VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 68

"I don't believe it."

Terrence followed Marcus' gaze, landing on a familiar old turtle hobbling his way to the front steps of the Jade House, leaning on his cane for support. "Yep. That's him."

"I thought you were just messing with me," Marcus chuckled incredulously. "You actually meant it? You really think you've found a foster family for you?"

"Well, foster dad is what I said. It's one turtle, not a whole lot of them," Terrence quickly replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Better than nothing," the older man replied, shaking his head. "I just wasn't expecting . . . y'know. A monster. An old turtle monster even less so. But I am proud of you, for taking this initiative. I can tell you care. It's nice to see your smile be sincere, for a change."

Terrence had to admit, he hadn't smiled this good in a while, at least not around Marcus or the Jade House. Foster families just never appealed. To have somebody come into his life and try to dictate how to live it? To bestow their expectations upon him? To expect him to indulge in building a relationship? It was a joke. Obviously it worked for some kids, but not for Terrence. Gerson wasn't just some turtle he met in the park, and he wasn't just excited to be fostered by him because he was training him how to use magic and how to fight, but because he felt a genuine connection to the old monster. A connection he never knew he could feel. Maybe all that "Lord Fallian" talk had at least some merit, after all. Or maybe Terrence just found old turtle hermits to be wholesome and fatherly. The mysteries of the universe continued stacking up.

"Mr. Boom, right?" Marcus greeted Gerson as he opened the door for the old monster, he croaked back a "yup" in greeting as he entered the building. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You don't know how happy I am to see Terrence take to someone like this. This way, I have all the paperwork in my office."

"You look happy about somethin'," Gerson stared at Terrence with a scrutinizing one-eyed glare. "Finally kiss your girl?"

Terrence snorted as Gerson's glare became a wink, and he hobbled into the office after Marcus. "We're casual. When it happens, it'll be the right time. So not yet."

"Good answer, but don't take too long. Life's too short," Gerson scoffed. "And that's comin' from the guy who watched Jesus get crucified in-person."

"Wha- you watched what??" Marcus turned to look at Gerson with wide eyes.

"How much paperwork am I signin'? Can't be too much, because my writing hand gets sore easy," Gerson replied, pretending to ignore the look of horrified wonder Marcus was giving him. Terrence knew that was a lie, too, since he'd seen Gerson write for easily over an hour non-stop during their last training session, where Terrence was supposed to concentrate on meditation with the scratching of a quill right next to him. Turns out, that had been FAR more difficult than expected.

"Oh not too much, I assure you," Marcus said, appearing miffed that his curiosity wasn't being addressed about the whole Jesus thing. "Just a few papers for liability clauses, proof of address, housing, employment, finances—"

"Euck," Gerson coughed. "Sounds like a hassle. I don't feel like it, let's go home, Terrence."

"I, b-but there's . . . wait, hang on," Marcus cleared his throat. "The system doesn't work like that. If we just let anybody come in and take a kid, it'd be . . . well, unethical and dangerous! If he were eighteen it'd be fine, but until then, there's a system to follow."

Gerson eyed the man for a moment, before sniffing. "Well that's dumb. Back in my day, places like this would be glad to have a kid off their hands! Eh heh!"

Terrence snorted a second time. He was pretty sure Gerson was just messing with Marcus at this point, maybe even in an attempt to get out of the least amount of responsibility and paperwork as possible. It worked, actually, as Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look, maybe we can . . . work a little something out. I can try and fill out as much of this as I can for you, strictly off the record - I could get in trouble for it, and considering your age, we can just list you as receiving retirement benefits."

"Hm . . ." Gerson squinted at Marcus. "Alright, but let's make this quick."

And within thirty minutes, Marcus was waving Terrence and Gerson goodbye. Despite his irritations, he did seem happy about this. Terrence, too, felt fairly happy with it as well. It was like starting a whole new chapter, and way more on the boy's terms than any other foster had ever gone. If he could still have his real parents, of course he'd take them and settle for Gerson as a really cool and weird uncle, but that wasn't exactly an option. He trusted Gerson, a lot more than he felt was natural for someone he still technically just met. It felt . . . real. Like he could one day call Gerson "dad" and it wouldn't feel awkward. Well, maybe it would. Grandpa might be a better title.

"I don't like paperwork," Gerson grunted as they made their way down the street. "I prefer writin' if it's what I wanna do. Just a chore, otherwise. I don't like chores."

"Oh, that's great, I'm the same way!" Terrence exclaimed. "Does this mean I won't have to do dishes or take out the trash or make my bed or vacuum the halls?"

"Vacuum? My place ain't got carpets, boy, hard wood, mahogany oak, and I pay some guy I met at Flormart to come by and run a polishing machine on it once a month. Good stuff. But yes, you'll still have to do chores."

"Bummer," Terrence pouted jokingly, before he glanced back once more at the Jade House. "I'm never coming back here. I mean—Marcus is a good friend, and he's looked out for me a lot, but . . . I just . . ."

"Don't worry," Gerson chuckled. "That chapter's done writin' itself. I don't see the Jade House bein' your home now any more than it is mine, no matter what happens. You're on a whole new path now, kid. You get to write the next chapter."

Terrence couldn't stop smiling.