A/N: The explanation for Ginger Twins ended up not fitting in this chapter, so it will have to wait. Please let me know what you think so far!
Kid Chaos
The small boy sat in his lounge chair, data pads spread around him and a video playing silently on the console in front of him while his mother slept on the couch next to him. He constantly snuck glances over at the sleeping form to make sure he didn't get caught. His mother arranged for him to attend classes from home to protect him from other kids, both physically and mentally, but this put more strain on her. She was usually just getting home from work when he woke up, so they would have a meal together before she set up his make-shift classroom and then succumbed to exhaustion.
He was far more advanced than the level he was being taught, though; he usually finished the full day's work in less than an hour, so he found other ways to occupy his time while she got some much-needed rest. This included hacking the console to watch vids she forbid him from watching. Most five-year-olds weren't capable of such tech, but most of them were not stuck in one place for a majority of their day. Plus, he was almost six.
A sharp rap came from the door to their small flat. The boy jumped and hastily tried to flip the vid over to a proper educational vid, knocking several pads to the ground in the process. The clatter woke the sleeping woman with a start. She jumped to his side in a flash, concern evident in her prematurely aged features.
"Are you ok, Cookie? What happened?"
"That knock scared me and I jumped. I just knocked some stuff over." He shrugged, his face flushed from fear of being found out. He had the screen angled down to keep her from seeing the contents. Fortunately, his mother was still foggy with sleep and didn't ask any other questions. A second set of knocks on the door, much more insistent than the first, distracted her further. He breathed a sigh of relief at the close call.
"Oh, Mika, what a surprise! What can I do for you?" The boy recognized the balding man filling the small room with his generous girth: it was his mother's boss.
"I'm sorry I have to do this, Shelly. There is a ship limping back in as we speak and we need all hands on deck."
"I sympathize, sir, but I can't leave my son home alone. He needs special care." Her eyes were wide with panic. The older man smiled gently and tried to calm her fears.
"I took care of that: I made arrangements for your son at the community center and we can drop him off on the way."
That is how the small red-headed boy found himself among other kids for the first time. The school day was just ending, and most of the parents on the station were still at their post. The rest were being called in for the damaged Alliance vessel coming in, leaving the center full to capacity - and then some. The community center was the only safe and supervised place for the station's children too old for daycare and too young to be alone. It was also filled with the frenetic energy of too many kids in a small space.
The chaos in the room was the socialization equivalent of being thrown into the deep end of the pool for the isolated boy. He sat quietly in a chair as his mother signed him in, and didn't move once she left. His wide eyes tried to take it all in without giving away the icy terror nestled deep in the pit of his stomach. If he learned anything from the vids he snuck during the day, it was that kids were monsters that could smell fear. Maybe I should stay away from the horror vids from now on he thought wryly.
The few adults in the room were severely outnumbered by children, a sense of anarchy sprung up as a result. The older woman at the sign-in station kept tucking her disheveled hair behind her ears as her eyes darted about, most likely a nervous tic. The boy could see the same panic he felt bubbling in his gut mirrored in her eyes, but she wasn't even trying to hide it. With a shout of "NOW!" small balls started flying from several directions at once, all converging on the flustered woman; clearly the kids sensed weakness.
The small boy tried to wish himself invisible; sorry that the woman was targeted, but thankful it wasn't the crippled new boy. The noise was overwhelming, but the boy didn't dare cover his ears, fearful any movement would attract attention.
"Hey, there you are!"
The cry cut across the din of multiple kids pent-up in a large room. He looked around to see what the owner of such a commanding voice would look like, but couldn't figure out who it belonged to; the mass of children in front of him were little more than a blur of colors at this point. A moment later a bright red head popped up to his left, sparkling eyes catching his.
"I looked all over for you this week. Where have you been hiding?" The voice belonged to the girl from the docks. The little boy looked over his shoulder to see who could get this girl so excited. She only giggled when he looked back and mouthed "me?".
"Yes, you. Silly." She glanced over to where he had been staring, wide-eyed, and saw the growing chaos at the sign-in. A young man was working his way through the throngs of children calling for back-up from the adult over in the dark corner. The young woman clearly didn't appreciate being asked to work, but she made her way over too.
"We should probably get away from here. It is only going to get worse." Her bright eyes cast around the room before settling on the dark corner the young woman had just left. There were several old games there, and it was completely empty.
"Hey, there is a fun flight sim game over there. Let's go play!" The boy only nodded mutely before slowly standing.
"You don't talk much, do you kid? Hey, I like your metal pants. Those are so cool!"
The girl didn't wait for a response; she moved the chairs around so they could both slip behind them without being noticed. It was slow going with the boy relying on the VI in his leg braces to do most of the work still, but they made it into a game - slipping from cover to cover to avoid being caught by the enemy. It's probably not too far from the truth the boy thought as he glanced back at the chaos.
They finally made it to the flight game: two old flight chairs side-by-side in front of a large screen. They each settled in to a chair and started the game up; they had to choose their ship before they could play. The boy picked the red ship, and the girl gave him a sideways glance.
"I wanted to be red. You can pick a different color."
"But I picked it first." The girl was surprised at the strength behind his voice, hearing it for the first time, but she didn't like to back down.
"How old are you?" Her eyes narrowed on him.
"I'll be six next week."
"Well, I am almost seven. That means I am the boss."
"That's not fair! You will always be older than me."
"Yup. And I will always be the boss of you. That's just how it goes." She shrugged casually. The boy did not try to hide his unhappiness with the decision. Finally she spoke back up, trying to smooth the situation over.
"Tell you what: neither of us will be red this first game. Whoever wins gets to be whatever color they want. Sound fair?" She looked entirely too smug for it to be a fair deal, but the boy agreed.
Five minutes later, the girl was trying not to pout as the boy picked the red ship for the next game.
