Another point was Zach's quietness made him a somewhat awkward person to talk to on the phone and so when Mike developed the habit of ranting to Zach on the phone, after discovering that he now had a friend who could understand his rants, he was slightly put off by the silence at the other end of the line.
Preoccupied with trying to make sense to both himself and his audience, it would usually take Mike a few minutes to realize that the other end of the line was silent for longer than usual. He would then consider the topic of his current impromptu performance and conclude that one of three things must've happened: that Zach had died from boredom, that his listener had gotten completely lost trying to follow his train of thought and was now hopeless banging around in the metaphorical darkness, or that his friend had, on the remotest possibility, been kidnapped by aliens. Neither of the possibilities seemed inviting.
"Zach?"
"Hmm?" would come the quiet answer.
"Just checking if you're still there, 'cause you're not saying anything." Mike would then explain, feeling awkward.
"Oh I'm here," Zach would answer, sounding amused, and explain in return. "I just don't say anything when I'm thinking. I'm always here unless I tell you I won't be."
Another silence would drift in, after which Mike would ask, again. "Still there?"
"Yep," Zach would cheerfully confirm. "Both physically and mentally."
It took Mike few more rants before he finally got used to it.
And about a week had passed when Mike brought up the issue of Nick's clothing.
"Why're you always dressed like that?" demanded Mike, upon the occasion.
"What's wrong with the way I dress?" asked Nick, looking down at his snowy shirt and dark slacks, then up at Mike with evident bewilderment.
Zach looked like he might laugh soon, but he maintained a respectful silence.
Sighing with exasperation, Mike eyed Nick's outfit with some consternation. "It's just so...so... ... ..." He searched for an appropriate word and had a bit of trouble finding one.
"Breath-taking?" suggest Zach with an impish grin, promptly stepping out of the range when Mike made a threatening gesture at him.
"Don't you own anything that's more...normal?" Asked Mike. "Never mind," he added, when Nick gave him a puzzled look.
"In case if you haven't noticed, Mike," said Zach, sounding as if he was straining something to keep his laughter in check. "Normality isn't a trait that people'd normally associate with us, so why should it be associated with our belongings?"
"Hey I dress normal!" protest Mike.
Zach studied his friend's baggy clothes in their customary shades of gray, black, and blue. "No comment."
"What's that's suppose to mean?" demanded Mike.
"What do you think it means?" returned Zach, raising an eyebrow.
Mike paused. "Well, you're weird too!"
"Beyond saving," agreed Zach, happily.
"Point!" sighed Mike, because there was no getting around that point.
"Point?" repeated Nick, who had been trying to follow the exchange of the left-and-backward-side of the English language. He raised his arm and pointed in a random direction.
"Never mind," Mike sighed again, rubbing his face with his hands. Some times talking could be so...infuriatingly exhausting. Mentally. "Just...get some other clothes, will ya?"
_____________________________
Okay I've edited the PE thing (in my files) though...
do we really need Mike with karate? *wince* Oh well.
He can do threatening things with any tools, and now he can do threatening things with just himself. Let's hope Nick's better student at it, shall we? =p
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment