Peculiar: An Affair to Remember (part 3 of 3 section 1 w/links)
NOTE: This update was SO HUGE LJ couldn't handle it. So you get a "normal" update and then two links to the rest. Also, this is the LAST installment of Peculiar Book 1. WOOT!
ENJOY!
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. . .So if you think what you have is working for you, or you think that it can stand a reasonable chance, and whatever's broken seems fixable and nothing's beyond repair. If you still think about each other and smile before you remember how screwed up it's gotten or maybe dream of a time less rotten.
Remember, it ain't too late to take a deep breath and throw yourself into it with everything you got.
"When are those two just going to get around to doing it already?"
DJ laughed in reply.
". . .and they were just RIGHT there, like give you a black eye close. . .," Bella shook her breasts for emphasis.
". . .you should have seen the look on his face," she laughed.
Mortimer smiled back, then moved closer.
It's great to be alive.
"Amen to that, sister," Bella blinked, smiling.
Mortimer snickered. "Seconded." Relief mixed with his excitement as he added, "I've been wanting to do that for. . .hell, forever."
"Really?," Bella smirked. "Since we're sharing about the things we've wanted to do for. . .hell, ever. . .," she gently mocked.
Mortimer shouldn't have been so shocked, but he was.
"DAMN," Bella sighed when she finally released him. She laughed at the stunned look on his face. "Yeah, that's EXACTLY the reaction I was hoping for."
Mortimer blinked and took a deep breath, both relieved and aggrivated that they were in such a public place. If they had been alone, maybe in the lab. . .he swallowed hard and sighed.
"Yeah," Bella sighed, almost like she had read his mind. "I think we could both use a nice cold drink."
"Yeah, sure," Mortimer croaked in agreement. Bella laughed.
Gonna be a world of hurt, world of hurt
--------------------------------------------------------------
While the students and party goers of La Fiesta Tech were just beginning their partying in earnest, Agamemnon Pollinator's toddler party was slowly drawing to a close.
Albert glanced from Pascal and the happily giggling Jenny Pollinator to Paul and back.
"Poppy," Jenny chanted, banging on her xylophone.
"You getting used to your new name?," Pascal called to Paul. Jenny continued to chant and both fathers laughed. "The first time I heard one of mine call me daddy, I got goosebumps," Pascal added.
Pascal looked up at Albert, his smile wide and brimming with the love he felt for his sons. Albert smiled back, but it felt weak, somehow hollow and lacking in comparison to what Pascal felt.
"You ready to go?," he asked. Pascal nodded and tossled Jenny's hair as he got up.
"It was so nice to meet you. . ."
Paul listened as Aggie said goodbye to Abraham. It suddenly struck him that Aggie never would have met Abe before. In The Community. He looked at his wedding band and listened to his daughter babbling and tapping away at her xylophone. There were a lot of things that would never have happened if their ship had never crashed into the sands of Peculiar.
He called his goodbyes to Pascal and Albert and listened as Aggie saw his guests out to the gate.
"Oh, Kitty, I'm so glad you and Glam could bring Edwin over. We're going to have to keep doing this. . .getting the kids all together like this," Aggie hugged Kitty and she hugged back. "I just love being surrounded by them. . .all of them. . .," Aggie sighed.
Kitty kissed his cheek then gave him a knowing look.
"Sounds like someone has The Rabies," she laughed.
"Rabies?," Aggie furrowed his brow.
"Baby rabies," Kitty offered with a smile and a wink. Aggie giggled and playfully slapped at her.
"Me?," he held his hand to his chest and gave a dramatic gasp then began giggling again. Kitty laughed.
"I have a feeling you could convince Paul to have another," she offered.
"Oh. . .," Aggie narrowed his eyes and gave a sly smile, ". . .I KNOW I can."
Kitty smiled and shook her head side to side.
"Have fun," she laughed, following the other guests out the gate.
Aggie returned to the house. He and Paul gathered their daughters and took them upstairs to their beds.
Watching Paul with Jenny, Aggie knew Kitty was right.
"Rabies," he whispered to himself.
"What?," Paul asked while Aggie wrestled Jill into her pajamas.
"Tell Poppy "rabies"," Aggie said to Jill. Jill squirmed, ingoring her father.
"Rabies?," Paul echoed and laughed. "What are you two talking about?"
"Baby rabies," Aggie giggled, stroking Jill's head and kissing her. "Go to sleep, my baby," he soothed, waiting as she made herself comfortable and slowly drifted to sleep.
Paul watched Aggie with Jill, smiling as he began to understand what Aggie was talking about.
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Marie listened as the band wrapped up their final song. DJ was also keeping an ear on the band.
"You'd better get that brother of yours over here," she reminded Marie.
"Which one's your brother? The one with the wild hair?," Mic laughed.
"No, he's the guitarist," DJ corrected.
"Oh, yeah, that's right."
Marie watched as Percy, Lazlo and Jasmine made their way to the keg.
". . .she's kind of pissy tonight." Marie listened to Jasmine and Percy talking about Zoey. She watched as DJ raced away from the group, Mic close on her heels.
"My friend wants to meet you," she offered to Lazlo. "If she ever stops screwing around with Mic," she gestured.
". . .go ahead, do your worst. . ."
Lazlo and Marie laughed as Jasmine took Percy up on his offer. He scowled and rubbed his sore arm.
"You need to get laid," he growled.
Jasmine looked back toward the staging area and Zoey.
"Oh, no problems there," she laughed, turning her attention back to Percy. "From the way you're drinking, though, I'd say you're the one that's a quart low on the good stuff."
Percy scowled and shrugged. Jasmine nodded toward the public bathroom and the lingering Gunnar Roque.
"I saw what you saw," she frowned. "You don't want that."
Percy rubbed his throat and nodded. "He was a shitty lay anyway," he added and they both laughed. Jasmine squinted and looked back toward the staging area. She watched then pointed to first Percy, then Lazlo.
"Hey," she plucked at Lazlo's sleeve. "Come with me, Zoey wants us."
Percy thought about what Jasmine had said as his gaze returned to the front of the public restroom. As he watched, a man approached Gunnar and they started up a conversation. After a few moments, Gunnar and his new friend found their way into the restroom. Percy felt himself stir. He could have blamed it on the alcohol, but he knew the longing was fueled solely by his loneliness. And even through the slow burn of his growing inebriation, he knew Jasmine was right. Gunnar wasn't what he wanted.
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"Where's Pas. . .,"Abe started then stopped when he saw Albert pouring champagne. "What's going on?"
Albert laughed.
"He went across the street to Vidcund's. And WE are celebrating."
Abe furrowed his brow and grinned as he took the glass Al offered.
"Before we left for Aggie's, I checked the mail and guess what I found?"
Abe's eyes widened.
"Really?"
Albert nodded and tipped his glass to Abe.
"To my brother," he laughed. "My fully documented brother."
Abe tapped his glass against Albert's and they both downed the contents. Al reached for the champagne bottle and quickly refilled their glasses.
"To Daniel," Abe offered. They clinked glasses again and again downed the contents. "This is good," Abe offered as he took a turn re-filling their glasses.
"To the champagne," Albert laughed. Abe snorted as they toasted the champagne. With their third glasses downed, they set the stemware aside.
"Thank you, Albert," Abe took his brother's hand without even thinking about Percy or Pascal or anything more than how much he appreciated what Albert had done for him.
"After everything you've. . .," Albert swallowed hard and took a deep breath. ". . .both here and. . .," he shrugged. He didn't have to finish his thought. Abe understood better than anyone what that shrug meant.
When Albert pulled him close, Abe didn't resist.
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"More desserts?," Pascal laughed. "I've had more sweets tonight then I've had in a week. I'm going to get a sugar high."
"So how are your kids?," Angus asked, tucking into his pie.
"They're great," Pascal offered. "Everyone's. . .," he hesitated, wondering if now was really a good time to get into the sorted details of his looming family troubles. Deciding against it, he continued, ". . .everyone's good."
"Speaking of offspring. . .," Vidcund interjected as he took a seat, ". . .Angus here saw something very interesting in those files of yours, Pascal."
"They're not MY files," Pascal corrected. "I'm not exactly sure WHO'S they are, to be honest."
"Government," Angus casually added.
"Really," Pascal was more interested than shocked. His initial thought had leaned toward the government as well.
"Yeah, same type of encription. It's taking a while to get them all open, there's so much there, but so far we a lot of birth records."
"Birth records? Aren't those publicly available? Why bother encripting. . ."
"It's more than just the public record type stuff," Vidcund replied. "It's a very detailed database documenting very particular births."
"Alien mostly," Angus's very casual tone again offered.
"Not JUST alien," Vidcund grinned. "That one section. . .that was a clinical trial my friend."
None of them were exactly sure why they did it, but when Piquant entered the kitchen, they all got very quiet.
"Am I putting a damper on your party?," she asked, taking a large bite of her pie. "Mmm, Vid. . .," she wiped a fallen berry from table top and poped it into her mouth and licked her fingers, ". . .this is great." All three men tried to restrain their disgusted grimaces. Piquant looked around at her companions and started to laugh.
"So what are you uptight fellas chatting about? Let me guess. . .," she tapped her fork against her lips before continuing, ". . .those files that Vid was gushing over, the ones that have all the government secrets in them." She laughed and stabbed at her pie.
"This is no joke, Piquant." Vidcund's tone was harsher than any of them expected.
"Vid. . .geez," Pascal offered. "Calm down."
"Yeah," Piquant quipped, "listen to your brother, DEAR." She finished the last bite of her pie and gave Vidcund a sour face. "Go ahead and tell them your fabulous idea."
"I'm going to duplicate the experiments in the files."
"What?" Finally Angus's tone was not casual. This was the first he was hearing about Vidcund's plan. "We haven't even deciphered all the files yet. . .how can you even entertain duplicating without. . ."
"We can get started with what we already have," Vidcund interrupted. "And if you're right. . .if this is based on the DeTreville research, we should be able to get Guiseppe to fill in the gaps."
Angus sighed. "You make that sound as easy as picking up the phone." He carefully cut a bite from his pie and shook his head.
Piquant didn't bother excusing herself from the table. She just got up and took her plate to the sink.
Unlike Angus and Pascal, she'd heard all about Vidcund's plan. And like Angus, she had her reservations.
She rinsed the plate and left it in the sink. Vidcund would probably complain about it later, but now Piquant just couldn't care. She just wanted to put distance between herself and the conversation.
All three men were talking at once, their collective tone one of excitement. Piquant's shoulder's slumped in defeat. Bolstered by Angus and Pascal's encouragement, she knew she'd never be able to talk Vidcund out of this plan.
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It wasn't premeditated. Albert hadn't planned to get them drunk. He hadn't planned for the twins to pick this night to finally decide to sleep soundly. He hadn't planned to be alone in the house with Abraham.
But it felt so perfect, the two of them together again. And while he knew the house wasn't his and the sleeping children weren't theirs, with Abe's lips against his, his fingers trailing over his scared skin, Albert could pretend they were.
Abe couldn't.
"Al. . .," he carefully slid out from under his brother. Seeing Abe's bittersweet smile, Albert left his fantasy behind with a stuttering sigh.
Abe caressed his brother's face, lightly touching the point of his ear. Albert shivered and pulled Abe close. They sat like that for a long while before Albert, his voice low and tired, finally spoke.
"I get lonely, Abe. . .at night," he sighed. Abe stroked Albert's fingers, coaxing him to continue. "I can't sleep with either of them. . .I tried once, with Pascal." Albert swallowed hard and licked his lips before continuing. "He didn't get hurt. . .he's really strong and fit but. . .Percy's not. . .he's so thin, he would get hurt." Albert yawned and leaned back into the pillows. Abe stretched out beside him, never once losing contact with his brother's skin.
"I don't have as many nightmares, though," Al slowly continued, his speech getting slower, more muddled. He shivered again and Abe pulled him closer. Albert clung to him.
"It's ok," Abe whispered.
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"Damn, slow down, Perc," Lazlo chuckled but seeing Percy so hell bent on getting drunk was far from amusing.
"Lazlo?"
Lazlo turned at the sound of his name.
"So much for your sister introducing us," the woman laughed. "Guess if you want something done right. . .," she rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'm DJ, a friend of Marie's."
Lazlo nodded. How many attractive friends did Marie have? He tried not to stare.
Percy coughed and wiped his mouth against his sleeve. As it turned out, drinking directly from the tap was not as good an idea as he had thought. He belched and straightened.
He could hear the sound of Lazlo's voice but didn't care to try and figure out what he was saying. He was distracted by the evening sky. He stared heavenward and rapidly blinked his eyes. It made a funny strobbing effect and left him giggling and dizzy. When his head stopped spinning, he started to repeat the trick but stopped. A small flash in the sky made him shudder and look away. He reached for the stack of cups and knocked them into the sand.
"Careful, Perc," Lazlo called. Percy fumbled with the cups. Finally securing one, he filled it from the tap and took a gulp.
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Spencer had been talking about his astronomy project from the moment it was assigned. Loki was convinced the boy was more excited over being able to stay up late then learning about the heavens. Slowly, over the course of multiple nights, Loki had helped his son locate and plot each one.
"Ahh, there it. . .," Loki peered into the eyepiece and fiddled with a dial. "Damnit," he muttered.
"Clouds?," Spencer offered. Loki nodded then gasped.
Circe winced against the sound of her husband's screams.
"Just relax, dear," she said to the empty room.
"Spencer," she clucked her tongue at the boy's unmade bed then set to making it right.
Outside, Loki's screams mingled with his son's.
"Hold on, dad, hold on, I'll get her, I'll get her. . .MOM!"
Spencer didn't want to leave his father but if anyone could help them it would be her, he was sure of it.
Even with his hours of training on the obstacle course, Spencer was no match for aliens. Loki was airborn before the boy could even round the corner of the house, let alone retrieve his mother.
Andre was the lone witness to Loki's final moments on the planet.
Circe greeted her paniced son at the door.
Spencer gasped and struggled to speak. Circe was happy to note his lack of breath was more due to fear than lack of fitness.
Seeing how calm his mother was, Spencer was suddenly struck by the idea that she wouldn't be able to do anything, that his father was gone forever and he would be left. Left alone. With her.
Spencer broke down.
Spencer shuddered under his mother's touch.
"Now, now," Circe finally spoke after allowing the child a moment of tears. Spencer hadn't spoken a word since he'd yelled to his father. He merely gasped and choked in an attempt to control himself.
"That's enough now," Circe spoke in a low voice. "Calm down before you make yourself sick." She brushed her hand along his back as he tried to compose himself.
"Your father will be just fine," she plucked a cat hair from the back of Spencer's shirt and flicked it to the floor. "I promise."
Hearing those words, his mother's promise, Spencer was suddenly calm. He still labored to get his breathing back to normal, but his tears were done. He sniffed and wiped at his face.
"Go draw yourself a nice bath, sweetie," she wiped his cheek with her thumb and kissed the top of his head. "I'll make you cup of cocoa. Would you like that?"
Spencer sniffed and nodded.
"Go on now and do like I said."
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Section 2
Section 3
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ENJOY!
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. . .So if you think what you have is working for you, or you think that it can stand a reasonable chance, and whatever's broken seems fixable and nothing's beyond repair. If you still think about each other and smile before you remember how screwed up it's gotten or maybe dream of a time less rotten.
Remember, it ain't too late to take a deep breath and throw yourself into it with everything you got.
"When are those two just going to get around to doing it already?"
DJ laughed in reply.
". . .and they were just RIGHT there, like give you a black eye close. . .," Bella shook her breasts for emphasis.
". . .you should have seen the look on his face," she laughed.
Mortimer smiled back, then moved closer.
It's great to be alive.
"Amen to that, sister," Bella blinked, smiling.
Mortimer snickered. "Seconded." Relief mixed with his excitement as he added, "I've been wanting to do that for. . .hell, forever."
"Really?," Bella smirked. "Since we're sharing about the things we've wanted to do for. . .hell, ever. . .," she gently mocked.
Mortimer shouldn't have been so shocked, but he was.
"DAMN," Bella sighed when she finally released him. She laughed at the stunned look on his face. "Yeah, that's EXACTLY the reaction I was hoping for."
Mortimer blinked and took a deep breath, both relieved and aggrivated that they were in such a public place. If they had been alone, maybe in the lab. . .he swallowed hard and sighed.
"Yeah," Bella sighed, almost like she had read his mind. "I think we could both use a nice cold drink."
"Yeah, sure," Mortimer croaked in agreement. Bella laughed.
Gonna be a world of hurt, world of hurt
--------------------------------------------------------------
While the students and party goers of La Fiesta Tech were just beginning their partying in earnest, Agamemnon Pollinator's toddler party was slowly drawing to a close.
Albert glanced from Pascal and the happily giggling Jenny Pollinator to Paul and back.
"Poppy," Jenny chanted, banging on her xylophone.
"You getting used to your new name?," Pascal called to Paul. Jenny continued to chant and both fathers laughed. "The first time I heard one of mine call me daddy, I got goosebumps," Pascal added.
Pascal looked up at Albert, his smile wide and brimming with the love he felt for his sons. Albert smiled back, but it felt weak, somehow hollow and lacking in comparison to what Pascal felt.
"You ready to go?," he asked. Pascal nodded and tossled Jenny's hair as he got up.
"It was so nice to meet you. . ."
Paul listened as Aggie said goodbye to Abraham. It suddenly struck him that Aggie never would have met Abe before. In The Community. He looked at his wedding band and listened to his daughter babbling and tapping away at her xylophone. There were a lot of things that would never have happened if their ship had never crashed into the sands of Peculiar.
He called his goodbyes to Pascal and Albert and listened as Aggie saw his guests out to the gate.
"Oh, Kitty, I'm so glad you and Glam could bring Edwin over. We're going to have to keep doing this. . .getting the kids all together like this," Aggie hugged Kitty and she hugged back. "I just love being surrounded by them. . .all of them. . .," Aggie sighed.
Kitty kissed his cheek then gave him a knowing look.
"Sounds like someone has The Rabies," she laughed.
"Rabies?," Aggie furrowed his brow.
"Baby rabies," Kitty offered with a smile and a wink. Aggie giggled and playfully slapped at her.
"Me?," he held his hand to his chest and gave a dramatic gasp then began giggling again. Kitty laughed.
"I have a feeling you could convince Paul to have another," she offered.
"Oh. . .," Aggie narrowed his eyes and gave a sly smile, ". . .I KNOW I can."
Kitty smiled and shook her head side to side.
"Have fun," she laughed, following the other guests out the gate.
Aggie returned to the house. He and Paul gathered their daughters and took them upstairs to their beds.
Watching Paul with Jenny, Aggie knew Kitty was right.
"Rabies," he whispered to himself.
"What?," Paul asked while Aggie wrestled Jill into her pajamas.
"Tell Poppy "rabies"," Aggie said to Jill. Jill squirmed, ingoring her father.
"Rabies?," Paul echoed and laughed. "What are you two talking about?"
"Baby rabies," Aggie giggled, stroking Jill's head and kissing her. "Go to sleep, my baby," he soothed, waiting as she made herself comfortable and slowly drifted to sleep.
Paul watched Aggie with Jill, smiling as he began to understand what Aggie was talking about.
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Marie listened as the band wrapped up their final song. DJ was also keeping an ear on the band.
"You'd better get that brother of yours over here," she reminded Marie.
"Which one's your brother? The one with the wild hair?," Mic laughed.
"No, he's the guitarist," DJ corrected.
"Oh, yeah, that's right."
Marie watched as Percy, Lazlo and Jasmine made their way to the keg.
". . .she's kind of pissy tonight." Marie listened to Jasmine and Percy talking about Zoey. She watched as DJ raced away from the group, Mic close on her heels.
"My friend wants to meet you," she offered to Lazlo. "If she ever stops screwing around with Mic," she gestured.
". . .go ahead, do your worst. . ."
Lazlo and Marie laughed as Jasmine took Percy up on his offer. He scowled and rubbed his sore arm.
"You need to get laid," he growled.
Jasmine looked back toward the staging area and Zoey.
"Oh, no problems there," she laughed, turning her attention back to Percy. "From the way you're drinking, though, I'd say you're the one that's a quart low on the good stuff."
Percy scowled and shrugged. Jasmine nodded toward the public bathroom and the lingering Gunnar Roque.
"I saw what you saw," she frowned. "You don't want that."
Percy rubbed his throat and nodded. "He was a shitty lay anyway," he added and they both laughed. Jasmine squinted and looked back toward the staging area. She watched then pointed to first Percy, then Lazlo.
"Hey," she plucked at Lazlo's sleeve. "Come with me, Zoey wants us."
Percy thought about what Jasmine had said as his gaze returned to the front of the public restroom. As he watched, a man approached Gunnar and they started up a conversation. After a few moments, Gunnar and his new friend found their way into the restroom. Percy felt himself stir. He could have blamed it on the alcohol, but he knew the longing was fueled solely by his loneliness. And even through the slow burn of his growing inebriation, he knew Jasmine was right. Gunnar wasn't what he wanted.
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"Where's Pas. . .,"Abe started then stopped when he saw Albert pouring champagne. "What's going on?"
Albert laughed.
"He went across the street to Vidcund's. And WE are celebrating."
Abe furrowed his brow and grinned as he took the glass Al offered.
"Before we left for Aggie's, I checked the mail and guess what I found?"
Abe's eyes widened.
"Really?"
Albert nodded and tipped his glass to Abe.
"To my brother," he laughed. "My fully documented brother."
Abe tapped his glass against Albert's and they both downed the contents. Al reached for the champagne bottle and quickly refilled their glasses.
"To Daniel," Abe offered. They clinked glasses again and again downed the contents. "This is good," Abe offered as he took a turn re-filling their glasses.
"To the champagne," Albert laughed. Abe snorted as they toasted the champagne. With their third glasses downed, they set the stemware aside.
"Thank you, Albert," Abe took his brother's hand without even thinking about Percy or Pascal or anything more than how much he appreciated what Albert had done for him.
"After everything you've. . .," Albert swallowed hard and took a deep breath. ". . .both here and. . .," he shrugged. He didn't have to finish his thought. Abe understood better than anyone what that shrug meant.
When Albert pulled him close, Abe didn't resist.
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"More desserts?," Pascal laughed. "I've had more sweets tonight then I've had in a week. I'm going to get a sugar high."
"So how are your kids?," Angus asked, tucking into his pie.
"They're great," Pascal offered. "Everyone's. . .," he hesitated, wondering if now was really a good time to get into the sorted details of his looming family troubles. Deciding against it, he continued, ". . .everyone's good."
"Speaking of offspring. . .," Vidcund interjected as he took a seat, ". . .Angus here saw something very interesting in those files of yours, Pascal."
"They're not MY files," Pascal corrected. "I'm not exactly sure WHO'S they are, to be honest."
"Government," Angus casually added.
"Really," Pascal was more interested than shocked. His initial thought had leaned toward the government as well.
"Yeah, same type of encription. It's taking a while to get them all open, there's so much there, but so far we a lot of birth records."
"Birth records? Aren't those publicly available? Why bother encripting. . ."
"It's more than just the public record type stuff," Vidcund replied. "It's a very detailed database documenting very particular births."
"Alien mostly," Angus's very casual tone again offered.
"Not JUST alien," Vidcund grinned. "That one section. . .that was a clinical trial my friend."
None of them were exactly sure why they did it, but when Piquant entered the kitchen, they all got very quiet.
"Am I putting a damper on your party?," she asked, taking a large bite of her pie. "Mmm, Vid. . .," she wiped a fallen berry from table top and poped it into her mouth and licked her fingers, ". . .this is great." All three men tried to restrain their disgusted grimaces. Piquant looked around at her companions and started to laugh.
"So what are you uptight fellas chatting about? Let me guess. . .," she tapped her fork against her lips before continuing, ". . .those files that Vid was gushing over, the ones that have all the government secrets in them." She laughed and stabbed at her pie.
"This is no joke, Piquant." Vidcund's tone was harsher than any of them expected.
"Vid. . .geez," Pascal offered. "Calm down."
"Yeah," Piquant quipped, "listen to your brother, DEAR." She finished the last bite of her pie and gave Vidcund a sour face. "Go ahead and tell them your fabulous idea."
"I'm going to duplicate the experiments in the files."
"What?" Finally Angus's tone was not casual. This was the first he was hearing about Vidcund's plan. "We haven't even deciphered all the files yet. . .how can you even entertain duplicating without. . ."
"We can get started with what we already have," Vidcund interrupted. "And if you're right. . .if this is based on the DeTreville research, we should be able to get Guiseppe to fill in the gaps."
Angus sighed. "You make that sound as easy as picking up the phone." He carefully cut a bite from his pie and shook his head.
Piquant didn't bother excusing herself from the table. She just got up and took her plate to the sink.
Unlike Angus and Pascal, she'd heard all about Vidcund's plan. And like Angus, she had her reservations.
She rinsed the plate and left it in the sink. Vidcund would probably complain about it later, but now Piquant just couldn't care. She just wanted to put distance between herself and the conversation.
All three men were talking at once, their collective tone one of excitement. Piquant's shoulder's slumped in defeat. Bolstered by Angus and Pascal's encouragement, she knew she'd never be able to talk Vidcund out of this plan.
--------------------------------------------------------
It wasn't premeditated. Albert hadn't planned to get them drunk. He hadn't planned for the twins to pick this night to finally decide to sleep soundly. He hadn't planned to be alone in the house with Abraham.
But it felt so perfect, the two of them together again. And while he knew the house wasn't his and the sleeping children weren't theirs, with Abe's lips against his, his fingers trailing over his scared skin, Albert could pretend they were.
Abe couldn't.
"Al. . .," he carefully slid out from under his brother. Seeing Abe's bittersweet smile, Albert left his fantasy behind with a stuttering sigh.
Abe caressed his brother's face, lightly touching the point of his ear. Albert shivered and pulled Abe close. They sat like that for a long while before Albert, his voice low and tired, finally spoke.
"I get lonely, Abe. . .at night," he sighed. Abe stroked Albert's fingers, coaxing him to continue. "I can't sleep with either of them. . .I tried once, with Pascal." Albert swallowed hard and licked his lips before continuing. "He didn't get hurt. . .he's really strong and fit but. . .Percy's not. . .he's so thin, he would get hurt." Albert yawned and leaned back into the pillows. Abe stretched out beside him, never once losing contact with his brother's skin.
"I don't have as many nightmares, though," Al slowly continued, his speech getting slower, more muddled. He shivered again and Abe pulled him closer. Albert clung to him.
"It's ok," Abe whispered.
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"Damn, slow down, Perc," Lazlo chuckled but seeing Percy so hell bent on getting drunk was far from amusing.
"Lazlo?"
Lazlo turned at the sound of his name.
"So much for your sister introducing us," the woman laughed. "Guess if you want something done right. . .," she rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'm DJ, a friend of Marie's."
Lazlo nodded. How many attractive friends did Marie have? He tried not to stare.
Percy coughed and wiped his mouth against his sleeve. As it turned out, drinking directly from the tap was not as good an idea as he had thought. He belched and straightened.
He could hear the sound of Lazlo's voice but didn't care to try and figure out what he was saying. He was distracted by the evening sky. He stared heavenward and rapidly blinked his eyes. It made a funny strobbing effect and left him giggling and dizzy. When his head stopped spinning, he started to repeat the trick but stopped. A small flash in the sky made him shudder and look away. He reached for the stack of cups and knocked them into the sand.
"Careful, Perc," Lazlo called. Percy fumbled with the cups. Finally securing one, he filled it from the tap and took a gulp.
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Spencer had been talking about his astronomy project from the moment it was assigned. Loki was convinced the boy was more excited over being able to stay up late then learning about the heavens. Slowly, over the course of multiple nights, Loki had helped his son locate and plot each one.
"Ahh, there it. . .," Loki peered into the eyepiece and fiddled with a dial. "Damnit," he muttered.
"Clouds?," Spencer offered. Loki nodded then gasped.
Circe winced against the sound of her husband's screams.
"Just relax, dear," she said to the empty room.
"Spencer," she clucked her tongue at the boy's unmade bed then set to making it right.
Outside, Loki's screams mingled with his son's.
"Hold on, dad, hold on, I'll get her, I'll get her. . .MOM!"
Spencer didn't want to leave his father but if anyone could help them it would be her, he was sure of it.
Even with his hours of training on the obstacle course, Spencer was no match for aliens. Loki was airborn before the boy could even round the corner of the house, let alone retrieve his mother.
Andre was the lone witness to Loki's final moments on the planet.
Circe greeted her paniced son at the door.
Spencer gasped and struggled to speak. Circe was happy to note his lack of breath was more due to fear than lack of fitness.
Seeing how calm his mother was, Spencer was suddenly struck by the idea that she wouldn't be able to do anything, that his father was gone forever and he would be left. Left alone. With her.
Spencer broke down.
Spencer shuddered under his mother's touch.
"Now, now," Circe finally spoke after allowing the child a moment of tears. Spencer hadn't spoken a word since he'd yelled to his father. He merely gasped and choked in an attempt to control himself.
"That's enough now," Circe spoke in a low voice. "Calm down before you make yourself sick." She brushed her hand along his back as he tried to compose himself.
"Your father will be just fine," she plucked a cat hair from the back of Spencer's shirt and flicked it to the floor. "I promise."
Hearing those words, his mother's promise, Spencer was suddenly calm. He still labored to get his breathing back to normal, but his tears were done. He sniffed and wiped at his face.
"Go draw yourself a nice bath, sweetie," she wiped his cheek with her thumb and kissed the top of his head. "I'll make you cup of cocoa. Would you like that?"
Spencer sniffed and nodded.
"Go on now and do like I said."
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Section 2
Section 3
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