InsaneJournal

It felt like nearly a lifetime had passed since the last time Atreus had stopped in his tracks as it felt like his stomach fell through his feet. Usually, he was barreling straight ahead, racing whoever he was exploring with, climbing trees, shifting at whim. He’d pulled Lance with him along for this adventure, as soon as his brain picked up on an animal in forest that needed help. He’d seen a number of dire situations in Vallo and home that had slowed him down, but--

Atreus had been punched in the stomach before and it was nothing compared to how he felt stepping over a downed log into a little cozy hole, made by the small bear cub that occupied it.

It immediately brought him back to home. To when he’d lost control and shifted into a bear. To the wreckage he’d left in his wake, with no memory of it. He still vividly remembered seeing the aftermath, however, the bear cubs that surrounded their mother and the knowledge of what the harsh winter would likely do to them.

Atreus hadn’t been in the place to help them there, they had to travel, no way to supplement the milk received from nursing and no place to keep them safe, after Odin and Thor’s arrival-- He didn’t know what came of them, though Kratos had been certain it wouldn’t be good.

“Shit.” His feet were seemingly stuck in the snow as he didn’t move from his spot a few feet away.

Lance was well versed in running out into the woods on a moment's notice at this point. So when Atreus had mentioned picking up something, Lance had easily followed - bayard clipped his belt in case of any trouble. Though with their luck lately, or lack thereof, he was really hoping they wouldn't find any.

He slowed as Atreus did, generally content to follow Atreus' lead usually when it came to things like this.

Spotting the tiny little bear cub his mind spun to one thing and one thing only. Yrsa. All the little clues they had gleaned from their glimpses into the future hadn't given an exact time frame but enough that they knew it was soon.

"Is that - " he started, voice quiet and hesitant. As though saying it might change it. But as he looked over at Atreus his focus shifted, taking in Atreus' reaction to the situation. He moved closer and gently grabbed Atreus' hand - grateful the day was warm enough to forgo gloves - and gave it a little squeeze. "Hey… you okay?"

“I don’t know.” The answer could have gone for both the half question and the real question, it was soft in response, like Atreus was afraid to say it any louder.

He was, really. Because he didn’t want to spook the cub and he didn’t want to pull that memory even more forward. That was nearly pointless, as Atreus flashed back to home almost immediately and tensed up just as his hand clasped with Lance’s.

“Yeah-- sorry- I just-” His whisper was even more hushed now and he squeezed Lance’s hand gently. “The whole shifting bear thing came at a cost before I learned how to master it. I don’t-- I wasn’t expecting this.” Which in hindsight was ridiculous, given that he’d been mentally preparing for Yrsa for over a year now.

It was more than clear that whatever had happened was taking up a pretty heavy space in Atreus' head to stop him like this. He kept his fingers laced through Atreus' and lifted his other hand to gently press into the side of Atreus' face. His movements slow and quiet, mindful of the cub nearby and not wanting to spook them off.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly. Lance knew well enough how easily those memories could be triggered, how easily something could swing you from being in the present to being somewhere else entirely. He leaned in and pressed his forehead to Atreus'.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" An offer, sometimes things felt better out in the open, but sometimes not and he wouldn't take offense if Atreus wasn't ready to talk about it.

Atreus leaned into the touch easily, and let his eyes close for a moment to breathe it in. It settled him quickly and helped him regain a little bit of footing that he’d lost in the moments of early panic.

“Yes,” he didn’t like keeping things from Lance, and rarely did on purpose, but his brain shifted back over to the cub in question. “But after we make sure they’re okay. It might be--” Atreus assumed Lance had already made that leap, when his own brain was shorting out from everything. He still couldn’t bring himself to get too excited, not just yet, but he could go into animal healing mode in the same breath.

He gave Lance a quick kiss before pulling away to focus on the area around them. “I didn’t feel her but we need to make sure mom isn’t around. Could get a nasty surprise that way if we get too close and it’s an actual cub.”

While Lance was also trying not to get ahead of himself - it could be just a bear afterall, there was still a little grin at Atreus' it might be. An excited sort of nervousness settling into him as even just the idea of it being Yrsa took hold. At once entirely terrifying and exhilarating. And it took him a quick moment to reign his thoughts in from going too far down the line and making plans when they weren't even sure if plans were needed.

He returned the quick kiss and moved to drop to a knee, unclipping his bayard as he did. He called on the sniper form and flipped the scope to infrared. He took a careful look around them in a circle. "Nothing that big on the infrared," he said to Atreus. "Any tracks or anything?" asked as he stood back up.

Atreus had knelt down by some tracks just as Lance scoped out the infrared (still strange to him, that kind of concept, but he just went with it) and the move probably mirrored Kratos to a frightening degree as his fingers reached out to touch the snow lightly. “A few light ones that have been snowed over, but small, so they likely belong to the cub. Bears don’t wander that far, especially not if the cub starts crying.”

Which it had been doing when Atreus left the Sanctuary, though now was quietly dozing in its little spot by the log. Mom was long gone.

If there was one, anyway. If it had been Yrsa-- He breathed out a breath that smoked up the air in front of him as he took a step forward. His boot lighty crunched the snow and that seemed to wake the cub, who started to scramble as Atreus held out a hand. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s alright. We’re here to help.” It was his calming voice, the one he used on all the animals (and occasionally on Lance after a nightmare) and Atreus took a risk and crouched to be less imposing.

It seemed to work as the cub gave a mewl of annoyance and started wobbling towards them both until its soft fur reached Atreus’ outstretched hand. “Yeah, that’s it. Hi.”

There was a time it had felt strange to Lance too, out of place in his hands, the meaning behind the bayard feeling like a hand me down coat several sizes too big that he'd never have a hope of growing into. But now it was an extension of himself, like the feeling of Red's constant presence in the back of his mind. Effortless. A welcome way to protect those he cared about - whether it was in an actual fight or just making sure they weren't about to be taken off guard by an animal.

His heart ached a little at Atreus' words about the tracks. And while Lance wasn't anywhere near as good at that as Atreus was, he knew enough to know it hadn't been snowing or windy enough the last couple days to completely hide other tracks. Which meant that this poor little cub, Yrsa or not, was very likely on their own.

Lance crouched down with Atreus and let a hand rest on Atreus' shoulder lightly as he spoke to the cub and smiled softly as the cub made their way over. "Hey there..." he said, just as soft as Atreus, but didn't make a move yet to make physical contact, leaving that to Atreus for now.

"Can you tell? If they're Yrsa?" he asked quietly. Though he knew either way they weren't leaving without the cub. Even if they were just a bear cub, they needed help, at least for a while until they got big enough to be on their own.

Atreus tried, he really did. He closed his eyes for a second, he concentrated, he reached out, but all he felt was confusion. Eventually, he shook his head as he reached out to pet the bear cub. “I can’t tell. Not right now. Maybe after everything is a little more chill and we see if we can--” What, convince her to turn back?

He smiled a little as the cub finally found their courage and flopped in closer to the both of the and let the hands touch warm fur. “There we go. You want to go someplace safe and warm?” He took his eyes off of the bear cub for a scant second to look at Lance. “Maybe with a little time and treats and snacks we can convince them to tell us a little more. Or come out of their shell, so to speak.”

When the kids had come, twice now, in various configurations it had been such a whirlwind and in that moment there were questions Lance regretted not asking. Namely how did they go from finding a bear cub in the woods to having a person shaped child. Though likely it would have fallen under things we can't tell you. He felt a little lost right then, watching the little cub and Atreus not being able to get much from them, but then, he thought, maybe that was part of the journey.

A journey that suddenly felt more real in that moment than it ever had - even more than it had when they'd literally stared down kids calling them parents. Terrifying and exhilarating.

He met Atreus' eyes with a soft smile. "So - patience?" A grin. "Good thing we're both experts at that," he joked lightly. Which, well, they could be good at patience, it just never seemed to be their first go to. But for this he knew they would. He glanced back at the bear cub, impossibly small compared to the image he'd usually go to at the word bear. "Either way, you're stuck with us for at least a little while," he said quietly, daring to let his fingers give a soft little pet down the bear's back. "Hope that's okay."

The bear in question leaned into the attention and scrambled up Atreus’ leg to perch on his knee and lean against the pair of them. Atreus barely even felt the searing pain of a claw in his flesh as the cub curled in close to them. “Aw.” It may have just been for warmth. Or attention. Or because the cub understood their words. He couldn’t tell. But whatever, it still made him feel warm inside.

“Okay, I can be patient.” It wasn’t really like either of them, their combined impulse drive was high, but honestly if the warm cub kept doing cute things? He’d be fine. For now. Probably.

Atreus wrapped a steady arm around the bulk of the cub’s body and lifted them high. He leaned into Lance, and waited until they were the same height again to nuzzle his boyfriend, bear snuggled nicely between the two of them. “If we start getting impatient, father will kick us in the ass. Ready to head back?”

There was a teasing oh really look leveled at Atreus, his gaze fond as he watched his boyfriend with the cub. And even as he teased Atreus about it, Lance found his own patience quickly waning. Easily following the little trail of what if. Could he really be blamed though. Watching Atreus with all the animals they encountered was endearing enough. Watching Atreus with the bear cub that might actually be a toddler they'd view as their kid? Well… he was only human.

On his feet again, pressed close to Atreus, Lance's fingers combed gently through the cub's fur. "He is good at that," Lance agreed. He took a moment to press a quick kiss to Atreus' check with a grin. "In a minute," he answered, one hand still in the cub's fur and one around the back of Atreus' neck. They'd have to move soon, the cub was probably getting hungry, but Lance was content to just bask in the moment for a little bit.

"Okay, let's go," he said after he'd gotten his fill, and slipped a hand around Atreus' back lightly as they started to walk back home.

"I say this, not as an impatience, but as a practicality," he started as they walked, his voice light. "But we should maybe think about picking up a few things… just in case." Because well, they weren't exactly prepared should they suddenly find a child where the cub is. It was just the smart thing to do, right?

Atreus didn’t bother to hide his grin as it bloomed. He bumped Lance lightly and then leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He was in full agreement to this plan. “Yeah. Just in case.”