The Villa Is Open

[shipwreck_light]

Zephyr had a plan. "We are gonna make you the best electric milkshake that ever was!"

"Or will be!" Pip joined in, clapping her hands over her head as she danced along before him and Roa and generally got in the way of where they were trying to walk.

This gave Zephyr plenty of excuse to pause at the end of the hall and make himself a sweeping gesture. "In the historya... ah..." one that should have ended with him banging his hand on the wall.

Except for the part where the applicable wall had disappeared and not in the usual behold the busted drywall kind of way. It was just gone. Likewise, the hallway and the entirety of Sky Plaza.

Zephyr stood on some low, sweeping stone steps. That happened to be outside, while just a moment before been /inside/ and headed to the kitchen. "OK, what the hell?"

Roa took in the sudden sky all golden up the flanks of the villa before them and held her finger to her lips in curiosity. "I don't know, actually." Then, she attempted to walk down the way they had come. This got her over the steps and almost to the spray from the fountain in the drive before it became quite apparent merely turning around wasn't going to accomplish much besides dampening her shoes. Back up she went. "This *looks* like where they held the last Court of the Manor."

"You dunno?" his next sound was an odd one, not a moan and not a laugh, and awfully feline besides. "Yeah, that's not freakin me out or nothin. Dun you know everythin?"

"Zephyyyr. Same to you."

"You guys," interjected Pip, her bare toes rapping on the stone. "Think this's kinda the same thing happened to Seb."

"Hm?" Zephyr craned himself her way, and their hands tangled together, wires all a-flash.

"Mm!"

"Mnhn."

"Nnn~."

"Well, I like your theory so far," Roa nodded. Mostly, she wasn't being silly right back at their latest ridiculous display. Mostly. "Happened to Siebenkas...?"

"Yeah, he had this dream," the elder of the two evokers almost began to explain, digits working.

Whatever he meant to coax out of the recollections between them, Pip took over, swaying as she did. "He thinks was a dream, but is totally notta dream. I know. I touched him thinkin about it an it was all wrong fora dream. Still didn't make any sense, but not the same kinda way dreams do."

"Also, Seb never dreams he's nekkid. Fun fact."

("So useful, too," Roa remarked, quite to herself.)

"But, he walked outta his bathroom an alla a sudden, he was in this bar in Old New York an there were all these other people an he was almost kinda sorta mebbe flirtin with this mob boss lady over gin an tonic and then there was this real cute muddy guy. Seb didn't think he was so cute, but I did. He got way more distracted by the other lady evoked with her eyes and the booze was good an there were pretty blond polyamourous peeps bonkin in the restroom an... an... an..."

Her not so little description might have gone on another few hours, except that Zephyr reached around with his unoccupied hand and tickled her. The way they'd tangled up together, she must have known it was coming.

Which left Roa to conclude Pip wanted tickled more than she wanted to discuss any washroom adventures. "On one hand, that sounds very much like a dream to me. On the other, if there's some sort of precedent for people in our manor suddenly disobeying all known laws of physics. And you're not playing some sort of elaborate prank."

"Hey! I had my heart set on givin you your first electric milkshake an that's not somethin I'd go back on for any money." Next thing she did know with any certainty, Zephyr had play staggered over, clutching at his shirt, "'m so disappointed it /huuurts/."

"Well, you can make it up to me when the universe goes back to normal."

Grin for the time being, too.

"It is going to go back to normal?"

"Did last time. 's why we still gotta Seb an notta portal to someplace called Dan's," said Pip.

"Alright, so why don't we...?"

"Make the besta it?"

"Yes!" Roa swung from Zephyr's grasp. He only then reached for her, trying to find that place in her moments where the best meant [concrete] he could play after and with her. As it was, he missed her as she skipped the villa steps instead, swirling her skirt in her hands and calling back after: "We're going to get company, right?"

"Woul, that'd be nice, but if not," he shrugged. "We get blitzed an watch the stars come out." A quick little sigh and a pop of his shoulder after, he followed.

Pip watched the space in the sky where the clouds should have been. The end of her nose twitched. "We're so gettin company. Can smell it, almost. Somethin's zactly not right out there." Laughing then, she blew past them both and straight through the doors.



Stuff you actually need to know available in this direction:
http://rainbowlounge.dreamwidth.org/18653.html

Have fun!

ETA: This post has not been up thirty-six hours and we officially have more than 500 comments. SO I SUPPOSE THIS ISN'T FUN AT ALL AMMIRITE? XD

ETA II: I am really, really touched that everyone wants to take care of the deceased fellow in the pool. I'm sure he appreciates it (he didn't even have a name in the story where he first appeared ;_;). But, alas, there was only one of him and he's currently being handled. He may be installed in a bedroom shortly, and should that happen, I will give him his own thread for poking purposes.

Comments

[bookblather]

"Oh, so this is pretty normal?" Gina closed her eyes in relief. "Good, I'm so glad. I thought we'd fucked him up for life. And believe me, he'd gone through more than enough in his life. He was convinced we were going to send him away, too. Ivy got him settled down a little, but he's still so nervous."

[zach_meyers]

"As far as I can tell, totally normal," Zach said. "Even Dawn--my stepsister--was unsure about Will, and she was sixteen when he was born. First time she was going to have to share Dad with a baby, you know? But that was fine. It took Ben about a month to really relax, but like I said, he and Jessica had only been with us for a couple of months, and they'd burned through several foster homes before they came to us." He still didn't like how they'd come to him and Adamo. That they had, yes, but not how.

[bookblather]

"Andy did the same," she said, her mouth turning down at the corners. "My poor baby. But we've got him now, he's our baby." She managed a smile for Zach. "And you and your husband, you have them now. They're safe. That's all that matters."

[zach_meyers]

"I know a lot of foster parents are good ones--hell, we fostered for years, until we adopted Ben and Jessica, and probably will again when the kids are older and can help more--but the ones who are in it for healthy white babies they can eventually adopt really piss me off." Zach frowned. "I think Ben would have stood a better chance without Jessica, but if they'd been separated..." He didn't continue; the thought haunted her nightmares.

[bookblather]

Gina closed her eyes. "That was why we didn't foster," she admitted, quietly. "We... we didn't really... we wanted a kid we could adopt, and we didn't have the... the energy to let all of these children into our home when it wouldn't be a forever home. I couldn't bear to look at their faces. And... I don't understand how anyone could look at my son and not want him. I don't understand how anyone could look at a beautiful child like Andy and not want them."

[zach_meyers]

"We did emergency fosters sometimes," Zach said after a moment. "DCF social workers know we still will, if they really need someone. But those were the hardest, the kids coming to us in the middle of the night and knowing that, like as not, they'd be gone in two or three days, either back home or off to a more permanent foster. I think--I think some foster parents develop a kind of callous around their hearts and don't love all the children who come into their homes, but Adamo and I never learned that trick. We didn't click with all of them in the way we'd need to for it to be a permanent situation, but we did love all of them. Still do. So I don't understand how anyone could not love your son, either."

[bookblather]

She smiled at him, grateful for that. "You were the good ones, then. The right ones. My friend Jake, he got the right ones too, and he's so much better for it."

[zach_meyers]

He smiled back. "We try. Adamo and his sister are adopted, and Dad adopted us when Brett's parental rights were terminated. It's not remotely the same, but we do both know the difference the right home can make."

[bookblather]

"My wife's father did the same," Gina said. "It helped, when Andy was upset. But yeah, Jake... he lost his parents when he was nine, and he went into the system. He said he didn't even start to recover until he was placed with the Crofts."

[zach_meyers]

Zach's jaw tightened. "The system eats preadolescents, unless they're very lucky. I'm glad he was placed with them. It sounds like he got relatively lucky." Lucky would be, well, not losing his parents at all.

[bookblather]

"He did, yes." Gina leaned back, closed her eyes for a moment. "He's still in touch with his foster parents, I think. He got as lucky as you can get, but not right away. He's... he's very careful, now, about making sure there's someone to take care of his daughters if something happens to him or his wife."

[zach_meyers]

Zach nodded, lips pressed together. "It's hard enough to know what can happen from the adult end. Going through the system as a kid..." He shook her head. "I'm glad he's planned for his kids," he said at last. "That's...that's important."

[bookblather]

"They come to us," Gina said. "His wife is my best friend, so if something happens, they come to us. Our kids go to my wife's brother, or her sister if Summer feels up to it. Yeah. We planned." She shook her head. "How did this get so dark? I'm sorry."

[zach_meyers]

Zach smiled at her. "It's okay. We asked Adamo's sister as soon as Evelyn's adoption was finalized, so if that happens, our kids aren't going back into the system. I would do anything to stop that from happening. It's totally understandable that Jake would do the same, and that the rest of you would because you know what it was like through him. So do you have a name picked for your daughter?"

[bookblather]

Topic change, thank goodness; the other one was making her weepy. Stupid pregnancy hormones. "Yes. We're going to call her Leah Andrea." She smiled again, thinking of Andy, poking at her belly. "We let Andy pick her middle name. Hence the similarity."

[zach_meyers]

"That's sweet," Zach said, her smile widening. "I bet it made him feel a lot better. More involved."

[bookblather]

"I hope so," Gina said. "He does seem more invested. So tell me about your children!"

[zach_meyers]

"Age order is probably best, right?" Zach grinned. "It's close enough to the order they came to us, except the youngest. Evelyn is thirteen. We started fostering her when she was seven. She's incredibly bright and articulate. She's also a total carrottop, and my sister-in-law uses Evelyn as evidence that redheads aren't evil." Her grin broadened. "Jeannette's a redhead, adopted, and her father's pride and joy--and he calls her a devil child and says he was cursed with a redhead. Greg doesn't mean a word of it. It's just something they toss at each other all the time. Anyway, Evelyn wants to be a politician, for some reason, but I'm hoping she changes her mind by the time she finishes high school. That, or she learns what working in politics is really like and doesn't go into it with any illusions about it being completely clean and deals being made based on what's best for people. She can be confrontational, but she's also an idealist right now."

[bookblather]

"She sounds like an amazing girl," Gina said, sincerely. "Kind of like my mother-in-law, actually... I mean, much younger, obviously, but my mother-in-law is a politican. Brilliant, absolutely ruthless, and yet one of the kindest people I've ever met. And..." She grinned. "Also a redhead."

Or, well, her hair was mostly grey now, but she'd been a redhead.

[zach_meyers]

Zach laughed. "Too perfect. What's her field? Evelyn has the lofty goal of fixing the foster care system."

[bookblather]

"I wish her luck with that," Gina said, seriously. "My mother-in-law is trying to fix New York's special education system. My sister-in-law has Asperger's, so. She has a personal stake in the matter."

[zach_meyers]

Zach sobered. "I'm not positive, but I imagine something like that would be second on her list. Jessica's profoundly autistic. We have great coverage to get her help, but it doesn't fix the gaps in the education system and how much we do at home for her."

[bookblather]

"It never does," Gina said. "Summer's very high-functioning, but she... she still has trouble. She had a lot more in school. I think Ivy had to threaten some boys before they'd leave her alone, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Anyway, my mother-in-law could definitely use some help if Evelyn's up for it."

[zach_meyers]

"I'll run it by her. Maybe she can do some sort of internship over the summer." She could stay with Karen and Lena during the week, if it came to that.

[bookblather]

Always assuming they were from the same universe. "I'll mention it to Gail," Gina said, then added, "After I look you up to be sure we exist in the same universe. Because otherwise, awkward."