How Green Becomes Wood

Milo looked at Xander, surprised at the offer, although he supposed it didn't really make sense why he was suprised. Xander had offered to come, why wouldn't he try to help? So, with only mild hesitation, he handed the tank over, "Sure. Just ten seconds," he repeated, even though he probably didn't need to. "Once the film is processed, we can make as many prints as we want--not today--but until then, if this film is damaged, all these pictures are lost."
 
Xander glanced sideways at Milo. "No pressure then, eh?" He started shaking the container, counting the seconds out loud. When he reached ten, he set it down carefully. "Shaking things up. I'm very good at that."
 
Milo shrugged, counting the cycles to make sure they weren't overdeveloping the twins, "Shake It Up is a Disney film, so it can't be that bad." He swallowed, knowing that was a weird thing to say, and he shifted his weight from side to side, "What do you mean? Good at shaking things up?"
 
"I don't know that one," Xander said, not really thinking about it. "I just mean I'm good at, well, causing trouble, drama, attracting trouble I don't cause, whatever and shaking up a quiet life. Gotten better at not doing that, but, you know. Old habits."
 
"Don't all kids our age cause trouble?" Milo asked, taking the film tank and draining the mixture from it, "That's what the teenage years are for, right? Drama? Or trying to avoid it, I guess. I try to avoid it, it doesn't go so well. You've seen." With the tank emptied, he put another liquid into it and then handed it to Xander to agitate, "But I guess, you know.... I don't have a good sample size, right? Because, I've been to six high schools, but the only people who ever talk to me are ones who use me as a stress toy, or, you know, other people who are weird. It's all just bullies and aliens."
 
Xander snorted as he took the tank and started shaking it. "Bullies and aliens, huh? So, if you're an alien, does that make me a bully?" He smirked at Milo. "I was a bully once upon a time. A real terror of the daycare center." He held out the tank to Milo when he finished.
 
"I don't think you'd be here with me if you still were." Milo replied softly, turning away with the tank to work on the next step, "I think elementary school was the last time I was just. A normal kid. Then... I don't know. Everything was different. Frontiers are ever-expanding, right? Everyone is always in motion." He turned back, his task completed, "We just used the stopper, which stops the film from developing too much, and this is the fixer-- they sound like mafia nicknames--it'll make it more stable when exposed to light. Were you really a bully in daycare? Or was it a joke?"
 
"I think you've noticed it got a temper, and toddlers have even less of a handle on their emotions than teens," Xander said dryly. He canned his neck to see what Milo was doing. "Didn't see those kids again until I ended up in high school with one of them, and he had his older brother kick my ass."
 
"I guess they held a grudge." Milo replied, going through the similar cycle he had with the first liquid they used, "Do you ever look at little kids and just worry for them? I see toddlers in the grocery store, before they've started school, and before, presumably, anything bad has really happened to them, and I just feel really sorry for them. And you see those videos of kids who want to badly to get to take the bus and go to school. They don't know, and I can't save them."
 
"Hadn't really thought about it," Xander admitted. "Too busy trying to get myself and my brother through the day to think about things like that. Besides, I think we're just unlucky. Plenty of others get through high school without bullying or being the bully. Still kind of sucks, but not as bad as we have it."
 
"I'm not sure I believe anyone who makes it through all twelve years of mandatory school unscathed... And if you aren't more damaged at graduation, then you probably peaked in high school, and that's just different damage that you don't realize until it's too late to reverse." Milo replied, pausing and rubbing his thumb about the cannister as he thought, "Its all pretty bleak, when you get to it."
 
"Sounds pretty f***ed up, if you ask me. Like, does no one think that maybe this isn't okay? That maybe it shouldn't be the standard?" Ivy would be going to school sooner or later. She'd have to face things like that. Xander scowled and looked down at the hand resting on the edge of the counter. His knuckles were white from gripping the edge of the counter. He took a deep breath, and it came out shaky. It took thought to peel his fingers from the counter, and he shook his head. "Anyway, what's the next step?" he asked, trying to turn the subject to something else.
 
Milo shrugged, "I think a lot of people wish it were different, but what can you do? If the parents of a mean kid don't acknowledge their kid sucks, that s**t kid is going to grow up and be a s**t adult, and if they have their own kid, what chance does that kid have to not be the worst? So kids like me get told we'll flourish later in life, and... I guess I just have to wait and see if that's true."

Turning back to the sink, partially because he wasn't quite sure how else to respond to Xander, "Now we can rinse the film. Can you grab one of those tubs? There's, um, a wetting agent we need to soak it in. It doesn't make any sense, but soaking it makes sure all the water I have to rinse it in will be gone."
 
Xander gave Milo an odd look. "A wetting agent? Sounds like a really formal term for water." He found the tub Milo wanted and handed it over. "Is it like water repellent or something? And who figured out this whole process in the first place? It's way more complicated than I'd have ever thought to do."
 
"It's something that... reduces surface tension?" Milo attempted to explain as he rinsed off the film, "So the water rolls of it. Because you have to rinse the film so that the chemicals we just used to it don't damage it, but if we let the water linger on it, that also damages it. So you have to use another chemical to make sure the water doesn't damage it... I don't know who figured it out, actually. But this is easier than it used to be, way long ago in the early days of photography. I think, anyway."
 
"I'm not sure I understood that, but you seem to know what you're doing," Xander said, a little mystified. He watched Milo rinse the film and tried not to wrinkle his nose at the weird smell. "Looks kind of hypnotic."
 
"I only know what I'm doing because I took a class," Milo responded. After he finished rinsing the film, he filled the tub with his wetting agent and worked with the film strips until he was satisfied, "Now we just need to hang them up to dry. Can you grab the clips? These are negatives, now, but we won't be able to process them into actual prints tonight, it takes a few hours for them to be ready for that." He held one strip up to the safety light, "Some of these look great, though. Look."
 
"It's $20 an hour renting this place," Milo pointed out, "I can't afford to stay here until midnight. I'll probably come back tomorrow for the next part, which is when I get to use the enlarger and go through that process... I mean, I could just take these home and scan them, and I do that sometimes, but you had wanted a nice print of Sloan, right? I presume to give to her."
 
"Yeah. Hey, if you gotta come back for that, I'll pay for your next visit," Xander said, peering at the negatives and trying to make out the faint shapes. "The least I can do for you doing all this extra stuff. Dang, you got some nice ones. And some hilarious ones." He grinned at one of the pictures that showed a gymnast - he thought it might be Sloan, but he could be wrong - twisted in a weird shape and making a contorted face. He pointed it out to Milo. "That. That is fantastic."
 
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