Ashes to Asher

 

The next day, just after having breakfast in the diner with the people who were starting to mean more to him than almost anyone in his life, and not just the Danvers family either, Emil started making phone calls from a back booth of the little restaurant so that he had privacy, but also was still close to Asher as he worked. He wasn't sure why he felt the need for emotional support of being near the older man, but as long as he didn't think about it too much, he would be just fine.

He arranged to view the house that afternoon, since the realtor had to drive up from the city. He also made arrangements for a large box truck rental so he could retrieve his things from the old storage building. He was on the call booking a hotel room for his stay in his previous home town when Danny walked up to the table giving him the best pleading puppy eyes he had ever seen.

"What do you want, you manipulative child, you?" he asked after pausing his conversation with the reservation clerk at the hotel.

"I could help," Danny offered eagerly. "I'm stronger than I look, really. And I wouldn't take up much room, and I never been out of this town ever, or on an airplane, so it would be educational."

"Enough with the sales pitch, Mr. Infomercial," Emil said with a laugh. "Now tell me the other reason you want to go."

"Who's Mr. Infomercial, and what other reason?" Danny asked innocently.

"He used to sell stuff nobody really needed or wanted on tv, but he could convince you that you would die if you didn't get it, and even question how you ever lived without it," Emil explained, then added softly, "And I mean the real reason that you want to go with me." Then in a very cartoonish sounding voice, he said, "You're not quite as subtle as you think you are, you juvenile delinkedywink."

"You talk weird sometimes," Danny told him, flatly unimpressed. "Anyway, you got me, so I'll fess up. I want to go because I'm scared you won't come back here if you go away."

"At the risk of treating you like the child you think you're more mature than, come over here closer, Danny," Emil told the boy. Once he was close enough, the man grabbed him in a hug, sat Danny on the bench seat beside himself, and kissed the top of his head. Keeping his arm around the pre-teen, he smiled and said, "You, my little man, have completely won me over. I never liked kids before, not even when I was one myself."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that part out since you really like Grandpa, even though you don't look as old as Mom," Danny told him. "For the record, I don't turn down cuddles from parental figures, grandparental figures, or even uncle or auntle figures. Well, as long as the cuddles aren't embarrassing in front of other people or anything."

"Good to know, but here's something you need to know," Emil smiled. "I'm making the arrangements to leave so that I can come back. The phone calls you didn't hear before this one were to view and make a bid on that house. I'm leaving for a few days so that I can move here permanently and forever."

"You really want to come back? You like Grandpa that much?"

"I like all of you that much, including a certain modern day Red Chief, who I hope will come with me today to look at my new house, since his mom and grandpa are both busy. I need a friend I can trust to be there with me."

"You want me to go in that scary haunted mean old man house?" Danny asked, but he didn't sound frightened at all. He sounded quite excited, in fact.

"How else can I show you all the yard work I'm going to expect you to do once I move in?"

"Say what?" Danny gasped. "How rude."

"I'm only kidding a little bit," Emil assured him. "I really do want your help with the yard work, but you won't do it all by yourself, and I intend to pay you for what you actually do."

"You didn't say it was a paying job," Danny announced as he sat up straighter. "I guess I could help if it keeps you here making Grandpa happy, even if I do agree with Mom and hope the honeymoon is over soon since he's a lousy singer."

"Honeymoon? Wait, what do you mean he's a lousy singer?" Emil questioned. The boy just waved his hand toward the kitchen of the diner as he rolled his eyes. Once his attention was focused on it, Emil could hear what the kid was referring to. Asher had the little boombox in the kitchen playing music that he was indeed singing along with, but to Emil it didn't sound bad at all. The song playing at that moment was 'Can't Fight This Feeling' and Asher's voice was not missing a word or a note. When that song ended, 'You're the Inspiration' started up.

"When did you say that you wanted to go see that house? Can we go now, please?" Danny begged.

"Hush, I'm being serenaded," Emil whispered with a blush. "I think he sounds awesome."

"UGH, you two are worse than Mom and Mr. Jimmy. I'm going to go see Miss Moony for some brownies," the boy whined. "Don't forget your phone call," he added as he stood up and pointed at the phone still in Emil's hand.

"No, you're not going to Miss Moony," Emil corrected when he realized that the call he had been making had been ended by the hotel clerk at some point several minutes earlier. "You're going to come to the library with me."

"Why the library? Don't you know where it is from here? I mean there's only one main street in town," Danny pointed out as they walked out the door of the diner.

"Yes, but if we don't go to the library, I can't ask your mother's permission for you to look at the house with me and fly across the country to get my stuff and drive it back," Emil said dryly.

"Oh, look, there's the library right over there," Danny said loudly as he grabbed Emil by the hand and practically dragged him down the sidewalk.

Getting Ashley to agree to the house tour was a piece of cake, talking her into letting her son fly for a few hours and then spend multiple days riding back home in a rental truck, not so much. Danny gave his best pleading puppy eyes and pointed out how educational the trip would be for him learning and experiencing and seeing so many new things and places. Emil swore on everything he held dear that he would guard and protect the innocent baby boy with his very life. It was the man and boy posing like a superhero and sidekick that finally cracked her resolve. She didn't agree, but she did say she would think about it and discuss it with both Jimmy and Uncle Asher.

By that point, it was time for Emil to meet the realtor at the house up the street from the diner and hotel. He and Danny left Ashley groaning about immature males gallivanting across the country while she reshelved books. They got to the house just a moment before the agent pulled up in her car. She introduced herself as Janice Warren and begged them for just a moment to calm down before opening the house, as she was still a little shaky from the drive up the mountain. Emil assured her he was in complete agreement about the horrible road into town. At her mumbled desire for a coffee to steady her nerves, Danny offered her a free cup from the diner. Ms. Warren doubted that they could just walk in and get free drinks from a diner, so Danny eagerly explained that his uncle, Emil's boyfriend, owned the diner. Emil facepalmed thinking his chances of getting the house were now gone, but after learning that he was gay, she offered to give them a ride back to the restaurant. Even though they could have walked the distance easily, both males doubted that the woman in the six-inch heels would have been able to do the same, so they got in her car and a moment later were in the diner.

Danny made coffees for her and Emil, creating a hazelnut concoction for her that was almost as sweet as Emil's caramel coma in a cup. While Danny made the drinks, Emil got better acquainted with the agent, who insisted she be called Janice. Once the coffees were delivered, Danny got himself a fountain soda, and they all left again without Asher ever being seen out of the kitchen. They had heard him, though, and the realtor noticed the blush on Emil's cheeks at the sound of the male voice belting out love ballads from the 1980s.

"Well, now I understand why you want to move to this town," she said with a laugh as she returned them to Whitehaven Street. "No worries, sweetie, my brother is gay, so I am most definitely an ally. He and his boyfriend have staged many homes for open house events for me, and every time they did, I sold the place for more than the sellers were asking. There was no time for them to come do that in this case, though, so I'm afraid you just get the house as it is. The kitchen is completely furnished with moderately new appliances that have an authentic retro look to them, thanks to a renovation done a few years ago. The house is of course Art Deco, but the kitchen couldn't be restored to a 1920s look within the budget the owners at the time had to work with, so that room is actually Midcentury Modern styled, but still manages to blend with the house extremely well in my opinion."

She, Emil, and Danny walked around the outside of the house first, discussing what they each thought of the state of the lawn and flower beds. Emil was happy to find an attached garage at the back of the house. When they went around to the front again, Janice unlocked the door. They went inside and found themselves in an entry hall with stairs at the far end of the room, and according to the realtor, a small doorway to what was basically a water closet with a sink and toilet in it on their left side. To their right were geometric patterned glass French doors leading into the living room. The living room was rather spacious given the size of the house and it had the rounded glass block wall that was just beside the front door, and a corner window at the front and rear of the room. Centered on the wall between the front and rear windows was an Art Deco styled fireplace in black marble. The floor of the room was a rich inlaid maple wood in a herringbone pattern.

There was another set of the French doors at the rear of the room that led to a small square room at the back of the house that had another corner window matching the ones in the living room. Emil was told that this had been used as the dining room of the house. Danny snorted. "I think our house has closets bigger than this." Emil agreed, but didn't say anything as to not offend the young real estate agent.

The room did indeed open opposite the living room directly into the kitchen. It took a lot of effort for Emil to not react to the room. The Midcentury design that had been described as blending into the house was bright enough that he was surprised he hadn't seen the glow outside the house. The color scheme was from the 'Atomic period' of Midcentury design. The cabinets were almost a neon hot pink, while the counter tops and tile backsplash were just as glaring but were that rude shade somewhere between mint green and turquoise. The appliances were yet another neon shade, yellow. Danny tugged at Emil's sleeve, and when he bent down, the boy whispered, "I think I'm blind now."

"I think I wish I was," Emil responded quietly. He and Danny were then led into the attached garage to see that there would be plenty of room for Lilac as well as laundry machines with hookups against the wall shared with the kitchen, and a vent hole out the side of the house for the dryer. When they went back into the kitchen, Danny and Emil were both glad that Janice quickly led them out of the room.

"Technically, we are back in the entry hall as we are now right beside the stairs, but this door leads to what was used as the master bedroom by the last tenants, although the only bathing facilities are upstairs, so that is a little inconvenient," the realtor explained. The room in question had the same maple herringbone floor as the living room, and the other corner window that was visible from the street in front of the house. "There is a door in the corner there, that opens to that same little half bath we saw when we first entered the house."

Danny opened the indicated door and called out, "Hey, here's that cute little round window. It's right over the toilet."

"Well, not immediately above it," the agent corrected. "It's raised so that people wouldn't be able to see anything they shouldn't, and of course, there would be curtains covering it."

"Okay, I can already tell I would like to put my office furniture in that little room at the back of the house, and make this the dining room," Emil thought out loud. "The dining set I have in storage wouldn't fit in that tiny space back there anyway. Alrighty then, onward and upward," he added as he left the room and started for the stairs.

"Either of the rooms upstairs could easily be used as a master bedroom, as they both have access to the covered roof deck, but the one at the front of the house, to your left as you go up the stairs, also has a door to the uncovered deck as well, and is a tiny bit larger than the other room," Janice told them as she followed Emil and Danny upstairs.

"Okay, so my room is to the left and yours is to the right," Emil told Danny as he gave the boy's shoulder a loving pat.

"My room? I get a room in your house?" the boy squeaked as he very nearly tripped over his own feet at the top of the staircase.

"Well, of course you do," Emil responded matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't make you sleep on the sofa downstairs when you come for an overnight visit." He barely had both feet on the floor of the upper hallway when Danny suddenly hugged him tightly.

"You're awesome," the boy whispered.

"I don't know about that, but it's very nice of you to think so," Emil told him with a chuckle. "Now let's see your room to see if you get one bed or two. I hope it will work for both of them, since I have two of them for you."

"You already got me furniture?" Danny gasped.

"Yes, and your mother helped me pick it out," Emil told him. "Two twin beds, nightstands, and a highboy dresser with a mirror," he explained as he stepped into the back bedroom and looked around. "And it should all fit in here if we put the dresser against this wall with the closet door and then stagger the beds one on the front wall and one on the back wall. I believe we even have room for a desk under the window, unless you prefer the floor space be left open for Hot Wheels and Legos."

"What do I need two beds for? Taking turns? One night in this bed, the next night in the other one?" Danny laughed. "Oh, and the desk is just fine. I'm not six anymore."

"Well, you might want to invite a friend for a sleepover sometime," Emil suggested.

"You would let me invite another kid to spend the night at your house?" Danny blurted. "You actually would want two dumb kids in your house for a whole night?"

"Well, I would prefer two smart kids, but if you want to invite a dumb kid instead of a smart one, I guess one out of two would be acceptable," Emil said as he stepped out onto the covered roof deck. "Oh, I don't have any furniture for out here yet. Still, I don't suppose there is a rush for that."

They left Danny's future room and went next to the bathroom. It had been updated since the house was built as well and was also of a Midcentury design. This time it was much easier on the eye, though, thank goodness. Turquoise tiles and some glass block for the upper one and a half foot of the shower enclosure, which looked large enough for more than one person, but what won Emil over, as if he hadn't already known he would buy the house, was the very large tub built into a tiled platform. It was most definitely sized to let an adult fully recline and submerge for a relaxing soak.

"Don't let Mom see that tub; you'll never get her out of here," Danny teased.

"My tub, no girls allowed," Emil growled playfully. "Unless your mother has a baby with Jimmy and it's a girl."

"Eew! I don't want to think about my mother doing it, GROSS!" Danny squealed and covered his ears as he ran out of the room.

"Sorry, Janice," Emil apologized to the real estate agent.

"Please, as I said, I have a brother. I may not have had the stereotypical brother sister relationship with him, but I am well aware of how afraid he was of my girl germs," she replied.

"Sister sibling cooties are the worst cooties in the world," Emil confirmed with a laugh. "I am very glad to hear that you and your brother still support one another, though. I haven't heard a word from my sister since I came out in college."

They were interrupted by Danny yelling out, "Auntie Em, you gotta come see this roof deck. You can almost see Miss Moony's place from here, if there weren't so many trees in the way."

"Auntie Em?" Janice snickered. "I am so telling my brother about today. He will be so mad that he didn't get the chance to meet you two. Now, you really should look at that last room to make sure you like it."

"More importantly will my furniture work in there?" Emil asked as he stepped into the room in question. "I don't suppose you have a tape measure?"

"Here, you go. Uncle Ash told me to bring this because he didn't think you would have one," Danny offered holding out a tape measure with a big grin. "He made me promise to put this back in his tool box later, though. I told him you wouldn't keep it 'cause it's not purple. He said he was more worried about me keeping it. Like I would have a use for that thing. I don't even know what it does or how it works."

"YES! My furniture will fit, all of it will work in here," Emil squealed happily a few moments later. "It will be a tight fit, but it will fit. All right; how do we do this? Should I follow you down the mountain to your office to sign papers and arrange to pay for the place?"

"Oh, yes, I guess that would… You haven't even asked how much the seller is asking," Janice stammered in confusion.

"I knew I wanted the place before I called your office," Emil explained. "The viewing today was just to make sure that I didn't want to change my mind for any reason, like my furniture not fitting into the rooms. That will not be a problem, so I want it, as soon as we can make this happen. Come on, Danny, let's go get my Bronco so we can go to the city."

"I thought you hated driving that road?" Danny pointed out.

"I have a focus now, I'll be fine," Emil dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Come along, you two, we are wasting time."

"I will phone the seller while you retrieve your vehicle, then," the agent said with a smile. They all went downstairs after Danny ran through each room making sure all the doors and windows were closed and locked once more. "I'll wait here for you to get back, but this call shouldn't take too long. They are really motivated to sell since they have no interest in relocating across the country and have actually never even seen the house."

As Danny and Emil went to get Lilac the bronco, Emil pointed out that it could have gone very badly for them if Janice hadn't reacted as she did when Danny blurted out that Asher was his boyfriend, especially since he wasn't. "Oh, please, Auntie Em. You guys are both so crazy over each other it's disgusting sometimes. Ok, actually it's gross all the time, because Grandpa is like really old, and you're old, and eww."

"We are not old," Emil protested. "Your grandpa Ash is mature, not old and I am the same age as your… oh… your mother. ICK; I am old."

"If you get tired walking to your antique car, you can lean on me," Danny offered. "I help Miss Moony and Mr. Barney all the time, so I'm used to working with old people."

"I'm going to show you old, you horrible child," Emil defended and scooped Danny up and threw the boy over his shoulder like the proverbial sack of potatoes and ran the rest of the way to his vehicle at the hotel.