forum Depression and Choccy Milk (OXO with Caustic)

Started May 08, 2020 by @Painted-Iris group

tune

(:00)
Nathaniel happily wandered around the store with Zedd, purring nonstop as he walked. He didn't grab a ton of things, preferring to only pick out what he really liked. Zedd had already spent a lot of money on him, after all, and he felt bad despite not knowing much about how money worked. He seemed to have the most interest in stuffed animals, a simple, floppy wolf one being his particular favorite. "What else do they have here, dad?" He asked curiously.

Zedd glanced around the room again. "I've never been here either, so I'm not really sure," he replied honestly. That was when something caught his eye. They were unrealistically shapen, but that was besides the point. On one of the walls hung plastic swords. What relieved Zedd was the fact that the edges of the blade were pretty well rounded. It was safer than a real blade by a longshot. "Nathaniel, they've got fake swords over there," he suggested. He wanted to be sure the boy knew they were fake rather than get his hopes up about a real lethal weapon, casually hanging in a children's store.

"Ooh! And you'd let me use that?" Nathaniel asked curiously, fluttering over to the swords and jumping up to grab one from the wall. He examined it with a thoughtful hum, running one hand along the blade. "The craftsmanship is poor… edge isn't sharpened at all. And it's remarkably light and… pliable? This isn't any kind of metal I've ever seen. Who made this?"

(Zedd: Hey look a fake sword
Nathaniel: This is shit, who did this?)

"Ooh! And you'd let me use that?" Nathaniel asked curiously, fluttering over to the swords and jumping up to grab one from the wall. He examined it with a thoughtful hum, running one hand along the blade. "The craftsmanship is poor… edge isn't sharpened at all. And it's remarkably light and… pliable? This isn't any kind of metal I've ever seen. Who made this?"

Zedd raised a brow before realizing Nathaniel was being serious. “It’s not real. It’s plastic rather than metal. Y’know… made so it can’t actually hurt someone?” Zedd replied, finding it humorous how serious the angel was taking this. By the critical stare the boy was giving the toy, he assumed Nathaniel was far from fond of the sword.

"Strange… what's the point of it, then?" Nathaniel asked curiously as he tested the weight of the toy in his hand. "I suppose it'd do, but if we got attacked, I fear that it would break, or… bend? Definitely strange." He didn't necessarily hate the thing, but he was obviously bewildered by it. It wasn't anything like any sword he'd ever seen.

"Nathaniel. It's not meant to be a real weapon. It's… uh, think of it like a prop. Fake. To play with? This store is a toy store," Zedd reminded the angel. It was almost sad how the poor boy didn't understand the weapon wasn't real in the slightest. "And before you ask, I'm only suggesting it as I'm not allowing you to make anything real for awhile. Might feel good to have the handle in your hand? I don't know, don't get it if you don't want it," the man continued to ramble on. Wait… since when was the last time he spoke this much at once? He usually wasn't all too chatty of a person, but here he was. In the middle of a toy store. With a young angel he found on the street. Debating the usefulness of a plastic play sword.

"Mm…" Nathaniel continued examining the toy for a minute or so before wandering off into the store with it in his hand. It did feel nice to be able to hold something again, after all, despite how little the toy felt like a real sword. He glanced around at the shelves, occasionally jumping up to fetch something on a higher shelf to look at.

It kind of surprised Zedd that Nathaniel took the false weapon instead of putting it back. Especially after all the complaining he had done with the quality of the plastic compared to metal. Noticing Nathaniel on the tips of his toes beneath a shelf, the man decided to simply take it for him and hand it to the angel. "I don't mind helping," he hummed, still seeming content seeing the boy get excited over the toys.

Nathaniel smiled gently up at Zedd and kept wandering around the store, holding the toys in his arms. Eventually, he'd looked around the whole place and seemed to be satisfied with the things he'd picked out. "Mmkay, dad… I think that I'm ready to go now." He tugged on Zedd's sleeve as he spoke.

Zedd nodded, leading Nathaniel up towards the check out with their new findings. Oh boy, this was not going to be cheap. Stars, why was he getting so much? He wasn't even Nathaniel's real dad. Realistically, the angel should have been put into some sort of foster care.
As the items were being bagged, he noticed Nathaniel's giddy expression. That was good enough of an answer as to why he was doing this. The boy looked so happy. He had such a rough life before. He deserved to have something to play with.

Nathaniel hugged Zedd tightly with a sunny grin on his face. His real parents hadn't ever bought any toys for him before, which explained his confusing as well as his excitement. "Thanks, dad!" He trilled excitedly up at the man, his little crumpled wings fluttering behind him. When they received the bags back from the employee, he carefully pulled out the floppy plush wolf and held it close to his chest.

Zedd gave a small smile, and walked out the door, bags in hand. The friendly bubbles outside greeted them once again. Somehow, the more often he did things with Nathaniel, the more right it seemed. Sure, he was tired, hadn't been able to keep the shop open for two days, and had spent a lot of money, but… he felt like he had a purpose. A duty to make the angel before him feel appreciated at the minimum. He turned to look at said boy, but noticed Nathaniel was already a few steps ahead at the crosswalk. He sighed, happy he hadn't lost him yet.

Nathaniel, unused to the rules of the road, didn't bother to check for cars before he ran into the street. A car screeched to a halt in front of him, wheels squealing, and he stumbled backwards onto the ground with a terrified yelp. He was scraped up from the asphalt and was frozen in terror with his heart pounding hard and fast in his chest, but he seemed to be at least relatively unharmed. The car had thankfully stopped in time, although the driver was understandably angry and scared as well.

At that moment, the world seemed to slow. Zedd let go of everything he had been holding, bags falling to the sidewalk as he ran towards a shaken Nathaniel. He knelt down and carefully scooped up the angel into his arms. He gave him a quick glance over, only seeing a few scratches. Oh thank the stars…
Remembering the traffic all around him, he gave an apologetic bow towards the driver before hurrying back towards the fallen toys on the sidewalk. Everyone out shopping had seen what had happened, whispering amongst themselves. Some were relieved for Nathaniel, others clearly irritated that Zedd seemed to have not been watching his own child.
As soon as his feet hit the sidewalk again, the man felt his legs go weak. He simply sat by the bags of toys on the side of the road, Nathaniel still in his arms. He didn't exactly know what to say as a temporary guardian.
"You scared the shit out of me"?
"You have to watch for cars next time"?
"Don't do that again"?
Instead of saying any of those, the only word that escaped him was a winded, "Fuck…"

Nathaniel whimpered quietly after Zedd pulled him out of the road, tears stinging his eyes. He had a death grip on Zedd, quivering lightly with terror. He was obviously still struggling to process what had happened. When the world came spinning back to him, he exhaled shakily with a terrified whine, a couple of tears rolling down his ghostly pale cheeks. "I-I'm sorry…" Was the first thing he whispered to his father figure, though he was unable to meet his eyes. "I-I d— d-didn't mean to… I'm s-sorry…"

He buried his face in Zedd's chest and tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt, wrapping his crumpled wings around himself as a sort of shield from the outside world. He obviously didn't like the stares of everyone around them, although some had moved on upon seeing that Nathaniel wasn't hurt.

Zedd was tempted to tell Nathaniel not to be sorry, but after something so dangerous…? Yeah, he couldn't dismiss that so easily. What if he really had gotten hit? What if he had been injured fatally? Or even died on the spot? Instead, he held the boy as close as he could, rubbing small circles on his back. "You're okay. You're okay…" he whispered. Zedd didn't even realize that the words were partially to himself. He was doing such a poor job at this parenting thing so far…
"You didn't know. This time, we'll go together. You have to watch for cars first," the man hummed, moving his hands to fiddle with Nathaniel's hair.
He'd be happier with someone who actually knows how to take care of him.
Zedd continued to try and block out the negative thoughts, already shifting to stand up. "I need to put you down now, so I can pick up everything, okay?" he asked, making sure he waited for a response.

"O-Okay…" Nathaniel whispered weakly, picking up his plush wolf again when Zedd let go of him. He clung tightly to it as he followed Zedd, seeming uneasy near the road this time. He stuck as close to Zedd as possible, one hand holding as tightly to Zedd's as he was capable and the other holding the wolf flush up against his chest. He whispered apologies under his breath the whole way back home, unaware whether or not Zedd was even able to hear them. Other than his quiet, shaky apologies, he was silent, still terrified and shaken up from the incident.