"Morning Mom," Mace greeted as he entered his abode. His Mother jumped in her seat, spewing hot liquidated caffeine all over the dining table as she heard the door close. Mace resisted the urge to laugh. He'd forgotten to tell her he was going out. Again.

"Mace!" Mendje exclaimed, standing and clutching at her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you were upstairs!" Mace grinned.

"Sorry, Mom. I had to go over and get my watch back from Aida."

"Cerebellum?" Mendje asked. Aida was a sort of common name, and while she only knew of the one, it wouldn't have surprised her if Mace knew five or six.

"That's the one!" he agreed. "I accidentally—Oh, crabnuggets!" he exclaimed, slapping his large forehead angrily.

"Mace, language!" Mendje chided.

"Sorry. I forgot to give Mrs. Cerebellum Dad's reports! I'll have to give it to Aida at some point today. I'm such an idiot!"

"Mace, don't talk like that," Mendje said gently, stepping forward to give her son a hug. "You're brilliant, and don't you forget that."

"Well, for being as brell—brall—ibrill/iiant as I'm made out to be, I'm pretty forgetful, now aren't I?" Mendje just tsked and shook her head. She planted a peck on his cheek and went back to the table to gather her reports together and make sure none of them had been stained.

"Don't upset yourself, Mace. You're the only one who has any doubts about you. Besides, you get that forgetfulness from your Father." She smiled widely. "If you want to see forgetful, watch him try to find his goggles." Mace laughed.

"I suppose it could be worse," he agreed, then glanced down at his watch. "Looks like I've got an hour before school starts. Are you working from home today?"

"No. I'll be making a trip over to Crypt today. I'll be back by morning with the Royal Family. Krut will be coming with them. I was hoping you could help show him around the school tomorrow?"

"Sure," Mace said with a shrug. He got along all right with Krut, the Prince of Crypt, and since his Mother worked with the King and Queen quite often, he was usually the one to keep the Prince busy.

"It really is such a shame Roxanne—Aida, I mean—didn't land on Crypt. She'd fit in so well there—Better than she does here, at least. She looks a lot more like Cryptonians than she does Ceruleans, and she'd be weaker and more vulnerable than they are there, but she'd certainly be able to blend with the crowd. If only they weren't so strict on immigration policies, she could've been raised there…" Mendje trailed off, and just as Mace was about to dismiss himself, she spoke again. "Maybe you could introduce the two?" Mendje suggested, looking up. "Maybe if Krut takes a liking to her, she'll be able to visit or even move to Crypt once she's of legal age."

"I could introduce them," Mace said, although he was a little hesitant on that note. Why it was, he didn't know, and he didn't really have the time or the need to analyze it. He'd introduce them tomorrow, and today he would give Aida that stupid little envelop that he had somehow forgotten to give her mother. iStupid, stupid, stupid,/i he berated himself as he dashed up the stairs. He turned abruptly halfway up and lost his balance, tumbling head-over-heels down the steps to land in a heap at the bottom. Everyone immediately came running, but Mace was on his feet in a moment.

"I'm fine!" he proclaimed. "I'm fine! I just forgot to tell Mom goodbye!" Macklnn rolled his eyes.

"Mace, what in the world are we going to do with you?" Mace's answer was swift and serious.

"Keep me away from the stairs."

Author Comments: Oh, Mace, you so clumsy! XDXD
Well, not much to say, the chapter kind of explains itself...Oh! I apologize for the whole "Crypt" thing. I didn't realize until just now that Crypt sounds a whole helluva lot like Krypton...XDXD, Enjoy! :D