Snippet #1991567

Garrett Flint

"Nah, it's not a matter of time," Flint said, his voice surprisingly steady considering the subject. "My dad'll die when he's damn well ready. Said so himself. 'Flints are tougher than anyone gives us credit for,'" he said, in a rather poor imitation of his father's deeper tone. "The doctor figured two months. That was about three months ago. I guess he was right. Still, I'm sending Teek tomorrow, to stay with them. They'll send him back with the news, when it happens."

Teek gave a low hoot from atop his bookshelf. Flint managed to crack a smile despite it all. "Heh, my dad always thought it was ridiculous to keep a bird in the house. He used to shoo Teek away whenever I tried to bring him in. That was... what, five years ago now? He used to hate Teek, but I think even they managed to repair their relationship this summer."

Hoot.

On the one hand, he felt terrible for dumping all this on Summer. She was the last person he wanted to see brought down with him. But at the same time, Flint didn't feel there was anyone else who could help him through it as well. He'd tell Justin, of course... he still felt pretty bad for ditching him at the start of summer without a reason... but he'd tell him later. After things had gotten back to normal, after he was back to his old, irrepressibly happy self. Other than that, Flint didn't think anyone needed to know.

Flint was only vaguely aware of Summer being beside him, her hands on his, her arms around him, the kiss she'd planted on his forehead. Since leaving Bliss, Flint had imagined that if he and Summer had happened to come together... that it would be much happier than this. Still, he wanted her there. He didn't think his was capable of having this talk with anyone else.

"It's fine," he said quietly, "don't worry about me. We... well, we got over our differences. I apologized for not being the son he wanted, he apologized for trying to dictate what I did with my life, and then we both called each other idiots for apologizing for anything. He's so much more like me than I ever realized. I'm his son, after all. I think life and work just sort of kept that side of him from me, but this summer he didn't have to worry about any of it, he could just let loose. I've never been that close to him in my life. And then we said our goodbyes, and that was that."

Flint was glad that he'd at least been able to repair his relationship with his father, he just wished it hadn't taken this to make it happen. Still, he couldn't help but feel that this was going to be a positive turning point in his life. He didn't plan on dampening his spirits at all, in fact, he planned to be as wild as ever. He was going to take all the good qualities he now knew his father had under the surface, and live them out every day. He was going to look out for people, be the friend that everyone needed, give people the laugh they deserved after a trying day. He just felt like he had a little more of a mature outlook on things now. He was going to love life, and make sure everyone else did, too.

"It's funny," Flint said. "First thing he said to me when I saw him was 'I bet your fancy magic can't do shit about this, can it?' 'Course, he knew the answer by just looking at me. But God, I wish there was something I could do." He managed to meet Summer's eyes, and he hoped she could see he wasn't going to let this keep him down, but rather that he was going to grow from it. "I guess I'll just have to make him proud, right? It's all I can do."

A moment passed, and then Flint sighed, feeling like a weight had been pulled off his chest. "I should probably get back. There's probably twenty giddy Vulpes girls waiting to see Teek again. Little bastard never gives them any closure, just keeps 'em hanging like that."

Hoot.

He grinned a little, giving Summer's hand a gentle squeeze.