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[Zennon Baros]

Recently, Zennon had taken to visiting Arvel whenever he had free time, which wasn’t a lot, granted, because Zennon was busy and they both worked, so free time was a bit of a common misconception - especially now with Finley at school, he’d been picking up more hours at work so he could take more time off when he was home on break to spend time with him. So free time was a bit of a luxury at the moment, but despite it, he liked to visit Arvel. They’d somehow managed to develop a bit of a friendly relationship since Arvel first apologised about things between them in school. It was nice, being able to have a proper relationship with Arvel that wasn’t teeming with insecurities and other issues that had come up between them. It was nice, he kept thinking about how nice it was.

“Finley still hasn’t sent me a letter. Those two girls from the hospital have sent me a letter and my own flesh and blood has not,” he said, walking into Arvel’s place mostly unannounced. Arvel knew he was dropping by and they lived so close together, it seemed pointless to knock, though he did on occasion if he’d been away from more than a couple of days. “Do you think he’s trying to punish me for something? I told him he should take Tinsel and the look he gave me when he left after break,” Zennon shook his head. He was pretty sure Finley was beginning to consider Zennon as over protective, but how could he not be after what he’d been through himself as a parselmouth in school? “He hates me, I’m sure of it.”

@Arvel Ayers ​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty was not here, not even close to the scene in fact

 

[Arvel Ayers]

At first, Arvel had been opposed to Zennon turning up whenever he felt like it. More often than not, Arvel spent his days off lounging around the flat in his pyjamas, usually with a big pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Zennon probably wouldn’t have cared much about either of these things, but Arvel did, and that meant he had to keep himself and his surroundings clean and tidy at all times, just in case. Then something strange had started to happen. Instead of finding it all a big chore, he found that he wanted to make the effort. He felt… better when the place was tidy. When he was tidy. The other day, he’d even taken the curtains outside to thump out the dust. It was truly bizarre.

“Aye, but you’re his dad,” he said, putting a bit more water in the kettle and getting down a second mug. “It’s not cool to write to your dad. Tea? Coffee? I don’t think he hates you. He’s just a boy, nearly a teenager. That’s how they are.” Moody. Emotional. Angry. Arvel remembered it all too well. Being a teenager was awful. “Why would he hate you, anyway?”

 

[Zennon Baros]

“Does being his dad mean I must be completely devoid of any contact at all? Does he think nothing of me whilst he’s away?” Zennon lamented. He wasn’t really sure why he was complaining since he got enough updates as it was, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want updates directly from his child. He let out a deep sigh, he wasn’t frustrated exactly, more concerned. He couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing that he wasn’t hearing anything. Did it mean he was having such a good time he didn’t need his dad, or he was having a bad time and couldn’t say. “I don’t know, Arvel. Maybe I just expected a little more. I thought he’d want to write to me, even if it’s just to tell me he’s doing okay. I get it, he’s growing up, but it’s not like I’m asking for a whole essay or anything. Just a line or two to let me know I’m still on his mind.”

He glanced over to the kettle as it started to whistle, the sound a little too high pitched for him right now, but his expression did soften slightly despite it. “Maybe I’m just being… I don’t know, needy? I never really got that kind of reassurance from my own parents. And now I’m left wondering if I’m doing something wrong with Finley. Am I too much, too overbearing?” He didn’t know why he was asking Arvel, but maybe he could offer some clarification, or some kind of something that would make him feel like he wasn’t being ridiculous. “Neither, thanks, I don’t think my nerves could handle it right now,” he laughed mostly at himself, but maybe he wasn’t completely off about it since he really did feel like he was panicking half of the time. Sapphire said he was being silly, Finley is a growing boy and needs his space, but Zennon wasn’t sure how much space to give him, what if he gave him too much space and Finley resented him. “What if I give him not enough space and he hates me for being too clingy?” he said aloud not really knowing how to fully voice everything he was thinking.​

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel didn't know what to say to that. He'd never written to his own dad, but... that was different. Zennon actually cared about Finley. It wasn't unreasonable to want him to reply. Even so, it was pretty optimistic. Maybe there were kids out there who enjoyed writing letters, but Arvel had never been one of them. His professors were lucky enough to get 100-word homework assignments out of him, and those were mandatory.

He listened quietly as he made himself a strong coffee. Merlin, he thought he was supposed to be the overthinker. Arvel didn't mind though. It was nice, in an equally sad sort of way, to hear from the perspective of a dad who actually worried about these kinds of things. He wondered a little about Zennon's parents. Did he still talk to them? What were they like?

"Gin?" Arvel suggested, putting away the milk. That was his sole contribution to the discussion, until Zennon finally gave him another chance to speak. He leaned on the counter, frowning. "OK - stop," he said, not unkindly. "This is insane. You've gone insane, and if you don't shut up, so will I. Whatever you do, he's not going to hate you." That was probably true. It sounded good, anyway. "Take a deep breath. All right? He's not going to hate you."​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon let out a long, slow breath through his nose, his mouth stayed pressed together as he stared at the floor. If Arvel had intended to cut through the spiral, it was kind of working, sort of. He slumped slightly, pressing his hand to his head to let himself just breathe. It was kind of funny, because Zennon wasn’t often prone to spirals like this, this was usually something he was trying to rouse other people from. He’d never been someone who panicked, but these days, especially when it came to Finley, he found he often could not stop them. He could almost feel the tension leaving, if briefly. “I know,” he said lightly, looking up at Arvel with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “I know he doesn’t hate me. I just… you know, logically…” he exhaled and shook hid head. “It’s hard not to go there, sometimes. My brain doesn’t always want to take the rational route.”

If someone had told him thirteen years ago that this was what parenting was all about well, he might have been a little more prepared for it honestly - not that it would change much because he would never wish his life away. He headed over to the nearby chair and sat down, dragging his hands down his face before he rested his elbows on his knees. “Sapphire keeps telling me the same thing. That I need to let him grow up a bit, give him space. That he’ll come back when he needs to. But you know what the worst part is?” He looked up at Arvel then, though he wasn’t actually expecting the man to answer, it was a rhetorical question. “I do trust him. He’s a good kid. He’s smart and careful and so much more emotionally grounded than I ever was at that age. I want to give him that independence. And he’s more aware of himself now than I ever was at that age… or now, even." He shrugged slightly. “I just miss him. He’s my person, you know? It’s been the two of us for so long. And now suddenly, he’s out there in the world, and I’m just… here. Making up worst-case scenarios because the house is too quiet and the snakes keep ignoring me.”

“Gin might be a good idea actually, yeah, good shout.” He said, leaning back in the chair and hanging his head over the back.​