Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You're going to high school!" Myron said cheerily to the monster sitting next to him in an oversize hoodie. It had been somewhat difficult persuading Mack to accompany him on this particular venture: the monster much preferred being by himself and had not been too excited by the idea of going to a new place, one that would almost certainly be filled with people.

"Well, maybe not yet for real." Myron said thoughtfully, although he wasn't really all that sure how old or not Mack was. The monster hadn't been able to remember much of his past, and Myron had left it at that. Still, the fact remained that the aquarium wanted him to do a presentation over at a high school in Hartford, Connecticut and Myron had a feeling that if he fought it, he would be even less likely to get a raise next year. He sighed inwardly. It was difficult being an aquatic horticulturalist in a bad economy.

"You want to say hi to the sea cucumber?" Myron asked, gesturing towards the tank in the back seat. "The little guy's gonna be the center of attention pretty soon, so I bet he'd appreciate a smile or two."

Mack dutifully moved over to the tank next to him in the back seat. His large red sweatshirt had a picture of a large flounder's bones on it and red "Boston Aquarium" in white lettering underneath. Gently, he stroked the side of the glass, careful not to make much noise, and began to count the ridges on the cucumber's back.

"With any luck, today will be an easy day." Myron added, trying to comfort Mack. He knew the boy hated crowds. "We'll be driving back to Boston before you know it."

"Ready, Mack?" Myron beamed, already tingling with excitement. Maybe it hadn't been all that great of an idea to get Mack to come along with him, but Myron couldn't just leave the monster all by himself. It wouldn't be right!

Besides, if Mack were to survive in the world on his own someday (and Myron felt himself bristle with fatherly pride at the idea) then the little guy was going to have to get over this fear of people. And this would be a good venue. He'd have Mack sit in the back of the room with the rest of the aquariums and stuff and help him with the exhibit. He already had a storyline all plotted out.

Knocking softly at the classroom door and finding it okay to enter, Myron ushered Mack in and looked around at all the students, diligently studying and getting ready for their day. Well, maybe not. Most of them looked asleep, but that was okay! He had just the thing to wake them up. The sea cucumber...

Now, all he had to do was stick to his cover story and Mack would be fine.

"Morning! I'm Mr. d'Adagio and this is my albino, Mack."

Myron froze, horrified. What had he just said? It sounded like Mack was going to be on display, exactly what he didn't want!

The monster tilted his head towards him in a shocked stance.

"I mean, this is my son, Mack, who is an albino and very sensitive to light, so he won't be taking his sweatshirt off. Now give me two secs and we'll start getting ready for you guys."

Myron breathed a sigh of relief as he turned from the class and got ready to present. Mack seemed a little miffed still, but he had already found a chair towards the blackboard to sit in and was helping unpack. The monster probably still felt very uncomfortable around this many people, so Myron wasn't surprised that he hadn't talked.

Myron rubbed his hands together. Alright, it was time to work his magic! He knew that high schoolers usually weren't that active in the morning-- his days of work at the aquarium had taught him that he just needed to be more persistent, that they'd eventually come out of their stupor and would appreciate (or at the very least not sleep through) what he was trying to show them.

Mack seemed like he was handling the situation well. He'd moved his chair out from behind Myron, so that he wasn't the center of attention behind his guardian. Now, he was perched in one of the corners of the room, still near the front of the class, but nowhere near as conspicuous as before. He'd even taken out a book with some basic math exercises that he was pouring over, which seemed to keep him calm despite the large number of people in the room. If Myron didn't have to present, he would have gone over and given the little guy a hug, even though Mack was approaching that stage where hugs were becoming less welcome.

Sighing, Myron fought the urge to wipe away a mock tear. His little baby was growing up! But there were other things at hand.

"Okay everyone!" He clapped his hands out in front of him, his sleeves already rolled up for the show. "As I said before, I'm Mr. d'Adagio from the Boston Aquarium and I'm here to give you guys a peek at what being an aquatic horticulturalist is like. Basically, I work at the Aquarium to figure out what living conditions benefit a fish the most: what plants the herbivores like to eat the most, for example. Before we start, does anyone have any pressing questions about fish that they'd like answered?"

Myron chuckled from deep in his throat. He was pleased that this class seemed to be eager-- it was good to see that there were so many people who were interested in aquatic horticulture! Usually it paled besides marine biology, a subject that was more commonly taught in schools and gained a higher traction with students. But! Maybe these kids were different. Maybe this was his chance to instill in them a love and appreciation for it! Just like his plants back at the aquarium, maybe this was one more thing that he could cultivate.

"Well, yes! As a matter of fact, I do!" He grinned. "I have some very exciting things for you guys to see today, but first, I have to tell you a little bit more about these animals before I bring them out."

He was about to start in on his speech, but then he noticed that someone else had asked a question.

"Oh! Well, I decide on the plants that some of the herbivores eat, basically helping to prepare their diets and keep them well. I also monitor algae levels in some of our tanks as well, which help cut down on waste and provide a natural filter. We use artificial filters as well, but using algae is not only more environmentally friendly, because it's a natural solution, but is also more closer to what the fish find in nature is a more homey, in a sense." He
laughed. "So yes, I do feed the fish, some of them at least."

And with that, he began to talk about the types of fish that there were at the aquarium, from the herbivores to the more carnivorous fish and how the aquarium used plants to take care of them.

Mack kicked his feet a little uncomfortably. He was at home with the fish and didn't mind holding the tank with the sea cucumber, but he was...a little nervous about being here nonetheless. He felt like he was supposed to be more with the crowd, not by himself. His legs were starting to hurt and get pins and needles, but he didn't want to move too much. Movement would call attention to him, and that was what he didn't want.

Myron bristled a little bit at the petting zoo comment. After all, what did they think that a sea cucumber was? Surely they didn't yet fully appreciate its beauty and marine relevance. Myron didn't even know if he was yet able to fully comprehend the majesty of such a creature. But from the way that their questions were being asked, he had a feeling that a few of these people wanted to rattle his chain.

And if there was one thing that Myron knew how to deal with, it was people trying to get under his skin.

Nevermind that most of the time they succeeded; this was about principle.

"Oh, so you think that you know enough about sea cucumbers yet to actually face one in the flesh?" Myron began with as much bravado as he could muster. "Well, if you met one in the wild,let me tell you, you would be singing a different tune. Sea cucumbers are fearsome beasts to encounter unprepared, so you'd do well to listen and not let your enthusiasm get the better of you yet. Trust me," he said, his eyes roaming out over the class, daring for one of them to contradict him, "you do not want to meet this particular sea cucumber without a little introduction."

He paused dramatically at them and smirked.

Mack could not believe his ears. He sunk a little lower in the seat, aware that now everyone's eyes were on him, exactly what he didn't want. He tried to calm himself by counting the bumps on the sea cucumber, but every time he got to around twenty he lost count. He couldn't believe that Myron could be so reckless, that his normally cool-under-pressure guardian had done something that would make him so unhappy.

Myron lectured for a bit, explaining various aspects of a sea cucumber's life and how they functioned underwater. He was pleased that a few of the students even seemed to be paying attention, even more greatly so that some of them maybe looked like they were enjoying it. He knew that given the crazy shows and things that kids watched nowadays that it wasn't all that exciting, at least not as exciting, as say, a giant shark or something of that ilk, but he was glad that they were giving it a shot.

But now came the moment of truth.

"Alright, do I have any volunteers for this? Who wants to be the first one to give this little guy a pet?" Myron swept his arms out in grand fashion. He walked over to Mack, and gently took the sea cucumber from him, setting the tank down on the teacher's desk and gingerly taking the lid off. He had a feeling that Mack wouldn't appreciate being left with it while strange people came up to him.

Mack was indeed grateful. He could once again fade into the background without fear of people noticing him too much, or sweeping him into the mass of people that were in the classroom. Sure, there were more people in Boston than here, but he'd never been in such a contained, cramped space with so many students seemingly so eager to rush towards him.

He blinked and shook his head, trying to reassure himself that it was all just his imagination.

Myron beamed at the girl who came forward. He'd had to deal with some difficult classes before, and while he'd been able to cope with them, he also knew that if the situation called for it, having to call someone out rather than having a volunteer come forward always ruined things a little bit for him.

So, this was a much better alternative than risking the alienation of his audience.

"Wonderful!" He boomed, in his presenter's voice. "Excellent. What is your name, young lady?"

Mack's head perked up. He thought that he's seen this girl watching him before, and while he didn't like it when people in a crowd stared at him, this girl's look didn't seem as harsh as the rest of the class' had. He was still a little offput, but he was more intrigued now. He shifted slightly on his seat so that he would get a better look at the girl.