Dumb ass, White couldn't help but note as Black ran around the office in deep distress. He was frantically tossing over file cabinets and scouring the dusty corners for his missing treasure. The whole scene paralleled Gollem hunting for the Ring, screaming "Precious, my precious!"

"Where is it?" Black was calling out, distraught, choosing to divert power away from controlling his voice level and instead into tossing files out of their snug homes in each drawer.

"Is this really that important?" White murmured, anticipating the reaction to the bomb he just dropped in the room.

Black turned to him, a look of shock and confusion painted on his face.

"Wha… How could yo… OF COURSE IT'S IMPORTANT THEY'LL BE HERE ANY MINUTE NOW!" Black screamed, venting his frustration.

"I understand," replied White craftily, "But it's not like the kid has never seen a suit before. He's gonna be wearing one when he gets here as a safety precaution."

Due to MIRA HQ's altitude, all passengers were required to wear space suits. It also ensured that the HQ could safely shoot up into the upper atmosphere in order to ensure that any potential invader was… eliminated.

Not that that happened very often. It was even a running joke, with one of the guys making a little sign that read; It Has Been _ Many Days Since We Left Earth's Atmosphere.

Outwardly, White had criticized the board as downplaying the seriousness of the situation, but inwardly, well, inwardly he was slightly amused. But only slightly.

White quickly returned himself to the present, where he saw that Black was proclaiming his victory, finally recovering his very own golden chalice.

It was a plastic inflatable flamingo hat.

White slowly brought his hand to his face, feeling his insides constrict in disappointment as Black's face swelled and flustered redder than a beet as he spit the breath of life into the limp bird.

Not wanting to show Black his levity over watching him imitate a group of school children playing a recorder for the first time, or at least that's how White saw it, White quickly excused himself with a simple,

"I'll go see if they're here and try to stall them until you get all that sorted out." With his back turned, White let a faint smile of pleasure etch itself onto his face.

_oOo_

White sauntered down the hall, excited to reintroduce himself to Red. They had met a long time ago, and had hit it off pretty well together. This was long before the kid that would be shadowing her was even a thought.

Turning the corner, his eyes were met with the unfamiliar sight of Red and her small lookalike.

Ironically, Red was a ginger, a trait which had clearly left its mark on the kid's fiery mess of a 'do. Not only that, but the freckles and pale complexion were seemingly photocopied onto the young child's body.

The only part of him, in fact, that betrayed his mother was his eyes. While hers were a deep Hershey chocolate brown, his were a misty grey, with the slight blue hue to them. He radiated nervousness and excitement, and when he met eyes with White, the man thought the poor kid might wet himself.

Quickly, he removed his shiny white helmet, while slowly dropping down to one knee so that he could be level with the miniature astronaut.

After a quick glance up to his mother for confirmation, the boy awkwardly clunked over in his bright red space suit.

As both family members grew near, White began to notice something off about their suits. Where White had kept his helmet and chest clear of any grease and grime, the duo had… stickers?

It was unmistakable. Right smack in the middle of the kid's forehead was a little rainbow, seemingly colored in by marker. On his chest plate, right over his heart, there was a dinosaur, breathing fire for some reason.

White supposed it was a crudely drawn Godzilla created with the sole purpose of avoiding copyright infringement, but the sight still charmed him.

His mother's oxygen pack was covered in stickers, dogs, cats, bananas, an astronaut, each colored in their own unique way.

The small red space boy approached White with slight caution.

"Hey there," White said with a slight smirk, "I like your dinosaur."

Those words seemed to charm the young boy like Circe did in the Odyssey, because all of the apprehension drained from the child's face.

"Thank you!" he beamed, "My name is Jason, what's yours?"

"You can call me White," he replied, smiling back at Jason. He was too damn cute.

"Oh! You must use those special names like my Mom does. She told me that people were gonna call her Red, instead of her real name Pamela!"

Well this kid isn't too bright, noted White, stifling laughter. Red, no Pamela quickly grabbed Jason, and began whispering to him intensely.

White took this as a cue to excuse himself, but just as he turned the corner, black came marching over, his radiant smile rivaling that of Jason's.

His flamingo perched fully inflated on his head, White realized, eyes rolling a full 360.

White slowly turned himself around, feeling second hand embarrassment for Black and his oblivion.

"Hey there astronaut!" Black called out to Jason.

Hearing the kid gasp in excitement, White thought it safe to return to the hallway he was originally in.

Jason was giggling like an idiot, pointing excitedly at the flamingo and jumping up and down.

"Look Mom! Look, there's a birdy on his head!" the kid cried gleefully. In return, Red offered her son a big smile, and mouthed Thank You to Black.

That idiot didn't even see her words of gratitude, as his entire attention had been directed towards the giddy Jason.

Only Black would think to wear a flamingo hat to greet a kid, thought White. His tendency to act like a man child may have worried White at times, given Black was to be the mission leader, but he wore his emotions on his sleeves and made sure everyone left his presence with a joyful attitude.

Turning the tint up in his helmet so that no one could see, White allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as he watched Black place the hat onto Jason's head.