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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 21, 2009 18:13:24 GMT -5
Geoffrey was generally an easy-going guy, and it took a lot to make him fight. Usually, he could handle Riley's stubborn streak and easily went with the flow. But he was confused and emotional and didn't know how to handle it, so he dug his heels in. As the waiter approached, he ordered two bowls of the vegetable soup, having every intention of forcing her to eat some, if it became necessary.
When the waiter had vanished, Geoffrey turned to her again. "I had a fight with him when I was 14, did you know that? It was a really nasty one, and I punched him in the jaw. Nearly broke my hand... he seemed to barely even feel it. I don't even remember what it was about now... something stupid. He used to make me so angry with his superior attitude. And I remember... I told him that it would serve him right if he died miserable and alone."
Geoffrey's voice began to break, and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I just... I kind of want to know that he didn't...."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 21, 2009 18:31:57 GMT -5
Riley bit her lip, realizing in an instant that she was being selfish. This lunch wasn't about her at all. Geoffrey was mourning, and she was being too self centered to see that.
Her expression softened instantly, and she just barely kept herself from apologizing. "Your cousin was far from miserable, Geoff. He had a trail of girls that loved him... I know one of them, if you wanted to talk to her. And he loved his family dearly... as long as you all were safe, he could never be alone or miserable. Okay?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 21, 2009 18:59:46 GMT -5
The odd thing was, Geoffrey had originally had every intention of trying to comfort her. It was what he did, what he was good at. He wasn't usually the one who broke down, he was used to being the solid, dependable rock that everyone could cling to and would provide a sympathetic ear. And he hadn't even realized until Riley tried to fight him that he was grieving, too.
He sniffled as a tear streaked down his cheek. "I never realized that about him. I never really knew him at all... I never tried to know him. Why, Riley? I'm supposed to be everyone's best friend.... why didn't I get to know him?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 21, 2009 19:10:28 GMT -5
"Because he's a stubborn fool that didn't let anyone get to know him," Riley said, sighing. "Listen, Geoff... I have a brother that I barely know at all. But if he were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't feel bad about it. I mean, I wouldn't feel bad about not knowing him, because I know that he has a family and a support system that love him dearly, and my being absent in his life doesn't affect that. Roland didn't die alone and miserable because you wished it on him or because you didn't know him. It doesn't help you, it doesn't make you feel any better, but know that you shouldn't blame yourself for anything."
But as far as Geoffrey wishing he would have gotten to know Roland... Riley sighed. She just didn't know. You always wished you could do things differently. "You had different lives. There's nothing wrong with that."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 21, 2009 20:40:03 GMT -5
Geoffrey wiped at his eyes. "When we were younger... Cyrus and I used to try and play tricks on Roland. And he always caught on to us and turned it around on us. It used to drive me crazy.... how did he know? We never could manage to trick him or catch him off guard. And he'd just give us this sort of superior smirk... no matter how old he was, he always seemed 10 years older. I can't believe... I just can't believe he's gone."
The waiter came by with two glasses of water, and Geoffrey shakily picked up his glass and took a drink. "I didn't mean to... I was supposed to be trying to help you.... I guess I'm the one who didn't take time to cry."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 22, 2009 1:32:31 GMT -5
Riley's eyes shifted to the table, to the glass of water in front of her. She focused on it, focused on the drops of water sliding down the side of the glass. Parts were better than a whole picture, and hearing about Roland... it hurt. She could see the superior smirk in her mind.
Almost automatically, she said, "I am very sorry for your loss, Geoffrey."
She wished she knew how to do this, how to make it better for him. So she licked her lips and did the only thing she could think of. "He was the same way with me... always three steps ahead of me, and seemed so proud of himself when he knw my next move before me." It may have been something of a lie, but she was trying to share with him.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 22, 2009 14:01:43 GMT -5
Geoffrey looked up at her, his expression wounded. "Don't give me that 'sorry for your loss' speech, Riley. You lost him, too. And it's not fair and it sucks... and I don't know how we're supposed to move on fom that. Even though I only even saw him maybe twice a year... he was a force to be reckoned with and it's weird to think he won't be here anymore. And I don't... I don't know how to deal with that."
He sighed heavily, then took another drink from his glass of water. "This really is war, isn't it? I don't... I don't keep up with the political situation that much, but it's getting to a point... we can't hide from it anymore, can we?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 22, 2009 14:16:31 GMT -5
Riley was shutting down, though, and the speeches were easier to do automatically. She was a step away from losing control, and she didn't know how to handle that. The only thing that kept her talking right now was knowing that Geoffrey needed her.
She nodded a little slowly. "Yes... there's a war that's just beginning, and I think, by the end, the casualities will be more than most of us can bear. But we're prepared for a war, and we're doing everything we can to stop it and fight it. We will put an end to it, and Roland's death... and those like him will not have been in vain."
She was still staring at her glass of water, and somewhere she knew she needed to snap out of it. She sounded like she was a promotional flyer for the Aurors, and even she knew it. Geoffrey needed a friend right now, not a business person.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 22, 2009 16:33:54 GMT -5
Geoffrey's lip quirked upward in a manner that was eerily reminiscent of his cousin's usual sardonic expression. "You know... that's just exactly the kind of thing he would have said. Only instead of 'we' he would have said 'I'. He really did seem to think he could save the world. I used to think it was just arrogance, but it wasn't. I get it now. It's too late to tell him, but... I get it. He just wanted his family... and other people's families... to be safe. He was brave and noble... and I think I might hate him just a little bit for leaving so soon."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 23, 2009 11:17:26 GMT -5
"Maybe he did," Riley whispered. "He did save the world for a few of us. Me, his family. Lina. You know, he was driven to action because Lina was attacked. In broad daylight... Roland was the superhero he told us all he was. We just never really gave him the credit for it."
She finally looked back at Geoffrey, and her eyes were welling, but she refused to cry. "He's used to us hating him. I think he rather got a kick out of it."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 23, 2009 13:13:30 GMT -5
Geoffrey could almost picture all of that, and for some reason, it made him laugh. "We couldn't give him credit for it," he replied. "His ego was big enough as it was. We couldn't let it get any bigger, or there wouold have been no living with him. So typical of him... he never cared if people didn't like him. He was just always himself, and anyone who didn't like it could go to hell."
He let out a sigh. "I don't know if it's helping or hurting to talk about him. If you want to talk about something else... we can."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 23, 2009 13:32:53 GMT -5
"Is it helping you to talk about him?" Riley asked. Whatever Geoffrey needed, she was okay with. She wanted to help him. She wanted to help everyone. It wasn't fair that she was the last one to see him, or talk to him. It wasn't fair that she had the closest thing to a good bye with him, when his family was hurting so much. None of it was fair.
"We can keep talking about him. You've smiled... so I think it's helping you."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 23, 2009 14:24:22 GMT -5
Geoffrey ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Maybe it is helping. I can almost forget that he's gone and just remember how he was. He was... well, he was unique, I'll give him that. It's just weird to talk about him in the past tense."
Somehow that was the worst part about it. Talking about him... that felt OK. But the realization that he was gone, that there would be no more memories of him... that was the hard part. What if one day he no longer thought about Roland? What if he forgot about him? The idea that he could get used to the fact that his cousin was no longer in his life was frightening.
"Christine really adored him. You were right about the trail of girls loving him... every female in the family utterly adored him. The guys didn't always... but maybe it was something like jealousy."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 24, 2009 12:31:16 GMT -5
The waiter arrived before Riley could say anything, setting a bowl of soup in front of each of them, and a basket of bread to the side. Riley could have thrown up. She looked away from the soup and tried not to smell it.
"I think Roland just has such a dominant, alpha male personality that it's easy for other guys to not get along with him. And that kind of personality tends to attract women, and I don't even mean in a sexual way. The girls in the family would even gravitate towards him. But then, he hates when people try to analyze him... he'd hate this conversation."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 24, 2009 21:32:40 GMT -5
Geoffrey laughed again. It felt good to laugh, and yet, he knew that those who were closer to Roland would probably not be able to laugh about anything for quite a while. "That's for sure. Whenever I was visiting with Cyrus and Roland started acting all superior, we'd just start trying to analyze his behavior or ask him a probing question. It was guaranteed to make him angry, and it was really the only thing we could do to get one up on him. I remember this one time, right after Cyrus first met Lina, when we were talking about her and Roland came up and reminded Cyrus to be safe--which, as it turns out, was good advice--and we decided to bug Roland about why he didn't have a girlfriend. I think I might have even insinuated that he was gay... he turned positively purple."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 29, 2009 21:03:37 GMT -5
Riley tried to smile. "Yes... insinuating that he was gay would have probably sent him over the edge."
She put a hand to her stomach. She really was going to be ill. Was she really pushing Roland's death so far out of her mind that talking about him did this to her? The smell of the soup of was enough to make her dizzy.
She pushed the bowl towards Geoffrey. "I can't eat that."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 29, 2009 21:59:54 GMT -5
Geoffrey frowned. She was trying to act like everything was fine, and she still wasn't opening up to him. Instead he was the one doing all the talking and the eating.
"You've got to eat something, Riley. I know how you get when you're stressed, you forget to take care of yourself. Are you getting enough sleep? If you can't eat the soup, at least try the bread."
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 29, 2009 22:07:17 GMT -5
"I really can't," Riley said, shaking her head slightly. She opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it, abruptly pushing her seat back. Without a word, she got up from the table and left Geoffrey. At least he would know that she would come back, she thought as she made her way to the bathroom.
She'd gone too long without eating a real meal, she knew that. But something about that soup just made her ill.
It was a few minutes before she came back to their little table, and Riley flashed Geoffrey an apologetic look as she reached for her glass of water.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Apr 29, 2009 22:28:50 GMT -5
Geoffrey's brow furrowed as he watched her. It was one thing for her to forget to take care of herself, but quite another for her to get sick to her stomach at the smell of food. Stress and grief could be enough to get to her, he knew that. It could be enough to make her sick. Or perhaps she was just getting that nasty stomach flu that was going around.
"OK," he said. "Just... take a few sips of that water. Maybe I should get you a ginger ale. Do you think that would help?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Apr 29, 2009 22:49:18 GMT -5
"I don't know," Riley said. "Maybe." She just knew that food wasn't the answer right now. Or maybe it was, but Merlin... She glanced at the bread, which was covered in garlic and butter, and she wrinkled her nose. "Do you think we can ask for some plain bread?"
She looked up, and saw the worry in his eyes. "I'm okay, Geoffrey, I promise. It's just been really busy and stressful lately."
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