Broken Space

The temperature has skyrocketed over the last few days, and Bran's been confining his outside time to very early mornings and late evenings, when it's a bit less miserable to get wrapped up against the sun's violent glare and venture out. Delia never minds taking Cafall for walks, anyway, when he needs to do more than just dart outside into the garden for a few minutes.

But right now even the dog doesn't want to go out, stretched out lazily on the floor right in what seems to be the coolest spot, at least judging from how many he discarded before he settled on it. Bran, doing his best to hide in a slightly shadowy corner, has the big harp pulled up to his lap, fingers dancing over the strings.

He warms up with The Ash Grove, then wanders into Guide Me O Great Jehovah, which just sounds weak and tinny on a lone harp, so he moves on to a more spritely, if haunting, movement of Bach's Sonata in G Minor. That slides neatly into Aberhonddu, which involves singing, and leads inevitably to Calon Lân. That's a dangerous path to follow, since it tends to make him homesick, so he distracts himself by jumping to something completely different--a nearly breathless arrangement of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag that leaves his sore by the end.

But oh, it's fun.

[I fear most of the time writing this post was spent on YouTube. Please make the quest worthwhile by tagging in. :)]</a>

Cal had gotten the idea to host a movie night after he'd found not one, not two, but three Chuck Norris movies. Clearly something like that was a sign, and so he'd scrounged up some blank paper and made a few signs to post on doorways and the bulletin board.

He wasn't really the kind to head the refreshment committee, but he'd set out some juice and punch (and sweet tea made by Alec) and cups, and whatever he could find in the kitchen: fruit, stuff to make sandwiches, a plate of cookies that someone had baked up and left on the counter. If anyone else was feeling ambitious, they could add to it, he just wanted have some basic offerings.

He got everything set up and ready to roll on the first movie, then sat back with a banana and waited for people to show.

[Gathering post! Tag in, tag each other, enjoy some cheesy 70s and 80s Chuck Norris movies. They will be watching Breaker! Breaker!, An Eye for an Eye, and Firewalker, which can all be found on wikipedia or IMDB if you need more info about them. ;) This post serves to fast forward us by three months, too, so keep this in mind if anything significant has happened to your pup in the interim. :)]

After Bright (of all people) gets her thinking, Madison seeks out Ephram to discuss their child-to-be.

Madison had come into the kitchen on a mission: To bake some cookies. She'd been thinking about fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies for nearly a week, and she woke up full of energy today, so she decided to do something about it. She'd even found a somewhat faded but still quite serviceable apron, all blue gingham and ruffles. It made her grin to put it on, and she'd wondered if maybe there was a 50's housewife dress around somewhere to go with it, but that was as far as she'd gotten with that train of though. Properly attired for a pregnant cookie-baking mother-to-be she'd headed for the kitchen with a spring in her step. Surely she could find enough ingredients to throw some kind of cookie together.

But when she'd started poking through the cupboards and found a can of cherry pie filling, her plans had abruptly changed. Cherry pie. That sounded really good. And a pie crust was fairly simple to make, so she'd thrown one together, filled it with the filling (and stolen a spoonful of filling for herself, not willing to wait for the finished product), and now she was waiting for it to finish. She's already cleaned up her mess, and now she's looking through the fridge. There's no ice cream to be had, but maybe some whipped cream would make a good stand in...

Ephram didn't generally consider himself to be a beach person. Who wanted sand in uncomfortable places? Seriously? Not him.

But on occassion he enjoyed spending time on one of the rocky outcroppings that had unofficially become patios, with camp chairs and umbrellas underneath palm trees. He'd caught Ianto sweeping the sand away once, so at least he had the reassurance that it was as clean as an anal retentive Welshman could manage it.

So today was actually not bad. Yeah, it was sunny, and hot, but there was a nice breeze blowing, and he had a pitcher of iced tea. So with the sound of the ocean and a new manga, he could almost forget that he was trapped on a desert island with his pregnant ex-girlfriend, who could or could not be speaking to him depending on the day, and that he and his boyfriend still hadn't really talked about what Madison being there even meant.

The plot to Ranma 1/2 hadn't been this complicated.

Some days had passed since I had arrived on the island, but they had all been much the same. I had learned the way from my room to the kitchen, the privies, the cellars. I had walked the island, hoping for a sign from any god that might be listening. I had prayed in a way I had never been prone to before.

More recently, I had found a book in Greek--a collection of old poetry, much of it familiar. On one page were the familiar letters, and on the other, strange words in a different alphabet that I had come to recognize, at least, as the tongue most of the island knew. I took the book out to the seaside, found a large flat rock to sit on with a view of the sea and a good breeze, and tried to make sense of it. I would read the Greek, and then try to puzzle out the other language, but it was very slow going. Still, there was little else for me to do, and it gave me something to focus on, so I did.

It's ridiculous how many points pregnancy books can manage to disagree on while still being about the same subject. Madison had started out reading everything she could find, but after a while of comparing contradictions and variations and getting frustrated and a little scared she'd finally decided she would just pick one and trust that it was the right one. What to Expect When You're Expecting is the one she's actually heard of, so that book is the one she kept, and is the one currently under her tea saucer as she relaxes in an armchair with a paperback, a murder mystery.

She sits forward without looking up from her place, reaching for her tea when she suddenly freezes, eyes widening as she lifts her head. "...Oh my god," she gasps, her hand going immediately to her stomach, tea and book forgotten at the flutter she just felt. The baby moved. It moved.

After a certain number of years on the island, Bran has learned not to ask questions. So when he takes Cafall out in the morning and sees a neat, bright row of yellow daffodils have sprouted up overnight in front of the Hub, he just cuts a few to take back inside and doesn't spend too much energy on it.

"Although," he says aloud, "if you really want to make me happy, you'll find a way to send over the rugby results." The island makes no promises.

Back in the kitchen he puts on the kettle, and spends a moment or two deciding what to make for breakfast before mixing up some pancake batter (his sort of pancakes, not Ephram's, though he can probably manage both if pressed), humming to himself as he works.

(Happy St David's Day!)

Calvin hadn't set out to start a party or anything. He'd been out hunting earlier and had shot a few wild chickens before stirring up a boar's resting place completely by accident. Fortunately Cal's tree-climbing skills got him out of goring range, and a few well-placed arrows from above meant there was a lot of boar meat to cook up, as well as the fowl.

So what was a guy to do? He cleaned and butchered the meat, then built a small bonfire on the beach and got it burning. Now it's fading toward dusk, the fire is getting to just the right point to start cooking, and Cal's made a few more trips to get some fruit and vegetables, as well as juice (and a kettle of boiling water, in case anyone wants tea), and he's just hanging out, prepping the meat by threading it onto carefully cleaned and sharpened sticks and waiting for anyone to respond to the "Free meat on the beach" sign he'd tacked to the refrigerator.

Madison hadn't intended to fall asleep. She'd found a battered copy of What to Expect While You're Expecting, and in this place she couldn't really afford to be picky about her pregnancy books, trite and clichéd as the book may be. It was better than nothing, and so she'd settled down with a cup of tea and a bit of toast to read.

She'd made it through most of the first trimester, even though she's already lived most of that. As she started the second trimester, though, her eyes had begun to droop. Now, the tea sits half-drunk and cold, the toast is barely nibbled and drying out on the plate, the book is open in Madison's lap, and her head is tilted to the side, breathing slow and even as she sleeps.

[Feel free to wake up the pregnant woman on purpose or inadvertently! Unless you're Ephram, she'll probably be pretty nice. ;)]

"I think I need to talk to Ephram before I decide." Madison looked at Andy with an almost apologetic smile. "What'd he say?"

Andy gave her a strange look. "Nothing." He moved from behind the desk to close the office door as Madison watched him, confused.

"I don't understand--"

"He doesn't know." The conversation was just getting more confusing as it continued, really. That wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"You haven't told him."

"No. And I don't plan to."

"What?" Madison's stomach knotted as she frowned at Andy.

"I don't want him to know that you're pregnant."

"He would want to know. He deserves to know," Madison argued, going cold. She'd trusted Andy, taken him at his word, and now this? Why?

"That's true. But it really doesn't matter. I'm going to tell you something and you may not understand it, but that's fine. You don't have to." Madison looked at him in obvious disbelief. "Just listen." Andy paused and Madison waited, feeling her head start to pound. "Ephram lost enough of his childhood when his mother died, but I got lucky. He got lucky. He somehow...managed to salvage that innocence. If he hears this now, all of that innocence is gone. And it will be the end of a childhood that isn't finished yet. Don't do this to him. Please."

Madison wanted to ask what about her, what about all of the plans she'd made? Because this? Put a serious kink in her life, too. She felt the tears that had been threatening start to overspill her eyes and wiped them away with a small gasp that did nothing to alleviate the tightness in her throat and chest. She needed to sit down, felt as if her life which had already been spiraling out of control had just suffered admission to free-fall.

Andy came over to her. Apparently he wasn't finished sucker punching her. "Listen to me, Madison. Whatever you choose to do, if you want to end the pregnancy, if you want to keep the baby, I will pay for it. I will support you. I will see to your comfort and security. Whatever you want, for as long as you want it. But Ephram is not to know."

She couldn't even look at him, felt dirty and cheap. Not that she couldn't use the money, but--God. Andy Brown, the man she had trusted to help her, had just offered to buy her silence. All she had to do was sacrifice her integrity and her love for Ephram, a love that was still there despite them not working out. Lack of emotion had never been the problem after all. "I think this is a mistake." Her voice was thick with tears, but she didn't care.

"Fine. Let it be my mistake." He said it as if it was just so damn easy, as if just sitting back and not telling Ephram would solve everything. But it wouldn't.

"How. How could I do that?"

"You go." And there it was. She was being asked to not only keep her silence, keep something as huge as a baby a secret from Ephram, a secret she felt he deserved to know--now she was being sent away on top of it. This was all too much to deal with at once, especially when she'd thought she made the right choice coming to Andy in the first place.

"I can't--I have to go. I'll...think about it." Andy opened his mouth and before he could say anything else, she promised, "I won't do anything before I talk to you. I won't...go to him." She got to her feet, edging toward the door to his office. "I won't tell him."

"Madison, I know you think--" Madison shook her head as Andy started talking again, raising a hand.

"I really can't, right now. I'm sorry." She turned and fled his office, the converted train station he'd turned into his practice...and came to an abrupt stop as her feet hit sand, looking around in shock and the first tendrils of fear. Day had become night in the blink of an eye, and there was a fire nearby and strangers all around and...

...and Madison sinks to the sand, eyes wide and scared, and hugs her knees to her chest. "What the hell just happened?" she whispers to no one in particular.

[A bit belated, but the island's newest resident has arrived in the middle of the NYE party. BRING IT ON. ;)]