Rifter

but also

“It’s the little things…” He replied softly, looking up as the other spoke. Something worth protecting. That’s how he felt about his little circus family… Shifting slightly, he shook his head. “I’m not busy, no…I-…wouldn’t mind coming along. If you’re sure.”

“It’s a very nice thought…” he replied softly, brushing part of his hair behind one of his pointed ears. If things were idealistic, everyone would find who they were meant to be with. But if the world was idealistic, he would’ve been born the real Lucas. Not some imposter thrown into his crib. But that was a thought for another time. Now he just wanted to speak with someone who made him happy. Even if only a little bit.

“I suppose that’s true…”

“I…suppose you have a point. I’ve read a lot of stories like that…though, I doubt something like that would…ever happen to me…” He shifted, for once pulling his hood down now that he was around someone he was comfortable with. Even if they’d only met once before. His thoughts had never made Thirteen afraid. Or worried. He was just kind. And that was enough for him.

“It’s a very…very sweet thought…”

“I mean, thinking on it, finding your soulmate would be a sort of one in a million chance. There’s so many people in the world. But, yeah, it’s a sweet thought.” Leo laced his fingers together, stretching his arms out in front of him. “And... I dunno. Having that hope isn’t such a bad thing, I would think. Being realistic is good and all, but there’s no harm in believing.”

“I’ve never head that said before…but, I suppose there are a lot of things that haven’t really…been said to or around me…”

Again he shifted, looking up at the other. Despite himself, a light pink spread across his features at the comment. Destiny. He’d never really thought of such things, but he found himself a bit embarrassed all the same. “You talk about that so casually…b-but…it’s nice to see you too.”

“Oh? Well, I guess I can see where you’re coming from...” Talking about destined relationships, whether platonic or romantic, could be pretty embarrassing. Especially with someone you barely knew. “If it helps any, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought it was a cute thing that I’ve heard. I mean, wouldn’t be nice to find your destined one?”

A long time.  Ha!  For a being like Loki, his life was so long he probably couldn’t even remember the day he found this lost lamb.  A day in the life of a god was like a grain of sand on an expansive beach.

“Oh I’m sure you’ll get to go home eventually.” the queen spoke “In the meantime, are you hungry?  You must be.”

Sorry little bird, she can’t let you go.  Not yet.  Not until Loki rears his ugly head and finally comes back out of hiding.  Not to mention, there was so much this child could tell her.  The more he cooperated, the more pleasant his stay in her realm would be.

How long was he going to be stuck here? It wasn’t like he didn’t have faith in his family; Leo knew Eric and the young ones would be kicking up a fuss, and their father would eventually find out and come rescue him. But even knowing that, Leo didn’t feel any less terrified. He knew what Owen was capable of. He’d even seen glimpses of it. At this point, he was desperate to escape her in any way.

There wasn’t much he could do against the god queen, though. He just had to...hunker down and wait this out. He could do that. Father always said that being patient was a good thing. He just needed to be patient. Leo took a deep breath, his hands idly reaching up to rub at his face.

“Well dear, that’s exactly what makes you so interesting!” the woman replied merrily.  She reached a single sharp nail into the cage, gingerly and carefully putting it under the boy’s chin to tilt his head up to look at her.

Poor thing, he was shaking like a leaf.  Perfect.  He knew who he should truly fear.

“Why wouldn’t he turn you?  What makes you so special?” she mused before taking her hand away to inspect her nails “Or maybe you’re not special at all.  Maybe you just weren’t worth the effort.”

She glanced at him again “Tell me, how long have you been apart of Loki’s little cult?”

Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be? Leo could probably count on one hand the number of his siblings had refused to become Shadow Children. He flinched as her nail touched him, his body tensing as she made him look at her. Leo knew exactly what made him so special. Though he wasn’t about to say it out loud. Not to her.

If she didn’t know, she couldn’t use him like that.

He stumbled as the cage was lifted, losing his footing and falling to his knees before she had finally hung it up. Owen. The queen of gods. The one who wanted to destroy them all. And she had him in her grasp. Leo was understandably terrified, his eyes wide as he stared at her. She just wanted to talk, but Loki had always told him that she couldn’t be trusted.

Not like he had much of a choice in the moment... Unless his father could rescue him, or he could find some way to slip away, there wasn’t much he could do but listen.

“Oh, so he does still care.” Alexander scoffed.  He didn’t understand why Servac even bothered.  Adults would never relinquish control over what they always perceived as lesser people.  Ah, but he supposed he shouldn’t be trying to kick up dust.  He didn’t want to upset the little ones by insulting their big brother.

He listened to Leo talk about how excited they all were to have new, potential, family members and smiled.  “Yeah, it’ll be good to have some new faces around.” he spoke, moving to stand next to his little brother “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Big brother, be nice. Everyone shows how they care in different ways, you know that.” The scolding was light, only with a slight wave of the spoon to punctuate his words. He wasn’t actually mad, though; No family was perfect, and their odd bunch were no exception. Especially between Servac and Alexander... Still, right now wasn’t the time to focus on fights! Dinner was almost done!

“Okay… Am I in a stressful situation? Is this sitch-e-ation a little stressful? I don’t sense no stress.”