How Green Becomes Wood

"It's all in one game, but also it's not," Milo replied sitting down, "It's a series. Skyrim, the fifth one, is the most popular, and I think it's the easiest to get into. That's the one with the Black Books. But, the gods, the races, they're throughout all of the games. I've played Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind. Morrowind is the hardest but it also feels the most unique, I think? Because the landscape isn't your typical fantasy environment."
 
"Really? What makes it," Alec started to ask, but he was interrupted by a kid dropping into the seat in front of them and turning around to face them.

"Hey, aren't you Mr. Dark's kids?"

"Yes?" Alec answered even though he knew the question was likely rhetorical.

"Your dad was in the paper! Did you know that?" The kid grinned.

"Hard to miss," Xander replied dryly.

"He's, like, famous now! Hope that won't mean anything bad for his underworld ties."
 
"Yeah, ha, very clever, moving on," Xander said, waving a hand.

"Oh, come on, it's just a joke," the kid smirked. "Everyone knows he's got some kind of dark past."

"Everyone should read the article, accept the truth, and move on to the next thing," Alec said. "Please, leave him alone. It's not cool if you have read the article and you're still making 'jokes' like that."

The kid glared. "You guys are making a big deal out of nothing."

"Are we?" the twins asked simaltaniously.

"Everything okay over here?" the teacher asked, walking over to the group.

None of the three immediately answered.
 
Milo glanced up at the teacher and then looked away. He wasn't good at confrontation at the best of times, and he really wasn't sure if this is when he was needed. Speaking up to the teacher really didn't seem like his place either, at least not unless one of his friends started getting into trouble.
 
"Okay," the teacher said, nodding slightly when no one answered. "I'm glad to hear your deafening silence. By the way, boys, I read the article in the paper. I'm sure you know which one I am referring to. I was very impressed by all of the stories told there." He glanced at the kid sitting in front of the twins. "It was a good reminder about the invisible scars many people carry, and to treat everyone with kindness, to their face and behind their backs." He started walking toward the front. "Unfortunately, the article had nothing to do with math, so let's turn our attention to the subject at hand."

The kid turned around in his seat and lowered his head, his ears pink.
 
Alec was quiet, his eyes on his paper. It was nice that the teacher had stood up for them, for their dad, but it was still so very awkward.

Xander was quietly steaming, one hand squeezing a stress ball like he was looking to kill it. He was doing alright and letting off steam in silence, but he couldn't wait for all of this to blow over.
 
"You'd know that as well as anyone," Xander remarked. "It's fine. Rumors about him have been around forever. It's just weird to actually be talked to about it." He glanced toward Alec, who was talking quietly with Emma. "Stuff like that always cycles out."
 
Xander gave a nod of agreement but didn't reply.

A couple of other kids commented throughout the day,but they were passing comments, mostly neutral, just saying they'd seen Dark in the paper and that was all. One teacher gushed over Dark's bravery - though they didn't mention him by name and did talk about the others in the article- and that was really awkward, but over soon enough.
 
Milo stuck by his friends when he had classes with them, although he was still to quiet to say much about it. Throughout her day, any time Sloan overheard someone make a nasty comment about it, she promptly interrupted them and forced them to explain why they thought it was funny before their faces turned red and they slunk off in shame like a salted slug. But she never mentioned a word of it to the twins, it didn't seem like it'd help them much to know.
 
Finally, the school day ended, and the twins headed for home.

When they got home, Alec said hello to everyone properly, put away his things, made sure Kiki was taken care of, and then went to find his father. "Ba? Are you in the mood where I can hug you?"
 
Alec stepped over and wrapped Dark in the biggest, warmest hug he could manage. He wanted to say it was for Dark's benefit, but he knew it was really for him. He didn't want to say anything about it, just hug him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top