A Little Boulder (Lyric/Keith/kid)

[Trent Frey]

Come quickly, Lyric's note had said. I have a problem.

That problem was somewhere around three years old if Lyric was remembering right, and he wasn't certain he was, and sitting at his kitchen table with an untouched cup of coffee. He'd even used a cooling spell so she wouldn't get burned, but apparently she didn't like the smell of it.

She wouldn't respond to questions, either. The sobbing had faded to the occasional whimper, but words didn't come out. There wasn't even nodding or head-shaking, though her feet kicked a little beneath the table. She wouldn't take down her hood and had objected to his attempt to grab it, so she wasn't into touch, either. He didn't even know what she looked like, past tiny, pale hands.

Shadow came in and wove around the chair legs, but the child only started a bit. There was no attempt to reach down and touch the furry beast, and the cat didn't press. Instead, it curled up on the counter. Lyric ended up leaning against the counter beside Shadow with his own coffee, just watching, thinking, and waiting for backup.

[Keith Evans]

Keith hadn't really been doing anything important, so was able to respond to the cryptic summons nearly immediately. He let himself in and made quick work of the stairs, pulling off winter gear before ever reaching for the main door. The extra layers were deposited casually onto the end of the couch. "I'm here, what's going on?" he asked as he put the items to the side. He peered toward the kitchen, where he assumed Lyric was.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric set his mug on the counter and gave the kid a long look. There was still no motion beyond those kicking feet, so he left the kitchen, tugging absently at the hem of his shirt, an old habit of nerves. He paused when the kitchen door closed behind him, as though unsure about touching Keith, and finally took a breath and looked away.

"Someone just left me a kid," he said.

[Keith Evans]

Keith blinked. Then he glanced around the room, as though looking for someone to jump out and say it was a joke of some kind. When he finally managed to speak, it was only after a half-chuckle of disbelief. "That's a joke, right? You know, April Fools' isn't for another couple months." The thought of someone leaving Lyric a kid was just ridiculous. No one would ever give him a kid.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric gestured for Keith to come close and pushed open the kitchen door just a couple inches. The kid wasn't visible at the table. He blinked, and for a moment wondered if he'd gone completely insane. Then Shadow pushed through the crack at a trot, ears back and fluffy tail down.

Lyric opened the door further to find the little cloaked figure half inside the refrigerator and stuffing things beneath her cloak.

"What are you doing?"

There was a shriek, a bang as the fridge door slammed shut, and a child scrabbling underneath the table, stuffing a handful of tuna salad into its mouth.

[Keith Evans]

Keith raised his eyebrows as he poked his head into the kitchen to see the kid hiding away. "Sure it's not a goblin?" he asked, though he quickly pulled himself out of any mindset that involved joking. "Wait, wait, you don't have a kid. You've never even had a girlfriend, have you?" He knew just shy of nothing about people younger than first years, so he had no idea how strange the behavior might be. Students tended to like him and feel comfortable around him, but this one was far from school-aged.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric was torn between wanting to retreat and wanting to drag the kid out and see what it had taken. He gave a little growl of frustration and decided it wasn't like the kid could get outside with anything. He had apparition spells up and there weren't any windows in the kitchen. He shook his head and backed into the living room, letting the door shut behind him.

"I was with this girl a few times when I was into stuff. We got into stuff together, and she disappeared." That version had the important bits. "She was here and she said the kid was mine, I had to take her, and she just left." Again. Lyric looked anywhere but at Keith.

[Keith Evans]

"She can't just do that, can she?" Keith asked, glancing between Lyric and the door. "You can't just suddenly have a kid! It can't... I mean it's not..." Fair. It was selfish of him and he'd rarely even thought the word boyfriend, but this just wasn't right. He ran a hand through his hair. A boyfriend with a kid had never even crossed his mind. "Can't you...I mean, how do you know it's yours? How does she know it's yours? It might be someone else's." Weren't there some girls who would just claim a kid was someone's so they could drop it off and never worry about it again?

[Trent Frey]

"I don't know," Lyric said. He had the sudden urge to kiss the man, and so he leaned forward and did just that, a brief, intense kiss and a moment of contact he somehow needed. With Keith, contact was a good thing. "I don't know what to do, or who I'm supposed to talk to. Maybe I can give it to someone else?"

The moment the words were out his eyes glazed, then hardened. The kid had been dumped off like garbage, and it had been told he was its dad. But a little more rejection would be better than it having to live with him, wouldn't it? "There are tests, right? To prove it's not mine?"

[Keith Evans]

"Well, I don't know, probably?" Keith said, too distracted by what was happening to really think about the kiss. "Do you even know anything about raising a kid?" Lyric couldn't have a kid, but if it really was his, then shouldn't he at least try to take care of it? It had to be a dream, a bad one at that. Surely any moment now he'd wake up.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's brows drew together, and he gave Keith a look that said, quite plainly, What the hell do you think? "No, I don't know anything about raising a kid! It's in there raiding my fridge and it wouldn't even have a cup of coffee!" Maybe he should have watered it down first?

"Do you know anyone who'd know what to do?" They had the same friends, but Keith knew them better. All Lyric knew was they were all gay and the ones with kids were married to each other and had never had a woman involved. How that worked was a mystery.

[Keith Evans]

"Dare, maybe? And I don't think kids drink coffee, anyway. They eat like...I don't know, sugary cereal and candy." Well, considering how the students at the school acted during meals, that seemed about right. "But anyway, Dare's already got three kids. He could tell you what to feed it, but it's not like he'd take on another kid or something."

[Trent Frey]

Keith's assurances, if that's what they were, didn't help at all. Apparently kids ate tuna salad by the fistful, so it would probably feed itself. "So I'll send a note to Dare," Lyric said at last. He gave the kitchen door a frustrated look and went to tear another piece off the roll of parchment he had to write a note. Shadow chose that moment to jump onto the coffee table and try to eat the feather off his quill. It was a damn good thing the Owl Post was so close. He only had to lean out the window with an owl treat and a Sickle and one would take his mail for him.

[Keith Evans]

"Go for it," Keith said. With Lyric momentarily distracted, he made his way back toward the kitchen door. There really couldn't be a kid. He'd been with Lyric for a year and a kid had never entered into plans of any sort. What if he couldn't manage? He didn't want to end up giving up Lyric because some girl had thrown a kid into the works. He opened the door. "Hello?" he asked, glancing around at the mini-mayhem in the room that seemingly had to reasoning to it. "I know you're in here, there's not another door."

[Trent Frey]

There was a brief rustling sound from the wall of cabinets on the far wall, but no other sound in the kitchen. Shadow, who didn't approve of anything that caused Lyric unnecessary stress, wove his way around Keith's ankles a few times before stepping cautiously into the kitchen. The cat crept low and sniffed at a puddle of something not immediately identifiable. Then it started to eat.

In the living room, Lyric was finishing up his note.