My Own Space Here (Moreaus/Boys)

[Matthew Moreau]

"It probably doesn't help that we've got Dare, Keith, and Lyric coming around with their long hair," Matthew said from his space at the counter. "He said he wanted it long, and he can have it long, so long as it stays clean and kept." He gave Tam one of *those* looks, the type he put on when he was being serious. The last thing they needed was some kind of lice, muggle or magical, in the flat.

[Andy Moreau]

They got me a hat! Tam had related that serious look to a solution someone had come up with. They got me a wicked hat and said I'm not a'posed to share it. If anyone wears my hat I put it in my backpack.

That was a good idea. Andy looked impressed.

And I have to wear a ponytail to school.

"And no one says anything?" Andy asked.

Nope. Georgie said it looks like girl hair, but Amy said she likes it so all the girls try to touch it. Now Georgie wants to make his hair long, but his dad won't let him.

Tam knew people that Andy didn't. Andy felt the distance suddenly, but couldn't bring himself to wish things were the way they'd been before. He wouldn't have met Gavin, and he wouldn't have his wand. He'd still be having accidents all the time, and he'd still be watching Tam wilt without enough to do.

"If you don't want anyone messing with it, you can go to school with a braid, just for the winter."

Tam looked up at Matthew, then over at Rhys, trying to gauge their reactions.

[Matthew Moreau]

"Well, I don't know how to do a braid," Matthew said, and a brief glance toward Rhys proved that his husband had no idea either, "but we can give it a try." He slid the tray of biscuit lumps into the oven, along with a tray filled with meats and veggies Rhys had prepared. Thankfully, magic would allow them to cook somewhat quicker than the muggle way, but it still wasn't instant. "Seriously, I never knew anything about hair other than that shampoo was part of it, Tam's opened my eyes," he teased.

[Andy Moreau]

I brush my own hair, Tam boasted, and it was almost true. He ran a brush over the topmost layer, then went to Rhys for help.

"I can show you," Andy volunteered. "You can find tutorials online too, but most of them are for fancy stuff." There was a huge difference in social acceptability between low ponytails or simple braids, and waterfall braids. "You can also get spray detangler that'll make it easier to brush." He reached out and ran his fingers through Tam's hair. He could see why the girls liked playing with it so much.

[Matthew Moreau]

"Well, maybe we need to take you out so you can teach us the wonders of the hair care aisle," Rhys said. "All I know is it used to take my mum an hour to get ready on Sunday mornings."

"Easier to brush would probably be a good idea. I swear Tam wakes up and it looks like something tried to nest in his hair," Matthew said, a teasing glint entering his eyes as he worked. By the time the bread was done everything else would be well on its way, and they could fill up all four chairs at the almost too small table.

[Andy Moreau]

My hair is not a nest, Tam argued.

"I'm not like an expert or anything. Just one of the families had the spray for their real kid." His hair hadn't been long then. That was before the families stopped caring about his behavior and concentrating on Tam.

Andy takes an hour to get dressed.

"I do not, and anyway, you can't even tell time."

[Matthew Moreau]

"I was actually being nice saying it took an hour," Rhys said. "It took her an hour for makeup and hair. Getting dressed took like five minutes. And hey, as far as we're concerned, you're our real kids."

"Yeah," Matthew said, nodding. "I mean, you're kids, and you certainly feel real enough." He grinned as he briefly abandoned his cooking duties to give a playful half pinch, half tickle, to each of the boys. Whatever advances had been made and potentials discovered, it wasn't like the Moreaus would ever be able to have biological children.

[Andy Moreau]

Tam giggled wildly at the tickle, but Andy shrank back with a poor attempt at a smile. The people he felt comfortable touching were few and far between, and Matthew wasn't one of them. Andy had only spent a week with the Moreaus before going off to Hogwarts. He accepted that Tam had been pulled into the family, and he finally accepted that they were trying to pull him in too, but that only extended so far. Touch, when initiated by others, didn't always mean good things. Unexpected touch even more so.

Andy's not a kid, he's a teeenager, Tam said when his giggling had passed. Andy busied himself cleaning up the counter in front of him.

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew's smile faltered only a small amount at Andy's reaction, and he filed it away in his mental notes about the two. "Well, we're old, and anyone young enough to still be in school qualifies as a kid in comparison," he reasoned to Tam, despite Rhys' argument that no, they weren't actually old. "You can be a kid and a teenager."