The little AU: Rising Spring: Coasting
The little AU: Rising Spring: Coasting
slashfairy
~~
Karl's not paying particularly close attention to the US elections, except as they affect his men, his ability to work and live in-country, and how he can educate Hunter. He had his eye on the Australian elections awhile back, noting The Apology with some interest and wondering if and when and how New Zealand will make more movement toward re-weaving itself, and what the pattern will be in the long run. But here in the states there's surely a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing as the Scottish play puts it so well- a lot of name-calling and money-spending and time-taking-up that doesn't seem, particularly, to further the goal of an educated, informed electorate that one would think one would want taking up the process of choosing the members of government for the next four or so years.
What he notices are the things Hunter comes home saying, and asking about. Some of it Hunter understands well enough that they can just talk about it. Things like voting, choosing for big roles, he gets. Calling names and acting like babies on television about it, that either annoys or confuses him. He's had one fight already at school with someone who called him 'foreign' and told him to 'shut up if you can't talk right.' Mindful of what his father'd told him, Hunter stood his ground until there was a clear moment, then ran for the office to tell. 'I need you to help me,' he's been taught to tell the staff. 'I'm taking martial arts, and I can't fight him!' That generally works- there's a note on file in the office, and Karl's talked with them too. That's what the school did for Henry when he was working his way through his belts- bought him time and space so that he wasn't as tempted to beat the crap out of someone who didn't like his politics or his face. Bought him time to find the poetry in not just giving in, and the grace in knowing when and how to stand his ground when the times come.
So it's with some dismay that Karl realizes that the end of primary elections doesn't mean things get quieter for a bit. On the contrary, because there will be no real news, there will be more made up news everywhere.
He sets a ban. No commercial television, no news, no political programs. No drive-time radio, no taunting and teasing and telling tales out of school just blasting its way through their days. He'll pull up some news before they leave the house, enough to give Hunter a heads-up if there's one needed, and they'll look at the paper together, because that's part of Hunter's homework. But letting the free-for-all frenzy into the house is now completely foresworn.
The downside is, it's a bit disorienting at first. He'd not realized how much that river of noise had made its way into their daily lives. The upside is, there's more time for fun.
Viggo sends three jars of honey from Pennsylvania, from three different honey-sellers. Last year's sun he writes upon the box he sends them in, along with postcards of the Liberty Bell and photographs of the farm from Witness, so long ago, and how it's changed and not changed in 20 years, and one of the jars of honey is from that farm and tastes of clover. It glows softly bright on the toast Hunter and Karl have in the morning, and Hunter writes a thank you note on the back of a drawing of ninjas surfing that he did for a project in school- to combine two things he really enjoys doing in a fantasy way -to send back to Viggo. The ninjas' belts, coat-skirts and wide pants flap behind them as they curl barefoot over their boards into the tunnel of the almost-breaking waves, and Everyone knows you'd wear a suit, right Dad? explains the fantasy element pretty well, Karl thinks, over his second piece of toast and honey.
Orlando brings honey home from Australia, too, and spends the night talking late with Karl, honey in his tea. Hunter hears the low rise and fall of their voices as they step over the rising and falling threads weaving Orli's life just now, and find a way to work them, woven in their own pattern, into the larger warp and weft of the three mens' love. Orlando sleeps in their bed with Daddy before he flies out early to New York, and one of Hunter's presents from Australia is a shirt from Miranda from a gallery with a show about Australian graphic art, including comics and graphic novels and books illustrated for children, showing a koala on a surfboard. Hunter wears the shirt to school the next day, and brings a honey and peanut-butter sandwich, and sits with a friend who comes from Brazil and who also finds the days getting longer in April to be, well, a bit weird.
They'll make a trip up the coast this weekend to the house at the end of the Bluff road, to bring some honey there and see to the deck, the fences, the house itself, and Orli's house where Henry's friend is living, finishing up his second year of uni. They'll get out the big map of the West Coast of the US, and map their way up to where Viggo will be filming, and look at the surfing nearby, and wonder what the honey from those parts tastes like, and play with maybe flying into Portland for an overnight, if time and tides allow.
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slashfairy
~~
Karl's not paying particularly close attention to the US elections, except as they affect his men, his ability to work and live in-country, and how he can educate Hunter. He had his eye on the Australian elections awhile back, noting The Apology with some interest and wondering if and when and how New Zealand will make more movement toward re-weaving itself, and what the pattern will be in the long run. But here in the states there's surely a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing as the Scottish play puts it so well- a lot of name-calling and money-spending and time-taking-up that doesn't seem, particularly, to further the goal of an educated, informed electorate that one would think one would want taking up the process of choosing the members of government for the next four or so years.
What he notices are the things Hunter comes home saying, and asking about. Some of it Hunter understands well enough that they can just talk about it. Things like voting, choosing for big roles, he gets. Calling names and acting like babies on television about it, that either annoys or confuses him. He's had one fight already at school with someone who called him 'foreign' and told him to 'shut up if you can't talk right.' Mindful of what his father'd told him, Hunter stood his ground until there was a clear moment, then ran for the office to tell. 'I need you to help me,' he's been taught to tell the staff. 'I'm taking martial arts, and I can't fight him!' That generally works- there's a note on file in the office, and Karl's talked with them too. That's what the school did for Henry when he was working his way through his belts- bought him time and space so that he wasn't as tempted to beat the crap out of someone who didn't like his politics or his face. Bought him time to find the poetry in not just giving in, and the grace in knowing when and how to stand his ground when the times come.
So it's with some dismay that Karl realizes that the end of primary elections doesn't mean things get quieter for a bit. On the contrary, because there will be no real news, there will be more made up news everywhere.
He sets a ban. No commercial television, no news, no political programs. No drive-time radio, no taunting and teasing and telling tales out of school just blasting its way through their days. He'll pull up some news before they leave the house, enough to give Hunter a heads-up if there's one needed, and they'll look at the paper together, because that's part of Hunter's homework. But letting the free-for-all frenzy into the house is now completely foresworn.
The downside is, it's a bit disorienting at first. He'd not realized how much that river of noise had made its way into their daily lives. The upside is, there's more time for fun.
Viggo sends three jars of honey from Pennsylvania, from three different honey-sellers. Last year's sun he writes upon the box he sends them in, along with postcards of the Liberty Bell and photographs of the farm from Witness, so long ago, and how it's changed and not changed in 20 years, and one of the jars of honey is from that farm and tastes of clover. It glows softly bright on the toast Hunter and Karl have in the morning, and Hunter writes a thank you note on the back of a drawing of ninjas surfing that he did for a project in school- to combine two things he really enjoys doing in a fantasy way -to send back to Viggo. The ninjas' belts, coat-skirts and wide pants flap behind them as they curl barefoot over their boards into the tunnel of the almost-breaking waves, and Everyone knows you'd wear a suit, right Dad? explains the fantasy element pretty well, Karl thinks, over his second piece of toast and honey.
Orlando brings honey home from Australia, too, and spends the night talking late with Karl, honey in his tea. Hunter hears the low rise and fall of their voices as they step over the rising and falling threads weaving Orli's life just now, and find a way to work them, woven in their own pattern, into the larger warp and weft of the three mens' love. Orlando sleeps in their bed with Daddy before he flies out early to New York, and one of Hunter's presents from Australia is a shirt from Miranda from a gallery with a show about Australian graphic art, including comics and graphic novels and books illustrated for children, showing a koala on a surfboard. Hunter wears the shirt to school the next day, and brings a honey and peanut-butter sandwich, and sits with a friend who comes from Brazil and who also finds the days getting longer in April to be, well, a bit weird.
They'll make a trip up the coast this weekend to the house at the end of the Bluff road, to bring some honey there and see to the deck, the fences, the house itself, and Orli's house where Henry's friend is living, finishing up his second year of uni. They'll get out the big map of the West Coast of the US, and map their way up to where Viggo will be filming, and look at the surfing nearby, and wonder what the honey from those parts tastes like, and play with maybe flying into Portland for an overnight, if time and tides allow.
previously:
next: