liam (rolff) wrote in newhaven_rp, @ 2016-11-29 20:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | !november2016, liam rolff |
Who: Liam Rolff and Merete Rolff (narrative)
When: 11/29/16
Where: Phone conversation at home
Rating: Low
Liam was deep in lesson planning when the insistent flash of his phone's screen pulled his attention back to his surroundings. He glanced at the screen, intent on ignoring whomever it was, only to feel a stab of guilt when he saw his sister's name.
He picked his phone up with a grimace, his other hand rubbing at the back of his neck in a telltale defensive and guilty gesture, and answered with a tone reserved specifically for family members and said I'm-exhausted-but-happy-to-hear-from-you.
A brief burst of distant laughter and the sound of wind on the microphone hinted at her surroundings before Merete spoke up. "Not much, I was just heading back to the apartment and wanted to check in on my favorite big brother."
The sound of her bright and chipper voice made him feel homesick, but as usual the emotion was tinged with dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Homesick for what? For where? His family had never been particularly close, and had never been stable in any definition of the word. But Merete had always been sweet, and he'd always gotten on well with her even though she was a few years younger. It helped that she was night and day from Liesl; just the thought of his older sister made Liam's mouth twist in frustration.
He forced himself to stop getting distracted in his thoughts and to focus. Without need to be prompted, Merete was chattering about her day and her classes for the semester. She was wrapping up her undergraduate degree at NYU and knew that even though Liam hadn't said much about it, he was still deeply fascinated about her classes and her ambitions in art restoration. It made him smile and he provided just enough commentary to keep her from questioning if he was still there or still listening.
He knew when she reached her building because the random sounds of traffic and wind stopped, replaced by the typical background noises of someone finally getting home -- keys clattering into a bowl by the door, shoes thumping onto the floor, the contented sigh of someone dropping into their favorite chair or spot on the couch. Silence reigned for a moment before Merete turned the conversation to more uncomfortable territory. "Did you work all through Thanksgiving? I know you said things were intense this semester, since you were taking on classes, but I figured you'd travel."
Since Liam had, in fact, traveled, and had gone to New York City but hadn't stopped in to see her, he was loathe to be honest. He was never comfortable lying to Merete, as she was the one most likely to be hurt by it whereas their other siblings would return the lies in kind, but he knew the truth would hurt her more. "I'd wanted to, but things were too busy with getting ready for finals. I didn't feel comfortable leaving when I had so much work to do." That, at least, was a partial truth -- he hadn't, and had brought some things to the city with them to work on in between exploring with Roxy.
"Oh. Bummer." Merete's disappointment was clear, but she bounced back quickly. "What about Christmas? Are you coming?"
Liam frowned. "To New York City?"
"No, silly, Zürich." She gasped. "Wait, you didn't know? We were all going to meet in Switzerland this year. Liesl said she was going to tell you."
Liam's mouth thinned and he leaned back in his chair, draping his forearm over his eyes. "Oh, right, right. Sorry. I remember now, she did text me about that," he lied, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice. Liesl hadn't seen fit to inform him about that. He shouldn't be surprised -- they'd had a blowout fight a year before about his habit of bowing out of family functions, and she'd been icing him out of Rolff family Skype calls, group messages, and invites ever since. But he knew it bothered Merete that they didn't all get along, so to avoid causing drama he kept up the lies. "I'd made tentative plans to go to England before she texted me, but I might be able to change them."
"You could always do both," Merete reasoned. "That way you'd have an out for when you and mom get into it again." She caught on to more than she showed.
Smiling now at her positivity Liam found himself nodding. "That might just work. I'll have to check with-- my traveling partner," he amended. He hadn't told any of his family about Roxanne yet, because how did you explain something like that? None of his family knew the details about New Haven and he hadn't seen fit to let the cat out of the bag. He had no reserves about introducing Roxanne as someone special to him but he didn't think the shy young woman was entirely prepared for the chaos of his family, especially if they suspected the emotional bond between the two of them.
"Traveling partner?" Merete's voice rose in both pitch and volume and Liam winced.
He spent the next few minutes trying to explain without actually explaining, and finally got out of the call before too much longer. He felt wrung out from the emotional roller coaster of it all, though he had to admit to himself that it didn't take much to put him out of sorts. He set his phone down on the desk and stood, stretching the muscles in his back and sides. Lesson planning was going to have to wait. He needed some time in front of a computer screen, mindlessly programming and coding, to distract him from his thoughts. A piano might have been better, but despite setting up one of the spare bedrooms as a music room, Liam hadn't so much as set a finger on the piano since moving in -- and god only knew how long it had been before that. His avoidance made him feel like something vital had been removed or kept from him, but that didn't stop him from the baseless distance he made himself keep -- from his music, from his family, from so many things. Liam went for the easy route, as he so often did, and chose the option of least resistance, something he could do with ease but which provided little in the way of actual, active enjoyment.