Outside Luke's, Saturday afternoon

[vdistinctive]

After spending much of the morning flinging himself full speed up and down the stairs around the island with Val leaping after him frantically to keep up/probably yelling at him to be more careful, Eliot decided it was time to spend some time relaxing.

So he picked an awning he rather liked, shoved a battered copy of meta for Treasure Island down the back of his pants, and climbed up on one of the outdoor tables to get into reach of one of the supports.

He loved reading. He especially liked to do so in extremely awkward and hard to get to places. They made it way harder for Gertie to come bug him and get him in trouble for not playing with her.

He lost his grip trying to swing his legs up around the support beam, and barely managed to break his fall by grabbing onto one of the closed umbrellas leaning against the wall. Momentum carried him and the umbrella down to the cobblestones with a thud, and he lay there for a moment staring up at the awning.

"Ow."

Then he grinned, jumped back up, and tried it again.

[open!]

Comments

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Grown ups are crazy," was Parker's fierce opinion. "They do stuff and then tell you not to do the same stuff! How is that fair?" She snorted, and then said, "What kinda family do you want to get?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"A nice one," Alec said immediately. "One that don't live in the projects and where I could have a room of my own. An' maybe a computer." He rubbed his eyes. "An' maybe some glasses," he mumbled, because glasses weren't cool, even if you needed them. "How 'bout you?"

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Iunno," Parker said, repeating what he'd said earlier. "...I want a puppy." She shrugged, tugging on one of her sleeves. "And they don't care what I eat for breakfast." Her lips tugged down. "But that's not gonna happen. I'm nine. Not a baby. And they said I'm dysfunctional. Nobody wants a dysfunctional girl who steals things and sleeps with a stuffed bunny." So there, Alec. So there. See? She wasn't ever getting her hopes up.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"I'm eight," Alec said. "An' at least you know why no one wants you. I just...ain't. Y'know. Wanted. I musta did somethin' wrong, but I don't know what yet."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"'Cause they're stupid," Parker said grimly. "You're smart and nice and good. And normal. IF they don't want you, they just want a baby, and I don't even know why anyone would want a baby. They just scream."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Cause then they can pretend it's theirs," Alec said. "Lotsa people don't like that my mom's alive. They say she can come back an' claim me at anytime, so it's dumb to get attached." He looked very glum for a minute. "She ain't though. So that's stupid, too."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"It's all stupid." Parker had given up on the system pretty damn early, really. "My mom's alive too. But she drinks a lot. And they said she's not fit. I don't know why she has to be fit, I can take care of myself. Nine isn't little." She scowled, then shrugged. "I like this place better."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"My mom's on drugs," Alec said, more interested in having another connection with Parker than upset about what had been a constant in his life. "Or in jail. Even if she wanted me back, the state ain't gonna gimme back without a fight, so it ain't a big deal anyway."

Why did family have to be so complicated anyway.

"I like it, too. No big kids comin' to take stuff, no gunshots, nothin'! It's so quiet!"

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"No traffic," Parker agreed, nodding hard. "No grown-ups yelling. Did you go down to the diner yet? They have really good food." She paused, and asked, curious, "Do you have a dad? I don't."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"No dad," Alec agreed. "The mom in my last family said that my birth certificate if blank there. She said that means I'm a bastard, so I had to work extra hard for salvation."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"My mom called my dad a bastard sometimes," Parker said, frowning. "What's salvation?" Parker's religion was pretty much Godless Heathen.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Goin' to heaven," Alec explained promptly. "You gotta accept Jesus as your lord an' savior an' do good works an' live a righteous life an' then when you die, you go to heaven to be with Jesus an' all the little baby angels."