coffee shop.
"Sweetheart, I had no idea," his mother said softly, forcing Gene to look away from the pleasing sight of Theodore getting yelled at – complete with angrily waving arms.
"How could you?" he said with a sigh. "Shit, none of us figured it out. But I don't see how you expect me to get along with the bastard, not after what he did to me."
His mom bit her lip, fiddling restlessly with her iced latte. "Well, you could always try talking about it. Maybe there are things you don't know. I'd imagine a couple of drunk, angry men didn't bother to discuss things."
"He was fucking my boyfriend," Gene said flatly. "There was nothing to discuss."
"Will you at least try not to kill each other, then?" she asked. "David and I…damn it, I was so excited about the two of you meeting. David's told me so much about him, I just knew you two would get along."
It was the 'damn it' which did. His mother never cussed, except when she was really upset. The last time she'd said the f-word, they'd been standing over dad's grave, and she'd taken the lord's name in vain quite creatively.
"I'll try mom," Gene said. "I'm sorry I started acting like an ass."
"That's all right, sweetie," she said, and patted his hand. "To be honest, I would have taken it with about the same amount of grace." She gave him a Look. "Though, I'm serious about the talking about it. Men would fight a lot less if they learned to talk instead of throwing punches."
"Mom," Gene said.
"Oh, stop whining. You're twenty one, whining isn't cute anymore." She reached into her purse and pulled out a ten. "Go get something to drink, and when you get back I expect you to act civilized, all right?'
"Yeah, mom," Gene replied, and kissed her cheek before accepting the peace offering and going to order his own iced latte.
When he sat down again, he ignored Theodore, who proved his own civilized nature by ignoring Gene.
See, they could act mature.
Emphasis on the 'act' cause all he wanted to do was finish what the cops started.
"Do you have a camera?" Theodore asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Gene asked.
"A camera," Theodore repeated, and Gene could just hear the unspoken 'dumbass' at the end of it.
He nodded, figuring telling Theodore to shut the fuck up would not please his mother. "Yeah." He reached automatically to touch the digital camera tucked into another pocket of his shorts, and recalled abruptly that Theodore had helped him pick it out. They'd poured over cameras for like two hours; the shop clerk had been ready to commit murder or suicide by the time Theodore had finally given him permission to buy one.
That had been the first week of summer; he'd dragged Theodore with him because he and Robert had been arguing again and he'd wanted to have fun instead of brooding. It was when he'd first accused Theodore of being fussy.
He'd almost thrown it out, after the fight, except even he wasn't stupid enough to destroy a four hundred dollar camera.
"I've got one on me, but it's not digital," Theodore said. "I left that one back at the hotel."
"Okay," Gene replied, not really caring.
Theodore looked at him like he was an idiot. "So, you know, we'll probably need your camera for the fu—the scavenger hunt."
"Oh," Gene said, finally getting it. He looked at the piece of paper, then back at Theodore. "Okay." Catching a warning look from his mother, he finished his latte and stood. "We'd better go, if we're going to be there on time."
"Yeah," Theodore said, and Gene wondered if that same look of pending execution was on his own face.
Dropping a kiss on his mother's cheek, he waved farewell to David and led the way outside.
They walked in silence along the streets, and Gene was briefly distracted from imagining all the lovely ways he could Theodore by a group of period actors. Man, he was glad they didn't have to dress that way anymore, though the boots were kinda cool.
"So what's the big deal with this place?"
"I thought David was a history buff too," Gene replied. "Shouldn't you already know?"
Theodore rolled his eyes. "My dad studies ancient history, asshole."
"Fuck you," Gene snapped.
They fell back into silence.
Theodore sighed. "Look – I know you hate me."
"You think?"
"Shut up!" Theodore snapped. "Look, I'm just trying to say – we're never going to get along again, obviously. But my dad has vowed to cut off my balls if I upset your mom again, and she seems cool, I don't want to upset her. So I told him we'd try to get along, and I think we should in front of them. Otherwise, I don't give a fuck. Okay?"
Gene shrugged irritably, biting down on an urge to tell Theodore to go to hell. It wasn't fair to make their parents miserable, just because he and Theodore hated each other. He knew that. He didn't like it, but he knew it. "Okay."
Theodore sighed, and if Gene didn't know better he might have thought it sounded like relief. "Um, and call me Teddy – if you keep calling me Theodore, my dad will know something is up." He rolled his eyes.
"Sure," Gene said, and started to smile in sympathy – then realized what he was doing, and silently cursed.
Another silence fell as they walked along.
A few yards from the place where they were supposed to start the scavenger hunt, Teddy finally spoke again. "So what is the reason this town is so famous? You know, other than it being about the American Revolution."
"Well, it took place then, and it happened between the colonials and the redcoats, but it wasn't so much about the war – just a massive personal tragedy." Gene frowned in thought. He'd heard the story a bajillion times growing up, but had managed to avoid his mother and her history obsession since graduating. "The mayor of the town, Thomas Northfield, was staunchly against the rebellion. His son John however, was for it. He worked secretly against the redcoats, passing messages along, stuff like that. His best friend, a man named William, was a redcoat. One night William found out about his friend's deception, and they apparently had a huge fight in the mayor's house. The mayor wasn't there, it's mostly his journals and all that tell us what happened – he was in the village when an alarm went up about a fire. When they got to it, however, the house was beyond saving."
Gene drifted off, eyes moving to the old wooden tower just visible above the tops of the trees a little ways off. "They said they found the bodies in the tower the only part of the place that didn't burn down. Northfield's journals say it looked like they died of gunshot wounds, and he bemoaned that if not for the fire, it's possible they could have been saved."
"Depressing," Teddy said. "Sounds like a movie my sister likes to watch."
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure my mom watches the same damn one," Gene said with a snort.
Then he realized he and Teddy had just gotten along, and scowled. "Come on," he snapped. "Let's fucking get this over with." Not bothering to wait, he bolted for the tourist center where the hunt would begin.
"Dude, would you slow down?"
"Who the hell says 'dude' anymore?" Gene asked.
"Me," Teddy snapped. "Now stop moving for two goddamn seconds so I can get a few pictures."
Gene heaved an aggravated sigh, somewhat mollified when he saw a tick in Teddy's cheek. "Dude, we're supposed to be hunting. There are exactly twenty five pictures we have to take. You're on what, number six hundred and twelve?"
"Shut the fuck up," Teddy said, and turned away to snap several pictures of some stupid purple flowers. "You never could hold still."
"Just take your damn pictures so we can finish this before next week." Gene kicked irritably at a rock, rolled his eyes, then turned and continued up the path. The dumb purple flowers lined it, and he kicked a snapped off bundle of them.
When they refused to go as far as he wanted, Gene bent and picked the bundle up.
Lilacs mean it's safe to come.
"Fuck!" Gene dropped the flowers as if burned. "What the hell was that?"
"What's your problem?" Teddy asked, coming up behind him, making Gene jump again.
Gene shook his head. "Nothing. Let's just get to the damn tower."
The tower didn't look nearly as old as he thought it should, but a sign just inside said it had recently undergone restoration. It smelled like dust and rock, and also like too many people had tramped through.
Oddly, at the moment, it was totally empty.
A flash of purple caught his eye, and Gene looked up reflexively – a small bundle of the purple flowers, dried, hung from the top of the archway.
Lilacs mean it's same to come.
"What in the hell?"
Teddy just looked at him, then turned away to snap pictures.
Gene put a hand to his forehead, willing away the headache that had come up out of nowhere. Maybe he just needed more caffeine; he hadn't had that much in the way of coffee or pop, and normally he drank a great deal.
Shrugging it off, he shot a disgusted look at Teddy's camera happy back, then started climbing the stairs to get a picture of the plaque hung where the bodies of William and John had been found.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 11:14 pm (UTC)Will there be more? Because this is totally fascinating and really cool, and I'm a little worried about Gene passing out on the stairs, falling several miles and cracking his head open. Because then his ghost will be bothering the other ghosts, and instead of a happy pair, they have to make it a threesome.
...wait, that might be good too.
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:22 pm (UTC)*laugh*
There is no ghostly threesome planned. I'll note that down for a different story ^_~
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 11:24 pm (UTC)And history stuffs! Whee!!!
*spins you about* You are doing an excellent job, m'dear! I look forward to seeing more!
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:32 pm (UTC)I so love the "Oh fuck" moment. ^^ You pull stuff like that off so brilliantly. The sorta-flashbacks are sad though. ;_; Stupid ex-boyfriend.
SQUEE! Mysterious messages from the dead! Code-flowers! Getting along without meaning to! ^____^
You are so Brilliant.
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:35 pm (UTC)I'm being diligent though and working on convicts! ^___^
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:40 pm (UTC)ah, yes. good point.
<<333
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:44 pm (UTC)Also, eeeee! shiny story.
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Date: 2008-04-16 11:47 pm (UTC)Oh, it'll come up eventually. I'm not quite that mean.
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Date: 2008-04-17 12:00 am (UTC)THE FLOWER CODE. THE MEDDLING GHOSTS. THE 'OHFUCKITSYOU' MOMENT. THE PHOTOGRAPHY. (yes, yes, okay, irredeemable geek.) These are all some of my favorite things. I'm very very happy at the moment.
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Date: 2008-04-17 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 12:44 am (UTC)*wipes drool after catching breath*
That was wonderful! I adore you~! *glomps the pretty Gene and Teddy*
Mwa ha ha ha. I can't wait to meet the meddling ghosts~! *skips happily around*
Oh yeah, before I forget in my giddiness haze: *buries ex 6+ under* (He has to even lower than just six feet to have cheated on Gene) :D
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Date: 2008-04-17 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 12:55 am (UTC)bitchy freshness ahaahaahahahaha *dies laughing*
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Date: 2008-04-17 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 01:11 am (UTC)*runs off to read*
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Date: 2008-04-17 01:32 am (UTC)i don't get this line: "lovely ways he could Theodore by a group of period actors."
more! please! thankee!
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Date: 2008-04-17 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 03:47 am (UTC)1) I love the way that Gene swallows his anger in deference to his mother. It's sweet. ^_^ And there's that old adage that you can always tell something about a guy from the way he treats his mother. ;3 Which, of course, gets Teddy some bonus points too, because he was willing to put things aside for Carol too. ^_^
2) I love the backstory on the cheating ex. So look forward to seeing what the truth of that situation was. ^______________^
3) Ghosties! History!
I so totally love you!XD *twirls you about*no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 03:50 am (UTC)Oooh, ghostly flashbacks. You could probably do the historical parts with the flashbacks as you've done here and flesh it out with them doing research together in dust mote infested historical museum archives. Throw in a few diaries and stir.
Am hooked, don't leave us dangling not knowing if you'll keep us or throw us back in the water. Please don't throw us back, take us home and tell us the rest of the story.
I do like it
Date: 2008-04-17 08:33 am (UTC)Also, one should note that lilacs are a rather tall-growing bush (some might say a tree) and thus not likely to be gathered while bending down. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilac.
--sociallytangent
Re: I do like it
Date: 2008-04-17 10:28 am (UTC)No one gathered them while bending down. He bent down to pick up a piece of a push which had come off, thus it was on the path and he had to stoop to get it.
Re: I do like it
Date: 2008-04-18 03:01 am (UTC)Apologies!
--sociallytangent
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Date: 2008-04-17 08:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 11:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 01:56 pm (UTC)Oh and you put same instead of safe here: Lilacs mean it's same to come.
Anywho looking forward to reading more ^^ ... though it's not going to make Teddy's and Gene's relationship off to a good start with the hearing voices strategy. Poor Gene. *pokes*
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Date: 2008-04-17 02:12 pm (UTC)Hehehehe Purple lilacs mean 'first love' You're not weird at all.
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Date: 2008-04-17 01:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 02:13 pm (UTC)Hey, I haven't been stalked by an imp for awhile <3
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Date: 2008-04-17 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 02:26 pm (UTC)Oh, you're good. I was just teasing, sweet.
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Date: 2008-04-17 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 02:23 pm (UTC)Sorry. I have Issues.
I think, I think I am in love with your brain,yes. I like how you can positively see the UST. And, oh, I love this bit so very much, the bit with the lilacs.
NOT IN A DIRTY WAY, MIND YOU.
I just like how I can sort of visualize. Lilacs mean it's safe to come.
It brings to mind meetings by moonlight, stolen moments and whispers in the dark. I adore, adore how it means so much more than it says. Beautiful.
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Date: 2008-04-18 10:41 pm (UTC)