Chapter 9

"You just hit the buttons on the bottoms. It's easiest to hold one in each hand, that way you're not counting through them." Elijah, the poi instructor told them. Ivan was the first to hit the buttons, but after the thin plastic gave, he just stared, entranced by the shimmery lights in the balls in his hands.

"You can keep those after this, keep practicing, and if we get booted together again, we can see how much progress we've made!" Alfred laughed as he hit the buttons, seeing a multicolor strobe and grinned, glancing over to see Ivan still staring with wide eyes at the first setting.

Francis was the first to find the love pattern, all pink, while Arthur stuck with a short green strobe effect. "Slide your fingers through the hole like this, then slide the main cord through your fingers." Elijah demonstrated and everyone succeeded, except Ivan who was STILL staring blankly at the lights.

"Ivan! Wake up!" Alfred laughed as Ivan startled and dropped the poi before looking over. "What, are you epileptic or something?"

"Nyet, it's beautiful!" He spoke as he retrieved the orb and Elijah showed him again how to hold them.

"Now, spin them." Elijah made simple, easy spins with his hands. Arthur's left a green trail, while Francis' seemed to not only leave trails, but they pulsed to the movement. Alfred's left streams of color, looking like the colors were complete for only a second before blending on to the next.

Ivan's left a rainbow in it's wake, and honestly, Alfred thought it was beautiful. "This is the basis for every move. This simple little circle is the easiest move to do, but it can be the hardest to return to. Remember the way your wrists move, the way your fingers pull. Now, try and flip the poi inwards, towards your body." Elijah did so quickly, showing them. Ivan was able to complete it with little trouble.

Arthur hit himself in the face, while Francis' smacked into each other and bounced, hitting both of his arms, while Alfred started laughing and just stopped moving. "Just keep trying. Try and feel the movements, not just with your arms, but with your whole body." He watched as Ivan nodded and started spinning both poi in the same way before moving his arms to the side, the poi coming dangerously close to his chest and back and the man walked around, finding little to complain about with Ivan's stance. "Just keep playing like that. Find out how you can make them move. If I can have all of you comfortable with them by the end of the lesson, I'll send you home with a trick to practice!" He watched as they stared, frowning.

"Can you show us?" Alfred asked and Elijah smiled before picking up his own poi and started spinning them towards each other before bringing his hands together. It looked like one circle, like the poi were bouncing off of each other at the top and bottom, but the three could tell that wasn't the case.

"That's cool!" Alfred grinned before regaining his interest and started working on the poi. Ivan had watched closely enough to realize what the trick was and smiled as he spun the poi the same way and brought his hands in, making sure his right hand was a little higher than the left, and pulled off the same trick almost instantly.

"Looks like someone's practiced before!" Elijah laughed as Francis and Arthur glanced over, eyes wide at the rings of rainbows while Alfred saw the joy in Ivan's face. He looked absolutely thrilled and amazed at what he was doing.

"Looks like I'll have to give you a different trick!"

"Da... This is fun." Ivan spoke, the soft, calm tone of his voice betrayed at the euphoria showing on his face.

"Try this one." Elijah said as he spun his own poi, spinning both on either side of his body in a large figure eight, one seeming to chase the other. Ivan watched before nodding and trying it himself. They caught and spun around each other, but as he softly held the cords to let them unwind he smiled brightly.

"I will have to practice more."

"Take your time." Elijah chuckled, watching as the others tried the moves, failing horribly as a poi came up, smacking Alfred in the back of the head. Ivan glanced over at the dull 'ouch' and smiled as he stood back to try again.

It took a little work, but he was able to do it after a few minutes, and just stood there, his eyes wide as he watched the spinning lights circle around himself. Somehow it reminded him of the childish wonder and joy he hadn't had in centuries and he ended out spending the rest of the lesson off to the side, just spinning the poi and looking at the way the light shone from the orbs.

Arthur and Francis were happy with spinning them at their sides, trying to move them around themselves, but laughed as they saw each other get hit.

Alfred felt his competitive side spur up and did his best to try and match up to Ivan, but by the end of the lesson he wasn't even close to near what the other was doing without even thinking about it.

"When you get back, I understand you have plenty of space, go ahead and practice. Put on some music and just dance with them. It's the best way to understand how to use them, just relax, play and get experimental. Also remember, they won't really hurt you. It's a good thing to start each practice by just hitting yourself with them a few times, it'll help you overcome the worry of failure, alright?" Elijah grinned as the group nodded and waved as they headed out to the Sea-Doo.

As it was now dark, Francis felt very uncomfortable about driving the thing, and Alfred frowned, knowing a ferry would be going over in a few minutes. "Do you want to take the ferry across?"

"Oui, mon chere, I think it would be safest. We can come get them in the morning, right?"

"No, but I can get them both across. It's fine. Ivan, you want to go with them? It'll be a smoother ride than to come with me." Alfred smiled as he started sitting and was surprised to feel the weight behind him as Ivan climbed on.

"I'm tearing the bandage off quickly. I'd rather just go." He huffed and Alfred nodded as he looked up at the other two.

"The ferry is at the other end of the dock. If there's any problems, just text, alright?" He smiled as Francis and Arthur nodded and turned, walking away. "You sure you'd rather do it this way?"

"Da..." Ivan spoke, but he didn't sound very sure. Alfred started the engine, tying the unused one to his before slowly taking off.

The fifteen minutes it usually took was nearly doubled due to the extra weight, but Ivan didn't complain, or crush him. Alfred pulled into the garage and Ivan jumped off the back before realizing something. "You didn't tie me on."

"Nope. Needed the strapping to get the other one here." Alfred spoke as he stood and climbed from the machine, popping the seat to pull out the four sets of poi, each in their own little bag with their names on them. "With your life jacket on, I could have gotten to you in seconds. Don't worry." Alfred smiled as Ivan undid the clasps and hung the jacket on the wall hook. Alfred sighed as he took one out and lit it up, spinning a simple circle before the pet door on the back opened and a small white bundle of fur made his way over. "He get it?"

"Yes!" Kumajirou sat, his head looking nearly right ahead at Alfred's, who was staying close to the ground to keep Mattie from seeing him.

"What did you tell him?" Alfred asked and Kumajirou brought his paw to his mouth to try and remember before standing and romping around in a circle.

"I said I snuck into your house and stole your credit card! And I put it back after I ordered!" Kumajirou grinned and Alfred let out a soft laugh at the bear's playfulness.

"Did he buy it?"

"No, you bought it!" Kumajirou romped around again, making Alfred fight to keep from laughing.

"Did he believe you?"

"Yes! He almost didn't cook it, til I said it wouldn't be as fresh anymore by the time you came back. But then he did, and it was yummy." Kumajirou smiled and Alfred reached out, scratching the bear behind the ear.

Hearing he'd made his brother cry wasn't something that settled well with Alfred, and when Kumajirou seemed to think getting a fish for him would help, who was Alfred to disagree? So he bought him a fish.

A $150 box of ahi steaks. He thought it would at least make things a little easier on him. He patted Kumajirou on the head and reached into his bag, pulling out another pouch of the poi, this one with his name on it. "Now tell him if he wants to learn to use these, he can come over. Also tell him I need to talk to him, alright?" Alfred asked and Kumajirou held the pouch before putting the drawstring in his mouth and turned heading right back in the pet door.

Alfred went to the front yard with a smile, pushing the buttons on the bottom of the poi. He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and stuck in his headphones, closing his eyes and started trying to dance with them, like Elijah had said. It didn't take long for him to get lost in the music, dancing almost like he would at a club, but trying to make sure his hands didn't stop spinning, his wrists moving to the beat and before long he was spinning them around fairly well, trying to get them to move with the rest of him as he went. It was a bit before he felt his arms burn and slid them down, panting for breath, a little surprised at the amount of a workout he got just from some light little orbs. He turned off the music and slid out his earbuds to find Mattie beside him, spinning as well as Elijah had done. He'd toss one up into the air and catch it, catching the other in the free hand. He spun in a circle, jumping up into a flip, the poi making a full rotation beneath him before he landed and spun, creating a tube of light around himself. Alfred just stared for a moment in shock before Mattie noticed he'd stopped moving.

The Canadian almost died. Alfred staring with his mouth gaped open, eyes wide and one poi had slipped from his finger and laid on the grass. "I'm guessing you forgot we took classes ten years ago?" Mattie spoke with a grin and Alfred slowly nodded.

"Looks like you kept up on it." He mumbled as Mattie let out a laugh.

"Yeah, it gets me into the best parties." He grinned as Alfred shook his head. "I'm surprised you got me podpoi. Expensive."

"But they're USB rechargeable. I hate having to buy batteries all the time. It's frustrating." Alfred huffed and Mattie hugged him, smiling.

"Thanks, Al. It means a lot to know you thought of me." He smiled as Alfred looked down, his smile fading off.

"I'm going to call another doctor. I don't want you to be my doctor for this." Alfred spoke and Mattie stared, a little worried, and a little curious.

"Why?"

"I don't want you to stay away. I don't want you to be the one who deals with the crap I started. I already feel like shit for the others. Especially Ivan, he's been kicking my ass back into shape. He's kind of the reason I'm doing as well as I am right now. Francis and Arthur, they're family, you're family, but he doesn't have that tie to me. I don't want to feel... like I owe too many people too much. A doctor, I give them money, they do the work, but you're not just some doctor, and I don't want you to feel like you should be." Alfred spoke, watching Mattie's face, praying he wouldn't find dejection.

He let out a sigh when a bright smile lit the other's face. "Thanks. I hate to have to say it, but it was really getting to me.

"I heard." Alfred hugged Mattie and sighed, feeling at least a little better now. "I'll see if I can find a doctor who makes house calls tomorrow morning." Alfred grinned before Mattie's smile faded off a little, and for a second it looked like he might cry.

"I have something else I need to apologize for." Mattie frowned, his hands clasping before him in a shy and rather worried way. "Kumajirou stole your credit card and bought me some... rather expensive fish. I'll pay you back for it, but I'm sorry." He glanced up, seeing Alfred staring, one eyebrow arched, a hand on his hip.

"Don't you dare pay me back for those. He fought that fish from me fair and square. Since it was destroyed, what else were we going to do?" Alfred asked as Mattie realized and reached out smacking his arm as he let out a light laugh.

"Really?! You made up the story about him finding your credit card, didn't you?"

"And what if I did?" Alfred grinned as Mattie shook his head.

"I almost had a heart attack! It was delivered to Kumajirou and everything! That was terrible!" Mattie laughed and Alfred watched with a soft sigh.

"Totally worth it to see you laugh like this." He smiled as Francis and Arthur walked up with smiles.

"Where were you two?" Mattie asked with a smile and Francis ran over, giving a hug to the Canadian.

"We came over on the ferry! Such beautiful scenery from the boat, so we rode back and forth again!" Francis smiled as Arthur rolled his eyes.

"So pretty we needed to see it three times, immediately." He grumbled. "Looks like you two have been having fun with each other. Playing with poi?"

"Mattie's a fucking genius at it! It's a bit... disheartening, actually. He's amazing." Alfred turned to Mattie, who blushed, but smiled.

"Ten years of study will do that to you, you know." Mattie smiled.

"And I'm going to call another doctor in the morning. I don't want Mattie bogged down with my medical crap. He should be able to panic right along with the rest of you." Alfred spoke and Francis laughed this time.

"Does this mean maybe I can sneak over to mon petit Mathieu's house if things become too... hostile?"

"You know you're always welcome, Papa." Mattie hugged the other and grinned. "You too, Dad." Mattie added, reaching out with his other hand and dragged Arthur in.

Alfred smiled at the scene, a warm happy feeling around them, and somehow he didn't feel like a part of it. He never did. He turned to head to the house, unable to force the corners of his mouth up anymore and tried to keep tears from rushing down his face.

He was still alone. He looked up and stilled, wide eyed on Ivan, who watched him carefully. There was no way he hadn't seen the look on his face. He stood as Alfred started coming closer and opened the door to let him in. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He sighed as he went upstairs. "I'm heading to bed. Night, Ivan."

"Spokoynoy nochi, Alfred." He heard as he closed the door. He jumped in the shower quickly before going to bed, falling asleep quickly.

"Is Alfred alright? He took off in quite a rush." Arthur asked as the group headed inside.

"He's going to be fine. He's just having some problems right now." Ivan spoke softly. "He'll be alright again soon, I hope." Ivan spoke, letting a little of his worry show.