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 Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 7:07 pm
The walk to the diner was the most enlightening and confusing conversation Caius had ever heard, and he clutched his backpack straps like he was ready to run at any chance. If he hadn’t just seen the youma, hadn’t just been attacked by it, and felt magic, and watched Nick power down into someone else--and himself, too--he might have thought Nick was just a crazy man spewing random nonsense.
It didn’t make sense. Really, honestly.
He was quiet while Nick explained, but he asked questions when he was done because he wanted to know. He wasn’t quite sharp, just blunt and to the point. He didn’t share his personal opinions on it, just kept asking questions--like, if he asked the right one, he’d either completely understand everything, or catch Nick in a lie and realize this was all some elaborate prank.
The longer he listened, the harder it was to deny that Nick seemed completely convinced, and seemed to have an answer for every question--and not an answer he’d just pulled out of his a**.
The smell of food had his stomach growling, and when they walked into the place it was a little busier than he’d thought so he figured it was best to let the conversation fade away a bit. He thanked Nick for the answers even as they were seated, but as soon as they were at the table, his mind was on food.
Originally, he was looking through the menu, looking for the cheapest thing--just in case Nick decided this was a joke, but after Nick’s continued insistence to order what he wanted, Caius had caved and asked if it was okay if he ordered the breakfast platter.
He seemed braced for a no, the look on his face said it, but Nick had just smiled and said they could both get it.
So he asked for chocolate milk too, and Nick seemed happy to copy that order.
When the waiter came by, Caius had been so courteous and professional, albeit a bit guarded; he spoke less like a child and more like one who was trying to grow up too quickly, but he played the part well.
The conversation between the order and the food being delivered had been directed by Caius’ questioning again, only this time it wasn’t about the war.
“So,” he began, not wanting an awkward silence to grow, “Is this something you do often? Pick people up to mentor them and buy them dinner?”
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:01 am
Nick grinned and took a sip of his chocolate milk, quite pleased by the fact that Caius had wanted it too. “Not really, honestly. But it’s not often that a new page awakens right behind me either...and...the fact that you’re also Polaris...I mean. How could I do anything but want to mentor you?”
He chuckled and took another long sip of his drink, frowning slightly when he realized it was already almost half gone. Hm. Chocolate milk went fast, didn’t it…
“Besides, you lost your food because of the fight, and I couldn’t let you just go home hungry. That completely goes against the whole mentoring you and setting you up for success. You can’t do much when you’re brain is all foggy from lack of food, right? So why wouldn’t I feed you. Anyway it’s a good excuse to get to know you better, and it’s a public place so you can really start to hopefully realize that while I’m...strange, I won’t argue with that...but I’m not a creep.” Nick stared at his glass and began to drink more.
He wasn’t a kid. He could buy another glass if he so chose to. He was the adult here, and if he wanted to down a glass of milk, well. That was his choice.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:12 am
Caius seemed to be judging the answer; he was obviously a guarded young man and didn’t seem like he had any intention of opening up any time soon. None of this seemed real, and yet he couldn’t deny what had just happened. He’d done everything he could think to do--his balance was fine, his memory was fine. He did math in his head and tried to catch Nick in a lie, but there wasn’t one.
He didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse, and his eyes sank to the table as he tapped his finger on his own cup of chocolate milk.
The food in front of him was warm and it smelled heavenly, but he didn’t reach for the cutlery or make any effort to take a bite first. He didn’t even lift his chocolate milk until after Nick had nearly downed his--and then, Caius chugged his whole glass at once and set it down. He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve out of habit. Then, it seemed like his hand was hovering over the silverware, just waiting, but he didn’t make the first move.
From what he could make out, this was a rarity. There might not have been many, but he wasn’t alone. And something about this power that he supposedly had was in sync with Nick’s.
“...So this whole ‘mentor’ thing, how does that work?” he asked, swallowing the lump in his throat. He was trying to be firm, trying to look confident, but he’d lost that battle a while ago. “Are we going to set up midnight meetings and you bring me food and quiz me on space? I’ve never had a mentor or anything. I don’t really know what that means, sorry.”
He didn’t know, but he wanted to. He was curious.
He was trying, at least. He wanted this to make sense and he wanted to understand.
...Even if this was real, he wasn’t sure someone hadn’t made a mistake because there wasn’t any reason for him to be special.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:18 pm
Nick watched Caius for a moment, then began cutting up his food and taking a few bites, wondering if that would allow the male to start eating too. He must still think that this was a trick...or a joke...or that Nick was going to just laugh and jerk the food away from him but…
Good lord. No.
He looked thoughtful. “I mean, maybe not midnight meetings, unless that’s when you do your best work, but meetings around this time, and if you want dinner, I can make that happen no problem. If you really wanted to make it legit...I could meet your parents? Tell them that I’m some mentor set up by the school, sent by DCU or something? That way they won’t be too upset when I’m hanging around with you.”
Nick chuckled softly at the idea of being quizzed on space and shook his head. “More like buy you dinner and go on patrols, make sure the city is safe, make sure people aren’t having their energy taken or...or worse. We’re knights...we protect.” He picked up his toast and began to spread jam on top of the butter. “Of course, you aren’t obligated to do this, Caius. If you decide that it’s really not for you, I won’t force you. And if anything, your power would just be a good way to save your life...if it ever comes to that.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:39 pm
As soon as Nick took the first bite, Caius lifted the cutlery and began to cut up his own food--and he inhaled it. He partly used the food as an excuse to avoid answering, but he had half his plate gone before he even swallowed. He ate like he’d never had a meal before--ate like he did expect Nick to change his mind and try and take it from him.
He didn’t stop to breathe, didn’t stop to look up or even acknowledge Nicolae.
He hardly stopped to even taste the food.
His breathing was marginally more labored as he swallowed the last bite, and when he swallowed that mouthful, he reached for the glass of water, chugged it, and then fell quiet.
The whole thing must have taken less than a minute, and he cleared his throat before he looked up from the now empty plate.
“Nobody’s going to care if I’m hanging out with you,” he said, almost flatly. “So there’s no point in meeting anyone. There’s just strict rules at the house. To keep us out of trouble.”
He wasn’t saying no to more dinners though, and he felt dizzy with how fast he’d eaten--and how full he felt.
“...I can’t guarantee this is something I want to do. I’m still in school. I have a lot of obligations. And if I get hurt, I’m going to get in trouble.”
But there was food involved.
His stomach nearly grumbled despite how full he currently was.
But…
Didn’t everyone want to feel special? Didn’t everyone who was discarded and told they weren’t good enough desperate to prove everyone else wrong?
If Nick was being serious--couldn’t he prove them wrong? Prove himself wrong?
He was chewing on the inside of his cheek and his brows were knit as he returned his gaze to the now empty plate.
“...How often are you thinking? That you want to do this. Patrol, or whatever.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:29 pm
Nick hesitated, watching as the boy bolted down his food, a small frown crossing his features. “Ah...no, I can understand that. We can patrol as often as you’d like. Maybe just…Friday and Saturday night? That way it shouldn’t interfere too much with your schooling...plus, Summer’s almost here so that should make things a bit easier. I’ll give you my number and the address to the bakery my fiance owns, please feel free to come over whenever. He makes amazing cookies.”
He forced the frown away and smiled, pushing his plate over towards Caius. “Do you want the rest of mine? I’m not as hungry as I thought, and honestly, I kind of just want the toast!”
There was an awful gut feeling that Nick was trying to fight off, but now he just wanted to get back to Arias and talk to him about this boy. If he was in a bad home. If he was being abused?
...Hopefully Arias would let them do something about it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:38 pm
Caius seemed to consider the offer for a second, like he was very heavily judging Nick for offering him the rest of his food. Slowly, he accepted, eyes on Nick and watching him like he expected it to be some sort of trick. He swapped his empty plate with Nick’s and began to poke at the food before he scarfed down a quarter of it in only a few seconds. This time, he waited, chewed, and swallowed, and spoke before he devoured all of it.
“You know you can get a to-go box,” he answered, but he took another bite and it was clear that this was a note for Nick to remember next time, because Caius had already decided he was going to eat all of this, too.
Another bite that he chewed and swallowed before he continued, “Are you offering me free cookies if I drop by to your bakery? --Friday and Saturday are maybes, I’m just saying. Sometimes I have plans. I guess I’ll be free during summer, but I don’t have a phone. Do you have social media or anything? I have some pages you can reach me on. You know, Instagram, Twitter, Discord?” he suggested, and finally looked up at Nick again as he took another large, hurried bite of the food.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:44 pm
He had a small smile on his face as he watched the boy eat and nodded. “I’m terrible with leftovers, Cai. I always forget about them. Giving my food to you is at least not letting it go to waste!” Nick glanced away, eyes flicking down the little advertisement for desserts, planning on what to give the boy to go home with.
“I have a twitter, yeah. Stuffedtoast is my name on there...I don’t use it much but, I’ll start if you’re going to add me. Of course you’ll get free cookies. Free whatever you want. It’s me and Arias, who is another knight like I said, and his little sister works there too, Carlee. She’s a senshi, which is a whole other lesson for another day, but...we’re all on the same side, that’s what matters.”
He hesitated, eyes flicking back to the boy. “It’s a family shop, and if you ever want a job, since you’re a knight too, I know I can pull some strings. If you ever want some extra spending money.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 5:07 pm
Caius gave him a look when he started throwing around other words--things he was already forgetting because his brain was stuffed with too much crazy information from tonight.
“...I don’t know,” he said, but it sounded a little curious. “...I thought you had to have a guardian’s signature before you could work. I don’t have my own bank account, and I don’t want to hand checks over to them. I don’t even have a state ID. And, um. I don't know, I'm not always so good with people. And I have a lot of hair to stick up in a hair net.”
He didn’t seem particularly happy to admit any of this, and only did so begrudgingly--but he poured some more maple syrup on the waffles and couldn’t help but laugh a little bit before he took his next bite.
“...I guess you really love toast? Here, can I borrow your phone for a second? If you open it up, I’ll type in my username. Just--don’t post anything weird to me. You can DM me all your information, and I can let you know if I can stop by sometime. And we can figure out the whole patrol thing.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 6:18 pm
Nick shrugged. “We’ll figure it out, Cai. Don’t worry.” He kept his tone light, not wanting to scare the boy off by prying, but quietly he tucked that information into the back of his own mind. “Oh…”
He snorted and nodded. “French toast is my most favorite food, and when it’s stuffed with sweetened cream cheese and berries? That’s my biggest weakness. Keep it to yourself, yeah? But...that’s where the stuffed toast comes from...as for um...this toast.”
Quickly, he opened his twitter app and slid the phone over, taking another bite of the slightly chewy toasted bread. “...I just really like strawberry jam. And this place butters it the right way when it’s warm? So it gets soft and fantastic. I like that. But...I do like toast a lot. You’re not wrong about that at all.”
Grinning, Nick shrugged. “One day I’ll make you some stuffed French toast. That’s just. It’s so amazing, if I do say so myself.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 6:41 pm
“You make it sound amazing,” Caius said; he wiped his hands off to make sure he wasn’t going to get any grease or crumbs on the phone. He was completely focused on this task but managed a distracted, “I don’t think I’ve ever had French Toast. I didn’t know they could stuff it.”
He was navigating the website effortlessly, and put his username into the search bar. When his profile popped up, he followed it, and then slid the phone back over. The username was just a few letters--maybe some online nickname--but the profile picture was digital art. He looked a bit embarrassed and then said, “Don’t, um. Judge me for any of the stuff I post. This is just so you can keep in contact with me, so you can--actually, you should mute my stuff. I just--post some stuff.”
He looked a bit embarrassed, but the phone was too close to Nick for him to grab it and try to change his mind. Instead, he began to quickly eat the rest of the food on the plate.
His profile wasn’t as bad as he made it out to be; the description was simple enough:
“16 He/Him
I do art, commission information is tagged below.”
The commission information mentioned something about digital gift cards rather than directly taking money directly, and there were samples of his art. Digitally, he had an anime style of art, and judging by the likes and comments he had some people following him for that alone. Below that, he had some pictures of paintings he’d done on canvas--a drastic shift, and far more realistic. It was obvious that he was very passionate about art, and the majority of his account seemed dedicated to post what he was working on. He didn’t seem to make many statuses, and when he did it was to give updates like, ‘Will be offline for a while but will be back soon, take care’, but he seemed to respond to comments on his art.
There was more than enough to look through later, but Caius had busied himself with frantically shoveling the rest of the food into his mouth to make excuses not to have to explain himself.
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 5:15 pm
Nick took the phone back and gave a little smile, bookmarking the profile so that he could look through it when he got home. THere was a lot to go through. And he was sixteen. Just a kid, but...almost an adult. It was a tough age.
“Can I get you something to take home in case you get hungry during the night?” The words were out of his mouth before he could really stop them, and Nick gave a rather self deprecating smile. “You just seem so hungry, and I know sometimes I get super hungry late at night even now. And, as far as French toast goes, it’s literally the best. I’ll make you some one day, if you’d like.”
How could he not like? This kid was pretty much a human garbage disposal.
Flagging down their waitress, Nick waited until Caius had his mouth full and ordered two more chocolate milks, and two BLT’s to go, with chips instead of fries packed together. As well as two pieces of apple pie for their dessert.
“Too late. I’m getting you something no matter what now.” He grinned and took a bite of his toast, slipping his phone into his pocket, feeling just a little warm at the fact he was helping Caius.
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 5:27 pm
Caius instinctively flushed, in that self conscious way that teenagers could be. His ears turned red before anything else did, and his face soured like he was ready to say something defensive. He was quiet for all of it, a bit flustered and back to being guarded, but when he finished chewing and swallowing--which, notably, he had taken a long time to do now.
“You don’t...have to keep buying me things,” he said cautiously. “...I don’t have any way to repay you.”
Like Nick wouldn’t already know that.
Caius just looked a little anxious again, trying to figure out what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. “I mean,” he clarified quickly, “Thank you. But I just. I really don’t like owing people anything. I get…”
He shifted positions.
“...Anxious,” he finished, slowly, “When people try to go out of their way to do nice things. Usually they want something. And I don’t have anything to give. So maybe I can. I don’t know. Maybe I can come clean tables at your bakery or something, for a while, to make up for this. If that’s okay. I just want to be even.”
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:45 pm
Nick looked thoughtful, nodding and then tapped his chin after a moment. “Well...I could argue that as your mentor, it’s my job to see that you’re in fighting shape...so it’s not really you owing me anything, it’s my job to see that you won’t up and pass out on me when we’re on a patrol. If you’re unconscious due to lack of food...well that just makes my job twice as hard, because I’ll have to lug you around, protect you from enemies and fight to protect myself.”
He nodded again and seemed pleased with his answer. “So really, by you eating, you’re doing me a favor and not making yourself a dead weight when we patrol. I’m bulking you up, Caius. You’ll put on some pounds and then when another youma comes after you, you won’t blow away so easily, yeah?”
Beaming, Nick finished his piece of toast, and shrugged. “But if you wanted to work at the bakery and clean tables, I won’t say no, ever. But I will feed you when you’re there. Fair warning.”
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:57 pm
It seemed like a shitty argument, and Caius had to wonder if the guy really believed it--or if he thought Caius was going to believe it. He raised his eyes and squinted at Nick as he tried to decipher what exactly was going through his head, but finally, he relented. His shoulders sagged in something like defeat, and he took another bite.
“I guess,” he said, and maybe only then was willing to admit that he was skinny. He was tall and lanky and couldn’t seem to keep on any weight, and maybe that was because there never seemed to be enough food or because he just worried it all away, but he was going to try not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
He just didn’t seem to be able to figure out the fine line between ‘accepting kindness’ and ‘owing someone’ for it.
“...I’m still going to need some time to think about all of this. But...when I go home tonight, I’m going to. And I’m going to make a list of all the things I want to ask you. But.”
He glanced around the place, like he was trying to find a clock.
“...I should really be going soon. I don’t want to get in trouble for being out too late.”
He could sneak in through the window probably, he just had to hope that he didn’t wake anyone else up in doing so--or, better yet, had to hope that they were all still out doing something else and just forgetting about him.
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