Work Text:
Chris looked up from his science project at his dad who was working on cleaning the kitchen. He was excited about his project but needed some more help. And while he knew his dad would help him, he wanted someone who would be as interested as he was about his project. That left only one person.
“Dad? Can you ask Buck to come help me with my homework?”
Eddie pretended to look offended. “I can help you bud.”
“Buck likes the science stuff more than you do.”
Eddie messed up his hair on his way past his on while agreeing to text Buck. Neither one was surprised when Buck showed up an hour later. The tall Buckley quickly joined Chris at the table.
“What are you working on?”
“I’m doing a project about coral reefs. I have to write up a report and make a poster.”
Buck looked over all of the information that Chris had already gathered.
“This is great work so far! Let’s see what we can find to add to it.”
Eddie smiled to himself and went back to cleaning. He didn’t know how he and Chris had gotten lucky enough to find a friend like Buck.
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Eddie helped Chris get settled for bed and listened to him talk.
“They help act like a barrier for bad storms and…and help clean the water where they are!”
Eddie started pulling up the blanket. “They sound pretty amazing.”
Chris nodded as he handed his dad his glasses. “They are. Buck says that there are people who are trying to protect them because they are so important but not enough people know how they help us.”
“Well, you’ll be able to tell people all about them now. I saw your poster. It looks so good.”
Chris smiled and curled up under the blanket as his dad turned the light out as he walked out of the room.
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Eddie walked back into the dining room and helped Buck clean up what was left of the coral reef project mess. They were both really good about cleaning as they worked so there wasn’t much left to do.
“Thanks for coming over. He really loves doing this stuff with you.”
Buck smiled to himself. “I’m happy to do it. I wish that I had someone who was interested in this stuff when I was a kid.”
Eddie knew enough about Buck’s childhood to not dig into that. He was just grateful that he had found someone who cared as much about his son as he did. Plus, he was grateful that Chris didn’t expect him to do these deep dives into science and history anymore. He liked the subjects but just wasn’t that interested in them.
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Christopher’s Poster
