steven

[steven @oftorchwoods]

ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴄᴀʀᴛᴇʀ

ɢʀᴀɴᴅꜱᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴊᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴀʀᴋɴᴇꜱꜱ

ᴍᴠ. ɴᴏɴꜱʜɪᴘ. ᴍᴅɴɪ.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“But she’s so cute!”

He calls, holding up the second half of his sandwich to the dinosaur.

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"Steven—

Please don't pet the dinosaur."

[steven @oftorchwoods]

He’s currently trying to coax Myfanwy down from her perch so he can pet her.

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

Where's @oftorchwoods ?

Can't be possible that he's already managed to lose the boy-

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“Why don’t you go sit down? I’ll grab snacks!”

Without waiting for a response, Steven is walking off and disappearing in search of food. He wasn’t familiar with the layout of the hub just yet, but he’d figured it out.

[𝕸𝐑. 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 @dyncleisiau]

he gives a sigh, cheeks flushing slightly. admittedly, that was a tad rude. kid didn't deserve it.

" no... no, its alright..."

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“I dunno.”

There’s a shrug, and he rocks back and forth nervously as he frowns.

“But uhm..I can go somewhere else if you don’t wanna be bothered.”

[𝕸𝐑. 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 @dyncleisiau]

a beat of silence, he looks down at the boy. he takes the handkerchief and replaces the tissue.

" where's your grandfather gone off to? shouldn't you be bothering him? "

[steven @oftorchwoods]

His head cocks, and he offers him another handkerchief for his nose.

“Gonna worry.”

[𝕸𝐑. 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 @dyncleisiau]

blinking down at the boy. wiping his nose with a sniffle, avoiding his eyes.

" nothin' you need worry about. "

[steven @oftorchwoods]

./. YAY IT LET ME CHSNGE

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“What happened?”

He’s staring up at him, hands clasped behind his back

[𝕸𝐑. 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 @dyncleisiau]

⠀

holding a tissue to his bloody nose.

⠀

[steven @oftorchwoods]

He’s laying on the ground, curled into the fetal position as he holds his stomach.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

There’s a light in his eyes now, and he nods quickly as a smile appears on his face.

“Okay, yeah! That sounds awesome..”

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"I have a spare room. We can make it look the way you'd like it to look at some point?"

Jack offers, smiling carefully.
The poor boy is traumatised - and it's all his fault.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

There’s a nod, and the boy finally seems to relax slightly as he clears his throat.

“That’s..That’s good..”

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

He shakes his head.

"I don't think they are.
I had no traces of them around here. In years."

Jack explains, putting the plate away.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

Eventually, the plate is emptied and he’s offering it back to his grandfather to put away as he draws his knees up to his chest and rests his chin on top.

“The bad aliens aren’t here, right? They’re not coming back?”

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

Jack watches him with a sad frown.

It tears at his heart to see him like that - but he can't seem to look away.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

There’s a nod, and the young boy goes back to eating his grapes as he stares at his feet.

Whatever had happened to Steven in his own dimension had left an aura of sadness around him..

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"Of course you can."

Jack mutters after a moment of hesitation.

"I'll do my best to offer you a safe place."

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“Can I stay with you then?”

He asks quietly, reaching towards him in search of a hug.

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"And I'm incredibly sorry about that."

Jack nods, swallowing hard. "You deserve a safe place."

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“Doesn’t mean you’re not family, grandpa.”

Steven offers a weak shrug, grasping his seat with one hand as he kicks his feet nervously.

“You’re the only family..I have left now.”

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

Jack blinks a few times.
He licks his lips and takes a deep breath.
Disregarding the mention of Ianto.

"All those things you went through, Steven...
They-
They happened because of me. Your mother tried to protect you from me and the harm I do and the dangers I bring."

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“I know you’re my grandfather. I know that you don’t age, and you can’t die.”

He’s staring back at him with a sort of calmness that shouldn’t be coming from a child in his situation.

“I know you loved uncle ianto more than anything.”

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"How much do you know, Steven? What have you learned about me?"

Jack sits down across from him, watching him with a forced calm expression.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

He takes the plate, popping a grape into his mouth one by one as he watches Jack quietly.

“Why did mom lie about you? She told me you were my uncle. But I know you’re not.”

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"I...
I don't know. Actually."

Jack murmured and grabbed the grapes, washed them and placed them on a plate before handing the plate to Steven.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

He mumbled his thanks, before turning to the fridge and watching as he tugs it open. As he munched on the biscuit, his eyes trail over to Jack and his head cocks slightly.

“Is my..is my mom alive here..?”

The question is loaded, a half eaten biscuit clasped in his hand.

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

"I've got grapes, yeah."

Picking up a package of jammie dodgers out of his cupboard he hands it to Steven.

Then he sets Steven down to open the fridge, revealing different kinds of fruit, including grapes, apples, bananas and strawberries.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“Jammie dodgers are good..”

He murmured, head resting on his shoulder as he rubs the unshed tears from his eyes and finally relaxes.

“Do you have grapes? I love grapes.”

Despite his seemingly calm demeanor, Steven’s heart was racing as thoughts turn recklessly in his mind.

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

Yeah, still not quite anything balanced but ... Better than nothing for now.

[steven @oftorchwoods]

three quid and holding it out to his grandfather.

“This is all I got..”

[steven @oftorchwoods]

“He’s..he left us. Over there. After everything..he left the planet.”

His head has fallen to rest on Jack’s shoulder, blinking sleepily before his stomach suddenly rumbles.

“Sorry, I haven’t..I haven’t eaten since I got here.”

He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out +

[❝𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬❞ @Vrtxmanipulator]

And he's convinced they're all his. One way or another.

"I think this is the safer timeline. I hope it is."
He hasn't died nearly as often here — yet.