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 Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:45 am
For as much as Devyn loved Sessrumnir, he was glad to be back on Earth. Not necessarily for himself–he’d have been fine staying on Jupiter for longer given that Michael had made his way up there again, but he knew how important it was to Atticus to see Elliot and now that seemed a little more doable.
It had only taken a moment to pack up on Jupiter once they were ready to go, and he’d gently woken up Atticus so he knew what was going on. Or, at least, why he was going to wake up somewhere else.
Devyn held Atticus while they traveled from Sessrumnir to Michael’s living room, and there was a brief moment where everything happened at once.
Soleiyu was there, immediately suppressing Sessrumnir’s energy until Michael powered down, and Devyn shrugged off a few of the bags he’d been carrying.
The lights were on and the house smelled like pizza. Soleiyu had made himself comfortable on the dining room table with some of his inventions, but it seemed like he was busy playing on his phone and not working on anything new. He looked up briefly, but if Atticus had been on Sessrumnir, if he’d seen Devyn power up and down–and Michael–then there wasn’t any reason for him to keep his secrets.
He didn’t know what Atticus would have remembered from that night, either.
“I was starting to worry that something might have gone wrong. I reheated some of that pizza, but if you’d waited too much longer it might have gotten cold. Oh, you all look so tired.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:58 am
“I don’t think cold pizza would stop Devyn if he’s hungry,” Michael said once he’d powered down. His hand instinctively reached up to make sure the necklace was still in place, and he could feel the steady pulse against his chest. Then he added, “It wouldn’t stop me, either.”
He was trying not to show obvious anxiety about being powered in his house, but he chose to trust Soleiyu was able to handle what he said he was capable of handling. He hadn’t had much of a chance to trust Mauvians before, so this was a bit new to him. Atticus blinked sleepily as he held onto Devyn, although he had to close his still light sensitive eyes once they arrived-- in Michael and Devyn’s house?
Part of him wasn’t sure what was a dream and what was real. Devyn felt real, and Atticus couldn’t help but rest his head heavily against Devyn’s shoulder after being woken up just a few minutes prior. But now he was hallucinating, thinking that there was a cat that was talking.
One that he’d seen before… and he lifted his hand to wave to the cat again.
Maybe he was hallucinating the whole thing. Maybe something horrible happened before he met Devyn and was in a hospital in a coma and everything after that was just… his overactive imagination.
After all, he’d seen magic and horrifying monsters. He’d been to a magical hot spring on Jupiter, or so he was told. He’d seen both Devyn and Michael with their magic. And saw that wolf again, although he couldn’t decide if he was disappointed that Michael wasn’t the wolf, or if he was still trying to process being licked while still trying to wake up.
“Pizza?” he perked up just enough to lift his head momentarily from Devyn’s shoulder, only to set it back down soon after. He couldn’t decide if he was hungry or too tired to eat.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:09 am
Cold pizza would not have stopped Devyn; if he’d been really hungry, he’d have just eaten the cardboard box, too. “Smells good, doesn’t it? You want down so we can go make a plate or do you want me to take you to bed? We’ll have food here in the morning, so you don’t have to worry about losing out now if you’re tired.”
Devyn didn’t seem to have any problem carrying Atticus; he was light, and there wasn’t any rush to put him down–except, maybe, because he wanted to rub Michael’s back a little. But only because he looked like he was still a little stressed!
Soleiyu didn’t seem to share any of his worry; he set his phone down and stood up, stretched, and made his way to the edge of the table. He liked the bit of height it gave him so he didn’t have to change his form or talk to them from the ground.
“It’s been calm while you were gone. No trouble tonight.” So far. He looked up at Michael and did his best to keep his tail still, even if only to make sure he didn’t knock any of his things off onto the floor. “No reports of anything strange in the neighborhood tonight, so I think it’ll be a good night to rest up and take it easy. I can show you how to use everything tomorrow morning as long as you promise not to get into trouble or go out between now and then.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:37 am
Maybe he should go back to sleep. He blinked tiredly at the cat, and then around the room, before closing his eyes again. He was still sore and the medicine he had to help with the pain was making him groggy. He’d healed up a lot! He was surprised. He could walk just fine now, and he might not have really horrible scars. But his side was still pretty itchy and ached a bit.
But did he even have a place to sleep? He knew Devyn wouldn’t just leave him somewhere to fend for himself, but he also suddenly didn’t like the idea of being left somewhere to sleep.
“Maybe one slice, please?” he opened his eyes again and lifted his head so he could look around and make sure he wasn’t just making things up in his mind.
And he was curious about the talking cat. Michael and Devyn didn’t seem at all confused by the cat talking so Atticus would just act as though it was normal, too. “Here, if you want to set him down,” Michael said to Devyn as he pulled out one of the chairs from the table, across from where Soleiyu was sitting on the table. “Soleiyu, Atticus. Atticus, Soleiyu,” Michael sighed as he introduced the two, since he didn’t want Atticus to know even more than he did, but it was also going to be safer if he knew who would be able to help him.
He paused to watch Devyn and make sure he was doing okay, before turning to pull out the pizza for them to eat.
“I’m glad there hasn’t been any trouble. We won’t do anything until after you show us,” he promised. Soleiyu had already worked so hard to help them, and he wasn’t about to put Devyn or Atticus in danger.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:47 am
Devyn nodded, at first to Atticus and then to Michael. He eased the boy gently into the seat, mindful of his injuries and being careful not to jostle him too much to startle him awake. Devyn stayed nearby afterwards, even though he wanted to go grab the blanket off the couch so he could drape it over Atticus’ shoulders. That was probably a little overdramatic, so instead he just sank into the chair next to him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Atticus. Officially,” Soleiyu said, calm enough–or tired enough–that despite his interest, his tail just lay still behind him. “I’m sure we’ll get to be good friends.”
Probably, Devyn figured, because Atticus was friendly with everyone. And because they were going to need paperwork to give them the backstory Atticus needed, and help with his disguise, and who knew what else; he just knew it was for the best to stay on Soleiyu’s good side.
With enough praise, that seemed easy enough.
Devyn watched as Michael pulled out the pizza, too tired to really consider how closely he was watching him. It was comforting, though, and he relaxed in the moment as he let himself zone out just a little bit.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:58 am
“I’ve seen you before,” Atticus said quietly as he looked at Soleiyu, wanting to make sure it wasn’t his eyes playing tricks on him. He’d waved to him just earlier, but he was also still just waking up. Now that he was right next to him, this was definitely the cat he saw.
“You were outside of my--”
He stopped and frowned and sunk down in his chair a little. He didn’t want to think about that place. He never wanted to go back.
“Thank you for looking out for me,” he said instead, because he was grateful. If Soleiyu was helping Devyn and Michael keep an eye on him, then that means Soleiyu helped save his life.
Cautiously, he held out the back of his hand to the cat, not sure if it was okay to pet him, but maybe if he sniffed him first he’d let him? Michael pulled out the pizza that had been warmed up for them and brought it over to the table, along with some plates to use. Atticus didn’t seem like he was sure what to do, so Michael cut him the biggest slice and pushed it onto a plate in front of him.
“Devyn or I will eat whatever you can’t,” he promised before Atticus could get flustered about how much there was -- he looked like he was about to.
“Since we’re all awake now, did you want to go ahead and discuss the details or would you rather wait until tomorrow anyway? I think we settled on a new last name,” he said, and then glanced over at Devyn. Atticus had already taken a bite of his pizza but was looking curiously from Michael to Devyn, not sure what Michael was talking about.
Michael knew it was probably rude of him to put Devyn on the spot like that, but it wasn’t as though they had time on their side. They needed to get Atticus protected as soon as possible, which meant everyone else would be protected as well.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:05 am
The boy had been through enough, and Soleiyu appreciated attention, anyway. He didn’t need to smell him; he pushed his head into the palm of Atticus’ hand and kept it there for a few seconds. He only drew away when Michael started leading into his plan, but he wanted to make sure Atticus didn’t get overwhelmed so he pushed his head into his hand again. He didn’t want to interrupt, so he purred instead.
When Michael put down some food in front of Devyn, he inhaled the first bite, at least to make sure that his stomach wasn’t going to interrupt while they were talking to Atticus. He gave Michael a look, as if to reassure him, but it was only partly for him and mostly for Atticus.
Devyn himself was calm about all of it; his face was relaxed, and the necklace Michael wore gave no indication that he was alarmed or worried. His only concern was that Michael might not be prepared for Atticus’ emotions so he wanted to assure him everything was fine, just in case.
He chewed, he swallowed; he nodded and turned to face Atticus.
“I don’t have a history here on Earth. What I’ve got is what details have been fabricated by Soleiyu. He’s made me my ID, falsified records for me. Outside of that, nobody knows who I am or where I came from. I’m just a friend Michael met in college. If a kid were to come into Michael’s life while anyone was digging around, they might be able to piece together that you came out of nowhere. Same with the Reids. But I don’t have that legacy, no one’s going to find anything if they start digging in my life. So, if it works for you, Soleiyu can get together papers for us. You’d be Atticus DeLunne–that is, it’s my last name. Michael’s said we can set up the office for you, that could be your room. So you’d still be here, you’d still be close to Elliot, and we’ll figure out how to explain all of this to him and his parents, but. It means you’d have a home, you’d have a name, you’d have a future. And if it doesn’t work for you, we can figure something else out. But if that works for you, Soleiyu’s very smart. He’s the one that made that pen I gave you. He’s very clever.”
Soleiyu nodded and pressed into Atticus’ hand again, still purring. He didn’t need to chime in that this was correct, Atticus could figure it out himself.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:19 am
Atticus was quiet as he listened. He brushed his fingers through Soleiyu’s fur, gently scratching him behind his ears and under his chin and wherever else he gave him access to pet. It made sense, since Devyn wasn’t from Earth. He would need records and things like that to make it seem like he was.
His thoughts were everywhere, and his emotions couldn’t seem to settle on just one thing. He was excited about the idea of sharing Devyn’s name, if he was okay with it! It was much better than his old name. And he would still be able to see Elliot. And he had a place to stay.
“Thank you, Soleiyu,” he said softly, sincerely, as he brushed his fingers along his fur, being very careful not to get pizza grease on him.
“But… um,” he started and then hesitated, because he wasn’t sure how much just changing his name would do. “What if someone sees me? Or… do I have to stay inside from now on? I can! If that’s the only way,” he quickly added, because he didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “I mean, I just know someone might recognize me. The hospital nurses say they know me for my freckles, since--” Oh, maybe he should try not to get into too many details of his life he was trying to leave. But he was pretty sure his father would be able to recognize him no matter what.
And that was the scariest part. “Soleiyu made you a disguise,” Michael assured, even though he had his doubts about how well it would work. Not that he doubted Soleiyu, but there were a lot of factors involved, a lot of unknowns. Things he didn’t understand that was making him go into this blindly trusting a Mauvian he’d only known for less than a year.
“Elliot helped get the office set up for you. We got you clothes and things you’ll need. Elliot wants to help you shop for other things, too,” he said, wanting to make sure Atticus know they were looking out for him.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:26 am
Devyn was trying very hard not to smile, and he turned away just slightly so he could hide it behind a piece of pizza, because for all his worrying–Michael must have already known exactly what Devyn would have suggested. Devyn had been worried that Michael might feel put out, that he might feel crowded in his own home, and here he’d gone and set things up with Elliot, already.
He didn’t feel pushed out. He felt relieved about all of it. He didn’t ask where Michael had put whatever he’d been storing in the office, he knew they were in a good place. Maybe Michael’s room. Although, Devyn did like to have quite a bit more around him, compared to Michael’s clean, organized room.
He couldn’t help but appreciate that Michael had spent time with Elliot while preparing for Atticus’ arrival–and that they’d already made plans to go shopping together in the future.
“It might surprise you to know, I’ve got quite a bit of experience disguising people. People who aren’t even human,” Soleiyu explained. “I’ve hidden ears and tails–I can hide my own, you know. You, you’re easy. I don’t have to program anything that’s going to magic away gold skin or dog ears. It needs some fine tuning, but that’s something we’ll do tomorrow. You’ll look like yourself–but different. Similar, but not quite the same. Like if I gave a list of words to describe you now, they’ll describe you tomorrow, too. Just, a little differently. You’ll see, it’s better observed than explained. It’s like a very good magic trick.”
He seemed confident–and appreciative that Atticus was so careful not to get his fur dirty.
“You won’t have to stay inside. Once we get everything all sorted out–the paperwork, the little details–you’ll get to go back to doing everything you love. You’re starting school again in the fall, aren’t you? We’ll get you into any school you like. But I’m thinking Azure would be safest. You’ll get the full experience, you won’t have to hide. I mean, don’t go leaving your fingerprints in places you shouldn’t be, just in case, but you seem like a good kid so I’m not worried about that.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:35 am
People who aren’t even human? Atticus glanced curiously at Devyn. Was he hiding ears and gold skin? Would he even know? No, he was sure if it was important, he would tell him. If not then that wasn’t his business.
Oh, but there was something else that was suddenly bothering him.
“If… if you’re really good at disguising people, would that mean everyone who knows me won’t recognize me?” That seemed to be what was being implied, but that meant--
“What about Elliot? Or… or his dads? Would they be able to recognize me?”
His heart was suddenly beating very fast and he had to place a hand over it to stop it from escaping from his chest. He was trying very hard not to get worked up when he didn’t know the details, but the thought of Elliot not recognizing him-- would he believe him if he said who he was? Michael caught the way Devyn turned away to hide. The necklace wasn’t being too helpful. All he could sense from it was relief-- but Devyn had been feeling that off and on for a while that evening. He could have just gotten used to it.
“We’ll make sure the Reids know who you are,” Michael promised, his voice soft as he sat across the table from Devyn with his own pizza. He brought out a few cans of caffeine free sodas, since they were all supposed to be going to sleep.
“You’d fit in at Azure. There’s a lot of different kinds of people there, but it would also be safest. And you’ll be with Elliot,” Michael said, which he seemed to understand meant it was pretty much a done deal for Atticus.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:45 am
“Just because you’d look different doesn’t mean you can’t tell them who you are. And you can turn the disguise off if you really need to. I don’t recommend doing it unless you’re safe, but if they needed to see you, you could show them. And if we need to explain it, we’ll just say that HITS has been working on some hologram projection or something and you’re getting a trial use of it or something. We’ll figure it out, if they ask too many questions just say you’re not supposed to talk about it.”
Soleiyu pressed into Atticus’ hand once more. “You don’t have to worry. They’ll know it’s you.”
Devyn had finished nearly all of his pizza; he had only the crust left and wiped at his mouth with a napkin before he said, “It’s like with me. You know who I am, and you know how I look like me, but different, when I’m that other outfit? The one with the wings. It’s to keep my identity a secret.”
Back on Alastor everyone knew who he was anyway and he’d never really had to question it. Here, he was grateful that he had some level of secrecy, given how important it was to make sure Michael’s identity was kept secret.
And if Atticus was going to be his son, all the more reason for him to be able to hide their relationship. He didn’t want anyone going after Atticus because they’d found out he was Sailor Alastor.
“I’m sure the Reids will understand. They just want you to be safe, too. And this means that you’ll be able to go visit them, or go out and do things with them and not have to worry about your father finding you, or anyone in the Negaverse looking for you. It’ll make you safer, but it’s not a punishment. We’ll talk to them with you and explain everything, it’ll be okay.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:00 am
He could just turn the disguise off…? But that sounded risky, even if he was somewhere safe. But Devyn was right that he knew who he was, even if he didn’t look the same when he was magical. Same with Michael.
Still, Atticus chewed nervously at his lip. He didn’t really question how Devyn looked the same but different as Alastor, but he couldn’t help but be nervous that what if he looked too different to Elliot? He rubbed his chest, trying to get his heart to settle, and drew in a deep breath as he rubbed Soleiyu’s head appreciatively.
It sounded too good to be true. For his father to not recognize him? For the bullies who made his life miserable to leave him alone? To get a fresh start and have people around him who cared about him? And he would be able to see Elliot. Elliot, who had been helping Michael get things ready for him.
He sniffled, desperately trying to keep his already hot eyes from filling with tears. But he ended up having to hide his face in his hand as he cried into it, his other hand still outstretched to Soleiyu. Michael tensed a bit when the tears started, and he glanced up at Devyn as though hoping he would have some unknown answers about how to handle someone so emotional.
Was it something they said? Was he really upset about people not knowing who he was? Or was it something else? He had students about Atticus’ age, but he didn’t have to deal with them crying all that often.
“It’ll be okay,” he repeated, hoping that it was enough. “We’ll be with you. And we won’t let anything happen to you.” Oh… he wasn’t even sure where the closest box of tissues were. A paper towel would probably be uncomfortable.
Awkwardly, Michael reached out with one of the napkins he brought over and pushed it a little closer to Atticus.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:16 am
Soleiyu bristled briefly, only because he hadn’t expected the tears. Rapidly, he pushed his head into Atticus’ palm again in an effort to soothe him.
Devyn didn’t seem alarmed; his heart didn’t even pick up pace or anything. He reached over to rub down Atticus’ back gently. He’d been waiting for it, and gave Michael another reassuring expression. This was expected, it was going to come sooner or later. Atticus was already tired so he’d figured he’d either be too worn out to cry or too worn out to hold it in.
“It’s okay,” he said gently. “Maybe we’ll see if Elliot can come over tomorrow?”
He looked up at Michael, looking for any indication that this was unfeasible, and when he saw none he continued, “I’m sure you two have a lot you want to catch up on. We’ll have to come up with a story so you don’t have to tell him about Jupiter. It’ll be safer if he doesn’t know, but we’ll figure something out. The important thing is that you’ll get to see him. Maybe his parents can come over for dinner, too? So you can see everyone?”
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:41 am
He was exhausted. And he missed Elliot. And the idea that he would be able to see Elliot without worrying about his father was wonderful and he couldn’t even begin to thank Michael and Devyn and Soleiyu for everything they’d done for him. He wanted to thank Elliot and Oliver and Asher too.
Atticus rubbed at his eyes to try and stop himself, and mumbled a quiet thanks for the napkin that he used to soak up the tears. Soleiyu was comforting as much as Devyn was, and after a couple minutes he’d calmed down enough to nod to them.
“Please? I want to see them.” He needed to, otherwise he might just go crazy thinking about them. Michael was grateful that Devyn seemed to know what to do, and he was able to relax a little when it seemed like he had everything under control.
“We’ll figure things out and get them over here, okay? You should just worry about resting for now. Get a good night’s sleep so you can spend as much time with the Reids, okay?” he said, relieved that Atticus nodded in agreement.
“We can worry about the rest in the morning. I’m sure it’s been a while since you’ve slept on a nice bed. Devyn seemed to like it, anyway. It was his room for a little while. But now Elliot put a bunch of those stuffed animal pillows in there for you.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:18 pm
Devyn didn’t have a pizza to hide behind the second time Michael made him want to smile, and though he managed to silence his laugh by keeping his lips firmly pursed together. Michael must have anticipated that Devyn would have been fine sharing the room with either of them, and considering they’d already decorated the office for Atticus he hoped that meant he was welcome to stay with Michael in the meantime.
He continued to rub Atticus’ back, and pushed his drink closer to remind him to stay hydrated.
“It’s a very nice bed,” he promised. “And there’s a light, in case you don’t sleep very well in the dark. I don’t,” he added, because he didn’t think there was anything to be ashamed of about admitting such a thing. He suspected Atticus would just try to suffer through whatever made him uncomfortable in an effort to make Devyn happy, but when Devyn often slept with the lights on, he figured Atticus should do whatever made him the most comfortable.
“You can sleep in as much as you want tomorrow, and you won’t have to worry about anything. We’ll get you all settled in so you can relax. If you wake up before Michael and I, you can go into the kitchen and–” Well, he doubted Atticus would do that, he would probably be worried about making a mistake or overstepping unspoken boundaries “–You can make yourself anything you want. But I’ll leave some snacks in your room, too, so if you don’t want to get out of bed, you won’t have to. I’m excited to see what Elliot and Michael picked out for you. I bet the office is really cozy, now.”
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