From liamr@css.itd.umich.edu Wed Apr 27 20:28:27 1994 Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 20:27:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Liam Hoekenga To: amber campaign Subject: Felix diary 42 Morning I can't believe that gall of some people. To think... and he said that he was a family man. How could he do this if he cared about his family so much? I don't know. I suppose that it nice that he and Ariana made up - and it was extremely polite of her not to kill him on my parent's lawn, but to deceive my son in such a way? My son - who told me that they were good friends, and had been for years. I love my son dearly, but my opinion of his housr falls daily. "Riftvan" put in another appearance this morning. It's good to know that I wasn't imagining Foster's friend. Found theme playing hearts after I took my bath. I suggested that a table might be a better playing surface, and Riftvan invited himself to breakfast. It was a fine morning otherwise - my parents slept in. Ariana, Riftvan, Foster, and I played hearts. I lost... a lot. Ariana and I made breakfast. Then she called Ahab, and brings me in on the contact. Ahab says quite simply, and plainly, "Riftvan is Lord Vetch's name." This is not what I needed to hear. Ariana and he went outside to "talk" and a resounding "smack" was heard throughout the land. And the people of the land were happy. I'm glad that she had a chance to confront him that way. I continued making breakfast. I wasn't going to let Foster discover that something was wrong with his friend. Ariana and Riftvan came in shortly afterwards. It was a silent breakfast... and it disgusted me. Riftvan continued to act as he had been. He didn't make any attempt to explain to Foster. It's like nothing happened, and I can't accept that. I confronted him as I started to clear the table, but I'm afraid I didn't handle it very well. But that doesn't matter - just as long as he knows that he can't play this game with me, and I certainly won't let him play it with Foster. He's my son's "friend" and he is the head of my son's house, but if he doesn't have the simple decency to use his real "form" when he comes to visit family... It makes me so ANGRY! Went to the stable, grabbed a horse, and rode. Ariana's not stupid enough to follow me, and Foster can't ride. I need to think about this. This isn't right. You don't treat family like that, and I would thing that Lord Riftvan "I'm a family man" Vetch would have caught on to that by now. If not, look's like he's got a few lessons to learn. Trumped Ahab - asked him to ask Kimdyl if she thought Murine's condition would improve if she cast he spell again. They both asked me if I had bothered checking her this morning? I admitted that I hadn't. Kimdyl seemed to think that she had done all she could, and I'd need to speak with a more powerful shapeshifter to get more advice. I don't really know any - I suppose I could ask Heather to ask Mandor... he seems pretty powerful. He might be able to help. Told them what happened this morning. Kimdyl thinks that Foster knew who Riftvan really was. He should have told me - could have avoided that whole incident this morning... could of avoided looking like an ass... Took a long time for me to calm down. Shoulda shifted to something I could hit. couldn't hit the horse - I needed to ride it home... and hitting trees is just stupid (I learned THAT lesson a long time ago.) Started to ride home. I was almost home when Ariana called. Seems Foster didn't react well to my show of emmotion this morning. Seems he went swimming about the hours ago, and hasn't surfaced since. Had Ariana pull me through immediately. I took the horse to the stable - it looked happy to be rid of me... it's a common sentiment these days. Went and changed into my swimtrunks, grabbed the snorkling gear, and went to look for my errant son. Did that for at least a half hour, when Ariana trumped to tell me that Foster had come back. She offered to pull me through, but I decline. Swam back to shore. Found Foster waiting for me. Ran up and hugged him - he look surprised at that, but I don't think he believed me when I said I'd been worried about him. I tried to explain. He brushed me off. I tried to fix things - I tried to explain. I thought I was doing right. I can't tell if he knows (knew?) Riftvan's true identify. I alluded to it, but I never brought it up directly. I don't know how handle this. I can't beat Foster 'til he sees my side. I can't get him drunk and convince him. I just don't know... and it's obvious... how can a respect a man that is so obviously stupid? I'm doing this wrong again. I'll be surprised if I haven't pushed him back into Chaos's arms. Shit. Did I mention Foster asked to be dismissed? I'm surprised that he showed up for dinner. He wouldn't talk to me at the table, but Eris has seemed catch his attention. At least he's not completely abnormal. I was afraid that I'd damaged him beyond repair... and I don't want to have take him back to shadow Earth to put him through psychotherapy... they wouldn't believe him anyway... The kids all left after dinner. Maybe I'm making too much of this. Everyone else seems to think so - even da.