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@novaeremnant
Reversal
waymarkerprogenitor:
For a moment, the child fell silent, unsure if he should continue on. He still had this fear, this paranoia, that Ludger was actually just someone who wanted to give him back to his father. At the same time, he wanted to trust the man. If it turned out that his paranoia was correct⊠surely Julius could run again? After all, he has experience now, right? âJulius,â the child said, a little hesitantly, a little softly, belatedly realizing that maybe he should have given a nickname instead. âMy name is Julius, Mr. Ludger.â
A small, tiny rumble came from his stomach, and instantly Julius was reminded of the gnawing pain of hunger, and the reason he was out near the mouth of the alley, instead of hidden further on, where his fatherâs men would not find him. âI have tâ go now, Mr. LudgerâŠâ He was slowly going back to the street slang once he remembered his situation. He didnât want to beg for food from Ludger, regardless if he was a potential relative. Julius still had his pride, and he definitely hated asking for help. He stashed the pocket watch underneath his clothes. âBut maybe weâll meet again? I live âround here ânywaysâŠâ Well, not exactly in this alley, but there was an abandoned flood tunnel nearby that Julius ended up staying in during the nights.
An unhappy expression flitted across Ludgerâs face briefly at the reaffirmation-- yes, the kid, no, Julius, he had a name now, actually did live on the streets like this-- before he could school it away. Everyone had always told him he was too open with his feelings, but try as he might he couldnât help but be an open book.
âMaybe,â he hummed in reply, once he knew his reactions were back under control. âNot gonna lie, this isnât really part of my normal way home from the market, but itâs good to change things up sometimes, right? Makes you less predictable.â And if both routes involved giving the Spirius building and some of the more well-used patrol routes a large berth as per his motherâs warnings, then that really didnât need mentioning.
He discreetly but quickly looked over the kid-- Julius again and quickly came to a decision.
âHey, um, I interrupted your having dinner when I stopped by, right?â Even if calling the meagre scrap of bread âdinnerâ was being very generous. Ludger shifted the weight of the bag he was carrying again, making clear its contents. âLemme make it up to you. I donât know if there are any shops still open, or whether the leftovers wouldâve been taken care of yet, but I like to think Iâm an okay chef-- well, mostly.â He ducked his head a little sheepishly. âItâs just me at home, and I havenât quite adjusted to shopping and cooking for only one person yet.â
Even as he said it he mentally winced at himself. Too much? Too strong? Too forward for a stranger, especially an older one whoâd only literally just met the kid? The worse kinds of people Elympios had to offer tended to flock to Duval, but that didnât mean there werenât shady sorts in Trigleph either, and he knew how the offer might sound...
He still offered up the most sincere smile he could. âNo pressure or anything, I mean-- Iâll understand if you wanna say no.â
Reversal
waymarkerprogenitor:
Julius relaxed his hold on the pocketwatch, before bringing it up beside the manâs own. âIt kinda matches, âcept the colour.â The child timidly reached out, having the urge to run his fingers over the manâs golden watch, before pulling back, realizing what he was about to do. Maybe the man wouldnât like it if he did that. Father always hated it.
The blond shook his head, wanting to clear up what he was saying earlier. âI mean, um, your eyesâŠ. theyâre kinda like my motherâsâŠâ Completely gone was the street accent, though Julius wasnât aware, or if he was, didnât care. âMother had kinda green eyes like yoursâŠâ Except the manâs eyes were less⊠heavy. He couldnât think of the word that matched his motherâs eyes when she was still alive, except for âheavyâ. âBut hair like mine. Except longer.â
Automatically, Julius ducked a little, and stiffened at the pat on his head. He knew that the man wouldnât hit him, but the child couldnât help it. Only his mother would pat him like this, and occasionally his grandfather during rare visits. âMy, um, mother told me I had an aunt too⊠but I never got to meet her⊠do you think, maybe your mother is my aunt?âÂ
â... Mom had the same eyes too. I think she might be.â Ludger retracted his hand slowly, watching the childâs reaction with care. He was so guarded in everything; Ludger knew the streets of Trigleph were anything but kind, but still, what had the kid been though at his age to be so wary of everything...? âNot like you see these kinds of eyes all that often, right? They kind of stand out... And her hairâs a lot like you said too.
âI guess thatâs why I also thought you looked sort of familiar when I saw you.â Ludger canted his head slightly at the thought, as if the tilt would help him further place the resemblance. The change in diction didnât quite escape him either, but he let it be because he didnât really have anything to say about it. âWhen I think about it, your hair really is the same as herâs. And your eyes are bluer, but... itâs close. Yeah,â he said, nodding in confirmation to himself as he straightened up. âYeah, weâre definitely related.
âSay, um, whatâs your name anyway? Iâve just been calling you âkidâ in my head, but, well, that doesnât really seem appropriate anymore.â Ludger gave the boy another warm smile, this one coming a little more easily to him than the ones earlier. âAnd if youâre worried about giving it out to a stranger-- itâs okay, I get it. But Iâm Ludger, if you wanted to know.â
ofstarsandskies:
âYou make it sound like I havenât dealt with a stubborn person in my entire life. I can think of two primary suspects off the top of my head: Elle and you.â Star meant that as a strange sort of compliment (and a joke too). His stubborn will to find his little brother was reminiscent of how he felt towards his older brother. The only difference being his brother wasnât lost.Â
âWhy not? Iâm offering, and itâs not like weâd be holding twenty-four hour conversations. And deny it all you want, everyone gets lonely sometime. Iâd hate to leave you feeling like that when I can help!â Helping people ranked high on his priority list. Friends rose the bar even higher. âIâll be holding you to that promise, Nebulae-san. In fact, let meâŠâÂ
Bringing the phone down from his ear, Star switched the phoneâs camera on to take pictures of his lone pinky finger sticking out. When he found a non-blurry one, he sent it to Nebulae-san.Â
âThere. Now we can pinky promise on it.â
âStubborn, really? Whatâd I do to deserve that title?â he sighed, but his tone made it clear he was playing along with the jest. âIâd like to think of myself as extremely giving and patient, thank you very much. In fact, Iâm a downright saint for putting up with this kind of character assassination! First my little brother, now you too?â
Maybe at some point he should shadow some of his more typical-seeming counterparts for a while? If he used Starâs dimension as a baseline and tried for a low deviation from that, maybe heâd figure out who it was he was supposed to know every time the other dropped a name like it was supposed to mean something to him.
âYouâre really serious about this, huh? All right, hang on a second.â It wasnât hard for him to replicate what Star had done, so he sent his own version right back.
âThere go my hopes of being an oathbreaker.â
ofstarsandskies:
Nebulae-sanâs answer didnât inspire much confidenceâŠÂ âD-Did I say something wrong againâŠ?â Star asked timidly, certainly hoping he hadnât gone wrong.Â
Softer than before, Nebulae-san did speak up again, reminding him that because Julius had all this time away from him, heâd be different. He wouldnât remember anything. âI know that, but you still think of Julius as your little brother, right? Youâre going through all this trouble just to find him despite him being a lot different than he was before. If he means that much to you, Iâd still like to meet himâŠ. i-if thatâs okay with you.âÂ
âS-So⊠UmâŠâ Star had something really meaningful to say, but he lost itâŠÂ âI-If you get lonely, you know my number now. Doesnât matter if itâs 2 PM or 3 AMâIâll answer and keep you company. Consider it my thanks for being so nice and patient with me, Nebulae-san.âÂ
â... All right, fair enough.â He stifled a small laugh, turning it into a snicker before he snuck in a few jokes at Juliusâ expense. âBut donât ever say I didnât warn you, then. Canât promise that heâll necessarily be on his best behaviour, you know?â
(If the brat wanted to argue against that, then, well, he shouldnât have up and vanished on him should he?)
âI couldnât possibly use you as a 24 hour hotline, Star, you need to sleep sometime. Donât worry about me though, Iâll be fine. My promise to check in every now and then still stands.â
ofstarsandskies:
Starâs crying didnât quite stop, although a choked âyesâ did signal he was indeed still there to listen. Nebulae-san assured him he wasnât mad, rather his little brother was a heavy topic. He knew that feelingâŠÂ âI-Itâs⊠not your fault you got upset. I should know better th-than a lot of people how⊠important Julius is. Just⊠give me a moment.âÂ
Taking a few moments to steady his breathing, he picked his phone back up once he felt ready to speak again. âSorry for crying out of the blue; I-I get really afraid of upsetting people.â And expressing himself with just words was very, very hard. Itâs why Star always preferred to see and talk to people than just talk to them without faces. âA-And if you got mad, I wouldnât be able to see or talk to you ever again. Iâd miss you.âÂ
ââŠUmâŠ. Wh-When you find Julius, I hope I can meet him. Iâd like to see how different he is from Nii-sanâ apart from their ages.â Â
â...Right. Sure. Yeah, I... hope you can too.â He went quiet for a moment, though he stayed on the line.
When he spoke up again, his voice was softer than before. âStar, you... know how it works, right? Even if itâs the same person... Any amount of time could have passed, with a different life, with different memories. I know full well that the Julius I find wonât... be the same as the one I lost. Even if he remembers, itâs going to be different.
âI wish I could have introduced you to him before, but now, well... Iâm prepared to deal with whoever I find, but I donât know how different heâll be from yours either.â
ofstarsandskies:
âIt probably is; when Vera would call me about Waymarkers and the sort, she had no trouble with connecting, even when I was in a dimension far, far away. She said the Chromatus is a link between dimensionsâ seems GHSes are in that same boat.â
Star quieted down after that, already realizing he went too overboard with Nebulae-san. Nebulae-san explained how he juggled school and work; heâd never gotten a âregularâ job that lasted more than a week. He also clarified how his little brother wouldnât steal things, and he stood by that. Why did he have to run his big dumb mouth?
âI-IâŠ. I-IâmâŠ.â Bringing his hands together and rubbing one thumb against the other as a nervous habit, he struggled on what to say. âYouâŠ. I-I-IâŠ. I-IâmâŠ.!â Every time he tried to talk, his throat went dry and speaking became impossible. ââŠS-S-S-SâŠâŠ s-s-sâooooâŠ.r-r-r-r-rrrâŠâ Star turned away, hiding his face in his hands as he cried as quietly as possible. He never meant toâŠâ
âWonder if that means I couldâve just rung him up if he hadnât left his GHS with me...â he muttered, before startling back into alertness at the distinctive sounds of someone trying to stifle sobbing. âStar? Ah, câmon...â
âStar, look-- you still there? Itâs okay. Iâm not mad or anything. I just...â Donât like the fact that it sounds like we could so easily be substituted for... â...Guess that Julius is still sort of a sore point for me even now,â he said instead, sighing and carding his free hand through his hair. âHere I thought I was fine.â
ofstarsandskies:
âI donât think youâll be so easily traced just because I managed to guess your number, Nebulae-san. And, weird as it is, I donât think it quite works unless you have an idea of what you mean to communicate with. All the other numbers I tried were just from people in my dimension; the only time I got out of my dimensionsâ call range is when I guessed right.â But that was just a theory. He was trying his best though.Â
âOh is it? He is still running off by himself. And, since my Nii-san and your otouto are still similar, you canât say whether or not heâs stealing something right now! Plus, what did you do to earn your keep back in the day? I know you werenât a DODA agent.â
âIâm supposed to be off the grid, is the thing, so I donât know how you even managed to reach me... Iâm chalking this one up to weird Chromatus interactions. I really donât know. For all I know youâre right.â
âAnd what was I doing back then? I sure as hell wasnât letting the 9 year old pay for the rent is what, not that he even was getting paid for Agent work. I worked after school, same sort of stuff mom used to, plus some odd jobs here and there around town, off the board until I eventually landed something more permanent after graduation.
âStar... just a warning, because I know you donât mean anything by it, but please stop talking about my brother and I like you know how things are for us just because youâre comparing things to your own dimension. The Julius I knew wouldnât ever have stolen anything. He never had a reason to.â
ofstarsandskies:
âNo, Iâm past doing something like thatâ and Nii-san gave me enough lectures to make sure I stick to my mentality.â Star does have mood dips still, although heâs gotten better about them⊠sort of. He ate, slept, and bathed at least.Â
âYou make it sound like me having your number is one of the worst things to ever happen.â Did Nebulae-san think he would use it to get back at him because of their bet? If so, he was appalled that he thought him so immature. âAnd Nii-san sort of told me it was so he had the necessities. And if your otouto is running around by himself, I bet heâs doing that same thing. This reflects poorly on your Nii-san abilities, Nebulae-san.â
âIâd just rather not be so easily traced, is all, especially because of something like that. Remind me to switch GHSes at some point... though I have no idea how the interdimensional coverage works or why they can still key in on our own dimensions instead of connecting to the network of the dimension weâre in, anyway.â
âHeâs not running around on his own-- well, he is right now I guess, but thatâs different, completely different, and he didnât, not back then! What do you even take me for?!â
ofstarsandskies:
âW-Well, there was that one time where we were making a bet and you cheated by saying I lost because you already knew! And⊠I know people.â Honestly, Star just remember his old phone number and guessed what Nebulae-sanâs would be. There were many failures, although heâd never talk about them. Nope. Never.Â
âYes he is! All kids are! They might act like nothing you do affects them, but Julius will look up to you before itâs too late! And then heâll lie, cheat, and steal all the time!â
âWell thatâs not really cheating, is it? You wanted to bet that no one would care, hello, I proved you wrong, no cheating involved! Shouldâve said something about not including either of us if you wanted to be that fussy about it!â
âYou... you know people. Of course you do.â This is the sound of him believing you, Star. âYouâd have to have some crazy connections then. That, or I need to grill you about where youâve been keeping my brother and why you havenât told me about it yet. Whereâd you even manage to get stealing from? Neither of us has ever been a thief!â
ofstarsandskies:
âNebulae-san, you need to learn that cheating and lying is bad! Youâll start giving your little brother the idea he can lie all the time too and then youâll be a family of lying liars in charge of lieville!â
âWhoa, hey, hang on, when in the world have I lied to you?-- Howâd you even get my number, I donât remember giving it to you!â Plus his Julius was probably way better at that game to begin with than Nebulae himself, he just caught up and started playing it better, with less actual misdirection and lying to boot.
âJulius isnât even that impressionable, and Iâd know! Goodness knows it was a pain getting certain things through his stubborn, thickheaded skull...â
Reversal
A small sniffle escaped Juliusâ nose as the child tried to calm himself down by himself. The manâs voice helped though - for some reason, it reminded the child of his own mother. Gentle, and warm, unlike his cold and distant father. The blond child clutched his watch tight to his chest, other hand furiously rubbing his eyes until they were red.
 ââŠY-your mother said thâ same thing?â the child stammered, carefully practised street accent dropping, and Juliusâ formal speech returning, though he didnât notice. âYou have a⊠a watch too? Like mine?â Mother had carried around a similar watch to his, only gold compared to his silver one. And⊠it was broken now - the watch that mother had always carried around with her, cared deeply about, taught the young child how to care for it, broke. But Julius couldnât even take it before running away - motherâs watch was under the watchful eye of his horrible father, so all the youngest child could get away with was just mere memories.
He dropped the hand that had been rubbing his face, revealing his irritated red eyes to stare at the strange person. Silver hair, kind of like his fatherâs⊠but bright, aqua eyes, kind of likeâŠÂ ââŠMy motherâsâŠâ
âYeah, she did,â Ludger responded, laughing a little self-consciously to himself as he shifted his weight again. His free hand went to his pocket, withdrawing once he had what he wanted in hand. âAnd, well, not exactly like it, but... pretty close, right?â
Really, when he was holding it like this, the golden pocketwatch seemed so innocuous. It fit comfortably in the palm of his hand like any trinket or heirloom would. No one would have guessed at the gravity of the matters tied to it.
âHey, slow down a bit. Donât know what youâre talking about, but I donât think I ever knew your mother. Your parents, I mean. Mom was-â Afraid. Frightened, worried. âWas... distanced from the rest of her family.â And though sheâd spoken to him about it, Ludger still only understood it in the abstract, painted only with the vague, broad-strokes explanations heâd been able to pull out of her. The way sheâd spoken about it, it was as if it concerned someone else. Not them.
He didnât try to understand their family politics, but not for the first time, he wondered about the finer details of their apparently-lengthy family history.
Still, he shoved past it and gave the kid a gentle grin, pocketing the watch again and tentatively giving the blond a pat on head. âI know she had a sister, and wasnât on bad terms with her dad. But no matter what the case is, if you have a watch too, we have to be related somehow, right?â
Karen Joy Fowler, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Reversal
Julius shuffled, relaxing his hold on the pocket watch. For some reason, he felt he could trust the other to not snatch the large watch from his hands. His hands fell to his side, watch falling back to its place on his chest. âMe mum died,â Julius said, careful to not say âmotherâ instead of mum â the street accent he spoke in was something acquired after realizing he was an easy target if he spoke the way he was taught back home. âMum tolâ me ta keep the watch. Said itâs really special.â
He didnât say anything about a father â let the guy think that his father was dead too, or something like that. It was close enough to the truth anyways. Father was dead to him. He was the one who killed mother. Sure, he may not actually have dealt the killing blow, but he made her fight that Chronos guy. Itâs his fault. Itâs all his fault!
Something wet landed on his hands â water? No, tears. Julius sniffed, lifting his glasses to rub at his eyes, trying to stop the tears from pricking them. He was a older now! He shouldnât be crying like this! Boys donât cry like babies! The blond child bit his lips, not wanting to cry like this in front of a stranger. He couldnât help it though⊠he missed her. He really missed her!
He hiccuped, trying to hide his voice from the stranger. âI miss motherâŠ!!â
Ah. Well. He really should have been expecting that, given... everything so far. Really, what else had he been expecting? For the kid to have been kicked out or disowned, but still allowed to keep their shared familyâs watch?
As if the rest of their family would so willingly give it up, if theyâd been alive and able to do so. Ludger didnât understand a good amount of the Kresniksâ politics, didnât try to, but he knew enough. His own mother had wanted to keep him from all they entailed, after all.
âI didnât want that for you,â sheâd said, working at the worn hem of her dress. âI was afraid... I didnât want that for my child.â
...Not for a child, huh.
He knelt down by the boy, carefully shifting the bag of groceries he held until it was safely within the crook of one arm, but didnât make any other motions beyond that.
âHey, shhhh. Itâs okay. Iâm sorry I brought it up.â His free hand came up tentatively and hung there in the air, unsure whether any attempted comfort would be welcome.
âWanna hear a secret?â he asked softly, before continuing, âI miss mine too. And she also told me... she told me almost the exact same thing.â
Beth Hoffman, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Sonya Hartnett, The Ghostâs Child
Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca