More Than This

Having a key to Raleigh's apartment had many perks, the main one being that he could visit whenever he wanted and surprise the man who lived there with sudden and unexpected visits - or so Lake claimed. Elliot, however, was always worried that Raleigh would be busy or that he wouldn't want Elliot there because he was working.

Classes finished earlier than expected due to someone pulling a crazy stunt in the auditorium that resulted in a large amount of foam getting everywhere. No one seemed to want to own up and there were rumors that it was a joint effort between the school's most notorious twin pranksters and The Mohawk. It was a Friday and with the weekend free, Elliot thought that maybe it would be a good idea to go and spend some quality time with Raleigh. He tried ringing, but for some reason the phone was engaged. Knowing Raleigh though, he'd probably not put it back into its cradle properly.

Reaching the front door, he could hear Raleigh's voice from the other side, and the muffled sound of the television. By the sound of things he wasn't working, but there was no one talking back to Raleigh.

And Elliot didn't recognise the words...

Slipping inside he saw that Raleigh was sat cross-legged on the sofa, head cocked to the side with the phone handset nestled between his shoulder and his ear. Red hair was pulled back and into a tail at the back of his head and glasses perched on his nose.

"Nee, oma, ik heb niet vergeten uw verjaardag."

He paused, listening to the person on the other end of the telephone line while his attention was focused on the television screen. He was playing one of the older Final Fantasy games by the looks of the graphics, but Elliot couldn't quite figure out who Raleigh was talking to.

Nor did he know Raleigh spoke another language.

"Ik ben onlangs zeer bezig geweest. Ik wens dat ik u kon roepen vaker, maar ik ben meer geen kleine jongen." With only half his attention on the T.V. he ended up messing up the fight and coming close to loosing the battle. "Darn it! Nr, niet u! Droevig!"

Closing the door as quietly as he could, Elliot moved into the kitchen area, leaving Raleigh to his phone call while wondering just who it was he was talking to. He didn't talk about his family often, but Elliot was sure he mentioned part of his family coming to America from somewhere in Europe.

Raleigh seemed to notice the he was no longer alone. Reaching up to hold onto the phone while the person on the other end continued to talk, he looked over his shoulder at Elliot and grinned at him. He mouthed a 'hello' to him before frowning at whatever was said on the phone.

"Natuurlijk luister ik aan u, oma. Herinnert u me die vertelt u ongeveer Elliot?" His smile brightened when he caught Elliot perk up at the mention of his name, and at the reply the person gave him. "Hij is hier nu." He laughed at whatever was said to him and he moved the phone away from his ear and held it towards Elliot. "Say hello. Don't say anything else though, my grandmother barely speaks any English."

Well, there was the big mystery solved. Doing as he was asked, Elliot called out a "Hello!" to the phone.

Raleigh smiled back at him and turned back around on the sofa, returning the phone to his ear. "Ik ga omhoog op u nu hangen. Ik zal aan u opnieuw spoedig spreken, beloof ik. Ja, ja, vaarwel, oma. Ik houd ook van u," and with that he hung up, let out a long and loud groand before slumping down on the sofa, almost dragging the cushions off with the rest of his body as he stretched out. "Thank you."

"What for?" Elliot asked, coming over to sit with him, snuggling into his side when Raleigh wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close.

"Giving me a reason to hang up, otherwise I'm pretty sure she'd talk my ear off like she does everytime she calls."

"I forgot that you mentioned you could speak...Dutch was it?"

"Yeah. My grandmother fell in love with an American years ago, and he brought her here to live with him. She never really picked up much English though. These days though all the English she really uses are swear words, 'get off my lawn' and 'I'm fetching the shotgun'." He chuckled to himself and at fond memories that only he knew. "In order to communicate with her, both she and my mother taught me Dutch, and to stop me from getting rusty she calls me up from time to time to talk my ear off." Lifting himself back up onto the couch to sit properly, he pulled Elliot up onto his lap and nuzzled affectionately into his hair.

"You really shouldn't hang up on her just because of me; she's your family," Elliot said, scolding Raleigh for using him as a reason to stop talking with his grandmother. "Do you think you could teach me a little?"

Resting his chin atop Elliot's head, Raleigh sighed thoughtfully. "Lake's learning russian from his boyfriend - I suppose the least I could do is teach you a few words." He stroked his fingers up and down Elliot's arm. "It might be good incase she ever rings and I'm not around and you answer the phone."

Elliot looked up at his face. "I'm allowed to answer your phone?"

Raleigh smiled that intoxicating smile back at him. "I know you can't right now because of school, but when the day comes you can move in with me if you want."