There must be more than this provincial life

[George Blythe]

The Blythe house was, on approach, barely worth the name. Fairly dilapidated, desperately in need of a paint job and with several smashed windows, it brought down the view of the whole street. Needless to say, the garden was barely more than a scratch of weeds.

George, clutching a box full of test tubes, thermometers and who knows what else, stumbled up to the house, and, straightening his glasses, looked at it with a grin. "Home!" He pronounced happily, and dislodged one of his arms from the box to attempt to locate the keys in his pocket.

[Tobias Blythe]

Tobias stayed by the car, staring at the building in horror. "We can't live here. It's about to fall down!"

[George Blythe]

"Come on, Tobias!" George was apparently oblivious to his son's protests. He had found the key, and approached the door, placing the box to his side. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

[Tobias Blythe]

"Back home," Tobias answered flatly.

[George Blythe]

George was having a bit of trouble with the lock. He tried one way, then the other, then pushing the door... he grunted. "Come and help, Tobias. It isn't that bad- you can have a room of your own and you'll soon make friends."

[Tobias Blythe]

"Just give it a good kick. That'd probably knock it down," Tobias suggested, reluctantly going to help. "I had a room of my own and friends back home. And a house that wasn't falling apart."

[George Blythe]

"Change is good for you." George said, shortly, struggling with the key again and putting his shoulder against the door to push. "You'll be more experienced."

[Tobias Blythe]

"More experienced in what?" Tobias took a step back, eyeing the house. "Capentry? Home repair?"

[George Blythe]

"Well..." George pushed again. "They're useful skills, after all..." The door finally opened to reveal a rather dark and dilapidated house. George picked up his box again, and walked inside. "Well, it's, ah... promising!" he beamed at his son.

[Tobias Blythe]

Tobias blinked, eyes adjusting to the dimness. "It's a trash heap."

[George Blythe]

George grinned at his son. "I think getting away from that fussy old lady'll be good for you, Tobias. Come on, race you upstairs." he dumped the box on a sofa, which whined at him, and raced up the stairs to look, sending clouds of dust billowing below him.

((out))

[Tobias Blythe]

"Aunt Mildred wasn't a fussy old lady!" Tobias shouted after him.

[Antón Solucio]

Antón stumbled into the house, carrying a very large box with suspicious looking wires spilling over the top. With a large thump, he sat the box to the ground and grinned. "It's perfect."

[Tobias Blythe]

Tobias looked back at him, rolling his eyes. "It's a mess."

[Antón Solucio]

"Which is exactly why it's perfect!" Antón replied cheerily. "If we don't like a wall, need more room for the--" He peered out the door suspiciously. "L-a-b, then no problem! Besides, maybe if it's enough of a mess, then no one will want to come over!" He shot a smile at Tobias.

[Tobias Blythe]

"You're not going to leave it like this, are you?" Tobias asked, dismayed.

[Antón Solucio]

Antón frowned. "Well, we are going to move the rest of our things in, and I think we could sweep up some of the broken things. Hmm, and we might want to do something about the windows when it gets colder. Maybe put boards over them or something."

[Tobias Blythe]

That was not making Tobias feel better about the house. "Or you could get someone to replace them. What if, if, ah--what if you need sunlight for one of your experiments?"

[Antón Solucio]

Antón stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well, maybe we could just board up the lower ones, and if I did need sunlight, then I could use one of the second storey windows. Unless..." He grinned at Tobias. "Unless we have a hole in the roof! Come, Tobias, let's go look!" He rushed up the stairs, expecting the boy to follow.

((out))

[Tobias Blythe]

Tobias groaned and followed him up.