Follows Dumpster Play.
The Fairies (8) : The City has been lit up for the Star Festival with banners and twinkling decorations strewn off the windowsills of shop fronts and windows. The gardeners at one particular park have put their heart and soul into creating a fairy's paradise: Fairy lights have been carefully dangled from trees to make strings of stars, little beaded jewels have been hidden among the hedges, and even the old cobwebs have been sprayed with just a touch of glitter. The park is open to everyone and the citizens of Destiny City have been invited to respectfully explore the hidden wonders that have been placed throughout. The park is magical enough on its own but there have also been reports of a strange, ethereal and shimmering stranger in the park. The glimmer of a beautiful costumed figure fluttering through the park has been passed around as rumor, and no matter what anyone claims to see, no one can take a picture of it. As if simply seeing some magical figure isn't mysterious enough, there are also reports of mischief and small pranks being played at the same time this figure seems to appear.
"Good riddance," Gimle said, pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out at the space the agent used to occupy. He looked every bit the kid that he was, and after what just happened he was perfectly fine with that. What was a little taunting at an agent that booked it as soon as backup arrived? Granted, backup seemed to be a little bit stronger, and maybe a little bit better equipped.
A whole lot glowier, too, though he honestly had no idea what that was about.
Turning to face her, Gimle closed the gap between them and beamed up at the Mercury Knight.
"Thanks for the save!" he said, extending a hand in the hopes of making introductions. "I'm Gimle! Probably pretty obvious that I'm new to this." He felt a bit of heat in his cheeks, quietly embarrassed by the admission but knowing that every expert at anything started out as a beginner and that he didn't have anything to be embarrassed about.
He was anyway, but it helped to at least be aware of this.
Ekstrom took his hand with a smile of her own, the expression warm enough despite the worry that she felt.
"Ekstrom, and anytime," she said, gently giving his hand a brief shake before letting go. "You really shouldn't go patrolling alone, though," she went on, seamlessly falling into her Big Sister pants as she leaned this way and that, looking over the Page carefully in case he might have sustained other injuries. He could have gotten seriously hurt!
"It's dangerous, and I don't think anyone on the other side cares if you're a kid or what if you get in their way."
Gimle felt himself get a bit smaller and smaller as the lecture went on, and he shifted his gaze to his feet and bobbled his head as she went on.
"What if a youma showed up?" Her voice went up slightly as the next thought came to her. "What if another agent did? You don't have magic yet, and..." Ekstrom finally took a breath, hands on her hips as she looked over the Page again and realized she didn't see a weapon on him at all.
"Where's your weapon?"
Wordlessly, he pointed at the cube not too far off from where they stood. She crossed the space quickly and picked it up, inspecting it for a moment before returning it to its owner.
"A puzzle cube?"
He shook his head. "Probably not. There's no moving parts."
"Oh. Well...you can't summon it back to you, so try not to lose it next time."
"I threw it, actually."
"You threw it?!"
Gimle gave a nod. "Yeah. I, uh, panicked when he started to attack."
Ekstrom gawked for just a second before letting it go with another sigh. He was both young and new to all of this...she could hardly hold it against him for panicking. Or for sticking his neck out for a helpless civilian. Thinking back on all the times she'd gotten in way over her head trying to do the same thing, lecturing him for it seemed...
Hypocritical, maybe?
"Well. I can't blame you for that, I guess," she said, not wanting to fully let up since he had to know how serious things could have gotten, but also not wanting to discourage him from trying to do what was right. It was a tricky balance, and one she had to find when it came to her own younger brother so the challenge wasn't exactly unfamiliar. It was different with everyone she met that reminded her of him, though, because obviously Gimle was, at the end of the day, not her younger brother.
Still, seeing him look so down was just as upsetting. Thinking on it a moment, her face lit up as she realized she may have just the thing!
– [ ] –
"So your...cousin? Is Atticus's dad?" Mel asked between bites of ice cream.
To make up for upsetting her newest "younger brother stand-in," as Xavier had so curiously labeled it, she offered to walk him home. Her route of choice? One that involved cutting through a nearby park that she thought he might enjoy after something as upsetting as an encounter with an agent in an alley, of all places. It was very festively decorated, with twinkling fair lights and all throughout the place.
Xavier hadn't minded at all, because he heard about this exact park from his friends at school and had been meaning to go. If it hadn't been for the alley situation, he would have gone on his own! But going with a new friend was also good! This whole Knight thing had been such a mystery to him, but something about it felt...right. Like he was contributing to some kind of legacy, somehow.
Maybe it was a whole family affair?
He hadn't gotten a chance to dig too deeply into things, so there were still lots of questions floating around in the back of his mind.
"Yep," came his simple reply as he finished off his cone.
"Small world."
"Kinda, yeah. Honestly I still have so many questions, but I haven't been able to stop him and ask."
"Busy summer?"
"Kinda, yeah."
Mel smirked and popped the rest of her cone in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed, before continuing. "Well. I'm a little bit newer to the game, but I can try to answer your questions for now if you want? Maybe even start you on some kind of fight training or something, and some kind of schedule so you're not wandering around like that alone."
Xavier shrank a bit more beside her, a sheepish grin on his face as he adjusted his glasses.
She softened immediately, and reached over to ruffle his already messy hair.
"Anyway, the offer stands, okay?"
He gave a little nod, which apparently wasn't convincing enough for her because she gave him a little nudge and a little smile when he looked up. It was hard not to smile in turn at that, and when he eventually caved Mel again ruffled his hair and, spotting another snack stand ahead, she pointed it out and led the way. And the conversation went from there, wandering off to more fun topics (like his books, and he wasn't at all shy about going on about the latest series he was reading, and his hobbies) as they walked.
It turned out to be a much faster trip than he expected despite the fact that they stopped for more snacks along the way (courtesy of Mel, who he had a feeling really enjoyed feeding people).
541 (Gimle), 560 (Ekstrom); (gdocs)
