Title: Smile
Series Title: After
POV: Niko
Author: Obi the Kid
Rating: PG
Summary: Story from my "After" series. A string of non-chronological short stories that focus on the 1-2 years after Cal returned from Tumulus.
Disclaimer: All hail Rob Thurman! No profit here, I'm just having fun.
It came six months after.
Six months to the day actually.
We were moving. Again. Trying to keep one step ahead.
I'd called for take-out at a nearby Denny's that offered curbside pick-up.
The bleached blonde-bee-hived, well-endowed, overly made-up, fifty-something woman who stepped toward the car with our order in the large white plastic bag was targeting me with her eyes the moment she saw me behind the wheel. As she got closer, I snuck a glance at Cal in the passenger seat. My brother had unclenched himself from the semi-fetal position to try and seem more like a passenger and less like a partially traumatized sixteen year old. He was only moderately successful, but it was good enough to fool the average person.
His gray eyes focused on me from under his long black bangs.
I held out the cash to the woman as she passed me the bag. "I'll get you some change, Sugar," she offered in her drawn South Carolina accent.
"No need."
"Thank you, Sugar." She leaned down to my open window. "Interesting car you have here. My husband can fix this for you. He specializes in rust work and…eliminating blue smoke from tailpipes."
I grinned and nodded my appreciation of her hatred for my car. "No, thank you. It runs. That's all I need at the moment."
She didn't give up yet. "Replace the interior vinyl, some new wheels, paint job. I'm not sure that classic beige is such a hot color these days, Sugar. And you look like a young man who should have a fine vehicle under his hands." Then she nodded towards Cal. "And your friend there, what kind of teenager in this day and age wants to be seen in something like this? Looks you stole it right off the lot of a 1970's cop show."
"We'll be fine. Thank you for the offer though."
"Sure thing, Sugar. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me."
"I certainly do."
"Have a good day, Sugar!"
She bounced away. And I was grateful that it was just the car and not me that she seemed infatuated with. Too much unwanted attention; even if it was only from a normal human instead of a metal-toothed, red-eyed monster. It was attention we were trying to avoid.
I turned and handed the bag over to Cal who was still wondering at me through the dark hair. I made a face and shook my head. Then, as he caught my eyes, something happened…something that I thought I might never see again. On Cal's exhausted and vacant face, there began the slightest narrowing of his eyes and the upward curl of his lips.
And there it came…of all things not expected…a smile.
Six months removed from Grendel Hell, Cal had finally re-discovered something they'd taken from him.
It wasn't an extreme toothy grin, just a simple upturn and slight lightening of the heavy features of his face. But for me, it was enough. I smiled back.
"You find that funny? Some overdone, overstuffed, fifty year old woman insulting my car? I love this car."
His small grin didn't stop as he turned his head down to focus on the inner workings of the dinner bag.
I backed out of the parking spot and into another section of the lot to sit so we could eat. Cal set out my container and then his onto the car's bench seat. His smile was less now, but he was still finding the situation funny.
"She liked you, Nik."
"A little too…mature for me, little brother. Eighteen dating fifty?"
"She liked you. Sugar."
"Alas, she did not appreciate my taste in automobiles. That is a definite deal breaker for me. Love me, love my car."
Cal shrugged. He talked more these days, but he'd stop on a dime and retreat back into himself just when you'd think he'd found a little piece of daylight. His smile melted and his face went neutral. A part of me was disappointed that the moment was so fleeting. But we'd made a breakthrough today. And while something as minute as a brief smile would have seemed simple to anyone else, to me, it was like a step onto the moon.
I didn't bring it up. I didn't want him self-conscious about something that may appear trivial on the outside. I hoped that my own smile in return was enough of an encouragement.
I did however have to make sure I pestered him about eating. He'd been having bouts of nausea again, which were most likely tied to the sudden increase in the intensity of his nightmares. It ran in unpredictable cycles and he was stuck in one of those cycles these last few days.
"Eat as much as you can, Cal."
He nodded his response. And he did eat. Every last bit of the pancakes and scrambled eggs. The fleeting smile though, was long past gone.
And that was okay. There was a time, many times honestly, when I was certain that I'd never see my little brother smile again.
I'd take this undersized victory and move forward from it. And one day in the near future – I knew for certain now - I'd have the whole of my little brother back with me.
The end