Papa Patel

Child + Teen

🪐 Spider wouldn't stop growing

🪐 Every day he seemed to be shooting up faster than a weed

🪐 Max knew that Spider would outgrow him but he didn't expect him to be almost his height by the age of 14

🪐 Max had deduced it was thanks to not just the unusual area he lived in but also the constant attention to his health.

🪐 As Spider got older the energy he had since birth never died

🪐 He climbed everything he could and also found ways to slip through the tiniest cracks in the lab

🪐 Because of this he was a master of hide and seek

🪐 Spider also loved to roughhouse with his friends

🪐 Max had been there for every communion with Ewya for all of Jake's children so he knew each one well.

🪐 Max never really worried that much when Spider was with the Sully children, it was more the parents he was skeptical about.

🪐 Jake was Jake, Max knew that the man would always try and keep an eye on his son but Neytiri...

🪐 Max could admit he was worried that one of these days she would ban Spider from seeing her children, and he knew he would have no power to stop it

🪐 Hell, Max had plans ready for that in case she did actually follow through with it

🪐 Many could see how wary Max was whenever Neytiri was either in the same room or even spoken about in his presence

🪐 He would keep his composure but the thump of his heart would become much more rapid as anxiety took hold of him.

🪐 Max understood her anger but now, after years of Spider proving that he wasn't like Quaritch, he was getting tired of having to deal with the scornful eyes of the Na'vi woman.

🪐 Yet, Max held his tongue and tried to keep the peace

🪐 He knew that grief and pain needed to be dealt with by the person not by an outsider.

🪐 In the beginning Max usually went with Spider on his excursions but as Max's responsibilities in the lab began to grow and Spider hope for independence the excursions became less and less.

🪐 Their routines became so: Wake up around 6 a.m., have breakfast together, Max would head off to work but just before leaving would ruffle Spider's hair, Spider would leave shortly after into the forest to Hometree, and both would have their respective lunches (Max would check in throughout the day), and Spider would be home just before eclipse where they would have dinner together

🪐 Spider also would stay the night if he had gotten expressed permission from both Neytiri, Jake, AND Max

🪐 Max didn't try to hover but you kind of want to know your kid's location if you're on an alien planet where the air is toxic

🪐 Max hated not being with Spider more in his youth, he felt negligent in that area

🪐 Whenever the two had time Max would try his hardest to show Spider that he was always there for him.

🪐 And Spider did confide in him

🪐 His hopes, dreams, and fears he told Max almost everything

🪐 He explained his obsession with the Na'vi, and how he wished he had an Avatar so he could truly be one of the people. He would go on for hours talking about how he felt he didn't fit in anywhere

🪐 Max would listen with intent, never allowing a stray thought to take his focus, making sure all of his attention was on Spider

🪐 With these conversations being at the forefront of his mind Max began thinking of ways to help Spider feel more connected with the Na'vi

🪐 Just like his last mission, finding his son's nickname, he enlisted the help of someone whom he knew was even closer to his son than he was: Kiri te Suli Kìreysì'ite

🪐 Out of Jake's children Kiri was Max's favorite

🪐 She would come to the lab all the time to see her mom and Max loved telling her all kinds of stories about Grace

🪐 He knew the young girl could help Spider in ways Max couldn't

🪐 So on one sunny day, when the Lo'ak and Spider had decided to see if they could find any new spots for an adventure leaving Kiri in the lab, he asked what he should do

🪐 The two talked for some time bouncing ideas off one another

🪐 "I believe if he had our markings he would feel like he is one of us. He can change his hair and behavior, but the skin is harder to shape," she had told him.

🪐 That's when the eureka moment hit him, you cannot change the skin truly through its DNA, but you could apply paint or paste on top of the sky to show color.

🪐 When Max asked Kiri if she could find some blue, safe, plants she had agreed with glee; understanding what the older man's idea was

🪐 It took a lot of time trying to not just get the right consistency but also the right shade, and it was almost eclipse when the boys had come back. (Max had called Jake and Neytiri saying that their children would be safer if they just had a sleepover at the lab)

🪐 Once the boys had returned Max and Kiri presented Spider with the paint

🪐 Max let Lo'ak and Kiri have fun turning Spider into a true Na'vi, he could hear the wondrous laughs coming from the kids and Max couldn't help but smile

🪐 Hours passed and the first out of the room was Kiri with paint splattered across her skin, but he could tell she didn't mind

🪐 Lo'ak then came out trying to keep the rising smile and failing

🪐The two whispered to themselves and it was obvious how joyful the two were at their work

🪐 It was when Spider walked out that all of the air in Max's lungs escaped him

🪐 Beautiful swirls of blue followed the curve of Spider's skin and his locs were adorned with beads found in those of warriors' hair

🪐 The paint seemed to begin from his calves and grew like fines to his face

🪐 But what really took Max out what the smile on Spider's face

🪐 It wasn't large like when he was little and got his favorite meal for dinner. It wasn't like the smile that he had when he looked out the windows to stare at Pandora's night sky

🪐 It was a small smile that held so much, it was a smile that showed Max that Spider felt comfortable about who he was for the first time in his life.

🪐 The paint allowed Spider to feel more like himself

🪐 His son felt happier

🪐 Spider was becoming his true self

🪐 Max couldn't be any happier