Ikarus - Part IV (fiction)

You know the drill. There are three parts before this one. Go, go, go.

Whatever it was they were doing that evening seemed to involve a frayed power cord and some pruning shears. As Lionel Wilty strode around the house looking for his good luck charm, Eric began to wonder if perhaps this had been a bad idea. It occurred to him just now that he’d seemed to miss a crucial detail in Ikarus’ little story, and that had been the falling down from the top of a high tower, which was not Eric’s idea of a good time.
Now, he had no way to know what today’s plan involved and at this point, he was too afraid to ask, but he was fairly certain he didn’t want to jump off a building.
‘Is it, uhm, dangerous? You know, what we’re doing?’
‘Dunno,’ the man with the white hair whistled and jumped flat on the ground, as if struck by lightning.
‘Are you okay?’ Eric asked, ducking for no apparent reason. It was just, Lionel Wilty had looked like in one of those old war movies, like someone was maybe shooting at them, and honestly, it didn’t seem like such a crazy idea right about now.
‘You don’t know?’
‘Well, Barney usually handles the planning, per se. I’m more of an action man, myself. That and I throw a mean party.’
‘That you don’t even attend,’ Eric thought. And perhaps he’d thought it out loud, because sure enough, Lionely Wilty nodded.
‘Yeah well, they get tedious after a while, you know? I mean, I’ve been to, uh, many of my own parties and right now, if I have to sit through another one, I don’t know what I’ll do.’
Yes, Eric decided, he’d been thinking out loud. The alternative was just too ludicrous to consider.
‘Then why do you keep throwing them?’ he asked, coming after the older man, who was now skipping down the driveway.

_{Photo by Aman Ravi on Unsplash}

He stopped in front of a magnificent, pearl-white Rolls Royce, with the top down. Eric had never been much when it came to cars, but he knew just enough to see that this one was a real gem.
‘Well, somebody has to,’ Lionel Wilty laughed. ‘I mean, if I didn’t, who would? Drive?’ he asked, already scooting himself into the passenger’s seat.
‘Uhm no, I’m afraid I can’t,’ Eric stammered. ‘I haven’t been behind the wheel in over eight years, I wouldn’t know how.’
‘Well, that would be a shame. I mean, if you don’t drive, I’ll have to, I suppose.’

Still, the man sat where he was.
‘Yes, that would be the idea, seeing as it’s your car.’
‘Yes yes, I know. It’s just, I don’t actually know how to drive.’
‘What?’
‘I mean, I know. Don’t worry, I’ve driven before. Many times. I just meant to say I don’t have an actual license and didn’t want to make you anxious. But it’s fine, I’ll drive.’
And with that, he began the laborious process of getting himself out of the car again.
‘No, no, it’s fine.’ Eric jumped catching the man’s hand in his own. ‘I’ll drive. I think I remember some things.’
‘Oh good, I really wasn’t looking forward to it.’
Eric came around the other side, trying to remember the first thing. Was it the mirrors? The seat?
‘Can I ask you something, though? If it wouldn’t be too much trouble?’ he asked, sitting down in the driver’s seat, staring dejectedly at the board. ‘Why do you have a car if you don’t actually…?’
‘Oh, I usually find someone to drive it for me,’ Lionel Wilty beamed.

---

Ikarus’ evening, on the other hand, involved no frayed wires, no cars he couldn’t drive (because like his father, he’d never actually bothered to learn) and indeed, no shears of any kind. Tonight, he thought he’d celebrate his first full day as a normal person by doing something a normal person would do.
He went to see ‘Kiss Me In September’ for the twenty-second time. It was strange and halfway through the movie, he realized he wasn’t paying any attention to the action at all. It just felt so odd to be here as a person of his own, not as someone’s shadow. Why, he’d spent a good ten minutes at the ticket booth, trying to decide where he should sit. Because you do realize, he could sit anywhere now. Didn’t need to be at the back or near the exit, just in case. He could sit absolutely anywhere and no one would mind him, at all.

Of course, it wasn’t as fun as the first twenty-one times, but then, what movie is? He realized, bitterly, that he missed Eric. There was no one to watch during the boring bits. And now, on his own, it occurred to Ikarus there were quite a few boring bits in ‘Kiss Me In September’. He’d played a game, for a while, where he watched the girl three rows in front. But he’d had to give it up. He wasn’t a stalker anymore, he was here just to be. The movie was all the entertainment there would be tonight and that ought to be enough by him. Except it wasn’t.

_{Photo by Clodagh Da Paixao on Unsplash}

So, he’d had no choice but to go back to the girl. She was pretty, after a fashion. She looked a bit plain and wore a loose white shirt and pants that made her look a bit like a potato (he’d seen when she’d got up to use the bathroom). But otherwise, she was pretty alright.
Ikarus didn’t actually spend much time thinking about girls. Except for when he was bored, like now. Truth was, he’d never seen a reason to talk to a girl before. Other than his sister, of course, but she didn’t count. And his mother and his aunt, Sylvia. But they were family. They weren’t people. So it was that he watched her, blissfully unaware that the girl knew he was. She was watching him, too, a confused glance over her shoulder here, a fake I-gotta-pee there – the secret language of the theater. And this was one of the few things he had in common with Eric. They were both painfully clueless of such a language.

Ikarus tried to steady himself, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling he ought to be on guard. He even stood up to leave, as the scene with the kiss was ending. He stopped himself, of course, after a few people had hissed at him to sit down. He realized he’d never actually seen the ending, and so he sat there, wondering how it was normal people could watch such dull crap each day and still be in any way amused.

He conceded that despite his quest for normality, he wouldn’t return the next night. He just couldn’t stomach another anymore. And as he made his way out of the theater, wondering what normal people do on a normal evening, his answer came to him, in the form of deja-vu.

‘You were watching me,’ a voice accused, at his back. He turned around to see the woman in the loose shirt who, granted didn’t look quite as much like a potato as he’d initially thought.
Rather, in this light, she was…. Well, appealing, after a fashion.
‘So you know.’
‘I’ve seen you here before,’ she said, with a strange look on her face that he couldn’t quite read. ‘You’ve been stalking me.’

to be continued

Today's prompt was "frayed power cord" - thank you to @mariannewest for that :)

And thank you for reading,