Pancake Shenanigans

[lulu8889]

Who: Neil, Lulu, Bod
What:  Pancake Shenanigans!  MWAHAHA
When: Pancake Morning!
Where: Outside the library.
Rating: P for PANCAKES

Comments

[owingnobody]

Bod WOULD have replied to Lulu, if he hadn't been so busy coughing, and trying to keep pancake out of his lungs. "-m fine," he finally managed, still coughing some, his eyes tearing up. "Just- yeah," he wheezed, laughing and coughing all at once as Neil's words registered. "Yeah, chewing would be-- would be good."

He happened, right at that moment, to look up, straight into the warm, laughing brown eyes of the boy seated next to him. And, for a moment, he simply stared, startled by their proximity... and startled by his reaction. Why did he suddenly feel-- well, utterly wrong-footed? Like his all of him was gangling and three sizes too big. Like something strange had just burst out of the closet, and it was taking all of his willpower to stay right where he was... and at the same time, not a force in the universe could tear him away.

He cleared his throat, again, and looked away, wiping self-consciously at his teary eyes. "...it would be very good," he mumbled.

[notdead_poet]

A few days ago, Neil had sworn totally off love, romance, crushes, being attracted to anyone in general, and any variations there of. Which was why he was absolutely determined to believe that Bod was not looking at him in any significant way. Other than the way one boy would look at a completely unattractive, completely platonic boy.

For some reason though, Bod seemed a little awkward after the silence was broken. Then again, maybe that was understandable. He could imagine why a boy who had never even thought about relationships before would feel a little unnerved upon finding out someone was queer, and then meeting them face to face.

Neil grinned around another bite from his half-finished pancake and made an attempt at killing the rest of the awkwardness. "So Bod, what's your story?"

[lulu8889]

Lulu quietly observed the interaction not without a grin. The quiet part was almost out of character, except that she was stuffing her face with pancakes. Which were delicious. She grabbed another from the stack that Bod had. Lulu was definitely mentioning this later.

She raised her eyebrows. It was nice for Neil to be inquisitive. That way she didn't seem like a nosy intrusive girl. Which she totally was

[owingnobody]

"My story?" Bod said, staring down at the pancakes in his lap. His eyes flicked sideways, suspiciously, when Lulu snatched one of them, even though he had more than he was probably going to finish. Regardless, he picked up another one and tore into it, in a statement of sorts.

And then he realized it was going to be difficult to answer the question, with his mouth full. So he swallowed, and then he said, "My story. Uhm... I came from a sort of... old-fashioned, sheltered community upbringing, I guess you could say. And two years ago, I left home to see the world, and that's what I've been doing ever since." He gestured around himself. "This is my first trip to Canada, and while I gather this isn't what the weather usually does in this region, it's still very interesting-- and different from what I saw in Europe."

[notdead_poet]

"I know what that's like," Neil nodded. "Well, I guess it wasn't so much old-fashioned back then... since it was, you know, the present. But sheltered, definitely."

He was pretty sure he was starting to become full of the pancakes, and he finished the one he was eating before gripping the bench and leaning forward slightly, meeting Bod's wide gray eyes again. "Do you miss it? Your home?"

[owingnobody]

"Sometimes," Bod said. "But it was time for me to go, and I can't really go back there-- it won't be home for me anymore. And I've had time to accept that, so it's not so bad. But sometimes, I wish I could go back there more than anything..."

He looked down at his hands, twisting his long fingers together. Then he looked up again. "You... what you said... you're not from 'now', are you?" Feeling like the question wasn't phrased well, he amended it. "I mean, you've come from a different time period."

[notdead_poet]

Neil bit his lip, thinking of how he knew that even if it were possible to get back to where he came from, he wouldn't do it. Wouldn't and couldn't. Too much had happened, too much had changed- him, mostly- and now that he knew freedom, he could never face that sort of captivity again. But sometimes, in the darkest, most quiet moments of night, he'd start to think too hard and start to remember little things; the smell of his bedroom, the sounds of the Welton dorms after dinner, the sight of his mother cooking dinner. And for those few fleeting seconds, he would find himself longing terribly to be back there. Despite everything. "I know what you mean by that too."

Before he could get too lost in his thoughts or morose because of them, Neil smiled again. It helped that Bod's little stutter was amusing, and perhaps a little endearing. He replied, "Yeah, a little. When I left it was 1959."

[lulu8889]

Lulu chewed some more on her pancake. "He does come off as distinctly out of time, doesn't he?" Lulu smiled at Bod and her best friend in turn. If Neil would have started wallowing, he would have gotten an elbow in the side. "Can't you go to visit at all?" she asked Bod. After all, she was from the now and visited home on rare occasions.

[owingnobody]

Bod nodded. Neil really did seem to understand that longing that he had-- a longing that seemed almost irrational, sometimes. He looked across Neil to Lulu. "Nope," he said. "Well, I could go back and be there, but no one I knew would be there to greet me. It's not 'home' anymore..." he trailed off. "It's a little hard to explain. My upbringing was... unique." He frowned. "But I told you that already, didn't I?"

[lulu8889]

"Told me, yeah," Lulu grinned. But she didn't tell everyone about it. As much as Lulu was nosy, she mostly kept the information to herself in her lovely book.

[notdead_poet]

Neil smiled understandingly at the answer, and couldn't help but feel interested in knowing more about the circumstances. "What made it unique?" Neil asked, then added, "I mean, if you want to tell me, of course. Was your family like... circus performers or something?"

[owingnobody]

Bod grinned at the very idea, imagining Josiah Worthington, Bart., as the ringmaster, the Frobishers and Pettyfurs as a team of clowns, Liza providing some sort of special effects, and his parents selling popcorn and peanuts. Silas... he wouldn't approve. But he would have made a marvelous acrobat.

"No," he said, finally. "Not circus performers. My family... were ghosts. I was raised by ghosts. I lived in a graveyard for nearly fourteen uninterrupted years." He shrugged. "But my Freedom of the Graveyard only extended until I was old enough to take care of myself. So I can't see ghosts all the time anymore. Not unless they're strong enough to be seen, or even want to, which usually they don't." He looked a little wistful for a moment. "So even if I wanted to go back and visit them... I could see all their graves, but I wouldn't be able to see them. You know."

[lulu8889]

Lulu frowned. "I'm sorry you can't see them anymore." She almost understood where her mother was concerned. While she could physically see her, she wasn't emotionally or mentally there.