Vol. 2 of "The Angel Returneth" [The CD!]

“Be yourself, but always your better self.”

Karl G. Maeser

The Rainbow Angel

Xaria Veronica Karloff

The Angel Returneth Vol. 2 | The Character Development

With Mother’s Day behind him, Rémiel Fontaine can begrudgingly move on. He’s unable to recollect any memories of his mother. He was three when she died in a car accident. He was far too young. For the past three days, his father has been comforting him. Quentin lost almost as much sleep as he did. Twelve hours in the past seventy-two… it wasn’t healthy.

Tonight, Remi decided to give his father a well-deserved break. He asked Ari, his father’s girlfriend, to treat him to a wonderful night, just the two of them. He wanted to spend time with the other members of his family, his aunt Xaria in particular, Martin, and their children. In between their busy work schedules, they were still in the midst of unpacking. Of course, the movers were helpful, but he’s known his aunt for almost three years now. She was incredibly picky about where everything needed to be. Still, it was a beautiful house in Manhattan, New York. Four bedrooms and four bathrooms with an incredible view of the city and a large private roof deck! He couldn’t begin to imagine what it would look like when Xaria and Martin were finished moving, unpacking, and organizing everything.

Remi took a deep breath and allowed himself to focus. He carefully retrieved his PlayStation 4, the controllers, and the accessories to set it up in the guest bedroom. He connected everything where it needed to go, pressed the power button on the controller, and the forty-inch HDTV automatically turned on to accommodate to the system’s connection. He fixed his Sony wireless headphones on, pressed the switch to on, and made an instant chat connection with one of his online friends.

“Hey Jesse, can you hear me?”

Rustling on the other end of the line, a few mumbled words that were incoherent, before finally, a voice came through.

“Finally. This headphone set can be such a piece of crap sometimes.”  

Jesse Anderson replied in a rather cheerful tone. Despite the two being unable to physically see each other, the smile on Jesse’s face was obvious. He reclined into a comfy armchair that had been shifted in his bedroom just for gaming purposes. When you stayed online as much as Jesse did in-- a comfortable seat was of the utmost importance. Once everything was in its place-- two cans of Sprite and a bag of sea-salt chips-- Jesse could relax enough to check up on Remi.

“How are you feeling today, babe?”

A soft blush crawled across Remi’s cheeks. He couldn’t help it. Every time Jesse addressed him in such a way, he was in such awe.

“I-I’m feeling good enough to play. It’s been a few days… I gotta catch up.”

He shuffled through his main menu and started Overwatch. Even when he did this, their online chat was still connected. He fell back into the luxurious black leather recliner, leaned back, and sighed contently.

“I’m staying at Aunt Xaria’s new house for the weekend. Figured I’d give my dad and his girlfriend some time alone. Besides, someone’s gotta take care of Christian, Jacques, and Penny while she and Martin are in Montreal for Glory this Sunday.”

With Christian and Jacques distracted by Disney Pixar’s Cars in the living room and Pénélope asleep on Martin’s lap on the largest couch, Xaria Karloff smiled and quietly walked away for a moment. She thought it would be nice to check up on her nephew Remi. She and her brother Quentin have been talking about Remi’s emotional compromise to Mother’s Day. It was a depressing holiday for a young man who grew up without a mother. She could somewhat relate to him. She lost her mother on her tenth birthday and was left to fend for herself on the streets of Paris. Xaria took a deep breath and made her way upstairs when she tilted her head upon hearing her nephew talking… to someone? Curious, she approached the guest bedroom to the west and quietly listened in.

“House to yourself, huh? Going to throw any wild parties when the kids go to bed?”

Jesse chuckled scrolling through various options on the menu of Overwatch. Search through the hero gallery then flipped through the different skins for Junkrat. He finally settled on a certain skin, invited Remi to a group then queued them up for a regular Quickplay.

“And by wild parties I mean-- us staying up all night~”

Remi laughed as he looked through the hero gallery for a moment. Analyzing the players and their heroes on their team, he decided on selecting McCree with the Sage skin. Pairing an offensive hero with a defensive one made perfect sense.

“As long as you help me with my time management, I think we can do that. I’m ready when you are, Jesse.”

He didn’t realize that his aunt was listening nearby. Xaria picked up on that particular name -- Jesse. She remembered the young man was one of Remi’s good friends. A sweet smile crossed her face as she continued to listen.

“No problem, babe. You’re talking to the man who had to go to school, do a gaming tournament, and a basketball game all in one day… I’m surprised I pulled that one off with only four hours of sleep.”

Jesse sighed softly in more of an inquiry than exhaustion or exasperation. As the game started the whole group of players began randomly bouncing around the spawn room waiting for the doors to open so they could capture the points. Jesse allowed his controller to balance on his knee while he popped open his soda.

Hearing this, Remi suddenly recognized that he forgot to grab a drink from the refrigerator. The time was counting down before the spawn doors finally opened and he didn’t want to miss out on the first round. He pressed his lips together and breathed through his nose.

‘You can wait until the next round. Let’s have some fun!’

He nodded to himself and made sure his McCree was amped up. This was his best offensive hero. He was hoping to acquire the American skin very soon. He reached over to the left, pulled the switch, and slowly raised the footrest to get himself comfortable and ready.

“Haha, you’re a little crazier than I am. I still have school tomorrow, so I won’t be up too late tonight. Speaking of school, how have you been doing? No more F in French, mon beau?”

Xaria easily translated this in her mind. “My beauty.” Her sweet smile grew and she quietly stepped into the room without alerting her nephew’s presence. With the headset on, he seemed too focused on the conversation and the beginning of the round.

‘Aw, how cute…’

She folded her hands behind her back and watched him play alongside his dearest “friend” over the internet. She didn’t understand a thing about video games. The games her sons played were educational and easier to comprehend. This was a whole new level. She wondered if Martin would understand this any better?

“I’ve been doing better with it lately. I guess having a good tutor and learning how to sing in another language really helped improve my understanding.”

Jesse would not stop smiling and he knew that wouldn’t change anytime soon. His cheeks often ached after long nights of speaking to Remi, in any form, left him giddy. Despite his attention being split, and Remi being relatively new to Overwatch, they made a very cohesive pair. Jesse never failed (or barely ever) at protecting Remi from flanking enemies.

Xaria tried her best to understand the rules and concept of the game. It seemed the character her nephew was playing was meant for offense while the character his friend was playing was designed for defense. They were doing a great job of protecting one another and helping each other capture the points. Remi’s gameplay was a little more flawed and inexperienced compared to Jesse’s, but she could tell he was learning quickly.

“Yeah… I-I wouldn’t mind you singing to me in person. Maybe one day…?”

She could tell he was distracted by the thought when one of the enemies caught him off guard. He flinched, pressed the footrest down, and sat up on the edge of the recliner.

“Shit! Widowmaker shot me from the cut! That’s pretty cheap.”

Upon hearing him curse, her natural reaction kicked in and she spoke up.

“Language, young man.”

By the time she realized she blew her cover, a cheesy smile crossed her face.

“!!”

Finally, Remi was able to acknowledge his aunt’s presence. He was shocked to see her, quick to turn his attention towards her while McCree reappeared in the spawn room.

“A-ah, hi… Aunt Xaria. H-how long have you been standing there?”

Jesse’s eyes squinted at the screen because of the random sentence from Remi that was clearly not meant for him. His heart began to rapidly pound beneath his ribs while he attempted (and failed) at holding the point against the enemy team.

“Damn… Pharah got me…”

Jesse reclined in his seat transferring his attention to Remi’s conversation.

“Long enough.”

Xaria offered her nephew a knowing little smile and she unfolded her hands from behind her back. She looked at the television screen before she looked towards him again.

“Why did you stop playing? Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed to play a video game when someone is around?”

Remi could feel his heart jumping into his throat. He had no idea how stealthy his aunt could be. He adjusted his headset so one of his ears was uncovered and he could hear her better. At the same time, he still wanted to listen to Jesse. He was completely taken off guard, but there was a wave of confusion. She didn’t seem to mind his gaming or his conversation.

“Uh… it’s not that. I, uh… um…”

Seeing that smile on her face, he knew there was no way of hiding the truth. He took a deep breath and slightly bit down on his lower lip. A few strands of his dark brown hair fell in front of his right eye.

“...Jesse and I… we’re…”

“I already figured it out, Remi.”

Xaria’s smile melted into a gentle one and she walked over to lean against the recliner. He lifted his head up slightly and she looked into his eyes.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m very happy that you like Jesse the way you do! You two have yet to meet in person and you’re already cute together.”

She could see the shock and awe clear across Remi’s face. Reaching up, she moved his locks of hair behind his ear and giggled. He was able to release the breath he was holding the entire time and he looked back into her eyes.

“Aunt Xaria… You’re not angry or upset?”

“Of course not, sweetie. Why would I be?”

Jesse watched the kill icons at the corner of his screen with great disinterest. He clicked through options pulling them out of the game so they could watch the “screen saver”. His heart continued to beat within his ears. Jesse could pick up every part of the conversation. He wasn't sure what to say.

“Remi, I’ve been a proud supporter of the LGBTQ community for many years. Some of my closest friends, co-workers, and employees are lesbian, gay, or bisexual. I was a sponsor for the All Hallow’s Eve Fashion Show, which showcased models of different sexualities.”

Xaria smiled and placed a hand on top of her nephew’s head. Remi blinked and snapped out of his stupor, slightly lowering his headset to hang around his neck. She made a very good point, but it didn’t shake one thing.

“...You can’t tell dad about this.”

“Why not?”

Remi shook his head slowly. Part of him was relieved by his aunt’s complete acceptance of his sexuality. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. She was an extremely compassionate and open-minded person. Still, it didn’t waver his primary concern.

“Because I… I don’t know if he’d be able to accept the reality that his only child likes boys and there’s no possible way of having a grandchild in the future.”

Heavy, elongated breathe crossed from Jesse’s end into Remi’s ears. There was an obvious discomfort for the two teenagers when it came to this topic. Jesse idly clicked through the various menus of Overwatch before returning to the main screen. His hand carefully set the controller back on his knee.

“Adoption is always an option. Those women who, uh, incubate babies for gay couples…. Uh. What are they called? Yeah, I don’t remember right now but there’s that.”

With Remi’s headset lowered, Xaria was able to pick up on Jesse’s words. She took a seat on the armrest next to her nephew and kept her feet on the floor to properly balance them.

“You’re absolutely right. There is adoption and there are surrogate mothers. There are also other ways for same-sex couples to embark on the journey of having children. I don’t have the knowledge, but I know Dr. Elliot Andrews does.”

She raised a finger and lightly poked Remi’s nose.

“Still, that is a conversation for another time. You’re both far too young to even think about parenthood. Besides, I’m sure you’d prefer to enjoy each other’s company. Would you like me to help you set up an in-person meeting?”

Jesse’s scratched at his cheek.

“I will be there next month…”

“Let me know exactly when and I’ll send a private jet to you.”

Xaria smiled sweetly. Remi’s eyes widened and a big grin crossed his face.

“You’re amazing, Aunt Xaria! Oh man, I can’t wait! I get to be with Jesse AND graduate next month! This is going to be fu--”

He stopped himself before he could finish that curse word. He cleared his throat and sheepishly grinned.

“--awesome. Simply awesome!”

Jesse smiled, setting them back into the queue for a game.

“Awesome is right… so, wait, your aunt just has a private jet to use whenever?!”

“She’s a certified multimillionaire, a wrestling legend, and the co-owner of two restaurants. She’s got a private jet.”

Remi grinned and leaned back against the recliner once more. He was excited beyond belief. Xaria giggled softly and decided to take a seat on the small couch in the room. As her nephew fixed his headset back on, she smiled and watched the start of a new round.

She still didn’t understand it very well, but she was happy to watch.