luke henry ; robin (notjustsidekick) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-03-06 22:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | jaenelle angelline, robin |
Who: Luke and Evie
What: They’re neighbors they should be besties.
When: Recently.
Where: In the hallway on the fifth floor of Aubade.
They were making a lot of noise for a 19 year old girl and a 5 year old girl. The hall was echoing with their laughter and squeals. Their heavy footsteps as they ran up and down the hall were not unlike a herd of elephants. They were having a great time chasing a soccer ball up and down the hall, both of them had propped their doors (directly across the hall from each other) open and they were using them as their opposing goals.
Evie’s long blond hair was tied loosely at the base of her neck, and she was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans and a purple tee shirt that said “I heart Seattle” and a pair of purple converse high tops, Georgie was in her pink Disney princess dress and no shoes at all. Kathy had asked Evie to watch Georgie while she went shopping and Evie’s father was at his office working that afternoon. Naturally, they were raising a ruckus. A big, fun ruckus.
Luke had the apartment to himself for at least a couple more hours, and he intended to take advantage of every minute he had left. It was silent, which he didn't mind right about now. He had a feeling there was going to be a lack of it in the future.
Today the silence didn’t last very long, though. There were practically no other teenagers or children in Aubade, at least not that he’d seen, so usually things were pretty quiet, but something was going on out in the hallway and Wren’s kitten (which he hadn’t started to think of as his yet) was scratching at the door in a plea to be allowed to investigate this new noise. Luke sighed, trying to nudge him away from the door without success and opting to scoop the furry creature up instead. He turned the doorknob and pulled, giving himself enough space to stick his head out and see what the ruckus was.
Two girls, one older and one younger, kicking a soccer ball up and down the hallway was the last thing he expected to see. Luke winced as the kitten dug his claws into his shirt when the ball rolled past, trying without success to separate needle sharp claws from fabric. “Uh… hi,” he said, a delayed greeting once he realized he was standing silently in the doorway like a creeper.
Evangeline and Georgia stopped dead in their tracks and Evie whipped her head around at the sound of a strange voice. She knew who their neighbors were, she’d just never actually seen them. She’d once told Papa she was pretty sure there Unicorns living next door because she’d never seen proof that anyone actually lived there. The boy standing in the doorway was not a unicorn and after a split second her defenses went down because he certainly didn’t look like a threat standing there holding a kitten. Oh Tassle loved babies...She was surprised the 115 pound half great dane/half elephant creature wasn’t already in the hall fussing and making sure the new boy was doing things “properly.”
“Hi,” she said brightly. Georgia was peering around Evie’s leg, spied the kitten and her eyes brightened up significantly. Curiosity piqued and danger averted the girl looked up at Evie and smiled, “Evie can I see the kitten?” she’d been playing with a kitten at Eli’s coffee shop after school every day, the girl had kitten fever. Evie looked back to Luke, she recognized his face now, he was adopted, she wasn’t adopted but she knew all about not having a family. “Can she see your kitten?” she asked rolling her eyes just a bit but not scolding because talking to strangers with kittens was definitely something Georgie wasn’t allowed to do.
Luke was absolutely positive that Thomas had never once bothered to get to know his neighbours, and he hadn’t exactly been Mr. Social himself with school and Robin-related business to take care of. As for Max, well, he doubted she’d been going around introducing herself either. They were probably known as the weird recluses living in 506. Neither of the girls looked very familiar, though he’d probably seen the blonde around once or twice without really processing it, but they seemed nice enough. Well, of course the younger one did; there really wasn’t much that could be bad about little kids. In fact, he should probably start getting some practice with kids considering the baby would be coming within the next month. He wondered how their neighbours would feel about that.
“Yeah, sure.” He attempted what he hoped was a friendly and completely non-weird smile, leaving the door ajar as he moved into the hallway. Somehow he managed to gently disentangle the kitten from his shirt and very carefully held him out enough so that the little girl could pet him if she wanted to. “This is Petti, and I’m Luke.” It was pretty sad that he didn’t have much conversation with non-vigilante people anymore. “He heard you guys playing soccer and decided he wanted to see it for himself.”
Georgia and Evie walked over to where Luke was standing, and that’s when Tassle stuck his giant head out of Evie’s apartment door and looked curiously down the hall at what the girls were up to. Evie turned, “Stay,” she said so he didn’t come out and terrify everyone, never mind that he was completely harmless. He was huge.
Georgia was already petting the kitten, and going on, and on, and on about the kitten named Earl Gray at Reliquary and Evie grinned at Luke, “I’m Evangeline, this is Georgia she lives across the hall with her Mother, I live here with my Papa,” she said nodding toward her apartment. “And that monster dog looking impatient and harassed is Tassle, he’s harmless and REALLY likes babies and is very nosy too,” she gave Petti a scratch, “Petti I bet you’ll be a very good soccer player one day,” she said to the kitten with a grin.
Luke liked big dogs and wasn’t bothered when he saw a massive canine head peer out from the apartment down the hall, but for a moment he thought Petti would freak and start clawing everything in sight. While the kitten stared at the dog for a moment, he seemed too occupied with the little girl lavishing affection to hiss or whatever it was that scared cats did. He’d never asked for a pet all these months out of concern that Aubade didn’t allow animals, but apparently he was wrong. “Nice to meet you, Evangeline. And Georgia,” he added, smiling down at the little girl. So the two weren’t sisters, though he wondered who their parents were. He really was a social recluse if he didn’t know his own neighbors.
“Tassle?” He grinned towards the dog as the kitten began to purr, clearly content with all this new attention. Wren had mentioned that. “He can come out, if you want. I don’t mind, and I don’t think Petti would either.”
Evangeline had NO idea if Aubade allowed animals, but it certainly had never stopped her. Monsieur fat cat had been here for a while, and Tassle was hard to miss. “Oh he’s perfectly friendly and loves babies and cats so...Watch out Petti,” she looked over at Tassle and smiled at him. “Come here love,” she said sweetly and he instantly “cheered up” and came over to where the group of them were sitting. He sniffed Luke, he licked Petti’s head, he licked Georgie’s face, he sniffed Luke again, his tail was wagging like crazy and Evie gave him a scratch on his head.
“I found Tassle in the park a while back, we have a cat too, he’s super fat and lazy though,” she said grinning widely. “Do you like it here? You just moved in before the holidays right?” there was no point in pretending she didn’t read the newspaper. “I’m sorry I didn’t come over and say hello sooner, my Papa and I were traveling, and then he was just traveling and my friend Lucien was,” she did air quotes, “in charge’ of me so its been a little hectic. I should have brought a gift.”
He was admittedly a little hesitant when Tassle came closer, since it emphasized the size difference between him and the kitten, but he proved to be just as friendly as Evangeline said. Luke kept a firm hold on Petti with one hand, half-craddling the kitten in the crook of his arm, while he gave Tassle a pat with the other. “He really is friendly. I don’t know why anyone would just leave him in a park.” Even though they’d just met Evangeline definitely struck him as the sort of person to take in a stray animal, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if there were more pets in the future. “Petti hasn’t gotten to the fat and lazy part yet, but who knows.”
Practically everyone knew Thomas Brandon had adopted a kid around Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t as though he minded people being aware of the situation. He’d moved in before the adoption was even a thought, and it was funny to think that back then he’d only expected it to be temporary. “Yeah, before the holidays. It’s... great here. I used to live in Hamartia before, so it was a big change.” At first it just felt like a really fancy hotel, and it had taken a while to actually feel like somewhere he could call home. “Oh, that’s okay. My... dad’s usually busy with work and things have been kind of hectic with me too. If anything I should’ve come by.” He pulled a face. “It’s probably pretty bad that I don’t actually know any of my neighbors, aside from you and Georgia now.”
“He’s amazing, but he slobbers and snores,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper. “I found him outside on a rainy day and brought him home. It’s good he got along with Monsieur Fat Cat, even better that my Papa doesn’t seem to mind him,” she said with a laugh.
She nodded as he spoke, she’d been to Hamartia a handful of times, most recently once to get Hayley, once to drop Wren off after the incident in the street. “I’ve been there a few times, this is definitely different. My friend Hayley who is staying with us used to live there, I made another friend there recently too,” she said shrugging a bit.
“We should have you over for dinner, I can tell you about EVERYONE in this building. Well,” she laughed, “Not everyone. Just the ones who like to chit chat in the elevators. My Papa is busy with work a lot too, so is Georgie’s mom everyone has to work for a living I guess,” she said clearly thinking that work was way overrated. “I mostly just volunteer a lot.”
Luke tried and failed to imagine Thomas not minding a huge dog in the apartment. A kitten was one thing, but something far bigger that couldn’t be kept in one room was an entirely different story. “That’s lucky. I’m not sure how well my dad would take to having a dog as big as Tassle around.”
He’d never encountered anyone who liked to chit chat in the elevators. Or maybe he’d been one of those people and that was why no conversation ever happened. “Oh. Do a lot of them like to chit chat in the elevator?” He asked, actually curious. Her dinner invite was nice, but he wondered if he was supposed to return it. Every time he tried to picture it happening it kept turning out very awkward. “I’m in school most of the time, but... I used to have a job in an electronics store.” He’d meant to find another one, but it never ended up happening. “What kind of volunteer work do you do?”
She laughed, a good natured and friendly laugh and gave Tassle an extra scratch and a kiss on the head. “My Papa wasn’t overly pleased when Tassle first moved in either. But I think it was because he smelled a little funny and took a nap on his bed. But they’ve reached an co-habitation agreement. Tassle still takes naps on his bed and Papa suffers through it,” she said clearly amused by the whole thing. “We’ll invite you and your Dad over for dinner, do you have a Mom? She can come too.”
She shrugged, “I like to chit chat in the elevator, I’m not entirely sure they enjoy my chit chat at first, but they get used to it. Oh, and make friends with the day and night doorman because they get you out of trouble when you’re out way too late.” She hadn’t been to school in...A very long time. She went to the first couple of grades in primary school, when her Papa rescued her he tried to put her in school, but it hadn’t gone well. So she had been homeschooled. She was plenty smart, and occassionally toyed with the idea of taking online college classes, but they were usually chased away by something interesting to do right then and there. “I volunteer at the pound, a nursing home downtown, the hospital, and the library. What are you studying?” she asked as she finally just sat down on the ground in the hallway with her back against the wall.
“Okay,” he agreed, fairly certain that Thomas wasn’t used to being invited over by neighbors for dinner. It might be a nice change. “Thanks. It’ll be good for him to get out and socialize with people in a non-business environment.” Whether or not he had a mom made him falter, only because he didn’t know what category Max fell into. “Uh... yeah. She’s kind of like my mom.” The closest thing he had to it here, anyway.
If only Evangeline knew just how late he stayed out at night. Luke usually didn’t use the front door when he returned at 4 or 5am, but there were times when he managed to make it in at a decent hour (read: no later than 2am) and opted for the front door. The doormen were useful allies when it came down to it. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that. I’m trying to get on their good side.” He hesitated, deciding that sitting was a better option if they were going to be out in the hallway and talk, and sat cross-legged with the kitten in his lap. It wasn’t like anyone was going to come out and yell at them at this point. “Wow. You do a lot.” It made him wonder whether he should start doing some volunteer work too. Sure, he went out and tried to keep the streets safe at night, but that was as Robin. Maybe he should start making a good name for himself in everyday life too. “I was studying computer sciences back... home in first year, but I changed my major to business administration. The workload can be tough sometimes but it’s not too bad.”
She smiled widely, clearly pleased with the affirmative response. She’d have to remind herself to tell her Papa to get something put together, she was fantastic at having wonderful ideas and getting the ball rolling, but he was better at executing them. “I say that to my Papa all the time, he doesn’t always listen. We can kill two birds with one stone,” she tilted her head a bit, when he talked about his mother or the lack there of. “I haven’t got one either,” she said simply.
“The day doorman likes chocolate chip cookies, and the night doorman likes blueberry cobbler,” she said helpfully. She listened as Georgie sat down beside her and pulled the hair tie holding Evie’s hair in place and went about making a very messy braid in her hair. Evie hardly noticed at all, but turned just a bit to give the girl better access. They’d been practicing braiding on My Little Ponies earlier that morning. “Business Administration? Oh you and Papa will have loads to discuss!”
Luke realized too late that he’d managed to make himself sound like an orphan, since everyone knew that he was Thomas Brandon’s adopted son rather than his biological one (despite what the tabloids theorized) but he didn’t know how to clarify, so he just nodded.
He couldn’t help smiling as Georgia started playing with Evie’s hair, and it made him wonder about Amanda and what she’d be like when she was that age. He knew they weren’t related and would never actually be brother and sister, but family wasn’t defined by blood alone. It might be nice to have a little sister, blood-related or not. “It’s always good to have stuff to talk about. Is your dad in business?”
Evie wasn’t an orphan, her situation was a mess, but she didn’t need or want to talk about it and she certainly wasn’t going to judge Luke on his situation. At all. She wasn’t even going to ask unless he volunteered the information.
She smiled widely. “You know the Askavi Group? That company that owns everything and does everything? That’s my Papa,” she said smiling obviously very proud. “They do all kinds of things, Papa invests money in companies, and makes them big and healthy.” He had a way of doing that with things. People included.
Usually when Thomas talked business, Luke ended up trying to look like he knew what he was talking about until he could escape and Google whatever didn’t sound familiar. To a boy who hadn’t reached twenty yet the business world was intimidating to say the least, but he was trying to get a handle on it, and that was probably the only reason why he actually recognized the Askavi Group. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.” That was her father? He wondered if he was like Thomas, who frankly was more than a little intimidating to people who didn’t know him, or more laid-back without reaching Anton Sparke levels. “That’s pretty impressive. You must be proud of him.” He wondered if Thomas already knew him. “Maybe he can convince my dad that having a big dog wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” he added with a laugh.
She nodded, “I’d be proud of him no matter what, he’s got strength of character,” she said smiling happily. “But yes, he has a nice office building and a bunch of people who call me “Ms. Sablier” when I take cupcakes in there, good times!” She winked at him smiling wryly, “Maybe he can, but if you want a big dog you can go ahead and leave that to me. If I can convince my Papa I can convince anyone.”
It occurred to Luke that he didn’t often go to the Thomas, Inc. buildings, and he decided he should try to change that. It might be good to show an interest and he didn’t have class all the time. “I bet they love the cupcakes,” he grinned. He’d been mostly joking about the big dog, though he couldn’t deny that while a kitten was nice he wouldn’t mind a dog - but with the baby coming he figured Thomas and Max would have enough to worry about. “It can’t hurt to try. Besides, you’d definitely do better than I could.”
After a couple of moments he realized he’d probably cut Evie and Georgia’s soccer game short and kept it that way, but he didn’t stand immediately. “Sorry I interrupted your game,” he said with a gesture towards the abandoned ball, pulling a face.
“What’s not to love about cupcakes?” she asked smiling excitedly, to her cupcakes were QUITE thrilling. “Then I shall endeavor to try Luke, we’ll see how it goes.”
He mentioned the soccer game and Georgie who had braided about three braids in Evie’s hair by that time (she must have looked ridiculous), got excited again and Evie realized he was right. They should probably get back to playing. “You want to join us, Luke? You can try your hand at tending both goals, we make our own rules up as we go anyway!”
“Thanks.” He wasn’t expecting Thomas to magically agree to getting a dog, but at the very least it would be entertaining to watch Evie try to sway his opinion. With a gentle nudge he unhooked Petti’s claws from the fabric of his jeans, deciding that he didn’t have much else to do and hallway soccer sounded fun. “Okay,” he agreed, getting to his feet. “I don’t think Petti’s quite ready for a real game yet, though, so I’ll get him out of the way.”
Luckily no one was home so there was no worries about the kitten being stepped on when he was deposited back into the apartment, and the door was pulled closed carefully before he turned back to Evie and Georgia. “So, I’m tending both goals?”
Evie grinned as she stood up and and Tassle started wagging. This was clearly going to be a very interesting game. “Something like that!” she said mischievously as Georgie kicked the ball toward the dog of all things. It was on.