City Mice [Part 1 of 3]
[Players: duke_devlin and serenityw.]
[The Scene: The long-awaited (well, by us, anyway) visit from Duke Devlin to the wilds of Connecticut and a certain stray New Yorker. Can rural America survive? County fairs, excellent advice, unusual transport and sheep-blocking, all neatly packaged inside one sunny summer day.
Part 1 of 3. Backdated to August 17-25, 2007.]
Sixth in a series of emails between Serenity Wheeler and Duke Devlin, dated August 17, 2007:
From: redwheeler1@gmail.com
To: ddevlin@world-of-nintendo.com
Attachment: ctmap.jpg
Duke-- the 25th sounds great! And wait 'til you see what's going on here in Ash Springs that weekend, we'll have a blast. Mrs. J wants to meet you, and I promised to drag you by Blackthorne's (if you don't mind) too. Tell Jai hi for me (I don't know if he'll even remember me, it's been almost a year after all); I'm glad he'll be looking after your pets, though he'd be welcome too. Oh yeah, and I'm attaching a map of how to get here just in case, okay? I know, mapquest and all, but they're not perfect.
*
From: ddevlin@world-of-nintendo.com
To: redwheeler1@gmail.com
Hey, Red.
We can go wherever you want there; I don't mind what we do :) It'll be good to see you whatever we do; it's been a really long time. And 'course Jai remembers you; I don't think he forgets people easy. He says 'hi' back.
I don't think I'll have a problem getting there. I printed out the directions and am taking them along with me. Though if I do happen to make a wrong turn or something, I'll give you a call so you can help me out. Unfortunately, no GPS in the car XD Actually I'll call you anyway when I'm near so you'll know when to expect me.
I'll see you soon!
-Duke
(She's dreaming. She knows it, but it's like watching herself and being herself at the same time; hard to sort out, harder to stop-- it's easier to just let the dream go on than to wake up.)
Central Park. The lion sat on the edge of the Sheep Meadow; she could just see the roofs of the Tavern behind it, it was bigger than anything alive should be and twice as frightening. As pale as wheat, the same color as the bleached, faded winter grass underfoot; shouldn't it be in the zoo? Maybe if she moved quietly she could slip done the back way behind Wollman Rink and tell them... Somebody needed to know that a lion was loose, the city wasn't made for lions even though there was plenty for it to eat.
She shivered. She knew what it was hungry for.
Cold eyes, pale as well but not the same color, and the lion was watching her move. Always watching, always watching, always always always... It was moving.
Large paws left hot red tracks in the dead grass; smoke trailed behind. Didn't anyone notice? She had thought she could tame him, once, but it hadn't worked; he'd turned the thorn in his paw into another claw instead.
She backed away now, edging along one of the flowerbeds. There were people everywhere but nobody was paying attention to the lion, just her, and the lion... wasn't paying attention to any of them, either: just her and her alone. Why? There wasn't anything special about her.
Moving closer now. She could hear it breathing.
The city sounds were a background, more breathing; her own breath roared in her ears like cars as she backed up-- She couldn't go much further, the traffic was in the way, but maybe she could find a taxi or a bus or--
Closer.
Smiling. White teeth, and it was coming towards her and oh god oh god she--
**THUMP!!**
....fell out of bed and lay in a huddle, heart thudding, on the rag-rug of her bedroom floor. Serenity Wheeler stared at the ceiling out of wide, wide eyes, pulse beating in her ears, still half in the nightmare.
Oh. Oh God. Okay, not real, not real.... breathing now.... Very, very slowly she sat up, head cradled in her hands and her hair everywhere. "What--was THAT all about?" she said weakly to the room in general as reality started to seep back in...
Bedroom, bad dream; right. Um, work? No-- it's Saturday, I don't have to be up for-- Wait, what was I going to do today? Something... Shit, that was so real. What on earth was I dreaming about-- lions in Central Park? Okay, Red, you need therapy, lots and lots of therapy...
Questions of her sanity (or the lack thereof) were going to have to wait, however, as a car-horn from outside her window brought reality rushing back with a single dual-toned --beeeep--
Memory poked her from behind, hard. "DUKE!" And she scrambled for the window.
Oops. Duke winced to himself as his elbow accidentally nudged the horn on the steering wheel when he reached over to pick up his phone from where it was connected to the lighter outlet via its charger. Intentionally firing up the car's horn really wouldn't have been something he'd do at this time of the morning, especially in a town so small; he hoped the sound of the horn hadn't been... heard on the other side of town or something.
Generally he was never awake this early on a Saturday; typically Saturdays were spent sleeping in a little longer with Jai, but he didn't mind the early hour today in the least, because he was happy for the chance to see Serenity. This was probably the smallest town he'd ever visited, and it was odd to say the least. But the setting wasn't as important as the company, naturally, and after pocketing his phone and pushing his shades up a little higher on the bridge of his nose, he exited his car and walked up to the door to actually knock this time, as opposed to startling anyone with his car horn again.
Actually Duke hoped Serenity was available now; he'd tried calling on the road to let her know that he was approaching, but he'd received no answer. But he'd shrugged it off as she'd been preoccupied and hadn't been able to answer the phone at the time he'd called. If this particular date was a problem, Serenity would have let him know by now.
It was Duke. Either that, or the locals had taken to mugging passing tourists for their vehicle; nobody in Ash Springs drove anything that bright of an orange... Reaching to open her window, Serenity paused to take a brief status check. Hair: in my face. Clothes: not, unless you count ancient good-only-for-bed t-shirts. Awake: almost, need caffeine please. We are NOT ready to face the world just yet-- Bravely girding her loins (whatever that meant) anyway, she clicked the latch open just in time to hear the door opening below...
Uh oh. Crap. Mrs. J. CRAP. Marin Jotteson was... a little less than subtle sometimes, and when she had found out that her lodger's friend from the photos was coming up for a visit--
"Ah, hey," Duke voiced with a grin after the door opened, taking off his sunglasses with his left hand out of politeness more than anything, and offered his right hand for the woman at the door to shake if she wanted. He knew this was the right address so he had no reservations about greeting who he assumed to be the lady of the house whom Serenity had described in her letters to Duke. "I'm Duke, Serenity's friend."
He enjoyed talking with people in general, especially ones who seemed interested in him, so Duke was unafraid of introducing himself to Mrs. J. Besides, he'd survived Trisha and Lyanna just fine, so how bad could she be?
Upstairs, Serenity Wheeler groaned to herself as she heard the door open. Too late. Don't say it, PLEASE don't say it.
"Oh my... Well, of course you are; we've been expecting you. Dear, dear, you are as handsome as you looked in your pictures." There was a pause, and the young woman upstairs buried her face in her hands; she could just picture her landlady, dark eyes twinkling and appreciative as ever despite her grandmotherly age-- Marin Jotteson might be pushing the far side of her 60's, but there wasn't a young man in town that she hadn't scoped out, discussed in detail, and rated on her personal one-to-ten scale for her tenant's edification. It got really embarrassing some times, and anyway Serenity wasn't exactly in the market for--
"Come in... Duke, you said? I'm sure Serenity's awake, and if she's not, then we'll just have to slip up the stairs and wake her up ourselves, won't we?" The door closed below, and Joey Wheeler's twin sister sat bolt upright in pure horror.
Duke wasn't entirely used to being complimented in such a way by older women, but he had no real objection to it; compliments about his appearance were always something he accepted with open arms. Though at the same time he really couldn't force himself to flirt in return, which was something he could have done with just about any younger person. Though it was easy for him to be quite polite and friendly instead. "Aw, thank you, ma'am. And thanks for letting me come over and visit; it's really been a while since I've seen her."
However, Duke really didn't feel comfortable just barging into Serenity's bedroom to see if she was awake--didn't really feel comfortable walking into any woman's bedroom for that matter; it was just rude to him, so he hoped he at least would be allowed to linger downstairs until Serenity was ready for company. Though he did offer an alternative suggestion that would hopefully get Serenity's attention without walking in on her. "How about I call her phone instead? Wouldn't be right just walking in on her."
Upstairs, leaning against her door while she simultaneously attempted to struggle into jeans from one end and a t-shirt from the other, Serenity leaned against the door. Oh, thank God. "FIVE MINUTES!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, hopping on one foot.
When he heard Serenity's voice, Duke's hand had been lifted about halfway toward his phone, but he dropped his arm back down abruptly with a smile; he hadn't exactly been expecting the first words he'd heard out of Serenity in person this year to be screaming, but it amused him regardless. And he was happy too that he wouldn't have to wake her up; after doing the same to Jai in the past, Duke had grown just a little guilty of doing so over time. He was content to wait the five minutes out, unafraid of bringing up various topics in the meantime to the woman who currently kept him company: about her cooking abilities, small talk about himself or her family, anything to pass the time.
And Marin Jotteson was all too pleased to pass the time with him, it was clear. She had been a handsome woman in her youth, that was clear; time and hard work had worn that down, but she obviously still had a soft spot for a 'nice young man', as she called Duke at least twice in the ensuing conversation. Tea found its way into cups, a plateful of sweet-rolls mysteriously appeared, and by the time feet came clumping down the farmhouse's wooden stairs, a sort of impromptu breakfast was well underway.
"Muffins, dear?" said Mrs. J as Serenity Wheeler paused halfway there to take in the sight of her landlady taking morning tea with Duke Devlin. It had been almost a year, after all--
While Duke would have been all too willing to continue breakfast and conversation with Mrs. Jotteson, as soon as Serenity came downstairs, he couldn't help but put all of his attention on her instead. He really hadn't seen her in almost a year, and what he wanted at the moment was pretty obvious from the way he held his arms out, as if encouraging Serenity closer for a hug. "Miss me?" he asked with a grin and a lift of his eyebrows, clearly pleased to see her. His questions was part honest curiosity and part a playful way to feed his ego a little; it was something he asked Jai often, even if they'd only been apart for a few days.
A little self-consciously at first (yes, it HAD been a year, and... had she ever hugged him before? Had she? Actually?), Joey Wheeler's little sister walked up and did just that-- hugged him, tentatively. God, he's big, was her first thought; and This is a little weird--
--and then all the letters and the cards and the gosipping back and forth and the cookies and the photos sort of piled up inside her head and smothered the self-consciousness; okay, it was weird and she was still sort of self-conscious, but he was her friend too and-- "Of course I did, you goofball," Serenity said against his shirt, smiling until she thought her face would crack.
"That's what I thought," came Duke's almost-smug reply as he dropped his arm from its loose hold around Serenity's shoulders, smiling still when he moved back. It felt natural for him to show affection physically, and somehow it was just easier for him to do so with his female friends, simply because overall they seemed more receptive to hugs than his male friends, in Duke's experience. But at the same time he'd never want Serenity to feel obliged to return the gesture or for her to feel threatened in any way. Actually Duke was just about as threatening as a purring house cat, as Jai often pointed out whenever Duke made a failed attempt to appear scary.
But Duke was happy to see Serenity after so long, and was already looking forward to the chance to talk to her more over the breakfast that Mrs. Jotteson had put together.
Tea and toast and scrambled eggs made a good background for conversation; the clatter of cutlery and cups punctuated everything like percussion, and the room was warm and full of noise. "--and he's upstairs right now; I'll bring the little rat down before we head out," said Serenity, tracing a kitten-shaped outline in the air with her fork. "You should've SEEN what he did to Joey last weekend... Bear kept stealing his hairbands. Tried to bite him a couple of times, too, but he sort of growled back and it was the Discovery Channel all over again-- survival of the fittest and all that." She pushed her hair back; it had grown longer in the past year and kept trying to escape the tail that she had tied it back into. "And Duke, you wouldn't believe how much he can eat! And I caught him downstairs at the dog-bowls after their food--you'd think it was too big-- I keep expecting to find one of Mrs. J's dogs with a kitten-tail sticking out of their mouth, and-- and I'm a real motor-mouth, aren't I?" She grinned at him and took the next-to-last piece of toast. "Some things never change, do they?"
Duke didn't have the opportunity to eat before he'd left, so he really was grateful for the effort Mrs. J put out to make breakfast for he and Serenity. And honestly he was enjoying himself just listening to Serenity talk; even though they had exchanged letters, it was much easier to get across a lot of information with one's voice instead, or so Duke thought. Serenity's retelling of events someone reminded Duke of himself whenever he became particularly excited about something and had to ramble off the details. As much as he liked to talk, he liked to listen as well, and waited until Serenity had finished before he chimed in with a grin, "Somehow... doesn't surprise me Joey would growl at a kitten, heh. How d'you think the little guy is going to get along with Miw-sher? Think they're going to get along?"
At that, the young woman's face fell just a little; she dropped her eyes to her piece of toast, examining it carefully as if looking for oracles in the butter. "Well... Miw's staying with Joey; we talked it over last weekend when he was here. I'm not taking her back; it just-- wouldn't be fair, you know?" She smiled wryly at the bread. "Just one more something I've had to make a decision on. This one was almost easy, though-- he seems to really like her, she's gotten used to him now, and..." Serenity bit into the toast, a thoughtful look on her face; she was thinner than she had been before, maybe a little too thin. "I'm not going to drag her away from her home just because she used to be mine. And besides," she added, looking up and grinning just a little, "sounds like she's got something weird going on with Joey's guinea-pig, like, I dunno, Rodents Anonymous. A 'Meaningful Relationship', he said. I can't break up THAT."
Duke couldn't imagine parting with a pet, even if he'd been apart from them for a while, so he instantly felt sympathy for Serenity. Sure, Serenity would be able to visit the cat, but it wasn't the same, at least not to Duke, but at least it was something. "Well... 'least you'll still be able to visit. Do you have a job lined up yet for when you come back next month? If not maybe Joey would let you stay with him a while so you could be about Miw-sher." Joey and Tristan seemed to have plenty of room at their apartment, after all, and Duke doubted they'd mind her staying there for a while, especially if Serenity wanted to be around the cat.
Serenity's grin faded and she made a face, leaning one elbow on the table beside her plate. "I hate giving her up, even though I've got Bear now, but I have to think about how she'll feel about it too-- and I know what it's like to be uprooted; it just wouldn't be fair to do that to her all over again." From across the table Mrs. J made a sympathetic sound and poured them both more coffee. "No job yet; it's too early for that, and... I'm starting to wonder about going into the public school system again at all, y'know? I've been checking at the city Parks and Rec departments, the museums, lots of other places... I still want to teach, but... I just... I've been filling in at a couple of the local schools, you remember?" She added cream and sugar to her cup and raised it, glancing up at Duke through the steam. "I think I told you about that in my letters. And the more I've been in a classroom environment, the less I've wanted to be there; I keep thinking that maybe there's something else I could be doing."
Serenity took a long sip, eyes a bit sad. "It's not the teaching I'm having trouble with; it's being the teacher. Awful thing to find out after you've gone and gotten a degree, isn't it?"
After offering a quick word of thanks to Mrs. J for the coffee, Duke turned his attention back to Serenity again, eager to offer encouragement because he wanted to See serenity happy. "If you're not happy in the classroom, you should work somewhere else if possible," Duke voiced, knowing that he himself would want to switch jobs if he were unhappy. Fortunately he enjoyed his job very much, and he hoped Serenity would eventually find something that would be as equally satisfying for her, even if it took some looking around before she found just the right place to work.
"Besides, it's a big city," Duke noted with a smile. "There's gotta be something out there that was made just for you, right?" That's how he felt about his own job, that it was just about made for him because of how perfectly his skills could be used in the job, and because of how much he enjoyed it.
She gave him a slightly crooked smile in return. "I think so too. Guess I'm just a little impatient, that's all. And speaking of impatient..." A faint "Mrow? meeerMROWmrowow?" had been coming from upstairs for the last few minutes. "Want to meet the Bear?"
There were tiny rooms, and then there were TINY rooms; Red's setup upstairs had obviously been chopped out of a single largish bedroom, producing a miniscule sort of L-shaped foyer (too small to really be a living room, too large to be a closet), a narrow bedroom at the corner of the house, and a bathroom that you couldn't swing a cat in. Not that you'd want to-- and not that the kitten perching on the sink would let you.
"Meeer?"
You couldn't call Bear attractive. Scrawney, oddly-marked, undersized, distinctly predatory... but not attractive, not even accounting for the usual kitten-awkwardness. His fur stuck out in random tufts, unable to make up its mind whether or not to be short or long; stripes broke up into spots, rejoined into stripes, changed color... And through it all, two coppery-golden eyes stared up at Duke with remarkable composure. Bear didn't give a damn about beauty; like all kittens, he knew with uttermost certainty that he was King Of The Entire Freaking World.
And? He was purring at Duke...
It had been a while since Duke had interacted with kittens - though, admittedly, Trillian did tend to act like a kitten at times. But it had been years since Trillian had been kitten-sized, at least. Duke knew sooner or later he’d come into possession of more Birman kittens, being the tradition of his family to always have them in the house, but he simply didn’t have any room in his apartment for any more animal companions at present. But it was refreshing regardless to get to interact with a smaller cat now, and regardless of Bear’s appearance, Duke was happy for the chance to see him.
“Hey there,” Duke greeted the kitten with a bit of a smile, and smoothed his fingers down the kitten’s back part in attempt to give affection and part in an attempt to tame that fur. It was almost instinctive; he brushed out his own cats’ hair often to keep them looking beautiful, and while he wasn’t thinking about that now with Bear, it just came natural to him.
It seemed to work, or at least Bear seemed to like it; no amount of smoothing was going to help that fur (could cats have cowlicks?), but the kitten arched up into his fingers with an approving About-Time little sound, stripy tail making loops and question-marks in the feline version of a smile. "And another one bites the dust," muttered Serenity from behind the vicinity of Duke's legs, sounding amused; she had dropped down cross-legged into the embrace of a pile of cushions stuffed at random into the corner by the window; there was very little furniture in the miniscule room. "When I brought him back-- did I tell you how I got him?-- I smuggled him upstairs; I mean... I hadn't asked Mrs. J about her pet policy for boarders. Wasn't expecting to HAVE a pet, not after I had to leave Miw behind. Stop that, you little monster! Duke, just push him off if he's too much, and watch out: he likes to bite ears." Sharp fish-hook claws had pulled the kitten up onto his arm and from there onto his shoulder; and Bear had settled down with the air of someone who meant to stay a while.
Duke remained still long enough for the kitten to climb up, lifting one of his hands near Bear’s back to prevent him from falling. “Eh, I’m probably used to it… Zaphod scratches me sometimes. Not as much as he used to, though.” Though he did tilt his head away somewhat, not worried so much about scratching or biting as he was about the potential of the kitten tugging at his earring, and that would hurt. But otherwise he was content with the kitten staying on his shoulder for a while; he liked cats, liked most animals in general. “So, what’s the plan for today?” Duke asked with a smile, turning his head to look at Serenity again while still stroking his fingers against the kitten’s back, and gently behind his ears.
She blinked up at him from her cushions. "The fair? The North Willimantic Harvest Festival; it's just on the edge of town. I missed it last year, but-- I asked Mr. J about a ride, and he said he'd send somebody." Serenity tilted her head, looking up at her friend. "Have you ever been to an old-fashioned county fair before? I haven't, so--" Serenity's eyes sparked with enthusiasm. "I mean, it's not like we have them in Queens much..."
“County fair?” An event like that was completely foreign to Duke, so much so that he really didn’t know just what to expect. He felt almost a little hesitant.
But he would never outright refuse to go to something like that; after all, he nudged Jai into trying new things all of the time, and if he himself shied away from something like this… well, that’d be hypocritical, and he really didn’t want to be seen as such - even if he would be completely out of his element at a county fair. But he steeled his resolve and carefully encouraged Bear down from his shoulder in case Serenity wanted to leave sometime soon.
“No, never been to something like that,” Duke continued with a smile, agreeable. “But we can give it a try, sure.”
Besides, how bad could it possibly be?
"That... isn't quite what I expected when Mr. J mentioned a ride," said Serenity carefully, surveying the vehicle that had pulled up into the yard; its driver beamed proudly.
"Ain't it beautiful? Nineteen-forty-six Farmall B-Model," said the Jotteson's second-in-command, Hank, glowing with pride; the brilliant red tractor rumbled beneath him like a giant, Diesel-drinking cat. The ancient wooden wagon trailing from the trailer-hitch behind it, unpainted and practically reeking of horse-and-buggy days, shivered with the engine's motion. "Restored it myself; m'dad bought it when it was new, year I was born. That wagon, though, that was m'granddad's, no idea how old the thing is. Sturdy; been in every fair since before I was born." Pushing back his cap (also red), the grey-haired man grinned at his audience. "Room for you two in th'back."
The aforementioned audience blinked. Oh, he had to be joking...
"C'mon, climb in. Can't be late, gotta be there by noon; tractor show starts at one." The foreman of Jotteson Home Farms revved the engine, gusting smoke; and tractors, even antique ones, were big; nobody in their right mind would use the word 'joking' to anybody on a vehicle with tires of that size. So--
Without quite daring to look at each other, his passengers-to-be nodded and gingerly approached their ride. "After you," said Serenity generously to her guest.
When Duke first saw just how he and Serenity would be traveling to the fair… well, he couldn’t help but just stare, his jaw slightly slack. And again he realized he was so completely out of his element; for once he hoped he wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb at the fair, but then again he wasn’t sure just what to expect yet. He was understandably a little anxious, though his own stubborn will made it impossible for him to hesitate or grow physically jittery.
Still listening to Hank, Duke grabbed his cell phone from his pocket just long enough to snap a photograph of that tractor and wagon. He couldn’t help himself; it wasn’t something he was used to seeing at all, and because of how proud Hank sounded of the vehicle Duke figured the other man wouldn’t mind the tractor being in a photograph.
And as soon as he was aboard the wagon, he reached out to offer Serenity a helping hand if she needed assistance up. And afterward he took a short moment to send the photograph he’d taken to Jai, along with a message that read: Take a look at what *you’re* missing, babe.
“…wow,” Duke spoke finally to Serenity as he pocketed his phone, laughing softly as he found his voice again after overcoming his surprise. “Not used to having anyone else drive me around but Jai. Never been in anything like this before.”
She gave him an apologetic grin. "Me either. Think our dignity'll survive the trip?" The wagon started with a jerk as the tractor slipped into gear, diesel fumes gusting around in a cloud around them as they began to rumble down the road towards their destination.
* * *
[Continued in Part 2]
[The Scene: The long-awaited (well, by us, anyway) visit from Duke Devlin to the wilds of Connecticut and a certain stray New Yorker. Can rural America survive? County fairs, excellent advice, unusual transport and sheep-blocking, all neatly packaged inside one sunny summer day.
Part 1 of 3. Backdated to August 17-25, 2007.]
Sixth in a series of emails between Serenity Wheeler and Duke Devlin, dated August 17, 2007:
From: redwheeler1@gmail.com
To: ddevlin@world-of-nintendo.com
Attachment: ctmap.jpg
Duke-- the 25th sounds great! And wait 'til you see what's going on here in Ash Springs that weekend, we'll have a blast. Mrs. J wants to meet you, and I promised to drag you by Blackthorne's (if you don't mind) too. Tell Jai hi for me (I don't know if he'll even remember me, it's been almost a year after all); I'm glad he'll be looking after your pets, though he'd be welcome too. Oh yeah, and I'm attaching a map of how to get here just in case, okay? I know, mapquest and all, but they're not perfect.
*
From: ddevlin@world-of-nintendo.com
To: redwheeler1@gmail.com
Hey, Red.
We can go wherever you want there; I don't mind what we do :) It'll be good to see you whatever we do; it's been a really long time. And 'course Jai remembers you; I don't think he forgets people easy. He says 'hi' back.
I don't think I'll have a problem getting there. I printed out the directions and am taking them along with me. Though if I do happen to make a wrong turn or something, I'll give you a call so you can help me out. Unfortunately, no GPS in the car XD Actually I'll call you anyway when I'm near so you'll know when to expect me.
I'll see you soon!
-Duke
(She's dreaming. She knows it, but it's like watching herself and being herself at the same time; hard to sort out, harder to stop-- it's easier to just let the dream go on than to wake up.)
Central Park. The lion sat on the edge of the Sheep Meadow; she could just see the roofs of the Tavern behind it, it was bigger than anything alive should be and twice as frightening. As pale as wheat, the same color as the bleached, faded winter grass underfoot; shouldn't it be in the zoo? Maybe if she moved quietly she could slip done the back way behind Wollman Rink and tell them... Somebody needed to know that a lion was loose, the city wasn't made for lions even though there was plenty for it to eat.
She shivered. She knew what it was hungry for.
Cold eyes, pale as well but not the same color, and the lion was watching her move. Always watching, always watching, always always always... It was moving.
Large paws left hot red tracks in the dead grass; smoke trailed behind. Didn't anyone notice? She had thought she could tame him, once, but it hadn't worked; he'd turned the thorn in his paw into another claw instead.
She backed away now, edging along one of the flowerbeds. There were people everywhere but nobody was paying attention to the lion, just her, and the lion... wasn't paying attention to any of them, either: just her and her alone. Why? There wasn't anything special about her.
Moving closer now. She could hear it breathing.
The city sounds were a background, more breathing; her own breath roared in her ears like cars as she backed up-- She couldn't go much further, the traffic was in the way, but maybe she could find a taxi or a bus or--
Closer.
Smiling. White teeth, and it was coming towards her and oh god oh god she--
**THUMP!!**
....fell out of bed and lay in a huddle, heart thudding, on the rag-rug of her bedroom floor. Serenity Wheeler stared at the ceiling out of wide, wide eyes, pulse beating in her ears, still half in the nightmare.
Oh. Oh God. Okay, not real, not real.... breathing now.... Very, very slowly she sat up, head cradled in her hands and her hair everywhere. "What--was THAT all about?" she said weakly to the room in general as reality started to seep back in...
Bedroom, bad dream; right. Um, work? No-- it's Saturday, I don't have to be up for-- Wait, what was I going to do today? Something... Shit, that was so real. What on earth was I dreaming about-- lions in Central Park? Okay, Red, you need therapy, lots and lots of therapy...
Questions of her sanity (or the lack thereof) were going to have to wait, however, as a car-horn from outside her window brought reality rushing back with a single dual-toned --beeeep--
Memory poked her from behind, hard. "DUKE!" And she scrambled for the window.
Oops. Duke winced to himself as his elbow accidentally nudged the horn on the steering wheel when he reached over to pick up his phone from where it was connected to the lighter outlet via its charger. Intentionally firing up the car's horn really wouldn't have been something he'd do at this time of the morning, especially in a town so small; he hoped the sound of the horn hadn't been... heard on the other side of town or something.
Generally he was never awake this early on a Saturday; typically Saturdays were spent sleeping in a little longer with Jai, but he didn't mind the early hour today in the least, because he was happy for the chance to see Serenity. This was probably the smallest town he'd ever visited, and it was odd to say the least. But the setting wasn't as important as the company, naturally, and after pocketing his phone and pushing his shades up a little higher on the bridge of his nose, he exited his car and walked up to the door to actually knock this time, as opposed to startling anyone with his car horn again.
Actually Duke hoped Serenity was available now; he'd tried calling on the road to let her know that he was approaching, but he'd received no answer. But he'd shrugged it off as she'd been preoccupied and hadn't been able to answer the phone at the time he'd called. If this particular date was a problem, Serenity would have let him know by now.
It was Duke. Either that, or the locals had taken to mugging passing tourists for their vehicle; nobody in Ash Springs drove anything that bright of an orange... Reaching to open her window, Serenity paused to take a brief status check. Hair: in my face. Clothes: not, unless you count ancient good-only-for-bed t-shirts. Awake: almost, need caffeine please. We are NOT ready to face the world just yet-- Bravely girding her loins (whatever that meant) anyway, she clicked the latch open just in time to hear the door opening below...
Uh oh. Crap. Mrs. J. CRAP. Marin Jotteson was... a little less than subtle sometimes, and when she had found out that her lodger's friend from the photos was coming up for a visit--
"Ah, hey," Duke voiced with a grin after the door opened, taking off his sunglasses with his left hand out of politeness more than anything, and offered his right hand for the woman at the door to shake if she wanted. He knew this was the right address so he had no reservations about greeting who he assumed to be the lady of the house whom Serenity had described in her letters to Duke. "I'm Duke, Serenity's friend."
He enjoyed talking with people in general, especially ones who seemed interested in him, so Duke was unafraid of introducing himself to Mrs. J. Besides, he'd survived Trisha and Lyanna just fine, so how bad could she be?
Upstairs, Serenity Wheeler groaned to herself as she heard the door open. Too late. Don't say it, PLEASE don't say it.
"Oh my... Well, of course you are; we've been expecting you. Dear, dear, you are as handsome as you looked in your pictures." There was a pause, and the young woman upstairs buried her face in her hands; she could just picture her landlady, dark eyes twinkling and appreciative as ever despite her grandmotherly age-- Marin Jotteson might be pushing the far side of her 60's, but there wasn't a young man in town that she hadn't scoped out, discussed in detail, and rated on her personal one-to-ten scale for her tenant's edification. It got really embarrassing some times, and anyway Serenity wasn't exactly in the market for--
"Come in... Duke, you said? I'm sure Serenity's awake, and if she's not, then we'll just have to slip up the stairs and wake her up ourselves, won't we?" The door closed below, and Joey Wheeler's twin sister sat bolt upright in pure horror.
Duke wasn't entirely used to being complimented in such a way by older women, but he had no real objection to it; compliments about his appearance were always something he accepted with open arms. Though at the same time he really couldn't force himself to flirt in return, which was something he could have done with just about any younger person. Though it was easy for him to be quite polite and friendly instead. "Aw, thank you, ma'am. And thanks for letting me come over and visit; it's really been a while since I've seen her."
However, Duke really didn't feel comfortable just barging into Serenity's bedroom to see if she was awake--didn't really feel comfortable walking into any woman's bedroom for that matter; it was just rude to him, so he hoped he at least would be allowed to linger downstairs until Serenity was ready for company. Though he did offer an alternative suggestion that would hopefully get Serenity's attention without walking in on her. "How about I call her phone instead? Wouldn't be right just walking in on her."
Upstairs, leaning against her door while she simultaneously attempted to struggle into jeans from one end and a t-shirt from the other, Serenity leaned against the door. Oh, thank God. "FIVE MINUTES!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, hopping on one foot.
When he heard Serenity's voice, Duke's hand had been lifted about halfway toward his phone, but he dropped his arm back down abruptly with a smile; he hadn't exactly been expecting the first words he'd heard out of Serenity in person this year to be screaming, but it amused him regardless. And he was happy too that he wouldn't have to wake her up; after doing the same to Jai in the past, Duke had grown just a little guilty of doing so over time. He was content to wait the five minutes out, unafraid of bringing up various topics in the meantime to the woman who currently kept him company: about her cooking abilities, small talk about himself or her family, anything to pass the time.
And Marin Jotteson was all too pleased to pass the time with him, it was clear. She had been a handsome woman in her youth, that was clear; time and hard work had worn that down, but she obviously still had a soft spot for a 'nice young man', as she called Duke at least twice in the ensuing conversation. Tea found its way into cups, a plateful of sweet-rolls mysteriously appeared, and by the time feet came clumping down the farmhouse's wooden stairs, a sort of impromptu breakfast was well underway.
"Muffins, dear?" said Mrs. J as Serenity Wheeler paused halfway there to take in the sight of her landlady taking morning tea with Duke Devlin. It had been almost a year, after all--
While Duke would have been all too willing to continue breakfast and conversation with Mrs. Jotteson, as soon as Serenity came downstairs, he couldn't help but put all of his attention on her instead. He really hadn't seen her in almost a year, and what he wanted at the moment was pretty obvious from the way he held his arms out, as if encouraging Serenity closer for a hug. "Miss me?" he asked with a grin and a lift of his eyebrows, clearly pleased to see her. His questions was part honest curiosity and part a playful way to feed his ego a little; it was something he asked Jai often, even if they'd only been apart for a few days.
A little self-consciously at first (yes, it HAD been a year, and... had she ever hugged him before? Had she? Actually?), Joey Wheeler's little sister walked up and did just that-- hugged him, tentatively. God, he's big, was her first thought; and This is a little weird--
--and then all the letters and the cards and the gosipping back and forth and the cookies and the photos sort of piled up inside her head and smothered the self-consciousness; okay, it was weird and she was still sort of self-conscious, but he was her friend too and-- "Of course I did, you goofball," Serenity said against his shirt, smiling until she thought her face would crack.
"That's what I thought," came Duke's almost-smug reply as he dropped his arm from its loose hold around Serenity's shoulders, smiling still when he moved back. It felt natural for him to show affection physically, and somehow it was just easier for him to do so with his female friends, simply because overall they seemed more receptive to hugs than his male friends, in Duke's experience. But at the same time he'd never want Serenity to feel obliged to return the gesture or for her to feel threatened in any way. Actually Duke was just about as threatening as a purring house cat, as Jai often pointed out whenever Duke made a failed attempt to appear scary.
But Duke was happy to see Serenity after so long, and was already looking forward to the chance to talk to her more over the breakfast that Mrs. Jotteson had put together.
Tea and toast and scrambled eggs made a good background for conversation; the clatter of cutlery and cups punctuated everything like percussion, and the room was warm and full of noise. "--and he's upstairs right now; I'll bring the little rat down before we head out," said Serenity, tracing a kitten-shaped outline in the air with her fork. "You should've SEEN what he did to Joey last weekend... Bear kept stealing his hairbands. Tried to bite him a couple of times, too, but he sort of growled back and it was the Discovery Channel all over again-- survival of the fittest and all that." She pushed her hair back; it had grown longer in the past year and kept trying to escape the tail that she had tied it back into. "And Duke, you wouldn't believe how much he can eat! And I caught him downstairs at the dog-bowls after their food--you'd think it was too big-- I keep expecting to find one of Mrs. J's dogs with a kitten-tail sticking out of their mouth, and-- and I'm a real motor-mouth, aren't I?" She grinned at him and took the next-to-last piece of toast. "Some things never change, do they?"
Duke didn't have the opportunity to eat before he'd left, so he really was grateful for the effort Mrs. J put out to make breakfast for he and Serenity. And honestly he was enjoying himself just listening to Serenity talk; even though they had exchanged letters, it was much easier to get across a lot of information with one's voice instead, or so Duke thought. Serenity's retelling of events someone reminded Duke of himself whenever he became particularly excited about something and had to ramble off the details. As much as he liked to talk, he liked to listen as well, and waited until Serenity had finished before he chimed in with a grin, "Somehow... doesn't surprise me Joey would growl at a kitten, heh. How d'you think the little guy is going to get along with Miw-sher? Think they're going to get along?"
At that, the young woman's face fell just a little; she dropped her eyes to her piece of toast, examining it carefully as if looking for oracles in the butter. "Well... Miw's staying with Joey; we talked it over last weekend when he was here. I'm not taking her back; it just-- wouldn't be fair, you know?" She smiled wryly at the bread. "Just one more something I've had to make a decision on. This one was almost easy, though-- he seems to really like her, she's gotten used to him now, and..." Serenity bit into the toast, a thoughtful look on her face; she was thinner than she had been before, maybe a little too thin. "I'm not going to drag her away from her home just because she used to be mine. And besides," she added, looking up and grinning just a little, "sounds like she's got something weird going on with Joey's guinea-pig, like, I dunno, Rodents Anonymous. A 'Meaningful Relationship', he said. I can't break up THAT."
Duke couldn't imagine parting with a pet, even if he'd been apart from them for a while, so he instantly felt sympathy for Serenity. Sure, Serenity would be able to visit the cat, but it wasn't the same, at least not to Duke, but at least it was something. "Well... 'least you'll still be able to visit. Do you have a job lined up yet for when you come back next month? If not maybe Joey would let you stay with him a while so you could be about Miw-sher." Joey and Tristan seemed to have plenty of room at their apartment, after all, and Duke doubted they'd mind her staying there for a while, especially if Serenity wanted to be around the cat.
Serenity's grin faded and she made a face, leaning one elbow on the table beside her plate. "I hate giving her up, even though I've got Bear now, but I have to think about how she'll feel about it too-- and I know what it's like to be uprooted; it just wouldn't be fair to do that to her all over again." From across the table Mrs. J made a sympathetic sound and poured them both more coffee. "No job yet; it's too early for that, and... I'm starting to wonder about going into the public school system again at all, y'know? I've been checking at the city Parks and Rec departments, the museums, lots of other places... I still want to teach, but... I just... I've been filling in at a couple of the local schools, you remember?" She added cream and sugar to her cup and raised it, glancing up at Duke through the steam. "I think I told you about that in my letters. And the more I've been in a classroom environment, the less I've wanted to be there; I keep thinking that maybe there's something else I could be doing."
Serenity took a long sip, eyes a bit sad. "It's not the teaching I'm having trouble with; it's being the teacher. Awful thing to find out after you've gone and gotten a degree, isn't it?"
After offering a quick word of thanks to Mrs. J for the coffee, Duke turned his attention back to Serenity again, eager to offer encouragement because he wanted to See serenity happy. "If you're not happy in the classroom, you should work somewhere else if possible," Duke voiced, knowing that he himself would want to switch jobs if he were unhappy. Fortunately he enjoyed his job very much, and he hoped Serenity would eventually find something that would be as equally satisfying for her, even if it took some looking around before she found just the right place to work.
"Besides, it's a big city," Duke noted with a smile. "There's gotta be something out there that was made just for you, right?" That's how he felt about his own job, that it was just about made for him because of how perfectly his skills could be used in the job, and because of how much he enjoyed it.
She gave him a slightly crooked smile in return. "I think so too. Guess I'm just a little impatient, that's all. And speaking of impatient..." A faint "Mrow? meeerMROWmrowow?" had been coming from upstairs for the last few minutes. "Want to meet the Bear?"
There were tiny rooms, and then there were TINY rooms; Red's setup upstairs had obviously been chopped out of a single largish bedroom, producing a miniscule sort of L-shaped foyer (too small to really be a living room, too large to be a closet), a narrow bedroom at the corner of the house, and a bathroom that you couldn't swing a cat in. Not that you'd want to-- and not that the kitten perching on the sink would let you.
"Meeer?"
You couldn't call Bear attractive. Scrawney, oddly-marked, undersized, distinctly predatory... but not attractive, not even accounting for the usual kitten-awkwardness. His fur stuck out in random tufts, unable to make up its mind whether or not to be short or long; stripes broke up into spots, rejoined into stripes, changed color... And through it all, two coppery-golden eyes stared up at Duke with remarkable composure. Bear didn't give a damn about beauty; like all kittens, he knew with uttermost certainty that he was King Of The Entire Freaking World.
And? He was purring at Duke...
It had been a while since Duke had interacted with kittens - though, admittedly, Trillian did tend to act like a kitten at times. But it had been years since Trillian had been kitten-sized, at least. Duke knew sooner or later he’d come into possession of more Birman kittens, being the tradition of his family to always have them in the house, but he simply didn’t have any room in his apartment for any more animal companions at present. But it was refreshing regardless to get to interact with a smaller cat now, and regardless of Bear’s appearance, Duke was happy for the chance to see him.
“Hey there,” Duke greeted the kitten with a bit of a smile, and smoothed his fingers down the kitten’s back part in attempt to give affection and part in an attempt to tame that fur. It was almost instinctive; he brushed out his own cats’ hair often to keep them looking beautiful, and while he wasn’t thinking about that now with Bear, it just came natural to him.
It seemed to work, or at least Bear seemed to like it; no amount of smoothing was going to help that fur (could cats have cowlicks?), but the kitten arched up into his fingers with an approving About-Time little sound, stripy tail making loops and question-marks in the feline version of a smile. "And another one bites the dust," muttered Serenity from behind the vicinity of Duke's legs, sounding amused; she had dropped down cross-legged into the embrace of a pile of cushions stuffed at random into the corner by the window; there was very little furniture in the miniscule room. "When I brought him back-- did I tell you how I got him?-- I smuggled him upstairs; I mean... I hadn't asked Mrs. J about her pet policy for boarders. Wasn't expecting to HAVE a pet, not after I had to leave Miw behind. Stop that, you little monster! Duke, just push him off if he's too much, and watch out: he likes to bite ears." Sharp fish-hook claws had pulled the kitten up onto his arm and from there onto his shoulder; and Bear had settled down with the air of someone who meant to stay a while.
Duke remained still long enough for the kitten to climb up, lifting one of his hands near Bear’s back to prevent him from falling. “Eh, I’m probably used to it… Zaphod scratches me sometimes. Not as much as he used to, though.” Though he did tilt his head away somewhat, not worried so much about scratching or biting as he was about the potential of the kitten tugging at his earring, and that would hurt. But otherwise he was content with the kitten staying on his shoulder for a while; he liked cats, liked most animals in general. “So, what’s the plan for today?” Duke asked with a smile, turning his head to look at Serenity again while still stroking his fingers against the kitten’s back, and gently behind his ears.
She blinked up at him from her cushions. "The fair? The North Willimantic Harvest Festival; it's just on the edge of town. I missed it last year, but-- I asked Mr. J about a ride, and he said he'd send somebody." Serenity tilted her head, looking up at her friend. "Have you ever been to an old-fashioned county fair before? I haven't, so--" Serenity's eyes sparked with enthusiasm. "I mean, it's not like we have them in Queens much..."
“County fair?” An event like that was completely foreign to Duke, so much so that he really didn’t know just what to expect. He felt almost a little hesitant.
But he would never outright refuse to go to something like that; after all, he nudged Jai into trying new things all of the time, and if he himself shied away from something like this… well, that’d be hypocritical, and he really didn’t want to be seen as such - even if he would be completely out of his element at a county fair. But he steeled his resolve and carefully encouraged Bear down from his shoulder in case Serenity wanted to leave sometime soon.
“No, never been to something like that,” Duke continued with a smile, agreeable. “But we can give it a try, sure.”
Besides, how bad could it possibly be?
"That... isn't quite what I expected when Mr. J mentioned a ride," said Serenity carefully, surveying the vehicle that had pulled up into the yard; its driver beamed proudly.
"Ain't it beautiful? Nineteen-forty-six Farmall B-Model," said the Jotteson's second-in-command, Hank, glowing with pride; the brilliant red tractor rumbled beneath him like a giant, Diesel-drinking cat. The ancient wooden wagon trailing from the trailer-hitch behind it, unpainted and practically reeking of horse-and-buggy days, shivered with the engine's motion. "Restored it myself; m'dad bought it when it was new, year I was born. That wagon, though, that was m'granddad's, no idea how old the thing is. Sturdy; been in every fair since before I was born." Pushing back his cap (also red), the grey-haired man grinned at his audience. "Room for you two in th'back."
The aforementioned audience blinked. Oh, he had to be joking...
"C'mon, climb in. Can't be late, gotta be there by noon; tractor show starts at one." The foreman of Jotteson Home Farms revved the engine, gusting smoke; and tractors, even antique ones, were big; nobody in their right mind would use the word 'joking' to anybody on a vehicle with tires of that size. So--
Without quite daring to look at each other, his passengers-to-be nodded and gingerly approached their ride. "After you," said Serenity generously to her guest.
When Duke first saw just how he and Serenity would be traveling to the fair… well, he couldn’t help but just stare, his jaw slightly slack. And again he realized he was so completely out of his element; for once he hoped he wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb at the fair, but then again he wasn’t sure just what to expect yet. He was understandably a little anxious, though his own stubborn will made it impossible for him to hesitate or grow physically jittery.
Still listening to Hank, Duke grabbed his cell phone from his pocket just long enough to snap a photograph of that tractor and wagon. He couldn’t help himself; it wasn’t something he was used to seeing at all, and because of how proud Hank sounded of the vehicle Duke figured the other man wouldn’t mind the tractor being in a photograph.
And as soon as he was aboard the wagon, he reached out to offer Serenity a helping hand if she needed assistance up. And afterward he took a short moment to send the photograph he’d taken to Jai, along with a message that read: Take a look at what *you’re* missing, babe.
“…wow,” Duke spoke finally to Serenity as he pocketed his phone, laughing softly as he found his voice again after overcoming his surprise. “Not used to having anyone else drive me around but Jai. Never been in anything like this before.”
She gave him an apologetic grin. "Me either. Think our dignity'll survive the trip?" The wagon started with a jerk as the tractor slipped into gear, diesel fumes gusting around in a cloud around them as they began to rumble down the road towards their destination.
* * *
[Continued in Part 2]