milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Tonight was Fry's first meeting at the 3rd Holby South Beaver Scouts. So far it has involved wearing a nice turquoise shirt and a dark blue necker.

Naturally he intends to take being a Beaver extremely seriously, and currently he's flopped on a sofa in one corner of the bar looking through the badge book to see if there's anything he can start cracking on with.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Autor passes by him, and nods once. "Fry."

He bends down, searching under the sofa for a book he left there, trying to keep as far away from the kid as possible.

Fry looks at him.

"Wait!"

He climbs over the edge of the sofa and runs to the bar, and comes back a few moments later with a chess set, which he puts on the table.

"You can be white." he says, putting the pieces out.

Autor retrieves his book and plans to leave before the boy returns, but the chess set gives him pause, and makes his eyes widen. "Fry..." he starts, unsure of what to say. "I didn't know you played chess."

He hesitates, before reaching out to move his knight. "Why did you want to play with me?"

Edited 2014-09-12 21:57 (UTC)

"We played before." Fry says. "I won. You will have levelled up now."

"Wait, we never--" Autor starts, and then blinks as he realizes when he may have played with Fry. "Ah, I see. I probably won't have 'leveled up' by now. I didn't play much as a child, and I haven't played much since then."

He considers his pieces and Fry's potential moves, lacing his fingers under his chin.

Fry waits for him to make his move. And then says.

"I'm sorry."

This startles him more than setting out the chess game. Autor thinks on this for a moment. He thinks of Lohengrin, and the nature of apologies and second chances.

"Apology accepted, Fry Sandhu," Autor says. "I'm... I'm sorry, too."

"Apology accepted." Fry echos. "Do we have to shake hands?"

"I never shake hands," Autor admits, furrowing his brow. "But we can if you want to."

"I don't want to, I don't like to touch people." Fry says. "But I learned at summer school that you're meant to unless the other person doesn't want to either."

He makes his chess move.

Autor shakes his head. "You don't have to worry about that with me," he says, considering Fry's move. He pushes a piece into place in response. "I don't like touching either."

Autor studies the boy, cupping his chin in his hand. "What prompted you to apologize, Fry?"

"I have too many enemies." Fry says. "Max said I don't have to be enemies with people forever, sometimes you can say sorry and move on."

"Max is smart," Autor says, blinking at that logic. "Thank you for listening to him."

Autor watches the board for a moment. "Are you going to be all right with so many enemies around?"

Fry shrugs.

"I never know what other kids are going to do. I am all right today. Noah got me to join Beavers."

"Beavers?" Autor says, snagging a wait rat. "What's a Beaver? Also, I'm getting tea--would you like anything?"

"A Beaver is a Scout aged between five and three quarters and eight." Fry says.

He shakes his head. "No thank you."

He had considered asking for a biscuit, but it's Friday, and he had his biscuit at 4pm.

Autor nods and sends the rat on its way. "Interesting," he says, turning back to Fry. He glances at the chessboard again. "What do you do, as a Scout?"

"I do my best, and I do badges, and I do being prepared." Fry says. "But I haven't taken my promise yet."

"Promise?" Autor inquires, raising a brow. "What do you have to promise?"

"To do my best, to be kind and helpful, and to love God." Fry says. "I'm not sure about God yet, but Mum said if I promised to love something that wasn't there then it would cancel out because anything multiplied by zero is zero so I shouldn't worry about it too much."

"Your mother is wise," Autor says, shaking his head. "It's strange that they make you profess to a religion in order to join their group. The rest of it, I don't think you'll have a problem with."

He collects his tea from the speedy rat. "What do you get badges for?"

"Achieving things." Fry says. "I haven't read them all yet. I think I might start with musician."

"Ooh, that'd be an excellent achievement, Fry," Autor says, smiling a little. "What instrument will you try for?"

"Piano. I'm doing grade one at school this term so I should be able to do my level 2 Musician badge."

Autor's smile grows wider. "That's wonderful," he says, cheered. "If you'd like any tutelage in preparation, I can offer my services. I don't know how good of a teacher I'd be, but I could at least watch your finger positions."