deercountry | November + December Catch-All

"oh, so that's what those titles he sometimes uses means."

He nodded, another puzzle piece sliding into place while he poked at the pipes. Plumbing wasn't something he knew that well, besides handyman type work, but from what he could see everything was sound.

"So if you're both Pyrrha and Duty, how does anyone know what to call you? What name do you prefer?"

Trench is far more relaxed than the Nine Houses. God or saint or martyr, they don't have the same status or remove from everything and everyone else. Fixing someone's door says that as well as anything. Those are the only names most people in the Nine Houses ever knew them by. Titles yes but titles that became names.

"Most people know one or the other," he answers. Like Oscar until just now. That makes it simple for everyone, especially if they only interact in one setting. John's used Duty on the network, matching his username, and at work, matching the name he goes by. He suspects John still considers him Pyrrha all the time. Oscar isn't the first to ask.

"At work, I'm Duty," he says. "At home, usually Pyrrha." There are some exceptions, especially around Heartnest and Sarah, much as they don't actually live there.

"Beyond that, whoever someone connected with, whoever best fits, or whoever's easier at the time," Duty says. He might not have added the last one, save it's Oscar.

"With you, usually Pyrrha," he says. "You can ask." If he's not certain. A quick check in. It's the opposite answer given to Sharon, but Sharon bonded with Duty after meeting at work, after meeting in a memory.

"I'll see if I can figure it out first, so we can avoid being weird in a crowd."

Because discretion was always key, in nearly every situation. Oscar looked up at Duty, struck by a sudden thought that he now had to get clarification on.

"Does that mean you want me to call you Dad?"

Silently, again via their omens, Duty says, You can always ask—or confirm—silently. It's only weird if they make it weird. Usually, it's not a dangerous mistake. Duty won't feel uncomfortable if someone gets it wrong; he exists because Pyrrha went undercover so deep he became an identity.

His smile cracks his lips slightly, a piece of Pyrrha shining through. "You were excited to have a mom," he says, "I'm comfortable with mom." He pauses. "Dad's fine too."

If this was another identity within Pyrrha's head that couldn't be shaken from her very long life, then Oscar wanted to respect that. Trench brought up the unanticipated in every corner-- and all anyone could do was tread carefully and kindly.

I'll do that too. Well figure this out.

He smiled, glad for Diggs' presence to help make matters easier. Remembering that he wasn't alone was hard-- but, they could do it one step at a time.

"My parents disappeared on a trip into the city," Oscar explained, with a bittersweet little smile.

"It happens on Remnant, whether you're a Huntsman or you just live outside the walls like my family did. That was... A while ago."

He had been away from Remnant for nearly two and a half years, and he had been a away from the farm for half a year before that. It was a long time for a teenager.

"So, Mom or Dad, it's nice to be with you."

Edited 2022-12-01 00:30 (UTC)

It's not much, but Duty rests one hand on Oscar's shoulder and squeezes it gently. He's not replacing either of Oscar's parents, only adding to the number he has. Oscar's come a long way; he's sure they would both be surprised and proud.

"You can have both," Duty notes. Even if Oscar gets a mom more frequently than a dad, at least from Pyrrha and Duty.

He lifts his hand to ruffle Oscar's long hair and motions toward the glass for the window. "You ready?" he asks.

It was a warm, friendly gesture-- one that Oscar didn't wholly shy away from, like he would have from Nora's energetic hugs and Yang's rough shoulder smacks. He didn't expect anyone to step up and take anyone's place in any roles, but it was nice to feel like the family he had found in Trench had inched just a little wider.

Oscar grinned and nodded up at Duty.

"Yeah, sure! Just tell me what you need and we'll get it done."

Duty nods. "One pane of glass at a time," he says. He leads Oscar over to where the glass is safely stored, and they unwrap the first window.

In tandem, with a head nod, Duty lifts his side of the glass. It's sized to the window it goes in, so it's a decent fit. The frame's been repaired and leveled, all the old glass cleared away. They need to seal it in, so the winter drafts don't get in, but it's good straightforward work.

A simple joy Duty has never expected with Oscar.

It had been a while since Oscar got to enjoy the simple pleasures of a repair job that was well done. Oscar gladly followed instructions, careful to not cut his fingers on any exposed glass while they worked.

"Did I tell you about how I fixed all the doors and cabinets during my first winter away from home?" He asked, chattering. Oscar hadn't expected this kind of joy with either Pyrrha or Duty either.

He was just glad to be able to use his hands to work.

"It was a long one, with a lot of snow. I got tired of listening to the doors squeak whenever we opened the pantry... and one door became all of them before I knew it."

Duty makes a negative indicator. He hasn't heard this story—neither he nor Pyrrha. They aren't that separate. The chatter is pleasant, and it brings light to his eyes. Fixing things, making them better, using ones hands directly... it's a good feeling isn't it?

"Good work," Duty approves. He hums slightly, another working song. "Being stuck indoors is good for that." Fixing your own back yard, so to speak. The projects that get overlooked for more important matters. Every home is a work in progress, always. Cyclical processes.

"I was just getting stir-crazy,"

Oscar admitted, with a sheepish shrug. Months of being in Crisis Mode did not lend itself well to being thrown into a quaint little town in Maine that had deep, dark winters among it's more mundane horrors.

"It was nice to stay busy though," He chirped, easily falling into the rhythm of the little working song that Duty had started to hum. Then, like now, had served as proof that there as a certain comfort in having a routine and a satisfaction in finishing a job.

After another moment of working in the easy silence, Oscar spoke up again. "Uh... Dad? Can I ask you something?"

Oh the ferocious energy and impatience of youth. Duty has no memories of life at Oscar's age now, much less however much younger he was. Surely, a noisy room was once the worst experience in the world for him, as it usually is for most infants at a point in their lives they no longer remember later. Seeing someone experience those things for the first time in the body of a teenager is... an interesting experience.

Work, the work, the focus is part of the reason Duty says nothing before Oscar's question. Even Pyrrha might reasonably say little on the job busy at work. Maybe. It's also him. The silence invites him too, but it takes far longer to make him go stir crazy.

"Go ahead," Duty says. It's hard to tell what exactly it is, but Duty trusts it will earn the use of his title.

Oscar slowed down, and looked up at Duty with the curious eyes of a young man that knew he was going to get some kind of reaction. Pointedly:

"I ignored it earlier because I didn't get it... but, was all this what John meant when he was talking about ex-girlfriends a while back?"

Ah, that. Duty knew that would come back from the moment John posted it in a minor snit with Augustine. It was only a question of when and by whom.

He gives a small head nod in recognition. "I dated an enemy commander," Duty says calmly. "Fought too." It mixed together. Not the healthiest of relationships, but Wake was the only one to know about him before Gideon died. It did him a lot of good, and he's still fond of her.

That was astonishingly tame, given the little that Oscar knew and other stories he had heard about complicated relationships in general. He nodded as well, glad for an answer that sounded... reasonable.

"I've heard crazier," He said, with a wry little smile.

"It's not like she made herself Queen and tried to take over the system," He commented, and added: "Or killed you if you tried to stop her or run."

Duty doesn't quite smile, but he's amused. Life's complicated, even though he and Wake knew where they stood. Enough's happened since they last saw each other it might take a little reworking out the kinks, if she still hasn't moved on. He doesn't expect as much back where he originated, and his life is in Trench.

Everyone's lives will get more interesting if Wake washes up in Trench.

"No," Duty agrees, "Her focus was John. Gideon killed her. She nearly killed me. I let her spirit go." Gideon is said in a clear tone—Duty's husband, not his kid. They were enemies first, then also lovers.

'I let her spirit go' was a particular phrase that caught Oscar's attention. He slowed his work and looked up at Duty with bright haze eyes that carried the light of understanding that was more mature than his youthful features suggested. Oscar smiled softly and reached out to touch Duty's arm.

"You're probably the wisest immortal I've ever met."

'Probably' only because Jinn was unable to interact with the world unless summoned from her pocket realm. That was the only difference.

Edited 2023-01-06 01:30 (UTC)

Duty's eyes warm, molten brown, at the compliment less for its direct meaning than that he could share that piece of himself with Oscar and it went well. Oscar understood something of it.

"Thank you," Duty says, "I'm still only human."

He has flaws. He makes mistakes. Thinking otherwise would only lead to more and larger ones.

November + December Catch-All

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