The package he had ordered had finally arrived, which had been a relief because he had begun to wonder if it had gotten lost. However now that it was here he had different problems to deal with. For starters it turned out to be a very large parcel, which once he stopped to think about it should not have come as much of a surprise. But his cunning plan appeared to have some gaping holes in it and he was not managing to come up with a good plan B. He decided that the best thing to do was to go out and scout the area; then he would know better what he could and couldn’t do.

All this had started when Sam had had a chance encounter with Michael in one of the hallways just over a month ago. The small boy had immediately tugged at his heart strings and after a bit of thought Sam had decided to do something to brighten the boy’s days a bit. It had taken a lot of internet research but Sam had managed to create the perfect decorations for the child’s room. Now all that was left was to set these things up in the room and in order for this to be a surprise he needed to find a time when Michael would be out.

This was where his plan started coming apart at the seams; because he had originally planned to bring the package with him to scout out the boy’s room and if the boy turned out to be there he would have made up some lame excuse and left again. But the package was so large and so conspicuous that even Michael would pick up on it, so that plan went out the window. Now he was going to try and find out if Michael was in and then if the room was empty run back and wrestle the package across while praying that the boy did not come back in the mean time.

Arriving in front of the boy’s room Sam glanced around to see if anyone was paying him any attention and then put his ear to the door. He doubted that he would hear Michael even if he was in but he felt that he should at least try and be sly about this, it went with the flow of the plan.

Chase was walking the halls of Xavier’s . He was bored, he’d done his homework packets, and thus was on wandering about absently. Maybe… maybe Michael would be able to play with him! Yeah, Chase liked playing with Michael. Chase followed the maze of hallways towards the residential halls, following the boys’ wing until he reached the area where he and Michael roomed. Michael was only a few doors up from him, which was convenient for when the boys wanted to play together.

Yet there was somebody outside of the door that was not Michael. A small-bodied guy with dark hair stood with his back to Chase and his ear pressed to the door, which Chase found… quite suspicious.

His eyes swam with a puzzled robin’s egg blue, with flickers of yellow-green curiosity. Hrm. Chase edged up behind the older boy, hands clasped behind his back and leaning forward with intrigue, his lips pressed together contemplatively.

“What’re you doing?” Chase inquired, his voice nothing but a soft, accusatory hum. Most people knock on doors when they want to see someone, or at least walk in and call out the occupant’s name. Standing with your ear to the door was just odd. His tone held all of these insinuations.

Sam was concentrating hard trying to work out if he could hear anything coming from inside, so when a noise and a voice came from behind him it made him jump. He pushed himself guiltily away from the door and turned to face the person that had caught him in let’s say an unusual position. He tried to keep his face calm and expressionless but that was proving to be harder than expected. He felt embarrassed and a little guilty and he was sure that it showed.

Once he was facing his accuser he was surprised to find that he had to look down to meet those accusing blue eyes. He had been caught by a child… which made things all the more embarrassing but on the bright side at least he had not been caught by Michael himself. He knew the boy or at least knew off him, they had never actually met. But he kept an eye on Michael and he knew that this kid was one of his friends. Then an idea hit him, maybe this kid knew where Michael was which would mean he would know for sure whether he could use this time to sneak in to the room or not.

“Say do you know where Michael is?”

He tried to make the question matter of fact but he quickly realized that he was probably only making himself sound more suspicious. If he did not want this kid to run off and tell everyone that some weirdo was trying to do something horrible to Michael; he was probably going to have to explain some of the truth to him.

“I’m Sam by the way, one of Michael’s friends. I’m preparing a surprise…”

His voice trailed off, he did not really want to say more than that because he was not sure how trust worthy this kid could be.

The boy wheeled about guiltily, staring at the child behind him. Yes, he’d been caught red-handed. Doing what, Chase didn’t know, but whatever it was, he’d been caught.

>> “Say do you know where Michael is?”

At least he didn’t dance around questions like most grown-ups… or almost-grown-ups… did. Chase still wasn’t too sure as to what to make of him, though. At the inquiry, Chase shook his head. If Michael wasn’t with him, then no, Chase didn’t know where Michael was. He continued to stare at the older boy, as if his gaze would weed the answers out of him.

>> “I’m Sam by the way, one of Michael’s friends. I’m preparing a surprise…”

Chase was a child, and he loved surprises. Curiosity got the better of him, and a hesitant smile touched his lips.

“’m Chase, Michael’s best friend,” Chase announced fluidly, “What kind or surprise?”

How much trust could the older boy put in him? Well, Chase was quiet, so he probably wouldn’t blab to Mikey what Sam had in-mind, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to know. Sam’s voice dropped off in that tone that said, “I really shouldn’t tell you,” which really only served to make Chase want to know even more.

Sam was a bit disappointed that the new arrival was unable to help him locate Michael. He was going to have to knock and see how things went, then again if Michael was in his room then maybe he could convince Chase to take him somewhere while he arranged things. Looking at Chase, the kid certainly seemed very interested in finding out what was going on here… which might well allow for the creation of plans C and D.

Sam contemplated his options a bit more before finally deciding to let the boy in on his plan. Wherever Michael was having an extra pair of eyes and ears would certainly make things easier. So the illusion mutant thought about the best way to describe his plan to Chase and after several moments he decided that the flat out truth would be easiest.

“Okay, I’ll tell you but I’m going to need your help as well. I’m going to do some redecorating in Michael’s room, so I need him to be anywhere but here for at least 20 minutes.”

It sounded simple enough when he said it out loud but when you had to manage everything on your own it quickly got complicated. He watched the boy as his words sank in and decided to prompt him for a response. Because the more time they spent out here acting suspiciously the more likely it was for someone to come along and blow the whole thing.

“So are you in or not? If you’re in the first thing we need to do is find out if he is in his room”

And with that Sam turned back to face the closed door.

>> “Okay, I’ll tell you but I’m going to need your help as well. I’m going to do some redecorating in Michael’s room, so I need him to be anywhere but here for at least 20 minutes.”

“Why?” Chase chirped reflexively, a smile upon his lips as Sam clued him in. If he was going to do something like that for Michael, it would be better to let him know. What if Michael didn’t like what Sam thought he did? It was a silly thing to surprise someone on.

>> “So are you in or not? If you’re in the first thing we need to do is find out if he is in his room”

The second inquiry brought Chase’s focus back to where it was supposed to be, on the matter at-hand.

“I’m in,” Chase agreed, adding a faint bounce as he announced this. It was like being a secret agent! Fun! Chase was too direct to be a secret agent, though. Rather than press his ear to the door, he turned so that he faced the door, too, and tested the doorknob. It was unlocked, and he pushed the door open, peeking his head through the door in-front of Sam.

“Michael?” Chase inquired of the dark room. There was no reply. Chase’s gaze swiveled towards Sam, and the nine-year-old announced, “He isn’t there.”

It turned out that children did not have the same idea of discretion as he did, because Sam found himself watching with slight horror as Chase pushed open the bedroom door and called out for Michael. He was relieved when only silence met the boys call, because he had not finished explaining to Chase what the plan would have been had Michael been in. And now at the very least they knew where Michael was not.

“Right so if he’s not in I’m going to run back and get what I need from my room. Your task is to stay here and keep watch.”

The first part was easy, he would run back and get the package and not have to worry about whether or not Michael came back. It turned out having an accomplice made life a whole lot easier. Now all he had to do was convince Chase that if Michael came back he was to take him somewhere else. This may prove harder than expected because Chase had a very excited look on his face, the kind of look that spoke of absolutely having to take part in the surprise.

“If Michael comes back while I’m away I’m going to need you to take him to play somewhere else. Is that ok with you?”

He used his most beseeching tone and hoped that Chase would see the importance of the task that was being laid upon him. It was in that moment that Sam realized that he had more interaction, nowadays, with children under the age of fourteen than anyone his own age. How had it come to this? Was he really that antisocial? He sighed that would be a problem for him to sort out another day, right now he had to get back to the business at hand.

“Ok, I’m off to fetch what I need. I’ll be back in two minutes. I’m counting on you!”

With a grin and crossed fingers he turned and sprinted back down the corridor to his own room.

Chase beamed victoriously at the older boy, who seemed nothing short of horrified over what the child had just done. Chase was unacquainted with subtlety. He was a practical child, and it wasn’t practical to stand outside of the door and wait for Michael to either answer or not. But Michael wasn’t there, so problem solved.

Chase nodded as Sam announced what he was going to do, and what Chase was supposed to do.

“I could do that,” Chase agreed, closing the door and leaning against it with an all-business expression upon his face. This was his mission, as a secret agent, to keep Michael from going into his room. Sam fed him the second set of instructions, and Chase nodded again. The older boy finally dismissed himself, and Chase nodded his head dismissively.

“I got it,” he sighed, watching the older boy jog off down the hall. Chase sighed and plopped down into a sitting position, reclining against the door. Minutes melted into one another, and Chase occupied himself with staring at the ceiling, and letting his gaze drift up and down the hall absently while he waited. He almost wished that Michael would spontaneously show up, just so that he could stop sitting there.

Sam was relieved to hear Chase give him a positive answer as he took off down the hall. The boy seemed sensible enough for a child of his age and he would probably manage the tasks he had been set, just as long as he was not left on his own for too long a period of time. Luckily for him, the distance between the two rooms was short; in fact there was only one bend in the corridor between them. The illusion mutant quickly pushed open the door to his room and grabbed the slightly cumbersome package off the bed where he had left it.

Closing the door to his room again proved to be troublesome but he managed and started making his way back to Chase. He did however stop to check that nothing had changed before rounding the corner. Peering round the bend he saw that Chase was still in position though he already had a bored slightly uninterested look on his face. Sam sighed, that was children for you they couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than five minutes unless it was a video game.

He made his way back to his lookout and smiled at him to let him know that the job had been well done. Silently he nodded to the door to signal Chase to open it for him. He figured that if he acted like this was a secret spy infiltration mission then the boy might concentrate more. Once the door was open he made his way into what would now be their base of operations. He put the package down on the bed and made sure that Chase had closed the door.

“Ok, you’re still on lookout duty. Keep your back to the door so that if he tries to open it he can’t. Then if needs be you can pretend you were playing a joke on him and take him somewhere else.”

The room was still as he remembered it; the bed had clearly still not been slept in. The pillow was next to the computer again and there were lego scattered everywhere. He really hoped that what he was doing here today would make a difference to the boy. It was not healthy for him to be sleeping like that. So he set to opening the box.

Sam smiled at Chase and Chase reflected the expression, getting to his feet at the arrival of the older boy. At his wordless request, Chase pushed open the door and slipped in, eyes skirting around Michael’s room. He’d been over here to play, once or twice, but the room was eerie without the older boy there. Chase looked out the door one final time, before letting it slide shut behind him. Once the door was shut, Chase received his next instructions.

>> “Ok, you’re still on lookout duty. Keep your back to the door so that if he tries to open it he can’t. Then if needs be you can pretend you were playing a joke on him and take him somewhere else.”

The nine-year-old nodded to show that he understood, though secretly he dreaded the idea of having to sit again. Well at least he isn’t kicking me out of the room… so I guess I’ll just deal with it. Chase watched with interest as Sam opened the box, and his curiosity made him impatient.

“So what’s in there?” Chase inquired, taking a seat so that his back was up against the door. As the door was shut now, they could afford to talk about these top-secret kinds of things.

“So what’s in there?”

The curiosity in the boy’s voice was boundless and it made the older mutant smile. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be a child because as you grew older it got harder and harder to devote all your attention to one single purpose. He could see Chase straining forward from his seat in front of the door, trying desperately to get a better look at what was contained in the box. Sam felt bad for having bound him to that spot so he tried to come up, once more, with a plan B.

“Ok how about this? If there is a key in the door lock it and come over here to help with this. I’m going to need your advice of where to hang stuff anyway.”

With the door locked even if Michael did come back to his room then he would not be able to get in. Which would probably leave the poor boy confused but they could always fix that later. For example Chase could go find his and ask him to come and play lego or something along those lines. Turning his attention back to the box he started fishing out its content and laying it on the bed. First came some posters and tacks with which to hang them, then a couple of small figurines, a calendar and finally the bedding he had designed himself. It was amazing what you could customize nowadays on the internet.

“So you probably know that Michael likes Bleach… so we’re giving him a Bleach themed bedroom.”

Most of the prints on the items were pictures of Ichigo doing various awesome things and Sam was hoping that having Ichigo on his bed covers might tempt Michael to sleep in his bed from now on. It was a long shot but worth a try. He removed the plastic wrapping and started unfolding things. In the mean time he decided to keep Chase busy.

“How about you take the posters and figurines and find places to hang them, then I’ll come and pin them on the wall.”

That gave the boy a bit more responsibility and it gave him the chance to move around more freely. Because let’s face it putting on a duvet cover was never an easy thing.

When Sam allowed for Chase to get up, Chase scrambled to his feet. There was no key in the door, but there was a chair that accompanied a rather plain, unobtrusive desk—the same wooden desk that every room at the mansion contained. Chase snatched the chair and wedged it under the knob, effectively stopping it against anyone coming in. He then scrambled to Sam’s side eagerly, peering towards the box intently as Sam began to pull things out.

There were posters, action figures of sorts, a calendar and bed sheets. Chase watched as the older boy pulled them out, touching one of the figurines inquiringly. These things were new. The only residue on them belonged to Sam, and it was light. No one had owned them for very long.

>> “So you probably know that Michael likes Bleach… so we’re giving him a Bleach themed bedroom.”

Chase nodded his head. Michael did like Bleach, except… Mikey liked the cartoon, not the comic book. Thus, Chase stopped himself from acknowledging Bleach as “that one backwards book” or what was more commonly referred to as a “manga”.

“Neat,” Chase said with admiration, setting the figurine back down and watching Sam intently.

>> “How about you take the posters and figurines and find places to hang them, then I’ll come and pin them on the wall.”

“Okay,” Chase agreed. He gathered up said posters and figurines into his arms, moving them to the desk, and began to walk around contemplatively. He would pause, stare at a patch of wall, then meander back towards the posters and rifle through them.

“You’re going to nail the figurines to the wall, too?” Chase inquired, sounding baffled. He found a good spot for one of the posters, retrieved the poster, and took it to where he thought it should go, setting it on the floor. They’d pin it up when Sam was done doing… whatever he was doing.

Chase very obediently went about the task he had been given which allowed Sam to concentrate on trying to get the bed to look somewhat organized. As it turned out this was not an easy task, one of the corners of the duvet had got stuck somewhere inside the cover and was not for cooperating. It took a great deal of shacking and pulling to finally get it to behave. After that the pillow cases seemed much less of a hassle to Sam.

“You’re going to nail the figurines to the wall, too?”

The question interrupted what he was doing and so his reaction was somewhat delayed. However once the words did finally sink in he turned in surprise to look at the boy. To his relief Chase looked a bit confused by his own question, which was only normal after all because no one in their right mind would nail figurines to the wall.

“No, the figurines are just to be set down on shelves and stuff to decorate.”

There he hoped that he had made everything clear to the boy and that no further strange questions would be asked. He did however decided to hurry what he was doing so that he could be sure that Chase would not decided to do anything strange. The sheet went on the bed quickly and he could finally put the whole thing together. Once he was done he stood back to take a look at it and he had to say that he was more than pleased with the result. There was no way that Michael would not want to sleep in this bed now.

Content with his work he turned his attention back to Chase, he would see where the boy had decided to put the posters and if he agreed that the location was suitable, or that it was at least a wall, then he would pin up the posters.

“So show me where I need to pin things.”

Chase mulled about the room, the collection of posters in his arms dropping-off until all that remained within his grasp were the figurines, which he clung to uncertainly.

>> “No, the figurines are just to be set down on shelves and stuff to decorate.”

“Oooh,” Chase breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like an awful waste of toys to just nail them to walls. Then you couldn’t play with them. It was all a rather silly concept, but grown-ups and older kids were sometimes like that. Very silly. Chase set the figurines down onto the rather barren desk, along with the final poster, and he looked around, surveying where he’d set the posters in respect to the walls.

Yeah, that looked good. The older boy was drawing closer, so Chase turned to face Sam, folding his arms proudly across his chest.

>> “So show me where I need to pin things.”

“I put the posters on the floor by where I thought they should go on the walls,” Chase mumbled, “If that makes sense.”

If anything, the child was meticulous. Chase meandered towards the desk, picking up the poster that he’d set down there.

“I thought this one would look okay over the desk,” Chase explained, unrolling it and showing it to Sam, silently asking his opinion.

As Chase explained what he had done Sam nodded in agreement. The boy had done a good job in selecting places to put the posters and the illusion mutant was more than happy to go with that layout. He quickly set to work with pins and unrolled the first poster. It was a group picture with lots of different characters on it; Sam hoped that Michael would be ok with that. After all there was not just Ichigo in Bleach.

“Can you tell me if I’m pinning it strait, it’s hard to see from up close.”

I turned out that the walls in the mansion were pretty damned hard and by the time Sam had put up a couple of posters his thumb was already pretty sore. But they needed to finish and besides this had been his stupid plan to begin with. He crossed the room once more, trying his best to avoid the stray bits of lego that littered the floor; which made him wonder if the boy had a box or something like that to put all of this away.

He pushed the idea away and concentrated on the task at hand. It would not do to stick a pin in your own thumb because you were not paying enough attention. As he finished pushing the last pin for that poster into the wall all that was left was the one over the desk. That one would take a bit of mountaineering to put up. After looking over the desk he decided that moving the computer somewhat and kneeling on the desk was probably the best, if not the most comfortable, way forward. He was proud to admit that he had not struggled too much to get on the desk and he reckoned that Chase might not think him to old and broken.

Stepping back into the center of the room to examine the finished product, he was proud of their handiwork. And he was pretty sure that Michael would like it, although he hoped that it would not come as to much of a shock. Turning to Chase he decided to give him one last mission.

“So do you think he will like it? Oh and I have one more favor to ask. Would you go and find Michael now and show this to him? I’m not sure he would be able to handle the change if he were to see this on his own for the first time.”