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 Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 7:48 am
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Takes place after Rise and Shine and Being You
“Good morning,” Michael greeted both Elliot and Atticus when they finally shuffled their way out to the kitchen to join them. He’d just finished taking the bacon out of the oven, having not wanted grease splattering everywhere while Devyn was working on the large stack of pancakes he was expertly making.
The table had been pulled out a bit so that it was set up for six places. There was juice on the table, but both Atticus and Elliot would know there was milk (and syrup for chocolate milk) and whatever else they could think of wanting, which Michael would have bought for them the moment they mentioned wanting it. And there was plenty of coffee.
There were eggs and toast and poptarts, in case either of the boys wanted something more bland, thanks to Oliver’s thoughtfulness.
“Good morning,” Atticus greeted in return. And then had to make an incredibly difficult decision…
He’d had nightmares all night about horrible things happening to Devyn, so of course he wanted to make sure he was okay. But ended up quickly moving over to Oliver so he could wrap his arms around Elliot’s dad.
And maybe a little of his decision was for Oliver’s benefit, since Atticus knew he must have worried about them.
“Sorry we slept in. Are you okay?” he asked Oliver, looking up at him as he moved over for Elliot if he wanted to join them. Atticus would hug everyone else in a moment.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 8:15 am
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“Oh, that smells like the bacon we make at home,” Elliot said, sniffing at the air as he walked in. He seemed as impressed by that as he was with the pancakes Devyn was making, maybe because he was used to seeing Devyn snacking on half finished food because he was too hungry to wait for things to finish.
Oliver was quick to hug Atticus, and Elliot had clearly inherited his rapid top of the head kisses from Oliver, who acted like he was being timed for how many he could get into the first five seconds of the hug.
“Good morning,” he greeted enthusiastically, hugging Atticus like he would squeeze love into his bones. “You need your sleep, you boys work so hard. And if you want to go big and strong, you should get your eight hours now. It’s good for your brains, too. We’re okay, we had a nice, easy night at home. We hung up some more lights, you’ll have to come over and see. And we glued Asher’s dragon statue back together, it’s on the living room table. But we might need your artistic eye, it’s got some chips we have to paint in and I just don’t trust anyone with a paint brush if it’s not you.”
Elliot came over to give Oliver a hug, probably because Atticus had moved over but also possibly because his father opened an arm to accept him and he couldn’t just disappoint him.
“We were thinking, if you boys didn’t have plans, maybe you could come to the art store with us and help us pick out some paints? There’s a little market on the way, we could grab some pumpkins to carve. The weather is going to be really nice today.”
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 9:39 am
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Michael thought Devyn had been extremely good with not eating all of the pancakes as he made them. But Michael was also plying Devyn with bites of things every now and then. He was already blowing on a piece of bacon to make sure it wasn't too hot, before picking it up and offering Devyn to eat it out of his hand.
Besides, he didn’t want Devyn to be miserable while making food for everyone else. And a piece of apple or some of the eggs or a bite of toast wasn’t going to hurt anyone.
He stayed close to Devyn while the boys got their hug in with Oliver, but once it looked like they were getting settled, he traded out the stack of pancakes for an empty plate, and brought it over to the table. The butter and syrup was already on the table. There were two kinds, because Claire happened to like the pure maple syrup, but Peter had always liked the “fake” stuff. There were also bowls of cut strawberries, chocolate chips, blueberries, and whipped cream if they wanted it.
“Help yourselves,” he insisted as he took a step back to make sure Devyn was being kept company, and checking to make sure the batter was almost gone from the bowl.
Atticus absolutely loved the kisses on the top of his head, and he wanted to make sure Oliver knew how much he loved him, too.
And even though they’d talked about a picnic, Atticus couldn’t help but perk up a little at the suggestion of picking out paints at the art store.
“Oh…” he paused, because he wanted to make it at least seem like he was thinking about it. But he also wanted to make sure Elliot was okay with it. “If that’s okay, dad?” he eventually said, peeking around Oliver so he could check with Devyn.
There would be plenty of time for a picnic and going on a date! Especially if the weather was going to be nice. Oh, and carving pumpkins sounded really nice, too.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:02 am
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Devyn didn’t even have to look up from the pancake he was flipping when Michael offered the bacon; he couldn’t help but smile at how coordinated and prepared he was for everything.
“I think that sounds wonderful,” Devyn answered, half turning so he could smile at Atticus. “I think you should spend today doing something fun.”
“We’ll have fun,” Elliot promised, and seemed excited with this prospect, too. He gave Atticus a knowing look but they’d figure something out to get some time to themselves, but how could he try to convince him not to take a trip to the art store, or to go pumpkin hunting?
“Oh, lots of it, I hope,” Oliver said, squeezing the boys again. “And I’m going to make caramel apple cupcakes, and put on halloween movies. Do you boys have your costumes all ready for next week? Asher and I just found all of ours again. He looks so good, I’ll have to pull out the pictures. We’ve been taking them every year, since Elli was a baby. He was an octopus his first Halloween, he picked it out himself.”
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:17 am
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“Costume?” Atticus repeated, and almost immediately flushed with embarrassment. “Oh… I didn’t get a chance to dress up for Halloween. It wasn’t allowed,” he explained quietly. He wasn’t worried about them making fun of him, but he couldn’t say he had as many experiences as others.
“But… Elliot, do you have any extra costumes that I might be able to borrow, please? I think I’d like to dress up. If that’s okay,” he added because he didn’t want to impose on Elliot’s family traditions or anything like that.
After his last squeeze, Atticus gently pulled away from Oliver so he could go over to hug Asher too.
“I would like to see all your pictures, too!” Oh, but if they get too distracted with photos, they might end up not having time for their date.
Michael cringed a little when Atticus mentioned costumes and how he hadn’t been allowed to dress up before. He hadn’t meant to not include Atticus in anything Halloween! He just… didn’t really celebrate it more than maybe putting in fake vampire teeth at school, or cat ears, or a wizard hat… usually all at the behest of Oliver and Asher, and he couldn’t exactly deny them.
“If you don’t find anything, we can go out shopping for some costumes,” he offered, absently placing a hand on Devyn’s back to give him a little touch of encouragement. And maybe a promise that he’d get food soon.
“These look great, Dev. You’re really getting good at this.”
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:25 am
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Devyn was in a good mood, partly because Michael was so encouraging, and partly because Atticus had something good he could look forward to. “Well, I had a good teacher. Can’t believe there’s a holiday where you get to dress up and you didn’t tell me,” he teased.
Asher returned Atticus’ hug, and reached over him to ruffle Elliot’s messy hair. Elliot didn’t even try to fix it, but Oliver immediately started smoothing over his son’s hair and combing it out with his fingers.
“Of course you can borrow something of mine,” Elliot said enthusiastically. “We can go through everything when we get back to the house. But it might be fun to go try some on anyway. If it’s your first Halloween dressing up, I want it to be special. We’ll have a lot of fun,” he promised. His attention shifted to his father and he looked up at Oliver with pleading eyes. “Oh, but can we take a break in the middle of the day? Atticus and I were thinking maybe we could do a picnic? Just an hour or something, not too long. We wanted to go step on some leaves.”
Asher didn’t even have to see Elliot’s pleading eyes to know that Oliver was going to cave and say yes immediately, so he was nodding as Oliver said, “Of course, that sounds like fun. Were you thinking ‘picnic basket out to the park’ lunch or do you want to go to the art store while it’s early and we can pick up lunch and drop you two off for your picnic on the way home?”
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 6:36 pm
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“It’s usually for kids,” Michael mumbled sheepishly. He was clearly the odd one out, and it wasn’t even that he didn’t enjoy the holiday! He just… never had any reason to get dressed up beyond the little effort that he made for Oliver and Asher’s sake.
But he was aware that he’d failed in telling Devyn everything he could possibly want to know about Earth. And he felt like he owed it to Atticus to give him a better experience than what he’d had before.
Since the boys were taking their time getting to the table, Michael took it upon himself to start making a plate for Devyn. He wanted him to try a little of everything, so the first stack of pancakes was made with the fruit and a bit of whipped cream. The next he made had chocolate chips between the layers of warm pancakes to help them melt. Eggs and bacon were portioned out as well, but he at least made himself a small plate in the process. Normally he was content with just having coffee, but he wanted to be a good influence on the boys, who needed to eat to grow.
“I was going to ask dad if he could help me make sandwiches,” Atticus admitted shyly as he glanced from Asher to Oliver, and then over to where Devyn was standing at the stove, making pancakes.
“But… if it’s easier to just pick something up. Is that okay with you, Elliot?”
There was a part of him that had hoped to get some time to spend alone with Devyn, or at least spend time with him while Michael was around, but if they were going to be going with the Reids to get art supplies and then costumes, it probably made no sense for them to come back to the house and make lunch only to leave again. And he didn’t know what Devyn and Michael planned. Maybe they would just take a nap. They deserved some sleep after everything.
He tried not to let himself look disappointed by the change of plans, and smiled as he gave Asher one more squeeze, before letting go so they could maybe start working on putting together plates for breakfast. Because everything smelled so good, and while he wanted to hug Devyn, he didn’t want to crowd him while he was working.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 7:55 pm
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“Ah,” Devyn interrupted, and glanced over his shoulder so he could gesture for Atticus to come closer before he got too far off. He flipped one pancake and stretched out his arm so he could tug the boy close enough for him to hug. “I’ll help you make sandwiches. Have two lunches, you’re growing boys. Do you want some pancakes? I can make you extra to pack up for lunch, too. Look how good these are turning out.”
They were almost perfectly circular, even all around, and they were light and fluffy and golden.
“These look like perfect sandwich pancakes,” he decided and then kissed atop Atticus’ head. Softly, he added, “You don’t always have to choose what’s easiest. Especially if it’s important to you.” Because, maybe he’d seen the shadow of that disappointed look, just before his smile. And, maybe he thought it was sweet for Atticus to want to make sandwiches with him.
Elliot might have known that there was a reason beyond just a quick good morning hug; he could see Alastor saying something, so when he saw him turn back to the pancakes to flip again, he made sure Atticus knew he was good with anything.
“You can make sandwiches with Devyn. Maybe we can get hot chocolate or something on the way home instead?” he suggested, and Asher was quick to answer, “That’s a good idea, too. Or hot cider, maybe?”
“Oh, I want hot cider,” Oliver agreed. Asher hid a smile, because there was most certainly a reason he’d suggested that.
If Atticus needed a little time with Devyn, they weren’t going to keep them apart. And, if Devyn was happy to make pancake sandwiches–or real sandwiches–with him, it sounded like a good plan.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 8:02 pm
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Atticus was hesitant at first, because he really didn’t want to ruin anything Devyn was working on, but when he was pulled into a hug, he immediately wrapped his arms around Devyn’s waist and hugged him tight.
He was not going to cry. Especially since he’d just been crying with Elliot. But he also really wanted to make sure Devyn was okay.
His lip trembled a little as Atticus looked up at him, but then couldn’t help the quiet laugh that bubbled up when Devyn pointed out how perfect the pancakes were for sandwiches.
“I’ve never had pancake sandwiches before,” he admitted with a smile, doing his best to keep himself out of the way while also pressing against Devyn’s side to hug him. And then quietly, “Thank you.”
As excited as he was about his lunch date with Elliot, he also really wanted to spend some time with Devyn. Maybe he could sneak in some advice about things that didn’t have to be about dating, but were close enough.
“Hot cider or hot chocolate sounds wonderful,” Atticus agreed over his shoulder, although he couldn’t help but let his eyes linger on Elliot. His heart fluttered again, and he had to squeeze Devyn to focus himself.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 8:18 pm
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Devyn had never had pancake sandwiches either, but Michael wasn’t sighing exasperatedly or objecting vehemently so it couldn't have been that bad of a plan, he decided.
Elliot caught Atticus’ eye and smiled, sneaking him a thumbs up and a wink.
“I like that plan,” Oliver said, and Asher gently turned him towards the table. “Okay, we’ll do that then. But go make your plate, I need to get some more coffee. El, you go make your plate, too.”
“Okay. It looks really good, thank you Devyn! Thank you, Michael,” Elliot said, going to make a plate. For Atticus. But Asher probably knew that and moved out of the way to get his coffee so he could make sure they had enough space.
Devyn just squeezed him close and rubbed his back gently. “You okay?” he asked quietly, just to make sure. He flipped the other pancake he was working on but snuck a peak at Atticus, just to make sure. He seemed like he could work easily enough like this, and even if he couldn’t he would have made due so he could check on Atticus.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 8:29 pm
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Michael showed Elliot a smile when he thanked him, and made sure to stay out of the way by taking the seat in the corner. He didn’t want to crowd Devyn and Atticus, so he figured he could at least sit and eat some while waiting for everyone else to sit down.
“Devyn did most of the work. I just supervised,” he admitted. And he really was proud of Devyn. He picked up on things very quickly. And to think that once upon a time he’d been worried about him handling Earth.
Atticus stayed close to Devyn, turning to watch him make the pancakes after smiling a bit brighter at Elliot’s encouragement. He felt a little guilty about being in Devyn’s space, but he really needed to be close to him for a little longer.
He knew it was really clingy of him, but it made him feel better.
But was he okay? He thought about saying that he was, but remembered how Elliot told him it was okay if he wasn’t, and if he wanted Devyn to trust him, then he figured he should be honest about his feelings.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, but then shook his head. But making lunch together would hopefully be enough time to talk. Until then, he would just do his best to keep his chin up and eyes dry. Thankfully, he had Elliot and a fun day to look forward to.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 8:34 pm
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Devyn caught the movement easily and tilted his head down to see Atticus better, but he caught on quickly. He rubbed at his back and nodded. “Okay,” he said, just as gently as before. “Well, if you can think of anything I can do to help, you just let me know, okay? I’m here for you, we all are. I love you, Atticus. No tears, I only have pancakes to dry your eyes with.”
He was almost done with the pancakes, so he knew they’d all make it to the table to eat soon enough.
Elliot had nearly finished making Atticus’ plate and he set it down next to where he’d sit at the table. He left a space open next to Michael so Devyn could sit there, and his parents were going to sit together too, so he thought it only fitting that he get to sit next to him so they could hold hands.
“You’re too modest, Michael. Whatever you did, or whatever you supervised, thank you. And not just for that, but for letting us sleep over. And crowd your space.”
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 9:01 pm
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Devyn smiled as Atticus ran off; he shifted positions while he cooked, and for a brief moment wondered if he just ate the half-cooked pancake if he could get back to the table faster. But, he was being diligent, and Michael would have fussed at him if he’d tried.
Elliot was beaming when Atticus sat down and found his hand under the table. He didn’t mind trying to eat with his left hand, so he made sure that Atticus was to his right so they could hold hands out of sigh.
“I figured you were as hungry as I was so I wanted to make sure it was ready for you,” he told Atticus, and squeezed his hand. Just for a minute! Until Atticus needed to use both hands!
“Michael says we can crowd his space whenever we want. Which is good because I had no idea his bed was so comfortable.” He smiled so Michael would know he was–mostly–teasing, and poked a forkful of fruits into his mouth. “I did sleep really well last night, though. I was so tired but I kept having weird dreams so I woke up a little sleepy, too. I kept getting lost in swamps, I feel like I was running around all night looking for the way out.”
Which was much better than the dreams he could have been having after all of it. He ate his fruit a little enthusiastically to distract himself from the idea of Atticus, hurt. He knew he was safe. He knew it was an illusion, a bad movie, a lie.
He was still going to get stronger to prevent things like that from actually happening.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 9:19 pm
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“It was a rough night,” Michael explained to Asher and Oliver, hopefully before they could question why their son was in his and Devyn’s room. He personally didn’t mind if the boys needed some company, especially Atticus who was still incredibly anxious about noises in the night, but he was usually good about staying in his own room. It had only been a few times that they had sirens outside that prompted him to stay with them. And Michael had no doubt that Devyn had plenty of experience with trauma, even if it wasn’t the same as Michael’s, so he’d understand.
And if Michael was being honest, he would rather the boys be closer so he could keep an eye on them. But he’d also been enjoying his time alone with Devyn, so it was definitely a trade off.
“Do you need help with the rest, Dev? We can just put the rest of the batter in the refrigerator and make the rest later,” he suggested, because he wanted to make sure Devyn had a chance to eat before everything got cold. And he did such a good job that he deserved a reward. And maybe Michael wanted him close again.
Since Elliot seemed to be okay with using his left hand, Atticus only needed both hands long enough to pick up his cup of juice to drink, and then tuck his hand back under the table to grab for Elliot’s.
“It is really comfortable,” Atticus agreed somewhat sheepishly. It was probably weird for him to need to be around Devyn and Michael when Elliot was with him, but the day before had been so scary that he just needed to make sure Devyn was okay.
“You had dreams about swamps…?” he asked, somewhat curiously as he cut some of his very well made pancakes with his fork. They were so fluffy that he didn’t even need a knife!
“I kept seeing a forest in some of mine…” Well, he saw that and Devyn being hurt. And Elliot being hurt. And Michael and Oliver and Asher and everyone he knew either dead or dying so… he would have preferred just the forest.
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