Broken Toys

Chapter 47

Better than gold, he decided, his eyes locked onto the glittering object. Platinum, maybe. No, even better. It was in his hand now, solid and a little cold. If he held it, it would grow warm, a solid, comforting warmth.

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm putting my trust in you, Mr. Conner. I don't ever want to have reason to take this away again."

"No, sir."

Casey looked down at the darkroom key resting on his palm. It was warmer already.

"Casey."

Casey looked up and smiled, feeling foolish. It was just a key after all.

"You did an excellent job on this." The dean was studying the silver tea service Casey had spent all afternoon polishing. It was old and beautiful. Casey had the feeling it was important to the dean and had taken extra time and care to restore its luster.

"I saw a set something like it in a museum once, but it was really elaborate. This one doesn't have all the decoration, but it's nicer."

The dean smiled softly at Casey, then reached down and picked up the creamer, holding it with the polishing cloth so as not to leave fingerprints on the softly gleaming silver. "This was a gift from one of our students many years ago." He returned the piece to the tray and looked up. "He was a bright young man, passionate about sculpting. His family didn't support his interests; they threatened to disown him. He refused to let them dictate his life. When he graduated, not a single member of his family attended." The dean looked up into Casey's eyes. "Years later he sent this set with a note saying that he'd inherited it from a great aunt and he wanted it to be shared by those who had accepted him for who he was."

"What was his name?" Casey asked, already knowing from the dean's words and expression that he was talking about someone famous.

"Oh, no, Mr. Conner. It's not that easy. Consider that your final penance. When you can tell me his name, I'll release you from your chores."

"Yes, sir." Casey grinned at the thought of the challenge. He would have researched it anyway.

"One last thing, Mr. Conner."

"Yes?"

"You'll be able to leave campus again next week. I was hoping you might consider having dinner with me next Wednesday after your doctor's appointment." He smiled. "I haven't had pancakes in a while."

"I'd like that very much, sir."

*****

"He's asleep," Billy announced in a stage whisper although he and Casey were the only ones around.

"Am not," Casey countered, refusing to look up. He was flat on his stomach in the grass, eyes focused on the camera viewfinder. "This'll be a great shot. Just wait."

The wind ruffled the grass gently and Casey waited patiently, finally getting what he wanted. With a sigh he rolled over and looked up at Billy.

"You're back."

"Good observation, scholarship boy."

Casey stuck his tongue out at Billy and lifted the camera up to his eye, snapping a quick photo before Billy could move out of range. "Gotcha."

"So you gonna lay out here all night? Does this mean I get that whole bag of Doritos all to myself?"

"What?" Casey sat up fast." No way. If I have to sit through another of Snuffy's conspiracy theories I at least get some chips."

"Well, bad news there. Snuffy's gone out."

"Out? Like... date out?"

"Yeah," Billy grinned. "Scary, isn't it." He reached down and grabbed Casey's hand, hauling him up.

"It's great. I hope he has a good time." Casey leaned close to Billy. "So does this mean we get to pick a movie for a change?"

"Princess Bride or Monty Python?"

"I was thinking Star Wars."

"Indiana Jones?" Billy countered.

"Which one?"

"First, of course."

"Deal. Zeke gonna join us?"

"Yeah. He went to get the munchies. Hank's gone out and Ric and Yogurt are at the house so it's just us."

"You and Zeke have fun today?"

Billy quirked an eyebrow at Casey, pausing mid-step to give him the full look. "You gave us three pages of 'little things' to work on at the house."

"You asked. Besides, you could have been here shoveling dust with me up in the attic."

"No, thanks. It took half a day to get the porch railing done. It still needs to be painted and there are three slats that I couldn't fix. I kept one of the good ones to use as a guide; I could get some wood to make replacements if I had the tools."

"It can wait, Billy. As long as the railing is sturdy we can worry about the details later." He paused in his journey up the steps. "Thanks for doing that today. I can't wait to see how it looks."

"We'll spend next weekend there." Billy grinned. "We left some of those 'little things' just for you."

They laughed as they finished the journey towards the student lounge.

*****

"Surprise!" Casey burst into the room, shattering the quiet and startling the two boys who were busy studying. He walked with exaggerated steps into the center of the room and turned around slowly, one leg extended slightly. It took a few seconds for them to catch on.

"It's gone!" They knew Casey had a doctor's appointment after class, but were still surprised to see the cast had been removed.

Casey struck a pose and leaned down to slide the jeans fabric up over his bare calf, vamping ridiculously.

Billy swooped over and grabbed him, lifting Casey up and twirling him around. "Check out that leg." Casey laughed and held on tight.

"Wait, wait," Zeke said, tossing aside his book and joining them. He moved very close and looked at Billy. "Should we examine the patient?"

"But, of course," Billy played along using the worst attempt at a British accent Casey had ever heard. Billy dropped Casey down onto the bed and held him while Zeke attacked the button of Casey's jeans, opening it and pulling the jeans off.

"Wow, Case, I didn't think skin could be that pale. Got any zombies in your family?"

"Just my dad." Casey made a face and wiggled when Zeke ran fingers lightly up over his calf.

"You ticklish there, Case?" Zeke knelt beside the bed and leaned over, placing a wet kiss on Casey's leg then blowing warm breath across it, smiling as he felt Casey respond.

Billy looked down and laughed. "We're not going get any studying done tonight, are we?" Casey and Zeke looked up at him with matching smiles and shook their heads.

*****

"You're not serious."

"I'll be careful. Really."

"Casey, come on. We'll go find something to do. Don't you want to go to the darkroom?"

"No. I caught up yesterday. I did that demo for the First Years and then developed the rest of my pictures. That's why I want..." he gestured towards his goal.

"No!" Zeke almost roared, ready to throw something - Casey if necessary - to get his point across. He took a deep breath and looked at Billy who was trying not to look amused.

"You-are-not-climbing-any-trees!"

Casey looked over at Billy and received a solemn nod. Billy knew better than to disagree with Zeke on this one. He didn't particularly want to relive that blood-freezing moment when Casey fell out of the tree, but he didn't think going ballistic was the right way to get the point across.

"Not even the lowest branch?"

"If you're lucky I'll think about letting you sit under the damned thing but you are not climbing it."

"So I guess this means I'll have to find a new place to get good pictures."

Zeke just nodded, trying to remember how to breathe normally.

"Would you go with me? To find a new picture spot?" Zeke nodded, relaxing a bit. Billy agreed too, but a bit more cautiously.

"Great!" Casey headed off towards the trees. "Ever been to the Church belfry?" he called over his shoulder.

Billy gave Zeke a look as they headed off after Casey. They congratulated themselves on keeping comments about bats all to themselves.

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