Band-Aids 3b/?
anonymous
May 11 2011, 01:56:28 UTC
An hour and a half later Tino was rewarded when a navy blue Volvo pulled into the driveway of the house and parked. Tino quickly grabbed for his notebook and a pencil to scribble the time and arrival of the car. Watching carefully, he saw a very tall man step out of the car and turn and Tino felt his breath catch. This man, this tall Swede was wearing a harsh scowl as he looked around and glared at everything. He was even scarier in person! Tino cringed back into the bush he was hiding in.
Berwald stomped over to the door, opened it with a crash and vanished inside, leaving Tino to worry outside. Unfortunately, neither Peter nor his dad came out again for the rest of the evening. As it got colder and darker, Tino decided to give up for the day and go home. He would go back the next day for sure.
From then on a pattern developed. Tino would take note of how many band-aids Peter was wearing at school. Then after the students left, he would wait for thirty minutes and follow Peter home. He had to rotate areas in the neighborhood so it didn’t look as though he was hanging around and by bringing work to keep himself busy, it wasn’t too hard to stay unnoticed. He made sure to never step onto private property or make any sort of personal contact.
On Tuesday, Berwald and Peter left the house to go to the local coop and Tino followed at a careful distance. As they were going through the parking lot, without any warning Berwald grabbed Peter by the back of the neck and hauled the boy backwards. Tino almost screamed until he realized that Peter had come close to being hit by a car backing out of a parking space and that his father had just saved him. But he still felt a sense of outrage. There was absolutely no reason to grab Peter by his neck! Honestly, he could have just grabbed him by the arm.
Once inside the coop, Tino had his work cut out for him. Peter was never still. He continuously circled his father, bounced up and down on his heels and would occasionally pull on the shopping cart. Berwald seemed to take it all in stride but it meant that Tino had to work hard to stay hidden. Scooting around shelves and dodging behind stacks of boxed goods, he ended up relying more on sound than sight. However he was able to take advantage of Peter’s accent. The boy could speak fluent Swedish but he spoke with a distinct accent so when the pair of them got out of Tino’s sight which was often; he could listen carefully for Peter’s voice and follow the sounds. He couldn’t hear Berwald very well but when he did hear his voice, it always sounded very harsh and a bit strange.
“Does this man speak kindly at all to his son?” Tino wondered with a frown, as he wrote in his notebook. Hearing the voices get suddenly louder, he realized almost too late that his targets were coming back towards him and he was forced to dive behind a huge display of cans, shocking all the nearby shoppers. But to his intense relief, neither Berwald nor Peter noticed anything which was the important thing unlike his dignity which was being pummeled by cans of creamed corn.
On Wednesday, the weather was sunny and cool so the two of them decided to rake up the fallen leaves in the yard. At one point, Peter charged his dad and tried to get him to play with him. Coming around, Peter jabbed at his dad with his rake, swinging at him and getting in a few hits in before dodging off, laughing. Berwald didn’t do anything until Peter finally managed to smack him hard across the back. Then he lunged at Peter, hauled him over his shoulder and tossed him into the leaf pile. Tino was mortified. Berwald was throwing his child across the yard! Oh god! He had to write this down! Peter avenged himself magnificently by jumping up and shoving handfuls of damp leaves down his dad’s pants but Tino was busy writing in his notebook and unfortunately didn’t see it.
The next day, Tino followed Peter and Berwald to a rummage sale. Berwald seemed to be most interested in old furniture and wood pieces while Peter looked at everything but carpentry work. Tino was also taking the time to enjoy himself and look around too. He’d only been to this area a few times before and he wasn’t too worried about being spotted in the crowd.
Band-Aids 3c/?
anonymous
May 11 2011, 01:58:46 UTC
Eventually Berwald purchased a few pieces of hardwood and Peter got an book and they looked as though they were ready to leave. But as they headed towards the exit, Tino lost sight of them. Well, that was fine since it was starting to get late and Tino needed to get home too. Then a scream rang out and everyone in the area turned to look. Instantly recognizing the voice, Tino rushed towards the noise and saw Peter grabbing his head and Berwald kneeling next to him with his arms on his shoulders. Wood was scattered all over the ground and people were beginning to stare. What had happened? Had Berwald intentionally dropped hardwood on Peter’s head?
Tino looked on in dismay and chewed his lip. No, there was no way that any person would do that on purpose, not in public at least. Tino wasn’t sure what to think. If this guy would throw his kid across a yard, then would he smack him with a piece of wood? It was almost too horrible to consider.
But that couldn’t be because Berwald was hugging Peter and running his hand over his head. He was obviously concerned about him and Peter wasn’t pulling away from him. So it must have just been an accident. Just an accident. Okay. They were getting and picking up the wood and everything is fine. All good.
Tino leaned against a booth and tried to relax. He wasn’t sure if his heart could keep taking this kind of stress. But nothing else noteworthy happened that day and on Friday the two of them remained at home for the evening.
So it wasn’t until Saturday morning that Tino became aware of a major flaw in his abuse theory.
Author notes: I hope this part didn’t seem horribly boring to people. It’s hard to have dialogue when your main character is keeping a 30-60 ft distance from the other main characters. @_@ Poor Tino is a very flustered stalker. Feel free to critique if you want. OP: Things are indeed heating up. XD C1: Yeah, I’ve got my own list of WIPs I dream of seeing updated.
Re: Band-Aids 3c/?
anonymous
May 11 2011, 08:17:41 UTC
I don't want to seem like a bitch, but... the majority of our lastnames do no end in "son". A lot do, but a lot also end in "gren", "berg", "löf" or "qvist"; that's just as common. Berwald is an unusual (cough false cough) name though :P
Anyhow, I am really enjoying this fill, can't wait for more :3
Re: Band-Aids 3c/?
anonymous
May 11 2011, 09:57:24 UTC
The part at the grocery store made me laugh so hard. The mental images are priceless.
My theory is the Peter either walked into the wood or was inconveniently placed and Berwald turned around. The same thing's happened to me, only with a plate and in the kitchen. Being short has drawbacks. >_
Band-Aids 4a/?
anonymous
May 25 2011, 01:16:20 UTC
Saturday morning, Tino decided to take Hanatamago to Riseberga park to get some exercise. Poor Hanatamago had spent more time than usual in his apartment alone since he had been out following Peter. So going to the park and letting her get a nice long walk would be good for her.
It was a quiet and cold morning with every breath turning the air white. Tino enjoyed the changing leaves while Hana padded along beside him. They were walking on a quiet path along a field when they approached a turn up ahead. Hearing a familiar voice coming from around the corner, Tino stopped in the middle of the path. At first he wasn’t sure if he was hearing properly. It seemed so unlikely that he would run into them here. But when he heard a second familiar voice he leapt in to action.
Dragging Hanatamago off the path, he hid them both behind some very large bushes only realizing too late that he wasn’t following anyone and that he had no reason to hide. However, Peter and his dad were walking down the path from the opposite direction; Peter carrying a soccer ball. He was stuck. Jumping out now would be even more suspicious than if they just ran into each other in the park. So either he walked away in another direction or remained hidden.
“Ah well,” thought Tino. “I might as well take advantage of this. I can watch for a little while.” He settled in so he could see better and Hanatamago laid down.
Meanwhile Peter was looking from the path into a large grass field than ran alongside the trees, searching for a spot to practise.
“Is this a good place Dad?” asked Peter, walking alongside the path and kicking at the fallen leaves.
“In th’ field,” came the usual rough reply.
“You go to the far end okay?” Peter yelled as he ran into the field. “Try to block my shots.”
Berwald nodded and took an appropriate position at the end of the field. As soon as his dad was in the the right position, Peter ran forward and kicked the ball as hard as he could. Berwald blocked the shot and kicked the ball back and the cycle repeated, each trying to out shoot each other.
Watching from around the bush, Tino was amused to see that while Berwald was doing a pretty good job of blocking goals, Peter was having trouble aiming and some of his shots kept going wide. Berwald was definitely getting more exercise running after the ball than Peter was.
Nothing very remarkable happened until Peter managed to miss-kick the ball and it slammed strait into Berwald’s face, knocking his glasses off and stunning him momentarily. Peter ran across the grass yelling apologies but before he could reach his dad, Berwald yelled “Don’t move!”
Peter skidded to a halt and Tino tensed up. But then Berwald knelt down carefully and began to feel the ground with his hands, obviously searching for his glasses. After a few moments of searching around, he located his glasses and put them back on while Peter ran the rest of the way to him.
“I’m so sorry Dad! I didn’t mean to hit you in the face! Are you okay?” Peter asked.
“s’no big deal. M’fine,” replied Berwald, rubbing his face. “But yeh tend to shoot too strong to the side. Don’t turn yer feet so much.”
“Okay. Let me try again then,” called Peter, running back down the field and waiting for the ball. Berwald kicked it back and they started up again.
It was only after Peter had managed to smack his dad in the face for the second time that Tino suddenly realized that something was off. Peter’s face was clear! Tino didn’t have his notebook with him but he distinctly remembered on Friday that Peter had been wearing a band-aid on his face. It had been down his cheek and it was covered with little pizzas. He hadn’t commented on it but some of the other kids had complimented Peter.
But where was it now? Peter’s face was bandage free and not only that; from where Tino was hiding he could clearly see that there was no injury on Peter’s face. Nothing. No bruise, no cut or abrasion, no nothing. Just skin. And on Thursday, Peter hadn’t had any bandages on his face. So he’d only had it on for one day?
Band-Aids 4b/?
anonymous
May 25 2011, 01:19:04 UTC
“Why isn’t he wearing it now?” wondered Tino, his head spinning a little. Just what was going on with this child? He needed to check his notebook but Hanatamago had to come first right now. Carefully, he walked away from the bush and away from the field, hoping that he wouldn’t be noticed as he headed back to where he’d locked his bike earlier. He and Hana could walk over there for now.
As soon as Tino arrived home and fed Hanatamago, he checked his notebook and then he discovered something strange. He’d seen the two of them go out and since he usually kept a distance and was looking for acts of violence, he’d completely ignored the band-aids. But looking back now, he couldn’t remember Peter wearing any of the band-aids when he was with his father. But at the same time, Peter was always wearing his coat when Tino was following him. At school he hung it up so why did -
It was then that a crazy thought hit Tino.
What if Peter was wearing band-aids at school but not around his dad?
Oh god, it couldn’t be.
If it was true, then Tino was wrong and something completely different was going on. Even though he had been watching them for a week, he wasn't eactly sure he had real evidence of foul play. There had been some suspicious activity but he didn’t really have anything solid.
It looked like he would have to follow through for another week. And this time he would be even more vigilant!
Monday and Tuesday had passed with nothing more than locals trips to the store. And neither of them were as stressful as his first trip. On Wednesday night the two ended up going out for dinner and so Tino followed Peter and Berwald to small restaurant. By this time, Tino was becoming less nervous and so risked sitting at a table near enough to hear their voices, trusting that the other patrons and noise would hide him. Pulling out a book, he ordered some food and kept his eyes focused down as he eavesdropped on parts of Peter and Berwald’s conversation.
“Hey Dad! Guess what! Did you know that in Japan there’s a giant Gundam on an island? Isn’t that awesome?” asked Peter loudly.
“Mmm.” Berwald made a vague noise of interest.
“I mean wouldn’t it be cool to see? Alfred told me about it. He said that Japan is doing all sorts of cool stuff with robots. His friend told him about it.”
Berwald nodded and continued eating. “Do you think robots will ever rule the world? Take it over and all that?” Peter looked exited at the idea but Berwald shook his head.
“It’s prob’ly not somethin we’re goin to hafta worry ‘bout anytime soon. Cept in the movies or somethin.”
Peter grinned at his dad. “Alfred still gets scared by ghost movies. Even though he’s twenty five!”
“Sounds like Alfred has’n overactive i’magination,” said Berwald.
“Maybe.” Peter shrugged and poked at his food. “But he believes in aliens you know. Not scared of them at all. He has one for a friend apparently.”
Berwald sighed. “Like I said, overactive i’magination. Their s’more import’nt things to worry ‘bout.”
“Tino’s like that too. He worries about funny stuff like that,” replied Peter.
Tino jerked his head up from his book and had to fight the urge to whirl around and reveal himself. What did Peter mean that he worried about ‘funny stuff’? He strained even harder to hear clearly over the babble of the other customers.
“What d’you mean ‘funny stuff’?” asked Berwald sharply, looking strait at his son.
“W-well, I mean he worries about weird things. You know, things that aren’t a big deal,” Peter shrugged at this dad. “That’s all.”
But Berwald wasn’t going to let the subject drop. “What sort of ‘funny stuff’ Peter?” he asked again, his voice serious. Peter sighed at his dad but spoke anyway. “It’s just that there’s this kid in my class. I don’t know him all that well. Anyways, he’s been wearing band-aids and Tino was worried about him. That’s it.”
Berwald looked at his son carefully before asking “How d’you know this?”
“Oh, I heard Tino talking to him in the hall when we came if from recess. Tino sounded worried but I thought it was weird,” Peter spoke in a rush.
“Well it’s better fer him to be concern’ed than ignore it,” said Berwald slowly. “It’s good that he’ notices things an’ pays attention.”
Band-Aids 4c/?
anonymous
May 25 2011, 01:22:10 UTC
“I suppose so. I’d much rather have him as a teacher than dumb ol-”
“Peter!” Berwald interrupted him. “Don’t talk that way ‘bout the other teachers. S’rude.”
“But it’s true!!” Peter whined. The other six year teachers are all boring and stodgy. At least Tino likes recess duty and doing stuff with us.
“There’s more to school than recess. B’sides Ester n’ Karina are both quite a bit older than Tino. More experienced too,” Berwald pointed out.
“I’d still rather have Tino,” muttered Peter under his breath. “He’s actually fun to be around.”
Silence fell between them for a while and they started to eat again before Berwald said softly “Well, M’glad that you like him so much.”
“Everyone likes him,” said Peter. “He’s really cheerful and everything. Even the younger students want to be around him. Just the other day a bunch of younger girls dragged him off to play jump rope. It was really funny; he kept getting caught up in the rope.”
Berwald made an inaudible noise and the two finished eating. Shortly after, they paid for their food and left while Tino sat in silence at his table, trying to process what he’d just heard. He was torn between shock and joy. At first, he couldn’t believe that Peter had just lied to his dad but after considering what he’d been seeing for the last week and a half, it was clear that Peter was hiding the band-aids. So there was no possible way he could admit to being the student that Tino had spoken to. As for the other comments, Tino felt such a sense of overwhelming joy that he had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep from cheering like a complete idiot in the restaurant.
His students liked him. Peter liked him. Other students besides his own liked him.
Tino felt such a surge of happiness he could barely breathe. Of course he wasn’t foolish enough to think that just because one of his students had made a broad statement that it was actually true for everyone. But still, Peter had told his dad that he preferred him over two more experienced and arguably superior teachers. Something like that shouldn’t make him so ridiculously happy.
But it did.
Leaning back into his chair, Tino allowed a small smile to spread across his face. He knew that he was generally an agreeable sort of person and that he worked well with kids but that hadn’t prevented him from being nervous about his first teaching job. Hearing Peter’s words was incredibly soothing to the small part of him that worried about whether or not he was managing to connect with his students. And it was true that he was trying to get to know the younger students. Someday they would be students of his and it was important to get to know them. Besides, there were worse things in life than being outshone by a group of ten year old girls with jump ropes.
For the rest of the week and into the weekend, Tino continued to follow Berwald and Peter. However on Sunday after his second week, he finally accepted that nothing was going on and debated if it was a good time to finally stop. He had gone from being seriously concerned to mildly curious about the whole band-aid issue. It was clear to him that Peter and Berwald had a great albeit slightly unusual father-son relationship and that nothing going on. Peter was still wearing band-aids at school and not at home but perhaps...
Band-Aids 4c/? -notes
anonymous
May 25 2011, 01:35:56 UTC
Oh man, I am so so sorry that it took me this long to put up the next part. I didn't mean to let two weeks go between parts. I moved last weekend and lost a ton of time and internet and all that. If I don't have huge chunks of time to write, I have trouble getting stuff done and I have to shift it to the next weekend. I'd like to get out at least one part a week. But we're moving along here! As always, feel free to critique.
C1: I'm so glad you love it! Sweden is indeed adorable. C2: Hehe, lots of description but we're moving past it slowly. Fin is figuring out though. C3:The wood wasn't really important. Someone knocked into Sweden and it fell out of his hands. I just wanted to show that Tino can't always see everything that's going on.XD C4: I'm so sorry!! Really I am! I read an article in NYT that gave me the impression that the majority of Swedes have 'son' in their last names. Clearly, I was wrong. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I'm glad you like it so far! C5: I do rather like the image of Tino lying on the floor pummeled by cans as onlookers stare at him in confusion. XD The wood was knocked by another person and dropped onto Peter, poor kid.
It's all good, Author!non; I understand that real life gets in the way sometimes. I'm just glad you're updating at all. And what a cute chapter it was! It was wonderful to see Sweden and Sealand playing together and having a real conversation. And how nice of Sealand to give Finland that little confidence boost! I can't wait to read the next part :)
Band-Aids 5a/?
anonymous
June 6 2011, 15:24:02 UTC
Stepping out of his apartment on Monday morning, Tino shivered and pulled his coat tighter around himself. October was drawing to a close and daylight was becoming scarce. Frost covered the ground every morning and people were hauling out their warmer clothes.
Tino knew that the upcoming week was going to be a little crazy. The last few days in October and first few of November was Autumn break for the school and all the students were looking forward to the combination of Halloween and All Saints Day. Tino was happy to have a break of course, but there was still one week of work to complete.
Getting into his classroom, he started to prepare for the arrival of all his students. He needed to figure out if he should keep following Peter or not. After Sunday, he was leaning more towards the ‘not’ side but he could wait and see. It didn’t take long for the kids to fill up the class room and get noisy. Once everyone had gotten their coats hung up and were seated, Tino took role call and started the day.
During the lunch break, Tino was in his classroom preparing packets for the social studies lesson. He’d pulled a few news articles about different cultural issues between European countries for reading and discussion. Now he was organizing and stapling them to be passed out when he heard someone approaching him. Looking up, he was very surprised to see Peter shuffling up to him. Immediately becoming concerned, Tino asked “Peter are you alright?”
Peter nodded at him but didn’t say anything. Tino felt a sick feeling rise in his chest and he hesitated before asking “Is there something you need to talk to me about?”
Peter nodded again and leaned up against his desk, trying to keep his eyes on the floor rather than Tino.
“I’m listening” he prompted gently.
Peter sighed and looked up. “I need to apologize to you.”
Tino stared. That was not what he thought Peter was going to say.
“Why do you need to apologize?” asked Tino, putting down his papers and turning to face Peter and give him his full attention.
“Well I talked to my dad about the whole band-aid thing and he told me that I was making you worry.”
Tino considered this before saying “Peter, please explain this to me. Why have you been wearing band-aids for the last month or more?”
“Because they’re really cool looking!” said Peter as though this was completely obvious to anyone. “They’re like tattoos except they’re removable and they make you look tough. And they come in all sorts of colors and designs.”
“And you talked to your dad about all of this?” Tino asked carefully, wanting to believe everything he was hearing but also knowing that he only had a certain amount of information.
Peter nodded and shuffled a little. “Yes, I did end up talking to him and he told me that I had to stop. Also said I ought to apologize. So I’m sorry for making you worry. It was just for fun. I didn’t think it was all that important.”
“It is important Peter, because I was afraid that you were being hurt by someone. Normally people don’t wear bandages unless they need them. So I didn’t know what to think,” Tino said gently.
“He said he wouldn’t buy me any more cool ones. Just beige from now on.” Peter didn’t look too happy about the idea but he was relaxing the more he spoke. “but I’m not going to wear them anymore,” Peter muttered. “I’ve stopped.”
Tino took the time to examine Peter more carefully and yes - for the first time in ages it seemed as though he had no band-aids on him anywhere. The sick feeling in his chest began to fall away, crushed by the sweet sense of relief that was sweeping through him.
“Well, I’m very grateful that you came and spoke with me,” Tino beamed. “I’m so glad to know that you are alright.”
Peter was looking much happier now that he didn’t seem to be in trouble. He straightened up and grinned. “Well you know, maybe I can convince my dad to let me get a tattoo! It would be brilliant.”
Tino really did laugh then. “Peter, you have a better chance of getting elected into Parliament than getting a tattoo at age twelve.”
“I can always hope,” he said stubbornly but obviously knowing how bad his chances really were.
“Well keep hoping until you’re eighteen. Then you can get whatever you want,” replied Tino with a wry tone.
Band-Aids 5b/?
anonymous
June 6 2011, 15:29:13 UTC
“Yeah! I want something hardcore like a death robot with a missile launcher killing a dragon and it can twist around my chest and everything! And I can put words in it too. Wouldn’t that be great!?”
Tino decided that staying quiet would be the best decision here. He nodded instead.
“Anyways, I have to go eat or else I’ll miss all of lunch.” Peter turned towards the door, and glanced at the wall clock to note how much of the lunch period was gone.
“Go eat,” agreed Tino. “We don’t need you bandaged and hungry.”
Peter laughed too and walked from the room, perfectly cheerful and clearly brainstorming more details for his tattoo, leaving Tino to turn back to his paper packets.
God, what an idea.
He had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing as he imagined Peter going up to his dad to announce that he wanted - what was it? Oh, a death robot killing a dragon across his chest. Forget stalking, he would have paid good money, a lot of money- to see that conversation. Imagining the stoic Berwald trying to face down the creativity of his son was hilarious. But he was sure that nothing would ever come of it, except a good story to laugh at years down the road.
However, in a strange way it made perfect sense. If Peter wanted a tattoo but couldn’t get one, fancy band-aids were the closest thing except drawing on yourself which wouldn’t be allowed and it would have been hard to get off. But the most important issue of the whole band-aid debacle was cleared up. Tino rubbed his hands across his face weakly, relieved. There was no longer any need to follow any one and he could stop worrying every waking hour of the day.
The rest of the week shot by quickly. Everyone was looking forward to the break and Tino decided to end the week by having each one of his students bring in a scary story to share. The class spent the entire Friday afternoon reading the stories out loud and trying to out scare each other. At first, all the lights were off to set the mood but after the first two stories, it was decided very quickly that perhaps some light would be better. There had been some really good choices and Tino thoroughly enjoyed himself. He read ‘Viy’ by Gogol and had gone into great detail describing the witch, all the different types of demons and the horrific death. After the end, he let them out a bit early and watched a bit confused and concerned as all seventeen students got their bags and coats, and walked from the class in subdued silence, some of them looking a bit sick.
Later that evening, Tino was bustling around his apartment packing and trying talk to Niels on his laptop at the same time and sort of managing it.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: so in summary i’m an over concerned moron who should probably mind his own business
WritesforFish: I could have told you that.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: hilarious Niels
WritesforFish: Anytime
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: *sigh*
WritesforFish: What are you going to do now?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: nothing. there’s no reason to do anything. peter’s fine, and i can relax and focus on other stuff. get life back to normal.
WritesforFish: Great, I’ll make sure to write a note for my second edit.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: Niels!! you’d better not be writing me into another one of your books!!
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: i’m sick of getting trampled or drowining or dying in tragic ways. can’t you find other people to write about? and kill?
WritesforFish: Honestly Tino, it’s just a small cameo and you’re unrecognizable.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: i sent a copy of your most recent book to Eduard to read and he emailed me back asking when i’d been around viking style boats and if i was alright!
WritesforFish: You have to admit that you getting caught on the prow of a boat at that Viking festival was hilarious.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: the point is that he recognized me. so don’t please? and you promised to delete those boat photos, did you?
WritesforFish: Fine. I’ll just have you pecked to death by puffins or something.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: NIELS!!!
puffinpal4evar: puffins are awesome though
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: Eirikur hit your brother for me please?
Band-Aids 5c/?
anonymous
June 6 2011, 15:36:17 UTC
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: really?
WritesforFish: No, he threw a pen lid at me. It missed.
WritesforFish: I’ll save the stalking for another book okay?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: NO! Not Okay!!!
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: are you listening to me?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: Niels?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: NIELS!! are you there???? no stalking! i’m damn serious about this!
puffinpal4evar: i think yer screwed Tino. sorry. but i’m glad to hear that youre stopping the stalking thingy and that the kid is fine. keep us updated and stuff. ttyl.
Tino flopped back in his desk chair in frustration. One of the hazards of being close friends with a writer was that without fail, he would be written about. So far he’d made a cameo in every single one of Niels’ books and very often his character had some event taken directly from his own life written in. Like the boat incident, or the dinner incident or god forbid -the Moomin incident. Niels also enjoyed killing of his character for some reason.
Digging through papers scattered on his desk, he accidentally knocked a notebook off the corner. Looking at the title written across it, TIno realized it was his notebook from following Peter for the last two weeks. Picking it up, he examined it thoughtfully. He didn’t really need it anymore and it was a little embarrassing to look at. So he felt around for a pen and on the page containing his last entry he wrote in small letters ‘solved’ and tossed the notebook onto a pile of other random documents that he needed to sort or throw away, promptly forgetting all about it for the minute. He had to get packed and get Hanatamago ready. He was going home to Finland for three days and needed to be ready for the plane in the morning.
Waking up early on Saturday, Tino coaxed Hanatamago into her carrier and caught the bus shuttle that took him out to Malmö airport. He got there early and easily checked in and went through security. Then he wandered through the quiet airport and found a good place to wait until it was time to board. Tino sat down and pulled out a magazine, half dozing in the early hour. The morning passed by slowly and the airport began to get busier as more people arrived and left.
Suddenly, an extremely loud voice blasted him and every other passenger around him to complete awareness.
“Peter!! I’m over heeerreee!”
Everyone in the area turned to glare at the incredibly loud man standing in the middle of the terminal. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties with very blond hair and blue eyes covered by a pair of glasses. And was he really wearing a bomber jacket?
“I’ve seen this man before but where?” wondered Tino, watching him carefully.
But now the man was waving his arm in the air frantically and Tino whipped his magazine up to cover his face just as Peter Kirkland ran up and slammed into the older man. Following behind him at a slower pace came Berwald, carrying a bag.
“Alfred! You’re here!”
Alfred wrapped Peter in a bear hug and laughed. “Well of course! How else is my plane gonna get to Sweden? Planes are pretty cool now but they still need someone driving.”
“Does that mean that Matthew is here too?” Peter asked eagerly.
“Yup!” replied Alfred. “We flew over together and everything. The time change was brutal. Francis is there already. He came over on that chunnel tunnel thingy from Paris.”
“That’s brilliant!”
“More like awesome.”
Peter tried to punch Alfred but he just dodged out of the way and laughed. “Anyways, do you have your bag?” he asked. “We need to get going since I have a specific time slot reserved for takeoff. If we miss it, I don’t know how long it will take to get us out of here.”
It seemed as though he hadn’t spotted Berwald who was standing back and holding the small travel bag, obviously Peter’s.
“Yeah, I got it!” Peter ran back to his dad and grabbed the bag out of his hands. Alfred came forward to take the bag and greet Berwald. Berwald nodded back but didn’t say anything.
“Well, are we good to go then?” Alfred asked, beaming down at Peter.
“I think so,” nodded Peter looking around to see if he’d forgotten anything but he hadn’t. “Dad, I’ll see you in a week!”
Berwald stomped over to the door, opened it with a crash and vanished inside, leaving Tino to worry outside. Unfortunately, neither Peter nor his dad came out again for the rest of the evening. As it got colder and darker, Tino decided to give up for the day and go home. He would go back the next day for sure.
From then on a pattern developed. Tino would take note of how many band-aids Peter was wearing at school. Then after the students left, he would wait for thirty minutes and follow Peter home. He had to rotate areas in the neighborhood so it didn’t look as though he was hanging around and by bringing work to keep himself busy, it wasn’t too hard to stay unnoticed. He made sure to never step onto private property or make any sort of personal contact.
On Tuesday, Berwald and Peter left the house to go to the local coop and Tino followed at a careful distance. As they were going through the parking lot, without any warning Berwald grabbed Peter by the back of the neck and hauled the boy backwards. Tino almost screamed until he realized that Peter had come close to being hit by a car backing out of a parking space and that his father had just saved him. But he still felt a sense of outrage. There was absolutely no reason to grab Peter by his neck! Honestly, he could have just grabbed him by the arm.
Once inside the coop, Tino had his work cut out for him. Peter was never still. He continuously circled his father, bounced up and down on his heels and would occasionally pull on the shopping cart. Berwald seemed to take it all in stride but it meant that Tino had to work hard to stay hidden. Scooting around shelves and dodging behind stacks of boxed goods, he ended up relying more on sound than sight. However he was able to take advantage of Peter’s accent. The boy could speak fluent Swedish but he spoke with a distinct accent so when the pair of them got out of Tino’s sight which was often; he could listen carefully for Peter’s voice and follow the sounds. He couldn’t hear Berwald very well but when he did hear his voice, it always sounded very harsh and a bit strange.
“Does this man speak kindly at all to his son?” Tino wondered with a frown, as he wrote in his notebook. Hearing the voices get suddenly louder, he realized almost too late that his targets were coming back towards him and he was forced to dive behind a huge display of cans, shocking all the nearby shoppers. But to his intense relief, neither Berwald nor Peter noticed anything which was the important thing unlike his dignity which was being pummeled by cans of creamed corn.
On Wednesday, the weather was sunny and cool so the two of them decided to rake up the fallen leaves in the yard. At one point, Peter charged his dad and tried to get him to play with him. Coming around, Peter jabbed at his dad with his rake, swinging at him and getting in a few hits in before dodging off, laughing. Berwald didn’t do anything until Peter finally managed to smack him hard across the back. Then he lunged at Peter, hauled him over his shoulder and tossed him into the leaf pile. Tino was mortified. Berwald was throwing his child across the yard! Oh god! He had to write this down!
Peter avenged himself magnificently by jumping up and shoving handfuls of damp leaves down his dad’s pants but Tino was busy writing in his notebook and unfortunately didn’t see it.
The next day, Tino followed Peter and Berwald to a rummage sale. Berwald seemed to be most interested in old furniture and wood pieces while Peter looked at everything but carpentry work. Tino was also taking the time to enjoy himself and look around too. He’d only been to this area a few times before and he wasn’t too worried about being spotted in the crowd.
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Tino looked on in dismay and chewed his lip. No, there was no way that any person would do that on purpose, not in public at least. Tino wasn’t sure what to think. If this guy would throw his kid across a yard, then would he smack him with a piece of wood? It was almost too horrible to consider.
But that couldn’t be because Berwald was hugging Peter and running his hand over his head. He was obviously concerned about him and Peter wasn’t pulling away from him. So it must have just been an accident. Just an accident. Okay. They were getting and picking up the wood and everything is fine. All good.
Tino leaned against a booth and tried to relax. He wasn’t sure if his heart could keep taking this kind of stress. But nothing else noteworthy happened that day and on Friday the two of them remained at home for the evening.
So it wasn’t until Saturday morning that Tino became aware of a major flaw in his abuse theory.
Author notes: I hope this part didn’t seem horribly boring to people. It’s hard to have dialogue when your main character is keeping a 30-60 ft distance from the other main characters. @_@ Poor Tino is a very flustered stalker. Feel free to critique if you want.
OP: Things are indeed heating up. XD
C1: Yeah, I’ve got my own list of WIPs I dream of seeing updated.
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I love this story. Can'twait for next part.
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<3 This is really, really lovely. I like the way this is characterized and how flightly Tino is. :3 He makes me happy. And Ber is adorbbbbllleee
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Anyhow, I am really enjoying this fill, can't wait for more :3
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My theory is the Peter either walked into the wood or was inconveniently placed and Berwald turned around. The same thing's happened to me, only with a plate and in the kitchen. Being short has drawbacks. >_
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It was a quiet and cold morning with every breath turning the air white. Tino enjoyed the changing leaves while Hana padded along beside him. They were walking on a quiet path along a field when they approached a turn up ahead. Hearing a familiar voice coming from around the corner, Tino stopped in the middle of the path. At first he wasn’t sure if he was hearing properly. It seemed so unlikely that he would run into them here. But when he heard a second familiar voice he leapt in to action.
Dragging Hanatamago off the path, he hid them both behind some very large bushes only realizing too late that he wasn’t following anyone and that he had no reason to hide. However, Peter and his dad were walking down the path from the opposite direction; Peter carrying a soccer ball. He was stuck. Jumping out now would be even more suspicious than if they just ran into each other in the park. So either he walked away in another direction or remained hidden.
“Ah well,” thought Tino. “I might as well take advantage of this. I can watch for a little while.” He settled in so he could see better and Hanatamago laid down.
Meanwhile Peter was looking from the path into a large grass field than ran alongside the trees, searching for a spot to practise.
“Is this a good place Dad?” asked Peter, walking alongside the path and kicking at the fallen leaves.
“In th’ field,” came the usual rough reply.
“You go to the far end okay?” Peter yelled as he ran into the field. “Try to block my shots.”
Berwald nodded and took an appropriate position at the end of the field. As soon as his dad was in the the right position, Peter ran forward and kicked the ball as hard as he could. Berwald blocked the shot and kicked the ball back and the cycle repeated, each trying to out shoot each other.
Watching from around the bush, Tino was amused to see that while Berwald was doing a pretty good job of blocking goals, Peter was having trouble aiming and some of his shots kept going wide. Berwald was definitely getting more exercise running after the ball than Peter was.
Nothing very remarkable happened until Peter managed to miss-kick the ball and it slammed strait into Berwald’s face, knocking his glasses off and stunning him momentarily. Peter ran across the grass yelling apologies but before he could reach his dad, Berwald yelled “Don’t move!”
Peter skidded to a halt and Tino tensed up. But then Berwald knelt down carefully and began to feel the ground with his hands, obviously searching for his glasses. After a few moments of searching around, he located his glasses and put them back on while Peter ran the rest of the way to him.
“I’m so sorry Dad! I didn’t mean to hit you in the face! Are you okay?” Peter asked.
“s’no big deal. M’fine,” replied Berwald, rubbing his face. “But yeh tend to shoot too strong to the side. Don’t turn yer feet so much.”
“Okay. Let me try again then,” called Peter, running back down the field and waiting for the ball. Berwald kicked it back and they started up again.
It was only after Peter had managed to smack his dad in the face for the second time that Tino suddenly realized that something was off. Peter’s face was clear! Tino didn’t have his notebook with him but he distinctly remembered on Friday that Peter had been wearing a band-aid on his face. It had been down his cheek and it was covered with little pizzas. He hadn’t commented on it but some of the other kids had complimented Peter.
But where was it now? Peter’s face was bandage free and not only that; from where Tino was hiding he could clearly see that there was no injury on Peter’s face. Nothing. No bruise, no cut or abrasion, no nothing. Just skin. And on Thursday, Peter hadn’t had any bandages on his face. So he’d only had it on for one day?
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“Why isn’t he wearing it now?” wondered Tino, his head spinning a little. Just what was going on with this child? He needed to check his notebook but Hanatamago had to come first right now. Carefully, he walked away from the bush and away from the field, hoping that he wouldn’t be noticed as he headed back to where he’d locked his bike earlier. He and Hana could walk over there for now.
As soon as Tino arrived home and fed Hanatamago, he checked his notebook and then he discovered something strange. He’d seen the two of them go out and since he usually kept a distance and was looking for acts of violence, he’d completely ignored the band-aids. But looking back now, he couldn’t remember Peter wearing any of the band-aids when he was with his father. But at the same time, Peter was always wearing his coat when Tino was following him. At school he hung it up so why did -
It was then that a crazy thought hit Tino.
What if Peter was wearing band-aids at school but not around his dad?
Oh god, it couldn’t be.
If it was true, then Tino was wrong and something completely different was going on. Even though he had been watching them for a week, he wasn't eactly sure he had real evidence of foul play. There had been some suspicious activity but he didn’t really have anything solid.
It looked like he would have to follow through for another week. And this time he would be even more vigilant!
Monday and Tuesday had passed with nothing more than locals trips to the store. And neither of them were as stressful as his first trip. On Wednesday night the two ended up going out for dinner and so Tino followed Peter and Berwald to small restaurant. By this time, Tino was becoming less nervous and so risked sitting at a table near enough to hear their voices, trusting that the other patrons and noise would hide him. Pulling out a book, he ordered some food and kept his eyes focused down as he eavesdropped on parts of Peter and Berwald’s conversation.
“Hey Dad! Guess what! Did you know that in Japan there’s a giant Gundam on an island? Isn’t that awesome?” asked Peter loudly.
“Mmm.” Berwald made a vague noise of interest.
“I mean wouldn’t it be cool to see? Alfred told me about it. He said that Japan is doing all sorts of cool stuff with robots. His friend told him about it.”
Berwald nodded and continued eating.
“Do you think robots will ever rule the world? Take it over and all that?” Peter looked exited at the idea but Berwald shook his head.
“It’s prob’ly not somethin we’re goin to hafta worry ‘bout anytime soon. Cept in the movies or somethin.”
Peter grinned at his dad. “Alfred still gets scared by ghost movies. Even though he’s twenty five!”
“Sounds like Alfred has’n overactive i’magination,” said Berwald.
“Maybe.” Peter shrugged and poked at his food. “But he believes in aliens you know. Not scared of them at all. He has one for a friend apparently.”
Berwald sighed. “Like I said, overactive i’magination. Their s’more import’nt things to worry ‘bout.”
“Tino’s like that too. He worries about funny stuff like that,” replied Peter.
Tino jerked his head up from his book and had to fight the urge to whirl around and reveal himself. What did Peter mean that he worried about ‘funny stuff’? He strained even harder to hear clearly over the babble of the other customers.
“What d’you mean ‘funny stuff’?” asked Berwald sharply, looking strait at his son.
“W-well, I mean he worries about weird things. You know, things that aren’t a big deal,” Peter shrugged at this dad. “That’s all.”
But Berwald wasn’t going to let the subject drop. “What sort of ‘funny stuff’ Peter?” he asked again, his voice serious.
Peter sighed at his dad but spoke anyway. “It’s just that there’s this kid in my class. I don’t know him all that well. Anyways, he’s been wearing band-aids and Tino was worried about him. That’s it.”
Berwald looked at his son carefully before asking “How d’you know this?”
“Oh, I heard Tino talking to him in the hall when we came if from recess. Tino sounded worried but I thought it was weird,” Peter spoke in a rush.
“Well it’s better fer him to be concern’ed than ignore it,” said Berwald slowly. “It’s good that he’ notices things an’ pays attention.”
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“I suppose so. I’d much rather have him as a teacher than dumb ol-”
“Peter!” Berwald interrupted him. “Don’t talk that way ‘bout the other teachers. S’rude.”
“But it’s true!!” Peter whined. The other six year teachers are all boring and stodgy. At least Tino likes recess duty and doing stuff with us.
“There’s more to school than recess. B’sides Ester n’ Karina are both quite a bit older than Tino. More experienced too,” Berwald pointed out.
“I’d still rather have Tino,” muttered Peter under his breath. “He’s actually fun to be around.”
Silence fell between them for a while and they started to eat again before Berwald said softly “Well, M’glad that you like him so much.”
“Everyone likes him,” said Peter. “He’s really cheerful and everything. Even the younger students want to be around him. Just the other day a bunch of younger girls dragged him off to play jump rope. It was really funny; he kept getting caught up in the rope.”
Berwald made an inaudible noise and the two finished eating. Shortly after, they paid for their food and left while Tino sat in silence at his table, trying to process what he’d just heard. He was torn between shock and joy. At first, he couldn’t believe that Peter had just lied to his dad but after considering what he’d been seeing for the last week and a half, it was clear that Peter was hiding the band-aids. So there was no possible way he could admit to being the student that Tino had spoken to. As for the other comments, Tino felt such a sense of overwhelming joy that he had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep from cheering like a complete idiot in the restaurant.
His students liked him. Peter liked him. Other students besides his own liked him.
Tino felt such a surge of happiness he could barely breathe. Of course he wasn’t foolish enough to think that just because one of his students had made a broad statement that it was actually true for everyone. But still, Peter had told his dad that he preferred him over two more experienced and arguably superior teachers. Something like that shouldn’t make him so ridiculously happy.
But it did.
Leaning back into his chair, Tino allowed a small smile to spread across his face. He knew that he was generally an agreeable sort of person and that he worked well with kids but that hadn’t prevented him from being nervous about his first teaching job. Hearing Peter’s words was incredibly soothing to the small part of him that worried about whether or not he was managing to connect with his students. And it was true that he was trying to get to know the younger students. Someday they would be students of his and it was important to get to know them. Besides, there were worse things in life than being outshone by a group of ten year old girls with jump ropes.
For the rest of the week and into the weekend, Tino continued to follow Berwald and Peter. However on Sunday after his second week, he finally accepted that nothing was going on and debated if it was a good time to finally stop. He had gone from being seriously concerned to mildly curious about the whole band-aid issue. It was clear to him that Peter and Berwald had a great albeit slightly unusual father-son relationship and that nothing going on. Peter was still wearing band-aids at school and not at home but perhaps...
It was time for him to just let it go.
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Oh man, I am so so sorry that it took me this long to put up the next part. I didn't mean to let two weeks go between parts. I moved last weekend and lost a ton of time and internet and all that. If I don't have huge chunks of time to write, I have trouble getting stuff done and I have to shift it to the next weekend. I'd like to get out at least one part a week. But we're moving along here! As always, feel free to critique.
C1: I'm so glad you love it! Sweden is indeed adorable.
C2: Hehe, lots of description but we're moving past it slowly. Fin is figuring out though.
C3:The wood wasn't really important. Someone knocked into Sweden and it fell out of his hands. I just wanted to show that Tino can't always see everything that's going on.XD
C4: I'm so sorry!! Really I am! I read an article in NYT that gave me the impression that the majority of Swedes have 'son' in their last names. Clearly, I was wrong. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I'm glad you like it so far!
C5: I do rather like the image of Tino lying on the floor pummeled by cans as onlookers stare at him in confusion. XD The wood was knocked by another person and dropped onto Peter, poor kid.
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Absolutely love this, A!a
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Stepping out of his apartment on Monday morning, Tino shivered and pulled his coat tighter around himself. October was drawing to a close and daylight was becoming scarce. Frost covered the ground every morning and people were hauling out their warmer clothes.
Tino knew that the upcoming week was going to be a little crazy. The last few days in October and first few of November was Autumn break for the school and all the students were looking forward to the combination of Halloween and All Saints Day. Tino was happy to have a break of course, but there was still one week of work to complete.
Getting into his classroom, he started to prepare for the arrival of all his students. He needed to figure out if he should keep following Peter or not. After Sunday, he was leaning more towards the ‘not’ side but he could wait and see. It didn’t take long for the kids to fill up the class room and get noisy. Once everyone had gotten their coats hung up and were seated, Tino took role call and started the day.
During the lunch break, Tino was in his classroom preparing packets for the social studies lesson. He’d pulled a few news articles about different cultural issues between European countries for reading and discussion. Now he was organizing and stapling them to be passed out when he heard someone approaching him. Looking up, he was very surprised to see Peter shuffling up to him. Immediately becoming concerned, Tino asked “Peter are you alright?”
Peter nodded at him but didn’t say anything. Tino felt a sick feeling rise in his chest and he hesitated before asking “Is there something you need to talk to me about?”
Peter nodded again and leaned up against his desk, trying to keep his eyes on the floor rather than Tino.
“I’m listening” he prompted gently.
Peter sighed and looked up. “I need to apologize to you.”
Tino stared. That was not what he thought Peter was going to say.
“Why do you need to apologize?” asked Tino, putting down his papers and turning to face Peter and give him his full attention.
“Well I talked to my dad about the whole band-aid thing and he told me that I was making you worry.”
Tino considered this before saying “Peter, please explain this to me. Why have you been wearing band-aids for the last month or more?”
“Because they’re really cool looking!” said Peter as though this was completely obvious to anyone. “They’re like tattoos except they’re removable and they make you look tough. And they come in all sorts of colors and designs.”
“And you talked to your dad about all of this?” Tino asked carefully, wanting to believe everything he was hearing but also knowing that he only had a certain amount of information.
Peter nodded and shuffled a little. “Yes, I did end up talking to him and he told me that I had to stop. Also said I ought to apologize. So I’m sorry for making you worry. It was just for fun. I didn’t think it was all that important.”
“It is important Peter, because I was afraid that you were being hurt by someone. Normally people don’t wear bandages unless they need them. So I didn’t know what to think,” Tino said gently.
“He said he wouldn’t buy me any more cool ones. Just beige from now on.” Peter didn’t look too happy about the idea but he was relaxing the more he spoke. “but I’m not going to wear them anymore,” Peter muttered. “I’ve stopped.”
Tino took the time to examine Peter more carefully and yes - for the first time in ages it seemed as though he had no band-aids on him anywhere. The sick feeling in his chest began to fall away, crushed by the sweet sense of relief that was sweeping through him.
“Well, I’m very grateful that you came and spoke with me,” Tino beamed. “I’m so glad to know that you are alright.”
Peter was looking much happier now that he didn’t seem to be in trouble. He straightened up and grinned. “Well you know, maybe I can convince my dad to let me get a tattoo! It would be brilliant.”
Tino really did laugh then. “Peter, you have a better chance of getting elected into Parliament than getting a tattoo at age twelve.”
“I can always hope,” he said stubbornly but obviously knowing how bad his chances really were.
“Well keep hoping until you’re eighteen. Then you can get whatever you want,” replied Tino with a wry tone.
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“Yeah! I want something hardcore like a death robot with a missile launcher killing a dragon and it can twist around my chest and everything! And I can put words in it too. Wouldn’t that be great!?”
Tino decided that staying quiet would be the best decision here. He nodded instead.
“Anyways, I have to go eat or else I’ll miss all of lunch.” Peter turned towards the door, and glanced at the wall clock to note how much of the lunch period was gone.
“Go eat,” agreed Tino. “We don’t need you bandaged and hungry.”
Peter laughed too and walked from the room, perfectly cheerful and clearly brainstorming more details for his tattoo, leaving Tino to turn back to his paper packets.
God, what an idea.
He had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing as he imagined Peter going up to his dad to announce that he wanted - what was it? Oh, a death robot killing a dragon across his chest. Forget stalking, he would have paid good money, a lot of money- to see that conversation. Imagining the stoic Berwald trying to face down the creativity of his son was hilarious. But he was sure that nothing would ever come of it, except a good story to laugh at years down the road.
However, in a strange way it made perfect sense. If Peter wanted a tattoo but couldn’t get one, fancy band-aids were the closest thing except drawing on yourself which wouldn’t be allowed and it would have been hard to get off. But the most important issue of the whole band-aid debacle was cleared up. Tino rubbed his hands across his face weakly, relieved. There was no longer any need to follow any one and he could stop worrying every waking hour of the day.
The rest of the week shot by quickly. Everyone was looking forward to the break and Tino decided to end the week by having each one of his students bring in a scary story to share. The class spent the entire Friday afternoon reading the stories out loud and trying to out scare each other. At first, all the lights were off to set the mood but after the first two stories, it was decided very quickly that perhaps some light would be better. There had been some really good choices and Tino thoroughly enjoyed himself. He read ‘Viy’ by Gogol and had gone into great detail describing the witch, all the different types of demons and the horrific death. After the end, he let them out a bit early and watched a bit confused and concerned as all seventeen students got their bags and coats, and walked from the class in subdued silence, some of them looking a bit sick.
Later that evening, Tino was bustling around his apartment packing and trying talk to Niels on his laptop at the same time and sort of managing it.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: so in summary i’m an over concerned moron who should probably mind his own business
WritesforFish: I could have told you that.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: hilarious Niels
WritesforFish: Anytime
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: *sigh*
WritesforFish: What are you going to do now?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: nothing. there’s no reason to do anything. peter’s fine, and i can relax and focus on other stuff. get life back to normal.
WritesforFish: Great, I’ll make sure to write a note for my second edit.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: Niels!! you’d better not be writing me into another one of your books!!
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: i’m sick of getting trampled or drowining or dying in tragic ways. can’t you find other people to write about? and kill?
WritesforFish: Honestly Tino, it’s just a small cameo and you’re unrecognizable.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: i sent a copy of your most recent book to Eduard to read and he emailed me back asking when i’d been around viking style boats and if i was alright!
WritesforFish: You have to admit that you getting caught on the prow of a boat at that Viking festival was hilarious.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: the point is that he recognized me. so don’t please? and you promised to delete those boat photos, did you?
WritesforFish: Fine. I’ll just have you pecked to death by puffins or something.
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: NIELS!!!
puffinpal4evar: puffins are awesome though
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: Eirikur hit your brother for me please?
puffinpal4evar: k
puffinpal4evar: i hit him
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WritesforFish: No, he threw a pen lid at me. It missed.
WritesforFish: I’ll save the stalking for another book okay?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: NO! Not Okay!!!
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: are you listening to me?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: Niels?
eclecticdeathmetalstingray: NIELS!! are you there???? no stalking! i’m damn serious about this!
puffinpal4evar: i think yer screwed Tino. sorry. but i’m glad to hear that youre stopping the stalking thingy and that the kid is fine. keep us updated and stuff. ttyl.
Tino flopped back in his desk chair in frustration. One of the hazards of being close friends with a writer was that without fail, he would be written about. So far he’d made a cameo in every single one of Niels’ books and very often his character had some event taken directly from his own life written in. Like the boat incident, or the dinner incident or god forbid -the Moomin incident. Niels also enjoyed killing of his character for some reason.
Digging through papers scattered on his desk, he accidentally knocked a notebook off the corner. Looking at the title written across it, TIno realized it was his notebook from following Peter for the last two weeks. Picking it up, he examined it thoughtfully. He didn’t really need it anymore and it was a little embarrassing to look at. So he felt around for a pen and on the page containing his last entry he wrote in small letters ‘solved’ and tossed the notebook onto a pile of other random documents that he needed to sort or throw away, promptly forgetting all about it for the minute. He had to get packed and get Hanatamago ready. He was going home to Finland for three days and needed to be ready for the plane in the morning.
Waking up early on Saturday, Tino coaxed Hanatamago into her carrier and caught the bus shuttle that took him out to Malmö airport. He got there early and easily checked in and went through security. Then he wandered through the quiet airport and found a good place to wait until it was time to board. Tino sat down and pulled out a magazine, half dozing in the early hour. The morning passed by slowly and the airport began to get busier as more people arrived and left.
Suddenly, an extremely loud voice blasted him and every other passenger around him to complete awareness.
“Peter!! I’m over heeerreee!”
Everyone in the area turned to glare at the incredibly loud man standing in the middle of the terminal. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties with very blond hair and blue eyes covered by a pair of glasses. And was he really wearing a bomber jacket?
“I’ve seen this man before but where?” wondered Tino, watching him carefully.
But now the man was waving his arm in the air frantically and Tino whipped his magazine up to cover his face just as Peter Kirkland ran up and slammed into the older man. Following behind him at a slower pace came Berwald, carrying a bag.
“Alfred! You’re here!”
Alfred wrapped Peter in a bear hug and laughed. “Well of course! How else is my plane gonna get to Sweden? Planes are pretty cool now but they still need someone driving.”
“Does that mean that Matthew is here too?” Peter asked eagerly.
“Yup!” replied Alfred. “We flew over together and everything. The time change was brutal. Francis is there already. He came over on that chunnel tunnel thingy from Paris.”
“That’s brilliant!”
“More like awesome.”
Peter tried to punch Alfred but he just dodged out of the way and laughed. “Anyways, do you have your bag?” he asked. “We need to get going since I have a specific time slot reserved for takeoff. If we miss it, I don’t know how long it will take to get us out of here.”
It seemed as though he hadn’t spotted Berwald who was standing back and holding the small travel bag, obviously Peter’s.
“Yeah, I got it!” Peter ran back to his dad and grabbed the bag out of his hands. Alfred came forward to take the bag and greet Berwald. Berwald nodded back but didn’t say anything.
“Well, are we good to go then?” Alfred asked, beaming down at Peter.
“I think so,” nodded Peter looking around to see if he’d forgotten anything but he hadn’t. “Dad, I’ll see you in a week!”
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