Inciting Events

Chapter 15

Cyrus Anders

Cyrus sighed as he continued to slowly assemble the parts of the machine that was currently being built by him and Badger. Usually, he would’ve loved putting everything together and making his ideas come to life, but ever since everything that had happened, it seemed hard to be happy.

Magnus and Badger had both been amazing ever since they found out everything, even if a bit protective. Magnus was the one a bit more on the protective side. He had deemed that Cyrus couldn’t be around sharp objects or work with explosive materials unless he had supervision from one of them. He had taken away his privileges to go to the roof. If Cyrus being alone with Tempest could be avoided, it would be. Cyrus also now had requirements to eat at least two full meals a day and no more than three cups of coffee.

He did think that it was a bit of overkill, if you asked him. But, he was somewhat glad that the fire starting friend of his had taken such initiative when it came to his well-being. He was also very happy not to be around his boss alone as the thought of what might happen if they were left to themselves truly terrified him.

The other of his roommates had taken a more gentle approach to the situation. He was pretty sure that the younger boy just didn’t know what to do. There really wasn’t much more to say past the fact that he was gentle, just gentle. He would only lightly touch Cyrus if he had to at all. He spoke quieter around him, and whenever Cyrus had a nightmare or a headache, he was immediately at his side with water, some medicine, and a listening ear. If he was willing to talk about it.

He found it almost comforting, not to mention all the others. His sister was very adamant that she saw him more, which he was very happy to comply with the order. They now had nightly calls at eleven on Magnus’s phone.

It was really nice to be able to talk to her more. She told him about every little thing that was happening in the house and every little shenanigan that Birdy seemed to always be getting into. In turn, he told her everything that he could about what was happening at Tempest’s headquarters. Not that there was much to tell. He was in his office all day and only knew what was happening through his boss and friend. So he let her do most of the talking, which he was happy with.

Sometimes, they would just begin going on rants about stupid things they had done when they were younger. That had to be one of his favorite times. When they would both just sit back and laugh at how dumb they had been when they were younger. Like when Holiday was four and booked hotel reservations behind their mom’s back and both of them secretly packed up almost all their clothes and were prepared for a week long secret vacation. But, they were stopped when the hotel staff called the house phone a couple of nights before to confirm the reservation and their dad had picked up.

Safe to say they hadn’t gotten that vacation, especially considering the fact that the service they got cost roughly $1,300, before the room service fees. Yeah, his mom canceled the reservation.

Cyrus sometimes had to lean into the couch to muffle his laughter because both of his roommates were usually asleep when he was on call with his sister, so he absolutely had to be quiet.

Although, there was something that took him a bit off guard. That was Brynleigh’s insistence on also having nightly calls with him. When he asked why, she just said that they were friends and that with everything that had evidently happened to him, she wanted to make sure he was actually okay. He supposed that what she said made sense, and he was just happy that she considered him a friend.

The first call with his new acquaintance had been very awkward because after the initial ‘how are you’s, they really didn’t have much to talk about. Silence was sometimes good, Cyrus really did love the void from noise and sound, but on the phone with someone that you cared for but only vaguely knew was not the time that it was appreciated for what it was actually worth in the real world.