fandomhigh | Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

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Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

"We're wiped out. We were dealing with children smaller than you all week." Parker was wearing pajamas with flying pigs. Appropriately.

Eliot: was not wearing pajamas. Just some very comfy clothes. ". . . weekend. It just seemed like a week."

"That. Right." So they hadn't remembered they'd had a class to teach until very, very recently.

"So I'm sure some of you have had someone tell you that they hope someday you have a kid just like you so you know what it feels like. And some of you probably found out what that feels like this weekend." Eliot was looking a little haggard around the edges. "So today. . . . Nap. Draw quietly. Play with legos. Do yoga. Whatever you do to relax and recover."

Parker got an obstinate expression. "There's cartoons. I'm watching cartoons." She added, "If you want more of a class, create it and solve the problem yourself."

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The less said about last time, the better. This time, Eliot simply rocked back a step, giving her plenty of space to land.

"You have any kids show up this weekend?" he asked.

She nodded. "Two. Carys and Zeke. Five and ten and both of them far too cute for their own good."

Or hers. Especially hers.

"I saw you with yours at the park," she added. "They looked pretty adorable."

"They were." He shook his head. "Are." They still existed out there, right? They didn't cease just 'cause they weren't in Fandom? Ugh. This was exactly why he didn't sleep last night. "You're missin' 'em, huh?"

See? Good reason for being bummed, kid.

"Yeah, but...it's just dumb. I only knew them for the weekend. They're never going to happen. Being this sad about it is just...over-indulgent."

How to explain it right?

"It's not even that they're gone, exactly? It's more that after they left, I felt so, well, lonely."

Stupid, right?

Hey, Eliot had had to be dragged home by his two best friends who were bound and determined to be his boyfriend and girlfriend, and he still managed to feel pretty lonely after the kids left. So, no. Not so much with the stupid.

He as not going to say any of that out loud. He wasn't an idiot.

"Been a rough couple of months, huh?" he said instead, remembering that she'd ended up cursed by Gaunt last month, too.

Kathy glanced over to where Minako was aggressively doing yoga and deflated a little further. "Yeah," she admitted. "I've had better."

Eliot nodded. He could only imagine what all the crap Fandom threw at you looked like when you were seventeen, instead of in your late thirties.

"Wanna get some ice cream after class?"

Kathy looked up at Eliot, surprised and pleased. "Yeah? Sure!"

And then, a bit more shyly, "We could invite Ms. Parker, too, if you wanted."

Eliot raised an eyebrow. "D'ya want Parker along?"

"Ms. Parker's really cool," Kathy pointed out. "I mean, did you see what she can do with lasers!"

Yes, Kathy. Yes he had.

"On a regular basis, even."

"Then you know how cool it is!"

Which might not be exactly how he saw it, granted...

Eliot coughed. "Cool. Yes. Definitely the word."

Not, you know, almost painfully sexy.

Kathy gave him a tiny smile. "I'm sure that's almost exactly what you were thinking, yes."

Again, hadn't heard the radio almost gleefully announcing the hookup, but the way the three of them had stood at the park, it wasn't terribly difficult to figure out that something was up between them.

The fact that they would have been like that anyway even before prom was a different story.

Eliot rubbed his face. He hadn't even been thinking about radio broadcasting what they'd been up to on Friday. He should really get around to squirrel-proofing at least his house or something.

"Yeeeeeah, shut up," he mumbled. He wasn't blushing. You're blushing.

"I'm sure I didn't say anything," Kathy said, dimples too deep for that straight face she was maintaining to be real.

"Soooo," Eliot said. "How was your prom?"

Sure, he was there, but he really had not been paying attention to the students.

Best. Chaperone. Ever.

"I skipped most of it," Kathy admitted. "Nick called to let me know he was in town." The saddest part is, she didn't even realize she was smiling as she said that. "He wanted to know if I was around to patrol with him. And junior prom was fun but..." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before it dragged into her ice cream. "Meh, next year's the important one, right?"

Eliot filed that smile away, and tried to work out how much older than Kathy Nick was. Was this something he was going to have to worry about?

. . . Not that it mattered what he thought about it. Ugh, he was still in 'dad' mode, wasn't he.

"Honestly, none of 'em are really that important, grand scheme," Eliot said. "It's just about havin' fun, makin' memories. And 'I left to go fight crime' is a better story than most."

Only maybe if Nick ever looked back? And so far, he hadn't given any indication he was likely to.

"Well, it's still something I'd really like to do," Kathy said. "It was exciting, seeing myself up for prom queen, even if I knew it was a longshot. Senior prom is the one you're supposed to remember for the rest of your life or whatever. Even if it's not as glamorous as the movies make it out to be, I'm still looking forward to it."

"That's a good way to look at it," Eliot said. "'Cause trust me on this: you're going to have way better things to remember the rest of your life."

"That's my plan," Kathy said. "It's part of why I love being Banzai so much. That's what taught me to really live, you know? Take risks, run wild, be bright and colorful and bouncy."

She thought at seventeen she'd learned how to really live. That was adorable.

"You're lucky," Eliot said. "A lot of people never figure out how to do that."

It was a lot compared to how she'd spent her first sixteen years, quiet, mousy, and generally overlooked.

"Maybe you can teach that class next," she suggested. "I bet you and Ms. Parker would be good at it."

"What, living?" Eliot shook his head. "That ain't really something you teach."

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