#my cinnamon bun my little sparrow don't grow up too fast or dad will cry ( cynthia )

[sweettoothforhire]

she's still just sitting there. staring, like it'd do anything. ( part of her is tempted to just convince herself that he's alive, just sleeping. ) head flicks up when gaius sets his hand on her shoulder, apologizes and she doesn't know what for. she produces the small machine aeschylus had given her. clicks the button. watches, anyway, to see if he'll answer. she sets it down in the snow, her hands in her lap. "it's okay." she doesn't want to cry, but she does. "everything's going to be okay."

Her words bring him back to the prison, back when this whole mess started going down.  

Gaius wasn’t wrong after all. The chaos and cheer eventually fades, and hidden behind smiles and gimmicks was still a kid not immune to the cruelties of life. He doesn’t know what that mechanism is for. It looks different and not from their time. It must have been looted somewhere. Or, judging from how she waited, either something capable of healing, or something Cat Eyes gave her. He’s placing his bet on the latter.

Fucking asshole.

If you wanted to go around giving gifts, at least don’t straight up die right after.

His eyes fall on the man lying motionless before them, Cat Eyes never to be seen again. 

They really liked ya, bud. You better have some trace in history for their sake.

He turns his attention back to Cynthia.He doesn’t know if everything’s going to be okay. They don’t even have a way back yet. Their only guide in this time is gone. Their numbers less than when they started. Still, Gaius pretends not to see her tears, letting her keep on the front for a while longer. He dusts off the muck, snow and dirt from her head, and dips it down just a tiny bit as he lightly pats her.

Stumbles, I don’t know how you did it. But you raised a strong girl.

 “...atta girl.” 

[sweettoothforhire]

she doesn't know if she should ask if he had any candy. it sounds kind of mean. but, honestly, she could use it. so, she settles for something else. she sits down next to gaius with her hands in her lap, pausing as she stares ahead at nothing. saying nothing for a moment. "can you pat my head? my mom used to do that when i did a good job." she looks to the ground. and so did he, she thinks, in another time.

He meant to approach her earlier, but somehow, she found him first. The silence that came immediately after was concerning, but expected.

She was crying earlier. He knew everyone had their limits, but it just feels different when the one that breaks down has a fighting spirit enough for 10 people. He doesn’t know what she went through when their team split up, but he doesn’t need to know why to to feel the need to do something. He wasn’t a man that can pull inspiring words out of his ass, nor did he magically made people feel better just by being there. Heck, if anything, he makes people feel wary out of fear he nabs something of theirs right under their noses.

So he doesn’t try to do any of those. Comforting people wasn’t part of his skill sets. He sticks with what he can actually do, the request not even needed for him to actually do it. At first, he only ruffles her hair like he normally does, a chuckle escaping.

“Sounds about right. Definitely something Stumbles would do.” For a moment wondered where Sumia was, if she was in the same spot as them. She was a klutz, but she can handle herself. He didn’t have to worry, nor did he need to think about her right now. It’s her daughter that was here, and she needed a little pick me up. When her cute little brown fringes got all ruffled, he actually does what she requested, lightly patting her on the head.

“You did good, kiddo. Chin up-- it doesn’t suit you.” And like all things, good work deserved a reward. That pat just wasn’t enough.

From his pockets, he pulls out a chocolate bar he acquired earlier. He broke it down into two pieces, a little nibble on the other half. He hands the other half over to the the wingless Sparrow. Even without that moody pegasus of hers, he can still put up a fight. He doesn’t share his sweets when he’s low on them, but hey. He’ll just have to put this under Stumbles’ tab for now. 

“Eat up. Don’t tell the other kids I got this~”

[sweettoothforhire]

» unleash the beast

starter for @cynthero

Once more, Uncle Gaius makes an appearance. To think the little time travelling kiddos gathered up in one place. What do you know! He makes it a habit to offer up a treat when he sees any of them-- their parents, or the equivalent of their parents -- weren’t here to scold him for it anyway. Which was strange, he thinks. If he was someone’s dad, he’d be their first influence in the art of sweets.

So come the time and a familiar figure enters his field of vision -- a certain pegasus rider -- he doesn’t hesitate to call out to her, his current munching momentarily paused.

“Heya, Sparrow!” Gaius whistles loudly to make his location known. He was atop a tree, a freshly baked pie in-hand. “Got some sweet, sweet fruit pie with me. Want one?”

He considered hopping down, but instead, scoots over, leaving some space in the thick branch. A grin forms, and he pats the branch he was on, “You’d need to climb this big ol tough tree, though... think you’re up for it?”