everyonelives | but oh what a year

So far so good. No nightmares. No tantrums. He's quiet - but - loving.

( It's felt very good finally having him home. )

Does he looks settled?

I think he looks like a very excited kid on Christmas.

[Davina shifts to lean against the counter.]

I think he also might be the kind of kid that might need some time to warm up.

He didn't fit in with the other bayou kids. He kept to himself. Held his own rough-housing. One of the times we came by, he had a small cut on his elbow. Kids can be...

( Cruel. )

Also, compared to that cabin, our house is quiet. Except for Aiden's music. Or my trashy TV.

Yeah, so it sounds like he may get used to that.

[Also werewolf kids are known rough-housers, that's nothing new. But she can see Josh being protective, and it's good. Erroll deserves people who will protect him.]

How have you guys been doing with having him here?

Hopefully. We're not keeping him away from the kids. He did have real friends. But, there's going to be an adjustment period.

( He knows that. )

Honest? ( He looks back at his husband, something nagging in his cheek. ) Hey, can you - ( A beat, he looks over at the dying fireplace. ) Aid, Davina and I are going to grab some more firewood out back.

( He leaves their drinks in the kitchen for now and leads her out the back door. It swings shut behind him as he leads her down the back stairs. When he gets a few feet away, he speaks again. )

So, it's been great. For us. For him. Nothing's changed like that, but Aiden's... ever since I got taken. Up in Muir Woods. I don't know. He's going through something.

[Davina follows him back out into the courtyard and Davina waits and listens, trying to find the thing in between that Josh isn't saying.]

Going through something now? Do you think he got hit by some kind of spell?

He won't talk about whatever was left behind after I was taken. Only that it was Dahlia and that she didn't make sense to him. But, he really hasn't been sleeping great. Or, napping during the day and Aiden doesn't nap. I know something's on his mind. He's keeping it together for me and for Erroll, but.

( Something nags. )

[Davina nods. She can check and see if there's any kind of residual magic, but she's seen them since California. She would think she would have noticed.]

Maybe we can talk about it after Erroll goes to bed?

We can try. I don't want to spring it on him, especially if nothing is wrong.

( And he's just shaken. )

Of course not. But it's still good to check in.

[Davina doesn't want to just spring it on him either.]

There were a lot of weird magics in those woods. Better to be safe than sorry.

Oh yeah. Spells I've never seen, like retribution spells.

( Absolutely crazy. And then the one that sent them all to the other world. Or the past? He doesn't know for sure, he got captured. )

[Davina nods, before reaching forward and giving Josh's arm a squeeze.]

Whatever it is, we'll figure it out. It could just have been a lot of stress in a short period of time.

And then the stress of Eroll - getting Erroll, just that process, that ball finally moving forward.

( He, too, was anxious. )

It's probably nothing. You're right. Let's get this wood back inside and warm up our boys.

Yes. And also see how much of a mess they've made.

[Because she's willing to bet there's at least something of a mess.

She's at least right in the sense that Scott, Aiden and Erroll are all sitting on the floor, surrounded by Legos and intently studying the rulebook for how to put set Lego set together.]

You guys having fun?

( "Legos have gotten really complicated," Scott says, turning his head over. Josh approaches from the back. )

Well, you have it upside down.

( He smiles in Davina's direction, how cute is he, before stepping over the lego pile and moving to the fireplace.

Erroll has ignored all instructions and has started constructing. )

[Davina smirks as she moves to settle next to him.]

Seems like Erroll's doing his own thing.

["Sometimes forgoing the instructions is the way to go," Aiden smirks. "Right, buddy?"]

( He nods, continuing his work.

Josh lights and then stokes the fire before sitting back.

"Instructions, or suggestions?" Scott asked with a grin. )

Exactly.

Personally, I've always made my own thing too.

[She blames it on the artist in her.]

Sometimes you want to get creative.

It's about then journey.

( He looks up from the floor at his girlfriend and her family. It's a good day. )

[It is. And it's a good day that will eventually fade to a good dinner and eventually Erroll will go to bed and the four of them will settle on the couch in front of the fire.

And with that, Davina will nudge Aiden gently while Josh and Scott are chatting about the tree.]

Hey. You okay?

[Not the most subtle, but they've been friends long enough that Aiden doesn't seem bothered by it. More confused that it's even a question. Aiden blinks, before nodding. "Yeah. Totally." Davina squints at him, and he looks over at his husband. "Have I been giving off that I'm not okay?"]

You've slept better. ( Than he has been sleeping. ) Since the Redwoods.

( It's not gossip if it's true and it's coming from a place of concern. )

Dahlia.

Oh.

[He sighs briefly, before scrubbing a hand over his face. He didn't think he had been that obvious but he should know better. He and Josh have been together for so long that he would pick up on the slightest shift. But he doesn't really know how to explain it.

I remembered another timeline when you were dead isn't something he wants to say to his husband, ever.]

I'm ... Dahlia showed me something. And then after ... I started remembering things that I haven't entirely made sense of. But I'm fine. Really.

What kind of other things?

( Remembering things sounds like compulsion. Like something erased from his mind. And, maybe he isn't remembering. Maybe she conjured imagery. Made him see things. Things he's never seen. Things not real.

Did seeing these things mess up his sleep? )

[Aiden lets out a breath because he doesn't really know how to explain it.]

She was showing me ... visions, I guess. Of her killing me in an alley back when she was still alive. She tried to implant them in my head like they were memories but ... I knew they weren't right. They didn't feel right.

[He doesn't know how to explain it because he didn't remember then.]

Then we got distracted by going to get you but the more time I had to sit and think about it, the more actual memories started popping up and ... it was this whole other life I had. And those, unfortunately, did feel real.

( He couldn't imagine his life without Aiden. He doesn't know what he would do had Dahlia killed him. Or, why she would have. Why, Aiden? No, he knows the answer. It all goes back to Klaus. It always go back to Klaus. His hand finds his husband's as he explains, wanting him to feel physical support with his admission. )

That's why you left that night. Why you couldn't sleep. Why you've had trouble sleeping. These other memories. ( To Davina ) How could that Dahlia - which wasn't Dahlia - even be able to do that.

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packguy - 2026-03-07 04:33 (UTC) - Expand