|
|
Post by Bee on Jul 6, 2009 21:14:34 GMT -5
This nutty woman apparently had little faith in his father's competence (in multiple areas, even), but though she seemed a little mad and entirely uninterested in even hearing Zeki's name, Zeki almost wanted to come back to her later without his father to get an outsider's opinion on the whole deal. Maybe she had fun stories to tell. Or knew dark secrets. Zeki had no plans to do anything with the knowledge, unless his father was a serial killer or something; he just wanted to know more about his dad and see how he stood in the community.
And maybe make friends, even if it was just with a laughing shop owner. He didn't like being places where he didn't know anyone. It made him feel small.
He didn't want to ruin his banana nut bread mood with downer thoughts, though, so he pushed them aside and headed out the door, and trusted Rocky not to lose him in the market.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kari Muffin on Jul 8, 2009 20:31:24 GMT -5
The market was a stressful experience. Plenty of people hurrying about and nearly running into the raccoon. He couldn't help but wonder why people were so pushy. Honestly he just wanted to get food, and it's not like the market was running out of food.
He made sure to keep his eyes on the young boy so he wouldn't lose him. That would be a complete and utter disaster.
And when everything was said and done he gave Zeki a few groceries to hold. He had quite a bit to carry on his own, and he hadn't thought of bringing a backpack or anything alone with him. "All right. Let's stop by Loreta's before going home. I'm sure she'll have the recipe and a few other things to give me... then we can get home and I'll start baking if you're not too tired."
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Sept 7, 2009 18:06:26 GMT -5
Zeki carried his load dutifully. His centaur-like body--now he knew where he got it from, ha ha! Supplied by his clone-father--had always been the envy of other children who wished they could carry things as effectively as he could. He was like walking incentive to achieve a bipedal form. Free arms were incredible.
Though things were beginning a feel a little heavy. No matter. They would be home soon, and he would lose himself in banana nut bread goodness. And he would even get to see this Laughing Loreta woman again beforehand, and begin planning his intel-gathering operation. Everything goes according to plan.
"Sounds good to me," he said, and then added, proudly, "I'm never tired!"
If he had thought about that statement at all he would have known it for a lie, but he had energy right at this second, which meant that he had energy always, as far as he was concerned.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 7, 2009 18:55:05 GMT -5
Rocky couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe having a son was going to be fun? He still wasn't sure about this whole parenthood thing. It seemed really difficult.
When they arrived Loreta was waiting for them. She had two rather large packages wrapped in cloth. And a smaller one on top of them. When Rocky gave her the questioning look she beckoned them both over.
In truth she had been bored. Today was a slow day, and the only customers she had were upstairs sleeping. So she had gone out of her way to alleviate the boredom by baking some banana bread and dinner for the pair of them. She thrust it in Rocky's hands and shrugged. "I figured you would need proper food for 'im since you can't cook to save your life. It should be enough for the both of you with the extra box. And the other big one is banana bread, with a few recipes attached."
Rocky was more than a little stunned. "T-thank you!" he said cheerfully.
Loreta gave him a rather sour look before pointing to the door.
"Right, getting out!" He said just as cheerfully. "Thank Loreta before we go, Zeki!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Sept 7, 2009 19:36:36 GMT -5
Zeki was unable to gather from the short exchange whether this woman was a wonderfully kind person who had a golden heart wrapped in a layer of antisocial smog, or a tar-hearted person who was merely doing something kind as part of a larger, more sinister ploy, but he was inclined to believe the former, owing to childlike optimism and his own feverish desire for future companionship.
He dutifully thanked the woman who had prevented him from potentially starving to death.
Though a prepared meal--and apparently the bread?--took all the fun out of making it themselves, no matter how much potential for disaster lurked in a kitchen with two novice cooks. He would just have to scout the recipes and get Dad to make something else.
He made his way out with Rocky, calling merrily back, "Bye, ma'am! We'll be back, don't worry!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 7, 2009 19:57:07 GMT -5
Loreta gave a small wave goodbye to the young man. He was kind of cute. Really did take after his Dad. Hopefully he at least had a little more sense than the man. She was still fairly shocked that he had manage to have sex with someone.
Whatever. Loreta brushed it off as she went back to doing nothing.
Rocky was thrilled. Utterly. And he was cheerful the entire short way home. Humming the entire time he put away the groceries and the bread that Loreta given them. He was still deathly curious as to what Loreta had so kindly provided them with. The raccoon encouraged Zeki to help him, and when they were done they would sit down and eat whatever the heron had provided.
And hopefully it would still be warm. Loreta had used those wonderful heating trays he and managed to snag for her at the market. Hopefully she hadn't skimped.
He pulled the only plates that were clean out of the cupboard and set them up for Zeki and himself. When the package was opened it would reveal steaming hot beef stroganoff. Quite a bit of it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Sept 7, 2009 21:29:21 GMT -5
Zeki made a squeak of delight. This was even better than grilled cheese! Meat appealed to his stomach in a very special way, perhaps because his body was screaming for protein. He happily dug in. He would definitely have to go back to Loreta and thank her again.
The only thing that was left to consume was a comforting bit of banana nut bread. Though...he really did feel like making food would be a good...bonding experience. He eyed the recipes Loreta had furnished him with.
"You should make a cake with me," he said, decisively, after swallowing the last bite of strogonoff on his plate. "The most terrible, inedible cake ever. Then we can feed it to wild banders and tame them into becoming our pets."
This sounded like a fantastic idea. Except that suddenly his energy was gone, and his whole body felt heavy and soft. Where did it go? The food probably ate it. He never wanted to do anything after dinner. He pushed his plate away and yawned. "Or we can stare at the wall. Hmm. The wall..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 7, 2009 21:46:49 GMT -5
Rocky chuckled. Zeki really was filled with quite a bit of energy. And he had such lovely ideas. The raccoon watched as his son seemed to suddenly droop. Oh eating large meals did tend to take energy out of people.
He smiled. "We can bake the awful cake after breakfast tomorrow. We'll have plenty of time then." The raccoon glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was getting pretty late anyway. And he had a few experiments he was supposed to do before a client arrived in a couple of days. Surely they would understand the circumstances, but he didn't enjoy making people wait. If he did that would ruin his reputation.
"Would you like to take a nap?" He asked as he motioned towards the hallway. "I can at least show you your bedroom if you like."
Considering Rocky rarely bothered to climb the stairs of the attic, Zeki could take his bedroom. He would just sleep on the cot or sofa like he normally did.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Sept 7, 2009 22:08:58 GMT -5
As much as Zeki hated to call it quits on food and fun times, he was afraid he wasn't going to accomplish very much before falling asleep face-first in a bowl of cake batter. He'd had a long day, he rationalized. Met a dad. Went shopping. Ate. It was okay to feel a little tired, as much as he damned his eyes for feeling blurry and fat.
They had all the time in the world to make cake. He suspected he was gonna be here until Mama (beloved abandoner, he missed her) came back for him, or he went looking for her. He decided he was okay here for the moment. The dad was nice.
He stretched and got to his feet. On a whim, he snagged a piece of nut bread, and nibbled it. Loreta made good treats. Another thing to thank her for. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Dad."
|
|
|
|
Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 7, 2009 22:31:59 GMT -5
Rocky gave the boy a grin. Well, he seemed to have a healthy appetite. Another thing that made them similar beyond their looks. Of course it was hard, sometimes, to get past how much the boy looked like him. It hadn't even been a full day, so of course he was still adjusting.
But he couldn't help but wonder why Ataxia hadn't told him....
Shrugging it off he lead the way to the bed room. At the end of the hallway he pulled down a set of stairs from the ceiling. The attic had always been the only place to put the bed room in this tiny house. Of course Zeki was still fairly small so he wouldn't have trouble going up and down the stairs and sleeping up there. Rocky had, since he had magically received extra appendages, had to use his animal form to climb up those stairs.
"Ah, sorry it's not much." He said motioning for the boy to go first.
|
|
