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 Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:26 pm
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The house was destroyed. It would have cost nearly twice what they paid for it when they first got here just to repair it. It didn’t matter how much they’d squirreled away, it was completely out of their budget. The insurance was going to get them a payout, but with how the property value in the area had changed since they moved in, there wasn’t anything even remotely reasonable within their price range.
For the time being, they could stay in a hotel. Everything they were able to salvage would go into storage. They had a few weeks to find somewhere else to live, but it was looking increasingly more likely that they’d wind up renting.
Moving out of Destiny City was an option, but Oliver had been nearly hysterical at the prospect; they’d set down roots here. They had jobs here. This was Elliot’s home. Asher had insisted that they’d figure it all out, that everything was going to be okay.
He was upset, too. He just had to hold it together for everyone else. Things were replaceable, but they’d still lost the home they’d lived in for nearly all of Elliot’s life. It wasn’t the things–mostly–it was the time they’d spent building that life.
Now they had to worry about monsters breaking into their house. Had to worry about Elliot and Atticus being magical warriors. Had to worry about how they were going to keep the boys together because–after all they’d been through–they could not imagine separating them.
It had taken a few days but they’d all finally managed to get everything they could salvage out of the house. They’d rented a moving truck to store what they’d been able to save and were going to find a storage unit tomorrow. They’d lost a lot, but they’d saved enough that it didn’t feel like they’d lost everything.
Elliot’s room was in fairly good condition, all things considered. A few things would need a good wash, but he’d at least had a good time with Atticus while they picked through things. He had his trophies, his yearbooks, his baseball gear. Most of his stuffed animals, most of everything that had been important to him.
Oliver and Asher’s room took a lot of damage. Oliver cried when he found his Gameboy, and his music. His chair was broken, but Asher had promised he could fix it. He’d put it in the truck when Oliver wasn’t looking, even if he’d been told not to worry about it.
The kitchen was completely destroyed. Asher insisted they were going to renovate it so it wasn’t any great loss, but he’d still looked for his favorite coffee mug. Oliver dug through broken glass until he found it, in pieces. Asher insisted it was fine, he’d just get another one. Oliver hid it in the truck when Asher wasn’t looking so he could fix it later.
The garage was in surprisingly good shape and they still had a car. The living room was demolished. They’d picked through the rubble and found an eclectic assortment of decorations. Photo Albums were saved. Family pictures were saved. Furniture was gone.
A lot of things were gone.
It made everything they had that much more precious.
It had taken a few days to get everything together, and thankfully the weather had been agreeable enough to let them. The moving truck was parked in Michael’s driveway for right now; the insurance company was covering the costs for the rest of the week and they’d still finished a day earlier than expected.
Devyn and Michael and Atticus had helped with everything–something Oliver and Asher were infinitely grateful for. They’d gotten showers, ordered pizza. It was only late afternoon and the Reids were exhausted.
Oliver had inhaled his pizza–an old, bad habit, and he was trying to pace himself before getting another piece. Asher was pretty sure it was his way of punishing himself for eating so quickly, so when he noticed Oliver looking at the pizza he held up his slice so he could take a bite.
Asher was scrolling through his phone for the upteenth time, as if a house within their price range was magically going to pop up nearby. They were both visibly exhausted and were leaning against each other where they sat.
As tired as they were, they didn’t want to be any more of an imposition in Michael’s house given how much he’d already done for them. They hadn’t even nagged him about Devyn sleeping in his room. Yet.
“Thank you,” Oliver said, maybe for the thousandth time that week. “I don’t know how we would have gotten any of this done without you. You’re amazing. And Devyn and Atticus. I don’t even know how to thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:32 pm
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Michael didn’t feel as if he deserved to be called amazing, but he smiled appreciatively at Oliver regardless. “I just want to make sure our vacation isn’t delayed too much,” he tried to joke, although it fell a little flat. He knew this wasn’t the time to think about vacationing, and he probably sounded rather selfish for even bringing it up.
He filled the self-caused awkwardness with a sip of the soda he had with his pizza.
And he was trying not to look too guilty about… well… once again trying to control his friends’ lives.
But they didn’t want to split the boys up, so he was just doing what he could to make sure that didn’t happen.
“What kind of house are you looking for?” he asked Asher over another bite of pizza. He wasn’t trying to be nosey! And Oliver and Asher hadn’t been completely silent on what they were trying to accomplish. “Two… three bedrooms? You’d want office space, wouldn’t you?”
Atticus was tired. Sore. He’d been helping to move boxes of things they’d found, and he got his leg scraped up by trying to step over some debris with a nail poking out.
He sat on the couch between Elliot and Devyn with his legs pulled up so he could rest his arms on his knees as he tried to build up the strength to take another bite. He was grateful for the food! But he also felt like even if he tried saying anything, no words would come out. So he just stared somewhere between his pizza and the coffee table as he rested.
Talk about new houses made him want to cry, but he bit his lip instead. If he hadn’t been visiting, would the Reids still have their house? What if they ended up moving far away? What if he couldn’t see Elliot all the time?
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:24 am
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“We can’t afford that,” Oliver answered. “Two bedrooms are out of our budget right now. At this rate we’d be happy for one bedroom. We’ll just get a pull out couch for the living room, Asher and I can work out of there.”
“We’ve made due with less,” Asher agreed. “We lived out of my car for a few months, we don’t need much. Insurance is going to cover some of it, but we still owed a bit on the house, and we have to replace all the furniture.”
“I’d like a house with a strong roof,” Oliver decided. Asher set down his phone, done with searching for the time being. He took a bite of his pizza and then offered the slice to Oliver, who mimicked him and then continued, “And a backyard. I’m going to go dig up the garden and move it wherever we go. Maybe the tree, too.”
They had their actual preferences–ideally somewhere in the area, so Elliot could still get to the park if he wanted to, and close to school for all of them. Preferably close to Atticus, because the boys were inseparable enough already.
“I don’t need a room. You should have the room,” Elliot added from the couch. “So there’s a quiet room. I’ll sleep in the living room. Oh, or we can get a tent. I’ll just go camping.” He was only partly teasing. He’d watched his fathers, and then glanced at Atticus–who had worked hard! He needed to build up his strength, too. Elliot offered his pizza, holding it up for him so Atticus didn’t have to move.
Devyn had worked up a massive appetite and was quiet only because he was halfway through his first pizza. He had the least experience and education on the housing market or location of Destiny City, and he was content to refuel while they talked. He looked from Michael, to Atticus, more often than not; they’d all worked hard, so he couldn’t blame anyone for looking exhausted. He was already thinking about carrying Atticus to bed so he could rest, but he’d noticed how Elliot was leaning against Atticus a bit, or how he liked to keep him close so he could fuss over him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:00 am
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“Oh, anything?” Oliver asked, and was quick to answer, “A castle with a moat, and by the sea.”
“I don’t think we’ll find that in Destiny City,” Asher laughed, and shook his head. He took a sip of his drink and leaned back in his chair. “I mean, our house was pretty good. It had everything we needed. Garage for the car and storage, a bedroom for Oliver and I and one that was big enough for El. Living room with enough space for a decent sized coffee table so we could do our work together. Kitchen doesn’t have to be too big.”
“Well, a little bigger than ours, that’s part of what we were going to renovate. But I’d swap a bigger kitchen for better security.”
“Oh, yeah. Better security would be nice.” Not that he thought there was any chance of a security system that could prevent people from teleporting into the house, but. Asher continued, “An office might be nice, but we do most of our work together, and El’s always been able to respect when we need to work.”
“Oh, but ideally, somewhere close to the park. Or a park. Mostly this park, most of El’s games are here and he’s grown up in this neighborhood. It’s so close to work and school. And it’s safe, it’s got such a low crime index. I’d like to stay close to you,” Oliver admitted. “You’re our closest friend. And with the boys, and the magic, and the,” Oliver shrugged vaguely because he’d had time to process this a bit more but he still hadn’t seen it. “Well, the ‘all of it’, I’d just feel better if we weren’t too far away from you. I hope nothing goes wrong again, but. Worst comes to worst, maybe we’ll just get one of those mobile homes or something? Oh, the HOA would just love if we got an RV or something. They’ve never forgiven us for owning that property before they got to roll out their HOA. It’ll just take some time if we do that. I don’t know how long insurance will put us up in a hotel or something.” Oliver sighed heavily and had to rub at his face, almost a bit too aggressively, but Asher seemed like he’d been waiting for him to do something of the sort and slid his hand into Oliver’s.
They laced fingers instinctively and Asher kissed his husband’s cheek gently before he said, “But we’ll figure it out. Technically the land’s still ours, we can get the property cleaned up and see what we’ve got left to work with afterwards. And if we have to camp for a little while, well. Summer’s the best time for it.”
Oliver’s nose wrinkled but he’d been soothed by the kiss so didn’t fuss–although, he did lean forward to take another nibble out of Asher’s pizza.
Elliot snorted at his parents, but he was more focused on Atticus, and he tucked himself a little closer. “Don’t listen to them, they’re being silly. I’m not going anywhere,” he said softly. “Is your leg okay? I can go get some ice or some more medicine.”
Devyn’s plate was empty, and when he’d wiped off his hands and face he decided it was a good enough time to take a break. He still didn’t want to interrupt anyone, but Atticus had made it easy for him to reach a hand over to rub his back gently. He knew he was upset about all of this, and if he was being honest, he supposed he expected that Atticus might have needed to let out a few tears earlier than this.
But, he’d been strong. He’d held it together. They’d been working so hard today; he imagined both of the boys must have been sore.
He didn’t think Michael was going to let the Reids have to go too far away, not when he’d been so invested in keeping them safe–and with Elliot being a Knight, too, it was all the more reason to be nearby if something was going wrong.
He wasn’t the least bit worried about any of it. All he could say right now was that everything would be okay. And, given that Michael seemed so unfazed about all of it, Devyn suspected that he’d already come up with a plan for it all.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:10 am
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“Nana was always fond of her castle in Belgium,” Michael sighed, but that was obviously too far away. He’d talked to his grandmother briefly at the funeral. His father had been her favorite son, so he suspected she was still taking it as hard as the rest of them. But she was also a fighter, despite her advanced age.
The boys seemed to be content on the couch, so Michael set his plate down and stood up to stretch. He was sore from all of the work, but he was happy to help. And it wasn’t as though he’d been with them the entire time. There were some things he needed to get taken care of. Completely reasonable since he had guests living with him for possibly an extended period of time.
“I want to show you two something, if you don’t mind?” he said after a moment, and then gestured towards the door that led out to the back of the house and their large backyard.
He glanced over to Devyn for a moment and nodded to let him know everything was okay. He would be back soon, he just… wanted to let Oliver and Asher see something.
Atticus was glad Michael hadn’t wanted him and Elliot to get up too, but he did turn his head to offer a small, wobbly smile at Devyn when he rubbed at his back, but soon turned to look up at Elliot to respond to him.
“I’m okay. It’s just sore. And itchy. But that means it’s healing,” he said because of course he’d learned that from Devyn. “Are you sure you’re not going anywhere?”
He would miss him. Greatly. He didn’t want Elliot to leave, but he also knew he might not have a choice.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:21 am
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Devyn nodded when Michael wanted to step out with the Reids; he didn’t know if there was anything to actually see or if he just needed to talk to them in private for a moment. Either way, he was happy to stay with the boys. He smiled, first to Michael, and then to Atticus. “He’s not going anywhere,” Devyn said, turning to face the two of them. “Michael will figure something out. I’ll ask him, don’t worry.”
Elliot was still figuring Devyn out. So far, he was just compiling information. He knew he slept in Michael’s room, so he had assumptions. Maybe he gave Devyn a bit of a hard time sometimes–or, he tried to.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like him! It’s just, he had to be sure!
He hadn’t been able to get under his skin yet, but that was probably for the best. It was getting harder to want to annoy him or push his buttons to make sure he was good for Atticus and Michael. Not only had Devyn helped them with their house, he’d come to check on Atticus regularly while they were working. And, he had stories. Lots of them. About distant, faraway worlds.
Elliot wasn’t sure if they were true at all, but Devyn was a good storyteller. He’d fallen asleep to his stories twice over the past week and been so invested in them that he’d had to ask him to finish them again over breakfast.
“Does she really have a castle in Belgium?” Oliver asked as he stood. He waved to the boys–an action Asher repeated as he too rose to follow Michael.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:34 am
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Atticus took a moment to rub at his eyes. He was trying really hard not to cry, but he wanted to press his face against either Elliot or Devyn’s chest and just sob for a few hours. Maybe they could take turns -- oh, no that would be asking for too much.
For the time being, he lowered his head back onto Elliot’s shoulder, and let his legs rest against him a little more so he was practically curled up next to him. Oh, but he didn’t want Devyn to go anywhere -- unless he had to. So he tried not to discourage Devyn from rubbing his back.
He was feeling very needy and spoiled. He would have to make it up to everyone. Somehow.
“She does,” Michael nodded to Oliver as he held the back door open for them.
The backyard itself was a decent size, especially with how close they were to the city. There were several mature trees that shaded the relatively flat ground. A large majority had grass, but around the trees was a healthy amount of landscaping.
Nothing Michael did. He bought the house like that. He would have to decide what to do with it once they settled in more with Atticus living there.
“I’ve told you how my family got its wealth, haven’t I?” he hummed thoughtfully as he slowly made his way into the backyard and into the grassy, shaded area. “Real estate, mostly. Back in the day I think they were involved in other things, but sold out of the other industries.”
He’d known the Reids since before he had access to his trust fund. And he never really spoke about it, although after buying a very expensive car in an arguably immature way of getting back at his grandmother for giving him a hard time, it was probably pretty obvious that he had some money. How much… he didn’t think any of his family often talked about it.
“I can sense those things,” he said, knowing it was an abrupt change of subject. “The youma. The monsters. If they’re close, I can feel them. I don’t know how, but it’s been a little while since I’ve been able to tell when they’re nearby. I don’t want to split up the boys, either.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:53 am
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“See?” Elliot asked gently, and pressed his cheek against Atticus’ head. “It’ll be okay. Even Devyn says so. I’m not really worried.” He was, a little bit, but he didn’t want Atticus to worry more! “They said it could be weeks before the insurance people even figure things out. So maybe Michael will just let us stay here for now!” He was teasing, just a little, but he meant it.
Devyn was not discouraged from rubbing Atticus’ back, and as he leaned against the back of the couch, he seemed to find some peace in the gestures, too. “Well, with you two being Knights, I don’t think he’s going to want you to go further than he can keep an eye on. You know how much he cares about you.”
“I do. He cares about all of us.” He bit back the urge to suggest that maybe they could all just go stay in Michael’s room, especially because Devyn was being nice. He busied himself with kissing Atticus’ forehead instead. “Thank you for helping me get all my stuff out of my room. And for letting me stay in your room.”
Though they were only a single door away from the boys, the first thing Oliver did when they were outside was look over his shoulder, back towards the house.
He followed Michael, still holding Asher’s hand. The walk wasn’t horrible, but he ached so he was a little slow. Michael’s backyard was beautiful; he didn’t spend enough time here not to appreciate it while they had a moment.
Asher was watching Michael quietly, like he was trying to read between the lines and predict what this conversation was actually about.
Oliver was less subtle in where his thoughts were. “Does your family’s wealth have something to do with youma? Or are you planning on using your real estate information to make sure we don’t move somewhere full of them? Because, that would be wonderful, I don’t want to move into a nest of them. And I don’t want to split the boys up, no. If Asher had moved across town when I was their age, I’d have died. I don’t want to move somewhere more dangerous, I don’t want the boys getting hurt. Are you planning on moving, too?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:03 am
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A quiet, contented sigh escaped when Elliot kissed his forehead. He was comfortable, so he hoped that Elliot and Devyn were, too.
“Thank you for letting me help,” he said. “You can stay in my room as long as you want.” Was forever too much? Probably. But they were Knights, and their Wonders were so close together that they had to visit at the same time. Right? Was that how it worked?
“How old were you when you became a Senshi?” he asked, because he was curious and he was sure Devyn had a lot of experience that he and Elliot would never get, just because of how things were.
-
It didn’t take long to reach the edge of the yard, which was only separated by some small shrubs. The neighbor’s house also had a number of mature trees, but it looked like it hadn’t really been kept up with. There was a large portion of the yard not shaded by the trees which had been used as a garden at one point, but was overgrown.
Even though they were obviously not in his yard any more, Michael kept walking towards the neighbor’s house.
“No, my family’s wealth doesn’t have anything to do with youma,” he smiled in light amusement, although he kept it to himself. “I’m saying I don’t want you moving very far away, and the closer you are, the better I’ll be able to protect you. If anything is near -- even those people who can teleport -- I will be able to feel them. And the boys will need some guidance to make sure they’re safe.”
He paused then before reaching the back porch. There was a screened in part as well as a deck and patio. A fire pit might have been placed there at one point, but had since been moved.
“The people that own this house were trying to decide if they wanted to sell or rent it out. The previous occupants were moved to a nursing home and signed over the deed to their children since they couldn’t keep up with the maintenance. It needs to be updated. But you can make it however you want. I’ve already gotten in touch with a contractor to go over remodeling the kitchen. It’s got three bedrooms, but you could always use one for an office, or whatever you want. It’s only one floor for living space, but there’s a partial basement that’s been used for storage,” he nodded to where the porch ended and there was a door to what was probably a closed off section of the crawlspace.
“I know it’s a lot. I know you don’t want to accept it, but. At least think of the boys. They need to be together. And I need to make sure you’re safe. And I can’t have you worry about where you’re going to live when you’re trying to help me raise a kid that I never expected to have.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 10:32 am
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Elliot was already beaming with how sweet Atticus was being to him, and he might have had something to say if he didn’t immediately find himself interested in what Devyn might answer.
“Oh, about half your age. I was young,” he answered, still gently rubbing Atticus’ back. “Practically half your height, too. It’s a good thing the uniform grows with you or I might have had quite the time. Senshi can awaken a bit earlier than Knights, but you both are still pretty young by Knight standards, too. You’re the first Moon Knights I’ve ever met, though. I hope that means it’ll be a little safer. But I’m very interested to see your Wonders one day. And to take you up to my world. When there’s a little less Chaos up there, at least. I’m not going to lose you to it.”
-
Compared to Michael’s yard, his neighbor’s yard looked a little sad. It could have been beautiful, so Oliver couldn’t really understand why anyone had let it get to this state.
He hesitated at the shrubs, and Asher watched Michael curiously for a moment before he’d followed, too. Oliver didn’t protest, but there was confusion on his face when they moved from Michael’s yard to the neighbor’s.
Asher slowed again when Michael seemed like he was going to go in, and–
Oh, he knew a lot about this place.
Asher understood what Michael was saying immediately–at least, insofar as ‘stay here’. There were many layers of what he could have been saying. Was he telling them to rent here, from the neighbors? Was he telling them to rent because he owned it? Was he telling them that he’d just bought a house for them to live in?
Oliver understood and didn’t understood. He was immediately overwhelmed, not for the first time that day, so his brain clung to what he could process. “Of course we’re thinking about the boys, we want what’s best for them.”
Easy. “I want them to stay together.” Also, easy. “Safe.” Easy, easy, easy.
The rest immediately muddled in his mind. He leaned against Asher for a moment and couldn’t look at Michael because he didn’t know what face he was making right now.
“...Is it–Well, I don’t want to move far away, but–” Yes, it would be good to be close. He was pretty sure they’d be dead without Michael. And, Micahel was his own security system, he could tell them if it was dangerous. Why had he gotten in contact with a contractor if he wasn’t going to be the one taking care of this place? But he’d said they could make it however they wanted. He’d mentioned them accepting it.
If it had been anyone else, Oliver might not have said anything. He might have clammed up and just nodded agreeably.
But, this was Michael. Arguably his best friend, if you excluded his husband.
He trusted Michael. He felt safer around him than he did just anyone else.
So, instead of reverting to a quiet, anxious state, he instead shifted to a loud, anxious state.
“Did you buy your neighbor's house so you could keep us safe?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 10:44 am
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“I bet that was really scary,” Atticus frowned as he snuggled against Elliot. “Did you have to fight monsters, too? Do you have a Code piece that you have to protect?”
He hoped he wasn’t starting to ask too many questions. He was curious and while he had asked Devyn things before, Elliot hadn’t been there.
“I want you to see our Wonders. And Michael and Elliot’s dads. It’s very pretty, and the Earth looks so big. Do you think the Code will be okay if we get help cleaning up?” he asked, but tilted his head back to look at Elliot for his guess.
-
Michael shifted awkwardly from one foot to the next. His face felt warm, even though he’d been completely committed to trying to convince Oliver and Asher to stay as close to him as possible.
“Yes,” he mumbled, hoping that they understood that he was doing it to protect them and Elliot, and, well, he knew it was pretty crazy for someone to buy someone else a house just to keep them close, but if they’d lived any farther away when the distress button had been pressed on their pen, Michael was afraid they might not have gotten there in time.
“I was thinking we could just… I mean, not combine the back yards, but it’ll be somewhere for Elliot and Atticus to run around without having to go anywhere. Maybe I can build them a treehouse or something. And, I mean, you haven’t seen the front yard yet, but there’s just a bunch of pines that can be removed and your tree can replace them. It’ll be good for curb appeal.”
It was probably too much. And maybe they would have wanted to live farther than a stone’s throw away from him. But with so much going on, he was even more aware now of the dangers caused by the Negaverse and its youma.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:59 pm
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Elliot considered for a moment and then nodded. “Well, the Code has to know that we have no construction experience and there’s a lot there that needs help. If it’s other Knights and Senshi, I don’t think it would be a problem? Oh, and my dads, but. We can ask.” He looked at Devyn expectantly, because he was equally interested in his answer.
“It hasn’t ever been a problem before–that I know of–for Knights to bring people to their Wonders. There’s a piece at Michael’s, and it didn’t give us any hard time.”
“But not one on your world?”
Devyn shook his head. “No, there are no Knights of Alastor, and I was never tasked with protecting a piece of the Code. I only need to worry about protecting my world. All of the Code pieces are connected, I’ve just got Alastor by itself. I didn’t fight a lot of Chaos when I was young, no monsters that I remember. Only people.”
-
Oliver stared at Michael again, and the gears had stopped turning in his head. The information was there, he just needed to sort it so he could process it.
Asher’s brows raised as he looked from Michael’s backyard to this one, and then back to him. Oliver was overwhelmed again, Michael looked nervous. Asher could understand, he might have been nervous if he’d just bought a house for someone to stay in and they hadn’t said yes yet.
“I bet the boys would love that. And if you feel something worth worrying about, maybe next time we’ll know before something happens. And with this whole magic thing, I don’t know anything about it. I’d rather El be able to come talk to you if something’s going on. But, we can’t afford this,” he said, but he knew Michael already knew that. “When the insurance comes in, we can pay you back what we have and figure something out. I like these trees, though. The backyard’s not too bad, we could probably get this cleaned up. Maybe even move over some of what we had growing. I don’t know about the tree, that’s a lot to move. I don’t think that’ll fit in the truck.”
He didn’t ask if Michael was sure, because he knew he wouldn’t have offered if he wasn’t. It was a lot to take in, but Asher was easy going and open minded; Oliver had already relaxed a bit against him, and though he hadn’t yet said anything, he was taking his time to think and listen to what they were saying.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:24 pm
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Atticus frowned, thoughtful. Devyn was probably the strongest person he knew, and could definitely protect anything that was given to him.
“I think the Code should have you help protect it,” he decided, and was finally feeling settled enough to -- oh, he still had his pizza in his hands, so he took a bite of that, and then offered it to Elliot if he wanted any to make up for what he ate of his. Although it was a little cold now. It never bothered Atticus if he ate something cold, but he knew Elliot deserved better than that, so he wouldn’t be offended if he didn’t take his offer.
And also because he could, he lifted his head enough to press a hopefully not too pizza-greasy kiss on Elliot’s cheek. He was just so sweet and thoughtful, Atticus couldn’t help it!
“Would you be okay with helping us? There’s… a lot of dead plants that need cleaning up,” he sighed. He wanted to make sure their Wonders were perfect and back to how they were supposed to look.
-
Michael shook his head. He knew it was Oliver and Asher’s nature to refuse things they deemed they were unable to afford. At least in this case they were suggesting they’d pay Michael back.
“Please,” he said, practically begging them. “I have more money than I know what to do with. Keep the insurance money to get furniture or-- or put it in a college fund for Elliot. Or use it to go on vacation and Devyn and I will watch the boys. Please. Let me protect and spoil my family.”
He hadn’t really thought about it until he said it out loud. Maybe it was Devyn rubbing off on him. It was so easy for him to talk to Devyn, to tell him how he felt, to admit things he normally wouldn’t.
Asher and Oliver and Elliot had been a part of his life for over a decade. They were more his family than a lot of his extended family.
“I’m not telling you to quit your jobs or change your lifestyle. I’m still working at Azure even though I don’t have to. You’ve done so much for me over the years -- even if you don’t think you have. It was your family and Peter who kept me from-- … It doesn’t matter,” he quickly shook his head because he didn’t need to get into too many uncomfortable details.
“Please,” he said again. “I want you to stay here. Without any obligation to pay me back. I just want you to breathe for once and not worry about things. You deserve that much.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:36 pm
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Elliot opened his mouth to accept a bit of the pizza, cooled or not, and laughed at the not too pizza greasy kiss on his cheek.
Devyn blinked, between watching that and considering the answer. “I’d love to help. I’ve got energy to spare.” Atticus knew that, he’d been there while Devyn busied himself with trying to help clean up Sessrumnir some. At least on the Moon he couldn’t get distracted with old stories about this and that. He suspected nearly everything up there would be new to him, but he was excited all the same. Something old and ancient and new appealed to him.
“It can be a little taxing to bring people with you when you’re using your magic to get around, so we’ll have to give you boys some time to practice and work up to it. But I’d love to help. I’ve got a bit of experience with cleaning up and repairing things, if there’s anything I can help with, I’m happy to. I’m proud of you two for taking this all so seriously. Being a Knight can be dangerous, but I think it’s worth it. It’s a big honor. But I want to make sure you two are safe, so maybe one of these days we’ll do some training. Nothing too much, and not until you’ve had some time to completely heal and relax. But I want you to be able to protect yourselves if something does happen.”
-
Though Oliver was fidgeting, Asher seemed grounded in all of this. He’d pulled Oliver close to him and looked at the backside of the house for only a few seconds before he nodded.
Michael had a lot of hardship in his life, and the past few months–losing his father–hadn’t been easy. He didn’t miss that Michael had called them his family.
They’d left theirs behind when they came to Destiny City. It had been Asher and Oliver and Elliot, and that was it. Michael was family, in his own way, but no one had ever said it like that. Michael hadn’t said it so plainly.
But, it made sense. He wasn’t just a friend. He’d long since surpassed that. They’d talked about how if anything ever happened to them, Michael would take care of Elliot.
Elliot had lost his house, and now Michael was just doing what he’d promised he was going to. Only, Asher and Oliver were still in the picture, so he was taking care of them, too.
Neither of them argued. Oliver let out a shaky breath and wiped at his eyes. Asher nodded to Michael so he didn’t have to worry about it, but he was giving Oliver a moment. He rubbed his back and drew him closer, and within a few seconds Oliver was sniffling, trying to suck all of his emotions back in. He still didn’t have words, and at some point he just gave up on them.
He didn’t look at Michael when he crossed the distance and just hugged him. He squeezed him close and just held him for a moment. Usually he was more careful, usually he was a little more refined when it came to personal space, but he didn’t have it in him. They were family, weren’t they? Michael knew how he was. And didn’t mind. Didn’t mind it so much that he’d bought them a house, with a connecting backyard.
He wanted to say thank you, but his throat had closed up and his lips had sealed shut and he knew that if he tried to voice anything, he’d just start crying. This was the safest, driest way for him to communicate. But, just in case he wasn’t getting the message across, he hugged him a little tighter.
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