Amanda: Sorry it took so long to update. I actually had this done a long time ago, but I went to New York, then I went to Florida, and I never had a chance to post this between the trips! Please forgive me!
Disclaimer: This ain't mine, fools.
Chapter 4: A Little Bit Wiser
Ienzo's POV
"Ienzo, I'm a bit worried about you." Ansem stared at me with a concerned expression.
"How so, sir?" I asked wearily, knowing full well the reasons for Ansem's distress. I'm sitting in his office; its elaborately decorated, or at least compared to the rest of the base. He sighs.
"From what I've been hearing, you've been shirking your work. Aside from that, you're hardly ever in during the day and when you leave, no one knows where you've gone." He fidgeted. "It's quite unlike you. Is there anything the matter?" Damn you, Even! Damn you to hell!
"No, sir. There's nothing wrong." An instant reaction.
"Are you sure, Ienzo? You're usually the most reliably working apprentice I have. Your recent behavior is a bit…worry-some." You know that look adults give you that makes you tell the truth? Yeah, he's doing that now.
"I'm fine. Really." I said, wincing under the force of 'the look of doom.' He looked as if he were scanning me for a moment, then his eyes softened.
"Well, if you insist." he stood up, and I followed suit. It's really awkward to be the only one sitting down in a room, especially if it's not yours. I try to avoid it. He walked over to my side of the desk and placed his hand on my shoulder in an almost fatherly way. "…But if you ever need someone to talk to about anything, anything at all, I'll be here, ok?" I gave a small smile.
"Yes sir." He smiled and patted my shoulder approvingly.
"Good boy." He beamed before going to sit back at his desk. "You see, Ienzo, I like to think of our organization (A/N: That'd be irony, people) as a family. I'm like the father, and I like to think of you as a son. …Braig is probably the second cousin. Twice removed." He chuckled. "Anyways, if we are to be like a family, we must stick together and help each other in times of need. So if you even need anything…"
"I'll let you know." I finished for him.
"Good. You are dismissed." I nodded, got up, and was almost out the door when Ansem stopped me.
"Wait." I turned.
"Hmm?"
"Can you do me a favor and give the folder the Even? He's been whining about it all evening." He frowned, shaking his head. "I swear, sometimes that man's a thirty-five-year-old child."
"Of course." I snickered and grabbed the folder off the bookcase.
"Goodbye, Ienzo."
"Goodbye, sir." As I was heading out the door, I considered that maybe Ansem the Wise was a bit wiser than he let on.
But just a bit.
Even was standing in my door way again. Instead of trying to push past him, I just sighed, annoyed.
"Isn't this getting a bit old?" I asked, tapping my foot.
"Oh, Izy, Bugging you never gets old!" I growl.
"What do you want, Even? I don't have time for you right now."
"I want to know where you've been going lately. Everyone's been so worried." He sang sarcastically, throwing a dramatic hand in the air…dramatically!
"They can be worried. My personal life is my business, not theirs. And not yours."
"Oh Izy, that burned!" He sighed and flicked his hand back. Suddenly, his face brightened. "I bet I can guess!" He giggled. "Were you… in the lab?" I decided to play along.
"No."
"In the library?"
"No."
"In a store?"
"No."
"Eating sea-salt ice cream? Oww, you found Master Ansem's secret stash, didn't you!"
"No."
"Darn…At the docks?"
"N-no!"
"At someone's house?" Sigh.
"No, Even."
"Well, if you haven't been anywhere, why-…oh." He suddenly snickered.
"…What?" He chuckled.
"Now I get it." I panicked.
"W-what? What do you get?" He burst out laughing.
"You're in love!"
"What?!" He laughed louder.
"Oh, why didn't I see it before? That's why you've been out so much! You've been off to see your little girlfriend!"
"I do not have a girlfriend!"
"Oh, then you swing the other way! It figures; you do need to get out more!" When it occurred to me what he was talking about, I flushed bright red.
"I do not have a boyfriend, either!"
"Don't try to hide it! What else could it be except love?" He giggled, making a kissy face. God, I though this guy was thirty-five, not ten! I then did what I always do in a bad situation: sigh and lie.
"Fine, you caught me. I've been out reading PEOPLE and drinking Vault at my new girlfriend's house." I grabbed the door from him. "Oh, and by the way, here's the folder." I said, throwing it in his face and running in my room, slamming the door. After a moment's thought, I re-opened the door and added, "-And I don't love her. I'm only doing it because she's hot!" I then slammed the door again in the bewildered face of Even.
Love? That's complete nonsense. I'm not in love… and I'm NOT gay.
…Am I?
That night when I crawled into bed, (after four full hours of reading The Oracle Betrayed A/N: Highly recommended!), I think about my conversation with Myde the day we became…'friends'.
Flashback
"We're friends?" I blinked, considering my own un-thought-out words.
"Y-yeah, I guess we are." He slowly smiled in relief.
"Oh, good!" He laughed. "I thought you wouldn't want to be friends with someone like me…Or, rather, something." I stared at him, startled.
"Why the hell would you think that?!" He looked ashamed.
"Well, my father told me humans and Mer-people hated each other."
"Why would he say that?"
"Because humans experiment on Mer-people."
"Oh." It sounded like something out of one of those black and white Sci-fi newspapers you skim in the check out isles, but then again, here I was sitting on an old dock talking to a merman. Weird. But I suppose it made sense; some people are too curious about the creature to consider the person they may be hurting. That thought gave me a sudden cold shiver. Now that I think about it, if someone besides me had discovered Myde…Something occurred to me then. "Wait… if you thought I was going to experiment on you, why did you show me what you really are?" He giggled softly.
"Oh, I knew you wouldn't hurt me. You looked to sweet." He smiled brightly. I blushed.
End Flashback
…Why had I blushed? Sigh. Oh well. With thoughts of the cute (Cute? WTF, mates) blond Mer-person in my head, I drifted to sleep.
Amanda: Again, sorry for the long wait/dodges rotten vegetables/ PLEASE REVIEW! It's what keep's me motivated! (In other words, you review, you get chappies FASTER/wink wink/
