neutral_omens | (no subject)

Entry tags:

brian,
wensleydale

(no subject)

Time: July 26, 2000
Place: Front steps
Status: Locked for Wensleydale
Summary: Brian broods

Brian usually had energy to spare. It was sort of a constant; some minor law of the universe. The Brian Particle was always characterized by energetic behavior and a trail of crisp packets.

But he wasn't feeling very bouncy at all. He wasn't tired, and his muscles weren't stiff, but he felt worn out somewhere inside. He'd brought out a rugby ball and tossed it around, spinning it up into the air and catching it, but he'd lost interest in that.

It was seeing Adam and Pepper fight like that. It was being so mad at Adam himself. It was not knowing what Adam wanted or how he was going about things. Brian could usually muster quite a bit of faith in the unofficial leader of the Them, but that wasn't working. Something of a crisis, really.

How could Adam let that happen? Had he just not seen it?

What if Pestilence (or was it something else?) wanted a bit of him?

And now he was just sitting on the front steps to the manor, looking out over the grounds. The sun hadn't set yet, but it was getting there, sort of darkening without being pretty. It made his stomach sort of sink in him, like a rock weighting him down.

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Wensleydale opened the front door quietly*, taking a seat on the step above Brian's. Ever since after the barbecue, Brian had been moping around the Manor. Which was understandable, of course, but Wensley felt he had the right to be worried when his most energetic friend had turned into a slug.

"How are you doing?"

*As quietly as you could open the rusty old doors, anyways; there was a considerable amount of creaking besides.

"I'm all right, I guess," Brian said, rolling the rugby ball from side to side on the stair. "Just a little tired, is all."

"You haven't done anything all day, though," Wensley blurted out, instantly wishing for Adam's tact. He had never been good at saying the right thing. "Is it about what happened...yesterday?"

"You ever seen someone with a broken collarbone, Wens? Been there when it happened?"

He shook his head. He had been busy with keeping food on the various tables at the time of Pepper's injury, and hadn't heard what the commotion had been about until after she had been moved.

"I've seen a few," Brian went on, voice just as sluggish as him. "High tackles, bad falls. Seen broken ribs, had more fingers broken myself than I like to think about-" he held up his hand and wiggled his fingers, as if there still might be a cast on whichever finger he was thinking about. "It's not the worst thing't can happen. But it ain't a little thing, neither."

Roll, roll, went the rugby ball.

"And Adam says he'll see that we don't get hurt 'too bad'. And he counts that as not 'too bad.' And Pep was hurt, and everyone was just going on like it was all right, and Adam just... I dunno, probly just slapped that woman on the wrist and told her 'no, no.'"

The rugby ball dented further as he leaned harder on it. Roll roll.

Wensley scooted down one step, angling his body so he could see Brian better. "You think he won't keep us safe enough."

"I think we ain't quite as important to him anymore. Now that there ain't a war to win." Roll. Roll.

It seemed like Adam still loved them. But why did he let something that bad happen? He cared, right?

"That's stupid though, ain't it?" Brian said, as if to himself. "He cares about us, right?"

Of course he did. Brian just felt... very lonely and small sometimes.

"Of course he still cares," he replied. "He wouldn't have brought us here if he didn't. 'S just he doesn't want to mess around with people's heads anymore." At least, that's what Adam had told him time and time again. Adam wouldn't lie to them, would he? Something told Wensley he wouldn't.

"I think we'll get out of this alright."

"I s'pose," said Brian. He edged a bit closer to Wensleydale, wanting a bit of company. "I don't know what's going on between Pep and Adam anymore. Makes me feel pretty dense, I'll tell you. There's just a lot I don't understand."

Wensley laughed. "You think you feel dense? I've practically locked myself in the kitchens for the last...I don't know how long. I don't have any idea what's going on anymore." That had been his own fault, though. At least he knew the Manor's favourite recipes by heart.

"We used to be closer," Brian said. "We had a real nice time just a while ago-- Pep and Adam and me. There's this real pretty clearing out in the woods. I wish you'da been there, Wens. You should come see it."

Wensley hopped to his feet, moved down the steps in front of Brian. "Why don;t you show me, then?" he asked. "The sun's not all the way down, and I've barely seen any of the grounds."

"Righty!" That was something he could do. He bounced to his feet. "It was real nice. And we thought up the game we would've played, if we'd found it when we were kids? You'd be the evil developer all knocking down the woods and we'd be pirates trying to stop you."

A little of his energy was returning. "And dog would be your pet leopard and we'd hold him for ransom."

"Would I be able to wear a moustache?" he laughed, shaking his head. "And use big words?"

"Course you would!" Brian said happily. "And have exploding diagrams."

"Nah. Exploding diagrams would just make my moustache get all singed. That wouldn't be good."

"No, but see, you'd throw them at us and then they'd explode," Brian explained. "And you could twirl your mustach and laugh."

"Yeah," Wensley replied, after thinking for a moment. "That would be fun."

"I dunno." Brian frowned. "They ain't here, but we could do something anyway..." He was leading the way into the forest, looking for the clearing.

"What do you want to do?", he asked, looking around.

"We could play catch, once we get there," Brian said, tossing the ball in one hand. "Or.. talk. It was nice talking before, till you fell asleep."

"I'd like to talk," Wensley replied. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I dunno..." Then Brian's face lit up. "You dressed like a flapper for Halloween. We could talk about THAT."

"That was all Adam's doing," Wensley laughed, shuddering a bit at the memory, "and the most embarrassing moment of my life, besides when I got my head stuck in a fence and Pep pulled down my trousers." He thought for a moment, trying to pull up the repressed memories of Halloween. "My legs were very cold," he offered.