In His Name

Chapter 68 - Issues

"Oh, wow, okay," Barren mumbles, shifting to sit more comfortably on the ground with a crying teenager in his lap. Sliding his arms around Rosco, to properly comfort him, "You're okay," the older man's deep voice soothes softly, "just let it out," Trailing his fingers gently over the boy's back.

Given permission, Rosco lets himself cry harder. Pouring all the hurt he carries around into his tears. He doesn't want to be this way, and he'll probably be horribly embarrassed in the morning for allowing himself to fall apart in front of this man he hardly knows. But he is so tired, not only from his lack of sleep, but his constant struggle to convince himself he's okay, when he often feels anything but.

Barren falters slightly, seeing the fervency of Rosco's tears, awkwardly trying his best to sound soothing. The man clearly doesn't know what he was doing, but he is trying, and after a while his efforts show fruit. Rosco sniffles, sucking down his first full breath since he'd started. The intensity of his emotion spent, leaving only the dull aches of all his unresolved worries in its wake. Giving himself over to the moment, Rosco closes his eyes, breathing in the warm spring air. The smell of water wafts up from the lake. Gentle noises of crickets and frogs singing their nightly lullaby's, familiar and comforting to a boy who was raised in a lake town. An eerie calm settles over the world, like this place is separate, removed from everything else. If he could only find a way to grasp onto this moment, none of his fears would come to fruition, keeping him safe inside this bubble of nighttime. But Rosco knows such dreams are childish. The sun will rise in a few hours regardless of how much he begs it to stay down. The boy turns his teary eyes up to Barren to try and assess the damage he's done to this new and fragile relationship.

Barren smiles, a bit shy but reassuring, "I, uh," dropping down to a whisper, "Shit, I thought I had issues."

Rosco chuckles. Barren has a very soothing presence. Much like Hayden's, just minus all the sexual tension Rosco tries really hard, but unsuccessfully to ignore. He sags, relaxing against Barren's chest, trying to calm himself while Barren keeps up the soothing motions along his back.

"You- I mean we, we're not monsters," the older man says softly, once the last of Rosco's tears finally falls, "And you don't have to earn your right to exist, you're already here."

Rosco raises his eyes, catching Barren in his gaze, "Are-" clearing his emotion riddled throat, "Are we witches?"

"No." Barren answers thoughtfully, "Flynn's a witch. A good one, a healer. Good kid too, but don't tell him I said so, it would go straight to his head." The older man teases with a smile. "He's got tree spirit in his blood," serious again. "That's the difference between him and us. His magic is in his body, comes from his ancestors and when he dies and enters the cycle, he'll have new ancestors and won't be a witch anymore. You and I are something else. Our souls are made of magic, the same stuff as the gods, but our bodies are a hundred precent human. Blended together so completely there is no divide between our two halves. A perfect bridge between humanity and the gods."

"That can't be," Rosco's disbelief brightly coloring his tone, "I'm not- I don't- why?"

Barren blinks down at the boy, his face a mix of disbelief and disappointment, "You really don't know anything do you? About what we are, who we are to them, what it means for our lives, how our magic works?"

Rosco shaking his head in answer, "I was hoping you'd be willing to teach me. How did you figure this stuff out on your own?" he asks, equal parts impressed and daunted.

"You want to hear my life story?"

Rosco nods, "Yeah, I totally do."

Barren takes a deep breath, eyes flicking up into his memory. "Well, I was born in what now is called Falties. I had... problems at home,"