"Sure! If the sun is down. It should be by now. I haven't done much work on it, though."
Across the hall, but in a slightly different direction. He opened room that was both horrible and empty, with goldenrod carpeting that had once been very expensive. The walls were avacado green in the back, but several layers of painted plastic had been tacked up on top, so that white birch trees were beneath pink flowers, which were beneath a waist-high field of poppies with butterflies floating above. Sunlight had burnt pale patches in, and years of heating and cooling had left the plastic slack, rippled and cheap-looking. Off in one corner, black splotches showed where moisture and mold had gotten in.
There were some brown nuggets lined up along one wall, dangling from the ceiling. Each was as long as a man's hand. They sat in the center of a huge area marked out in bright blue tape that was applied directly to the floor, walls and even the ceiling.
"So, this'll be the guest room. However - those are glimmer moth cocoons, and they can't be disturbed until they emerge." His voice took on an irritated, peevish tone. "They shouldn't even be here, but no one was watching the house while it was empty. Just stay out of the room and when they come out, I'll - tend to them." Squish them, then lie like a dog, he meant. Stupid moths.
"True," Ellis said thoughtfully to Val's words. He did not say that since he didn't sweat or otherwise get dirty in a passive sense, he could easily hold off on a bath until back home with his own large, luxurious, claw-footed tub. That was white. And wouldn't make him think he was in the guts of a pumpkin.
He followed along to the other room, and gazed up with interest at the cocoons. Head cocked to one side at Metody's words, and he asked curiously, "Why cain't you disturb them now? What happens if you do?"
Still looking around, he took in the little bits of mold, the warped plastic. "Y'all got yourselves sort of a fixer-upper, I take it?" If anything there was a sort of pleasure in Ellis's tone at that. In another life he might have been a handyman.
"What's a glimmer moth?" Val asked, eying the cocoons a bit warily. "Are they dangerous?"
From the bright blue tape marking their area off, he kind of got the feeling that the 'do not disturb' was less of let sleeping moths lie 'cause they're cute little critters and more of a will melt your face off if bothered.
"If Copper Sister takes notice and stops by, there's a one in twenty chance of someone in the household getting pancreatic cancer."
He fidgeted, twisting his fingers together. "I know it's not as cool as lightning strikes, but it'd still suck a lot. Glimmer moths are - sort of pale gray moths that glimmer. They prefer the honey of stone fruit trees, which is probably why Copper Sister likes them, as stone fruit is all she can eat. They're not very common anymore."
"Oh - and hey, this one here is Hans' room." He hurried over to open the next door.
"Copper Sis sounds very mathematically precise," he murmured as he followed Metody onwards. He thought his eyes were sort of adjusting to the house's vivid colors. Sort of.
He hummed a little beneath his breath and took Val's hand in his.
"I like my pancreas intact," Val murmured to Ellis as he twined his fingers around his. He was very down with leaving the cocoons alone.
Hans was just about to step out of the room described as his, having heard the voices in the hallway. He chuckled and stepped aside for Metody to open the door instead. "Ah, I see you have arrived - welcome."
"Hey uncle Hans!" Val called cheerfully. He grinned at the room he saw beyond the tall German - the only neutral colored room in the place. The carpet was a sensible beige, with white walls and woodwork. It was in the process of being set up as a study, from the desk and computer, though there were still boxes that were in the process of being unpacked.
"Valentine. Ellis." Hans gave them both a nod - Val receiving a somewhat warm smile along with his greeting.
"That's what it's been calculated as. It fluctuates, I think. Most things do."
Metody hung at the back, smiling. His family was in his house. Hans was there, and so were Val and Ellis, and the place that they were in was his house. He had a house, and in it was his family, sheltered from the weather and with a place to sleep. In his house. He was providing for them. Not a burden, but a provider, and they were all in the place that was his.
"Oh well that's alright then," Ellis said absently.
He gave a civil nod back to Hans Varner in return, and hung back a bit to let Val enter first. Once in the room he settled back against a wall, taking in the quiet colors of the room and thinking idly to himself it was a pity-- he could otherwise have laid bets on how long before Hans Varner had an aneurysm.
He did smile to himself watching Metody. The smaller man looked about to start wagging a non-existent tail.
"How's you, mister Varner-- settlin' in fine I see."
Val walked into the room and gave uncle Hans a bright smile. Hans reached out and patted the boy's shoulder affectionately before turning to speak to Ellis.
"I am well, thank you. Yes, there is still a bit more unpacking-- and a lot of cleaning to do, but we are managing." The bathroom ceiling and some of the basement rooms in particular seemed like they were harboring entire germ colonies. "And yourself? We are very pleased that you and Valentine are coming to visit. Metody is so proud of the new home."
Hans gave a warm smile in Metody's direction - he seemed positively radiant.
"It's a work in progress," he frowned briefly at an old memory, then shook it off. "But all the changes are cosmetic, really. It's a nice, sturdy home. Some new paint and wall coverings, and a lot of work with a putty knife, and it'll be perfect."
He bounced on his toes. "Uh - that door over there, that's our bedroom." And if he could avoid showing Val and Ellis that the master bathroom was done up in late Pepto Dismal, he would be very happy.
Val wondered what color their bedroom was done up in, but was too polite to ask. Thinking about bedrooms reminded him that in their luggage in their own room he had something for Uncle Met.
"Oh-- I need to go back to our room just a minute. I have something for you, uncle Met - it's just a little thing. Um, just something I made you know, not a proper housewarming gift or anything but you might like it. I'll be right back."
"Juice or tea if you have any, thank you!" Val called up to Uncle Met.
He darted back into the bedroom, and rummaged through his suitcase until he found the carefully folded origami box. It was done up in shiny silver paper. Inside of it, an equally shiny violet frog rested. He'd learned to fold both from Ellis.
Val carefully carried the little box as he walked back up the stairs.
Metody bounced over to the kitchen - Val could tell exactly where he was by the sound of the ceiling groaning underfoot. There was already a pitcher of tea in the fridge, fresh-made that morning. He poured a glass, then headed back to offer it to Val as soon as he was up the stairs. His eyes flicked over the silvery box with interest.
"It's mint," he warned. Not actual tea-leaf tea, he meant.
Across the hall, but in a slightly different direction. He opened room that was both horrible and empty, with goldenrod carpeting that had once been very expensive. The walls were avacado green in the back, but several layers of painted plastic had been tacked up on top, so that white birch trees were beneath pink flowers, which were beneath a waist-high field of poppies with butterflies floating above. Sunlight had burnt pale patches in, and years of heating and cooling had left the plastic slack, rippled and cheap-looking. Off in one corner, black splotches showed where moisture and mold had gotten in.
There were some brown nuggets lined up along one wall, dangling from the ceiling. Each was as long as a man's hand. They sat in the center of a huge area marked out in bright blue tape that was applied directly to the floor, walls and even the ceiling.
"So, this'll be the guest room. However - those are glimmer moth cocoons, and they can't be disturbed until they emerge." His voice took on an irritated, peevish tone. "They shouldn't even be here, but no one was watching the house while it was empty. Just stay out of the room and when they come out, I'll - tend to them." Squish them, then lie like a dog, he meant. Stupid moths.
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He followed along to the other room, and gazed up with interest at the cocoons. Head cocked to one side at Metody's words, and he asked curiously, "Why cain't you disturb them now? What happens if you do?"
Still looking around, he took in the little bits of mold, the warped plastic. "Y'all got yourselves sort of a fixer-upper, I take it?" If anything there was a sort of pleasure in Ellis's tone at that. In another life he might have been a handyman.
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From the bright blue tape marking their area off, he kind of got the feeling that the 'do not disturb' was less of let sleeping moths lie 'cause they're cute little critters and more of a will melt your face off if bothered.
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He fidgeted, twisting his fingers together. "I know it's not as cool as lightning strikes, but it'd still suck a lot. Glimmer moths are - sort of pale gray moths that glimmer. They prefer the honey of stone fruit trees, which is probably why Copper Sister likes them, as stone fruit is all she can eat. They're not very common anymore."
"Oh - and hey, this one here is Hans' room." He hurried over to open the next door.
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"Copper Sis sounds very mathematically precise," he murmured as he followed Metody onwards. He thought his eyes were sort of adjusting to the house's vivid colors. Sort of.
He hummed a little beneath his breath and took Val's hand in his.
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Hans was just about to step out of the room described as his, having heard the voices in the hallway. He chuckled and stepped aside for Metody to open the door instead. "Ah, I see you have arrived - welcome."
"Hey uncle Hans!" Val called cheerfully. He grinned at the room he saw beyond the tall German - the only neutral colored room in the place. The carpet was a sensible beige, with white walls and woodwork. It was in the process of being set up as a study, from the desk and computer, though there were still boxes that were in the process of being unpacked.
"Valentine. Ellis." Hans gave them both a nod - Val receiving a somewhat warm smile along with his greeting.
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Metody hung at the back, smiling. His family was in his house. Hans was there, and so were Val and Ellis, and the place that they were in was his house. He had a house, and in it was his family, sheltered from the weather and with a place to sleep. In his house. He was providing for them. Not a burden, but a provider, and they were all in the place that was his.
Glee!
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He gave a civil nod back to Hans Varner in return, and hung back a bit to let Val enter first. Once in the room he settled back against a wall, taking in the quiet colors of the room and thinking idly to himself it was a pity-- he could otherwise have laid bets on how long before Hans Varner had an aneurysm.
He did smile to himself watching Metody. The smaller man looked about to start wagging a non-existent tail.
"How's you, mister Varner-- settlin' in fine I see."
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"I am well, thank you. Yes, there is still a bit more unpacking-- and a lot of cleaning to do, but we are managing." The bathroom ceiling and some of the basement rooms in particular seemed like they were harboring entire germ colonies. "And yourself? We are very pleased that you and Valentine are coming to visit. Metody is so proud of the new home."
Hans gave a warm smile in Metody's direction - he seemed positively radiant.
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He bounced on his toes. "Uh - that door over there, that's our bedroom." And if he could avoid showing Val and Ellis that the master bathroom was done up in late Pepto Dismal, he would be very happy.
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"Oh-- I need to go back to our room just a minute. I have something for you, uncle Met - it's just a little thing. Um, just something I made you know, not a proper housewarming gift or anything but you might like it. I'll be right back."
He darted back towards their room.
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He beamed at him and stepped away, leaving Hans and Ellis to talk, and lingered at the top of the basement steps.
"Val," he called down, "Do you want anything to drink?"
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He darted back into the bedroom, and rummaged through his suitcase until he found the carefully folded origami box. It was done up in shiny silver paper. Inside of it, an equally shiny violet frog rested. He'd learned to fold both from Ellis.
Val carefully carried the little box as he walked back up the stairs.
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"It's mint," he warned. Not actual tea-leaf tea, he meant.
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"I hope you like it," he said, a bit shy. "Ellis taught me how to fold the box and what's inside. I picked colors I thought you'd like."
He gave a little smile and waited to see what uncle Met thought of the little origami frog.
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He had no idea what it was, but it was clearly shaped like a house, and so it must be a housewarming gift.
Metody looked up at Val with a bright, pleased smile, and reached to hug him.
"Val! It's wonderful!"
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