Chocolate #3, Amaretto #11, Vinegar #13
Title: The New Neighbors
Prompt: Chocolate #3: sympathy, Amaretto #11: on display, Vinegar #13: stay off the grass
Rating: PG13 for implied child violence
Characters: Firebird Blaze, Edan Blaze, Paul Robinson, Marco de Luca, Peter de Luca
Summary: Three years after Firebird is Boss. Marco has been floating in my head since about five minutes after I created Edan. However, Marco is a lot more complicated than Edan so I’ll be taking my time with him.
“Firebird!” Edan ran headlong into his sister, knocking her back a step as she caught him with a laugh.
“Do you have everything?”
“Yep,” Edan motioned to his sports bag. He was already dressed in his soccer uniform, the perfect image of youthful suburbia.
“You remembered your cleats?”
“Yep. I checked twice.”
“Good,” Firebird said with a smile, brushing back Edan’s hair out of his eyes and making a mental note that she’d soon have to start the battle with Edan to get his hair cut. Her little brother was almost phobic when it came to haircuts, a residual effect of their father’s death in a barbershop three years ago. It was a bi-annual battle that they both dreaded and usually ended with at least one of them in tears. “Let’s get going then.”
“’K.” Edan turned to get into the car then stopped. He grinned and waved over the top of the car. “Hi, Marco!”
Firebird looked across the street and saw a dark haired boy sitting on the porch steps to the house directly across the street. That house had been up for sale for months; when she’d come by to pick up Edan for his soccer game last week the ‘for sale’ sign had still been up. Apparently someone worked fast.
“Who’s that, Edan?” Firebird asked, looking closer at the boy. He was bigger than Edan, not a difficult feat to achieve, but he looked to be around the same age. He was hunched into himself, using his blue hoodie that wasn’t necessary in the warm weather to cover his legs too. He was watching them both intently but hadn’t yet acknowledged Edan’s greeting in any way.
“Marco de Luca. He moved in two days ago. He hasn’t talked to me yet but I like him. I think we’ll be friends.”
“I don’t doubt that,” she replied dryly. As good as Firebird was at making enemies, Edan was that much better at making friends. It didn’t matter age, sex, or temperament, at one point or another everyone fell prey to Edan’s unassuming, all-accepting kindness.
“I’m going to my soccer game,” Edan called to the sullen Marco. “But we can play when I come back this afternoon, ok? Bye!”
Firebird rolled her eyes lightly and grinned at how easily Edan told a relative stranger about his comings and goings. Paul opened the back door and Edan ducked into the car. Firebird was about to slide in after him when the front door to Marco’s house snapped open and diverted her attention.
A man in his mid-thirties with the same haphazard dark hair as Marco rushed out of the house. He used the hand not holding a briefcase to grab Marco’s upper arm and snatched him up off the steps onto his tiptoes
“What the hell are you doing out here? I’ve been yelling for you for the past ten minutes!” he snapped at Marco. “Get inside and help your mother unpack now!”
He used his grip on the frightened child to propel him back into the house and slammed the front door as soon as Marco cleared the entryway. He turned to run back down the porch steps and over to his car, when he finally noticed Firebird and Paul both watching him over the car. The man hesitated in his next step and stumbled a little, obviously caught off guard by their watchful eyes.
A normal neighbor would have seen such an exchange and ducked their head while the man was still around then picked up the phone as soon as he was gone to call all of the other neighbors. But Firebird was neither his neighbor nor normal. She raised an eyebrow, letting him wordlessly know that she had seen the whole thing. Firebird didn’t like passing moral judgments on people, she was well aware of the morality, or rather lack thereof, in her own actions, but she’d always found people like this man distasteful. Perhaps it was because of her chosen career path, but she much preferred a person that owned up to their temper instead of hiding it behind their nine to five job and weekly church attendance.
To his credit, the man recovered quickly. He glared at them as if to say “what are you lookin’ at?” then ducked his head and rushed to his car.
“Schmuck,” Paul muttered as the man slid into the low slung sports car that all middle aged men dreamed of owning.
Firebird shrugged. “Of course. This is the suburbs, after all.”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Nicky Nails strolled into Firebird’s office a little after two.
“How was the Mayor?” Firebird asked, not looking up from her ledgers.
“A blowhard as usual,” Nicky said. He sat down at the couch in his usual spot. “Hell will freeze over before that mouthpiece ever springs for my lunch.”
“Poor Uncle Nicky,” Firebird smirked up at him. “Do you want me to spot you a few bucks?”
“It’s funny how cute you think you are, you brat,” Nicky said with a grin.
Firebird’s smirk deepened but she turned to business. “Did he say anything I should hear about?”
“Mmm,” Nicky reached into his pockets for a cigar. “There was one thing. Seems there’s a new district attorney on the radar. Peter de Luca. The Mayor says he’s a shark that’s been mouthing off about delivering harsher punishments to repeat offenders.”
“De Luca?” Firebird repeated, tapping her pen thoughtfully. “Was he promoted or is he new to town?”
“He’s new. Lived over in the Metroplex before he set his sights on our city. Seems to think we’ll provide the ticket to his easy ride into politics.”
Firebird leaned back in her chair. “How interesting.”
Prompt: Chocolate #3: sympathy, Amaretto #11: on display, Vinegar #13: stay off the grass
Rating: PG13 for implied child violence
Characters: Firebird Blaze, Edan Blaze, Paul Robinson, Marco de Luca, Peter de Luca
Summary: Three years after Firebird is Boss. Marco has been floating in my head since about five minutes after I created Edan. However, Marco is a lot more complicated than Edan so I’ll be taking my time with him.
“Firebird!” Edan ran headlong into his sister, knocking her back a step as she caught him with a laugh.
“Do you have everything?”
“Yep,” Edan motioned to his sports bag. He was already dressed in his soccer uniform, the perfect image of youthful suburbia.
“You remembered your cleats?”
“Yep. I checked twice.”
“Good,” Firebird said with a smile, brushing back Edan’s hair out of his eyes and making a mental note that she’d soon have to start the battle with Edan to get his hair cut. Her little brother was almost phobic when it came to haircuts, a residual effect of their father’s death in a barbershop three years ago. It was a bi-annual battle that they both dreaded and usually ended with at least one of them in tears. “Let’s get going then.”
“’K.” Edan turned to get into the car then stopped. He grinned and waved over the top of the car. “Hi, Marco!”
Firebird looked across the street and saw a dark haired boy sitting on the porch steps to the house directly across the street. That house had been up for sale for months; when she’d come by to pick up Edan for his soccer game last week the ‘for sale’ sign had still been up. Apparently someone worked fast.
“Who’s that, Edan?” Firebird asked, looking closer at the boy. He was bigger than Edan, not a difficult feat to achieve, but he looked to be around the same age. He was hunched into himself, using his blue hoodie that wasn’t necessary in the warm weather to cover his legs too. He was watching them both intently but hadn’t yet acknowledged Edan’s greeting in any way.
“Marco de Luca. He moved in two days ago. He hasn’t talked to me yet but I like him. I think we’ll be friends.”
“I don’t doubt that,” she replied dryly. As good as Firebird was at making enemies, Edan was that much better at making friends. It didn’t matter age, sex, or temperament, at one point or another everyone fell prey to Edan’s unassuming, all-accepting kindness.
“I’m going to my soccer game,” Edan called to the sullen Marco. “But we can play when I come back this afternoon, ok? Bye!”
Firebird rolled her eyes lightly and grinned at how easily Edan told a relative stranger about his comings and goings. Paul opened the back door and Edan ducked into the car. Firebird was about to slide in after him when the front door to Marco’s house snapped open and diverted her attention.
A man in his mid-thirties with the same haphazard dark hair as Marco rushed out of the house. He used the hand not holding a briefcase to grab Marco’s upper arm and snatched him up off the steps onto his tiptoes
“What the hell are you doing out here? I’ve been yelling for you for the past ten minutes!” he snapped at Marco. “Get inside and help your mother unpack now!”
He used his grip on the frightened child to propel him back into the house and slammed the front door as soon as Marco cleared the entryway. He turned to run back down the porch steps and over to his car, when he finally noticed Firebird and Paul both watching him over the car. The man hesitated in his next step and stumbled a little, obviously caught off guard by their watchful eyes.
A normal neighbor would have seen such an exchange and ducked their head while the man was still around then picked up the phone as soon as he was gone to call all of the other neighbors. But Firebird was neither his neighbor nor normal. She raised an eyebrow, letting him wordlessly know that she had seen the whole thing. Firebird didn’t like passing moral judgments on people, she was well aware of the morality, or rather lack thereof, in her own actions, but she’d always found people like this man distasteful. Perhaps it was because of her chosen career path, but she much preferred a person that owned up to their temper instead of hiding it behind their nine to five job and weekly church attendance.
To his credit, the man recovered quickly. He glared at them as if to say “what are you lookin’ at?” then ducked his head and rushed to his car.
“Schmuck,” Paul muttered as the man slid into the low slung sports car that all middle aged men dreamed of owning.
Firebird shrugged. “Of course. This is the suburbs, after all.”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Nicky Nails strolled into Firebird’s office a little after two.
“How was the Mayor?” Firebird asked, not looking up from her ledgers.
“A blowhard as usual,” Nicky said. He sat down at the couch in his usual spot. “Hell will freeze over before that mouthpiece ever springs for my lunch.”
“Poor Uncle Nicky,” Firebird smirked up at him. “Do you want me to spot you a few bucks?”
“It’s funny how cute you think you are, you brat,” Nicky said with a grin.
Firebird’s smirk deepened but she turned to business. “Did he say anything I should hear about?”
“Mmm,” Nicky reached into his pockets for a cigar. “There was one thing. Seems there’s a new district attorney on the radar. Peter de Luca. The Mayor says he’s a shark that’s been mouthing off about delivering harsher punishments to repeat offenders.”
“De Luca?” Firebird repeated, tapping her pen thoughtfully. “Was he promoted or is he new to town?”
“He’s new. Lived over in the Metroplex before he set his sights on our city. Seems to think we’ll provide the ticket to his easy ride into politics.”
Firebird leaned back in her chair. “How interesting.”