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 Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:48 pm
Julian and Talia had been out for a while already, and she had been generous with their shopping trip. The back of her car was full of things for Brooklyn, and she’d acquired quite the selection for him, too. He’d protested meekly to try and assure her he was fine with what he had, but she was persistent and he didn’t have the willpower to argue.
And she seemed so happy about all of it.
So he had new socks, a new jacket, some things for school. He’d all but pleaded for her not to pamper him so excessively but he’d learned very quickly that once she made up her mind she was sticking too it.
So he had a few new sweaters, too, and though he had insisted that he didn’t need them, he had also thanked her profusely. He was wearing one of them now already–just a bit oversized so he had some room to grow, but it still fit better than the sweater he’d left in her car, and it was so much warmer, too. He was so sure that his last sweater had been good but this one was amazing.
She’d gotten him new shoes, too. His old ones were a little worn and a little too small but he hadn’t complained. She claimed it was a good sale–even if it still seemed expensive to him–but he was currently also wearing the new shoes as they made their way down another aisle. He felt taller, probably because the soles weren’t worn down, and couldn’t help but wiggle his toes with all the new room.
They were going to get food after this last stop and head up to see Brooklyn, so he had a little extra bounce in his step as they did their last check.
The camping selection here was overwhelming, and more than once he’d picked something up and tilted his head while squinting at the box just to try and figure out what he was looking at.
“...Have you ever been camping, Talia? How do you know what’s good or not?”
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:56 pm
Talia was feeling…well, not smug, but pleased that she had been able to get Julian some new clothes. He deserved good things, and she wanted to give him the world, if he would allow it…and finally, this time she was able to get him as much as she wanted to, under the guise of getting things for Brooklyn too.
Now both kids would be comfortable and warm, for as long as the clothes lasted.
“Camping…I mean I’ve stayed up on Lysithea a few times, but I’m not sure that that really counts? It’s…I mean.”
She supposed that it counted. There were animals up there after all, and sometimes there was danger, at least when the chaos pool had been there, there had been danger…but.
“I’ve only ever camped up there, as far as I know. If I did it…before? I…well, those memories are lost, now.”
She hadn’t really ever talked to him about her past but…she felt that he would understand…and he deserved to know, she was spoiling him after all.
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 2:38 pm
“Oh. Right,” he said, a little softer than before. He understood bits and pieces–enough to understand that enough had happened in her life that she didn’t have access to it. For a moment, it seemed as though he was worried he’d asked a question that was too personal and was trying to figure out the best way to undo it. He was quiet as he chewed on the inside of his cheek.
“I think it counts,” he said, uncertain but trying to move the conversation away from anything that might have been uncomfortable for her.
“I’ve never been out of the city. I mean, not really. You know about the only places I’ve been.”
Dering was really just about it, and it was unlike any forest he’d ever been in. Once, he’d been on a field trip to a real forest, but all his other trips were to small, local parks. He’d never stayed outside overnight in any of the parks or forests, so that really didn’t count.
“Did you like camping? I always get nervous if I’m out too late. And it’s hard to sleep if you’re not in your bed, isn’t it?”
He was already tugging at the sleeve of his sweater, but it seemed to bring him comfort and he couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t used to having good clothes that weren’t already worn out.
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 5:36 pm
“I like camping up there. It feels like home, honestly. And, I guess that it is home, in a way…but…” Talia shrugged, her expression far off for a moment before she shook her head to get her mind back where it needed to be, in the here and now.
“I like this city, it’s a nice place, but maybe one day I can convince Zac to go on a vacation with you, and maybe Brooklyn too…we can do like…Disney World or something. I’d like to see that place.”
Just because she didn’t get out of the city much, didn’t mean she didn’t want to. “I do like my own bed, that is very true but…my sleeping bag isn’t that bad! We should get one for you and for Brooklyn, just so you can have something warm to sleep in! That’s a really good idea and I’m glad you got me over to it!”
Even if it wasn’t his intention, it was a good notion to have.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2024 3:45 pm
Julian blinked. “Oh–no, I don’t need one,” he insisted. “I’m not planning on camping. But thank you! I have blankets back at the dorm, I sleep just fine there! And my roommate would probably get suspicious if I just went camping one day or didn’t come home at night.”
He hadn’t talked about his private life much with Luke but that wasn’t unnatural. Julian was private; he rarely spoke of any life outside of what his conversation partner could directly observe. He didn’t speak of his family, or his history, in any great detail. Just enough to paint a picture of normalcy. Perhaps in the absence of readily given information it would have been easy to assume that there was plenty beneath the surface, but he was good at side stepping questions and keeping to himself.
“Do you really think that Zac would want to go to Disney?” It made sense that Talia would, that Brooklyn might, but Zac? He always acted like he couldn’t be bothered to go anywhere fun with them, and yet he always seemed to enjoy himself. Maybe he was just shy, too.
…Well, in his own way.
“Is traveling scary? I’m afraid of getting lost,” he mused, and despite being fairly resourceful he was still afraid of being a burden.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2024 4:07 pm
Talia just hummed at his refusal, and knew that she would indeed be picking up two sleeping bags today as well. “I think…he would go if we asked…I’m not…actually super sure, but we can try! He didn’t seem to mind the Zoo when we went! He’s a nice guy, despite how gruff he acts…I.”
She sighed and shrugged, thinking over her next words and then shrugging again. “I love him. So much. But I’ve always…wondered if he can love me. He loved who I was, and it’s so hard not…to just think that I’ll never live up to who I was…but. He has my heart. That’s for sure…”
Shaking her head to clear out the uncomfortable thoughts that had settled in there, she shrugged. “I’m not super sure, but I wouldn't let you get lost, Jules. We’d have phones and all that to make sure we can get in contact with one another, and if you did get lost, I’d find you. I’ll always find you. I promise.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:57 am
Julian was more blank faced than usual when she started talking about loving Zac. He listened honestly, intently, but it was like there was something that just didn’t click there. She might as well have been explaining quantum physics to him for all he seemed to truly grasp it.
And yet, he smiled kindly, because he didn’t have to understand to support her.
“I’ll try not to get lost. If we make a plan, I’ll do my best to stick to it.” There were any number of things that could go wrong but he was determined to do his best regardless. And please, he needed to not be such a downer. There were probably an infinite number of ways to be prepared, of course Talia would think of them and they could go over things before they went anywhere new.
“I’m sure he would go if you asked. If you were worried.” He cleared his throat. Julian might not have known Zac very well, but he’d seen enough that he could look past the gruffness. He recalled the first time he thought that Zac might have been more conscientious than he let on. He’d set his glass down too hard. Julian had flinched. He didn’t think anyone saw, but when he looked up, Zac’s eyes were on him.
Julian had squirmed in his seat. He couldn’t remember what excuse he’d made.
Zac had never sat his glass down so hard again. In fact, he’d never sat anything down too hard. He closed the doors quietly, didn’t slam the cabinets, didn’t stomp around. It made Julian less uncomfortable by Zac’s groans or heavy sighs or dramatic mutterings when he knew there wasn’t any actual bite behind it.
Julian had seen the way he watched Talia. The way he’d sometimes seem like he was in his own world but would reach out a hand to brush her as she walked past, or the way he’d watch her while she spoke. The way he seemed to have an idea of what she might need before she’d even asked.
He might not have understood love, exactly, but he could tell that they cared about each other. It was hard to imagine that Zac would make the effort if he didn’t care. Julian was certain he only made the effort to be so nice to him because he cared about Talia.
There was a lot that he didn’t know. A lot that he didn’t understand. A lot that he didn’t want her to burden herself with or find a way to feel bad about.
“Um. I just mean, he seems like he likes you a lot. For you.” He didn’t know who Talia used to be, it was impossible for him to compare. He’d heard of the story, bits and pieces about what used to be. Maybe there was a lot he didn’t understand. He just didn’t want to see her hurting.
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2024 5:14 pm
“I wouldn’t let you stay lost if it did happen, Jules. I mean it, I’ll always find you if you ever do get lost.”
Talia reached out and wrapped an arm around the boy, thought fell quiet at his words that Zac liked her for her…it…
It was nice to hear, and hopefully, it was the truth. If someone else saw it, she just might be missing everything, which…made some sense. It was hard to see what was in front of you, it was so easy to tune things out, so easy to just…forget that things and people could…feel different than you thought they felt.
“I’ll talk to him…I kind of really want to do this trip now, I think it would be fun for all of us. Maybe we can do matching shirts!”
People did that, after all and…really? It sounded like a lot of fun.
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2024 7:18 pm
Though Julian still had doubts and worries about the hurdles they might face even trying to plan something like that–he had faith that Talia could overcome any difficulties once she’d set her mind on something. He wasn’t sure if he should be excited about the offer but only because it was so easy for him to get flustered when he was offered something he thought he didn’t deserve.
A whole trip? Talia had other people she could invite, what if he was taking up space for someone more deserving? He didn’t even know if he’d be allowed to go; he had a lot to juggle with his legal guardians, with the school. A weekend trip somewhere ‘in the city’, sure! He could arrange those.
Would someone let him leave? Talia was trustworthy, but Soleiyu probably could have forged some paperwork or something if they really needed to be extra careful. His head swam a bit because a simple idea suddenly blossomed into a lot of other ideas and it was more than he could keep up with.
It was enough to almost give himself a headache. Talia wouldn’t want that, though. He smiled and kept the worries to himself.
“Okay,” he said instead. “Thank you, Talia. For everything.”
He didn’t know many people that would go out of their way to try and help some kids. He and Brooklyn were lucky to have her looking after them.
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