Sometimes, he holds her hand when they're crossing the road and distractedly, he looks this way and that for signs of cars. It makes her laugh; he's like an overprotective older brother.
It makes her smile too. It's like there's this steady trickle of warmth seeping into her heart. There's no need to question what this light, frothy sort of feeling means. Far from feeling vulnerable, she's never felt more secure.
When she presses her hand against his, his is almost twice her size. It's always warmer than hers too.
She decides she likes his hands. She likes to run her finger down the crease lines and think about how much she's reminded of a simple happiness she's only ever known in her childhood.
He lets her do it. He might think it's a little weird, but he's had to put up with stranger things in the RG. And the memories are what make her break out into tears of relief and joy as she clutches his hand just a little tighter. (There, there, that's enough. She'll be okay.)
Beat, Day 6
"Pleased to meet you," Rhyme whispers to the pin that contains Beat's soul. And then, to Mr. H, she says thank you, over and over again.
Perhaps now she can begin to pay for the terrible mistake of letting her guard down.
She doesn't quite know how to use Beat's pin yet.
She's squatting outside WildKat examining the pin carefully. She flips it over in the palm of her hand and then stares directly at it, thinking. She has had this sudden burst of inspiration and she knows, theoretically, the way to use the pin. It is as if someone has imprinted a set of instructions in her mind.
She had no idea it was possible to imprint on players as well. Yet even though she knows how to use the pin, it's simply not working for her at the moment. There must be more to it than simply pressing her thumb against it and concentrating on its psyche.
"Patience is a virtue," she whispers to herself and she sits back and closes her eyes.
When she was alive, her parents never really said that she was patient, but they always implied that they thought so. They never reprimanded her; it was always her older brother who copped the blame for everything. Even if Rhyme forgot to do her chores or if she was late getting up out of bed, her parents didn't mind because her brother always did something worse.
It was always her brother and look what he did this time to them. They never worried about her because she was the nice one. But he was the nice one, and sometimes, Rhyme wished everyone could see that too.
Rhyme builds up her collection of adages and trudges through life, relatively unnoticed.
She opens her eyes and knows she has to do what she can.
She doesn't want to be lonely in this world.
The boy is the first customer Rhyme has seen walk into WildKat. It doesn't surprise her at all when he walks up to Mr. H and strikes up friendly conversation with him. The two know each other.
Rhyme would go back to mopping the floor and mentally probing out her problems with Beat's pin, but she's actually kind of curious about what sort of customers Mr. H would get.
Joshua. His name is Joshua. Rhyme is really not sure what to make of him.
When Joshua tilts his head to the side and notices Rhyme looking at him, she doesn't look away in shyness. Instead, one hand still clenching the mop, she gives him a small wave.
(I don't trust him, she thinks, and is somehow surprised by her own inner hostility.)
Joshua waves back at her.
He sits down at a table and talks to her, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. Rhyme vaguely wonders how he can hold it without suffering third-degree burns.
"Mr. Hanekoma brews the most wonderful coffee," Joshua remarks. He is very fluent in the language of liars.
"You seem like you know him well," Rhyme says. Anyone who knows Mr. H knows that his coffee machine is broken and he serves instant coffee to the patrons.
Joshua smiles. "Did you know that instant coffee was invented by a Japanese man – Satori Kato – in 1901? The powder is made by dehydrating and extracting roasted coffee beans dissolved in water. Sounds disgusting, doesn't it?"
Oh, thinks Rhyme. So he did know it was instant coffee after all.
"Never judge a book by its cover," she says, half to him, half to herself. "Pleased to meet you." And then she peers at Joshua and asks, "So, um, you're a player, right?" She heard Joshua mention 'RG' when he was with Mr. H.
Joshua smirks and waves a hand dismissively. "Not this time. I'm an observer."
Rhyme looks at him with confusion so he explains pleasantly: "Let's put it this way. I've always been able to see some interesting things." He continues before Rhyme can press him for more answers. "My turn to ask a question. I can see your player pin. Where's your partner?"
Rhyme looks down at Beat's pin. She's still grasping it tightly in her hand. "Right here," she says sadly. There's no point in hiding the truth, she thinks.
Joshua leans over, traces his finger over the pin, and then leans back against his seat. "What about your partner's body? Do you know how to get it back?"
Slowly, Rhyme shakes her head, as if there is an invisible weight tugging at her face.
"There is a simple way," Joshua remarks lightly. "The Composer's the one who makes the rules. All you have to do is find the Composer and take him down."
Rhyme isn't sure what to make of Joshua. She really isn't sure.
Yet she sees the sense in what he's saying.
"I know," she answers. "That was my plan."
Rhyme has always been a clever girl, but never to the extent that she's stood out among a crowd. At school, she was never the highest scorer on a test, but she was nowhere near last.
She's never assumed that anything she's ever done will ever lead her anywhere.
When Joshua leaves the café, Rhyme is back to staring at her pin, wondering, wondering how everything in her life has led up to this week.
She knows that if she calls out to Beat, he will help her. She really, honestly thinks that this is what he would do, even though she is little more than a stranger to him.
(drip, drip, drip. she bleeds. she soars.)
"Please to meet you," she says for the third time that day.
The Noise emits a soft growl that sounds like a whine. All bark and no bite, Rhyme thinks.
"I'm sorry," she tells the Noise. "I would have picked a bigger form for you but then you might mess up the café and Mr. H wouldn't like that."
She leans over and pets the Noise again.
"I, uh, gave you a mini skateboard. Wild Boar had a sale."
She feels soft fur against her fingertips and shudders at the feel of it. With her other hand, she clutches the black pin tighter against her chest. It's one small hurdle gone and she can feel the tightness in her throat slowly begin to ease.
"I'll get your real body back," she whispers. "Beat."
The (very) petite bear Noise growls again and opens a mouth filled with a row of blunt and pearly teeth, but Beat's not mad, not really.
It's like he can never quite be angry at Rhyme.
Author's note: If you're curious, this is sort of how I imagine Beat's Noise form (but without the shades and with black fur): www(dot)vermontteddybear(dot)com(slash)SellGroup(slash)Skateboarder-Bear(dot)aspx
Thanks to The Jabberer for helping me find the greatest teddy bear! -shot-