Xisuma's Parrotsitting [HermitSteal AU]

Trouble at the doorstep

Hello! I'm back from exams, life is great, currently suffering under 40 degrees Celcius but we're pulling through!

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Two days later, Xisuma has to kick Xanthus out of the apartment.

Don't get him wrong, Xanthus is a joy to have around and he doesn't do much more than antagonise the children but said children eye his void tanks and tubes too often for them to be thinking of HotWheel cars and lightsabers. Not to mention that these boys would prefer a gun or a combat knife as a birthday present to, let's say, a toy car or a computer game or anything else that is considered normal for their age. So, it wasn't hard for Xisuma to figure out that their intentions weren't pure and innocent –and he didn't want the murder of his brother on his hands.

Now he is helping his brother pack his things. There has been a lot of bustle from the stairs as guests go to a birthday party of a neighbour's kid. Parrot and Spoke are sitting on the couch, playing chess with a made up assortment of rules and a mixture of pieces. News travels fast in apartment complexes and this party was no exception. The other children are often off-put by Parrot's snobbish behaviour and Spoke's indifference –thankfully, none of them go to the duo's school, so that has saved them the heavy gossip. That being said, they have no friends within the complex, so they haven't been invited.

It's fine, though. They didn't have time to worry about being disliked by their peers with how much Xanthus had them run around and do activities. Or so Xisuma thought.

During those two days that his brother had been in the house, he babysat the children more than Xisuma. It was something to do, he'd claimed, since he wasn't worried about running late to class or running away from shady people here. They went for long walks and shopping trips through which the three bonded over.

"Why weren't we invited?"

"To the party?" Xanthus inquired.

"Mhm..."

Parrot had been the one to ask. Spoke merely stood beside him, the same question written in his big, glowing eyes.

"Are you friends with any of the other kids?"

"...No."

"Perhaps you could start making friends with them."

He didn't let his brother know of the boys' worry. Xisuma was busy as it was, worrying over them all and the finances and everything else an adult with a job and two kids worries about. The last thing he wanted was to give him even more to worry about, especially when it was something that he couldn't fix. Parrot and Spoke could make friends on their own and Xanthus had given them a word of advice before they returned home from the day.

"Say 'Hello' next time you see them."

That left time for Xisuma to have a nap that he needed more than the void in his lungs. He doesn't know how Xanthus managed to handle the two feral boys with no prior experience; perhaps because he's a kid at heart himself, all impulsive and doe-eyed when it comes to new things –he was closer to them than Xisuma could be in that regard.

While Parrot and Spoke did their best to not cause Xanthus any bodily harm and tolerated the stranger, who –in their words– banished Xisuma to the peasant couch, they didn't do much more than that. They're patient for their age and Xisuma recognises it; he's thanked them for it plenty of times. However, patience has limits and they have apparently reached it; they are never this quiet.

"Is this everything?"

Xanthus nods. "Yup, I wasn't carrying much anyways."

"If I find your toothbrush in the bathroom–"