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Jul. 9th, 2005 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seymoureMickey spent the next 2 hours playing gin rummy with his brother and Jeremy. They seemed glad to see him, but where not so happy that he clobbered them every game.
As the boy’s dinner was arriving, so did Colonel Stonedragon. He stopped in ever couple of days or so and talked to everyone in the clinic, just to let them know they were being thought about.
Mickey decided that he was going back to the rooms and the Colonel offered to walk with him.
“McCauley,” He said in that voice of his that said if he were capable of intimate discussion, this would be it, “I want to talk to you about this afternoon.”
Mickey sighed.
“I did not mean to break the rules, I didn’t know that I could . . .” He began his defense.
“What?” The Colonel asked, looking at him in total obliqueness.
“The basketball game,” Mickey said, sorry to have brought it up at all, “I didn’t know I could turn the other boys invisible. It just happened.”
“You turned them invisible?” The wide eyed man asked. When Mickey pursed his lips and admitted it Stonedragon said, “That’s one we can use. Glad to hear it.”
They took a few more steps and Mickey was totally confused. Before he could ask, the Colonel spoke.
“I wanted to talk to you about your friendship with Mr. McKraken.”
The Colonel stopped, and turned the boy to him. He leaned down to speak eye to eye.
“The others say awful things about him. Should I be worried?” Mickey said in tones that showed he wished he didn’t have to say anything at all.
“Mr. McKraken is a valued member of our team. He has been run through every psychological test available to mankind. When we mix a community of young people and older people, we feel a real need to be thorough and careful.
“Mr. McKraken is a lonely man, with a lot of power. He has not been welcomed because he is so different looking than the other more ‘normal’ members of our group.
“You welcomed him. That is to be lauded. Care is always important. Sometimes to take, and sometimes to give.
“Being a hero is not always about striking out against an enemy.
“Sometimes it is about reaching out to those who need comfort and friendship.
“Today, my boy, you became a real hero.”
With that they reached the apartment.
Colonel Stonedragon reached his hand out and took Mickey’s hand. He shook hands not as a grown up shakes a child’s hand. But as a man shakes a man’s hand.
As the Colonel walked away, Mickey decided not to tell a soul. This was a moment that he wanted to keep to himself, a prize to be cherished. At least for a while.
