neutrinobunny (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} neutrinobunny) wrote,@ 2008-02-06 23:40:00 |
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T7, GNO, Ch 7, Pt 5
Hey, if anyone is a reading, pop in and comment, won't ya? :P
:D
Chapter 7—In Which Answers Lead to More Questions Pt. 5
“There is great comfort and inspiration in the feeling of close human relationships and its bearing on our mutual fortunes - a powerful force, to overcome the "tough breaks" which are certain to come to most of us from time to time”
-- Walt Disney
“So where shall we go to dine?” Uncle Vlad clapped his hands together as they exited the library.
“Well, Ellie said something about pastrami…” Mina looked thoughtful.
“What’s Spatrami?” Johnny made a face. “It sounds weird.”
“Pastrami. It’s a sandwich. Quite a good one.” Uncle Vlad grinned. “I was actually introduced to the wonders of the Hot Pastrami by your grandfather, my dear. Though he claimed the sandwiches made by the deli down the way from campus was but a pale imitation of the sandwiches of his youth. Which of course led me to disparate the sheer concept of the possibility of a good deli in the wilds of northern Indiana, but that’s another story.” He turned back to Mina. “But I think we’ll save that for supper. So we can bring one to Danielle, too.”
Mina frowned slightly. “Shouldn’t we bring her some lunch? We didn’t really have anything beyond some drinks and snacks back at your lab?”
“A point.” He dug in his pocket for the set of Fenton Phones. “I’ll give her a call.” He hooked the Phones on his ear, gave them a tap, and addressed the air. “Danielle?”
Pause.
A small frown crossed his face. “That’s odd. Danielle?”
More silence, and then the frown deepened.
Mina frowned too. She stepped closer, whispering, though she wasn’t sure why. “Is…is she not there?”
He held up a hand, with a quick ‘hang on’ expression flashing over his face. “Yes, Danielle, this is Uncle Vlad. It’s, oh…closing in on noonish, and we were wondering if you’d like us to pick you up something, as the pickings at the lab are slim. I suppose you’re busy fixing. So just ring me back. We shall see you later, my dear.”
He tapped the Phones, took them from his ear, and put them back in his pocket.
“I suppose she’s just concentrating on the bike to the exclusion of all else. Typical.” Reassuring smile.
Mina wasn’t reassured. But she didn’t know why. She frowned slightly. Ellie would ignore calls and stuff all the time if she was working. Mina had seen her do it. She’d snap out of her work trance, and see that there were messages, and call right back and everything would be fine.
Fine. The dreaded word. Maybe that’s why she was no nervous. Everything would be OK. Everything would be great. Everything--
“So, we wait on the deli, and get something else. Johnny, what sounds good to you?”
Mina winced. Uncle Vlad had that odd sort of cheery tone in his voice that adults used when they were trying not to let you know that something was wrong. And he was talking to Johnny, now. Not her. Because Johnny was too young to really worry. About this anyway. Yes. He was worried, too. About Ellie. But this was all silly. Ellie could handle anything. She was good.
“Pizza!”
Uncle Vlad winced slightly. “Well…”
“Why don’t we go get some Chinese?” Mina broke in, pointing down the way. “We just had pizza. And we can get all sorts of stuff to share, and we can eat with chopsticks. We can have a nice meal, and it’ll take a bit. And maybe Ellie will call back before we go back to the library.”
“Chinese?” Johnny made an odd face. “Mommy made that once. It has weird stuff and crunchy bits and it wasn’t very good.”
“This will be a far cry from whatever odd La Choy travesty your mother most likely picked up.”
Johnny just stared at him.
“This will be good.” Mina smiled at Johnny reassuringly.
“OK.” Johnny grinned and grabbed their hands. Which had the brief advantage of keeping the two of them occupied with him, and not with worrying about Ellie.
They headed down the street.
__________________________
It was a short while later, while Johnny was munching happily through a plate of chicken chow mein, and she and Uncle Vlad were picking at General Tso’s and sweet and sour chicken, respectively, that Uncle Vlad stiffened suddenly and grabbed at his pocket.
“Danielle?”
Mina pulled out her own Phones and tried to listen in.
“Hey. What’s up?”
Mina stiffened. Ellie sounded…weird.
“Danielle? Child, are you alright?” Uncle Vlad seemed to hear it too.
Faint laughter on the other end. “Overwork, and quite frankly, the aftereffects of a kinda rough night. Uncle Vlad, if you think we can spring for it without too much trouble or wackiness with the accounts, do you think we can get a hotel room? With real beds?”
“You read my mind, my dear.” Uncle Vlad gave a brief chuckle. “I didn’t have the greatest time curled up on that little sofa. That Murphy bed you children piled into couldn’t have been comfortable at all. Besides the over, how goes the work?”
“Oh…it…goes.” More faint laughter. “Taking a break. Getting a little something to eat.”
“We can bring something back—“
“No, no. I’m…good.” A sigh. “I’ll be fine. Lunch as well as Breakfast of Champions. Or I might run out. Fresh air probably do me good.”
“Are you really OK?” Mina couldn’t help breaking in.
“I’m…yeah. I’m great now, Meenz.” There was an odd tone in Ellie’s voice. Mina knew it. A faint laugh. “I spent too much time in one position, bent over the workbench. Got a little stiff, little sore. I’m good. Took a break like a good girl.”
“Okaaaaayyy…” Mina still wasn’t convinced.
“Hey, you guys just remember to grab me one of those pastramis from Sammy’s on the way back tonight. That’ll fix me right up.”
“Certainly, dear girl.”
“See ya in the funny papers, folks.” Click.
Mina and Uncle Vlad took off their phones and looked at each other, neither speaking.
The silence was thankfully broken by the server, who brought the check, and some fortune cookies.
Johnny, having never seen one before, ripped open the plastic, and was just about to stuff the whole thing in his mouth before Mina stopped him, happy for the interruption.
“Here. You open it first.” She cracked it and handed him the pieces, laying the slip of paper in front of him.
“You…will…live a…lo…long…ha…happy…and…eh…eh…” Johnny’s face screwed up in concentration.
“Ex—ci—ting.” Mina pointed to the syllables. “You will live a long, happy, and exciting life.”
“I will?” Johnny beamed.
Mina smiled and turned to Uncle Vlad.
He was looking thoughtfully at his own fortune. Then he gave a tight smile and tucked it in his pocket.
Mina busied herself with her cookie as he lifted his head. She cracked it open, pulled out the slip of paper…and took a deep shuddering breath.
Something you lost will soon turn up.
She swallowed hard as tears welled up, and tucked it away in her pocket. “Let’s get back to the library, Uncle Vlad.”
“Of course, my dear.”
Hey, if anyone is a reading, pop in and comment, won't ya? :P
:D
Chapter 7—In Which Answers Lead to More Questions Pt. 5
“There is great comfort and inspiration in the feeling of close human relationships and its bearing on our mutual fortunes - a powerful force, to overcome the "tough breaks" which are certain to come to most of us from time to time”
-- Walt Disney
“So where shall we go to dine?” Uncle Vlad clapped his hands together as they exited the library.
“Well, Ellie said something about pastrami…” Mina looked thoughtful.
“What’s Spatrami?” Johnny made a face. “It sounds weird.”
“Pastrami. It’s a sandwich. Quite a good one.” Uncle Vlad grinned. “I was actually introduced to the wonders of the Hot Pastrami by your grandfather, my dear. Though he claimed the sandwiches made by the deli down the way from campus was but a pale imitation of the sandwiches of his youth. Which of course led me to disparate the sheer concept of the possibility of a good deli in the wilds of northern Indiana, but that’s another story.” He turned back to Mina. “But I think we’ll save that for supper. So we can bring one to Danielle, too.”
Mina frowned slightly. “Shouldn’t we bring her some lunch? We didn’t really have anything beyond some drinks and snacks back at your lab?”
“A point.” He dug in his pocket for the set of Fenton Phones. “I’ll give her a call.” He hooked the Phones on his ear, gave them a tap, and addressed the air. “Danielle?”
Pause.
A small frown crossed his face. “That’s odd. Danielle?”
More silence, and then the frown deepened.
Mina frowned too. She stepped closer, whispering, though she wasn’t sure why. “Is…is she not there?”
He held up a hand, with a quick ‘hang on’ expression flashing over his face. “Yes, Danielle, this is Uncle Vlad. It’s, oh…closing in on noonish, and we were wondering if you’d like us to pick you up something, as the pickings at the lab are slim. I suppose you’re busy fixing. So just ring me back. We shall see you later, my dear.”
He tapped the Phones, took them from his ear, and put them back in his pocket.
“I suppose she’s just concentrating on the bike to the exclusion of all else. Typical.” Reassuring smile.
Mina wasn’t reassured. But she didn’t know why. She frowned slightly. Ellie would ignore calls and stuff all the time if she was working. Mina had seen her do it. She’d snap out of her work trance, and see that there were messages, and call right back and everything would be fine.
Fine. The dreaded word. Maybe that’s why she was no nervous. Everything would be OK. Everything would be great. Everything--
“So, we wait on the deli, and get something else. Johnny, what sounds good to you?”
Mina winced. Uncle Vlad had that odd sort of cheery tone in his voice that adults used when they were trying not to let you know that something was wrong. And he was talking to Johnny, now. Not her. Because Johnny was too young to really worry. About this anyway. Yes. He was worried, too. About Ellie. But this was all silly. Ellie could handle anything. She was good.
“Pizza!”
Uncle Vlad winced slightly. “Well…”
“Why don’t we go get some Chinese?” Mina broke in, pointing down the way. “We just had pizza. And we can get all sorts of stuff to share, and we can eat with chopsticks. We can have a nice meal, and it’ll take a bit. And maybe Ellie will call back before we go back to the library.”
“Chinese?” Johnny made an odd face. “Mommy made that once. It has weird stuff and crunchy bits and it wasn’t very good.”
“This will be a far cry from whatever odd La Choy travesty your mother most likely picked up.”
Johnny just stared at him.
“This will be good.” Mina smiled at Johnny reassuringly.
“OK.” Johnny grinned and grabbed their hands. Which had the brief advantage of keeping the two of them occupied with him, and not with worrying about Ellie.
They headed down the street.
__________________________
It was a short while later, while Johnny was munching happily through a plate of chicken chow mein, and she and Uncle Vlad were picking at General Tso’s and sweet and sour chicken, respectively, that Uncle Vlad stiffened suddenly and grabbed at his pocket.
“Danielle?”
Mina pulled out her own Phones and tried to listen in.
“Hey. What’s up?”
Mina stiffened. Ellie sounded…weird.
“Danielle? Child, are you alright?” Uncle Vlad seemed to hear it too.
Faint laughter on the other end. “Overwork, and quite frankly, the aftereffects of a kinda rough night. Uncle Vlad, if you think we can spring for it without too much trouble or wackiness with the accounts, do you think we can get a hotel room? With real beds?”
“You read my mind, my dear.” Uncle Vlad gave a brief chuckle. “I didn’t have the greatest time curled up on that little sofa. That Murphy bed you children piled into couldn’t have been comfortable at all. Besides the over, how goes the work?”
“Oh…it…goes.” More faint laughter. “Taking a break. Getting a little something to eat.”
“We can bring something back—“
“No, no. I’m…good.” A sigh. “I’ll be fine. Lunch as well as Breakfast of Champions. Or I might run out. Fresh air probably do me good.”
“Are you really OK?” Mina couldn’t help breaking in.
“I’m…yeah. I’m great now, Meenz.” There was an odd tone in Ellie’s voice. Mina knew it. A faint laugh. “I spent too much time in one position, bent over the workbench. Got a little stiff, little sore. I’m good. Took a break like a good girl.”
“Okaaaaayyy…” Mina still wasn’t convinced.
“Hey, you guys just remember to grab me one of those pastramis from Sammy’s on the way back tonight. That’ll fix me right up.”
“Certainly, dear girl.”
“See ya in the funny papers, folks.” Click.
Mina and Uncle Vlad took off their phones and looked at each other, neither speaking.
The silence was thankfully broken by the server, who brought the check, and some fortune cookies.
Johnny, having never seen one before, ripped open the plastic, and was just about to stuff the whole thing in his mouth before Mina stopped him, happy for the interruption.
“Here. You open it first.” She cracked it and handed him the pieces, laying the slip of paper in front of him.
“You…will…live a…lo…long…ha…happy…and…eh…eh…” Johnny’s face screwed up in concentration.
“Ex—ci—ting.” Mina pointed to the syllables. “You will live a long, happy, and exciting life.”
“I will?” Johnny beamed.
Mina smiled and turned to Uncle Vlad.
He was looking thoughtfully at his own fortune. Then he gave a tight smile and tucked it in his pocket.
Mina busied herself with her cookie as he lifted his head. She cracked it open, pulled out the slip of paper…and took a deep shuddering breath.
Something you lost will soon turn up.
She swallowed hard as tears welled up, and tucked it away in her pocket. “Let’s get back to the library, Uncle Vlad.”
“Of course, my dear.”
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