Anthony J. Crowley (aflashbastard) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-06-26 13:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, adam young, anthony j. crowley |
Who: Adam and Anthony.
What: A second meeting.
When: Yesterday, after school hours.
Where: Anthony’s home.
Rating: Low.
Status: Complete.
Anthony silently wished that Arthur didn’t have previous engagements with his church right now. But he had insisted it might be for the best, since Anthony was clearly still hesitant about what they were doing. Arthur felt maybe Anthony needed to get to know Adam on his own without the help.
So far it hadn’t been too bad, he figured. He understood Adam’s need to spend more time with them before any decisions were made, and Anthony thought it might be only fair to show him the house he could end up living in. Anthony made small-talk in the car on the way to the house, a beautiful home along the beach. He’d tried to find some music on his phone that wasn’t Queen (he was sure there was more selection on there) and had settled for the radio.
“Well, here we are then,” Anthony said cheerfully. He pulled into the garage and stepped out of the car. “Ready for the grand tour and all?”
To say that Adam was anxious would have been an understatement. He’d been talkative enough, but jittery for the whole car ride. Obviously it was a good idea to get to know the two men better, and it made sense to see the house. But the logic of all this didn’t make it easier for him. He was still nervous, and uncertain. Thankfully, he wasn’t lashing out as he was so prone to doing.
As soon as the car was stopped, he hopped out, unable to stay seated much longer. It was difficult for him under the best of circumstances. “Yeah, I’m ready. Lead on, I guess.”
Anthony cracked a somewhat nervous smile. He lead the way into the house through the garage, and it was a very nice house. There were two floors, the one with the garage that had a small living room type area, a bathroom, a small laundry room and a bedroom.
“If you do come stay with us,” he said, showing Adam around, “this would sort of be your space. More or less free range down here.”
Adam gave Anthony an awkward sort of smile of his own in response. It was an all around nervous and awkward atmosphere. Until Adam followed Anthony into the house. If he was the type to whistle in appreciation, he would have. Instead he just looked around, taking everything in, and nodded. Wasn’t it every teenager’s dream to have their own space?
“Not bad,” he allowed. Obviously he couldn’t let on that he was impressed, not too much anyway. That just wouldn’t do. “S’nice.” There, he gave a little more.
“We haven’t done much with it yet, since we spend most of our time upstairs, but I think it could be quite nice.” He nodded, feeling unsure. He couldn’t tell where Adam stood on the whole thing, and that was mildly terrifying. So he decided they could go to the aforementioned upstairs.
It was very open. There was a large living room that was open to a very nice kitchen, and huge glass windows that opened out onto a wrap-around balcony that looked over the beach and ocean beyond.
“Arthur’s got his library in that room there. It’s very musty, dimly lit, and has this awful tartan sofa in it. Our bedroom is just down the hall, and other than that everything’s just very … Open. You can have a look around, if you’d like.”
Adam gave another nod of agreement. It could definitely be a nice little place to call home, with the right touches. A nice little home entertainment system, maybe a mini-fridge for soda and snacks, and it seemed to be somewhat separate from the rest of the house... But he was getting a little ahead of himself. Check out the rest of the place first.
So he followed Anthony upstairs, and the appreciation only grew. The house was impressive, and even Adam could see that. After all, it was big and spacious and bright. The view was also nice. Really nice. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep up the nonchalance.
“Thanks,” he said, wandering the large open space. He gave everything a casually thorough look over, the kitchen and living room (otherwise known as the most important places to a teenaged boy). And then he headed over to the balcony, because who could resist that view.
“There’s a path down to the beach a between a few houses over,” Anthony offered, following Adam at a safe distance. “It’s more of a private beach so only residents of the neighbourhood and guests have access, so it won’t ever be too overcrowded.” He figured, honestly, that Adam maybe couldn’t ask for much more in the department of living spaces. Not that Anthony wanted to buy him off or anything, because he didn’t. But he knew Arthur was keen on Adam living with them.
There was no maybe about it, Adam definitely couldn’t ask for more in the living spaces department. At this point in his life, it was beyond him to imagine he could get more than this, and even this was something he was having a hard time wrapping his brain around. Anthony didn’t even have to try and sell him on this place, he’d been sold since he stepped in just about.
“Nice,” he said, his appreciation coloring his tone. Then he glanced over at Anthony again. “What do you do again?” After all, these were a bunch of really really nice things... Just how did he afford it all?
“Hmm?” Anthony blinked, then looked at Adam and shrugged. “I’m an investment broker. I run a business that manages online portfolios, a company that started in London that I got in on from the start. Lots of money in that when you know what you’re doing. And I invest well myself.” Also his parents had started a good fund for him when he was younger that he’d manage to build on in his years.
Adam nodded like he had any idea about that sort of business. If he’d ever paid attention to his father when he’d talked about work, he might have picked up a little. But that was a long time ago anyway, and Adam was not too keen on his own parents. He leaned his elbows on the railing of the balcony, looking out at the water. This would be the biggest house he lived in with the smallest number of people since he was thirteen.
He turned around, leaning back against the railing this time, and taking in the house from this angle. The huge windows, the large open living space... It wouldn’t be a chore to get used to. Even if it was only going to be for a year.
“What about Arthur? What’s he do again?” He felt like it had something with books. Perhaps he should have paid more attention before, but he really hadn’t been trying to impress anyone. Quite the opposite.
“Arthur? Arthur owns a bookshop.” And by Arthur owns it, Anthony meant that Anthony owned it, but that was neither here nor there. “Mostly rare and uncommon books. He hates selling them, so it’s not really a lucrative business by any means.”
Adam thought about that for a moment, then raised an eyebrow at Anthony. “So basically he owns a whole other building to put most of his books in?” What was the point of that when they had a whole room in their house as a library?
He laughed. “Yeah. Basically. He’s … He’s got a lot of books.” Anthony shrugged, still looking incredibly amused. “I’m sure he sells a couple sometimes. Out of strict necessity and all.”
Adam gave a lopsided smile of his own amusement. “Obviously. Does he get all choked up when he does sell one?” His smile turned into a grin. It wasn’t a malicious one, just teasing.
“Don’t tell him I said so, but, yes.” Anthony snickered a bit to himself. “He’s just spent a lot of years collecting,” he explained, as if that made the situation any less humourous. “Longer than I’ve known him, I think.”
He couldn’t help the snort. Currently he was imagining Arthur as something like a momma bird, crying over her chicks leaving the nest. It wasn’t that hard, and he’d only met the man once. “Your secret’s safe.” It was much better to laugh about something like that when the other person didn’t have a clue.
“Good. I’ve never live it down otherwise.” He looked down at the beach thoughtfully. “Are you hungry? I’m famished. Arthur never lets me eat anything good. I suppose you’ll have to be warned about that - He’s a fantastic cook, but we don’t get steak much. I sneak out when I’m at work to eat the good stuff.”
He was a growing boy. When wasn’t he hungry? But Anthony’s admission of Arthur’s not allowing good food... Well, his stomach could wait a moment. “What d’you mean? What’s he cook then?” Adam was skeptical, nervous even.
“Hmm? Oh.” Anthony flapped a hand. “I’ve got ‘high blood pressure’ or something, so I’m not allowed to eat red meat, or anything very high in fats and oils and cholesterol. All the delicious food. We eat a lot of chicken, turkey, sometimes we have lamb. Now and then he tries to sneak in tofu, but he’s not as sneaky as he thinks. So that’s easy to get around.”
The face Adam made at ‘tofu’ said it all. Chicken was alright, but he would always prefer red meat to the lighter stuff. He was a huge fan of burgers. “Alright, c’mon,” he began, already heading out. “We’re going to get burgers or steak or something. Anything not healthy.” He felt sick just listening to that.
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.” Anthony led the way back down to the car, stomach excited at the prospect of something delicious and forbidden to eat.
“What else would I say? ‘Oh please, take me to a healthy restaurant where they serve grass and shit’?” When they got to the garage, Adam hopped back in the car. Now that he was thinking about food, he was hungry.
“I wouldn’t have listened to you even if you had.” Slipping on his sunglasses, Anthony backed out of the garage and drove them towards the nearest place that served steak.