How Green Becomes Wood

For once, Milo didn't seem shy or awkward when he spoke, "I don't do anything weird with them." He held the envelope back out to Xander, "I made two copies of these. Just these. Not, the others. But it was your party. I thought you might like to have pictures from it."
 
Xander frowned slightly and carefully took them back. "Yeah?" He looked down at them. "Um. What do you... do with them?" He didn't think he'd ever held a physical picture before in his life outside of his aunt's scrapbook and these pictures.
 
"I keep them." Milo replied, looking away, then he clenched his hand into a fist, and extracting confidence, but not anger, from somewhere deep within him looked back at Xander, almost actually standing up straight and said, "I move around all the time, they're how I remember where I've been, and who I've met. Otherwise it all just runs together, and it's like I've never been anywhere." The moment of bravery slipped away and he slumped back down, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring down at his shoes, "I'm just a ghost to all the people in the picture. They don't remember me, and I kinda prefer it that way, because it's easier to leave when you know nobody will miss you or even really knew you were there, but that doesn't mean I want to forget them."

Milo scowled down at his shoes, feeling like he had shared way too much way too quickly, but he just couldn't cope with another person thinking he was a freak for taking pictures.
 
"Huh." Xander glanced at the envelope and tucked it back inside his jacket. "I've never really had anyone I wanted to remember before now. 'Cept one, but I don't got any pictures of her. Guess I could try keeping these since I kind of want to like them, 'cept there's one thing wrong. Hey, can I see your camera? I'll give it right back."
 
"What's wrong?" Milo asked, and then drummed on his camera when Xander asked to see it, "Umm... Will you be extra careful? It's not easy to fix when it's dropped or broken. Why do you want to see it?"
 
Xander held out both hands for the camera but didn't move any closer. "Come on, man. I swear, two minutes tops, and it's right back in your hands just the way it is now, and I won't move from this spot."
 
Xander handled the camera with extreme caution. Even if Milo hadn't been there practically shivering with nervousness, he would have been careful, but now he was extra careful as he looked over the camera and figured out how it worked. He'd never really dealt with a real camera before, but he'd seen enough media to be able to guess how it was supposed to work. He also checked the lens cap as that was a common thing to get left on, apparently. Once he was satisfied, he took a step back, raised the camera, and took a picture of Milo. He could only hope it came out right.

"I'll take a copy of that, too, when you get around to it," Xander told him, handing it back. "Seeing as you were a part of the party group, too, seems wrong not to have a pic of you, too."
 
Milo blinked, unused to being on that side of the camera, and even more unused to someone wanting to keep a picture of him. Putting the camera strap back over him to keep it tucked under one arm like he always did, he said, "I'll be sure to write my name on the back of it so you don't look at it in a few years and wonder who this stranger is."
 
"Oh, hi, Milo!" Alec chirped when he saw his brother returning. "Did you get your pictures back? They are very good!"

"There was a misunderstanding. The pics are for us," Xander said, sliding into his spot. "Hey! Where's my juice?"

Peter quietly slid the box back when Xander was looking the other way and winked at Milo.
 
"Hey there, Milo," Sloan said, waving to him after taking a sip of water.

"Hullo," he murmured, sitting down in the open space and trying to make himself small. Even now at their table, he mostly just watched them while he ate, rather than speaking.
 
"Art is the absolute best class because my current homework load is to become inspired by the color silver for the next two weeks!" Alec told Sloan grinning.

"Silver is a very pretty color, but I can't escape the idea that I'm looking for a spaceship," Peter remarked. "I think I'll conveniently forget about it and scramble something together at the last second."

"How extraordinarily unlike you," Alec told Peter, grinning.
 
"I haven't taken art since I was an underclassmen," Sloan sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "I miss it, but it's hard to fit into my schedule. But silver is everywhere so it shouldn't be too hard. I mean, you own forks, right?"
 
Alec looked at Sloan with a completely blank expression. "What's a fork?" He couldn't hold it for long before snickering in laughter. "Yes, we have forks. So, silver to Peter means space suits, and silver to Sloan means forks. What does silver mean to you, Xander?"

"Mercury," Xander mumbled around a mouthful of food.

"Random, but okay."
 
"Well silver doesn't mean forks to me, I think of jewelry first, I was just saying, you know, if you're seeking inspiration there's a lot of places you can find it, because sterling silver is so common." Sloan laughed, "Like lightbulbs have silver at their base and so are the chair legs here."

Milo looked up at them briefly, "Quicksilver is another name for mercury," then he looked back down at his lunch.
 
Xander glanced at Sloan. "You find chair legs inspiring?" he asked, arching a brow. He was teasing, but like Dark (though far less extreme) that wasn't always readily apparent.

"Is it? Then I suppose quicksilver is perfect!" Alec grinned. Then he paused and frowned. "What's it for? I have vague recollections of mercury causing people to go crazy or something, and it's used in old thermometers? I think?"
 
"No, but it's one of Mr. Major's assignments, and I'll guess he is inspired by them." Sloan replied, not totally sure if he was joking but trusting him enough to know he wasn't just mocking her.

"Mercury poisoning damages the body in a number of ways, and it's why pregnant women can't eat a lot of fish, because the fetus will get mercury poisoning more quickly than an adult," Milo said, still looking down, "The Bean in Chicago is meant to resemble a drop of mercury."
 
"I wouldn't put it past him," Xander shrugged.

"I, personally, am enthralled by the sight of tinfoil," Peter said cheerfully.

Alec nodded with interest. "I remember that bit from when our mother was pregnant with Ivy, but does it have any actually good applications? And, far more importantly, what bean?"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top