Forging New Paths

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Evelyn was not someone to do things that were 'silly' all the time, but she was not humorless or insensitive. She knew
Anthony could use some cheering up, and seeing the boy laugh would make Luca and Garrett smile at the same time. When Anthony burst into laughter she gave a soft chuckle of her own, turning her phone for Luca to see so he could read the little poem and see the 'space whale' better. Her boys were amused and happy and together. Life could be hard, but everything would be all right.

When Garrett sent her a text she gave him a self-satisfied, perhaps a bit smug little smile. Comedic timing is everything.

"It is a little cool out," She agreed with Anthony, giving Luca a gentle pat on the shoulder and helping him sit up away from her so she could uncurl her legs. "Why don't you and Garrett fix up the couch and I'll clean up out here. He knows where things are."
 
Yes. You've got quite the knack for it, Garrett texted back, his eyes twinkling while he returned Evelyn's smile.

Anthony nodded and adjusted the warm blanket around his shoulders. "Sure. And thanks again for letting me stay the night!" He wandered off with Garrett towards the door, much more relaxed than when he'd first arrived - although he did yank Garrett back by the arm and remind him to wipe his feet before they went all the way inside.

When Luca and Evelyn made their way inside with Watson, Garrett and Anthony had just finished getting the bed set up. Garrett glanced over and smiled. "Hey, welcome back! Do you need any help with the cleanup, Evelyn? I could do the dishes if you want. Or at least rinse the mugs and put them in the dishwasher."

Anthony fluffed his pillow a bit and reached for something in his backpack. But then he paused. ". . . Oh. I forgot to ask. Luca? Evelyn? Is it okay if I have Mr. Clown out?"
 
"You're very welcome," Evelyn responded almost absentmindedly as she helped Luca to his feet, then accepted his help to her own when he offered. It was simple enough to have him hold Watson while she shook off and folded up the blanket, and they followed the others inside only a few minutes later.

"If you'd like to do the dishes," she offered when Garrett asked, "I'll clean up the table and counters." Anthony's request, though, she left to Luca. There was a bit of silent communication between them - he was getting better at it, thankfully - in which she gave him a questioning look, he pointed to himself as if to ask if it was up to him, and she nodded and gestured for him to go ahead and tell Anthony.

Luca fidgeted a little, fingers curling and uncurling against Watson's side, and finally gave a shy little nod of his head. ". . . yes." He hadn't really liked Anthony dressed as a clown, and didn't think he would like a real clown in person, but Mr. Clown was Anthony's small, stuffed friend that didn't move or talk. That was okay.

"There you have it." Evelyn agreed with a little shrug, and gave Luca a gentle pat on the arm to praise him. "Why don't you go and get ready for bed, hm? We'll try and get some sleep tonight. Anthony, let us know if you need anything while we clean up."
 
"Sounds like a deal!" Garrett announced, and he went off, collected the mugs from everyone, and headed to the sink. Then he carefully rinsed and scrubbed each mug before setting it in the dishwasher, humming lightly to himself.

Anthony sighed in relief and pulled the clown out, hugging him close to his chest. "Thanks, Luca. I'll put him away in my backpack as soon as I wake up in the morning, okay?"

Watson purred contently in Luca's arms. He was delighted to be in one of his favorite spots, and he knew exactly where he'd be sleeping that night.

The cat meowed, and Anthony chuckled and climbed into bed. "Aww. Is Watson gonna be your snuggle buddy tonight? That's fun! You have Watson, and I have Mr. Clown."

Garrett finished up the last mug and closed the dishwasher, drying his hands on a hanging towel. "Don't forget your Ferris Wheel nightlight," he added. He strolled over to the closet, pulled the nightlight from Anthony's backpack, and brought it to the side table. "Mind if I plug it in?"

"Sure! Thanks, Garrett," Anthony said cheerfully. He snuggled further into bed and glanced over at Luca and Evelyn with a smile. "You guys need anything before I get settled in?"
 
Luca wasn't really sure why Anthony needed to put the clown away so quickly, but if it made him feel better that it was safely stored in his bag he couldn't see a reason that it was bad either. "Watson is . . . calm." He said softly, looking down at the cat and briefly leaning their heads together. Watson was calming, was a more accurate statement, but not one he had the capacity to think about right then.

"All settled in?" Evelyn asked when she was done cleaning up with Garrett, giving Anthony a little smile. "I should be asking you that. I'm sure we'll be just fine. Don't worry if you hear Luca walking around in the night, sometimes he gets restless at night. Come knock if you need anything."

It could be a lot of work, having so many guests in her house, but at the same time it only made the place feel whole. Full, and lived in, rather than empty and sterile. As much as mess could bother her, and having people around interrupted her routine, she found she didn't mind quite so much anymore.
 
Anthony beamed at Luca and nodded. "Yeah. He's a calm, relaxed kitty. Unless he gets the zoomies." He petted Mr. Clown's head and tilted his head, but his smile faded slightly when Evelyn explained Luca might walk around at night sometimes. "Oh. I was gonna put him away in the morning so he doesn't scare anyone, but - Luca, will you be okay if I have him through the night? I don't want you to be scared," he said softly.

Garrett's expression softened, and he sat down in the bed next to Anthony, still wearing his trench coat. He was pretty sure Luca wouldn't have said yes to the clown if he wasn't okay with seeing it at night. But he thought it might be better for Luca to reinforce his own thoughts on the matter, so he waited for a beat to see if Luca had the mental energy to respond.
 
Luca frowned in a way that was more confused than upset, and only shook his head at the idea that Anthony should put his toy away, holding Watson a little tighter. "No. . . It's not scary." Clowns were weird, and maybe unsettling in person, but a toy was just a toy. Even if he made faces at it sometimes, Anthony liked it a lot, so he wasn't going to ask for it to go away.

"That's very nice of you, Luca." Evelyn praised, and started to push him gently towards the hallway. "Come on, now, let's let them sleep. It's time for bed. Goodnight, everyone." It would take her a little while to get Luca settled into bed, but at least she was reassured that he was in a better mood. Anthony had always inspired more words out of Luca than she or Garrett did, she thought, and it was good to have him feeling up to using his words off and on. Hopefully by morning he would be back to relatively normal.
 
"Oh! Okay, then. Thanks, Luca," Anthony replied, beaming and making Mr. Clown wave at Luca. He giggled. "Mr. Clown says thank you, too. Good night, Luca. Good night, Evelyn. Good night, Garrett."

"Night, everyone," Garrett replied with a smile. He spent a few minutes getting changed and brushing teeth in the bathroom, switched out with Anthony, and then got himself set up in the bed. Eventually, once both of them were settled, he smiled and ruffled Anthony's hair. "Sweet dreams, Anthony. Wake me up if you need anything, okay?"

Anthony yawned and let his head sink down on the pillow. "Okay, Garrett."

The pair fell asleep fairly quickly. But while Garrett fell sound asleep, snoring a bit, Anthony was in a light doze. He wasn't used to the noises of the house. Or the open space of the living room compared to the small, cozy office he'd gotten used to. Still, he felt safe and mostly comfortable, so he did his best to at least relax.
 
Luca smiled just a little, considering attempting to wave Watson's paw back, but eventually decided he didn't want to risk dropping the cat and just let Evelyn shoo him away. She had him use her bathroom to brush his teeth so Garrett and Anthony could have the guest bathroom, and when he was done he said goodnight and walked back to his own bedroom with Watson close at his heels.

It had only been a short time since he'd last touched Garrett, so his Shadow hadn't had time to build energy inside his body so much that he could feel it as a physical ache in his bones, but Luca still had trouble sleeping. It happened some nights. No matter how tired he was or how much he knew he should sleep, it wouldn't happen. He laid in bed for hours, petting Watson, watching his star nightlight move across the ceiling, closing his eyes for as long as he could at a time before he felt like he couldn't anymore.

Hours later, in the wee hours of the morning after spending a little while sitting up in bed looking at one of his books, he finally got up and ventured out of his room. He was quiet, shuffling a bit groggily to the kitchen and not turning on any lights as he went, and just pulled out a cup to get himself some water. Evelyn had said it was okay to move around at night if staying in bed was too hard, as long as he always tried to sleep again after. He hadn't considered whether or not that would change because people were sleeping in the living room.
 
But Anthony couldn't fall asleep, anyway, whether Luca had been there or not. He was mostly relieved that someone else was awake with him. It didn't feel as lonely, then. He yawned and got to his feet, ambling into the kitchen after Luca and shuffling his feet so the boy would hear him coming and he wouldn't startle him. "You couldn't sleep, huh?" he asked softly.

He stretched and arched his back. Mr. Clown was still in his hand, dangling by one arm. "Me, neither. I think the living room's just so open compared to the back office. I mean, it's not bad. I do feel safe. Just . . . hard falling asleep, that's all."

Watson, for his part, had stirred a little when Luca left the bed. But then he fell stubbornly back asleep, curled up in the blankets in a soft orb shape.
 
Luca was standing still in the kitchen with an empty glass in his hand when he heard someone moving. For a moment he tensed, instinctively worried about being caught and getting in trouble for being up, but he was still in Evelyn's home, and it was only Anthony. No one was going to yell at him.

". . . Too big?" He asked, a bit confused, and after thinking for a moment finally opened the fridge to pull out the pitcher of water Evelyn told him to drink instead of just using the sink. Was it strange, sleeping in an 'open' room? He had slept in the living room before, but he'd been between Garrett and Evelyn, so maybe that had helped it not feel so big.

". . . You can draw with me?" He suggested, rubbing his eyes a little as he poured the water. It was difficult that being tired didn't mean he would be able to sleep, but if he was going to be up and doing things maybe Anthony would want to join him. If they were in his room and closed the door most of the way, they could turn on a lamp without waking anyone up.
 
Anthony nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. I know it doesn't . . . quite make sense. But I think maybe it's because at my old house, my room wasn't really private. People would come in all the time. And they weren't always nice. So I kinda like small, cozy spaces because they're easier to defend myself in. I can see people coming."

Then he smiled and nodded. "I'd love to draw with you. That sounds fun!" He leaned against a counter, waiting for Luca to finish his drink before following him back to his room. "I think I'll draw that space aquarium we talked about earlier. Bet it'll look real pretty," he added softly.

Garrett was still sound asleep when they crept past. It would take an exceptionally loud noise, or a well-placed jostle, to wake him.

Once the pair had gotten settled in Luca's room, Anthony switched between drawing and glancing around, enjoying the surroundings. "I like your room," he said softly at last. "Lots of soft things and fun decorations." And it felt cozy.
 
Luca tilted his head a bit as he listened to Anthony's description, only murmuring a soft "oh" in response. Like his old room, he thought. It wasn't a space meant to be his, only where he was told to be, and he had no say in who came or went, or when he came and went. But there had been other places. Worse places. Smaller places. He didn't like to be anywhere small, where he felt like he couldn't move. It felt too much like having handcuffs again.

The glass held in both hands kept him from unconsciously scratching at his wrists, but for a while Luca was quiet and far away, only sipping from his water without seeing much. Anthony's voice brought him back again with the idea of drawing nice things, and Luca managed a small nod and an even smaller smile as he finished his water and set his glass very quietly in the sink.

Used to being quiet after years of being shouted at for making the smallest noise, Luca didn't worry much about waking Garrett or Evelyn, if she was even sleeping. He took Anthony back to his room and closed the door until it was only open a sliver, then went about quietly gathering a box of pencils and two drawing pads so they could lay on the floor together, since the desk in the room only had one chair and the bed was too soft for drawing on top of. A small nightlight was enough light to work by, until he finally remembered to turn on the small lamp next to his bed that lit the room well enough without pouring light into the hallway.

"Is that . . . good?" He asked after a pause, unsure if it was enough light for normal people or if he was just used to dim lighting, taking a seat on the floor and trying to decide what he wanted to draw and what color to start with. He was glad Anthony liked his room, even though he wasn't sure how to respond to that verbally. This was a space that was his, finally. The idea of getting to share it with his friend was one that made him feel warm inside.
 
For the few minutes where Luca went quiet, Anthony did, too. He was grateful they could share a safe space and quietly think about bad memories together. It was cathartic, in some ways.

Eventually it was time to head to Luca's room. Anthony flopped onto the floor, Mr. Clown in hand, and watched patiently while Luca gathered supplies and set lights up. And when Luca came back to join him and asked if it was good, Anthony smiled warmly and nodded. "This is great! Not too bright, nice solid surface to draw on. Real nice."

He set Mr. Clown down in a sitting position, as though the doll was going to watch him draw. Then he took a few pencils and a pad and started sketching. "I'm gonna draw some starfish first, I think. What are you gonna draw, Luca?"

On the bed, Watson stirred slightly and stretched, flicking one ear. Then he rolled onto his back and lay still again with a soft little sigh.
 
Luca laid down on the ground near Anthony to pick out a pencil, thinking to himself about what he wanted to draw even as he got set up. He was distracted, at first, by the clown toy Anthony sat down, looking at it for a long moment and finally reaching out to touch a fingertip to its little hand. He wasn't sure he thought it was 'cute', but it was something Anthony liked a lot, so it was interesting.

When Anthony asked what he would draw, Luca blinked back to attention and refocused. "Mm, a whale." He said finally, a thoughtful tone to his voice, and looked for a dark blue pencil to start with. "Maybe . . . in space." Not the space whale Evelyn had shown them, which was funny, but maybe a whale with stars around it.
 
Anthony glanced up, smiling when Luca gently reached out to touch Mr. Clown's hand. "You can pick him up, if you want," he offered. "Or hug him. He likes hugs. You're very gentle, so I know he'd like you." He giggled a bit when Luca mentioned he was going to draw a space whale. "Ooh! Like the one from Evelyn's poem? That was really funny. Or are you going to make a different kind of space whale? Like, a majestic one?"

Once he was happy with the starfish shapes, he began adding different colors, and then drew a tank around them that was shaped like a rocket ship. Then he began adding connecting tunnels. "I know in real life, fish can't share tanks or they'd eat each other," he started, "But here, I think I want my fish to be friends. So I'm adding connectors so they can all visit each other whenever they want. Hmm . . . should I add a shark next, or some seahorses?"
 
Luca looked at Anthony when he talked about Mr. Clown, happy and warm at what felt like praise. "He's sitting," he said softly, and decided not to disturb the toy from where it was sitting next to them. It seemed rude to pick him up while he was resting.

"Majestic . . ." He repeated with a little tilt of his head, and smiled a little to himself as he started to make the first lines of the whale, figuring out how he wanted it to swim or fly through space. It was a good word. He liked how it sounded, and it seemed right even if he hadn't been thinking of it on his own. He drew the whale in a curve, like it was in the middle of flopping it's tail up and down.

He liked the idea of friend fish, and when Anthony drew his attention made a soft, impressed little sound at the rocket ship and the tubes. ". . . Both?" He suggested, even though he wasn't sure if that was okay. He liked seahorses more, but if they were friends it would okay to have a shark or two around, right?
 
"Well, yeah," Anthony agreed with a smile. "But he can't move on his own. So he wouldn't mind being picked up for a hug if you wanted to. Or he can sit and watch us draw. He'd like both options, I'm sure."

Anthony nodded when Luca decided his whale would be majestic. "Sounds good! I can't wait to see it." He focused on his starfish for a little bit more, and he raised his eyebrows with a smile. Luca had probably misunderstood the question a bit; he was going to add both, but wanted to know which one to draw first.

Still, it was a sweet answer and he didn't have the heart to correct him. "All right," he said at last. "Both it is." He drew the shark first, and then carefully added in the seahorses, yawning once or twice. With all the adrenaline having worn off, he was really feeling how tired he was. But he was determined to at least finish his picture.

A few minutes later, he held his paper up and smiled. "There we go!" he announced, rubbing his eyes. "All done. Should we go show Watson? He's watching us from on the bed."

Sure enough, Watson had lifted his head, ears perked toward the pair - but he was clearly too comfortable to walk over to them.
 
Luca was glad Anthony liked his idea, and for a while just settled in to draw. Used to just not sleeping a lot of nights, he was content to draw without rushing, rubbing his eyes or blinking for too long every once in a while but not in danger of dropping his head onto the paper and nodding off.

"Watson?" He asked when Anthony spoke again, not quite startled but taking a moment to pull out of his focus on drawing. When he looked up to see Watson watching from the bed, he smiled a little and nodded. Watson liked to look at drawings, he thought, or maybe he just liked the smell of pencils on paper. "Almost done."

He let Anthony go show Watson first, and after a few more minutes finished his own drawing. It was a humpback, head and tail raised as if in the middle of swimming up, with little stars drawn around it and splashes of pink, purple, and blue lightly brushed onto the background as if there were galaxies or nebulas behind the stars. When it was done, he got up enough to crawl over to the bed and hold the paper up where Anthony and Watson could see.
 
Anthony nodded. "Mhm! I'll go show him mine, and you can meet us there when you're done," he decided. He climbed up on the bed, laying on his stomach to hold out the picture to him, and he smiled. "See, Watson? Look at all the fish. They're friends, in space!" He yawned widely. "And there's a door open in this tank, so Luca's whale can swim in and come say hi to everyone."

By the time Luca got to the bed, Anthony was dangerously close to falling asleep. Luca's bed was warm, and the room itself was more enclosed than the living room. He glanced over at the picture and smiled again. "Aww. I love your whale, Luca. It's . . . very majestic," he murmured. His head sank down, and he sighed softly. "It's comfy here. Soft . . ."

Watson sniffed at Anthony's paper for a few moments, and then at Anthony's hair. He gave it a few licks, purring softly, and the gentle motions and sounds coaxed Anthony into a very light sleep.
 
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