New Chapter, yay.
Ezra came home a bit earlier the next day, surprising Cristof who was used to a fairly routine life. They had both calmed a bit now that neither received a visit from police or anyone from the hospital. Cristof seemed a bit worse physically but he was at least in better spirits.
"So what about video games? You used to like video games," Ezra asked as Cristof took a tiny bite of one of the crackers that accompanied his soup.
"I used to hit the buttons and hope it did something while you played more seriously." Cristof laughed. "But I wouldn't mind playing one again. I guess their better then the ones we used to have."
"I have no idea, I'm just trying to figure out what you wanna do besides daydream." Ezra smiled.
"I am not hard to please Ezra. At least I don't think so. I had this nurse for a while; she only came on weekends. She thought I was the sweetest things but she didn't know how to talk or something cause she'd start out all cheery and happy and but the time she was leaving she'd just be backing out of the room like I was crazy or somethin." Cristof babbled. "I don't think she understood my words very well."
"Maybe she was a little crazy." Ezra mused with a small smile.
"Then why was I the one in a room and she got to roam about." he pouted, thinking it a serious suggestion.
"Because some types of crazy are less recognized than others." Ezra offered.
"Hm." Cristof said with a nod. "I guess so. Not fair when you think about it but yeah. Am I really so obvious? I guess so really. I remember being little and most adults' thought I was just a kid that talked too much and then they hung around a little and they were nervous around me. I don't like that. I've never hurt anyone."
"People like things that are familiar. Everyone has that bias. People like people that look like them, act like them, smell like them, make the same amount of money, have the same accent, whatever. Familiar stuff attracts them. You're not familiar to many people. Nothing wrong with it. Just means you gotta look harder to find the people who are familiar with it. Like how my friend James made mom nervous, you remember that? He was hood or scary. Hell, he had more manners than I do, but he's black and that freaked her out." Ezra mused, glancing at the window, "Funny as hell."
"They didn't like anyone we did." Cristof muttered, going off on a sidetrack. "And I made it hard enough for either of us to have friends. Kids liked us but we made their parents uneasy. I heard a car door." he changed topics completely.
"Yeah I know." Ezra muttered, leaning over to pull a bat from under his bed. "Waiting to see if they knock on the door."
"It's not for me." Cristof shook his head. "At least I don't think so." he frowned for a moment.
"Well, good then." Ezra raised an eyebrow, sighing when the doorbell rang. He set the bat down and stood up, walking out of the room to see who it was. He pulled the door open to a not too happy looking woman who stood about four inches shorter than him with high heels.
"Hey...Beth." He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck as complete relief mixed with a new sort of anxiety, "I was just gonna call you."
"How very convenient for you." she said, arms crossed under her chest. "Since my calls don't seem to get through. You'll bailed on our last date and now you're looking way too guilty."
"Yeah I know, I've just been insanely busy." He tried, his brain moving a mile a minute to come up with an excuse that didn't involve his brother.
She raised an eye, giving him a look that said she didn't believe him. "That the best you got? I know we might not be..." she waved her hand as she thought for the word. "Official. But if you got another girl wandering around we can end this right now."
Ezra stared at her for a beat before smiling lightly, "Beth, c'mon, I'm not like that. There's no other girl."
"You expect I'm just gonna believe that?" She said, still standing outside.
"Well, at this point in time, I can't exactly prove it to you. But would I have been dressed like this and answered the door that quick if I had a girl here?" Ezra tugged his undershirt, drawing attention to it and his sweats.
"The speed getting to the door I might accept but the clothes? Hell no." Beth said. "That and you seem keen on keeping me out in the cold rather then inviting me in."
"When you were here I was fully clothed until I was fully naked." He grinned at her "Maybe in the morning I was wearing something like this, but its not morning."
She sighed, a small pout forming. "Then what the hells going on? I've seen you more or less busy before. This is weird."
"Would you accept it I said yes there's something going on, that it has nothing to do with women and nothing to do with drugs? Or gambling...or any other bad habits?" He shook his head.
Beth frowned. "What does that leave? If it's not bad or illegal then what's with the secretes?"
"It just is." Ezra shrugged, leaving out the bit that it was in fact illegal.
"Seriously Ezra, I don't think this is gonna work. If you're not even gonna tell me what there is to argue about when you already admit there is something then I dunno how to continue this." Beth sighed softly.
"I'm not saying its something to argue over, Just..." he sighed, moving back so she could step past him, "making my life difficult, come inside."
"Don't get frustrated with me." she muttered, walking. "I just wanna know what's going on. You can't blame me for thinking your sudden changes are...strange."
"No but you could have said, 'okay, I see you don't want to talk about it and clearly its not something to worry about'." Ezra closed the door behind her, "But that's not your fault, not in human nature not to be curious. Hell, maybe you can help. So, I told you I had a brother right?"
She nodded slowly, interest taking hold of her attention. "Yeah?"
"Didn't mention he was in a mental institution, did I? Kind of falsely really. He's not dangerous to himself or anyone else he's just stubborn as hell sometimes and my parents can't handle it." Ezra leaned on the couch arm "So he showed up at my house the other day."
Beth gave him a look that was nothing short of shocked. "He just...showed up? You can do that? I mean, it's great you get to seem him. You kinda sounded like you missed him but this is weird."
"Yeah. He walked here. It's a twenty-minute drive... and he walked here. Broke out and walked here in the middle of the night. They've been abusing him. He said it and I can tell. So am I doing something illegal? Yeah but I don't feel bad about it. He's my brother." Ezra shrugged.
She walked up to him, wrapping her arms tight around his shoulders. "Of course you gotta Ezra. If they were hurting him and he came to you then what else could you do but take him in?"
"Plus he's really not that dependant." Ezra hugged her lightly.
"So...not that big a deal?" she raised an eye. "Right? I mean I guess they'd look for him if he just disappeared."
"Cops have been to my work. I expect it'll take a few months for this to blow over. Mental patients are like little kids to the cops accept 'dangerous'. And they might make him out to be dangerous to get him back, I don't know. I just need to find somewhere for him to stay where he won't be so...confined to one spot."
"Won't that be hard?" She asked. "I mean, it'll be on the news or something, won't it? He can't really just hang out some place. He'll be kinda confined even if it's just staying here with you."
"That's what I mean. If he's here and they decide to check with my neighbors, I'm fucked if he's been going outside but I cant keep him cooped up in here forever. Thinking about putting him up in a motel or something but I don't know how I feel about him going from never being alone to being completely alone you know? How he'd handle that." Ezra mused.
"Well." Beth hesitated for a moment. "You know there's my place it you need it."
He watched her for a minute, silently, before commenting, "I'd have to really think about that I think, and so would you. Should make sure you can understand him first."
"I mean, it's not my first option but if they're hurting him then you can't just ignore that." She shrugged uncomfortably. "You promise me he's not dangerous and yeah, I'd really consider it if you needed a place for him. If you think of something better, great. If not..." she shrugged again.
"Come and meet him." Ezra laughed, "He might annoy the hell out of some people, but he's harmless."
"Harmless is a good start." Beth muttered. "Where is he?"
"My room. He's not doing so good, whatever he was on his body wants to stay on but apparently he's used to withdrawal which makes me sick to think why. I know you're probably tempted to say 'he's crazy, he's probably just saying that for attention' but just somethin` you'll realize. He's swear to god honest. He says it happened, you do some digging, guarantee you'll find out it happened." Ezra mused, taking her hand and leading her toward his room.
"That's fucked up." she muttered, letting him lead her. "I've seen withdrawal, you can't fake it. Is he younger then you?"
"Nah. Two years older. You might think he is sometimes and others you'd think he was my father." Ezra chuckled, "Though that last bit is...kinda rare."
Beth laughed softly. "Awe, he must love you then. Hurry up, I wanna meet him now."
"Alright, alright," Ezra smiled, guiding her down the hall to his room where he poked his head into the already open door, "Brought you company."
"Company's all in the mind. Especially my mind, and you gotta be careful how you say that cause it could have been really positive or really negative. Luckily I know your tone well enough to know the difference before you thrust a poor unsuspecting sane person into the room." Cristof mused, curled up in Ezra's bed still. He'd been gazing out the window from where he lay.
"Oh my..." Beth smiled against her will. She told herself she was going to be supportive but she couldn't suppress her laughter.
"Yes, you keep yourself company, but I brought another person. Play nice." Ezra grinned at him, "Beth, my brother Cristof, Cris, this is Beth."
"Nice to meet you Cris." Beth smiled, waiting for him to make a move before she did after entering the room.
Cristof stared at her for a moment, almost looking as if he was seeing more then just her appearance. For her it was unnerving, for Ezra it was normal. "Hello." he said finally. "New friend of Ezra."
Ezra walked in to gather the tray off the bed, looking over it's contents as he walked to put it on the desk in his room, "You ate quite a bit Cris, how's that staying down?"
"We'll find out won't we?" He laughed softly, not moving from his spot on the bed. "Ezra cooks well for me. Worth it either way."
"Oh..." Beth cooed softly, biting her lip as she smiled. "I hope you feel better soon Cris. Must suck to be stuck here."
Cristof shook his head. "All a matter of perspective, I gots wide perspective."
"And a damned positive outlook on life." Ezra smiled.
"Nothing wrong with that. Perspective is good." Beth mused.
"Not only that but the ability to change certain things to make them your advantage. I excel that that area." Cristof nodded.
"Clearly," Ezra chuckled, taking a seat next to his brother.
Cristof pouted at him, still not moving. "Don't make fun."
"I don't think he was teasing." Beth chuckled.
"I'm supposed to make fun. But I was serious. Look at you now." Ezra smiled.
"This isn't a bad situation. I'm with Ezra." he shrugged a little, not lifting his head from his pillow. He didn't have the strength to do it.
"Exactly, you changed something for the better." Ezra mused.
"How are you feeling though?" Beth asked, moving closer to the beds. "Looks like you've had a hard time."
"Better with Ezra." he muttered softly.
She turned her gaze towards Ezra. "He always refers to you by your name?"
"He only seems to use pronouns when he doesn't like someone. Used to be more people he only called by name, now it's mostly me and one of the nurses Adia." Ezra shrugged.
"Importants." Cristof agreed. "But Ezra has always been Ezra. Since he was born." He laughed softly.
Beth smiled. "Okay, he's...really cute."
Ezra chuckled, "He's my brother."
Beth only smiled and shrugged. "He can be both."
"You're not a nurse." Cristof said as if it were his observation. "Something else."
Ezra glanced at her curiously, "Haven't gotten to that conversation yet."
"I'm a secretary." Beth said with half a shrug. "Was a temp in a doctor's office for like a week and I interned at a pharmacy once. That was like two years ago."
Cristof gave her a long look before he nodded once. "Oh. Okay. Close but not close."
"That's fun." Ezra mused.
Beth smiled at him. "More like super boring, but yeah. Was kinda a weird thing to ask."
"No it wasn't." Cristof said, looking at her still. "I know when I ask something out of the blue and when I don't. I made the right connections and everything."
"Cris is good at observing people." Ezra offered a slightly different subject so he didn't have to say who was right and who wasn't. "I like to think I am too but he's better than me."
"Ezra just has to listen harder." Cristof said softly before looking at Beth. "Why visiting?"
She flushed a little from embarrassment and smiled. "I just came to see your brother, that's all."
"I've been a jerk to her." Ezra admitted for her benefit, "I kept forgetting to call her back."
Cristof leaned his head back enough to look at his brother. "Did Ezra apologize?"
Beth had to bite her lip to keep from smiling too broadly. Had she seen anyone else his age ask that question she would have rolled her eyes but Cristof looked genuinely honest about it.
"You know what, I don't know if I did. I'm really sorry Beth." Ezra looked from Cristof to Beth with a smile.
Cristof smiled and Beth had to keep from bursting into giggles. "I'm sorry too. Jumping to conclusions. I understand now."
"See Cris? You make me a better person." Ezra teased, reaching to mess with his brother's hair.
Cristof laughter continued and he grabbed at his brother's hand.
"My offer's still good." Beth smiled softly, looking at Ezra. "He's fine to me. If you need a place, mine's as good as any. Better then most."
Ezra smiled softly at her, letting his hand rest on his brother's head, "Honestly just the person factor and I can't think of anyone better. But only if it won't put you out any."
"Nah. I mean as long as he'll be okay while I'm at work. It's not a big deal. I only have a couple neighbors and we're not so buddy-buddy so I doubt any of them would even notice." Beth nodded.
"What does that mean?" Cristof looked up at his brother, not bothering to push Ezra's hand away. "What is Ezra talking about?"
"We're talking about whether she's okay with you staying with her and in a minute me and you are gonna talk it over. Well, later, we'll talk it over. But generally I cook for him because I don't know if he can cook. Which," He paused to look back to Cris "I haven't...even asked you. Can you cook? I'm assuming no one gave you the chance to learn that but you do a lot of things I wouldn't have expected."
Cristof gave him an alarming look but blinked it away as fast as he could manage. There was a pause before he tried to babble away his stress. "Ready made stuff. We're not allowed in the real kitchen but there were little pretends ones they'd take us too sometimes. I didn't like it. I'm not handicapped and they looked at me like I was. Adia let me heat stuff up sometimes but she wasn't supposed to. Adia would bring me stuff she wasn't supposed to. But I didn't need to be careful like the others. I can't real cook but I can I cook a little."
Beth stared, trying to absorb what he said. "So...no stove."
"No." Ezra smiled softly at his brother, "No stove. I'm cooking for him because for some reason, even before the withdrawals, he couldn't hold down serious food so I'm just making soup you know? Seems all right so far. Just makes me wonder what the fuck they did. Makes me... it irks me."
He paused to look at her before continuing, "Thank you for offering, I really do appreciate it. He needs to give me his opinion on it, which I think would work best after he gets some sleep. Another thing he has a hard time doing."
"Well I'd guess so." Beth nodded sympathetically. "He looks like he can barely keep his eyes open. You can just call and let me know later."
"I will, lemme walk you out." He stood finally.
"Sure. I'll see you later Cris." She smiled, moving to step back out of the room.
"Goodbye." Cristof muttered.
It took Ezra a few minutes since he didn't want to rush the woman out but he finally returned to the room and sat next to Cris. He'd witnessed her drive off and Cris had heard it making them both a bit more at ease.
"So was that a no then?" Ezra asked, referring to Cristof's earlier expression.
"It doesn't matter Ezra." he said softly, curled up still. "Not a bit."
"Yes it does matter Cris. It matters a lot." Ezra looked to him, "You know it matters to me. Fuck the fucking world if it doesn't matter to them but it matters to me, okay?"
"It'll be okay Ezra." Cristof said softly. "My head just hurts. It just hurts a little but it'll okay. I gotta go somewhere. Ezra's not safe if I stay here."
"You'd be fine staying here, if you think you can stay inside and away from the windows for a few months. I just don't want to ask that of you Cris because that would make me insane and I don't even like going outside that much." Ezra watched him.
Cristof smiled up at him. "I'm already insane Ezra. I'm just okay with it. I'm used to things being...necessary despite what I want. Staying somewhere else will make Ezra feel better and hopefully make things easy for me."
"If you want to stay here and stay inside, that is what we will do. If not there's an option to stay with Beth. If you don't like here its gonna end up being a motel unless I think of someone else." Ezra shrugged.
"Just stop." he said softly, rubbing his eyes. "I can do it. I can."
"You're too used to people telling you what to do." Ezra touched Cristof's head, "It's whatever you want."
"I want to make things easy for Ezra." he said softly. "That's what I want. I already had to make things hard for Adia."
"I think you take things too seriously. Life is not easy; I'd rather do something that I wanna do than something I have to do. Like work. Hate work. That's hard and there's no real perks. This is not that hard so long as we're not stupid" He shrugged.
"Ezra please." Cristof looked up at him, sounding desperate. "I don't wanna argue with Ezra. I don't feel good."
"I'm sorry." Ezra said softly, "I forget sometimes you know? You wanna try to sleep?"
"I don't like sleeping." he said softly, curling up into a tighter ball.
"Not gonna feel better just laying there." Ezra slid down to lay next to him.
Cristof inhaled slowly. "That's life."
"No its not." Ezra argued, reaching out to rub his arm.
"It's mine." He mumbled. "This is the one thing I'm used to Ezra, but it doesn't make sleep come any easier."
"Maybe it was your life but its gonna get better." Ezra mused gently.
"Thank you Ezra." Cristof muttered quietly. "It'll be okay."
"Yes it will." he muttered, sitting up too pull the comforter up and over his brother. He watched him for a minute before laying back again, deciding to stay for a while.
Thanks for reading.
Sadistprincess- Yes, Ezra sees things in his dreams. Cris…well..you'll have to wait for that one ^_^ And Cris doesn't hate TV he just doesn't need to watch it. He's learned to play in his own thoughts and doesn't need it. He likes to daydream instead. Lol and I don't mind the guessing, and if you think you have it bad. I can't stop talking like Cris either. I've gotten some strange looks. Lol.