Monochrome Chât

Chapter 9

Arlene Goldsmith had got to the phase where she didn't even need to look at Seventh Heaven's menu to know what food was on offer and for how much. The pub had been around longer than she had, and was a very frequent marker of events in Arlene's life. Seventh Heaven was where she and Liam had their first and second date; it was also their rendezvous point for any journeys out of town; later on, the pub became Liam's sanctuary when they rowed and he needed to get some air.

Of course, as the new manager taking over for her father, Tifa Lockhart courted variety and rearranged the menus and interior as often as she could, but like a family's Christmas tree, even with new decorations its fundamental base never changed. The pub's special was always fish and chips; its booths were always to the left and at the back. The lights were always orange, and it was always Liam who sat next to her.

They arrived at Seventh Heaven with the intention of meeting Aeleus Mason for lunch. Aeleus was happy to escape his quiet office for a bit, although he had given a clear ultimatum that the meeting was not an opportunity for Liam to plug his campaign. While Aeleus was good friends with them and the Allsands – no one thought it wise to mess with a lawyer, after all – he was steadfastly neutral in Silverkey's affairs, and any mention of either campaign made Aeleus stare at them the way a pro wrestler might look at a boisterous kitten.

"Horrific weather today," said Aeleus. He shook his umbrella and squeezed into their chosen booth, easily taking up two seats.

"It's supposed to brighten up this afternoon." Liam beckoned for Tifa to take Aeleus' coat and they ordered their food. Arlene wasn't overly hungry so she settled for just skinny chips. Aeleus, on the other hand, went for a large fish finger sandwich; now that he was promised with food, his mood became less gruff and more sociable.

"I recall it was Naminé's birthday last week; I realise it's belated but I do have a card for her." Aeleus snapped open his briefcase and took out a blue envelope.

"You're very kind to remember," said Arlene. She could feel a few pound coins in with the card.

Aeleus waved a hand dismissively. "It's the same day as my brother's," he explained. "You know, it never ceases to amaze me how you two could produce someone so meek. How is she doing at school these days?"

Arlene fidgeted under the table, feet playing in her shoes. Liam sensed her discomfort and chose to answer, "She's actually doing a lot better now. Ienzo Friday goes out of his way to help her, and she's also quite keen on Lea Murphy."

"The thuggish cleaner?" said Aeleus, sitting back a bit. Arlene was secretly glad Aeleus had a similar initial reaction to her. "I would have thought he'd terrify her; he looks like the stuff of nightmares."

"Yes, that's what I thought too," Arlene said, around a thin smile. She didn't elaborate, but she was certain someone as smart as Aeleus was questioning the logic of it as well. After all, what could a tattooed ex-con possibly have done, that her own parents hadn't tried or tested for the last two years?

"He seems nice enough, even if he has no sense of public decorum," Aeleus remarked. "The Allsands have already integrated him in their family though. That stroppy one – Isaiah – is actually going out with him. God knows how that works with his alternate personality in the middle of it." Aeleus looked round, presumably for his fish finger sandwich. "Maybe it's a stunt for votes; who knows. I wouldn't put it past Xemnas to play dirty, though."

Arlene pursed her lips. They had promised not to harp on about the campaign, so Liam adhered to this by steering the conversation to Aeleus' soft-spoken wife. Arlene didn't give a toss about Mrs Mason's fever and how she kept losing her antibiotics; her thoughts remained – as usual – on the campaign. Xemnas was ploughing on ahead with Lea as one of his apparent supporters. It was a clever move, to have someone as unpleasant as Isaiah LeFévre won over by him, therefore proving to the village how likeable Lea Murphy was and how well the Allsands could welcome someone new.

Arlene was quite glad when her skinny chips turned up to distract her, for she had half a mind to say just what kind of person Lea Murphy really was. She was one up on the Allsands, really; they just didn't know it. Arlene had seen Lea's history before he became their tenant; she knew things about that tattooed freak that would make even Aqua Allsands' pretty hair curl.

Liam maintained a light-hearted conversation for the duration of their lunch. He talked about the crops, the football, and then he ended with an open ended suggestion that when Mrs Mason was feeling better, the four of them could go for dinner in Burntcrest. Arlene was sincerely hoping this idea would fall through.

When Aeleus left, their booth felt considerably empty. Liam slid his arm over Arlene's shoulders and together, they watched the rain dribble down the windowpane. She was deep in thought and Liam seemed to be conscious of this. He ordered a pot of tea for them and let her find a happy medium between her desperation and pragmatism.

She crossed her arms, focusing on the empty space in front of her. Liam's hand moved up and down her arm. He was attempting to think up of his next move too, but perhaps not nearly as seriously as her. Perhaps it was just her pregnancy hormones going into overdrive, but she couldn't stop thinking about what Aeleus had said about Isaiah LeFévre and his split persona. Surely if there was a weakness of Xemnas' to exploit, that was it.

Arlene felt her walls come down, where she had confined herself to at least be a decent competitor. She bit on her lip as a plan came to mind. Xemnas knew how to play dirty, but then again, so did she.

She turned a little. Liam gave her an idle kiss, since the opportunity was there. "Where did Eraqus live before he moved to Silverkey?"

Liam looked up, thinking. "Uh…Wiltshire, I think. Why?"

-x-

In his prime, Yen Sid was a respected psychiatrist who worked closely with Wiltshire Police to assist victims and survivors of abuse. In all his years, people never stopped surprising him with new and creative ways to destroy fellow human beings. One year before he took to quiet retirement, he embarked on one last case in the form of treating Terra Allsands and Isaiah Lefèvre.

That was thirteen years ago, but Yen Sid never forgot those boys' faces or the story they told. They were both French orphans, and had been handpicked and abducted by a trafficking organisation for their appearance. Isaiah had been nine years old, of which three had been spent being routinely abused and sold on. Terra had been eighteen and soon proved irreparable. Thirteen years of Terra's life had been dedicated to cruel and unspeakable abuse; it had rendered him into an unquestioning, lifeless slave who thought he was little more than an animal. Yen Sid remembered how in their first counselling session, Terra kept thinking something was owed of him. He asked to be told what to do; that Yen Sid was there to help him was an idea too radical, too improbable, to even think.

Yen Sid's colleague, the late Eraqus Liang, worked tirelessly to save them both. Yen Sid supposed that there was a degree of guilt from both the psychiatric team and the police, for failing to break the organisation earlier. Eraqus' practice had changed in recognition of his guilt, and he devised a way that would make his patients not live with the trauma, but forget it completely.

Isaiah excelled and traded the trauma for a secondary personality. His 'alter' came in the form of a female named Saix, a brand new persona who only had the deepest muscle memory from Isa as her base. She could walk and talk, but there was nothing else to her. Eraqus told Saix some necessary lies to maintain that wall between her and Isaiah. Saix believed she suffered from amnesia and deep sleep; Isaiah, in the meantime, with Saix to balance him out, grew up as an adjusted, and somewhat pompous, individual.

Poor Terra Allsands, however, was too far gone for there to ever be a successful wall between him and his alter. He didn't have the strength to support it. Instead, Terra and his secondary personality, Xemnas, were aware of one another right from the beginning. When Aqua and Terra disregarded Xemnas as just a phase, an odd quirk they could reverse through Eraqus, they married and soon expected twins. Xemnas deemed this too much of an abuse of 'their' body and without warning, he took complete control. Eraqus failed Terra and moreover, his daughter was now married to a complete stranger.

Yen Sid didn't hear from Eraqus Liang after that. All he knew was that the tired psychiatrist called in a favour with the police, and then the whole family moved out of Wiltshire and cut any ties with it. As for Yen Sid, the case of Terra and Isaiah made retirement all the more tempting, and he finished his career within the year. He took up solitary hobbies, like making bug boxes and completing crosswords, and he closed the door on that chapter of his life. He ended his psychiatric career altogether, if it meant he didn't have to think about those poor boys again.

Consequently, it was quite a shock when one afternoon, he hobbled to his phone and answered to a high, nasal voice of a woman called Arlene Goldsmith, asking for his help.

-x-

Aqua never thought she'd live to see the day when Isa actually treated her like she was his mother. He was due to be switched into Saix, but he arrived a few hours early and asked if Lea could stay over for dinner. Lea was already there, hanging around in their front garden and pretending to be very interested in their bird box. Considering Isa was twenty-two and Aqua was only ten years older than him, she didn't know whether to find the situation endearing or downright embarrassing.

"Of course he can stay; you don't need to ask," she said. "Come on in, Lea."

And perhaps to subtly poke fun at Isa, Lea grinned at Aqua as he wiped his worn boots on the doormat. "Thanks for having me, Mrs Allsands."

She smacked his shoulder and closed the door behind him. "I've only just turned the oven on but I'm doing a stew for dinner. I hope that's okay."

"It sounds great," said Lea. "How are you?"

"I'm well," she said, realising she meant it. She could see Roxas and Ven at the foot of the stairs, waiting hopefully for Lea's attention to turn to them. Isa, however, was having none of it and was hissing for them to go away. "It's always busy in this house with the twins and Pluto," Aqua elaborated. "Careful, he's right behind you."

Lea turned to see the spaniel sniffing his shoes, and he picked him up, scratching his ears. "Ah, look at that face. You're so cute I could die. Who's a good boy?"

"Lea, don't wave Pluto around the kitchen." Isa pulled his arm and directed him to the living room. "Just sit there a minute; I think Roxas wants to show you some level in his computer game anyway."

Aqua had the perfect view from where she stood at the cooker, able to see past Isa, across the corridor and into the living room. Lea still hadn't put down Pluto, and in fact, was about to get very comfortable on the sofa with him until Roxas scolded him for it. "No pets on the furniture!"

Isa rolled his eyes and leaned against the island, picking up an orange from the fruit bowl and debating whether or not to eat it. "Apparently, Roxas and Ven harass Lea at school as well, when he's trying to do his job."

"He's a nice person; they can sense that." Aqua tied on her apron and smiled at Isa. He was fidgeting with his shirt and kept glancing back at the living room, at the sound of Lea's voice, and for a moment, Aqua could see shades of Terra in him, like someone who simply couldn't believe his luck.

"And you?" asked Isa. "Are you all right with him? I mean, I know you don't like us together."

"I have my reservations," she replied mildly. "I won't be rolling up my sleeves and fighting you over it, though." She began to chop up the potatoes. "I made my mistakes with Terra, but I'd rather have done that than not done anything at all. It's tough but worth it. And Isa," she added. "The wall between you both is nothing like the wall between Xemnas and Terra. It's sturdy."

"Speaking of which, where is Xemnas?"

"Still at work," Aqua replied. "He won't be back until later tonight."

Isa managed a thin smile; it was an expression Aqua couldn't quite read. She had no time to dwell on Isa's thoughts, however, when Ven bounded into the kitchen and waved his handheld console at her. "Mum, I'm stuck. Roxas is two levels ahead of me. He said we'd play through it together but he won't wait. Do this bit; I can't do it."

He tried to thrust the small console into Aqua's hands, but she put an oven glove between them. "Two minutes, Ven. Just let me get the potatoes done and I'll be right with you."

She worked at double time, clearing the peel and bundling all the ingredients into a cooking dish older than she was. Thankfully, Isa opted to help out, although this seemed to be stemmed from another attempt to ask for her honesty. "What kind of reservations?" he prompted. "If you think Saix and I are balanced out okay, then where's your concern really?"

Aqua pressed her lips together. She wished she hadn't been so efficient with the cooking, for now she had nothing to hide behind. "I…I don't know, Isa, I just suspect Silverkey might not be suited to Lea."

"Says who?" Isa shot back.

She sighed. "Says Lea himself. For God's sake, don't say anything. I only know because I heard him at his welcome party weeks ago complaining about it to Saix. You never know, he might have a different opinion now; the village might have grown on him."

"But?" Isa said. "You clearly think otherwise."

Aqua raked her hair. She hated arguing with Isa; it was like trying to wriggle a sock out of a Rottweiler's mouth. "Well, look at him, Isa. He's clearly a city boy. I don't know what happened to him in London, but switching to village life isn't the right solution, and you know it too. He'll leave Silverkey in due time, Isa, and I'm afraid you can't follow him out, not while I look after your trigger."

Isa bit his lip and rested his elbows on the counter, back hunched like he was expecting something to land on him. "…I wish we could all just leave," he muttered. "Couldn't you just pack your bags and take the boys to Paris? You could leave Xemnas here – he's the only one who wants to stay in Silverkey – and live the life you've always wanted to."

She shook her head. After ten years of solid practice, she was an expert at culling that temptation. "I can't leave him behind. It breaks my heart just to think Terra might resurface and he'll find all of us gone. I can't," she repeated. "I promised I'd never leave him."

"Oh really? Just like Terra promised you?" Isa returned. He straightened up and took a deep breath through his nose. "Sorry. That was rude of me."

"It was." Aqua twisted the inside fabric of her apron's pockets. "Terra faced a lot of internal struggles every day. We can't even begin to comprehend what that must have been like. Don't disregard him like that; don't think even for a minute that he isn't capable of fighting back."

Isa managed a tight smile. He was probably thinking the same prickly thoughts as her – it had been ten years since they had seen Terra, and it was kinder now to not set expectations for him – but Isa didn't dare voice them. Aqua patted his upper arm. "Come on, Lea is probably wondering where we are."

She took a deep breath and put her concerns aside on hold, remembering she had to be a video game whiz now. "All right, Ven, pass it here. Let's smash this level."

Ven was slumped on the sofa, moaning and groaning into a cushion. "It's too late, Mum. That was more than two minutes! Roxas cheated and he's got Mr Murphy doing the levels for him now."

"I cheated?" Roxas exclaimed. He nearly fell off the armrest in annoyance. "You went and asked Mum first…!"

"Yeah, and for the record, the name's Lea. Got it memorised?" Lea's eyes were glued to the screen as he took Roxas through the game. Pluto was sprawled out across Lea's feet, apparently doing his part to keep Lea in their home.

Aqua sat on the sofa and patted Ven's legs away. "Come on, little man. Lea can't be as good as me." She took his console and restarted the level. Aqua wasn't one to blow her own trumpet, yet raising her boys had given her a broad set of skills she could be proud of. She was first and foremost a paper artist and housewife, but all those minutes between her job and chores had earned her a reputable talent in playing video games, catching balls, tuning a violin, preparing and using a water pistol, and even memorising movie lines and voices so that she could participate in the boys' dramas.

Ven had long given up trying to function like a normal person, and was burying his face in Aqua's stomach while muttering, "It's impossible," over and over again. Aqua thought she'd have more luck at the game if Ven wasn't distracting her with this, but she succeeded on her second try. She was getting dangerously comfortable, and she kept reminding herself there were potatoes in the oven and she was supposed to be hosting a good dinner for Lea.

Isa didn't carry the weight of their earlier conversation in with him. Instead, he masked his hurt with haughtiness and leaned on the back of Lea's armchair, trying to give tips like a meddling aunt.

"You do it then, if you're so clever," Lea said, but Roxas grabbed his console.

"Are you kidding? Isa's rubbish. I feel safer giving it to Pluto."

Just then, the five of them were silenced by the sound of the business phone ringing. Aqua waved away Isa's offer to answer it. She paused Ven's game. "Uh…Lea, sorry to be a pain. Could you take over Ven's game and try and get him up to speed?"

Lea took the console. "No problem."

Aqua ran upstairs, her mind addled with incongruent thoughts of potatoes and extra lives. She seized the phone and scrabbled for her professional voice. "Good evening, Monochrome Chât Paper Crafts, this is Aqua speaking."

There was such a significant pause on the other end of the line, Aqua glanced back at the phone's display to see if she was still connected.

"Hi Aqua," said a voice finally. "…It's Liam Gardiner."

-x-

Like many people before her, Aqua Allsands voiced her wariness of Liam through silence alone. It was a short moment that spoke volumes, that made perfectly clear this was the kind of phone call that should not be happening one week before the Mayoral vote.

"I uh…I think this must be some sort of political breach," said Aqua. "I thought our families – the adults at least – had an unspoken agreement not to um, fraternise."

"Yes, you're quite right. Any pleasantries could have ulterior motives." Liam sat back in his chair, chewing on a clump of his hair. "I'm not ringing as a rival, though, more in my capacity as a stressed out parent."

"Okay," said Aqua, her voice lightening with empathy. "How can I help you, Mr Gardiner?"

Liam rested the house phone in the crook of his neck and leaned forwards to use the scroll button on the family computer. "I wanted to call you in the hopes of arranging a commission. Not one of your er…Super Deluxe Personalised Box Frame commissions, mind you," he added, reeling at the price of that option. "Are you free to discuss?"

"Y-yes," Aqua said quickly. There was some shuffling around and then she cleared her throat. "Sorry I'm so unprepared. My commissions usually go out of Silverkey, you see. Um…I have various forms depending on which product you're interested in; I can drop them off at your place tomorrow. If you have any queries, I can help you."

"I was looking at the standard size box frame." Liam continued to browse Monochrome Chât's website. "I have to say, your work is absolutely fantastic."

"That's very kind of you to say," Aqua murmured. "The standard box frame is ninety-nine pounds. The form enables you to submit your themes and ideas, and I'll have an A4 design in a week. From there, the estimated time to complete it would be one month."

"Perfect," Liam said. "I look forward to receiving the form tomorrow."

"C-can I help with anything else?"

"That's it." Although Liam spoke with finality, neither of them hung up. Somehow, Aqua knew. She seemed to understand that someone like Liam Gardiner would not ever do anything without some sort of hidden motive, and she was right. What Aqua was perhaps way off par with, however, was that Liam's true intentions were not malicious at all. He had stopped wearing his Mayoral hat for the day and was slowly but surely opening his eyes to what really was doing good to his daughter.

"Actually, while you're here," said Liam, "I wanted to say something."

"Oh?" Aqua said, politely letting his terrible attempt at spontaneity slide past her.

"Your boys." Liam ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his temple. He had rehearsed this speech and yet, the minute he needed to say it, all his talents for loquaciousness just collapsed, like loose change tumbling down a drain. "They're good kids," he recovered. "I'm sure you already know that, but I felt it necessary to express my sentiments. Your sons have been kind to my daughter. Naminé's not an easy child, and she's always had to battle some classmates for being too quiet, too different; still, her arriving at school in the mornings and getting to spend even fifteen minutes with Roxas and Ventus, o-or having lunch with them – it changes her. I think it makes her day."

He closed the browser window of his computer, making sure to delete the internet history lest Arlene discovered he too, was a fan of Aqua's work. "Maybe the campaigns have alerted her existence to the right people." He raked his hair again, only just managing to keep a sigh under control. "I don't know, this might be the one good thing to come out of the election."

He stretched out in his chair and was rewarded with a moment of silence. Then, Aqua spoke softly, with the start of a laugh. "I'm starting to wonder if this really is Liam Gardiner."

"Hey, this all comes under the umbrella of stressed out parent, remember?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I can take complete credit for Roxas and Ven, but you and Naminé are very welcome. As long as there's no hostility between their parents once the vote comes through, I'm sure their friendship will carry on."

Liam was quite glad Aqua couldn't see him roll his eyes at the mere thought of Xemnas. That guy had seriously set the bar high for being an egotistical twat.

"Is the box frame for Naminé?" Aqua asked, perhaps noting Liam's silence this time.

"Naturally. I'm sorry to say that Arlene would most likely consider your work as witchcraft."

Aqua laughed again, and now it was Liam's turn to wonder if it was really her on the other line. She always looked so forlorn when Liam saw her, like she had lost something and was struggling to remember what. She had an odd, hesitant smile, and the way she held Xemnas' arm at gatherings and promotions was nothing to do with affection and everything to do with her just filling up the empty space.

"Anyway, I shall fill in the form for the box frame tomorrow. Tell you what, to save you a journey, why not give it to whichever one of your twins is most reliable, and he can pass it to Naminé to take home."

"That sounds great; I'll do that." Aqua muttered something to herself and then swore under her breath. "Sorry, I have to go. I think my potatoes are burning."

"I won't keep you," Liam finished. "Have a good night, Mrs Allsands."

"Goodnight, Mr Gardiner."

They hung up and Liam let out a long exhale. Carefully, he shrugged off any guilt he might have from a phone call like that (he wasn't sure why he felt guilty – it wasn't as though he had committed a crime) and went downstairs to the kitchen. Arlene was cutting apples for their dessert, so Liam reached in the fridge to pour himself some water and said, "You smell good."

"Ha ha," said Arlene, rifling through their spice rack for cinnamon. "Very smooth." She washed her hands free of apple peel and kissed Liam's cheek. "Who were you on the phone to?"

"Aeleus," Liam replied.

"Really," said Arlene. She shooed him out of the way to check on the vegetables. "By the way, I'm going to Cornwall tomorrow."

"Get out of here." Liam hugged her from behind, bending down to press his lips to her neck. "You wouldn't go to Cornwall, not with all those tourists."

"I'm as likely to be in Cornwall as you are to have rung Aeleus when he's liable to be eating his dinner right this minute. No one in their right mind would try that." She turned round, back to the cooker and her arms sliding to wrap round his shoulders. "So who were you really on the phone to?"

"Aqua." Liam didn't bother sugarcoating it. "Where are you really off to tomorrow?"

"Wiltshire." Arlene ducked out of his arms and decided to take her frustrations out on an innocent cucumber instead, hacking it into cubes for the salad. "Oh my God, Liam, what are you up to."

"What am I up to?" he snapped. "I was thanking her for having kids who don't bully our daughter. What about you? If you think going to Wiltshire will get you some last minute dirt on the Allsands, please…just give it up. The vote's in one week and I can't have you stomping around for information and probably destroying a world heritage in the process; I need you here. Come on, baby, we've done enough for the campaign now. All we can do is publish the fliers and let the town decide."

He took her shoulders, trying to massage the tenseness out of them. He could hear Arlene taking deeper breaths than normal, so it was not insensible of him to assume his continued affections would make him see the same end as that cucumber. He let go of her.

"No," said Arlene. "No, I'm not 'giving it up'. You've done your bit, but I'm not finished. We have to be absolutely certain we're going to win the election. The bloody Allsands can keep their criminal friend Murphy; we'll find our advantage elsewhere. I'm going to Wiltshire tomorrow," she said decisively.

"I don't know what you're plotting, but keep Lea Murphy out of it." Liam watched as the vegetable pot began to steam in tandem with her temper. "He's done a lot for Naminé too."

Arlene laughed, which was never really the most pleasant of sounds. Her envy of Lea's success with getting through to Naminé showed in an elaborately cruel form; she sneered at the mention of his name, scoffed at him. It didn't matter if Lea had meant it or not – he had humiliated and highlighted Arlene as a failed mother, and that was not something she'd so easily forgive just because Liam asked her to.

"If that tattooed convict wants to side with the Allsands, that's fine with me. I can use him. He can finally have a purpose in Silverkey." She seized a knife and Liam seriously considered running out of the kitchen. Arlene rammed the knife through the heart of a cauliflower. "But over my dead body will that purpose have anything to do with saving my daughter."

She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Is the table set? I asked Naminé."

"I'll check." Liam crossed the hall to their dining room. Naminé was such a tiny figure, framed by the high ceiling and panelled walls. She was waiting in her seat for dinner, her feet were wrapped round the wooden frame of her chair and fingers knotted together. The table was set out before her, perfectly laid out save for one enormous flaw: she had set it up for four people.

Liam hesitated, but he knew he had to act. This wasn't the sort of thing Arlene could handle right now, when the campaign had brought her enough stress to turn to something as extreme as a journey to Wiltshire. He walked over to Naminé, his hand on her head. "Baby, you said you understood. Remember?" He wet his lips and knelt down so he could look up at her. She was guilty, embarrassed. Liam wished he didn't have to keep having this conversation; it broke him to see her like this.

"She wants to try the apple crumble," Naminé muttered to her placemat.

Liam stroked her hair, and he mustered all the strength he could find not to let his disappointment show. "And how can she try it? Kairi's not real, baby."