A Balance of Harmonies: Things Past
Mar. 2nd, 2012 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warAt my work we have audits to make sure everyone in every store is following corporate policy. On the face of things that’s good, but the people that makes these rules can’t math (among other things). We are supposed to put three ounces of meat on our sandwiches. Three ounces is three-sixteenths or .1875 of a pound. According to the rules we have 10% leeway on both sides, but then it says .168 to .192, which is not only centered around .18, but it’s less than 7% leeway. Then the state health inspected came in the other day and pointed out that one of the things on the audit is the opposite of both state heath regulations and our own corporate health regulations.
Someone up there is making arbitrary rules just to show they are indispensable.
Title: Things Past
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter fifty-nine of bunches
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: a shower, affection, a motherly chat, appointment, thought, plans, remembrance and explanation, arriving
Length: about 2,400 words
Summary: Peregrine’s mother has an opinion. Emil learns of the past. And Kurt makes plans for the weekend.
Master list
Kurt stepped into the shower. Two more lonely showers after this one. Emil would be home in the early hours of Saturday morning. Now what should he plan to show Emil just how special he was?
--
Emil looked up from his laptop when Peregrine and his mother entered the hospital room. John was asleep again after eating breakfast and a few rounds of Go Fish with the cards his little ones had left behind. Emil had taken a little while to realize that John was letting him win, so the next round Emil tried to let John win, which turned the game into something quite unlike Go Fish, but it was still fun and John was entertaining.
Whatever John had against Peregrine being gay hadn’t translated into any dislike of Emil.
Peregrine wore his intent expression and he took Emil’s hand.
Lisa smiled. “Your dad’s asleep and I don’t mind.”
“Thanks,” said Peregrine then he sat down beside Emil wrapped his arms around him. “I missed you.”
“You were asleep.”
“But then I woke up.”
Emil smiled at Peregrine. He set his computer aside so his arms were free and Peregrine drank him in. Peregrine was much more loving than he used to be, even though Emil was probably loved just as much. Kurt had brought a lot of new things into their lives, kisses and holding hands not being the least. Emil tried to let Peregrine know just how much he liked this affection.
Once they came up for air, Peregrine played with a lock of Emil’s hair. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Enough. I talked to Kurt.”
Peregrine’s body shifted against Emil in a very stimulating way. “And what did he say?”
“We got the condo. I’m going up this weekend to sign papers if that’s all right with you.”
Peregrine sighed. “Papers must be signed. When are you coming back?”
As soon as Peregrine wanted him to. “Monday? Probably.”
Peregrine nodded.
“I’ll buy you more notebooks. I’ve only got a few left.”
Peregrine grinned and touched Emil’s cheek. “You are always looking out for me. I’ll try to live without you for a few days.”
“You boys are so sweet.”
Emil blushed. He’d forgotten Peregrine’s mother was right there.
“Peregrine dear,” Lisa turned the page in her magazine, “I hope you realized Emil here is a keeper.”
Peregrine sighed. “I think I’ve figured that out. We’ve been together for over six years.”
She shook her head without looking up. “That could just be inertia.”
Peregrine pressed his lips together and took a deep breath through his nose. “Mom, please. I would never stay with anyone just because I was lazy. I love Emil. I fell for him back when I thought I couldn’t love anyone. A ray of light flickered across my dark world and I knew I couldn’t live without him.” He took Emil’s hand. “And I still can’t.”
“I’m not the one you should be telling this to.”
But in a sense Peregrine was telling Emil.
Lisa sighed and looked up. “I just want to see you happy. Which you are. I can tell. Only I don’t want to see you unhappy when someone else realizes what a great prize he is and tries to steal him away.”
Peregrine pressed his back into the chair. “Are you saying you think he’s going to cheat on me?”
That couldn’t be what she meant. She didn’t seem the type to say that in front of Emil.
“No.” she smiled at Emil. “I just see strength and beauty and smarts and I want to see a little effort on your part.”
Peregrine had come a long way in the past few weeks. What would she have thought of their relationship a few months ago?
Peregrine grinned and leaned against Emil’s shoulder. “She knows you’re too good for me.”
Emil too good for Peregrine? “You’ve got to be kidding. You’re the famous one.”
Lisa laughed. “I beg to differ. I bet I could find a hundred people in the area who knew your name, even if most are children, teachers, and librarians. You’re the one Tinúviel wants to take for show and tell. Her teachers are very excited. No one here as even heard of Peregrine Jones, except if they went to school with him. So Friday after lunch?”
Emil paused. “Are you sure?”
Lisa smiled. “She’s too shy to ask you herself, but when she was telling her teacher what had happened to John, she said that her brother came down with the guy who writes books, and her teacher asked which books and she showed them off–the school has a few copies—and her teacher promised her coveted show and tell time if she brought you in.”
Emil blushed. “I don’t know.”
Peregrine wrapped his arm around Emil’s waist. “He’ll go.”
“I will?”
Peregrine met Emil’s eye. “I want everyone to know just how great my boyfriend is.”
The doctor came in and actually answered some of Lisa’s questions this time. John was doing better and could go home in a matter of days, but Lisa should use those getting the house ready for a wheelchair. They wanted to give his brain a chance to heal before they let him on crutches.
After their talk, Lisa followed the doctor into the hall to get some paperwork and leaflets about wheelchair ramps and bathroom accommodations. Peregrine leaned against Emil. “I want you to go home and spend a few days with Kurt, getting you motor charged. When you’re all relaxed and revived, come back to me.”
Emil pulled his close for a kiss. That’s exactly what Emil wanted to do. How long until they could all be together again?
--
Peregrine stopped dead. “Oh.”
“What is it, dear?” Mom walked past him. He was outside to check his messages and she was on the way to pick up the little ones at Eowen’s.
“I forgot to tell Emil that Greg was going to be down this weekend.”
She turned. “Is he still pining for you?”
“As much as ever. Enough to make Emil dislike and distrust him. And Emil is going home for the weekend.”
“So that information is more important than anything that might be on your phone?”
Emil’s happiness was the most important thing in the world.
“Yes.” Peregrine turned toward the door.
Mom patted his shoulder. “I see you’ve got your priorities straight. See you in a little while.”
Peregrine took the stairwell steps two at a time. He sure hoped Dad was napping again. Greg and Dad never mixed well, even in conversation.
--
Kurt texted Kit to get his address and make sure they were still on for tonight. Kit was probably still with his students. Chambers dropped into one of Kurt’s chairs. “If you don’t have plans for this weekend…”
Kurt raised his hand. “Emil’s coming back.”
Chamber’s smiled. “Then you do have plans. You going to take him to a hotel and have hot tub love.”
Emil didn’t want Kurt talking about their love life to anyone especially Chambers. But maybe they should get a hot tub for their condo. “Do you have plans?”
“Do I? I got such great ones. The man I want is caving. I plan to seduce him.”
“In a hot tub?”
Chambers smiled. “How’d you guess?”
Veronica stuck her head in Kurt’s office and scowled at Chambers. “Oh, you.”
Chambers grinned. “Yes, me.”
Veronica held up a file. “Kurt…”
Kurt stood up. “What about the conference room?”
She nodded and walked away. Kurt chatted with Chambers until he stood up and walked with him out the door, which Kurt closed. “I’ve got work…”
“One of these days that girl is going to put the make on you.”
As if that would be any of Chambers business either. Getting to know Veronica better had lowered Kurt tolerance for Chambers’s teasing. He shrugged. “Maybe she has and I’m just too gay to notice.”
Chambers laughed and slapped his shoulder. Kurt tried not to roll his eyes as he walked away. He almost succeeded.
--
Emil slid into the passenger seat of the rental car. Peregrine was driving them over to Éowen’s where they would have dinner. Emil still wasn’t sure of Harrison. He obviously loved Peregrine, but Emil supposed that love could be platonic or else Harrison loved his wife even more.
Peregrine started the car and sighed. “I wish Greg wasn’t coming down.”
Their conversation about Greg earlier had ended after only a few sentences when John had heard Greg’s name. His reaction had made Emil feelings for the noxious worm seem mild. Peregrine had teasing said he’d call the nurse for a tranquilizer. John calmed down soon after, maybe since no one was disagreeing with him.
“Me too.”
“Hopefully there will be enough family around to be a buffer.”
Emil turned to Peregrine. “You don’t like him either?”
Why did it never feel that way when Greg was around?
Peregrine turned onto the road. “Inertia. Mom’s right. Some relationships just survive due to being too lazy to do anything about them. Harrison and I were best friends, it’s been a dozen years and I think we could start up where we left off. He will always be more friend than brother-in-law. Greg, on the other hand, is the kid I felt sorry for. His parents were having a hard time and he stayed with his grandmother a lot. I felt bad saying no, like I was kicking a puppy. When we were all about thirteen, Harrison’s family imploded. His father moved twelve miles away and then his mother moved to Oakland. That’s when I got good at riding my bike. I’d come up every day on the weekends he visited his dad. During that time Greg haunted our house. Dad never liked him. And I don’t know why Greg liked me. I never gave him more than dibbles of my attention. Sometimes not even that.”
But a dribble of Peregrine’s attention was still worth a lot. “You’re just special that way.”
Peregrine smiled and put his hand on Emil’s knee for a second. “I’m glad you think so, but I’m not so happy about Greg. When we were seniors, Harrison’s father remarried and moved across the street. I’d never been so happy for anything in my entire life. Éowen, a freshman, fawned over him and I let both of them know, separately of course, that I really wouldn’t mind Harrison in the family. They started dating. But Greg had the idea that this meant I was available.”
Peregrine slowed down for a car going significantly under the speed limit. “I was no more and no less available than I had been before. I love Harrison and I know he loves me, but I was never attracted to him. I knew there was someone better waiting out there for me and I’m not the type to settle for second best.”
“And you were happy about that when you met Kurt?”
Peregrine laughed. “Kurt was such a sorry thing when we started college. You wouldn’t have recognized him. And then I finally got him going down the road toward being what I knew he could be and he left me.”
Peregrine sucked in a breath. Emil set his hand on Peregrine’s leg. “But he came back.”
“And I wouldn’t be alive and sane to see it happen if I hadn’t met you. But being the spoiled brat I am, I need you both.”
Emil smiled. He was feeling very loved today. “You aren’t a brat.”
Peregrine grinned back. “Just spoiled. So don’t ever leave me. Kurt and I get along best when we are thinking of you.”
Emil blushed. “No.”
“True. Kurt and I are odd corners and sharp edges. You are soft and sweet and loving, the glue that holds us, the gloss that makes us attractive to the eye. My friends don’t even like me.”
“That’s not true.” Most of them didn’t like Emil.
“It is.” Peregrine sighed. “But I’ll have to convince you later. We are almost there. Dad hates Greg, not just dislikes him, because of what happened at a tent sleepover I had with Harrison that Greg invited himself to. Dad has always liked Harrison and stayed up late talking about his plans for college and after. Then Éowen woke up and Dad gave them a few minutes alone as a way of saying that he approved of Harrison joining the family. He walked into the back yard with the idea of walking around the tent slowly and then going back inside. Long enough for a kiss, but not much else. But something made him look inside the tent and, I don’t remember this at all, but Greg was shall we say, trying to become my boyfriend while I was out of it. I slept right through the whole thing. Harrison says Dad dragged Greg inside and sent Harrison out to the tent. According to Éowen, Dad tossed Greg out the front door and stayed up all night in the living room and Greg spent the night in his car. Dad acts like Greg was molesting me or something. Greg won’t talk about it at all. But I have the idea that it was more of a kiss. Maybe with tongue if it freaked my father out that bad. Greg was never allowed in my house again.”
Peregrine pulled up in front of Éowen’s house. “The weird thing was that it made me feel more sorry for Greg than ever. And then Greg’s grandfather died and his father, against his mother’s wishes, sent him to the college of his choice with his inheritance, and he picked the school I had a scholarship to. And he became good friend to people who became good friends to me and here we are.”
“There you are!” shouted Lúth. “I thought you’d never get here.”
Emil tried on a smile. He’d need time to process all the stuff Peregrine had told him. But family came first. He picked Dan up and carried him back to his mother. “Need help with dinner?”
“But you’re going to read us a story!” Len bounced. Dan held on tighter. Emil smiled. Kids sure knew how to get there way.
Someone up there is making arbitrary rules just to show they are indispensable.
Title: Things Past
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter fifty-nine of bunches
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: a shower, affection, a motherly chat, appointment, thought, plans, remembrance and explanation, arriving
Length: about 2,400 words
Summary: Peregrine’s mother has an opinion. Emil learns of the past. And Kurt makes plans for the weekend.
Master list
Kurt stepped into the shower. Two more lonely showers after this one. Emil would be home in the early hours of Saturday morning. Now what should he plan to show Emil just how special he was?
--
Emil looked up from his laptop when Peregrine and his mother entered the hospital room. John was asleep again after eating breakfast and a few rounds of Go Fish with the cards his little ones had left behind. Emil had taken a little while to realize that John was letting him win, so the next round Emil tried to let John win, which turned the game into something quite unlike Go Fish, but it was still fun and John was entertaining.
Whatever John had against Peregrine being gay hadn’t translated into any dislike of Emil.
Peregrine wore his intent expression and he took Emil’s hand.
Lisa smiled. “Your dad’s asleep and I don’t mind.”
“Thanks,” said Peregrine then he sat down beside Emil wrapped his arms around him. “I missed you.”
“You were asleep.”
“But then I woke up.”
Emil smiled at Peregrine. He set his computer aside so his arms were free and Peregrine drank him in. Peregrine was much more loving than he used to be, even though Emil was probably loved just as much. Kurt had brought a lot of new things into their lives, kisses and holding hands not being the least. Emil tried to let Peregrine know just how much he liked this affection.
Once they came up for air, Peregrine played with a lock of Emil’s hair. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Enough. I talked to Kurt.”
Peregrine’s body shifted against Emil in a very stimulating way. “And what did he say?”
“We got the condo. I’m going up this weekend to sign papers if that’s all right with you.”
Peregrine sighed. “Papers must be signed. When are you coming back?”
As soon as Peregrine wanted him to. “Monday? Probably.”
Peregrine nodded.
“I’ll buy you more notebooks. I’ve only got a few left.”
Peregrine grinned and touched Emil’s cheek. “You are always looking out for me. I’ll try to live without you for a few days.”
“You boys are so sweet.”
Emil blushed. He’d forgotten Peregrine’s mother was right there.
“Peregrine dear,” Lisa turned the page in her magazine, “I hope you realized Emil here is a keeper.”
Peregrine sighed. “I think I’ve figured that out. We’ve been together for over six years.”
She shook her head without looking up. “That could just be inertia.”
Peregrine pressed his lips together and took a deep breath through his nose. “Mom, please. I would never stay with anyone just because I was lazy. I love Emil. I fell for him back when I thought I couldn’t love anyone. A ray of light flickered across my dark world and I knew I couldn’t live without him.” He took Emil’s hand. “And I still can’t.”
“I’m not the one you should be telling this to.”
But in a sense Peregrine was telling Emil.
Lisa sighed and looked up. “I just want to see you happy. Which you are. I can tell. Only I don’t want to see you unhappy when someone else realizes what a great prize he is and tries to steal him away.”
Peregrine pressed his back into the chair. “Are you saying you think he’s going to cheat on me?”
That couldn’t be what she meant. She didn’t seem the type to say that in front of Emil.
“No.” she smiled at Emil. “I just see strength and beauty and smarts and I want to see a little effort on your part.”
Peregrine had come a long way in the past few weeks. What would she have thought of their relationship a few months ago?
Peregrine grinned and leaned against Emil’s shoulder. “She knows you’re too good for me.”
Emil too good for Peregrine? “You’ve got to be kidding. You’re the famous one.”
Lisa laughed. “I beg to differ. I bet I could find a hundred people in the area who knew your name, even if most are children, teachers, and librarians. You’re the one Tinúviel wants to take for show and tell. Her teachers are very excited. No one here as even heard of Peregrine Jones, except if they went to school with him. So Friday after lunch?”
Emil paused. “Are you sure?”
Lisa smiled. “She’s too shy to ask you herself, but when she was telling her teacher what had happened to John, she said that her brother came down with the guy who writes books, and her teacher asked which books and she showed them off–the school has a few copies—and her teacher promised her coveted show and tell time if she brought you in.”
Emil blushed. “I don’t know.”
Peregrine wrapped his arm around Emil’s waist. “He’ll go.”
“I will?”
Peregrine met Emil’s eye. “I want everyone to know just how great my boyfriend is.”
The doctor came in and actually answered some of Lisa’s questions this time. John was doing better and could go home in a matter of days, but Lisa should use those getting the house ready for a wheelchair. They wanted to give his brain a chance to heal before they let him on crutches.
After their talk, Lisa followed the doctor into the hall to get some paperwork and leaflets about wheelchair ramps and bathroom accommodations. Peregrine leaned against Emil. “I want you to go home and spend a few days with Kurt, getting you motor charged. When you’re all relaxed and revived, come back to me.”
Emil pulled his close for a kiss. That’s exactly what Emil wanted to do. How long until they could all be together again?
--
Peregrine stopped dead. “Oh.”
“What is it, dear?” Mom walked past him. He was outside to check his messages and she was on the way to pick up the little ones at Eowen’s.
“I forgot to tell Emil that Greg was going to be down this weekend.”
She turned. “Is he still pining for you?”
“As much as ever. Enough to make Emil dislike and distrust him. And Emil is going home for the weekend.”
“So that information is more important than anything that might be on your phone?”
Emil’s happiness was the most important thing in the world.
“Yes.” Peregrine turned toward the door.
Mom patted his shoulder. “I see you’ve got your priorities straight. See you in a little while.”
Peregrine took the stairwell steps two at a time. He sure hoped Dad was napping again. Greg and Dad never mixed well, even in conversation.
--
Kurt texted Kit to get his address and make sure they were still on for tonight. Kit was probably still with his students. Chambers dropped into one of Kurt’s chairs. “If you don’t have plans for this weekend…”
Kurt raised his hand. “Emil’s coming back.”
Chamber’s smiled. “Then you do have plans. You going to take him to a hotel and have hot tub love.”
Emil didn’t want Kurt talking about their love life to anyone especially Chambers. But maybe they should get a hot tub for their condo. “Do you have plans?”
“Do I? I got such great ones. The man I want is caving. I plan to seduce him.”
“In a hot tub?”
Chambers smiled. “How’d you guess?”
Veronica stuck her head in Kurt’s office and scowled at Chambers. “Oh, you.”
Chambers grinned. “Yes, me.”
Veronica held up a file. “Kurt…”
Kurt stood up. “What about the conference room?”
She nodded and walked away. Kurt chatted with Chambers until he stood up and walked with him out the door, which Kurt closed. “I’ve got work…”
“One of these days that girl is going to put the make on you.”
As if that would be any of Chambers business either. Getting to know Veronica better had lowered Kurt tolerance for Chambers’s teasing. He shrugged. “Maybe she has and I’m just too gay to notice.”
Chambers laughed and slapped his shoulder. Kurt tried not to roll his eyes as he walked away. He almost succeeded.
--
Emil slid into the passenger seat of the rental car. Peregrine was driving them over to Éowen’s where they would have dinner. Emil still wasn’t sure of Harrison. He obviously loved Peregrine, but Emil supposed that love could be platonic or else Harrison loved his wife even more.
Peregrine started the car and sighed. “I wish Greg wasn’t coming down.”
Their conversation about Greg earlier had ended after only a few sentences when John had heard Greg’s name. His reaction had made Emil feelings for the noxious worm seem mild. Peregrine had teasing said he’d call the nurse for a tranquilizer. John calmed down soon after, maybe since no one was disagreeing with him.
“Me too.”
“Hopefully there will be enough family around to be a buffer.”
Emil turned to Peregrine. “You don’t like him either?”
Why did it never feel that way when Greg was around?
Peregrine turned onto the road. “Inertia. Mom’s right. Some relationships just survive due to being too lazy to do anything about them. Harrison and I were best friends, it’s been a dozen years and I think we could start up where we left off. He will always be more friend than brother-in-law. Greg, on the other hand, is the kid I felt sorry for. His parents were having a hard time and he stayed with his grandmother a lot. I felt bad saying no, like I was kicking a puppy. When we were all about thirteen, Harrison’s family imploded. His father moved twelve miles away and then his mother moved to Oakland. That’s when I got good at riding my bike. I’d come up every day on the weekends he visited his dad. During that time Greg haunted our house. Dad never liked him. And I don’t know why Greg liked me. I never gave him more than dibbles of my attention. Sometimes not even that.”
But a dribble of Peregrine’s attention was still worth a lot. “You’re just special that way.”
Peregrine smiled and put his hand on Emil’s knee for a second. “I’m glad you think so, but I’m not so happy about Greg. When we were seniors, Harrison’s father remarried and moved across the street. I’d never been so happy for anything in my entire life. Éowen, a freshman, fawned over him and I let both of them know, separately of course, that I really wouldn’t mind Harrison in the family. They started dating. But Greg had the idea that this meant I was available.”
Peregrine slowed down for a car going significantly under the speed limit. “I was no more and no less available than I had been before. I love Harrison and I know he loves me, but I was never attracted to him. I knew there was someone better waiting out there for me and I’m not the type to settle for second best.”
“And you were happy about that when you met Kurt?”
Peregrine laughed. “Kurt was such a sorry thing when we started college. You wouldn’t have recognized him. And then I finally got him going down the road toward being what I knew he could be and he left me.”
Peregrine sucked in a breath. Emil set his hand on Peregrine’s leg. “But he came back.”
“And I wouldn’t be alive and sane to see it happen if I hadn’t met you. But being the spoiled brat I am, I need you both.”
Emil smiled. He was feeling very loved today. “You aren’t a brat.”
Peregrine grinned back. “Just spoiled. So don’t ever leave me. Kurt and I get along best when we are thinking of you.”
Emil blushed. “No.”
“True. Kurt and I are odd corners and sharp edges. You are soft and sweet and loving, the glue that holds us, the gloss that makes us attractive to the eye. My friends don’t even like me.”
“That’s not true.” Most of them didn’t like Emil.
“It is.” Peregrine sighed. “But I’ll have to convince you later. We are almost there. Dad hates Greg, not just dislikes him, because of what happened at a tent sleepover I had with Harrison that Greg invited himself to. Dad has always liked Harrison and stayed up late talking about his plans for college and after. Then Éowen woke up and Dad gave them a few minutes alone as a way of saying that he approved of Harrison joining the family. He walked into the back yard with the idea of walking around the tent slowly and then going back inside. Long enough for a kiss, but not much else. But something made him look inside the tent and, I don’t remember this at all, but Greg was shall we say, trying to become my boyfriend while I was out of it. I slept right through the whole thing. Harrison says Dad dragged Greg inside and sent Harrison out to the tent. According to Éowen, Dad tossed Greg out the front door and stayed up all night in the living room and Greg spent the night in his car. Dad acts like Greg was molesting me or something. Greg won’t talk about it at all. But I have the idea that it was more of a kiss. Maybe with tongue if it freaked my father out that bad. Greg was never allowed in my house again.”
Peregrine pulled up in front of Éowen’s house. “The weird thing was that it made me feel more sorry for Greg than ever. And then Greg’s grandfather died and his father, against his mother’s wishes, sent him to the college of his choice with his inheritance, and he picked the school I had a scholarship to. And he became good friend to people who became good friends to me and here we are.”
“There you are!” shouted Lúth. “I thought you’d never get here.”
Emil tried on a smile. He’d need time to process all the stuff Peregrine had told him. But family came first. He picked Dan up and carried him back to his mother. “Need help with dinner?”
“But you’re going to read us a story!” Len bounced. Dan held on tighter. Emil smiled. Kids sure knew how to get there way.
