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xp_logsAs soon as he gets back from Muir, Miles goes in search of Hank, who it has been promised is actually around this time... and who has a surprise for him that may be more popular with Miles than with the Mansion's other inhabitants
There was much scrambling and general moving very quickly of small feet as Miles made his way downstairs. They were back at the mansion and it was good to be here. Safe to be here, in Miles' opinion. It had lifted his spirits a lot to be back, to see the tension in Mama's face ease that much more. That she would let him out of her sight said it all, just as much as he was willing to do the same. And with the promise of a Hank to play in the snow with him (and maybe even do one of those jumps out the window in a snow bank thing again!) Miles had made his way to the Medlab, the usual place he knew to go to, when looking for a Hank. Pausing in the doorway he quickly peeled off his sneakers, then inched silently through the doorway. Elusive Hanks were very hard tp find, but he had been told there'd be one waiting for him...
Hank saw the little flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and stifled a grin. He pretended not to notice it as it inched closer... and closer... and then he swung around and pounced. "Growf!" he said, in his best play growl, and swung Miles up off his feet, tickling him just a little. "An intruder!"
Squirming madly, Miles grinned down at Hank cheerfully as the scenery of the lab unfurled at high speed behind the wall of blueness that was Hank. "Mama promised Miles a Hank! And Miles has caught one!" Even if he was the one being twirled around - Miles was laying odds that Mama's promise was good and Hank wouldn't go back to working this time.
"Oh, I think I'M the one who caught a Miles!" Hank grinned, and gathered him in for a hug. "And I've been wanting to have a talk to a Miles, too, so that all works out." He sat down, setting Miles on his feet again, and gave him a serious look. "First... any booboos I should know about, from the trouble on Muir? I have a special supply of Scooby Doo plasters all ready."
"No. Miles is fine. Miles got taken away fast and was not anywhere near things that went boom at all." Which had made for a very relieved Alison, when he'd told her that, really. And Miles hadn't minded being away one bit, for that matter. Small children tended to get stepped on, when things like that happened, he knew. "And Miles wanted to catch a Hank to go play in the snow. Will Hank come and throw snow outside at people?"
"Soon. First, I have something I want to say." Hank reached out, and then paused. "You know, I think I may have a problem," he said seriously. "Since you've had a birthday and all, maybe you're too big to sit on my knee when we talk. Do you think you're too big?" He loved being able to hold Miles, but he knew how important dignity was to a child at that age. And how annoying it was when grownups didn't take that dignity seriously.
Miles snorted softly. "Miles will always stay small and Hank knows it, but Miles also knows that's not what Hank means." He paused, then shrugged. "Miles thinks it is stupid to not want to be hugged." He'd missed on far too much of that to start getting picky about it now. He raised his arms towards Hank, making the answer clear.
Hank beamed, picking him up and settling him on one knee. "Good. I agree entirely. Hugs are good." He patted Miles' small back gently, sobering. "I want to tell you I'm sorry," he said seriously. "For not being around to play with you much lately, or answer your questions or anything. I've been away a lot, and when I haven't, I've been working, and I haven't wound up spending nearly as much time with the people who're important to me as I should. So I'm sorry I haven't been around, and I promise I will be from now on, okay?"
"Okay." Miles agreed, because usually when anyone said something like that, agreeing was the first and best thing to do. But - there was something to say, in his own opinion. "But Miles thinks that saving Mama was important work. And Miles is very biased," he'd heard Alison use that word fairly often on some things, "which means Miles didn't mind playing less because it was important work." He paused, then gave Hank a stern look. "So long as Hank remembers to play in the snow sometimes too. And not eat only Twinkies."
"Lorna yelled at me about that, too." Hank smiled. "The two of you are both very smart, and I promise to eat better. And play in the snow. And yes, saving your Mama - and the other things I've been doing - have been important. But she's all right now, and I should get back to doing other things that're important, like being with my friends." He grinned. "And since I've neglected you shockingly, I have a late Christmas present for you."
A very solemn and curious look greeted that statement, even though Miles made a mental note to check in on Hank to make sure he remembered to do things other than working. It was a Hank Thing, Alison had told him, and checking in was good because Hank tended to get very lost in his work. And if Alison said that, Miles figured she had to be right. "A present?" Miles suspected it would be fun, because Hank presents usually were. And something that many people could be involved in. "Miles is curious now." Because saying anything else would be unthinkable, of course.
"I made it for you myself," Hank said solemnly, leaning over and feeling around for the carefully wrapped box that he'd hidden down inside his desk. He pulled it out into plain sight, but left it on the floor since it was too big to fit on his lap with Miles. "It's educational AND fun, just like your Mama likes. Go ahead and open it."
Hank and education had ways of impacting in ways that were always entertaining and fun, though also very chaotic. Which still meant fun. Miles grinned and scrambled for the box, pausing to look over his shoulder. "Miles would like to say thank you!" And so, starting to carefully peel paper off, Miles continued, in a sing song voice. "Thaaank you!"
"You're welcome, Miles." Hank crouched beside him on the floor, enjoying the look of eager anticipation in the boy's eyes. Educational toys *could* be lots of fun, after all... and this one would teach Miles a lot about trajectory, aiming, estimating distance, and probably running away quickly, too, depending on who got hit with the outsized snowball.
The glow in Miles' eyes as the not so miniature catapult was revealed told the entire story, really. "Ooooh." There could only be awe at the sight of that gift, which was perfect for a winter ambush outside. With a bit of pull, Miles thought, he might even be able to nab the flyers. He'd have to use light snow and make sure there was nothing to fly into in sight, but it could be done! "Miles thinks this is perfect!"
"I'm glad you like it!" Hank lifted it out of the box, looked around. Twinkie, that'd do... He took the bag of M&Ms out (he had promised Alison to give Miles some candy, so that hers would be safe, after all), and loaded the catapult with the Twinkie. "Now... you use these two levers to aim, see? Side to side and backwards and forwards. Then you wind it back with this handle until it clicks, and then you push this one." The Twinkie bounced off the opposite wall, across the desk, and slid forlornly onto the floor. "Of course, snow doesn't bounce like that." He grinned impishly. "And in summer, I'll put wheels on it for you, and we can load it up with water balloons."
Grinning widely, Miles nodded. A lot. "Snow. Miles thinks that the catapult needs to be tested with snow. Lots of snow." There was nothing like an evil calculating look on the young boy's face, not at all. "And targets. Of course, Hank has to help, to make sure that Miles gets it right."
"You know, I do think you're right!" Hank beamed. "Clearly we have no *choice* but to go out and play in the snow right now. It's simply unavoidable." He grinned. "I'll smuggle it outside, while you get your coat," he whispered conspiratorially. "Meet me under the dining room window in five minutes. If nobody sees us with it, they won't know who it is... right away, anyway."
Big fluffy snowball. Oh so many innocent passersby to chose from. Paige always jogged at every odd hour of the day. Maybe they could get Mama too. Surely she'd want to see the present Hank had made for her. Oh so many people to pick from. "Miles will go get his coat now!" And it would serve to help people not think about what had happened at Muir too, which meant getting some of those who'd been there was imperative. Maybe a big giant snowball fight.
There was much scrambling and general moving very quickly of small feet as Miles made his way downstairs. They were back at the mansion and it was good to be here. Safe to be here, in Miles' opinion. It had lifted his spirits a lot to be back, to see the tension in Mama's face ease that much more. That she would let him out of her sight said it all, just as much as he was willing to do the same. And with the promise of a Hank to play in the snow with him (and maybe even do one of those jumps out the window in a snow bank thing again!) Miles had made his way to the Medlab, the usual place he knew to go to, when looking for a Hank. Pausing in the doorway he quickly peeled off his sneakers, then inched silently through the doorway. Elusive Hanks were very hard tp find, but he had been told there'd be one waiting for him...
Hank saw the little flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and stifled a grin. He pretended not to notice it as it inched closer... and closer... and then he swung around and pounced. "Growf!" he said, in his best play growl, and swung Miles up off his feet, tickling him just a little. "An intruder!"
Squirming madly, Miles grinned down at Hank cheerfully as the scenery of the lab unfurled at high speed behind the wall of blueness that was Hank. "Mama promised Miles a Hank! And Miles has caught one!" Even if he was the one being twirled around - Miles was laying odds that Mama's promise was good and Hank wouldn't go back to working this time.
"Oh, I think I'M the one who caught a Miles!" Hank grinned, and gathered him in for a hug. "And I've been wanting to have a talk to a Miles, too, so that all works out." He sat down, setting Miles on his feet again, and gave him a serious look. "First... any booboos I should know about, from the trouble on Muir? I have a special supply of Scooby Doo plasters all ready."
"No. Miles is fine. Miles got taken away fast and was not anywhere near things that went boom at all." Which had made for a very relieved Alison, when he'd told her that, really. And Miles hadn't minded being away one bit, for that matter. Small children tended to get stepped on, when things like that happened, he knew. "And Miles wanted to catch a Hank to go play in the snow. Will Hank come and throw snow outside at people?"
"Soon. First, I have something I want to say." Hank reached out, and then paused. "You know, I think I may have a problem," he said seriously. "Since you've had a birthday and all, maybe you're too big to sit on my knee when we talk. Do you think you're too big?" He loved being able to hold Miles, but he knew how important dignity was to a child at that age. And how annoying it was when grownups didn't take that dignity seriously.
Miles snorted softly. "Miles will always stay small and Hank knows it, but Miles also knows that's not what Hank means." He paused, then shrugged. "Miles thinks it is stupid to not want to be hugged." He'd missed on far too much of that to start getting picky about it now. He raised his arms towards Hank, making the answer clear.
Hank beamed, picking him up and settling him on one knee. "Good. I agree entirely. Hugs are good." He patted Miles' small back gently, sobering. "I want to tell you I'm sorry," he said seriously. "For not being around to play with you much lately, or answer your questions or anything. I've been away a lot, and when I haven't, I've been working, and I haven't wound up spending nearly as much time with the people who're important to me as I should. So I'm sorry I haven't been around, and I promise I will be from now on, okay?"
"Okay." Miles agreed, because usually when anyone said something like that, agreeing was the first and best thing to do. But - there was something to say, in his own opinion. "But Miles thinks that saving Mama was important work. And Miles is very biased," he'd heard Alison use that word fairly often on some things, "which means Miles didn't mind playing less because it was important work." He paused, then gave Hank a stern look. "So long as Hank remembers to play in the snow sometimes too. And not eat only Twinkies."
"Lorna yelled at me about that, too." Hank smiled. "The two of you are both very smart, and I promise to eat better. And play in the snow. And yes, saving your Mama - and the other things I've been doing - have been important. But she's all right now, and I should get back to doing other things that're important, like being with my friends." He grinned. "And since I've neglected you shockingly, I have a late Christmas present for you."
A very solemn and curious look greeted that statement, even though Miles made a mental note to check in on Hank to make sure he remembered to do things other than working. It was a Hank Thing, Alison had told him, and checking in was good because Hank tended to get very lost in his work. And if Alison said that, Miles figured she had to be right. "A present?" Miles suspected it would be fun, because Hank presents usually were. And something that many people could be involved in. "Miles is curious now." Because saying anything else would be unthinkable, of course.
"I made it for you myself," Hank said solemnly, leaning over and feeling around for the carefully wrapped box that he'd hidden down inside his desk. He pulled it out into plain sight, but left it on the floor since it was too big to fit on his lap with Miles. "It's educational AND fun, just like your Mama likes. Go ahead and open it."
Hank and education had ways of impacting in ways that were always entertaining and fun, though also very chaotic. Which still meant fun. Miles grinned and scrambled for the box, pausing to look over his shoulder. "Miles would like to say thank you!" And so, starting to carefully peel paper off, Miles continued, in a sing song voice. "Thaaank you!"
"You're welcome, Miles." Hank crouched beside him on the floor, enjoying the look of eager anticipation in the boy's eyes. Educational toys *could* be lots of fun, after all... and this one would teach Miles a lot about trajectory, aiming, estimating distance, and probably running away quickly, too, depending on who got hit with the outsized snowball.
The glow in Miles' eyes as the not so miniature catapult was revealed told the entire story, really. "Ooooh." There could only be awe at the sight of that gift, which was perfect for a winter ambush outside. With a bit of pull, Miles thought, he might even be able to nab the flyers. He'd have to use light snow and make sure there was nothing to fly into in sight, but it could be done! "Miles thinks this is perfect!"
"I'm glad you like it!" Hank lifted it out of the box, looked around. Twinkie, that'd do... He took the bag of M&Ms out (he had promised Alison to give Miles some candy, so that hers would be safe, after all), and loaded the catapult with the Twinkie. "Now... you use these two levers to aim, see? Side to side and backwards and forwards. Then you wind it back with this handle until it clicks, and then you push this one." The Twinkie bounced off the opposite wall, across the desk, and slid forlornly onto the floor. "Of course, snow doesn't bounce like that." He grinned impishly. "And in summer, I'll put wheels on it for you, and we can load it up with water balloons."
Grinning widely, Miles nodded. A lot. "Snow. Miles thinks that the catapult needs to be tested with snow. Lots of snow." There was nothing like an evil calculating look on the young boy's face, not at all. "And targets. Of course, Hank has to help, to make sure that Miles gets it right."
"You know, I do think you're right!" Hank beamed. "Clearly we have no *choice* but to go out and play in the snow right now. It's simply unavoidable." He grinned. "I'll smuggle it outside, while you get your coat," he whispered conspiratorially. "Meet me under the dining room window in five minutes. If nobody sees us with it, they won't know who it is... right away, anyway."
Big fluffy snowball. Oh so many innocent passersby to chose from. Paige always jogged at every odd hour of the day. Maybe they could get Mama too. Surely she'd want to see the present Hank had made for her. Oh so many people to pick from. "Miles will go get his coat now!" And it would serve to help people not think about what had happened at Muir too, which meant getting some of those who'd been there was imperative. Maybe a big giant snowball fight.
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