Julien sighed.
Whatever.
Moving to the living room knowing Andrew could still hear him, he plopped down on the couch. Hunching over and threading his fingers together, he stared at the large curtains covering the window and changed the topic.
"I wanted to ask you when you got back if you had any hobbies."
He could hear Andrew moving the offensive items somewhere else and soon, Andrew joined him on the other end of the couch. When Julien refused to acknowledge him, Andrew chose to stare at the curtains as well.
"...Cooking, caretaking, stargazing."
Julien pursed his lips, unhelpfully supplying.
"Reading?"
Andrew glanced at him. He took a second to think before giving him a reply.
"That's a promise."
Julien hummed.
Whatever that means…
"Caretaking… is that why you do all this extra stuff? Is that even a hobby?"
That last part might've been unnecessary.
Julien finally turned to face him, leaning against the armrest. Andrew followed his lead, not exactly leaning against his armrest but turning his body to face Julien.
He tilted his head.
"If it's something I enjoy."
Julien stared at him.
So it was an Andrew thing.
"…Do you want to take a walk later?"
Andrew raised a brow.
Julien continued to stare.
Andrew tilted his head.
"If that's what you want."
Julien shook his head.
"No. What do you want to do?"
Andrew looked unsure of how to respond to that, and after a few minutes passed in silence, Julien sighed and stood up—deciding the answer for him.
"We're going on a walk later."
—
The first thing Julien noticed when they stepped out that night was the way people gave them a wide berth. He thought he was mistaken at first, but when people grew ghostly-pale and genuinely started stumbling over themselves in order to get away from them, it became obvious in a way that was frustrating.
They weren't acting this way when it was just me.
And he hardly had to guess why.
Julien glanced at his silent companion and sighed. He knew Andrew could be intimidating to look at, but it was never this bad. He fell into step with the taller man and opened his mouth.
"Andrew… were people already acting like this when you left on Monday?"
He nodded.
Julien rubbed the area between his brows.
Another issue for the problem iceberg.
"Let's go somewhere you can't cause mass hysteria then."
Andrew diligently followed Julien as he leisurely walked through the city. Julien himself was also feeling uneasy, but not for the same reasons as everyone else seemed to be. He felt strangely…protective? Of Andrew—though he wasn't entirely sure if that was the right word for it. And he wasn't sure if it was because Andrew was…
He glanced at him, scrunching up his face doubtfully, earning a head tilt from the larger man.
…Not exactly vulnerable. Or if it had something to do with Andrew's current constitution.
…It could also be guilt.
Julien sighed.
The two of them ended up at a relatively empty park not too far away from the apartment and Julien spotted a man running a duck feeding stand.
He moved to approach it before remembering a big-scary-Andrew was glued to his tail and he turned to give the man an apologetic look.
"Wait for me? I'm just going over there."
Andrew glanced at the stand before acquiescing and remaining rooted to the spot. Julien sighed in relief before acquiring a rather sizable amount of duck feed from the gentleman running the stand and returning to Andrew's side.
He held up the larger bag.
"Help me feed the local duck populations, that counts as caretaking right?"
And it's night time, so that checks off the stargazing part of his list as well.
Though the only reason Julien chose those two hobbies of his to fulfill is because he couldn't cook to save his life—but that was neither here nor there.
Andrew took the offered bag with a sort of lost look on his face and the two of them moved towards their first pond.
As Julien watched the guy gently spread bird seed to the first wave of ducks, he suddenly had a thought that caused a slight smirk to cross his face.
Andrew's kind of like an old man.
He wouldn't have even been surprised if the man decided to take up knitting one day, considering his current tastes.
He paused.
Wait.
"Andrew… how old are you?"
The man glanced at him, throwing another set of seeds into the water.
"31."
"Yeah ok so why—"
Julien paused.
31?
He assessed him again, he couldn't believe it. At most he thought Andrew was MAYBE two or three years older than him, but seven? There was no way.
He doesn't look that old at all.
Julien eyed him suspiciously.
"How long have you been 31?"
Andrew tilted his head.
"Since December."
"Let me see your ID."
Andrew huffed through his nose. Pulling out his ID, he handed it to the nosy red-head.
Julien looked it over, flipped it, raised it—but the date remained unchanged.
He really is 31!
Andrew hadn't aged at all since the photo was taken, save for the large scar on the right side of his face. It's not like 30 was all that old, but to not age at all?
He's cheating!
He looked at the birthday again and almost burst out laughing, holding the ID out for Andrew to take.
"You're a Christmas baby?"
Andrew took his ID back and shrugged.
"Yes."
Julien turned away and faked a cough, a small smile gracing his lips.
He had an even worse birthday than I did.
His smile faltered a bit but he quickly hid it.
"Then accept this as my belated gift to you."
Actually…
"Hey Andrew, wanna see something cool?"
Andrew turned to him.
Julien tapped his wrist twice before drawing a circle over it with his index finger and raising an 'ok' sign to his eye. Once he confirmed it was working, he flicked his fingers to expand it and swiped it to send it to Andrew.
"You don't have a Tith right? You should be able to see every inch of the sky with this. Just let me know if you want me to zoom in or out."
Andrew looked at the sky and his eyebrow shot up.
Julien was rather pleased with himself.
So something like this is enough to surprise him.
Also, he just noticed something.
"Andrew, only your left eyebrow seems to move, is there a reason for that?"
He answered almost on reflex.
"Injury."
Andrew traced a faint scar cutting up from the inner bridge of his nose and just past his brow on the right side of his face. It was less obvious than the larger one under it that Julien noticed when they'd first met, but it was still pretty sizable.
Hm.
Looking at him again, he had a smaller scar on the left side of his forehead as well and two rather prominent moles—one under his right eye beside the scar he pointed out, and another on the left side of his chin.
He did say he was in the military…
After taking another moment to take in those details, Julien made another lens and raised it to his own eye—changing the subject.
"What can you tell me about the stars?"
"Not a lot."
Julien glanced at him.
"Even though it's a hobby of yours?"
Andrew hummed.
"…It calms me down."
Julien hummed out an acknowledgement of his own while he played with his own vision, zooming in and out like a child.
"Do you have a favorite?"
"…Al Nathm de Las Tres Marías of the Orion constellation."
Julien shifted his gaze to the central star of the Orion belt.
"Alnilam."
"Yes."
Julien stared at the three stars before closing his eyes in a silent—not entirely devout—prayer.
As Halos burns bright…
"Is there a reason?"
Andrew looked down at him before indicating for Julien to end the vision expansion.
"…Yes."
Julien ended his own as well, scanning Andrew's face. He almost seemed… sad.
It was the same sort of 'longing' he'd seen during thanksgiving.
Julien felt his heart skip and he quickly looked away.
I probably wasn't supposed to see that.
"Let's keep going until the bag is empty."
Andrew followed his lead and the two of them began walking through the other ponds, feeding the ducks in each as Julien remained lost in thought. He hesitated to ask, but just maybe…
"… Andrew, do you celebrate the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving, or The Day of Separation?"
Andrew paused.
Slowly taking another handful of seeds in his hand, he sifted them in his hand before throwing them into the pond.
"…As a day of mourning."
Julien fell silent.
Now he was the one trailing behind Andrew as they moved to the final pond.
I feel like I'm being unfair.
Andrew rarely voiced his opinions aloud, nor did he ever outright refuse to answer questions unrelated to whatever he was assigned to do. And somehow, Julien felt like he'd taken advantage of that—albeit unintentionally.
Mulling it over in his head, Julien decided to bite the bullet and expose himself as well—even knowing that the information they started with was uneven to begin with.
"…I've been asking you a lot, but do you have anything you would like to know about me?"
Andrew thought about it for a moment, throwing the last of the feed into the pond.
"…What do you want to tell me?"
Julien gave him a wry smile.
"What do you want to know?"
Andrew glanced at him and what Julien assumed was a troubled expression appeared on his face—his brow folding inwards however minute the movements may've been. Julien patiently waited as Andrew mulled over what he wanted to ask.
"…Why is your family so…"
Andrew was at a loss for words as he tried to find a respectful but clear adjective to describe what he thought of them.
Julien froze for half a second before putting up a bitter smile.
"Bitchy?"
Andrew looked away at that and Julien was tempted to change the subject by teasing the poor guy, but he refrained. Looking ahead, he thought about what to say, all the while smiling in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes.
A touchy subject right off the bat is a terrible show of social acuity.
Though that in itself told Julien exactly the type of person Andrew was.
He opened his mouth.
"…They despise Valérie—my mother."
Julien ran a hand through his hair, laughing humorously.
"And by extension, they hardly tolerate me."
Of course, they were also just like that in general—but there was a reason Theia was the one to raise him in the end.
Though she used to hate me as well…
Julien became lost in thought as Andrew took in his answer. The man nodded before asking another question.
"…Do you and Mrs. Michaels have different mothers?"
Julien was snapped out of his daze at the second straight ball Andrew threw his way and he let out an involuntary laugh.
"Yes."
Before Andrew could continue on that line of questioning, Julien threw out a few more questions of his own.
"What of your family situation? Do you get along with them? Any siblings?"
"We get along."
He hesitated, his jaw tightening before continuing.
"I… have a little sister…and an older one."
Always so concise.
"You're a middle child then."
What Julien could only assume was a derisive frown crossed Andrew's face before vanishing like a ghost.
"Yeah."
Julien stared at his face for a while, the two of them falling into a silence neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.
Before Julien could continue their 'game' of 20 questions though, he heard a dramatic gasp and from the corner of his eye, a short blue-haired girl began to capsize. He just barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
Nevaeah…
He sighed before scooping her up and taking her to a nearby sign-bench, gently laying her head on his lap as he waited for her to wake up.
He gave Andrew an unimpressed look.
"You didn't even try to catch her."
Andrew had the decency to at least look apologetic.
"I'll do better next time."
Julien huffed before staring down at his friend and moving one of her braids out of the way.
Even she's affected.
Though unlike the other people they'd passed by, she at least seemed to be able to get close to him.
He paused.
Maybe it's an exposure thing.
After all, outside of himself, Nevaeah spent the most time around him after he was bitten—though much more touch and go. Julien glanced at Andrew. If he was a werewolf, it could've been a sort of pack recognition thing.
So I'm the primary pack member and Nevaeah is getting there?
He briefly wondered if Andrew's family would be recognized as pack members immediately or if he'd need to expose them as well.
He hummed, earning the attention of Andrew.
"…Is there a difference between my scent and Nevaeah's?"
Andrew tilted his head.
"She smells like green tea."
Julien smiled.
It suits her.
Then he shook his head.
"Not the exact smell. Is there any major difference that makes you get all unfriendly when you see her and all clingy when you see me?"
Andrew leaned down, actually sniffing at him before lowering a brow.
"…Yours is stronger."
Julien leaned away.
"I guess that's something. What about other people?"
Andrew stood up straight again and thought about it before slowly feeling out an answer.
"…Most are weaker than yours. Except the mint watcher."
Julien almost laughed.
He said it so seriously too.
He twirled Nevaeah's braid around his finger.
If Andrew recognizes them as a pack member despite not knowing who it is, this mint-observer probably had something to do with his condition after all.
Which would make them Andrew's stalker, not mine.
He paused.
Then why…
Before he could finish his question, Nevaeah snapped her eyes open and looked at Andrew with apprehension. After a few seconds of the two staring at each other, she took a deep breath and relaxed.
Julien grinned.
"Welcome back, how was the journey to the river Styx?"
She eyed Andrew one more time before returning Julien's grin with one of her own.
"They had horrible service out there. Don't recommend."
She sat up and looked around, muttering to herself.
"Fainting outside is kinda embarrassing."
"Not your fault, Andrew seems to have that effect on people right now—Which, brings us to the next topic. You coming over tomorrow to do some more research?"
Nevaeah stood up and put her hands to her hips in a mock superhero pose.
"Of! course!"
It's good she wasn't too frightened.
He wasn't sure what he would do if he lost his friend to fear.
Shaking his head, Julien stood up as well. After making sure she had nothing else to do out there he walked her back to her dorm—Apparently, she'd been going back and forth between the dorms and her parent's house which was what was keeping her so busy.
After waving her off, Andrew seemed to be distracted by something in Julien's hand—he was still holding the smaller bag of bird feed.
Giving him a casual smile, Julien started towards the apartment.
"It's for next time."