ArchivedLogs:Family

Family
Dramatis Personae Anole, Micah
In Absentia	13 October 2013 Stand-in parenting at XS Family Weekend.
Location <XS> Auditorium
In between the school tours and meals and meetings with teachers there is showcasing of What The Students Are Doing, here at Xavier's School's Family Weekend. For some areas of school this is simpler, projects displayed in classrooms, papers tacked up on walls. In other realms this is more involved -- small scheduled concerts for the students in band and choir and orchestra, dance performances. Theatre performances. Anole is in this latter, a short performances of a one-act play; "Pullman Car Hiawatha" is showing once on Saturday and once on Sunday. Sunday afternoon's performance goes somewhat better than Saturday's; it's still definitely high school theatre but it's a pretty good showing. Anole's role is an archangel, probably the only place on earth Archangel Gabriel will be played by a small green lizardboy. On stage he lacks all the skittish timidity he carries off of it, but by the time the curtain has closed and he is backstage once more he is once again skulking at the sidelines. While other students receive congratulations from their parents, joke around with each other, change out of costumes, he slips back towards the stage, costume and skin fading into the rich velvet of the curtain as he peeks out towards the emptying auditorium. After the show, Micah follows other parents and family members into the backstage area. Fortunately, he has the express purpose of seeking out a small green lizardboy, so his eyes manage to catch Anole before he fades into the curtain too much to be easily found. He is slightly more neatly dressed than his usual, as has been the case the entire weekend, wearing an emerald green button down shirt decorated with a lighter green leaf pattern over a pair of khakis. His hair, however, is about its typical level of tousled. He steps out across the now mostly-empty stage, nearer to the boy, gently clearing his throat to announce his presence since he is coming up behind him. Who knows when he found the time to obtain it, but a bouquet consisting of half a dozen sunflowers with a shimmery gold organza ribbon tied around their thick, short-cut stalks is held casually in one of his hands. Anole turns with a start and a widening of his eyes a the throat-clearing, wrapping the curtain half around himself as he stares out from behind it at Micah. His large eyes have shifted from green to a deep red, blending in with the curtain he hides behind. "Oh!" His eyes widen further. "Ohit'syou. There's flowers why do you have -- they're /sun/flowers." His mouth is hidden behind the curtain, but there's a brighter warmth in his tone, eyes crinkling up slightly in a smile. "You're -- here. Did you watch. The play?" “Hi,” Micah returns the greeting with a bright smile, pausing in his forward progression until Anole seems to relax from the surprise of his presence a bit. “It's tradition t'bring a bouquet for a stage actor after the final curtain call, t'congratulate on a performance.” He closes the gap between them in a few steps, holding out the flowers for Anole to collect them. “I did watch it. You made an excellent angel.” "Dennis says angels aren't supposed to be so spiky." Anole detaches one of his hands from the curtain, pressing his palm lightly against the hard spikes sprouting from his head. "Or green. I was kind of green." He is looking at the flowers with very large eyes. He reaches for them slowly, red fingers melting back into very-green as they move away from the curtain. He takes them slowly, bringing them near his face not to smell them but to brush the petals against his cheek and let their yellow streak sunshiney splotches against his skin. "Did you -- you really liked it? Or thought I was --" He tips his head to the side, yellow creeping up towards his eyes. "I didn't think anyone was watching." “Has he ever /read/ descriptions of angels out of holy texts? Spiky would be the least of their worries. And...oftentimes accurate.” Micah's smile tilts into a lopsided grin at that, passing off the flowers once Anole reaches for them. “Oh, look, now you're all glowy-yellow. Is that better for angel-ing?” Now empty-handed, he hooks a thumb into his pants pocket just to give his hand a place to rest. “I thought you were great. Very confident on the stage. There were actually a /lot/ of folks watchin'. But...at least one as came t'see you specific.” "I don't know if he's read -- about angels exactly I think he was just trying to -- say I'm ugly? Maybe." Anole's brow wrinkles together. "I'm not really sure I was too nervous to think about it much." His skin fades back to green entirely, though he still brushes the flowers up against his cheek. "You came for /me/? /And/ you brought flowers?" He shrinks a little bit back, turning slightly to curl the curtain against himself once more. "Why?" "You're a good friend to m'boys. An' I appreciate all y'been doin' t'help with the supply runs. An' I like you as a person, so why wouldn't I want t'see your play?" Micah's voice softens and quiets a bit. "An' Nox would've wanted t'be here. She would've known about the flowers, too. She...likes the theatre. Would be /so/ proud of you." His teeth snag his lower lip for just a moment. "I mightn't be the best stand-in, but there's a number of kids who've been borrowin' me'n Jax for things over the weekend. If y'wanted...a person? This seemed like the kind of thing where there should be a person," he explains, finally. "Your boys are wonderful." Anole's cheeks flush darker. His eyes drop down to the floor at the mention of Nox. "I don't know I just didn't think there was anyone who --" He bites down at his lip. "Do you think she'd have liked this? I thought about her -- think about her. A lot." The flush in his cheeks deepens still further as he listens to Micah. "Oh. Oh wow. You know, maybe /you're/ the angel. I think you might be." “They /are/ pretty wonderful,” Micah agrees with a little smile. “I think she would've absolutely /loved/ it, hon. Thinkin' is...nice. Hurts some, still. But nice. I miss her, too.” He lifts a hand, reaching out toward Anole's shoulder, but thinks better of it after a moment. “I'd...like t'give you a hug, if you'd like that, too?” One corner of his lips tugs upward a bit higher than the other at the angel commentary, a faint blush dusting rosily across his cheeks. “'Fear not,'” he quotes, the smile lending his words a slight air of jest. “Just there’s so many kids here who -- and you and Jax are --” Anole shakes his head, burying his face against the sunflowers. “That’s really sweet, you guys are always -- always just really sweet.” Slowly, his other hand drops the curtain, a little uncertain as he looks at Micah’s outstretched hand. But when he finally makes up his mind to accept this offered affection he does it quite thoroughly, darting forward to wrap his skinny arms /tight/ around Micah, cheek pressing up against Micah’s chest. “You even come with tidings of comfort,” he says with a small laugh. He doesn’t let go, even after the laugh has faded away. His sunflowers bop up against Micah’s back where his hand is wrapped. “Shane says she’s probably dead.” His voice has dropped softer. “But that if she isn’t then Jax will bring her back. But that I shouldn’t -- that she’s probably --” He swallows. “... I ran away from my parents. That was probably not -- very nice maybe now they. Just always feel like this.” “There is...too many kids as don’t have enough people. In general, but here even more so,” Micah agrees with a slow, sad sort of nod. “It’s good t’have that, sometimes. Even if it is just for a little while.” He makes an exaggerated, actually /spoken/ ‘oomph’ sound at Anole’s darting tackle-hug, back to grinning as he rubs a hand against the boy’s back in little circles. The grin fades somewhat with the talk of Nox being dead. “We can’t know, hon, what’s happenin’ with her. But, yeah, people are goin’ t’the place where we think she’d been taken--at least at first. We don’t know if she’s still there, but if she is… That team’s sure gonna do everythin’ they can t’bring her home.” He returns Anole’s tight squeeze, albeit a bit less tightly. “It might be they’re missin’ you an’ awful lot… Now that you’re set up in a good place, would they come? T’see how you’re doin’ here? Would you /want/ that?” His chin tilts down to allow him to regard the much shorter boy, where he is pressed up against him. “For a little while,” Anole agrees, and his arms tighten with this; fortunately unlike the twins his skinniness /doesn’t/ come with any augmented strength. Just a fierce bony-armed squeeze that he doesn’t seem all that keen to surrender just yet. “Bastian doesn’t like to talk about it but Shane’s told me. Things they do in there.” His expression is hidden, face mooshed up against Micah’s shirt, but though his voice has dropped quieter it’s still steady. “But Mr. Jax and his -- people they’re like. Superheroes right?” He falls quiet at the question of his family, eventually -- slowly, reluctantly -- loosing his hold on Micah. “They’d come,” he agrees, swallowing hard. “They weren’t like -- there’s a lot of people here whose parents weren’t --” His nose scrunches up, and he directs a frown downward towards his feet as he rocks a half-step backwards. “My parents were /good/. Are good. It was just -- really hard. Having me. I didn’t want anything to happen to them anymore so --” He shrugs a shoulder stiffly. “I always want to see them. I just don’t know if that’s -- good. Safe. They’re probably safer now.” Micah doesn’t seem keen to move away from the hug, either, just holding Anole as long as he wishes to stay there. “It’s good that they have you t’talk to about it. I think it’s...helpful for ‘em. T’have people their own age t’relate to things.” The question about Jax earns a smile, whether the boy can see it or not. “They’re exactly like superheroes. Not Superman-level invincible, but /pretty/ superhero-y. It’s how they’ve rescued so many people. Y’know they broke Nox out of a place like that before? If she’s there, they’ll do everythin’ they can as /superheroes/ t’get her out. An’ anyone else they can find, too. Had whole apartments full of people the last time.” Micah’s hold finally releases when Anole moves away, letting him back off at his own pace. “That’s good, at least, hon. That means if you ever /want/, y’can call an’ talk to ‘em. Let ‘em know y’found a safe place an’ you’re goin’ t’school. Again...if you /want/, I’m sure the school could set up for ‘em t’come visit even if it’s not an official family day. This campus is pretty safe an’ pretty secret about what it is. That should be able t’keep your family safe, too. I think… Personally, the only serious danger I could see would be in you goin’ home with ‘em. But /whatever/ y’do, it’s entirely your choice, okay?” He chews at his lip before speaking again. “I just know that /I/ would wanna know you’re doin’ okay. If I were them.” “I think they have people. Here, I mean. Like lots of their friends here are from -- well, they understand, um, a lot better than I -- could. What it’s like.” Anole takes another half-step back, slowly; it takes a bit for his arm to drop away from Micah altogether. He buries his face against the flowers immediately afterwards. “I think it’s more hero-y because they’re /not/ invincible.” His eyes are taking on traces of yellow again, a small smile touching his lips. “You don’t have /any/ superpowers. And you still -- help out with so much -- maybe you’re the hero-i-/est/.” His weight rocks forward uncertainly, hand starting to lift as though for another hug, but then he settles back on his heels, curling it around himself instead. “It’s been safe here. Maybe -- maybe they could come. Here. Or I could at least call. I just --” He frowns. “What if they’re mad I left? And don’t -- want to see me anymore?” “Honey, understandin' an' listenin' aren't all dependent on havin' the exact same experiences. I do think you're a help to 'em. If they're comfortable talkin' with you about that kinda thing...that's a real good sign.” Micah pats at Anole's hand before the boy's arm moves away entirely. “It's certainly...more dangerous, that's true.” An almost-shy half smile accompanies a deepening of Micah's blush at Anole's hero talk. “Don't know for sure about all that. Think I'm more the behind-the-scenes support for the superheroes. But they need all the help they can get.” “Oh...oh, I can't /imagine/ they suddenly wouldn't want t'see you anymore from what y'just told me earlier. They might be upset that y'left, yes. Prob'ly even more upset that they haven't heard from you. But I think they're prob'ly more worried than anythin'. An' missin' you somethin' awful.” Micah shakes his head at this, watching Anole's expression closely. “I'm not sure if y'all were friends yet back then, but... D'you remember when Shane an' 'Bastian ran away t'the ocean for weeks? Jax worried himself sick the whole time they were gone. An' he was upset. An' they had /quite/ the talk when they finally came back. But them /comin'/ back weren't never a question. He never stopped lovin' 'em or wantin' t'see 'em again. I'd say seein' 'em again was the thing he wanted most, the whole time they was gone.” “I think helping out is helping out. If you’re a hero /for/ the heroes that’s --” Anole’s smile quirks a little bit wider. “Well. Still -- hero-y.” He lowers the flowers, skin shifting back to its default green. “Do you think they’d do that for real? I mean -- go away. To the ocean. Forever. Sometimes I worry. That one day they’ll just be gone.” He blushes darker as he admits, “‘cept for them and Peter I don’t really have -- friends.” His eyes lift back to Micah, studying the man’s face for a while. “If I do, um, invite them -- if they come out here. My parents I mean. Do you think you and Mr. Jax could --” He stops, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. “Nowait sorry you guys are probably. Really busy. Heroing.” Micah chuckles at Anole's hero-logic. “I guess that's so.” The question about Shane and 'Bastian earns another headshake. “I think they think that's what they want...sometimes. For a little while. 'Cause it sure would be a whole lot easier. But I think it would be awful hard for ‘em t'leave everythin' they have here. Their friends an' family. Spencer, you. 'Bastian would miss his school an' work, too, I'm sure. An' I think Shane only might've gone the last time t'follow 'Bastian, who was real upset over some specific circumstances. I...don't really see 'em leavin' an' not comin' back.” Micah's head cants slightly. “It's somethin' y'could talk about with 'em, though. If y'want a more certain answer on what /they're/ thinkin'. They /are/ your friends, after all. An'...sometimes havin' a few really good friends is actually nicer than havin' a whole passel of less-close friends. Though I'm sure y'could make more once you're here for awhile an' more people get a chance t'know you.” Anole's aborted question has Micah's head tilting further, curious. “No, honey, please ask what it is y'wanna ask. Sure, there's times we're /actively/ out doin' things an' can't be around at the exact same time as those, on account of physics. But otherwise...we're pretty good at findin' time t'do things. 'Specially important things. An' this is family you're talkin' about. So it's important.” “It might even stack,” Anole decides, after Micah’s chuckle. “Extra bonus heroing modifier.” He dips his head down again, this time just to hide his expression behind the bunch of flowers. “I just -- was wondering if you guys could. Be there. At least at first like. What if they freak out? What if /I/ freak out? And at home we didn’t really know any -- other -- anyone. Like me. So maybe you guys can -- you know what it’s like. Having -- freaks. For kids. I think it gets --” He quiets, for a moment. “I don’t think it’s easy.” Micah doesn't come right out and /tell/ Anole he's adorable as he goes all geek-kid. But he's clearly thinking it...extremely hard. “Sure we could, honey. I think they're doin' whole /programs/ over this weekend t'help families as aren't familiar with the genetically enhanced crowd get used t'the idea of bein' related to 'em now. An'...Jax has been through those, an’ is able t'talk about what it was like for /his/ parents in addition t'himself. An'...um. Okay, I've got kinda a weirdo perspective that I don't guess is gonna match...pretty much anyone's. But it's still one that comes from a life of not really knowin' anybody like you guys, 'til recently.” He reaches out his hand again, slowly, actually squeezing Anole's shoulder if he seems amenable this time. “We'll help y'all not freak out completely. If y'freak out a little...ain't the end of the world. Freakin' out happens. An'...no, it ain't exactly easy. But most things worth doin' ain't easy.” “Yeah I think around here they have a lot of practice with, um. All of this, I guess.” Anole swallows, lowering the flowers, and though his posture is still a little awkward-fidgety there’s a small smile on his face. He tips his head to the side, cheek nuzzling against the hand Micah puts on his shoulder. “Thanks. I should, um. You probably have like seventeen million more kids to, um. Parent but I --” His smile widens, and he holds the flowers close against his chest. “Just well thanks. You maybe don’t think you’re a hero but.” He moves the flowers to that he can step in for another quick-darting squeeze of a hug. “Thanks.” “I think they prob'ly have more practice with it than anybody, yeah. Y'just let us know if y'need help makin' the phone call or settin' up a meetin' or whatever, okay? Jax actually works here, so I'm sure he knows the ropes of that kinda thing.” Micah may get just a little shiny-eyed at the thanks so rapidly followed by the little hand-nuzzle. “Feel free t'set up at our table at dinner, too. We have like, the biggest table an' it's' pretty much the most fun.” He returns the hug, adding a little kiss to the top of Anole's head. “You're more'n welcome, hon. An' thanks for lettin' me watch a really wonderful play.” Anole just answers this with a smile, and a very small bonk of his head against Micah’s shoulder, rather gentle to be careful of the hard spikes that crown it. “OK. OK!” The second one is more cheerful. “OK ok I’ll see you at dinner then. OK-Bye.” The next smile is brighter. But quick, and then Anole is darting off, flowers now held in his teeth as he skitters straight up the nearest wall, fleeing along ceiling rather than floor to avoid the crowds of parents and teens still lingering backstage.