Recent Posts

Chase was making his rounds about the Mansion, when his stomach made a most boisterous complaint. He was hungry, which mandated that he gravitate towards the nearest kitchen to solve this problem that had arisen. Chase jogged down the halls, expertly dodging the taller students as he went, and poked his head into the kitchen to see who was there-- mainly, he was looking for someone who could possibly make something for him, since Chase was a kid and couldn't make much without some degree of help.

The only person that the eight-year-old spotted within was a familiar older boy. His name failed him, but Chase clearly remembered him as the trick-or-treating guy, the one who'd worn the pig mask and taken Chase trick-or-treating on Halloween. Chase clearly recalled that he had a gravelly, scary voice and an eye that was a different color from the other, but he also recalled that this older boy wasn't that bad. This older boy was also in the kitchen, which meant that Chase could maybe talk him into helping the eight-year-old to make omething to eat. Chase shuffled into the kitchen curiously, quietly, and didn't stop his approach until he came to the counter.

When Chase arrived at the counter, he anchored himself to the countertop with his small, bony hands, and then used the leverage to pull himself up so that he could see what the older boy was doing. His feet could barely touch the floor, but it was a small sacrifice to be made in the effort to become taller. When Chase couldn't figure out what the older boy was doing by any amount of his own sleuth work, Chase opted to ask.

"Hi," he greeted quietly. Would the older boy even remember him at all? They'd soon find out, "What'cha doing?"

Chase watched as Hokee lowered himself back into the car, decompressing as the older boy returned to a more normative driving position, looking out the window. Then, Hokee spoke once again began to speak, and Chase looked back over towards him.

>> "Ladies, they beg for your number when you got this stuff on. Get some action and-"

Chase lifted his shirt and smelled the body spray once again, and wrinkled his nose faintly. He wasn't quite to the point where he wanted girls around him-- girls were gross, and weird, and had cooties. But, seriously, girls liked this kind of thing? Chase shuddered. Why?

"And what?" Chase mumbled, mystified.

>> "Loosen up. You stay stiff like that and your underwear will eat you. You know what kind of gun you want for paintball?"

Chase muffled a laugh at the notion of being eaten by his own underwear-- that was silly, underwear couldn't eat people. Hokee said silly things. As per the paintball gun, Chase's eyes went wide with disbelief.

"I don't know," Chase mused, "What kind of gun do you want?"

Chase didn't know much, if anything, about guns or paintballing. The cause for the alarmed look was that he hadn't expected to get a paintball gun. He didn't have much of a concept of money, but he assumed that such a thing would be very expensive.

>> “I'm only twelve, and there are those even younger than me in our group that are doing everything they can to help.”

Chase nodded slightly. Twelve was still four years older than eight, and it was in the double-digits. That felt worlds older than a eight-year-old. But, Alister had a valid point-- twelve was still a kid, even if it was a big kid.

>> “Maybe it will make more sense if we tell him all the details? ... A man named Sebastian is going to bring about the apocalypse. We don't know yet if it will be on purpose or on accident, and we are looking for a trigger so we can stop it. You might be able to help us find this trigger.”

"The... apocalypse?" the word felt awkward on his tongue, but the gravity with which Katrina had said it, it sounded dangerous and bad. Chase blinked. Something as important as an "apocalypse", whatever that was, needed the help of an eight-year-old kid? Chase was obviously turning the dilemma through his head, biting his lip and dropping his gaze. He could be just like a spy, just like he'd always pretended to be, except in real life. That sounded really cool.

>> “Your ability is also exceptionally useful. If you train yourself up so that you have good control, you'd be able to blend in anywhere, no matter what your age. We do all do quite a bit of training together, you can feel free to join us. Eros is a great teacher.”

Chase nodded hesitantly. It was hard to commit right off of the bat, for stopping the apocalypse was no small thing, but Chase was a good kid. He wanted to help in whatever way that he could.

"I'll help however I can," Chase agreed, "I should probably let my mama know first, though."

Gemma would be so proud.

Chase gave another cautious glance around, still fastened to Agnes. He saw no marked police cars, no Townsends, no Miss Valerie. He did, however, spy Miss Gemma, who was leaning against a car and clinging to the arm of a man. The detective. Chase's stomach hit the pavement, and he winced, momentarily taken by the impulse to bolt, but Miss Gemma's gaze held him still. The moment that they locked eyes, the guidance counselor was upon them. Chase partially burrowed his face against Agnes's arm, hesitant and shy.

>> "Hi Chase."

"Hi, Miss Gemma," Chase replied politely, barely lifting his face as he turned his gaze towards her. He was still expecting his parents to hop out from behind the building at any given moment.

>> "I'm sorry we scared you. I should have talked to you sooner... I just wanted to see how things work out. It was my fault, and I apologize for that."

Chase nodded slowly, wordlessly. Solid black eyes came into view as Chase looked up. He mopped at his eyes, and gave an unconvincing, "It's okay."

>> "I talked to your parents and your social worker. They all agree the Mansion is the best place for you, but you need a legal guardian to stay. Someone to look after you. Because I want you to stay with us, I told them I would adopt you. That way, you could stay with me, and live in the mansion. And you don't have to go back home."

Chase stared, and stared. As Miss Gemma spoke, Chase looked only at Miss Gemma. He loosened his hold on Agnes's arm, before releasing her arm altogether. You would have to be completely heartless to lie about such a thing to the face of a child. To hear such words from Gemma's mouth, and to be looking her in the eyes whilst she spoke, made all of the difference.

>> "So... that's all I could do. If it is okay with you. You can come home with us."

That's all that she could do? If that was okay with him? As if adopting Chase were some small favor, as if Chase wanted to return to an abusive home. As Miss Gemma spoke, Chase's mistrust seemed even more and more misplaced, almost silly. Since the day that Gemma had found him, she'd cared for Chase. She cared enough for him to even adopt him. To think that Chase would have a home where he felt safe, to think that he would have a mother who loved him regardless of who or what he was.

A look of unconfined relief and happiness in its purest form touched Chases' features, but he also looked stunned. That was far more trouble than he was worth, and he didn't know how to react. How could he show how grateful he was? Chase forgot his fear, and let himself give-in to trust. His body moved mechanically away from Agnes's side, and the eight-year-old soon found himself closing the distance between himself and Miss Gemma.

He wrapped his bony arms around her, hugging the guidance counselor to the best of his ability. He seemed to have forgotten how to speak, even with his face burrowed in her shirt. Chase lifted his rosy-hued, purple gaze obviously searching for the right words, but his word failed him. Happy tears arose instead, and Chase smiled apologetically at the guidance counselor, surrendering to his relief. For this moment, Chase only had eyes for Miss Gemma, and those standing by slipped out of his realm of focus.

Finally, he found his voice, after tucking his head down once again, "I would love to have you as a mama-" he paused, to make sure that these words were really leaving his mouth, "-I want to stay here, with you, at Xavier's. Please." He wanted to be happy, wanted to never again return to Syracuse or fall under his parents' influence. He wanted to stay with Miss Gemma.

>> "Hey watch the seats there."

Chase mellowed out at the warning, attempting to cool his jitters. He'd be disappointed if Hokee kicked him out. Hokee wriggled his way forward, dealing Chase his next set of instructions whilst the older boy primped himself.

>> "Hand me the mouth wash in the glove compartment. And the Axe stuff."

Chase did as he was told, popping the glovebox open. He found the mouthwash quickly, but it took him a while longer to find the Axe. Whilst he searched, the scooter was relocated to the back seat

>> "Why not? It's my car, can do whatever I want."

"Why not park it inside the fence?" Chase inquired, holding the two containers out to Hokee casually, "I'm sure there's space. Then you could sleep inside and your car would be safe. I mean, you have a room, right?"

Chase wasn't harping on Hokee, just thinking out loud. Hokee's rationale didn't make sense, and Chase didn't perceive that Hokee was just agreeing with him to shut him up.

>> "Hit up paintball first."

"Okay," the eight-year-old agreed. He looked around excitedly, but remained unnaturally still.

The persistence seemed to pay-off. Dropping his name earned Chase a response. Hokees' eyes flew open, and he sat up just enough to unlock the door. Chase cracked it open slowly, taking a moment to fold up the scooter.

>> "Climb in."

Hokee's groggy instruction was dealt as the long-haired boy flopped back onto the back seat of the car. Chase clambered into the passengers seat, setting the scooter on the floor. He faced backwards so that he could look at the older boy, and using the headrest as leverage, Chase did just that. He looked around with a reference in his young face, as if he had just been allowed into an exclusive club.

>> "Hey little man."

"Hey," Chase reciprocated, looking around with wide eyes as Hokee propped his head up on an arm, "Oh wow, Hokee, is this your car? Can you drive it wherever you want?"

Of course, Chase wanted to know about why Hokee was sleeping in there, but first question came first. Chase'd get to the point eventually.