I Reek? (closed)

[Ethan White]

It’s been around two months since his love life’s rather explosive end but the guilt still hangs heavily on his shoulders and continues to haunt the brunette almost every day. Because despite his best efforts, redemption from both Andi and Matt had been all but elusive after all (he doesn’t even know where Andi’s currently staying, though he has an idea).

With such a heavy (and complicated) burden on him, it’s not all surprising that he’s been avoiding his ‘favourite Mama’ lately. Nothing personal he says; he just doesn’t feel all that good with Mama sniffing his problems out (and possibly telling his parents soon after, since they’re suspecting but he isn’t telling anything). He loves her and he values her advice, but with the gravity of his sin, his pride’s afraid of what Mama might think of him after. It’s not as simple as that time when he stole Chris’s Captain America action figure and hid it for a week in the top drawer of their shared cabinet because his brother wouldn’t share the said toy (it was Mama Elaine who made him confess).

But as it seems, the boy had no call on that matter currently. Fate , or rather Jam, has decided that it’s high time he meet Mama. Without Chris to coerce into delivering the box of Thanksgiving and Christmas décor Elaine supposedly wanted to borrow from his mom, Ethan reluctantly drove towards the mall and to Mama’s shop, hoping his wide smile could hide the pit forming from inside him.

He could hope.

“Hi ‘Ma!” he said as he hauled a box in, “These are the things Mom said you wanted to borrow. Where’d you want them?”

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine was in the back of the shop putting together an order for a wedding when she heard Ethan's voice.

"Hello, Ethan!" she called out as she finished tying some flower tape onto the bouquet. "Just a moment, I'll be right there!" Setting the flowers down on her work table she stepped into the main room and smiled hugely at another one of her pseudo children.

"Ethan! It's been too long! How have you been? You need to come by and visit me more often--you know how lonely I get cooped up here all by myself." She spied the box of decorations.

"Oh, here, set those down on the counter," she said, moving over to pat the spot. "Thank you so much for bringing those by. I was going to decorate the shop for the holidays, but I just didn't have enough on my own. Surprising, I know, considering how much I've accumulated over all this time, but that's just the way things go."

As she stepped over to give him a hug, though, she caught a better sniff of him.

Guilt. Heavy guilt. And sadness. Enough to make an impact on his deeper aura, as opposed to his more weekly and lighter feelings. Which might explain why he hadn't been around in a while--was he avoiding her?

Sensing that if she tried to scold him at this moment he might simply run away, instead of saying anything she just reached over and gave him a large hug and a big smile. Maybe too big a smile, but she just remembered how happy she actually was to be seeing him.

"Here, have a seat. Let me get out the cookies, and you can tell me how everything has been lately." It would be easier if he told her of his own volition instead of her just asking about it. Then he would feel less as though she had been prying into his private life.

[Ethan White]

While the box wasn’t all that heavy, standing still with it on his shoulders proved to be rather taxing, so the boy promptly put the box down as he waited for Elaine to come out. Once she came out from the back, he gave the woman what seems to be a shy grin, one hand in his pocket while the other waved at her. “It is. I’m sorry. Who knew being a sophomore would be so demanding?” laughed the boy as he grabbed the box and placed it on top of the counter. He did load himself up on a bunch of extra-curricular activities this year – mostly frat parties, frat parties and frat parties, with a good hockey practice from time to time. “I thought you hired some help? Jonah, was it? Has he been goofing off?”

So far so good. Mama showed no signs of sniffing his problems off yet. Seems hiding everything under happy thoughts (that bore no connection to the whole thing) seemed to be working.

That is, until the hug came.

He didn’t hold back on the hug, hugging the old(er) woman as tightly and as warmly as he died before (maybe a little tighter to indicate how much he’s missed her, which he really did negative thoughts aside), but he couldn’t shake the worry off him. Her next words only confirmed his fears – she did get a glimpse/sniff.

She’s on to him now. (Though the whole dread the boy’s supposedly feeling isn’t really as terrible as those words might make it seem).

He’d lie about needing to be somewhere else, but he knows how easily Mama’s been able to sniff one out. So instead he grinned and sat down, feeling slightly like how he was ten years ago in the midst of Chris’s Captain America crisis. “You need help setting the things out Ma? I’m relatively free today after all.” Setting things up ought to be a good distraction.

“Where do I begin? Hrm.” He instinctively rubbed his chin as he crossed his legs, licking his lips slightly as he got a whiff of Mama’s signature cookies. “Well, I joined a frat in school, mostly because this guy I met dragged me into it,” said the boy with a smirk, rolling his eyes as he remembered how enthusiastic Braxton was the first time he mentioned it, “It was fun though. Don’t worry, I don’t drink and drive. Oh, and I got in the school’s hockey team, that’s new too.”

“But other than that, I think I’m still same old me. Hot, adorable and single.” Cue in a loud laugh so Mama knows her pseudo-kid’s not turned into some kind of arrogant and narcissistic fratboy.

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[Elaine Tonaya]

"No, no, it's just that Jonah really is only an assistant. He's not here all the time, nor would I expect him to be. This isn't his life in the way that it is mine. And loneliness is completely relative. I was lonely before you came in, now I am not, and beyond that I don't think it really matters, so stop overthinking things." She grinned at Ethan. He was not someone known for overthinking things, generally, so the comment was really a bit of a joke.

As Ethan sat down and Elaine got ready to get down to her favorite business of mothering, she looked around. "Yes, you can help me. I am going to need some wreaths decorated. You can help me put these together." She thought if he had something to do he might feel more comfortable, so she shoved some of the ribbons and plants at him and gave a quick demonstrated, then went ahead and began working on her own wreath as a sign of combined effort.

Elaine raised an eyebrow at his story. "Really? I didn't exactly figure you for the hockey type. For some reason I always thought you'd be a football person. Just be careful what all you have at the frat house--it's not just the drinking I'm worried about. Don't fry your brain too much, as you'll still need to grow up and take care of your two layabout little siblings." She smiled again then, since they both knew that the two wouldn't really need that much looking after. She was serious, though, about the alcohol and drugs. She guessed that he would try something, but hoped that he wouldn't let his desire to try new things wreck his future.

The laugh was forced, Elaine could tell. And why did he throw in the "single" comment? Unless it was bothering him. He didn't usually tend to identify himself in those terms, so she guessed that something else might be going on.

"Oh really?" she asked, looking down at the wreath in her hands. "If you are hot and adorable, I can only wonder how the girls keep their hands off you." Okay, that was probably a bit too blunt. She tried to tone everything down again. "Or maybe you're just far too busy with your studies."

[Ethan White]

Elaine’s joke was met with a shy smile, coupled by a quick nod and a slight bite of the boy’s lower lip. On the inside though, the teen is already slapping himself fiercely, telling himself not to be too paranoid about everything. Seems like the more he tries to hide his inner discord, the more apparent he makes it be. It’s not just Mama being a super sleuth now; Ethan’s more than doing his part to unravel the very secret he’s been trying to keep all this time.

The wreath was a little unexpected – he was thinking something along the lines of putting unlit candles here and there, or even going up a ladder to decorate the ceiling – and a bit daunting since he hasn’t really done it before (Brea’s usually the one helping with the whole crafts thing), but after seeing Mama work, he figures it’s not so bad. At least until a few minutes later, when Mama’s almost done with hers already and Ethan’s barely finished a quarter of his. “ Am I tying the ribbon right again Ma? Or did I do my knot wrong?”

And no, this isn’t making him feel more comfortable. Or at least he thinks it doesn’t. The whole overthinking’s taking over him again and is, quite possibly, the reason why his hand-eye coordination’s not as great as it should’ve been.

“I am. Or at least I’ve never been picking with sports, except with basketball.” The boy can’t stand basketball as it seems. So much hype for a not-so-demanding sport, he says. “But since everyone’s trying out for football, I thought the competition would be tougher than if I try hockey. And it worked. I’ve played as a winger for at least a third of each game we had.” And there was even this one game where he had to stay in the ice for two periods. It was brutal.

He gave Elaine a huge from the side when she mentioned what the frat might do to him. “Aww. Don’t worry, my best friend already parties and drinks for both of us.” And gets laid far more frequently than Ethan thought it humanly possible too. “Chris may need taking care off, but Brea’s good on her own. Heck, I think she’d even take care of us should Mom and Dad pass away early.” Not to say that he wants them gone. Just a hypothesis he has no plans on testing.

The teen didn’t know how to respond to Elaine’s last comment however. It was really a bit too blunt and it sent the boy into a spiral. So does Elaine know everything already? And is just waiting for him to spill? “Well you see, I did have a girlfriend before. At least for a month or two. So that sort of helped in keeping me on track,” he said awkwardly, deciding to simply say it and get it over with, “But…er…”

[Elaine Tonaya]

[HA! I have not forgotten this thread. I WILL get caught up on ALL threads. No matter how long it's been...]

Elaine glanced over at Ethan's wreath and smiled kindly. She'd spent too much time asking others to help her to be surprised at any mess that people made of the crafts. And he wasn't doing badly, really, at least no worse than she had expected. She reached over and tapped a section. "It's a little loose here, but other than that you're doing very well."

She actually had drifted into the drone of her own weaving and so didn't really see that Ethan was still having some trouble settling. Otherwise she might have suggested a different activity, but as it was she just continued working.

"I suppose that makes sense," she said, beginning her second wreath. "I'm glad you're getting to play more. It's probably good for you to be staying so active. You'll appreciate it in another few decades."

Elaine was slightly shocked at Ethan so casually mentioning his parents passing away, but then she supposed that he saw it differently from the way she did. Having a parent die was a fact of life for her, probably only a distant idea for him. "Well yes, I'm sure Brea is capable of caring for herself in some ways. But she's still always going to want her big brother."

She was glad to hear that he wasn't getting into trouble. Or at least wasn't overly interested in partying...or was turning into a stellar liar. So either something good or something bad. She chose to be optimistic and put some faith in him.

Elaine put the wreath she was working on down in her lap and looked up at Ethan. A part of her vaguely recognized that it might be an uncomfortable topic, but if she made her expression warm and inviting surely he wouldn't feel embarrassed. She wasn't sure what was going on with him, but he was acting strange, and she wanted to know why. Of course, maybe it was just the new school and having to adjust to a different sort of life.

"You do know you can tell me anything, right?" she said. "I'll do my best to listen."