Work Text:
In Yellowknife, the sun sets at 3:30 PM, and doesn’t rise again until 10 AM. Young Richard was used to this, having lived in the area since he was a baby.
On this particular night, around 5 PM, he and his mother, Narya, were waiting for his father to come off duty.
Suddenly, all the lights and electricity went off.
Richard looked in his mother’s direction in alarm.
“A blackout.” Narya’s calm voice came out of the darkness. “The power should be restored in a couple of hours.”
“But, Mommy, what about the neighbors? Don’t you think that they might need help? Shall we go around and see?”
Narya felt a flicker of pride in that moment. She had hoped her son would become a compassionate person, and not make the mistakes she had, when she had first become a superheroine. Being a demi-goddess, she had thought that she was superior to all humans, and treated them condescendingly. It was only gradually that she learned that humans were good and worthwhile enough to deserve help.
But had Richard learned this lesson?
Now, as she heard his questions about the neighbors, she realized he had.
“Come, my sweet son.” She took his hand. “We have rounds to make.”
When Doug Thompson came home, the lights suddenly came on again. He found his wife and son ready to tell him how they had helped the neighborhood.
“An’ I helped Mrs. McConnell find her blankets. An’ I helped the McGuires….”
Doug and Narya looked at each other other over their son’s head and smiled.
Richard was indeed a son of whom they could be proud.