(You asked me to bump so uh)
(Beep bop)
Depression and Choccy Milk (OXO with Caustic)
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The man took his hand back after a moment. “You’re allowed to go home now. Your guardian will need to get you official papers that show he’s taking care of you,” the doctor replied simply, handing Zedd the recommendation paper. In actuality, the process was about making it look less like the boy was kidnapped and entered as an official resident of the country. It was such a complex thing to explain, so the man didn’t bother.
Zedd thanked his doctor once again before exiting the room.
“You did it. All done,” Zedd whispered softly to Nathaniel. He wanted to make the angel feel better about the whole situation. In all honesty, he had half expected Nathaniel to have had a full physical in addition to what was already done. That… would probably be the next time. Which would likely include vaccinations. Oh stars, Nathaniel was not going to take the idea of needles well.
Nathaniel buried his face in Zedd's shoulder, quivering in the man's arms. He was obviously still anxious about the whole situation, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. "W-What was he talking about, dad…?" He asked weakly. "What's… PTSD? Is it bad? Am I sick? Is it gonna go away?" His wings puffed up a bit as he worked himself up, obviously upset.
Despite the fact that many angels likely had at least one mental disorder due to their upbringing, the subject was never even mentioned up there. They wanted the angels to think that their problems were unimportant so they wouldn't talk about it and distract themselves from their work with it. There was no medication for angels; no therapists to talk them through their worries. They were alone.
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Zedd bit at his lip, trying to think of how he could explain it as not-scary as possible. “It’s just being scared that the past is going to happen again. Like… when you expected me to hit you…? You were used to it so it scared you,” he attempted. Stars, he was so bad at explaining things in simple terms. “It’ll go away with time, yes. You’re not sick.”
"Oh…" Nathaniel nodded weakly in understanding. "And… and when I get scared when I hear loud noises and can't breathe and stuff?" He asked. "And when I got really scared when you took me flying that one time?" He shifted his wings uncomfortably and glanced around, seeming pretty uneasy.
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“Mhm,” Zedd hummed, trying to calm the boy down again. They were going to head home for the day. Oh stars, all of this was going to be a lot of work. He was going to have a lot of paperwork to do on top of work and taking care of the angel, who still needed therapy. Maybe he could call up Cal and his boyfriend and ask if they’d be willing to help somehow? Either by getting to know Nathaniel and babysitting him in a sense every now and again or with the shop itself. Either way, that would be a lot of training. Option one was lecturing about all of Nathaniel’s triggers, what he liked, what he didn’t like; and option two required an extensive amount of training on potion making which was very difficult to learn in days. The skill took months to be decent at.
“Anything you feel like doing when we get home? Watch a movie, drawing, read a book- ah, wait you can’t read. Um, I could read something I guess?”
"I dunno…" Nathaniel huddled up closer to Zedd and sighed, toying with the tips of his wings. "Maybe drawing? And… and I can read, just… not English…" He looked away sheepishly. "I can only read Latin, but I've never seen a book written in Latin down here…"
It was hard to say how Nathaniel would react to being taken away from Zedd for a bit to be babysat by people he hardly knew. He'd been shown to be both overly trusting and terrified of new people, so it could honestly go either way.
(Bump)
(Beep)
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(D: your previous bump says '2020' now i feel so old)
(Oof)
(Bop just in case)
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(Babe i literally had no way to get back on here in weeks lmao)
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(Am here tho :D)
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"I dunno…" Nathaniel huddled up closer to Zedd and sighed, toying with the tips of his wings. "Maybe drawing? And… and I can read, just… not English…" He looked away sheepishly. "I can only read Latin, but I've never seen a book written in Latin down here…"
It was hard to say how Nathaniel would react to being taken away from Zedd for a bit to be babysat by people he hardly knew. He'd been shown to be both overly trusting and terrified of new people, so it could honestly go either way.
“Right,” Zedd replied. He glanced down at the boy in his arms a moment before pushing open the door to leave. It was highly unlikely there was anything to read in Latin aside from thick textbooks lined with names of flora and fauna. Much less children’s books. “Don’t really think there’s much in Latin you’d even like,” he added.
(:0 babe)
"Yeah… I guess drawing would be fine, then…" Nathaniel shrugged a bit and huddled up in Zedd's arms, still trembling a bit from nervousness. He definitely wasn't lying about being scared of doctors. "The man seemed really surprised when he saw how much I weighed…" He murmured softly. "Is my weight bad? I-I mean, I know I'm smaller than the average angel, but I was still within a pretty normal range… although I did lose a pound or two from not eating much on the streets."
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(AAAAA NB JUST GOT UNBLOCKED :D)
It was funny how he had never said anything about that previously. Nathaniel was abnormally light, even by avian standards. "Usually someone about your age would weigh about double what you do," Zedd explained. "It's concerning since… well, there's never been an angel to base anything off of," he shrugged. The man ran his fingers through the boy's hair quickly as they continued walking home. Well, as Zedd continued walking.
(Yeet)
"O-Oh… um… I guess that makes sense…" Nathaniel nibbled nervously on one of his knuckles, wrapping his wings around his frail form. "I just figured that avians would have hollow bones like angels do. It makes it so our wings don't have to be quite so big to allow us to fly." He explained. "Angels are like big birds, I guess. But obviously our bones being hollow makes them more fragile, so… I've broken a fair few bones…"
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Zedd supposed it made sense. "Most of the ones in our wings are, but a lot of the others are just not as dense," he clarified. "The amount of casts I had as a kid…" he trailed off with a light chuckle. Most of the bones he had broken were usually from being reckless and when learning to control all four of his wings. Having four was rare in itself, so it wasn't surprising that learning to stay airborne and steady took several months.
"Yeah… I just broke a lot of bones in training. We trained with hand to hand combat as well as with weapons, so if you left an opening and got punched in the ribs, you'd probably break one." Nathaniel shrugged a bit as though this were a normal, not at all concerning experience. "And I think my dad might've cracked or broken a few, I dunno. I broke a lot of bones when I fell and hurt my wings."
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That was the moment that Zedd felt very protective over the small child in his arms. That wasn't right. None of what he went through was right. Rather than say anything, he looked forward and focused on where he was going. He didn't want to think right now about what did or didn't happen in the past. Nathaniel deserved to be happy right now. He was still just a child. It was upsetting to know that the supposed afterlife wasn't fair either.
Nathaniel huddled close to Zedd's chest, seeming content to share the man's warmth. He closed his eyes and yawned, tired now that the adrenaline from his stress had worn off. "We're close to home, right…?" He asked softly. "What time is it?" He glanced around to see how light the sky was, not sure whether it was a reasonable time to sleep or not.
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Zedd made a noise of agreement before estimating the time was late afternoon. "My guess is between 2:30 and 3?" he figured, seeing as he didn't ever wear a watch. And if he did, he had Nathaniel to hold so it would have been hard to look at anyways. They hadn't been gone all that long surprisingly.
Soon the small shop came into view and he noticed how desolate it seemed inside compared to neighboring businesses. How on earth did parents do this when they decided to have kids? Keep everything running smooth but also keeping track of their children? Zedd had never been fond of multitasking to far extents.
"Mmmm…" Nathaniel whined softly and buried his face in Zedd's shoulder. "But m'tired…" He mumbled. "And I shouldn't sleep in the middle of the day or I won't be able to sleep tonight…" He shifted a bit in Zedd's arms, letting his wings dangle so he would be more comfortable. "Why's time gotta go so slow, dad?"
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The man shifted the boy in his grasp so he could quickly fish out the keys from his pocket to unlock the front door. "Naps are fine as long as they're short. And… I suppose it feels long because we went somewhere you weren't looking forward to," he replied before the click of the lock resounded. Pushing open the door, Zedd walked inside, a bit disappointed in the state of the room. It was getting a bit dusty. He sighed a moment before moving towards the stairs to the apartment above. He'd do the cleaning while Nathaniel took a nap.
"Mmmm…" Nathaniel yawned a bit, purring weakly as Zedd carried him along. "I guess so… what're you gonna do while I'm sleeping, though…?" He asked softly, looking up at Zedd for a moment with a drowsy gaze. The outing had definitely tired him out, especially considering how scared he'd been during it.
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"Probably something boring," he replied jokingly, despite the statement not being entirely wrong. The two made their way inside the small home only for Zedd to take the angel straight to bed. He pulled back the dark colored sheets only to cover Nathaniel and tuck him in.
Nathaniel laughed softly, curling up tightly in the bed when Zedd set him down. He stretched his wings out behind himself, allowing them to curl a bit alongside himself. He essentially ended up in a circle on the bed, seeming pretty comfortable. "Mmm… g'night…"
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Zedd smiled sadly down at the small boy for a moment before slipping out of the bedroom. He quickly made his way down the steps and into the shop. He would have to make a couple of calls soon and start cleaning up if he wanted anything done before Nathaniel woke up. He'd then want to help and then he would over stress about doing something wrong or something like that. The poor boy had been worked up enough for today.
Zedd stepped towards a closet nearby, pulling out a broom. Ah, yes. Cleaning. Something he totally loved doing.
Nathaniel managed to stay asleep for a while in Zedd's absence, occasionally tossing and turning and ending up very entangled in the sheets. He managed to get so tangled up that he could hardly move, which didn't really help him stay settled, so he just began whining softly in distress as he slept.