Chapter Text
Xandra knew that Theo was strange, I mean any 15 year old boy would be after losing his mother in a bombing and having to move out to Las Vegas with his father who he hadn't seen in many years would be strange too. But, Xandra felt strangely protective over the kid, and his little friend, which was unusual to say the least. I mean, Xandra is technically his step mother? Parent? Guardian? Whatever. Since Larry was in the hospital from a car crash, Xandra had to take care of both of them, even though Xandra probably took better care of them then Larry ever did.
It was strange being home, even though there were more people in the house than usual, it still felt... empty? Out of place. I mean, even after Lisa had promised to take over Larry's spot in the strange family, it was still hard to get used to. And, Xandra had to explain to Lisa the kid's whole life story before telling him anything just because he had a strange reaction to news like this.
All Theo said was "Oh."
Boris was the one that actually asked questions, even if it was just one.
"Uh, when is he going to be back?" He spoke, his accent curling over his words in a strange sense. Oh yeah, Xandra had forgotten to tell Lisa than Boris is like, an immigrant from some place in Eastern Europe. Xandra never cared enough to listen to the boy rambling on to Larry in the morning, his words filled the air hastily and quickly, which was perfect background noise for her morning smoke.
"Uh, Xandra? Are you sure they're okay? It's strange for children their age to act like this." Lisa asked that night.
"Yeah, yeah, he'll be fine. They'll both be fine. They can cope in their own ways or something." Xandra took a drag from her cigarette and faced her friend.
"Okay, if you say so, Xan... Though, they do seem quite close." Lisa said staring at the two boys sitting on the floor knee to knee, watching whatever was on TV.
"Oh yeah, that's just them I guess." Xandra looked over as well to see Boris's hand go up Theo's back, soon covered by his shirt (Though Xandra had seen Boris wear it more than once. Huh.)
"Ya sure that's normal? I mean, Larry did say something about having a queer for a son, so..."
"Neither of them are normal. I mean, both of their mothers are gone and they ended up in this shithole. Plus, most of what Larry says is bull shit. Hell, he probably said that just because the kid can't aim a gun at 15." Xandra didn't know what compelled her to defend them. But she did. I mean, Xandra has quite a few problems but her husband's kid being gay or something wasn't one of them.
"Still, they are way to close to be deemed an average friendship between two boys. I mean, why are you defending them so much? Thought you hated kids."
"Eh, well, Theo's technically my kid and Boris is around enough to be considered a resident. Plus, they're not half bad, at least most of the time. They're loud yeah, loud as hell, but it's not terrible. "
"Huh. I mean, I love kids but these two... damn, is the little foreigner difficult! And I've barely talked to the kid."
"Oh, you'll hate him when he actually is up in the morning, he talks non stop! Though, his stories are pretty interesting. The kid's been places to say the least."
It was strange, boasting about some random kid like he was your own. I mean, it's totally normal to feel pride when talking about your husband's kid's weird slavic boy best friend, right? Okay, maybe Xandra was getting soft around them or some mushy shit. Who cares.
"Do you think that you'd take Theo as your son if Larry... you know... uh, dies?"
It's scary to think that Larry might die. Xandra didn't want to think about it. I mean, he was a complete asshole, she definitely knew that but, he's a living, breathing human being with emotions or something, right?
"God, I have no idea. Maybe. I mean, I'd just feel bad for the kid. Losing all your family at only 15 is brutal."
"Who knew. The all mighty ice queen Xandra taking care of some scrawny kid from New York and his Russian boyfriend. Who fucking knew."
"Oh come on, what would I even do? Kick him out? Leave him to die? Plus, Boris isn't even Russian, believe me I have had to listen to that kid tell some crazy story about his life before Vegas, and none of them were in Russian. Though he does speak it. And with more curse words than those mafia movies."
"Oh don't tell me you've gotten soft on the kids. Soft enough to listen to what languages he speaks. How'd you know that he's speaking Russian anyways? You speak it or some shit?"
"Enough to talk to crazy relatives I don't remember but if you quizzed me I'd definitely fail."
"What, I thought you were born here?"
"I was. I'm just not American enough to speak English at family reunions."
"Damn. It's pretty late. You got a guest room or something?"
"Yeah, its upstairs across from my room."
"What, do the kids sleep on the couch or some shit?"
"Nope. In Theo's room."
"Jesus fucking christ, maybe Larry was right about them being fruits." Xandra flashed her a passive aggressive smile as she left.
I mean, who cares if they're gay or some shit? It would make way more sense than them being just friends. I mean, it's not very platonic to sleep in the same twin sized mattress and wear the same clothes and take care of Popper like their own son and always be touching in some weird way. But who cares? Not Xandra. Even if they weren't technically her family, she would be fine if they acted like it. Quite excited, in fact. Even if that's out if character for her or some bull shit.