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 Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 4:18 pm
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“So Jeremy says we can’t keep a raccoon for a pet no matter how cute they are,” Myles concluded. He’d only been talking about them for the last three minutes, going on about their fat little bodies and their tiny little hands and how cold it would be getting soon. “At this point in time I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m trying to lure them into the house–and, to be fair, I had thought about it, but he told me not to so I didn’t. Maybe I was too enthusiastic when I said they’d be cute in Halloween costumes. Honestly, I think some of them have just figured out how to get into the trashbins, though. I haven’t even tried to pet any of them. I just don’t have the heart to chase them away like he wants.”
He’d finished setting up his table with the help of the boys, and though there were three chairs behind the booth he really didn’t anticipate they’d be staying for the whole show. They were at a fair, after all. The smell of fried foods had already tempted him, and with the games and activities, how were two teenagers supposed to be cooped up back here?
No, Atticus and Elliot were good boys who had already helped him set up his halloween themed candle and perfume display, and they’d joined him many times already just to get a feel for working a booth. It was only a matter of time before Atticus was ready to try it himself. Myles was ready to help him at a booth, whenever he was ready to show off his works.
It was no rush, though; they had all the time in the world. For now, this was just fun.
Myles draped himself over one of the chairs dramatically. He was wearing orange and black to fit the theme, and his wrists and neck were draped in festive jewelry. He had bat clips in his hair and earrings to match.
“Have you been having raccoon problems? You’re not too far down the road from us. I can’t imagine they’re only bothering our house. Oh,” he pressed his lips together and sighed like his soul was escaping his body. “...Unless they really are just looking for a home. But I’ve told him that we have to carve pumpkins, we have a porch now, but he’s afraid they’ll try to eat them. I don’t know, we’ve never had these problems before. But I love being out of the apartment, it’s so nice. And everyone else has started decorating. Jeremy said he’s going to put up some lights while I’m out, but we’ll see.”
He’d be back to pick them up in a few hours. Myles sat up though, and whatever mood he’d been in had passed. A smile was back in place and he asked, “What are you doing for Halloween, have you made plans yet?”
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 5:34 pm
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“I think we’re going to decorate,” Atticus chirped with hope mixed with vague uncertainty. He’d dressed up festive too. His clothes consisted of a black shirt with delicate lace along the high collar and sleeve cuffs, and a thick, silky ribbon that tied into a bow at his neck. He had matching bat clips in his hair, thanks to Myles, and the rest of his low ponytail was tied off with a black ribbon. It was too cold to wear shorts, so jeans kept his legs warm.
“I think dad is anxious about change, even if it’s for seasonal decorations,” he hummed as he worked on straightening all the jars and bottles so the labels lined up. “But he also wants me and daddy to experience a lot of things that we haven’t before, so I can tell he’s trying hard to make sure we have fun.”
Atticus was excited about helping Myles out with his booth. At least for a little while! Myles was always fun to be around, and he loved his stories, and he really appreciated being taught how to run a booth like his. Not that Atticus expected to run one of his own any time soon, but it was a good experience, just in case.
“Change through seasons indicates the unending flow of time and likely prompts the contemplation of morality and purpose,” Lucien mused lazily as he stretched out as much as he could on one of the chairs. It happened to be the chair that was positioned in the most sun. He was too big to comfortably lay on the chair, but the lazy flick of his tail seemed to indicate that he didn’t mind that he was draped like a fluffy coat over the seat.
He’d been curious about the goings on in this world, but seemed to have found weakness in the sunlight’s warmth. There was too much going on around them for anyone to really notice that a cat was talking, anyway. And he certainly didn’t want to endanger the young Knights and Senshi.
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 7:02 pm
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Myles tipped his head at the Mauvian contemplatively but the comment seemed a bit too deep for him to properly appreciate. “You think so? I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it like that. I always feel refreshed when the seasons change.” He moved a few things on his display, trying to center them briefly before he just shrugged and turned back to Lucien. “Maybe that’s because I have to change my product to match the season. Jeremy always likes when the season changes, he says the first week or two is always refreshing because the house gets a new smell. Then he gets tired of it.”
Myles smiled, of course, because Jeremy was always nagging but he was also always supportive. He’d been the one to drive them there and helped set up the bones of Myles’ display before he headed out.
“I hope you’ll like Halloween, Lucien. Fall is beautiful. And Winter, too. Oh, and Spring. I’m glad you’re here so you get to see it all. Earth is so pretty.” He’d never been to Alastor, he’d heard some stories. Myles just liked to see the beauty in things, and he seemed happy to just be able to experience everything–and to share it with people he cared about.
“I bet your house will be beautiful if you decorate. We have so much more space now, I don’t even know how we’re going to decorate. I’m really excited, I hope we get trick or treaters.”
“You will,” Elliot reassured. “There are always a ton of trick or treaters, we’re pretty close to the park and they always have events there. My parents are excited, too. Dad loves decorating for halloween, you’ll have to come over and see. We don’t do anything too scary, we don’t want anyone to have a heart attack.”
Oliver, obviously, needed to be able to make it into his house without being startled to death.
“We should all get together and carve pumpkins. There’s so much to do during Halloween. We’ll make sure you and Devyn had a lot of fun. You, too, Lucien.” Elliot took Atticus’ hand and brought it to his lips so he could kiss the back of it, but any romance was short lived because he followed it up almost immediately afterwards by blowing a raspberry in the same breath.
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 7:27 pm
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Atticus felt his heart flutter at how sweet the kiss Elliot placed on the back of his hand was, only for him to squeal with startled delight when he followed with a raspberry! He laughed and did nothing to pull his hand away, clearly charmed. He was enjoying hearing about the plans Elliot and Myles had, and nodded along with each of them as they shared with each other what to expect.
“Yes, please let’s do that. I’ve painted a little pumpkin in class before, but I’ve never actually carved one. Is it hard? It seems like it could be pretty messy,” he said, but he didn’t seem deterred by the thought. There was always some mess involved with art anyway.
“I think these are really nice, Myles. When Elliot and I meet up with my cousin and some others, we’ll make sure to stop by,” he promised, although he was still feeling a little unsettled by the idea of leaving Myles to watch over his booth while he and Elliot explored the fair. He’d obviously wanted Myles to come with them, but he already insisted he would be fine with Lucien.
“I think I would feel refreshed with different decorations, too,” he agreed, but he knew his dad was a bit… well… it seemed like he both wanted to preserve things as they were, as if that would somehow protect everything. But he was also very open about wanting him and Devyn, and Elliot and Myles by extension, to experience things.
“Trick or treaters -- this term has been used quite often. If these costumed youths are only receiving treats, shouldn’t they only be called ‘treaters’?”
Maybe it was just one of those things that he had to accept about Earth. About the universe in general, really. Some of his memories had returned, but it was mostly a fog of voices and images and feelings.
And yet, despite his bond to Devyn -- to Alastor -- there was a strange familiarity he felt towards Elliot of all people. There was just something familiar about him that he didn’t quite understand. Especially since he was a Knight.
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 10:55 pm
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“You’re sweet, Atticus. I want you to have a good time, don’t go out of your way to stop by if you’re all having fun. I’ll see you again at the end of the night no matter what, when Jeremy comes to pick us up. And I’ll get to spend time with you again soon! Carving pumpkins is very messy, if you’re doing it right. I mostly only draw on them because Jeremy worries if I play with knives. Which is fair, there’s a reason I’m not supposed to do the cooking. Or unload the dishwasher.” Myles held out his hands to examine them and wiggled his fingers; he had an array of little cuts and scars, even now.
Elliot tilted his head as he listened to Myles, and he squeezed Atticus’ hand. He’d seen Myles’ clumsiness firsthand so really didn’t have to work too hard to imagine all the ways Jeremy was trying to keep his brother safe. The both of them were silly, but he thought they were good for each other.
He didn’t release Atticus’ hand when he stretched a bit to run his hand down Lucien’s back. “Well, you say ‘trick or treat’ when you go out, because if they don’t give you a treat, then you play a trick on them. Or so they say. I’ve never tricked someone who didn’t give me candy so it’s not really extortion. It’s all in good fun. You want to come trick or treating with us, Lucien? Atticus and I are going to go. We could dress you up, too. I’ll share candy with you even if you don’t want to put in the leg work.”
Elliot rocked on his heels a bit, but he’d been excited all day to get a chance to visit the fair with Atticus, and he always had a bit of energy to spare. There was so much to eat here, he wanted Atticus to try everything. Every little show, every game, every ride. He wanted him to have the best time.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 12:06 pm
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Elliot laughed and ran his hand lightly down Lucien’s back again. “You sound like my dad. Nobody ever poisons candy. But I’ll be glad to have your watchful eye over us, just in case.”
Myles tilted his head and smiled, both at Lucien and the boys. “Well, whatever we do, we’ll have plenty of fun. I’m excited to get to spend the holidays with you. It’s been me and Jeremy for so long, we sort of made our own ways to celebrate things.” Sometimes because they were on a budget, or because they were juggling school and work.
Jeremy always made time to make sure Myles could celebrate some part of the season, even when he wasn’t very invested in holidays, himself.
Myles had always appreciated it, and now that they had more means, he could do a bit more. Jeremy enjoyed it, even if he was a bit gruff about it. He just spent so much of his time looking after Myles that he didn’t give himself a lot of time to enjoy life. Now that things were different, Jeremy still seemed to be struggling to settle into enjoying life. He was always working, but Destiny City always needed someone to look after it.
Oh, but he’d been staring off into space while his mind wandered so he had to blink and shake his head to startle himself back into the present. “You know, I’ve had a lot of good things happen since you all came into my life. I’ll have a lot to say when Thanksgiving comes around. You’ll like that, too, Lucien. There’s a lot of food. We usually celebrate a little after real-Thanksgiving, so Jeremy can get holiday pay. Also, we usually get take-out. I’m sure you’ll get to experience the real thing with Michael and his family, though.”
They still had Halloween to get through! He was probably just hungry because there were so many good smells from the fair. Myles hummed and planted his hands on his hips and looked off towards the array of food trucks and booths in the distance and then he reached for the cash box. He pulled out a twenty and handed it to Atticus. “I know you’re going to spend time with your friends when they get here, so it’s no rush, but come visit me and bring me back something good to snack on, please? I won’t be able to leave the booth but my mouth is watering.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 1:30 pm
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Having only been with Michael and Devyn for less than two years, and this being the second set of holidays he’d experienced with his new family, Atticus was still a bit overwhelmed with how much real holidays could be.
Not that the people from his previous life didn’t celebrate. He just wasn’t included in much of it. They’d leave him to sit in hotel rooms or leave him at the house when they went out. He didn’t mind it so much since it was time away from them but…--
Atticus snapped out of his thoughts and quickly realized that he’d been squeezing Elliot’s hand so hard that his own knuckles were white. He cast an anxious glance up at Elliot as he released his death hold, although he didn’t pull his hand away unless Elliot let go so he could assess the damage to his own hand.
Well… not that Atticus had the best grip anyway, so he probably didn’t hurt him that much, but he was still worried. He would have to apologize later so Myles didn’t have to see potential waterworks.
“We’ll have to celebrate more than once then, too. I know our parents would like us to all get together,” Atticus insisted once he’d found his voice again. “We’ll definitely bring you back something to eat! Do you have anything you’re craving? Or we can surprise you,” he offered with a smile.
Ugh. The pet along his back meant he was in danger of flopping out of the seat once more as he arched his back into it. That was fine. He would just be careful about pushing off the back of the chair too much.
“I do not know what I should be looking forward to most, but being able to spend time around those my bonded considers family is good enough for me. I will take whatever else is given to me with utmost gratitude,” Lucien purred.
“As planned, I shall remain here. I have no desire to get trampled underfoot by the masses. And I enjoy Myles’s company. I would like to learn more about his likes and dislikes.”
There was a lot Lucien wanted to learn, but he was sincere when he said he enjoyed spending time with all of them. It was better than worrying about Chaos taking over the world and being stuck in a stasis pod for a millenia.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 1:44 pm
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Even if brute force wasn’t Atticus’ forte, Elliot could still feel the emotion behind the sudden squeeze. He kept a smile on his face and presented as if everything were fine, but he smoothed his thumb over the back of Atticus’ hand to reassure him that everything was fine.
He might not have understood the swell of anxiety that must have flooded through his boyfriend but he wanted him to know that it was okay and Elliot wasn’t going to go anywhere. He had no intention of revealing that it had actually hurt a bit but he doubted he should expect any bruising.
His efforts were successful; Myles noticed nothing amiss from either boy. “Oh, I don’t know. It all smells so good, Atticus. I don’t think I could pick, myself. I trust you, I love surprises. Oh, maybe something Lucien can try, too. Since he’s so sweet.’
Myles’ hand replaced Elliot’s and he gently brushed down Lucien’s back. “I enjoy your company, too. I’ll tell you everything you want to hear, I want to get to know you, too. But you can tell me to shut up if you get tired, I know I talk too much.”
He’d been told as much many times before, but the smile on his face wasn’t insincere or performative; he was still too delighted that Lucien said he enjoyed his company to think about anything negative anyone had said to him before.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:11 pm
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Atticus was grateful that Elliot didn’t draw attention to his sudden anxiety, and gave his hand a much gentler squeeze in appreciation.
“Okay, we can do that. When I try things, whatever is the best I’ll bring back,” he promised with another smile. They would absolutely have to bring food back for Lucien, and he couldn’t help but giggle a little at the thought of people staring at a cat eating a funnel cake.
“You’ll have a lot of fun with Myles, Lucien. He tells really good stories and has a lot of interesting things to share,” Atticus beamed, because he was happy to be able to call Myles his friend, too. He didn’t think Myles talked too much, but then again, Atticus liked to listen more than talk anyway.
“I doubt I will do any such thing. Have you met my bonded? He is quite talkative as well,” Lucien huffed fondly, even as he was trying once more to not fall off the chair with the pets he was being given.
“Be sure to stay safe and avoid any of those large land vehicles,” Lucien fussed as he watched the two boys preparing for their departure. “Should you get separated and are unable to make contact with each other, please return here.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:35 pm
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Oh, there were butterflies in Myles’ stomach. A smile twitched onto his face and he couldn’t have hid it if his life depended on it. Atticus was a sweetheart, he didn’t have a mean bone in his body. “Oh, that’s true. Devyn does have good stories.” And talked a lot. Myles liked it, though–and the fact that he could ask a thousand questions and Devyn never seemed to get tired of answering.
It made him want to go up to his homeworld and do more for it, but…
A cool gust made him shiver. He couldn’t shake the vision of freezing, bleeding out, alone, that he’d had his first trip up to Caia.
He forced another quick smile; now wasn’t the time to dwell on miserable, frightening things. He was in good company, at a fair–and about to do business, anyway.
“They’ll be okay,” he promised Lucien. “They’ll look after each other. All of you are so sweet, I don’t know how I got so lucky. Now–go on, you two. Go have fun before I do something embarrassing, like give you a hug goodbye.” Lucien wasn’t safe, though; Myles scooped him up into his arms and gave him a quick, appreciative squeeze before he set him back down and smoothed out his fur.
Elliot laughed. “Oh, that’s not embarrassing. We’ll come visit you guys, I want to walk around lots.. We’ll check in so you won’t have to worry about us. Do you want a hug from him before we head out?” he asked Atticus, and seemed ready to release his hand if so. And, if not, he had a hug waiting for him already.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:02 pm
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Atticus seemed to have the same thought, because he definitely didn’t think hugs were embarrassing. He gave Elliot’s hand another quick squeeze and then released it long enough so he could move over to Myles and give him a big hug. After he’d put Lucien back down of course.
“We’re pretty lucky to know you too, you know,” he said quietly, and then leaned up to give Myles a quick kiss on his cheek, because he absolutely deserved some affection for how kind he had been to them since they first met.
Satisfied with his hug, Atticus reached out to give Lucien a quick pet, and then took his position beside Elliot once more. And just to make sure his boyfriend wasn’t feeling neglected, Atticus turned to give him a kiss on his cheek too, but this one lingered a bit.
“Okay, I’m ready when you are,” he smiled and took Elliot’s hand, lacing their fingers together.
Lucien wasn’t sure how he felt about being manhandled and squeezed, but other than a single flick of his tail once he was set back down, he didn’t seem to be too unsettled by the gesture.
Perhaps it was because he was not used to being carried around due to his size. Either way, he settled back down and accepted the pets he received, purring his content.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:20 pm
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Myles made no secret that he was delighted with the hug, and he wrapped his arms around Atticus to make sure he left knowing how appreciated he was. Elliot was equally receptive–if not more–to the tenderness, and shamelessly returned the kiss. He’d take any excuse he could to lavish Atticus with public displays of affection.
Tastefully, of course! Sometimes he just couldn’t help but want to kiss him, or pick him up and squeeze him.
Elliot waved to the two at the booth. “Okay, good luck with your sales! We’ll see you soon. With treats.” Some for Myles, and some for Lucien, too. If there was a lot that even Devyn had yet to experience on Earth, he knew they had to make up for lost time for Lucien, too.
Atticus’ hand felt right in his own; their fingers fit together perfectly, and he started swinging their hands gently before he started walking.
He didn’t know if Atticus had any overflow of emotion from earlier, but he wanted to make sure that he had a chance to wind down–just in case–before they met up with their friends.
Tonight was going to be a good night, he’d make sure of it.
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