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Poor story. It so badly wants to have a plot. It just doesn't seem to realize that that's not my strong point. >_>;;
A Salamander's Tale
Alec tried not to let his nerves get the best of him as he arranged the roses as the last customer had requested. The store was warm and smelled as if a garden had exploded somewhere in the vicinity. Displays lined the windows and specialty baskets sat on wooden display shelves. It was clean, and obviously well cared for, but there weren’t the usual excessive ribbons or lace or items of a kitschy, cutesy nature. It was the only flower shop that Alec had ever been in that had seemed so…male.
His boss, Craig, was looking over at him from across the room, a thoughtful expression on his face.
It was the expression that was giving Alec concern. What he wanted most was to just be forgotten. By his boss, by the kids at school, by his foster father. Everyone.
A sylph landed lightly on the back of his hand to get a better look at the roses, and he had to resist the urge to shake it away. If Lehman figured out that they were popping up once he was outside of the influence of the house, the man would crack down completely. Although, this sylph was no where near as active as it could have been. They used to buzz around Alec like little butterflies on acid when he was a kid. Now, the only hummed a little and most had abandoned him completely. There were two or three that stubbornly stuck around when they weren’t being coerced into acting. This sylph in particular seemed to sense his apprehensiveness, though, as it sluggishly turned to look at him before winking out of existence.
“How’s it going?”
Craig’s voice about made him leap out of his skin. “F-fine.” Sure, fine. Lovely, except for the part where his voice went through a three octave change in one syllable.
“Did you see something?” Craig’s voice was deceptively calm and curious, but Alec was no idiot. He hated to be the one to break it to his new boss, but he’d already been lured in by dumb lines like that, and he was already firmly in someone else’s clutches. If Craig wanted to bind his power and drain him dry for his own purposes, he was far too late.
“See what?” He blinked with his best look of innocence as he glanced up. There was an undine chattering at him angrily from Craig’s shoulder, but Alec made himself not look at the tiny creature.
“Nevermind.” Craig sighed. “Look, I’m heading next door for a little bit, do you think you’ll be all right for an hour or so?”
Glancing down at his watch, Alec noted it was only six. It was dark outside, but only because winter was fast approaching. Besides that, if anything, he’d appreciate the time to himself and out from under the watchful eyes of dishonest adults.
Not that Craig seemed like a bad guy, but he was an elemental.
And they just couldn’t be trusted. At any cost.
“Sure,” he smiled softly. “I’ll be fine.”
~***~
“I’m your son,” the little punk announced seconds after Rick had opened the door. Sizing him up, Rick was sure the kid could take him in a physical fight. He was taller than Rick by at least a good five inches, which was sad considering the kid couldn’t be anymore than fifteen or sixteen. He probably would have looked just like any other kid out there, but he’d chosen to dye his hair a bright blue and put three rings in his left nostril.
“You have proof?” Rick asked nonchalantly, leaning on his doorframe. Even with his surly attitude, black clothing and the choker of silver skulls around his throat, he still could have passed for a normal, if obnoxious, teenager if it weren’t for the barely disguised red flashes in his eyes.
It was the only thing that indicated that the kid might be nervous. Or that he was capable of magic.
In all actuality, it was probably a mutual magical attraction that had brought the kid to his doorstep. Of course, now that he was here, Rick actually had to do something about him. Given the eye flashes and the fidgeting, Rick suspected the kid was untrained.
“I got this,” the kid handed him a paper. It was a birth certificate. Maybe even the kid’s. “You gonna invite me in, or are you gonna make me stand out here?”
The certificate was clean, but it didn’t prove much. “And your name is Nathaniel?”
“Nate,” the kid muttered, sullenly.
“Nate,” Rick corrected himself, trying not to grin at the kid’s indifferent shrug. “I suppose you can come in, and we can sit at the kitchen table and discuss why it is that you think that I’m your father.”
“Your name’s on the paper, ain’t it?”
“Isn’t it,” he corrected absently, stepping aside as he studied the sheet and waved the kid inside. The kid eyed him warily for a few seconds before shoving his hands in his baggy black pants and slinking up the steps. When he reached the doorway, Rick clapped a hand on his shoulder to lead him into the house.
The resulting magical surge was enough to knock Rick back off the porch, down the step and leave him groaning on the sidewalk. “Ow.”
“Sorry. Don’t like being touched,” the kid muttered, but it almost all came out as one word. He ambled down the steps a lot quicker than he’d gone up them, and offered a hand to help Rick up. Gingerly, Rick accepted it. “Sometimes I hit harder than I think I’m going to.”
“Hit?”
“It’s reflex. It just happens, okay? I punch before I think about it. Sometimes it’s even over before I remember balling up my fist. Nothin’ personal.”
The kid thought he’d physically hit him? Not likely. He probed Nate’s magic gently, after he’d let go of Nate’s hand of course. The kid’s magic was wild and fluctuating, and it was obvious from his aura that he was completely untrained given that he didn’t even know enough to at least attempt to shield. He had one hell of a magical signature that was for sure. In fact, once fully trained, the kid would probably outstrip him.
“Heya Sally, who’s the new newt?”
Great, just what he needed. Craig always had a way of popping up when Rick least wanted him to. “Bugger off, Fish.”
“Now that’s no way to be greeting your neighbor.”
Rick raised an eyebrow. Reluctant neighbor maybe. In actuality, Nate might have had an easier time claiming Craig as a parent. They at least had similar fashion senses. Craig had opted for a tongue ring instead of nose rings, but he had long green hair, black wrist bands, three camouflage shirts that all seemed to clash with each other and the grungiest looking cargos. Plus, he was tall enough to look like he could have fathered the scrawny giant kid.
But the kid had come to his door, with his name on the birth certificate with salamanders licking at his aura instead of undines.
“Fine. Craig, my kid. Kid, my neighbor, Craig.” Popping his sore shoulder, Rick walked up the stairs to his front door. He should have known something was in the air when his salamanders had been restless all day, irritating him as he’d taught and playing tricks on all the students that had stopped by for office hours.
In fact, a salamander popped up at his shoulder chattering angrily at him in a dull hum. The kid immediately fixed his gaze on it, blinking hard several times before finally rubbing his eyes. Craig, on the other hand, seemed vastly amused by the salamander. And, of course, his salamander spurred a couple of his undines into appearance.
And while Nate had blinked at the salamanders, he jumped and moved up the steps towards Rick at the sight of the undines.
“Is he?” Craig shrugged a shoulder at Nate.
“We should probably move this inside.” Rick nudged the door open with his foot. At the same time, there was a rumbling. Something that most people would just denounce as a passing train or a semi, but it freaked the kid out, who scrambled through the door as the salamander at his shoulder was joined by a friend who chattered at all of them anxiously.
And sharing a look with Craig, it was easy for Rick to confirm that someone else had taken note of his new son’s untrained abilities.
~***~
“So,” Craig started with a grin on his face as he watched the kid shift awkwardly and sullenly from foot to foot. “You’re Rick’s kid?”
“Yeah,” was the grunted reply. Craig snickered, unable to help himself. It was funny. If he had looked half this ridiculous as a teenager, it was no wonder Rick had never had any patience for his antics. “Who the hell are you?”
“Rick’s neighbor, Craig.” He shoved a hand out, introducing himself again. The kid glared at it, before shoving both hands firmly into his pockets and scowling. Maybe if they’d been in some creepy mansion or some hotel out of a horror film, it would have had more of an effect. But in Rick’s house, which was a random collection of papers that littered every available space and his cutesy collection of salamander candles, the kid’s surliness made him look more like a delinquent than anything that might actually be threatening.
“Okay, Rick’s neighbor Craig.” The kid rolled his eyes.
Teenagers. Craig barely resisted a snort of amusement. Had he ever really been this snotty? Although, given the flashes in the kid’s aura, he actually had more power than Craig had had at that age, and maybe that was adding to the ‘tude a little. “And your name would be?”
The kid mumbled something in return as he glanced towards the kitchen. Silly punk. Rick wasn’t going to rescue him from Craig’s evil undine clutches. He couldn’t keep himself from smiling now.
“Measles, was it?” He honestly couldn’t help himself. Teasing was second nature and the kid was asking for it. Sauntering around him, Craig plopped down on the one spot on the couch that wasn’t coated with student papers, various journal articles, or Rick’s drawings and descriptions of various rituals or potions or whatever bizarre thing he happened to be working on at the moment. “Make yourself at home, Measles.”
“Nate,” the kid growled, practically bristling as he stormed over to the wall next to one of Rick’s massive bookcases and slouched against it, fidgeting.
“So, what brings you to our neck of the woods?” Given how untrained Nate obviously was, it was probably a matter of like attracting like, but he took perverse pleasure in asking questions that he already knew the answers to.
“What’s it to you?” Nate gave him a particularly ugly sneer.
“Nothing,” he returned cheerfully, “just curious. You seem a bit out of your element.”
“I’ve been looking for my biological father, and Rick’s him. End of story,” Nate snarled, his eyes darting nervously to the kitchen. Necksa, was this kid twitchy. That, added to the rumbling earlier suggested that Nate was on the run from something.
Besides that, the idea of Rick being anyone’s father, let alone this brat’s, was laughable. “You’re awfully tall,” Craig said doubtfully, enjoying the way Nate glared daggers at him. “And Rick, well, Rick’s a midget.”
“I’m not a midget, you’re just abnormally large,” Rick groused quietly, startling Nate into knocking against the bookcase which in turn made about half a dozen books fall to the floor.
“Sorry,” Nate mumbled, his face coloring as he quickly bent down and scrambled to pick them up. Craig would have helped, he really would have. But it was such a natural occurrence that he couldn’t stop the laughter.
“Craig, you’re being an ass.”
“I told you that bookshelf wasn’t going to hold too many more, didn’t I? And wasn’t I right?”
Rick merely rolled his eyes, handing a mug to Craig before turning back to Nate. “Ignore him, he’s just being a jackass.”
“Where do these go?” Nate looked hopelessly uncertain with six of Rick’s thickest volumes on elements in his arms.
“Yes, Rick, where should he put those books?” Hey, it wasn’t his fault that it was so easy to tease Rick about this. Craig had offered to build him a couple more bookshelves, but Rick had insisted that he’d had more than enough.
Rick shot him a silencing glare though, so Craig tried to hold back his amusement. “Just drop ‘em on the floor.”
Nate glanced around uncertainly before gingerly leaving them in one of the few patches of visible carpet on the floor. Rick handed him a mug, and Craig noticed the static of magic that passed between them as Nate inadvertently shocked Rick. Well, that was the first order of business then. Having that lack of control with that particular element would only lead to chaos.
~***~
“You can’t just throw Elementals for Beginners at him and expect that that’s going to explain everything,” Rick sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table. Craig was tilting back on one of the rickety chairs beside him in order to peer around the doorway and get a better look at Nate who had taken his spot on the sofa in the living room and was currently pouring over the book Craig had tossed at him.
“It’s something you have to ease the kid into.” Craig shrugged before tilting back onto all four legs and sharing a carefree smile with Rick. Sometimes, Rick decided, it was completely unfair how easy going Craig could be about everything. “Let him get used to the idea that other people think it’s possible before springing the idea that we think it’s possible and that he’s capable of it on him.”
“But a book? It just seems like a cheap fix.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll let you explain the birds and bees to him in explicit detail later,” Craig laughed, snagging Rick’s mug of coffee and taking a quick sip before making a face at the bitter taste. “This is nasty.”
“Yeah, well, some of us don’t drown everything in sugar. And if anyone’s explaining sex to him, it’s going to be you as you’ve had more of it than I have.” Rick wished he could take back the words the moment he said them, but they were already out there between him. And Craig was giving him that hurt pensive look that he loathed. “Look, it’s obvious that someone’s after him. With that kind of power, I imagine he’s attracted a lot of attention without realizing it,” he blurted out before Craig could respond, and thus directing the conversation away from the sticky points of sex and friendship and relationships and what exactly Rick could or could not have with Craig.
“Well, I’d say from the little rumble, he’s got an Earth master on his tail.”
“Can’t be Ursa as she’s out of town. Plus, it isn’t her style.”
“Ursa’s out of town? Since when?”
“She left on sabbatical two months ago,” Rick mumbled, having to bite his tongue from asking how the hell Craig hadn’t noticed as Rick was fairly certain that they’d been sleeping together right up until she’d left. “You haven’t heard of anyone new moving into the area, have you?”
“Yes, because I’d just withhold that kind of information from you for kicks.” Craig snorted, gracelessly propping his elbows on the table and fiddling with his tongue ring. Rick had to mentally remind himself not to stare.
“We don’t follow the same crowds,” Rick mumbled, feeling a little self conscious. It shouldn’t be something he had to say. Craig knew that Rick wasn’t one for crowds or for rebelling teenagers or clubs or carefree sex. Just as Craig had made it quite clear to Rick that those were pretty much the only things he looked for in a good time. “I just thought that maybe you might have met or seen somebody lately who could’ve fit the description.”
“The only newbie I’ve come across is that new cashier I hired. And that kid’s scared of his own shadow, as well as being an air elemental. Besides that, I doubt whoever it is has come in and just announced their presence. You know how that type operates,” Craig chided.
“Just covering all the bases.” Shoving himself back from the table, he stole his cup back from Craig and started pacing. This wasn’t the first time that they’d dealt with less then honorable masters, but it bothered him that this one had sent a teenager stumbling towards his door. A couple earthquakes, a freak flood, abnormal snowstorms, an overly suspicious fire, those were one thing to deal with. Children?
Well, that had the potential to get sticky.
“Think we should ask the kid?” Craig asked with a raised eyebrow.
Blinking, Rick looked up and then peered in at the living room. Sitting amongst the piles of student papers he’d had yet to grade, the kid was balanced precariously on the edge of the small sofa, his knees practically to his chin as he poured over the slim volume, a frown on his already angry looking features. “Ask him what? He doesn’t even know what he’s capable of even though he’s got a birth certificate with my name on it.”
“But he might already know our culprit.”
“Feel free to ask,” Rick took another sip, “I get the feeling he’d be more inclined to talk to you anyway.” Craig was good with people. It wouldn’t take him long to get the little punk to open up. The only thing Rick was going to manage would be to piss him off.
“What on Earth led you to that conclusion?” Craig tugged on an earring as he laughed.
“You have similar tastes in fashion,” Rick returned coolly, “as in you both lack it.”
“Bite me, blowhard.”
“Like you would know,” Rick snarled back, hating the hurt look that crossed Craig’s face even as he said. Goddamn it! It was not Craig’s fault that they hadn’t worked out. They were friends now. Why couldn’t he accept that? Craig obviously had. He was being stupid, getting this worked up over ancient history.
“Rick,” Craig started only to stop as Nate walked into the kitchen. He had to stoop to get in the doorway, and Rick managed just barely to not roll his eyes. No one in their right mind would ever believe that they were father and son. He doubted the kid even thought they were. But for now, he welcomed the ruse and the interruption.
“You guys think I’m one of these whatchamacalits, don’t you?!” The kid was pissed. His nostrils were flaring, making the three rings in the one look more impressive than they might have otherwise, and his knuckles were white as he held up the book in one hand.
“Well, you sure as hell aren’t the happy fairy,” Craig told him cheerfully.
“Shut up, Craig,” Rick snapped without any heat, before walking over and calmly taking the volume from Nate’s hands. However simplistic the text might be, the book was a classic on top of being rather valuable. He didn’t think that Nate would purposefully destroy it, but with untrained magic, it never hurt to be cautious. “As to being an elemental,” he sighed. “Yes, we do think you are one.”
“Well, I’m not,” Nate told them both emphatically before shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “It was a mistake to come here.”
“Nope, can’t let you leave thinking that.” Craig shoved back from the table, standing up and ambling over to the kid, practically getting in his face and looking Nate directly in the eye.
“You’re not going to stop me,” Nate growled threateningly, but Rick could hear the note of fear in the words.
Two blue flame salamanders also popped into appearance on his shoulders. They were the only reason that Craig backed off. Rick knew from experience that they were pretty much the only thing that would ever make Craig back down when he was trying to make a point. And if they weren’t so dangerous to deal with or call up, Rick would probably resort to using them a great deal more often.
“Look, no one is trying to make you do something you don’t want to do,” Rick stepped in as Craig opened his mouth. “But you have to understand the gravity of what you are.”
“You always make it sound so grim.” Craig made a face. “It can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. Why don’t you ever say that first?”
Rick scowled at him. “Because he’s a fire elemental. Self control is essential.” As if to illustrate his point, a little orange salamander appeared on his shoulder to chatter at them all. Salamanders were playful, mischievous creatures and they seemed to love it when he and Craig argued. Rick just hated the way that they broadcasted the depths of his irritation.
“I’m not a fire elemental, whatever the fuck that is,” Nate snarled. The blue flame Salamanders on his shoulder chattered angrily.
“Okay, and that thing on your shoulder? What exactly do you think it is? Because I can assure you that it isn’t a figment of your imagination,” Craig pointed out, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the table, giving Nate space.
“I,” Nate stopped short, blinking at the Salamander in confusion as it slipped forms from a volatile blue to a medium more mellow orange.
“It’s a Salamander,” Rick decided to intercede carefully. “You’ve probably been seeing them for years now. They pop up any time that you get really worked up or when you’re feeling really passionate about something.”
“No. Yes. No.” Nate blew out an irritated sigh and plopped down in a chair to glare up at Rick darkly. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on,” Craig snickered, “I think you do. They’re kind of hard to ignore.” Craig gestured lightly to the undine that had decided to inspect Rick’s cup of coffee. The tiny creature was a brown color that resembled the coffee it was drawing water from and she chattered in the same indistinguishable language that the salamanders did.
“Okay, I’ve never seen that before,” Nate said, laying his palms flat on the table and cautiously leaning forward to get a closer look. The two salamanders on his shoulder changed form again, this time to a happy babbly yellow as they gazed on just as curious.
“That’s an undine,” Rick sighed, plopping down on Nate’s other side. “You and I don’t have much influence over them as our element is fire.”
“Well, what the hell is his then?” Nate reached out to touch the undine, but Rick stopped his hand before it could get too far, shaking his head.
“Water. And it doesn’t mix well with fire,” Craig laughed. “If you want, Rick can show you the scar he’s got from the one time he tried to touch an undine.”
“Don’t you have a store to close or something?” Rick grumbled, hating to be reminded of the incidence.
“Store?”
“I own the flower shop next door,” Craig explained, pulling his cell phone out of a back pocket.
“I thought you said you lived next door,” Nate stated cautiously.
“I live upstairs above the shop next door,” Craig elaborated with a laugh. “Paranoid much.”
“Only when I know I should be,” Nate muttered back sullenly.
Rick raised an eyebrow as he shared a look with Craig. “Well, you coming back over once you get things closed up for the night?”
“Probably,” Craig nodded. “Someone’s gotta help you clean out that spare room for junior here.”
“It’s not that messy!” Rick yelled as Craig sauntered out of the kitchen and towards the porch door, laughing.
~***~
TBC...