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 Posted: Thu May 03, 2018 7:27 pm
Talking with Caelian while on patrol had been only comforting; at first, Evan had only been thinking about how sad she looked and how badly he wanted to do something to make her night suck a little less after he’d fallen on her. The conversation had taken off after they started walking, and while there undeniably parts of the evening where he was afraid he’d made a fool of himself and where he worried he’d set himself up for reprimand.
But Caelian had never said a cruel word or given any indication that he’d upset her or given her any reason to judge him.
He’d always been nervous around adults and even now that he was older it was still the same. Caelian had admitted she had a daughter and Evan had immediately clammed up, but they had talked for enough that he was able to recall that just because he wasn’t on great terms with his parents didn’t mean that all parents were hard to get along with.
Which is what brought him to her doorstep today.
When it was time to go home after that night of patrolling, they’d swapped numbers. She’d said to each of them that they could call or text if they ever needed anything, and to his surprise, he took her up on that offer.
Mothers Day was being shoved down his throat everywhere he went, and for some reason, a thought blossomed. A need.
He wanted to send something to his mother. He’d missed last year, sure, but he’d just barely come out of being a youma and hadn’t been in any good state of mind. He hadn’t even really been able to start understanding what day it was until weeks after he’d purified.
He regretted it, now, but he wanted to make it up to her.
Which is where Caelian—Bellatrix—came in.
On pure impulse, he had asked her if he could bother her with a few dumb questions. She’d had free time today and invited him over when he couldn’t seem to articulate what he wanted to act through text messages.
She hadn’t been to the food truck yet but he wanted to give her another good reason to want to; he’d made lunch for himself earlier and deliberately made enough to bring a full meal with him.
He’d dressed as nicely as he could manage; he’d brushed his hair and tried to pick something that didn’t look ridiculous. He still wound up in all black: an oversized black sweater and too tight pants, but he’d tried.
Now, somewhat awkwardly, he stood on her doorstep with the Tupperware container gently clutched in his hands, and waited for her to answer after he rang the doorbell.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 10:32 am
The door opened after only a moment or two, and there stood a smiling Bellatrix, looking down at the boy on her doorstep with a rather excited expression on her face. “Well, hey there, stranger.”
She knew he had been coming, but the fact that now he was here on her doorstep, she couldn’t help but feeling a little surprised. It had been such a long time since someone had crossed the line between powered life and real life and…it was a nice feeling. Almost as though she was needed. Or at least the fact that her company was wanted by this boy.
It was nice to be needed and wanted.
“Come in, come in. You seemed like you needed some advice or something? What’s going on…Evan, right?”
She hoped she didn’t get the name wrong, and she hoped he could answer whatever questions he had. Moving aside, she let the male into the house and closed the door softly behind him. “Millie’s out with Orin for today—My daughter, I mean, so there’s no need to be worried about her barging in and being…you know. A teenager and all of that.”
Bellatrix laughed lightly, and her eyes fell on the Tupperware in Evan’s hands. “Did you bring us food?”
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 10:55 am
Evan nodded and managed a quick smile when she got his name right. “I always come with food. Good food. That way I know you’re happy to see me.”
It was partially a joke, but there was a part of Evan that was always concerned the only way people would like him if he bribed them, and because he was most proficient in the kitchen it was always his go-to.
He cleared his throat as he stepped in and carefully toed off his shoes. “Unless you don’t like it. I should have asked what you liked, but I sort of roughed it.”
He held out the container of food—two carefully prepared wraps. Their ingredients weren’t immediately visible but it was clear that they had been made with great care.
“I was hoping I could bother you for a few minutes? I mean, I hope it’s not too long. It’s actually, you know,” he shrugged and shuffled a little nervously. “…It’s kind of about Mother’s Day. I need some advice.”
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 8:47 am
Bellatrix gave a little laugh at his comment and nodded. “Well, we’ll see about that, but I trust you. I do like food, though who doesn’t is a good question.
The wraps looked delicious and suddenly the woman realized just how hungry she was and hurried Evan into the kitchen, sitting him down at the table and grabbing two plates from one of the cabinets. “Would you like something to drink? I have water, juice and some soda…”
Opening the fridge she looked inside, pulling out a can of Dr. Pepper. “I have Sprite too, if you’d rather. What’s going on about Mother’s Day? Do you need to think of a good gift for me? Because to be fair, I’m pretty easy to please, all things considered.”
She winked at him and brought a can of each soda over to the table, laying them down and taking a seat.
“But in all seriousness, what’s going on? How can I help?”
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 9:04 am
Evan initially meant to decline the offer of a drink but he was weak to Dr. Pepper and found himself nodding instinctively. He couldn’t deny that he was thirsty from the walk over, and Dr. Pepper was his favorite…
“Thank you,” he said, offering a polite smile as he accepted the drink. He cracked open the tab and took a swig as he tried to organize his thoughts. He felt somewhat small sitting across the table from her—but then, it had been years since he’d done this with his own parents.
Dinner table talks rarely ended well.
He drew in a breath and lifted his eyes from the table as he twiddled his thumbs nervously.
Her joke had managed to bring a soft smile to his face and, finally, he managed to start speaking.
“This is a really long story, so I’m going to try and give you the shortest version. Uhm, so—there was this Negaverse Agent who was bothering me for a while, she was blackmailing me back when I worked at this bar.” Goosebumps peppered his skin and a shiver ran down his spine; even just thinking about Cavansite visibly bothered him.
“One day she took it too far, tried to corrupt me, one thing led to another, things happened, I couldn’t go home—I wasn’t a Negaverse officer, by the way. I’m a Senshi. I wasn’t powered at the time. I—” he waved his hand nonchalantly and forced himself to continue, “I didn’t turn into a Senshi until a while after that. But anyway, I was gone for like, a whole year, and I haven’t gone home since, either. And I wasn’t exactly on good terms with them at the time, but—well, no. I wasn’t on good terms with my dad but mom sort of always took his side.”
He shifted in his chair and seemed to realize he was rambling—or, at least, dangerous close to treading on conversation he didn’t know how to handle. His eyes stayed glued to the surface of the table and he forced himself to try and finish quickly:
“Anyway, I just—I miss my mom. But it’s been a long time. I wanted to get her something for Mother’s Day, but…I didn’t know what to say. I just…”
His voice softened. “…I was wondering what maybe it would take if you had a kid who wasn’t ever really good enough, and maybe disappointed you a lot—uhm. What it would take just to make sure you knew he still loved you.”
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 12:18 pm
Bellatrix frowned slightly, though took one of the wraps and put it onto her plate, taking a bite as he talked and seeming rather thoughtful.
She waited for him to finish and took a sip from the other can of soda before nodding slowly. “So…when was the last time that you talked to your mom? It’s been over a year? I know that if that were to have been my Millie…I would just be so thrilled to hear from her it wouldn’t matter what the gift was…maybe you could get her a card and some flowers…and offer to take her on a picnic? Cook something nice for her and perhaps the two of you could talk for a little while…if your father is an issue, make sure he isn’t there. Make it just about you and your mother…I’m sure she’d be so happy to see you again, Evan. I know I would be.”
Taking another bite of the wrap, the woman smiled softly. Evan was a nice kid. He had a big heart and she could see and appreciate that. It was sweet that he wanted to know how best to make up with his mother…and she was secretly…rather thrilled to feel…useful. For the first time in a long time.
She wished there were more chances to, but…
Well. She couldn’t force people to come to her for advice or anything, and she did try her best not to chase away the ones who did.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 12:37 pm
Evan seemed to relax again when she started speaking; his shoulders seemed less squared. Finally, he nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” There wasn’t any guessing about it; he seemed to mull the idea over and nodded with a bit more enthusiasm before finally lifting his gaze to look up at her again.
“It’s been a while,” he admitted. “Since I talked to her. At first because I couldn’t, and then because I was just afraid. And I guess I’m still afraid, but I like the idea that she’d be happy to see me again. I could get her a card and flowers. Lilies are her favorite. And I’ve seen a lot of them in the stores recently, so that should be easy.” And he could write a card. There was a lot he could say—but more that he couldn’t.
“I haven’t told her about my food truck. Or that I’m with someone I really like. Not that she probably wants to hear the last part.” He shrugged and, almost to himself, simply muttered, “I should leave that part out for now. But I’d like a picnic, somewhere nice and sunny. I can make nice food. We used to go on picnics when I was little. There was a cute little park, and a lake. I used to be scared of the geese because they were huge and would chase me around, but I think I’m big enough that I don’t have to go hide from them in her skirt anymore,” he laughed quietly and chewed on the inside of his lip.
His eyes fell on the wrap she was nibbling on and he couldn’t help but ask, “Is it ok? It’s a pretty new recipe. I’m open to feedback.”
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 1:29 pm
“That sounds wonderful, Evan. She’s your mother…I know how I feel about my baby, and I can’t…I can’t imagine her not feeling the same way about you. You’re her baby. No matter what happens, that won’t ever change. A mother can’t just…turn off love for her child, no matter what anyone says.”
At least…Bellatrix never could. There could be disappointment, sure…but. But nothing could get rid of her instinct. Nothing could make her not love her daughter.
“I’m sure she’ll be excited to hear about your food truck…I know after trying this I’m excited to eat at your food truck…I’d be taking bigger bites but we’re trying to have a conversation, and I have to say, Evan…it’s taking all of my self control not to shove this whole thing in my mouth and steal yours to eat for myself…so…you better at least lick it or something so I don’t just…eat it too.”
She winked and took a larger bite, laughing slightly and nearly choking on the food in her mouth.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 1:38 pm
Evan simply laughed again, a soft noise that sounded almost like he was afraid of showing too much emotion or being too loud. “If you want it, you can have it. I have some ugly rejects at home, I snacked a little before I came over. So these are all yours,” he said, gesturing to the remaining wrap.
“I like to share my other cooking, but if it’s not Mac and Cheese related it would be weird to have them on my menu. And I have to admit, as much as I love Mac and Cheese…I don’t know that it would go well with this recipe.”
He didn’t seem like he was going to try any time soon.
“But, thank you, Bellatrix. I feel better. I was really worried that I might come across as too strong or pushy or something, or just obnoxious, but…you seem really put together and like you know what you’re talking about. So I hope my mom feels the same way you do.”
He smiled again, hopeful and determined. He had a plan, a course of action.
He could do this.
Small steps, and one day everything would be more than just ‘right’ again.
They’d be better.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 4:56 pm
Bellatrix grinned and nodded, though hesitated a moment before reaching out and taking the second wrap, pulling it close. “I mean, I don’t want you to go hungry…but this is mine now.” She was happy. Happy to be eating such good food, with such good company.
“If your food truk food is half as good as this, It is going to be amazing, I know. So…thank you, Evan. We should do this again. I love having a man around to cook for me. It makes me feel quite special.” She winked again and then let her gaze soften again. “You’re not pushy at all, kid. Don’t worry about that. And I’m sure she will…I would have been overjoyed to have a son like you. You seem like you have a lot of good goals…and while you’ve had some hardships…you’re doing your best to overcome them…and I know I’m not your mom, but I’m proud of you.”
She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently, then let go, shoving the last bit of the wrap into her mouth.
“…Though if it doesn’t work out, I would be more than happy to adopt you, Evan. Just remember that. Or if you want too moms, we could arrange that too. You deserve to be happy.”
Everyone deserved to be happy. Bellatrix knew that better than most. And she also knew that wanting and deserving to be happy…didn’t always mean that you ended up that way…but she would protect Evan. Even if he didn’t want her to…she was his now.
He would have someone to love him. He would have at least one mother in his life after all of this.
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