eek, monsters

[pandion]

Time goes by. Trouble keeps right on bringing desserts (and once a quiche and once a loaf of bread with nuts in it). The Swans are uncomplaining. On Christmas Eve he brings two kinds of cookies and an astonishingly edible fruitcake and stays overnight on the couch. (Andi, self-servingly, got him a little box of assorted Genuine Maple Products. Bella got him an inexpensive yet adorable miniature sewing machine.) Robin comes over too, Christmas day (Andi gives her a packet of guitar strings and sheet music for assorted Green Day songs. Bella gets her a tiny tape recorder.)

School is back in session in January, after New Year's. (The twins set off small fireworks in the driveway - well, Andi does. Robin is invited to this event; Trouble is not, it somehow does not seem wise.)

Now it is the first weekend after the resumption of school.

Robin's supposed to be over any minute for practice for Nameless Band Which Kind Of Needs A Third Person But Bella Doesn't Want To. Andi taps out beats on her drums. Taptaptap. Taptaptap-kish. Taptaptap. Taptaptapkish.

Comments

[aeskhyne]

Trouble grins back.

[hold_infinity]

Robin laughs. "Don't even think it, lads."

[instar]

"Do I want to know?"

[hold_infinity]

"No," says Robin.

She collects Ethan, and off they trot.

[instar]

Bella puts the sheets on the couch. She makes a gesture at her sister, who glances between Bella and Trouble, then scurries upstairs.

Bella sits.

"No eavesdropping ears," she murmurs to Trouble.

[aeskhyne]

"You wanna grill me about Reggie? Go ahead," he says. "He's basically a professional rich person."

[instar]

"...Professional rich person? Old money?"

[aeskhyne]

"Yeah. You know, if you start out with a big enough pile you can live pretty well just on what it sweats while it's sitting there."

[instar]

"I know that. Just confirming that it was inherited and he wasn't, like, an early retiree from a startup or something."

[aeskhyne]

"Yeah, nope," says Trouble. "I mean, he does stuff. I don't really pay attention. But I wouldn't say he has a job."

[instar]

"Has his behavior changed since he joined up with the Sharing?"

[aeskhyne]

"Yeah," says Trouble. "Like, he started putting me in the hospital a lot more often."

[instar]

"...That is a weird change for a pod person to make. Can you be - er, as much more specific as you think I mean when I say that?"

[aeskhyne]

He laughs softly. "Yeah. It's like... it's like most of the time, he barely notices me, and then when it's time to play he's on me like a starving dog. It wasn't that way at all, before. Used to be more - even. Now it's like he's got a couple hours here and there and the rest of the time God is looking over his shoulder and he has to act like nothing's up."

[instar]

Bella shudders.

[aeskhyne]

"You okay?"

[instar]

"I'm worried about you."

[aeskhyne]

He grins. "Aww."

[instar]

"I'm trying to figure out if this is evidence for or against the pod person theory."

[aeskhyne]

"It does kind of seem like... I don't know. Like he's someone else, most of the time, and every so often he pops the cork and lets out the old Reggie."

[instar]

"And this dates to when relative to when he started membership in the Sharing?"

[aeskhyne]

"Yeah. Like, I don't know exactly when he signed up, but it was about the same time."

[instar]

"Who does he seem like when he's being someone else?"

[aeskhyne]

"Like he kind of doesn't give a shit about anything in the house, he's just there killing time and pretending to be Reggie until he can get back to what matters," says Trouble. "Reggie was never like that. I mean, you know, he didn't have great interests, but he had interests. I figured... I don't know what the hell I figured. But it makes too much sense now that I've thought of it. There's Reggie and then there's Fake Reggie."

[instar]

"And what matters is - not transparent to you, whatever it is?"