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thejusticelounge2014-03-27 02:06 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2014-03-27 02:06 pm
you wake up / the place you belong
…you wake up in Grampa’s penthouse, on the couch. You are wearing one of your favorite sun dresses. Beside you is Ramsey Robinson. Thor is licking his hand, and Kiki is standing and pacing, standing and pacing, whining slightly.
Rose Wilson trots downstairs, occupied in texting until she sees you on the couch.
"Oh. So you guys are all back" she says, sounding slightly disappointed. "Next time your parents should tell me if you’re gonna be gone for a while, geez." Rose heads into the kitchen, muttering. "I coulda gone to get my chocha waxed or something…"
——————————————
"ROSE!!!" Lian screams and hops off the couch as if it’s on fire. She screams again and hugs Kiki. Then one more time, as she hugs Thor. Both dogs tails are wagging in excitement now, and Lian looks at Ramsey, who seems to be waking up.
"RAMSEY, WE’RE HOME!" she bawls and runs to her room, and checks. Everything is there - all of her beautiful angel babies (she can take inventory just by sight alone), her posters, her binder full of her songs, her tambourine, her dinglehopper, her fourteen books - all of it. She jumps and makes a squeak like her Aunt Mar’i and then tumbles down the stairs, catapulting herself onto Rose.
"Get OFF," Rose says angrily, even though she just sits there on the stool and keeps playing Angry Birds. Lian purrs and hums and then finally asks:
"Where’s Papa?"
By the time Ramsey registers what’s happening and where he is, Lian has already bounded off the couch and up the stairs to her room. Ramsey, on the other hand, slides bonelessly off the couch, straight onto the floor, and wraps his arms around Thor’s chest. He buries himself in the flush of lighter fur that goes around the dog’s neck down his chest, and for a few minutes, Ramsey cries. Thor smells like the shampoo Lian insisted they should wash the dogs with months before they were thrown into Cachement, and he doesn’t mind when Ramsey sobs and hiccups against him.
After all, that’s what best friends are for. And Thor missed his boy, too. Androids dream of electric sheep, but robotic dogs only dream of endless fields of tennis balls and their smiling owners.
Vaguely, Ramsey remembers the weight of his cell phone in his pocket. There are no missed calls, no frantic Skype messages. Just a snapchat of his little sister’s blonde curls and gap-ridden toddler’s mouth pressed between his father and stepmother, all their cheeks depressed against one another, all smiles and best wishes.
The message that flashes across the screen reads: "Hope you’re having a great day, Ram!"
Ramsey quickly saves the picture before it can delete itself, then goes to look through his phone’s photo albums for it. He finds it easily enough, the last in the list, or at least, he thought it would be…
The boy blinks and clicks the thumbnail right beside it, the new last picture in the album. There, as if scanned perfectly, is the watercolor of the Child dancing on the apple tree stump.
Ramsey smiles.
The room is spinning when he wakes up. He’s not sure exactly where or why it’s spinning, but it definitely is spinning. Every time he blinks, the wall and ceiling turn, so he decides that leaving his eyes closed is the better option. It isn’t until he realizes that he’s actually in a room and lying tucked into a comfy bed that Dick figures maybe it’s worth it to try and open his eyes again.
It all looks very familiar, despite the spinning. There’s a poster for the Flying Graysons, a calendar he hasn’t seen in a while of old cartoons, a console with games he hasn’t played yet, and a light blue ceiling above him. He looks down at himself, tucked into the covers, but still naked. Well, at least one thing is right here.
The door opens and someone walks in and Dick could see that if only the room would quit spinning.
"Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were home."
"…Alfred?"
Rose Wilson trots downstairs, occupied in texting until she sees you on the couch.
"Oh. So you guys are all back" she says, sounding slightly disappointed. "Next time your parents should tell me if you’re gonna be gone for a while, geez." Rose heads into the kitchen, muttering. "I coulda gone to get my chocha waxed or something…"
——————————————
"ROSE!!!" Lian screams and hops off the couch as if it’s on fire. She screams again and hugs Kiki. Then one more time, as she hugs Thor. Both dogs tails are wagging in excitement now, and Lian looks at Ramsey, who seems to be waking up.
"RAMSEY, WE’RE HOME!" she bawls and runs to her room, and checks. Everything is there - all of her beautiful angel babies (she can take inventory just by sight alone), her posters, her binder full of her songs, her tambourine, her dinglehopper, her fourteen books - all of it. She jumps and makes a squeak like her Aunt Mar’i and then tumbles down the stairs, catapulting herself onto Rose.
"Get OFF," Rose says angrily, even though she just sits there on the stool and keeps playing Angry Birds. Lian purrs and hums and then finally asks:
"Where’s Papa?"
By the time Ramsey registers what’s happening and where he is, Lian has already bounded off the couch and up the stairs to her room. Ramsey, on the other hand, slides bonelessly off the couch, straight onto the floor, and wraps his arms around Thor’s chest. He buries himself in the flush of lighter fur that goes around the dog’s neck down his chest, and for a few minutes, Ramsey cries. Thor smells like the shampoo Lian insisted they should wash the dogs with months before they were thrown into Cachement, and he doesn’t mind when Ramsey sobs and hiccups against him.
After all, that’s what best friends are for. And Thor missed his boy, too. Androids dream of electric sheep, but robotic dogs only dream of endless fields of tennis balls and their smiling owners.
Vaguely, Ramsey remembers the weight of his cell phone in his pocket. There are no missed calls, no frantic Skype messages. Just a snapchat of his little sister’s blonde curls and gap-ridden toddler’s mouth pressed between his father and stepmother, all their cheeks depressed against one another, all smiles and best wishes.
The message that flashes across the screen reads: "Hope you’re having a great day, Ram!"
Ramsey quickly saves the picture before it can delete itself, then goes to look through his phone’s photo albums for it. He finds it easily enough, the last in the list, or at least, he thought it would be…
The boy blinks and clicks the thumbnail right beside it, the new last picture in the album. There, as if scanned perfectly, is the watercolor of the Child dancing on the apple tree stump.
Ramsey smiles.
The room is spinning when he wakes up. He’s not sure exactly where or why it’s spinning, but it definitely is spinning. Every time he blinks, the wall and ceiling turn, so he decides that leaving his eyes closed is the better option. It isn’t until he realizes that he’s actually in a room and lying tucked into a comfy bed that Dick figures maybe it’s worth it to try and open his eyes again.
It all looks very familiar, despite the spinning. There’s a poster for the Flying Graysons, a calendar he hasn’t seen in a while of old cartoons, a console with games he hasn’t played yet, and a light blue ceiling above him. He looks down at himself, tucked into the covers, but still naked. Well, at least one thing is right here.
The door opens and someone walks in and Dick could see that if only the room would quit spinning.
"Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were home."
"…Alfred?"