Magic Box, Sunday, 04/12

[not_every_mage]

Anders had mixed feelings about leaving his children with their other parents so he could open the shop. He was mentally exhausted; even if the children came by later -- and he rather hoped they would -- it was nice to have some time in his normal routine where he wasn't catering to anyone else's demands.

But it was nice to know he had at least two possible futures in which he didn't get shut in a tower for good or go down in flames before he hit 21. Leo and Carys were living, breathing, mess-making, sweets-begging reminders of the hope he saw in his world. And however strange and impossible their existence itself seemed, he had to be grateful to the island for giving him that.

He hummed absently to himself as he readied the shop for the day, taking care to put anything too dangerous or precious for little hands on a higher shelf, and then made a sign for the window.

Special today: 25% off for magical families

He'd give it to anyone who asked. All families were at least a little magical.

[OOC: Open shop,no OCD!]

Comments

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

Leo had skipped ahead of Nathan and was now pushing his way into the shop with little hands and all the strength he could muster. Eventually, the door opened and Leo slipped in, waving.

"Hi, Daddy!"

[not_every_mage]

"Hi Leo!" Anders hadn't been prepared for the little stab of joy he felt at hearing that voice again. "How are you? Did Dad get you a good breakfast?"

Nathan got a wave and a grateful look.

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"It was all right." Ah, the fickleness of a youngster. Nathan waved back but let Leo lead the way while he came in and leaned against the counter. "Up! Lift me up! I can't see!"

And his neck would get all hurty if he had to stare up at his two dads.

[not_every_mage]

Anders leaned over to grasp Leo under the armpits, moving to sit him on the countertop. It probably wasn't the safest idea ever, but the counter had seen worse. "There. Up enough?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"Yep!" Leo nodded happily. "What're you doing here? Is this your job?"

[not_every_mage]

"It's my job," Anders nodded. "The store sells ... a lot of silly things and some things that are actually good for doing magic with, and I help people find what they need."

He hesitated, but he wanted to know the answer to his next question even if he wasn't sure asking was a good idea. "Do I do something like this where you're from?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

He shook his head but didn't elaborate. He hadn't asked for details, after all.

"Is there anything fun to do here?" he asked, looking around. "Working is boring. Almost as boring as naps."

[not_every_mage]

He got that -- the answering direct questions and no more -- from his other father. Still, maybe it was for the best not to know too much, and Anders decided to just wait and see if Leo offered a fuller explanation.

"Sometimes much more boring than naps," Anders told him. "When it's not busy I read a bit, play on my phone. Sometimes your dad stops by."

Really, it was a thrill a minute at the Magic Box.

"There are some cards and such," he mused. "Can you play Wicked Grace?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"I'm not really good," Leo said thoughtfully. "But I can play! You taught me. You just always win."

[not_every_mage]

"I don't let you win?"

Go figure, Anders was weirdly proud of his older self for that. He'd never trusted the kind of adults who cheated so they'd lose.

"Well," he said, biting back his smile. "you could try to beat me again. I haven't showed your other Dad yet, so you might beat him at least."

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"You say that life doesn't bend over to let you do anything so you won't either," Leo repeated like he'd heard it a million times. "Sometimes other daddy scowls at you for it but you still do it."

[not_every_mage]

That was ... maybe a bit harsher than Anders would have put it just yet.

"Well, I also like to win and don't like to lose," he said, with a rueful little smile. "But I'm not wrong. Life isn't easy."

A beat.

"Does Nathan let you win?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

Hey, they'd gone through a lot of stuff since leaving school and being grace with Leo's presence. Things got harsher.

Leo swung his head to look at Nathan before shrugging. "Dunno. Daddy doesn't play very well so sometimes I win and sometimes I don't but I don't know if he's letting me win."

[not_every_mage]

Two wars and a decade of possession tended to do that.

Anders bit his lip at the answer, realizing that the reasons Nathan wasn't great at cards might have a lot to do with the reasons Nathan wasn't great with written things in general. And if Leo had Nathan's eyes, a few other things might have been inherited too. "Sorry if this is rude, but how's your reading?" he asked bluntly. "Or are we not worrying about that yet?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"I can read!" Leo proclaimed proudly. Nathan let out a little relieved sigh. "I mean, not everything. I'm learning but I can read okay!"

[not_every_mage]

The smile Anders aimed at Nathan over Leo's head was equal parts relieved and apologetic.

"I can already tell that you're very smart," he said indulgently, once his attention had shifted back to Leo. "Probably your other dads miss you by now."

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"Probably," Leo agreed, nodding. "But they're far away now and I'm here! I'll go back soon and tell them all about this."

[not_every_mage]

"And we have to make sure you go back with some good stories," Anders nodded. "As good as they can get without doing anything that'll make them jump through a portal to come yell at us, anyhow."

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

Nathan made a face at that. "That'd be weird. Really strange."

Leo pondered this. "Does that mean I'd have four daddies?"

[not_every_mage]

"I bet you'd be all white-haired and handsome," Anders teased Nathan, then wondered if that was a weird thing to say in front of a kid.

To Leo, he added, "I guess, as long as we were all in the same place. Unless them coming back made us vanish, and then you'd never happen at all, and now I'm just confused."

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

He wasn't the only one. Leo's brow furrowed and he frowned in deep concentration.

"Daddy, what?"

[not_every_mage]

And this was why Anders needed to think before he talked, not while he was talking.

"I don't think there can be two versions of the same person in the same place at the same time," he said, trying to make it plainer. "So if your other dads came back, I don't know what would happen to us. Might not be pretty."

... really, even said that way it didn't make much sense.

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

Leo frowned and he looked at both of them in turn before his lip started to wobble a bit.

"I don't want anyone to go away!"

[not_every_mage]

"Oh, Leo, no, sweetie," Anders said, panic rising just a bit in his tone. Nothing was worse than accidentally making a child cry."I meant -- that is -- no one is going anywhere. I'm just being an idiot, all right?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"No one goes away," he said firmly. "That's not allowed."

[not_every_mage]

"We won't," Anders promised. "I bet all four of us would do anything to stay with you and keep you safe."

Somehow, he didn't think either his older self or either version of Nathan would disagree with him on that.

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"Good," Leo said, nodding approvingly. "I don't want anyone to go away. No one. Not here, not there, not anywhere! So good. So we have lots of time to play!"

[not_every_mage]

"We do," Anders agreed, glad to be past the crisis, and went to retrieve the deck of cards. "And it's beautiful out, too. We should go to the playground as soon as I can take a break."

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"There's a playground?" he asked, eyes lighting up. "Are there swings? Merry go round?"

[not_every_mage]

"I know there are swings and I don't remember about the merry-go-round," Anders said apologetically. "We should look, though. It's got to be more interesting for you than the shop would be."

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"Don'tcha gotta work?" he asked, blinking up at Anders. "I don't want you to get in trouble!"

[not_every_mage]

"I do," Anders said regretfully. He was weighing the chances anyone would care if the shop was closed against how much he wanted to push Leo on the swings, and then there was the question of modeling good behavior (which did not include running off just because you felt like it) floating around in the back of his mind, and ...

"Lunchtime," he decided firmly. "Keep me company until then, and I can close a little early since we aren't busy anyhow. All right?"

[bornahalfmage.livejournal.com]

"Sure!" he said, nodding. "We can plays cards till then! Maybe this time I'll win!"

[not_every_mage]

"Don't bet on it," Anders laughed, and reached to tousle Leo's hair before dealing out the deck.

(He might let Leo win. Just this once.)