Saturday, December 23, 2006

   Cream Filling & Nougat: Half-Julkalender (Chapter X)
Cream was extremely thankful that the car was still mostly warmed up from their earlier driving around and he thrust his hands into the warm air of the dashboard air vent.
"Well, that was an exciting night," he said as he rubbed his hands together. "Vezel, are you okay back there?"
"Yup," she said, pulling Cream's trench coat back and forth over herself trying to get it in a more comfortable position.
"She could have had my jacket, you know," Nougat mentioned as he pulled away from the curb. Cream just shrugged.
"Yeah, she could have . . . but she likes me more . . . ain't that right kiddo?" Vezel just laughed and shook her head. "She probably likes 'Mel more anyways . . . let's hurry up and go there."

With the addition of Vezel, the dynamic of the car had changed and for a long while there was only the sound of the car engine.
"Hey Vezel," Nougat asked, "what radio station do you listen to?"
"Umm . . ." Vezel said. ". . . Ninety-nine point three." Both Cream and Nougat laughed lightly.
"Wow," Cream said as he turned on the radio that was already preset to the mentioned frequency, "smart and with good taste in music . . . you're gettin' cooler and cooler by the minute, you know that?" Again, Vezel just smiled.

"So tell us," Cream said, keeping their new charge from boredom, "how far back did you start planning this bus trip of yours to your dad's place?" Vezel remained quiet, opting not to answer. Cream filled the empty air. "It was mostly good, I'd say. You just gotta learn the bus routes a little better . . ." Nougat looked into the back seats through his rearview mirror; Vezel was feeling unresponsive again.

"So . . . we broke into your dad's house today," Nougat tried. Looking back into the mirror, he saw the girl's eyes wide open in surprise. "Yeah, we set off the alarm, made other cops come and everything . . ." Cream shook his head and turned around himself and saw that a thin smile had crept onto Vezel's face.
"He made me root through garbage to find something to pick the lock, too!" the younger detective added, to Vezel's amusement.
"I'll say one thing, though," Nougat said. "Your dad, Hidrato . . . he got home while we were still in the house, by the way, he didn't look happy . . . um . . ." Nougat paused to regain his train of thought while at the same time keeping the car driving straight. ". . . but yeah, he's a pretty cool guy himself. Loves the heck out of you, too . . ." Vezel's smile downgraded to a bothered smirk.
"That's why he was able to move out so fast . . ." she said sarcastically.

They came to a red light, and the detectives looked at each other knowingly.
"Did your parents ever tell you the whole story about what was going on back then?" Nougat asked.
"They said somethin' like they didn't want my life to have to change too much by what they were doing or something," she answered. The tone in her voice said more than enough, however.
"You don't buy that?" Cream asked.
"The way they said it," she explained, "it seemed like they thought only they would be affected by the divorce or something."
"Mm," Nougat replied. "Alright, I think I can fill you in on some bits, maybe."

"So," Nougat said, "how many kids do you know at school with divorced parents?"
"I don't know," Vezel answered, "I know at least three people in my class, but I'm not really friends with them."
"That's okay," Nougat assured. Cream leaned against the door, taking his turn to watch Nougat speak. "I don't know if you know this, but as much as things changed for you, things change a whole lot more for some other kids. Like, they fight in court over who the kid lives with . . . and when I say fight, I mean fight, sometimes for a really long time . . ." Nougat quickly whipped his head around to look directly at Vezel and gauge her response - she was still very attentive to what he was saying. "So yeah . . . your mom and dad didn't want you to have to go through that . . . so, your dad said it was okay with him that you live with your mom since you were already settled there, it's closer to your school . . ."
"Yeah, I know," Vezel said quietly.
"Believe me, moving away from you was probably the hardest part of it all for your dad," Nougat insisted.
"I know . . ." Vezel repeated. "I just . . . you're supposed to spend Christmas with all your family, right?"

Cream chuckled and nodded.
"I think I'm working Christmas day," he said.
"Probably me too," Nougat added. "Yeah, Whip' and I don't have a lot of family in the city, so we usually don't get to see our family during Christmas time . . ."
"That's stupid," Vezel stated bluntly.
"Very stupid," Cream agreed. "Still, with 'Mel in town, with this idiot next to me around . . ." Nougat chopped Cream across the chest again, garnering a laugh from the girl in the back seat. Cream turned around and smirked. ". . . You just find other ways to have family around."

Satisfied with the broad smile across Vezel's face, Cream turned back to the front and sat properly. Funny enough for him, he found he was no longer feeling cold in any sense.
"Y'know," Cream said to Nougat softly, "I don't think her parents realise just how bright she really is . . . they haven't stepped up the way she's ready to just yet."
"Softening the blow in explaining why the divorce happened and all that stuff?" Nougat confirmed.
"Yeah," Cream replied. "She's understanding a lot more than they might think she does . . . it's more than just the math and the reading . . . . . well okay, her reading still needs work, but . . ."
"Yeah, I get it," Nougat interrupted. "Like having all those ideas, but no vocabulary to express 'em . . . man, were you this smart when you were a seven year old?" Cream smirked again.
"If I was, nobody told me." he answered. "You?"
"Everyone said so, but I didn't believe them." Both men laughed again.

Once at another stop light, Nougat groaned and stretched his body out as best he could belted down in the carseat.
"Hey Whip', you know what else?" he asked.
"What's that?" Cream replied.
"I . . . . . . am friggin' hungry." Cream laughed harder and sank down into his seat.
"Likewise, old man, likewise . . ." he said before turning back around again. "Hey Vezel, you hung- . . ." Nestled in the corner of her seat and buried under folds of trenchcoat, Vezel was soundly sleeping. Cream lowered his voice again and turned back around.

"Just gotta find other ways to have family around . . ." Cream repeated as he leaned into the side of his own seat. As the words left his lips, he could only laugh again when he thought about how they compared to the actual dynamic of the car right then. "Alright mom," he said slyly, "hurry up and let's get our little family to 'Mel's already so we can eat."
"Yeah, sure thing, other lesbian mom," Nougat replied with a grin. Beaten, Cream shook his head and leaned back into his seat as Nougat chopped him across the chest once more.
"Fine, butch and manly lesbian mom," Cream quipped back. "You can carry Vezel in if she's still asleep . . ."


[For those of you keeping track, that last scene of a sleeping child in the back seat of the car while Cream and Nougat drive is that initial image I had had in my head for the past however long; that image was what got this idea of a holiday story going, in any case. Tomorrow: epilogue!]
Comments (5)