|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 16:39:59 GMT -5
"I'm not going to argue with you," he said simply.
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 16:41:44 GMT -5
"Well, good," said Adrien a little stiffly, also a little taken aback but trying not to show it, "because there's nothing to argue about."
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 16:46:13 GMT -5
He gave the boy a pat on the shoulder- very short, almost without significance- and stepped away.
"I could teach you, if that's what you wanted."
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 16:53:02 GMT -5
Adrien looked momentarily conflicted and shook his head very quickly, folding his legs up and hugging his knees without thinking. It made him look a lot smaller than he was.
For a moment he wanted to tell Veidt that he could indeed read, he just wasn't very good, and that of course he'd like Veidt to teach him, and then he remembered the last time anyone had noticed he could read, and shut his mouth again.
"I left school," he said abruptly. "When I was sixteen. I'm completely uneducated. It's not worth it." And then he shut his mouth again.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 16:58:04 GMT -5
"And yet you have no intention of attempting to alter that?"
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 16:59:58 GMT -5
Adrien moved to shake his head and swallow and then looked up at Adrian like a kicked dog, begging him silently to drop it.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 17:03:53 GMT -5
Veidt sighed and then lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed next to him.
"I was seventeen when I left home," he said, after another long pause.
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 17:06:57 GMT -5
Adrien stared at him. And stared.
He wanted to alter his posture, but felt frozen into place a little, and only loosened his shoulders after a pause, leaning forward a little, relaxing minutely. What had been staring softened into a gaze, and he made the slightest noncommittal noise that nonetheless managed to convey that he really wanted Veidt to go on, if he would.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 17:14:11 GMT -5
"By that time, I had finished with school and both of my parents were dead."
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 17:18:26 GMT -5
"Both of them?" asked Adrien before he could stop himself.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 17:20:33 GMT -5
"My father had passed away from cancer around a year before, and my mother was in an automobile accident while I was at school."
There was no sadness in his voice. Only the barest stating of fact.
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 17:27:06 GMT -5
"Oh," said Adrien, that one syllable getting in a little of the awe as he tried to process that. Orphaned. Completely alone.
He realized after a moment, with a little subtle shock, that it wasn't hard to envision at all. He shivered a little. He had remembered that, being suddenly alone. For him it had been coupled with a kind of desperation and a little existentialist realization that he could do absolutely anything he wanted. Or, rather, anything. Regardless of whether he wanted it or not.
"My maman's still alive," he said lightly, eyes fixed on the coverlet. "I just haven't seen 'er since."
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 17:30:29 GMT -5
"Do you want to?"
|
|
|
Post by Adrien Baillon on Aug 19, 2009 17:32:34 GMT -5
He slipped his legs over the side and turned away, not even realizing he'd done so. It was just done to dispense a lot of energy and emotion that hit him very suddenly, subconsciously. He brushed his hair back and said carefully, "I don't think she'd like to see me now."
What he actually meant was that he didn't think she'd like who he'd become, and in fact thought she'd be horrified, but he couldn't articulate the reasons behind his deep sense that he should never, ever confront Lucie Baillon again. "Plus she's got a family."
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Veidt on Aug 19, 2009 17:37:02 GMT -5
"Understood."
|
|