Well, a lot of people have been talking about how they wish at some point we see Walter playing the guitar (I'm guessing because Elyes Gabel plays) and it's been killing me to write something about that. So here's my contribution to that head canon. I hope you guys enjoy it. Hopefully it's not too OOC.
Secrets
Ralph wanted his birthday to be constituted of him, his mother, Cabe and the four geniuses at the garage working on the rocket and maybe cake. After a lot of convincing and some bribing even, Paige managed to get him to agree on inviting a few of his classmates over for a small party. He had recently been invited to a couple of birthdays and Paige felt he needed that. In the end, it was 5 classmates, including Sloan of course, and his mother and the rest of Team Scorpion. And the theme was Science, of course.
Paige was worried his friends wouldn't be as interested in the theme but was pleasantly surprised by what the geniuses had cooked up for the even.t They too had needed some convincing to be part of it, none of them big fans of children in general. But in the end, it looked like they were having more funs. They created a number of scientific games, some of them more dangerous than Paige was comfortable with, and the kids seemed to love them. They did experiments of all kinds, things that usually came with a "do not try this at home" warning and the kids were over excited.
And so was Ralph, and that was all that mattered.
Paige watched from one corner of the living at the way her son laughed and interacted with his classmates, something she never thought she'd see a year ago, and she knew it was all thanks to these unusual yet exceptional people around her. She smiled at how easy and natural Toby was around children, at how Happy was actually smiling and enjoying the amazement on the children's faces while she worked and finally she saw Sylvester, who started the day sanitising his hands after touching anything a child had touched but as the day progressed he seemed to have eased off the sanitiser. She looked around for Walter but couldn't find him. She stepped into the other room and after a short search, she found him in Ralph's room, sitting on the edge of the boy's bed.
"There you are," she said as she walked in, "I thought you'd made a run for it," she joked, knowing this wasn't an ideal way for Walter O'Brien to spend his Saturday afternoon.
He looked up and smiled, "What? Oh no… it just got… a little too loud out there," he said.
She walked over and sat next to him. "I know this isn't exactly your kind of thing, Walter," she said, "but thank you so much for coming, for doing all that. I've never seen him happier."
"It's my pleasure, Paige," Walter said, "we'd do anything to make Ralph happy. You know that, right?"
She nodded. She knew that, absolutely. The way they all treated her son was unbelievable and she would eternally be grateful for all they have done.
Paige was starting to get emotional so she turned around, distracting herself with the gifts on Ralph's bed. Some friends had put the effort in their choice, trying to get him something they thought he would like. There was a junior chemistry set. The emphasis on the word junior. She grabbed it and turned to Walter. She chuckled as he took it from her and scrunched his nose. They both knew it wouldn't appeal to the young boy who was already working with far more advanced equipment in the garage.
The second gift she grabbed was a remote control car. "Well, he wouldn't like this either," she giggled. Walter took it from her and smiled. "Actually he'll love it," he said and Paige looked at him with raised eyebrows. "No, I mean, he won't like it in the traditional way, but he will take it apart and try to reengineer the whole thing," Walter explained and laughed.
She turned around and grabbed another gift, a guitar. "Well this he will find absolutely useless," she said and Walter laughed, nodding his agreement. She strum a few strings and put it next to her. To her surprise, Walter reached over and grabbed it, spinning it around and holding it in his lap.
He looked at her, a mischievous grin on his lips and then did something Paige would have never imagined. He actually played the guitar. And he played it pretty damn well.
"Walter O'Brien!? You play the guitar?" she asked and he just smiled, without looking at her, as he focused on the instrument, "please don't tell me that you just figured out the mathematics of it."
Walter laughed and stopped playing. He looked up at her. "It's a secret," he whispered wickedly.
"What do you mean it's a secret?" she asked.
"I mean that, besides Megan, no one knows that I do," he explained.
"But how come? I mean you and music… don't exactly mix," she said.
"Well, taking a music credit was obligatory at my school and when I failed to sign up for a music class my advisor forcefully registered me in Guitar," he said, "he thought that maybe learning a cool instrument will help me come out of my awkward shell," he said, "his words, not mine. He thought maybe it would help me make friends… or even a girl friend… that's what he said," Walter explained.
"Did it work?" Paige asked.
"Not really," he said, "I mean, I did learn how to play the guitar, sure, it took me fifteen minutes. But the social experiment failed if that's what you're asking."
They sat in silence for a moment before she spoke again. "Will you play something?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
He looked at her, "I don't know…" he said, slowly starting to doubt his decision to tell her his secret.
"Please?" she urged him, looking up at him.
He bit his lip then slowly lifted the guitar onto his lap. He started playing and it took her a moment to recognise the tune. She smiled, her smile slowly creeping and turning into a blush.
He looked at her and gave her a shy nod. "Come on," he whispered. She scooted next to him and sang along with the tune.
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'll be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
Well there it is. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing my fics. *HUGS*