Damocles' extended family hadn't been able to all gather together in time for a big Normandy family Christmas, but it seemed like plans had been made to be together for a party to mark the new galactic year. Apparently, humans celebrated it and, with so many of them being human, it just seemed the best way to have the entire family together around a large meal, entertainment, and reconnection with those spending their days across the galaxy and far from Virmire.

Only problem with today being the eve of the new year was that there was absolutely nothing to do while every adult seemed wrapped up in some preparation or another. That left the kids to entertain themselves, and Cassia did just that with all her friends and their cousins. He was included, of course, but it all felt like being a part of her play, even when their relationships with their visiting cousins was all the same for them both.

Instead, he waits for his true best friend to arrive with the last of the Normandy family still not present, Aeson Sidonis. Sure that the two of them can figure out something better to do than whatever Cassia has planned to include all the other kids - and probably boring as a result - Damocles watches some of his aunts and uncles set up things they'll do outside during the party, sometimes looking to the sea to watch the waves against the rocks and shores.

He hears the heavier footsteps of an adult on the wood deck as they come closer, their owner stopping to stand next to him. He doesn't really need to guess who it is because he next hears his uncle, James', voice.

"Hey, loco." When Damocles looks over to him, the man grins and jerks his head towards the house. "I got something to show you. Couldn't give it to you for Christmas, though."

"You already sent something to me for Christmas," Damocles responds with a confused rumble, remembering the new game system his uncle had sent to Virmire because he wouldn't be able to arrive until after the holiday.

James snorts and half turns to the house, waving to follow. "I don't gotta have a reason to give you something. You'll like it. Trust me."

Shrugging because he isn't really doing anything important right now, Damocles follows James into the house through the living room doors so they don't get stuck among all the people in the kitchen preparing food. There are still quite a few of their family in the living room helping his dad clean up the decorations from Christmas, but his uncle leads him over to uncle Joker were he sits on the couch with the better view of the vidscreen. He's yelling orders in that tone of voice meant more to tease than actually command, but stops when James and Damocles come over.

"Hope us adults aren't interrupting your deep brooding," he says with a smirk and drops the vidscreen remote on the table beside his end of the couch. "Vega and I have something you just might like."

"Hey! I think I was the one that thought of it." Uncle James crouches down and pulls out a box from under the same table, pushing it towards Damocles as he mutters something about Joker 'taking all the glory'.

Joker chuckles and looks to Damocles, motioning himself with a hand. "Yeah, and I did the most important part of picking them out."

"Picking what out?" Unable to decide who to actually ask that, he looks between both uncles before dropping his eyes to the box in question. Rumbling in question, he sits and pulls the slightly heavy box closer. "What is it?"

"Well, open it and find out. That's the point of a surprise," James answers with a chuckle of his own, dropping down on Damocles' other side with a heavy 'whoof' of the cushions.

Damocles doesn't even know his dad is paying any attention until he chides James for that. "Don't break my couch."

"Oh, calm down, Scars. If it don't survive that, then it wasn't a good couch-"

"Shut up and let him open it," Joker interrupt with a slight hiss at both of them before Damocles feels a nudge at his side. "Go on. We'll be waiting until next Christmas if they keep going at it."

Nodding without looking up, Damocles runs his talon across the tape along the side of box's top edge to slice it open. The two sides are next before he can lift up the top like a lid and look inside. "Magazines?"

Inside are magazines very unlike the ones his father gets, brightly colored with images of cartoon characters and big, bold wording like they have in the intros for every show instead of guns and armors. The characters even look like some of the human 'superhero' cartoons, just with more crazy outfits than the ones he's seen. Picking some up, he catches names like 'Batman', 'Superman', 'The Avengers', and so many more.

James laughs as Joker makes a kind of squawk noise. "Magazines?" When Damocles looks up to him, he sees his uncle lean back against the couch with a sigh. "Garrus, you fail as a dad."

"Oh," his father says from atop his ladder, stopping his passing down ornaments to aunt Tali to raise a brow at Joker, "I'm sorry. I thought I just heard you, a man whose only knowledge of xeno anything comes from Fornax, blaming me for not knowing human things."

Tali gasps and looks to Damocles, her eyes wide behind her face plate and ornament nearly falling out of her hands. "Garrus! You can't just say that in front of your son!"

"Say what?"

"You know," she whispers harshly, cupping a hand to the side of her mask's speaker, "Fornax."

His dad snorts and chuckles. "You know he can hear you, right?" He taps his own head beside his aural canal. "Turian hearing?"

"Dammit. I keep forgetting after so long away." Wrapping the ornament maybe a bit rougher than necessary, she shakes her head. "Still, you shouldn't say that around Damocles."

"Why not? He has some." That actually makes her and both uncles make clear squawking noises and Damocles' mandibles flutter as he clicks in amusement, his dad clearly thinking the same as he laughs. "What? You hide that kind of stuff?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, that's what I'd do if I had a kid," Joke says with a shake of his head and long exhale, staring right at Damocles' dad. "That's just… wrong."

Dad shrugs and turns back to taking off ornaments from the tree. "It's strange that you try to act oblivious. What good does it do?"

Either he doesn't want an answer or Damocles' uncle doesn't want to explain the weirdness of that thinking. Joker, instead, gives a final shake of his head before returning to the magazines that apparently aren't magazines.

"Anyway, those are comics," he explains and reaches out to grab one off the top. "Man, you got some really good ones. The classics."

Trilling in curiosity, Damocles ignores something obviously meant to be said to uncle James and picks up the next in the pile with a large human man in a black suit with a pointed mask and large, black cape. He opens it and looks over it. "But what are they if they aren't magazines?"

"They're comics." James picks up the third 'comic' and holds it up in a way that gets Damocles' attention, pointing at the front page as he explains, "Also called 'graphic novels'-"

"If you want to be that guy," Joker says, not looking up from his comic in hand when Damocles glances to him.

At the explanation, Damocles closes the comic and frowns down at its vibrant cover. "I think you should give these to Cassia. She's the one that likes novels, not me."

"Ah, dammit." James sighs and, when Damocles looks up to him in confusion, he smiles softly. "I didn't mean it like that. That's just what they're called because they still tell a story, just with images instead of making you imagine it." He lays a hand on Damocles' shoulder and motions with his chin. "Check it out. You might like them. They're a lot like those shows you like."

Damocles rumbles and looks over the three different comics laid out on their laps. "Where do I start?"

Jerking forward, uncle Joker starts flipping through the comics in the stack before tugging one out. "This," he says and James, a grin on his face, grabs up all the comics already laid out. "I know you'll like this one."

"Yeah. That's the one," James agrees, dropping the others back in the box.

With the comic set in his lap, Damocles tilts his head with a hum as he considers the title. "'The X-Men'?" Both uncles nod excitedly and he flicks his mandibles. "What's it about?"

"It's about people outside of the norm." Joker seems more serious as he taps the comic. "People call them 'mutants', but they turn out to be the ones saving everyone's asses."

Damocles is sure his uncles keep talking, expecting him to hear them, but can't stop looking at the image of blue and yellow clad heroes with all manner of superpowers fighting a figure in red with some sort of forcefield power. Only one word from Joker rings in his ears, but it doesn't carry the same weight of hatred and disgust that it normally does.

Mutant.

He knows there is no such thing as superheroes, that the real heroes don't have magical powers and might not always win in the end, but the idea of turning a flaw into a strength? It's a power he wants, a way to be the real kind of hero like his parents are despite his nature, in spite of what everyone else thinks of him. He wants to harness what makes him a freak and use it to show the galaxy just what this 'abomination' can do better than any of those bastards that think they were better than him.

"Thank you." He can tell he just interrupted whatever his uncles were saying as he looks up and sees their mouths still open. "Thank you. I think this one is already my favorite."

James grins wide and barks a laugh. "See!?" he calls over to Joker. "What did I tell you? I knew he'd love them!"

"Pa-lease," Joker retorts, scoffing. "I was the one that told you it was the X-Men he'd like. You weren't just going to give him any old comic."

"The classics, amigo. Classics!"

Damocles goes to ignoring them bicker as he sees his dad stop what he's doing and smile his way, giving a slight nod. He purrs and smiles back before his dad returns to his work, leaving Damocles to dig through his magazines for more X-Men comics. He has a plan to stay up all night and day reading every last one, but there's something he has to do first.

He has to show Aeson.

Stuffing his arms full of comics, he stands. "Thanks again!" he says quickly before rushing for the door, trying not to drop any of his precious cargo.

"Where's he going?" He hears the confusion in uncle James' voice, but doesn't pay any attention as he chooses not to bother with his shoes.

Reaching for the door, it surprises him by opening into his hand. He steps back so as not to be hit and trills, peeking around the door to see his pop-pop and aunt Sol. He smiles and chirps, but starts moving again, shimmying around them. "Hi, pop-pop. Hi, Sol," he says as he wedges himself through them and hears them chirp and trill in confusion. "Bye!"

"Now wait," pop-pop calls, making Damocles skid to a stop at the top step of their porch. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, dad." Sol chuckles and waves Damocles to keep going. "It's too early for 'stern grandfather' talk."

"Sol!" Uncle James shouts from inside and Damocles hears his aunt make a joyous purr, but doesn't stick around for pop-pop to actually start in with questions. He'd never get out once that happens and pop-pop can be pretty nosy at times.

The door shuts behind him just as Sol cries out for his uncle and Damocles hops down the last steps. Running through the sand and onto the paved path, he heads down to the housing sector for the Sidonis house. He's lucky in that he doesn't have to go too far into the area, and too close to other kids' houses, to find it. He'd much rather avoid any stops for bullies to get in his way, even if he's not afraid and can easily kick their asses, so Aeson's house being so close to his own really comes in handy.

When he turns onto the path for their street, Damocles sees uncle Lantar sweeping off his porch. He looks up when Damocles gets close and smiles. "Damocles, I didn't think you'd be here." He huffs a laugh and rumbles in amusement. "I assume your parents told you to come and make us hurry? I told Aelia we can-"

"No," Damocles interrupts, flicking his mandibles impatiently and wondering why everyone wants to talk when he has something very important to do. "They didn't tell me to come."

"Oh." Surprised, Lantar steps over for Damocles to get to the door after he climbs the short stairs onto the porch. He rumbles as Damocles opens the door himself. "I think Aeson is in his room," he adds just as Damocles shuts the door again, barely managing to say it all.

Luckily, aunt Aelia is in the kitchen and unable to stop him for needless talk too, so Damocles quickly takes the side hall and runs for the room second to the last. The door is slightly cracked, but he knocks anyways and shifts impatiently for his friend to answer.

"Come on, come on," he whispers, growling at the seconds that seem to drag on forever before the door opens.

"Damo?" The six year old trills in surprise, but the sound stutters to a stop when he sees what Damocles holds as curiosity wins over confusion. "What're those?"

"They're called comics." Damocles rumbles and jerks motions with a jerk of his head over his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go read them!"

"Really?!" Aeson grins and slams the console to the lights in his room and runs ahead, yelling across the house instead of approaching his mother. "Momma! Can I go with Damo?" Not waiting for the answer, Aeson and Damocles run out of the house, the younger boy bumping into his dad. He'd have fallen in a comical bounce off of his dad if not for Damocles close enough to keep him steady.

"Dad!" Aeson shouts even before he can return to stable footing, bouncing on his feet with flicks of his mandibles. "Dad. Dad. Dad."

"What? What? What?" uncle Lantar responds with a warm purr, laying a hand on Aeson's head in order for him to still.

Aeson smiles up at his father, purring happily as he looks back to Damocles. "Can I go with Damo so we can go read comics?"

Rumbling, Lantar nods once and addresses Damocles. "Just be sure to remember to come home or your parents will kill me for being the last one to see you and I didn't tell you so."

Damocles grins and nods, knowing that his parents are planning to start their party once the last of their family has arrived. That should be around sun down, so they have all of the rest of the day to hang out without having to be watched by the adults. Besides, it's not like they'd be able to read when it gets dark where he's planning on taking them anyways.

"Okay," he says before glancing to Aeson and chirping. "Our rock?"

Aeson's face lights up and he jumps around his dad, waving for Damocles to keep up. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Though they have more than one favorite rock - the one in the school yard and another in a more quiet spot on the beach - they both know which one is the one today. Racing to be the first to it, the two boys run down the paths connecting the living sector to the farm ones, ducking in and out of the workers and other people walking them. Damocles can easily outrun the smaller turian, but there isn't any fun in taking advantage of his bigger size and obvious training when it's just them playing and having fun. Besides, going too fast would probably make him lose his comics if they slipped out of his grasp.

Once the past the furthest of fields from their starting point, there is nothing but flat beaches where people play in the water and rest under the sun. It's already far from Damocles' own house - his being in the most private area so it's just his family around - but still not far enough. There are still too many people around and the spot he and Aeson are heading to is even more secluded. They're going to a spot most people think is the bad part of the beach, too rocky to be of any use for relaxation and having fun.

Bordering the very tall cliff at the edge of the entire Wraith settlement lies a section of the beach made out of large rocks with a few small ponds spread throughout. Closer to the ocean, the stones have been smoothened by the waves constantly crashing over them, and rougher ones lay farther where the water can't reach. It's on the verge of these two very different kinds of rock that a large boulder stands tall, towering over the others and looking out into the sea.

This is their rock.

Damocles makes it seem like they both arrive at the rock at the same place, but laughs when Aeson shouts in victory as he throws up his arms. "I win!" Aeson yells, laughing at beating his bigger friend.

Just for fun, Damocles hums in consideration. "No, I think I beat you."

"Nuh uh!" The smaller boy grins and shoves Damocles before scrambling to climb the smaller rocks that create a sort of ladder up to their perch. "I'll show you I'm faster!"

Chirping happily and laughing, Damocles takes the comics into one hand tucked under his arm to follow. Being bigger, he doesn't yet need both of his hands. He will closer to the top, but, like always, he will hand them to Aeson once he helps his friend up. Soon, Aeson won't need the help, but that'll have to be when he gets a bit older and bigger. For now, Damocles is okay with giving him a boost until he no longer needs the help and Aeson, for his credit, doesn't get upset at needing the help. That he accepts it makes Damocles feel more helpful than if Aeson were to pout every time.

In fact, once Aeson uses both arms to pull himself up onto the final stone he can reach, he turns to Damocles with a rumbling question for help as if he really needs to. Damocles waves off the request and smiles, offering the comics. "Here. Take these up with you." With Aeson's nod once the comics are exchanged, Damocles crouches and cups his hands to create a flat step with his palms. "Ready."

Trilling with his own grin, Aeson grasps the comics in one hands and uses the other to grip Damocles' shoulder. Using Damocles' shoulder for leverage, Aeson hops onto the makeshift step and bounces on the opposite foot's toes in preparation for the next step. Sensing his readiness, Damocles moves fast to stand, jerk up his hands, and use a small push of biotics to lift his friend high enough that he literally falls down onto the top of the rock. It makes Aeson laugh and chirp in joy every time.

Damocles waits, holding his breath - needlessly, in this case as Aeson's head peeks over the edge. "That was fun!"

Grinning, Damocles rumbles in pride and puffs out his chest. "No better way to get up there." Aeson laughs softly and his head disappears as he most likely leans back to give Damocles room to climb up.

Stepping back to the opposite edge of his current rock, Damocles takes a running start and kicks off to gain the extra height needed to grab on the edge of the boulder. He pulls himself up, wanting to hurry up and grow like his dad promises so he doesn't have to jump anymore, and huffs as he sits. He smiles to his friend before holding out a hand for his comics because he's figured out that the numbers at the corner of each must make them go in a certain order. He saw them in his quick overlook at all of them back at his house, so he isn't completely sure, but he's about to find out.

He thankfully doesn't have to call uncle James and Joker for help when he sees all of the comics with a number on top like he suspected. Trilling at his luck, he lays all on the ground between himself and Aeson except for the one marked with a large 'First Issue' and the one he had fell in love with at first sight.

"Who are they?" Aeson points at the vibrantly clothed heroes before turning to Damocles. "And who's that?" he adds as he points to the red character, obviously the villian.

"That's the X-Men." With Aeson leaning closer, Damocles opens to the first page.

Immediately, the two are greeted with a colorful scene of all the characters flying onto the page with shouts of their names and show of power. All rally around a hairless man in a wheelchair, called Professor Xavier, addressing him as 'sir' and obviously their leader. Damocles thinks he must be the most powerful if he can lead a group of winged, laser shooting, half-animal, and ice wielding superheroes. The others even tend to him, making him comfortable in his chair and fretting over him.

The two boys never realize how much time passes, how many comics they manage to read, until they start to unconsciously squint to better read in the dimming light. At first, the reason for the lack of light slips their minds until Damocles growls in frustration and looks around to search for somewhere better lit.

"Shit," he curses as he sees the sun setting on the horizon and alerting him to the fact that he and Aeson have little time to get home before they are officially 'late'.

He knows his parents will probably lecture him about not keeping track and not really punish him, but he doesn't know what will happen to Aeson when he doesn't arrive in time. He doesn't think that uncle Lanter and aunt Aelia would punish his friend for Damocles' own mess up, but he still wants to make sure there isn't a need to do so anyways.

Gathering up his comics, Damocles hands them to Aeson to take care of while he climbs down to catch the younger turian boy. "Here. We can make it if we hurry."

He waits for his friend's nod before crouching at the edge of the rock and swinging his legs over as he pushes off with his hand. His landing is hard, but it's not anything that he couldn't save himself from getting hurt by because he knows how to keep his legs loose and free to move with his landing. It still manages to make him grunt when he lands, but he quickly stands up and smiles to Aeson.

"Ready?" he asks and purrs when Aeson nods and moves to sit on the ledge of the rock, one hand gripping the comics to his chest as he braces with the other.

Damocles waves his hands up in encouragement as Aeson flutters his mandibles with a soft smile in what Damocles is sure has to be excitement. They've done this so many times that it's like nothing to just read and know what the other is about to do. It's probably pretty fun for the younger boy, too, and Damocles finds his own joy in the trust that carefree reaction to actually falling brings Aeson.

Just as Aeson scoots off the rock, he kicks the rock side with just enough force to put a slight distance between himself and the rough surface. They learned quickly that getting too close would only end up in scratches - which both of their moms and dads did not like - and it's almost like Aeson propels himself towards Damocles everytime. That often comes in handy because all Damocles has to do is raise his hands and catch him.

Like every other time, Aeson trills and laughs when he drops into Damocles' arms. He doesn't wait for Damocles now that he doesn't need his help any longer and pushes the comics into the older boy's arms before rushing to get down the rocks first.

"Come on! Race you home!"

Damocles laughs and growls playfully as he starts jumping down the rocks to get down. "You're on!"