Only Colours

"Mum!" Mikey shouted as soon as they walked through the front door, and Mikey's mum came hurrying from the kitchen right away. When Mikey wasn't completely dependent he was actually quite independent, so when he called her she tended to think it was for something important. And it was important, very important, because Mikey had a new friend.

"Oh, hello!" she said when she saw Zion. She turned to Mikey, expression hopeful. "Who's this?"

"This is Zion, we found him in the park," Mikey said, and felt like he should add 'can we keep him?' He didn't, though, because that wasn't even under question. They were keeping him and that was that.

She smiled broadly, aquamarine. "It's nice to meet you, Zion. Are you kids staying for dinner?"

An affirmative sent her back to the kitchen, and Mikey led his friends to the living room to pick out a DVD to watch. It was a process Jude had always been unhelpful with, his most useful feedback never more than a groan and a 'not that one again.' He'd never actually suggest something to watch, though.

Zion liked enough movies that he started making a pile of all the ones he might like to watch.

"Everyone else should pick from those ones which ones they want to watch," Mikey suggested. He didn't say who 'everyone' was, but he hoped it was implied enough (but not too much). Jude didn't care what they watched and Mikey had seen them all anyway. It was Finn's opinion he wanted.

Finn seemed ready to sit back and blend into the background as he usually did, but once again Zion forced his involvement. He placed his pile of DVDs in front of Finn and then lined them up. "Which one do you want to watch?"

Mikey could tell from Finn's colours that he was fighting his instincts towards placidity, but gradually Zion lured him into active participation in the decision making process. Through careful consideration and teamwork, they ultimately decided on WALL-E. All were pleased with the choice except for Jude who didn't actually care.

Mikey's mum ate dinner in the kitchen, to give Mikey time alone with his friends he supposed? Anyway, she ate in the kitchen and then when they'd finished their food Jude insisted on getting up and taking the plates to the kitchen even though they could have just left them there until after the movie. Mikey was curious about Jude's sudden pro-activeness concerning housework, so he followed him and eavesdropped.

Since Mikey couldn't see them he couldn't tune in on his mum, so he could only hear Jude's side of the conversation.

"Look, you probably shouldn't... uh, don't try and drive him home or anything, okay? He's got things going on and if you try to get too involved he's probably going to bolt. I know he's kind of young and doe-eyed, but he's most likely to stick around if you just treat him like you treat me."

There was a moment of silence, presumably while Mikey's mum talked, and Mikey heard Jude put the dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, trust me, I know," Jude continued. "It does help, though, having one place that's certain, that'll always be there. Sometimes that's all you can do for someone and sometimes it's enough."

There was another pause and Jude made a sound of acknowledgement. "Well, I'd better get back before I miss part of a movie I've already seen half a dozen times."

Mikey was back on the couch looking determinedly not at all suspicious by the time Jude returned to the living room. If Jude noticed anything he didn't comment.

Jude was the first to leave at just after seven. Finn almost left too, but Zion convinced him to stay. Mikey got the feeling it made Zion feel better to have someone else who felt uncomfortable with him too. It was good to have both of them there.

They played video games for a while, Mikey against Zion and then Zion against Finn. Mikey had subtly discarded his controller near Finn after his turn without actually clearly giving it to Finn when Zion spoke up. "I'm gay."

Mikey didn't really know what to say to that, because okay? It didn't really matter and Mikey had already kind of known anyway.

Finn must have said something, though, because Zion looked over at him and flushed. "Is it that obvious?"

Whatever Finn said in response made Zion wince. "Do you think he's noticed?"

"Jude?" Mikey interjected. He figured it was probably mostly within his rules to butt into a conversation Finn was a part of. It wasn't the first time he'd done it. "Jude probably wouldn't figure out you liked him unless you told him or... or kissed him or something. He's oblivious."

Zion chewed his lip. "I don't think he'd like that so I think I'll just... not."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best..." Mikey agreed.

But as time passed and their little group grew closer, Mikey became less and less sure that was true. The attraction Zion had felt when he'd first met Jude had been the most common kind, clear and unmistakable. There were many kinds, though, and Mikey was fairly sure he hadn't yet catalogued them all.

The common kind was a simple physical attraction, the kind you felt when you saw someone good looking, either in person or on TV or whatever. That had been the first sign of attraction he'd seen from Finn.

Then there was a more sexual kind, the kind Finn showed when Mikey found an excuse to take his shirt off or licked an ice block in a certain way. It was an attraction laced with arousal, not uncommon but probably something indulged in more often in private.

Then there was fondness, which wasn't really quite attraction. It could be directed at babies or cute animals as much as it could to lovers.

And then there was what was developing between Zion and Jude. Mikey hadn't thought of it as attraction or romance at first because it wasn't an emotion Finn showed towards him, but he was starting to think that was maybe because it was a kind of bond that required interaction and closeness. It was the kind of connection couples had.

He didn't think Jude quite recognised it for what it was, though. Mikey suspected it looked similar to a close friendship on the surface. Mikey had known Jude longer, though, and they were still closer than Jude and Zion were, but Mikey had never seen that particular emotion directed at him.

Mikey considered saying something to Jude, but... no, it was too soon. Initially Mikey had thought Jude was simply asexual, but his genuine discomfort around sexuality suggested it was more than that. His apparent lack of sexuality, Mikey had ultimately concluded, was due to some pretty powerfully enforced mental blocks.

But there was a gap in his defences. Jude had protected against casual attraction and sexual attraction and none of his fondness was ever the romantic kind. This new kind of attraction Mikey had discovered, though, was one Jude probably hadn't even thought to shield himself from. It had snuck in under his radar.

So Mikey decided to leave it alone and let it simmer and focus on other issues. Issues such as what was special about Zion. Figuring out Jude's specialness had taken Mikey months, and so far Zion's wasn't proving any easier.

So what did Zion have that was unusual about him? Well, he was abnormally good looking, for one thing. That stood out to the point that Mikey had to wonder if it was significant, if it meant something. Zion also seemed to be unusually athletic, especially given his age. He was strong and fast, a good climber, had amazing reflexes. Could that be a kind of specialness? Most of the special people Mikey had known had brain things, but Claire had been able to make ice so physical abilities were clearly a possibility too.

In the end, Mikey really didn't know and he couldn't ask. It probably didn't even matter; Mikey was just curious. Maybe one day he'd find out, but for just then Mikey let it go.

He got his next clue just a few days after he'd made that decision.

They were hanging out in the park during the day, all four of them, something they didn't often do. Mikey liked it. He felt freer around the people who were in the park in daylight hours.

Mikey was doing cartwheels while Finn, Zion, and Jude sat on the grass. Jude looked like maybe he was planning on taking a nap and Zion and Finn were flicking sticks at one another.

Mikey ended up accidentally cartwheeling onto the path. That probably would have been okay if someone hadn't been riding their bicycle down it at that very moment. But someone had been and so Mikey got the handlebars slammed into his ribs, knocking him down hard on his ass, and whoever was riding the bike fell off of it. If the size of the bike and the simple emotions that swirled up in the person were any indication, the person was a child.

For a moment all Mikey could do was rub the spot that had been hit. He felt stunned, like events had been fast forwarded and he needed a second to catch up. As soon as the moment passed, though, he was up and running back to his friends.

When Mikey reached them Jude pushed Mikey protectively behind him. Mikey wasn't really sure why until he looked back and saw there was another set of colours with the child now, this one dominated by anger. Mikey shrunk back, happy to let Jude deal with the situation. Jude was never afraid. Not of angry people.

The adult was angry and they must have been saying a lot of words, because Jude hardly got the opportunity to talk.

"He—" Jude started to say before he was interrupted.

The adult stepped closer to Jude, too close, but before Jude could respond Zion stepped forward. "Don't."

Mikey had never seen Zion act so defensive or confident before, but even so the fear and shock that rose up in the adult and the child seemed a little unreasonable. Zion was too cute to actually be scary.

That was an opinion Mikey quickly revised when Zion turned away from them and towards Mikey. His eyes had changed colour from dark green to gold and they were slit like a cat's. Mikey stumbled back a step, more out of shock than fear. Zion, panicked, quickly faced himself away from Mikey.

There was a hushed conversation between Jude and Zion, and while Mikey couldn’t hear their words something was very clear: what had happened hadn't surprised Jude nearly as much as it had Mikey, even though Mikey was the one who was supposed to have more experience with all this stuff. Mikey could only conclude that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened in Jude's presence.

Zion started backing away from Jude and then he was running, burning bright with fear as he fled. Zion was so afraid that Mikey was worried he'd keep running and running and never come back.

Finn was confused. He hadn't seen anything, but he had seen how others had reacted and that was probably almost as disturbing. Well... yes, almost. Probably.

"I didn't see anything," Mikey told Jude quickly. Jude would know it was a lie, Mikey knew that. It wasn't meant to convince Jude. It was... it was more like a code between them. What Mikey was really saying was that they didn't need to talk about what had happened, that he wasn't going to ask questions.

Jude paused, uncertain. "Nothing?"

Mikey shook his head. "A bike hit me." He pointed to his stomach. "It hurt. I think I might get a bruise, but I don't know because tummies don't seem to bruise very easily, so maybe not."

Mikey shut his mouth before he could start to babble too much. He did that a bit when he was upset, and the less said just then the better. Besides, there wasn't time. Jude had to go and check on Zion.

"You should go and see if Zion's okay," Mikey said and then added one last time, "I didn't see anything."

Jude hesitated for a moment before relenting. "I will. You should go home."

Jude ran off in the direction Zion had headed, leaving Mikey alone with Finn. Mikey felt sorry for Finn, the only one left completely in the dark. Or perhaps he was the lucky one, being normal, being mostly uninvolved in all of this. Finn was scared and confused and angry, though, and Mikey never liked it when Finn was upset.