Spoiled
After Eureka had finished telling Riku about her first night in the master bedroom, the school bell rang. But before Eureka could react to the noise, Riku had grabbed both her hands and stared into her eyes with dazzling intensity.
"Eureka! You have to tell me the rest. I promise I'll think of some good advice, but it will have to wait till tomorrow. Do you think you can hold on for one more night?"
Eureka, staring back at Riku with the same deadly seriousness, nodded vigorously, and the two girls headed back to class.
"Renton, we're back!" Eureka and the kids had past the garage on their way back from school and seen that Renton wasn't in it. The kids took off to their room to put away their school things, but Eureka had left her bag by the door, eager – for some reason – to see Renton.
"I'm in the office." But before Eureka could get to the voice calling from the back room, Linck had rushed back down the stairs, followed by Maeter and Maurice.
"Renton! Renton! What'r'ya doin?" Linck had ran up to the table that filled half the room, but couldn't make out the detailed drawings and measurements.
"I'm redesigning the neural connections for the LFO's arms, so that the pilot will be able to manipulate both simultaneously in what's called a 'circus maneuver'".
Linck had no idea what that meant; but all the same, he smiled and nodded. "Oh, ok! Have you finished my board?"
"Oh, darn it! I totally forgot about that. Sorry, Linck. Give me a moment, I'll do it before dinner."
"Mama," Linck whined, "Renton said the same thing yesterday!"
Gently, Eureka placed her hand on Renton's shoulder, forcing him to stop drawing the design. "Renton, this looks really important. . ."
Renton had stopped, and put down his pencil and ruler. He straightened up, and turned around to face Eureka. He wanted to explain how important it was– that Linck's board could wait.
"It's important. . .to him it is," Eureka's voice was calm and understanding, which almost made it worse.
But Renton never stood a chance. Seeing Eureka's face, and hearing her voice, demolished any will he had to oppose her wishes. "Alright Linck, come with me– and try not to break it again, at least, not for a week or two."
"I can do that, promise!"
All three kids followed Renton to the garage, but Eureka stayed behind to make the kids' lunches for tomorrow. In the garage, Renton told Linck and Maeter to stand at a distance if they wanted to watch him repair the board; but he took Maurice up to the workbench.
"I hope Axel hasn't been too hard on you. I remember when I was your age, he was already pounding old mechanic's axioms into my brain, and forcing me to memorize the names of different tools."
Maurice had always been a quiet child, but over the past few years he had become serious to the point of comedic perfection. He wasn't sad or somber, but serious in everything he did– and if he wanted to be funny, everyone was sure to laugh. This seriousness was most apparent in his dedication to become a mechanic that was worthy of the name Thurston. In that way, he resembled Adrock, though Renton didn't know.
"So I'll show you how to disassemble and repair today; and when Linck totals this board, we'll build one from scratch."
Linck had taken after Holland, and been the first person to catch a trapar wave after the coralians' return. Since that day, Linck had spent every spare moment outside on one of Riku's old boards. The board was a little too big for him, and the waves were seldom large enough to lift someone more than 5 feet off the ground, but Linck definitely showed a talent for picking the exact moments that would give him the most lift.
As for Maeter, she had found a friend, and bigger sister, in Riku. She had become her miniature, if not with the same amount of energy, then certainly in her passionate interest in anything new and interesting, even if it only held her attention for a week or two. She enjoyed watching her two brothers explore their passions, and wasn't concerned in the least that she spent most of her time supporting them. Maurice knew he wanted to be a mechanic, and Linck was just doing what was most fun. As for Maeter, the future was something so far off, that living in the moment – like Riku – seemed the best way to stay happy.
Eureka's first day at school was related to the whole family over dinner, and even the kids – who were just beginning to discover that school was real work – felt excited when listening to Eureka's enthusiastic story-telling.
"I can't say I'll ever warm up to the Riku girl, but I'm impressed with how good a friend she's been to both you and Renton." Axel had proclaimed his judgement over Riku as if everyone, till that moment, had been holding their breath, waiting to see if it was ok to like Riku without the old man's blessing.
Eureka was the only one who seemed truly happy over Axel's approval, while Renton resigned himself to keep quiet. As for the kids, they had all stopped eating when Axel had spoken; but mostly, it was because Axel hadn't finished chewing his food when he began to speak.
"Mama, grandpa's talking with his mouth full again!" Linck exclaimed with bits of food coming out of his own mouth. Axel's face reddened, but before he could retort Maeter pointed her fork at Linck and said–
"You're no better, Linck! Hey mama, tell Linck to swallow before talking."
"Both of you need to calm down, and stop covering the table in bits of food." Renton had cut in to restore order before Eureka could speak. "And Maurice, stop playing with your food."
Maurice had been moving the peas, carrots, and cut of meat around on his plate without eating a bite. Of course, if Renton had thought for a moment, he wouldn't have used the word 'playing' to describe anything Maurice did. Maurice didn't "play" anymore– he wasn't playing. He lifted his plate off the table and turned to show the family.
The peas were arranged on the plate as a smile, and also on the slab of meat – a head – as eyes; the carrots made a nose and hair. "It's Axel," Maurice said simply. For a moment, the whole table sat silent, studying the plate. The carrot hair and nose were unmistakable imitations of Axel's own features.
No one moved, and Maurice looked at his plate once more to make sure none of the pieces had fallen out of place. He seemed satisfied, both that nothing had been disturbed, and that the table had understood the resemblance, because he put down the plate and cut off a piece of meat, sticking it in his mouth to chew and swallow.
"ah–hehe–Ahhahaha!" Axel was the first to laugh out loud, and the rest of the table followed his lead.
Night came quickly, and before she knew it Eureka had finished her homework and put the kids to bed. She was about to take a shower when she noticed that Renton wasn't in the house. After dinner, Renton usually went back out to the garage to recheck all his work, finish any quick repairs he could, and lock up.
For the past week, Renton had come back in so late that Eureka had already fallen asleep; that, or Renton himself was in such an exhausted state that he didn't even bother showering before collapsing on top of his bed.
Tonight was no different. So, Eureka decided to sneak out to the garage, and saw Renton sitting on the arm of the LFO, working on the joint circuits. All day she had a peculiar desire to see Renton– just to see him, and watch him for a while with no one else was around.
Eureka stood on the threshold of the garage door for almost 15 minutes without moving or making a sound. Her whole being was transfixed on Renton working. She loved watching him work– or maybe she just loved him– so much so that she was in a kind of trance. Finally, the realization that Renton was climbing down from the LFO, finished with his work, snapped her out of it.
'Oh!' Eureka thought, 'I should have showered already, Renton will have to wait now.' At that thought, Eureka turned to leave, thinking she might be able to shower quickly, but then she stopped– struck by a very likely possibility.
'Well, maybe he'll be out here for a while longer.' The thought of not seeing Renton again – of falling asleep before he came back inside – till the morning made her too sad. She turned back toward the garage and walked over to Renton. But Renton was absorbed in what he was doing, and didn't notice Eureka approaching.
"I'm lucky." Eureka's voice didn't startled Renton, but it certainly caught his attention. He stopped what he was doing and turned to face Eureka.
"What's lucky?" asked Renton, seemingly happy for the short break.
"I'm lucky to have someone like you, Renton." Eureka put her fingers together and brought them under her chin, looking at them instead of Renton. She was happy at how embarrassing her words were. "–Who works so hard. Someone who loves the kids as much as I do. And who loves me as much as I love them."
Renton went to put his arms around Eureka; but Eureka caught both his hands and brought them down between them. She intertwined her fingers with his, and looked him in the eyes, hoping to see in Renton's face all the love he had for her.
"I have a new rule." Eureka's tone was playful, and Renton was happy to take the bait.
"What's that?"
"From now on...I won't go to sleep until you kiss me." Eureka closed her eyes, and parted her lips. Renton leaned in, and was happy to feel the girl's smile on his lips.
As they broke apart, Eureka pulled Renton towards her and stole a second kiss. Instead of pulling away, Renton leaned passed Eureka to whisper in her ear, "Spoiled."