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"Some milk, iced tea...a pitcher of water...I might have some cream soda." He offered, listing off a few offers. "And some juice I think." Some mixed kind he'd thought seemed interesting at the time, and at the least, not so expensive. He wasn't about to offer one of the few beers stuck in the back to get cold. He enjoyed the taste, though he was comparatively picky about what he did and didn't drink. Having spent time where he had, most sour, pale, thin modern brews had as much appeal as tepid water, though by the same token, it took more beer than he had in the fridge to make a notable affect on the man.
"...She sounds like a nice woman." He smiled faintly, a little wistfully. |
The boy piqued instantly at the mention of milk. He'd been raised up well in drinking what was healthy for him. 'May I have some milk, please? Only a little glass?' he asked with utmost politeness in his pose and expression. Indeed, Malachi had manners to him. And his mother was mostly the reason for that.
The mute smiled gently with a sad hint to his gaze as he nodded. 'She was wonderful...and loving and very very pretty and nice.' |
His own mother had been the cradling arms of lightning, and the welcoming whisper and kiss of electricity. Not much like Malachi's, but then he doubted there was much relation between their 'fathers' either. "Certainly." He nodded, standing up and moving across the room to retrieve a glass, then a carton of milk from the refrigerator, less full than one might expect for a man of his mass, and poured some into the glass, watching Malachi with one eye as a hint when to stop.
"How's this?" He offered, after a moment. "So how did you come to live with Desere? What is she like?" |
The boy moved instead to sit facing forwards instead of to the side where Mack had been sitting. He swung his legs from the edge of sofa, plopping his hands into his lap to sit and wait patiently. His eyes were wandering about the room again in furtive curiosity. He blinked and blushed for not having been paying attention when the man spoke. Swallowing he nibbled his bottom lip meekly and craned his head to look and nod. Whatever Mack would've given he would've accepted and never asked for more in any case.
'Thank you,' he replied with a small smile and a complimenting nod as if to confirm it was full enough. The mute then tilt his head with a lift of his brows. He lift one hand and scratched absently at his forehead before shrugging, sitting back. 'Well...when my mother died, I tried to stay in the alley in the boxes like we had been, but they got too wet and full of holes,' he began, showing no shame or embarrassment at the fact he was casually relating of his poor lifestyle. 'So I started to wander about. I was kind of bored too...and lonely.' Here the boy did blush somewhat and look down, though as he kept his expression downturned it became thoughtful as if seeing into the past more than any shyness. 'And when Desre came to town she bought up the old abandoned barn. I think she ran from somewhere or something. She doesn't like her past much, neither. But I tried to wander around and she caught me doing so and let me in. Called me a poor drowned rat and gave me some cookies and let me sit inside where it was warm. So I kept wanting to come in and sit. Least I could listen to other people. So sometimes I get to sleep upstairs from the bar in this little bed of blankets she's got for me.' Basically the boy had been taken in because the woman pitied him. And though he did not always stay there or have too wonderful a connection to the barkeep, she had at least not turned her nose up at the mute "freak". 'Desre....? She's nice. Well, nice to me. She can get kind of snappy at some of the people in the bar, especially if they touch her too much or get too loud. Or if they fall down on the floor snoring.' The boy offered a wry grin as his shoulders bobbed up and down once in a shrug. 'She's not as sweet as my mother was but she pays attention to me sometimes so that is kind of her.' Then he seemed to perk up as he smiled brightly and pointed at his drawing pad. 'She got me that!' |
"Hmm. An uncommon quality, it must have been difficult, in these times, to simply take in a child." He added softly, glad though that someone had. He'd been in a similar place, once a long time ago, when he'd first fled from Victors tender display of fatherly behavior, having seen his fevered creation actually come to life, though he'd had no one in Desere's place. Since he still remembered what he'd found himself capable of, he was very much glad for the boys good fortune. "She doesn't have a bouncer?" He asked, wondering if this wouldn't solve the problem with people putting hands on her. "She does seem nice though. Does she like it when you draw?" He also wondered if the boy had shown her any of his pictures. Did she know about Malachai's visits to the theatre? About Mack himself?
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Malachi's face screwed up. 'Bouncer?' he repeated, obviously confused by the word. 'She doesn't play with balls...' Ah to be young and not understood what one accidently said! But truly the mute did not understand. In truth, the woman did not have a bouncer. There was one man, Kit West, that hung around often trying to shush off foul company but then again he was not always the saint himself. And it was more to try to impress the tendress likely than any act of kindness. Or safety for patrons. Otherwise the spitfire woman simply attempted to lay down the law herself. Something she wasn't always bad at.
'She's pretty nice. Can be mean sometimes but she's usually nice enough to me.' The boy shrugged before blushing and rubbing at his arm. Uhhh....he didn't always show her what he drew. 'Some drawings...sometimes she just pats my head but I don't think she really looks much. She can get busy. But some drawings she likes....' He was rather shy and barely showed anyone his scribbles honestly. |
"A bouncer is someone who works at a bar and makes sure the people who are being trouble are 'bounced' out the door, sometimes with varying degrees of intensity." He pantomimed tossing someone through a door frame, adding a wink to try and give it a comical twist. "They try and keep the peace." He handed Malachai the glass before he forgot it again, and put the container away in the refrigerator. "What's her favorite?" He asked, seeking to understand the relationship between the two.
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The boy's features screwed up as he thought of someone bouncing on their bum out a door. The mental image made him break into boyish--albeit it silent--laughter. The mute put his hands on his belly, face lit up with mirth. He chuckled still as Mack showed off what he meant. Well that made more sense...though he'd call it a "thrower" but hey....
He shook his head side-to-side adamantly. 'No one big enough....but you,' he countered before his face lit up and he pointed at his large friend. 'You could be bouncer!' Malachi's lips pulled back in a huge, gleaming smile. He happily sobered enough to take the milk, sipping from it before blinking at the switch of subjects. The boy leaned forward carefully to set the cup down before asking. 'Favorite drawing?' He paused and blinked again, pursing his lips. Malachi shrugged and began shuffling through the ruins that had been his sketch pad, trying to right the pages and put them back into some sort of order. Then he pulled out a couple and sat back once more, handing them to Mack. One was simply of random figures and half-gestured table. 'She said that was really good. But she likes these....' The next had some attempts at flowers. |
Mack was reasonably certain that there were others large enough in the world to eject most people, though few enough that would, without help, have been able to eject him, personally. "It is very good, and so are the flowers. I think perhaps I wouldn't be surprised if she buys you things to draw with for more reasons than to keep you out of the way. Perhaps she's not your mother, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love you in her own way."
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Malachi shrugged with a sobered expression. 'I think she likes me and I like her nice enough.' He was not sad that Desre did not love him. She wasn't his mother and he didn't love her like that. He found her more as one of the only friends he felt he somewhat had. And when she wasn't too busy she did protect him and fuss over him at times which was nice. But it was ok if she was also annoyed by him at times too. He was used to it. The mute took no offense that she did not adopt him, so to speak.
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Mack might have argued, had he known the childs mind, that it was a child's perogative to assume that they were not truly loved by their parents, especially with the culture of fairy tales and animated movies that preached on the evils of parents or adoptive figures, but it was beside the point.
"You may change your mind in the future." He suggested, with a faint smile. She'd certainly taken care this far that the state hadn't snatched him up, an action of goodwill that had destroyed more gentle souls than it had healed, leaving children in limbo while people who wanted to care for them dived through mountains of paperwork intended to, but incapable of, preventing the children from coming to harm. In the world as it stood, it seemed that only the truly evil could navigate the red waters of bureaucracy without harm. "But at least you are content?" He suggested. He was gripped again by the desire to actually unburden himself to the boy, to speak to someone in earnest for a change instead of lying, making up names, and histories, but it seemed cruel to use the boy's youth as a defense, since no one would believe him if he told, and he would feel better if he knew that a secret could be kept close, if only among a few. Small groups of conspirators who had over time helped make him feel welcomed in the world, not as what he pretended to be but what he was. |
Malachi shrugged. He didn't argue against the fact. 'No one will ever be my mom again but I like her....' was all he offered. He could maybe see feeling like Desre was something of a big sister sometime. She was like a friend now and as such he liked her fair enough. The mute saw nothing against accepting her into his heart as a guardian. She'd never been cruel to him outright. And far better than most. Like this strange fellow here.
He blinked and pursed his lips at the word content. The boy took up the milk again nursing at it for a few moments as if trying to truly think on his response. He was not too hard to please, in most respects. Malachi was very humble. At last he set down the glass, with a little white mustache, and looked over to the big man as he licked at his lips. 'I like it more that you've come here....' he admit with that adorable little meek grin. |
"I doubt it's her intention to take your mothers place, but then, love is a complicated animal. I've had a while to see as much." He teased slightly, though the last admition made him smile again. "...I'm glad." He noted, though he had to keep his eyes from straying to the book on the high shelf. The primary reminder of why he never stayed in one place forever, since like him, it seemed such a fixed thing, unchanging. Maybe one day he would destroy it, to keep it's secrets from ever being recreated, at least not based on his 'fathers' notes. But still, in spite of all that had gone on between them, he had trouble parting with it, in spite of the dangers it presented.
"I'll be here as long as I can." |
lookin' super awesome once again hun!!! ;)
Malachi's features screwed up as if he were being told some silly fairy tale he knew to be nothing but an adult hoax. 'Love is not an animal...it's a feeling,' he corrected Mack with a smile of pride. The boy inclined his head and sat tall, shoulders squared, as if cocky in the fact he'd seen through the older male's words. But his assured expression turned sly and curious at the continued statement. The mute tilt his head, narrowing his eyes slightly. 'You're in love?' he asked. For all of Malachi's confidence he'd understood his companion, the boy obviously hadn't quite. He thought perhaps the reason Mack mentioned some inner knowledge on the subject was that the man was in love--or had been--himself, not anything to do with his age--or agelessness. The mute offered a shy grin hearing the words "I'm glad." He still didn't know why he liked this big guy so much but they definitely had a connection and understanding. And Malachi was beginning to realize he had nothing to fear from Mack. His grin disappeared all together with a desperate worry instead replacing it. 'As you can?' the boy parroted, concern on his round features. 'Why?! Do you have to leave soon?' His little fingers rushed through the words in anxiety. |
"Not soon, but someday I'll move on." Mack's expression turned serious, to show the unshakable nature of this decision. "It could be years from now, it all depends. So don't worry about it for now." He assured, raising both eyebrows and giving a teasing smile. "I just probably won't be in town for the day you finally fall in love and get married. It's an very large world and there are many places in it I'd still like to go." And still would have to go to, to escape the tightening net of trails and tracking. They'd catch up to him someday, someone who realized he had no right to exist, but not yet. And when it happened he wanted to be no where near anyone he cared about, because he -would- fight. He would use the terrible strength imbued in him by his maker.
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Malachi's little chest rose and fell in suddenly frantic breaths at the notion as he gawked at the bigger male. Mack's words about it possibly being years before he would leave only did so much to calm the mute. His brows pinched over worried eyes. 'But why? Depends on what?' he signed quickly, large brown optics flicking back and forth in their sockets as if perhaps he might read the answer on the behemoth's face. He was too focused to really care much about the idea of the joke about his possible marriage. After all the boy was still in a stage of feeling girls his own age had cooties....if any had ever been around to even befriend let alone crush on, in any case.
Malachi could not understand Mack's need to never settle too long anywhere. He did not know the true depth of all the other male's secrets. All he heard was a profession that a new-found friend would someday leave him....and he didn't like that idea at all. 'Maybe when you go I could go too? I've never been anywhere but here....I could maybe try to help....' he offered, anything just to know that he wasn't investing in heartbreak. |
"If you're old enough." He agreed, though he doubted it would come to that. At the time Malachai was old enough to come with him, he'd also be old enough to question things if they hadn't yet been explained, and the secret would be harder to keep, if shared. "But that's a long way off." He leaned forward to tousle Malachai's hair softly, trying to reassure him again. "Besides, there are a lot of things to do here between now and then. And I have to decide weather or not to share some secrets." That might distract him. Didn't children love secrets? Or love to hate them, as the case may be.
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The mute's lips turned down into a pouting frown of frustration. The helpless childish fuss at being told one was not old enough for one thing or another. He sighed silently, crossing his arms over his breast with a disgruntled expression. But at least some of the fear disappeared from his round features.
Malachi wobbled back and forth from the hair-touseling. His messy brown locks stuck all about at strange angles as he didn't bother attempting to fix them. The boy did blink at the mention of secrets. His full lips twitched about before he disentangled his hands from his sides to sign in a "quiet" and somewhat meek manner. 'I'm good at keeping secrets. Can't talk anyways so no one can hear me and not many understand my talk,' he offered with a little shrug. |
"mm. I know you are. But Secrets are one of the heaviest things in the world. And they forever want to escape. They're forever whispering in your ear "Maybe if I just.... perhaps I should..." He pantomimed mouths with his hands to whisper close to an ear. "And if I tell you such a secret, I want to know that you're ready for such a thing." He glanced at the wooden statue again. "He knew. And a woman named Mary knew, but she did tell others, but there were things beyond her control..." Laudium mostly. She had been an incredible woman, and a beauty, but she'd never gotten over the death of her husband, and had never taken another.
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Malachi just pursed his lips and gave Mack a very childishly skeptical expression. 'I hear if you hear voices in your head it's not a good thing,' he teased with an impish snicker. The boy then shrugged, trying not to pout. His frustration and curiosity mingled to multiply on themselves the more he was told "no" just as any kid was wont to do. But he respected Mack enough--and had enough manners--not to press any further.
'I'm a good boy. I don't lie or cheat or be bad. I try to be very good,' was all he persisted before shrugged again and finished drinking his milk and wiped one hand across his mouth, offering out the cup with the other. He'd wash it if the big man wanted him too, and showed him where to, but otherwise he was accustomed to just handing things back over. Desre only made him wash cups and glasses sometimes. Other times she worried he'd break something. Just another adult that questioned his maturity. And for his own safety. Whether the mute knew it or not. [[ooc: alright...gonna be off for like a week and a half or so....so hopefully see ya when I get back!!! love ya! *huggle*]] |
"I know, you're a very good boy, but it's a very big secret." He pointed out, ruffling Malachi's hair. "Bigger than I am." he winked for emphasis, spreading his hands to show how big. "It would be like...knowing that there was such thing as, say, the wolf man, but not being able to tell anyone. That kind of big."
He shouldn't have mentioned it maybe, Malachi was a dogged little soul and he was now going to have trouble backing away from the issue. |
Mack's actions actually managed to at last work to his benefit. The boy's skeptical expression took on a more bemused look. He gave the large man a sly look as he explained how big the secret was. A little silent chuckle escaped the mute. He snorted and shook his head slightly. The boy's small shoulders bounced up and down in quiet laughter. For talking about such a supposedly important and serious thing, Mack was acting awefully silly.
Malachi gave a little shake of his head as if to set his hair back into place. The boy reached up one hand to haphazardly paw at it. Before his expression fell back into that "you're playing with me again" look for Mack's continued words. And then his large, brown eyes lit up all the sudden as if in revelation. 'But wouldn't that be like the boy that cried wolf then?' the mute asked. 'My mother told me about that story and about how all the people didn't believe him then...' |
"Perhaps, but if you did tell, even by accident, and they did believe you... I would be very upset, and I would leave at once." He promised, his expression growing serious. "I shouldn't have mentioned it, but I want you to know how very important it is to me."
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Malachi's humor and even teasing intrigue seemed to drop instantly. His face fell as if Mack had outright slapped him. The mute slumped back, appearing almost to fall back into his shy fearfulness of the big man with all his apprehension returned.
The boy put his hands in his lap, staring at them for a long several moments. At long last Malachi sighed heavily, lips twitching. 'I don't want to make you mad...or make you leave....' he signed meekly. |
Mack moved over and kneeled down near the boy, so that he could put both hands on the boys tiny shoulders gently.
"I know you don't. I know." He promised. "But if you're going to ask me to tell you, no matter when, you have the right to know how important it is to me." |
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