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perfectworrytitle: Big Apple Adventures
verse: Cactus Flower (Jazz Remix)
community:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
writerverse
prompt: Phase #6: Challenge #06: Picture Prompt
word count: 691
rating: G
summary: Kristopher tells his father about the people he met in New York City: a real life pirate, a crooked cop, and a movie star. He has something to say about their relationships, too.
Kristopher threw himself on his bed still fully clothed. He rolled over on the blankets with his arms spread wide and heaved a deep sigh.
"Smells like home," he breathed, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"You were comfortable in New York, I hope," said Glory, looking severe. His strict expression melted when he saw his son sprawled across the bed. He placed Kristopher's suitcase down by the dresser and sat beside him, having dismissed the maid and bidding her to return later so that he might talk more with his son.
"Oh, yes," said Kristopher. He pulled himself back upright so that he sat cross-legged beside his father, hugging his stuffed dog in his lap. "Ms Scarlett's house is very nice."
"So you didn't stay with my miscreant niece?"
Kristopher shook his head. "She said her place was no good for a kid like me and there wasn't any space, so we stayed with Ms Scarlett and her mother and father. Mr and Mrs Scarlett are very kind, Glory. They let me eat pancakes," he added. "Every day."
"You'll rot your teeth," said Glory, but without any real disapproval.
Kristopher grinned wolfishly, showing off his teeth. "And I ate candy floss," he said. He stuck out his tongue before continuing, "and it was tasty. I wanted to bring you some, but Mariel said it would go all sticky. So I ate it."
This, Glory could tell, was the part of the sort that Kristopher most wanted to tell. He had chattered incessantly from the time Glory met him at the train in South Station, through the taxi ride to their Commonwealth Avenue apartments, and now here in his bedroom. Glory had the impression that Kristopher had been saving this part for last.
So he let Kristopher lean against him and tell this part of his Big Apple adventure in earnest.
"I got it when Mariel and Ms Scarlett took me to Coney Island and it was the bee's knees," Kristopher said, emphatically. He wiggled at the mere memory of it. "Ms Scarlett is so beautiful, you know. I think she must be a movie star."
"What sort of films, I wonder," asked Glory, but Kristopher didn't hear his sardonic tone and continued onwards in his retelling.
"And her friend Mr Licht is a cop, but Mariel says he's crookeder than a Boston alleyway, and his friend Mr Kotobuki is a pirate, but Mariel says he's just a skank." Kristopher stopped here to draw a breath, and then leaped suddenly from his bed to strike a heroic pose. "I know he's a pirate, because he has an eyepatch and everything. He lost his eye in a fight with the pirate king, he told me himself."
"What was his name, again?" asked Glory, looking up sharply. He read the papers; a name like Kotobuki, you didn't hear every day, and Mariel had told him she needed to store Aya safely away before a mob bust got out of hand.
"The pirate king?" asked Kristopher. "King Pirate, I s'ppose."
"Suppose," Glory corrected him. "Mariel's friend, the pirate. You said his name was Kotobuki?"
"Mr Kotobuki," agreed Kristopher. "He's a real life pirate, Glory, like yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum, but that's illegal. I guess that's why he's a pirate."
Glory raised an eyebrow and made a mental note to phone Mariel or write, or both, regarding her choice of friends and her decision to introduce them to his ten-year-old son.
"I think Mr Kotobuki and Mr Licht are in love," added Kristopher. He gave a thoughtful hum, which spared Glory a moment to collect himself from this sudden pronouncement. Before Glory could respond, Kristopher added, "We should move to New York and you can live with Nat."
Glory nearly choked. Nat, Nicolaos Tevendale, was Glory's secret, or he was supposed to be. How Kristopher had found out about their affair, Glory didn't know, but he decided to wait to ask and let Kristopher's stories wash over him, as his son was clearly more concerned about popcorn and the carousel on Coney Island than his father's dalliances.
verse: Cactus Flower (Jazz Remix)
community:
writerverse prompt: Phase #6: Challenge #06: Picture Prompt
word count: 691
rating: G
summary: Kristopher tells his father about the people he met in New York City: a real life pirate, a crooked cop, and a movie star. He has something to say about their relationships, too.
Kristopher threw himself on his bed still fully clothed. He rolled over on the blankets with his arms spread wide and heaved a deep sigh.
"Smells like home," he breathed, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"You were comfortable in New York, I hope," said Glory, looking severe. His strict expression melted when he saw his son sprawled across the bed. He placed Kristopher's suitcase down by the dresser and sat beside him, having dismissed the maid and bidding her to return later so that he might talk more with his son.
"Oh, yes," said Kristopher. He pulled himself back upright so that he sat cross-legged beside his father, hugging his stuffed dog in his lap. "Ms Scarlett's house is very nice."
"So you didn't stay with my miscreant niece?"
Kristopher shook his head. "She said her place was no good for a kid like me and there wasn't any space, so we stayed with Ms Scarlett and her mother and father. Mr and Mrs Scarlett are very kind, Glory. They let me eat pancakes," he added. "Every day."
"You'll rot your teeth," said Glory, but without any real disapproval.
Kristopher grinned wolfishly, showing off his teeth. "And I ate candy floss," he said. He stuck out his tongue before continuing, "and it was tasty. I wanted to bring you some, but Mariel said it would go all sticky. So I ate it."
This, Glory could tell, was the part of the sort that Kristopher most wanted to tell. He had chattered incessantly from the time Glory met him at the train in South Station, through the taxi ride to their Commonwealth Avenue apartments, and now here in his bedroom. Glory had the impression that Kristopher had been saving this part for last.
So he let Kristopher lean against him and tell this part of his Big Apple adventure in earnest.
"I got it when Mariel and Ms Scarlett took me to Coney Island and it was the bee's knees," Kristopher said, emphatically. He wiggled at the mere memory of it. "Ms Scarlett is so beautiful, you know. I think she must be a movie star."
"What sort of films, I wonder," asked Glory, but Kristopher didn't hear his sardonic tone and continued onwards in his retelling.
"And her friend Mr Licht is a cop, but Mariel says he's crookeder than a Boston alleyway, and his friend Mr Kotobuki is a pirate, but Mariel says he's just a skank." Kristopher stopped here to draw a breath, and then leaped suddenly from his bed to strike a heroic pose. "I know he's a pirate, because he has an eyepatch and everything. He lost his eye in a fight with the pirate king, he told me himself."
"What was his name, again?" asked Glory, looking up sharply. He read the papers; a name like Kotobuki, you didn't hear every day, and Mariel had told him she needed to store Aya safely away before a mob bust got out of hand.
"The pirate king?" asked Kristopher. "King Pirate, I s'ppose."
"Suppose," Glory corrected him. "Mariel's friend, the pirate. You said his name was Kotobuki?"
"Mr Kotobuki," agreed Kristopher. "He's a real life pirate, Glory, like yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum, but that's illegal. I guess that's why he's a pirate."
Glory raised an eyebrow and made a mental note to phone Mariel or write, or both, regarding her choice of friends and her decision to introduce them to his ten-year-old son.
"I think Mr Kotobuki and Mr Licht are in love," added Kristopher. He gave a thoughtful hum, which spared Glory a moment to collect himself from this sudden pronouncement. Before Glory could respond, Kristopher added, "We should move to New York and you can live with Nat."
Glory nearly choked. Nat, Nicolaos Tevendale, was Glory's secret, or he was supposed to be. How Kristopher had found out about their affair, Glory didn't know, but he decided to wait to ask and let Kristopher's stories wash over him, as his son was clearly more concerned about popcorn and the carousel on Coney Island than his father's dalliances.
