Family Pictures
Sep. 16th, 2021 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runes_brandBrand's phone had manifested like the Stuff was trying to apologize for taking Rune away from him. It was a piss poor substitute given that Brand doesn't have a lot of pictures of Rune. Why would he? If he wanted to look at him back home, he could go fucking find him. The few he does have are thanks to Addam (why Addam thinks that Brand wants artsy shots of Rune drooling on his fucking pillow is beyond him) or the kids (who are usually tattling on Rune for screwing around).
He's not looking at those pictures anyway. Given that Rune's absence might as well be a sucking chest wound, it seems like a bad idea. The others are safer. He can miss them without feeling like he's dying.
He glances up from his phone when South enters the room, and considers his own state of mind. He almost feels sociable, so he stretches himself beyond his usual grunt-and-nod greeting.
"Hey."
He's not looking at those pictures anyway. Given that Rune's absence might as well be a sucking chest wound, it seems like a bad idea. The others are safer. He can miss them without feeling like he's dying.
He glances up from his phone when South enters the room, and considers his own state of mind. He almost feels sociable, so he stretches himself beyond his usual grunt-and-nod greeting.
"Hey."
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Date: 2021-10-29 12:00 am (UTC)South's next question gets a grunt.
"Yeah, Addam basically raised Quinn. Kid sees the future and talks like he doesn't understand verb tenses, but he's not a complete pain in the ass. Max we got because his grandma got Rune to agree to 'deliver a package' for her, then we found out that the 'package' was a teenage boy and the delivery location was his age of majority. But she's an evil bitch; so fuck her, we're keeping him."
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Date: 2021-10-29 12:16 am (UTC)South looks away from the photo just to stare at him for a second because sorry, Brand, that needs a moment of 'checking your expression for signs of bullshitting', but, nope, okay, more dead serious journey through a world of magical bullshit stuff. Future sight and a trick adoption. Sure. Why the fuck not, at this point.
"Well, that's sure one fuckin' way to adopt a kid. But sure sounds like he's better off with you soooo." She doesn't need to hear more than a trick being played to hand him off to someone else to not question the 'evil bitch' designation there. Though, to be fair, she wouldn't even need that, at this point if Brand labels someone an evil bitch she's just gonna take his word.
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Date: 2021-10-29 06:40 am (UTC)"He is better off with us," Brand agrees. "Which is saying some-fucking-thing, given that I shoved his head in the toilet within twelve hours of him arriving at our house, and he almost died twice before the week was out."
Fucking ex-Lady Lovers. Brand's put a lot of thought into how to fight her since they took in Max. He selects another picture and turns the screen back toward South. Another candid shot: Max again, this time being harassed at the breakfast table by a tween girl with brown skin and shiny black hair and a burn scar that covers half her face.
"Anna," he says, and he can't fucking help cracking a smile. "She's a magical powerhouse, but she's also the sensible kind of kid who always has a knife on her."
no subject
Date: 2021-10-29 11:32 pm (UTC)"Why is shoving people's head in toilets one of your go-tos, dude. Just— why."
It's not even actually a question, just a comment made through a laugh at both that and Brand's idea of a 'sensible kind of kid'.
"So, totally a kid after your own heart, you mean. Did you even have to teach her that?"