~~Holiday Special (Day 1/7, Page 2/6)~~
After all the time Hector had spent with Stephanie and Thomas, especially these past few days, it was a bit strange to think they wouldn’t be around anymore. In truth, he hadn’t given the matter much thought, which was perhaps a good thing in its own way, but now the reality of it was beginning to hit him.
He was going to miss them.
And he frowned, but not in his usual way. He frowned in a way that was almost a smile. Because while he was sad to see them go, he was also glad that they could go, that they’d be away from him, where it was safer. It was a strange mixture of emotions, one he’d felt before but never this ardently. He didn’t hate the feeling. There was a welcome sense of relief in there somewhere.
‘Oh, and before I forget,’ Garovel was saying, ‘how much do you know about Sai-hee?’
Bohwanox bobbed his head to the side. ‘The name sounds familiar. Who is that again?’
‘Sai-hee is one of the four servant emperors. She stays out of the fight between Abolish and the Vanguard--or at least, that’s how it was the last time I checked, which admittedly, was many years ago.’
‘I see. Why do you bring her up?’
‘I know that you don’t want to get involved in major conflicts. If Sai-hee’s reputation is to be believed, then neither does she.’
‘You are suggesting Colt and I go to her for refuge?’
‘No, no. I just mean, it might be something you’d wanna look into. I’d definitely suggest gathering more information before deciding anything.’
‘Mm. I’d rather keep a wide berth of any emperors. I’m sure Colt would feel similarly.’
Garovel offered a shrug. ‘Still, if worse comes to worst, you should know your options.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind.’
The wait wasn’t much longer. Colt returned to the garage with luggage in hand.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every day at noon PST by ~400 words.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Page 419
~~Holiday Special (Day 1/7, Page 1/6)~~
Hector practiced making metallic toys for them. Small and intricate, was how he began, but when Thomas started gnawing on the dorsal fin of an iron shark, Hector decided to retry with larger, more rounded figures. Probably not the most efficient method of training for combat, but at the very least, it gave him the opportunity to work on his precision.
When Colt showed up again, he looked like hell. His clothes were a complete mess, caked with dirt and mud where they weren’t already riddled with bullet holes and bloodstains.
‘Welcome back,’ said Garovel. ‘How’d it go? Did you have a nice vacation?’
“Would’ve been a lot easier if they’d just cremated me,” said Colt.
‘Yeah,’ agreed Bohwanox. ‘I would have been able to come back here and remake him from scratch. But on the plus side, I did get to witness Colt rising from the grave like some kind of unholy abomination. That was quite enjoyable.’
‘Be thankful they didn’t need to preserve your body for a funeral,’ said Garovel. ‘It’d take days to get the embalming chemicals out of your system. They would’ve oozed out of your face, mostly.’
‘I want to see that.’
Colt ignored them, more concerned with Hector and the twins. “How were they?”
“Amazing,” said Hector, and he helped them walk over to their father.
Colt bent down, smiling but keeping them at arm’s length. “Guess I should get cleaned up first.”
“Alright.”
Colt ventured off to shower and change.
Bohwanox turned to Garovel. ‘So tell me more about embalming chemicals.’
‘Oh, well, there are all sorts. Some are dyes meant to maintain tissue color. Some are pumped into the body arterially. They have all sorts of different effects.’
‘Would they have oozed out of anywhere other than his face?’
Hector pursed his mouth to one side and figured that was a good place to stop listening. He turned his attention back to the children.
Hector practiced making metallic toys for them. Small and intricate, was how he began, but when Thomas started gnawing on the dorsal fin of an iron shark, Hector decided to retry with larger, more rounded figures. Probably not the most efficient method of training for combat, but at the very least, it gave him the opportunity to work on his precision.
When Colt showed up again, he looked like hell. His clothes were a complete mess, caked with dirt and mud where they weren’t already riddled with bullet holes and bloodstains.
‘Welcome back,’ said Garovel. ‘How’d it go? Did you have a nice vacation?’
“Would’ve been a lot easier if they’d just cremated me,” said Colt.
‘Yeah,’ agreed Bohwanox. ‘I would have been able to come back here and remake him from scratch. But on the plus side, I did get to witness Colt rising from the grave like some kind of unholy abomination. That was quite enjoyable.’
‘Be thankful they didn’t need to preserve your body for a funeral,’ said Garovel. ‘It’d take days to get the embalming chemicals out of your system. They would’ve oozed out of your face, mostly.’
‘I want to see that.’
Colt ignored them, more concerned with Hector and the twins. “How were they?”
“Amazing,” said Hector, and he helped them walk over to their father.
Colt bent down, smiling but keeping them at arm’s length. “Guess I should get cleaned up first.”
“Alright.”
Colt ventured off to shower and change.
Bohwanox turned to Garovel. ‘So tell me more about embalming chemicals.’
‘Oh, well, there are all sorts. Some are dyes meant to maintain tissue color. Some are pumped into the body arterially. They have all sorts of different effects.’
‘Would they have oozed out of anywhere other than his face?’
Hector pursed his mouth to one side and figured that was a good place to stop listening. He turned his attention back to the children.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Page 418
He found a box of reading material in one of the bunker’s closets, but there wasn’t anything suited for toddlers. There was barely even anything suited for him. Almost every book seemed to require a very high reading level, which only served to remind him that he would probably never finish high school. He wasn’t sure it made much difference, though. He’d never been especially comfortable in any of his language classes.
Hector did, however, manage to get his hands on some music. Scrounging through all the cars in the garage paid off quite handsomely. He seemed to recall hearing somewhere that classical music was best for child development, so he tried to stick with that as much as possible. And in the meantime, he worked on getting the kids on their feet, which was easier than he expected.
Stephanie and Thomas were quite ready to walk, as long as Hector held their hands. They stumbled all the time, but usually got right back up or just resorted to crawling for a little while. He could hardly believe how adorable the whole thing was. It was entirely too easy to understand why people wanted to film stuff like this. He tried to give the kids the opportunity to walk on their own, but they weren’t quite there yet. They were happy enough to crawl toward him, though.
The other big thing was conversation. Also not Hector’s strongest area, but with a bit of encouragement from Garovel, he did his best. He talked to them pretty much nonstop, using their names, trying to listen and respond whenever they babbled back at him. It didn’t seem to be doing much, but he supposed it was too soon to expect any kind of result.
The twins seemed to enjoy watching him make and unmake iron. It held their attention, the way the metal suddenly accumulated and then disappeared again. It got them to look at him with those wondrous little expressions of curiosity, which as Garovel reminded him, was immensely important.
Hector did, however, manage to get his hands on some music. Scrounging through all the cars in the garage paid off quite handsomely. He seemed to recall hearing somewhere that classical music was best for child development, so he tried to stick with that as much as possible. And in the meantime, he worked on getting the kids on their feet, which was easier than he expected.
Stephanie and Thomas were quite ready to walk, as long as Hector held their hands. They stumbled all the time, but usually got right back up or just resorted to crawling for a little while. He could hardly believe how adorable the whole thing was. It was entirely too easy to understand why people wanted to film stuff like this. He tried to give the kids the opportunity to walk on their own, but they weren’t quite there yet. They were happy enough to crawl toward him, though.
The other big thing was conversation. Also not Hector’s strongest area, but with a bit of encouragement from Garovel, he did his best. He talked to them pretty much nonstop, using their names, trying to listen and respond whenever they babbled back at him. It didn’t seem to be doing much, but he supposed it was too soon to expect any kind of result.
The twins seemed to enjoy watching him make and unmake iron. It held their attention, the way the metal suddenly accumulated and then disappeared again. It got them to look at him with those wondrous little expressions of curiosity, which as Garovel reminded him, was immensely important.
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