Connection - Part Fifteen
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
“Got everything?” Aiden calls brightly, leaning into the kitchen.
“Yes!” I close up the last cooler, then give Luna’s ears a scratch, struggling not to laugh. “We’re bringing so much stuff! You would think we were going so far, for so long. But it’s all just food.”
“That’s how you know we’re prepared,” Aiden says firmly.
He takes the cooler from me, then pauses in confusion when I wave at someone behind him.
“Hey, Will!” I call out warmly. “Did you-? Oh. Oh, my god.”
“Hello, Jamie,” he rasps, his voice worn all the way through. “I have an answer to the question you were pondering.”
“So do I!” I let out a disbelieving laugh as Will staggers into the kitchen, rubbing his dazed green eyes. “Aiden, note down the time.”
Aiden huffs out a laugh, getting a good look at Will now that he’s put the ghost glasses on. “I’m seeing lots of things to note down.”
Our ghostly lumberjack looks as if he’s been steadily tumbling head over heels nonstop for several days and nights in a row. There’s a hazy-eyed, exhausted expression on his smiling face. His clothes couldn’t be more rumpled, and his golden hair is in a wild state.
“Wow.” Aiden huffs out a laugh, grinning widely. “She really worked you over, William Clarke.”
“You lads set me up for this,” Will laughs hoarsely, dragging his arm over his face.
What actually happened is that I tried to summon the ghosts once Aiden and I got home from retrieving the flowers. They were the only ones who still had a bouquet.
The only answer I got was from Kasey, who didn’t appear, just sent her voice. She asked us to kindly leave her and Will alone for, oh, the next couple of days.
I immediately warned her about the flowers and the pollen. I explained that it was magical, therefore there was a real possibility that she and Will weren’t immune to it, a concern she was steadily validating for me.
I got back the snarky but correct answer that as ghosts they couldn’t really hurt themselves from overexertion, and she hadn’t gotten to have any kind of drug fun since she became a ghost, so just let her have this.
To which I said okay, and that I’d like to know how long the pollen takes to dissipate from a room if the flower isn’t removed, anyways. That’s good knowledge to have, and the ghosts are uniquely qualified to test it out.
I didn’t expect the answer to be days. From how Will looks, I don’t think he expected that either.
“Can’t you just reset yourself, man?” Aiden laughs, observing Will’s haggard appearance.
“My dearest Aiden, I’m afraid to,” Will answers, with a hoarse laugh of his own. “We’ll only start up again! And we must break, for this is a dangerous cycle for a ghostly man to slip into. One could spend years this way and be none the wiser! It won’t do, boys, not when a Sorcerer is on the prowl. Although I’ll own that no such thoughts touched my mind until this morning. When I chanced to look up, and noticed the flowers had blown away.”
“Did you have fun?” I laugh affectionately.
Will lifts his head from his arms to give me an exhausted, twinkling grin.
“I thought so.” Aiden huffs out another laugh, catching Will’s eye. “You know we had to drive around and get all the flowers back from everyone? Roger opened the door naked.”
Will’s grin spreads wider.
“Famous!” he rasps, then notices the stuff we were about to carry out to the car. “My god, and where are you off to with this baggage train? Is there a trip of several months in the workings?”
“It’s all food,” I explain.
“Ah. A few days, then?”
“Two,” Aiden confirms, picking up the last cooler.
He quickly catches Will up on what he missed, and Noah’s paintball plans for us this weekend.
“My aunt will be coming by for the cats, so if you guys want to watch a movie while we’re away, have Kasey use her ghost voice and ask her to set it up for you. We told her about it, so she knows to expect it.”
“The ability to speak across planes serves many useful purposes,” Will says solemnly, then smiles when we laugh. “Thank you for that. Kasey was telling me something interesting about the Anasazi cliff dwellings before we fell under the sway of the flowers. I’m sure there will be some documentary or other she’d like us to watch.”
He says it with such an adoring smile that for a moment his exhausted face glows brightly again.
“Where is she?” I ask.
“Asleep, where I’ll leave her for now,” Will says firmly.
Aiden and I exchange a wide grin, then shoulder our backpacks.
“Keep an eye on the house for us,” Aiden directs Will, pointing to our disheveled ghost as he crosses the kitchen. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“So I’d not be in your bad graces were I to give half the town flowers of madness?” Will snickers, then straightens up as we both head for the door. “What became of things with Gage and Noelle, by the by?”
“Nothing,” I call back.
Inwardly, with my usual optimism, I add – yet.
“Are you ready for this?” Aiden asks, closing the trunk of my car a few minutes later. “By this I mean probably several back-to-back paintball disasters.”
“I am,” I laugh, then drop into the driver’s seat. “Hopefully things just don’t get too out of hand.”
~~~~
Raj’s buddy Tim isn’t present for this weekend, but I definitely like his house. I especially like the flourishing back garden, with big rain barrels catching the steady, gentle downpour, making a soft splashing noise. I told Noah approvingly that sound is often an element people forget about when designing their garden, even though it really can make all the difference. A comment which earned me a blank stare from him, and an affectionate smile from Aiden.
The nearby lake is also peacefully absorbing the rain. I’m sure the lake considers the rain welcome, because to call it a lake at all might be a stretch. But it is a sweet little place, a modest body of water with marshy, dark green outskirts. There have been a few frog sightings, a source of great distraction for essentially everyone in our group.
Given the isolation of the place, I suspect the surrounding woodlands go pretty undisturbed by anyone. Except Tim and his friends, that is. There are signs that a lot of paintball goes down at this place. Tim had enough extra gear to kit out everyone who came without their own. Homemade obstacles and bright splashes of color can be found out in the woodlands surrounding the lake. The ruins of an abandoned house a short hike away, on the other side of the lake, have clearly been co-opted for paintball purposes. The walls have the paint splashes to show for it.
At first it made me sad to see a home so broken down, but I decided it was actually nice that it’s been put to this fun, cheerful new purpose. Wearing so many new colors.
I said as much to Aiden, and for whatever reason that made him drag me around to the garden for a brief but intense make-out session. He ran off with me so fast I almost fell down, and probably would have if he hadn’t been holding my hand.
That hectic moment was the first of many to follow. The woodlands are blanketed with autumn leaves, and the slow, light rain has been falling ever since we got here, which we now know makes perfect conditions for every kind of paintball mistake.
The battlefield has been established on the far side of the little lake, in the name of sparing Tim’s windows and sunflowers from harm. Those of us not playing have gathered up around the fire pit on the front patio of the house. The chilling area we’ve established offers a clear view of the lake, and the wide clearing in the trees right across from us on the other side.
We can’t see much of what’s happening in the trees, but now and then a burst of action will happen in the clearing. One of the objectives has been placed there. Out in the open. In the midst of the slippery autumn leaves.
Since we sat down on the patio, we’ve seen Ripley roll down into the clearing like a cartoon tumbleweed, unable to stop himself on the leaves. We’ve seen Raj streak through on a panicked retreat from Ralph and Noah, who then both fell down, and had to turn around and flee themselves when Mel burst out of the trees to lay down some cover fire for Raj.
And, my favorite moment of all: we saw Aiden sweep through like lightning, catch the flag without slowing down, and retreat gracefully into the trees. A flawless moment for the blue team, until Raj punched his fists up in celebration and got sniped in the chest by Ralph.
It was worth it for the dramatic performance Raj made of his fall, though. It was a stunning reminder that the man is a Shakespeare actor. Several of us on the other side of the lake stood up to applaud.
At another point we saw the blue team try to sneak up on the yellow team, only to discover that the team without Ralph should not be trying to win via strategy. The yellow team was so well-positioned in the abandoned house that Noah, Ralph, and Ripley stood there showering down a hail of paintballs and laughing hysterically while Raj, Aiden, and Mel went scattering, slipping and sliding on the wet leaves.
Noelle brought her mom’s birdwatching binoculars, which turned out to be an excellent idea. She can see much more of the action through them, and was able to keep us informed when Noah tried to stylishly slide on his knees into cover behind one of Tim’s homemade obstacles, realized he was going to hit it, threw himself flat on his back, slid the rest of the way anyways, crashed feet-first into Ripley, who was already crouched down there, took him out completely, and caused him to fire a surprise shot directly into Ralph’s back.
“I’m so glad we came out here,” Noelle giggles, lowering the binoculars. “This has been so good.”
Gage, sitting next to her by the fire, smiles at the glowing expression on her face. “I suspect you have half a mind to get out there and play, Bug.”
Noelle certainly does have an air of temptation about her, and has all day. Noah very specifically left an extra set of gear out by the fire, with the paintball gun sitting on top of the bag, as prominently featured as possible. He claimed it was for me, Gage, or Alix if we changed our minds, but he knew damn well that none of us were going to. Noelle saw right through that lie, too, and she’s been pointedly ignoring the extra gear ever since.
Aside from the occasional stolen glance in its direction, that is.
Before she can answer Gage, Noah comes racing out of the trees and into the open, pursued by – nothing, so far as I can tell.
“Holy shit!” he shouts, sprinting pell-mell across the clearing. “Fucking fuck!”
We all stare at him in complete confusion for a second, then burst out laughing as an absolute hail of blue paintballs comes flying out of the trees after him.
They turn out to be from the entire blue team, but most specifically Melanie. She races out to the front of the squad and bears down on Noah, who in his panic can apparently only think to shout: “Babe, babe! We’re married!”
With grim relentlessness, Melanie pursues him back into the trees, followed swiftly by Raj and Aiden.
Noelle laughs again, then steals another swift look at the extra gear. She nibbles her lip, but goes back to drawing lightly in her sketchbook.
She’s sketching out our bonfire, the camping chairs, the lake. The rainy sky, which is gradually turning purple with falling dusk, beginning to unveil the stars. It’s a color that gives the sky that unique autumn combination of eerie, and deeply cozy at the same time. Especially with the warm little house giving up puffs of smoke from the chimney behind us.
“Oh, god!” someone screams from the other side of the lake.
We all look over to see Raj burst out of the trees with one of the flags in his hand, tearing back across the clearing. Somehow alone and being chased down by both Noah and Ripley, which leads me to believe that Ralph caught him in some kind of trap. A paintball hits him in the back of his thigh, and he lets out such an outrageous, girlish scream that all of us around the fire burst out laughing.
Noah and Ripley start to close in, then both slip again on the wet leaves. They crash to the ground in a shouting tangle, leaving Raj to escape into the trees with his flag.
“What even are the rules here?” Alix laughs helplessly.
“I’m not sure any of the boys remember that there were any rules,” Gage observes.
Noelle has her face buried in her hands, but from her trembling voice it’s clear she’s laughing. “I think you’re right, Gage.”
Ripley and Noah both groan as they drag themselves back to their feet, then turn around as Ralph trots out into the clearing from the other side. He calls something to them, grinning widely, and – holding up a flag.
“FUCK yeah!” Ripley shouts, so loudly that it echoes across the lake.
Ralph starts jogging forward to meet them, then slips on the leaves himself and goes down. Noah and Ripley both begin shouting instructions, struggling towards him, and then all three of them begin screaming hysterically as Aiden steps out into the clearing. Raj is at his shoulder, smirking like someone who knows their big brother is about to make fools of the little kids.
The mad dash for the trees is a spectacular mess.
Compared to all this, Noelle looks just as dignified as she wanted. Especially in her pretty outfit, with the fluffy white infinity scarf and flowing black dress. The loose braid Mel put her hair into for her, which left strands free to curl in the wind. She looks very put together, complete with her delicate umbrella propped over herself to shelter her sketchbook from the gusts of rain that occasionally bluster through Tim’s open patio.
She also looks like she’d kind of prefer to be on the other side of the lake right now. There’s something longing about the way she laughs, watching the chaos unfold.
Not that we’re having a bad time over here in the makeshift viewing gallery. It’s been an excellent day, full of good food and lots of smoke and all the good music that Noah promised. Noelle has seemed radiantly happy. Except when she’s telling off Noah, who refuses to stop bothering her about playing.
“Is that four out of five flags they’ve got, now?” Alix borrows the binoculars to watch as Noah and Raj give up on their paintball guns and begin wrestling directly. “Does each team have two?”
“Yes, which means someone is about to win this thing,” Noelle groans. “I’m gonna hear it from Noah, just you wait. I told him I doubted they could play a full game slipping around on all the leaves.”
“I mean – are they going to play a full game?” I just noticed that they’re all grouped up together, coming around the side of the lake towards us. “Looks like it’s over, but I didn’t see anyone get the last flag.”
The explanation presents itself when the players troop up to join us on the patio, to reveal that the blue team has two flags, the yellow team has two flags, and each team has a torn half of the last one.
“This was the only way to settle things down,” Aiden explains grimly. “The sportsmanship in this group is almost impressively bad. It’s like: skip all other steps and come directly to blows, in all situations.”
“Oh my god,” Alix laughs in disbelief, standing up to gently remove a twig from Ripley’s hair. “All that effort, for the result to be a tie?”
“Even if it was,” Noah says triumphantly, turning to Noelle, “Who said we couldn’t play a full game in these conditions? Who said that, again?”
Noelle lets out a huge sigh, gazing up at him in exasperation. “I forgot how good you are at annoying me.”
“Very good,” Noah agrees, grinning widely. “And I’m gonna be holding this over your head all night.”
“This feels like high school,” Noelle tells him heatedly, “When I would have to listen to you guys complain nonstop about me making you ‘leave the party early’. Meanwhile the hostess was saying things like – oh, I sure hope you get home before it starts snowing, isn’t it a pretty long drive for you guys? Looks like it might start up any minute! I’d love to be cozy in my pajamas by the time it starts, wouldn’t you? That’s always nice after a long night!”
Noah frowns in confusion. “Where in there did she ask us to leave?”
“Wow,” Noelle says, staring at him in genuine amazement as I drop my face into my hands. “How have you made it this far?”
“What are you even talking about?” Noah asks, holding up the flag in confusion. “Look at this, don’t you see this? I’m a glorious victorious champion by the standards of – anyone! And, modest about my win, which is an excellent quality to have.”
“Okay, but you didn’t win,” Aiden points out. “It was a tie.”
“Anyways!” Noah glances around at the group, suddenly noticing that someone is missing. “Where’s Niki?”
Gage unbuttons his jacket to reveal Nikita sleeping cozily against his chest, her cheek smushed into his sweater, her mouth slightly open. The sight draws a collective gasp of surprised delight from both teams, one loud enough to make Nik stir drowsily and blink open her eyes.
She wakes up some more as everyone who was playing paintball instantly rushes towards her.
“Don’t get paint on her!” Noelle warns them.
Nikita knuckles her eye, then sits up to stare and giggle in confusion as everyone clusters around her with their arms held out, being careful not to actually touch her.
“What was she doing in your jacket?” Raj asks, his voice weak with love.
“Well, you said not to let her get too cold,” Gage begins evenly, “So I was holding her, but my arms got tired and I wanted my beer, and she was asleep, so I just went ahead and buttoned her in there. That’s the benefit of borrowing a warmer coat from Aiden. So much room.”
“Raj, I really like Tim’s house,” I tell him brightly, as he tosses his mask aside and shakes out his curls. “It’s so cute!”
Mel groans loudly, then shakes her head when we all look at her in confusion.
“Sorry, it’s just – for reasons that would take too long to explain, I really wanted Tim to be evil when Raj and I played our first paintball game against him. But the guy is so aggressively not evil.”
“You wanted him to be evil?” I laugh, bewildered.
Raj flashes an adoring, private smile at Melanie. “It’s what we needed for our quest that day.”
“Where is he, by the way?” Ralph turns to Raj, running a hand through his blonde hair to get the mask prints out. “Tim? Why doesn’t he need his house this weekend?”
Raj grows serious, sympathetic. “One tough story, bro… he adopted a dog that came from a rough home. She’s been giving him some issues, but he won’t give up. He’s not home ‘cause he’s driving pretty far to take her to a good canine behavioral specialist.”
Ripley touches a hand to his heart, his green eyes softening. “Wow, that’s so nice.”
“I know,” Raj agrees earnestly. “He was looking up soothing sounds for dogs to play on the drive and everything, so she doesn’t get scared.”
Melanie lets out an anguished sigh. “Goddamn you, Tim. Why is he so bad at being evil?”
“He’s got nice taste in decorative pumpkins, too,” I tell Melanie, with an apologetic wince.
“Oh, don’t talk about pumpkins!” Noelle wails, tilting her head back in despair. “I’m still so embarrassed about how my stupid idea to save Melanie’s jack-o’-lantern worked out!”
“I thought it was a great idea,” Gage says in surprise. “Couldn’t believe it didn’t work.”
“That reminds me,” Raj tells Noah, “We should probably try to get the pieces of that pumpkin down from our roof, dude.”
“It ended up on the roof?” Aiden laughs, taken aback. “In pieces?”
“I thought we needed less friction,” Noelle begins to explain, then gives up immediately. “Oh, nevermind! Let’s pretend that whole thing didn’t happen, please!”
“Hello, what the fuck?” Noah complains indignantly, holding up the flag. “Everyone moved on from our incredible victory way too fast! I’m king of the goddamn swamplands, right now!”
“Again, we didn’t win,” Ralph reminds him. “Although we might have, if you had taken Aiden down in that last skirmish like you were supposed to.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Noah starts messing with his paintball gun, his dark brows knitted. “Something must be wrong with my gun. It won’t fire from this angle-”
He breaks off as his paintball gun fires, and shoots Ralph squarely in the toe.
“Oh, guess it will,” Noah admits sheepishly, as Noelle gives his arm a scolding slap and Nikita bursts into giggles. “You alright, Ralph?”
“I’ve taken so much friendly fire today,” he groans, shaking out his foot, looking regretfully at the paint on his boot. “But yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry as all hell.”
Aiden brightens up instantly. If I know my Sugar Maple, he was just waiting for someone to say that. He sets down his mask and paintball gun and cracks his fingers.
“I’m on it.” He toes off his muddy boots by the patio door, checking his hands for paint. “Let me just get changed, and then it’s wing time.”
This is met with such an uproar of enthusiasm from everyone present that Nikita bursts into giggles again.
“You guys make it sound like we haven’t been taking snack breaks all day,” Aiden laughs, shaking his head as he slips into the house. “You’d think I wasn’t keeping you fed at all.”
“We’re dying for more, Aiden, help us!” Ripley shouts after him.
Aiden rolls his eyes, like that’s not exactly what he loves to hear. Raj and I follow him back into the snug little house, leaving the others laughing and talking by the fire.
“Tim said we can help ourselves to any drinks in the fridge, by the way,” Raj tells the group, leaning back out of the house. “He’s got a pretty nice selection, and it’s all crisp ‘n cold, so feel free to have a look.”
“Ugh!” Melanie sputters indignantly. “Tim! He’s such a great guy!”
Laughing to myself, I follow Aiden inside. The house has low ceilings, and it’s already growing dark with the soft rain and deepening dusk. The kitchen window has a nice view of the lake, though, and the golden lamps brighten things up when Aiden gently switches them on.
Raj and Aiden quickly get changed and get to work. With the two of them consulting on the menu and sharing the work, Noah’s original idea of ‘hot wings’ has grown considerably, so they have a lot to do.
I sit on the counter, listening to the faint hum of the lake wildlife and the pattering rain. Passing a blunt back and forth with Raj, enjoying the slow process of the kitchen filling up with good-smelling steam. There’s the wings, but also the cheesy jalapeño poppers, the corn fritters and biscuits, slow-baked potato gratin, and the mushrooms currently melting in golden butter… soon enough every inhale is a mouth-watering treat.
I hop down from the counter to help Raj cut up peaches for the salad, listening to the muffled laughter and music from outside. Every now and then we hear the door open and someone go down one of the other hallways, presumably everyone getting changed out of their paint-splattered clothes one by one. Occasionally someone comes through the kitchen to help themselves to something from Tim’s admittedly excellent beverage selection.
The harmony of this day has been so good. Now the harmony of the evening is turning out to be just the same. Spirits are high all around. It makes me glow with hope inside whenever I see Gage and Noelle having fun together, or Noelle and Noah laughing and arguing. I’ve gotten to see a lot of both today.
It’s having a noticeable effect on Noelle, who’s really more unwound than I’ve ever seen her. She’s melted comfortably back into the patio sofa when we come back out onto the patio, carrying with us what feels like an endless amount of food. She actually notices us first, and begins a cheer of excitement which spreads so quickly that we all have to be shushed and reminded about the baby sleeping in the house.
The food is devoured at a rate which proves we didn’t overpack for our trip. We all sit comfortably around the fire after the plates are empty, talking and handing around a bowl. Trying to keep the laughter hushed for Nik, which proves to be challenging.
She wakes up a little later regardless, and lets us know by crying loudly. Noah brings her out to the fire and settles her against his chest.
“D’you have a bad dream or something?” he murmurs gently, smiling into her upset little face. “It’ll all be worth it, because now you get to try a s’more.”
All she can really do is nibble some graham cracker and try to grab at some marshmallow. The delight of having the stickiness on her hand entertains her enough that her expression clears. Soon she’s snuggled drowsily against Noah, listening to the conversation quietly happening around her. She yawns so deeply that her eyes close.
Noelle has stopped paying attention to look at Noah and Nik. Her eyes are growing sleepy, but they’re full of deep, warm affection.
She’s sitting nearest to me and Aiden on the patio sofa, so I get the nice surprise of seeing her sneakily, swiftly put down a drawing of Noah and Nikita in her sketchpad. She claims that Noah has been annoying her all day, but I don’t really think he has. She looks infinitely relaxed, her grey eyes peaceful.
She falls asleep shortly after finishing her sketch, right there on the patio sofa. With practiced ease, Gage gently takes her drink from her hand and places it on the table before it can tip over. Like Noelle, he’s been watching Noah and Nik with warm affection.
He smiles as Nik experimentally lays a very gentle slap on Noah’s cheek, and Noah gasps dramatically, giving her a stern admonishment in French. She giggles and snuggles deeper against him, hiding her face in his chest. Apparently done with the graham cracker, she flings it aside without looking. It soars straight into the fire, where it disappears with a puff of smoke.
“What – Niki!” Noah gasps, startled and grinning. “You tiny maniac! Good thing I didn’t hand you my phone!” He begins laughing as she does, giving her cheek a playful, scolding pinch. “You don’t have to incinerate things the instant you’re done with them, you know! Although I do appreciate the spunk.”
Gage breathes out a laugh. “Funny, Noah. As a dad you remind me of your own dad.”
“What?” Noah turns his grey eyes to him in surprise. “How’s that?”
“For one thing, whenever he told you and Noelle off for something it always felt like he was doing it just because he thought he was supposed to. Not because he was actually mad.” Gage laughs again, running a hand over his dark brown hair. “I remember him very fondly calling you two ‘some real rascals’ once, after we all got into trouble. He said that to my dad. Unbelievable thing to say to my dad, of all people. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe, trying not to let them hear me.”
Noah bursts out laughing at the mere thought. “I can picture his face! My dad never really got your dad. Think he was confused by him.”
“Him and me both!” Gage groans, shaking his head as he lifts his cigarette to his mouth. He smiles at Noah across the fire, solely with his eyes. “I’m glad you’re like yours.”
Noah breaks into a pleased, touched smile as he absorbs that. He lets his gaze travel over all the faces around the fire, then leans back in his chair, the perfect picture of contentment.
Gage must be feeling the same way. He tilts his head back to look past the patio, at the sky that’s grown dark and velvet with night, then says -
“Man, Noah, great idea to come here. This has been awesome. And Aiden, this gigantic jacket is awesome.”
“Perfectly normal-sized jacket!” Aiden protests.
“Anyone else want to get in here with me, besides Nik?” Gage nods down at the jacket as he makes this offer. “It’s nice and warm. Ralph, you want me to button you in?”
“Pass,” Ralph says firmly, as Aiden and Noah drop their heads in silent laughter.
Noelle wakes up a little, hearing those of us who laughed louder. She smiles to herself, cozies deeper into the sofa, and lets out a serene sigh.
I lean back against Aiden, internally swaying on the relaxed energy like a hammock. Absorbing the coziness of the little patio in the whispering autumn night, the guys laughing as it’s pointed out that Ripley and Alix certainly have been missing for a while…
Aiden must have carried me inside, and set up a nest for us out of sleeping bags and blankets on the rug in the living room. I wake up already comfortably situated in it. My sleepy, searching eyes find Noelle and Gage in their pajamas, talking quietly. Sitting up in their makeshift beds on the couch and the recliner, Noelle laughing a little. Noah leans into the living room to call out a drowsy goodnight in French. Noelle beams at him as she answers, her shoulders sagging with exhaustion but her face glowing.
Aiden is sitting up beside me, sipping on a mug of saffron tea, slowly working his fingers through my hair as he reads the poetry book perched on his knees.
I close my eyes again, smiling to myself. It was a surprisingly peaceful day.
We’ll see how tomorrow goes.
~~~~
The day begins quietly enough.
Yesterday’s fresh air and activity, the rich feast we ate, the hang-out that went late into the night – it all makes for a slow morning, because we all slept like rocks.
One by one, we wake up and drowsily make our way into the kitchen, lured there by the yummy smell of the coffee that Raj put on. I’m actually reluctant to leave our little nest on the rug, which is toasty warm and deeply cozy with the cold morning frosting the windowpanes. But the promise of coffee works its magic.
I find Aiden and Raj already at work in the kitchen, assembling a big breakfast. After last night’s dinner they kept it simple this morning, with mostly toast, hard cheese, yogurt, and fruit to go with the coffee.
I sit down and nibble my way through a great deal of it, joined shortly by Noelle. She’s swathed in a blanket, her braided hair rumpled after a night of being slept on. Noah comes stumbling out of the bedroom, followed after a good long while by Melanie, who sleepily drops down onto Noah’s lap and announces she won’t be doing anything else that requires running this weekend.
Gage lets himself into the house through the kitchen door. He has Nik sitting up in his arms, sucking on the side of her own hand. Both she and Gage are pink-cheeked and bright-eyed from the morning cold.
“She was making little sounds,” Gage explains, handing her off to Melanie. “I wasn’t sure what she needed, so I thought: maybe she’d like to see a frog.”
“I’m sure she would!” Noah agrees, immediately and whole-heartedly.
Perhaps with a clearer picture of what Nik wanted, Raj passes a plate of sliced bananas to his wife for his baby. Pausing to place a kiss on their respective foreheads.
“What’s the maintenance issue Tim wanted us to fix?” Noah yawns, tilting his head back to accept his forehead kiss from Raj.
“He left the info for us right there.” Raj tosses his head at the fridge, where there’s a neatly written note. “Beneath the magnet that says Thank you for your support.”
Mel leans over to the fridge to read it. “Thank you for your support, from – The National Farmworkers Women's Alliance? Oh, for fuck’s sake, Tim!”
Ripley lets out a snicker of laughter. “Next we’ll hear that he supports Babies With The Sickness, too. Right, Noah?”
“I don’t even want to ask what that means,” Noelle says gravely.
I let out a helpless laugh, catching Mel’s eye. “Why were you hoping Tim was evil, again?”
“Because we needed – it’s too hard to explain!”
“You might want to pick someone else to accuse of being evil,” Noelle giggles, nibbling on her toast. “Tim doesn’t seem like an optimal candidate. Can I suggest Noah instead? I want to know at what point last night he came out and left the paintball gun right beside the couch, so it would be the very first thing I saw when I woke up.”
Gage looks over at Noah, impressed. “That’s a smart move.”
Noelle flashes him a startled, betrayed pout. “Wow, Gage, really?”
Gage blinks in surprise as Aiden hands him a cup of strong black tea. He gives him an appreciative nod, fixing him with his warm, eyes-only smile, then turns it on Noelle.
“Did you and Noah used to play paintball when you were kids?”
“Operative words being when we were kids,” Noelle answers austerely. “Take my side on this, Gage.”
“I’m actually running fully to Noah’s side on this one,” he says apologetically, drawing an instant sputter of indignation from Noelle. “I might even start chanting. The question is what to chant. Paintball? Do it? Noelle? Bug?”
“Gage! Didn’t I say to take my side?”
“I am. You totally want to play.”
“Please,” she scoffs.
After breakfast Noah and Gage set out to place the flags, while Alix, Noelle, and I go for a walk through the woods. It’s a beautiful morning, only the lightest rainfall hanging around from yesterday.
“I like your umbrella, Noelle,” I tell her, as we set off into the trees. “That’s a pretty color. Reminds me of all the peaches Aiden and I harvested this summer.”
“Oh, thank you!” Noelle says warmly. “I like this one, too. I’m glad I bothered to have it repaired.”
“Repaired?” Alix asks curiously. “Where can you get that done?”
“Oh, there’s this umbrella repair shop in Paris…”
With that we lapse into an easy conversation, and take a relaxed walk through the autumn landscape. It’s mysterious in the morning quiet, full of white mist. Noelle does brief sketches of some wildflowers, and seems pleased to be able to note down their names when I provide them. When we get back we find Ripley sitting on the patio, doing a quick watercolor into his sketchbook, glancing up now and then at the lake.
That’s about where the peaceful morning ends, though. The remaining rain burns off with the rising sun, and the paintball begins again.
Melanie has opted to join those of us watching today, so there’s an uneven number of players for the teams. Something Noah points out to Noelle hopefully, several times, until she grabs him by his sweatshirt to give him a threatening shake and some sharp words in French.
No one wants to take Melanie’s place, so it’s decided that the teams will be Raj and Ralph against Noah and Aiden, with Ripley as a wildcard team of one. Noelle’s idea.
I can foresee several problems with this solution. I can tell that Ralph sees them too, but his sage green eyes are sparkling with preemptive amusement, and he says nothing about it.
Noah won’t set out until he’s pestered Noelle about playing again. She practically kicks him in the direction of the battleground, with an acid response in French, but I can see the warm sparkle of laughter in her eyes.
The rest of us get set up comfortably in the camp chairs, which we put out by the edge of the lake. It’s chilly without the fire nearby, but the sunshine finds us easily through the bare crowns of the trees. We all settle in to see how Noelle’s idea for the guys will play out.
The players melt into the trees on either side of the clearing, and silence falls for a while.
“This should be interesting,” Alix laughs. “Rip sure had a big grin on his face.”
“What – who put this here?” Noelle points down at the extra paintball gun, which is leaning against the leg of her chair. “Gage, was that you?”
“Me?” Gage asks, making a face like a perfect innocent good boy. “Well, if I did it was only for our safety. I have a feeling Ripley might go mad with paint power. We’ll need you to defend us if push comes to shove.”
“Mad with power?” Noelle laughs. “Why’s that?”
“Oh, you don’t know Ripley,” Alix tells her, around an adoring laugh. “He’s going to realize he probably can’t get the flags with no team to back him up. So he’s going to shift his focus onto just having a great time by absolutely obliterating everyone else with paintballs.”
Noelle’s eyes widen. “Why didn’t anyone say that when I suggested my idea?”
“Because we thought it would be funny,” Gage answers evenly.
“But-” Noelle begins, aghast.
There’s a burst of noise and shouting from the trees. We all turn sharply to look, but no one rushes out into the clearing. There’s just a lot of crashing around, shouting, and then silence from the woods.
After a few minutes, Aiden, Noah, and Raj come out into the clearing, so spattered with paint that it looks like they’ve already been playing for hours. Followed by Ralph and Ripley, who are completely paint-free.
“Hey, Noey!” Noah shouts, pushing up his mask. “Turns out there are a few problems with your plan!”
Noelle throws her arms out wide in disbelief, raising her voice to shout back. “Who knows Ripley better, you or me?”
“Why didn’t Ralph get hit?” Gage calls.
“He ran instantly, the coward!”
“Good foresight, Ralph!” I call back encouragingly.
Noah narrows his grey eyes, squinting across the lake. “Did you bring the extra gun over, Noey?”
“No, Gage did!”
“Gage, my man!”
“I ought to throw it into the water!” Noelle shouts back, surging out of her chair to stab a finger at him. “Maybe I will if you don’t stop bothering me about it!”
Noah shouts back his answer in French, and Noelle answers in kind, so for a few minutes we get to see what an argument in French looks like when the two parties involved are standing on opposite sides of a small lake. Nikita seems to love it, given how she giggles and claps enthusiastically the whole time.
Eventually the disagreement is brought to a stop by the appearance of a new frog by the lake, which effectively distracts everyone. The teams are reformed, the plan is revised, and a second battle begins.
Arranging things in a fair way with an uneven number of players turns out to be a difficult challenge. Any arrangement of two and three turns out to be unfair. The battles are over pretty quickly as a result, and each time produce such a blitz of senseless chaos that those of us watching can’t help collapsing into laughter. All the noise bounces out across the lake, which catches the misty sunshine, a serene backdrop of nature to the nonstop human foolishness going down.
It’s shaping up into another excellent day. I stretch out happily in my chair, savoring each little fleeting glimpse of Aiden. Once we light up the joint, the sight of him gracefully running around is twice as mesmerizing. I’m barely even listening to the conversation, until -
“Noey!” Noah shouts across the lake, with his mask still on his face. He punches a flag into the air, covered in mud and grinning victoriously. “How many flags have you gotten today?”
“Oh, enough already!” Noelle shouts back, lowering the joint she was just about to hit. “You annoying little infant!”
“Wow, haven’t heard that one in a long time!” Noah yells back. “I’m starting to wonder if maybe you’ve lost your paintball touch, and that’s why you don’t want to play. Afraid you’re not as good as this little infant?”
“That is not the problem!” Noelle shouts, hopping up onto her knees in her chair. “I could absolutely school you at any time, but I’m above that!”
“You mean above, below, to the left, to the right, everywhere but on the actual target?” Noah shouts back, as the others come out of the trees to join him. “I bet you couldn’t hit me if I was standing here waiting for it!”
To demonstrate, he begins doing an extremely stupid dance on the spot, stretching his arms up high, then curses violently when all the paintballs pour out of his gun and cascade down over his head.
Noelle lets out a gasp of laughter as he stares at his gun in confusion. “You are so stupid! I ought to do it just to show you how dumb you are!”
“That would be scary if I thought you could!” Noah calls back, tossing his empty paintball gun aside. “Here, to add insult to injury-”
He turns around, and starts dancing with his back to her.
“Oh, you dumb…” Noelle breathes, enraged, her cheeks burning. She hands the joint off to me, without breaking her eyes away. “Okay, you know what?”
“What?” Noah calls, without turning around.
Noelle springs out of her chair and sweeps the extra paintball gun into her hands. She bounds down into the water, rushes out in it until she’s in up to her knees, then aims the paintball gun.
“You asked for this, Noah!” she shouts, and unleashes.
Noah becomes the first player to be spattered with bright green paint, which, even with him already thoroughly spattered, makes it undeniable that Noelle hit him five or six times. He topples over with an overdramatic shriek, flinging his hands up in immediate surrender. The guys around him all burst into laughter.
“Ha!” Noelle lowers the paintball gun, laughing breathlessly. She stabs a finger at Noah, hopping around in the water. “Take that, you dumb-”
She stops abruptly, seeming to realize all at once what she did. She looks down and sees herself standing in the lake, with the paintball gun in her hands.
“Oh-” she cries out in despair. And then, all of a sudden, she bursts into cascades of wild laughter. “Oh, Noah, goddamn you! Look at what you – and Gage! This is on you, too!”
She twists to flash him an accusing look over her shoulder as she says it, still laughing, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling, her braid coming undone.
Gage, who had opened his mouth to answer, freezes, just staring at her. A tiny smile lights his eyes. Suddenly he looks too shy to answer. Gage, of all people.
“This means you’re in, Noey!” Noah shouts, springing triumphantly to his feet. “Change into some pants and get over here!”
“Are you not done provoking me?” Noelle shouts, laughing as she shifts the paintball gun into one hand so she can gather up her drenched skirt with the other. “Well, I’ve had enough! Even the Goodness of Tim couldn’t save you now! I’m about to walk straight across this lake and kick your-”
“Noelle?” calls a shocked voice from behind us.
Noelle freezes, then looks sharply over her shoulder. Her eyes open very wide, as do mine when they fall on the new, unexpected arrival.
Logan is back.
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