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 Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:20 am
He wasn’t sure what time it was when he was pulled from sleep. It was still dark out, but the nightlight gave the room enough light so he could still see where he was.
It took him a few moments to realize where he was. Not his old house, nor Jupiter. But the room Devyn and Michael let him stay in. The one that had sheets and blankets picked out by Elliot.
But he could hear the sirens in the distance. He preferred Jupiter over Earth, if only to be away from that sound.
Atticus squeezed his eyes shut, and held on tightly to the stuffed lion pillow he’d grabbed first. It was okay. Even though the sirens seemed to be getting closer-- and then stopped.
It was enough to have Atticus bolting up in bed. He could see flashing lights outside the window. He didn’t go to inspect where they were or if they were even stopping close to the house. Instead, he scrambled out of bed and down the stairs to where he knew Devyn and Michael were sleeping and anxiously knocked on the door as tears filled his eyes.
If someone came in looking for him--?? He didn’t have a disguise yet. Anyone could recognize him. Michael was usually a light sleeper, although with Devyn next to him he slept more deeply than usual. It wasn’t deep enough for him to not hear the knock on the door.
He pushed himself up, pulling his arm from where it stayed across Devyn’s back after they’d fallen asleep, and rolled out of the bed.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked groggily, voice heavy with sleep as he opened the door, wide enough so Atticus could see Devyn as well. Michael doubted he would have slept through him getting up with how clumsy he was at the moment. “I’m sorry,” Atticus whispered, trying not to cry. “I saw lights and there were sirens and I don’t want to go back there. Please.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:30 am
Devyn was blinking the sleep from his eyes, trying to drag himself from the hazy spell of sleep he’d been enjoying. He heard the knock, but it wasn’t until Michael moved his arm and pushed himself up that Devyn really started stirring. He was sitting up in the bed by the time Atticus started speaking.
Devyn’s henshin pen was never far; if he had to power up to slip out with Atticus, he could. Michael would know if there was any threat nearby; if he didn’t sense anything, he was sure they could get out without any trouble.
“You’re not going back,” Devyn promised, fighting back a yawn. It didn’t take him much to wake up; when he’d lived alone on Alastor he’d had to be prepared for anything. No matter how nicely he’d been sleeping, he was awake now.
He pushed himself up and ignored how much he already missed the warmth of Michael’s hand on his back.
He opened his arm for Atticus and said, “Come here, it’s okay. Nobody’s going to take you. I promise.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:38 am
Michael gave no indication that he could feel any powered auras in the area, but he was already pulling out his phone to check the cameras. He waited until Atticus had stepped into the room before closing and locking the door, in the hopes that it would give Atticus some additional comfort.
“Looks like there might have been a call for an EMT down the block. They’re not on camera any more, but they drove past,” he said as he made his way back over to the bed to settle down on it. The moment Devyn held out his arm was the moment Atticus hurried into the room and crawled up onto the bed next to him. He knew he was being ridiculous, especially if it was just an ambulance, and he hoped whoever needed it was okay.
But his heart was pounding and his mind was racing and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t feel unsafe in the house, but it was new and he wasn’t used to it. And Devyn had sat by his side for the past week as he rested, so of course he was going to associate Devyn as where he was safe.
“Can I stay here…? Just for tonight, please? I’ll be okay, I just…”
He missed Elliot, but even Elliot wasn’t there. He had the lion pillow with him still, but even though he suspected it might have been either purposely or subconsciously picked as a reminder that he was brave, he didn’t feel very brave.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 10:54 am
Michael was so smart, and so prepared. Devyn relaxed as soon as he was assured that it wasn’t the police, and he didn’t need to run Atticus up to Alastor right now.
When Atticus was in the bed, he wrapped his arm around his shoulder so he could rub his arm reassuringly.
“It’s a new place,” Devyn answered, trying very hard to work the sleepiness out of his voice. He didn’t bother to clear his throat, he just focused on keeping his voice soft so he didn’t worry Atticus. “There’s a lot going on right now, but I promise you’re safe.”
He didn’t want to promise that Atticus could stay if it was going to bother Michael, but–
He was already settling down on the bed again, and it’s not like they couldn’t make this work. It was a big bed! And it was just for tonight.
Maybe Elliot could spend the night tomorrow and help Atticus settle into his new room. He didn’t have the heart, or the energy, to say no.
…Devyn didn’t think Michael could say no. Michael and Elliot had made up the whole room for him. Michael had talked to Soleiyu about adoption papers. They were all tired. They were all worried about the Negaverse.
Just for tonight seemed easy enough.
“Go ahead, get comfortable. You can wake me up if you’re having a hard time sleeping, or if you need anything. Do you want some water, or a snack?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 11:02 am
Michael was too tired to even think about saying no, or figure out another solution to Atticus being afraid. It seemed like the easiest thing to do while they were trying to recover from a very long week.
“The house is pretty protected. I’ve got cameras on the outside. Alarms if the windows are broken into. I’d offer a better lock for your door, but it’ll be a fire hazard… or if something happens and we can’t get in to help,” he yawned and turned onto his side to get comfortable.
Maybe he should have tried harder to settle back onto his pillow, but the side of Devyn’s shoulder was comfortable enough to rest his head against. And maybe he didn’t just subconsciously wrap his arm over Devyn’s waist. But he was pretty tired, so it could have just been because it was comfortable. Atticus had been planning on offering to just sleep on the ground, but since Devyn was letting him stay close, he felt a lot better. He sniffled a few more times as he curled up under the covers.
It took him a moment to really process being offered water or a snack because it was such a foreign concept to him. Eventually he shook his head.
“Thank you. I just don’t want to be alone.” It was easy to get comfortable next to Devyn because he was so warm. And he knew if something were to happen, he would definitely be able to protect him. Atticus just hoped it didn’t have to come to that.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 11:17 am
Devyn would have gotten up if Atticus had asked, but he was honestly glad that he hadn’t because the warmth of Michael pressed against him suddenly felt like something had clicked into place and somehow he didn’t understand it but he liked it.
The arm over his waist felt–
It was welcome. He’d relaxed under it. It was even better than when his hand was on his back. He thought he’d been sleeping comfortably before but it felt like he slipped into some whole other realm.
He pulled up the blanket a little bit to tuck Atticus in, and gave his shoulder one sleepy little squeeze before he settled into the pillow.
And, if his hand moved to rest over Michael’s, it was just because it was comfortable there.
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