dismay. Conversation, such as there was, remained brief and infrequent. We will never begin to feel more comfortable in each other’s presence at this rate .
When they did have any contact, Augere seemed careful to keep a physical as well as emotional distance. Jason tried to keep the topics neutral, general; Augere was difficult to draw out. Yes or no questions were to be avoided, unless he wanted yes or no answers. Sometimes Jason’s comments elicited blank looks from Augere, as if he had no idea what Jason was talking about.
When Augere did converse, his speech was often likely to be a mixture of antiquated words and phrases intermingled with modern expressions. The effect was startling and amusing at times, but also quite charming, and Jason instinctively showed no negative reaction. Augere reminded Jason of a foreign exchange student he had befriended at school: a non-native speaker of English who seemed to have learned the language from outdated sources, and who used phrases like “it is high time we went to class, do you not think?” Augere’s English, aside from traces of French pronunciation delivered along with the faint influence of a southern accent, was flawless and eloquent. He was as always quite soft spoken, but he never mumbled; each word was distinctly clear, in a voice that had an unusual quality, one which Jason tried to identify. It was a pleasing tone, but somehow sounding as if produced from some mechanical source, or like the tones from a musical instrument, rather than a human voice.
Outwardly, Jason respected Augere’s need and desire for privacy, and guarded that as well as his own. But he still had a desire to break down the boundaries between them. He wanted more camaraderie; longer, more in depth conversations. He had already begun to resign himself to the possibility this might never happen. That is not why you are here, he often found he had to remind himself.
He admitted he had difficulty accepting how young Augere was. There was a tendency, an unconscious one almost, to be overly familiar, as one might be to a younger sibling or classmate. Since he had not been told how to address him, Jason chose to stick with “Mr. Augere,” which helped to keep his tendency to be overly familiar in check.
Opportunities to study him outright were rare. It was very difficult to catch Augere in an unguarded moment. It was hard to be preemptive in these attempts when Augere had a tendency to look at him first, for long intervals before speaking. And when he did so, Jason found he could not meet that gaze for very long. Especially when Augere’s eyes were a dark somber grey. What is his natural eye color exactly? Jason wondered, noting darker and paler shades of violet, a deep blue, or lighter and darker greys. What was up with all of the special effects lenses all the time? Was it vanity? Or a needed prescription perhaps? At every available opportunity Jason tried to take in as many details about Augere as he could, and mull these over later at his considerable leisure.
Augere sometimes watched movies in the library, where a DVD player was hooked up to the TV. Many of the films were ones Jason himself liked. He thought of inviting himself to watch with him, but always felt that would come across as being too forward. And if that interest was rejected, then the chance to expand it toward other interests could be lost as well. Jason wasn’t ready to take that risk.
What had Genier meant when he had recently said Augere has spent long intervals away from people? What about his family? His friends? Had he led a very sheltered life? Home schooled maybe? Somehow he had not shared a common history with peers? Had he been in some kind of institution? Part of a cult maybe, or some other unusual circumstance? That all seemed unlikely. Jason’s impression of Augere was that he was quite intelligent; well-read and cultured—worldly even. He was well mannered and showed almost a military bearing in the
When they did have any contact, Augere seemed careful to keep a physical as well as emotional distance. Jason tried to keep the topics neutral, general; Augere was difficult to draw out. Yes or no questions were to be avoided, unless he wanted yes or no answers. Sometimes Jason’s comments elicited blank looks from Augere, as if he had no idea what Jason was talking about.
When Augere did converse, his speech was often likely to be a mixture of antiquated words and phrases intermingled with modern expressions. The effect was startling and amusing at times, but also quite charming, and Jason instinctively showed no negative reaction. Augere reminded Jason of a foreign exchange student he had befriended at school: a non-native speaker of English who seemed to have learned the language from outdated sources, and who used phrases like “it is high time we went to class, do you not think?” Augere’s English, aside from traces of French pronunciation delivered along with the faint influence of a southern accent, was flawless and eloquent. He was as always quite soft spoken, but he never mumbled; each word was distinctly clear, in a voice that had an unusual quality, one which Jason tried to identify. It was a pleasing tone, but somehow sounding as if produced from some mechanical source, or like the tones from a musical instrument, rather than a human voice.
Outwardly, Jason respected Augere’s need and desire for privacy, and guarded that as well as his own. But he still had a desire to break down the boundaries between them. He wanted more camaraderie; longer, more in depth conversations. He had already begun to resign himself to the possibility this might never happen. That is not why you are here, he often found he had to remind himself.
He admitted he had difficulty accepting how young Augere was. There was a tendency, an unconscious one almost, to be overly familiar, as one might be to a younger sibling or classmate. Since he had not been told how to address him, Jason chose to stick with “Mr. Augere,” which helped to keep his tendency to be overly familiar in check.
Opportunities to study him outright were rare. It was very difficult to catch Augere in an unguarded moment. It was hard to be preemptive in these attempts when Augere had a tendency to look at him first, for long intervals before speaking. And when he did so, Jason found he could not meet that gaze for very long. Especially when Augere’s eyes were a dark somber grey. What is his natural eye color exactly? Jason wondered, noting darker and paler shades of violet, a deep blue, or lighter and darker greys. What was up with all of the special effects lenses all the time? Was it vanity? Or a needed prescription perhaps? At every available opportunity Jason tried to take in as many details about Augere as he could, and mull these over later at his considerable leisure.
Augere sometimes watched movies in the library, where a DVD player was hooked up to the TV. Many of the films were ones Jason himself liked. He thought of inviting himself to watch with him, but always felt that would come across as being too forward. And if that interest was rejected, then the chance to expand it toward other interests could be lost as well. Jason wasn’t ready to take that risk.
What had Genier meant when he had recently said Augere has spent long intervals away from people? What about his family? His friends? Had he led a very sheltered life? Home schooled maybe? Somehow he had not shared a common history with peers? Had he been in some kind of institution? Part of a cult maybe, or some other unusual circumstance? That all seemed unlikely. Jason’s impression of Augere was that he was quite intelligent; well-read and cultured—worldly even. He was well mannered and showed almost a military bearing in the
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