the art of trust // storm + eden, post-91st

Very quickly, nearly all at once, the problem of Eden going stir-crazy becomes a scarily real thing.

It was different in the winter, back when he first came to Nine and then the snow fell and there was nothing to do except stay inside and make Avriel teach him card games while he hogged all the blankets because for some reason Avriel was adverse to turning up the heat, even though Eden knows the furnace works perfectly well from sleeping next to it.

But he even kept busy when Avriel was gone, because then the chickens were his responsibility and he spent that handful of weeks completely focused on them so he didn't have the time to focus on everything else.

Now, though.

Now it's worse.

The thing is that Eden's not supposed to be in Nine. He's not supposed to be anywhere at all. The paranoia of Eurydice possibly popping out from behind a building wore off within the first month, but Eden stays inside and away from people because he doesn't want to add to the pile of Avriel's worries that sometimes seems staggering, even from the outside.

So he watches tv a lot, he tries not to stare out the window but sometimes he can't help it. He does pushups in the spare bedroom when Avriel thinks he's taking a nap and he spends hours at a time sitting in the yard with the chickens until the new gaggle of kids that moved in beside them venture outside and take an interest in the clucking noises.

Jennie gets cranky when Eden stops going out as often, but Freckle just takes it upon herself to sneak inside and glue herself to his shoulder. Their favourite thing to do now is to watch is the cooking show with the host that always dresses in all one colour. Eden tactfully changes to the gardening channel whenever they're cooking a poultry dish.

The weather gets warmer and the sun stays out longer, but Eden stays inside and watches a very green man roast tomatoes with Freckle snoozing on his chest and he really tries not to mind it. He's used to be constantly hyper vigilant, it was job to be on edge and to patrol and sometimes beat the shit out of someone, but now all he does is sit there and vibrate and remind himself that this is what he came here for.

Eden knows that Avriel is fine to stay inside for days at a time. Usually in his little shed out back or at the kitchen table, with a pile of something in front of him that holds his attention for so long that on occasion Eden will go about his whole day and when he comes back and checks in, Avriel won't even have moved from his spot.

Eden usually steps up behind him and pokes him right between the shoulder blades, hard enough for him to jolt out of whatever he's stuck in, and then he'll turn around and see it's Eden and he'll notice the way the sun's set and then they'll sit together and eat cereal or scrambled eggs or on one particularly nasty occasion, both at the same time.

And Eden is fully aware now that Avriel is averse to eating anything nutritional that takes longer than sixty seconds to prepare.

Eden and Echo and Steel had gotten the equivalent of table scraps at the Le Roux's, which had been miles and leagues above what they'd gotten before, but now he stares hard at the sharp lines of Avriel's shoulders and the way he gets a little bit paler when he's on a week-long binge of taking apart the grandfather clock at the end of the hall and it bugs him more than it probably should.

It's that time of the month when Avriel goes across the District and fixes things when Eden decides that it's time for him to listen to the very green man with the roasted tomatoes and try to roast his own tomatoes.

It'll be a surprise, for when Avriel comes back home tired and quiet and covered in grease.

He's only seen Avriel work the oven approximately once, but it should be good enough. Eden was sitting at the table pretending not to pay attention, but he was actually paying very good attention.

He's determined not to burn the house down.

This time the very green man on the tv is very blue and he's making a pasta dish that has more vegetables on the plate than Eden's pretty sure he's ever seen in his life.

He knows there's pasta in the pantry only because it's easy to make and keeps for a long time, and that seems to be the only requirements that Avriel stocks. Vegetables on the other hand, Eden doesn't even half to look to know that situation.

He knows that just like he knows that there's a house just a little ways down the street, closer to the hub than the forest, that has a rather impressive garden. Eden knows that he really shouldn't, not just because it's stealing but because he's not supposed to be seen, but the very blue man is chopping very fast and if Eden isn't quick then he'll leave him in the dust.

It takes less than five minutes for Eden to sprint both ways with the goods.

He's got a pot on the stove and there's water in the pot but it doesn't really do anything. He's got tomatoes and something that he's pretty sure was an onion in a pan and they're roasting inside the oven because all he had to do for that was to push the button and it started working.

Freckle takes the moment of stillness to flap from the counter to his shoulder and reassert herself, her talons digging in a little because turning on the oven made the kitchen warm up and even though he's got the window open, Eden had to take his shirt off before he did something stupid like die of heat stroke.

The chicken doesn't seem to mind the heat as much, and she watches the pot with Eden with her beady little eyes until the front door jingles and Eden immediately jumps, which makes her squawk and claw at his shoulder but he doesn't notice because Avriel isn't supposed to be home yet, he should be out for at least another hour, Eden was trying to surprise him-

Except then the voice that comes from the foyer isn't Avriel's and Eden suddenly has the paring knife in one hand and a stray tomato in the other and Freckle goes quiet, like she can feel the way he tenses all at once, every single instinct coming back to him like he hasn't spent the last year acclimating himself to being normal again.

But when Eden whips around it's only the little storm from the tv that walks into their kitchen, and he suddenly feels very silly.

Storm Adroxis turns out to be much smaller in real life.

"Hi there." Little Storm says, and Eden stares at him, because this is technically the first time he hasn't seen the boy either behind a screen or behind a window.

And he's had contact with no one besides Avriel and a bunch of chickens for roughly ten months. His social skills could use some work.

Not that he really had them in the first place.

But he puts the knife down before the tomato, and he thinks that's a good sign.

And he technically doesn't know where Avriel is right now, he always ends up bringing stories from all over, so it's not a lie when Storm asks if he knows where he is and Eden shakes his head no.

In his new found independence, Eden has found that he quite likes technicalities.

Freckle very quickly seems to have had enough of their extended awkward silence and so she decides to rear back and peck Eden right in the shell of his ear. He's very proud when he doesn't flinch, and just keeps looking at Storm.

It's very strange to have someone else in the house. Avriel doesn't get visitors and Eden isn't sure if that's a new development due to him being there or if it's always been like that. He's torn between pushing Storm out because Avriel would probably freak out if he knew he was here, and just letting him stand there a bit longer in order to maximize this shred of non-hostile human contact.

Belatedly, he realizes that he should probably be suspicious of Storm, just based on the merit that he is supposed to be naturally suspicious of everyone. But Eden just keeps looking at him, and he is so very small.

And so instead of panicking or lashing out, Eden reaches back to the counter and offers Storm a cherry tomato.

Little Storm from the TV doesn't say anything for a bit. He actually stands there long enough that Eden starts to think about retracting his tomato offer, because it's just getting more and more awkward the longer he waits there with his arm outstretched and Storm staring at him like his brain just shut down.

Eden didn't think he was that scary, honest.

Freckle swivels her head around to shine one beady eye down on Storm, and then he finally takes the tomato.

Maybe Eden should try prying open another window. The oven's made the room warm, but Little Storm's bright red and he kind of looks like he's about to keel over. And Eden gets it, he really does. Sometimes the heat aggravates the ugly scar on his chest, the one from back in Four when that spear slid right inbetween his heart and his lung. But he still eyes the kid warily.

The newest victor being found unconscious in Avriel's house would probably be a bad thing.

"I know what's happening here." Storm says, except his mouth is full, so only about three-quarters of it comes out intelligible.

He keeps going - "I bet you're one of Av's friends, right?"

Well, they do live together.

Eden just decides to nod, because that particular thread of thought is long and tangled and probably not entirely appropriate for Little Storm.

Then, in what feels similar to a bout of whiplash, something must unclick in his brain because Storm starts talking at about one hundred words per minute and Eden feels himself slowly but surely zoning out. For about a beat and a half, he entirely glazes over. There's just this weird quality that the kid has - he sure is saying words, but with the speed they're flying, only every other one lands.

He was right to be named after a storm too, because just as suddenly as he starts, he stops. Eden blinks back into awareness at the sudden halt. He comes to and Little Storm is wilting like a little flower and Eden doesn't know why, but he immediately panics.

"Sorry." He's saying, looking like someone's kicked puppy and Eden flounders. When was the last time he was even around a kid? (Oh god) He's hurt people smaller than Little Storm, he's been younger than him here, forced into a ring, bashing someone else's skull against the wall. (Oh god)

He doesn't know what to do.

Freckle does though. She gets right in Eden's ear again and squawks as loud as she can, because that's always her idea of helping.

Thanks, Freckle.

Except Storm still looks like someone's just told him the candy store's been shut down (kids like candy, right?) and it makes Eden's entire chest ache. Maybe he's just like Avriel, and all he has to do is give him something to do with his hands. So Eden hurriedly grabs the paring knife and holds it out to Storm handle first, plunking a carrot down on the counter in front of him for good measure.