I've finally managed to update this. Please tell me if there are any noticable errors.
Integra found the two sitting in front of the laptop, classical music enclosing the room in a thin bubble while adding to the delicate peace it seemed to contain. Though delicate, the peace was not easy for her to interrupt, it seeming so precious in the face of everything else that goes on from day to day. In this single room there was peace; despite all of the contaminating agents that could have infected this place, it was calm. Almost defiantly calm.
With a silent breath that brushed off her lingering reluctance, the woman let her hand rest on the frame of her son's doorway. But thoughts sparked as soon as her lips parted to speak, and she hesitated, ideas and a scene of imagined development spawning from her thought. She blinked and the hand on the doorframe slid down the wood for only a few inches of movement.
"Are you ready to go Alexander?"
Both of the boys turned and the classical music was forgotten or banished to the background to become nothing but white noise. Anderson nodded, rotating his chair to the side so that he could look at his mother when he responded.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go when you guys are." Then he paused and a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere entered the room, that he, perhaps, alone experienced, though Vlad shifting in his seat could have been a possible sign that he had felt it as well. The exclusion, maybe, if that was what it could be called. The awkwardness, surely, for that was what made the two teens swallow or chew their bottom lip. Vlad glanced at the computer screen to avoid eye-contact, and then he planted his palms on the desk to push himself up out of his chair. When he was half standing, ready to give his farewells, Integra's voice cut in before he could speak.
"Vladimir will be joining us for dinner."
Green and red stared, Anderson's mouth becoming slack while every muscle in Vlad's body became tight and rigid. Muscles worked in a pale jaw, blue and red staring into one another. Only Integra possessed enough ease to blink.
Anderson swallowed for the second time since his mother had entered the room, his gaze hitting a bed post and bouncing back to the woman. His hands thrummed and then grasped the armrests of his computer chair restlessly. This is a family dinner. A Christmas thing, making up for dad's trip. He is not going to like this… I don't think… This wouldn't work out. It'd be weird. Weird, weird, weird… The chant whispered in his head. "Does dad know?" He asked and then instantly regretted the question, again assaulted by how awkward this situation was…with the friend oriented aspect of his life intruding on his family life. Both were close, but should not be permitted to mesh. There was a special boundary that needed to distinguish one from the other.
Already uneasy about the conflict his appearance had caused earlier, the red-eyed teen stepped on his own shoes, frowning at the ground while he hoped his bangs would hide the expression.
Integra's finger tapped the wooden frame of the door. "Your father doesn't know, but it is my decision. We have been discourteous to Vladimir, who has been our guest for most of the day but was not permitted to join us until now." To speak more directly to the teen, Integra let her gaze switch from her son to Vlad intermittently. "We enjoy your company, Vladimir, and would like it if you would join us for dinner."
Anderson was blinking, confusion muddling his thoughts and response when he considered the cat and mouse game Vlad had been playing earlier - when he had asked the younger teen when he had arrived and Vlad had given an answer similar to what his mother had just announced. Dumbfounded, without any way to explain how this could've been the case when he had seen no sign of Vlad all day, Anderson squinted, pursing his lips at the wall to make sure his mother did not misinterpret the expression. "Vlad's been here for most of the day?"
Ready to downplay what had transpired between her spouse and her son's friend, and preferring to avoid the topic at the moment, Integra shrugged it off. "He had been occupied, reading in my room, and your father forgot to fetch him."
The confusion that remained in Anderson's face plainly said that the teen was going to pursue the subject, so Vlad distracted the jock by spontaneously straining his arms over his head to stretch, predicting the symphony of alarming crackles that would come as a result. The teen hummed casually, swung his arms into his jacket's pockets, and viewed the room and its inhabitants. "I'm actually going to head home now. I've been gone all day and have some things I need to see to."
The teen suffered the duration of a strained paused, hoping that someone would speak up as quickly as possible before his nervousness shone through his façade. He calmed at bit when Integra's frown emitted a question, not hearing it at first. But then, when the boy realized what had been asked, a fist in his pocket wedged itself into his stomach to grab hold and restrain the irritating butterflies that suddenly ran rampant in that area.
"Where do you live now Vladimir? I'd noticed that you moved. …Why didn't you tell me you were moving? We had no way of finding you, and it came as a surprise."
Vlad swayed on his feet in a rhythm that seemed to comfort him, and he rolled a shoulder stiffly. "I-"
"Mom! We're all ready to go, and Dad says we're already pushing it with the time if we leave now! We need to go or we'll be late!"
Frowning sharply at the interrupting voice that traveled up from the stairs where Seras was waiting, Integra shot a quick glance at Vlad, catching the relief that swept over his face, and then noticed when her son shut his laptop and stood to go downstairs. Integra pivoted and was the first to leave the room and descend the stairs, arriving at the bottom when her husband was still adjusting his wristwatch. Hans didn't look up when Anderson and Vlad came down the stairs.
Vlad hung back on the last step, hoping to become inconspicuous enough so he could slip off with a final 'goodbye' without too much trouble. But nothing about his day was fated to come about so easily.
Integra proceeded to announce her decision for a second time. "We're all leaving now."
Hans nodded, checking to see if his watch was too tight or too loose. It seemed fine…
"Vladimir will be coming with us."
Hans' head shot up and his eyes widened to take in the form of the mad woman he suddenly found wearing a wedding ring that tied his life to hers. He immediately began to shake his head, in earnest, to dispel the illusion and deny what she had just declared.
Seras was staring at her mother with a puzzled frown. Her mother was acting strangely today.
Integra focused on her husband, her tone causing the boys behind her to wince. "He is coming with us."
No. The shaking head said, hands moving. No. This is a family occasion. A family dinner. It is inappropriate.
But she combated the man. "It's because of your forgetfulness that we owe Vladimir some of our time, and an apology."
I've fallen into Hell. And if I haven't, just let me die now… Vlad hid his face with his hair, his hands still buried in his jacket as he hunched his shoulders protectively.
Hans continued to frown. That doesn't matter. We are going to be late-
"Did you just say that what you did to this boy 'doesn't matter'?" Light glinted in the blue glare as the same light weakened in her husband's eyes, coming back only when he sent a quick glower to the pale teen who didn't see it.
The chronic awkwardness returned and triumphed.
Vlad rose up to dethrone the tyrant, the ruling awkwardness, and he did so by stepping from the last step on the staircase and wandering a short, isolating distance away from the Anderson family. He made his first jab at the awkwardness with the typical throat-clearing/cough technique. "Thank you for the offer, Chief, and I would like to go with you guys sometime, but maybe today isn't a good time."
"It's as good a time as any." Integra stated to end the argument.
But Vladimir interpreted this statement with a different view, his head dipping slightly when he agreed with what the woman had said. It would never be a good time. He should never bother this family. The teen moved his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah…but I've really gotta get back to the wife and kids, you know?"
The opposing awkwardness gained some ground when it became silent and all eyes stared at the boy curiously.
Integra spoke slowly, watching Vladimir with narrowing eyes. "You not only moved, but now you're married and have children, Vladimir? All within a week? You must have shifted into some sort of hyper drive in order to accomplish all that. …You do know that the typical human baby takes nine months to develop?"
No. I didn't really know the exact time it takes. Vlad shrugged, shifting his weight from one foot to another, scuffing a shoe on the tiles. "I don't know…jus' got the wife and kids I've got to get home to, so I should be leaving on my own about now." And this sounds a lot weirder than I thought it would. They don't get what I'm freaking saying…at all… Ho hum, I am so dumb…so very fucking dumb…
Though others would have liked to join Vlad in this interesting conversation to inquire more about this new family, Integra did not allow any openings, casting aside her sarcasm this time to be more frank. "You're not married Vladimir…and unless you're trying to make fun of that kind of situation-" Her thoughts dwelled on her own family.
Vlad shook his head, almost violently, his mouth dry when he tried to swallow the bile in his throat. This is the worst thing that could've happened with what I said. "I'm just saying that I've got to get back home, Chief."
It was quiet for a moment. "Where are you living right now?"
Bad questions. Stupid bad, fucking, annoying-ass questions, and I should not have come here. It was so stupid. I am so freaking stupid. I can't believe I was so stupid, and I actually came here -and GOD DAMN IT am I stupid! So stupid!
"Vladimir?" The woman pressed him for an answer, while the others watched. Growing more annoyed, Hans scowled at his watch and then crossed his arms to glower at the fidgeting teenager.
Vlad removed one of his hands from his sweatshirt to run his fingers through his hair, brushing his bangs back and then wishing that they were obscuring his face again. "I'm living with someone." He confessed without too much trouble, taking a breath afterwards and looking around to weaken how intimidating Integra's gaze was. She was staring at him, never looking a way. A black sneaker tapped the tiles and a tongue flitted over the pale lips that then mumbled. "So…I've got to get back, and all…you know?"
Vlad's attempt to persuade his audience to see his logic failed when Integra rebuffed it. "No. You can eat dinner with us and then we can drop you off wherever you would like to be dropped off. And…I would like to know where you are currently living so we can find you if we need to."
Vlad licked his lips. "…I'm actually still finding a new place to live right now, and I'm just living where I'm like…living right now, for only a little while. So…I'll tell you when I figure all that out, but for now I need to get back and you guys probably need to go so you aren't late."
Hans nodded at this and wanted to get his wife's attention, but she spoke before he could reach out to touch her arm.
"We have all the time in the world Vladimir. We'll wait here until you decide we can get in the car and go. You will be joining us."
We don't have any time, echoed in the minds of the faces that stared at Integra, becoming weary of this pointless struggle to deny what had been fated to happen as soon as Integra had made up her mind. It was obvious that Vlad was powerless against her. And he saw it clearly, just how easily she could manipulate him with his guilt. It was like she was simply wrapping a string around her finger, tightening it with a hang-man's knot. Struggling only made the knot tighter.
No one could oppose Integra, so, although her husband scowled and moved his lips with mute mutterings, the party made its way to the garage to get in the Rolls Royce that made Vlad freeze and automatically dub it 'The Rich-Ass Car', so that the family would not miss their reservation.
Awkwardness reigned supreme under Integra's undisputed leadership. Vlad sat stiff and miserable in The Fancy-Ass Car's leather backseat directly behind the driver's seat, next to Seras, who was in the middle, while Anderson sat on the other side of the girl. It was quiet as they backed out of the garage and then left the property to enter the public roads. Time became a viscous, oozing slop when questions came again, seemingly only for the purpose of strengthening the power of the awkwardness in the car.
Integra seemed merciless tonight.
"Vladimir."
She obtained the miserable, defeated teen's attention and he looked up sullenly, dreading whatever she would say, unless she was going to somehow dethrone the awkwardness that depressed him. "Yeah?" He murmured when she didn't continue.
"Is your wife male or female?"
Oh God! Vlad crumpled, mortally wounded as he held his head between his hands and shut his eyes, mouthing 'Fuck' and 'No' so that no one could hear or know of his inner turmoil. The question scandalized the others. The woman's offspring gaped. Anderson, specifically, was mortified by his mother's behavior.
Hans was slightly amused, sharing his wife's dark sense of humor.
Vlad couldn't answer. He was dead; lifeless, cold, a carcass that would shortly be shoved out the car door as it would begin to decay. Dead. …Dead, dead, dead.
"Is your wife pretty?"
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck no. Oh hell, fuck, no, no , no. God no. Vlad was shaking his head, giving the impression of a creature that was writhing in pain.
"How many children do you have?"
Oh. Red eyes popped open, and his body stilled. The Anderson siblings grimaced in unison and diverted their eyes from their mother, pitying Vlad. But why should they?
This was an easy question for Vlad to answer. And answer he did, to their utter amazement.
"Two."
Integra's blood chilled, cold horror for the idea of Vlad being involved in any kind of teen pregnancy. But then that didn't fit the boy. A kid who told girls that they look like a rat in order to compliment them could not fit the image she was thinking of. So the woman calmed and then frowned, bemused by his response. She was not driving, so she could freely invest the little bit of effort it took to look back at the teen who was comfortable enough to grin at her weakly. She watched for a while, her children doing the same while Hans showed no change, his face blank.
"You have two children, Vladimir?"
"Yup." The grin strengthened with humor that befuddled Anderson while Seras entertained a small smile.
"Really?" Integra spoke a little flatly, showing she was not convinced, but at this point all knew that Vlad was not being serious.
"Well, they're more like pets, you know? Feed 'em, clean up after them when they make a mess, water them, teach 'em tricks like to come or fetch stuff for you when you're too damn lazy to get up off your butt."
Integra snorted and turned to sit properly in her seat, though she continued to speak to the boy. "Is that what children are for?"
Seras chuckled, and Anderson looked at her, unable to laugh as of yet. His nerves were too stunned to interpret any messages that might be coming from his brain.
"Cleaning out their cage is the hardest part about keeping them."
"Cages for your kids?" Having forgotten that Seras was sitting next to him, Vlad flinched a little when she spoke. Then he smiled, and Anderson slowly smiled as well.
"They're more like pets though, and they aren't really mine. I just borrow them once in a while because they're fun."
"What do they do?" Seras was in command of the conversation now that Integra had backed down to become a listener.
"What do they do?"
"How are they fun?"
"Well." Vlad looked at his lap and decided to utilize his idle hands, demonstrating what he described. "They do tricks, like you let them run off and then you call their names and snap or whistle or something and then they'll come running. And whenever you have food they go to the bars of the cage and climb on them or just stand on their hind legs with their little paws on the bar, sniffing and looking at you with their big eyes and whiskers. They cuddle and climb all over you and take food and munch down on it or hide it so you'll give them more. And then they lick you and…and, I dunno. They're just kinda cute and stuff. Really affectionate and fun to play with."
While the others smiled at what Vlad described, with the exception of Hans, Seras beamed, her lips close to trembling as she waited a few seconds, to make sure Vlad was done.
"You're talking about rats!" She laughed, surprising Vlad, but her grin was consoling. "You are, aren't you? You and the rats again."
The others were surprised, to some varying degree, and it took Vlad a moment to recover his humor. But it didn't matter if they knew, so he tilted his head, in a way nodding. "Yup, little rat-babies. …But they're actually kinda getting old, so they aren't little babies anymore. But I saw them when they were little, and looked kind of like puppies with long pink tails. With fur, they looked like little, tiny puppies, and fit in the palm of your hand."
"Aw… That sounds cute."
Vlad shrugged, but he kept his smile, and then looked over at Anderson to try and engage the jock to join in the discussion. "Do you think rats are cool, Anderson?"
"The way you described them, made them seem…cute, I guess." There was another smile and a shrug, similar to the one Vlad had given.
Awkwardness no longer seemed to hold any prominence in the car, though some of it took shelter with Hans who was frowning at the road, lost in how random this conversation was to him. How could his daughter have guessed rats? Maybe dogs, though the crawling part and the cage made that unlikely. The same applied to cats. A snake would slither and not have whiskers. A bird didn't have paws, or whiskers. But a hamster would fit. …Rats however…admittedly seemed more masculine than fluffy little hamsters.
The presence of well-thought of pets made Integra feel that Vlad was currently staying in a decent environment. Healthy, affectionate pets, more than likely not abused if they were affectionate, meant that there was enough money to supply food and pay the rent, with more left over. How that money was obtained could not be inferred, but then again the rats that were described this way, and rats that knew tricks, suggested that whoever earned the money could not as bad as she might have feared. Whoever owned the rats, seemed to put effort into caring and training them, and this was perceived as a positive characteristic.
When Vladimir had said that he 'needed to get back', she had thought perhaps he was being manipulated or controlled, pressured or somehow watched by the group he was involved in. What had been revealed now led her believe that this was probably not the case. The rats made the whole situation more innocent, weakening her suspicions.
However, the rats meant nothing to Hans.
*~*~::..+..::~*~*
Rain dusted the glass and the first swipe of the windshield wipers removed the layer of water as the car slowed on an exit ramp, leaving the highway to soon stop in front of a red light at an intersection. The car turned left and crossed the overpass that took them to another stoplight that blinked green and let them through. A few tall trees swayed and creaked in the cold breeze, but the sound was cut off by the metal and glass exoskeleton of the car and the roof did not permit the tree-tops to be observed. Puddles were run over by countless rubber wheels, but they never complained though the people driving the cars tended to grunt displeasure, regretting the carwash they had paid for a few weeks earlier, or wishing that the rain would end and that the puddles would dry up while they crushed the said puddles with their unfeeling cars. The water never said a word.
Soon enough the Anderson car drove through a few puddles and then parked with the front left wheel standing on top of one. The passengers exited the car and strode to the double doors of the building whose parking lot they had utilized, Seras being the first to reach it. She held the door open for her mother, and then Anderson caught the door to let her go in. He attempted to hold it open for Vlad, but the pale teen put his hand on the door and had Anderson enter first. With an awkward glance over his shoulder, Vlad put his back against the open door and offered to let Hans through. The green-eyed man glared at the teen, persuading Vlad to quickly enter the restaurant and allow Hans to hold open his own door.
With the whole party standing together in the entrance, Integra spoke to a woman who turned away from her to collect four menus, adding an extra one for the teen who was currently staring at a carved platypus that blended in with the excessive amount of wood in the restaurant. Voices and clinking silverware occupied the air. A few bright television screens hung in different parts of the bar that could be spied at the back of the restaurant, but the most noticeable trait Vlad perceived was the glossy natural element that surrounded him. The wood floor, the wood tables, the wooden cutting boards that served bread in the place of a basket, the carved map of Australia on the wall, the carved fish, platypus, and kangaroo…lots and lots and lots of shiny wood.
And steak. Delicious meaty smells that made the teen's empty stomach yowl and writhe, demanding to be stuffed with food; also filled the restaurant that had been named Outback in the hopes of seeming slightly more Australian and much more authentic than it actually was. Integra followed the woman who smiled and guided the group to their table, the police woman chewing the inside of her lip as she pondered her memories of the place. If she recalled correctly, Outback Steakhouse didn't take reservations…in any case, there was a table available for them. …The waitress had not commented when she'd told her about a reservation and a change in the number of their party… She would let this slide for now, though Hans had made it seem like time had been an issue when it likely had not been… That man…
They were shown to a booth. Integra entered one side while Anderson chose the other, ending up in a position that put him directly across from his mother. Seras sat beside her mother and Vlad sat next to Anderson. Hans placed himself next to his daughter and leveled another glare at the pale face that watched him blankly and then turned to look at Anderson and the familiar wood that covered part of the wall. Menus were being handed out, so Vlad took his and then followed the trend the Andersons set by opening and staring at the contents of the menu as the waitress scampered off. A chorus of laughter came from a round table a little ways off from the booth. Vlad watched them curiously for a moment.
"It's been a while since we've last been here, huh?"
A social tone and bubbly smile shone from Seras' face, set between the two adults who were less prone to show emotion, and seemed to have never been in possession of personalities that could show expressions half as lively. Hans was silent and did not look up from his menu while Integra glanced away from it for a moment, but her gaze retired from the girl when Anderson responded to the conversation starter.
"It's been a couple months, I think." The teen noticed that Vlad was watching him so he grinned. "Have you ever been here before?"
Vlad stared and then shook his head, his eyes wandering the restaurant and then dropping to the menu in his hands. "No. I've never really been in this area either. I don't go to far away places that often."
All eyes were on Vlad, Integra and her husband watching the teen discreetly, ready to flick their eyes back to their menus should the red gaze move in their direction.
"It's not really that far away, I think. It's about a twenty minute drive." Anderson sought a comparable opinion from his sister by looking at her. The girl nodded.
"But we took the highway, so I guess the distance might be a little far. But it doesn't take long to get here, so it doesn't seem far." The siblings seemed to ponder the thought as they delved through their menus. Vlad, not knowing what he should do, scanned the sections of the menu, swallowing a grimace when he saw the prices.
14.99 for a steak with a side dish? You also get a soup or salad… And a freaken expensive crab thing in the corner… But what the hell is that picture? A Bloomin' Onion? And then something about Barbie and a chicken… I wonder if you eat a doll…if that makes you kinda like something close to a cannibal. Eating something that looks human, but tastes like chicken… What do people taste like? …Kinda gross thought… Alrighty now, what will Fat-Ass be eating?
Vlad stretched his neck and then peered at Anderson's menu to see if he could determine what the green eyes were looking at. "What do you usually get?"
Guilt suddenly flooded Vlad's conscience, as if the dams keeping back the feeling had been blasted apart by his innocent question.
How the fuck can I let them pay for my dinner? I'm practically mooching off of them. I'm a fucking parasite that-
Vlad blinked when Anderson spoke, the other boy's voice interrupting the rapids of his rushing thoughts. "I'm probably going to get one of the larger steaks…rare. I get the mashed potatoes and a salad, they both come with the meal. But I don't know which dressing to choose for the salad… The Caesar salad is good, but it's not really good for you…and I ate a bunch of cookies today-"
"Oh!" The gasp from Seras cut off Anderson and eyes watched the blonde as she cringed and then pouted for a moment, trying to count how many cookies she had eaten that day. She groaned and had to stop counting. "I'm going to have to get a lighter dressing then too. …Oh well. …Darn it Andy-Alex!" The girl scowled playfully at her brother and then her menu. "Why did you have to remind me? Now my brain's trying to add up calories, and it's making me feel fat." She mumbled the last bit, but her mother heard her and smirked.
"You're nothing close to being overweight, dear." The smirk spoke through the list of steaks Integra was roaming through.
Seras mumbled again to thank the woman, but her bubbly mood seemed to have deflated slightly. The girl read the list of seafood dishes quietly.
"Would you be interested in having anything to drink this evening?"
Startled by the sudden appearance, Vlad jerked and his eyes shot to the waitress who was smiling at the table. Bark brown bangs were swept to the side, the rest of her hair tied back in a high pony-tail that trailed to her shoulders. Pale blue eyes touched each of the Andersons' faces and then twitched, recoiling from Vlad's stare. Her smile became plastic, stiffened by the red irises. Her teeth were white and pleasantly straight though, and her face generally seemed to be kind.
Integra ordered a margarita she would sip at and then surrender to her husband later. Seras said that she would just have water. Anderson's finger descended the list of drinks and then tapped on a Sprite he then ordered. The light eyes went to Vlad and the plastic smile curled inward, as if melting before a flame, so that the woman was biting her lips as she waited.
The teen hesitated and looked at his table. He shook his head. "I'll just have water.""Alight." The woman smiled and then focused on her little notepad with the tip of her pen moving down a space. Her smile returned to the occupants of the table. "Are you ready to order?"
"Yes, I'll have…"
Oh no. While Integra made her order and then checked with her husband to learn the specifics of what he wanted to eat, Vlad's eyes darted about over the surface of his menu, a knot wedging itself into his throat. I don't know what to get, and everything is too freaken expensive. I don't have enough money to pay for more than half a meal. Shit… 'Kay, okay, that chicken-Barbie thing is cheaper than the rest of the-
Without him knowing, Seras and Anderson had made their orders and now the waitress was eyeing the delinquent teen stiffly. Integra captured the boy's attention with a question that bleached his mind.
"Do you like steak, Vladimir?"
"Er…" It's not like I can just lie to her… "I guess so," but-
Already well acquainted with Vlad's tendency to reject all forms of generosity, Integra antagonized the boy's anxiety by ordering a steak that was the same size as her son's, causing Vlad to choke on the knot in his throat.
The waitress graced them with a swift departure, sweeping the menus away with her, and Vlad was left paralyzed, frozen with an expression of shock and some horror that shifted itself to Integra's smug smile.
Anderson and Seras soon figured out the reason behind the behavior, but Hans did not understand what was going on. He frowned upon the way this boy was acting after all of the generosity his wife had been showing him…when he deserved none of it…
"Oh, bread!" Seras exaggerated her enthusiasm for the brown club-like loafs, skewered by a large knife, when they were set on the table and glasses of water were passed around. Vlad squinted down at the yellow lemon and green lime slices sitting in his water, wondering why the water was free when it was so fancy looking. Then red blinked when an unexpected small white plate was placed in front of him, a hunk of the dark bread sitting in the center of it with a smear of butter. He looked up and watched as Integra cut a slice for herself and then let her husband cut his own piece. Vlad looked down at the bread again, his stomach gurgling quietly as his eyes widened a bit, hunger surfacing from its dormant state. A pale hand and mouth made quick work of the bread, and Integra supplied the teen with another slice before Vlad could refuse it.
Bread is free, he reminded himself, each time he swallowed a bite.
It was quiet at the table until the salads arrived a few minutes later (no one had ordered soup). Then the munching of leaves commenced.
Vlad munched a few, his developing nervousness seeming to magically steal away the taste of the dressing. In reality, the flavor of the dressing was present, but Vlad was over chewing his lettuce, letting it fall apart in his mouth instead of swallowing. The knot in his throat had grown and become as impassible as a boulder, forbidding the passage of larger quantities of food. The source of the strengthened nervousness was the aged green gaze that frequented Vlad, though the boy kept his face directed downward at his salad and tried to ignore the man…while nervousness also came from his troubled conscience, hating himself for accepting the expensive meal. Slowly, it seemed, a new conversation arrived. However, it being partial to the Andersons and their daily activities, Vlad could not seek to participate and had no hopes of distracting himself to lessen his anxiety. He endured in silence, becoming even quieter than the mute man across from him as Hans joined the conversation with the use of a few signs.
Vlad chewed the same lettuce leaf for a minute and then tried to swallow. He could only manage a few leaves at a time, and never anything as loud and daunting as the hard croutons that might attract attention to himself. Lettuce leaves were vocal for only a few moments before they tamed, ending their complaints to please the jaws that bore down on them relentlessly.
Integra noticed Vlad's silence but decided not to interfere too much, refraining from making the boy join in a discussion if he was not eager to do so on his own. She had dragged him here against his will, so she could at least let the boy eat in peace if he was more comfortable doing so.
Vlad listened to his chewing, catching snippets of the family's conversations.
*~*~::..+..::~*~*
I can't eat anymore and I can't take it with me. Vlad stared at the slab of meat on his plate and the remaining mashed potatoes that had a gaping crater carved into their center. A glance to his left told the teen that Anderson was managing to pack the 'x' number of ounces of steak and potato he had been served, into his stomach. Integra was content with her lamb, Seras with her salmon, and Hans was killing off the rest of his meal, leaving no scraps behind. Vlad gazed down at his plate again, his mouth a frown as he imagined sticking one more bite of food in his mouth and then hurling what he had managed to eat all over the table. Yeah. That would be the best way to thank them for the food. Throw it up, you stupid dumbass. You can't even eat a full freaken steak? You let a dead animal beat you? You stupid worthless pile of-
"Did you enjoy your meal?"
Vlad's head shot up and he found Integra watching him with a neutral expression. He maintained the gaze for a few seconds but then broke it to nod and then grimace with self loathing at how much food he had left on his plate, seemingly wasting the woman's money and kindness.
But I can't eat another bite…
"Did you not like it?" Integra watched as the glare Vlad had been directing to his food twisted into some other emotion that was hard to read as his face noticeably cringed. He looked at her and then away from the table.
"The food was really good…I just can't….eat all of it."
"Then you can take the rest home with you."
But if I bring it back, it'll be obvious… It'll be obvious that I spent the day with you guys…when I'm not supposed to. The teen imagined waving to the car as the Andersons drove away, and then sneaking off to toss the food into a garbage bin. The concept revolted him, again wasting food and kindness… Despicable, even thinking of this…what type of person am I?
Vlad hung his head, unable to come up with a way to convince the woman not to ask the waitress to bring three boxes to pack away the extra food. A tan hand presented the white styrofoam container and Vlad dully accepted it, shoveling in his potatoes and plopping his meat to the side of the mound of mush. He closed up the container and waited for the others to finish.
I don't deserve what these people have done for me. I really don't deserve any of it, not this food, not the clothes, the shoes, even the socks I'm wearing… They gave me all of these things, and what have I ever done to repay them? I make Anderson's parents fight. I plan to throw away the food they spent money on and gave to me. I'm a freaken creep. The biggest, most ungrateful bastard that ever lived…
Vlad shut his eyes when he caught sight of Hans' wallet as the man pulled out a credit card he handed to the waitress along with the bill. When the woman returned the card and receipt, the group stood, Anderson nudging Vlad to inform him of this development, and they filed out of the restaurant.
No form of rain fell from the dark sky, though clouds hung heavy with moisture overhead. In The Fancy-Ass Car, Vlad waited to confront another moment he dreaded, chewing the inside of his mouth, guilt chilling him as heat from his meal seeped into his legs through the styrofoam, dreading the moment Integra would turn around an ask him where he wanted to be dropped off.
Please don't ask for specifics…please just let me get out anywhere, just anywhere. God I'm sorry…you've already done so much for me Chief, but please don't fight me with this. Just let me get out on any street. Just any…
Lights glinted off of the windows and red irises sucked in the light, brightening for flashes of moments as the car drove down a few city blocks where the mixture windows and signs from shops and restaurants brightened the night.
The teen swallowed the knot in his throat with a quiet gulp and opened and closed his hand stiffly. "You…can let me out here."
He heard heads turn, he didn't need to look away from his lap. Integra spoke from the front seat.
"Is this close to where you're staying?"
It's close enough. "Pretty close."
The thrill of relief flooded his nerves as he felt the car gradually slow to a stop and pull off the road, parking next to the sidewalk as the engine continued to run.
Vlad looked up with a half smile, thanked Integra for the dinner, also glancing at Hans to give him part of the thanks, and then said goodbye to the Anderson siblings.
"See you at school."
The pale head nodded at Anderson when the jock said this with a wave of his tan hand. Shutting the door, Vlad backed up, waving while the car entered the street again and slowly distanced itself from him.
He let out his relief in a strangely uplifting sigh, pivoted and strode off with his styrofoam box hidden in his hand.
Jogging up the short span of steps, Vlad reached Jake's door, tried it, and found that it was locked. Knocking a few times brought the giant to the door and he let Vlad in without questioning him, though Vlad had expected him to. As Jake continued to not show any interest in what Vlad had done that day or where he had gotten the food he was putting in the fridge, the teen calmed. Casually, he went to the couch and dropped onto it, allowing the springs to buoy him for a time, even bouncing himself for amusement. Jake was at his computer, an open window on the screen telling Vlad that the giant's thoughts were elsewhere.
The man kept his phone by his ear as he continued whatever conversation he had been having with a girl before Vlad's return.
They had plans to go out somewhere, or so said the website brown eyes scanned.
Vlad frowned, recalling memories of the man's past girlfriends with distaste. Jake was always hooking up with mean girls, always the same ones, and then breaking up again… The last fight had landed Jake in the free clinic at the hospital where he got a few stitches for what he claimed to be an accident that had occurred when he was cooking at home.
But there was no stopping it, and Vlad didn't have the right to step in where he was not wanted. So when Jake shut off his computer and readied to leave, Vlad busied himself with Tinkerbelle and Esmeralda. The rats climbed into his hood as the front door shut, leaving the teen feeling surprisingly isolated and alone.
He already missed the Andersons.