Doreen & Julian: Check-In
Apr. 12th, 2009 04:12 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsJulian goes to check on Dori after the previous day's squirrel related drama.
Doreen was on the bed in her room. Today was Easter and she wasn’t at home. Mom had called and she had talked to Ryan. She had gotten the impression that Ryan was going to be with Dad today. She had tried to call her Dad at least twice and hadn’t gotten an answer.
Her Dad wasn’t answering emails either. She was going to start writing by hand later, maybe then he’d write her back. She hoped so.
All that being done, she laid down on her stomach, her tail and legs up in the air as she paged through one of her new text books. She was still upset about what had happened with Mr. Espinosa too. Doreen sighed, and turned a page in her math text.
Outside, in the hallway, Julian rapped on the suite door- three times. He'd been on a run during yesterday's festivities involving a rather annoyed Monkey Joe. Fred had filled him in on what had happened and he'd read the entries in the journals, but Keller wanted to check to ensure his friend was okay. From her reaction, Doreen felt guilty over what had happened and that triggered the memory of his nocturnal gremlins. It wasn't his fault that his powers had played Tetris with the wood pile- even if it had been fun to deconstruct- it was outside his control. Monkey Joe was outside of her control- for the most part- and he didn't want her to feel bad over his furry, little actions.
Doreen looked up, “Come in,” she said, Monkey Joe poked his head out of the dresser too, looking around sleepily and clicking and squeaking before settling back down into his bed made out of socks. She didn’t know who was coming up and visiting her. But friends and visitors were always better than math.
Unless she was in trouble.
Julian thought he heard someone say to come in, so he cautiously opened the door and peaked inside. "Dory? You here?" With careful steps, he made his way through the living area toward her and Callie's room.
“Yeah, I’m here Julian,” she said, sitting up on her bed. “You can come in, unless it’s against the rules or something,” she said. Her tail wasn’t up as high as normal, instead sort of sitting on her bed, droopy. Today was not a good day.
Without further knocking, he let himself into her room, where he found Doreen- unsurprisingly- alone. "Hey, Green. I heard about what happened with Monkey Joe yesterday, want to talk about it?" She looked sad, he was at least picking up on that much.
Monkey Joe’s head popped out when he heard his name and then decided that Julian didn’t have anything he wanted so went back to sleep. “I guess so… I had the self-defense thingie with Mr. Espinosa yesterday and told Monkey Joe he could sleep on the fridge and… Marius…? …Anyway, the curly haired guy went in and reached for a granola bar that Monkey Joe thought was his and Monkey Joe jumped him. I’m very upset with him right now,” she said, sitting cross-legged on her bed, puffing up a bit on the last.
“He has to learn we’re not at home. Just because something’s in the kitchen doesn’t mean it’s just ours,” she said, looking towards the drawer where Monkey Joe was. “So he’s in trouble right now.”
She didn’t bring up the other thing that happened, likely Julian wouldn’t get that anyway.
He suppressed a smile. It was funny, but Doreen was upset enough that seeing the humor at this point probably wouldn't help. "Yeah, Fred told me that Marius took refuge in our suite yesterday. He's still being difficult? Calling the other squirrel hicks and whatever?" A quick glance over to the sock drawer and Julian crossed the room, taking a seat on Callie's neatly made bed.
“Yeah, he is,” Doreen said simply, “I guess he thinks because we’re from the city he knows more about stuff than the squirrels here who pretty much live in the country. And he didn’t really say ‘hick’ there’s not a word for ‘hick’ when they talk so it’s more like ‘stupid country ones’ I guess,” she said. It wasn’t exactly easy, translating squirrel to human. It didn’t work right and it hurt her head to do it.
A nod, "I was told he was trying to get at some granola bars? What did Marius and the Professor say about the whole thing?" Within his head, Julian started to formulate a plan on how to integrate Monkey Joe into the school's squirrel population.
“I don’t know what Marius thought. The Professor seemed amused by the whole thing but he really shouldn’t have done it, you know?” Doreen said. “I mean, we can’t get kicked out.” There was the court order and everything.
This time Julian did smile, "Doreen, I want to tell you a story about Nori- have you met her yet? Not important. My first weekend at the mansion, Nori ran off to New York City without telling anyone. You'll notice, she's still around." He stood up and smoothed out the impression he'd left on Callie's blanket, before making his way over to Doreen's bed and sitting down next to her. "Hell, I move stuff around in my sleep sometimes...sleep Tee-Kaying or whatever. I'm still here." A pause, then, "Can you see what I'm trying to say?"
“Um… that stuff happens?” Doreen said. “It’s not the same as Monkey Joe jumping on your head. I’ve heard some people are actually afraid of squirrels,” she couldn’t even fathom that. They were cute! “I mean, it’s not just that. The rest is… kinda complicated, I guess.”
Julian waited in silence for her to finish the thought, his face showing both care and patience. When she didn't say anything after a few beats, "You can tell me."
Doreen shrugged, “It’s all kinda complicated. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Dad. I mean, he wouldn’t be working today,” she said, pouting. “I just want to say hi and stuff.”
That broke his heart and for a moment, Keller didn't know what to say. His own father only talked to him if he did something wrong or spent too much money, but he accepted the truth that his father despised him. Doreen had hope for a reconciliation with a man whom was going to great lengths to avoid her. "I...I see. Well, maybe he's just busy with everything, it is Easter, right?" He thought about it for a moment, it was, in fact, Easter- but it turned Julian's stomach to make excuses for the man. He resolved that should he ever meet Mister Green in a dark alleyway, the man wouldn't be leaving in the same condition he entered.
“I guess. He’s not with Mom though. I thought when I came here maybe he’d stop living in the Hilton, you know?” Doreen said with a shrug, “But you’re right, he might be busy. I’ll call and leave a message with his secretary tomorrow. Hopefully she’ll forward it on.”
"And in the meantime," Julian smiled and patted her knee, "you can hang out with the rest of us whom are doing the responsible teenage thing and avoiding our homework. I mean, how can you concentrate on math," he picked up her book and flipped through it, "when there's a cookout tonight."
Doreen looked at the math book with her cheeks puffed out, “I can’t… concentrate on it, I mean. It’s math,” she said, “I guess I could do the cook out thing… I’ll take the phone down with me in case Dad calls. I was waiting for that, but I’m sure I’ll hear the phone if it rings down there. There’s egg salad, right?” she asked. She had to be really careful with what she ate if she didn’t want to get a massive stomach ache.
Julian chuckled, "I'm sure someone will bring it- wouldn't be a cookout without it, right?" As much as he wanted to help her get over the loss of her father, Keller was in no way competent enough to do so. He made a mental note to ask Nathan about some way to go about it in their next lesson. "Come on, let's get out of this room and outside."
Doreen carefully picked up the phone so she wouldn’t scratch it with her claws, after all it wasn’t hers. “Yeah, okay,” Doreen said and went to pick up Monkey Joe, “If you promise to behave you can come down with us and we can have food,” she said and the squirrel jumped to his place on her shoulder. Doreen put on a bright smile, “Let’s go.”
Doreen was on the bed in her room. Today was Easter and she wasn’t at home. Mom had called and she had talked to Ryan. She had gotten the impression that Ryan was going to be with Dad today. She had tried to call her Dad at least twice and hadn’t gotten an answer.
Her Dad wasn’t answering emails either. She was going to start writing by hand later, maybe then he’d write her back. She hoped so.
All that being done, she laid down on her stomach, her tail and legs up in the air as she paged through one of her new text books. She was still upset about what had happened with Mr. Espinosa too. Doreen sighed, and turned a page in her math text.
Outside, in the hallway, Julian rapped on the suite door- three times. He'd been on a run during yesterday's festivities involving a rather annoyed Monkey Joe. Fred had filled him in on what had happened and he'd read the entries in the journals, but Keller wanted to check to ensure his friend was okay. From her reaction, Doreen felt guilty over what had happened and that triggered the memory of his nocturnal gremlins. It wasn't his fault that his powers had played Tetris with the wood pile- even if it had been fun to deconstruct- it was outside his control. Monkey Joe was outside of her control- for the most part- and he didn't want her to feel bad over his furry, little actions.
Doreen looked up, “Come in,” she said, Monkey Joe poked his head out of the dresser too, looking around sleepily and clicking and squeaking before settling back down into his bed made out of socks. She didn’t know who was coming up and visiting her. But friends and visitors were always better than math.
Unless she was in trouble.
Julian thought he heard someone say to come in, so he cautiously opened the door and peaked inside. "Dory? You here?" With careful steps, he made his way through the living area toward her and Callie's room.
“Yeah, I’m here Julian,” she said, sitting up on her bed. “You can come in, unless it’s against the rules or something,” she said. Her tail wasn’t up as high as normal, instead sort of sitting on her bed, droopy. Today was not a good day.
Without further knocking, he let himself into her room, where he found Doreen- unsurprisingly- alone. "Hey, Green. I heard about what happened with Monkey Joe yesterday, want to talk about it?" She looked sad, he was at least picking up on that much.
Monkey Joe’s head popped out when he heard his name and then decided that Julian didn’t have anything he wanted so went back to sleep. “I guess so… I had the self-defense thingie with Mr. Espinosa yesterday and told Monkey Joe he could sleep on the fridge and… Marius…? …Anyway, the curly haired guy went in and reached for a granola bar that Monkey Joe thought was his and Monkey Joe jumped him. I’m very upset with him right now,” she said, sitting cross-legged on her bed, puffing up a bit on the last.
“He has to learn we’re not at home. Just because something’s in the kitchen doesn’t mean it’s just ours,” she said, looking towards the drawer where Monkey Joe was. “So he’s in trouble right now.”
She didn’t bring up the other thing that happened, likely Julian wouldn’t get that anyway.
He suppressed a smile. It was funny, but Doreen was upset enough that seeing the humor at this point probably wouldn't help. "Yeah, Fred told me that Marius took refuge in our suite yesterday. He's still being difficult? Calling the other squirrel hicks and whatever?" A quick glance over to the sock drawer and Julian crossed the room, taking a seat on Callie's neatly made bed.
“Yeah, he is,” Doreen said simply, “I guess he thinks because we’re from the city he knows more about stuff than the squirrels here who pretty much live in the country. And he didn’t really say ‘hick’ there’s not a word for ‘hick’ when they talk so it’s more like ‘stupid country ones’ I guess,” she said. It wasn’t exactly easy, translating squirrel to human. It didn’t work right and it hurt her head to do it.
A nod, "I was told he was trying to get at some granola bars? What did Marius and the Professor say about the whole thing?" Within his head, Julian started to formulate a plan on how to integrate Monkey Joe into the school's squirrel population.
“I don’t know what Marius thought. The Professor seemed amused by the whole thing but he really shouldn’t have done it, you know?” Doreen said. “I mean, we can’t get kicked out.” There was the court order and everything.
This time Julian did smile, "Doreen, I want to tell you a story about Nori- have you met her yet? Not important. My first weekend at the mansion, Nori ran off to New York City without telling anyone. You'll notice, she's still around." He stood up and smoothed out the impression he'd left on Callie's blanket, before making his way over to Doreen's bed and sitting down next to her. "Hell, I move stuff around in my sleep sometimes...sleep Tee-Kaying or whatever. I'm still here." A pause, then, "Can you see what I'm trying to say?"
“Um… that stuff happens?” Doreen said. “It’s not the same as Monkey Joe jumping on your head. I’ve heard some people are actually afraid of squirrels,” she couldn’t even fathom that. They were cute! “I mean, it’s not just that. The rest is… kinda complicated, I guess.”
Julian waited in silence for her to finish the thought, his face showing both care and patience. When she didn't say anything after a few beats, "You can tell me."
Doreen shrugged, “It’s all kinda complicated. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Dad. I mean, he wouldn’t be working today,” she said, pouting. “I just want to say hi and stuff.”
That broke his heart and for a moment, Keller didn't know what to say. His own father only talked to him if he did something wrong or spent too much money, but he accepted the truth that his father despised him. Doreen had hope for a reconciliation with a man whom was going to great lengths to avoid her. "I...I see. Well, maybe he's just busy with everything, it is Easter, right?" He thought about it for a moment, it was, in fact, Easter- but it turned Julian's stomach to make excuses for the man. He resolved that should he ever meet Mister Green in a dark alleyway, the man wouldn't be leaving in the same condition he entered.
“I guess. He’s not with Mom though. I thought when I came here maybe he’d stop living in the Hilton, you know?” Doreen said with a shrug, “But you’re right, he might be busy. I’ll call and leave a message with his secretary tomorrow. Hopefully she’ll forward it on.”
"And in the meantime," Julian smiled and patted her knee, "you can hang out with the rest of us whom are doing the responsible teenage thing and avoiding our homework. I mean, how can you concentrate on math," he picked up her book and flipped through it, "when there's a cookout tonight."
Doreen looked at the math book with her cheeks puffed out, “I can’t… concentrate on it, I mean. It’s math,” she said, “I guess I could do the cook out thing… I’ll take the phone down with me in case Dad calls. I was waiting for that, but I’m sure I’ll hear the phone if it rings down there. There’s egg salad, right?” she asked. She had to be really careful with what she ate if she didn’t want to get a massive stomach ache.
Julian chuckled, "I'm sure someone will bring it- wouldn't be a cookout without it, right?" As much as he wanted to help her get over the loss of her father, Keller was in no way competent enough to do so. He made a mental note to ask Nathan about some way to go about it in their next lesson. "Come on, let's get out of this room and outside."
Doreen carefully picked up the phone so she wouldn’t scratch it with her claws, after all it wasn’t hers. “Yeah, okay,” Doreen said and went to pick up Monkey Joe, “If you promise to behave you can come down with us and we can have food,” she said and the squirrel jumped to his place on her shoulder. Doreen put on a bright smile, “Let’s go.”
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