Parental Figures

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Location: Open Skies

[[October 28, 1622. Andy and Ceph for the moment]]

Cepheid sat on the edge of the ship, watching the waves of the water slosh softly back and forth as he nibbles on some cheese and bread sitting on his lap.

He was at peace, just watching the world around him as he thought to his past. Far and near past. Meeting Nerys and how their relationship had progressed. He felt his shoulder as he thought to the bullet and the summary infection. He thought to meeting his brother again and when they were 'kidnapped' from their parents...

He sighed and turned back to his food, still picking at it as the breeze picked up his untied hair.

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<sub>So much had happened in the past few months. Andromeda found out he was a father to two boys, he found his twin brothers, his boys got kidnapped and in trouble several times, and he had to go out of his way to save them.

Andy himself was in the kitchen, sipping some coffee and enjoying a biscuit, finishing up reading the newspaper he had gotten from the previous town they were in. As soon as he was done, he put down the paper and then handed it to Godwine, stuffing the biscuit in his mouth and then taking the coffee up to the deck, as well as a pack of cigarettes.

He would find Cepheid there, his now growing hair al messed up and he looked down at his now cooling coffee, sipping it and then walking next to his twin brother. He was looking down at the waves and the man inwardly shuddered.

"Hey."</sub>

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Ceph looked up from his bread and cheese and looked at his brother when he heard the greeting, and he smiled slightly.

"Hey." He greeted, scooting slightly so Andy had a space to lean. He'd fuss slightly with his hair, now too short to tie back but long enough to be a pain in the butt.

He glanced over to his twin and grinned playfully. "I blame you for this, Andy." He said jokingly, tugging at one of his wayward locks of hair.

Chuckling, he'd lean forward and steal Andy's coffee mug, taking a swig before handing it back. Mwahaha.

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<sub>Andromeda would scoot over a bit, smirking at his brother as he ran his fingers through his hair. Of course the older twin would naturally reach up with his free hand and then ruffle the hair, making it all sorts of messy.

"Well I blame you for being such an awesome and loyal brother." Aww, how cute. As soon as his brother swiped his coffee, he would take the moment to pull on the sleeves of his poet's shirt before taking back the coffee and sipping it. Germs were not a problem for these two-they were twins. Haha.

"I wanted to go to Seria and check on the boys. Winter has hit a bit early there so I'm a bit worried about their state, especially Benedict."</sub>

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When Andy messed up his already untameable hair, Ceph let out a slightly irritated noise and tried to fix the loose strands. Now he knows how Quint\Caden feels. "Hey, I'm not a child!" He playfully whined.

The complement caught Ceph by surprise, but he smiled warmly as he turned his attention back to his food. He was the only one Andy ever really acted like this around. He was normally so much more awkward when it came to endearment and affection. He'd swipe the coffee, take his swig, and return it before breaking off some of his cheese and handing it to Andy to go with the biscuit he finished earlier.

"Hm. I think Ben will be find. He has the church to take care of him. It's Reuben I'd be more concerned about. That boy is as stubborn as you are." He chuckled.

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<sub>Andy would let out a snort of laughter as Cepheid complained about him ruffling his hair. he'd stop though and then move back to sipping his coffee. Yes, Andy felt most at home and most like himself around Cepheid, relaxed... friendly.

He'd take the cheese and then stuff it in his mouth like a pig as Cepheid spoke up about Benedict. Well it wasn't that, just that Ben was poor and so was Reuben. It was an identical concern about the two of them.

"Ben is poor, and probably won't have access to warm clothing or a shelter for Lila. Reuben's probably gonna run out of money as well, and I don't want either of them to suffer." He wouldn't make a comment about how stubborn Reuben is, cause he got that form Andy himself. And it was a fact.</sub>

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When Andy jammed his mouth with the entire wad of cheese, Ceph couldn't help but snort in hardly contained laughter. Yea, this was a side to Andy not everyone got to see. As a matter of fact, he didn't know if anyone other than he himself had ever seen his twin like this. He didn't know, never bothered to ask.

"Hm. Well. I hear you, though I say again, Ben does have the church, and he's a smart man. He'll be fine, though if you want, I can track him down and deliver a care package while you hunt down Reuben." Ceph shrugged. He wasn't as concerned for Ben because he knew he had plenty of resources in terms of friends and neighbors, as well as the church.

He then thought to his home. Not Dula, his other home. His true home, he thought to the docks and the fishing nets, to his aunt and uncle. Winter was coming, and he had people to trust there...

Would it be a good idea to go there? Nerys was a good seamstress, and Godwine was a skilled beautition[sp?]. Daniela and Selena both knew medicine to an extent. Loki and Andy might have more trouble finding a niche; Andy's trouble for following direction and his inability to swim and Loki's upbringing.

"We'll all be fine. We have each other. We're a family. A really large interesting put together family, but we are one."

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<sub>Andromeda munched on the cheese and then swallowed it roughly, trying to get it down before he took a swig of coffee to help him go down. He'd glance over to his snickering brother and give him a sheepish grin. No problems here, of course! Andy was a perfectly fine and healthy and magically with no STDs person.

"That sounds like a good plan. I just want the both of them to be comfortable this winter. Feels like it's going to be a bad one." Especially since he hd to take care of a poor half frozen Loki at some point.

Andy wasn't aware of his brother's true home (and Andy would relate to Cepheid's feelings about his parents, though it's nowhere near as strong). He's grin and then lean back, looking up at the clouds.

"... Yeah. I like it this way. I take pride in loyalty, and I have people I can trust with my life."</sub>

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Ceph sat comfortably and popped the last of his bread and cheese in his mouth, shaking out the cloth it was on and folding it, swallowing the last of it and glancing to Andy.

"Yea. It's nice to finally have people to trust again. You forget, Andy. I was alone for a good fifteen years. I'm still getting the hang of the whole 'trust' thing yet." He smiled softly.

Then, out of no-where. He started to chuckle. More than likely, Andy would ask why, and if he did, his twin would reply. "Just thinking. Remember that time when we were six and I thought it'd be a great idea to try and ride the neighbor's goat like a horse?"

He started to chuckle even more at the memory. "Aw geeze, I can't even remember how I got off the damn thing. Do you?"

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<sub>Andy looked back and gave a soft look to his brother. Yeah, though Andy wasn't sure if feeling alone wasn't as bad as feeling exploited for the benefits of a cruel country. It certainly left like he was alone, since the adults and figures he 'trusted' were useless. Andy rolled his eyes up to the clouds again, letting the wind blow his hair around.

"... Well, you can trust me at the least. I trust you." He then wrapped his free arm around his bro and then hugged him. It was the most unmanly thing Andy could ever do.

"... Wait, you still remember that?" Andy pulled his lips into a grin and tried to reach into the cobwebs of his old memories. Cepheid trying to ride a goat... oh yeah!

"... Yep, I have no idea how we got there or what, but I remember you being on a goat, and if I recall correctly, you fell off and landed face first in the mud." Andy snickered. "Or that time you convinced me to put worms in the cake"</sub>

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Ceph smiled back at his brother and was aware of how rare that movement of affection was. Oh Andy, you were such a softie when around your bro. "You know I trust you." Ceph assured, idly feeling the tips of his cut hair.

"Ahh, good times." Ceph smiled playfully. "Oh lord the cake. Mom was about ready to kill us. We had to hide in the neighbor's goat shed for hours before it was safe to come out again." Ceph was laughing now, though after a moment he thought back to their parents, and remembered that, as far as Andy knew, they were kidnapped forcefully.

Should Andy know? It seemed cruel, but... He wasn't sure.

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<sub>Andy would revel in that moment of softness, that is before straightening up, coughing a moment, and then composing himself. Except he couldn't keep himself that composed. He was a bit of a flushed, embarrassed mess and he looked kinda cute like that. He'd give his bro a half smile.

That is before he burst into fits of snickering remembering that time with the cake. That was a hilarious memory in his head.

"... I don't remember if Dad even ate part of the cake, but I do still remember being chased across the yard." He'd snicker and then glance back. Something in his bro's eyes seemed off, but... he didn't mention it.

"Oh what about that time we ran out during that storm? ... I remember I was terrified of lightning as a kid. I only got over it after-..." No that wasn't a pleasant memory. Despite all of that, the one thing that bothered Andy so much was... why did his parents stand there and stare at him calmly and Cepheid when they were dragged away? Didn't Dad tell them he loved them both equally?</sub>

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Cepheid chuckled again and knew that if any of the girls saw this, they would be squealing in adoration at how cute their fearless pirate captain Grumpypants Mcgee could be. He'd continue to smile as they talked. "It was fantastic though, I'd never seen mom turn that shade of maroon before. She looked like a tomato!" He laughed.

"Yea, even then I could still run faster. Wasn't dad throwing things too? I can't remember." Ceph pondered his options on telling Andy. He wasn't sure if he'd be better or worse with the information, but he never kept anything from Andy. Except for the cove, which he kept secret only for the cove's safety. It wasn't that he didn't trust Andy, it was that he couldn't reveal info he didn't know, and he'd mention it if needed. The only other secret was the truth of their parents.

"I remember that, on genius one. That was your brilliant idea, too." He laughed. He then lifted a quizzical eyebrow. "I can't remember, how did you get over that? Did you ever tell me?" He scratched his hair, unaware of where his twin's thoughts went.

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<sub>Andy was pretty amused, as amused as he could be between bothered thoughts. After all, the most interesting thing is that he never really kept anything from Cepheid outside of what happened to him that one night, and Cepheid now could easily guess what would have happened between him ad that man.

"I remember being hit by something, but I think it was an accident. I... don't really know exactly what our parents were like." Andy looked down at the ocean. Of course, his mouth went up in a bit of a smile and then looked over, though he looked quite somber.

"You should know. Since I was trapped in Dula in that hellhole for so long. I kind of stopped being afraid of so many things." He explained, though he remained quiet the rest of the time.</sub>

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After their rescue mission, Ceph knew full well what horrors his brother experienced, and he vowed not to bring it up himself, as to not dredge up bad memories for his beloved sibling. "Dad had a good arm, I'm not surprised he managed to his your slow hide." Ceph picked playfully, jabbing at how he was always the faster of the two, even though Andy was always stronger.

Ceph gave a slightly guilty look at bringing up that place, not saying anything. He was thinking about Andy's comment on not being able to remember their parents.

Ceph sighed and knew he couldn't keep this to himself. "I do..." He started, his expression sober as he tried to figure out how to explain things best. "After I helped rescue you, get you out of that place, I... I went home, to our parents."