Summary: Seth sees Terri buying cookies for "her son". (Fic takes place within the SICSIG timeline, some months after CH33 when Seth and Terri first cook stew and dumplings together).
A/N: Participating in Choices May Challenge 2024 | Prompt: "I'll take care of you". (Honestly, the “Have you ever been struck by a sudden desire for - soup?” prompt works too. Stew is nearly soup, right?)
Seth’s lunchbox was a cheery sky blue. It was a huge, circular affair; an insulated metal canister with a handle at the top, that unscrewed to reveal a number of little compartments for cold cuts, for snacks, for soup, for cutlery.
The paint wasn’t even scratched yet, because Terri had only just bought it.
For him.
She’d bought Seth his own lunch box.
It was brisk outside, today; the sky a slate grey and smelling like the edge of rain, a line of seagulls slicing through the air to wing their way toward the docks. Probably not smart weather to be sitting outside in, eating lunch alone on the steps behind the gymnasium. But here he was all the same; concrete cold beneath his thighs, lunchbox warm and perched on his knees.
Curls of steam rose up from the stew and dumplings. Ever since Terri had taught him the recipe all those months ago, the beef stew had become one of his safe foods.
Seth huffed a breath, pushing a piece of onion around the bowl with his spoon, his feelings all tangled up in his throat.
He’d come to know the taste of many things, sitting at the O’Rinn’s dinner table.
The crisp snap of Anzac biscuits, butter clinging to his fingertips to leave little smudgy fingerprints on the edges of the newspaper when he helped Terri finish her crossword puzzle.
The creamy indulgence of fettucine alfredo, and the carb-laden groan Luca would always make when they got to the end of their bowl. The second, louder groan that always came on the heels of the first when they remembered it was their turn on dish duty.
The way the taste of Twizzlers grew rubbery and numb on his tongue at 5:27am, when he’d eaten his way through yet another packet, over yet another round of Mario Kart, and Luca had finally passed out beside him on the couch.
The slightly lumpy mashed potatoes Terri made to go with her red-wine braised lamb shanks, that he’d honestly thought would cause him all sorts of sensory issues at first. Until he’d quickly learned that the lumps were his favourite part.
He’d only ever had instant, powdered mash potato under the foster care system. It had tasted like dust.
All of his meals did.
Terri put butter and milk in her mashed potatoes.
Salt, and pepper, and understanding, somehow. Kindness. Care. Sometimes she’d put garlic, or crispy little bacon bits and chives, or some other secret thing. Once, there would have been a time where he couldn’t handle the unpredictable deviations from the norm. The unexpected textures.
Now, he didn’t care as much, because it wasn’t the ingredients that made the potatoes taste the way they did.
Terri O’Rinn’s lumpy mashed potatoes told him, “I'll take care of you”.
They tasted like being loved.
At least, Seth thought that was probably what being loved felt like. No one had ever really…
He’d never had…
Seth swiped a finger around the rim of his lunchbox, sucked at the savoury richness of the stew until the bowl was licked clean.
He wasn’t even really that hungry, to be honest. He just didn’t want to waste it.
It had been a really long time since Seth had gone hungry.
Supermarket lights were one of the few things that drove him mad when it came to being a vampire. Something about the combination of flickering halogens and the hugeness —the sterile off-whiteness— of grocery stores never failed to give him a headache.
Seth hurried through the supermarket —but not too fast; human, human, gotta look human; gosh, these lights are nasty; don’t walk too fast, you’re totally human; nod politely at Mr Philips in the produce section; oh, that’s right, need to finish those homework questions for economics; Luca probably forgot to do his, too— shuffling to a halt in the aisle where all the candy was.
He grabbed a brightly-coloured pack of Twizzlers from the shelf. Two, actually. Because Luca had been staying with Gabriel a lot more often lately, but the past few nights they’d been home, and maybe they would want to play Mario Kart with him again sometime.
Seth was just making his way to the checkout when he caught sight of Terri across the store.
‘Oh, aren’t these cute!’
Terri beamed, laughter in her smile, peering at a display of baked goods near the checkouts.
‘I should get some of these cookies for my son!’ she told the clerk. ‘He absolutely loves cats. Our Minnie adores him.’
As Terri paid for her purchases, chatting happily with the girl at the counter about their pets, Seth found himself frowning. He tucked himself behind a shelf full of bread loaves, lurking where Terri wouldn’t see him.
It wasn’t like her to slip up like that.
Luca hated “son”.
It was one of the gendered terms they despised the most. Seth knew, because he’d asked Terri on four separate occasions exactly how and when he should be using Luca’s pronouns, and what words to avoid. Luca had been so kind to him these past months. Welcoming. He’d hate to get it all wrong and upset them.
“Son” was an absolute no-go.
He knew, because he kept a list in his wallet, and he’d re-read it until he knew it by heart, and still checked it now and then, just in case he’d forgotten.
Pronouns: he/they. Alternate between them, don’t just use one.
“Dude” is a term they like, so is “lad”.
“Boy” is fine sometimes, but it’s not their favourite. Context dependent. Maybe re-work the sentence to use something else instead.
“Man” makes him deeply uncomfortable, and “bro” is hugely dependent on who it comes from.
Under no circumstances should he ever refer to Luca as Terri’s “son”.
Seth hadn’t asked about “brother”, on account of that seemed really presumptuous.
And besides, Seth thought. The mere thought of even asking whether Luca might ever consider himself Seth’s brother made funny little bubbles fizz around in his stomach, like he was a can of cola that had fallen with a heavy thunk off of one of the supermarket shelves, and now he was whizzing around in sticky, dizzying spirals on the linoleum in Embarrassing Coke-Can Hell.
Or something.
A wave of clammy discomfort washed over him. Seth fiddled with the frayed threads at the edge of his sleeve.
But, then again, Seth supposed, trying his best to blend in with the loaves of bread —which wasn’t hard, because sliced bread was very boring, and Cas said he was the most boring person he’d ever met, so maybe Seth had been a loaf of bread in a past life or something, which would go a long way toward explaining his complete inability to ever have a normal conversation with anyone— it wasn’t exactly like he was an expert in being non-binary. He hadn’t even known that was a thing until a year or two ago.
Maybe Luca had just changed their mind about the “son” thing?
…or maybe not?
Ragged, grey threads drifted down onto the linoleum, littering the floor by his shoes.
He’d ask Terri about it again. Just to be sure.
Seth stopped by his room at the Nexus. Or rather, he tried to; he wound his way through the underground corridors, arriving outside his door only to have the keypad flash red when he tried to key in the pin code to his room.
He tried again.
“No Entry”.
Confused, he bumbled his way back through the labyrinthine halls, picking his way to Astoria’s office.
‘I had that room cleared out about a month ago,’ Astoria told him, waving him in. Her eyes pinched in mild confusion. ‘I had assumed your living situation with the O’Rinns had become something of a permanent arrangement.’
‘Oh. Okay.’
Astoria paused, her pen hovering above her documents. ‘Is it not?’
Eyes downcast, Seth shrugged. ‘I dunno,’ he mumbled.
He’d learned not to ask questions.
It always worked better when you were quiet. Helpful. Well-behaved. Didn’t ask too many questions. Questions were the kicker. As soon as you asked too many questions, that was when they dumped you back in foster care.
Or… the vampire den, in this case.
Astoria jiggled her pen between her fingers. ‘You’re not in the least bit curious?’
Seth scuffed the toe of his shoe on the floor and said nothing.
A quiet sigh slipped past Astoria’s lips. She flicked her paperwork aside. In all honesty, Seth couldn’t tell if something had her amused or if she was seconds away from throttling him; she shoved out of her chair, crossing her office in two quick strides to tug a duffel bag from a closet.
‘Here. The last of your things from your old room.’
Seth caught the bag on reflex. It was lighter than he’d expected, but that shouldn’t have surprised him, really. He’d never had that many belongings of his own.
‘I had it cleared out a few weeks ago,’ Astoria explained. ‘Remus is staying there for the time being. But, Seth?’
As much as he disliked doing so, Seth forced himself to make eye contact.
‘That doesn’t mean you aren’t welcome here, too, do you understand that? Family is who you choose to love, and trust, and protect. If you want that to mean the O’Rinns, as well as the Venandis… that’s okay.
Nice Astoria might be even more terrifying than Regular Astoria, Seth thought. She slipped back into her seat and he nodded.
‘Okay. Um. I should head home,’ he said by way of farewell, startled to realise he did actually think of the O’Rinn’s house that way. ‘Thanks, Astoria.’
Astoria smiled after him as the door swung shut.
Home.
What a concept.
‘Seth! Hi, dear!’
Terri was in the kitchen again when Seth arrived… home. She brightened as he entered, bustling over to steer him toward the dining table, where a plastic clam-shell container sat on the warm, age-scarred wood.
‘Here — look what I found at the supermarket!’
Seth took a seat. A number of cookies peered back at him from behind their glossy plastic shell; chocolate, vanilla, caramel, the flavours all mixed and patterned to look like little calico cats.
‘Oh,’ he said, quietly. Seth’s stomach felt all funny again, and he wasn’t sure why. ‘Wow, great. I’m sure Luca will love them.’
Terri’s head whipped around, confusion skewing her expression. ‘No, they’re for you, duckie!’
Fizzing cola can.
Thunking to the floor.
Spinning around and around and around and around and—
Seth stared blankly at the cookies. ‘But you said they were for…’
‘Have some now if you like!’ Terri said, his whispered words pitched too low for her human hearing. ‘Don’t ruin your appetite, though, I’ve got dinner on.’
Seth’s mind was reeling.
Terri hummed a mellow tune to herself as she skirted back behind the kitchen counter, her fingers brushing lightly over his hair as she went.
It seemed... important, somehow, to open the container quietly. The plastic crunched beneath his clumsy fingers, the clam-shell packaging popping open to jostle the cookies about on the tray, crumbs jumping everywhere.
Seth glanced up to see if he’d made Terri mad, but she seemed happy as ever, standing at the oven and tasting the sauce on the end of her wooden spoon, nodding quietly to herself.
Fingers trembling, Seth popped a cookie into his mouth. The first bite was sugary sweet against the wash of salt on the back of his tongue. He chewed slowly, gratefully, coughing against a throat grown tight.
‘So? What’s the verdict?’ Terri called over her shoulder. ‘Are they good?’
Seth sniffed, scrubbing his wet eyes on his sleeve before Terri could see.
A little warning next time, please? If I'd known this would turn my heart into a puddle around my feet, I would've read it in the shower.
This was so achingly sweet I feel a little sick (in the best way possible!). Terri. Got Seth. A lunch box! His bafflement, and how scared he is of hoping it means something, it all made me so soft I feel like a marshmallow.
Seth's preoccupation with making sure he never misgenders Luca's, his shock and concern when he thinks Terri did, his LIST. This is gorgeous and loving and I'm so happy for all of them.
Why is Astoria being kind, I'm scared.
TERRI CALLED HIM HER SON. AND SHE GOT HIM COOKIES SHE SPECIFICALLY THOUGHT HE WOULD LIKE. OH MY GOODNESS.
ehehehe this comment had me grinning 😊 (and cackling at the comment about Astoria dfjhkgkfdj)
I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I thought Terri and Seth could both use some wholesome goodness in their lives 🥹 I'm such a sucker for characters getting the kind of parental love and unconditional acceptance that they never had a chance to receive in their childhood (advance warning for the SICSIG chapter titled "Eomma", its... Cas's turn to experience Terri's love? Angst and comfort)
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