Out of all of her new children Gus was by far the most inquisitive and the one that made Camila the most nervous. From the first moment he arrived he wanted to touch and examine everything he came across. From the television to the bug zapper. The latter resulted in him quickly getting zapped then to her horror him trying it again. A part of her could understand his curiosity seeing as he was in a new world with endless new horizons to explore. Not to mention him being the youngest of the group and a self-proclaimed "Humanologisht" meant trying to stop him was nearly impossible. Such as the other day when she'd come home from work to find him surrounded by a large wad of bubble wrap. How foolish she was to not stop him after the first dozen or so pops.
It took less then five minutes for her to ban bubble wrap from the house. Even longer to try and chase him down as ran from her to try to stop her from confiscating his new favorite possession.
Though usually his antics were pretty adorable such as catching him sneaking down in the early morning to watch an extremely childish show. The others had taken to television as well but Gus loved it and from what she'd been told she could imagine why.
A crystal ball with limited shows vs a large tv with up to two thousand channels. I actually feel sorry for the witches. She thought to herself as Gus watched the small blue creatures sing and dance.
"Amazing, to think one word can mean so much. Although having one name or characteristic define your existence is a bit much. But at least their red hatted chief is a nice and caring father. We could learn so much from the murphs."
If it wasn't cartoons than it was the animal channel. Hours upon hours of the animal channel, never once moving and hardly blinking. From the ocean to the desert, he wanted to see each and every creature and then create illusions of them. Vee and Luz possibly in a moment of sisterly bonding or mischief had the unfortunate idea to introduce Gus to creature films.
In her defense anyone would scream at the top of their lungs if they suddenly came downstairs and found a great white shark casually floating around their living room with a pair of blooded human legs in it's mouth. Luz and Vee didn't fare any better which would explain their sudden desire to sleep with her for the night. Gus simply sat there entranced as his creation continued it's spree. Her sanity demanded she ban all illusions all tighter, sadly one look at his innocent expression brought her motherly instincts to the surface. So he could still create his illusions, but only at a greatly reduced size.
He'd also broken his fare share of objects in an attempt to understand how they worked. In one week alone he'd taken apart the waffle maker believing Luz had hidden a fire glyph inside, pried open an printer getting ink on himself and everything he touched. Thank god she'd caught him before he could "understand" how her car's engine worked.
It was mostly due to his antics that she'd started growing grey hair. Sure it was only a single strand so far but knew it get worse. At least usually he was helping the others or simply enjoying hanging out with them as they explored the human world. So when she came home and found him alone on the sofa she was confused.
"Gus where are the others? Usually this couch is completely full by now."
"Oh it's just kind of me right now. Luz and Amity are kind of having a impromptu date night and Willow and Hunter are at the shack. I thought about lending them a hand but thought I'd give Hunter and Willow some private time."
"He finally worked up the nerve to ask her out then?" His crush on her had become more evident as of late, especially after his much needed haircut. As for Willow, she might have let loose that she found him cute during their daily combing.
"Not quite, he worked up the courage to ask her something then fumbled until I mentioned the shack. She was the one who steered it to a possible first date."
"Well good for them."
"Yeah, so I came back here maybe thinking Vee and I could hang out but…."
He didn't' need to finish. With school starting in less then a week and with her having just reconnected with her camp friends Vee had become more outgoing. Which meant that Gus found himself the third or fifth wheel. He tried not to show it but a single glance told her everything.
I should do something to cheer him up, bring back the bubble wrap? No, that will remain my last resort. Come to think of it I don't think I've spent some quality time with him since he got there.
"Well how about the two of us hang out?"
"Really!? I mean yeah if you want to I guess we could." She'd just sat down when he quickly flipped though the channels landing on the sci fi channel. "I recently found this old series and wanted to share it with somebody." A mere half second after the channel started did she knew what series he was talking about. The one series that had dominated most of her teen years and most of her young adult life. "Cosmic Frontier…"
"You know it? I've only seen a few of the seasons so far but it is already my favorite tv show ever!" he then made a illusion of the murph chief and apologizing that he'd been replaced. Meanwhile next to him Camila was doing her best to repress her inner nerd. Easy Camila don't go down this rabbit hole again. This series has to many spinoffs, and you know how dedicated you can be. Just relax and keep your inner nerd repressed.
"I've watched it from time to time. I've heard they even have a book series."
With a snap he summoned the entire original series books levitating them around them. "I know I've read them all at least twice. Especially the third book where Captain Avery is betrayed by his second in command and left for dead on the ice planet."
"Oh? And what did you think?" she hadn't had these books in her hands in some time but now seeing their covers were bringing back old memories and strong urges.
"Honestly the first two books were pretty good but I think they dropped the ball a bit on the fifth."
"Right!? She blurted out startling him. Seeing his expression she calmed down a bit. "Sorry Gus, but yes book five is a bit of a letdown. To think they simply resurrected the fallen warlord just to kill him off again."
"Not to mention they used the Gortan maneuver, a maneuver I might add that Captain Avery himself said would create a black hole and devastate the system, yet they escape simply by detonating the warp core just as the ship hit the warlord's shuttle."
He gets it! It's been to long since I've debated Cosmic Fronter with someone!
"You know your stuff, Gus."
"Well I'd like to know more but this series is just so massive. I mean I've only reached episode two of this marathon."
Marathon? Did he just say marathon? No, they said they'd never do another. Her inner nerd almost freed she did her best to pull herself together.
"A marathon you say? They haven't done one of those in ages, did… did they perhaps said what it entailed?" Her sanity and possibly the rest of her night depended on his answer.
"Yeah, apparently, it's a marathon of the classic series followed by the movies in chronological order. Then they're doing the rebooted series." He'd barely blinked before hearing the ding of the magical food device known as the microwave. Camila moved faster then he'd ever seen rushing back with an enormous tray of food, mostly popcorn, pretzels and soda.
"Gus, we have to watch this marathon. It is our solemn duty as Cosmic Frontier fans. As Captain Avery always says, boldly explore all frontiers." In that moment Gus was awestruck. The only response he could give, the only response he knew he should give was the Cosmic Salute. "Yes Captain Camila"
Episode by episode and season by season went by as the duo took in every last moment. From the end of the classic series and death of the original crew to the new spin off featuring the captain's son who became corrupted by the dark magic of the void and declared himself the new emperor. They cried as he destroyed his lover and her home planet with his dark powers to be rid of his only weakness. Rejoiced when he went through the trials of purification and crafted his own plasma cutlass, although they would both admit that it should have been pure white such as in the book instead of yellow. Even refusing to fully acknowledge but still watching the controversial season six. Gus only got two episodes in before looking away tightly gripping the original book.
"They can't! it goes against the established lore! Vice commander Briggen would never side with the syndicate!"
"I know Gus, but we must endure the heresy. After all how can we call ourselves true fans if we don't watch it in its entirety. Only then may we call out the many cannon breaking flaws." Inspired by her words he carried on.
Hours passed before the final credits rolled across the screen and they felt their bodies relax.
"I can't believe that the fallen emperor was really captain Avery's missing father. I mean I know they never found his body after the galactic war but still."
"Or what about the princess? Don't think I missed how you rolled your eyes when she called upon the astral presence to teleport her planet." Whatever was holding back her inner nerd was long gone and now only the hardcore fangirl was left. And her desire to debate must be sated.
"Really? You're bringing up that right now. How about when you scoffed at the lieutenant switching between the alliance and syndicate in the reboot?"
"Only because it completely went against his character. Besides it was retconned at the end of season nine so none of it is cannon anymore."
This caused them to burst into laughter and falling back onto the sofa exhausted and happy.
"Why can't he isles have something like this?"
"A multiple season spanning series?"
"No, truly dedicated fans. They closest thing we have is the Coven Historical society. I originally thought is was group of respected individuals crafting illusions to fully recreate some of the greatest coven moments. But in reality they're just a bunch of…. Cos…cosplayers? Yeah cosplayers that don't even put in the effort to get the illusion right."
"Are they really that bad?" in her mind she was already picturing entitled actors in old witch garb each one trying to capture the spotlight.
"Worse, in the past they at least gave equal attention to the covens. Nowadays it's just them dressing up as the greatest past coven leaders and parading around. Honestly, they're originally why I created and truly believed in the human appreciation society at Hexside." His old group mentioned he sank deeper into the couch recalling how his last session was them mostly just wanting to see and touch whatever human objects he'd found.
Most of them were on their scrolls, the only one that asked questions was Mattholomule, and even then it was mostly sarcastic questions and snide remarks.
"But here you have so many dedicated fanbases for everything. I just wish I craft my own story for Cosmic Frontier." A smile began forming on her face as she knew just how to make his new dream a reality. Rising from the couch she spoke in the same way the small purple sage did when initiating Avery's son apprenticeship.
"Follow me young one, for you've but scratched the surface of true fandom. Rise and I shall induct you into the ways of fanfiction." Unable to stop he magically changed their outfits to match. She now wore the pure white garbs of the sages while he sported a red apprentice tunic.
"Yes, master Camila."
He took her hand and happily followed her down into the basement her happily saying the lines she'd always wanted to say. "In time my apprentice I will teach you all that I know." To say they were happy was an understatement. He finally had someone that was as interested in something as he was, and she finally had someone she could share in her nerdiness with again.
I could even take him to Frontier Fest. No Camila he's only just started down this path. Only after he can recite the cosmic creed in true Lorkan will he be ready.