A few days passed and things returned to their routine. Will spent many afternoons contemplating calling his parents, in an effort to reconcile their differences after the scene that occurred a few days prior, but every time he was close to it, he stopped. Sure he wanted things to be okay between them again, but his mother was right. He needed to give them some time to deal with the situation that was so unceremoniously presented to them, and he wasn't doing that if he called.
He not only had to deal with his parents, but also found himself constantly thinking about Tracey and expecting something to happen because of it. He didn't know what to expect though, no one did, but he thought perhaps some swat team was going to burst through his door and drag him away. Thane, on multiple occasions, had to calm Will down before he had a panic attack, playing the rational voice in Will's head.
Of course, even with all this going on, his training still had to continue, although he wanted nothing more than to have a week off to get his mind on straight. Thane, having completed his recent hospital project, had a sudden abundance of time on his hands, a strange occurrence for him. Not surprisingly, he found himself spending this free time accompanying Will to his trainings, something Varek thought was more a distraction than a help.
They had just returned to Helios Grove after spending a day at the Lunaris Programming Centre, where most of the programming on Lunaris was done. Everything from droids, to city infrastructure, anything that was remotely automated was controlled from the building. It was, in fact, the place where Varek worked for most of the time, so it was only natural that Varek was a little more excited that day as compared to others, being in his element. Although he didn't speak of this, a part of him had hoped that Will would eventually decide on electrical engineering to specialize in, like himself.
Although he had only been mentoring Will for not more than three weeks, Varek had already taken a strong liking to the boy, feeling like he was a second son. The fact that him and Thane were hitting it off with each other, in more ways than one, was somehow just icing on the cake. Both Varek and his wife could plainly see how much happier Thane had been lately, and they had no doubt that it was attributed to Will, something they couldn't help but smile at.
"You were practically bouncing the whole day." Thane smirked as the trio walked into their home.
"Well it's my bread and butter. I'm sure you can understand why." Varek replied.
"Well Varek, I've got to say, you sure know how to sell your line of work. I'm half decided on my specialization now." Will said. Even though Varek hadn't mentioned it to him, he could tell that Varek wanted him to follow in his mentor's footsteps, and he did seem interested in it, especially after Varek's spirited introduction to the line.
At Will's words, Varek's eyes just about lit up, a Cheshire cat grin taking over his lips. At that moment, Steve came in, greeting them as per usual. "Pardon me gentlemen, but you have a visitor. He is waiting in Mr. Hopper's office." He announced.
"A visitor? Who." Varek asked.
"President Dart." The droid voiced.
"Oh? Hmm, I wonder why he's here." Varek thought aloud.
"He's probably just checking up on Will's progress." Thane suggested. Varek nodded slowly, thinking that it made sense. "I'll let you both go talk to him then." Thane said, about to head off in a different direction.
"Actually Master Thane, President Dart has requested to see all three of you." Steve interjected before Thane could take a step further.
"What? Why would he want to see me?" Thane asked, bewildered that he had been summoned as well.
"That's the instructions he told me to relay. I know nothing more." Steve said.
Thane raised an eyebrow and turned to his father, hoping to get some sort of explanation, but Varek only shrugged his shoulders. "Should be nothing." Varek said, dismissing it and proceeded in the direction of his office. Thane took the place next to Will as they both followed behind Varek.
"You don't think this has anything to do with Tracey right?" Will whispered, immediately growing wary of President Dart's surprise visit, and his paranoia sparked once again. Could this be as he had feared all along since the day at the hospital? Varek did say that President Dart wasn't the most keen on the idea of homosexuals.
"I sure hope not." Thane replied, himself growing a little uneasy about the whole situation.
The walk to Varek's office seemed to take a lot longer than normal for the boys, something they weren't sure whether to me happy about. This could go one of two ways and a part of them wanted it to be over with, while the other part didn't even want to deal with it at all. Of course, they did eventually make it to the door as Varek shot the boys a glance, before knocking and opening the door.
Inside, President Dart sat at the desk, looking out the window behind him. At the sound of the door, he turned in his chair, slowly and almost menacing. "Ah Varek, Will, Thane, it's good you're all back. I've been waiting awhile." He chuckled, which did nothing to ease their nerves.
"You could have called sir, we would have made the time to meet you." Varek said, trying his hardest to hide his nervousness about the situation, the tension emanating from the two younger men behind him slowly affecting him as well.
"Oh nonsense, no need to interrupt your busy day." Dart waved off. "But now that you have returned, I have been meaning to speak to all of you."
"Is this about Will's progress?"
"Oh yes, it is. First of all Varek, can I speak to Will and Thane privately?" Dart asked, so polite and yet the threat in his statement was quite clear.
"Oh...of course." Varek said, turning and looking at the two elites behind him, trying to convey with his emotion for them to stay calm, before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.
