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Post by Alex on Jan 9, 2009 22:57:55 GMT -5
Alex smiled. "Well, thank you," she said. She thought she was too, or she wouldn't be here. But it was nice to hear, just the same. The boy was far too nice to be associated with Castro. "Do you sing, Mr. Simon?"
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 11, 2009 0:36:03 GMT -5
((Wow, a lazy *** is me. My apologies!))
"I... well, not yet... not here, anyway..." he said shyly, his head dropping to his collarbone. He caught a glower from the Maestro for his talking and lowered his speech to a stage whisper.
"Father intends for me to become versed in other instruments, for now. I... I might like to sing, though..." he added, drawing his legs up so that he sat cross-legged on a crate. For the son of a tenor's patron, he seemed to act quite like a common child.
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Post by Alex on Jan 11, 2009 17:24:25 GMT -5
His answer indicated that the "father" story was not merely a cover, but one never knew. Still, Alex was inclined to believe the innocent front--whatever else she thought about Castro. The looks he cast over seemed protective, not jealous.
Either way, she supposed, he supposed she wasn't a threat. Even if (as she knew) he thought her unnatural.
"You like music, then?" she asked. "I'm glad. For your sake, that it. I suppose you father's a great musician."
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 11, 2009 23:24:45 GMT -5
"I....er... well..." Oh no... He had not been instructed on how much he could say of his father's ability for music, and he was given little knowledge about the front his father put forward as Erik Taylor. Was he a known musician? Was he known for anything other than being Castro's patron?
Starting to panic, Simon let out a small squawk. "Well, he must be good enough for Senor Castro..." replied the boy nervously, trying to occupy his gaze with the black buttons on his jacket, avoiding Alex's gaze now.
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Post by Alex on Jan 12, 2009 11:54:33 GMT -5
She'd said something wrong. Either that, or there was something wrong that she'd inadvertently stepped in. But asking about it, she thought, might alienate the boy--and if there was something odd about the situation, she did not want to waste an opportunity to be someone he could talk to, eventually.
Aside from that, she wondered if musical talent was a prerequisite for being "good enough" for Señor Castro. She knew his type; money and influence were his catnip, not music. Though watching him now, his face a mask of concentration as he assayed a particular passage and argued with the Maestro about interpretation, she had her doubts.
"Of course," she soothed. "And there are much worse trades a young man can put his hand to. If it's something you enjoy."
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 12, 2009 23:51:44 GMT -5
"I dunno if I will," replied Simon honestly, seeming to let out a long-held sigh over his eventual learning. Of course he desired to play, but would he enjoy it? His father seemed to love it as much as he loved Carlos, as strange as that train of thought was.
Then again, Simon reminded himself that he was the new addition, not the other way around. Carlos had been there for his father first, had been the one in Destler's life...
Looking up from his jacket, Simon peered out onto the stage, noticing that the Spaniard had muttered something incredibly lewd under his breath; bad enough to turn the boy's face red again as he understood the implications.
"....how do you stand it?" he asked Alex, tearing his eyes away before Castro retaliated, afraid to let his future stepfather know he'd heard that remark.
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Post by Alex on Jan 13, 2009 10:26:12 GMT -5
Her heart went out to him again; it was no place for a child, the lives of these men. And that made her wonder where his mother was, which implied the worse truth: that wherever he was now was better than wherever he'd been.
Alex's eyes remained fixed on the players on stage, Castro's retort cool and to the point--he wasn't letting Maleo ruffle him, for the moment. "You mean them?" she asked, sotto voce. "I ignore them--or give as good as I get. You learn. And it's better than what my family had in store for me."
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 13, 2009 20:04:40 GMT -5
"I... suppose..." said Simon, not quite sure what Alex meant, other than he ventured to guess that her family did not choose for her to be involved with the opera, which seemed rather unfair to the boy. Then again, he was a boy... even at his age, he understood that much to be advantageous.
"I know Father intends to instruct me in music... I'm, er... not certain of his phandom popularity as a musician, but I think he intends me to take up his mantle."
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Post by Alex on Jan 14, 2009 10:31:44 GMT -5
She glanced over and down at him.
"I haven't heard of him--but that doesn't mean very much," she admitted. "But is that what you want?"
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 14, 2009 19:46:51 GMT -5
Simon drew silent and watched the stage. He didn't know what he wanted. Right now, he had something of a family and a roof over his head that he didn't have to... The boy shuddered. No, there was no need to think about that anymore, to be afraid of that... Unless he managed to really mess up somehow and get kicked out.
"Are they calling for you?" he asked, not looking at Alex, but his gaze was glassed over and vaguely staring toward the stage.
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Post by Alex on Jan 15, 2009 14:20:29 GMT -5
She may have been short on tact, but she knew a dismissal when she heard one. "Yeah, probably," she said cheerily. She hesitated before speaking again. "Look, I'm forward and I talk too much. But I can listen, too... If you ever need. Between your father and El Castro, I figure you might, once in awhile."
She smiled and took a step back towards the group on stage. "Nice to meet you, M. Taylor."
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 17, 2009 0:49:48 GMT -5
Feeling like he could trust her, and just slightly more comfortable around women, Simon gave Alex a smile and a nod, changing his position on the crate again.
"Thanks," he said, standing up to shake her hand. "It was nice to meet you too."
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Post by Alex on Jan 18, 2009 0:36:19 GMT -5
Alex grinned, cheekily and none too formally (it was her nature) but there wasn't anything threatening in her farewell. "I'll see you 'round."
She hopped back into the fray, fending off Castro's dark looks with a freckled grin.
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Post by Carlos Castro on Jan 20, 2009 15:10:17 GMT -5
"If you hurt that boy--if you so much as fill his head with nonsense--I will have your job, and then your head. In that order," Carlos murmured to Alex during a lull.
The redhead eyed him with some mixture of disbelief and amusement that did not make him happy. In fact, little about this person made him happy. First she was a boy, then a girl, and either way she was a cheeky, freckled thing that unfortunately wasn't bad enough for Carlos to have any traction in kicking out. Not that he particularly wanted to; Abercrombie-O'Toole did her job, despite her ridiculous name and get-up and general air of impudence.
"Funny," she said. "I was going to tell you the same thing. In less colorful language."
"I see. Feeling motherly, are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is that your job?" she shot back. "Listen--I don't care what your living arrangements are. And I'm certainly not getting involved. I only talked to him for a few minutes, and that can hardly traumatize anyone that much. He's not even your son--unless he is--and he can talk to whomever he likes. I very much doubt my influence, such as it is, can be any worse than... other peoples'."
Carlos was forced to end things there with a glower and an empty threat that he nonetheless enjoyed delivering, and after rehearsal made his way over to Simon.
"I'm sorry that harridan bothered you," he said. "Hopefully your experience was otherwise pleasant."
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Simon Destler
- Ingenious Pilot -
A lost boy. Not a Lost Boy.
Posts: 222
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Post by Simon Destler on Jan 27, 2009 16:33:17 GMT -5
"I like her," said Simon as he stood up, dusting the backside of his trousers. "She just sort of introduced herself to me is all..." Looking around Castro, he peered around nervously, hoping no one else was listening in. "Do a lot of people know of Father? I mean, I kind of let her know that he was teaching me, and if he's well known as a musician..."
Simon fiddled with his fingers a little, looking at them now instead of at the tenor. He wanted to make sure he had not slipped up anywhere, and he figured that asking Carlos was better to ask than to make assumptions.
He jumped with a squeak, however, when he felt a slender and strong hand clamp onto his shoulder with a single "pat." Looking up at the hand's owner, Addams smiled down to him oily, seeming to have emerged near the boy out of the shadows of the stage.
"I'd say just about anyone can come to know your father, dear child," he said, the words making Simon pale and shudder. "Isn't that right, Senor?" With that much left hanging in the air, Maleo made to slip past Castro in his usual slither.
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