Broken Lullaby ▷ Tony Stark | ✓

21 - GET IN, LOSER

IT WAS NEARLY CHRISTMAS AND REMY WANTED TO GET PRESENTS FOR HIS TWO FRIENDS. He only had two, which meant he didn't have to get many presents, but that meant he had to make sure they were great. Of course, Marc didn't celebrate Christmas, he celebrated Hanukkah, but Ethan did and the sentiment still stood, and giving presents was nondenominational, so there wasn't too much of a panic.

"What are you doing?" Marc asked, startling when Remy shut his book quickly, shoving it behind him.

"Nothing," he said quickly, heat rising to his cheeks; he could never lie to Marc, it was a problem that he couldn't seem to shake, "Nothing."

Marc, for all he could tell when Remy was lying, never got upset or pried, though he always did try to coax the truth out of him. "Are you planning something? About your mom and Tony?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "Yeah, I guess so."

He was, in fact, making some plans, though those weren't the plans that he was writing down. But he had given the boy a positive response, so he might as well work around it, especially that Marc had already had it in his mind that Remy was being protective of Tony, not hiding something from him, waiting patiently for an explanation.

"I don't know what's going on with them," he admitted, hand moving up to scratch the back of his neck, "It's weird. They're weird. We were at a picnic and I was playing tag and I look over and they're holding hands and whatever, but they don't act like parents."

"What do you mean?" Marc asked, raising an eyebrow, "Your mom is just like a mom. And Tony isn't your dad."

Remy nodded in agreement, furrowing his brow. "I know, but that's not what I mean. They're happy. It doesn't make sense, parents aren't supposed to be like that. Aunt Jayne and Uncle Brad can be like that because they don't have kids, and Aunt Wilma and Aunt Treshelle aren't like that. I mean, they're happy, but mom and Tony don't act the way mom and Mark did. It's weird."

"It's weird that they are happy?" Marc asked, tilting his head, "Why is that weird?"

"Because parents aren't supposed to be happy together, they're supposed to be sighing all the time because the other one screws up and they don't hold hands or do anything like that, they're just there," Remy exclaimed, throwing up his arms, upset that Marc didn't seem to be understanding what he was clearly trying to say.

Marc nodded carefully, frowning. "Is that what your mom and your dad used to be like?"

Remy shrugged. "Yeah, that's what everyone's parents are like, don't you notice?"

The taller boy shook his head. "I don't really pay attention to other people's parents."

Remy fidgeted, feeling very odd now that he heard Marc say it. Always an observant boy, he never found it odd that he tended to watch people at all times, over time learning more and more about people in general, certain people he watched, and certain patterns he saw the more he looked.

"What are you planning?" Marc asked, noticing that the boy was starting to shut down, "Are you going to try and make them upset at each other?"

"No!" Remy cried, "No way! I just wanna know what's going on, because if they were trying to be parents or anything they wouldn't act like that. I don't get it."

Marc nodded slowly, biting his lip. "Okay. Well, what are you planning? Are you going to set up cameras?"

The boy shook his head, shrugging. "I don't know...do you have any ideas?"

Marc shrugged, humming. Truth be told, he didn't really understand what Remy was talking about, nor what would constitute as a feasible plan, but he was willing to help wherever he could. His hum must have conveyed all of that because Remy instantly moved on to other things.