Chapter 27

Today was a big day; or at least would be, if Howard actually cared. Fossil, at least, was in a much better mood, though he did get into an argument with Naboo over his lack of 'proper zoo staff attire'. Howard had chosen not to intervene, and kept Vince from doing so, leaving the shaman to dish that one out on his own.

That afternoon all staff members stood around the front office door in clusters. It had been nearly two years since they had seen Dixon Bainbrige. Ever since his 'promotion', he much preferred to operate the zoo from a distance, leaving Fossil almost completely in charge.

Howard's thoughts were interrupted as Dixon emerged from the office door, where he had been since he arrived earlier that morning. The man looked around himself slowly, taking in all the familiar faces of the employees of his zoo. One thing Bainbridge was good at was remembering the faces and names of all who worked under him. So it's no surprise that when his eyes landed on Vince, he paused. Stepping over to Howard and the kid, Bainbridge eyed the boy in silence before turning to Fossil with a questioning glance.

"Oh uh, he's new. Yeah, um, Howard hired him as an apprentice."

"I wasn't aware we were taking on new keepers. I can barely afford to pay the lot of you as is."

Fossil looked uncomfortable, and Howard just stood his ground resolutely at what was most certainly a mental jab in his direction as Bainbridge's eyes met his before walking back to his place in the centre of the people.

"And what is this new apprentice's name?"

Vince answered before Fossil or Howard had the chance to open their mouths.

"Vince Noir."

Bainbridge smiled at the boy, once again facing him but at a much more comfortable distance.

"Vince Noir. And how has this young man been doing at my fine zoo since he was taken on?"

Howard, Fossil and Moose answered simultaneously, all in varying degrees.

"Just fine."

"There were a few mishaps."

"Awful."

Howard inwardly cursed as Dixon turned on his heel to face Moose with raised eyebrows.

"Oh? Do tell, how has the boy been awful?"

"Well first off there's the disaster with our breeding program, and then multiple animals have gone missing since he's been here-"

"That's quite enough. I see no reason to hold the boy at fault. Let's just let bygones be bygones, shall we?"

Now that was new. Bainbridge completely dropping accusations against a staff member was unheard of, especially a new one whom he'd never met. But here the man was, walking away from Moose without so much as a glance in Vince's direction.

The rest of Bainbridge's visit went like it always did. The mustached man toured the zoo, no doubt looking for anything he could find fault with. After screaming at one of the women about the bars on the bear's cage looking too rusted (even though it wasn't her responsibility to replace them), Dixon considered it a day done, and retired into the office building to look over recent paperwork. The entire zoo seemed to let out a breath of relief as the man disappeared, and the weeping woman was tended to by various others.

Howard shepherded Vince back into the Lodge, and the two willingly forgot about the happenings of the day as they plopped down in front of the tv, Vince shuffling over to lean against Howard, as was becoming custom. Howard was getting better at not moving away, and only remained tense for a few moments this time before relaxing.

Vince entered the hut door, looking forlorn. Howard knew exactly why. Earlier that day two teenaged girls had come to the zoo. They were quite well-dressed, catching Howard's eye as they scampered over to him, all smiles and shy glances. They'd apparently seen him sing and wanted to ask if he's be in their band. Howard had politely declined. For one thing, he much preferred working alone; and really, a twenty-six year old man in a band with two teenaged girls was a bit disconcerting. That's when Vince had offered to be in their group instead. Howard agreed, telling the females just how great the boy could sing, and his growing talent on the keyboard. The girls visibly changed from adoring to aloof and slightly mocking, stating that the position had just been filled, and left shortly after, talking lowly amongst themselves.

Howard looked down at the boy as he slumped beside Howard now on the sofa. The man draped an arm over the teen's shoulder, shaking him lightly to try and cheer him up.

"Hey, Little Man, it's no big deal...tell you what, you can sing with me at my next gig, alright?"

Vince gave a half-smile at Howard, and seemed to brighten at the offer, only to dim once more, leaning back into the supportive arm.

"Naw, said so yourself; you prefer to play alone. And besides, I'm fine. Just thought it might be cool to be in a band again. Who needs 'em anyway, probably just a couple o' bean flickers."

Howard flicked Vince's ear, causing the boy to yelp lightly and lean forward, looking put off but grinning. He then promptly stole the remote and switched to cartoons.

Tristan Butler showed up at Howard's latest gig that Saturday. Apparently she'd been booked to go on before he'd arrived. Howard didn't think it was possible but she was just as radiant sitting at a table in the shadows as she was lit up on stage. Howard offered her to join him at his lonely little corner of the room; Vince had stayed home on this night, as he was beginning to do more and more often. Howard figured he was just becoming a bit bored with the whole gig thing. It did leave Howard feeling a bit lonely at his little table after each performance.

He and Tristan enjoyed eachother's company, sharing about themselves as the music and chatter drifted around them. She was a college dropout, daughter of two rather wealthy scholars, and no, they didn't approve of her choice to leave college to become a secretary with singing gigs on the side.

She had a bit of a foul mouth, but was kind and loved animals and was excited when Howard told her of his job and wanted to know more about him and loved the color purple and dogs were her favorite animal and oh god Howard fancied her.

'Shit.'

Was he really that desperate, or just easy? Howard was more than a little ashamed that he was already in a sweat over a woman he'd only been talking to for four hours now. Was he just fickle? Shallow? Or a hopeless romantic? Whatever he was, Howard quickly made an excuse to leave, stating before he could really think about it that he had a kid at home. Tristan had seemed a little taken aback by that, and Howard caught her eyes as they darted to his ring finger.

"Oh! Oh no, I'm not married. And he's not really my kid. I mean, well, technically I look after him, and he lives with me, but- no, I'm not married or anything."

The woman had laughed at his stutterings, flushing a bit herself at her mistake, and before Howard could blunder on further, she had taken out a small pen from her purse and wrote her phone number on a serviette, handing it to him. She gave him a small moist peck on the cheek before excusing herself, leaving the man standing in the middle of the restaurant, mind in shambles.

Vince had of course been up in arms when Howard arrived many hours later than he'd said he would, but thankfully the Lodge wasn't in pieces like the last time. When Howard stated this, meaning only to joke, it seemed to darken the boy's mood further. The teen had promptly crawled into his sleeping bag and went quiet.

Howard safely stowed away the serviette in his dresser as he fished about for night clothing. He'd wait three days. Isn't that what you were supposed to do? Wait three days and then call? Howard wanted to question Vince on this, but decided against it, remembering the endless vilify he'd spewed when Howard had thought he was in love with Gideon. Now the kid barely acknowledged the woman, as if she were a ghost. The teen was beyond bizarre.

(Yes yes, I know. Tristan, an OC. Oh lawd no! I can't stand mary-sues, so I really didn't want to create Tristan in the first place, but...well, I like Gideon a lot, and that's why I made her not love Howard back. I know, that makes no sense to you guys, but I can't elaborate without spoiling future chapters. Just know that I created Tristan out of pure love for Gideon's character. Anyway, next chapter launches the third act of this play, and I promise you it's high speed all the way to the finish from here :P)