Susan Bones (suemoo) wrote in cuaditchic, @ 2021-01-13 17:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, -player: hannah, c: susan bones |
Narrative: Susan Bones & Paxton Derrick
Who: Susan Bones & Paxton Derrick
What: Paxton tells Susan about her future
When: This morning
Where: Susan's place
Warnings: Mention of future character death
After pulling a few extra hours earlier in the week, Susan was thankful that she wouldn't need to go into the office until after lunch or so. She may have already gotten herself ready and was going over the case file she'd brought home with her, but her bed and pillow were much more comfortable to spread out on than her office desk. Two cups of coffee into her morning, Susan half frowned, half pouted once realizing that her cup was empty again.
"I'll let you walk all over my papers if you go get me another cup," Susan said to the orange cat who was already sprawled out on the bed next to her. Papaya's only response was to yawn and stretch out before curling up again for more sleep. "Pfft, you're not help." She stood from the bed and did her own stretches before heading into the kitchen. About the time she was set to pour her new cup of coffee, there was a knock at the door.
The person on the other side of the door was a surprise, but Susan smiled when she saw Paxton standing on there stocked with two cups of coffee and a bag of what she only could assume were breakfast pastries by the smell of them.
"Paxton, hello!" said Susan, smiling and moved to let her son (son?!?) inside the flat. Having kids that were nearly her age was still something she was having trouble getting used to, but at least so far she only had the one to show up instead of nearly a full Quidditch team like some.
"Hi, Mum, I hope I'm not disturbing you," said Paxton. He knew not to come empty-handed, especially when given the bomb he was getting ready to drop on her. He'd put off telling his mother about her future, but after he was brought back to the past a second time, he knew that he didn't want her to find out any other way from anyone else by accident.
"No, not at all. Are those scones by chance?" The smell was already making her stomach growl.
"Scones and muffins. And your favorite," he handed the cup of coffee to her and smiled when she immediately took a sip.
They spoke casually for a few minutes while enjoying the late breakfast. A little of some of their routines when he was a child and also a couple of questions of what sort of cases she was currently working on at work. Once they finished eating though, Susan picked up on the change in Paxton's demeanor. It was then that she realized that this was the first time he'd dropped by in such a way like this on his own, unannounced.
"That was delicious, thank you. It's not every day your son from the future shows up for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, you're welcome any time, but was there something you wanted to talk about?" During their time together, there had been moments when Susan had wondered if there was something he wasn't telling her. A sad glance here or there when he didn't think she was looking. He could be hard to read sometimes - thank you, Derrick genes - but she still had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't quite right about his future. You know, aside from the war that they'd lost and state of the wizarding world.
Paxton shouldn't have been surprised that she was learning to read him like a book; she'd been able to it when he was a kid even though most people couldn't even back then. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and took a moment before speaking. He still wasn't convinced this was the right decision, and he had no idea where to start or how to tell her.
"You can tell me anything," Susan said softly, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on his arm. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
"That's the same thing you used to tell me when I'd done something wrong, and you already knew about it," said Paxton, smiling sadly, and let out a long breath.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't told you many stories about my life outside of my childhood. You know about the war, sure, but personal stuff. There's a reason for that." He looked up at her and paused, wondering if she was coming to the right conclusion.
"I was staying at the Cappers one evening when you and Dad were following a lead on a Death Eater. It was maybe a year or so after the war had started up, so I was around six or so. It was an ambush, and the intel you guys were given was wrong; your source had defected back out of fear, and it was a trap. Dad got out with a few injuries, but you..."
As he spoke, she could see it coming, but Susan still felt her stomach hit the floor. Maybe they shouldn't have started out this conversation with food. She swallowed hard, trying not to show too much emotion in front of Paxton, but her mind had exploded with old fears and paranoia. The Bones family curse strikes again, right? She couldn't manage to speak just yet but instead squeezed his arm.
"Dad said all of it happened fast, and neither of you saw his face before he cast the curse. We still don't know who it was who ambushed you in the alley, but I've been searching for him since I was old enough to join the Resistance movement."
"Oh, Paxton." The words hit her hard, and she took his hands in both of hers. Her mind was still reeling from the news, but this was her son even if she'd only known him barely a month. "You shouldn't take that on yourself. What happened was... it's horrific, but please don't feel as if you're responsible for finding out what happened that night. You and the others from your time live in a world you never should have had to grown up in, and I'm sorry that we couldn't make a better world for you."
"I didn't want to tell you, but I worried that you'd find out some other way from one of the others. Or if you might overhear something."
Susan let out a long sigh. "I'll be honest: I'm not sure how I feel. It's... a lot to take in, but you had to do what you felt was best. I understand why you told me." The threat of tears were in her eyes, but Susan smiled sadly at her son. "And I'm thankful for the time we have together now."
Pulling Paxton close, she hugged him tightly and didn't let go for a long while. She'd already done the math in her head and knew that if he was only just a few years old then it was easy to figure out the year it had happened. There'd be time to freak out about the news later in private. For now, she just wanted to make sure her son was alright.