"How is our boy doing?"
The voice of Despayre's mother, Margaret, spoke from her end of the phone at her home in Vancouver, British Columbia. Synn had called her earlier in the day to speak with her about what had been happening with their son, but was unable to reach her at the time. Her mother, Despayre's grandmother, had answered and told Synn that Margaret was at her job, which was as a manager of a small business office in town. Now that the work day had concluded, Margaret received the message of the call and had promptly returned it, knowing that it most likely had something to do with her's and Synn's son. It was one of the few reasons that Synn ever called. Still, after the history that she shared with the man, baby steps were the most they could expect at this early point between them.
At his house in Las Vegas, Synn leaned against the wall of the hallway with the phone held at his ear. He leaned over slightly at the waist so he could peer around the corner and into the living room. The object of his piercing gaze was none other than the topic of their shared conversation, Despayre, or going by his given name, Joshua.
Despayre was seated on the living room floor, at the foot of the large coffee table, with a checkers board lying on the glass of the table between himself, and the plush teddy bear Angel which was perched on the large recliner opposite him. As was to be expected, most of the checkers were stacked on Angel's side of the board. Despayre just appeared to be a bit glum, his head tilted to the side and his chin in the palm of his hand while his elbow perched on the edge of the coffee table. Between the two was a small dish of Oreos, none of which appeared to have been touched.
"He's having a hard time accepting it, Margaret." Synn answered as he watched his son he nonchalantly extended his hand and moved a red checker piece forward. "He's not used to hearing the word no, so finding out he can't have something the way that he wants it isn't an altogether pleasant experience."
"Well, what boy ever wants to be denied anything that they have their mind set to?" She asked.
"True." Synn agreed. "This was a little different. You know how he feels about Gabriel. Joshua practically worships the ground the man walks on and it wasn't easy breaking the news to him that he wasn't going to go with him when Gabriel took Odette to France."
"Joshua, what are you doing?"
Synn asked aloud as he stood in the door frame of Despayre's upstairs bedroom. Curiosity was evident in Synn's expression as he watched Despayre step out of his large closet with an arm load of clothes, t shirts and jeans alike and he dumped them onto the bed where a suitcase sat wide open.
Despayre paused from whatever he was doing to turn and look at his father as if he had just asked the most inane question that a respectable adult could possibly ask.
"Uh, hello?" Despayre rolled his eyes and huffed, all in good humor. "I'm getting packed! I don't have much time. You should be doing the same."
"Packed." Synn repeated, taking a step further into the room. "What exactly are you getting packed for? What should I be getting packed for?"
"Paris, of course!" Despayre chirped happily as he turned back around and he started digging through the pileup of entangled tops and bottoms to better decide what he would need for the upcoming trip ahead. He then paused and stood upright with a frown on his young face. He turned around and asked his dad, "What's the weather like in Paris this time of year?"
Synn simply shrugged and answered off the top of his head, "Not too much different than it is here, I suppose. Hot. Just more humid as they get more rain in Europe than we do here."
"Oh ok." Despayre nodded and he turned back to continue. "That makes it a lot easier. S I'll need lots of t shirts and shorts and mayyyybe a jacket for rainy days."
"Joshua..." Synn sighed as he stepped the rest of the way into the room and he walked over to the side of the bed, taking a spot at his son's right side while the boy dug frantically.
"Hm, it's not here." Despayre murmured, more to himself than to his father.
"What isn't?" Synn asked, forgetting for the briefest of moments why he had needed to talk with his son.
"My homemade Angel t shirt." Despayre frowned down at the pile of clothes and he then turned to look at the closet which door was wide open. He nibbled the tip of his forefinger and shook his head. "If I'm going to Paris again, I have to have that to wear. Angel loves his international publicity."
"Theresa is repairing the hole that developed under the arm I believe." Synn responded. "You wear that shirt so much you started to wear holes right through it."
"Oh alright! I'll go get it from her then!" Despayre turned and started to head for the door when he was caught by the elbow by Synn and reeled back.
"Hold on there, Joshua." Synn said as he directed Despayre back toward his bed and with a gentle nudge, made him to sit on the edge. "We need to talk."
"Oh but I need to get the shirt and make sure Theresa fixes it just right." Despayre said and he again started to rise, and again, Synn placed a strong hand on his son's shoulder and forced him to sit back down.
"Joshua, just stop for a moment. Okay?" Synn requested and he was met with an impatient huff. Synn paused, unsure of how to tell him what he needed to speak about. He disliked being the bearer of any form of bad news where his son was concerned, not just for fear of hurting his feelings, but for being unsure of himself in how Despayre might respond with his mental state being in such a perpetually delicate state. "You won't need that shirt, Joshua."
"How come?"
Synn took a deep breath, realizing that honesty was simply the only way to handle this properly, and he said, "Because you're not going to Paris."
Despayre stared at Synn for several moments, not reacting in any way really, when a smile slowly spread on his lips and he giggled.
"That's funny." Despayre said. "Of course I'm going! You don't think Angel would go to Paris and leave me here, do you?"
"Angel is not going either." Synn stated. He then shook his head and before Despayre could ask, Synn continued, "And neither am I. We are all staying here, in Las Vegas."
Again, Despayre watched his father, pausing and waiting -- perhaps for the inevitable punch line that he felt was coming. Yet as innocent and naive as Despayre was, he also knew that his dad was not prone to making jokes very often, if ever. He shifted uncomfortably, his hands clenched together between his bended knees and he shrugged a single shoulder and asked, "What do you mean?"
Despayre's brow furrowed in stark confusion and he looked away from his deep, green eyes and he whispered so softly that Synn was not altogether certain that he had even spoke.
"I mean, that Gabriel and Odette are going to Paris together." Synn said and he reached over to rest a comforting hand on Despayre's shoulder. "Just the two of them."
"But..." Despayre started to argue. ".. But they invited me and Angel to go along."
"Joshua." Synn said quietly, knowing this not to be true. "When did they invite you?"
Despayre looked down into his lap and he had no answer. They did not, in fact, invite him. He just shrugged and remained silent. He did not want to tell fibs to this man. Especially not in front of Angel who kept tabs on any 'untruths' that might have accidentally slipped from his mouth over the course of any given day.
"But... why?" Despayre asked. he then turned and gave his father a deep, inquisitive look and asked, "Is this because of Angel getting the toots the last time we all went somewhere? Because if it is..."
"No, Joshua." Synn smiled, amused even at frustrating times such as these with his son's comedic yet innocent personality. "It has nothing to do with Angel's... digestive troubles."
"They don't want us to go with them?" Despayre asked, his voice betraying the brave front he was attempting to put on for his father's benefit. His eyes shimmered with a misty quality, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him. He took a deep breath and asked, "Did I .. make them m-mad at me?"
"Of course not!" Synn frowned, lowering his hand to grip Despayre's slim arm and he drew him against his side in a fatherly embrace. "Don't go thinking any thoughts like that, Joshua. You know very well how much Gabriel cares about you. Odette, as well. And you know that they enjoy having you around. But you have to understand that the two of them are in a relationship with each other."
"I know." Despayre looked down. "They're boyfriend and girlfriend."
"That's right." Synn responded. "And when two people are in relationships like that, they need a little time to themselves. To do things just between the two of them. Besides, you can't leave Bernard here alone, right? What would he do to stay busy?"
"Avid Theresa flirting with him." Despayre answered matter-of-factly. "Like he has been."
"Touche'." Synn chuckled. He then leaned down so that his staggering height difference was not so much a factor and he could look intently at Despayre. Synn's gaze was a piercing one and Despayre felt little alternative but to glance upward and meet his focus with his own eyes.
"You understand, however." Synn gave his arm and upper body a light shake and said, "Don't you?"
"I guess so." Despayre said defeatedly. Synn smiled and embraced him a second time, proud that Despayre so easily understood. At least until Despayre looked back up and asked, "But why can't I go?"
"It's not funny, Margaret." Synn spoke hard into the phone as his ears rang with the song of the laughter emanating from Despayre's mother. "It took me a full on hour to explain to him why Gabriel and Odette needed the trip to themselves. I did everything but use sock puppets to get the point across."
"Oh now that I would have had to insist you wait until I had been able to come down to visit so I could see!" Margaret chuckled into her end of the phone line. After a moment and having regained her composure to lend an ear to the man she was speaking to, she continued by asking, "But at least he understands now, right?"
"I'm not entirely certain, truth be told." Synn answered. "He kept stating that a trip to Paris counted as a 'date' and he seems to still think the two should have a chaperone on any outing until Odette passes this 'girlfriend application' of his."
"Girlfriend test?" Margaret repeated, a note of disbelief in her tone of voice. "Where did he come up with an idea like that?"
"Entirely his own." Was Synn's answer. "After that little ploy that Odette and Gabriel played on everyone, Despayre decided that Odette had to reestablish her right to be Gabriel's girlfriend. So far she's done almost everything the kid's asked of her..."
"She hasn't brought her parents to meet us yet!"
Synn pulled his head back from the receiver, the sharp yell hurting his ears. He blinked for a moment and then turned his head.
"Joshua! Stop listening into my phone call with your mother!"
**click**
The sound was evident of a phone being hurriedly hung up and Synn turned his head to spot the sullen boy walking back into view in the front room. He plopped down heavily into his aforementioned spot at the coffee table and leaned over the side to whisper audibly to his teddy bear.
"I told you that they'd hear us!"
Synn shook his head and turned back to resume his conversation.
"I wish you could come down for the weekend." Synn admitted. "If anything would bring him out of this funk, it'd be his mother."
"Wow." Margaret responded. "Words I never thought I'd hear come from your mouth."
"Words I never thought would come from out of my mouth." Synn replied. "It would have saved me the headache I may have drawn myself into to try and cheer the lad up."
"Why?" Margaret asked. "What did you end up doing?"
**ding!** **dong!**
Synn closed his eyes and exhaled a thin stream of air through his pursed lips. He opened his eyes and said, "I think that's the solution at the door right now. I'll talk to you later and have Joshua call you after the show."
"Give him a kiss for me." Margaret said and with that, the call was ended and with a press of his thumb, Synn shut it off.
Theresa walked past, holding a hand up to forestall Synn heading in the direction of the foyer and thus, the front door. "I'll get it." The housekeeper stated en route to the door. As she passed the front living room, Despayre glanced up with little interest and then looked back down at the checker pieces.
Theresa reached the door and pulled it open to reveal the beaming face of the blonde fan girl, Melody Carter. Her smile stretched from ear to ear as in her hands was a large, overnight bag.
"Hello Melody." Theresa said. "Come in."
"Hi!" The ultimate Despy and Angel fan stated in her usual energetic and upbeat manner as she practically bounced in through the front door, entering the foyer. She came to a halt as Synn stepped into the area between the living room and the house's main hallway and he nodded.
"Ms. Carter." He nodded to her in greeting. "I'm glad you could make it."
"I'm glad you invited me!" She said with utmost sincerity. She came toward him and came ever so close to grabbing him into one of her usual hugs, but stopped short as Despayre's father still had that intimidation factor going for him. She continued. "I have been soooo bored ever since Odette left for Paris with Gabriel!"
"I gathered that might be the case." Synn said as he took her bag from her hands and set it down on the floor beside the door. He then placed one hand on her arm and the other on her opposing shoulder and gently steered her around and guided her toward the living room. He said, "I have someone else who has been feeling the blues since that pair left for their vacation, so I thought perhaps you might be able to cheer one another up."
He stepped into the frame of the living room door and Melody immediately brightened up, "Hi Despy!"
Despayre looked up and it took him a brief moment to process who he was looking at and then he responded, "Melody? ... Hi! How come you're here?"
Melody bounced into the living room and dropped to her knees right beside Despayre and said, "Your dad invited me to stay over while Gabriel and Odette are out of town... out of the country ..." She frowned. "You know. While they're away."
Despayre nodded, "That's cool!"
"Whatcha doing?" She asked and Despayre turned back to the game he was playing with Angel and said, "Just playing checkers with Angel."
Melody frowned and leaned in to ask in a conspirators whisper, "Is he cheating again?"
Despayre turned his head to answer her with one eye narrowed, "He always cheats!"
Melody looked at Angel and waved a reprimanding forefinger at the teddy bear before she turned back to watch Despayre play.
"Well, I have to admit that this was certainly an unexpected displeasure."
"When Mark Ward asked me into his office to discuss the dream match rewards, I never quite expected this. I had admittedly assumed he was wanting to know what requests that Gabriel and Despayre had for their own respective dream matches. Imagine my surprise when he took me aside and explained to me that a certain someone from Despayre's past had opted to use their Dream Match to challenge him to a singles match. I naturally assumed it to be a mistake, but when Mark explained to me just who it was that was issuing the challenge, oh things then became so much clearer."
"Goth. Really. I had thought that after what happened between Despayre and yourself in your first and only singles encounter, that you had realized a serious error in judgment and decided that discretion would be the better part of valor. After all, you walked into that match almost two years ago, having already declared yourself the winner, only to discover that you seriously misjudged Despayre's capabilities inside of the ring. You thought because he was young, that he could be intimidated. You thought that because he was smaller than you physically, that he could be overwhelmed to the point of defeat. It didn't quite work out the way that you assumed it would, did it? Oh I can't deny the fact that you gave him the fight of his life. I would be lying if I tried to tell anyone otherwise. Yet as much as you fought so brutally to put him below ground, he had oh so much more to prove. Nothing you could think of to inflict pain upon him was ever enough, was it? You were unable to get him to yield to you and tap out. You could barely hold his shoulders down for a count of two, let alone an untimely three. Yet you continued on and as much as he was able to take it, I am so proud to be able to stand here and tell the world that he was able to dish it right back."
"Underestimating him cost you dearly Goth, more than once. After you attacked Angel, we all knew what you wanted. You had hoped to destroy him mentally. You hurt him, there's no point in denying that, but you didn't stop and consider the consequences of what might happen when that boy sought to avenge a very dear friend. You didn't see it coming when he sought justice and put you in the hospital and out of commission for a very long time. Then you decided to get your hands on him with nobody else around to help, attacking Gabriel in the process. Once again, you forgot how he might react in the avenging of a friend. That led to your last little encounter at Blaze of Glory, I believe. What happened then, hm? Oh has the cat got your tongue, Goth, or are you just attempting to forget the fact that after everything you tried to do, Despayre still rallied to put your shoulders to the mat to defeat his own personal boogeyman?"
"So that brings me to ask you now, Goth; why again? Why put yourself through this humiliation yet again? What exactly makes you believe that this time will be any different?"
"It won't be. And please let me shed a little light as to the reasons why; you don't frighten him. Not any longer. He now knows that you are no threat to him, nor anyone else that he holds dear to his heart. When he pinned you, he proved the world over that you are no longer the monster that lurks under the bed."
"You, Goth, are just a man."</color>
