1.25 Day 25

"Melor, what did we say about reading at the table?" Nozomi asks in a warning tone.

"What's wrong with reading?" Melor asks, not even bothering to look up from his book. 

"Yeah, Nozomi, what's wrong with reading?" Taras echoes his son. 

Nozomi's smile grows tight. Having two voracious readers in the house means books everywhere, except for their designated bookshelf. Of course. 

"Taras!" Nozomi hisses at her husband, "Why can't you encourage him to do something active, like sports?" 

A muscle jumps along Taras's jaw. It's true that Melor isn't athletically inclined, but why should that matter? Melor is excelling in all other subjects at school. If he isn't "acting like a typical boy his age", so be it. But he doesn't want to argue in front of his son, so he just shoots Nozomi a stern look. 

They don't have time to quarrel, anyways. Nozomi wants to hit the streets later, so she rushes through her share of childcare today. Tobias gets some one-on-one time with her before she flies out the door.

Taras gets some less pleasant one-on-one time with the rest of the kids. Marisol and Xander are being particularly fussy today. The term "double trouble" comes to mind as he changes his daughter's diaper through the cries of her slightly younger twin brother. 

How long until their first birthday?

In the meantime, Nozomi has to make nice with Flying V Coffee House's proprietor. Old age has made him more forgetful, so he doesn't immediately connect Nozomi's face to that of the disastrous magician who once almost skewered one of his customers. 

Besides, Nozomi has been working on her less dangerous tricks. Energy pools and swirls between her palms, emitting a pulsing white glow. This is only the first step of a summoning spell, but left incomplete it makes this pretty whirl of light. 

Looks like her gig is in the bag.

Fireball trick or just warming her hands? Nozomi- or Sinestra Mind Surgeon as she must call herself on stage- is full of mystery. 

Arthur Dodger, local thief, finishes building his snowman and watches this odd woman expel flames from her fingertips. Where does she keep the matches? he wonders. 

His wonder soon turns into amusement as her fire gets a bit... 

...out of control...

After an unsuccessful attempt to suppress his laughter, he claps sarcastically, "Well done, doll."

Frustration colouring her features, she whips out a rose bouquet, brandishing it like a weapon. 

Take that, you jerk. 

His expression is thoughtful instead of offended. When she's not setting herself on fire, she isn't half bad!

Or maybe not.

After counting all 106 simoleons in her tip jar, some most definitely given out of pity, Nozomi heads home. She starts her dinner at the same time Melor begins his homework assignment. 

Feeling bad about possibly offending her son that morning, Nozomi tries to strike up some light conversation. 

"How was school?" 

Melor's brows furrow. "At recess, some of the other kids called me 'Melon'. I'm not even green! And when I told them that I can't be a melon, because melons are fruits and have seeds and people don't, they just called me a nerd." 

Nozomi's eyebrows raise at his almost non-chalant tone. He isn't crying, or very visibly angry, like she would expect a kid his age to be. She considers her next words very carefully; telling him to tell the teacher won't do any good, since from her own childhood experience that usually only exacerbates the problem. At the same time, she can't tell him to physically confront his classmates, since aside from violence creating more problems, she's almost certain he would lose. 

She fixes her son with her shining purple eyes. 

"Next time it happens, tell those kids that you don't care what they say. You might make them mad, but eventually they'll leave you alone." 

Melor wants to roll his eyes and tell his mom that it doesn't even matter since he doesn't normally talk to those kids anyways, but seeing how happy she seems with her solution he pretends to consider it. 

"Thanks, mom." 

AN: I have very little experience with being bullied, but from what I've seen it can be incredibly difficult to stop.