Poem: "Stand in the Storm of Time"
Nov. 18th, 2021 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the October 2021 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from lone_cat. It also fills the "Sometimes being a total geek pays off." square in my 10-1-21 card for the Fall Festival Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"Stand in the Storm of Time"
[Monday, May 18, 2015]
After the fight was over,
Stan and Lawrence had
to find their gym bags so
they could change out
of their cape costumes.
Stan had a sturdy tan bag
that held an olive jogging suit
and a brown T-shirt with a tree.
Lawrence had a Hydra bag
that he had earned through
customer loyalty points, black
with a turquoise lining and
a matching shaker cup.
It held a Hydra jogging suit
of black and gray along with
a blue T-shirt that read,
In science we trust.
Changing the colors
and appearance of
their clothes would
discourage anyone
from associating them
with today's mayhem.
It took quite a while for
them to travel through
the crush and chaos that
downtown Omaha had
become, especially since
they couldn't just catch
a bus and ride it home.
What would normally have
taken only 15 minutes or so
took well over an hour now,
both worrying all the way.
They had decided to go
to Stan's house because
he expected his parents
to be there, even though
Lawrence's house was
closer to the park, since
his mother wasn't home.
"My dad is going to be
sooo upset," Stan said.
He looked upset too.
"My mom will probably
freak too, whenever she
finds out," Lawrence said.
It definitely did not help
that, unsurprisingly, both
of their vidwatches had
gotten trashed during
the fracas, and neither
of them brought a phone.
They wouldn't make
that mistake again.
"At least you managed
to fry that guy's beam rifle,"
Stan said. "It helped a lot."
"Sometimes being a total geek
pays off," Lawrence replied.
"I hope that he stays in jail
for basically ever," Stan said.
"Shouldn't be a problem."
Lawrence shrugged. "He
used a beam rifle, and it
wasn't even well made.
An ordinary jail should
hold him easily enough."
As they approached
the house, Stan began
to drag his feet a bit.
Lawrence grabbed him
and hustled him forward.
"No point trying to chicken
out of this now," said Lawrence.
"We might as well rip it quick."
As soon as they came within
sight of the house, Stan's father
bounded down off the porch and
grabbed him in a crushing hug.
Lawrence stood awkwardly
on the sidewalk until Stuart
let go of Stan and suddenly
hugged Lawrence too.
He squawked in surprise,
but Stuart didn't budge.
"Um, um, why are you
doing this?" Lawrence said.
"The news -- we saw you --
I didn't know if you'd gotten
out safely." Stuart sounded
hoarse. He finally let go
of Lawrence and said,
"Come on inside."
"Where's Mom?"
Stan asked as he
looked around.
"She's upstairs with
the girls," Stuart said.
"When everything went
haywire, we got home
as quick as we could.
I won the coin toss
to watch the porch."
He ushered them into
the study together,
then closed the door.
Oh, yeah. It was gonna
be one of those lectures.
Except that it wasn't.
"I wound up risking
my life today," Stan said.
"We were in the Mall when
we saw part of a building
fall off -- there was a red beam
and some guy waving a gun."
Stuart clenched his hands
hard enough that his knuckles
turned white. "You couldn't
have left that to the police?"
"None of them are Invulnerable.
Fiddlesticks is a speedster but I didn't
see him there," Stan said. "I thought
that I had the best chance to stop
the guy. Turns out, I didn't need it --
Lawrence melted the beam rifle."
"Just enough to stop it from
working, not enough to break
containment so it'd blow up,"
Lawrence said. "That worked."
"Then thank you for protecting
my son," said Stuart. Then he
turned to Stan. "Thank you
for being honest with me."
"I promised," Stan said.
"Yes, you did, and that
shows maturity," said Stuart.
"I just wanted you to know
that I appreciate it, and I
won't hold it against you
for being heroic today."
"Even though we scared
the crud out of you?"
Lawrence said warily.
"Well, that's parenting,"
Stuart said heavily.
"Your kids will give
you a heart attack
almost every day."
"And the penalty?"
Stan said quietly.
"You let your mother
fuss over you for the rest
of the day, without protest,"
Stuart said. "You really
scared the life out of us."
"Okay," Stan said. "I truly
am sorry for scaring you."
"Second, I want you to take
an emergency response course,"
said Stuart. "You need more training
than what you have now. I'll pay half.
You are responsible for the other half."
Stan turned to look at Lawrence.
"I'll include Lawrence in that if
he wants, but I have something
a bit different for him," Stuart said.
"I'm listening," Lawrence said. "I know
that I'm not really part of whatever deal
you two made, but I was in the soup
with Stan today, so let's hear it."
"There's a teen science program
this summer that offers junior zetetics
among other things," Stuart said. "I want
you to take that one. We'll cover half,
and your mother will pick up the rest.
I've already talked with her about it,
so you're cleared to attend that."
"That's um, that's pretty pricey,"
Lawrence hedged. "I mean, I'd
love to, I've looked into it, but we
could never afford it -- especially
with college coming up this fall."
"Couldn't afford the whole tuition,
but half is a very different story,"
Stuart said. "Second, I intend
to take you shopping and replace
your cape costume. You barely
fit into your coat anymore."
Lawrence cringed. "That's
way too much," he protested.
"I've replaced some of it already,
but the coat ... that was a gift, it's
cannonvas, it's too expensive."
Boss White had given it to him,
and not asked for it back even
after Lawrence drifted away
from the Ebonies & Ivories.
Probably Lawrence should
have given it to Shiv, but he
couldn't bear to part with it.
"SPOON has some resources
for soups in need. I checked,"
Stuart said. "Now, if you can't
abide this at all, there's the door.
If you choose to walk out, then
I won't mention any of this again."
Lawrence hesitated. He was
so very tempted to cut and run.
Stan gave him a pleading look.
With a sigh, Lawrence held out
his hand. "Deal," he said,
and Stuart shook on it.
"Thanks," Stan whispered.
"Yeah, I just ..." Lawrence
shrugged. "I don't really get it."
"Parents give every moment of
their happiness for your comfort
and joy. Parents are there to guide
you and to show ways that help you
stand in the storm of time," Stuart said.
"I do this because it's my job, boys,
and because I love you very much."
"Parents hide their pain, and they're
always ready to take on anything
to protect you," Stan added. "So
treat your parents with loving care,
because they're precious and you
won't have each other forever."
"I think I've got all I can handle
for now," Lawrence admitted.
His relationship with his parents
was ... complicated, at best.
Not to mention Stan's parents
being even more complicated.
"Then we'll leave it at this,
for now," Stuart agreed.
"One more thing, and this
applies to both of you. I'm
going to call Simon Finn
and ask him to talk with you
about battlefield ethics and
how to handle hard choices."
Lawrence thought about
how close they had come
to dying and how much he'd
worried about whether they
might have to kill that guy and
what that would do to Stan.
"Yeah, that's probably
a good idea," he said.
"Then that's a plan,"
Stuart said. "All right, go
upstairs to hug your mother
and your sisters, they've
been frantic over this."
"Okay," Stan said, then
turned to Lawrence.
"Come with me and
bear half the fussing?"
Lawrence smirked.
"I took half the terror,"
he said. "I'll manage.
If they clung to each other
climbing up the stairs, well,
they'd certainly earned it.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes will appear elsewhere.
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from lone_cat. It also fills the "Sometimes being a total geek pays off." square in my 10-1-21 card for the Fall Festival Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Antimatter and Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series."Stand in the Storm of Time"
[Monday, May 18, 2015]
After the fight was over,
Stan and Lawrence had
to find their gym bags so
they could change out
of their cape costumes.
Stan had a sturdy tan bag
that held an olive jogging suit
and a brown T-shirt with a tree.
Lawrence had a Hydra bag
that he had earned through
customer loyalty points, black
with a turquoise lining and
a matching shaker cup.
It held a Hydra jogging suit
of black and gray along with
a blue T-shirt that read,
In science we trust.
Changing the colors
and appearance of
their clothes would
discourage anyone
from associating them
with today's mayhem.
It took quite a while for
them to travel through
the crush and chaos that
downtown Omaha had
become, especially since
they couldn't just catch
a bus and ride it home.
What would normally have
taken only 15 minutes or so
took well over an hour now,
both worrying all the way.
They had decided to go
to Stan's house because
he expected his parents
to be there, even though
Lawrence's house was
closer to the park, since
his mother wasn't home.
"My dad is going to be
sooo upset," Stan said.
He looked upset too.
"My mom will probably
freak too, whenever she
finds out," Lawrence said.
It definitely did not help
that, unsurprisingly, both
of their vidwatches had
gotten trashed during
the fracas, and neither
of them brought a phone.
They wouldn't make
that mistake again.
"At least you managed
to fry that guy's beam rifle,"
Stan said. "It helped a lot."
"Sometimes being a total geek
pays off," Lawrence replied.
"I hope that he stays in jail
for basically ever," Stan said.
"Shouldn't be a problem."
Lawrence shrugged. "He
used a beam rifle, and it
wasn't even well made.
An ordinary jail should
hold him easily enough."
As they approached
the house, Stan began
to drag his feet a bit.
Lawrence grabbed him
and hustled him forward.
"No point trying to chicken
out of this now," said Lawrence.
"We might as well rip it quick."
As soon as they came within
sight of the house, Stan's father
bounded down off the porch and
grabbed him in a crushing hug.
Lawrence stood awkwardly
on the sidewalk until Stuart
let go of Stan and suddenly
hugged Lawrence too.
He squawked in surprise,
but Stuart didn't budge.
"Um, um, why are you
doing this?" Lawrence said.
"The news -- we saw you --
I didn't know if you'd gotten
out safely." Stuart sounded
hoarse. He finally let go
of Lawrence and said,
"Come on inside."
"Where's Mom?"
Stan asked as he
looked around.
"She's upstairs with
the girls," Stuart said.
"When everything went
haywire, we got home
as quick as we could.
I won the coin toss
to watch the porch."
He ushered them into
the study together,
then closed the door.
Oh, yeah. It was gonna
be one of those lectures.
Except that it wasn't.
"I wound up risking
my life today," Stan said.
"We were in the Mall when
we saw part of a building
fall off -- there was a red beam
and some guy waving a gun."
Stuart clenched his hands
hard enough that his knuckles
turned white. "You couldn't
have left that to the police?"
"None of them are Invulnerable.
Fiddlesticks is a speedster but I didn't
see him there," Stan said. "I thought
that I had the best chance to stop
the guy. Turns out, I didn't need it --
Lawrence melted the beam rifle."
"Just enough to stop it from
working, not enough to break
containment so it'd blow up,"
Lawrence said. "That worked."
"Then thank you for protecting
my son," said Stuart. Then he
turned to Stan. "Thank you
for being honest with me."
"I promised," Stan said.
"Yes, you did, and that
shows maturity," said Stuart.
"I just wanted you to know
that I appreciate it, and I
won't hold it against you
for being heroic today."
"Even though we scared
the crud out of you?"
Lawrence said warily.
"Well, that's parenting,"
Stuart said heavily.
"Your kids will give
you a heart attack
almost every day."
"And the penalty?"
Stan said quietly.
"You let your mother
fuss over you for the rest
of the day, without protest,"
Stuart said. "You really
scared the life out of us."
"Okay," Stan said. "I truly
am sorry for scaring you."
"Second, I want you to take
an emergency response course,"
said Stuart. "You need more training
than what you have now. I'll pay half.
You are responsible for the other half."
Stan turned to look at Lawrence.
"I'll include Lawrence in that if
he wants, but I have something
a bit different for him," Stuart said.
"I'm listening," Lawrence said. "I know
that I'm not really part of whatever deal
you two made, but I was in the soup
with Stan today, so let's hear it."
"There's a teen science program
this summer that offers junior zetetics
among other things," Stuart said. "I want
you to take that one. We'll cover half,
and your mother will pick up the rest.
I've already talked with her about it,
so you're cleared to attend that."
"That's um, that's pretty pricey,"
Lawrence hedged. "I mean, I'd
love to, I've looked into it, but we
could never afford it -- especially
with college coming up this fall."
"Couldn't afford the whole tuition,
but half is a very different story,"
Stuart said. "Second, I intend
to take you shopping and replace
your cape costume. You barely
fit into your coat anymore."
Lawrence cringed. "That's
way too much," he protested.
"I've replaced some of it already,
but the coat ... that was a gift, it's
cannonvas, it's too expensive."
Boss White had given it to him,
and not asked for it back even
after Lawrence drifted away
from the Ebonies & Ivories.
Probably Lawrence should
have given it to Shiv, but he
couldn't bear to part with it.
"SPOON has some resources
for soups in need. I checked,"
Stuart said. "Now, if you can't
abide this at all, there's the door.
If you choose to walk out, then
I won't mention any of this again."
Lawrence hesitated. He was
so very tempted to cut and run.
Stan gave him a pleading look.
With a sigh, Lawrence held out
his hand. "Deal," he said,
and Stuart shook on it.
"Thanks," Stan whispered.
"Yeah, I just ..." Lawrence
shrugged. "I don't really get it."
"Parents give every moment of
their happiness for your comfort
and joy. Parents are there to guide
you and to show ways that help you
stand in the storm of time," Stuart said.
"I do this because it's my job, boys,
and because I love you very much."
"Parents hide their pain, and they're
always ready to take on anything
to protect you," Stan added. "So
treat your parents with loving care,
because they're precious and you
won't have each other forever."
"I think I've got all I can handle
for now," Lawrence admitted.
His relationship with his parents
was ... complicated, at best.
Not to mention Stan's parents
being even more complicated.
"Then we'll leave it at this,
for now," Stuart agreed.
"One more thing, and this
applies to both of you. I'm
going to call Simon Finn
and ask him to talk with you
about battlefield ethics and
how to handle hard choices."
Lawrence thought about
how close they had come
to dying and how much he'd
worried about whether they
might have to kill that guy and
what that would do to Stan.
"Yeah, that's probably
a good idea," he said.
"Then that's a plan,"
Stuart said. "All right, go
upstairs to hug your mother
and your sisters, they've
been frantic over this."
"Okay," Stan said, then
turned to Lawrence.
"Come with me and
bear half the fussing?"
Lawrence smirked.
"I took half the terror,"
he said. "I'll manage.
If they clung to each other
climbing up the stairs, well,
they'd certainly earned it.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes will appear elsewhere.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-11-19 12:09 pm (UTC)Yeahhh.... being a parent to a soup, of whatever color of cape, has to be a whole new level of anxiety.
family trees
Date: 2021-11-24 05:17 am (UTC)wubububu. Simon. Finn can we get a finn family tree somewhere? I think I lost track of who's who and doing what
Re: family trees
Date: 2021-11-24 06:24 am (UTC)He is a family friend of the Woods. They are not related.
>> can we get a finn family tree somewhere? I think I lost track of who's who and doing what <<
These characters came from
* Graham and Tolliver are identical twins born in Ireland.
* Their father, older sister and brother were killed during Ireland's religious upheavals.
* Their mother brought Graham and Tolli to America as small children.
* They have contact with one cousin in Ireland, Dylan Flynn.
* Tolli married Simon. Because Simon's family is crappy, he took the Finn surname. Simon fits better with them anyhow. They are both veterans.
- They are father-figures of Shiv, who is skittish as all hell about family anything, so that's not official.
* Graham married Elisabeth. They are both doctors (respectively, psychiatrist/psychologist and pediatric thoracic surgeon). They have 6 kids:
- Molly
- Heron
- Aida and Drew (fraternal twins)
- Halley
- Edison
They regard Shiv as family, more-or-less cousin / nephew.
* Molly belongs to a polyfamily with Dave, Bethan, and now Danys. They are expecting a child courtesy of Danys' cousin Dayana who has an unplanned pregnancy.
* Heron is partnered with Mallory and coparenting Dairinne.
* Drew is working for a family friend, Aidan, as an au pair for Aidan's adopted daughter Saraphina.