The next morning, Darren found it incredible hard to get up the morning as he was wrapped up in blankets and pillows, softer than any he had felt in several years. He felt his stomach growl as he was slowly beginning to regain consciousness, yet Darren felt his eyes were sealed shut. There was no way in hell anyone was gonna be able to get him out of bed.
"Darren, I've made breakfast, dear. It's nice and hot for you.", Linnie's voice called out from the kitchen, the smell of waffles and sausages reaching his nose, begging him to get up. After a few minutes of struggling, Darren finally had enough, rubbing his eyes and tossing on the slightly too long pair of pajama pants Linnie had loaned him before leaving the bedroom (Linnie had camped on the couch for the evening). He walked to the kitchen and took a sleep, smiling politely at Linnie, who was already dressed in a lime green shirt-jacket with a white collar, alongside velvet black pants and shoes, as he served the food.
"Good morning, Darren. Did you sleep alright?", Linnie said, smiling as he took a seat across his son.
"Yeah, I forgot how good a mattress felt."
"Oh..well you know, I never did like the concept of prisons. How is neglecting other people's needs going to help them become a better person. I just don't understand."
"Papa, Prison's not supposed to be some vacation, you know. They were trying to punish me. That's the whole point in prison."
"I-I know it's just…I'm sorry Darren. I know I overreact sometimes, but I just can't help but worry about you three. I…uh..", Linnie stuttered, unsure of what to say. He knew his adult children now needed their space to figure things out on their own, but Linnie found it especially hard to ignore his over-protective nature. He often found himself calling them on the phone multiple times during his anxious episodes, or if his gut told him something was wrong, but many of those calls went unanswered, leaving Linnie to worry until eventually, he got word that his family was safe.
"So um…", Linnie tried again, awkwardly, "Did you still want to check on your apartment? I think it might be a good idea to call them first, just to make sure someone can help you, of course."
"Yeah, don't seem like a bad idea.", Darren muttered, barely half-awake still, trying to finish his eggs, "Also try to figure out what they did with my stuff if they did evict me."
"Oh, I really hope they didn't sell your things. It doesn't seem like a very ethical thing for them to do.", Linnie said softly, drinking his tea. Darren smirked at his father's innocent nature.
"Who said they cared about ethics? More than likely, all they care about it making a quick buck outta ya. That's just the way it is."
"Well, that doesn't make it right.", Linnie said, taking the last few bites out of his meal, "Here, when you finish your food, I've got a extra coat for you to wear when we head over there. I usually keep it for more formal events, but I think it'll work until we figure out what's going on. Just let me know when you're finished dear.
When they had finished breakfast, Darren put his plate in the kitchen and walked towards the living room where Linnie has laid out a long, tan, velvet coat that looked almost like a suit jacket. He threw it on as Linnie threw on a green coat almost identical to his, alongside a green business hat with a yellow band, making sure his glasses were cleaned before the two left the door, greeted one again with the brutal winter air they had been plagued with for the past month.
The two males were somewhat quiet on their way over to Darren's apartment complex. Since it wasn't too far from Linnie's, they figured they could just fly over there to save their magical energy and conserve magical pollution and fairy dust anyhow. Every now and then though, they'd attempt at some small talk to break the ice, but each conversation seemed to have a long awkward pause in between. Darren had always found Linnie's nervous, timid nature annoying, but now he couldn't help but wondering if Linnie was ashamed of him. Sure, the two were never quite as close as a father and son should have been, but Darren always resented Nora for making him feel less than, or useless. He didn't want that from Linnie was well.
At last, the two reached towards another apartment building, this one a few stories shorter, and the walls seemed to have some graffiti sprayed on them, with flickering streetlights and dumpsters that desperately needed to be taken out. Darren led Linnie into to lobby so no one would try to attack him, and floated up to the receptionist desk; this time an older woman that almost reminded Darren on Nora. She had much darker, almost black green hair tied in a ponytail, and a good bit of wrinkles on her face as she looked down at Darren carelessly, the cigarette barely hanging on in her mouth.
"Can I help you, kid?', the woman asked lazily, uninterested.
"Hey, I'm the original owner of Apartment #145 and hadn't been paying my rent on account of an arrest. I was wondering if someone might have subleased it while I was gone or.."
"HA!", the lady laughed, "In what world would some idiot want to sublease in a dump like this? No kid, no one subleased while you were gone. We decided to evict that apartment, and someone else went ahead and started picking up your slack."
"Wait hang on, if people don't wanna sublease here, why the hell would they take a permanent place here?", Darren demanded, making Linnie nervous in the backroom. The woman shrugged.
"Beats the hell outta me, kid. Maybe they couldn't afford anything nicer."
"Well, what happened to my stuff?"
"The government took some of your big stuff like your couch and TV and shit, but I think we've got your clothes and bathroom stuff in our office, since those are basically worthless in terms of money.", the woman said, getting up from her seat, "What's your name, and can I see some ID?"
"Darren Cosma, and I think I've got my wallet on me..", Darren said, handing the woman his driver's license, who barely looked at it, snarling at it a little bit.
"Damn you're ugly. You could use a nose job or something."
"Are you gonna get my shit or not?!", Darren snapped, ignoring Linnie calling his name in disapproval. The woman glared back angrily as she unlocked the keys to the office behind her, and slammed a few bags of Darren's clothes in front of him.
"Here ya go, your highness. Anything else you want from me?"
"Just one question.", Darren said, trying to calm himself down and keep himself from fighting the woman in front of hm, "How much would rent be for another apartment? Has rent gone up by anything or."
"Prob about 2,000"
"2,000? For this shit hole?"
"Hey, I don't set the prices you little bastard! If you wanna go somewhere else, be my damn guest. Would be one less ungrateful ass person to deal with.", she snarled back in response, "It's never enough for you people is it? It's always, my toilet's broke, there's roaches in the kitchen, when are the garbage people gonna be here."
"You know what, Liz? It's fine.", Darren said, "Forget it. I'll get out of your hair. Come on Dad, we should probably get out of here before we get shanked or some shit."
"Darren, your language, please.", Linnie said softly, making Liz chuckle a bit as she smiled at Linnie.
"My, aren't you a cutie. Too bad your son didn't seem to inherit your manners. Could teach him a thing or two.", Liz joked, before putting her feet back on the desk. Linnie smiled uncomfortably before heading Darren out the door with his bag of clothes, headed back to his apartment, this time with a lot more to say…and a lot more questions on his mind.
"Well…uhm….that could have gone better.", he said awkwardly, twiddling his fingers, "I guess you're stuck with me for a little while, hehe."
"Uhh I dunno…I don't wanna be a bother."
"Sweetie, you're not a bother. Besides, I don't really see any other options at the moment.", Linnie said quietly, "So I guess my question in regards to all of this…now that we know the apartment's someone else's, what's your plan?"
"I dunno. Get a job probably. Try an apartment in a less shitty neighborhood."
"Oh honestly Darren…", Linnie sighed, a hint of frustration in his voice, "I really wish you'd stop cursing, and I really hope you do some research next time you find an apartment. You're more than welcome to stay at my place for as long as you need until you get the money again. I really don't mind. I just really don't want you living in a place like this, especially if people aren't going to treat you kindly."
"Papa, you've really got to stop people so soft with people, I swear.", Darren said, annoyed before sighing, "Whatever. I didn't really like her anyways. My shit kept breaking every 5 seconds anyways."
Linnie sighed once more, getting slightly upset as Darren's refusal at the no-swearing rule, and his bad attitude, though didn't want to say anything to agitate him. Linnie couldn't imagine prison being a nice place to live in, and after everything Darren had been through, he told himself he needed to at least try to be sympathetic. Despite think that however, Linnie couldn't help but wish Darren would at least give hm a "Thank you" every once in a while, and had a hard time remembering when Darren, or really anyone in the family other than Chelsea, had showed him any appreciation. He really didn't mind helping Darren out, especially given his current conditions, but sometimes, Linnie wondered if everyone around him was starting to take advantage of him.