My Formula 1 System-Chapter 651: Building A House From Scrat

The sounds of Martin’s babbles and happy yells filled Luca’s room as Luca wandered inside with him, just like they always did. Luca put the little guy down on the rug right next to a drawer filled with socks, hoping that would keep him busy for a while. But Martin looked like he was ready to cause some real trouble, so Luca tossed him a bunch of keys to play with instead. You know how babies love the sound of metal jingling!

Sighing, Luca walked across the room to finally relax after his long trip. He strolled into the bathroom, where he washed and re-moisturized his face and hair. In the mirror, he looked exhausted. It made him long for a deep nap, which sounded like a great idea, but he decided to feed his fish first, just in case the house workers had neglected them.

The aquarium was right next to the porch on the veranda just outside his room. Luca kept his bedroom door wide open so he could keep an eye on the boy while he attended to his biology project.

Building a self-made aquarium wasn’t easy at all. Luca couldn’t be prouder that he actually accomplished something like this—even if he had to give a lot of credit to this one guy on YouTube.

Also, by the railing, there were two big ecosystem jars full of life. One was mostly clear, while the other one was muddy and covered in green moss. This showed that he had managed to keep two totally different types of tiny worlds alive at the same time.

The coolest part about the ecosystem jars was that Luca didn’t have to feed anything in them at all, unlike the fish in the aquarium. They just survived all on their own. Heck! Most of the organisms in there developed out of nowhere!

Seeing how nature works structurally yet spontaneously left Luca impressed. It was a nice break from the rollercoaster of this modern world.

To feed the fish, he grabbed the bag of fish seeds and began sprinkling them into the water. The colorful fish swam around happily, but they didn’t really swarm the food like they were starving. Luca figured that meant his house workers had actually done a good job feeding them while he was away at a race—or Laura. Whomever.

Suddenly, a loud squeal of grief sparked from inside the room. It sounded like someone was really upset.

Luca glanced over at the open door and saw Martin crawling super fast toward the bright light of the veranda where Luca stood. The boy looked furious and sad at the same time, tears rolling down his cheeks as he cried. It looked like playing with the socks and the keys wasn’t enough to keep Martin happy anymore. He made a beeline straight for Luca, probably because he wanted more attention, or maybe he accidentally bonked his head on the cupboard.

Luca had to stop his peaceful fish-feeding time right away to scoop the crying child up. As soon as Martin’s little head hit his shoulder, the loud sobbing just stopped. Luca stood there on the veranda, patting his back in a steady rhythm to help him relax. Before even two minutes had passed, the boy was totally out.

Luca’s face softened into a real smile as he looked at the sleeping infant. "Oh, you were just feeling sleepy," he whispered.

~~~~~~~~~

After giving the boy back to his mother, Luca collapsed onto his living room couch. He finally realized just how weary he was as he gulped down a glass of water. He groaned his head forward as the thought of turning on the TV to veg out.

But then, Laura swayed back into the living room, carrying a bottle of beer and two mugs. There was no invitation at all, yet she simply sauntered over to the same couch and sat down in the empty spot right next to Luca. Carefully, she set the beverage and the ceramics down on the glass coffee table.

Luca looked at her, feeling kind of curious as she opened the beer.

"What exactly do you even do all day?" he asked. "From the time you wake up until you go to sleep, what do you actually do?"

No answer came. Laura only chuckled.

She poured a drink for both of them and grabbed her own mug. Then she relaxed back into the polyurethane, crossed her legs, and turned her body subtly so she was facing him.

This was one of the few times they had actually been this close, but this time felt different because Luca didn’t seem indifferent or like he wanted to leave. He looked a bit drunk even though he hadn’t even taken a sip of his mug yet. Slumped on the couch like a discarded hoodie, he was probably too tired to act tough.

Laura’s eyes looked really happy as she studied him, seeing him finally relax.

"Well, I have a phone obviously," she started, "and I also have a 7-month-old who just started crawling."

Luca chuckled and nodded his head. He knew that trying to keep up with a baby like Martin was enough to keep anyone busy 24/7.

"But doing the same thing every day surely gets boring," Laura exhaled, shifting nearer a little bit. "So I usually draw and paint, hang out in the flower garden, stroll across the entire field, or read a book. Are you familiar with Scott Lynch?"

Luca nodded slowly. One of his best authors.

It started to dawn on him that Laura was actually a pretty interesting person, and it felt kind of sad to think about her youth just evaporating since the tragedy in Spain.

It was her fault, though. She was the one sitting around waiting for him.

"You don’t look too good. Are you okay?" Laura asked Luca as she moved much closer to him in worry.

Luca just made a grunting sound, saying he was alright, and that he just needed some sleep and exercise later.

"What made you this tired?"

Luca chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. He had this weird, far-away look in his eyes.

"Do you think we’re actually us?" he asked Laura. "Or are we just, like, walking through a dream someone else is having?"

Before she could even say anything, he kept going. "Man... it’s like... do I actually know you? Or did the world just spawn you in because it needed to? It feels like a video game where I’m the only one actually playing, and everyone else is just... trying to be organic."

Laura was totally confused. She had no idea what he was talking about because his words were so deep and weird. She didn’t know that Luca was actually freaking out about things that had felt uncanny lately. Specifically, he was thinking about how he had learned that Mrs. Hawthorne knew his father a long time ago, way before Luca had even met her. He was wondering if their first encounter in Monaco was even real. Did she actually cherish him for who he was, or did she only form a bond with him because he was Aldo’s son and she wanted to reconnect with the past?

Laura didn’t know any of those revelations, so she didn’t understand why he was acting so strange. But she could tell that Luca needed some kindness right now.

Since she was already sitting so close, she put her slender fingers into his hair. Gently, she soothed and massaged his head and swirled strands of his hair around her fingers. Luca didn’t resist. Pretty soon, his eyes closed, leaving Laura with two sleeping boys in her care.