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 Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2024 8:32 am
Julian was rarely in a state of ease, but when he was overwhelmed with worry for his friend, he forgot about all of his worry for himself. After visiting with Brooklyn and getting a list of everything she might need, he’d immediately messaged Talia and asked to talk.
It was late when he got back, impractically so, and plans had to be made for the following day. He’d been wary to text sensitive information without much context but he assured that everything was fine and he just needed some advice.
Julian rushed over as soon as he was able to. He was a bit early, not by much, but enough that he worried if he should just sit on the sidewalk and wait.
He couldn’t.
He was usually patient, but this was about Brooklyn. He needed to make sure she was safe and okay and had everything she needed.
…And maybe Talia could help.
Julian knocked on the door, but even his gentle rap sounded like an apology.
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:10 pm
Talia had been struggling to put on a new pair of warm socks, and she had an extra pair that she had planned to give to Julian too. They were dumb, but they were cute, and they had unicorns on them so why wouldn't she want to share the extra pair with one of her knights? It just made sense.
The left sock was on correctly, but the right was still flopping as she went to open the door.
“Julian!” There was joy in her voice and Talia laughed, shaking her head. “It’s like you knew I was about to reach out and invite you over! Look at these socks! I got us each a pair, they’re a little snug - but they are super warm!” She took a step backwards and held the door open for the boy. “I thought it would be great for the winter! Come on in, honey!”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:21 am
“Oh, those are cute,” he said, looking at the floppy sock she’d yet to get on. Warm sounded good; he was chilly from hurrying over here, and hurried inside. He was mindful of her space and didn’t want to get her house dirty, so he quickly took off his shoes. His socks were far less cute; he had simple black socks.
Really though, he couldn’t focus on clothes right now. “Thank you,” he said, but it was hard not to just info dump everything he’d been keeping. If it hadn’t been so late last night when he got back, he would have run here instead of just texting Talia about needing to talk.
It had felt almost impossible to keep his worry to himself, and now that he was here it was doubly so. He’d hardly slept, tossing and turning and thinking about how Brooklyn was alone.
“Is it okay if I talk about, um. You know, like some space things? Or do you have people over?”
‘Space things’ was as close as he could get to the truth when speaking about things in code but he knew Talia would understand.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:54 pm
“Nobody’s over who doesn’t know who I am, no worries.” Talia closed the door behind him and gestured Julian over to the couch, gently guiding him to it and pushing him down, draping a blanket over him without needing to be asked.
When he was covered up, she took a seat next to him and tilted her head slightly, worried, but more eager to spend time with him than anything.
“What’s going on, Jules? What kind of space things are happening? Can I help with anything? Are you in trouble?”
Now that the thought had occurred, she didn’t want that to be the case…but if it was.
She would simply deal with it, doing whatever was necessary.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 7:19 pm
Julian let Talia maneuver him however she wanted; he was a guest in her house and he didn’t protest, and he’d rather she be comfortable before he talked to her about this, anyway.
“I’m okay,” he insisted. “It’s not me, it’s Brooklyn. She ran away from home and she’s living on her Wonder. I’m worried about her. She says she’s okay, but I don’t know how to help. I told her I was going to try and make sure she was taken care of, and you were the first person I thought of.”
Talia was always worrying about other people, and he’d voiced to her several times since Brooklyn had first disappeared. She knew how important Brooklyn was to him, and he could only trust that she felt the same for anyone else so dedicated to Lysithea.
“She doesn’t want to go back to where she was staying before, she had some problems after she was in the hospital and everything got messed up for her. She’s just doing her best, but–I don’t know.”
He knew she could take care of herself, he just didn’t want her to have to do it alone.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2024 7:08 pm
“Brooklyn…is living on her Wonder?” Talia’s brows knit together as she tried to take in the information and…well. Really understand it. “I know you had been worried about her, I’m glad that she’s back in the picture but…what could have been so bad that she wants to live on a Wonder alone…”
The Brooklyn she knew was very outgoing and…Lysithea was very…
Lonely, honestly. There were animals, sure but…
“She’s so much of a people person…what does she need, Julian? What can we do to help her?”
There was no hesitation, and the concern in her voice was nothing but genuine.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2024 11:31 pm
Julian knew it wasn’t his story to tell. If Brooklyn wanted to talk to Talia, she’d be able to–Talia knew where she was now. There was more that Julian wished he could say, but he valued his own privacy so much and it would have been hypocritical to sacrifice Brooklyn’s.
“I have a list,” he said, and quickly pulled out his handwritten compilation of the things he’d come up with and things she’d mentioned would be helpful.
“I can’t go back up to my Wonder for a while to drop anything off. She’ll probably be okay for a while, but…I don’t know.” He passed the list over to Talia. “If there’s anything you can think of, please. But–it’s not just what she can use up there. I don’t know. I was wondering if you had any idea of how she might be able to come back to Destiny City?”
His brain was scrambling and he worried he was overstepping an unseen boundary. He started smoothing his hands over his knees and chewing on the inside of his lip.
“I know she wants to do this all on her own, but she is such a social person. She must be lonely up there. And I know it’s selfish, but I wish she had somewhere here, too. So she didn’t have to be alone. But I don’t even know where to start, and I don’t think she trusts the foster care system, so…”
He deflated a bit. “...She’s just had things really hard. I think she deserves a break. The people who were supposed to look after her let her down and I don’t want her to give up on everyone. I want her to be more than just ‘okay’.”
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 2:38 pm
Talia scooted a little closer to Julian and put a hand on his shoulder. “You know I’d do anything for the both of you. If I can help her in any way, I will. We can go shopping for her if you would like, get her some supplies so that even if she’s staying up there, she can be comfortable. As for her coming back to the city, she is welcome to stay with me…”
She trailed off and gave a soft sigh. “You are as well, just so you know. If you ever need to, or want to. I love having you around and it makes me happy to be able to see you.”
There was a lot she could do for Brooklyn, but the girl would have to want help…Talia would do whatever she could regardless but…she couldn’t if Brooklyn didn’t want it…
“What about you, kiddo? What can I do to help you too?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2024 1:02 am
Julian looked at her blankly for a moment as he racked his brain for an answer. What could she do to help him? She was already willing to do so much for Brooklyn, how could he ask for more? She’d offered to go shopping for her, to get her supplies, to let her stay with Talia…
No, he couldn’t think of anything else for her, Talia seemed to have it covered.
He sat still on the couch, always small and taking up as little room as possible. “No,” he finally answered. “I think that’s even more than I was hoping for. I’ve just been worried about her. She’s had to deal with so much on her own.”
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Julian let his thoughts tumble around but he shook his head. “I really appreciate you, Talia. I know it’s a lot to ask. And I know Brooklyn is so prideful, she wouldn’t want to. But I really want her to be okay. You’re good at taking care of people. You were the first person I thought of..” Kind of the only person, really. There weren’t a lot of people he thought he could trust with something so important.
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2024 7:09 pm
“I love you, Julian. It’s not a lot to ask at all, I’m happy to help. Are you doing okay with the weather so cold? Do you think she’ll need a jacket too? I’m happy to get you both one.” She fell quiet for a moment and looked at Julian. “Do you have time now? Would you like to come shopping with me and we can pick out things for Brooklyn?”
And him. She wanted to spoil both children…they deserved it. She knew that they both had a non existent home life so…she wanted to do whatever she could.
“Maybe we can get dinner together too, and I can drop you off back at Hillworth? Unless you’d like to stay the night here? I’m sure I can let them know if you would want to.”
She was enjoying the idea, and thought about the tasty snacks that she and Evan could whip up…maybe some sort of cheesy popcorn…
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2024 5:24 pm
“Um, I have a jacket,” he insisted; it might have been the one he was always wearing, but Julian had never complained–no matter how cold it got. “Thank you, though. Um, I don’t have any plans, but I should text my roommate if I’m not going to be home. Um.”
He hadn’t really had much experience spending the night anywhere else and he found his face burning at the idea, if only because being at someone’s house at night was oddly personal. You saw a side of them that you didn’t really see, and it wasn’t like Talia was the only person here, but he was worried he might somehow make others unhappy if he stuck around.
“I could do dinner though,” he promised. “If you don’t mind me being a mooch.”
He knew she wouldn’t, but he still felt bad about it. He hated taking up space and he hated being a leech. He never wanted to overstay his welcome so he was quick to assure, “But I could just have a glass of water if you wanted to go out, I don’t need anything! But–but yes, we can go look for things for Brooklyn now if that works for you?”
He might have been overthinking things and was just worried about everything but he could move past that for his friend! And Julian knew Talia was his friend, she was always there to help and support. Even if he didn’t know how to receive her assistance, he was always grateful for it.
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Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2024 7:59 pm
“I could never mind you being a mooch, that’s just a silly thought, Julian.”
Talia looked him over quickly, hoping that he wouldn’t notice. He did have a jacket, but she could get something better, something heavier and more appropriate for the winter…and this one, it seemed sturdy enough but…
“If you’re in the mood for any specific type of food, let me know, but if you’re ready to head out to shop for Brooklyn, I’m ready to go with you! I really hope that we can do enough to help her.”
She didn’t want to push on the him staying the night, but if their shopping and dinner got too late…things would fall where they would.
“I’m glad you came to me for help…it honestly means a lot to me, just so you know.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2024 1:00 am
Julian missed Talia looking over his outfit; he was too busy allowing himself a moment to catch his breath. He’d rushed over here so quickly that it had hardly registered how much strain he’d actually put on his body in the process. He dipped his head back and exhaled.
“Are you sure?” he finally asked, and for all his worrying and fussing, it seemed like it was coming from somewhere else. This wasn't just his frantic need to ease any anxiety, this was a real question.
“I just don’t want you to think that I’m always here because I need something from you. I don’t know how to describe it.” His voice was softer than usual and he rested his hands on his knees in his typical effort to stay small and out of the way.
“I’ll pay you back, one day. I know you’ll tell me that I don’t have to, but I don’t want you to ever look back and regret knowing me. I don’t…”
He sucked in a breath. “I don’t ever want you to be happy to be rid of me.” His eyes had found their way elsewhere around the room, never staying in any one place for long but absolutely never making eye contact with her.
“But…I’m ready to go now. For Brooklyn, I mean.” He wasn’t picky about anything–not food, not clothes. He was just happy to be here. Even if he was always jittery or worried about saying the wrong thing, or if he was skittish and anxious and dreaded doing something to disappoint Talia. She was sweet, she’d always been kind. It wasn’t her fault that he worried so much, he just didn’t know how to turn it off. She deserved better, especially when she was working so hard to do things for Brooklyn–and him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:44 am
Talia reached out and placed her hand on the top of Julian’s head, softly ruffling his hair, unable to stop herself. If she kept holding back, he might keep thinking she wasn’t being true. She didn’t want to startle him, or make him uncomfortable, but he deserved comfort. Physical as well as verbal.
“All right then. Let’s do this thing and make sure we take good care of Brooklyn. You’re a very good friend, and she’s lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you as one of my Knights. I’m excited to see where things go with you.”
She didn’t protest that she would never be happy to be rid of him, honestly she thought it was silly that he would even think that but.
Standing up, Talia held both of her hands out to the teenager. “I will never be happy to be rid of you. I don’t think there’s anything you could do to make me change my mind. I know that you won’t believe me right away, but it’s the truth, and one day you’ll believe it, and I’m looking forward to that day. You deserve good things as much as anyone else in the world, Julian. And that is something I feel with every fiber of my being.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:58 pm
It was probably habit that had Julian quickly composing himself after she ruffled his hair; he seemed to have perfect an absent-minded ability to put himself together. He was quiet under her praise but his face was a bit pink.
He accepted her hands and pulled himself up. “I think you think that about everyone,” he laughed. Talia always seemed like she wanted to bring good into the world and wanted to help–well, everyone. Good, bad. She wanted them all to have a chance to do better.
Sometimes they just needed a helping hand to find the right path.
“Thank you, Talia. I know Brooklyn is going to be really happy to see you.” Or, at least, glad to know someone had her back. And, hopefully, to know that she really wasn’t alone in this.
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