The X-Project

Doreen kidnaps Julian early in the morning for an Avatar: The Last Airbender marathon.

Doreen held a copy of the first season of Avatar the Last Airbender. Remembering how much Julian had freaked from window knocking, this time she was actually at the door, tail bright and bushy, smiling as she knocked and then put on her best forlorn face and held up the boxset and waited for an answer.

Stumbling out of bed to get the door before Fred could be stirred from his slumber, Julian tripped over a small pyramid of fully solved Rubik's Cubes that had been piled in front of his door. Stifling a curse, he continued out into the common area, wondering what else his nocturnal gremlins had managed to get their lack-of-hands on last night.

Opening the door Keller was reminded of the motivational poster with the kitten hanging from the branch. "Dori?"

“Hi, Julian. Get dressed, I have something we’re going to watch. It’s really awesome,” she said, grinning brightly and still holding the boxset up.

Squinting, Julian examined the box. The picture of a boy with a blue arrow on his head slowly came into focus. "What is it?" he asked, unsure if this was an innocent visit or all just part of Dori's master plan to make him into a nerd.

“It’s a show,” she said happily, her tail high and fluffy. The syrupy innocence on her voice was half practice and half nature, “About a kid.”

"A kid with an arrow on his head?" Julian took the box from her and leaned against the door frame. He flipped the box over and read quietly to himself for a moment. "Action cartoon?"

“Yeah,” Doreen said, smiling, “It’s kind of like an animated kung fu show. But it’s not from Asia, this was made for American Television. It’s won an Emmy,” she said.

Julian handed the box back to her and sighed, "Definitely part of your master plan to nerdify me." Running a hand through his already mussed hair, Keller gave Dori a nod, "Lemme get dressed and I'll watch the first few episodes at least. But...you have to come to the weight room with me later." It wouldn't hurt her to do some strength training.

“Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies,” Doreen said and then sighed melodramatically, “Fine, I guess I can. I think I’m already plenty strong though.”

"Good, then you can show me up." He stood up straight again, "How about you go get some popcorn and sodas and I'll bring the snickers and a knife and we can make snickered popcorn."

“Yeah, sure! I’ll get that and meet you in the rec room? We should use the BIG TV for this. It’ll be lots of fun, you’ll see!” Doreen said, now very excited. Candy popcorn, drinks and an awesome show, this was going to be fun.

Julian headed back inside and grabbed a box of Snickers bars before finding some clothes, "The things you let her talk you into, Jules," he said to himself.

Fully dressed and more awake, Keller headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab a cutting board and a knife before making his way up to the rec room. Still a little bit away from it, he could already smell the popcorn.

And there was a lot of it. Doreen always managed to out do herself when it came to entertainment related snacks, “You’re right on time! The popcorn is all ready to be candied!” she said, the bowl was huge, more than enough for the both of them, even with Doreen’s habit of eating everything in sight and Monkey Joe being there to help.

Julian hopped over the back of the couch and landed with a plop on the soft cushions before setting the cutting board on his lap. "Good, because I brought the candy," he smirked, floating the box of Snickers onto the coffee table. Monkey Joe seemed to already be able to smell them as his little nose started twitching as the green teekay bubble fell.

Carefully opening several bars, Julian picked up the knife and started chopping the snickers into cubes, sliding it into the popcorn bowl once he was finished. "So, would you like to give me a forward for this show?"

“I think the show can pretty much speak for itself, but it’s more or less a martial arts epic about this twelve year old boy,” Doreen started, “He and his friends have to stop a war, and the main bad guy is voiced by Mark Hamill and all the fictional ‘bending’ arts are based on real martial arts styles,” she said. “Here, I’ll get the first disk going… it will seem kinda dorky at first, but by the second episode, you’ll see what I mean,” Doreen promised, skipping to the DVD player and putting the disk in.

“Behold!”

Julian was shaking the bowl up as she skipped back and shouldering out Monkey Joe, who seemed to be entranced by the contents. "Okay, but if I don't like it by the end of the first disc, I'm out...okay?" He set the popcorn down between the two of them, "Give it a try."

“That’s fair,” Doreen said. She didn’t expect much more than that. She took a handful of the candied popcorn and stuffed her face and grinned, “This is really good.”

"Don't think it needs more Snickers?" Julian winked and turned his attention to the show as it started, a Nickelodeon logo popping up on screen first. "Ugh, this is from the same people who do Sponge-Bob?"

“NO!” Doreen said shaking her head, “No it’s not! It’s just the same network. These guys are totally different than the people who did Sponge Bob! You’ll see, trust me.”

His stomach already full of sugar and popcorn, Julian watched the credits roll on the second episode, slightly amazed and slightly perturbed that Dori had been right...again. "Wow," he turned to his friend, "where do you find this stuff?"

“Places,” Doreen said, smiling, maybe eve a bit smugly, “It’s pretty cool isn’t it? More than just another kid’s show, you know?”

There was no disputing the quality of the show, but he still wasn't sure after what was essentially the pilot. "Okay, it was a good episode or two, but can the show actually keep up with this momentum?"

Doreen smiled, “It gets better and better as it goes on and the ending is purely epic.”

A grin spread across Julian's lips, "You remind me of Aang, Dori...are you an air bender?" He chuckled, "Glad you're back inside by the way." He got up and took the second disk out of the box.

“I wish,” Doreen said looking up at the ceiling, “I’d love to be able to fly – even on a glider like that. And yeah, it… uh… nice in here.” She said, fudging the last.

"Maybe you're actually a flying squirrel? Or maybe someone can make you one of those glider suits." Julian put the disk into the player and plopped down on the couch next to Monkey Joe, sending the grey squirrel a few inches into the air. "Whoops, sorry, Em-Jay."

Monkey Joe made some angry clicks and squeaks before moving to settle by Doreen, “That would be so awesome. Flying would be amazing, you’re lucky. I’m sure you’ll be able to one day.”

A scoff was his only reply as the show started, "I'm not so sure about that. I tried throwing myself off the roof and Nathan did say something about it not kicking in immediately not being a good sign or whatever." He shrugged and filled his mouth with a handful of snickered-popcorn.

“You just need practice,” Doreen said, “No one starts out being really awesome right away.”

Looking away, Julian rolled his eyes and turned back to his friend with a smile, "This coming from the girl who can slam dunk over me with hardly any effort."

“That’s different,” Doreen said, “I can’t turn what I do on and off, I always do it. And it took practice to not over shoot things and to make sure the distance is right.”
"Yeah, I'm just saying...so far, all I've been able to learn is how to dent the lawn." Julian took another mouthful of the sticky, chocolaty popcorn.

"So? You'll get better," she said again, "I know it."

"Dude," Julian said firmly, taking a moment to pause and collect himself. He sighed, "Thanks...it's just hard when you're not seeing any progress." He pointed back to the television, "Like Katara with her water bending...did I say that right?"

"Yeah. And you should see how good she gets when she gets a master. You just need a teacher. There are other people that do the same things you do, right?" Doreen pointed out.

Scratching the back of his neck, Julian looked intently at the screen for a moment. "Um, I sort of already have a teacher...Nathan. And as for the flying stuff, apparently other things come before that. Something about learning to walk before you can run or whatever."

"Well, then it will take time, but it will happen," Doreen said.

"Just like Katara...oh man, what have you done to me Dori?"

Doreen laughed evilly, over exaggerating it, "I'm making you a nerd!"