♤SPRING SHIELD (MxM) ~fantasy~♤

Many thanks,Kristian White

Elijah

My eyes slowly open.
I untuck my hands from under my pillow. I fell asleep.
I push myself up with as much force as my body is allowing me,black out hangover is the worst.
Sluggishly,I reach for my desk to where I always put my phone and find nothing. Groaning,I look for my alarm clock. Nothing. Defeated I get up and trudge to my closet,one of my watches. My collection drawer is... empty.
"Hell is this-"I sigh and walk to the window and peak my head out the window. The sun is setting. How long have I been out? Crap,my kids.
Rushing I take a shower so quick it's like I didn't take it,change and walk down the staircase only to find Kristian walking into my house,holding both my sons hands,
"Dad!"they say in unison running to wrap their arms around my legs,"I missed you,"Oliver tells me with a toothy grin,
"Me too buddy,did you just come from school?"
"Yeah,thank goodness your awake,doing math homework without you is so hard!"Liam says walking away to unpack his backpack. Kristian laughs at this,
"Not my fault I've never been good at explaining math."he says walking to the counter,dangling my car keys above his head,"I used your car by the way,and I didn't know you had so many cars in your garage."
"They've been collected over the years- and hey,how long have been in bed?"
"A little over thirty-two hours."he says,nonchalant as he walks to the fridge and pulls out chicken and places it in the sink. Oh,he's been living here alright.
I do the math in my head,"that means... it's Tuesday? Forget that,I need to go to work. I need to-"
"Not really,everything has been okay if the office,I've been taking meetings on your behalf,doing development on the project. Sorry that this might hurt your ego but the world didn't stop spinning just because you went to bed."
"Oh,wow. Thanks,so what now you're the man of the house?"I ask,sitting on the kitchen island just so I can watch what he's doing. I don't know why watching him get comfortable is entertaining,
"Not yet,I'm working on moving out of the guest room into the masters."
"I'm sure you are,and you're going to cook chicken? How?"
"I don't know yet it can'tbe that hard,anyway."
"Yeah,out of the kitchen man of the house. I'll do it."I say washing my hands and he frowns taking my place in the audience,placing his head in his hands,
"Do you still feel sick?"he asks,
"No,just blackout aftermath. Otherwise I'm good,"I explain chopping vegetables to make the simplest chicken stew possible,
"Avatars are so complicated."I make a noncommittal sound as I chew on a carrot and rinse string beans through warm water,
"Did my mother come by?I woke up in different pair of clothes."the silence behind me is deafening and I turn around with a stern look on my face,"I swear to the light realm tell me you didn't change my clothes-"
"What was I supposed to do? Let you rot in clothes you threw up in?"
"No,you were supposed to call my mother and let her handle it."
"Oh,yeah,like that's an awesome idea. She didn't even want to see you after you were so irresponsible."he says,running a hand through his hair letting it fall in front of his face. He's wearing make up again.
A smoky eye and lip gloss.
"That's a lie."I say trying to forget about how pretty he looks,
"Because everyone loves you and no one has the heart to abandon you."he says putting a cherry that was on the island through his dewy pink lips.
I roll my eyes and sigh,"Also teach me how to cook. All the time,can you make waffles like dad does? Can you do granola like dad does? I don't know how to do any of that and now they probably hate me."
"They don't hate you. Their just children who are growing and need nutrition. But don't worry I'll forget the fact that you saw my naked figure against my will and teach you."I say peeling garlic cloves
"I didn't even look,okay? You're not some sort of glistening greek god."
"Actually the avatars physiques are often compared to ancient Greek gods all the time,so glistening would be your own doing."
"Whose seeing who naked?"Oliver asks after changing his clothes himself,
"No one,buddy. Changed all by yourself?"I scratch his head,
"Yeah,Liam is watching cartoons without your permission again."he says as I slowly lower myself to his level,
"Aren't you a little snitch?"Kristian adds,enjoying those cherries a bit too much,
"I'm not! If we want to watch TV we have to ask for dad's permission."
"That's right,have you done your homework?"
"Not yet,can we do it after super when you aren't cooking?"
"Sure thing,buddy. Go watch TV with your brother then I'll over."I scratch his head before he scurries off away from the kitchen.
"They kept wondering when you'd wake up,"Kristian says,
"Naturally,that's the longest I've ever been out. They must have missed me and my cooking,"
"What a jab. Mr petty strikes again,"
"And the crowd goes wild."I smile as I stir the pot of soup,
"You know,the boys wanted to watch a movie tomorrow after school."
"Sure."
"Can I come?"
"Hm,I'll think about it."
"Elijah Lewis the third,also know as a jerk."

____________

Kristian

I practically moved into the guest room of Lewis' house when he was in a blackout. I did everything,cleaning,taking care of the kids you name it. Tending to his household.
And I find that I like it,as much work as it is. It's colourful. Full of life.
But now that he's awake,I don't just have his presence to be in contact with. I can almost hear everything he said to me that night,what it felt like to be embraced. The mixture of emotions he set flame to.
When he was sleeping,I involuntary watched him. His nose,his lips and his muscles. The slow rise and fall of his chest,the flutter of his eye lashes when he would stir in his sleep. I could stare as much as I wanted and he wouldn't have anything to say but I still stopped myself.
Watching the man began to consume me,so much so that I avoided looking at him when I would tend him. He couldn't shower so I would take a wet towel and try to clean him as best I could.
But every day,I felt the weight of his words pressing down on me.
Just like today.
"And that- is how you make the worlds best caramelised popcorn."Elijah says walking away from the tray of sugar coated snacks,
"That is far too unprocessed and chaotic."
"Like you could do better. Don't worry,I'll give your private lessons."he says,he's in smug feel good mood after I told him I wanted to learn from him,
"I'm going to go get them."
"No need. We're here! Dad,we're watching the legend of time!"Oliver says jumping around in place as he runs off to the coach,Liam whose already there getting comfortable.
"Again? Don't you boys ever get tired of that movie?"Elijah laughs,the full deep laugh that he does when his children humour him. No one can make him happy like that.
"Legend of time?"
"Please tell me your joking! The legend of time,theatre classic?"he says like I'm supposed to know what he means. Embarrassed,I shrug walking off with the snacks to the table,
"What's it about?"I say quietly so the boys don't hear me,
"It's about the blessing of Lyria,an animated depiction of how this all started. Its lovely."he explains setting down the bowls on the coffee table,walking me back to the kitchen,
"Lovely?"
"Yes,the boys love that movie. Every kid in this age does but back in the day? We had the live action,more realistic to the true struggle of the avatars. The legacy that's been passed down for generations... it's a cinematic relic."
"You're literally obsessed with that."
"Of course I am. It reminds me that I'm doing all this for them,for the men and women who died fighting for this city."he explains,setting everything away,
"Do ever think you get too... lost in the sauce of that? Too deep?"he stills in front of me before turning around and giving me a small smile. Stiff and distant.
"Come on let's join them,"
We watch the legend of time. Its a beautiful movie,sweet but also quiet sad. Showcasing the trail blazers. The first avatars,the heroes of Ferrez. The first blood bender was supposed an old wizard who could make himself young and handsome at will?
The first King of butterflies had grey dreadlocks and his name was Lerwick. They all seem so different but have such a weird resemblance to the avatars of today. "Are you guys like... direct descendants of them?"
"Yeah,isn't that crazy? I feel so... honoured."he shrugs,wonder on his face as the credits roll. The boys fell asleep right next to the end of movie and we sent them to bed. But its only eight at night.
"I'm sure you do,makes sense why you're so arrogant."
"Takes one to know one,I guess."he puts popcorn into his mouth and I shove him,he laughs turning off the movie,"Want to watch another movie? Just us adults?"he asks,clearly his gaze softened as he looks back at me. The room is dim and his shoulder is right next to mine on the couch,
"Are you gonna make me watch the live action?"I dip my hand into the bowl of popcorn that tastes otherworldly,
"No,not today. Maybe this new spy series? I hear its nice-"he scrolls through the episodes,
"From who?"
"Don't question my sources when you speak to mice. Azaar told me,that guy spends all his time indoors trust his opinion on this,"
"Turn it on then."