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He gives such promises without guilt...The older boy looked from his father to Alex, then decided to leave the overstimulating room. He sat in the lobby and kept his eyes on the floor, waiting for Alex to do what he needed. He felt alittle bad, as if he were stealing something precious from a child.
Howie was sure that his father thought otherwise, of course.


(Its alright! I can't write too much myself, either. -u- no worries here!)

Alex patted the kid and went to his room. He began to pack his things. He really didn't have a lot of stuff so he only needed a backpack to put it all in. There was only one thing he couldn't put in the backpack because he didn't want it to break, the picture of his parents when his mother was pregnant with him. It didn't take him long to pack his things. Once he got down, another came up to him, asking the same question that seem to lurk in the eyes of some of the others. He promised that he would come and visit. He never once backed out of the promise, he would visit them when he could. He went over to where Howie and his father was waiting. "I'm ready." He said.

His father was signing off the last bit of the paperwork, a gleam in his eye. "Thank you ma'am. We'll take good care of him." He saluted the woman before turning back to the boys. Howie looked over to Alex, and smiled just a little bit. "Welcome to the Daniels, Alex." He would have to change his lifestyle for this; but maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. He could get used to it. Although...what about his health? There was sure to be several problems with this..but Alex seemed happy. He glanced at the thing in his hand. A photo frame? It looked like his real parents. Howie imagined a place on his large wrap around desk that would fit it nicely.

"Thank you, Mr. Daniels. I would like to ask that if my last name was changed to your's and your son's last name?" Alex really wouldn't have a problem with it, but he rather keep his last name. As for the his parents, Alex looked exactly like his father expect for height and age. As for his personality, he got that form his mother. His father was similar to Howie's father, expect in build. Both his parents were very healthy people and so was Alex, he rarely ever got sick, and it was even less likely that he would get someone else sick. He had a feeling that Howie might have some health issues due to him being all wrapped up in his father's jacket while they were all outside.

His father pondered for a moment. "You can keep your last name if you please, son. It's your choice." He patted Alex on the back. "Now let's head back to the bunker. It's about time for supper." Howie opened the door and held it open for them, lifting the collar of his jacket to cover his face in a small effort to call off the pollen in the air. He wasn't' sure what to say or how to say it. Howie thought of his room, so messily organized. He felt a flush rise to his cheeks and he coughed. This was going to be painfully awkward.

Alex smiled at Howie's father and nodded. "Thank you." He said when he walked out of the doorway into the fresh air. He didn't know why Howie flipped the collar of his jacket, it smelled sweet outside and the air was cool outside. The sky was starting to turn into a inky violet color as the sun was setting. He loved being outside, even if he got burned in the sun. Alex couldn't really get a tan because his mother had very fragile skin that was burned easily, and so is Alex's skin.

Howie took a lingering look into the Orphanage until both father and ..new son?, were out of the building. He closed the door behind him and followed after, afew calculated steps behind his father, as always. He kept silent; his mind full of what he must do and what he will need to change. He knew only the scrapings of Alex, not who he really was. So Howie didn't know what to expect. He hoped it wouldn't be a nasty surprise..but a nice one, to have a sibling.
Howie coughed again, followed by a chain of others, until his weak throat was able to hack up the pollen and dust that had resided there temporarily. His father turned and glanced at him warily before deciding he was alright.

Unlike Howie's father, Alex was a little more concerned. "Are you alright, Howie?" He asked, his green eyes filled with concern. Some people found it strange how he could care about people that he really didn't know, but that was how he was. Right now, Howie was now his brother, in a way. It was something Alex would have to adjust to because he grew up as a only child.

Howie took a moment to steady his breathing before nodding. "I suppose i'll let you know; i'm rather..frail." He said the word as if it was a curse, and in a way, it was. "I get sick very easily and living is simply a challenge for me." He looked over to Alex and smiled, a small thing. "But yes, i'm alright."
They took a corner and started walking into the forest.

Alex frowned, he wasn't surprised to hear that about Howie, but he was hoping that his assumption was wrong, and Howie just didn't like to get outside. "I see... That must really suck, I can't remember the last time I got sick, it was so long ago." He shrugged.

He was confused as to why they were going through the woods. "Mr. Daniels, why are we going in the forest?" He asked Howie's father.

The man turned and gave him a knowing nod. "Don't worry Alex. Our bunker here rests in the forest. It reminds me of home, is all."
Howie blinked. Yet again he'd been blown away by this boy's reactions. It seemed he actually showed empathy and compassion for him, even if they had only met moments earlier. So odd... Howie stared into the trees, lost in thought.
He had never had someone look at him like that.
Like he was something more than a face in a group of many. Like it was actually a person, not an object.
He felt his smile widen.
Maybe this wouldn't be bad at all.

Alex glanced over at Howie, to make sure he was still okay and saw him smile. Alex smiled as well, then continued to follow Howie's father. "How far deep is it in the forest?" He asked, he wasn't the most curious person in the world, but he sometimes tended to ask too many questions. His father use to say that he would ask too many questions, even for someone so young, of course, that was when Alex was about six or seven.

His father took an abrupt turn to the left and started down a narrow path between a large rock tumble and an Oak tree. It was very old, dripping with green and grey moss as they hung off of its large twining branches. Howie reached over brushed the bark of its trunk lightly, and suddenly it burst to life as several large moths fluttered away from his hand in a flurry of silent wing-beats. Even though he was sick and lonely, Howie never felt more at peace than here in the forest. He loved it.
From ahead, Howie's father called back to Alex,"Only a bit farther back." He lowered his voice back to it's normal pitch. "You see, we live close to Grey Lake, right on the shoreline. I'm a fishing man, as much as i was an Army one."

Alex nodded. "Oooh. I see." Alex also loved the forest. It was full of life and beauty; the scents of the wild flowers filled his lungs. "It is good that you live all the way out here, the woods are very wonderful!" He said with a bright smile, his green eyes having a spark of wonderment. He watched as a hare nibbled on a leaf then suddenly stop as it heard them, then it hopped away quickly, clearly fearful of that it doesn't know.

Indeed," Howie mumbled, agreeing with him, "this area is the perfect place for me to thrive. Isolated with clear air to breathe. And water, of course." How father trudged up the steps and unlocked the heavy steel door. Walking inside, he left Howie to hold it open for Alex. He did so, looking past his father to the one stairway leading up to his room. He frowned. This was it. He hadn't been prepared for this. He hoped his room would be acceptable.

Alex thanked Howie for holding that door. "I love being in the woods, you never know what you will find." He smiled at him. Alex already knew that he didn't take up a lot of space, but he didn't know if he and Howie would share a room or would they get separate ones. He didn't mind either, he had shared a room before when he was in foster homes.

Howie closed the door and locked it; safety first. He and how dad took turns turning on lights, the old things raking a moment to start, but their bright lights illuminated the whole area of the bunker. Their house wasn't the largest, with two stories and an attic, which Howie claimed. The basement was underground and full of father's old war mementos, along with various things they had saved up for any kind of apocalypse. The rest of the house consisted of a kitchen, living room, a diningroom and a rec room. The rec room usually just had fishing stuff and clutter in it. There was a dusty old ping-pong table resting in the corner.

Howie slipped out of his father's jacket, only to have a large turtleneck underneath. He hung it up and then turned to Alex. His father moved into the kitchen to look for food for dinner. "You'll have to share a room with me, if that's alright." As he said his, the boy started up the narrow staircase towards the attic.

Alex nodded. "That is fine." He said, following Howie up the stairs. He didn't know what expect for what Howie's room would look like, seeing as he really didn't know it. Once they got up there, Alex set his backpack down, taking in the look of the room.

Howie closed his door, the way it should always be. Once away from his father, Howie let out a sigh as the smell of books, wood and sterilizers welcomed his aching throat and nose. His room. His comfort-zone. He scratched his neck and looked away in embarassement. His room looked like a museum.

The walls were covered in shelves and wallpapers of different, earthy designs. There were diagrams of thousands of animals, bugs, spiders, humans. The shelves housed jars upon jars of preserved bugs, small animals, plants. There were boxes on the ceiling with netting. Sugar water in a container on a window seal. Fern stuffed in a little net. A bunk bed in the far corner, made of dark cherry wood. There was a large wrap-around desk in the far side of the room, parallel to the door. It was covered in several computers, and twice as many monitors. A headset lay there where he left it.
Howie grumbled internally at his messy room. "I apologize for the mess.."

Alex shook his head. "It is fine." Alex did like science, but not as much as Howie did. The only thing that he didn't like about science was when he had to dissect something, he didn't like the idea of cutting something open and taking it's body parts out, it honestly made him almost threw up one time. "I see you have great interest in science." He stated, seeing all the different things in there. He picked up his backpack. "Where should I put my stuff?" He didn't feel so comfortable in Howie's room because of the diagrams of the open bodies, which made his face pale but not too much.