MHA #6, Early Saturday Morning

[firstofitskind]

Verity had been out patrolling in Baltimore last night, late enough that Liam had fallen asleep on the couch waiting. It wasn't the first time that had happened, and wasn't likely to be the last, except that normally what happened is he'd either wake up when she came in through the door window, or if he'd been really tired, after his usual couple hours of sleep and make his way to the bedroom to find her there. This time... not so much. Maybe whatever Fandom magic was in the air was responsible for making sure he actually slept through the entire night, because the Liam who woke up was not the Liam who'd gone to sleep.

The Liam who woke up was about six years old, and very, very confused. Gone were the familiar purple walls of the Mothership and the hum of her engines. Instead he was on some sort of- squishy but also lumpy surface?

He looked around, eyes wide. The only thing he recognized was a completed Taelon puzzle on a shelf just out of reach. A cursory examination of the space revealed another room with a table and chairs, and he dragged one of the chairs over to the shelf and clambered up on it to bring the puzzle down.

Prize acquired, he made his way back to the couch, clinging to the one bit of familiarity in this strange place he'd found himself in.

[ooc: mostly establishy, but open if you live here!]

Comments

[firstofitskind]

“Well,” he said, biting his lip thoughtfully as he looked up at her. “Which do you think is better?” he had no idea, and that seemed like a good place to start.

[arboreal_priestess]

"It depends," Verity said thoughtfully. "If you wanna eat ice cream on the way to something else, a cone is definitely more mobile of the options. If you'd rather sit and savor the experience with more flavors, sundae is the way to go."

[firstofitskind]

“I think,” he said slowly, “that a sundae would make more sense, then.” A cone sounded... messy.

[arboreal_priestess]

It often was. But then, Liam looked like he could use a little messy in his life. And this version didn't have her to fulfill that function.

"Well then, we're gonna have to go shopping then," Verity said. "Need ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge, cherries..."

[firstofitskind]

"Sprinkles?" Liam said softly. "The rainbow kind?"

He'd never had them, but he'd seen them, in memories.

[arboreal_priestess]

"An incredibly important addition to any sundae," Verity said. "Thank you for making sure I didn't forget those."

[firstofitskind]

"Can we go now?" Liam asked, a hint of excitement coloring his normally solemn tone.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity looked at the table, covered with breakfast leavings, and nearly said that they had to clean up first. But Baby Liam here had probably had responsibility drummed into him since he could toddle; that wasn't the lesson that she needed to drive home today.

"Let me just get dressed and we absolutely can, yes," Verity said, hugging Liam once before letting him down onto the ground. "We'll get all the very best sundae fixings."

[firstofitskind]

And Liam had felt so happy, and safe, when Verity been holding on to him that when she set him down again he couldn't help but feel a little... sad?

But it was fine, he told himself, she wasn't going anywhere. And soon there would be ice cream.

"This is an excellent plan."

[arboreal_priestess]

"And once we put them together, what do you say we eat them on the couch and watch fun TV shows?" she suggested.

As Adult!Liam knew, that couch was perfect for snuggling.

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded. "I would like that very much." Sure, he'd never even seen a TV before, but again, he had a vague understanding of what it was.

[arboreal_priestess]

There were plenty of shows on Netflix that could help introduce him to the wonders of TV, from cartoons to nature documentaries to fun cooking shows. And, you know, dance competitions. Just saying.

"Then let me go get dressed and get you a coat and we'll be all set," she said, smiling down at him. "Your human heritage needs some attention, too."

[firstofitskind]

You know, he... hadn’t really considered it that way, but it made absolute sense when she said it? He nodded, beaming shyly up at her.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity bent down and brushed a kiss over his forehead. "I'm glad you get to spend the weekend with me," she murmured.

She would have been happier to have the real Liam, but if this really were some alternate dimension's version of Liam, she was glad she could give him a weekend of fun.