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Aug. 16th, 2006 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gone_byebye14 North Moore Street
Manhattan
Early Evening
Alex liked being places he wasn’t supposed to be. The roof of Uncle Ray's firehouse qualified, but only just, and only because his mother didn't want him going up there. Uncle Ray just said 'stay away from the edges until I get the hang of suspensor technology'. That kind of took the fun out of it. Of course, that just meant the edges were where he wasn't supposed to be, but even a six-year-old boy of the same genetic stock as Ray Stantz has some survival instincts. He wasn't gonna try that until he could balance better. And maybe had a belt or something that would keep him tied to the building, like a mountain climber. That would be kind of neat.
He was just starting to wonder how you tied a knot with a rope that big when the door opened. "Alex?"
"Hi, Uncle Ray."
"I thought I might find you here," said Ray, closing the door behind him. "Your mom says she's going to be here in fifteen minutes, you know."
Alex nodded.
"Are you okay? You've been really quiet ever since we got Raven out of the Mrs. Fields." That had taken nearly an hour. If the next store over hadn't had stuff you rubbed on your skin and hair that left glitter behind, it would've been awful.
"'m okay," Alex mumbled, looking out across the street.
Ray didn't say anything for a while, but eventually he spoke. "You're still upset because I made Raven make you not fly or have feathers any more, aren't you."
"I don't wanna go home!"
Ray blinked. "Oh. . . kay. . . do you mind elaborating a little? I'm not as good at this kind of thing as Peter."
"It's so cool here," Alex said, waving his hands in the air. "You've got friends like Raven. You've got a talking car. You do science stuff all the time and slide down poles and play baseball with policemen-"
"Softball, not baseball. Officer Farrell's got a fastball that nearly took my head off."
"Still! Everything here is cool! And mom's not." There. He said it. "Everything's ordinary back home. Mom and Dad are just-"
"They're your parents, Alex," Ray corrected gently. "And they both love you a lot. They just want what's best for you."
"It's still boring!" Alex nearly wailed, frustrated. "Everybody in Bellmore's just ordinary!"
"Nothing wrong with ordinary, kiddo," Ray said, sitting down on one of the inexplicable pipe things that stuck out of the roof every few yards. "Winston's a pretty ordinary guy. Heck, even Peter's ordinary. It's only me and Egon who're mad scientists around here."
Alex shook his head. "Uncle Winston's not ordinary," he said. "He's cool. He can knock a can off my head with a yo-yo."
"You didn't tell your mom that, did you?" Ray said cautiously.
"No. I'm not stupid, Uncle Ray."
"Just checking. Go on."
With a sigh, Alex kicked at the rooftop. "Sensei Chris is pretty cool, too," he said, "and Sensei Darren, but there's nobody like that at school." He shook his head again. "They think I'm weird, but I think they're just stupid." It wasn't really what he wanted to say, but he didn't know what he did want to say, exactly. He knew there were probably words for it. He just didn't know what those words were.
Ray watched him for a while, and finally patted the pipe next to him. "Sit down, Alex," he said. "Go on- there's room…"
Alex sat down and wriggled around briefly. It wasn't a very comfortable pipe.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Alex," Ray began. "Most of the world is going to be like that. Most people are like your parents, and just want one day to be pretty much the same as the next."
"That's dumb," Alex protested, but Ray shook his head.
"I agree with you, but there's really not a whole lot we can do about that. People like that outnumber us, Alex. And I'll tell you, there's some days when I kind of envy them. It's not all fun and excitement around here, you know."
Alex eyed his uncle skeptically.
"No, really. Some days the research goes wrong, the phone won't stop ringing, and the spooks are so fast and so furiously fierce they're more than we can handle. There are weeks when I don't get any sleep at all and the press hates me. Sometimes, when it gets really bad, I kinda want everything to be quiet and ordinary myself."
"But all the time?"
"Well, me, no. Not me. But for some people, that's all they can handle. You just happen to be stuck living in the middle of a great big cluster of the poor schlubs."
Alex sighed, hanging his head. Ray patted him on the shoulder. "Chin up, kiddo," he said. "Consider this your first Trial of Spirit. It's just… gonna go on for a really long time, that's all."
He thought about that and brightened a little. "Okay," he said, nodding. "I can do that. Okay."
Ray smiled. "Good man. Anything else before your mom gets here?"
"Yeah. How come Joey can use the Force and I can't?"
"That's not the Force Joey's using. It's pinging in a totally different part of the PKE spectrum. Your brother's a biological psychokinetic, albeit one with a really early start. Most of the time that talent doesn't appear until age eight or so."
"Oh," said Alex. "So it could still happen to me? The Force, I mean?"
"Hey, if Luke Skywalker couldn't do anything but drive his speeder really well until he met Obi-Wan Kenobi. . ."
Manhattan
Early Evening
Alex liked being places he wasn’t supposed to be. The roof of Uncle Ray's firehouse qualified, but only just, and only because his mother didn't want him going up there. Uncle Ray just said 'stay away from the edges until I get the hang of suspensor technology'. That kind of took the fun out of it. Of course, that just meant the edges were where he wasn't supposed to be, but even a six-year-old boy of the same genetic stock as Ray Stantz has some survival instincts. He wasn't gonna try that until he could balance better. And maybe had a belt or something that would keep him tied to the building, like a mountain climber. That would be kind of neat.
He was just starting to wonder how you tied a knot with a rope that big when the door opened. "Alex?"
"Hi, Uncle Ray."
"I thought I might find you here," said Ray, closing the door behind him. "Your mom says she's going to be here in fifteen minutes, you know."
Alex nodded.
"Are you okay? You've been really quiet ever since we got Raven out of the Mrs. Fields." That had taken nearly an hour. If the next store over hadn't had stuff you rubbed on your skin and hair that left glitter behind, it would've been awful.
"'m okay," Alex mumbled, looking out across the street.
Ray didn't say anything for a while, but eventually he spoke. "You're still upset because I made Raven make you not fly or have feathers any more, aren't you."
"I don't wanna go home!"
Ray blinked. "Oh. . . kay. . . do you mind elaborating a little? I'm not as good at this kind of thing as Peter."
"It's so cool here," Alex said, waving his hands in the air. "You've got friends like Raven. You've got a talking car. You do science stuff all the time and slide down poles and play baseball with policemen-"
"Softball, not baseball. Officer Farrell's got a fastball that nearly took my head off."
"Still! Everything here is cool! And mom's not." There. He said it. "Everything's ordinary back home. Mom and Dad are just-"
"They're your parents, Alex," Ray corrected gently. "And they both love you a lot. They just want what's best for you."
"It's still boring!" Alex nearly wailed, frustrated. "Everybody in Bellmore's just ordinary!"
"Nothing wrong with ordinary, kiddo," Ray said, sitting down on one of the inexplicable pipe things that stuck out of the roof every few yards. "Winston's a pretty ordinary guy. Heck, even Peter's ordinary. It's only me and Egon who're mad scientists around here."
Alex shook his head. "Uncle Winston's not ordinary," he said. "He's cool. He can knock a can off my head with a yo-yo."
"You didn't tell your mom that, did you?" Ray said cautiously.
"No. I'm not stupid, Uncle Ray."
"Just checking. Go on."
With a sigh, Alex kicked at the rooftop. "Sensei Chris is pretty cool, too," he said, "and Sensei Darren, but there's nobody like that at school." He shook his head again. "They think I'm weird, but I think they're just stupid." It wasn't really what he wanted to say, but he didn't know what he did want to say, exactly. He knew there were probably words for it. He just didn't know what those words were.
Ray watched him for a while, and finally patted the pipe next to him. "Sit down, Alex," he said. "Go on- there's room…"
Alex sat down and wriggled around briefly. It wasn't a very comfortable pipe.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Alex," Ray began. "Most of the world is going to be like that. Most people are like your parents, and just want one day to be pretty much the same as the next."
"That's dumb," Alex protested, but Ray shook his head.
"I agree with you, but there's really not a whole lot we can do about that. People like that outnumber us, Alex. And I'll tell you, there's some days when I kind of envy them. It's not all fun and excitement around here, you know."
Alex eyed his uncle skeptically.
"No, really. Some days the research goes wrong, the phone won't stop ringing, and the spooks are so fast and so furiously fierce they're more than we can handle. There are weeks when I don't get any sleep at all and the press hates me. Sometimes, when it gets really bad, I kinda want everything to be quiet and ordinary myself."
"But all the time?"
"Well, me, no. Not me. But for some people, that's all they can handle. You just happen to be stuck living in the middle of a great big cluster of the poor schlubs."
Alex sighed, hanging his head. Ray patted him on the shoulder. "Chin up, kiddo," he said. "Consider this your first Trial of Spirit. It's just… gonna go on for a really long time, that's all."
He thought about that and brightened a little. "Okay," he said, nodding. "I can do that. Okay."
Ray smiled. "Good man. Anything else before your mom gets here?"
"Yeah. How come Joey can use the Force and I can't?"
"That's not the Force Joey's using. It's pinging in a totally different part of the PKE spectrum. Your brother's a biological psychokinetic, albeit one with a really early start. Most of the time that talent doesn't appear until age eight or so."
"Oh," said Alex. "So it could still happen to me? The Force, I mean?"
"Hey, if Luke Skywalker couldn't do anything but drive his speeder really well until he met Obi-Wan Kenobi. . ."
