[video]

[keeperfromtheflame]

People would tell me how much they hated this place.  Why they thought it was awful.

I used to think that it wasn't so bad, really.

[Hazel's expression is stone-faced and her tone calm, but there was a noticeable tightness to her shoulders.  She was sitting on her bed with a borderline defeated aura, closet door behind her partially open and a...bow in hand.]

[Those who had known him may or may not recognize it as Frank's bow.]

[Her fingers gripped it so tightly, it was a wonder the wood hadn't broken in half yet.]

Now?  I finally get it.

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[keeperfromtheflame]

[It was the paint that momentarily caught her eye. Not the state of his room, or the things strewn about. Not even the bed--it wasn't as if she was going to go anywhere near it.]

[In fact, after a moment, she even forewent the love seat in favor of positioning herself directly on the floor, back resting against the bottom of the couch. The door behind her remained very conspicuously open.]

So...what are we watching?

Not that shark movie again, I hope. It was weird, even for a movie.

[heirtotheshield]

I really did not understand that movie at all. Either of them.

[ James doesn't mind admitting that. ]

But I have something different.

[ He pulls out a DVD. ]

It's called Shrek.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[She knew what a DVD was now, and leaned forward in attempt to get a better look at the picture on the cover. It looked very...green.]

What's a 'Shrek'?

[heirtotheshield]

I don't know. I asked the closet for some kid movies, and this is what it gave me. Maybe it's the green guy on the front?

[ James shrugs and puts the DVD in. He isn't sure, but maybe it'll cheer Hazel up some. And it's definitely not Disney. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[That would be her first guess, yes. Which just left one more question before she settled down to watch the opening credits:]

...why kid movies?

[Not that she was offended. Like she had said, anything that wasn't Disney would be fine. And only then, because of Frank. She was simply curious as to why he wouldn't think to explore any other genres.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ James settles on the couch next to where she's sitting and shrugs, putting his arm on his lap. He scratches around the edge of the cast. ]

I wasn't sure where to start and at least it wouldn't give me anything that would be too bad?

[ Another shrug. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[It was...fairly telling that Hazel could only guess at what too bad might be. Her initial thoughts went to violence and foul language, two things which she would actually have been okay with. Considering her life.]

Fair enough.

[...though the first few glimpses of Shrek's home life were making her seriously reconsider. Her nose scrunched up slightly.]

I think I knew a giant like him once.

[heirtotheshield]

[ James does not understand why that thing - ogre? - is brushing his teeth with something out of a bug's butt. But, it's cute animation at least. ]

You've met a giant?

[ James is curious. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[He had a very bizarre definition of cute.]

Met...fought...

[Same difference, really.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He stares at her for a minute. ]

You fought a Giant? Like a really real Giant?

[ He's starting to understand that his world isn't the only one out there. It only took him six months or so. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

I had help.

[Whom her mind kept bringing her back to, even in spite of James' best efforts. She couldn't help it. With her attention span, and the last several months of her life devoted to fighting and being with her friends...it would take time before she could go any length without thinking of them.]

[If nothing else, she didn't feel like she had to hide it. Not all of it. People here...people like James...they understood. They might not have been demigods, but the rules were different here. Which was why she could use devices like that cell phone without fear of instant attack.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He has no doubt of that. But... wait. Is that donkey flying? ]

Wait, how did the sparkly stuff make the donkey fly?

[keeperfromtheflame]

Hmm?

[Her attention immediately turned back to a movie. That...was definitely a flying donkey on the screen. Was it bad her first thought was of Jason? Because of the flying, not the donkey.]

I don't know.

Maybe that's how movies show magic?

[heirtotheshield]

Well, it didn't last long.

[ He's finding the donkey funny as heck. He likes the sass. It reminds him of Azari and Pym. He puts his casted arm on her shoulder. ]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Her eyes first fell to his arm, and even though she had known James for a while now, there was a noticeable hint of pink to her cheeks when she looked up again.]

N-no. You didn't.

I'm fine, James. Promise. I was only thinking of a friend back home. Jason. He could...fly too.

[heirtotheshield]

[ His arm must be too heavy on her. He should have thought about that before he did that. Whoops. He moves his arm, because he doesn't want to hurt her. ]

My brother, Pym, he can fly too. He loved zipping around the biodome and playing tag.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[It definitely wasn't the weight.]

[But she did shift a little, trying to cover up her embarrassment. Reaching up with one hand in vain effort to brush some of the unruly strands of hand from her face that hadn't been restrained by the hairband.]

You never mentioned a brother before.

[heirtotheshield]

[ He hadn't? Oh, maybe he hadn't. ]

I have three brothers: Pym, Azari and Francis. Then there's our sister, Torrun. We were raised together after our parents were killed.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[There was a moment of understanding at the mentioning of losing his parents. Her father might have been absent, but he was still...well...immortal. But she had lost her mother long ago, and still felt the pain of that loss, even now.]

It must be nice to have so many siblings.

How old are they?

[heirtotheshield]

[ James has to think for a moment. ]

Pym's 13, but all the rest of us are 14.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[She was slightly taken aback by that, doing a quick mental count on her fingers.]

...twins? No, wait, there's a word for more than two.

Qua...druplets? Was that it?

[If they were all siblings of the same age.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He blinks, wondering what she's talking about. It takes James a minute. ]

Oh! No, we all had different parents. We were just raised as siblings.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Her brows rose, and for the second time, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She should have...yeah, that made a lot more sense, didn't it?]

Oh. I see.

I thought...never mind.

[heirtotheshield]

[ He smiles a bit crookedly. ]

I did make it sound like we had all the same parents didn't I? All of our parents were Avengers. So it was like having the same parents? Sort of.

[keeperfromtheflame]

I can relate.

[Pun completely unintended.]

Nico and I...we do have the same father, but the rest of us... [Okay, technically they were all related in some fashion. Because gods and goddesses and the most insane family trees one could ever hear of] ...we're all like family.