Little One

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Location: Seria: Central Alfya

((June 6, 1622. Julian, Caden, and anyone passing by as long as they are outside.))

Having finally recovered from his bout of the flu, as well as the major amounts of brain break that he had learned, Reuben chose to finally get Caden. Seriously, his doctor's wife was his biological father's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his half-brother who was a priest that had been taking care of his other half-brother... even though neither of his two half-brothers were related.

His brain seriously hurt. This was too much for him! Thankfully, Benedict had given him the address that Caden had apparently been lodging at for several nights. Whether the boy was actually here or not, he wasn't sure, but at least he could drop by and continue to check.

He stared at the address, and then at the building in front of him. Yeah, it looked correct. Julian Shard, it was, eh? Reuben knocked on the door.

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Julian had, for the past several weeks, been graced by the presence of a precious child by the name of Caden. He was a timid, but polite boy and Julian found himself being very fatherly to the child when he was present.

At that precise moment, Julian was in the kitchen, brewing tea and waiting for some cookies in the oven to finish baking. He had, a while back, gone to a local toy shop and found some puzzles for Caden, and had sat them on the table for the boy to play with.

When the knocking came, the blond man glanced up at the door, then to the hourglass egg timer. Picking it up, he sat it by Caden. "Let me know when the sand runs out, please? We don't want the cookies to burn." He requested before walking up to the door and opening it, looking at Reuben.

"Hello lad. Do you need help?" Who was this boy? And why did he look kind of familiar?"

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Reuben waited at the door, glancing around at the building. It looked rather modest, normal. The man that lived here was probably about as well off as his and Caden's parents had been. Still, he had to make sure that Caden was safe here, before-

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the door finally opened, revealing a blond-haired man with an inquiring expression. The smell of cookies came out of the house. Those cookies actually smelled a bit good. Okay, the man. This was going to be pretty awkward.

"Ah, hello... this is where Julian Shard lives, right?" Best to make sure first... He didn't want to make a mistake.

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"I am him." Julian answered, looking confused. This kid was looking for him? How odd, he couldn't think of why someone his age would be here, unless he was a delivery boy. "Is something the matter?"

Yes, there was the smell of cookies wafting out from the door, they were chocolate chip and his grandmother's recipe. RP can't BS anymore into this post. Sorry.

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Had Reuben been any younger, he would've seriously wanted to eat those chocolate chip cookies. As a matter of fact, he still had a taste for chocolate, but not nearly as much as when he'd been a child. Caden definitely had had a taste for them before he had left. Either way, it seemed as if this man was definitely Julian Shard, so he figured he might as well get to the point.

Why was his heart pounding in his chest?

"You are? Good, I'll get to the point then. I met a priest who told me that my younger brother... came around here." Reuben chewed on his lip a bit in nervousness. "Is Caden here?"

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Julian nodded in affirmation and listened to to boy before him. He wasn't able to hide his surprise as not only did this lad reference to Father Benedict, but... is Caden's older brother?

Surprise softened to understanding, and Julian stepped back and aside, allowing Reuben inside. "He's at the table." He said, closing the door being Reuben and following behind, calling out. "Caden, we have a guest."

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Caden, meanwhile, unaware that his big brother was at the door, simply had chirped out an "Okay!" when Julian told him to keep an eye on the cookies and the sandtimer. That would be easy and something he could definitely do!

The boy had been staying over at Julian's more and more since the first visit. The man was really nice to him, and it almost felt like he was part of a family. Since he felt bad about staying here for free, he was eager to help Julian with chores such as cleaning and cooking and gardening, just to make himself feel better.

Currently, though, he didn't have much to do, so he was playing with a puzzle on the table. Caden didn't need a sandtimer to tell when the cookies were done, but he would still use it anyways. In case he forgot to keep track of time. There was still a little bit of time left.

Of course, then Julian told him that they had a guest, and he squeaked, jumping off of the table. The boy walked towards the front door, where Julian was, but stopped when he saw Julian with another person approaching him. It was an older boy, but he looked... a lot like him... Caden's eyes widened.

"Reuben?"

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For a moment, Reuben was a bit worried that the man wouldn't let him in, had become overly possessive of Caden too much to let him go, but his fears were short-lived as Julian stepped aside and invited him inside. He flashed the man a grateful smile. He would have been incredibly upset if he hadn't been allowed to see the little boy.

"Thank you," he said, nodding to Julian. As he followed the man, a little boy peeked out at them. Brown hair, green eyes, looked just like their mother... yep, that was Caden alright. He smiled as the kid squinted at him and then said his name with the biggest eyes ever.

Had Caden had such huge eyes before? The kid was almost 10, wasn't he? Why did he look so much younger?

"Hey Caden, it's me!" He knelt down and held his arms out, as if hoping the kid would hug him. He was somewhat of a stranger to the boy, but if what Benedict told him was true.

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Reuben had no idea how much Julian's heart would break if he took Caden away for good. First his daughter, and now Caden? All of his sad. Still, as attached as he was to the boy, if Reuben felt he'd be better off with his sibling, than what right did he, a stranger, have no deny them?

He watched as Caden and Reuben had their reunion, and decided to give them a little space, slipping aside and, checking the timer, deemed the cookies ready. He then busied himself with pulling them out and setting them on the stovetop to cool. He'd glance back occasionally to listen in.

After getting the treats all on a platter, he brought them into the dining room where Caden was earlier and sat them on the table.

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Caden was unaware of what the two were thinking, all he could think about right now that his brother finally came back. He giggled and ran over to Reuben, hugging his big brother tightly. Yay! Now he had his big brother home, and the three of them could live together and be a happy family! He nuzzled Reuben.

"Y-You came h-home~! I w-want to sh-show you things~."

Of course, Caden immediately got distracted by the chocolate chip cookies, and he gravitated over towards them, tugging Reuben into the room with him and beaming at him proudly.

"I h-helped Mr. Sh-Shard make those!" He picked up a cookie, nibbled on it, and then looked up at both men. "A-Are you both g-gonna try them...?"

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Well, Julian, you would be in luck. But that was for later.

Julian went to check on the timer for the cookies, and Caden followed, almost as if hypnotized by the chocolate chip cookie smell. Reuben couldn't help but laugh at the kid a bit - that was just too funny. But those cookies did smell good though not nearly as delicious as hot chocolate. He watched as Caden helped himself to a cookie, and then turned to Julian.

"Actually, I was wondering whether I could talk to you about something. It's about-"

He turned back to Caden as the other pleaded with him to take a cookie. When the kid stared at him with those eyes, Reuben felt himself buckling. Good god, no wonder Mr. Shard had fallen in love. Maybe he was biased, but Caden was the most adorable child he had ever seen. He patted the kid's head, and took one of the cookies.

"Okay, I'll try one, don't worry." He bit down on the cookie after letting it cool off, then grinned at them both. "It's pretty good."

After that, he turned back to Julian, as if wanting to resume talking about that topic.

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Hm? Reuben wanted to talk? He was listening to what he was saying when he cut off and looked at the boy with a cookie. Oh, yea, he should grab one while they're still warm. Picking one of them up, he took a bite and smiled. Eee~ He always loved his grandma's recipe.

He looked back to Reuben and nodded. "Caden, could you give me and, Reuben was it, a moment? We'll be right back. Help yourself while we're gone." Gently petting Caden's hair, he led Reuben into the sitting room to talk.

"Caden is a sweet boy. He speaks fondly of you." Julian said as way of opening.

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Caden nearly squeed when both Reuben and Julian tried one of the cookies and declared that they were good. Of course they had to be good! They smelled yummy and they tasted yummy, too! Plus, he had helped, after all. That meant they had to be good! The child continued to nibble on his cookie, before casting an innocent look at the two adults.

"Hm? O-Okay. I'll be h-here with th-the cookies." And eating them all. Maybe. It was very tempting.

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Reuben helped himself to one more cookie, before shaking his head with a smile as Caden eyed the cookies. That boy was going to eat them all if they weren't careful, and give himself a stomach ache. Either way, it seemed that Julian seemed willing to talk to him, so Reuben nodded.

"Yes, Reuben. We'll be in the other room if you need us, okay?" He ruffled his brother's hair, and followed Julian to the sitting room.

"He does? Father Benedict told me of that, but..." Reuben fiddled with his hat, clearly embarrassed at how much Caden seemed to talk fondly of him. The boy probably had no idea of the sort of stuff he did sometimes. He didn't exactly run the cleanest airship operation, after all.

"Anyways, this is about him... and the future." He paused, unsure of where to go. It was obvious that Julian was fond of Caden, and Reuben knew that, and Reuben knew that Julian knew that he himself was fond of Caden. "And what happens to him now."

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Giving Caden a smile before he stepped out, Julian really hoped the child didn't eat all the cookies. He'd give himself a tummy ache!

"Ah, so you've met Father Benedict as well?" He asked."Well, Caden is very fond of you, and speaks of you often."

Julian felt his heart skip a beat. Yes, he knew this was coming, but he still didn't want to believe it. "He is your younger brother. You have the right to take him home." Julian said, looking a little downcast.