Nathaniel walked down a long street, looking at the different houses. They had carefully manicured lawns, statues of lions standing in front of their doors. Nathaniel gulped as their rocky gaze followed him. They were enchanted lions then, made to guard their owner's houses. He stuck his hands into his jean pockets, eyes landing on the worn holes around his knees. He stood out here, a smudge of dirt on a pearl ringed mirror. He stopped at the last house. It had two floors, covering most of the street's land. A mansion. Nathaniel looked at the note in his hand. This wasn't real, right? This was a dream, a sweet dream he'd wake up from and wish to go back to. Nathaniel squared his shoulders and walked onto the house's driveway. The lions laying in front of the door, looked at him, yawning as he approached. Nathaniel clutched his note, he was supposed to be here.
He gave the note to the first lion, tensing as the second walked to him, sniffing him. The cat rubbed his head on Nathaniel's leg before returning to its pedestal. The first lion dropped the note into Nathaniel's hand before laying back down. Nathaniel relaxed. This wasn't a mistake. He let out a breath, then knocked on the door.
The door swung open, a girl looking at him. She had dozens of braids stemming from her head that fell to her shoulder blades. Nathaniel hadn't seen such long hair before. She stood equal in height to Nathaniel, he was short for his age, so she was probably a year or two younger, but he wasn't sure yet.
"Hi." Nathaniel's chest tightened, as he stumbled out a greeting, "I was, was asked to come here." Nathaniel handed the note to the girl. She took it and studied it, she nodded, waving him inside. Nathaniel tucked his hands in his pockets and followed her, shutting the door behind him. He paused as he looked at the three kids in front of him. One was sitting on the chandelier, rocking back and forth as they read a book. An older boy held the girl that had opened the door in a headlock, moving around as the girl fought back.
"Cole! The kid is here."
Nathaniel jumped as his eyes flashed to a girl yelling up the stairs. He squinted, she looked like the one that had opened the door. She was holding his note in her hand, so she was the one. Nathaniel looked back at the girl in the headlock, blinking as now she was forcing the boy's head onto her chest, switching arm locks as he tried to wiggle out. He nodded as he saw her hair was shorter, half of it pulled into short braids, the rest of it in a wild afro, strands sticking out at all angles as she fought the boy on top of her.
"Coming!" An older voice yelled. Nathaniel stepped back into the entryway, trying to keep from being noticed. He heard fast footsteps from upstairs. He peaked around a corner to see a yellow and black streak slide down the stair arm rail. Nathaniel took a deep breath, his chest constricting as he stood surrounded by movement and noise. He watched as the blond and black streak became a young man. The man looked around the room, frowning as he did. The girl was now on top of the boy, breathing hard as she tried to pin him to the floor.
"Jordyn, Gene, no fighting in the front room." The man said, picking the girl up by her jacket hood, the girl relaxed, hanging limp in his hand as he shook his head at her. He looked up, "Ollie, off, Christin needs you in the backroom." The boy closed his book and jumped off the chandelier, landing at the top of the stairs where he trotted down the hall and out of Nathaniel's sight.
The man put the girl down, "You two should go watch," His eyes narrowed, "Don't do anything. This is Christin's case, so don't get involved."
The girls looked at each other then shrugged, running up the stairs.
Blond looked at the boy sitting on the ground, "You can stay," He grew serious, "If you behave."
The boy nodded and got up, moving to sit on a large pillow lying on the ground. Blond sighed, looking at Nathaniel. He smiled, "Sorry about that." He gestured for Nathaniel to come sit on a couch, "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Nathaniel nodded, sitting on the nearest couch. He blushed as his legs started to jiggle, but the other two didn't say anything. He took a deep breath, wondering what the blond would say to him.
"Hi. I'm Cole. This is my brother Gene." Blond started, sitting across from him on the futon.
"I'm Nathaniel." Nathaniel was glad to see he could stop his stutter, with less people in the room he felt like he had some grasp of the situation.
Cole smiled at him, the gesture calming Nathaniel, "Well, I heard you needed a place to stay." Nathaniel's eyes widened, had he heard excitement in Cole's voice? Nathaniel looked at Gene who shrugged as their eyes met.
"You, you're serious?" Nathaniel wasn't sure what to believe. He had gotten a note from some dude in a jacket and now they wanted him to stay with them?
Cole looked at Gene, "I asked Dad, he's okay with it." Gene nodded, looking more confident. Cole looked back at Nathaniel, "It doesn't have to be permanent if you don't want it to be. You can stay here until we can find you a better home." Nathaniel nodded, that made more sense, they wouldn't want him to stay, he wasn't someone who stayed, he was more of a bus stop. Someone who was just a checkpoint to bigger and better things. People didn't stick around for him.
"Do you have anything else on you?" Cole asked, "I can help you grab anything you need."
Nathaniel pictured his small kitten and nodded, he would want to bring Rockie out of the cold for as long as he could.
Cole smiled, "Sweet." He stood up, turning to Gene, "Can you check to make sure the girls are behaving? Dad grounded them from their knives. Your brother will need to be picked up from the school." Gene nodded, standing up and swiping some of his black hair behind his ear before jogging to the stairs and running up the stairs, four at a time. Nathaniel tried not to gape as the boy disappeared in seconds.
Cole walked to a closet, grabbing two jackets, he threw one to Nathaniel. Nathaniel grabbed the sleeve to keep it from hitting the ground. He slipped it on, the sleeves fitting, but the middle baggy, that wasn't a big surprise, he had started seeing his ribs a month ago, his own shirts were baggy and large on him, even though they had fit just a year and a half ago.
Cole saw this, his eyes becoming concerned for a moment before he slid on his coat, opening the door and walking out. He paused by the stone lions, looking back at Nathaniel.
"Lead the way."