[Fic] Summer Camp: Holding Out - Day 12
Title: Holding Out - Part 8: Literature
Characters: America, England, Austria, Hungary, mentions of Canada.
Rating/Warnings: PG13, Sorta X-men-universe crossoverish kinda sorta except I call 'mutants' 'supers' so maybe The Incredibles crossoverish kinda sorta? Point is, some people have superpowers. And it's a pseudo-police state.
Summary: Alfred starts being home schooled and Arthur shows him why reading can be fun.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
After living in his house for over a year, Arthur decided to enroll Alfred in school. The problem came to selecting which school.
“He can’t go to the private school,” Roderich argued, “You’re claiming him to be your father’s bastard. They’ll eat him alive.”
“Well, he can’t go to the public school,” came Elizaveta’s counter argument, “You’re saying he’s your brother and a Kirkland. They’ll eat him alive there.”
“Let’s not forget the fact that he’s a Super,” Alfred added, “No matter which school you send him to, he’ll be eaten alive because of that.”
“Thank you for your opinion Alfred,” Arthur nodded, “Since you’ve already made it clear that you don’t want to further your education, I will go ahead and ignore it.”
“It’s still a valid point!” Alfred banged a fist on the table, accidentally denting it, “Maybe if I could go to a special Super school or something-”
Roderich snorted, “A school for just Supers? That’s preposterous. What would they do? Train young Supers how to use their powers for the good of humanity?”
“So basically, what we’ve established is that at either option, Alfred is going to get eaten alive,” Arthur sighed.
“We could always take a third option,” Elizaveta suggested.
Alfred let out an excited cheer, “I don’t have to go to school?”
“No,” she frowned and shook her head, “We could home school you.”
“Home school?” the three males echoed.
“Yes, the three of us could just teach him here. Besides, with all of the schooling he’s missed, he’s bound to be behind anyway. We should at least home school him until he’s caught up.”
“That sounds like a reasonable idea,” Arthur nodded, “We can divide the workload between the three of us.”
Alfred pouted and sunk into his chair, “But what if I don’t want to?”
“Oh Alfred,” Elizaveta smiled at him and pet his head, “You don’t have a choice.
-*~-~*
And so Alfred’s school life began. His mornings consisted of math with Elizaveta, art with Roderich, and history with Arthur, a break for lunch, where they let him outside for a bit and called it recess, then back inside for an afternoon full of music with Roderich, science with Elizaveta, and English with Arthur.
After about a week into it, Alfred was seriously considering running away again.
“Alfred!” Arthur barked, “You’ve got to pay attention! These books aren’t going to read themselves.”
Alfred rolled his eyes and sighed. If he were in a real classroom full of other students, he could have hidden in the back to fall asleep at the boring lecture Arthur was giving on whatever book he had him read today. As it was, Arthur’s attention was focused only on him. He should have just taken the public school option when it was still on the table.
“I don’t see how these books, or any of this schooling really, is going to help me in the real world,” Alfred drummed his fingers against his makeshift desk.
“Really child,” Arthur shook his head, “how else do you expect to become a productive member of society if you don’t have a proper education?”
“Well, considering I can bench press about three tons without breaking a sweat and most members of society hate me for it, I don’t really see me becoming a productive member any time soon.”
Arthur frowned, “Don’t use that as an excuse not to do well. Alfred, you’re a brilliant young man who can do anything he wants. I’d hate to see all of your potential go to waste for the completely silly reason that society won’t accept you.”
“Maybe, strength or not, I just don’t want to be a member of society. Did you ever think of that?”
“Alfred, you can’t keep looking for Matthew for forever! It’s been over a year. If he wants to you to find him, don’t you think you would have found him by now?”
“I’m not going to give up on Mattie,” he glared, “not when he would never give up on me!”
“I’m not… saying you should give up,” Arthur glared right back at him, “I’m saying, you should do more with your life then wait around for your brother to show up. There’s a whole world out there, just waiting for you to discover it,” he picked up one of the books in front of him, “That’s why I want you to get an education, that’s what these books can show you, that’s why they matter. There’s a big wide world out there, outside of these grounds, outside of your brother, and it’s yours to discover, if you want to.”
Alfred picked up the book on his desk, “What kind of ‘discovery’ can I do by catching rye anyway?”
“Catcher in the Rye is about growing up, a classic coming of age story. As for what you discover in it, that’s up to you,” Alfred flipped through the book as he continued, “Not all novels are the same. Some are to teach lessons, and others are just good for escaping. Honestly Alfred, one of the best ways to escape from everything is into a good book, if you just let it take you.”
Alfred grimaced and put the book down, but didn’t interrupt Arthur for the rest of the lecture.
Later that night, when Arthur went into the study to look for his lost reading glasses, he found Alfred, curled up asleep on the couch, an open copy of Cather in the Rye on the floor beside him. He couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips as he carried the boy to bed.
Part 9
Characters: America, England, Austria, Hungary, mentions of Canada.
Rating/Warnings: PG13, Sorta X-men-universe crossoverish kinda sorta except I call 'mutants' 'supers' so maybe The Incredibles crossoverish kinda sorta? Point is, some people have superpowers. And it's a pseudo-police state.
Summary: Alfred starts being home schooled and Arthur shows him why reading can be fun.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
After living in his house for over a year, Arthur decided to enroll Alfred in school. The problem came to selecting which school.
“He can’t go to the private school,” Roderich argued, “You’re claiming him to be your father’s bastard. They’ll eat him alive.”
“Well, he can’t go to the public school,” came Elizaveta’s counter argument, “You’re saying he’s your brother and a Kirkland. They’ll eat him alive there.”
“Let’s not forget the fact that he’s a Super,” Alfred added, “No matter which school you send him to, he’ll be eaten alive because of that.”
“Thank you for your opinion Alfred,” Arthur nodded, “Since you’ve already made it clear that you don’t want to further your education, I will go ahead and ignore it.”
“It’s still a valid point!” Alfred banged a fist on the table, accidentally denting it, “Maybe if I could go to a special Super school or something-”
Roderich snorted, “A school for just Supers? That’s preposterous. What would they do? Train young Supers how to use their powers for the good of humanity?”
“So basically, what we’ve established is that at either option, Alfred is going to get eaten alive,” Arthur sighed.
“We could always take a third option,” Elizaveta suggested.
Alfred let out an excited cheer, “I don’t have to go to school?”
“No,” she frowned and shook her head, “We could home school you.”
“Home school?” the three males echoed.
“Yes, the three of us could just teach him here. Besides, with all of the schooling he’s missed, he’s bound to be behind anyway. We should at least home school him until he’s caught up.”
“That sounds like a reasonable idea,” Arthur nodded, “We can divide the workload between the three of us.”
Alfred pouted and sunk into his chair, “But what if I don’t want to?”
“Oh Alfred,” Elizaveta smiled at him and pet his head, “You don’t have a choice.
-*~-~*
And so Alfred’s school life began. His mornings consisted of math with Elizaveta, art with Roderich, and history with Arthur, a break for lunch, where they let him outside for a bit and called it recess, then back inside for an afternoon full of music with Roderich, science with Elizaveta, and English with Arthur.
After about a week into it, Alfred was seriously considering running away again.
“Alfred!” Arthur barked, “You’ve got to pay attention! These books aren’t going to read themselves.”
Alfred rolled his eyes and sighed. If he were in a real classroom full of other students, he could have hidden in the back to fall asleep at the boring lecture Arthur was giving on whatever book he had him read today. As it was, Arthur’s attention was focused only on him. He should have just taken the public school option when it was still on the table.
“I don’t see how these books, or any of this schooling really, is going to help me in the real world,” Alfred drummed his fingers against his makeshift desk.
“Really child,” Arthur shook his head, “how else do you expect to become a productive member of society if you don’t have a proper education?”
“Well, considering I can bench press about three tons without breaking a sweat and most members of society hate me for it, I don’t really see me becoming a productive member any time soon.”
Arthur frowned, “Don’t use that as an excuse not to do well. Alfred, you’re a brilliant young man who can do anything he wants. I’d hate to see all of your potential go to waste for the completely silly reason that society won’t accept you.”
“Maybe, strength or not, I just don’t want to be a member of society. Did you ever think of that?”
“Alfred, you can’t keep looking for Matthew for forever! It’s been over a year. If he wants to you to find him, don’t you think you would have found him by now?”
“I’m not going to give up on Mattie,” he glared, “not when he would never give up on me!”
“I’m not… saying you should give up,” Arthur glared right back at him, “I’m saying, you should do more with your life then wait around for your brother to show up. There’s a whole world out there, just waiting for you to discover it,” he picked up one of the books in front of him, “That’s why I want you to get an education, that’s what these books can show you, that’s why they matter. There’s a big wide world out there, outside of these grounds, outside of your brother, and it’s yours to discover, if you want to.”
Alfred picked up the book on his desk, “What kind of ‘discovery’ can I do by catching rye anyway?”
“Catcher in the Rye is about growing up, a classic coming of age story. As for what you discover in it, that’s up to you,” Alfred flipped through the book as he continued, “Not all novels are the same. Some are to teach lessons, and others are just good for escaping. Honestly Alfred, one of the best ways to escape from everything is into a good book, if you just let it take you.”
Alfred grimaced and put the book down, but didn’t interrupt Arthur for the rest of the lecture.
Later that night, when Arthur went into the study to look for his lost reading glasses, he found Alfred, curled up asleep on the couch, an open copy of Cather in the Rye on the floor beside him. He couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips as he carried the boy to bed.
Part 9