Atonement, of sorts

[owingnobody]

Who: Nobody Owens, Neil Perry
What: An apology, a thank-you, and a promise kept
Where: ...it's a surprise!
When: Monday evening
Why: ...because?
Status: Sort of illegal, incomplete

Comments

[notdead_poet]

Neil got home from work and set his messenger bag against the wall, as always. He went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, as always, and figured Bod must not be back yet, as he usually came to greet Neil right away, if he was home first. He hoped Bod was alright. He'd seemed in far higher spirits after coming home from the library and getting his purple thermos full of tea, but Neil was still a little concerned. It just wasn't in Bod's nature to get so angry, especially at people he considered friends.

As he reached for a mug, Neil noticed the note. He'd just finished reading it, eyebrows raising slightly in bemusement, when the familiar little creature appeared. "...Crypt?" he asked, laughing a little. "Um... I suppose you're meant to be taking me somewhere?"

[owingnobody]

The little hamster looked up at him expectantly. Then, it unmistakeably winked at him, and stretched out a tiny paw in his general direction.

[notdead_poet]

"Alright, following the hamster, then," Neil murmured to himself, picking up his bag again as he went. "Some people get yellow brick roads, I get a hamster. A purple hamster."

His spirits were high, though, as he followed. Bod's surprises were never disappointments, much like Bod himself.

[owingnobody]

The hamster got to the end of the counter, then looked at Neil again, as if to say, 'What, you want me to get down all by myself?' But as soon as Neil picked him up to put him on the floor, he got a wicked gleam in his eye, and the room swirled and dissolved around them.

Next thing he knew, Neil was standing in the middle of a darkened room, hamster in hand, between several tables with chairs up on top of them. Behind him came a rustling noise-- it was the tarp that was hanging over the door that still had yet to be replaced. Word was that Ara would be open for business again by the end of the week, but replacing the door had been an issue; the first time they arrived, the glass panes had been broken, the second time, the truck was attacked by giant crabs.

Near the stage was a table where the chairs were down, with the typical votive candle flickering cheerfully at the center of it. The stage lights were on, and somebody seemed to be attempting to figure out the sound system.

The hamster sighed. Boss? Howsabout you actually let me