a well-deserved gift
[ A few days ago, Mr. Magorium was met with the surprise of his life.
And, given how long a life his has been, it was some surprise.]
Edward Magorium steps outside of his toy store and home in proper gear this afternoon. His scarf is candy-cane striped, his jacket is puffy and brown, and his shoes are-well, the same. His toes are freezing, but that's ( Read more... )
And, given how long a life his has been, it was some surprise.]
Edward Magorium steps outside of his toy store and home in proper gear this afternoon. His scarf is candy-cane striped, his jacket is puffy and brown, and his shoes are-well, the same. His toes are freezing, but that's ( Read more... )
He wants to just turn away--really he shouldn't be here anyway, in public where everyone can stare at the bruises that spread across his face. He's supposed to be laying low after everything that happened, but it's like he can't tear himself away.
So he walks in, instead. He's practically shaking--there are a lot of people in here!--but there's something about the place that's soothing. Tears actually fills his eyes, and he wipes at them vigorously.
Leon never had much of a childhood, never felt this safe in his life. He hurries over to a pile of stuffed animals and practically sits in the display in his hurry to look busy with something. He's smiling and half-crying at the same time! Everything is topsy-turvey, but he feels safe here and he likes it.
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He wanted to die. Lucky remembers that clearly, and it hurts to remember. It hurts to see him, looking like he's happy and safe and like that's a foreign concept to him.
Lucky's had a good childhood but he was very angry when he was a teenager for a lot of reasons but mostly because of something he'd learned. He can remember feeling angry, feeling like nothing was safe, remember how horrible that had been.
He steps over to him, glancing at the stuffed animals and picking one up in his hand. "Hey, it's pretty cool, right?" Lucky comments almost as if offhandedly before he looks over at him with concern on his face. "Are you okay?"
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"Um, I'm fine," he says, his voice straining as he tries to sound like he wasn't just crying. "I just, um... wow. I've never been in a place like this."
He means the store, yeah, but it's also the ambiance of the place, that safe feeling, where the dark clouds over his head and the chip on his shoulder just... don't matter. His throat closes up again and he sniffles, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.
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"Okay, just thought I'd check," he says, and if he notices any sounds of crying, Lucky doesn't mention it either. "Yeah, I don't... think a place like this exists anywhere. It's some kind of magic."
He looks around the store, taking in all of the sights. There are toys of all shapes and size, not just the stuffed animals.
"Have you seen the toy soldiers? They're pretty cool, move entirely on their own."
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"Leon!"
She bounds over and then comes up short when she actually gets a look at him, all concern and worry.
"Oh my god, Leon, your face! What happened? Are you okay? Of course you're not, you're all beat up and crying and... and..."
Here, Leon. Have a big hug from the tiny angel.
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"I... got in a fight," he says, because he doesn't know what else to say. "It's not that big of a deal. I'm okay."
Never mind the fact that yeah, he was just crying, and his voice is strained from trying to keep it all together and not just collapsing into her arms, crying and laughing at the same time.
And slowly, like he's remembering how to do this, he raises his arms and warps them around her and gives her a hug back.
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"Leon!"
She scrambles up from her position on the floor and rushes up to stare at him.
"Are you okay?"
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"I'm, uh..." He know he's been crying and that he looks like a huge mess. He wipes his eyes and sniffles and tries to keep from collapsing back into tears as the happy, safe feeling washes over him again. He's not going to get kicked out. "I'm fine." He laughs a little bit, because he knows he doesn't look fine. He looks like a mess, but really, he's fine.
Sort of.
"I just, uh..." he gestures to the shop around them. "I've never seen anything like this, you know?" That explains why he's laughing and crying and shaking a lot. Totally.
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She gently grabs his wrist and tugs him over to the finger painting area. Forget beads. This, she thinks, will be helpful. She knows flinging paint around and making a mess helps her when she's feeling crappy, and she suspects it might be a good outlet for him, too.
And if not, they can go find some Nerf guns.
She grabs a plastic container full of yellow paint and holds it out to him.
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