Chapter 4
"So, what's you name kid?" Heatblast asks as the young Pyronite launches a ball of fire into the center of the target. "Your good at this."
"I-I'm Harry." Harry stammers, a little confused. "Y-you mean the Pyronite, don't you?"
"Yup." He ruffles the boy's flames like hair. It was somehow fluffy looking, his 'skin' a deeper red than Heatblast's, his flames an almost magenta color, with his bangs being pink.
"O-oh! Magmaster, but they like to be called Mag." Harry nods blasting the last target with accuracy. "He said that I should practice myself since he knows how to do it already, I think they just want to fall back on me if we messed up."
Despite the way that he crosses his arms, and puffs out his cheeks I can tell he's not really upset, though Heatblast bristles a little.
"He's not upset Blast, no more than Chill gets at you when you annoy him." I chuckle heading next to him. I don't like being solid, so I simply link up telepathically. "But really that was great!"
Clearly not ready for my voice the boy flinches and shouts a bit, flames 'sparking' as a chill ran up his spine.
"Poppa!?"
"Didn't mean to scare you kid." I chuckle softly. "Good to see that none of your aliens have sight issues."
"Armando wears them sometimes, but i think they just help him read... Albedo thinks, that he thinks they make him look smart." Harry's Omnitrix beeps a few times, flashing red before timing out, returning him to his bade form. Heatblast relinquishes control, and I turn back to the body. As I do the name really hits and my eyes go wide, placing my hands together, thumbs under my chin as my body mind fought back slight annoyance that a three year old had come up with a more clever pun than I ever could.
"Poppas?" harry tilts his head.
"Yeah, yo... What's up Ben?" Julie asks as she heads up to us, ship bounding happily to greet Harry. "Not like you to get silent like that."
"I got put pun-named, by a three year old. I'm just. Armando. Arm-mando? That's got to be the Tertamand." I chuckle. "That's probably the normal-est, and punny-est name and..." I shake my head. "I mean I' proud, just."
"You know what? I actually do kind of get it." She nods. "You also got out done by a three year old it would seem." She nods to the still sizzling targets. "from my time with you, You've never been one for control in that form."
"Yeah, I'm glad you and Heatblast get along alright." I nod, gently pulling Harry into a hug. "Say, why don't we take this little dude out for Ice Cream? I mean he's definitely earned it."
"Alright, just don't spoil him too much."
"He's three Julie, and besides he really hasn't had anyone too spoil him." I shake my head. "And he really did earn it today, with training an all. Though I don't want you to do it just for ice cream and reward alright? It's meant to be fun in and of itself, and help you bond with your aliens. Not to mention get comfortable in their forms as if they were your own."
"Of course Poppas!" Harry beams. "By the way, why did you chose the ten your did?"
"Well I started off with ten, and unlocked more as I went along, I figured it was only fair that you got ten as well, and the OG's are typically a good call. Figured that way at three, you wouldn't have to worry about scanning too much." I explained, following Julie out of the park and to my car. "The swapping between bodies thing can be a little confusing, though; and this is just from my experience, it shouldn't change your being. It might help you figure some things out, but that's not something you have you worry about too much."
"Benjamin!" Julie reals a little.
"What?" I tilt my head as I help Harry into the back. "It's true, and a lot of people know gender and things like that young. Not all do, but it's a good thing to know about. And different aliens have different sexes. It's just a basic little lesson. I'm not going to get into things until he's older." I kiss his forehead then close the door just in case it starts to get a little heated. "But I thought we agreed that we weren't going to hide things from him, considering what he went through. No flowery language, right?"
"Yeah, I just didn't expect you to get into that already."
"It can be confusing." I note, leaning back gently. "Though I guess you really wouldn't know. I'm sorry if that comes of as a little mean, I can explain it to you when we get back."
"Alright, just remember the boy is three. He doesn't need a sex ed lesson yet."
"I'm not going to go that far with him. Now come on, we should get going." I smile, opening her door for her. "We did promise him ice cream."
"Alright, alright." Julie playfully swats my arm. "I'm starting to think you want it more than he dose."
"Alright Ben, now really tell me. What's so confusing about becoming your aliens?"
"Well you might have noticed I sometimes call this form just, the body at times." I note leaning back on my bed. "It's partly because the body isn't exactly me any more. I mean it is, but at the same time, it's just a body. Not that I mean that in a destructive way, at least not when talking like this. It dose need to be respected, because in a sense it's shared by all of us and it changes to everyone's different forms."
"Okay?"
"Well, all of them are rather different too." I nod, "And while it dose feel like it's your own body that can be really odd in-and-of-itself."
"I suppose."
"Well I mean most of my aliens are male, which is okay. I'm a demi-boy I'm good with things like that. But I have had some forms that were odd to get used to. Goop's actually a really good example. They are gender fluid, and have the means to change. I know that most outward looks don't that much, but the body fit's the alien that it's meant to. So my body is mine and Goop's is Goop's."
"So what dose that mean?"
"Each body has it's own feel, and sometimes it's a little odd being in that body as someone who is on the mas spectrum." I shrugged. "Most of my aliens are, so there is a chance that it is somewhat based on the body, but it's always worth thinking about."
"I... guess." She sighs sitting at my computer desk. "But Magmaster and Armaldo both seem like boys Ben."
"Ah, that's two out of ten, and Mag not only prefers Mag, but uses he/them pronouns. And I'll kind of give you Albedo but he's kind of... He shouldn't bbe taken into count with this one actually. So two of nine."
"And?"
"It's good to respect that, and if they decide to come out; any of them, we need to make sure they feel safe enough to do so." I shrug. "We will learn about the others soon enough."
"I guess your right." She nods. "Do you think that the aliens will alter that far from what Harry feels?"
"I don't know. I was a bit older when I got the watch so there is a chance that they might develop wildly different." I shrugged. "But Harry's got a lot of control, he's at least currently a bit stabler than me in the 'eyes' of the Omnitrix."
"Alright, well I suppose were going to have to wait and see wont we."
"I suppose we will."