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]

"Andy tries," Jack said, and shrugged. "She's getting better, bit by bit. Dad and I are pounding it into her. Mama, on the other hand, is a lost cause. Though she tends to abuse employees in Spanish so at least they don't know what she's calling them."

And they usually deserved it anyway.

[matteo_corlioni]

"Bilinguality has its advantages," Matteo said with a laugh. "Pretty much my entire family uses that. Mom goes with German, but the rest of us speak Italian." After a thoughtful moment, he added, "Except the multilingual ones."

[bookblather]

Jack nodded, unsurprised. "Everybody in my family is bilingual in Spanish and English," he said, "except my dad. And let me tell you, speaking fluent Spanish in Mexico while looking like a gringo can be hi-fucking-larious."

[matteo_corlioni]

Matteo laughed. "We do that to Mom sometimes," he said. "She's never really learned Italian--she's German, born and raised, and given the differences... Anyway, she'll get us back by talking to my little brother in German. He's trilingual, the brat." He said it with pure affection.

[bookblather]

"Hah," Jack said, and grinned at him. "I will have you know that I am a bratty little brother myself. There's certain joys in it. Hell, you've got an older sister, you have to know the fun of tweaking 'em."

[matteo_corlioni]

"Definitely," Matteo agreed. "It was said in love. The kid's smarter than I was at his age, I have to do something about that." He grinned. "Not that it bothers him to be called a brat. He knows how much we all love him."

[bookblather]

Jack nodded, mock-solemn. "Oh, yes. Everyone knows the baby of the family is the best loved." The grin escaped, and he added, a little more seriously, "I think older siblings need bratty little siblings to lighten things up a bit. God knows my sisters can be way too serious for their own good."

[matteo_corlioni]

Matteo nodded. "My Uncle Torey is the oldest of nineteen, and he takes everything on himself. Anything one of them needs, Uncle Torey's on it. And he does it for all of us, too. Way too serious, a lot of the time, probably because of it. Izzie can be, too, but that probably has something to do with when our mom--biological mom, that is--died." And Victoria, but no need to talk about dead baby sisters.

Matteo never had liked dead baby jokes, for exactly that reason.

[bookblather]

"My condolences," Jack said, automatically, Benjy's face suddenly in his mind. "I guess you're on good terms with your stepmother? My nephew too."

[matteo_corlioni]

"Oh yeah, Mom's been in the picture since I was eight and Izzie was ten. Four years after our biological mom died. Mom's great. She's so good for our dad, and she's the whole reason Ben exists, so." Matteo shrugged. "We all love her. Most of the family does." There were some...notable exceptions. Mostly Uncle Leo.

[bookblather]

"And that's all you need," Jack said, nodding. "I'm glad she's good for you all." Gave him hope for Charlotte and her family, for one.

[matteo_corlioni]

"So your nephew is doing well with his stepmom, too?" Matteo asked. "That's great."

[bookblather]

"Well, his stepmom is my sister," Jack said, "so, yeah, I'd hope they'd be getting along. But he seems really happy, when I see him. Just the brightest, happiest kid you could hope for." He grinned, suddenly. "Actually, apparently he keeps asking my sister and her husband when he's getting a sibling. He's very invested in it."

[matteo_corlioni]

Matteo grinned back. "I hope he stays invested if he gets one. Not being the youngest is a big adjustment. I imagine not being an only kid is at least as big."

[bookblather]

"Gotta be," Jack agreed, "but he's almost twelve, he's old enough to know how much work a baby is. At least, I would hope. Maybe. Kids today."

[matteo_corlioni]

"I was almost thirteen when Ben was born," Matteo said with a shrug, and added, matter-of-factly, "but it's probably different because my little sister was a baby when the car accident happened."

[bookblather]

Jack tipped his head forward, curious. "Little sister?" he asked. Matteo hadn't mentioned a little sister, just an older one, and a younger brother, and he'd said adjusting to not being the youngest... "Oh," he said, when he put all that together with car accident and came up with an answer he didn't like. "I'm sorry. Disregard that. My condolences, again."

[matteo_corlioni]

"It's fine. I was four, Izzie was six. I just mentioned it because it would be different circumstances for your nephew, probably." Moving away from that particular topic... "Is your sister thinking about having kids?"

[bookblather]

"Charlotte?" He shrugged. "She's... interested in the idea, but I don't think she and her husband are planning on it anytime soon. She's only thirty-four, so they've got time."

[matteo_corlioni]

"If they wait long enough, they can get a free babysitter from the kid's infancy," Matteo said with a laugh. "Not that I would ever do such a thing, if I have kids, of course."

[bookblather]

"Ooh, this is true," Jack said. "Although I'm pretty sure she was planning to dump any progeny she has on me whenever I'm in town. She already does that with Benjy, why not further kids?" He paused for a moment. "Of course, I'm not sure I'd trust me with kids, but she's my older sister, no doubt she knows better."

[matteo_corlioni]

"Older sisters are kind of annoying that way," Matteo agreed. "Don't get me wrong, I love Izzie more than anything, but she knows me better than anyone should. Even better than the last girl I dated."

[bookblather]

Jack thought about his sisters and the last couple of people he'd dated before he answered. "Charlotte knows me better than the last person I dated," he said, at last. "And of course Felix knows me better than anyone alive, poor soul. But Miranda I think still thinks I'm eighteen and stupid."

Which... okay, she didn't have a lot of reason to think otherwise. But still.

[matteo_corlioni]

"Felix is a friend?" Matteo asked. "How old are you, by the way?"

[bookblather]

"Best friend," Jack said. He'd say brother, but he was pretty damn sure you didn't want to do to your brother the things he wanted to do to Felix. "I'm thirty-three. Miranda's thirty-seven," he added, not sure why it mattered but pretty sure it did.