Matias Silva (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} matiassilva) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} angelesic,@ 2025-04-29 20:27:00 |
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It was Tis' own fault he gave himself a reputation as a fuckboy shithead, but well, all he could do is be himself and to show Lenore he cared.
She was tired. The night had already been a lot - all the talking, the worry, the informational reveals. Everything was changing around Lenore and she wasn’t sure she was ready for it all. She dictated time, didn’t she? This should be something she could control, but instead of feeling like all the world was standing still in time for her, she felt like it was speeding past her.
It was late, she wasn’t sure how late, but nearly everyone was asleep - or they seemed to be. She extricated herself slowly from Vi’s arms to not disturb her, and took her legs out from in between Tori’s. One hand untucked itself from being laced with Chase’s and she rolled over, placing a soft kiss to Sera’s face.
Within moments of getting up, she had teleported out of the room and into Tis’s room. Awake or not, she crawled into bed and threw the covers over both of them, snaking her way into his arms. Without warning, tears slipped from her eyes and the sound of her very quiet, muffled cries could just barely be heard.
After Lenore talked to him, Tis put an envelope on the door for June, 1,000.00 in cash and a note to please find somewhere else to sleep that night. He was serious that he'd wait all night to hear from her. There weren't all that many people he was close to or truly cared about. His relationship with his mother was complicated. He loved her fiercely and with everything in him, but he was also aware that at the end of the day he was often seen as pretty inconvenient. Even when home in Miami he spent most of his him just off with people from his private school youth, most of which were other rich kids whose parents were never home either. It was loud and excessive and sometimes fun, but it wasn't real. He didn't have much real experience with relationships. That much was probably clear about him kinda making two dates at the party the previous month. He didn't really think beyond what felt good in the very moment he was doing it.
Lenore was different.
He meant what he said. He just wanted her to be happy, and seeing her delight in anything he could do for her made him feel like he was walking on clouds. He'd have crawled across glass for her, and Tis was not usually the thinking of others before himself type. To him, that meant it was real. Maybe Lenore would pick Alec-more people liked him, especially the professors. He was more interesting and more people assumed he was smart and worth being around. It was Tis' own fault he gave himself a reputation as a fuckboy shithead, but well, all he could do is be himself and to show Lenore he cared.
True to his word, he had a chilled batch of arnold palmers (and some various coffee adjacent things if she needed caffeine. But maybe she'd just want to sleep) and was lying in his bed, slightly larger than usual. He couldn't hold it forever, so he'd been shrinking and making himself larger off and on for hours while he waited for her text. And then suddenly, she was just, in his bed. "Oh shit, hi," he said, not even looking at the time. But she didn't really say anything, just curled against him and pull the covers over. His heart dropped. He was never going to complain about her being in his bed, but she was clearly very upset. Even Tis, with the emotional intelligence of a teaspoon, could figure that out. Instead of asking any questions, he pulled her closer, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head, gently rubbing her back.
"You're okay, mami. No one doing shit to you here." But he knew she wasn't afraid of a literal hurt. They probably wouldn't need to worry much right now about attacks. But he would let her talk when she wanted to. Or if she never did. He gently stroked the side of her face, not wanting to rumple her hair despite his instinct because he remembered she didn't love it. He thought he'd remembered everything she ever told him, but sometimes he could forget. He took direction and lessons better than people gave him credit for.
"Whatever you need," he said softly, but not moving from his current position unless she said so.
She had meant to text Tis before showing up - really, she had, but with everything that had gone down with the Squad and how late and drained she was, Lenore had just skipped right through all that. He was awake though, and didn’t hesitate to pull her closer, kissing the top of her head. It was gentle and nice and Lenore could really feel the care that he held for her in those small, simple things.
Whatever you need was soft and reassuring and Lenore buried her face into his chest, giving herself a moment longer to be legitimately vulnerable. It was rare to see Lenore cry, rarer still for her to go to you when she was crying and essentially demand to be held. She didn’t let many people see those sides of her. Tis, she felt, had earned it. His reputation might have proceeded him initially, but Lenore felt like she had seen a lot more sides of Tis than the one he typically presented, and she really, really liked that.
“I meant to just come and hang out and we could gossip about what’s going on but today has just been a lot.” She finally said, mumbling into his neck, her lips brushing against his skin a little as she did so. “The girls told me a lot of stuff, and we’re - probably more in danger than we all thought. Not to mention, my friends and I almost all got kidnapped by Pantheon agents without even knowing it.”
Lenore shuddered at the thought. Roman had seemed so trustworthy, so… But then he was a mutant. Something in what he could do had made her trust him so implicitly, she was sure of it. What was it then? Mind control? Empathy? She wasn’t educated enough on all the different kinds of abilities out there to know exactly what it was he had done. She was just sure he had to have done something. She liked to think she wasn’t that stupid.
“I just want to be held, okay? I want to be warm and feel safe somewhere because I feel very unsafe right now.”
Matias didn't care about the actual words Lenore was saying now, because he could tell gossip and chill wasn't really what she needed. Instead he nodded, holding her close, letting her talk and cry and get out what she needed to. "You alright, mami. We can do whatever you need to, I'm fine just being here if you need it." He carefully kept stroking her back and let her talk, though he did feel his eyebrows go up as she talked about the concerns from the girls. "What, wait, kidnapped?" he asked, suddenly getting a bit panicked, but doing his best to remain calm for her. "What you mean, who tried to do something?" He wasn't going to blow up, that wasn't what she needed. He kept his breathing steady, and let the pounding of his rising anger stay where it was. For once, he understood this wasn't about him. Lenore had gone through something truly scary, something he probably never had come close to, and the best thing for her was to be THERE for her. Now she was safe, he could be 20 feet tall and protect her from anything that tried to come for her. But this was something that already happened. Maybe she needed to talk about it, maybe she didn't. But he could be a safe person for her.
"You can tell me, mami. You don't have to, but I listen good. And I ain't gunna say shit to no one. Just me here. I won't even say nothing about killing them," he joked, pressing another kiss to her head.
"You are safe here, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I'm not going anywhere." And if June opened the door he'd grow all 20 feet to kick him right out again. "You need a drink or anything? I don't want to move but I'll get it if you want."
It was kind of nice, thinking about what someone else needed. He much preferred making her smile and laugh, but it was clear right now there wasn't a magic thing he could bring her to make her laugh. So while he wasn't sure what would make her smile again, he could be here for what she needed or asked for now.
She could hear the anger in his voice and she shushed him, feeling… oddly about that. In a good way. Like she enjoyed the slight outrage she heard in his voice at the idea that someone had tried to kidnap her or her friends. “It wasn’t - I’m being dramatic, it wasn’t that scary. I mean kinda now that I think about it.” She sighed, shaking her head. “There’s a guy, I guess his face is on the walls in the office or something, ‘cause he used to go to school here and now he’s an agent for the Pantheon.”
She bit her lip, looking up a little now, no longer hiding her face from him. “Anyway, I went out - late after the spring musical’s parts were announced. I just wanted to blow off steam, dance.” Lenore was embarrassed about it now, but also just… not sure how to feel about it all in the end. “There was this guy. I think he caught me, my powers were a little out of control I don’t know. He did something, I thought - I felt like I could trust him with anything like, immediately. Mind control maybe.”
Lenore was embarrassed at how easy it had been to clock her, how easily it would have been to just be kidnapped by that guy, if he’d wanted to. “He just brought me back, though. Put his helmet on me and took me on his motorcycle, brought me right back to the school. I thought he was nice. He’d - he met Vi and Tori, at different times. It’s like he’s circling us, trying to get us to go darkside or something.”
She didn’t want anything to drink, even if she had some doubts she’d be falling asleep any time soon. Mostly because she, too, didn’t want to move. This was comfortable. “I do feel safe here, and I know you listen well, by the way.” She said, pushing her forehead against Tis’s. “That’s why I came here.”
Pantheon. It was weird, he'd been at Angeles since he was 12, and this was the most he'd ever heard said about this shadow group that had hunted and killed Sera Welling's aunt and Professor Welling's sister. He'd heard it said but no one really talked about it. Professor O'Connell had been the first one to really explain what it was. And for all this time they were out there trying to turn his girl bad? Well, he couldn't call her his yet, but still. And Vi and Tori too? Tori he thought didn't like him much, though he thought she was funny and kinda badass, but Vi was really cool and the idea of her going off all evil was almost silly to him. Like her whole family was at the school. How convincing WAS this dude?
"Shit," he said, drawing the word out after her explanation. "Nah, I get it, that's scary. Mind control is pretty fuckin scary." He loosened his hold on her just slightly when she looked up at him. His heart was beating now for a very different reason. "You couldn't go darkside. You're like…I told you it's like the whole sun shines from you. I don't mean to be like a weirdo but it reminds me of this poem I like. Pablo Neruda, he's the greatest Chilean poet. It starts like this-and just know it sounds better in Spanish but that's okay, it's still good in english. “As if you were on fire from within. The moon lives in the lining of your skin.” That's what I think every time I see you."
That was a lot. Maybe too much. Tis was bad at moderation.
He stroked her face as she rested her head on his. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the closeness. "I'm glad, Lenore. I joke and shit but I just want you to be okay and feel good when you're with me. I'm not perfect but I try and be the best I can." For you. To maybe be good enough. He left a lot out to not put on her his journey towards not being a self absorbed tool.
“I don’t even know if anyone here can do that.” Not any of the students, she was pretty sure. Not as a primary. Most students powers were more physically powerful in a scary way, or they just weren’t scary. Lenore’s weren’t. Tis could be scary when he was real big Tis, but then he was also adorable as tiny Tis. So there was a balance to that. Vi was dangerous, even if Lenore was immune to her powers, just like Vi was immune to Lenore’s. While she’d always thought mind control would be kinda interesting to see, she’d never wanted it done on her. Not like it had been.
Tis’s assurance that she couldn’t go darkside came with a poem - which was mildly amusing, considering Alec had gotten ChatGPT to write her a sonnet - and she listened easily. It was surprising that Tis knew of any poets, let alone a poet from Chile she’d never heard of and he could just recite some of it by heart. That was an unexpected twist in this story. “Wow, Tis.” She said softly, looking up at him again, in his eyes now.
“That was really beautiful. That’s what you think of, when you think of me?” She asked, her voice dropping down to a softer whisper, her eyes glittering in the light that seeped through the window, partially from the tears that were quickly drying up, and partially because her eyes just lit up like that. “No one is perfect Tis, but I think you’re pretty great. You don’t need to be anything other than you, for me.”
"Not students, no, but agents and teachers," he said. Yet. He had a feeling that some students had more powers that they hadn't yet displayed. He was sure that he didn't have anything hidden. He got big and he got small, it was useful for fighting and for intel, he was pretty confident in his abilities and despite the fact that a lot of teachers disliked his questioning and his jokes he was smart enough to do well in classes and he had pretty decent control over his powers. He hoped to become an agent one day. But to him, mind control was the scariest of the powers. That something like that had been used by some adult agent who left Angeles pissed him off. Was pretty fucked up if you asked him.
He didn't necessarily blush when Lenore asked about how he saw her-he wasn't a blusher and he wasn't embarrassed about it-but he felt a bit warm, confessing more of how he felt. He was telling the truth that this was the first time he'd felt like this for anyone. It wasn't that he thought himself incapable of it, but he really didn't have a good example of what romantic feelings felt like apart from what he read in books and poems. He was maybe more sentimental and well read than he came across and that was definitely a put on persona. He felt like he could let down the wall and be himself around Lenore. "It is how I think. It might be corny, but you kinda make me think of poetry a lot. You're fun to be with yeah, but you also just have an energy and light from inside that makes everyone feel better. And that ain't a power, it's just you," he said, his voice equally soft. He wasn't planning on saying this part but he did anyway.
"My parents, they never even stayed in the same part of the house. Like they got married for connections and they didn't like each other and mami moved me to Miami when I was 8 so she didn't have to see him and they just like, stay married for the money and house. I only knew about like, love and shit from poems and books. And books make it complicated too. In all the best books love isn't perfect, so hard to say what it supposed to feel like." This was probably the longest speech about things Matias swore he'd never tell anyone that he'd confessed. But it seemed important for her to know. "So I might fuck up, but I wanna try and be the kind of person you deserve. Who like, sees your light and wants to keep it glowing." He tilted her chin up to kiss her gently, hesitantly, reverently. She might not need him to, but he wanted to be better for her anyway.
The idea of love scared the shit out of Lenore, and here Tis was talking about it so casually. She didn't know what it was supposed to feel like either, she was fairly sure you could love two people romantically either - unless Anton had been right. All she knew at this very moment was that she felt safe in Tis’s arms and this felt good. She trusted the way he said things - she didn't think he was just gassing her up. He meant it when he said she made him think of poetry. She'd never once thought of herself like that. Despite the confidence she put off, Lenore just… wasn't actually that confident. She didn't think all that highly of herself.
Listening to Tis explain his upbringing a little, Lenore frowned - feeling even worse for entertaining the idea of Tis and Alec. Guilty for being unable to decide. “Love is complicated though, who knows what it's supposed to feel like until you feel it?” She said, wanting to say more but - Tis has gone quiet, was looking at her and leaned in for a kiss and she responded readily, trying to kiss away his hesitation and uncertainty. Even if she was uncertain, too.
Still, this was nice. Her heart rate sped up, arms wrapped around him more tightly. They'd kissed before - made out in the woods, but. Those were Before kisses. Before anyone had really caught any feelings. Before Tis was talking about love and Lenore was wondering about Alec. She stopped, pulling away from the kiss softly, slow. “I'm sorry… I just don't want to hurt anybody.”
Tis had little concept of what anything meant. He'd never even really had a crush before, not really. He found people attractive, he flirted, maybe they messed around and that was the extent of it. So it was only feeling like he was comfortable that he was able to share the worries and the thoughts he had. He didn't know if it was love, because he wasn't really sure what love was, but he knew he liked the feeling he had and didn't want it to end.
He nodded. "I don't really know the fuck it is either, honestly. Not saying it's what I feel, I don't even know it. I just know I haven't felt like this before. That's all," he said, letting out a breath. He knew he was being a bit intense but that kinda was how he operated. He went all out and wasn't always sure how to pull back. But he didn't want to scare her with the intensity of his confusing feelings either.
When she pulled back, Tis tried to do his best to hide his disappointment but he would always be okay just making her feel safe. Her comment was curious to him. He was serious when he said he didn't care what happened with Alec. If she just wanted to be with Alec he'd be crushed, sure, but she didn't have to decide now. "You're not hurting me, Lenore. You don't have to figure shit out right now. And if you think he's better for you or whatever, I respect that because I respect you. But it don't make me jealous if you still figuring that out either. You know how I feel, yeah? I don't want you to stop caring because you think it'll hurt later when you don't even know what later will be like. We can just…cuddle if you want? No kissing even if you don't wanna."
Although it was a relief to hear that wasn't necessarily how he felt, she also felt… a little disappointed, if she were being honest. She wasn't ready for it, for love like that, she knew that. Still. “Me either.” She admitted, knowing she absolutely had not felt like this before. With him, with Alec. She was having a lot of brand new feelings.
She saw the disappointment even though he hastily tried to hide it, but she didn't bring it up. What he said next was reassuring enough and she nodded her head. She really just wanted to enjoy the right now, not think ahead and Tis was doing a very good job of letting her just be herself and figure out what it was she wanted.
He offered just to cuddle instead, and she curled up closer, pressing her lips to his. She wanted to kiss him, it was nice and she enjoyed the feeling. It didn't go on, though, she ended the kiss before it got too heavy and curled up in his arms again. “Tell me more about you. I didn't know you liked poetry so much. What else don't I know?”
"We can figure it out together, mami. Ain't no rush. If you like it and I like it, we can figure out what it means, yeah?" And he meant it. It felt right holding her in his arms. She felt like she just fit there and he had no desire to move at all. His hands stroked her arms, her back, gentle and comforting movements like his mama would when he was sick. Sometimes he pretended to be sick when he was a kid so his mama would come and care for him and fawn over him like he was a baby.
When he kissed him again, everything felt right again. It didn't have to be hot and heavy to feel nice. This was maybe the closest he'd ever felt to anyone, and they had all their clothes on. Was pretty nice, he had to say. "I don't tell people about it much. Logan and I talked about it, she like Neruda too. I should read you some, it make you feel things in your soul. Hmm...I like futbol, but that no secret. Hmm, I like to sail and boat, maybe sometime I take you out and you can enjoy the sea. Do you wanna know some embarrassing stuff too?" he asked with a laugh.
"My mami is the only one who care bout me, but her boyfriend is bad news. He try and mess her around and that was the first time Big Tis came out. He sent me here and shit." He paused. "He a puta, I dunno why mama mess around with him. I hate that. Hate him." She probably didn't want to know all his family business, but it's what he thought about. "First time I got small, I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Felt like I was small because ain't no one care and then I WAS small and shit, mama don't even notice, she went to Ibiza and never said shit." He paused, stroking her cheek a bit.
"What about you, princesa?"
She probably would have agreed with anything Tis told her in that moment, trusted everything he said. Lenore really hadn't ever felt so close to someone before - not like this, anyway. Maybe with Vi, but she'd never wanted to make out with Vi too. Probably. “We'll figure it out.” She agreed.
Cuddled up in his arms and listening to him talk about himself got Lenore feeling too warm and cozy, she was tired but she didn't want to lose any of these moments. She listened intently to everything he told her, from liking futbol to how his mom was dating an awful man and hardly noticed him. She moved so she could lift one arm, hand on Tis’s face in a comforting way. “You know, it's really hard to leave someone who hurts you sometimes. Maybe she felt as small as you and he made her feel big. Men like that… they love bomb and then start small, like conditioning you.” She frowned, sighing. “I'm sorry and I'm more sorry that she didn't notice you.”
Parents were supposed to be better than that. As for herself, Lenore shrugged, hand still caressing his face. “I like soccer too.” She teased a little, before laughing. “I mean futbol. I like photography and games and think sitting still is hard.” Really really hard. “My parents thought I was on drugs or something when I tried to tell them about my powers. They grounded me and put me in therapy and it all sucked, they didn't believe me at all because they couldn't see it.”
Matias cuddled into Lenore, not wanting to let their closeness go. "Good. No rush, mami, I promise." He didn't need her answer now. He wasn't going to fight Alec or anything. He meant it when he told Alec too that he was secure enough to have Lenore make her own mind up and he could only treat her as he thought she ought to be treated.
He nodded, shrugging. "I think she just like someone not like papa. He into dangerous shit, like gang or something I don't know. Think she likes feeling dangerous," he said, sighing. He loved his mother, even through everything, when she did pay attention she always made him feel handsome and smart. Families are complicated.
He listened to Lenore talk, and only made one face when she called futbol soccer, planting a kiss to the side of her head. "Your parents suck," he said simply. "Guess everyone family can be shitty in their own way." He ran a finger along her arm, thinking about what she said. "I think your energy is the best thing about you. Like your power is cool. You're super beautiful. You're fun. If your parents couldn't see that, fuck em." He said it with conviction, and hoped she knew that they were wrong. "I'm glad you're here, Lenore. Like, Angeles. But like, also, right here."
Lenore was fairly certain she was not quite worthy of this, but she wasn’t going to point that out just at the moment. If they were both willing… she’d just have to let the chips fall where they may, or whatever that saying was. Maybe things could be really good. She hoped they could be really good.
Matias suggesting his father was into gang shit or something took Lenore by surprise and she looked up. “Seriously?” She asked, searching Matias’s face for signs of a joke or something. Had she gotten a dress bought with drug money or something? Whoa. She wasn’t sure if that was more exciting or… no it was more exciting. Maybe it shouldn’t be. She didn’t exactly approve of it, but that wasn’t anything to do with Tis.
“You’re safe though, right? I mean - nothing bad ever happened to you, dangerous or violent like?” Because Lenore already knew she would have to murder anyone who hurt him. In her mind, because she was pretty sure she was no no match for a gang. “Does he think you’re gonna you know, take over ‘the family business.’” The quotations around family business were apparent in her tone.
She snorted when he flat out said her parents sucked, and then went on to compliment her. The snort of laughter turned into very pink cheeks. “I mean I definitely told them that too. You should have seen their faces - and my face - when the recruiter from Angeles showed up at our door and told them I was telling the truth the whole time.”
Matias laughed. "Ain't my family. Just mama's boyfriend. He can't even be step daddy cuz papa and mama gotta stay married. Mi papa deals in antiques he about as badass as a high thread count pillow," he said, amused that she thought he was from a crime family. "Nah, the money is old money, princesa. Both parents are from old old old Chilean noble shit or whatever. My matrilineal last name is Castro, like we lived in castles n shit." He gave her a kiss to the forehead. "I'm probably safe, though I'd kill that dude if he touches my mama again and I find out about it. It's his dumb vatos or whatever. Think he has some mutant ties cuz he the one who figured out to send me here."
Matias smiled at the thought of her parents getting dunked on. "I'd have paid money to see that," he said, which he only barely realized meant less when you had more to spread around. He often didn't really think about it, because it was just something he'd always had. But he could have been one of the firsts to say money wasn't everything. It made a lot of things easier, but seeing his parents, he didn't think it made them any happier. What if they could have just lived their lives and marry whoever they wanted? Probably his mama wouldn't be mixed up with that puta Jorge. "But you're happy here? When you not worried about bein kidnapped by dudes from some darkside shit place?"
Ooh she’d totally misunderstood that and laughed at herself, burying her face into his chest out of embarrassment. “Oh my God, I totally put my foot in my mouth all the time don’t I?” She groaned but came out from hiding pretty quickly, because they were still totally having a conversation and she couldn’t very well be buried in embarrassment for the whole thing, now could she? “Whoa, castles and shit? That’s legit.” Her parents were just from Maine. Small town their whole lives, their parents before them in the same small ass town.
“It was priceless.” She smirked, though there was a hint of sadness to it. As much as Lenore enjoyed the self-righteous I told you so moment, the relationship with her parents had been quite damaged. It still was, though she was sure that was mostly her own fault. It was hard to put all that trust and love into people who had so thoroughly turned their backs on you, just short of kicking her out of the house. Which they had threatened to do on more than one occasion, though never because of what she was. Only what they thought she was doing. Plus, she’d kind of been a little shit about it all, too.
“I’m happy here.” She said, nodding. “Here, and here.” She clarified, so he knew she meant it - not just at Angeles, but in his arms, too. Especially right in that moment, feeling safe and warm and like her troubles could melt away because this was all there was.
"Nah, no need to be embarrassed mami. Just funny to think about. Papa never had an uncomfortable day in his whole life. Mi abuelita is pretty on his ass, she'd probably kill him before some gang member did if he stepped a toe out of line. She hardcore." He hadn't spent as much time with his grandparents since he'd moved to Miami. Sometimes he missed them, but he also recognized that they were all pretty old fashioned. He hadn't heard anything from his parents about having to marry some Chilean heiress but he wouldn't have put it past them. The idea was horrifying and he pushed it aside. "Yeah, like, came from Spain and stayed since the 1500s or some shit," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe some day you come to Santiago and see it. It's pretty cool," he said, shrugging. He'd never brought any friends home, not even to Miami, but the thought was nice. He didn't think his father would mind. He probably wouldn't even know she was there.
He could sense some sadness, and he understood that all too well. It was hard to love your parents when they were kinda shit, but even harder when you still loved them anyway. "That shit complicated," he said, stroking her cheek. "Maybe they come around, once they see how you a lil baddie," he added, trying to make her smile. He could sustain himself for many days on her smile, especially if he could cheer her up after her week.
"I'm glad, princesa. Very very very glad," he added for emphasis. He could quite wipe the smile from his face, so he didn't try to. He just held her, knowing that if she felt safe and happy with him that he was doing the best he could. "Can I do anything for you, though? Anything, you name it, I figure it out."
“My grandma’s like that. Hardcore. Not my mom’s mom, but my dad’s mom. Maybe dad moms are just more hardcore ‘cause they had to deal with our dads as kids.” She could only imagine how irritating her father would have been as a kid. In fact, her grandmother had mentioned it often. The memory made her laugh and she wiped away the rest of the tears on her face, feeling a little better than she had when she came in. “Yeah? I’d love to do that. I haven’t traveled nearly enough and I want to travel everywhere.”
Smiling again at the little baddie comment, she scrunched her nose up, chuckling a little and shaking her head. “Yeah, maybe. They haven’t visited yet.” She hadn’t wanted them to, she left unsaid. It was a mixture, maybe they were just always misunderstanding each other. Maybe she should reach out. Today wasn’t the day, though. Instead she rolled around, so Tis was big spoon and she was little spoon, his arm around her and hers over his, fingers interlacing across her stomach.
“Just be here for me, okay? I don’t need anything else.” Lenore was simple. She just wanted the attention - the affection. The trust. “Can you do that? Just hold me, and let me sleep, just for a little bit?”
"Yeah, pretty sure that the job of an abuelita. She the only one can put him in his place. Once he tried to take Christmas pictures with his new girlfriend and not mama, and she threw a shoe at him. We might be rich, but I guess chanclas know no income," he said, smirking a bit at the memory. It was one of the few times his mama had come for Christmas and was her last. She had felt so disrespected, even if they both knew what the relationship was by then. Basically a piece of paper to keep two well connected families together. He didn't want to think about what it would mean when he was older. No one had talked to him about it, but he assumed there would be talk of 'heirs' at some point, but the last thing he wanted was to be tied forever to someone he hated just because it was what was expected of him. "It really pretty. I can take you to some of the pretty sites, all over, don't just have to stay at our house." He liked the idea of seeing her face light up from new sights and experiences. It was his favorite part of Vegas, except maybe kissing her.
Tis shrugged at her comment. "Mine barely have. Papa been in LA for business and just like call me for lunch. I just have to go home to see mama, she never been. But ain't important. You can do in your time, not theirs," he said, rubbing her shoulders. When she curled on her side, Tis had no qualms about spooning into her. It felt nice, actually. He wasn't very used to cuddling, truth be told, but he was starting to see what the big deal was. "I can do that," he said, softly into her ear. "I can do anything you need." It was late and he hadn't slept, so sleeping now sounded really good to him. Keeping Lenore safe while he did sounded like the best way to do it.
"You sleep. I ain't going nowhere."
She giggled at the story and explanation about the chanclas. She didn’t have to ask what that meant - because she distinctly remembered a story her father had told about her grandmother and slippers and that had the same vibe that Tis was speaking of now. Didn’t really seem to matter what culture, what level of wealth, Grandma’s were gonna be grandma’s. She missed hers. “Yeah? I’d love that. We’d have a great time.” She beamed, imagining what it would be like. She felt the excitement cause time to shift around them, but since he was holding her he was along for the ride. It wasn’t particularly noticeable aside from the general feeling of it, because they weren’t moving, not watching anything but each other anyway, but there was a palpable kind of change in the air.
Fortunately Lenore was tired enough that it was just kind of slowing before the excitement wore off enough that they were back in normal time without incident. “Yeah, no rush on that. Or maybe a little rush. Never know what’s gonna happen, huh? I could get trapped by Pantheon people tomorrow…” She shuddered, but only a little bit because she was safe in Tis’s arms and it was hard to believe anything could get to her here. She used her mostly free arm to pull the covers up a little, although Tis was warm, Lenore was basically an icicle at night, and closed her eyes.
“Okay, we’ll take a nap then… then get breakfast in the morning? I mean, the new morning. I mean - you know what I mean.” She yawned, the tension finally leaving her body entirely.
"Summer then, we make it happen," Matias said, smiling just thinking about how fun it would be to plan a trip with her. Even if she decided to be with Alec that didn't mean she couldn't visit as a friend. It would be a lot nicer if she was more than a friend, but that was for Later Tis to worry about.
His eyes were closed while the skipped a bit through time, and Matias only barely noticed. It was never anything unpleasant to him. No matter when it was, time always seemed right with her. "No Panthenon putas getting you tomorrow, can promise you that." He was sure that whatever was happening, the girl in his arms wouldn't be hurt if he had anything to say about it.
"Nap then breakfast," Tis repeated, losing his own battle with sleep. He would definitely be having some pleasant dreams, even if all his worries weren't completely gone. At least he knew she was safe now.
It was late, she wasn’t sure how late, but nearly everyone was asleep - or they seemed to be. She extricated herself slowly from Vi’s arms to not disturb her, and took her legs out from in between Tori’s. One hand untucked itself from being laced with Chase’s and she rolled over, placing a soft kiss to Sera’s face.
Within moments of getting up, she had teleported out of the room and into Tis’s room. Awake or not, she crawled into bed and threw the covers over both of them, snaking her way into his arms. Without warning, tears slipped from her eyes and the sound of her very quiet, muffled cries could just barely be heard.
After Lenore talked to him, Tis put an envelope on the door for June, 1,000.00 in cash and a note to please find somewhere else to sleep that night. He was serious that he'd wait all night to hear from her. There weren't all that many people he was close to or truly cared about. His relationship with his mother was complicated. He loved her fiercely and with everything in him, but he was also aware that at the end of the day he was often seen as pretty inconvenient. Even when home in Miami he spent most of his him just off with people from his private school youth, most of which were other rich kids whose parents were never home either. It was loud and excessive and sometimes fun, but it wasn't real. He didn't have much real experience with relationships. That much was probably clear about him kinda making two dates at the party the previous month. He didn't really think beyond what felt good in the very moment he was doing it.
Lenore was different.
He meant what he said. He just wanted her to be happy, and seeing her delight in anything he could do for her made him feel like he was walking on clouds. He'd have crawled across glass for her, and Tis was not usually the thinking of others before himself type. To him, that meant it was real. Maybe Lenore would pick Alec-more people liked him, especially the professors. He was more interesting and more people assumed he was smart and worth being around. It was Tis' own fault he gave himself a reputation as a fuckboy shithead, but well, all he could do is be himself and to show Lenore he cared.
True to his word, he had a chilled batch of arnold palmers (and some various coffee adjacent things if she needed caffeine. But maybe she'd just want to sleep) and was lying in his bed, slightly larger than usual. He couldn't hold it forever, so he'd been shrinking and making himself larger off and on for hours while he waited for her text. And then suddenly, she was just, in his bed. "Oh shit, hi," he said, not even looking at the time. But she didn't really say anything, just curled against him and pull the covers over. His heart dropped. He was never going to complain about her being in his bed, but she was clearly very upset. Even Tis, with the emotional intelligence of a teaspoon, could figure that out. Instead of asking any questions, he pulled her closer, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head, gently rubbing her back.
"You're okay, mami. No one doing shit to you here." But he knew she wasn't afraid of a literal hurt. They probably wouldn't need to worry much right now about attacks. But he would let her talk when she wanted to. Or if she never did. He gently stroked the side of her face, not wanting to rumple her hair despite his instinct because he remembered she didn't love it. He thought he'd remembered everything she ever told him, but sometimes he could forget. He took direction and lessons better than people gave him credit for.
"Whatever you need," he said softly, but not moving from his current position unless she said so.
She had meant to text Tis before showing up - really, she had, but with everything that had gone down with the Squad and how late and drained she was, Lenore had just skipped right through all that. He was awake though, and didn’t hesitate to pull her closer, kissing the top of her head. It was gentle and nice and Lenore could really feel the care that he held for her in those small, simple things.
Whatever you need was soft and reassuring and Lenore buried her face into his chest, giving herself a moment longer to be legitimately vulnerable. It was rare to see Lenore cry, rarer still for her to go to you when she was crying and essentially demand to be held. She didn’t let many people see those sides of her. Tis, she felt, had earned it. His reputation might have proceeded him initially, but Lenore felt like she had seen a lot more sides of Tis than the one he typically presented, and she really, really liked that.
“I meant to just come and hang out and we could gossip about what’s going on but today has just been a lot.” She finally said, mumbling into his neck, her lips brushing against his skin a little as she did so. “The girls told me a lot of stuff, and we’re - probably more in danger than we all thought. Not to mention, my friends and I almost all got kidnapped by Pantheon agents without even knowing it.”
Lenore shuddered at the thought. Roman had seemed so trustworthy, so… But then he was a mutant. Something in what he could do had made her trust him so implicitly, she was sure of it. What was it then? Mind control? Empathy? She wasn’t educated enough on all the different kinds of abilities out there to know exactly what it was he had done. She was just sure he had to have done something. She liked to think she wasn’t that stupid.
“I just want to be held, okay? I want to be warm and feel safe somewhere because I feel very unsafe right now.”
Matias didn't care about the actual words Lenore was saying now, because he could tell gossip and chill wasn't really what she needed. Instead he nodded, holding her close, letting her talk and cry and get out what she needed to. "You alright, mami. We can do whatever you need to, I'm fine just being here if you need it." He carefully kept stroking her back and let her talk, though he did feel his eyebrows go up as she talked about the concerns from the girls. "What, wait, kidnapped?" he asked, suddenly getting a bit panicked, but doing his best to remain calm for her. "What you mean, who tried to do something?" He wasn't going to blow up, that wasn't what she needed. He kept his breathing steady, and let the pounding of his rising anger stay where it was. For once, he understood this wasn't about him. Lenore had gone through something truly scary, something he probably never had come close to, and the best thing for her was to be THERE for her. Now she was safe, he could be 20 feet tall and protect her from anything that tried to come for her. But this was something that already happened. Maybe she needed to talk about it, maybe she didn't. But he could be a safe person for her.
"You can tell me, mami. You don't have to, but I listen good. And I ain't gunna say shit to no one. Just me here. I won't even say nothing about killing them," he joked, pressing another kiss to her head.
"You are safe here, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I'm not going anywhere." And if June opened the door he'd grow all 20 feet to kick him right out again. "You need a drink or anything? I don't want to move but I'll get it if you want."
It was kind of nice, thinking about what someone else needed. He much preferred making her smile and laugh, but it was clear right now there wasn't a magic thing he could bring her to make her laugh. So while he wasn't sure what would make her smile again, he could be here for what she needed or asked for now.
She could hear the anger in his voice and she shushed him, feeling… oddly about that. In a good way. Like she enjoyed the slight outrage she heard in his voice at the idea that someone had tried to kidnap her or her friends. “It wasn’t - I’m being dramatic, it wasn’t that scary. I mean kinda now that I think about it.” She sighed, shaking her head. “There’s a guy, I guess his face is on the walls in the office or something, ‘cause he used to go to school here and now he’s an agent for the Pantheon.”
She bit her lip, looking up a little now, no longer hiding her face from him. “Anyway, I went out - late after the spring musical’s parts were announced. I just wanted to blow off steam, dance.” Lenore was embarrassed about it now, but also just… not sure how to feel about it all in the end. “There was this guy. I think he caught me, my powers were a little out of control I don’t know. He did something, I thought - I felt like I could trust him with anything like, immediately. Mind control maybe.”
Lenore was embarrassed at how easy it had been to clock her, how easily it would have been to just be kidnapped by that guy, if he’d wanted to. “He just brought me back, though. Put his helmet on me and took me on his motorcycle, brought me right back to the school. I thought he was nice. He’d - he met Vi and Tori, at different times. It’s like he’s circling us, trying to get us to go darkside or something.”
She didn’t want anything to drink, even if she had some doubts she’d be falling asleep any time soon. Mostly because she, too, didn’t want to move. This was comfortable. “I do feel safe here, and I know you listen well, by the way.” She said, pushing her forehead against Tis’s. “That’s why I came here.”
Pantheon. It was weird, he'd been at Angeles since he was 12, and this was the most he'd ever heard said about this shadow group that had hunted and killed Sera Welling's aunt and Professor Welling's sister. He'd heard it said but no one really talked about it. Professor O'Connell had been the first one to really explain what it was. And for all this time they were out there trying to turn his girl bad? Well, he couldn't call her his yet, but still. And Vi and Tori too? Tori he thought didn't like him much, though he thought she was funny and kinda badass, but Vi was really cool and the idea of her going off all evil was almost silly to him. Like her whole family was at the school. How convincing WAS this dude?
"Shit," he said, drawing the word out after her explanation. "Nah, I get it, that's scary. Mind control is pretty fuckin scary." He loosened his hold on her just slightly when she looked up at him. His heart was beating now for a very different reason. "You couldn't go darkside. You're like…I told you it's like the whole sun shines from you. I don't mean to be like a weirdo but it reminds me of this poem I like. Pablo Neruda, he's the greatest Chilean poet. It starts like this-and just know it sounds better in Spanish but that's okay, it's still good in english. “As if you were on fire from within. The moon lives in the lining of your skin.” That's what I think every time I see you."
That was a lot. Maybe too much. Tis was bad at moderation.
He stroked her face as she rested her head on his. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the closeness. "I'm glad, Lenore. I joke and shit but I just want you to be okay and feel good when you're with me. I'm not perfect but I try and be the best I can." For you. To maybe be good enough. He left a lot out to not put on her his journey towards not being a self absorbed tool.
“I don’t even know if anyone here can do that.” Not any of the students, she was pretty sure. Not as a primary. Most students powers were more physically powerful in a scary way, or they just weren’t scary. Lenore’s weren’t. Tis could be scary when he was real big Tis, but then he was also adorable as tiny Tis. So there was a balance to that. Vi was dangerous, even if Lenore was immune to her powers, just like Vi was immune to Lenore’s. While she’d always thought mind control would be kinda interesting to see, she’d never wanted it done on her. Not like it had been.
Tis’s assurance that she couldn’t go darkside came with a poem - which was mildly amusing, considering Alec had gotten ChatGPT to write her a sonnet - and she listened easily. It was surprising that Tis knew of any poets, let alone a poet from Chile she’d never heard of and he could just recite some of it by heart. That was an unexpected twist in this story. “Wow, Tis.” She said softly, looking up at him again, in his eyes now.
“That was really beautiful. That’s what you think of, when you think of me?” She asked, her voice dropping down to a softer whisper, her eyes glittering in the light that seeped through the window, partially from the tears that were quickly drying up, and partially because her eyes just lit up like that. “No one is perfect Tis, but I think you’re pretty great. You don’t need to be anything other than you, for me.”
"Not students, no, but agents and teachers," he said. Yet. He had a feeling that some students had more powers that they hadn't yet displayed. He was sure that he didn't have anything hidden. He got big and he got small, it was useful for fighting and for intel, he was pretty confident in his abilities and despite the fact that a lot of teachers disliked his questioning and his jokes he was smart enough to do well in classes and he had pretty decent control over his powers. He hoped to become an agent one day. But to him, mind control was the scariest of the powers. That something like that had been used by some adult agent who left Angeles pissed him off. Was pretty fucked up if you asked him.
He didn't necessarily blush when Lenore asked about how he saw her-he wasn't a blusher and he wasn't embarrassed about it-but he felt a bit warm, confessing more of how he felt. He was telling the truth that this was the first time he'd felt like this for anyone. It wasn't that he thought himself incapable of it, but he really didn't have a good example of what romantic feelings felt like apart from what he read in books and poems. He was maybe more sentimental and well read than he came across and that was definitely a put on persona. He felt like he could let down the wall and be himself around Lenore. "It is how I think. It might be corny, but you kinda make me think of poetry a lot. You're fun to be with yeah, but you also just have an energy and light from inside that makes everyone feel better. And that ain't a power, it's just you," he said, his voice equally soft. He wasn't planning on saying this part but he did anyway.
"My parents, they never even stayed in the same part of the house. Like they got married for connections and they didn't like each other and mami moved me to Miami when I was 8 so she didn't have to see him and they just like, stay married for the money and house. I only knew about like, love and shit from poems and books. And books make it complicated too. In all the best books love isn't perfect, so hard to say what it supposed to feel like." This was probably the longest speech about things Matias swore he'd never tell anyone that he'd confessed. But it seemed important for her to know. "So I might fuck up, but I wanna try and be the kind of person you deserve. Who like, sees your light and wants to keep it glowing." He tilted her chin up to kiss her gently, hesitantly, reverently. She might not need him to, but he wanted to be better for her anyway.
The idea of love scared the shit out of Lenore, and here Tis was talking about it so casually. She didn't know what it was supposed to feel like either, she was fairly sure you could love two people romantically either - unless Anton had been right. All she knew at this very moment was that she felt safe in Tis’s arms and this felt good. She trusted the way he said things - she didn't think he was just gassing her up. He meant it when he said she made him think of poetry. She'd never once thought of herself like that. Despite the confidence she put off, Lenore just… wasn't actually that confident. She didn't think all that highly of herself.
Listening to Tis explain his upbringing a little, Lenore frowned - feeling even worse for entertaining the idea of Tis and Alec. Guilty for being unable to decide. “Love is complicated though, who knows what it's supposed to feel like until you feel it?” She said, wanting to say more but - Tis has gone quiet, was looking at her and leaned in for a kiss and she responded readily, trying to kiss away his hesitation and uncertainty. Even if she was uncertain, too.
Still, this was nice. Her heart rate sped up, arms wrapped around him more tightly. They'd kissed before - made out in the woods, but. Those were Before kisses. Before anyone had really caught any feelings. Before Tis was talking about love and Lenore was wondering about Alec. She stopped, pulling away from the kiss softly, slow. “I'm sorry… I just don't want to hurt anybody.”
Tis had little concept of what anything meant. He'd never even really had a crush before, not really. He found people attractive, he flirted, maybe they messed around and that was the extent of it. So it was only feeling like he was comfortable that he was able to share the worries and the thoughts he had. He didn't know if it was love, because he wasn't really sure what love was, but he knew he liked the feeling he had and didn't want it to end.
He nodded. "I don't really know the fuck it is either, honestly. Not saying it's what I feel, I don't even know it. I just know I haven't felt like this before. That's all," he said, letting out a breath. He knew he was being a bit intense but that kinda was how he operated. He went all out and wasn't always sure how to pull back. But he didn't want to scare her with the intensity of his confusing feelings either.
When she pulled back, Tis tried to do his best to hide his disappointment but he would always be okay just making her feel safe. Her comment was curious to him. He was serious when he said he didn't care what happened with Alec. If she just wanted to be with Alec he'd be crushed, sure, but she didn't have to decide now. "You're not hurting me, Lenore. You don't have to figure shit out right now. And if you think he's better for you or whatever, I respect that because I respect you. But it don't make me jealous if you still figuring that out either. You know how I feel, yeah? I don't want you to stop caring because you think it'll hurt later when you don't even know what later will be like. We can just…cuddle if you want? No kissing even if you don't wanna."
Although it was a relief to hear that wasn't necessarily how he felt, she also felt… a little disappointed, if she were being honest. She wasn't ready for it, for love like that, she knew that. Still. “Me either.” She admitted, knowing she absolutely had not felt like this before. With him, with Alec. She was having a lot of brand new feelings.
She saw the disappointment even though he hastily tried to hide it, but she didn't bring it up. What he said next was reassuring enough and she nodded her head. She really just wanted to enjoy the right now, not think ahead and Tis was doing a very good job of letting her just be herself and figure out what it was she wanted.
He offered just to cuddle instead, and she curled up closer, pressing her lips to his. She wanted to kiss him, it was nice and she enjoyed the feeling. It didn't go on, though, she ended the kiss before it got too heavy and curled up in his arms again. “Tell me more about you. I didn't know you liked poetry so much. What else don't I know?”
"We can figure it out together, mami. Ain't no rush. If you like it and I like it, we can figure out what it means, yeah?" And he meant it. It felt right holding her in his arms. She felt like she just fit there and he had no desire to move at all. His hands stroked her arms, her back, gentle and comforting movements like his mama would when he was sick. Sometimes he pretended to be sick when he was a kid so his mama would come and care for him and fawn over him like he was a baby.
When he kissed him again, everything felt right again. It didn't have to be hot and heavy to feel nice. This was maybe the closest he'd ever felt to anyone, and they had all their clothes on. Was pretty nice, he had to say. "I don't tell people about it much. Logan and I talked about it, she like Neruda too. I should read you some, it make you feel things in your soul. Hmm...I like futbol, but that no secret. Hmm, I like to sail and boat, maybe sometime I take you out and you can enjoy the sea. Do you wanna know some embarrassing stuff too?" he asked with a laugh.
"My mami is the only one who care bout me, but her boyfriend is bad news. He try and mess her around and that was the first time Big Tis came out. He sent me here and shit." He paused. "He a puta, I dunno why mama mess around with him. I hate that. Hate him." She probably didn't want to know all his family business, but it's what he thought about. "First time I got small, I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Felt like I was small because ain't no one care and then I WAS small and shit, mama don't even notice, she went to Ibiza and never said shit." He paused, stroking her cheek a bit.
"What about you, princesa?"
She probably would have agreed with anything Tis told her in that moment, trusted everything he said. Lenore really hadn't ever felt so close to someone before - not like this, anyway. Maybe with Vi, but she'd never wanted to make out with Vi too. Probably. “We'll figure it out.” She agreed.
Cuddled up in his arms and listening to him talk about himself got Lenore feeling too warm and cozy, she was tired but she didn't want to lose any of these moments. She listened intently to everything he told her, from liking futbol to how his mom was dating an awful man and hardly noticed him. She moved so she could lift one arm, hand on Tis’s face in a comforting way. “You know, it's really hard to leave someone who hurts you sometimes. Maybe she felt as small as you and he made her feel big. Men like that… they love bomb and then start small, like conditioning you.” She frowned, sighing. “I'm sorry and I'm more sorry that she didn't notice you.”
Parents were supposed to be better than that. As for herself, Lenore shrugged, hand still caressing his face. “I like soccer too.” She teased a little, before laughing. “I mean futbol. I like photography and games and think sitting still is hard.” Really really hard. “My parents thought I was on drugs or something when I tried to tell them about my powers. They grounded me and put me in therapy and it all sucked, they didn't believe me at all because they couldn't see it.”
Matias cuddled into Lenore, not wanting to let their closeness go. "Good. No rush, mami, I promise." He didn't need her answer now. He wasn't going to fight Alec or anything. He meant it when he told Alec too that he was secure enough to have Lenore make her own mind up and he could only treat her as he thought she ought to be treated.
He nodded, shrugging. "I think she just like someone not like papa. He into dangerous shit, like gang or something I don't know. Think she likes feeling dangerous," he said, sighing. He loved his mother, even through everything, when she did pay attention she always made him feel handsome and smart. Families are complicated.
He listened to Lenore talk, and only made one face when she called futbol soccer, planting a kiss to the side of her head. "Your parents suck," he said simply. "Guess everyone family can be shitty in their own way." He ran a finger along her arm, thinking about what she said. "I think your energy is the best thing about you. Like your power is cool. You're super beautiful. You're fun. If your parents couldn't see that, fuck em." He said it with conviction, and hoped she knew that they were wrong. "I'm glad you're here, Lenore. Like, Angeles. But like, also, right here."
Lenore was fairly certain she was not quite worthy of this, but she wasn’t going to point that out just at the moment. If they were both willing… she’d just have to let the chips fall where they may, or whatever that saying was. Maybe things could be really good. She hoped they could be really good.
Matias suggesting his father was into gang shit or something took Lenore by surprise and she looked up. “Seriously?” She asked, searching Matias’s face for signs of a joke or something. Had she gotten a dress bought with drug money or something? Whoa. She wasn’t sure if that was more exciting or… no it was more exciting. Maybe it shouldn’t be. She didn’t exactly approve of it, but that wasn’t anything to do with Tis.
“You’re safe though, right? I mean - nothing bad ever happened to you, dangerous or violent like?” Because Lenore already knew she would have to murder anyone who hurt him. In her mind, because she was pretty sure she was no no match for a gang. “Does he think you’re gonna you know, take over ‘the family business.’” The quotations around family business were apparent in her tone.
She snorted when he flat out said her parents sucked, and then went on to compliment her. The snort of laughter turned into very pink cheeks. “I mean I definitely told them that too. You should have seen their faces - and my face - when the recruiter from Angeles showed up at our door and told them I was telling the truth the whole time.”
Matias laughed. "Ain't my family. Just mama's boyfriend. He can't even be step daddy cuz papa and mama gotta stay married. Mi papa deals in antiques he about as badass as a high thread count pillow," he said, amused that she thought he was from a crime family. "Nah, the money is old money, princesa. Both parents are from old old old Chilean noble shit or whatever. My matrilineal last name is Castro, like we lived in castles n shit." He gave her a kiss to the forehead. "I'm probably safe, though I'd kill that dude if he touches my mama again and I find out about it. It's his dumb vatos or whatever. Think he has some mutant ties cuz he the one who figured out to send me here."
Matias smiled at the thought of her parents getting dunked on. "I'd have paid money to see that," he said, which he only barely realized meant less when you had more to spread around. He often didn't really think about it, because it was just something he'd always had. But he could have been one of the firsts to say money wasn't everything. It made a lot of things easier, but seeing his parents, he didn't think it made them any happier. What if they could have just lived their lives and marry whoever they wanted? Probably his mama wouldn't be mixed up with that puta Jorge. "But you're happy here? When you not worried about bein kidnapped by dudes from some darkside shit place?"
Ooh she’d totally misunderstood that and laughed at herself, burying her face into his chest out of embarrassment. “Oh my God, I totally put my foot in my mouth all the time don’t I?” She groaned but came out from hiding pretty quickly, because they were still totally having a conversation and she couldn’t very well be buried in embarrassment for the whole thing, now could she? “Whoa, castles and shit? That’s legit.” Her parents were just from Maine. Small town their whole lives, their parents before them in the same small ass town.
“It was priceless.” She smirked, though there was a hint of sadness to it. As much as Lenore enjoyed the self-righteous I told you so moment, the relationship with her parents had been quite damaged. It still was, though she was sure that was mostly her own fault. It was hard to put all that trust and love into people who had so thoroughly turned their backs on you, just short of kicking her out of the house. Which they had threatened to do on more than one occasion, though never because of what she was. Only what they thought she was doing. Plus, she’d kind of been a little shit about it all, too.
“I’m happy here.” She said, nodding. “Here, and here.” She clarified, so he knew she meant it - not just at Angeles, but in his arms, too. Especially right in that moment, feeling safe and warm and like her troubles could melt away because this was all there was.
"Nah, no need to be embarrassed mami. Just funny to think about. Papa never had an uncomfortable day in his whole life. Mi abuelita is pretty on his ass, she'd probably kill him before some gang member did if he stepped a toe out of line. She hardcore." He hadn't spent as much time with his grandparents since he'd moved to Miami. Sometimes he missed them, but he also recognized that they were all pretty old fashioned. He hadn't heard anything from his parents about having to marry some Chilean heiress but he wouldn't have put it past them. The idea was horrifying and he pushed it aside. "Yeah, like, came from Spain and stayed since the 1500s or some shit," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe some day you come to Santiago and see it. It's pretty cool," he said, shrugging. He'd never brought any friends home, not even to Miami, but the thought was nice. He didn't think his father would mind. He probably wouldn't even know she was there.
He could sense some sadness, and he understood that all too well. It was hard to love your parents when they were kinda shit, but even harder when you still loved them anyway. "That shit complicated," he said, stroking her cheek. "Maybe they come around, once they see how you a lil baddie," he added, trying to make her smile. He could sustain himself for many days on her smile, especially if he could cheer her up after her week.
"I'm glad, princesa. Very very very glad," he added for emphasis. He could quite wipe the smile from his face, so he didn't try to. He just held her, knowing that if she felt safe and happy with him that he was doing the best he could. "Can I do anything for you, though? Anything, you name it, I figure it out."
“My grandma’s like that. Hardcore. Not my mom’s mom, but my dad’s mom. Maybe dad moms are just more hardcore ‘cause they had to deal with our dads as kids.” She could only imagine how irritating her father would have been as a kid. In fact, her grandmother had mentioned it often. The memory made her laugh and she wiped away the rest of the tears on her face, feeling a little better than she had when she came in. “Yeah? I’d love to do that. I haven’t traveled nearly enough and I want to travel everywhere.”
Smiling again at the little baddie comment, she scrunched her nose up, chuckling a little and shaking her head. “Yeah, maybe. They haven’t visited yet.” She hadn’t wanted them to, she left unsaid. It was a mixture, maybe they were just always misunderstanding each other. Maybe she should reach out. Today wasn’t the day, though. Instead she rolled around, so Tis was big spoon and she was little spoon, his arm around her and hers over his, fingers interlacing across her stomach.
“Just be here for me, okay? I don’t need anything else.” Lenore was simple. She just wanted the attention - the affection. The trust. “Can you do that? Just hold me, and let me sleep, just for a little bit?”
"Yeah, pretty sure that the job of an abuelita. She the only one can put him in his place. Once he tried to take Christmas pictures with his new girlfriend and not mama, and she threw a shoe at him. We might be rich, but I guess chanclas know no income," he said, smirking a bit at the memory. It was one of the few times his mama had come for Christmas and was her last. She had felt so disrespected, even if they both knew what the relationship was by then. Basically a piece of paper to keep two well connected families together. He didn't want to think about what it would mean when he was older. No one had talked to him about it, but he assumed there would be talk of 'heirs' at some point, but the last thing he wanted was to be tied forever to someone he hated just because it was what was expected of him. "It really pretty. I can take you to some of the pretty sites, all over, don't just have to stay at our house." He liked the idea of seeing her face light up from new sights and experiences. It was his favorite part of Vegas, except maybe kissing her.
Tis shrugged at her comment. "Mine barely have. Papa been in LA for business and just like call me for lunch. I just have to go home to see mama, she never been. But ain't important. You can do in your time, not theirs," he said, rubbing her shoulders. When she curled on her side, Tis had no qualms about spooning into her. It felt nice, actually. He wasn't very used to cuddling, truth be told, but he was starting to see what the big deal was. "I can do that," he said, softly into her ear. "I can do anything you need." It was late and he hadn't slept, so sleeping now sounded really good to him. Keeping Lenore safe while he did sounded like the best way to do it.
"You sleep. I ain't going nowhere."
She giggled at the story and explanation about the chanclas. She didn’t have to ask what that meant - because she distinctly remembered a story her father had told about her grandmother and slippers and that had the same vibe that Tis was speaking of now. Didn’t really seem to matter what culture, what level of wealth, Grandma’s were gonna be grandma’s. She missed hers. “Yeah? I’d love that. We’d have a great time.” She beamed, imagining what it would be like. She felt the excitement cause time to shift around them, but since he was holding her he was along for the ride. It wasn’t particularly noticeable aside from the general feeling of it, because they weren’t moving, not watching anything but each other anyway, but there was a palpable kind of change in the air.
Fortunately Lenore was tired enough that it was just kind of slowing before the excitement wore off enough that they were back in normal time without incident. “Yeah, no rush on that. Or maybe a little rush. Never know what’s gonna happen, huh? I could get trapped by Pantheon people tomorrow…” She shuddered, but only a little bit because she was safe in Tis’s arms and it was hard to believe anything could get to her here. She used her mostly free arm to pull the covers up a little, although Tis was warm, Lenore was basically an icicle at night, and closed her eyes.
“Okay, we’ll take a nap then… then get breakfast in the morning? I mean, the new morning. I mean - you know what I mean.” She yawned, the tension finally leaving her body entirely.
"Summer then, we make it happen," Matias said, smiling just thinking about how fun it would be to plan a trip with her. Even if she decided to be with Alec that didn't mean she couldn't visit as a friend. It would be a lot nicer if she was more than a friend, but that was for Later Tis to worry about.
His eyes were closed while the skipped a bit through time, and Matias only barely noticed. It was never anything unpleasant to him. No matter when it was, time always seemed right with her. "No Panthenon putas getting you tomorrow, can promise you that." He was sure that whatever was happening, the girl in his arms wouldn't be hurt if he had anything to say about it.
"Nap then breakfast," Tis repeated, losing his own battle with sleep. He would definitely be having some pleasant dreams, even if all his worries weren't completely gone. At least he knew she was safe now.