Beppe is in so much trouble now. Oh boy.
I went down to visit the Southern Domicile on Friday, as well as to take care of a few things and go salsa-dancing with AJD and EHC (who was also visiting). I opened my suitcase to take out my toothbrush, and guess who popped out?
Of course it was Beppe. He was so glad to be there, too; the moment AJD came in to see what the deal was, Beppe launched himself at him in a flurry of excited yips. I'm really not sure how he managed to stay quiet for the whole bus trip from NYC to Philly, although I guess he spent the bus journey proper in the baggage hold where no one would hear him.
Rochester and the Fox gave Beppe a very stern talking-to. He was initially unrepentant, but after a few minutes he started feeling more contrite.
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| Beppe unrepentant |
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| Beppe contrite |
We could just see Alfredo freaking out and the temporary Northern Domicile crawling with questing fluffies. This is every parent's nightmare, after all. While Rochester and the Fox were lecturing Beppe, Quixley immediately hurried to the computer to email Alfredo that everything was all right. Then we just had to hope that Alfredo got the email, as I had taken my laptop south and the new computer system won't materialise until we have a permanent NYC abode. Alfredo has a BlackBerry, but he's not very good at using it yet. We could only suppose that he'd have Magick and Murchison glued to their iPhones.
Here's a close up of the text of Quixley's email. You should be able to read it if you zoom in. Note that Quixley prefers Gmail's "Ninja" theme.
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| A Qmail |
Barry seized advantage of the opportunity to grill Beppe about whether or not he's seen Duke Ellington. This was a complete failure, as Beppe had no clue what he was talking about.
So this morning I left Philly on a much earlier bus than I'd intended to, in hopes of preventing Alfredo from having a heart attack. I got to my 8.30 bus so early they put me on an 8.00 bus, and I was home a little before 11. Quixley's email had been received, thanks to Murchison lending Alfredo his iPhone, but Alfredo was nonetheless visibly agitated until Beppe popped out of the bag. Naturally Beppe got another series of major talking-tos, first from his father and then from Desmond, Jasper, and Lady Faraday. Moreover, Alfredo has informed him that he's not to be allowed out of his father's sight until after we find a permanent Northern Domicile. He seems to be finally understanding that stowing away was maybe not a brilliant idea... but he still enjoyed every minute of it.
I kind of feel bad for Barry recently—he's had it a little rough as a result of the poor response to his interruption of the flag ceremony, and then when he gets a chance to try and talk with Beppe about one of his heroes, the conversation completely fizzles. (Predictably, of course, but still.)
ReplyDeleteYeah, poor Barry. He really needs to work on developing a sense of appropriateness; his life would be much happier if he knew, for instance, that people don't like being interrupted, and that hyperactive wolf puppies aren't likely to be knowledgeable about legendary jazz figures.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Barry's knowledge of legendary jazz figures might have a few gaps as well, seeing as how he wanted to know if Beppe had met Duke Ellington.
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