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 Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:26 am
Jeremy would be lying if he’d told anyone that he wasn’t nervous about all of this. Even if he knew he was doing the right thing, there was always that little bit of stress that came with it. The politics, the drama.
His shift had started a while ago and he’d had to wait just a bit to start making calls and filing the reports he’d taken from the Reids and Michael and Devyn, but he’d stayed busy. Destiny City always had its fair share of trouble.
It worked out well–accidentally, he supposed–that there was a call only a few blocks away from Chad and his father were living. So, it was the perfect cover, it worked out well. Mentally, he’d rehearsed his lie enough times to know that he could deliver it without any sort of issue.
He wasn’t friends with Chad's father, not by any stretch of the word, but there was an expected camaraderie, and Jeremy had a reputation for going out of his way to help someone if he could. The fact that he’d dropped off Chad’s father here before was a good excuse to visit ‘while he was in the area’.
The sun had gone down but it was still too warm outside. The lights were on in the house and he parked his car in the road instead of pulling up into the driveway.
There wasn’t anything unnerving or unnatural about the house, and he hadn’t heard anything from Michael. Didn’t see Michael or Devyn hiding in the bushes, so that was a relief, even if–
Well, there was a cat. A big, white cat, that almost made him think of Soleiyu, but it scattered before he could give it much scrutiny.
Okay, fine.
Weird, but.
Wait–no. He wasn’t supposed to let himself get riled up or spooked. He was cool. This was fine, he was calm.
So far as he could tell, everything seemed fine, but he wasn’t optimistic enough to think he’d be that lucky. He didn’t linger on the doorstep; as soon as he was within knocking distance, he rapped his knuckles loudly against the door.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:18 am
It had been a very strange day. Chad had been looking forward to seeing Elliot, was even invited over for dinner, despite the fact that Elliot had a dentist appointment. But that was fine, because Chad had also wanted to give Devyn his gift. And he’d enjoyed meeting up with Devyn! Chad just felt bad that he ended up crying.
And then even worse when his father showed up.
He was upset the entire car ride. His arm hurt, and he was scared of his dad still being mad at him, and he missed Devyn. And he missed Elliot.
But his dad had been… nice to him. Sort of. Chad was surprised when they stopped somewhere to get ice cream. He even got to pick his own flavor. Although with his dad watching, he didn’t pick anything brightly colored incase that meant something bad. He stuck to simple vanilla, which his father got as well.
Chad was asked about school, and how his classes were. He didn’t know what to think. His dad had never asked about his classes before. He never really seemed to care how he was doing.
Before, he got furious when he found out about the art Chad had been keeping in his room. Had torn it all up and threw it away when he caught him trying to sneak it out of the house to bring to school.
It seemed like every day they crossed paths, his dad had something mean to say to him. Whether it was about being a disappointment, or how he should follow his mother’s example. Even gave him suggestions. It always upset Chad, of course, but his father didn’t seem to care. He either got mad when Chad started getting emotional, or laughed at him.
Today was different.
He was asked about Devyn and why he’d been hugging him. Chad explained that he was just talking to him and being nice. He didn’t want to tell him about how Devyn had saved him, or let him borrow his shirt when Devyn worked on patching up Chad’s damaged one. Or how he needed Devyn to save him from some creepy guy with a hole in his chest and forehead. Or even Devyn’s name.
And Chad definitely didn’t want to let his dad know about Elliot or his dads. Or that Devyn was magical and his friend might or might not have been a wolf, but he wasn’t too sure about that.
He desperately wanted to reach into his pocket to pull out his pen, or even just press the button on it to give Devyn an update but…
What if Devyn was mad at him? What if he didn’t do enough to get out of that situation on his own? And he thought about Elliot, who had called him brave more than once. Except he certainly didn’t feel very brave at the moment.
He didn’t want to be a disappointment to Devyn too. He wanted to prove that he could take care of himself. Even if he was scared. He didn’t know why his dad was being so nice to him, but he was.
“Jer, what’s going on? Night duty again? Bad luck, that.”
Chad could hear his dad answer the door, and he slowly crept out of his room to peek over the banister where he could fully see the front door -- and anyone standing in the doorway could see up. The house was colder than usual for some reason, so he was wearing a hoodie over his clothes. Other things had changed around the house as well. Locks were taken off the cabinets and there was no longer a lock on the refrigerator, although Chad didn’t dare look inside. Their house was usually clean, but his dad, or maybe his dad’s girlfriend, had taken the time to put photos of them up on the walls. Including photos of Chad.
It was… weird. Nice. His heart fluttered with hope that maybe his dad realized that he wasn’t such a horrible son to have. He even got him a new sketchbook. He didn’t really apologize for throwing out his art from before, but at least he had something to make new art in.
To an outsider, the house looked perfectly normal.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:25 am
“Isn’t it always?” Jeremy sighed, making a bit of a show about it. “But someone’s gotta pay the bills and my back can still handle the car seats. For now. Gonna move into a nice house like this if I keep busting my a**, maybe.”
He leaned off to the side, like this was any other casual check in. He looked relaxed, and even managed to notice Chad without focusing on him.
He looked okay. Jeremy let himself relax a bit.
“I know it’s your day off, I don’t want to waste much of your time. I just got a weird call a few streets over and thought I’d stop by. I mean, it’s Destiny City, but it’s not the first call I’ve gotten in the past week or so. You seen anything weird creeping around? Somewhere between here and Canary, or at the park? More than just a stray dog or something, I’ve had reports that it was a wolf, a bear, somebody in a costume–I don’t know. But I know how often you and yours are out, but I wanted to make sure you were safe and knew there was something weird in the neighborhood. Just in case.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:37 am
“Anything weird creeping around?” Trent repeated with a frown. “Just some guy at the park. Long greasy black hair. Dressed funny. Obviously doesn’t belong. Seemed much too interested in my kid, but there was no evidence to warrant arresting him. Probably should have if he’s out causing more trouble.”
Chad frowned, obviously distressed by the idea of his dad making it sound like Devyn was one of those creatures that lurked around the city.
But…
He’d also not heard his dad referring to him as his kid in a nice way before. Chad’s heart fluttered again, and he gripped tighter to the sketchbook he had. Maybe things really were going to be okay.
“Got time to come in? I can get you a drink. I won’t tell nobody,” Trent said with a laugh, although he didn’t move, probably since he assumed the other cop would refuse.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:44 am
Jeremy looked like he wanted to say yes. Sighed, like he wanted to say yes. “Yeah, I wish. But my luck, I’ll get a call as soon as I sit down. Appreciate the offer, have one extra for me. “I haven’t heard anything about any weird people, only–well, I guess animals. Just don’t know what they are. Animal control hasn’t been able to find anything but I have a hard time thinking all of these people are conspiring to waste my time. Just make sure you and your neighbors are keeping their trash locked up if you can, I don’t know if it’s just a bear or something, but better safe than sorry. And try not to go out too much if you can help it?”
He glanced over his shoulders, because even if he was making s**t up, he couldn’t really shake the feeling of something watching him. Or maybe he’d spent so long prepping, he’d tricked himself, too.
Shaking his head, he looked back at Trent. “At least until they figure out what this is. Might just be something down out of the mountains, but I don’t like that it just shows up and disappears. That, and the two break ins in the past two weeks, I don’t know what’s going on. Weird s**t, but. That’s Destiny City. Is your kid okay?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:01 am
“Sure, no problem,” Trent said with a grin, and nodded a few times to make sure Jeremy understood that he was taking his suggestions seriously. As for his kid.
Chad felt his heart jump to his throat when his dad turned to look up at him as he hid on the landing, but instead of glaring at him and sending him away, he lifted his hand to gesture for him to go to him.
“Come on down and say hello to Officer Fischer,” he said, gesturing once more for Chad to join them.
Cautiously, Chad slowly made his way to the stairs and stepped down one at a time. He wasn’t sure why his dad was being so nice, but he liked it very much. He smiled at the officer once he reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Hello,” Chad greeted with a small smile, his cheeks still pink from being flustered by so much positive attention, even if it was just second hand.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:09 am
Ah, s**t.
Jeremy smiled at Chad, in the casual, friendly way he’d have spoken to any kid. Maybe a little kinder, just because he’d listened to Michael and Devyn, and the Reids, earlier. It was hard to tell if he looked unhealthy or bruised when he was under that sweater–and that wasn’t even suspicious right now when he could feel how chilly it was in the house.
But this was exactly the sort of thing he was worried about. Trent was smart. If he’d been doing anything to the kid, of course he’d have cleaned up his act after a confrontation, right? Maybe he actually did want to do better. Maybe.
He could hope.
He had no reason not to trust Michael. Oliver and Asher were teachers, too. They had a good enough reputation, he had no reason to doubt them. Devyn was the only one he didn’t have a solid background with, but he hadn’t seemed like he was just some long, greasy, black haired weirdo who dressed funny. He’d been calm, collected, put together. Michael vouched for him.
Jeremy had no reason not to believe the four of them.
But everything looked fine here.
And–if it was, he hoped it stayed that way. Hoped this wasn’t just some guy covering his a** because someone pushed his buttons and maybe suspected something.
“Hey, kid. You’re getting pretty big, I don’t even remember the last time I saw you. You being good, staying out of trouble?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:14 am
Chad smiled at Jeremy, pleased that his father was introducing him to someone instead of pretending that he didn’t exist. The weird day was getting nicer and nicer, and while he still missed Elliot, and was worried that Devyn was mad at him, he thought he wouldn’t mind if things stayed like this.
“Yes, sir,” he nodded and shuffled his feet a little as he glanced up at his dad. Was this how Elliot felt? It wasn’t exactly the same as how Asher and Oliver treated Elliot, but it was good, right?
“Hey, I think there’s some ice cream sandwiches in the freezer. Wanna grab a couple? Jer, you want one for the road?” Trent asked as Chad perked up, but waited to see if Jeremy wanted one. This was… weird. He didn’t get to just go into the freezer. He wasn’t even sure what was in it. Well, obviously ice cream sandwiches.
He really couldn’t want to tell Elliot how nice things were now. Maybe he finally did something right and his dad was happy about him for the first time.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:20 am
Briefly, Jeremy considered if he wanted one. Did he? Sort of, yeah. Sure, why not. “That’d be great, actually, yeah. Haven’t had one of those in a while. My kid brother usually gets to the sweets before I do. I’ll have to make it up to you, sometime.”
Donuts were so tacky, maybe he’d bring a pie or something, sometime.
“I appreciate the hospitality. It’s been a weird night so far. I’m glad you were in, I’ll feel better with you knowing to be careful around here. I’m going to go make another drive around the neighborhood just to make sure I don’t see anything. I’d hate for anything preventable to happen, so stay on your toes, just in case. Glad you’re both doing okay, Just wanna keep it that way.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:23 am
Once Jeremy agreed to the ice cream sandwich, Chad shuffled off to the kitchen. It was weird opening the freezer, and it was heavier than he expected, but managed to get it open. It took him a little time to find the box, but dug three of them out so he could return and hold one out for Jeremy with another smile to go with it.
“Of course, Jer. You’ve gotta keep your energy up if you’re going to be stuck on night shift. Chasing creepers and monsters all that the same time,” he chuckled and reached to pat Chad on the back.
Chad’s immediate reaction was to flinch, which he did, and was so embarrassed that he ended up dropping the ice cream sandwiches and his sketchbook, but quickly knelt down to gather them back up with a mumbled apology.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:32 am
Oh, there it was.
A little reassurance that there was something off about all of this. Maybe it was just because he was looking for it, or maybe there was actually something more to all of this.
He hadn’t wanted to see it, he would have much rather have had a misunderstanding. If something wasn’t going on at home, he suspected something was going on somewhere else. Maybe he was just nervous around his father, maybe it was someone he knew, maybe it was someone who threatened him or manipulated him.
That, Jeremy didn’t know.
But he smiled reassuringly when Chad dropped the sandwiches and didn’t seem any less grateful that they’d been offered.
“True, that. I got that gut feeling, you know. That tonight’s gonna be a bad one. You all right there, Chad? You be careful, too. When I was your age, I was a magnet for trouble. So you stay extra alert and be careful if you’re playing outside. You let someone know if you see something strange.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:32 pm
Trent didn’t seem to react at all to Chad’s clumsiness, but was instead watching Jeremy with a tense smile, like he had already worn out his welcome there.
Chad’s face was red by now, and he blinked furiously to try and keep the tears from his eyes. But he continued to smile as he stood back up, even offered a quiet laugh at the story Jeremy told of when he was young and a magnet for trouble.
“I’ll be careful,” he promised as he handed over the ice cream sandwich. “I won’t go outside.”
“Nope, we’ve got a movie to watch,” Trent smiled, and when Chad glanced up at him with confused curiosity, he just laughed. “You wanted to watch one for your birthday. You thought I’d forget?”
If he was honest, Chad didn’t recall asking to watch a movie, much less mention anything about his birthday.
Was that today? He couldn’t remember what day it was. He knew it was around this time of the month, but with everything happening… And it wasn’t as though they ever celebrated his birthday. Still, he was flustered and happy about the idea, and nodded enthusiastically.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:46 pm
Oh, that was interesting.
If Jeremy had felt any assurance from the interaction, it was steadily coming undone. Trent didn’t even seem to even look at Chad or ask if he was okay, and there was something about that smile that just wasn’t right.
And Chad was so upset about dropping things?
He accepted the sandwich with another smile, and a brief word of thanks.
“Oh, you should have said something, I’d have hurried on off sooner. Don’t let me interrupt your night, thank you for humoring me, Trent. See you, around. Happy Birthday, Chad.”
He raised a hand to wave but didn’t rush off, figuring it best to at least be polite about it.
“Call if you see anything weird, though. I’m serious about that. Night, boys.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:10 pm
”Thank you,” Chad smiled, and lifted a hand to wave as Jeremy left. Trent offered Jeremy another smile, although it was still slightly more tight lipped than before.
“Stay safe out there,” he said as Jeremy stepped out of the door, and he didn’t seem like he was trying to wait too long before closing the door behind him.
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