The one in question shakes her head. “Having met the girl you’re talking about, I can tell you I am not. She’s from Storyboard X but lives in SBXI. It’s possible I’m the SBXL version of her, though I doubt it, since I don’t have Ancyro in my bloodline, or any XL equivalent, that I know of.”
Elf asks, “Are either of you related to one of the historical figures we’ve visited so far?”
Axer bites. “I can’t say without knowing which figures you’ve visited. If you mean my dad, mom, grandparents, so forth, then sure. Ha ha, I’m not related to Acer Darcy, or at least I’ve never made it a point to check. You know I’ve met him by now, but neither of us are brave enough to look into genealogies and get depressed about our heritage theories being wrong.”
Elbowing Ax, Roxy adds, “But I’m very impressed that you thought to ask that. Maybe we will muster the courage to look into it. If we do, we’ll see if we can have a little leniency in our Drawing Board restrictions and visit you guys at your base. That way, we can give you an updated answer.”
It’s slow. It’s timid, but Gigi’s hand slithers up. She’s acknowledged, so she begins to speak, though she feels a bit awkward asking the question, especially considering who she expected to bring it up. “So, once things settled down, did you two get married?”
Faye T. is now fifty tons lighter as her relentless curiosity can be quenched without the disheartening routine of the others finding displeasure in her one-track mind.
“Marry Roxy?!” Axer looks at his best friend as if she’s made of political ads or something. “She’s my buddy and travel companion. Why would I wanna’ marry her? That’s weird.” Axer watches the kids react in various ways while he takes joy in Roxy’s annoyed expression. “Alright, alright, we got married in our mid-twenties and spent the rest of our lives happy together. I mean, I was loving the trip. Who knows what she thought of the whole thing?”
His now revealed wife slaps his arm with her hand, back and forth, as she laughs and scolds him. “Axer, do you have to be a clown every second of your life?”
Faye sharply echoes, “I hate clowns.”
“See?” says Rox as she motions her hand at the child. “This beautiful, darling friend of ours is a genius. She must be. But yes, I have enjoyed every minute together. Well, every day would be more accurate. To say I enjoy every minute of each day with you is pushing it, sir.” She crosses her arms, closes her eyes and leans on him, pretending to ignore him. The class is thoroughly entertained. In fact, this is pretty much how they spend the next hour with these two, learning more about their first adventure involving the aliens. Sure, it was a bigger adventure, but AB didn’t see that part of history as vital as what we visited. I’m not certain he knows why he chose it this way, but Astro Bomber has a way of figuring these things out Lyger style.
So, the goodbyes make their return to the mouths of the students as another group of guests disappear. The teachers give the kids a recess back at HQ so they can have time to catch up on brain functions from all the traveling and learning. Now, Faye has her chance to say something to Elf that’s been bothering her. Timing things right, she catches him away from the others and spills her concern.
“Elfie,” she says, standing as close as possible in case any nosey sister is nearby, “am I doing this right? I’m trying to not be so date-minded, but you seem to be even more bothered by me than normal.” Looking him in the eye with her pretty, blue eyes at an uncomfortably close range, she whispers to him, “How can I help you?”
He’s confused at first, not sure if he likes the scenario or not, but finds himself stepping backwards and responding in a bit of a growl. “Faye, you’re not helping. You’re getting too close and it really bothers me. Please stop, okay?” With his head swirling in a storm of frustration, with both slight regret and confidence in his answer, Entoni marches off to get away from his mini-stalker.
Inner Man Theatre 