I don't know why, but I have the odd inclination to introduce myself. (MARCO!) But I've already done that several times, so how about I skip the ego boosting business and head straight into the introduction of the cast in the long lost episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that never was.
It's one of those crappy sequels that doesn't have the original cast and doesn't have anything to do with the original story. Kind of like Beethoven 3. My Girl 2. I could go on... But I'm not going to. Because I can't actually think of anymore. There is more though, I can assure you. There's enough rubbish T.V for all.
So. First of all there's the house of Braus. (No, not "house of mouse" like that thing on Disney Channel) It was quite homely looking; various shades of brown with a sheltered front porch, a garage attached to the side with the family car outside of it (i.e. the soccer-mom kind minivan).
There was every flower you could possibly imagine in a small garden which was thankfully separated from the path that I had lost a giddy Jean on when he jumped over the gate, into the land of the unknown (oh the sadness. This is my sob story; the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my life, I swear).
I went up the path, following Jean into the house. With a discreet nod, I respectfully acknowledged a small, red capped gnome that lived beside a kitsch, metal bench on the porch, and walked through the hastily opened door. If the garden was anything to go by, I should have expected the mess inside the house.
Well, it wasn't messy, exactly, but it was cluttered. There were random pieces of furniture running amok, rubbish was piling up in plastic bins, clothes were overwhelming the straining laundry basket beside a fading fabric couch and there were too many books on the bookshelf that seemed to have various... stuff on it (was that a dinner plate? And a slinky?). Okay, so it was pretty messy. But as long as there wasn't dog poop or cockroaches, then it was all good.
There was a call of my name from what must've been the kitchen, so I wandered in the direction of Jean's voice. He has a nice voice. He does. The kitchen was pretty similar to the living room, but thankfully the dishes were clean, though they filled the dish dryer to the point where I feared for the dishes futures. On the kitchen table, there was a whole heap of paper which a woman who just had to be Sasha's mother was tipping onto the oak coloured wood.
Mrs Braus; a heavily breasted woman with a patterned shawl draping over her shoulders and a sleek, auburn pixie cut. A woman with an apparent theme song, one that Jean must've sang every time he came over. I want one. I don't even care if it's something from the Rocky Horror Show. Jean was chatting to her, sitting in a chair opposite her with his legs crossed over. Or rather, she was babbling at him and he was nodding politely, until she turned round and saw me.
"Hey there! You must be Marco." She regarded me with a smile and told me to sit, so I took a seat beside Jean. Maybe it's mean to say, but I was fully expecting for her to drop the "nice little lady" façade and turn into your typical ugly witch with a pointy nose. (She never did, god was I disappointed. What a wild ride that would've been!)
As expected of someone from the countryside, it took her a while to move past the small talk where I told her about my adventure with the thugs and a certain nose-hair-trimming doctor/rich thug and the evil penguin suit boy that will never have my help again. Ever.
Maybe it was worth telling them though, because Jean got to hear about what he missed out on and... Well. He certainly had a very dopey smile for someone who was listening to a new friend's story. (That's right, I'm promoting myself at this point from stranger to friend. I think I deserved something for all then things I'd put up with from this boy. Boners, heart wrenching stories, sass and so on.)
Not that I didn't appreciate his lovely look. What I was feeling was more along the lines of "if you can feel what I'm feeling then why can't you guess which of those feelings are directed at you" or maybe he did bloody know and was using it against me!
He just had to be torturing me intentionally with cute, crooked smiles and hands that threaded through the blonde part of his hair as though he were teasing me because I couldn't touch it with my own fingers. As though he was fully aware of the flutter in my stomach, the relaxing feeling settling into my shoulders and AGH. The need to kiss him! Hug him! Nuzzle into his hair! Not fair. At all.
I subtly managed to tell Mrs Braus that Jean didn't know about the soul mate connection and that he thought of it as a psychic connection -although it could've just as well have been something simply psychic- and she started scrambling through her notes, which were apparently various observations of paired soul mates in Trost. To know that I am not unique... Let my cry on your shoulder, dear friend. Comfort me.
I had my own questions about the whole thing (stuff I didn't want Jean to know... At least, not yet, anyway) so I asked for some spare paper to write on and was given a well chewed on pen. There was a long pause where I simply stared at the mutilated pen, causing Mrs. Braus to look at me funny, but I just got down to listing my questions as they came to mind.
She took a while in replying, and Jean seemed pretty content in playing with a cat that trudged under the table, so I crawled under the table with him, sitting my butt onto the grey tiles. (THAT BETTER NOT BE AN EARWIG I JUST SAW)
He looked down in his lap at the Siamese cat, so I inched closer and petted its head. Internally wishing he would give me the same adoring look he gave to that cat... He must've not seen me though, because he jumped when our hands brushed over the kitty's head and he hit his own noggin on the table above us and cursed loudly.
Mrs Braus didn't seem to mind his profanities. "Marco! I've got your answers here for you!" Chuckling, I left Jean curled up on the floor, clutching onto his head for dear life and hiding his face with his arms. ("That's right... Leave me on the floor to crumple up and die, Marco. I guess I over-estimated your compassion. I'm not in any pain, no, not at all... Fuckin' heartless bastard.")
But although I was laughing, my fingertips were searing where Jean has touched them. I held my hand to my chest as the heart inside it decided to do somersaults and my breath came out in short, broken pants.
The woman gave me this look, (such sass) and I swear she knew (why do all the mothers in Trost torment me about my feelings? Ones that I haven't even admitted out loud to anyone yet? Damn I must be really obvious, um), and right there and then I really hated her all knowing grin as she handed me the sheet. I tried to scowl at her. I've been told I go cross-eyed when I'm mad though, so I guess my attempt at intimidation didn't really work on her.
Her writing was fairly neat next to mine:
Why can Jean feel what I feel? Why doesn't it work for me?
I'm pretty sure it makes Jean think about what he's actually feeling, since he has to separate his feelings from yours, and it forces him to see the truth of what you feel. If he wants to understand it, he has to ask you, and that brings him out his shell,-he's a shy boy, mind you! It'll show that he cares. For you... Well, I'd say it makes you more self aware when your emotions cause him to act differently. You have to love yourself so that Jean can too! ;) (I TOLD YOU SHE KNEW)
Does the feelings thing work the same for Sasha and Connie?
Everyone's different, so these guys share thoughts and habits. This old witch had more than one soul mate and I decided to settle down with the one that I felt romantically attracted to.
If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that me and Jean wouldn't be completely platonic like Sasha and Connie (If my boner for him was anything to go by). But chances were that those feelings would be one-sided...
Why do we hear the other giving us directions?
It gives you the option to be together, it makes you realize that you're choosing to be with him and that you're both making an effort to stay together It might be a metaphor for your missing part calling out to you? Some Greek shit or whatever. Plato whatshisface. Jean's voice in your mind is a reminder that the connection can't be lost even if you choose to stay away. It's kind of like a vocal reassurance that you can see each other if you need to.
Well. Back when I was thirteen and trying to avoid him, that had definitely proved to be true.
Why do Sasha and Connie have tattoos?
Everyone has a different sense of direction. Everyone is unique when it comes to their connection-should they have one, but it might be a family thing? My research hasn't gone that far yet.
Hmm, both Jean's mum and my parents seemed to have the "GPS system in our mind" thing going on for us. I wonder what that meant?
How do I improve my orientation/spatial skills? I get lost easily and it caused trouble for the both of us...
Go do some orienteering, kid. Write "right" and "left" on your hands if you have to.
How do we know for sure that we're soul mates? Like is there a legend or something?
Every legend is little different- this one especially since you basically have instructions leading you to your soul mate rather than having to search like the rest of the world. (What a special duckling are you, huh?!) Your soul mate is like a mirror. You do things you thought you wouldn't normally do while trying to find him and while with him. He makes you see who you really are, and helps you to grow, and vice versa.
I guess that that was true... Normally, I wouldn't have left Jinae simply because I had a date with destiny (platonic date, pah, hospital date, UGH) and usually I wouldn't have bothered to try looking for anyone who I didn't know the whereabouts of, simply because I had no idea where I was going. I was going to have to take her up on her idea of writing on my hands... That might actually work...
Why did Connie start having seizures after Sasha left?
Sasha likes to eat food, so she was the one that would remind him to eat something sweet and take his medication. After she left, he lost his appetite, so he was lowering his blood sugars dangerously. Poor boy, if only I'd known :(
Why are the GPS thing and the compass tattoos both to do with direction?
I'm pretty sure it's a metaphor for a life journey or going in the same life direction or whatever.
I heard us being soul mates might be a past life thing?
Nahhhh, not unless you felt an odd nostalgia around them? Or were triggered into remembering a past life?
Pursing my lips as I read the last question, I shook my head slowly and folded the paper up into a neat square, glancing over at a slowly rising Jean who was peeping over the edge of the table like an exited puppy.
Sadly, I never got to meet the infamous Demon Hunter that was Sasha Braus' father and potato girl Sasha didn't seem to be around. Mrs Braus AKA "call-me-Avril" told us that they were at Connie's house for a barbecue and surprisingly enough, Jean suggested that we go over to his. I think it was the concept of free food that did it for him.
"Oh my goddess, please don't leave me with this house full of chores to be done! I'll pay you in gossip and laughter if you help me out!" She reached her arms out the door, as though desperately trying to lasso us back indoors. "Dun't leave meeeee!"
I decided that I quite liked the eccentric Mrs Avril Braus. Well. When she wasn't throwing around those knowing smiles. YOU KNOW NOTHING GOOD SIR.
If I don't start making some fluffy stuff happen next chapter, I give you my full permission to stab me with a mattress.