Serendipity

[Birdee]

While Birdee was eager to get outside and away from people, she was just as eager to get outside and let her 'brother' work his magic. She had heard him with the woman, and wasn't going to be cramping on his style. She was attractive enough, Birdee thought, and he was completely legal, so why not?

"And a player with some mad game." Birdee chimed in as he mentioned being a dork. Not just a dork, but a big dork. She wasn't sure if that was what she would label Lou as, not that Birdee really labeled people anything. After all, she wouldn't want to be labeled as any certain type of thing. Dork, Nerd, Goth, Freak, Prep-and anything else out there. Birdee believed that labels actually hurt people and society more than helped either cause. To her, they were all people-even vampires. Though, vampires were a bit cooler, only because Birdee didn't get any of their vibage.

"Get her number?" Birdee asked as she opened the door to the truck with the hand that had some bread in it, squishing it a little. She wasn't high maintenance. That **** looked worse in your stomach, who cared if it was dented a little bit? Her teasing ended when Lou basically invited himself inside her place, Birdee slamming the door closed and then buckling up. "I sort of wasn't really expecting company..." Birdee trailed off, knowing there ha to be a few beer cans that were completely drained of their content, or half drained on counters and any other surfaces. A bong too and never mind her own small plant she was gifted from one of her tightest friend's in the city. "Tornado is sort of an understatement. Maybe you could come back tomorrow for dinner." A suggestion given, after Birdee pointed to the direction they needed to go, then gave him an address of the duplex she lived in.

[Louvel von der Marck]

“What?” His expression questioned her as much as his single word. “I bought her water. I didn’t know that required a follow up conversation?” He chuckled a little in surprise. “Or am I missing something?” Which was not entirely impossible. “Hey, you don’t want me coming in it is cool. Really.” He shrugged glancing over at her. “I could show you where I live instead.” He did a mental check over what it would appear like upon first sight. It was pretty much a step back in time. A rustic, warm place that had no competition from the rest of the planet as his favorite place on earth when it came down to it. “It is totally up to you.”

Louvel was still a bit of a mystery to her so he couldn’t blame her. How could she know in a couple hours that isn’t really how he did things or why he did what he did or what inspired him to. Which, in truth, was to suggest a great brand of water to a consumer and footed the cost for the complete stranger’s first sampling. If anything was due it was possibly compensation from the company pushing the store available fluid. He couldn’t remember the last time he asked someone for their number for the reasons she was obviously suggesting could have been his motivation. Which, of course, it was not.

Something she said caught him by surprise. Louvel hardly saw himself as a player. The sound of her voice saying it resulted in a brief drop of the corners of his mouth even if some time had passed. How was she to know anything beyond the hours they had spent together? Maybe she saw more of that type in her daily dealings than anything else. Not like he would be able to know or assume. The Keeper was the last one to judge.

The disappointment eased up quickly and his fingers flipped through the selections of songs on the 8-track tape. Once he released the pressure applied on the relic buttons he found the first notes that would blast in the cab of the truck not entirely what he was looking for. A pull at the plastic cartridge had the tape he had been listening to free of the player and quickly swapped it out for another conveniently pulled out of a bulky square case on the spacious floorboard between them.

No player ever would do what the sorcerer was taking a shot in the dark and doing. Well, possibly but not with an 8-track tape player to work with and the less than perfect pitch of his own voice. Louvel von der Marck was no Frank Sinatra but that never stopped him before. Many cross country and through the state's rides as a kid had him singing it to the pedestrians he passed by from Harper Rock to L.A. It also happened to be a favorite of Mara’s road trip playlists and it was imprinted upon on him in ways that were unshakable. Soon his blonde head was bobbing with the music and belting out each chorus with enthusiasm. If she knew the lyrics she was welcome to sing along. There was no question he knew them word for word. Elton John and the Tiny Dancer was contagious lyrical perfection. Just ask Bernie who helped make it happen. Healthy sun kissed fingers reached out to the dashboard and turned up the volume.

So that is how their short ride progressed. His voice in all it’s off key glory went out through the cab like he was on a stage in front of thousands instead the driver’s seat of a beat up vehicle that had defied the odds of decades long past. No player was able to contend with that. Genuine, down to earth joy out of something so simple without expecting anything in return except of course accompanying vocals from the passenger side.

[Birdee]

Birdee didn't know anything about Lou, but if he was a player, she wasn't judging. It was funny really, cause they would be polar opposites in that respect; Birdee choosing to avoid any form of relationship with most people outside of her family, where he was totally cool with forming relationships, no matter how brief or long they might be. "Yeah, that was cool. Still think she fancied you a bit." Birdee shrugged her shoulders in the air quickly before thinking about letting Lou in her apartment, regardless of the mess, or going back to his place.

"It's cool. I don't mind, but it's not up to par. Fair warning." Birdee commented as a song came on and either he was thinking about her offer, or the music struck him because Lou fell silent. When they came on her block, Birdee pointed to the duplex style apartment with her left pointer finger. "There it is, and lucky for us, seems there are some open spots on our side of the street." One, which happened to be behind Birdee's Turquoise Tornado and so she made a specific point to point it out to him. "You can park behind my car, if you want. Should fit."

Once they were parked, Birdee bounded out of the truck and made a few moves to the first step which was close to the public sidewalk. When she climbed it, Birdee waited for Lou, and ran a hand through her wild tresses. "I got the upstairs one. The neighbor works night, so we kinda need to respect that they'll be sleeping, but they're pretty cool otherwise." Birdee attested as she dug out the keys to the duplex and made a move to the front door to unlock it. Once it was unlocked, directly to the left was a set of stairs to take her up to her apartment, the faint scent of cigarettes and weed wafted in the air above their heads. When they were upstairs, Birdee jiggled the doorknob and then put her key in the lock. "Thing sticks sometimes." Birdee informed him, before she shoved the door open and the two were greeted with a lot of late 80's and early 90's style of furniture, with a hideous puke green carpet took away from the decor and made a statement all its own.

[Louvel von der Marck]

Louvel was left sitting in the cab of the truck to watch Birdee nearly fly away with the opening of her passenger door. There would be no surprise that was subject to the insta-smile that erupted on his face at the sight of her moving. An infectious energy was present that might as well of gripped him by his jacket collar and tugged him out of his seat and following suit. Once his door opened he paused long enough to peel the jacket off his shoulders and arms. Shrugging off the minimal weight he gave it a toss back into the cab of the truck and locked the door before closing it. After the door sank into the solid but spot rusty framework he patted his front pants pockets and confirmed the left one held his keys that were no longer in the ignition. The back self-pat down assured him that he did have his wallet with him carrying his i.D., credit cards and everything else he made a point not to leave home without.

“Well, damn. It sounds like the band we booked for tonight will need to be cancelled and the liquor store run was pretty much a waste of our time.” He announced as he took the long steps forward to join her with enthusiasm he couldn’t really remember having in recent days or months.

Then again he was not known to meet many local people as he had Birdee and even less likely to be seen heading into a duplex in the part of town they were currently in. That was not to say it was a bad thing they were entering her place. Not at all. It said a lot more about the lack of socializing he did outside family and even less so not work related. But Birdee was no recent acquaintance or business colleague was she? She was the long lost sibling Otto left behind that he never knew he had.

After a short, hardly noticeable climb and a few seconds more spent while she jiggled then successfully unlocked a door they were inside the building and closer to her unit she would introduce him to. He glanced back at her topaz mechanical gem and took note of his relic of a truck parked behind it. There was no concern that he wouldn’t see it again. He was heading into her apartment not some sort of abyss taking him closer to hell. He was sure she was being overly dramatic. He had been known to make change from a reindeer nut sack coin pouch and sleep in pastures and open markets while waiting for the last puddle jumper to arrive to collect him. She would find out eventually she had all the creature comforts he could live without at any given moment and season in the world.

Although if he was to be honest he really never set eyes on so much ‘extreme’ green carpet like he was standing on as soon as he followed her and stepped inside.The exterior hallway weed and old disappointing scent of cheap smoke was about enough to have him hold his breath at the sea of shagged green in front of him as he bravely moved forward. Weed was nothing really to him. He certainly had more than his fair share as well as all the leaves that made the high altitudes he commonly hiked far more tolerable after rough flights to the base camps. Weed had to make drowning in the artificial and vibrant green far easier to adapt to. Mara certainly made use of it while leaving him to navigate the open highways before he was old enough to legally drive.

“Pretty sure my Mom’s VW bus we used to camp in every summer on our way back and forth to Cali had this exact same carpet.” To prove he was genuine in what he said he knelt down and bravely brushed his open hand over it as if it would be able to bring him that much closer to what was fondly a part of his past. “Her sample was faded from the sun. Not quite so…” He stood back up and slid his hands into his front jean pockets. “Bright?” The tone of his voice certainly made it sound as if he was questioning the use of the word he chose. “Otto said he refused to be caught dead in it. Always booked his first class flights weeks ahead of time. I am pretty sure that was more of a temptation to Mara than it was an invitation from him.” He closed the open door casually behind him so they were finally closed off from the world and shrugged lightly. “It’s yours and I like it. Thanks for inviting me in.”

[Birdee]

The joke was not missed by Birdee, and it made her laugh. Lou seemed to be relaxing and down to earth, which was good. She imagined what the other 'brother' would be like, simply because he told her she had one, but came to believe he wasn't so much like her or him given they weren't close. "Woah, woah now. Liquor is never a waste of time." Birdee confessed with a laugh as they made their way in her apartment for Lou to check out her place.

She didn't blame him for wanting to know how she lived. Birdee too wanted to know how her 'brother' lived, but was cool with taking it one step at a time. But since she had to go home and he had a car, it made sense that he wanted to not only drop her off, but see how the other half lived. So to speak.

When he talked about his mom's VW, Birdee felt a streak of envy run through her. Mostly because her mom and her couldn't really do a lot of things with traveling, though she did take her to a trip here and there given she got really cheap airline seats-the big expense was usually the hotel room or the attractions. Birdee suspected those trips every few years were possible given the money Otto gave her mom for some form of child support. A few dollars here and there saved up over a total of three years and viola! A weekend in Arizona, or Florida. But, the real Envy stemmed not from being unable to do that due to finances, but when her mom got sick with cancer and had to go down to part-time for a few years...those trips stopped and time spent with mom were all but happy times.

"Well, got to take care of it. It's retro now and retro is gonna be coming back in again. Wait and see." Birdee commented about the carpet, her head giving a sound nod, indicating she fully believed it. Maybe because she more or less lived, or dressed the retro life style. Once they were in, Birdee moved to grab a few bottles and put them behind her back with a nervous laugh. "Sorry about the mess, but the couch is clear and clean." Birdee pointed to the couch with one hand that had the least amount of bottles in it. "Want something to drink? Water? Ice tea? Beer?" She'd only let him have one beer since he was driving, but one wouldn't kill anyone. After she asked that, Birdee disappeared into the kitchen where a clang of bottles being tossed in the recycle bin could be heard from the other room.

[Louvel von der Marck]

“Beer.” He called out while looking at the couch he was directed to.The sounds of glass clinking had him looking back to find she was likely in the kitchen he couldn’t see from where he was standing. That meant he had enough time to sit down and settle in and get as comfortable as the piece of furniture in front of him would permit him to. "If you have one to spare? ”

It was pretty early in the day for the von der Marck Keeper to reach for liquor but given the recent events that had unfolded it wasn’t entirely uncalled for in his case. One beer wouldn’t change the course of the day ahead of him. A sparkle of dark green glass caught the corner of his eye and he reached for it with a lean and stretch of his body and arm. The import label was promising to see. The abandoned two ounces at the bottle swirling around not so much. Especially when it was positioned to stick up wedged between the cushion soon to be beneath him and the worm upholstered arm currently holding it in place. He wasted no time holding the bottle. He leaned forward and set it down on the closest flat surface then took what was offered to him seconds before. The wobble that took effect gave him a brief surprise as he let his weight sink in. His feet hit the floor beneath and fixed firm where they were planted just in case. He was ready for anything. Years of couch surfing in college left him prepared to ride out the unexpected.

“Do you have a lease you are bound to for this place?”

Louvel was already feeling that vibe that went with being around any of his family. It was not the typical family thing that most shared. Something about being of the von der Marck line went a little deeper than that. It was bone and then some deep. It had the sorcerer feeling compelled to scoop up the woman in the other room and gather all her belongings and pack them in his truck and take her home where she truly belonged. He felt it and it wasn’t going to make it any easier to leave her in the walls he was sitting in. If he could. The next hour or two would decide that.

While he continued to wait he stretched his arm up to rest on the top of the sofa. His fingers tapped lightly on what was beneath them until the distraction of something consisting of grooved cool metal caught his attention. With the pinch of his thumb and finger he plucked up the curiosity and brought it in front of him for inspection. He was checking out the resin coated one hitter fashioned out of a tire gauge when he heard her steps heading back to the room. He shrugged and put it back where he had first discovered it. As soon as she came to view he offered up a smile that was motivated by the return of her presence. It was still a lot to process but there was a connection there and he was finding himself increasingly responsible to make sure nothing, including life circumstances, compromised it any further.

[Birdee]

Her head popped around the corner of the kitchen the looked at Lou. "Beer, I got. One beer coming right up." Birdee said with a smile, as she grabbed a bottle of dark flavored malt for him and one for her from the fridge. Birdee set them both down on the counter that she had been busy clearing, to grab a metal beer opener that was part of a key chain that was stuck to her fridge due to the magnet on the back of it.

Birdee stuffed it in her pants pocket without opening other beer and headed back into the living room. Lou might be her brother, but that didn't mean he trusted her. Until they had some sort of understanding of the other, it was best in Birdee's mind to leave the beer top on and let him do it. He was a big boy after all.

"Here ya go." Birdee offered the beer to her 'brother' before she reached into her pocket and pulled out the metal beer opener and tossed it on a stack of unopened bills. It reminded Birdee to sign up for paperless billing, as she paid the bills online. To him, it probably looked like she didn't give a **** about bills and responsibilities. "I paid those. Online." She clarified before sitting down and setting the beer on a coaster that was made from rope. "And yeah. The owner of the place had me sign six months. Not a bad deal really. If I hate it, I can bounce somewhere else. If it's right up my alley, I can stay and do the month to month thing. So far, so good-but only two months in." She shrugged her shoulders, having no real complaints about the place. It had everything she needed. Walls, heat, electricity and a window unit for the summer in the main living room area.

[Louvel von der Marck]

The cold glass bottle was soon wrapped in the warmth of his palm and closing fingers. Lou wasn’t in the habit of letting beer sit too long without due attention. Especially one that was left with the top on. With a twist of his free hand the opener was left without a purpose. A crisp hiss escaped with the fast rotation of his fingers. The hard toothed edges of the cap curled effortlessly with the firm pinch applied. Like a flower petal it rolled into a tight narrow sliver with next to no effort. He dropped it to land beside the unused bottle opener then raised his beer in hand.

“To fate, to the unexpected and to new beginnings.” His mossy orbs stayed with Birdee. “And to unopened yet paid bills and green carpet.” He sank back to the minimal support of the sofa behind him and took a first sip of what was in his hand. It was certainly a dark malt. He savored the flavor clinging to the back of his tongue. It was a win. He gave the label a glance and nodded in approval. “That hits the spot.” His attention shifted from where she was to the walls in the backdrop behind her. “Four months left?”

Louvel wasn’t in the habit of imposing on anyone’s personal space. It was hers and she was comfortable in it as he would hope for her to be wherever she was residing. Still something wasn’t right. Part of him could not be ignored. The voice within telling him this wasn’t where she belonged and the feeling of responsibility rising for his blood. The independence she took pride in was visible and it was not to be compromised. Not at any cost.

So there was his dilemma. And of course the fact he was considering asking permission to gather her and all her belongings and packing her up with lease paid in full. That was a bit unusual for the Keeper. He surely never felt so compelled to do something so impulsive before. The sound of a gunshot cracking through the silence had his body sit upright at attention.

“Alrighty then!” He rolled the body of the tinted glass between his open palms as his hips slid closer to the edge of the cushion beneath him. “I know this sounds a bit premature.” He pauses while setting down the distraction in his hands. This was too important to screw up. “What are the chances that I can take you home?” His eyes didn’t flinch even as a series of fading gunshots rang out. “Because you have one and you have a family. It’s where you belong as crazy as it sounds.”