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XX Briar Harvent
"So, what you're saying is that we have a spare room and we need a super nanny... hmmm, Briar, do you know anyone?" Maia stifles a giggle, and Briar pauses, staring at his friends, his family- their conspiring grins, their joined hands, their baby- before he knows it, Briar's crying again for the nth time that night, and he welcomes the hugs that come at him from every angle. xxx
"I would love that. Really." He says, glad that even though he has to leave one family behind, at least he won't be alone. He'll be a part of another family- the family he wanted to reconnect with. xx
Tears continue to fall as Briar says goodbye to Maia, Aiden, Cedar, and Nick, who all crowd him until the last second. Briar deflates like a sad balloon as the van pulls out of the driveway, feels his heart sinking a little when the van disappears completely. But Adriel and Matthias are there. He's not alone. He slings his backpack over his shoulder and locks up the house, shoves the key under the doormat for one of the rebels to find later so they can put the house up for sale later on. xx
Briar looks at the plain, one story building and sighs. This is where he's lived for five years, since the very day he escaped and Maia found him, exhausted and crying and more than broken. This is where he learned what love was, what it meant, how people showed it- this is where he realized what Oscar had been trying to tell him, in that swimming pool and so many other times that Briar hadn't even taken note of until then. This is where he recognized that he had been the strange one. xx
Adriel's hand fits into Briar's and he pulls his eyes from the house, looks at her and Matthias instead. The three of them have proven that people really can change, that people can thrive even when they've been through hell. He returns her smile, squeezes her hand, and they leave together. xx
XX ❋
"Holy shit, this is your house?!" Briar stares at the cottage-like masterpiece in front of him and his heart cries, because it's absolutely adorable. He has no idea what he was expecting, but reality certainly exceeds expectations, whatever they were. "Seriously, this is so cute." It's dark, so the colors and details are missing, but the shape of the house and flowing pathway and patches of flowers make the place feels loads more homely and cared for than the immense plainness of the safe house. Which he supposes makes sense- the safe house is meant to be inconspicuous. This, however, is a home cultivated by people who almost don't even need to shy away from the world. xx
Adriel and Matthias both laugh, the sound like music to Briar's ears. "Glad you like it. We worked hard on fixing up when we first moved in. This place smelt worse then the changing rooms after training." "Oh God, really?!" "Mhm." Briar's entire faces scrunches up in disgust at the the rather vivid cellular memory, and he takes a few obvious steps closer to the flowers, to which his friends laugh again. "Don't let Matthias fool you. He did the garden by himself. All the flowers and plants are his work not mine." "Well, Matthias, this garden... it pleases me." xx
Matthias chuckles and walks ahead of them, and the voice of an old woman has Briar cocking his head to the side, confused. "Don't you sneak up on me! These bones aren't what they used to be!" "Please Mrs. Fisher, you'll wake the children." "Those little monsters? Wake up? Hah! It'll be snow in August before that happens!" Briar smiles and does his best not to laugh at the sight of Matthias, giant that he is, more or less cowering beneath the might of this little old lady. xx
Adriel thanks the woman - Peggy Fisher, apparently - and Mrs. Fisher insists how little trouble it was to babysit, before finally catching sight of Briar and looming on him like a hawk over prey. "Now, who's this young man?" She asks, looking him over from head to toe. Briar shifts under her gaze but smiles nonetheless. "Briar Harvent, ma'am. I'll be staying over for a little while." "You!" "Yes?" "You should eat more, I'm surprised no one gets a paper cut hugging you! I'll have that sorted. Little bit of sugar never hurt no one. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's far too late for me." "That you Peggy, we'll see you tomorrow Rose is excited." And then she's gone. xxxx
Briar has questions about this lady, who is clearly a neighbor and clearly a spitfire. But he'll be around for who-knows-how-long and he's sure he'll see her again, so he sets his questions aside. xx
The inside of the house feels just as homely as the dim-lit outside, with lavender painted walls, grey wood floors and furniture in a darker grey with white and lavendar accents. There are stuffed toys laid neatly between throw pillows on the couch and the place is surprisingly clean, considering this house is actually well-lived in, not to mention the presence of three children. It's like a spread out of an interior decorating magazine and Briar, who's not had the opportunity to decorate while needing to be ready to leave at a moment's notice, can definitely appreciate this. xx
He toes off his shoes and leaves them on a shelf by the door, next to a pair of tiny pink sparkling sneakers that Briar totally doesn't coo over. Adriel points out a few doorways in sight and starts for one of them, clearly excited about having a guest to show about, but Matthias intervenes before she can get far. "Adriel, sweetie, it's late. We can give him the tour tomorrow, we need to sleep." And as much as Briar wants to see the rest of their beautiful home, he's still running on only a few hours of interrupted nightmare sleep, so he follows Matthias toward their spare room. xx
The room is nice- a decent sized bed, a little desk in one corner, a dresser and a rocking chair with wisteria vines painted onto the white wood. It's nice. But Briar feels the unfamiliarity in all of it. xx
"Do you... well." Briar turns from setting his bag down and eyes Matthias with curiosity. "Want to sleep in our bed? Like when we were kids?" Briar, who remembers this man being as out-of-touch as he was with the fun Oscar and Adriel tried to get them to learn, sees someone completely different standing in front of him. He may look the same, in appearance, but his eyes crinkle around the edges and the corners of his mouth perk up, and he feels different, because he is different. And so is Adriel, and Briar himself. It feels like they've left the Institute behind them. xx
And even though Briar knows they can never truly leave everything that happened in the past, he also knows to take advantage of the good things that come his way, because they never last. So he follows Adriel and Matthias to their bedroom with its king-sized bed and five hundred fluffy blankets, comments on Matthias' rainbow lollipop boxers and laughs with Adriel for a full minute over the constipated look on Matthias' face, watches their cute nightly routines with a wide smile. xx
And when they're all in bed, underneath a mountain of soft warmth, huddled together, Briar feels comfortable. At home. He falls asleep with his subconscious wishing Oscar could be there too. xxx
"So, what you're saying is that we have a spare room and we need a super nanny... hmmm, Briar, do you know anyone?" Maia stifles a giggle, and Briar pauses, staring at his friends, his family- their conspiring grins, their joined hands, their baby- before he knows it, Briar's crying again for the nth time that night, and he welcomes the hugs that come at him from every angle. xxx
"I would love that. Really." He says, glad that even though he has to leave one family behind, at least he won't be alone. He'll be a part of another family- the family he wanted to reconnect with. xx
Tears continue to fall as Briar says goodbye to Maia, Aiden, Cedar, and Nick, who all crowd him until the last second. Briar deflates like a sad balloon as the van pulls out of the driveway, feels his heart sinking a little when the van disappears completely. But Adriel and Matthias are there. He's not alone. He slings his backpack over his shoulder and locks up the house, shoves the key under the doormat for one of the rebels to find later so they can put the house up for sale later on. xx
Briar looks at the plain, one story building and sighs. This is where he's lived for five years, since the very day he escaped and Maia found him, exhausted and crying and more than broken. This is where he learned what love was, what it meant, how people showed it- this is where he realized what Oscar had been trying to tell him, in that swimming pool and so many other times that Briar hadn't even taken note of until then. This is where he recognized that he had been the strange one. xx
Adriel's hand fits into Briar's and he pulls his eyes from the house, looks at her and Matthias instead. The three of them have proven that people really can change, that people can thrive even when they've been through hell. He returns her smile, squeezes her hand, and they leave together. xx
XX ❋
"Holy shit, this is your house?!" Briar stares at the cottage-like masterpiece in front of him and his heart cries, because it's absolutely adorable. He has no idea what he was expecting, but reality certainly exceeds expectations, whatever they were. "Seriously, this is so cute." It's dark, so the colors and details are missing, but the shape of the house and flowing pathway and patches of flowers make the place feels loads more homely and cared for than the immense plainness of the safe house. Which he supposes makes sense- the safe house is meant to be inconspicuous. This, however, is a home cultivated by people who almost don't even need to shy away from the world. xx
Adriel and Matthias both laugh, the sound like music to Briar's ears. "Glad you like it. We worked hard on fixing up when we first moved in. This place smelt worse then the changing rooms after training." "Oh God, really?!" "Mhm." Briar's entire faces scrunches up in disgust at the the rather vivid cellular memory, and he takes a few obvious steps closer to the flowers, to which his friends laugh again. "Don't let Matthias fool you. He did the garden by himself. All the flowers and plants are his work not mine." "Well, Matthias, this garden... it pleases me." xx
Matthias chuckles and walks ahead of them, and the voice of an old woman has Briar cocking his head to the side, confused. "Don't you sneak up on me! These bones aren't what they used to be!" "Please Mrs. Fisher, you'll wake the children." "Those little monsters? Wake up? Hah! It'll be snow in August before that happens!" Briar smiles and does his best not to laugh at the sight of Matthias, giant that he is, more or less cowering beneath the might of this little old lady. xx
Adriel thanks the woman - Peggy Fisher, apparently - and Mrs. Fisher insists how little trouble it was to babysit, before finally catching sight of Briar and looming on him like a hawk over prey. "Now, who's this young man?" She asks, looking him over from head to toe. Briar shifts under her gaze but smiles nonetheless. "Briar Harvent, ma'am. I'll be staying over for a little while." "You!" "Yes?" "You should eat more, I'm surprised no one gets a paper cut hugging you! I'll have that sorted. Little bit of sugar never hurt no one. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's far too late for me." "That you Peggy, we'll see you tomorrow Rose is excited." And then she's gone. xxxx
Briar has questions about this lady, who is clearly a neighbor and clearly a spitfire. But he'll be around for who-knows-how-long and he's sure he'll see her again, so he sets his questions aside. xx
The inside of the house feels just as homely as the dim-lit outside, with lavender painted walls, grey wood floors and furniture in a darker grey with white and lavendar accents. There are stuffed toys laid neatly between throw pillows on the couch and the place is surprisingly clean, considering this house is actually well-lived in, not to mention the presence of three children. It's like a spread out of an interior decorating magazine and Briar, who's not had the opportunity to decorate while needing to be ready to leave at a moment's notice, can definitely appreciate this. xx
He toes off his shoes and leaves them on a shelf by the door, next to a pair of tiny pink sparkling sneakers that Briar totally doesn't coo over. Adriel points out a few doorways in sight and starts for one of them, clearly excited about having a guest to show about, but Matthias intervenes before she can get far. "Adriel, sweetie, it's late. We can give him the tour tomorrow, we need to sleep." And as much as Briar wants to see the rest of their beautiful home, he's still running on only a few hours of interrupted nightmare sleep, so he follows Matthias toward their spare room. xx
The room is nice- a decent sized bed, a little desk in one corner, a dresser and a rocking chair with wisteria vines painted onto the white wood. It's nice. But Briar feels the unfamiliarity in all of it. xx
"Do you... well." Briar turns from setting his bag down and eyes Matthias with curiosity. "Want to sleep in our bed? Like when we were kids?" Briar, who remembers this man being as out-of-touch as he was with the fun Oscar and Adriel tried to get them to learn, sees someone completely different standing in front of him. He may look the same, in appearance, but his eyes crinkle around the edges and the corners of his mouth perk up, and he feels different, because he is different. And so is Adriel, and Briar himself. It feels like they've left the Institute behind them. xx
And even though Briar knows they can never truly leave everything that happened in the past, he also knows to take advantage of the good things that come his way, because they never last. So he follows Adriel and Matthias to their bedroom with its king-sized bed and five hundred fluffy blankets, comments on Matthias' rainbow lollipop boxers and laughs with Adriel for a full minute over the constipated look on Matthias' face, watches their cute nightly routines with a wide smile. xx
And when they're all in bed, underneath a mountain of soft warmth, huddled together, Briar feels comfortable. At home. He falls asleep with his subconscious wishing Oscar could be there too. xxx