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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Oct 30, 2019 16:32:07 GMT -5
Free time is great. I love having free time. ;D
Yes, well, life happens, even for our darling Seth. He'll get hurt and be sad, and then he'll have a period of happiness again, and then rinse and repeat. xD
On another note, I had a brilliant idea while at work today. Between writing Seth's Story, I'm also going to start releasing what I like to call "Flashback Shorts." I'll write one every Friday, and they'll just be little snippets from random points in Seth's life. And most of them will be happy and upbeat, so you don't have to feel bad for little Seth. xD
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Apr 3, 2020 22:34:44 GMT -5
You've Got a Friend in Me
The Kids: Seth (7 ½); Arianna (7 ¾); Heather (5); Morgan (8); Senza (6); Devon (6) The day was way too cheery considering the atrocities that had befallen the world the night before.
But perhaps that was an unfair assessment. It was not the world at large that had had such atrocities befall it; it was just Morgan’s personal world that had been dealt a blow. Still, the sunny weather helped not at all with improving Morgan’s mood.
“Are you alright, kid?”
Morgan turned away from the large, sunlit property stretched out in front of him and looked up at the man - the Rider - who had collected him from the orphanage. Morgan couldn’t remember his name. He hadn’t really been listening when the man introduced himself, his thoughts caught up on the first thing the man had said: I’m taking him to be with his mother’s people.
Morgan hadn’t bothered to tell the man that his mother had felt no loyalty to “her people.” She knew of the darkness within their ranks, and she had spent almost every day since Morgan was old enough to understand telling him that he was not to trust the Riders either. Morgan had never thought to ask why, believing he had plenty more days and years ahead of him to ask.
He was wrong. And now it was too late.
The Rider frowned down at him, and Morgan remembered that he had been asked a question. He couldn’t recall what, so he turned away without answering and asked a question of his own. “Where are we?”
If the man was put out that Morgan hadn’t answered, he didn’t show it. He just faced forward again and kept walking up the neat and slightly winding path toward the giant house perched on the hill. “Dragon Rider Headquarters,” he said. “Most of us just call it the House.”
Morgan said nothing for a time. “How many Riders live here?”
“Permanently? Only a handful,” the man replied. “But many more are always coming and going. You needn’t worry, though. You’re not the only kid living here. You’re not even the only kid your age.”
“I know,” was all Morgan said in response.
The Rider shot him a startled look that Morgan pretended not to see. “How do you -” he started.
He was interrupted by a shout, and then a small blond kid dropped out from the tree they were walking under and landed on the man’s shoulders. At least, that had no doubt been his goal. But the man, moving faster than Morgan had thought possible for a human, twisted at the last second, caught the kid around the waist, and tossed him unceremoniously into the dirt. The kid tettered precariously for several seconds before losing the fight to gravity and plopping down hard on his rear.
He glared furiously up at the man. “Damn it! What did I do wrong?” he demanded.
Morgan wasn’t sure which surprised him more: that such a young kid swore so vehemently, or that he was willingly acknowledging that he had messed up somewhere. Morgan had certainly never been so willing to admit to wrongdoing. Granted, that was in part because he had rarely done anything wrong in his short life, but still.
The man sighed, the sound of someone who was about to repeat himself - again. “You shouted. Again.”
The boy glowered. “I did… not.” His response started argumentatively, but dwindled to uncertainty as he seemed to recall that he had, in fact, given a very loud battle cry right before dropping out of the tree. He punched the ground. “Damn it,” he said again.
This time the man seemed to notice the swearing, and responded with the age-old adult retort: “Watch your mouth.” Morgan had never understood that saying, as it was quite impossible to watch one’s mouth without a mirror, and nobody wanted to walk around with a handheld in front of their face. “And get up. Since you’re here, I may as well introduce you to our newest student. Seth, this is Morgan. Morgan, this is -”
“Oh great, another one.” The boy, Seth, was on his feet now, and dusting himself off with that scowl still etched across his features. It made him look a little older, and Morgan had to reevaluate how old he had thought the kid was. His small stature, rounded features, and messy golden locks had led Morgan to believe he was only four or five. But as he watched, he realized Seth must have been closer to Morgan’s own age.
“Seth,” the Rider said sternly. “That’s not very polite. The boy’s parents just died.”
That, more than anything the man had said so far, caught and held Morgan’s attention.
“No, they didn’t,” he said bluntly. The man looked at him quickly, but his expression was carefully neutral. Seth looked bored, but there was something about the expression that made Morgan think it was exaggerated, if not false. Morgan looked from Seth to the Rider. “My parents didn't die,” he said again. “They were killed. Big difference.”
A strange emotion darted across the man’s face, too swift for Morgan to identify it. Then his expression went blank again and he said quietly, “Of course. My mistake.” Then he turned away and faced Seth. “Take him to your rooms and introduce him to the others,” he ordered curtly.
Seth looked startled, then outraged. “Why me? I don’t want to be stuck indoors. I hate it there.”
“No you don’t,” the man replied simply. “Besides, I never said you had to stay. Just introduce Morgan, then fork him over to Arianna if that’s what you want.”
Morgan felt a wave of irritation. “I am not a piece of food,” he objected. “I can fork myself just fine.”
He didn’t realize until Seth snorted a laugh that the words made less sense out loud than they had in his head. He shot Seth a glare, and Seth glared right back. He looked like he was wishing he had dropped himself on Morgan’s head instead.
So Morgan was quite surprised when Seth suddenly said, “Fine. Let’s go, new kid. Try and keep up.” And without preamble, he turned around and bolted toward the house, moving shockingly quickly for someone with such short legs.
Morgan shot the Rider one brief, startled look, then steeled himself and took off after the pipsqueak. He wanted speed? Morgan would show him speed.
His feet flew over the ground, his arms pumping him along with little effort. He heard the whisper of his mother's voice, in the back of his mind, warning him against going so fast. For a moment his footsteps faltered, slowed. Then the sight of Seth drawing further away had him pushing the warning away and his stride quickening once more.
Seth had almost reached the house when Morgan caught up to him. He drew alongside the other boy, caught Seth's shocked glance as he passed him, and took the lead. When they hit the front courtyard Morgan sensed Seth start to slow, and Morgan followed suit, so they were both walking by the time they reached the wide front steps.
Both boys were breathing hard, though perhaps not as hard as one might expect after such a fast sprint. Morgan only felt a little winded, but he was surprised that Seth was only slightly more so. He would have expected the other boy to have had to expend more effort to go so fast for so long.
But Seth didn't look tired. He was flushed from exertion and a bit out of breath, but something about his stance said he could run more and keep it up all day. And he was looking at Morgan as if he were the one surprised by Morgan's effortless speed. His gaze was also looking over Morgan too closely for comfort, and Morgan felt the first stirrings of regret for ignoring his mother's warning and running so fast.
He cleared his throat and gestured toward the house, hoping to distract the other boy before he started asking questions. "So where are we going?"
Seth stared hard at Morgan for a moment more before turning away without a word and bounding up the front steps. Morgan let out a quiet breath and followed him.
Somehow, Morgan had failed to notice just how big the House was until he was standing inside it. The foyer alone was bigger than the home he had grown up in with his mother and Levi. The wealth of the Riders was obvious as well in the opulence that was everywhere. Two staircases flanked the foyer, curving away to the second and third floors.
Seth was standing on the bottom step of the right staircase, watching Morgan with a blank expression that reminded Morgan of the Rider who had brought him here. It made him wonder what the relationship was between the man and Seth. There was no physical resemblance that Morgan could see, but then, Morgan knew better than most that blood did not need to be shared to make a family.
He waved a hand to encompass their surroundings. "Is everywhere as big as this?"
Seth smirked, the action making him look older again. Morgan realized he did that on purpose, which meant he was aware of how young he looked and did his best to make up for it by behaving as if he were older. "No." Seth turned around and started walking up the stairs. "Some places are bigger."
Morgan arched one brow at his back and followed him up to the second floor. They walked a ways down a long hall, then Seth shouldered open a door and stepped into what looked like a living room, as if they had just stepped into someone's house rather than a room in a giant house. The far wall was all windows, and there were two doors on the walls to the left and right, probably leading to bedrooms.
Seth stopped in the center of the large room and spun in a slow circle, arms spread. "Voilà. Home sweet home." He didn't sound particularly heartwarming. "Second room on the right is mine. First one on the left is Devon's. You can take your pick of the other two. I'll go find the girls." He slid past Morgan back into the hall and was gone. Morgan half expected him to stay gone.
He turned to face the room, taking in the assorted and scattered furniture. Love seats, armchairs, bean bag chairs, a couch. None of it matched, but it all looked well-worn and comfortable. A few low tables were interspersed among the seats, and on them were a random assortment of toys and trinkets, textbooks and notepads. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and Morgan had just started browsing them — history texts, mostly, with a wide assortment of adventure type novels mixed in — when a door opened behind him.
Morgan turned, expecting to find Seth. Instead, a dark haired boy about his age was stepping out of one of the bedrooms. Morgan thought back to what Seth had said about the claimed room, trying to remember the name he'd used. "Hi. You must be Devon. I'm —"
"I don't care," the boy Morgan assumed was Devon replied crisply, "who you are. You're a half-breed orphan, and you don't belong here."
Morgan flinched back as if he'd been struck, his shoulder hitting the bookshelf. "I — How do you —"
"Devon, you little shit." Morgan's eyes went wide at Seth's voice from the doorway. It was unexpected, but Seth's casual use of the swear word was even more so. He was glaring at Devon, who also looked startled, as if the heat of his stare would set the other boy aflame. "Don't you talk to him like that. Just because he only has one Rider parent doesn't mean he's a 'half-breed.' There are plenty of Riders who have no Rider parents. Your having two doesn't make you special."
Morgan felt an equal measure of relief and surprise at Seth's words. Devon didn't know the truth — none of them did. But what was so important about having one or more Riders for parents?
Devon recovered while Morgan was puzzling this out. "Oh, no, of course not. You're the only one allowed to be special. How could I forget?" His tone dripped derision, making Morgan question just what went on in this house to make these kids act twice their age.
Seth shook his head,but he was smirking. "Hey, you said it, not me. I don't think I'm special — I know I am, and it has nothing to do with who my parents are."
Devon snorted. "Right." Without another word, he spun on his heel and marched back into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Unfazed, Seth turned to face Morgan. "Ignore him. He's been here for almost a year, but he's still grumpy because he thought he would be the most important kid in the group. He wasn't told I would be here."
Morgan looked from Seth to the closed door and back. "What makes you more important than him?"
Seth shrugged. "Our parents, of course. His dad is a high-ranking Rider, and a lord to boot. But my mother is the leader of all the Riders, which puts her, and therefore me, higher in the hierarchy than Devon and his dad. It irks him, cause where he comes from, there's no one his age higher ranked than he is."
Morgan was shaking his head, not because he didn't get what Seth was saying, but because he couldn't understand why such things could matter so much to a bunch of kids. Although it did make him wonder: if they knew who his dad was, where would they put him in their little hierarchy? Or was it just the Rider parent who influenced that?
"Anyway," Seth went on, turning to face the door. That's when Morgan realized two girls were standing there, looking a little reluctant to enter. The redhead was about his age, and surprisingly tall. Definitely taller than Seth, and possibly even an inch taller than Morgan. The other girl was younger, with long honey colored locks and bright blue eyes. Both girls were looking at him from beneath lowered lashes, as if trying not to be too obvious in their study of the new kid.
"Ladies," Seth said, adopting such a gentlemanly inflection that Morgan had to look at him quickly to see if he had been replaced by an imposter. "This is Morgan. Morgan, these lovely ladies are Arianna LaFaux and Heather Wellenly." Seth suddenly dropped the gentleman voice as abruptly as he'd used it. "There's also Senza, but she's decided she hates me so she refused to come say hi on principle."
Morgan blinked once, slowly. "No," he said. "You? How could she possibly?"
Seth stared at him, flabbergasted. The girls, to Morgan's delight, laughed. "Oh dear," Arianna said, one hand over her mouth to hide her smile. "It looks like you've finally met your match, Seth."
Seth's surprise had faded and he was now studying Morgan thoughtfully. Morgan held his gaze for a moment that seemed to last an eternity. Then Seth grinned, and it was the first real emotion Morgan could remember him displaying. "You know what, Ari? I think you're right."
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