Forums » General Roleplay » New Start(1x1)

"Oh..um.." Howie leaned up and started taking the crates of computer parts off of the top bunk. "I'll clear out a dresser for you next to the bed. You can sleep up here." He put the crates over by his computer desk, blowing dust off of them very gently. He could tell Alex was a little nervous in his room, but that made sense. People always were. He got a new comforter and blanket, along with a pillow, and put them on the bed.

"Do you want some help?" Alex asked as he watched Howie move the crates off Alex's bed now. He set his backpack and picture frame on the bed, then sat down. He didn't mind the mess around the room, it shouldn't take him long to get use too Howie's and his room. "So, what do you usually do around here?"

Howie softly declined his offer, preferring to do it himself. He took a large assortment of books out of the drawers and onto a filled bookshelf in the corner. As he did this, Howie replied to Alex.
"There really isn't much to do out here, since there's no one but my father and i. But i suppose now that you are here, things won't be as boring." He paused. That was truth, wasn't it. Things really would be less boring now. "But what we do around here..hmm.. well, i go to a selective school a few miles away, although it really is putrid.." Howie frowned. The kids there were bullies and drop-outs; some weren't even classified as children anymore. "But i usually don't go. I school myself." He took the last book out of the dresser and began to clean it. "Then there is the lake and the woods. I always find something interesting to do out here. There is ice on the lake nearly all year, so iceskating is an option. Then there is fishing. And if were lucky enough to get a warm summer, swimming." He finished cleaning and stepped back. "And the woods has endless things to offer." He motioned to the dresser. "All ready."

Alex listened tentatively to what Howie was saying about what there is to do around here. He stood up when he finished cleaning out one of the dressers. "I don't really think I'll need more than one drawer, I really don't have a lot of clothes." He shrugged then unzipped his backpack. He pulled out his clothes, seeing that some of them became unfolded. He folded the clothes back, and put them in the draw. "It would be interesting to go walking around the woods. Usually I would walk around whatever neighborhood I was in, try to get the idea of of how it was placed. Seeing as we live in the woods, I guess getting an idea of the paths around here are out of the question." He finished putting his clothes in there, leaving the letters and picture frame on the bed. "I guess I'll go to the same school as well, but if you don't mind, you can teach me. I use to teach myself in the foster homes because the teachers were never really good at the schools I went to." he shrugged lightly.

Howie smiled. "We can switch on and off. I'd be happy to teach you on occasion." He glanced at the picture frame and remembered his thoughts earlier. "Those are your parents, correct?" Howie cleared a clean, neat spot on his desk, safe from any elbows or hands and away from the edges. "You can put the frame here. I think they deserve a nice place to rest."

Alex nodded to Howie's question. He smiled gratefully at Howie for doing that. "Thank you." He picked up the picture frame and put it down on the spot that Howie had cleared off for it. It was the only thing besides his father's pocket watch and a ring his mother gave him the night she died. He hoped that one day he could go back to England to visit their grave, and pay them their respects after such a long time. "Sometimes it surprises me how much people who knew my parents compared me to my mother even though I look exactly like my father." He shrugged.

Howie stood beside him and studied the picture silently. He was right. Their skeletal structure was almost exact, same jawline; same features. But Alex had that glitter in this iris that the woman in the picture did as well. She was very beautiful. To himself, Howie wished he had been blessed with a mother like this one. Even for a short time. "It would have been a pleasure to know them. I wish i had."

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, my dad was a lot like yours, but my mother was really nice and taught me to just be myself and not to worry about what other's think, not even my dad. Even though she was shy, she was really nice." He smiled gently at the memory of how his mother, a witch, was always singing and dancing around the house when it was just him, her, and his father. Most of the times, his father would join her in the dancing, but not singing, his father was horrible at singing.

Howie listened to him and closed his eyes for a moment, imagining them, moving, breathing, alive. It was a nice thought.
"Your parents seem like wonderful people. I wish i could say the same for mine." He opened his eyes and snapped out of his mind, moving again. He brushed sugar off of the desk and threw away the candy wrappers. He could use some sourpatch kids about now.
In the left-hand corner of the ceiling, the little mesh box quivered. A huge moth fluttered out of it and took flight, hovering above them on its silent wings. There was a distinctive skull on its backside, gently sloping over to its wings.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, they were. My dad was mean sometimes, he wanted me to follow in what he did even thought it wasn't what I wanted." He said before the moth came out. Alex stayed calm then caught it, being careful to not break it's fragile wings or weak body. Once he felt it stop fluttering in his hands, he slowly lifted the top one up, revealing the small winged creature laying on Alex's hand, calm.

"I can understand that completely. It seems my father is the same way." Howie looked over his shoulder, open bag of sweets in one hand. "Oh, that's Mirtis." He picked out a red sourpatch and popped it into his mouth. "He's a Death's Head Hawkmoth." Howie ruffled the small hairs on it's body with his forefinger. "He has a friend too,Nokto. She's a Black Witch Moth." Howie walked over to the mesh box and tapped it a few times, gently. It took a moment for the larger moth to join them, It's wings darker and wider than the other as it flew into Howie's hair and rested there.

"Yeah, but his kind of job wasn't......the most friendly one, you could say." Alex really didn't think it was a good idea to tell Howie what his father did, seeing that Howie was a man of science and probably didn't believe in demons and witches. Alex gently petted Mirtis's hair with a gentle smile. "It is interesting how many different types of animals and insects there are, and how few people see." He flinched, but it wasn't really much at the mention of 'witch', remembering his mother. He knew he had some power, but it really wasn't a lot, not enough to have a demon come after him, anyways.

"Hm." Howie could tell Alex was holding something back. He didn't press it; it wasn't his business. He lifted Nokto from his hair and held her in his arm, letting the moth climb up his forearm. "True. I've never met someone who noticed things the way i do." Mirtis fluttered his wings and twitched an antennae as he is petted. Howie pondered what Alex said for a moment. It seemed he had hidden much more meaning in the phrase, that Howie himself couldn't corner. It bothered him that he couldn't.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, it isn't hard when you spend a lot of time outside. I preferred to find the creativity in science, not so much math. Seeing the different patterns and designs each creature has. Not one thing is the exact same as the other. For example, me and my father. Small build, same features, told different personalities and attitudes." he shrugged, still gently petting Mirtis.

Howie listened to him, word by word. It made sense to him, completely. He nodded. "Are you glad to be the way you are, instead of like another?" Quietly, in his mind, he asked himself the same question. It just was that.. he didn't have the good answer for that. Not the answer someone would expect.

Alex nodded. "I am glad the way I grew up and who I am. I know my parents didn't want their death be the end of me too, so I'm glad to know that even while their dead, I can still make them happy." That gentle smile appeared again. It soften Alex's features, making him look younger and more peaceful. The way he talked about his parents, it was clear he loved them very much, enough to not let their death to kill his soul too. He never went to therapy or anything to deal with depression because there were no signs of it. Alex didn't cry about his parents, at least, not when others were around to see.

Howie glanced at him; he wasn't surprised by the answer. Alex seemed at peace with the world, a thing he'd rarely seen on humans. He looked at the photo again. "You're strong, Alex. Stronger than others might think." He slipped another gummy candy into his mouth. "It is a good trait to have. Honor that." Nokto grew tired of Howie's arm and went into the air again, this time resting on his dented pillow.

Alex shrugged. "I am just me. I believe in being yourself and not letting the world control you." Mirtis fluttered his wings then flew out of Alex's hand back into the mesh box. Alex sat down on his bed. "Hey, you wannna go outside and walk around?" He asked, it was an idea of what to do.

Howie glanced back at his computer desk; he did have work to do. But...he supposed it could wait. "Alright." He leaned down and brushed Nokto off of his pillow, where she then too landed back in the mesh box. Then he turned off the lights in. His room and opened the door. "A walk in the woods sounds interesting." He picked up a black leatherbound notebook as he said this.

Alex smiled and walked out of the room. "It will be refreshing, the clean air is good for the heart and soul." He began to walk down the stairs, happy to be able to look around in the woods, more so this deep in them. He loved being outside, but when it came to the woods, he could never get too deep in them before nightfall came, at least not in his foster homes.