Riftyn POV
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As everyone ate, my gaze kept flicking back to Cyrus and Arlo. They seemed to be doing much better than when they first arrived. Arlo kept looking across the table at Cyrus, keeping in check with him as they each ate small bits of food.
A soft smile spread across my face as I saw them making sure they were both okay. By the look on Magnus’s face, he had seen them too. He was probably wondering if we could get the same thing going with Atlas.
Whenever I glanced at him, he was seemingly making himself as small as possible as he swished around the food on his plate. Arlo used to do that too. Mhm. We’ll need to fix that. I couldn’t really understand though how he didn’t notice us watching him.
Everyone seemed drawn into him, once while they would just sit and watch him. Colten wasn’t even trying to be subtle. He blatantly stared at him, basking in the warmth and care that Atlas seemed to give off.
I wasn’t sure why though. I know some people have presences, I guess, but they’ve all been the big scary intimidating people, like Colten, or the flirtatious, might I say sexy presence that people like me give off.
But Atlas- he seemed different. I could see the cogs in Magnus’s mind working as he tried to figure out why Atlas was sent here.
Apparently, he usually gets information on the boy, but this time there was nothing. An eating disorder was clear, and the way he kept his head down might suggest abuse, but I think this might be one of our harder cases to crack.
I kept running through all the possibilities as to why he gave off such a calming presence- perhaps his parents left and he had to take care of siblings, maybe he was given away as a child, maybe he was bullied very badly….?
Nothing seemed exactly right, nothing fit the kind of sensation he was giving us. Either way, I was pulled from my thoughts when a noise beside me caught my attention.
Cyrus had pushed away his plate, and was glaring at it. I lent over to place a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. You okay? Can you eat just a couple more bites?” I kept my voice quiet, Cyr never wanted to bother the others.
Cyrus shook his head, glancing up at me. All I could see was fear, and disgust in his eyes. “No no no, its okay its okay. Don’t worry. Are you okay?” Cyrus’s hands started trembling. My eyes flicked down to them before grabbing them, pulling them into my chest.
“I- I can’t. I shouldn’t have eaten so much. Its wrong. I’m not allowed. You should punish me. You should hit me or beat me or something!” Cyrus’s voice broke half way through, and tears started streaming down his face.
“Hey, hey Cyr- look at me. You made this, remember? With Niko and Ever. You’re allowed to eat. No one’s going to hurt you. Its okay. Why don’t we go upstairs, and have a bit of a sleep alright?”Â
Cyrus nodded vigorously, before burying his head in my chest. I stood up from the table, and after receiving a nod from Magnus began walking upstairs. A warm feeling lit up in my chest as Cyr snuggled deeper, and I gave in to the smile that overtook my face.
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