please read chapter 3. I posted it recently, having forgotten to a while ago. please and sorry~
The parlor was once again the way it had been when Felix first arrived, approximately a week ago. Smoke flooded it and leaked out the tall, Victorian windows almost comically, only to be absorbed by the starry sky.
Felix himself had part in the process of slowly, but surely wearing off the fading flower pattern on the wallpapers. He held a cigarette in one hand, between his pointer and middle finger, and was checking his poker cards with the other.
"Oh but I just don't like it on you." Otilia complained for the nth time, taking a seat on Felix's armrest and running a finger under his chin. He moved his head after her touch and let his eyes flutter.
"Awh, I really tried to look nice for the gathering." Felix pouted at his wear: a slim fit suit, with grey pants and vest and a dark red shirt. Next to the green tie, his colors fit the poker theme just right.
"Not the suit!" Otilia giggled, slapping, more like brushing, his chest. She's fancied quite some wine. "I meant this." she took the cigarette from between his lips and placed it between her own, taking a drag.
Her full, babyish cheeks went in as she sucked, the shadow that traced them offering her an air of maturity, accentuated by the cigarette. Parting her tiny, plump lips, she let the smoke trail out on its own, forming curls and waves, before ruining them by blowing out.
"So that's how it is." Felix laughed faintly. Otilia winked his way and skipped off the armrest to go and sit on Pascalopol's instead.
She let her arms fall on his shoulders as she leaned to look at his cards, giggling at what she saw. Felix could remember her mentioning that the man was an old friend of Eustache and that he tended to spoil her ever since she was a kid, but their proximity was unnerving.
Otilia started pointing at the cards and whispering strategies to the senior man. Felix looked away to observe uncle Simon as he knitted. The thin, straight strands of hair covered his eyes until he raised his head to look at him void of expression.
"Felix, your turn."
The young man halted and sketched a smile at Aglee, Simon's wife and Eustache's sister. It stood little chance to her glare and so he let it drop and focused on his cards, raising their corner to remember his pair.
After playing with the chips a little, he darted a few at the middle of the table. "Raise."
With that, he leaned on his backrest and crossed his arms, glancing back at Simon. The old man was once again focused on the task at hand.
If anyone would be willing to tell him what the deal about Vancouver was, it had to be the poor senile. The only problem was catching him alone. No one trusted him enough to let him by himself for one second.
Felix took another drag of his cigarette and sighed the smoke out before tapping away the ash. When it was once again his turn, he observed the changes around the table and decided to fold, pushing away his cards.
"Ah Felix, you're no fun backing off so quickly!" Otilia complained, swinging the leg she kept on top of the other. Pascalopol chuckled as he rubbed his two chins. He had about three rings on his thick fingers, flashing despite the dull light of the lamp. The man was still in the game.
Felix sighed shortly. "Changed my mind." he took the cards back.
Everyone at the table took the time to laugh long and loud.
"As if we're not aware your cards are weak! You were meaning to fold!"
"Yours might as well be even weaker." Felix huffed.
They kept laughing at him until he glanced away in shame.
"Proving yourself to Otilia are you?" Aglee said in that tone which turned any possible joke into irony. Her daughter Aurice was glaring from next to her, both irritated by the idea.
Felix gaped slightly but Otilia only laughed, as always managing to break the ice. It was almost as though it was her sole purpose in the house, creating a nice atmosphere.
"He's proven himself when he won that all-in! Not many break the shield of papa's humble eyes!" she reached over and caressed the old man's baldness. His heavy eyelids got even heavier as he smiled a light smile.
Felix rubbed the back of his neck and waited for the two other people that were still in game. While Pascalopol stared Aglee down, Felix inched towards Simon, who wasn't sitting far.
"Psst." he whispered.
The long, sharp nose peeked from behind the curtain of hair. Felix darted an arm on the backrest and faced him, glancing back to make sure he wasn't attracting attention. What with the thick smoke around, he could be picking his teeth for all they'd notice.
"Can you tell me what's wrong with your son?"
Simon let his lower lip cover the upper one. He shook slightly. "He's refused the apple."
Felix sighed, facing the table once again. He eyed the mess of chips and cards and shook his head, rubbing his face. There were real money involved, he shouldn't have gotten himself into that.
He folded once again, slamming a palm on the cards and pushing them at arms length. Everyone chuckled, but he glanced out the window, past caring.
The chatter and taps of chips faded out as he focused on the street outside, dimly lit by Victorian streetlights. He kept smoking while he waited for the turn to be over. Few people passed at that late hour, 2am that is, but there were a handful and he couldn't help but judge their figure and wonder just where on God's earth were they headed.
But then a certain figure, tall and manly caught his eye. It approached the streetlight with sways and stumbles. At that late hour he easily deduced the man to be drunk, perhaps even homeless, but then it got in the radius of light and he scratched off that thought.
The man did have a home. Next to Felix's, as a matter of fact.
It was Vancouver and he was injured. Even from there, Felix could tell his eyes weren't dark just because of the shadow cast over them. His stumble was actually a limp, and an arm proved to be useless in supporting him by nearby objects.
"People!" Felix was panicking. Everyone gawked at him. "Vancouver is outside and he's hurt!"
One by one, they glanced away, letting their backs slump from the previous rigidity. Felix shook his head, standing up from the chair abruptly. It caused it to fall backwards, he was making quite the scene.
"Are you all mad?" he snapped. "Aunt Aglee, he's your son!"
The lady puffed out her large chest and shrugged, pressing a palm to her black hair. "He always gets himself in troubles, he's a grown man. I no longer have any power over him."
"But he needs help!"
"He's a grown man Felix, he can handle a bandage and some rubbing alcohol." she insisted, barely moving her thin, rouged lips.
Felix clenched and unclenched his fists, pacing on spot before turning around and leaving the house in a hurry.
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Felix's dress shoes slapped the pavement loudly against the dead silence of night. Vancouver didn't mind the sound, having a hard enough time remaining on two feet.
"Vancouver!"
The man finally gave up, letting himself rest on the stone fence that edged Eustache's yard. Felix placed a hand on his shoulder and tentatively moved him, trying to get in his eyesight. Even when he did manage, the man was far too unfocused for it to matter.
"God, God..." Felix glanced back at the house and the smoke that kept trailing out of the window. They just didn't care. "They're so bad!"
Up close the bruises looked so much worse! Not only bruises but tiny cuts, and his chin was scraped badly. He must've fallen. "Come on, I'm here to help. Lean on me, okay?"
Felix felt like crying, honestly. He's only known him for a weak but it was more than enough to tell he didn't deserve something like this! And he was his cousin, his family, he felt frustratingly useless seeing him suffer like that for reasons unbeknownst to him.
"Here..." Felix placed the man's good arm around his shoulders and supported his weight. "That's all right, lean on me."
Vancouver grunted, trying to make sense of his footing. He kept holding a leather folder in which papers were messily kept. A few steps and a few papers fell out, fluttering towards the ground as though they were part of the rain of leafs.
"I'll get them, I'll get them." Felix insisted when Vancouver made a move to go for them. He let him rest on the fence and gathered them quickly and put them in the folder, which he took from the man before resuming their previous movement.
When they got into the house, Felix eyed the stairs doubtfully. "Can you make it or should we-"
"Up." Vancouver took a ragged breath.
"All right, just, one step at a time. Watch that ankle." he said, having noticed his limp.
Once Vancouver was sitting on his bed, propped against pillows so that he wouldn't fall asleep, Felix got on putting his knowledge to practice. He got the rubbing alcohol, that for some reason had been on Simon's nightstand, and applied it to Vancouver's wounds with the use of soft cotton.
His head would keep lowering, but Felix would raise his chin and keep it like that to softly tap the cuts. Vancouver would frown now and then, which was a good sign. He was still able to feel, meaning he was conscious enough.
"Does that hurt?" Felix asked, brushing away the hair that kept getting into his eyes. The long hair at the middle no longer stood backwards but sideways and over half of his face. Didn't look half bad.
Vancouver hummed affirmatively, carrying an expression of inconvenience. He must've only wanted to sleep it all away.
"Let's see the rest." Felix sighed, turning to move the arc lamp on the desk so that he'd have better view on the man's body. "Don't move, just stay with me." he pressed his palms to his chest so that he'd rest on the pillows. Vancouver had been meaning to undo his tie.
"All right." Felix sighed, his hands quickly moving around. He got bandages and scissors, undid the man's tie and vest, and eventually got on unbuttoning his shirt.
With each button that he got lower, his hands slowed down. He shook his head and looked at him with eyes that were starting to turn just as distant as Vancouver's.
"Why?" he whispered.
Vancouver neck seemingly pulsed from how much he was gulping dryly. He looked at him from above his strong jaw and sketched the most bitter smile.
Felix covered his mouth with shaky fingers and looked around, trying to find the bandages. They were inches away from him, but still it was minutes before he got hold of them. He picked the scissors with the wrong hand and cut the material sloppily.
He placed the things aside and took a tube of cream that should heal the dark spots. He poured it on a hand and looked at him wearily.
"Is your back also...?"
Vancouver shook his head a little. Felix sighed in relief and got on applying the cream over the darkened areas gently. He could feel Vancouver's muscles twitch under his touch.
Felix was feeling cold. Dreadful. He didn't dare let his mind run, but whenever a thought slipped, goose bumps would rise on his skin.
Whatever was wrong with Vancouver, it was enough to cause this much hatred against him. Caused people to induce this on him and his family to ignore it. Felix could no longer pretend to wave it all off. No matter how much he appreciated his cousin, these things had to happen for a reason.
He peeked at his jaw tentatively, afraid to meet his gaze in case the man saw his inner conflict through his eyes. "Can you sit up?"
Vancouver did, head hanging low. Felix got his arms around his torso to bring the bandage around it and repeated the movement, arms brushing against Vancouver's and their chests meeting at times. He did that until the damaged areas were covered in bandage so that the cream wouldn't rub off on the mattress.
He placed a few plasters on the facial cuts and then got on gathering everything while Vancouver lied on the pillows. It was silent for the longest time...
"Changed your mind at last."
The man's voice was something Felix had never heard before. It didn't have a fade in and fade out, it was a low, monotonous murmur that baffled him like a leaf hanging mid-air would. The words came from nowhere and went nowhere, just hanged mid-air, continuously ringing in Felix's head.
"Your shoulder... I'll put it back in place." Felix walked back to him and took hold of his long, heavy arm. When he jerked it just the right way, it popped loudly, but Vancouver didn't react. "It will be numb for a little while..."
Felix lied the arm down carefully and then undid the man's shoes, letting them fall to the ground with thuds. "You must've stepped wrong on your ankle, just don't try it for a while."
He took a pillow from the armrest nearby and placed it under the ankle. With that, he straightened up and sighed, walking to the desk to arrange the papers in the folder. He glanced at Vancouver, who was staring at the ceiling. The dark marks around the bridge of his nose were already worse. He feared seeing him the next day, but then again he felt the need to get some answers before ever facing him again.
Yes he was being a hypocrite but he couldn't just get over the facts. It was one thing for everyone to talk about Vancouver as though he was a taboo, but being physically offensive took it to another level.
He looked back to the papers at hand and observed the sketches. They were all churches in different styles, but neither was finished. If one was finished, strong lines were scrawled over it, most probably by Vancouver himself.
But he probably wasn't the one to have crumpled and torn them. Most were even burned in places. Felix did his best to organize them and place them in the folder, his hands shaky.
"Anything I can get you?" he asked, still facing the desk.
Vancouver only turned on his side with slow, careful movements.
Felix nodded, ran a hand through his long curls, and left.
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The cigarette crushed against the metal ashtray with a hiss, accompanying the cemetery of finished sticks. Felix's lungs could no longer stand another cigarette and so he stood up from his sofa and opened the window largely before returning to the previous seat.
He slumped against the backrest and traced with a finger the model that consisted of tiny flowers over a light orange background. The door of his room opened but he ignored it, lost in thought.
"Felix, it's very late. Why are you up?" Otilia asked, entering.
She was wearing a white nightdress that reached her ankles. It had frills at the hem, sleeves and neck. Naturally, it was very simple next to the dresses she'd wear throughout the day, but it had to be Felix's most favorite. It complimented her so well, unlike the others that drove one's attention away from her shapes and natural beauty.
"Vancouver... I don't know what to think anymore..."
Otilia walked to him, her naked feet silent over the square rug, brown as to mach the bookcases. She took a seat next to him on the sofa and brought up her legs, placing her head on the round, tiny knees. She leaned on Felix.
"Felix, you're too kindhearted for your own good..." she murmured.
The young man sighed, leaning into her touch.
"Talk to me. Make me understand."
Otilia sighed, the warm breath tickling Felix's jaw.
"He doesn't deserve this..."
Felix closed his eyes. "I was just coming to terms he might."
"Don't think otherwise..."
"But you just said-"
"Deep inside I know he doesn't deserve this. We grew up together, Felix, I used to love him like a brother. But I must believe he's at fault. And you must too. It's better this way."
"Just tell me, Otilia."
The legs slipped away from under her head and Felix watched her rise and walk to the door. A hand gripped the knob while the other was pressed flat on the door's surface. She kept her head tilted his way, nose peeking from beyond blonde curls.
"I wouldn't dare..." she did a twirl and faced him, the nightdress slowly settling down around her slim, milky legs. "It's... I wouldn't even know how to..." she shook her head. "I can't, it's against my morals."
Felix placed his elbows on his knees and held his head.
"Good night, Felix."
"Wait." the young man sighed. He placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet before walking towards her.
Then, at 4 in the morning, he felt like he could tell her anything. So he did.
"You and Pascalopol..."
He'd gotten close to her, hands in the pockets of his suit which he had yet to change out of. He kept his head low and she kept hers high in order for them to keep eye contact.
It would make perfect sense. On times like those, the ideal marriage was between a well-off, financially stable senior and a young, gleeful girl. The elder would take care of her and she would brighten his life in turn.
Otilia and Pascalopol were ideal for the roles. To top it off, Otilia knew him ever since she was born, and appeared to be genuinely content in his presence.
"Oh Felix..."
Her look was one that said she knew. She was aware of Felix's glances which lingered a couple moments too long and the flutter of his eyes whenever her perfume reached him.
And just then, at 4 in the morning, Felix saw nothing wrong in it.
"I fancy you." Felix confessed bluntly, as to erase any doubt.
Otilia sketched a sad smile. "Believe me when I say I fancy you too, but... I wish to have my joy and then get under Pascalopol's wing."
"You can be joyful with me."
"But you wouldn't let me go."
"Indeed. I'll become a doctor, or a teacher at an University, I'll be able to take care of you!"
"Felix, it's not the way it works..." she took hold of his elbows. "You're too clever, serious, mature... You're always lost in thoughts, trying to untangle whatever metaphysics cross your mind regarding the simplest objects. I can read that in your eyes, and it always makes me aware of my inferiority."
"Don't say that..."
"But it's true. We're incompatible." her lower lip poked out. "You'll find someone and she'll be gorgeous, she'll be out of this world."
Felix let his long, slim torso slump and glanced away. She was right in a sense, he couldn't see them happening. Otilia was far too adventurous for him, he'd always stand behind as she'd skip away with naked feet, the way she did in the garden. She saw things for what they were, whereas he distorted reality into scientific mysteries and formulas.
"I see." Felix said with an empty voice.
"I'll regret it later in life, I'm sure I will, but what is life but a complexity of mistakes?"
Felix closed his eyes and nodded. "I see."
Otilia used the grip of his elbows to rise and peck his cheek long.
"Sleep well, Felix."
"You too..."
Butonce she left, he went back to the armchair and lightened up a cigarette.
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comment pls~