Coffee Conversations

12- Flat Hunting Vol 2: Ledger finds his hole

"Please don't mind him." I plead, watching as Anna's face contorts into varying degrees of concern at the sight of Ledger's unusual flappy dance. He looks like one of those dancing inflatables that you see at car dealerships. Unnervingly so, he looks as though he has no bones.

Anna is nice. She is our sixth real estate agent in four days, with cropped blonde hair and a penchant for pencil skirt suits. She's just the right amounts of interested and polite, and conversing with her has been a delight, but I have found that even the most level headed people have their limits, and their limits often, coincidentally, look like Ledger.

"My cousin has learning difficulties." She says sympathetically and I bite my lip.

Ledger doesn't have learning difficulties. Social difficulties, perhaps. I don't bother to correct her.

"Tell me more about the lease. I saw that this flat is available for immediate tenancy, why is that?" I ask.

"The owner is very motivated to find long-term tenants after his last lease fell through unexpectedly." She explains and I nod.

"And how does the owner feel about LGBTQ+ couples?" I ask, a little sternly.

I had found out the ugly way that there are an unreasonable number of landlords who still refuse to let to queer couples, so the question is painfully necessary.

"Oh!" Anna says, suddenly, glancing at Ledger who is now rolling around on the floor.

"I see, well...Mr Marshall has a male partner himself, so I'm sure that he'd not take any exception to yourselves." She says, a touch awkwardly and I smile tightly.

Again, I don't bother to correct her.

I open my mouth, another question on the tip of my tongue when a sudden screech reverberates through the room. Anna just about leaps out of her teal skirt suit, a ragged gasp escaping her as I glare at Ledger, who merely smiles and shrugs, looking around thoughtfully.

I had told him to start warning me before he did that. I press my fingers against my forehead gently for just a moment, before attempting to soothe a visibly fried Anna.

"He likes to sing. Loudly." I explain painfully and Anna nods slowly.

"We've had noise complaints in the past, it's just good sense to check." I add, a charming smile on my lips and she smiles back, a little more tentatively this time.

I try and keep an eye on Ledger, but as he begins to roam through the rooms of his own accord, his eyes vacant and seeing things that wouldn't possibly appear on my radar, I give up. There is only so much control you have over wild things, it's best not to delude myself.

I turn back to the pretty blonde beside me.

I'm quite pleased with my efforts on Anna, her previous hesitance almost completely obliterated by my unerring kindness and smiles, which is exactly when Ledger decides to begin climbing into the kitchen cabinets.

This is a new test of his and a new test on my patience too. I sigh heavily at the conspicuous clatter of his shoes inside the cabinet. I smile tensely, a vain effort to distract Anna.

A maniacal giggle emanates from beneath us and I let my smile fall, finally defeated.

Ledger's head pops out suddenly, his gaze fixated on a heavily disconcerted estate agent.

"Where are we, in relation to things? And where does he live?" He demands vaguely, pointing at me.

She looks completely out of her depth, her mouth opening and closing as her wide eyes blink slowly. I take pity on her, knowing it's not her fault that she's not tuned in to the absurd radio station that Ledger's mind seems to operate on.

"Everett will be able to commute into and out of the city very easily, there are a number of different direct lines from this location. The studio is fifteen minutes away and I'm twenty minutes away." I say cooly, easily deciphering his nonsense.

I watch him nod pensively, retreating back into his dank hole.

"Grey, please can you join me?" His disembodied voice requests, the sound of it eerie and hollow. I sigh again.

"Give us a moment?" I ask, when Anna continues to linger.

"Oh!" She whispers, stepping away enthusiastically. I shake my head, smiling somewhat at her hasty retreat.

I glance back down at the cabinet, still questioning just how Ledger managed to contort his long limbs into such a tiny space. He's like a cat. I crouch down, deciding to perch at the mouth of the cupboard.

Dark eyes shine back at me, excited and disturbed, cloaked in the darkness that encases his body.

"What do you think?" He whispers.

I think that he's finally gone insane, and that I would shit myself if I opened the cupboard to find him in there, stuffed like a scary puppet just waiting for an unsuspecting passer by.

"I think it's in a good location, is modern and well equipped and would allow you to have guests." I say instead.

"It has met all of my requirements, too." He says creepily, his fingers coming together atop his knees.

"I wish you wouldn't test them quite so enthusiastically." I grumble, remembering the horror that poor Anna has experienced today.

"I think this is the one." He says, ignoring me completely.

"Really?" I ask, my brows shooting upward.

I had anticipated a long, long week ahead of us, knowing the likelihood of Ledger finding something that 'fits his fantasy' would be incredibly slim.

I watch him nod eagerly before withdrawing.

"Do you think Everett will like it?" He asks, his voice just a whisper.

I smile at his sweet thoughtfulness, so uncharacteristic of Ledger. I don't mean it in an unkind way, but Ledger can be selfish and self-consumed in a way that I assume he has to be in order to be successful. His displays of kindness and affection often take different forms, which are more subtle and harder to appreciate.

I know that he's had Everett on his mind in every place we've visited, carrying both his own needs and his beloveds. The approval that he so desperately needs, the desires that he has been trying to fulfil are now essential, and his eyes shine in concern. But he needn't worry.

I pat his hands gently, the need to reassure him the only thing I can feel.

"He'll love it." I say.

"What if he doesn't?" He asks and I laugh.

Not because I think it's absurd, but because it simply holds no value.

"It doesn't matter. You know why? Because you will be here. And he loves you."

Ledger beams at me, the kind of smile that makes the crazy look in his eyes fade, and the fact that he's stuffed into a kitchen cabinet seem unremarkable. The kind of look that makes my heart stutter.

I retract my hand quickly, glancing away.

Ledger surges forwards, crashing into me as he launches himself into the kitchen.

"We'll take it!"