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Frank leaned back on the park bench and beamed. Watching Gerard discover new things was one of his favorite past times.
"Frank!" Gerard cried, rushing over to him. "Frank you have to try this it's so fun!"
"I don't know, Gerard," Frank said, pretending to think about it.
"Yes you do you're making that face where you've already made up your mind and now you're just teasing me come on!"
Gerard always forgot about sentence breaks when he got excited.
Frank let himself be pulled to his feet and dragged over to the swing set.
"Do you know how it works?" Gerard demanded. "One of the children taught me but do you know? Should I teach you?"
"I know how to swing, Gerard," Frank chuckled. He sat on one of the empty swings and pushed back, pumping his legs to gain altitude.
"It's incredible!" Gerard yelled. He wasn't as high as Frank because he didn't have the rhythm necessary. He was having way more fun though, he seemed to enjoy swinging more than when he watched a meteor shower for the first time.
"The children said," Gerard gasped, "that if you're really brave, you're supposed to jump off when you get as high as you can!"
"Are you going to?" Frank asked as he swung through the air.
"I don't have the height or speed necessary to achieve an arch that reaches the grass," Gerard explained.
"Chicken!" Frank laughed. He launched himself off his swing and flew through the air, landing just past where the wood chips became grass. He crumpled and rolled onto his back, giggling.
"Frank! Frank!"
Gerard skidded to a stop, spraying wood chips everywhere, and ran to Frank's side. "Are you hurt?"
"No, Gerard, I'm fine," Frank assured him.
Gerard sat back into the grass and pouted. "You're braver than I am."
Frank sat up and grinned at him. "No, I'm just less responsible. I did that once when I was a kid and I broke my wrist. I would have been in a lot of trouble with my work if I had gotten hurt this time."
Gerard was shocked. "Then why would you do it again?"
Frank shrugged. "Because it's fun."
"Risk-taking behavior and fun seemed to be linked for some people. You're one of those people. I don't think I am."
"It's the adrenaline rush that those people crave," Frank explained.
"I don't like adrenaline," Gerard said, shaking his head and getting his hair in his face. "It makes my stomach feel odd."
"More people side with you on the matter than with me," Frank assured him.
They climbed to their feet, Frank brushing grass and wood chips from his jeans.
"Chickens can fly short distances," Gerard said randomly.
"Yes," Frank confirmed.
"Is that why you yelled chicken as you jumped?"
Frank chuckled. "No, that's what children call someone that they don't think is brave."
Gerard's head tilted to the side a fraction. It was his I-don't-understand expression.
"I don't understand."
Frank bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
"Remember how we talked about slang and expressions and how words and phrases evolve over time to mean something completely different from their orginal definition?"
"Yes."
"Calling someone a chicken is an example of that."
"I don't see how they made the leap from poultry to coward."
"We can look up the background on it when we get home, okay?"
Gerard nodded.
"Do you want to try jumping?" Frank asked. "I can push you so you get higher."
Gerard bit down on his bottom lip and considered the swings.
"Yes, okay. I'll try it."
Gerard sat back on his swing and Frank started pushing him. He rose higher and higher.
"You're good to go, Gerard!" Frank yelled, backing up and watching.
"I don't think I can!" Gerard shouted back.
"Will you make it to the grass?"
"Yes, but I can't seem to let go!"
"That's your body's fear response," Frank explained. "You can overcome it if you want to."
Gerard swung back and forth a few times, then jumped, yelping as he let go.
He landed on the grass and crumpled.
"Gerard?" Frank called. "Gerard!"
He rushed forward only to find Gerard clinging to the grass with his eyes shut.
"I didn't like that," Gerard pouted. "Gravity got really... um...."
"Oh, baby, I'm sorry," Frank frowned, brushing Gerard's hair away from his face. "I shouldn't have made you try."
"I'm supposed to experience new things and some of them I like and others I don't but I really didn't like that one."
"Can you sit up? Are you hurt?"
Frank helped Gerard sit up but the robot refused to let go of his grip on the Earth.
"Even though you were in the air for a moment, gravity is still working on you, I promise," Frank said. "If you let go, you will not float away."
Gerard pursed his lips but let go. He looked up at the sky.
"I didn't like being up there."
"The height or the falling?"
"Both, I believe? Maybe the lack of control more than anything else."
"Well, now we know better, right?"
Gerard nodded.
Frank pecked him on the lips.
"Do you feel alright?"
"I think I'd like to go home," Gerard said.
"Okay, let's go home."
"Maybe we can come back next weekend and swing again but not jump off this time?"
Frank grinned. "Sure, Gerard."