Pay it Forward - Interlude 1 (6/?) Rated PG
AN: Totally unbeta-ed (other than a glance over by myself and a friend of mine real quick), so if you see anything needing fixed give me a heads up and I'll fix. :)
Interlude for Part 4:
By Marns AKA Bumpkin
Rated PG
Gen
(Wordcount: 985)
*~Ring~* *~Ring~*
Ian reached over and picked up the phone, absently greeting whoever was on the other end with a vague "Hello?" He hadn't been expecting a call, and as Yassen never gave the house number out, he was sure that it wouldn't be for the other man either.
"Yes, Mr. Rider? This is Mrs. Sharpe from Marlborough Primary School, I teach your son, Alex."
Ian stiffened and focused his attention at the words. Then with visions of possible disasters running amuck in his mind, many caused or precipitated by the child under discussion himself, he answered cautiously, "I see, now the question is why you are calling - is there a problem with Alex?"
"A problem with Alex? No. Not exactly at any rate." Ian heard her utter a breathless little laugh that sounded more than a bit strained. "But I do think it would be best for you, and perhaps your partner as well, to come to the school if at all possible so that you can *see* what the exact situation is, as well as to discuss what should be done to deal with it."
Ian assented, allowing that he would be there shortly and then hung up. He wondered what exactly his brother's child had gotten into to have his teacher sounding like she had, but pushed aside all his theories to the back of his mind as he ventured up the stairs to inform Yassen of the call and subsequent summons.
-x-
Although not much time had passed between the call and the time he and Yassen arrived at Alex's school, Ian still managed to imagine many scenarios of what Alex might have done to prompt the school to call home. Each one more absurd or disastrous than the one before. Hopefully, he thought dryly, with all our combined training Yassen and I will be able to salvage the situation that has so stressed the teacher to actually call us in; even with whatever trouble that Alex has managed to orchestrate. Then he and Yassen physically stepped into the classroom and Ian realized that nothing, none of his training or Yassen's, could possibly have prepared him for what they had just walked into.
It was chaos; pure unadulterated mayhem of the highest order. The room was a virtual rainbow with swathes of paint liberally splashed everywhere. Nothing had been spared; walls, floor, ceiling, teacher… children. The teacher, Ian guessed her to be the Mrs. Sharpe who had called, looked like she was barely hanging onto her temper and Ian now understood the strained tone that had been evident in her voice during the call. He was certain he would be having a few troubles keeping things on an even keel in circumstances like this himself.
The children, of course, thought that the paint war had been one of the best things they had ever seen or participated in. They were giggling and somehow finding a way to make the mess worse - though Ian wasn't sure how that was even possible. It was also clear why he and Yassen had been called in; two heads close together in the middle of the vibrantly colourful mess were the obvious ringleaders to the hubbub - and one of the two, easily seen under the lashings of bright paint, was the brilliant blond of their Alex. The other seemed to be the spiky black, drooping now under it's own layered streaks of the tempra paint, belonging to Tom Harris; the boy Alex had been instantly drawn to on his first day of school. Giggling madly they seemed to be able to instigate the other children of the class into wilder actions with almost no effort. After a moments observation Ian came to see how it worked; Tom seemed to be the idea man and Alex, normally such a good child outside of his 'training', was the one to figure out how to make the ideas work.
"They make a good team, don't they?" Yassen said sotto voce just as they were joined by two other adults who could only be the parents of young Mr. Harris. Ian grimaced fleetingly in acknowledgement as Yassen's rather droll observation matched his own findings while he turned to greet Mr. and Mrs. Harris. Of course Yassen couldn't leave it there, he waited until Ian was done with his polite greetings and then added in Russian, "You think that Tom child might want to join Alex in some of his extra lessons? Prospective talent like his shouldn't be wasted and Alex could use some competition to really make the most of his potential."
Ian paused, actually thinking about what Yassen had proposed rather than just reacting, and outlandish as the idea sounded at the outset he had to admit - the idea had merit. He waited while Yassen made his own polite greetings to the Harris' and then he responded in the same language as the suggestion, "You know that really isn't a bad idea, Yassen, perhaps we can talk to the Harris' today before we leave after sorting this mess out. We could use the idea that both boys need an outlet to channel some energy as well as it being a mild form of discipline for Alex and Tom to win Tom's parents over. What do you think?"
Yassen didn't need long to think of all the ramifications, he'd already flashed through most of them as Ian spoke. He nodded sharply once and said, "It's solid, we'll do it; although we'll have to make sure none of the lessons are the ones that if repeated are going to get child services called on us if young Tom goes and starts telling tales out of school."
Ian raised a rather sardonic eyebrow as he replied with a faint smile, "Well, I suppose the ones in lying convincingly and not sharing are the ones to start with then, hmm?"
x-X-x
So, more interludes before time moves on? (I do think there is one more interlude between this and 'Part 5', but other than that would you all like more?) Or should I just keep things moving into the future? As always, let me know what you think. :D
Interlude for Part 4:
By Marns AKA Bumpkin
Rated PG
Gen
(Wordcount: 985)
*~Ring~* *~Ring~*
Ian reached over and picked up the phone, absently greeting whoever was on the other end with a vague "Hello?" He hadn't been expecting a call, and as Yassen never gave the house number out, he was sure that it wouldn't be for the other man either.
"Yes, Mr. Rider? This is Mrs. Sharpe from Marlborough Primary School, I teach your son, Alex."
Ian stiffened and focused his attention at the words. Then with visions of possible disasters running amuck in his mind, many caused or precipitated by the child under discussion himself, he answered cautiously, "I see, now the question is why you are calling - is there a problem with Alex?"
"A problem with Alex? No. Not exactly at any rate." Ian heard her utter a breathless little laugh that sounded more than a bit strained. "But I do think it would be best for you, and perhaps your partner as well, to come to the school if at all possible so that you can *see* what the exact situation is, as well as to discuss what should be done to deal with it."
Ian assented, allowing that he would be there shortly and then hung up. He wondered what exactly his brother's child had gotten into to have his teacher sounding like she had, but pushed aside all his theories to the back of his mind as he ventured up the stairs to inform Yassen of the call and subsequent summons.
-x-
Although not much time had passed between the call and the time he and Yassen arrived at Alex's school, Ian still managed to imagine many scenarios of what Alex might have done to prompt the school to call home. Each one more absurd or disastrous than the one before. Hopefully, he thought dryly, with all our combined training Yassen and I will be able to salvage the situation that has so stressed the teacher to actually call us in; even with whatever trouble that Alex has managed to orchestrate. Then he and Yassen physically stepped into the classroom and Ian realized that nothing, none of his training or Yassen's, could possibly have prepared him for what they had just walked into.
It was chaos; pure unadulterated mayhem of the highest order. The room was a virtual rainbow with swathes of paint liberally splashed everywhere. Nothing had been spared; walls, floor, ceiling, teacher… children. The teacher, Ian guessed her to be the Mrs. Sharpe who had called, looked like she was barely hanging onto her temper and Ian now understood the strained tone that had been evident in her voice during the call. He was certain he would be having a few troubles keeping things on an even keel in circumstances like this himself.
The children, of course, thought that the paint war had been one of the best things they had ever seen or participated in. They were giggling and somehow finding a way to make the mess worse - though Ian wasn't sure how that was even possible. It was also clear why he and Yassen had been called in; two heads close together in the middle of the vibrantly colourful mess were the obvious ringleaders to the hubbub - and one of the two, easily seen under the lashings of bright paint, was the brilliant blond of their Alex. The other seemed to be the spiky black, drooping now under it's own layered streaks of the tempra paint, belonging to Tom Harris; the boy Alex had been instantly drawn to on his first day of school. Giggling madly they seemed to be able to instigate the other children of the class into wilder actions with almost no effort. After a moments observation Ian came to see how it worked; Tom seemed to be the idea man and Alex, normally such a good child outside of his 'training', was the one to figure out how to make the ideas work.
"They make a good team, don't they?" Yassen said sotto voce just as they were joined by two other adults who could only be the parents of young Mr. Harris. Ian grimaced fleetingly in acknowledgement as Yassen's rather droll observation matched his own findings while he turned to greet Mr. and Mrs. Harris. Of course Yassen couldn't leave it there, he waited until Ian was done with his polite greetings and then added in Russian, "You think that Tom child might want to join Alex in some of his extra lessons? Prospective talent like his shouldn't be wasted and Alex could use some competition to really make the most of his potential."
Ian paused, actually thinking about what Yassen had proposed rather than just reacting, and outlandish as the idea sounded at the outset he had to admit - the idea had merit. He waited while Yassen made his own polite greetings to the Harris' and then he responded in the same language as the suggestion, "You know that really isn't a bad idea, Yassen, perhaps we can talk to the Harris' today before we leave after sorting this mess out. We could use the idea that both boys need an outlet to channel some energy as well as it being a mild form of discipline for Alex and Tom to win Tom's parents over. What do you think?"
Yassen didn't need long to think of all the ramifications, he'd already flashed through most of them as Ian spoke. He nodded sharply once and said, "It's solid, we'll do it; although we'll have to make sure none of the lessons are the ones that if repeated are going to get child services called on us if young Tom goes and starts telling tales out of school."
Ian raised a rather sardonic eyebrow as he replied with a faint smile, "Well, I suppose the ones in lying convincingly and not sharing are the ones to start with then, hmm?"
x-X-x
So, more interludes before time moves on? (I do think there is one more interlude between this and 'Part 5', but other than that would you all like more?) Or should I just keep things moving into the future? As always, let me know what you think. :D