It seemed to make perfect sense to Charlie. "So Coeus was leeching off of what you were learning to make himself better faster." It was more of a statement than a question. He breathed a small murmur of, "asshole."
He watched her for a moment until he reasoned he could probably offer more than just an observation she already knew. "If it makes you feel any better, I was shit at school too. Not that you probably would have done so poorly if you didn't have a leech for a sibling." He smoothed out an area of the sheets below him as he spoke. "My brother was younger but he was doing that, ya know, skipping grades or whatever. That's when my abilities kicked in and ah... Everything went to crap from there."
Dammit. Why did you make it about yourself? She doesn't care. You don't even care about any of that, why would she?
Quickly, he tried to bring it back to her. "I'm still confused as to... Why you have those marks. Where they came from. But I guess no one quite knows exactly why, huh?" He reached a hand up to brush stray strands of hair from his face.
The concept of someone who'd been alive for hundreds of years shook something at his core. He figured she'd live long beyond him, but that long before him too? He couldn't imagine if she had remembered everything. She probably wouldn't be at Lazarus. Where she would be, he wasn't sure, but it made him anxious to think about it. He didn't want to think about her not being there.
"Either way, I'm glad it worked out the way it did. Maybe that's selfish." He shrugged as he studied her face. It was also strange to think there was a point in time during which she wasn't incredibly muscular and full-bodied. The hollowed out cheekbones of that photo of her starving had carved themselves into her mind.
Rylan settled down into his bed, eyes watching Poppy coil beneath his heatlamp. Slowly, he reached for his cellphone, opening a group chat with Calla and Deacon.
Hey, someone still needs to get the gate code from Loki. It's getting late. Almost time to leave...
He typed quickly, feeling more and more worried about their plan the closer the time came to put it into action. He breathed heavily as he pressed send and waited.
Lᴀzᴀʀus Sanctuary for the gifted | Roleplay Thread
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Sorry I wasn't on. I had exams. I will not be on at Mon. Or Tues. Exams also. I will start working on a reply right now.//
-
Deacon was startled at Atlas.
Would she be okay?
He shook his head to clear any thoughts from his brain as his phone dinged, singling that he had a text.
Pulling out his phone, he read the message from Rylan and glanced up meeting Callas gaze as she also read her phone. Going back to his phone, he sent a quick reply back.
On it. Give me twenty minutes. If i'm not back, please bury me behind the house.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, he left the dining room in hopes of finding Loki.Calla rolled her eyes at Deacon as he stood up to find Loki.
Shoving away from the table, she muttered a quick goodnight before she headed off in to her room to get ready.
She had to get everything just right, or they could fail big time.
That was not an option.
Pulling her hair into a high ponytail, she glanced around the room and pursed her lips.
Finally, she did it.
She shifted into a dog exactly like Big Mama.
It felt good to shift. She thought as she trotted around her room in dog form.
Shifting back into her form was the problem.
Human. She thought and pictured herself. Blond hair, green eyes, pale as a vampire.
She felt her skin crackle and she was back into her human form, a wide smile spreading across her face.
Pulling out her phone she shot a quick text to the group.
Tranquilize Big mama. I have a plan. -
[fancypost=borderwidth=0px; width: 350px; color: white; font-size: 8pt; text-align: justify;]Eventually, Belinda rose front the chair she had been sitting in and onto her feet. She pushed out a gentle sigh as she pushed the chair back towards the table and just as silently as she had entered, the dark haired girl left the dining room. The slender girl could feel that Decimus had also gotten up and left shortly after his words. She wasn't sure where he had gone, but she assumed it was likely his room or one of the sitting rooms. She moved her way towards the staircase that lead up to the eat wing where her room happened to be located, so that she could at least settle down for slumber which she really didn't think she was actually going to get much of, unfortunately. She was sure she was just going to be awaken by the crippling nightmares that haunted her complex mind.
When she reached the staircase, she moved her way up stairs by herself. The clairvoyant girl's hazel eyes were glued on her feet making sure she would miss a step or something and fall while she listened to her quiet surroundings. The female was unaware as to what the others were up to. She was sure whether they were actually settling down for the night or would be staying up doing whatever they pleased. Either way, Belinda knew she would be simply going back up to her room and probably pulling out a book to read or continue the aggressive painting she had been doing just before she had been called down to dinner. For now, that was.Just as some of the others had, Decimus eventually took his leave as well. However, instead of heading to his room, Decimus had found himself drawn to one of the sitting rooms that made up the building. He was far too awake to ever settle down at the moment, so he figured he would just find a seat by himself somewhere until he was tired enough to actually fall into the familiar place of slumber. Only then would he head up to the west wing and into his room. For now, he would find himself comfortable in one of the sitting rooms.
The mysterious, blue eyed male entered one of the sitting rooms. To his pleasure, it seemed to be empty for the time being. No, it wasn't like he totally hated the presence of someone else because, if he were to be totally honest, he really didn't mind it here and there. However, with all the drama tonight, tre silence was rather alluring to the dark haired twenty-two year old. -
Atlas
Her eyes were a distant light, staring blankly at the lapping flames. She tucked her legs into her frame and folded her arms over her abdomen, successfully laying in fetal position. She struggled to focus on his words when he spoke, just listening to the gentle lull of his cadence. The hardened edges melted off as she soaked in the memories she'd pulled out from the dust. "Sometimes I wonder if its just instinctual for him. To drain me like this, I mean. I hope it is." Atlas rasped. She liked hope that their relationship before - those centuries before - was something of love and normalcy. What had they been like before? Maybe whatever made him human dried up during deanimation. Maybe before he was some beautiful soul, maybe the both of them had been once. She could think, but she would never go as far as to dream. That's just not how things had turned out for them, it wasn't their hand, so there was no use in crying over split milk.
Atlas glanced vaguely in his direction when his final statement settled over her. "A nice sentiment." Her fingers curled around she sheets, a soft scratching sound emanating as her nails traced over the surface. With a light, muffled groan she lifted herself back up. "Not selfish. Perhaps not entirely true. But nice." She didn't lift her eyes to look at him, gathering up the photos she had laid out in a neat stack. "There are quite a few things that I think you'd want to have a different outcome." When she spoke it lacked its edge. Warm. "And I'm sorry it's that way for you." The most roundabout way to apologize, but for Atlas, it was the most anyone would ever get. Apologies were almost physically damning for her. She shuffled the pictures in her hands, fidgeting some. "But I hold no regrets for anything I have done in this house."Themis
Silence fell over the car. She didn't need to look over to know Spokely had fallen asleep. A gentle smile crossed over her face and she reached over and turned on the radio, dialing it down to a soft setting as white noise and kept on going.
//short timeskip??//
As Themis pulled up to the front of the house, she was more than pleased to see a large number of news trucks had left for the night. A few remained, but looked to have turned in for the night. She knew that by morning they would return, but... she would enjoy the small victory. Slowly she pulled up to the gate and pressed a button on her dash that triggered it into opening. Leisurely it swung open and she eased through. Once the car was far enough away from the radius it auto-closed. "Spokely, hun," Themis murmured quietly to stir her as they stalled up into the round-a-bout. "We're here." -
Spokely was awoken as much by the soft words as by the feeling of the car shuddering as it stopped. She woke abruptly, hand going to the door handle immediately, but she'd adjusted enough to sleeping with an infant close to her that she didn't jerk awake as much anymore, even as she blinked the drowse from her eyes, she was only moving as much as necessary. The child continued to sleep, which was a relief, even as she returned the small hat to his head, before opening the door and climbing out, slinging her backpack over one shoulder. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. The trees in the well manicured garden were of interest to her, since they usually made for good cover, though there didn't seem to be any close enough to the walls to provide an easy exit- or entrance- that way. For some odd reason, the walls seemed to click in secondary to her mind, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.
"Those to keep people out?" She asked with a nod at the fence line, not voicing the second part, or to keep them in. She turned slightly to look at the house, and was rather taken aback by the size of it, having not known what to expect in the first place. Her first impression was that there was an awful lot of glass windows, but she quickly figured that precautions had been taken to make those secure as well, seeing as she was going into a home with at least 20 others with similar oddities to herself.
-
Charlie sat still for a moment until an overwhelming feeling that he should leave came over him and he pulled himself to his feet quickly. He'd been distracted enough with their conversation to cease his scratching, but the moment he stood, he went back to town on his right forearm.
"I don't regret anything either." His face was deadpanned, serious as he watched her. There was a solid moment where he just watched her, itching, wondering how he could honestly have no regrets what with the way he shredded into his skin, but he honestly couldn't come to wish it away. Loki had helped him realize that as filthy as he felt, he might have been making something too huge out of a culturally small gesture. She made him feel beyond good for a while when he really needed it. She might have saved his life with the way his mind had been wandering prior. And that was worth some blood. It wasn't her fault that he'd been raised to cherish things like... That.
"I, uh... I guess I'll let you rest. It's been a long ass day. I wanna check on La Seine before she falls asleep." He drifted towards the door, almost as though he was hesitant to leave. As he pulled it open, he turned back to her slowly. "Thank you. For earlier. And just now. I don't know how simple the former was, but I can't imagine the latter came so easily." He finally forced out.
Rylan swiped to open the new messages and read them quickly. He responded immediately.
Aight. Thanks Deacon.
He added quickly after,
What's this plan of yours, Calla? You sure it's safe to mess with Mums?
(//Sorry for length//) -
Themis
Themis popped out of the car, a violent shiver overthrowing her when the icy temperatures lapped at her skin. The warmth of the car was almost immediately forgotten and she tugged her coat close to her body and wrapped her arms about her abdomen. "Huh?" she looked over the hood of the car at Spokely as she shuffled towards the front door. She paused only briefly to follow her gaze towards the tall stone fence that encompassed the entirety of the house. "Oh - yes," her lips pursed for a second. "I take security very seriously." Themis nodded her head curtly. Puffs of icy clouds pushed from her lips with each word. "Those walls are the only things stopping journalists from pouring in," she explained before bobbing her head towards the direction of the front door. "Come on, now. It's late." Her feet carried her to up the stairs that led to the door and pushed it open. Out of habit she had left it unlocked. She couldn't do that anymore.
Atlas
Charlie abruptly stood and her eyes ripped away from the weathered images in her hands. There it was. The scratching - the shifting. She expected the worse then what poured from his mouth, she'd prepared for worse. Especially after that... frankly conflicting look she had earned from him at the table. But it was nothing like she thought it would be. "Thank you" felt wrong and foreign and misplaced. And as much as she wanted to say a sarcastic 'anytime' she refrained, simply nodding her head.
She watched him walk away with a sinking feeling. She still had so much to say - so much to do - and once he left the vulnerability she had offered him would be over and done and she'd seal herself right back up again. "Don't-" Atlas captured the escaping words in her throat before the rest of the sentence followed. There was a moment where she looked nothing like herself. A small, weak person sitting in a big bed with their legs folded and a look of fear on her face. Like a toddler who had just been denied entry into their parents bed. And then it was gone. Her mouth shut and her eyes felt iced over and she dipped her gaze back to the flame. "Lock the door when you leave." -
Charlie almost went back. A small, "I can-" leaped out of his throat, but he cut it off. Just as she had. He had to check on La Seine. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Atlas." He muttered, flicking the lock on the door before he shut it. No going back now.
He made his way nimbly down the hall- the room that once occupied the warm energy of Themis felt cold. It repelled him completely and he hurried past the door. Nu-uh. Not today.
He trudged slowly through the halls, doing his best to avoid the dining hall and kitchen where he knew others were still bound to remain. He assumed La Seine would have retreated to her room. It was practically curfew. Ad he clambered up the stairs, he couldn't help but nag himself with questions. Would she even want to see him? Would she be afraid? Did he ruin that image he'd held up to her for so long?
He was inching his way down the east wing slowly at that point and he contemplated waiting until the next day. Something wouldn't let him though. He needed to clear it up then and there.
Stopping at her door, he sucked in a deep breath before pushing it open. She was five and had never had an issue with him letting himself I before- the worst that would happen was that she was putting on her pajamas and he would just talk while helping her dress. He'd practically half way aided in raising her, it wouldn't be anything new.
As he entered slowly, eyes watching the doorknob in his hands rather than the room that was slowly being revealed to him, he called in gently.
"La Seine? It's me." His tone was sappy brown sugar again and for a moment he felt like himself again. -
Spokely nodded slowly in acknowledgment, scanning her surroundings one more time before turning to follow the woman into the building. She still felt like her skin was crawling with the unnaturalness of the situation, but she stepped in quietly behind Themis, her feet making little more than squishing noises from the water in her shoes, but stopped in the doorway as the warm air washed over her-
"Is that- um- I mean, do I smell-" She wasn't sure what to say. She could smell the food that had been cooking, and put a hand up to her mouth to make sure she wasn't drooling. Most of her money had gone towards anything she couldn't palm for the child, which included food- the last time she'd had a solid meal was in captivity, but even that hadn't been much since she'd been on the downhill spiral, not eating. It would have been suspicious if her appetite picked up before she made her escape, and while her abilities allowed for her to consume less than a normal person, it was only for a short period of time. In that moment, it felt like her stomach was trying to digest itself.
-
"A- Uh, just a second!" La Seine's voice was shrill with panic, the sound of her frantic little feet pattering over the floor. There was a larger sound - the shift of the mattress as a heavy pressure was relieved. Urgent whispering ensued, far to quick and soft to pick up on what was being said. And then, a soft, warm chuckle. Familiar. Paternal.
Off.
"What would you have me do? Hide in the closet?"
Coeus.
La Seine tugged at the form of the significantly larger male, yanking with all the might of a child towards the slightly ajar doors of her closet. The most intense look on her face, a mixture of determination and fear. But it was too late, sapphire eyes looked beyond him and saw the door to her room was already too far open. Plan A went out the window. Initiate Plan B. "Act natural." she whispered to him, letting him go and whisking back off to her bed. She didn't know what 'Act natural' meant, but she had heard it been said many times in movies when people were caught doing something they shouldn't be doing and this felt appropriate. "Hi, Charlie," the five-year-old said with almost uncertainty.
She didn't really comprehend the events of dinner - she knew Atlas had gotten angry and then Coeus had stood up and said a lot words she didn't really comprehend. 'Alcoholic'. 'Oppositional Defiancy'. Much went over her head. And then the next thing she saw was Charlie punching him in the face. After she saw blood she split. It was overwhelming. But... he'd found her in the hall. And to her understanding, he was the victim. Charlie had been acting funny all day...
Coeus smiled. He always smiled. But there was something inherently... crooked about this grin he had. Wolfish. He was a snake, coiling, suffocating. "La Seine was just showing me gift of telekinesis," he looked towards her, "A shame Themis doesn't let her exercise it much. We'll have to fix that -- can't have a gift go to waste." He said.Themis
As Themis closed the door behind them, she heard Spokely splutter. A laugh came over her. "We were having dinner before you messaged me. They must have finished-" she squinted her eyes as she focused on one of the many clocks that were nailed to the wooden walls of Lazarus. 9:30 or so. "They are definitely finished." Themis unwrapped herself from the heavy coat bound to her frame and hung it neatly on the wrack. "Come on, I'll whip you up something--" she carefully rested her hand on Spokely's shoulder. She was always tentative in touching new members. You never knew where they came from. But that was a problem - she was just... a toucher. Her nature was hands on in every meaning of the word.
She guided them through the short walk that led into the kitchen, thankful to see Djeserit and Loki inside. A breath of relief seized her internally. She could definitely trust those two. Djeserit scrubbed away at dirty dishes while Loki placed more down for her; however, when they passed through the threshold Loki stopped everything he was doing. He looked quickly between Themis, then at Spokely, then at Themis again. A look of 'I was unprepared for this moment' was apparent on the muscular male's face, but he promptly placed down the dishes in hand. "Hey!" He managed, wiping his hands on the front of his shirt.
"This is Loki," Themis introduced with a wave of her hand towards the brown haired, brown eyed male, "He's a den leader. He'll help you adjust. The girl is Djeserit. She isn't a den leader, but might as well be," she added with a smile. -
The first wave of emotion was rage that swelled Charlie's chest and filled his lungs with acid. How dare Coeus? But he calmed himself. He managed. He offered a brilliant grin to Coeus and La Seine both. He refused to be the bad guy anymore.
"Is that so?" He crossed the room, closing the door behind himself gingerly. He approached the edge of her bed and placed half of his weight on it to cause the least bit of disruption possible. He bent forward slowly, unsure of how she'd react after the show he'd put on prior, and caressed the soft blonde hair that haloed her face, then pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"I just wanted to come and see how you were doing. I know dinner didn't go very well." He spoke gently as he leaned back. He hardly acknowledged Coeus being in the room. He wouldn't ruin this. "And more importantly I wanted to say that I'm sorry you saw me like that. I don't like when people are being mean to our family. And I'm also sorry for how weird I've been acting lately."
His eyes flitted away form her for a second, just a split second in which he checked Coeus' face. He refused to apologize to him. Not even for La Seine's sake.
"It's getting late, though. You should get to sleep. I'm sure Coeus will understand." Now, his eyes moved completely to the other man. They screamed warning, death. destruction, but his smile, warm tone, and occasional gentle twirl of La Seine's hair around his finger overpowered it for the most part. He was all love when he spoke to her. More unintentional adoration, concern, and paternal instinct seeped from every pore in his body than it did without her there. And usually that was quite a bit anyways. He loved her like she was his daughter, sister, and best friend woven into one tiny human being. One vulnerable human being.
And that's when he realized why Coeus was there. Coeus was a leech. But he couldn't let Coeus know that he knew that.
An overwhelming desire to hurry Coeus out of her room came over him and he knew he wouldn't be leaving her side much until he could be sure that the coast would be clear.
Devyn had placed herself back at the dining hall table long ago. She sat, cross legged in a chair, blind eyes staring off and her mind just worked two-forty. The later it got, the more uneasy she grew about falling asleep with Coeus walking about the house. She wanted to tell everyone to lock their doors at night. She wanted to protect them. More importantly, she wanted to see. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that if she could see him it would make everything much easier. She could read him easier, she could charm him easier, she could handle him better.
She breathed deep and heavy, eyelids threatening to fall closed as the eerie silence of the empty room that had once been so positive to her tempted her with sleep. That room had been the home of many Thanksgivings, Christmas dinners, Birthday parties, and so on. Now it felt... Wrong. It was cold and felt as though it was developing a presence of its own. And now a good presence at that.
She enjoyed the moment while it lasted though, as anxious as she was. There was no yelling, or fighting, or tension. Just her and her own worry some thoughts and she didn't want to go back to her bedroom. she didn't want to go to sleep. She just wanted to stay awake and protect her family, as useless as she felt with no vision or power that was actually useful in a battle.
She knew that her plan with Coeus would have to involve in depth flirting. She knew she would have to put herself on the line for the gain of either information or influence. Either would help. It made her anxious. This idea that she could succeed or fail. And something told her that failure would not occur gracefully. -
As far as Spokely saw it, she reacted quite calmly to the light touch. The arm that wasn’t curled around Benji went up to roughly knock away Themis’ hand as she stepped away briskly, but did little else. In her eyes, she figured that there was a prime opportunity to twist the womans arm behind her back, possibly break something, and then back off, but the rational part left in her brain (it was a very small, struggling part) was informing her that this was not, in fact, necessary. What the situation did call for was a sharp look, letting her expression speak volumes before she let the moment go. She felt like her shoulder was tingling, just from that touch, but she knew better, the kinds of things that could be done with just a touch. There'd been people working in the lab with abilities as well, and she could only guess at what Themis might be able to do, seeing that she ran an establishment that cared for oddities.
After the moment passed and she was following her down the hall to the kitchen, she felt somewhat sheepish, realizing that she'd been offered food, not harm. Food. It was this thought, the confused jumble she was trying to sort out, how much she could trust the entire situation to be what it seemed, that was occupying her when she entered the room. She stiffened, going back a step when she saw two people in the room, and her eyes darted around the room, it took her a few moments to realize that she was being introduced, and once she did, she straightened a little. More like a soldier to attention, less like a frightened deer.
"Den leader," she said with a nod in Loki's direction, and then another at Djeserit, her feet shuffling, as if she wanted to step back out of the room. She knew what was supposed to come next, she was supposed to introduce herself and Benji, but he'd started to wake up again, one pudgy hand waving to clear the edge of the fabric and Spokelys jacket from his face as he fussed.
-
He watched Charlie through faded green eyes, analyzing his actions carefully. From the gentle kiss on the forehead to the way he brushed her hair from her face. So few times had he bore witness to true paternal affection. All those years ago Themis' father scarcely showed them anything of the sort - sure, he 'loved' them. He'd practically raised them from mere husks of people into walking talking members of society. But things like this - this affection - neither he nor Atlas ever received. It would have been strange, surly, caressing the faces of what looked do be adults when you put them to bed. Both of them were severely lacking in this department - it was a social interaction he didn't get to see much face to face. There were movies, shows, of course, but it was never good to learn entirely off of media. Media was good for picking up voices, facial expressions, but that was about it.
Analyzing complete.
One could feel his mere atmosphere change. It was like watching a chameleon change colors. His eyes replicated the same, tender feel. His body relaxed. When Charlie looked at him his smile fell. La Seine was too busy trying to decide how she felt about it all to notice this change in face. When her big blue eyes did finally look towards Coeus, he was looking down at the Rolex wrapped around his wrist. "Look at that. Almost 10. Much too late for you, huh?" he looked over the curve of his brow at La Seine. "Where does the time go?"
Coeus drifted closer to her, gently grazing his fingers along her forearm. He knew that the little girl was not yet fully accustom to him - he didn't have the same traction as Charlie. He had boundaries. He'd stay within them.
La Seine's form flashed in her bed, flickering in and out of vision like a glitch in the Matrix. The stuffed animals at the foot of her bed were tossed half-way across the room. Coeus frowned. "Are you okay, love? What happened there?" she had no response for him. "Why haven't they been helping you wrap your fingers around those gifts of yours?" His eyes darted up to Charlie.
"I.. I don't usually... I can-" her words faded off, face twisting in confusion. With a shake of her head she pulled her covers over her small body. "G'night..."Themis
Themis quickly pulled her hand away when it was knocked off. Boundaries. Setting boundaries. She took little offense. Or atleast tried not to. Her gentle upturned of her lips remained as she stepped around to the other side of the counter. Loki had left out the dishes that had the full meals on them, probably to box up and put away, she looked over. "This is Spokely - the little one is Benji," she told the two.
"It's ah - good to have, Spokely. Benji." Was he suppose to talk to the baby? The last time they had a baby in this house it had been La Seine, and that was five years ago. He'd been 15 at the time and even then he felt mildly uncomfortable around them. Easily crushable. Ever since he snapped his little sisters arm all those years ago he steered clear of them for their own safety. It was Charlie's department. But... Charlie wasn't... yeah. "And, please, it's just Loki. Den Leader is really a title as much as it is an... idea." he grinned.
"What are you feeling, Spokely?" Themis asked. "Italian fettuccini? Ethiopian tibbs? Salmon? Steak?" she listed, hands clasped together when she looked at Spokely again. -
"Ok- um, Loki," Spokely was busy trying to figure out what the child wanted- it was never terribly easy to tell, though she figured that he wanted down. She was always holding him, carrying him, never letting him crawl around incase they had to go quickly, and this hardly seemed the time and place for him to be set down. The both of them had to settle for holding him under one arm, perched on her hip, but it was late after all. Her book had informed her that routine was very important, certain times for food, certain times for sleep, and everything would run smoother, and as such, she had attempted to hold such a routine, and it just so happened to be 'bottle time'. In fact, it was late for bottle time, but he'd been asleep earlier, which had meant he missed it, and since he was awake now, it only stood to reason that it must be bottle time. She had to stop herself from blurting those words out loud, aware that they might sound strange without context, and instead edged her way over to a counter where she was able to set her backpack down and begin the process of digging through it while Themis listed off her options.
"I- I, uh-" She felt herself blushing, somewhat embarrassed, somewhat flustered at trying to keep up some form of calmness in such a strange situation- "I don't think I know wh-what some of that is. And it's-" she broke off, finding the jar that contained the powdered formula- "I mean, if it's all the same to you, I think I'd like to get the wriggler something to eat first." Her own stomach complained at this, reminding her that she did, in fact know what some of the food mentioned was. Salmon, for instance, she knew to be a fish, and she could identify the steak just by smell.
-
Charlie watched the... the glitch with curious eyes. That had never happened before. La Seine usually had a fairly decent grip on her powers- enough of a grip to play around and disappear to become the master of a game of hide and seek that no one else agreed to play.
"Sleep tight, mon cher. Je te vois le matin." It was strange how his accent weighted down so perfectly when switching from English to French. Like it just happed fluid as though he hadnt even switched languages. He pat her leg gently through the covers before rising to his feet slowly. And then the accent lightened back up and the endearing tone was gone. Flatlined "Let's go, man." He spoke pointedly to Coeus.
As he lifted himself off of the bed and crossed the room, holding the door open for Coeus, a seemingly indifferent look on his face.
Devyn leaned forward, intending only to rest her head on the table before her. She could hear voices in the next room over as her eyes fluttered closed. He arms were her pillow, folded neatly beneath her head. And she still didn't want to sleep. She was just... Resting her eyes.
Alas, it didn't work perfectly that way for her. Slowly, she slipped in and out of consciousness. She would jerserkerrr herself up occasionally. She HAD to stay awake. But then she would find herself slowly sinking back down, muscles loosening without her consent. Her limbs weighted down and finally, sleep pulled her under sitting criss cross applesauce in a not-so-comfortable chair and her head lolling down onto her arms. Though, maybe it wasn't entirely sleep. She couldnt move her limbs anymore or speak, but her body was still hyperspace of everything: the crick slowly forming in her neck, the weird heat that her breath generated on only one area of her arm, the murmuring voices in the next room over. But her mind was finally blank to it all. She wasn't analyzing. She wasn't picking her brain for memories of the layout of the house as she often did or trying to identify the voices. She just laid and really rested for the first time in a while. -
Coeus
He paused before walking after Charlie, eyes narrowing gently as he reached over to turn off the light of her bedside lamp. The room was thrown into darkness aside from the light that poured in from the open door, and as he walked around her bed, he casted a formidable shadow across her floor and reaching to the wall running parallel. La Seine watched him, murmuring one last, "Sweet dreams" before rolling over onto her side. She gripped a pillow to her chest, burying her face in, and with a content sigh she settled in for the night.
Coeus drifted across her floor. He didn't look at Charlie when he passed through the door. Matter-of-fact, he didn't stop. He was content just walking down the hall in an attempt to avoid further conflict. He didn't want to be in the same room as the other male alone. He had a few crutches in this house. That little girl, and Atlas. So long as Atlas was around his body wouldn't fail him. And La Seine - well, would he truly do anything more in front of her? He already risked so much.Themis
She glanced towards Spokely. She wanted to speak out - to offer to take the babe off her hands and feed him so she could take care of herself. But she knew that trust wasn't yet earned. Themis nodded lightly. "Of course," and she turned towards Loki, motioning for him to hand her a few medium sized plates. As he did so, she added, "Well I'll dish you up a little bit of everything and you can eat when you're ready." This girl would eat, dammit. She took to dishing out fair portions of everything. "Loki, could you set up a crib in room 10? You should find one in storage." The House Mother asked over her shoulder without looking at the young man. There was a delay in response. Uncommon for him. "It's not rocket science to set it up, you can do it. Get Atlas to help you if you can't do it by yourself."
Loki bit his tongue. He wanted to retell the events of dinner so badly, but... Now wasn't a good time. Not in front of the new resident. Possible new resident? "Mmhm.." and like that he whisked off. -
It felt uncomfortable, edging her way around the kitchen, glancing repeatedly at the three people in it, as if to keep track of where they were, in case they were moving. She was making sure to give everyone a wide berth as well, but felt rather happy that she actually had everything that she needed to heat up the formula, she'd mostly just been putting it in the microwave and hoping for the best. This could, apparently, cause 'hot spots' that would burn the childs mouth, and she had no way of knowing that he wasn't being burnt because of some supreme luck of her own, or because the child shared the same ability of her. The not knowing was rather frustrating, but she wasn't about to try and figure the whole thing out. For that night, she was content to awkwardly move around, finding a small sauce pan and filling it with water, turning the stove on to begin heating it. The next process was always difficult one-handed, trying to open the jar of formula, of which she was using almost the last of, and scoop the right amount into the bottle, reseal it, and place it into the water, all while Benji did his best to put his fingers in her mouth.
"You've never slept in a crib before, have you kiddo?" She asked as she moved around, voice gaining a touch of the quality usually used when speaking to babies, but it was strange to hear it from her- "And a bath! You haven't had one of those lately, got all those crackers down your front. Supposed to eat them, you know," It was calming for her, as much as it was for him, the routine of talking and movement, letting her forget about the strangness of her surroundings on a subconscious level.
-
As soon as he pulled the door closed behind Coeus, Charlie sucked in a deep breath and spent a moment looking for the right words. As they wandered away from the door, he grew more confident with his ability to speak freely.
"I don't have a problem with you being with her." He finally managed to start the words up from a match in his throat. "But what I have a problem with is that there is no reason for a grown man to be hanging around a little girl's room."
He didn't yell or get overly hostile. His tone just neutral and bland. It seemed simple enough.
"Just... This is me asking you politely to leave her alone. She doesn't need to be worrying about things like all of this. She is a child. Please, for the love of God, acknowledge that." His tone was not one of frenzy or warning, or panic. He was calm. Genuine. As though she was still in the room.
He had to keep La Seine safe. He didn't remember when that had become one of his objectives, but it had, and he took it very seriously in life. "Just remember that she is a child and you are a grown man who she just met today. You have no business hanging around her bedroom anyways." -
Coeus
His head cocked slowly as he listened to Charlie, stopping to turning and facing him. "I don't think you understand what my job here is," he started. Charlie's neutrality was matched on par. "I don't blame you, you've probably never seen it been done correctly before." His shoulders shrugged. "You are all my charges now. Whether you like it not. And as my charges, I will be monitoring various developmental markers in all of you - La Seine will not be discluded simply because I am male - or because you have fabricated some opinion on me that is based off of rumor you heard. Think what you will of me, Charles, but know that I take my work seriously." Coeus' arms crossed over his broad chest. "She invited me anyways," his hand waved aridly. "I know my boundaries." His eyes locked on to Charlie's intensely. "Do you know yours, I wonder?"
Themis
Themis dished out the plates and set them down on the counter, a variety of many dishes for her to determine what she liked most. Or maybe just eat off all of them. That would widdle down to her. Through deep brown eyes she watched Spokely interact with Benji, a soft smile to her face. Watching them lifted her spirits some - something she definitely needed. There had been nothing but stress in the house since she visited. Maybe the energy of a baby would add something positive. "I can get a bath drawn for him tonight, if you'd like," she said, then took a glance at the digital clock on the stove. "Or tomorrow morning. It's pressing 10:20. Awfully late for a tiny one." Themis offered her with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's down to you, love."