Friday afternoon drags on longer than it really needs to, Martel feels, but that's probably got more to do with what hasn't happened yet than what already has. He finds Maria unsurprisingly quickly, and - as agreed - collects her keys from her. (And obligingly takes care not to lengthen his strides 'til she has to run to keep up with him, because ( Read more... )

Monday morning, and Martel ('Aloysius Martel' on all the forms and the teachers given to addressing their students by surname regardless of preference are automatically the ones he prefers - it's always been the way) is ready and out of the house earlier than he really needs to be. He usually manages to get a ride home from Maria ('manages'), but ( Read more... )

After their encounter in the park, Leto and Martel headed back to Martel's home, where they broke open the liquor cabinet and got quietly a little tipsy over a game of chess. Apparently at no point it occurred to either of them that perhaps--perhaps--they should consider cleaning themselves up, because when Kirkeby drives Leto home (Serafina ( Read more... )

Sunday lunch comes after church--Madre's attended with her family for decades now and Martel still catches his father looking at her in slight nervous askance, as though he half-suspects she's going to strike up an argument with the parish priest--and it's still a bit odd to have it without Elena and Marcus. He supposes they'll all get used to that ( Read more... )

With Vincent and Serafina already planning to be out, it doesn't take that much convincing to get Elena and Marcus to make plans of their own--actually, almost none at all. The theoretically most difficult part of things out of the way, Martel enlists his older brother's help to set up the back yard (near the garden, he decides, digging the candle ( Read more... )

It's nearly two am and Martel has had an evening reassuringly familiar after the past few weeks of whirlwind. Evening meal and then lazing around the living room (television off; Maria was right to assume they don't often use it), with a bottle of red wine split five ways and what Vincent refers to as "backseat chess", almost as irritating as ( Read more... )

In the morning (after the breakfast incident that suggests to him perhaps photographic evidence of his childhood needs to be...like...burned immediately), Martel acquires Marcus' car keys at earliest opportunity. This does, understandably, involve a ten minute spiel about what will happen to him if anything happens to that car, cut short before it ( Read more... )

It's first thing in the morning, Sunday, here in Cordoba. International calling is luckily something they're already well practiced with, meaning Martel doesn't have to bother anyone to figure it out and can put off explaining to his Madre why he's calling a drunk girl in Minneapolis at seven am for at least a few hours. Probably ( Read more... )