Mouse
Mouse sighed as she 'listened' empathically to every one on the bus. Natalia was sinking faster and deeper into a depressed, paranoid mood, Diana was still miffed at Zac, Zac at Ike, well, let's not even go there, Ike was...Ike. The kids were the only ones not upset, and even they were a bit cranky because they could feel what everyone else was feeling. Mouse got up and made her way up the bus. Saku zoomed to her legs, and she bent slightly to pick him up and pet him. He purred and licked at her fingers, before she set him down in a seat again. "Sit. Stay seated and stay human."
He shifted and pouted at her. "But..."
"I can outface your mother, and I can outface you. Sit." She ruffled his hair, then kept walking. Saku huffed slightly, and then folded his arms and kicked his legs. Mouse sat next to Zac. "Hey Zac."
Zac
Zac looked up at her from his school work.
"Hey Mouse. Come to rescue me from the evilness that is maths right?" He grinned. "And to think I used to like it..."
Mouse
"Don't look at me. I left my last foster home before I entered high school. I'm *behind* you." Mouse grinned back. "Agreeing with you that maths is evil." She picked up one of his pens and fiddled with it. "But yeah...wanted to talk to you."
Zac
Zac put down his pen.
"Sure. Shoot," he said. "I'm all ears. Actually... no... I'm all Zac. But that's not the point."
Mouse
Mouse laughed slightly, still fiddling with the pen. "Yeah...ummmm..." She sighed in a breath. "Saku's a great kid. Adores you. Wants you to be proud of him..."
Zac
Zac glanced over at Saku and smiled.
"Yeah, he is. Although I thought I'd have more time before I actually had to look after a kid, but hey... now that I've over the shock of having him dumped on my doorstep, so to speak, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. He's a good kid."
Mouse
"Yeah, that's Nyx all over." Mouse sighed and rubbed at her arm almost reflexively. "Anyway...you need to be careful what you're teahing him. Just because...damn, I suck at this...you're mad at Isaac, doesn't mean you can encourage Saku to use his powers on him. Not only is it bad for Saku, cos he won't know when he shouldn't, but it's bad for you and Ike. And Ike's relationship with Saku."
Zac
Zac sighed and looked away.
"I know, I know," he replied finally. "But sometimes it's so easy just to... just to let Saku mess around with Ike like that."
Mouse
"Ah, but that's the thing. You're responsible for Saku." Mouse looked at him seriously. "What if he decides to shoot a fireball at someone because they upset him or you, or douse them with water? One of his forms is human, but he's really more cat then alien. If that makes sense. You need to be strong *for* him. And you really need to fix this thing with Ike..."
Zac
Zac frowned.
"That's... I didn't think of that. I mean, yeah, it's only really been stupid typical cat stuff. But fireballs? That's a good point. As mad as I am with Ike, I'm not especially interested in seeing him go up in flame..."
He closed his eyes.
"I don't know that Ike and I will ever... he betrayed me Mouse."
Mouse
"I know how you feel...well, sorta. The cheating thing anyway...and didn't that turn out to be a big misunderstanding in the end? I should've gone with my first instincts. I think...that you'll find that this too is nothing but misunderstanding." Mouse touched his hand for a moment. "And besides. This is *Ike* we're talking about. And Faith. They both love you, in their own ways...Look, if I can manage to get the two of them together in the same room, I can tell you what's going on. I'm good enough at sensing that type of thing. But you shouldn't throw away your relationships with either of them. Ike's your brother, and you've gone through a lot together. Faith...she needs you, and she loves you. And I know you still love her, it's just all twisted up around this stuff at the moment, and you want to scream at her and him, make them hurt like you're hurting...and boy, do I understand that feeling too."
Zac
"Mouse I..." Zac began. "I appreciate what yoiu're trying to do, but I have to... This thing with me and Ike and Faith, it's just... It's something I have to figure out on my own, okay? I don't think it's only a misunderstanding. I know what I saw, Mouse."
He sighed.
"Thanks for the warning though - about what I might be teaching Saku," He glanced over at his son again. "Here's hoping I make a better father than a boyfriend."
Mouse
Mouse was getting the feeling that she was beating her head against a brickwall. Nevertheless, she did try again. "Except for that mild thing about letting Saku get away with potentially destructive behaviour, you're doing ok. Really." She smiled, then bit her lip again. "I don't think you saw what you thought you saw. And I know. I wasn't there. But give me some credit for my empathy, please."
Zac
"Well, thanks," Zac smiled.
Then he sighed.
"Look, I'll... I'll try to get things sorted with Ike and Faith. I'll try, I promise. But right now my heart feels like it's been put in a blender. And I'm sure you know that better than anyone."
Mouse
"Been there, done that, and I def don't want to go there again." Mouse gave him a thoughtful look. "Well...I'll let you get back to your schoolwork. Actually, I have some too. Funny that. What with the fact that it keeps appearing when you think you've got it done..."
Zac
Zac grinned.
"Yeah. A very annoying trait," he agreed. "Kinda like when you have a cold. Just when you think you've finally got all the snot out of your nose, it keeps coming. I mean, really, where does it all come from?"
Mouse
"Ok, ewwwww." Mouse grinned as she stood up. "Sometimes you're so immature, Zac. And can I repeat, ewwwwwwww?" She made an ick face.
Zac
Zac grinned back.
"You can repeat it as often as you want," he replied. "And I'm a teenage guy. I'm supposed to say immature, gross things."
He laughed evilly.
Mouse
"Ok, I'm going before you can put me even more off my snacks. Ewwww..." Mouse moved away from him down the bus back to her seat. "Bad Zac. Ewwww..."
Zac
Zac laughed to himself and then went back to his homework. Then he paused, and looked back at Saku.
"Saku? Can I talk to you for a moment?"