Work Text:
Chalk War
by IrenaAdler
Charlie walked into the garage … then froze. His chalkboards had been ravaged. His Cognitive Emergence math was still there, but his symbols were now people, his numbers flowers, his Greek letters sprouting feelers and feet.
"Neeena!" he yelled.
Nena came around the corner, chalk still in her hand.
"You messed up my equations!"
"Lifeordeaf?" Nena asked timidly.
"Well, no," Charlie grumbled. "Actually, yes. This is the math of life."
Colby stuck his head into the garage. "Something wrong?"
Charlie pointed towards the desecrated chalkboards.
Colby covered a smile. "Nena, you're supposed to only use blank chalkboards."
"But," Nena protested. "I was just adding to Charlie's funny pictures."
"'Funny pictures?'" Charlie snapped. "That's high level math!"
"Then you can't expect Nena to understand." Colby's voice tightened. "It was an honest mistake. No harm done."
"No harm?" Charlie squeaked.
"God," Colby retorted. "You sound like a five-year-old with a broken toy."
"This is my life's work, not a toy!"
Nena began to cry.
Colby put his arm around her. "Okay, let's all calm down."
Charlie threw himself into a chair. The garage was his. He was sick of sharing it.
Colby said, "How about we designate one chalkboard to be Nena's? Then she'll always have someplace to draw."
"They're all my chalkboards."
Colby eyed him, then picked Nena up. She snuffled against his shirt, making Charlie feel worse. "We're gonna go inside now. Come in when you feel like being an adult."
Charlie folded his arms and Colby left him glaring at the chalkboards. Chalk animals paraded across Charlie's vision. Suddenly, he caught his breath. Wait … A radical new idea took shape, carried on the feet of asymmetric chalk people.
Humming, Charlie followed the math across the chalkboard and completely forgot about Nena, going inside, or behaving like an adult.
end