The Stolen Son

Nate didn’t hide watching Cas move to get his clothes off, or how he said that it was what he had wanted. The tone made Nate shiver slightly as he stood still wanting Cas to come and unwrap him. Besides he liked tracing Cas with his eyes, especially when he seemed so hurried to join him again. 

There was a pang with Nate. Maybe that it was a sign of being wanted? He knew it was dumb, Cas just wanted him for his body after all, but it made him feel special. Especially as he saw Cas moving towards him. Without much thought he opened his arms slightly so Cas could tug at him and smiled slightly. 

He could say he wasn’t a school boy, but Zara called them as she saw them. “What are you then?” If he didn’t like her assessment, he was free to correct her. She didn’t claim to be an expert in the area.

Zara shot back her whiskey as the bartender came over. She let the not-school boy order first; he had been the one to signal the bartender over. Then, Zara ordered herself another whiskey. If the last five minutes were any indication, the stranger had a tendency to make things interesting, and Zara figured another whiskey wouldn’t hurt if that were the case. Even if it weren’t the case, another whiskey never seemed to hurt.

Nate laughed and thought about it for a second. “Uh, I’m not sure what the other categories. Anything that I would say would either be sad or kind of douchey so you’ve put me in a corner.” He said with a shrug not knowing any better way to end the idea. After all, what was he going to say? I’m a grown man? That might as well be a sign on his back saying “hey I have a super fragile ego.” 

Nate ordered a rum and coke leaning on the bar slightly he nodded at her drink choice. “Might not help my lost cause but I wish I could drink a drink neat. Just seems to burn my throat to much. I don’t make a face, but I can’t just sip it you feel?” 

Mirek’s first love was potions. But he did enjoy staring at gruesome and awful wounds, with the intent of fixing them. So before he even processed that there was a living being in his office, his eyes fixed on the boy’s leg, and the towel covering the problem. It wasn’t until he spoke that he snapped back to reality. “Yes, Healer Yaxley, pleased to meet you. I assume you’re here because of the leg?” He said, turning his eyes back to the wound. 

“Can I take a look?” 

Nate was pretty used to people looking at his body more than his face, although someone being concentrated on a wound was a bit different for him. Although he couldn’t say it wasn’t a novel problem to have. Maybe Nic would get a kick out of it, although he wasn’t sure he’d tell the other. 

“Ah - yeah. It’s not too deep but I figured better safe than sorry.” Nate nodded slightly at the question shifting in his seat and moving the rag slightly not looking down at it. 

“Ah box cutter if that helps any?”

“If you ask me, good room service is never closed.” Cas responded, certain that the hotel wouldn’t risk losing someone rich and important because they didn’t want to deliver fruit late at night. It just wasn’t good business sense, but Cas wasn’t hungry and it was more the aesthetic of decadence that made him suggest it. “Picky, picky, sweetheart.” He teased, despite the fact Nate specified that he wasn’t complaining.

Stripping off the last of his clothes, Cas sunk into the tub with a quiet sigh as the water engulfed him, warm and fragrant. “I’m not going to starve. Not from lack of food, at least,” He murmured, flicking his eyes along Nate’s body while waiting for him to finish undressing. It wasn’t as if he’d never seen Nate naked, but it was still a pleasant image.

“You did a great job with this bath, now hurry up and get in here so you can enjoy it with me,” Cas murmured, reaching out a hand for Nate and dripping water on the tile.

Nate shrugged a little at the thought and said, “Not sure I’d really know.” He however couldn’t help but laugh at the teasing words shaking his head. He was a lot, but he didn’t think he was especially picky. “Sure.” 

He almost didn’t catch the murmur of Cas’ words as he continued to take off his clothes, but took in a sharp breath in as they processed. Although Nate tried to keep it out of his movements not wanting to embarrass himself anymore tonight. However he couldn’t help but glance to Cas and quickly away as he saw the other watching him. 

He wasn’t embarrassed. He took off his clothes for a living, and Cas had seen him naked before. However there was something in the fact Cas was just openly watching him that sent a jolt through him. Then standing naked there seeing Cas reach out to him with his hand was a pretty picture. 

Smiling slightly Nate nodded and said softly, “ Okay.” taking his hand mostly because it was out Nate started into the bath moving to sit so he was near Cas feet figuring it was presumptuous to be anywhere else.  It wasn’t embarrassment again, but more so he didn’t know where the line was exactly. He wasn’t sure Cas would mind much, but it seemed awfully romantic in the air as it was and Nate just wasn’t sure. Even now he was hesitating to give Cas his hand back, but knowing that the other probably wasn’t the hand holding type he let go gently keeping his hand near. 

Nic didn’t want to be doing this any more than Nate seemed like he wanted to. But his anxiety had him in a vice-grip and he was quite literally unable to let the issue drop. It was like thorns winding around his heart and lungs, iron fingers squeezing his mind. He had to understand. He had to make sure his world was in order. He had to make sure everything wasn’t about to fall down around his ears and leave him shattered. 

Nic didn’t care how Nate spent his time. He honestly didn’t. He wanted his brother to be happy. But sometimes things tripped little red switches in his mind and it was like a full mental meltdown that he couldn’t stop until he was reassured, and learning that Nate had been seeing the same person for a while, while not mentioning it at all, had tripped several switches.

“I… I guess,” Nic managed, running a hand through his hair. He supposed that made sense; a familiar one-night stand was better than having to constantly re-learn people? Nic didn’t do things like this. He knew, but he also didn’t know certain things. He’d have to take Nate’s explanation at face value and trust. But trust had never come easy for him. 

“I just-” he let out a strangled, frustrated noise from deep in throat. “You didn’t tell me. It scared me. I’m sorry. Not that you owe me anything, but. I can’t protect you if I don’t know, and…” He sat heavily down on the coffee table and bent his head into his hands, taking a rough breath. He felt like he was talking nonsense, while Nate sounded so- so reasonable. So why was he having a meltdown over this? “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I just worried.”

Nate was uncomfortable, and part of him was defensive which was - new in these types of situations. Normally Nate would just say okay and leave it alone, but part of him was - upset. He didn’t want to give up Cas just because Nic was nervous. It wasn’t a heat of anger or anything like that, but there was a bit of - hurt there. He didn’t want to give into Nic’s anxiety again, but he didn’t know what else he could reasonably do. 

It made him reel the feeling not normal for Nate. He didn’t like it. “I’m sorry, Nic.” Nate said softly because he had been keeping Cas from Nic hadn’t he? If only because he wanted a person to himself. Something that he didn’t have to justify but he also knew that Nic would be anxious about it. 

It wasn’t all…? Did Nate have a second job out in the rain? Was he sick? He didn’t look sick, but maybe Tristan was wrong because he was hardly any sort of medical professional and soon enough Nate was grinning, which seemed like a good thing. “Ah. Daydream?”

What had that one woman called them? Face journeys? Maybe Nate had a face journey because of a thought, that could happen. It was certainly a cheaper trip and Tristan’s expression turned wistful at the mention. “I miss the weather of Itacare. The beaches and the wind and so much sun.” There was an undeniable note of longing in his voice because even if it was surprisingly clear that day, it still wasn’t the heat of home.

“I found a beach, I plan on going even if the water is cold.” And then he would likely complain bitterly about it once he was home and insist on staying wrapped up in blankets, but he missed swimming and surfing, although he wasn’t going to attempt surfing yet. “I miss the water, do you want to come? You do not need to get wet.”

“Daydream? I mean maybe but that might still be to expensive to just sit there and hope you know?” After all, Nate might be seen as a slacker by his old teachers but he was a hard worker. He spent a lot of hours making sure that Nic and him would be okay. Picking up to many shifts and pretending that it was sustainable.

It’s why now he was so - angry wasn’t quite the right word but upset might be worse. He had just wanted to forget about all of it for awhile and it felt like he wasn’t allowed to. 

“I miss the sun too, but it was probably different feeling. You’re ocean is bigger than our sea.” Well Nate knew the mediterranean went into the ocean but still. 

 At the suggestion and offer Nate titled his head and thought about it for a moment and went. “Actually yeah that sounds nice.”

It was obvious that he hadn’t expected to see her. Excellent she thought to herself. This was sure to be a rather interesting conversation. “I didn’t know you worked at them,” Juliette shot back once more, with quirked brows and a small smirk. “Times have changed, people get bored…”  

Leaning up against some of the other lockers, Juliette tipped her head to the side and frowned. “And miss out on this wonderful discovery? Besides, I hadn’t known you would be here. This is but a happy coincidence,” she added, perking back up and flashing him a grin. 

Twisting her hair around her finger with one arm tucked under the other across her chest, Juliette studied him a moment before continuing. “Now that I do know, though, —and don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone— I have to know… how long has this been occurring?” Many thoughts swarmed her head, the most persistent one being whether Nate actually did this for a living and how far it was taken, though the latter was a bit more personal. “You certainly look as though you know what you’re doing.”

“Well what can I say, I’m a private person,” Which he would suppose was true. He didn’t really talk to many people about a lot of deeper things. Nic was right after all, that if you let people in they were more likely to hurt you later. If they didn’t know much, but felt like they did then maybe it wouldn’t hurt that bad. 

He rolled his eyes as he looked at his friend. “You going to turn around? Because I’m going to have to change Jules.” 

It was more of a warning then anything. Nate might have been shy about his feelings but he wasn’t exactly shy. “I’m glad to amuse you.” 

He felt that she probably wouldn’t tell anyone else, which was good on his part. He didn’t really want Sophie to know. However at the question he sighed. “Uh - when did we graduate? like seven months after that.” He’d originally came in to be a bouncer thinking that he could get the job quick and get cash. That’s when he was told that he wouldn’t be necessary for that, but if he wanted cash and flexible hours stripping was a good idea even if it took him awhile to get good at it. 

“So Yeah I guess I do.” He said pulling his sweatshirt over himself thinking that he’d take off the glitter later. “You going to twenty questions me this entire time or say hi? I haven’t seen you in awhile Juliette.” 

If she was less dignified, Hilda would’ve huffed as she struggled to push the pram forward. On top of being crowded and dirty, the fair grounds were bumpy, and while they might have been ideal for grown children, they weren’t ideal for children who still need to be pushed around by their parents.

Hilda’s annoyance was doubled by the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be doing this alone. Caleb was supposed to be there with her, taking over the pram pushing duties from time to time, but he had disappeared soon after they arrived. From the way he focused so intently on her and seemingly ignored their surroundings from the moment they stepped foot on the fair grounds, she had the feeling he’d left to escape the fair itself rather than her, but the realization didn’t lessen her feelings abandonment any.

Hilda would’ve loved to have had been attending the fair with Narcissa or Liliana. At least then she would’ve gotten to gossip and bond over the troubles of pram pushing on uneven ground. However, Caleb felt that the fair would be a good public outing for them, especially since they hadn’t had one in a while. The papers could get a picture of them strolling around together, doting over Seamus, among the rest of the people. It would be a good look. Only for that to happen, Caleb would have to come back to her.

Hilda had only spent a couple of minutes pushing the pram by herself before she gave up with the muggle method and charmed the damn thing to levitate. If she was going to do it alone, she was going to do it her way. She didn’t care if it seemed prissy. When it came down to it, she was prissy, and it was easier to lean into it than it was to push a pram over uneven ground.

However, in the end the levitation seemed to matter little. Even though the pram was moving along evenly and effortlessly now, the upset Seamus felt from the bumps wasn’t going to be soothed by the fix in consistency.

It was in that moment that a stranger ambushed Hilda with help. Though he wasn’t much younger than herself, his messy hair and the silly faces he made at Seamus caused Hilda to think of him as a young man. An instinctual part of her wanted to shoo him away - he was a stranger who had gotten closer to her son than she was normally comfortable with. However, the silly faces were working in calming Seamus down, and with Caleb having already abandoned her, leaving her alone in the bustling, dirty landscape that was the fair, she decided she wasn’t going to to turn away the help.

“Thank you, for calming him down,” Hilda smiled. “He seems to really like the faces.”

@nathan-chastain

Nate wouldn’t say he a kid whisperer but they seemed to like him enough. Maybe it was his facial expressions or his hair, but they tended to focus on him when he was out and point at him. Sometimes they even giggled and seemed to enjoy him twitching his nose at them like a bunny. 

He wasn’t really doing anything at the moment, Nic having gone out of sight while he waited for him to get back, so when he saw a small kiddo crying he couldn’t help but focus on him. He didn’t get super close but started making funny faces at the kiddo until he heard him starting to giggle and stop crying. 

He hadn’t even really realized the mother had figured it out, and was almost weary after the run-in with Lia. After all, he wasn’t trying to do anything weird he just figured the kid was fussing and thought it would be a bit of a lark. 

Still he didn’t look tense and when she said thank you Nate nodded and laugh. “Sorry it’s something my brother used to do to me when we were little so I figured it might work. I’m glad he was amused.” 

“I mean Probably, okay Correct. Sometimes I’m not paying attention and I just say sorry I don’t mean too. Fuck off.” 

“I don’t know probably kinda. I was a dumb kid and pretty trusting, but I don’t think anyone would think I’d do that today to be fair even Nic.” 

Not in the least bit scared away from the fair despite the attempts of the crazy cat lady, Cas found himself wandering the fair in hopes of a distraction that would dim that particular encounter in his mind. 

Oh, certainly, the music and the rides and all that were a distraction, but they weren’t really on par with the events going on lately, were they? It was shockingly sedate, pleasant in its thrills instead of terrifying, and Cas knew that this meant he likely needed a break from the louder distractions, but the trouble was, he found it difficult to focus on any of them. What was the point, exactly?

There was something missing from the experience and Cas thought it was possibly human interaction because you were supposed to play at a fair, but he didn’t have anyone to play with, that was the problem. It was an easily solved one, at least, Cas didn’t think he’d have any trouble finding someone to pick up while he was around. Fine some unaccompanied lady looking doubtfully at a ride, offer to go with her if she was scared, and boom, that would be entertainment for at least a few moments.

Cas had seen on a documentary before that attending things like this caused people to bond and while Cas highly doubted he would bond with anyone, he thought it would certainly help people be blinded to the way he toyed with them.

The plan had been to find someone new and enjoy messing with an unknown subject, but that plan changed the moment Cas recognized a mess of curls near one of the games, some sort of throwing event, it looked like, and Cas didn’t hesitate to sneak up behind him. “Waiting for someone to win you a toy?” He teased, grinning. @nathan-chastain​

Nate hadn’t been exactly avoiding Cas, after all it wasn’t as if they ran into each other all that often really. Nic had been exaggerating a lot of it, and it wasn’t as if Nate wasn’t fine hanging around friends and other people. Besides, he would talk to Cas eventually. 

He just hadn’t expected to hear the other’s voice behind him as he was trying, and failing, to win a game. He hadn’t put that much into the game if he was being fair, but still. 

He could feel a blush filling his face as he turned around slightly to see it was in fact Cas. After all, his voice was - at least to Nate distinctive. He’d probably figure out the other in a crowded room. 

He froze for a split second before he laughing. “No - well I was trying to win a stuffed animal. I don’t think anyone is going to want to win one for me - I mean I’m pretty sure I can win the game you know.” Still as easy as it was to talk to Cas there was an anxiety with it. Nic was around, he was sure and he didn’t want Cas to end up accidentally on fire. He didn’t think Nic would do it purposely, but that didn’t really matter when your hair was singed did it. It didn’t feel right to keep it in, and so he followed the urge to just tell Cas so he didn’t have to waste his time or get hurt just because Nate wanted to talk to him. 

“Hey - I. I’m not trying to be rude or mean, but you know my brother? He uh -he’s around here I’m pretty sure and he really doesn’t want us to be around eachother. I’m not sure how he quite figured it out but he did. I’m sorry.” Nate said softly his face still red as he wasn’t quite looking at Cas. “He’s just over protective, and with everything going on right now he’s just more anxious than normal.”

Hearing Nate laugh behind him, Cas wore a satisfied expression as he wandered back to the minibar and pulled out a bottle of champagne, but he didn’t immediately return to the bathroom. Instead he took a moment to draw his wand and cast a spell on the door so that anyone who went near it would suddenly remember something they forgot and wander off. It wouldn’t really defend against wizards, but it would be a nice little deterrent for any muggles even if they were under the imperius.

Another protective spell went up and Cas, content with his efforts, took care of the cork in the bottle of champagne so he could drink directly from the bottle as he went back into the bathroom.

“Lavender’s fine. It’s supposed to be soothing and good for sleep.” And he wasn’t the sort of guy that was going to have a fit over a flowery bath because it would damage his masculinity. A few bath salts weren’t going to make his dick shrivel up and fall off, after all, and Cas sipped at the champagne again before setting the bottle down next to Nate’s hip and leaning in to kiss him. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

Of course, Cas was still dressed as well and he pulled away from Nate to start shed his layers, shirt pulled over his head and discarded on the floor. “Maybe we should have ordered room service.” He said while continuing to undress. “I could be feeding you strawberries right now.” He didn’t even know if Nate liked strawberries, but if they were going to be living it up in a night of decadence, might as well indulge in whatever thought that passed through their minds. It was almost like a vacation from the war for a night, which sounded almost sentimental. That must have been a side effect of being around Nate, or maybe he was simply basking in the success of escaping that raid so successfully.

Nate titled his head slightly at the thought and nodded. “I hadn’t heard that, but it is kind of soothing isn’t it?” Maybe Sophie had said something about it, but he couldn’t remember what lavender was supposed to do.

However the thought didn’t stay for very long as Nate got pulled out of the thought with Cas kissing him. Giving a soft smile he laughed and said, “Okay I’ll take them off then.”

“The weather is nice.” She had spilled her tea and been rejected a bunch of times, but she this was certainly a nice turn in events, and an unexpected one at that. It was always nice to be surprised. 

“Oh, just until you feel like you’ve told the cards enough for them to answer.” Even among divinators, that answer was hippie bullshit, but standarized times felt very subjective, and divination was an art, not science, so she felt confident in guiding people in a much more free-spirited way. “The conversation is between you two more than you and me.”

“I,for one, thought it was going to rain forever,” Nate joked slightly, although sometimes it didn’t feel like a joke. It felt like a threat from England itself. 

He nodded slightly knowing that it was probably for the best that there wasn’t a formula to all of this. It seemed lately anything he did by the books went wrong. “Okay I think that’s where I want to stop shuffling, The backs of these cards are really pretty by the way.” 

He didn’t know if he was allowed to complement the cards, but it was the truth. They felt almost silky in his hands, and if anything he needed to break the silence in some way. 

“What now?” 

Nate tried not to whimper at the touches, but he couldn’t help the little sighs  as he felt Cas move against him. It was hard to keep his eyes open, or to not just enjoy the feeling, but he couldn’t help but let out a laugh when Cas spoke his eyes opening up. 

“Noted,” he said his voice light as he felt Cas’ face move from his neck back to his face. Nate was pretty sure Cas was always beautiful, but right now he couldn’t help but being caught off by it. It made him almost dazed, especially when he leaned in to kiss Nate briefly he was distracted that Cas had removed his hand from his pants. 

For a second he couldn’t really think clearly and automatically nodded with the question in Cas voice and it took another second to push himself off of the wall and follow Cas to the bedroom wanting to feel like a treasure by the other. 

Edith had just been to the shops to purchase fertalizer for her plants when she had gotten sucked into conversation with the owner about what brand was better and why, how much she should be using, and the likes. It ultimately ended in Edith purchasing rather high end fertalizer and a few new plants to add to her collection. Balancing all of her items became a struggle as she walked down the sidewalk back home. There was no way she could have aparated with all of these things in hand, not unless some stranger was willing to help her by tag along.

“Excuse me, sorry… pardon me!” She announced as she passed multiple people along the way, weaving around various individuals. “So sorry!” she shouted after someone she had nearly bumped into, spinning around to see that they were alright. 

Luckily they didn’t react badly, and went about their day. Edith hadn’t yet turned around before continuing to walk, backing into someone. Startled, the materials in her arms lurched forward, causing her to nearly trip. “Oh no!”

@nathan-chastain

Nate was always stunning in the mornings, and by stunning he meant sleep deprived and looking it. His hair was ruffled in all sorts of directions and he hadn’t bothered to fix it while he was hoping to get some coffee. Nic was on his case lately, so sometimes he just got up at weird times to not deal with everything all at once. 

Still he didn’t think he looked that bad when suddenly he saw a girl starting to trip forward. He didn’t think about it as he went infront of her to block the things from falling and to steady her. After all she wasn’t going to knock him down unless she was trying too. 

“Oh -” Nate managed to say before reaching out to keep her as steady and trying not to drop her things. Suddenly startled and not as sleepy he went “ Shit - did you drop anything? Are you okay?”