“Always knew you were smart,” he answered with a chuckle of amusement. “You thought Stiles was a one-off, huh? Well, surprise!” Here was Noah, the original and… yeah, he wouldn’t go so far as to say best, but it was a close call. “To be fair, it’s not like we were hiding it,” he told Cisco as he made his way up the stairs. It was a good job he’d been desk-surfing most of the day or his back and knees would be protesting pretty badly about now.
Wise words from such a young guy, Noah thought with a nod as he crested the steps and headed towards Cisco’s room. “I should definitely open a peer-counselling service at work, but you’re the only one allowed to give advice,” he told him with a smile.
Noah’s face fell as Cisco dropped what was really on his mind, though. He couldn’t fix the nightmares, but he could sure as shit cut out his negative thoughts about asking them anything. He shoved open the door to his room and lowered him onto his bed, making sure Cisco was looking him directly in the eye. “Kid, your parents aren’t right,” Noah said softly. “You’re not the problem, they are,” he said categorically, “but we’re the family you chose and that comes with responsibilities on both sides. Most important is that you tell us when you need us.” He gave his hair a ruffle, “that and keeping your dirty underwear off the bathroom floor,” Noah cracked a smile.
“I’m not immortal, kid,” no one was, which was why they had to make the most of every moment together on this damn planet. “So you’ll renting me out to retirement homes before you know it.” Noah hated seeing Cisco so scared and given that he counted his brain as his super-power couldn’t help the feeling of invasion from the dreams. “I don’t know how to help you through this, but I’m here. You get nightmares, you wake my ass up and tell me there’s a monster in the closet,” Noah said with parental vigour. “Be sure, I’ll be in here shooting it’s ass before you get to the end of the sentence.”