Day in the Life
by Laura Boeff
Ace hummed cheerfully to himself as he balanced his load
and disembarked the Racer. It was late, but not too late, and Ace was starved.
And if Ace was starved, Cosmo was famished. Not that there wasn't some
form of food in the refrigerator at any given moment. Ace now made a point
to keep it better stocked and, surprisingly, Cosmo was somewhat of a cook.
'For a reason,' Ace thought sadly. The young teen had
been forced to fend for himself at an early age. In his own home even.
It was not really so surprising that Cosmo did know how to cook. And sew
and a dozen other odd little things that were usually the last thing on
any young boy's mind. But Cosmo was not just any young boy and hadn't had
the support system a young boy needed to grow into a young man. Not then
at least. But now.
Ace chuckled. Uh oh.. he was getting contemplative, and
the take out was getting cold. His stomach reminded him sharply that *this*
was not acceptable. So he hurried and delivered his steaming load to the
kitchen. Just making it to the table before the rice took a nose dive to
the floor. Making sure nothing was going to fall over, Ace went in search
of his young charge. It would have been just as easy to have Angel track
down Cosmo and tell him dinner was delivered, but Ace preferred to tell
himself. A small habit of personal attention. Bonding with the still nervous
and shy teen.
A quick glance in the living room showed that Cosmo was
not there, so next, Ace headed for his bedroom. If Cosmo wasn't there then
it would be the computer room. After that it would be random. Cosmo was
rarely anywhere else, save those three places, unless there was a specific
need.
"Cosmo?" Ace called, knocking on his door. There was
no immediate response, but that was not unusual, especially if Cosmo was
listening to his earman.
"Angel, is Cosmo in his room?" he called to the empty
air.
"Yes, Ace. Cosmo is inside," Angel responded softly.
It took a minute for Ace to process. He was still... adapting, to the lilting
feminine voice Cosmo had replaced his original synthetic interface with.
It was much.. nicer than his. He could freely admit that. But it still
took a little getting use to.
"Thank you, Angel." That was another thing. He had never
before *thanked* Angel. But something about that voice, the whole.. personality,
of the program made him do it now. He'd been slowly coaxing new ideas and
updates for the system out of the teen. And just as slowly Cosmo was opening
up and revealing just how much he knew about computers. Sometimes it put
Ace to shame, while in some areas Cosmo was somewhat lacking despite his
natural genius with electronics. His education rather spotty, even in computers.
Not from a lack of intelligence, but opportunity and access to what he
needed to learn. A fact Ace was remedying through home education. Cosmo's
track record with schools was abysmal. That, and the young teen was traveling
with him on shows, so it was pretty much impossible for Cosmo to have a
typical education. The teen didn't mind. His intelligence was amazing and
he absorbed everything eagerly. No, he didn't mind in the least. Just the
mention of formalized education made him glare, so it was for the better
in the end. And so far the social services were happy with his progress.
So was Ace.
He knocked again.
"Cosmo. Dinner's ready," he called louder. Hoping to
be heard above the earman. He really didn't want to have to barge on in.
"Uhm.. thanks, Ace," was the muffled reply. Ace cocked
a brow. That was somewhat.. surprising. Usually the moment he mentioned
food, Cosmo was at the door, ready to eat.
"Brought home your favorite. Chinese," he added. Something
seemed... wrong.
"Thanks, Ace. I'll.. be there in a minute."
Okay. That clinched it! Chinese was on the table and
Cosmo was still in his room. Ace frowned. Perhaps his charge wasn't hungry...
It wouldn't be a first, especially if Cosmo had over-indulged on the ice
cream again. It had taken some time to convince Cosmo he could help himself
to anything in the fridge, without asking his permission first. Of course,
this meant that occasionally, Cosmo went overboard. Simply because he could.
Ace didn't restrain him. Simply warned him against the results. Cosmo had
still learned that the hard way. One did not eat an entire gallon of fudge
ripple ice cream and not get a stomach ache.
"You okay, Cosmo?" he called.
Beyond the door he heard faint shuffling. "Yea, Ace.
I'm fine," Cosmo returned, with a slight stammer and his voice seemed slightly
distorted.
"May I come in?"
Okay. Was it his imagination or did he just hear Cosmo
groan from the door's far side? Silence reigned for several seconds. If
Cosmo said no, then Ace would respect that, but he would still worry.
The door suddenly slid open, Ace jumping slightly as
Cosmo appeared in the doorway, head hanging down, red hair falling forward
and all but obscuring his face.
Ace craned his head and tried to look at him.
"Are you okay, Cosmo?" He was definitely worried now.
There was a slight tremble in the sloped shoulders, and one fist twitched.
Ace frowned. That fist was slightly swollen, red around the knuckles.
"Yea.. I'm fine," Cosmo muttered thickly, voice still
odd sounding.
Ace didn't give his opinion on that and touched Cosmo's
shoulder gently.
"Cosmo...?"
The shoulders slumped a little more, then Cosmo looked
up. Ace blinked, drawing back slightly. The young teen looked... well..
beat. His right eye now sported a lovely shiner and his lower lip was cut
and slightly swollen, explaining Cosmo's sudden speech impediment.
"Cosmo.. what happened?!"
The red head dropped again, and Cosmo shuffled his feet.
"Well.." he muttered, hands sinking into his pant pockets
as he studied the floor.
"I.. sort of got into a fight."
A fight?! Ace flinched inside. Damn it... Of all the
things. Ace bit back his anger. One, it wasn't what Cosmo needed at the
moment, and two, he still didn't know the whole story, yet. He was going
to find out though.
"I'd say that much is obvious, Cosmo. Are you okay?"
Cosmo looked up briefly and nodded, red hair flopping
forward again as he returned to studying the floor. Distantly, Ace decided
Cosmo was due for another haircut, but the thought was fleeting.
"Okay. How about you tell me what happened?"
"Rather not," Cosmo sighed. Ace almost laughed at the
sulky rebuttal. Almost. He was still a little upset that Cosmo had gotten
in a fight. Well.. maybe not a little. More like a lot! But Ace had learned
early on that even the slightest hint of anger, even wrongly interpreted,
could drive the young teen back into his protective shell. Now was not
the place for it. He would bang his head against his bedroom wall later.
"Let's say that that wasn't a request," Ace sighed, crossing
his arms over his chest. Cosmo snuck a look up, then back down again. He
let out a deep sigh.
"It was Mike's fault," he declared in a rush.
"What was Mike's fault?" Mike was one of the boys Cosmo
hung out with. Ace had never actually met him, but Cosmo had mentioned
him a time or two.
"The fight."
"Humm... Last I remember a fight involves two people,
Cosmo," Ace pointed out.
Cosmo was silent, fidgeting a touch more.
"So why did you fight with Mike?"
Cosmo looked up at him, and surprisingly, not away again.
A faint hint of anger burned still in the pale gray eyes, startling Ace.
Anger was something he was not use to seeing there. Fear, distrust and
occasionally happiness. But never anger.
"He called you a fake, Ace!" Cosmo declared with a slight
snarl. Showing his opinion clearly on the matter. Oh boy. Of all the things.
Ace sighed silently, slightly warmed by the revelation. Cosmo was not very
forthcoming in his affections, and while unwelcome, this little incident
showed a certain friendship forming between them for the teen to want to
fight on his behalf. But it still wasn't right.
"Cosmo. I don't want you to ever get into a fight because
of me," Ace declared firmly.
"But Ace. It isn't true. You're not a fake! I couldn't
just let..."
Ace raised his hand, interrupting the triad.
"And did fighting Mike change his opinion of me?"
Cosmo licked his lips and his eyes dropped.
"Probably not. He's a jerk."
"Cosmo... You should always avoid a fight whenever possible.
Not only is fighting wrong, it's dangerous. And you could get hurt and
hurt someone as well." Ace touched his shoulder. "Is Mike okay?"
A slight nod.
"Yea. I mean.. I hit him.. but Marv and Tyler broke us
up. Tyler said Mike was a loser and I was a spaz." Cosmo didn't seem particularly
thrilled with the description. Ace swallowed his smile. This was still
a serious matter.
"You can't force people to change their minds about things
through violence, Cosmo. I appreciate you wanting to stand up for me, but
it's not necessary. His opinions don't change who I am and what I do. Does
it?"
"No," Cosmo murmured, then a little more forcefully.
"But he still shouldn't have said it."
"And you shouldn't have started a fight either, Cosmo.
It was dangerous."
It was stupid as well, but that was a word Ace refused
to use around Cosmo.
"Dangerous and wrong."
Cosmo nodded. "Yea.. I know. I'm sorry, Ace," he mumbled
miserably. Ace smiled gently and patted him on the shoulder. Cosmo snuck
him a quick looked and sort of peeked up at him from under the fringe of
bright red hair.
"I don't want you starting fights, Cosmo. It's not the
way to solve things and it just hurts everyone in the end.
"Yea. I know. I promise to not fight anymore." Cosmo
sighed.
"I'm not asking for a promise, Cosmo," Ace said. There
was reason. Cosmo was young and young men did dumb things like fight. As
much as Ace wished otherwise, it would not be the last time. He had had
a few in his lifetime, and for less then sterling reasons. He didn't want
Cosmo making a promise he might break in the future. The boy didn't need
the further guilt.
"I just want you to avoid fighting whenever possible.
And to try and control your temper. You're the only one it really hurts
in the end." Ace explained. Cosmo chuckled and winced.
"Yea. It hurts all right," he muttered. "I promise to
try and not get mad, Ace. It was just.. well.. I couldn't let him say that!"
"Yes, you could, Cosmo. Because I don't care. His opinion
is not important to me. Remember that next time. I know what I can do and
I know I do it well. I have no reason to be ashamed, so there's no reason
for you to defend me."
"Okay, Ace." Cosmo relented. "But he's still a jerk."
Ace sighed and squeezed Cosmo's shoulder gently, tugging,
urging him to walk alongside him. Cosmo relented, still sort of watching
the ground.
"No doubt Mike is thinking the same thing about you.
But I'm sure you can work it out. Without your fists." he added.
Cosmo snorted. "Okay, Ace. No fists. But I can still
go verbal on him."
Ace sighed. Great. Cosmo on a rant. He wasn't sure that
was a good thing either. But it was better than fighting at least.
"Well... don't get too carried away," Ace muttered. "Come
on. Chinese is getting cold and I think there's an ice pack in the freezer.
You look like you could use it."
"Yea," Cosmo nodded, then peeked up at him. "Thanks,
Ace. For not being mad."
"Who said I'm not mad?" Ace asked lightly. And Cosmo
looked away immediately, flinching slightly. Ace sighed. Cosmo still had
trouble taking things in jest. No matter how jovially Ace presented certain
comments. Ace rested his hand lightly on his shoulder, to let him know
he wasn't really angry.
"But I think you understand why. I just don't want you
to get hurt doing foolish things, Cosmo," he assured. "I do worry."
Cosmo snuck him a look and Ace gazed steadily back, offering
a smile.
"Sorry. Don't mean to worry you."
Ace nodded. "I know you don't, Cosmo. Just remember that
I do worry in the future. And think twice before you do anything hastily."
"I will, Ace."
Ace clapped him on the shoulder.
"Good. Now come on. I'm starved."