Second Cousins, Second Guessing

Mel lounges on his bed in his room at the base, idly sketching out blueprints for some sort of… flying time-knife. He glances up to get Wingnut's attention to ask for her opinion and sees her staring fixated on the door to the room. He snaps to get her attention and when she totally ignores him, he looks at the door, sees nothing, shrugs, and goes back to doodling in the margins of the blueprints a stick figure wielding a time-knife.

While Bolt isn’t looking the door swings open with a start and Boon’s imposing figure fills the frame. “Mel! You need to be hugged, and you don’t have a say in the matter!” Boon runs over to the bed and tackle-hugs Mel into it. “I’m sorry I know I’m supposed to ask before hugging people but this is an emergency and also we’re related so it's fine.”

Mel jumps, scrawling a line across the entire page at the sound of the door banging against the wall. "Boon, what--ack!" He topples over as Boon plows into him and grabs onto her out of reflex. He laughs, but also wraps his arms around her to give her a tight hug. "Hey, Boon," he says. "Somebody told you, huh?"

“I mean you probably didn’t notice because you were busy dealing with your knife wings but I was there for a half second, I was the one that dragged Box out of there.” she lets go of Mel and sits next to him on the bed. “And then my mom told me that we’re cousins! This changes everything!” Boon noogies Bolt’s head.

Mel yelps and bats her hands away from his head. "Hey! First Tay and Ellen, now you. Leave my poor hair alone." Despite his grumbling, he curls up on the bed next to Boon and rests his head on her shoulder. "Yeah, it's the cousin thing that's the real game-changer here," he snarks.

Boon giggles at Mel's protesting. "I mean honestly? You've ostensibly been a robot this whole time, I don't really see how it changes anything. It doesn't suddenly make all of your lived experiences go away you know?" Boon rubs her horns "plus uhh, drastic body changes aren't exactly unfamiliar to me." She starts counting on her fingers "Gargoyle, robo-lizard, demon horns that eventually turned into ram horns, that time I woke up as a pangolin, I'm a Valkyrie now and I'm not sure if those are technically human…"

Mel snickers. "Okay, okay, I get it. Weird shit happens all the time. Shapeshifting isn't new or crazy. I mean, even the knife wings aren't *that* crazy, they're pretty much the same as what I had when I went to the Dataverse. It's more like…" He blows out a frustrated breath. "I mean, I *haven't* changed, is the thing. Sure I can make knives grow out of my shoulder and knock shit over, but, like, that's not what *bothers* me. Apparently I've been… y'know, whatever I am, the *whole time*. And I just *didn't know*. It's like…" He waves his hand. "It's not so much that the game has changed as it turns out I was playing a totally different game the whole time, y'know?"

Boon looks slightly confused "I think I get it…" she says despite not getting it at all. Recognition crosses her face "Oh wait no I totally get it. So uhh" she scratches the back of her head. "Before I met you, I was kind of sort of on a murderous revenge quest over Yamato killing my Dad" she looks visibly embarrassed. "I didn't! Obviously. Kill anyone that is, but… I came close though… and I'm not proud of it." Boon sighs "and to make things even worse, after all of that" she waves her hands for emphasis "I found out that the whole reason he moved to Halcyon was to be a supervillain. All of the pain, and all of the anger that I went through in his name… and he wasn't even the person I thought he was. It was like the rug got pulled out from under me."

"Damn, dude," Mel says. "That's… that's a whole lot. Like, at least I didn't really like my parents *before* I found out about the"--he gestures vaguely--"*stuff*." He hesitates, then offers Boon a closed fist. "But, um… not-quite-human, evil parents club?"

“Sounds like the world’s shittiest club, I’ll drink to that.” She carefully returns Mel’s fist bump. “Hey speaking of. I feel like you’ve earned this¸ if you’re cool with it. No pressure.” Boon reaches into the pocket of her jacket and fishes out a flask, extending it to Mel. “It’s legal because you’re a robot and you don’t have to conform to human laws anymore.”

"I don't suppose that line would work on Director Hussain, do you?" Mel muses, considering the flask. Eventually he shakes his head. "Thanks, Boon, but nah. I don't think having robo-taste buds has made alcohol taste any better." He makes a face. "I might need it later, though. I still have to call Cassi."

“That’s extremely fair, let me know.” She puts the flask away and lays back on the bed. “So… you figure out what you’re gonna tell her yet?” She turns her head to make eye contact with him “Do you want someone around when you call her?”

Mel curls up on the bed facing her, resting his head on his arm. He grimaces. "I dunno. Sort of? It's the same thing with the supervillain thing. If I tell her too much, and she… I dunno, confronts our parents, or tries to look into it on her own or something… she could get hurt. And I like to think she's smarter than that, but who *knows* how she'll react to 'hey I've been a robot all our lives.' Like, who knows how anybody would react to that? But I have to tell her *something* so she doesn't raise hell about me going missing or something." He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. "I was thinking I'd just tell her I'm doing some important Big Team stuff and can't go home until it's over. She won't like it, and she'll definitely have questions, but it might be the least suspicious thing I can tell her."

He looks away and opens his mouth to dismiss her offer, then stops, turns back, and says sheepishly, "... Would you?"

“Hey, listen dude, I know. Opening up to people about heavy stuff can be so difficult. And it’s so easy to assume the worst case scenario possible. Atlanta has had to deal with that a lot too...” Boon smiles warmly “Cassi loves you dude, she’s a good sister. I know it’s hard, but if you’re able, you should open up to her. And I will absolutely sit with you while you talk to her if you need me to.”

Mel rolls over and hides his face in Boon's arm and whines. "This sucks," he says, his voice muffled. "I don't wanna deal with any of this. I don't wanna lie to my sister again. But I also don't wanna tell her the truth."

He flips back onto his back. "If I had to be a robot, how come I had to be a robot made by supervillains, huh? I could tell her *something* if it at least wasn't our *parents*."

“I mean you do kinda have to tell her something, staying silent isn’t going to help things. Besides, wouldn’t it help to have someone you can trust that’s also close to your parents? Lighten the load you know.”

"I mean, I *trust* her, I just… I'm scared that telling her will put her in danger. I don't wanna lie to her, I just… need to stall long enough to figure out if it's safe." He slaps his hands over his eyes and groans again. "And the longer I wait to talk to her, the more suspicious she's gonna get. I can probably pass off not coming home last night as like a birthday thing, but I promised her I'd let her know whenever I was gonna be gone for a while."

Boon sighs "I don't know dude. I mean I'll support whatever you decide to do, but I think you owe it to her to tell her what's going on, keeping secrets in the name of keeping someone safe never helps. Believe me I've been there." Her expression softens a bit "Besides, knowing me it's only a matter of time before I let it slip anyway. Classes start in a few weeks after all." Boon giggles.

"Look, it's fine, a few weeks… a few weeks should hopefully be enough time for me to at *least* figure out *how* to tell her that both our lives are a lie, I just need that long." He bats her arm. "If you can keep it together for that long."

“Or.” Boon puts her finger on his nose. “You could do it right now and get it over with.”

Mel scrunches up his face. "Okay, fine, I'll call her. But I'm *not* telling her everything… not yet." He fishes his phone out of his pocket. He winces at the number of missed texts from Cassi already and dials her number before he can chicken out.

An exasperated voice answers the phone. “Mel? Where were you last night? You missed your own *birthday*, I was really worried about you. You’ve gotta tell me if you’re not coming home...”

Mel closes his hand around Boon's wrist. "Hey, Cassi, I know, I'm sorry. I was doing some stuff with friends like I told you and things got… a little crazy, and it was late, so I stayed over at the Base." His grip on Boon's wrist tightens. "Um, about that, actually, I… I'm gonna be away for a little while."

Boon takes the hand not being gripped by Bolt and places over top of Mel’s hand reassuringly.

“Wait, what? What do you mean? Mel, is- is everything okay?”

"Yeah!" Mel forces himself to smile to sound more convincing. "It's fine, everything's fine. There's just some stuff I need to do and it might take a while. It's Big Team stuff, you know." Quickly, he adds, "Look, just--you can tell Mom and Dad I went camping with some friends or whatever. They can lecture me about 'productive ways to spend my time' later and everything'll be fine."

“Melchior Mercury.” Cassi snaps into the receiver. “You know I’ll cover for you but you better not lie to me. That isn’t the voice of someone who’s ‘fine’”

"No, Cassi, look, it's--" Mel sputters frantically. He looks at Boon beseechingly. "It's fine!"

Boon squeezes her hand tighter over Bolt’s and gives him a reassuring look.

“Mel! Don’t you get it? I want to help you, I want to be there for you and be your sister but I can’t do that if you never tell me what’s going on. Just please, tell me what’s wrong.”

Mel squeezes his eyes shut. "Look, Cassi, everything's…" He trails off and blows out a long exhale. "Okay, you're right, everything's not fine. Some stuff happened and it's… confusing, and kinda messed up, but I'm working on it, okay? I promise I'll tell you everything, I just… can't yet."

There’s a sigh on the other end. “Can I at least know how long? You’re making me really anxious.”

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Um." Mel runs a hand through his hair. "I don't… know? I don't know how long it's gonna take to find out what I need before I can--" He cuts himself off. "Okay, look, give me… two weeks. If things haven't changed by then, I'll at least stop home and get Mom and Dad off your back, okay?"

“Two weeks. But when that’s over you owe me an explanation Mel, covering for you like this it’s… I mean I’m a good liar but, living in the house with Mom and Dad, not having a real answer for them when they ask where you are, having to choose my words carefully every time I talk to them… It’s exhausting. But I’m not going to rat you out, I promise.”

"I know, Cassi, it's a lot. Believe me, I wish you didn't have to either." Mel laughs humorlessly. He turns his head to look at Boon and the corner of his lips quirk up. "But hey, listen, I uh… I have some good news, too."

"Oh? What's up?"

"So, uh, it turns out Mom has a cousin who lives in Halcyon. And, uh, you know Boon?" He grins. "It's her *mom*."

There's a moment of silence "Wait, like, superhero Boon? Going to my school next year, Mom is a badass Valkyrie Boon? No way! I had no idea we were related! How did you find out?"

"Yes! Exactly that Boon!" Mel laughs. "We've been on the team together for months and had no idea! I was talking to Valkyrie about some Big Team stuff yesterday and it just sort of… came out. Like, how wild is that, right?"

“Yeah that’s awesome! Well, I’m looking forward to seeing our second cousin around on campus even more now. Tell her I said hi if you see her.”

Mel looks at Boon and presses his lips together so he won't laugh. "Yeah, I'll tell her you said hi." He takes a deep breath. "I'll see you soon, Cass, okay? Love you."

“Love you too, you dork. ” The phone beeps as Cassi hangs up.

Boon giggles after hearing herself get referenced. And then takes her hand off of Mel’s. “Hey. You did great dude, that sounded really tense but I’m sure she appreciated you talking to her… you may need to come up with something better than a two-week camping trip though.”

Mel flips onto his stomach and groans into the bed. "It doesn't matter," he says, his voice muffled by the blanket. He turns his head so he can speak more clearly. "My parents won't actually care what I'm doing. They just care that I'm, like, not staying inside doing homework or whatever all summer." He pauses. "Or at least I *thought* that's what they care about, but maybe *that* was all robo stuff, too."

“I mean, it sounds like we’re going to know the answer to that one way or another soon.” Boon frowns. “I want to tell you that your parents have your best interests at heart. But, parents… parents aren’t always good people.” She scratches the back of her head. “You deserve a break after that call though. You want to do anything to take your mind off things?”

Mel peers up at her from his position mostly face-down on the bed. "... I know this is a little out of character for me, but can we do something that has nothing to do with robots?"

Boon laughs endearingly. “One robot free distraction, coming right up. Hmmm, are arcade machines too close to robots?”

Mel flops over and considers. "It's a little on the borderline, but y'know what? It's fine. I just won't use my powers." With a groan, he heaves himself back up to a sitting position. Wingnut immediately hops onto his knee and he pets her head. "Yeah, buddy, you're the only robot allowed."

Boon giggles “Is that so? Well I guess we’ve gotta leave you here then, come on wingnut let’s go have fun without Mel.” She stands up and tousles his hair playfully.

Wingnut flutters from Mel's knee to Boon's shoulder and starts preening her hair, whirring her servos at Mel. "Hey!" Mel squawks. "Don't be *rude*, Boon!" He shoves himself off the bed to tackle her.

However it’s completely ineffective as Boon remains firmly planted in place. “Yeah? You got something to say noodle boy?” Boon laughs and waits for him to give up trying to tackle her.

"Yeah, actually!" Mel drapes himself over her back, his chin hooked over her shoulder. "... Thanks, Boon."

“Any time Mel. I care about you dude.” Boon pauses for a moment. “Hey uh, if you ever need a place to stay that isn’t the base, we’ve got a spare bedroom at my house. Just, something to keep in mind.”

"Thanks, but, um…" Mel bites his lip. "So, Box dragged me out of bed *ungodly* early this morning to do his whole, y'know," he waves a hand, "thing. And he found… something? Inside me? That's broadcasting something? And we don't know what or where to." He sits back on his heels. "So just, y'know, before you invite me to your house, you should probably know that there's a nonzero chance *somebody* might, uh… be tracking me."

Boon’s eyes widen in surprise. “Oh shit, that’s uh- that’s a lot™. But hey, I don’t think there’s a safer place to sleep in Halcyon than the one where Me, my Mom and Gay Lightning boy live. If anyone tries to take you away they’d have to answer to some angry superheroes first.”

Mel laughs. "Yeah, I guess a whole house full of superheroes is about the safest place to be, huh?" He elbows Boon. "You should probably make sure everybody else is cool with babysitting, but I'd love to hang out with the Ostenberg-Welles gang for a few weeks."

"I'll ask them later! But first I have to kick your ass at Street Fighter." She sticks her tongue out at Mel.

"Oh, it's *on*." Mel flings himself off the bed and scurries towards the door. "Race you!" he calls back over his shoulder. Wingnut runs her beak through Boon's hair one more time and takes off after him.

Boon considers reminding Mel that she has super speed but decides he needs a win today. She'll make it close though.