Gave me something that I didn't have. [ closed ]

[insertdadjoke]

WHO Lupin Anderson (insertdadjoke), Sirius Anderson (sociopapathic).
WHAT In an effort to let Abel get his own bearings after breaking off from the Reapers' control, Cain makes new identities for himself, Abel and Holly and enrolls into college with them. Hijinks.
WHEN Start of a semester. Mid-2020s.
WHERE Somewhere-Somethin' U.

It seemed they had arrived first. They didn't have any last minute business to take care of, or any parents to wish them off or insist on roadtripping it instead of flying like anyone with common sense would. They all had each other, and they all had a vague plan: survive through and graduate college. Some kind of bonding experience that would acclimate Abel to the inner workings of living people around his supposed-age. As many things were, it was Cain's idea — something to help straighten Abel's head out after the mindfuck that was breaking through the shell that the Reapers had stuffed Cain's brother inside for the better part of three millennia.

While it might not have had all that much common sense to it, there was a logical thread. Cain was just glad his brother and niece had gone for it eagerly enough, something to make sure they all stayed together even when Holly was rapidly growing up and soon to outpace her father and uncle. At least she had a better idea of how to act on her own in public; Cain wasn't too worried about how she would get by, although he made a mental note to pull her aside and nip any problems in the bud later on.

"I'm taking this room!" Cain said from the upper hall. It was small but had the air of being well-used over the years and there were no other beds that meant he would be sharing with unwanted frat brothers. He peered into the one next door and grinned over to his brother. "This one looks good for you. What do you think?"

Comments

[sociopapathic]

Ever since Cain had pulled Abel from the Reapers' control, Abel had been sticking close to his brother. He felt lost without the direction the Reapers had given him over the past nearly three thousand years and had attached himself to the only person he would trust to keep him grounded while he figured out what exactly he was going to do with himself for the rest of Cain's life.

Which meant he went along with Cain's plan to head to college, pushing aside any apprehension he had since he knew his brother would take care of things. He looked into the room Cain had indicated and was quiet for a moment. "It appears suitable enough." He noticed the fact that there was a single bed and tilted his head slightly as he attempted a slight frown. "You do not wish to find a room for us to share?"

[insertdadjoke]

"Places like this don't have double rooms," Cain said simply as he tossed his bag on the bed he had claimed and returned to the hallway. It was hard to say why he was excited, but perhaps it wasn't as complicated as he was making it out to be: it was the first lifetime since his first where his brother could be a part of it. Truly, actually someone he could introduce by their actual relation and make it real again. It was almost like a dream, one he hoped never to wake from.

"It's part of the bro code thing. Wouldn't want any bros getting locked out because of a sock on the door, you know?" It was just general chatter right now, words coming without too much thought into them while Cain watched his brother. Abel had definitely taken an emotional slant after everything, but he seemed to be holding up okay as long as Cain was there to support him. Cain intended to be the support necessary forever if he had to. It wasn't a small thing that they had overcome, but they would need to take small steps until it disappeared into the horizon.

Running a hand through his hair, Cain dipped his head. "About that, though. I know you don't need to sleep, but putting up the appearance is something we need to do here. We're gonna be living with some hyperactive intellectuals for the next four-something years, so they'll definitely notice if you're wandering the place at all hours of the night and never see you go to sleep, either. So you couldn't just, I don't know, take my room with me and ignore the fact that we've only got one bed like we could back in Phoenix," he said. Giving his brother a grin meant to reassure, he added, "Doesn't mean you can't drop in whenever. Hang out when I'm asleep or something."

[sociopapathic]

Abel followed suit, tossing his own bag on the bed in the room Cain had pointed out as his and then leaned against the doorframe as he watched his brother. He could deal with being in the next room over and being a ghost like he was, the wall wasn't really a barrier when he could just walk through it.

"Bro code? Sock on the door?" He looked somewhat confused by what Cain was saying. None of that made any sense to him. Just because he had been dealing with the living recently didn't mean he knew all of their slang and quirks just yet.

"I get it." And he really does. It made sense from a logical standpoint to make sure nobody knew that he was dead. That would be quite a mess if that was revealed and he didn't want the Enforcers and Reapers showing up just because he had screwed up in hiding his undead status from a bunch of college students and professors. He sighed and shook his head to get rid of any thoughts of the Enforcers and Reapers. "I'll try to do my best in not arousing suspicion. And I would not mind staying around while you are asleep."

[insertdadjoke]

"If there's a sock on the doorknob, it means someone brought back a lay for the night and don't you dare open that door," Cain explained. He was almost instinctively leaned toward his brother where they were both against the wall. There was just something relaxing about standing around and shooting the shit before all chaos arrived in the form of their frat brothers. Hopefully their days would just pass in various forms of this for the next few years.

Whether Cain guessed at the thoughts in his brother's head or not, he wasn't going to say. After the last year or so, he had become something of an expert in reading between the lines of Abel's emotions when he still couldn't understand how to express them. Cain just didn't think he needed to bring up the elephant in the room when they were just settling in. "Hop on by whenever. Don't be shy, all right? You know how I get when you try and hide from me."

[sociopapathic]

"That sounds ridiculous," Abel answered as he crossed his arms and thought about it. "Why a sock? That has nothing to do with sex."

He answered with a nod and just glanced at his brother. Abel didn't show it, but he was glad to be around him now that he remembered more about his life. It had been awkward before when Abel had remembered nothing, but now things seemed more comfortable between them despite how Cain had helped him break away from the Reapers. "I know. I won't be a stranger."

[insertdadjoke]

"You're disrobing, right?" Cain asked, clearly hypothetical. "Clothes going everywhere but your socks. They're right at hand and small enough, uniform enough to sit on a door knob without falling off or looking completely stupid." Here, he simply offered a carefree shrug. "That's just been the culture for a while now."

"Great!" Cain suddenly straightened up, pulling out his phone to check the time before he sidled down the hall and glanced outside the second story window. "We should be meeting our housemates any minute now... You ready for this, Sirius?"

[sociopapathic]

He frowned and looked at Cain some more. "The culture is ridiculous," he responded bluntly. "There needs to be something better."

The thought of meeting their housemates is a little daunting, but he knows Cain will be there with him during it. There is a very slight grimace at the name, belatedly realizing just how bad their ideas for names truly were, even though he helped pick them out. "As ready as I'll ever be, Lupin."

[insertdadjoke]

Cain merely smiled in the face of his brother's steadfast denial of bro culture. It was a big step for him to outright frown rather than let his words speak everything he thought of a subject. "It's been that way for decades. You'd have to haunt a hell of a lot of dorms and frat houses to start changing that behavior."

Considering the span of their continued existence together, the amount of time they would have to spend with their ridiculous and hilarious names would not be very long at all. Cain was more used to wearing his names like clothes and being his true self underneath than Abel was, so it never really bothered him to go with something silly for a while. "Now I know that's not true," he said with an amused scoff. Waving over his shoulder for Abel to follow, Cain made his way downstairs to go and say hi to the pickup pulling up just outside.

[sociopapathic]

"I can do better than haunt." He had a look on his face that means he's plotting something and that Cain wouldn't be able to stop him from going through with it.

Cain's comment made Abel let out an annoyed huff as he followed him downstairs. "For now it is," he answered. Despite his time away from the Reapers and remembering his life, he was still not the best when it came to the social aspect of things, but he was trying.

[insertdadjoke]

"Warn me if you rig any buckets of water above the doors," Cain said. He honestly was looking forward to whatever Abel could come up with in trying to divert that particular aspect of college life, since he knew Abel would never make him the center of it unless they were in a particularly pranking mood together.

Cain tilted his head back to Abel to note that he heard it, but refrained from further comment. It was understandable enough, and Cain wasn't going to drop Abel into the deep end of the pool without support. It looked like whoever owned the pickup truck was ready for college life, as they had brought plenty of their own amenities from home in the bed of the truck. A couple of trash bags presumably filled with clothes and bedding, a dresser and even a desk. Cain couldn't help but grin at it. This was definitely going to be an experience.

"Hey there!" he said once the driver had exited the vehicle. It was a fairly average-looking guy with brown hair and a T-shirt and jeans. Practical, if not overly attached to his own things. "Welcome. You one of our roomies?" He thumbed over his shoulder toward Abel to indicate his brother as part of the deal.

[sociopapathic]

"Not if I want to catch you off guard," Abel replied with some amusement. Pranking his brother wasn't in his plan for now, but in the future, Cain better be watching out because if there's on thing Abel is good at, it's being crafty.

He stayed behind his brother, looking at the truck that pulled up and later the driver coming out. Abel didn't really feel like being the lead in this conversation and was happy to let Cain be in charge of it, mumbling a hello when the kid came over. He really wasn't good at being social.

[insertdadjoke]

Cain welcomed it. Mischief was a sign of acting on his own and not letting his emotions get pushed down time and again by the lack of understanding for the world around him. Besides, it would do the fraternity good to get into a prank war.

"Oh, huh? Oh! Hi," the young man said. He grinned, somewhat nervously but obviously energetic and relieved to finally be at his destination. He was looking between the two of them with widened eyes while he processed their like-appearances. "That's me. I'm Josh."

"Great, glad to meet you, Josh. I'm Lupin," Cain introduced, motioning to himself and then to Abel. "This is Sirius. We're majoring in history."

There was a pause while Josh absorbed the names. "Wow. Bet you've heard 'em all already. I'm anthropology. Mind if I draft you guys into helping me get some of this stuff inside?"

[sociopapathic]

"You have no idea," Abel said from his spot behind Cain, moving to stand beside his brother and seem far more friendly than he felt. Sure, he was always the twin who dealt with people back when he was alive, but millennia as Abel had wore on his newly returned memories and fractured personality. It would take a while yet to be anywhere near as social as he once was, but he'd work on it until then. "Anthropology, huh? It sounds like we'll have some overlap."

He looked at Cain for a moment before looking back at Josh and giving him a slight smile, still not used to expressing himself physically. "I wouldn't mind and my brother won't either." It was always good to make a good first impression and Abel knew that Cain wasn't going to say no once Abel said they were going to help out.

[insertdadjoke]

Cain spared his brother a grin when he saw him moving up to engage their new housemate. He hadn't been expectant that Abel would return to his old ways immediately, or even ever. It was something Cain was prepared for and, really, it would be pretty terrible of him to hold Abel responsible for his changes in temperament after everything he had been through. Which was why he was glad to see Abel interacting even now in some small ways. It was a good sign.

"Our parents were big Harry Potter fans," Cain said, almost conspiratorial. "So now we get to bear their mark of geekiness forever." He gave a put upon look at Abel agreeing for the both of them, but he actually didn't care. If Abel hadn't done it, Cain would have volunteered both of them as well.

"Sure, of course. Why don't you pick out a room first before we go lugging all this stuff inside?"

Josh beamed at them both for their help. "Sure! This way?" he asked, pointing uselessly toward the house that the brothers had obviously just exited. "Yeah, anthropology and history are kind of the same deal except you guys look at events and I'll be looking at the people that caused them. Guess we'd better get used to each other!"

[sociopapathic]

"Not only us, but our older sister too," added Abel with a slightly put upon sigh. By older sister, he was talking about Holly. They had taken her with after Abel had broken away from the Enforcers and since she was too old for Abel and Cain to be her father and uncle anymore, they had decided that their cover would instead be siblings. "Our names aren't as bad as her's."

"That's the way. We've already picked out our rooms and nobody else has showed up yet." He kept himself from looking too amused at Josh's pointing at the house. It wouldn't be polite to make fun of him this early. "It appears that way. We can compare notes."

[insertdadjoke]

"That's true," Cain said with a slight point toward Abel. They were all definitely ridiculous, but this was what happened when you let grown adults choose names they would supposedly grown up having. Holly hadn't seemed too put out by their end choice of name for her, at least, and was just about as into it as Cain was. Abel had definitely raised her right. "You'll probably meet her soon, then you can see for yourself."

Josh stopped just inside the threshold of the building, grinning something silly at being inside. "Wow... This place is all for us?"

"First time away from home, huh?" Cain merely leaned against the doorframe while Josh took up the entryway. He was far too amused to be worried about annoyance right now. Josh merely turned around and gave him a bashful look, which inspired Cain to chuckle. "Yeah, I thought so."

[sociopapathic]

Abel led Cain take lead on socializing, not quite used to being in the forefront yet. He watched Josh carefully, making sure to not let him notice his outright staring. This was a kid and that fact made Abel suddenly feel very old.

"You'll get used to it," he said softly, trying to not draw too much attention to himself. "It's not too bad for a first place to live after leaving home though."

[insertdadjoke]

"Speaking from experience?" asked Josh wryly. He obviously felt overwhelmed at having two roommates already there and seeming less exuberant than he was. Maybe it was peer pressure, or maybe the kid just liked sharing in the moment. Whatever it was, Cain decided it was pretty harmless and absolutely normal for a kid his age. He was going to have to keep all this in mind for whenever he sent future children of his own off to college.

Cain did his best not to make Abel's contribution seem like something special. It would be better for people to get used to him interjecting in the conversation where Cain would let a lull fall. Give him opportunity, but don't make it expected. "Just a little," he admitted. Anything he came up with now would no doubt be corroborated by the rest of their family, so why not have some fun with it? "Two of us, tried striking it out on our own when we were seventeen. That lasted about a year before we came crawling back and started looking at schools instead."

[sociopapathic]

"He means he came crawling back. I just followed to make sure he got back safe," Abel added with some amusement. Sure, they're making up their own past, but he's not going to be okay with sounding like he was afraid of the big bad world, especially considering his one time desire of founding a city with his brother. "He might not look it, but he's a bit of a troublemaker."

[insertdadjoke]

Cain would easily allow that. It was more or less the truth, in a long and really drawn out way. Even the first emperor of Rome had his misgivings about where he stood in the world, especially during the start of it all. Then again, it was probably better not to bring that part up around Abel for fear that he might feel he had let Cain down somehow. Their past grievances were all on the Reapers' shoulders and nothing more.

"Yeah, okay," he allowed slowly. "But I'm not the one who hid the vase." It was an innocent enough lead-in with no need for context, since it would be assumed that siblings—especially twins—would had their own inside jokes. However, this one had some kernel of truth to it when Remus had once or twice taken to hiding valuables in fits of pique after their master's asshole sons had continued to be their asshole selves in 'defense' of their sister.

Josh had begun wandering further inside when he finally noticed that the Andersons were waiting inside the doorway, and he gave a confused smile at the comment. He decided to rewind the conversation just a bit for his own sake. "Should I be keeping an eye on him, then? He won't, like, start stealing the toilet paper and stuff, right?"