[ota] doesn't matter how you throw me

[bluntforces]

It's hard being a young person.

At this point, Evan isn't exactly a young person. Not an old person, but finally safely removed from the this way and that way of being a teenaged and recently-teenaged young person. Lots of things are settling into place. Since getting back to Montréal, even, he's even getting his head properly around what his life might look like when he moves back home.

But the Deck is (par for the course these days) not doing well. There's no telling what travel back and forth is going to be like, not really. There's no telling what his mother will say has popped up in the backyard. There's no telling how Elani's going to sound on the phone when he calls.

There's no telling when a giant bouquet of orange lilies and jonquil and white clover is going to show up in the middle of your Intermediate Managerial Accounting and remind you that it's almost Valentine's Day on top of the fact your home is falling to pieces while you're not there and you can't tell anyone about it.

So Evan McCartney? Is playing phone roulette. Not looking at names and numbers so much as hitting at random to make sure that the general population hasn't completely vanished into thin air.

Comments

[bluntforces]

Huh. Not at all what he'd been expecting.

But not the end of the world. It's still confirmation that Iggy's okay, that they don't seem to be missing any of that brood. A good thing.

"Depends. What're ya up to in math these days, sweetheart?"

[sirforawhile]

"Differentiation, which let me tell you, Klossner does not explain well. I dunno how he expects any of us to pass like this." Can you hear her indignation over the phone. Can you.

Oh, that distant wail that might be a baby? Also comes with a distinctly Iggy-ish yell of pain.

[bluntforces]

"Ah, calculus." Surely she can likewise here back the fondness at never having to take Calc 101 again. "Did integration make sense t--"

Wait.

"...everyone okay on that end?"

[sirforawhile]

"Uh. Hold on." Cue yelling in Mandarin to the other side of the room. And a bit of scrambling around.

Eventually comes Tian'e's voice again, a little odd from the phone being cradled between shoulder and cheek and a baby cradled on the other side. "Um. He got bitten and peed on. Four on one."

The oddness is also a bit from trying not to laugh.

[bluntforces]

"...lemme talk to Iggy, xiǎomèi, okay?"

But take a second and let him get the chuckles out. Because, well.

It's kind of funny. Sad, worrisome, funny.

Complicated.

[sirforawhile]

"Y'gotta wait, he's- uh. Well, he was diaper-changing last. I think he just left- ow." And a little cursing that she shouldn't be knowing. Don't tell.

[bluntforces]

Gasp. Of course the bulk of his Chinese is cursing, after all.

"Y' holdin' a baby while you talk like a sailor, hon?"

[sirforawhile]

"Shush. He's not gonna remember it by the time he starts talking, anyway." There will still be intermittent small ow's for the hair-pulling she's enduring.

And now- at last- comes the distinct sounds of a phone being passed from one person to another. "Evan? Tian'e been a good secretary?"

Also a distant "am not" in the background.

[bluntforces]

He'll do his best to get the chuckles out during the transition, sound like he isn't completely amused by the whole situation.

Except then he's laughing again for half a second, because it feels really good to laugh while his mind is on edge like this.

"She gettin' all grown up? Thought she was barely up t' my knee when I left."

[sirforawhile]

He's glad to be of service in the chuckles department, Evan, even unintentionally.

"Oh, I think she's getting on mid-thigh by now. Time flies, y'know? Montreal being good to you now?"

[bluntforces]

"Yeah. Gettin' better every day, actually." But babbling about improving test scores and positive interviews can come after the mild, mild panic has been handled. "How's home, though? With you an' your brood, I mean? No bad news?"

[sirforawhile]

"No, thankfully. We've got a couple of broken friendships and a bout of bad grades, but those are out of my jurisdiction." There's a brief pause, dealing with something small, and then Iggy prods. "Getting lonely over there?"

[bluntforces]

Thank goodness for not being parents yet. That'd make this whole concern a million times worse.

"...a little." No harm admitting that, right? "Coming home soon."

[sirforawhile]

"You'd better, or we'd all be moping until you really did come home." Including, he thought, a certain young lady.

"That all you called for?"

[bluntforces]

"Sorta." There was also the random luck aspect of it all. "Just... wantin' to make sure you were still... here, right? People been vanishing."

[sirforawhile]

The rush of static is Iggy sighing heavily into the phone. "...had a few close calls, yeah. And one'a the kids at school- just a friend- she's disappeared. Plus, y'know. Your queen."

[bluntforces]

"Had heard that, yeah." But it was strangely more difficult to hear that ordinary people were missing. "You-- keep your head down, okay?"

[sirforawhile]

"Calm your balls, Evan, I'm not about to get swallowed up by some hole in the sky. Promise. Got way too many people holding me down for that." He means to make it reassuring. It possibly isn't.

[bluntforces]

"Goin' straight for the balls today, I see. Well done. Very classy while you're babysittin' a horde." But, you know.

It's really good to hear Iggy sounding like Iggy.

[sirforawhile]

"Well, yeah, your basketballs get all over the place, dude. You should keep 'em properly. Unless you meant some other balls?" So innocent. So pure the voice of a little Xiu asking when they can play basketball with Evan again.

[bluntforces]

Touche, epic uncle. And a bright laugh for you as well.

"You tell the kiddos it's on next Wednesday, okay?"

[sirforawhile]

"I'll relay the message. You'll be staying long after Riley's bash, then?" That would be an interesting thing to watch. And generally not-gossip about. And specifically worry about.

[bluntforces]

"...eh."

The next day was Valentine's. The likelihood he'd wake up in Riley's bed made escaping quickly seem like a good idea.

"We'll... see."

http://lovestrike.dreamwidth.org/852.html?thread=285012#cmt285012 :D?

[sirforawhile]

"Hey, don't feel like you have to dawdle on account of us. I know how classes can be. Long as, y'know, we can all see you at the party." Or one person. But they'd all be glad to see him, is the point.

[bluntforces]

"Nah, I mean-- I'd like t' stay. Just..." Hm. Maybe there is a solution here. "Can-- I crash on your couch, maybe?"