A Piece of Cake [poppu]

'Shit,' was the first thought that popped into his head when Hari asked about his screaming. Monkeys were known to screech to assert dominance in power structures and also as a form of communication (Wei himself tended to screech when he laughed, which is pretty much why he didn't laugh to much around other people. It scared people who were jumpy around loud noises) so it would be easy to say that it was just a monkey thing. But Wei felt intrinsically wrong for even considering lying to him about it.

"I've...." he started, unsure exactly how to proceed. "been... having this recurring nightmare..." how much detail should he go into? Should he explain that he dies every time in the nightmare, being crushed by the liquid monster that chases him and finally giving in to it, taking in a huge breath of black inky water? Should he even mention that he wakes up with his lungs burning as if his head had, moments ago, been really, truly submerged in water?

"It's really intense and apparently I scream intermittently through the whole thing. And monkeys aren't exactly known for their inside voices."

Wei was internally screaming, but he was very careful not to let that show on his face. There were a lot of things Wei was worried about. Despite Hari's insistence that Wei was fun and nice and friendly, Hari was really Wei's only friend. Most people he talked to seemed to be annoyed or miffed by his presence. It made him lonely and uncomfortable, in a new place trying to be optimistic when most people seemed to only be looking out for themselves. He was surrounded by people who were bigger than him most of the time, which only increased his worry that he was developing slowly for his age. As if his height didn't give that away.

Then there was the crippling homesickness, his inevitable plummet into scholastic failure where he would be sent back to China in dishonor, his inability to control any part of his life, the spirits that seemed to bully him more than help him, and the discomfort he felt daily as hearts and PDA seemed to float around the air more than dust particles.

"No," he said flatly, bouncing as he watched the banana bread come out, steaming and looking ever to lovely. It looked like something his mom would have made with the addition of the grasshoppers. "Oh! Oh! Can I eat it once it's cool?"

Wei stared at the bread, wondering when the bread would be considered cool. Wei guessed it would have to stop steaming first. He supposed he could try to eat it anyway, but that would probably burn his tongue. And he didn't really want to have aloe applied to his tongue.

Did Aloe even work that way?

"Yes, I know," he said, his tail agitating slightly. "but I figure you've got enough t'deal with without worrying about me. M'fine."

Once He was secure in it the fact that the bread would probably not hurt him upon consumption, he reached out and pulled off a bit from the corner, popping it into his mouth.

A shiver traced up his spine. Yep grasshoppers made everything better--even something that was already perfect. Wei relished in the taste as he chewed and swallowed the bit of banana and grasshopper bread. "Well... I'm really... uh... I think the English word is... "home-ill"?. I've never been home-ill before."

He had thought about sending letters home before. There was only one problem with that, though....

"It's very expensive to send letters to China," He said. He'd looked into it--he would do anything to have contact with his brother and mom, even for a little while. "It costs more than 40 dollars to send a letter like this." He made a vaguely rectangular shape in front of him. He had so much He wanted to talk about that he couldn't fit it into a normal sized envelope. The lady had offered him a flat envelop. But even when he'd taken that, the density of his words...

"Mom and brother send me stuff sometimes, but it is expensive for them. I asked, it costs them almost 500 yuan to send me things. It's so expensive for them..."

Wei looked at Hari for a long time with an unreadable expression his face. He was totally silent for a full minute, then another minute. His eyes started to sting and emotion welled up in his chest, pressing against his throat and before he had thought anything of it, or even thought of anything at all, he threw himself at Hari, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. Somehow he was even thinner than Wei thought.

"Hariiii!" He wailed, descending into a small fit of incoherent blubbers before he remembered he was not supposed to be doing this and pulled back, wiping the tears from his face with his sweater sleeve. At least his nose wasn't running yet. He'd count that as one of his blessings right now.

The thought of sending a letter home, even if it was just a small snapshot of his life, and getting a letter back from them--that would be the hard part, getting a response. Maybe he should get a job too, so he could put money in the envelopes for them to send a letter back. Getting a long letter from home... it simmered a warm feeling in his chest, like walking home on the last day of school with summer on your face and freedom in your heart.

"Th... Thanks," He said, actually unable to articulate how much this meant to him. This was his first time away from home, and he would be gone for years. Years! He could return home to China and having a sister-in-law and a niece in school by the time he graduated. The thought of barely speaking to his family for that long... It was scary. He could return home to find his mother and brother had become almost entirely different people! "That... means a lot Ha... Hari."