Foster brotherly bonding

Who: Dylan and Seph
Where: Marten's house
When: Morning

Dylan had been living at Doc Marten's house since Friday but he hadn't really met the other kids in the house. Doc had said they were nice and of course he'd seen them, even said hi and talked long enough to get names, but he hadn't bothered to get to know them beyond the basics. What was the point? He was convinced his new foster dad, for lack of any real title, would get tired of him soon enough. Then he'd have to move again so bother getting attached? It'd just hurt more when he had to leave. He'd spent the weekend in hiding. Mostly he stayed in his room or left the house completely which was a better way to avoid awkward conversations at all but now it was a weekday and school ruined any chance of hiding in his room for the day. It was hard to sleep in late and go to bed early when he had places to be but he still tried to keep out of everyone's way.

He was up early, he'd set his alarm for what he hoped was before anyone else rose but Doc had beaten him. But Doc was safe and so far Dylan had hidden away from the twins. He hadn't heard either of them up when he'd sneaked into the kitchen so he felt safe enough to stay. Milky cereal sounded better than rushing of with dry toast so he'd sat down at the table. He'd been there for only five minutes when he heard somebody walking by the door. For a moment he thought about slipping out of the house like a shadow but, well, it was supposed to be his home too and he didn't really like the idea of walking to school in that cold weather. He stayed where he was but pulled the cereal box closer and pretended to be hard at work figuring out the children's puzzles. Easier to let them start a conversation than think he cared enough to, right? Even if he was incredibly curious, he was certain this way was better.

So they had a new stray. Unfair as it was, Seph couldn't help but think of the kid that way. It wasn't the first time Doc had all but adopted somebody in need, and likely wouldn't be the last. He didn't begrudge the decision; the house was big enough for many more people than actually lived in it, and upon first meeting, he'd gotten the impression that the little dude was too timid and downtrodden to be any sort of threat. He mostly trusted the old man's judgement anyway. He just hadn't actually put forth any effort to get to know Dylan over the weekend he'd been there. Between work and how hidey everybody seemed to be, he'd hardly seen anyone in the first place.

But then came breakfast Monday morning. Seph shuffled into the occupied kitchen in flannel pants, a t-shirt, bleary eyes and scruff. Even when he had been in school, he'd hated getting up so goddamn early. He didn't do mornings well. Not when he really slept, which he had the night before. He looked at the kid at the table for a moment before moving to the kitchen to get the coffee started. "Morning," he said after a pause. He might as well talk to him.

Dylan couldn't explain why but he was a little surprised when Seph actually made the effort to talk to him. Not that he expected his foster family to be snobs to him like in some supernaturally adjusted version of Cinderella but it was strange to him anyway. Still, there was no point being rude and the other boy was making an effort so... "Hey, sleep okay?" Dylan glanced up for a moment then back to the box in front of him. "You're Seph right? Just want to know I got the name right, hate when people mess up Dylan for Daniel or something."

"Slept all right," the older boy said with a slight shrug. He hadn't, really. Sleep had more or less become a battle ground for him and his sister ever since the shadow-fuckers decided to invade, but that was far too complex to even dwell on that early in the morning. He measured out the coffee and water and then turned around to face Dylan, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's Seph, yeah," he confirmed with a very faint smile. "How 'bout you? Sleep okay?" He could only imagine that being left behind by one's family to complete strangers in a largeish weird house wouldn't do much good for one's sleeping patterns.

Dylan hadn't slept well; he had taken forever to actually get to sleep and when he had, he'd imagined his father hunting his mother's demon and woken up in a cold sweat three hours later. He didn't bother to go back to sleep but had stayed in bed until the sky's light had started to change. He thought about telling Seph the truth and telling him about the constant nightmares. Nate knew, Nate understood but this wasn't his brother and he had to remind himself that he didn't want to get too attached to his new house. He shook his head instead and gave Seph a small, tight smile as he looked up."Yeah, it was fine. Nothing unusual. What are you doing up, work or something?"

Seph took in Dylan's smile and almost didn't like it. But he reminded himself he had to -- or should, he really didn't have to do anything -- cut the kid some slack. He'd been left, and pushed off on some other family that he didn't know. Sure, he knew Doc, but Doc wasn't always around by far. Not to mention, he and Syn kind of presented a united, unbreakable front to most people. "Nah, just ... weird sleep patterns, I guess. I don't go into work 'til like eleven." There was a pause as he turned and proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee. He'd started to drink it black, like the old man. Then Seph went to have a seat at the table next to their new housemate. "You want a ride to school?" he offered, glancing at Dylan's cereal. "S'cold."

"Where do you work?" Dylan asked, though he didn't really care and he already thought he knew anyway. Had someone told him or was it something he just knew like he knew what Nate looked like before they met? He thought about saying something about it first to prove that he had this skill but then he decided better of it. He didn't want his new housemate to think he was a freak or something, Nate had been cool and he was pretty sure it was what his father referred to as the 'family curse' but they were relatives, it was different for them. It was safer not to say anything so instead, he turned to look out the window. And Seph was right, it was cold. He nodded and gave him another smile; this time it came a little easier. "Wouldn't say no to a ride if you're offering, can just walk if you're not."

"Nevermore," Seph answered first, giving the younger guy a little smile back and nodding. Yes, he was offering. "It's a bookstore. Just doin' it part time, 'til I go back to school." Which he was really, honestly hoping to do. He was smart, he liked school. It was just difficult to go back when you had nearly died and there was so much other shit trying to kill you. Kind of made classes inconvenient. Kind of made everything inconvenient. That vague wish he carried around sometimes that they were actually a normal family surfaced and then disappeared again. His blue eyes flickered to the wall for just a second, taking in the ever-present shadowman that followed him around. "Definitely, I can drive you. Should probably do some errands anyway. What time you gotta be there?"

"I like Nevermore," Dylan said. He had been to the store twice already, three times if you counted the book faire last month but he hadn't noticed Seph there before. Each time he'd gone, he was sure there was only Dorian but he hadn't paid close attention so he didn't bother dwelling on it. He followed his gaze across to the wall Seph stared at instead and frowned. He didn't see anything but maybe Seph was psychic too and more developed or maybe it was just a better place to stare at than into a bowl of soggy cereal. "I'll take a ride," Dylan said and glanced at the microwave's clock then grinned back at Seph. "Supposed to be there for first period and it's art which is cool but to tell ya the truth? I'd rather just skip and those errands sound tough, you need help."

Seph quirked a smile, that grew into a bit of a chuckle. Didn't that attitude sound familiar? Why yes, yes it did. He drank down a bit more of his coffee and stood up again. "Finish your cereal. Gonna put on some decent pants," he said, abandoning the coffee mug on the counter and starting to head out of the kitchen again. He could empathize with the want to go just somewhere that wasn't home or school. And hell, maybe they'd get to know each other a bit or some other fuzzy bullshit. Doc had never brought home a male stray before, this was going to be some kind of interesting. As long as he kept his eyes and hands off of Synnove, Seph wasn't going to have a problem with him. He disappeared, taking the stairs two at a time and feeling more awake. Time to bundle and take the kid to the grocery store.