The Old College Try (To Not Blow Up The Building)

[Honos Black]

Honos laughed and ran after Tim, waving at an amused Cyrus as he ran by. Honestly this was a great break in his boring day. He was so gonna tell Cyrus all about this when he went home with the man. And here he was bemoaning the fact that he had to write an essay on his uncle's new crush after annoying him. Goodness, he was honestly glad he was sent off to the library. He should annoy his uncle a lot more if this was the outcome.



"I'msoglad thatI-that I annoyed myuncleenough to be banished to thelibrary" He blurted out, looking at the muscle mass in a mixture of awe and glee. "Gottateasehimmoreabout-about-about his crush on uhh... Sasha. Ithinkthat'shisname?" He wasn't really paying attention to what he said, honestly. "Ya know, what if people who be supes have uh-have different muscle devel-development? Likeyourmusclesaredifferent because-because you gained your powers while mine'sdifferentbecauseI was-Iwasbornwiththem."



He chewed on his lip in thought. "What if it'sachemicalandbiologicalcomponent that-that-that sortaunlocksthe....um. The thingie. The thingiethatmakesourbrainstop when we uh...when we try to go past our limits. Like-like-like biting our own finger off? That thingie. The inhibitors? Yeah that thingie. Wait, doesthatmeanpeoplewithsuperstrength can uh-can still bite their fingers off or does their brain-does their brain still stop it?"

[Timothy Smith]

Tim couldn’t help but chuckle again at Honos’ excitement. He started to shut down the experiment and clean things up, listening to Honos’ babbling. The kid was actually pretty smart.

“Hey hey hey, slow down a second!” After he finished cleaning up, he pulled out a pencil and paper. “You’ve got a ton of great ideas and thoughts, I need to write them all down!”

“I’ve been recording, don’t worry.” Alice gave Honos a thumbs up from her little holoprojector.

“Still, I like to write things down. The difference between powers that you’re born with and powers that you get through some inciting incident is worth looking into.”

After a moment of scribbling, Tim looked up at Honos. “You’re really smart, kiddo. Who did you say your folks were again? You said something about one of the history professors here, I think.”

Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos beamed, proud of himself and a bit flustered at the compliments he was given. He rubbed the back of his neck and ducked his head down to hide the rise blush at being told he was smart. He loved it. Being acknowledged by the person he looked up to in the science field. Yeah, he looked up to those in his family, but this one is his. Only his. Well...Tim is others but he knew what he meant.

When Tim asked him who his folks were, he looked at him and tilted his head. "My legal folks or my birth folks?" He asked "I got two dads and one mom. Papa is Orion Black. My momma and daddy passed away when I was really small. I don't think you've met my papa, unless you happened to go to where he works, which is not something I can see you going to."

He scratched his cheek in thought. "Although he does volunteer at the nursery, so you might have met him if you bought a plant or brought a plant for help with the plant doctor... have you met my papa?" He asked, curious.

He looked at Alice and smiled. "You're the best, ya know? Have you met my papa? I mean, I'm sure you've heard of my grandmama, but I think everyone has, even mad scientists who refuse to leave his lair to see the sun" he teased, gesturing to Tim.

[Timothy Smith]

Tim grinned, taking the burn good-naturedly. "Hey, a good chunk of my powers can come from the sun. Still, I don't think I know your dad or your grandma."

Alice pulled out a tablet and some reading glasses for her avatar and sat down. "According to Wikipedia, I'm fairly certain our little genius here is related to Queen Zarita Corazon Carmen Isebel Black nee Grimald, Queen Rose, Last of the Quartet, and the current Queen of Blaecwood, more commonly known as Adaira."

"Wait, what does barbershop quartets and my girlfriend have to do with who his grandma is?"

Alice sighed. "No, Adaira, not Adara, and... You know what, I'll make it easy on you. The kid's a prince and his grandma is the queen of a country."

"Oh. Shit."

Tim turned back to Honos. "Uh, should I bow or something? Am I being super rude by showing you my fake science muscle? I... shit, is your dad going to be mad I dragged you down here? Do I need to take you home?"

Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos grinned at Alice "Ya know how often grandmama complained about Wikipedia's post on her? A lot. The Quartet is because she married two guys and a 'stand up gal who can whop your ass with a smile' as grandmama says."

He looked at Tim and pat his arm with a shit-eating grin. "It wouldn't be the first time someone kidnapped me. But you're fine. You're the approved list of adults that I can walk away with. Surprisingly short for those who ain't family, honestly. Also, if you bow, I will burn your shirt. No, it's not rude that you're showing me your 'fake science muscle' Uncle Tim-Tam. Alice is this normal? For him to panic like this? Goodness, is he gonna bow at my dad when he finally meets him?"

Honos backed up a bit and pointed at Tim. "If you do, I'm gonna laugh when dad smacks you overtheheadwith-with-with-smacks you with the newspaper he reads"

[Timothy Smith]

Tim laughed nervously. Here he was, having "kidnapped" a prince of some sort. This had all the markers of some sort of international incident and that is exactly the last thing he needed with Abraham on his back right now. So yeah, he was panicking.

Alice just smiled. "Yeah, yeah kid he tends to do that. He's a nerd with superpowers, if he can't science or superpunch the problem, he tends to have a bit of a minor breakdown."

"Alice I just don't want to get a country mad at me because I didn't do some protocol thing. You know that the Phantom would take all that rope and hang me with it. You too, probably."

"Ah, fork the Phantom, he's a duck."

"Your language filter isn't making me feel better but it's a good idea."

"I have more good ideas in a second than you've had all week."

Tim rolled his eyes and sat down in a chair. "So, how's this all work? Do I need to make some sort of formal apology or something? I've gotten good at those with the Phantom. Oh, oh shi--, uh... whatever. Am I going to have to go to Adaria? Listen, Honos, buddy, I feel like I've make a big mistake by dragging you off with me and I don't know how to make it right."

"Tim, he's pretty chill right now. It's probably fine. He probably wants you to just show him more of what you're working on. He could probably help too, doing all this with only me as an assistant isn't good for you, you need another meatsack to talk to."


"Alice, I know you're joking, but don't call people "meatsacks" when I'm trying to make sure I'm not starting an international incident."
Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos rocked on his feet and waited for Tim to calm down enough to not panic even more. He snorted and laughed at the language filter Alice had on and thought it was the greatest thing ever. "W-wait. Al-alice, say 'mother-motherfucker with the filter" He begged, excited and curious on what she'll substitute it with.

"Tim-Tam you's already talked ta-alreadytalkedtapapa. Y-you're fine! 'S'not gonna be n-no internaltion-internalation. No. In-ter-nat-tion-al...international incident. An' IagreewithAlice. You need m-you need more meatsacks ta think with. I'm-I'm a perfect meatsacktatalk an-an-and ta think with! Can I be-can I be your meatsackthinkerhelperperson?" He blurted ou, excited. "G-gets me somethin' ta do that ain'-that ain' buggin' Uncle Erie."

[Timothy Smith]

"Maternal Ducker."

"Alice!"

"What?!? It's fine!"

Tim sighed, then started laughing. "I guess I have a meatsack instead of a rubber duckie. You've heard of rubber duckie coding, right?"

Tim rubbed Honos's hair. "You'll be my science rubber duckie. I'll talk things out with you and you can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. Like what you just did with my synthetic muscle."

Feeling much more comforted that he wasn't going to accidentally kidnap someone, Tim started to finalize his notes and clean up his experiment. "So. What do you wanna do next? I've finished this thing, and I've got a few other projects, but it depends on what you wanna do."

Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos started to laugh at the censored curse and grinned like mad, nodding at Tim's question. "I gots asqueakertatalk-ta talk to when brain is-is in a loop." He explained.

He continued to rock on his feet and started to chew on his thumb, feeling bashful and sparking a bit when Tim ruffled his hair. He never really got affection from anyone who's not family, so he wasn't sure how to respond. He paused and tilted his head in thought while he pushed his thumb against his sharp tooth. He snapped his finger and grinned up at Tim.

"Wanna-wanna-wanna look at my blueprints for-for-for myuncle's leg thatImade when I was-when I was 10? Wanna-wanna make a better one for him. 'Sgettin'old an' banged up for Uncle Erie." He clarified, pulling out his phone and opening up the blueprint. "An'-an' you know how ta do robots right?" He asked, curious.

[Timothy Smith]

Honos' enthusiasm was really infectious, and Tim just couldn't help but grin right back at him.

"I'd love to see those plans. I'll be your meatsack rubber duck, fair's fair."

Tim finished cleaning up his muscle while Honos got out the plans on his phone. "I dabble a little bit in robotics. I'm not very good though, everything I do is pretty basic stuff. I am good at powering things though. Most of my study is in the field of energy physics."

"I keep telling him he needs to make me more stuff to mess around with the real world with."

"Hey, I made you a drone and you crashed it."

"And I saved your life doing it!"

Tim sighed. "Yep. And you won't let me forget it."

Alice smiled a smug grin on his phone.

"Okay, let me see this leg you're working on. Its a prosthetic, right? So we're looking at translating the electrochemical pulses from the nerves where it connects to the control circuits to make it move naturally, right?"

Honos Black