Broken Lullaby ▷ Tony Stark | ✓

24 - DEEPER MEANING

LIKE PROMISED, IT WAS AS IF THE COUNTDOWN TO THE NEW YEAR NEVER HAPPENED. The only indication in the Walsh household that there had indeed been a party to celebrate was Remy's constant complaining about the group of pre-teens that he had somehow learned to despise in just two short days.

"—what's even worse is when they're in that age range and they agree! It's like they're completely oblivious to the fact that they're actually completing what I said, they think they're somehow more mature because they're aware of what all the 'problems' everyone their age has and how awful they are while completely forgetting that they're the people I'm talking about! It's like they're fulfilling the point they think they're agreeing with me on."

Nicky blinked as he sat across from the talkative eleven-year-old, two ice cream sundaes sat between them in front of the ice cream parlor Tony had driven Remy to in an effort to appease Birdie who was worried about Remy's well-being.

"Am I being dumb?" the boy asked, realizing that Nicky was just staring at him.

The man shook his head furiously, sitting up straight. "No! No, in fact, you're actually making a lot of sense. How-how did you come across this information, you said that you were annoyed by these pre-teens at this New Year's Eve party you were at?"

Remy sighed, leaning back. "They started to agree with me and they started saying that 'oh, we were born in the wrong generation' and 'all those other kids, they just don't get that they're ruining society.' If you're in that age range and you agree with me that the people your age annoying, then you're probably the annoying one. Most people go through that phase around that age and grow out of it when they're around fifteen or sixteen, some don't, but most do, you're supposed to be disgusting so later on you hopefully won't be."

Nicky pressed his palms against his eyes, starting to laugh. "How-how old are you?"

"Eleven," Remy replied, taking a large bite of his sundae, "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-seven," Nicky laughed, "Pretty young for a psychologist, but I was kind of a genius child."

"You don't act like one, that's nice," Remy commented, and Nicky put a hand over his heart, turning to look at Tony, looking highly complimented.

Remy didn't seem to notice and continued, "I'm not saying I'm any better, but I'm going to acknowledge that I'm gonna be disgusting, so there's no avoiding it, so I'm just gonna try my best."

Nicky dropped his chin onto his fist, looking highly fascinated. "What do you think is the cause of this, because not all pre-teens fall into the niche of going against the mainstream, and while those kids do have their problems, why do you only focus on the ones that try to be 'snowflakes,' as you put it?"

"Because I'm more likely to end up like them than I am the other kids," he shrugged, "I'm not trying to be like 'oh, I'm weird, no one gets me,' because that's annoying, but I'm being realistic about it. If I learn more about what I'll become and figure out what's wrong with them, maybe it'll be easier for me to stomach it when I turn into one of them."

Nicky scoffed in disbelief, running a hand through his hair, turning to Tony. "This is fascinating."

"We're not here for you to experiment," Tony drawled, rolling his eyes, giving Nicky a pointed look, reminding him of why they were there.

"Right, I know, but still," Nicky exclaimed, shaking his head, "Anyways. Remy, did you come across this online, did you read discussions, do you just watch people?"

"A little of everything," the boy replied, "I can't keep focused on reading stuff for very long, I'm not smart enough for that and I can't focus enough either."