Where Do Babies Come From?
Title: Where Do Babies Come From?
Fandom: X-Force
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own them, just to love them.
Pairing: None, but featuring Rictor and Shatterstar
Rating: none
Feedback: I'm a comment whore.
Author’s Notes: Some of the dialogue came into my head while I was at work, listening to yet another child crying its head off, and wondering randomly to myself if parents could detect the sound of their own child crying, because they all sound the same to me. Somehow, someway, that thought turned into this.
"What is that noise?" Shatterstar hissed to Julio as they waited in line at the gas station to pay for their gas and hot dogs. Julio looked around, briefly bewildered, before he realized what Shatterstar meant. A struggling mother was standing by the donuts, vaguely bouncing her infant up and down as the baby wailed.
"It's the baby, 'Star," Julio answered, turning back to the line and checking out a little display of lighters. Did he need a lighter? He didn't smoke, but it could be useful to-
"Why is it making that noise?" 'Star demanded, interrupting Julio's calm contemplation of the uses of a lighter.
Julio gave him a Look. "It's crying. That's what babies do. Sleep, poop, and cry." He laughed at the strange expression on Shatterstar's face-mingled curiosity and disdain. "You're acting like you've never seen a baby before."
"I haven't," he replied coolly. "What is its purpose?"
He realized his mouth was gaping open, but Julio couldn't seem to work his jaw to close it again. Then the laughter started again, uncontrollable, and Shatterstar was giving him a fierce look, but even that heated glare couldn't quell the laughter that was shaking his shoulders.
"Purpose?" he gasped out, realizing that there were a couple customers giving them funny looks, but he chose to disregard it. "It's a baby. It… grows up! It becomes a person! It's just a baby." He didn't know how else to explain it.
Shatterstar stared at the infant for several long moments. Julio wondered if something had broken. "That becomes a person?" he asked slowly. Julio nodded. "But where does it go?"
"It doesn't go anywhere, 'Star. It just… it gets…. bigger." Julio was starting to remember a vague and strange conversation with Shatterstar, one in which Shatterstar had matter-of-factly told him that he had never been born, and Julio hadn't quite grasped the concept, and now Shatterstar wasn't grasping the concept of babies. It was a complete turnaround. "As it gets older, it gets bigger. I was a baby once, y'know."
Wide, silver eyes were turned on him. "You were?"
Julio chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. I was premature too, so I was real tiny."
"You are not very big now, Julio," Shatterstar pointed out blandly. Julio turned a little red and moved up to the counter.
"Two hot dogs and twenty in gas," he muttered to the cashier, who began ringing him up.
"But how did you grow?" 'Star asked, continuing the conversation as though Julio hadn't ignored him.
"It's just the process, 'Star. Like saplings turn into trees. We get bigger. Our bones grow and stuff."
Shatterstar made a face. "That sounds painful."
Julio grinned, paying the cashier and walking away from the counter. "It's not, tough guy."
They piled back into the dusty little car they had taken into town, chewing on their hot dogs in companionable silence. Julio had pulled out of the parking lot and was on his way back to the base when Shatterstar frowned and added, "But Julio, where do babies come from?"
Julio's lips twisted, uncertain whether to grin or grimace. "That's a good question, 'Star, one that I'm sure Cable would love to answer."
Fandom: X-Force
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own them, just to love them.
Pairing: None, but featuring Rictor and Shatterstar
Rating: none
Feedback: I'm a comment whore.
Author’s Notes: Some of the dialogue came into my head while I was at work, listening to yet another child crying its head off, and wondering randomly to myself if parents could detect the sound of their own child crying, because they all sound the same to me. Somehow, someway, that thought turned into this.
"What is that noise?" Shatterstar hissed to Julio as they waited in line at the gas station to pay for their gas and hot dogs. Julio looked around, briefly bewildered, before he realized what Shatterstar meant. A struggling mother was standing by the donuts, vaguely bouncing her infant up and down as the baby wailed.
"It's the baby, 'Star," Julio answered, turning back to the line and checking out a little display of lighters. Did he need a lighter? He didn't smoke, but it could be useful to-
"Why is it making that noise?" 'Star demanded, interrupting Julio's calm contemplation of the uses of a lighter.
Julio gave him a Look. "It's crying. That's what babies do. Sleep, poop, and cry." He laughed at the strange expression on Shatterstar's face-mingled curiosity and disdain. "You're acting like you've never seen a baby before."
"I haven't," he replied coolly. "What is its purpose?"
He realized his mouth was gaping open, but Julio couldn't seem to work his jaw to close it again. Then the laughter started again, uncontrollable, and Shatterstar was giving him a fierce look, but even that heated glare couldn't quell the laughter that was shaking his shoulders.
"Purpose?" he gasped out, realizing that there were a couple customers giving them funny looks, but he chose to disregard it. "It's a baby. It… grows up! It becomes a person! It's just a baby." He didn't know how else to explain it.
Shatterstar stared at the infant for several long moments. Julio wondered if something had broken. "That becomes a person?" he asked slowly. Julio nodded. "But where does it go?"
"It doesn't go anywhere, 'Star. It just… it gets…. bigger." Julio was starting to remember a vague and strange conversation with Shatterstar, one in which Shatterstar had matter-of-factly told him that he had never been born, and Julio hadn't quite grasped the concept, and now Shatterstar wasn't grasping the concept of babies. It was a complete turnaround. "As it gets older, it gets bigger. I was a baby once, y'know."
Wide, silver eyes were turned on him. "You were?"
Julio chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. I was premature too, so I was real tiny."
"You are not very big now, Julio," Shatterstar pointed out blandly. Julio turned a little red and moved up to the counter.
"Two hot dogs and twenty in gas," he muttered to the cashier, who began ringing him up.
"But how did you grow?" 'Star asked, continuing the conversation as though Julio hadn't ignored him.
"It's just the process, 'Star. Like saplings turn into trees. We get bigger. Our bones grow and stuff."
Shatterstar made a face. "That sounds painful."
Julio grinned, paying the cashier and walking away from the counter. "It's not, tough guy."
They piled back into the dusty little car they had taken into town, chewing on their hot dogs in companionable silence. Julio had pulled out of the parking lot and was on his way back to the base when Shatterstar frowned and added, "But Julio, where do babies come from?"
Julio's lips twisted, uncertain whether to grin or grimace. "That's a good question, 'Star, one that I'm sure Cable would love to answer."