Turquoise Puppet

Chapter 9

You gave me everything, watched over me from afar.

I gave you nothing but a bittersweet kiss in a car.

Where are those clips?

After your mother leaves the house, you go back to your study and turn your laptop on. The interviews aren't from very long ago, so they should be easy to find. You search, and the first video that comes up in the results is the exact one you are looking for. You click into it, bracing yourself for whatever realization it might help you reach—even if you already watched it before with the rest of the world when it was first released.

☆☆☆

It was a talk show at prime time. That evening, you were alone in your house, having spent the day recording a new song with Zander—a singer-actor who loved having an orchestral background to his songs more than most other artists he was competing with. You had already seen the viral video of Alec and known that he would be on the show that day. You debated with yourself over whether or not you'd want to watch it, but ultimately decided to do so. It would be foolish to assume you could evade the topic even if you didn't watch it.

The host of the show gave an introduction, first recalling viewers' memories by briefly describing the video, then playing it on screen. When the video was over, she called, "Alec Warrensword, everybody!" at the same time as the person in question emerged from the side of the stage.

Walking into view, Alec gave the audience a wave and a smile. As he made his way to the host, someone from the audience threw with all their might a rubber ball at him. He caught it as the host exclaimed "oh my god" in the background, and halted in his steps, his eyes finding the person who threw it and spread his arms slightly to the side, an obviously incredulous look on his face. The crowd cheered, and after that momentary pause, Alec continued his way to the host and finally sat down.

"Geez," was the first thing he said, smiling but also somewhat confused.

"I—I was just going to ask about that," said the host, pointing at the ball, "I was just about to ask, you know, 'what was going on in your mind when the man threw the bottle?' But I'm guessing it was 'geez'."

Alec chuckled. The audience laughed. He shook his head.

"No, actually—actually let me say this first." Turning to the audience, he gestured toward the rubber ball. "Don't do random stuff like this," he urged in near-disbelief, "It's dangerous. Please."

The host echoed his plea, and redirected attention back to her original question. To that he first sighed, and then replied, "Well, my mind was blank at that moment and everything was just reflex, but afterwards I was like: who the hell throws—in a parabola—something in the direction of someone who obviously plays catch for a living?"

Again, the host and the audience laughed. "For someone who 'plays catch for a living', you're really popular right now," the host remarked, half-jokingly.

Alec shook his head and smiled wryly. "I don't know. I think anyone would try to do that same thing I did in my position, but—"

"No, I'm pretty sure the rest of us would try to run instead!" said the host, only to nod a moment later as a gesture for him to finish what he was saying.

"—I was actually worried that that bottle would break when I caught it."

"You weren't worried about not being able to catch it, but you were worried that it would break in your hand?"

"Yes," Alec confirmed. To explain, he opened his hand. "You see, I was wearing this ring right here." He gestured towards his index finger. "A kind of metallic ring."

"Ah." Understanding now, the host went on to ask, "Did it break?"

"A little. I don't...think they noticed though."

"Did you get hurt from it?" the host asked. Alec hesitated, and so she changed her mind, adding, "Let's watch that moment in slow motion, actually."

At her cue, the video replayed from a particular section, in slow motion. Everyone paid close attention to the catch, but it was not until Alec began to put the bottle down that cracks could be vaguely seen.

"Wow, really!" the host exclaimed, her eyes lingering for a moment longer on the screen before meeting Alec's gaze again. "And then what happened to that bottle? Did it break eventually?"

"I think it rolled off at some point and broke on its own, yeah."

"So, you must have gotten a scratch or something at least—"

"Just a scratch, yeah." Saying so, Alec retrieved his hand, leaning back into his seat.

"It didn't seem like it at all," said the host, gesturing toward the screen. "You didn't even look at your hand!"

"I mean, everyone was already kind of scared and all, so..."

There were murmurs among the audience, though not a single word could be made out. The conversation slowly drifted to his profession, and after that, she mentioned another discussion on the internet that expanded from Alec's fame.

"People are wondering if you're—have you seen it?" she asked.

"Asexual, yes," Alec finished the question for her, chuckling afterwards. "For some reason they're not wondering if I'm gay, but—"

"But straight-up asexual. Apparently it's because they can't seem to catch you flirting with anyone at all, and they've got no scoop to talk about."

"Yeah. I mean—no, I'm not, first of all."

"Do you mind that sort of question?"

"No, in fact, I'll tell you all right now," he said, shifting slightly to face the audience, "I'm bi."

The audience began murmuring again, but it was merely a split second later that a loud "whoop" came from the back of that same audience. The host and Alec both turned their attention to that voice, trying to find its source. It was him who found it first.

"Oh, it's you!" he recognized.

"Who?" the host asked.

At this time, the camera panned to the face of a girl. Being at the very back, what she said couldn't be picked up, but those present in the studio seemed to hear her quite clearly—at least, the host did.

"It was you who held the camera!" the host repeated.

The girl was invited on stage. From there on, the focus of the conversation shifted once again.