Chapter Twenty-Four → I'm still waiting for the rain to fall, pouring life down on me

The weekends usually brought with it a sense of freedom and magic, the younger children spending hours playing pretend, fighting dragons in Arthurian times or racing in the Indy 500.

The older kids even broke their usual facade of teen brooding and angst to play a bit, although they usually sat out when it came to the Indy racing.

For Zane it was time away from the house, typically fishing.

Though, at times he did stay home and garden. Life had gotten easier when he figured out a way to not have to buy multiple copies of the same textbook for all the children.

Of course weekends did hold something else, free evenings. Noah stood by watching the two flirt, wondering why exactly Michael would wanna kiss a girl, girl's were just.... gross.

Michael, very obviously, did not agree with his little brother.

That weekend was also when Tamara finally got to have Jarvis over for the long awaited sleepover that his mother kept being so against, until Cora spoke to her and convinced her that the children were just friends and that all they really wanted to spend some time together away from their teasing classmates. Cora had to admit, she didn't quite get why Lyla Li was so against her children becoming too close to others. At first the woman thought it had something to do with the other woman's cheating husband who left her with three children when they were still toddlers, but since the other fae family moved into town, she was starting to wonder if it was more of a race thing. Well, if Lyla was worried about a blending of the races, she really needed to speak to her ex husband and not worry about who her young sons hung out with. Honestly, Archer Li would put it in anything, he was the worst kind of dog.

At first Jarvis was a little uptight being in the Talliway household with so many normal humans, but when none of them seemed to treat him differently or even really act like they noticed that he was green with pointy ears, the boy calmed and finally got a chance to act like a proper child.

"That's really cool, like those paintings in the art museum."

"I'm not that good." Tamara smiled, but was glad he liked her ballet.

"Sure you are, better than me, i'd fall on my butt."

Tamara giggled. "I fell on my butt a lot at first, it takes practice, i could teach you."

"I can't do ballet, i'm a boy." Jarvis said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sure you can, Noah does ballet."

"That doesn't mean anything cause Noah's...." He paused, seeing the look on Tamara's face. "Nothing."

"What? What's Noah?"

"Nothing?" Jarvis shook his head.

"It's a bad word that your mom said, right?" Tamara asked as Jarvis scuffed a foot against the floor, nodding. "What have i told you about listening to what your mom says?"

"Mostly you tell me not too."

"And yet you still do!" Tamara said, slightly exasperated with the boy.

"Hey mom!" Tamara called from the kitchen that evening during dinner, grabbing a plate of egg rolls, Peanut waiting behind her to grab her own plate. "Can boys do ballet?"

"Yep." Cora nodded.

"You're just saying that cause your a mom." Jarvis said gently, staring at his meal.

"Not true, Zane?" She gave her husband an elbow in the side.

"Boys can do ballet, i did."

"You did?"

"Yep, i was the best one too, got the lead and everything." He smirked, seeing the look of disbelief on the young boys face. "Really."

"Woah." Was all Jarvis said, cause he couldn't believe Zane would do that, he was so cool! His mom said only pansy's did ballet, not cool guys, maybe Tamara was right when she said his mother didn't know everything.

Although, the gnome graveyard still made Jarvis wonder exactly how sane the Talliway family was.

The next weekend was Tamara, and Jarvis's birthdays. Tamara wanted to throw a combined birthday for them but Mrs. Li didn't want that, but at least she left the Li brother's go to Tamara's party. (my computer crash during the party so there's no other pictures of it, so here's what Tamara looks like in Stylist)

The week after her birthday on the night before her first day of high school started, Tamara biked down to the theater, planning on meeting Jarvis there after work, since his mother had forced him into work the day he became of age.

When she got there, the boy attempted to hurry past her to his own bike, but the girl managed to catch him. "Jarvis wait! What's up?" She asked, the boy not looking at her. "You've gotta talk to me sometime, if not now then definitely at school cause i'm gonna like pout at you to be my lab partner, i suck biology."

"You haven't even had your first biology class yet, how do you know you're gonna suck at it?" He asked, the girl just giving a little laugh.

"Got 'cha to talk." She pointed at him playfully smiling, Jarvis just sighing. "You've gotta talk to me sometime, it's been like a week man. I was starting to think alien's abducted you, or something worse."

"What's worse than alien abduction?"

"Mommy dearest locking you in a cupboard under the stairs?"

"That's Harry Potter."

"Whatever."

"You don't understand, okay!" Jarvis said. "I can't, i can't be your friend anymore."

"Why not? Because i don't look like you? Cause i'm not a fay?"

"I'm not exactly normal, Tee."

"Well neither am I, but doesn't mean anything. This has to do with your mom doesn't it?" Just silence met her. "Answer me!"

"She doesn't want me hanging around you, she's afraid we'll get too close."

"We're already close, your my best friend Jarvis."

"I'm sorry."  Jarvis said with a little sigh. "Sometimes i wish i didn't look like this."

"Like what?" Tamara said with a shrug.

"Like the bastard child of C3PO and pilot era Spock." Jarvis said in a 'duh' sort of way.

Tamara giggled, grinning. "Cause you're shiny and green."

A small ghost of a smile graced Jarvis's lips. "The fact that you knew that, is....."

"Nerdy?"

"Actually it's kinda sexy." He chuckled.

Tamara sighed, looking at her childhood friend in a slightly sad way. "How can you expect me not too?" She asked.

"Because i wouldn't dare to ever expect you too." He said with a shake of his head, the two leaving their sentences unfinished, not risking saying them aloud for fear the universe would snatch them away. But how could he expect her not to love him? Did he truly never expect him to love her in the first place?

Chapter Notes:

Sorry for the darkness in the last couple pictures, but the dusk happened very quickly in my game and left them bathed in blue, which kinda worked for the scene but didn't work for caps, grr. Also anyone who doesn't get the 'pilot era Spock' thing, to clarify, the first unaired episode of the original Star Trek was filmed with a very green Spock in it, as he was originally suppose to be said color. The post prod people thought the color was caused by an issue with the camera and spent all their time going through the episode frame by frame painting the green off of him. Safe to say, Roddenberry was not happy and scrapped the 'little green man' idea cause he was apparently surrounded by idiots. And thus ends my admittance of my own geekdom, it's a side effect of being raised by one of the biggest Star Trek collectors in Canada lol.

Also, in case you haven't figured it out, Jarvis will be sticking around for a bit ;) Tamara's teen trait is.... hopeless romantic, friendly.