Falling Together [Closed]

Devin stood in his room, staring down at the suitcase he had just thrown on his bed. It was full of his clothes and other things, having just returned from Salem, Massachusetts. It had been a sudden choice to head home for the winter holiday, to talk to his father and try to learn how to get better control over his gift. It had worked rather well - having learned how to dismiss his wings at will. Finally, he wouldn't have to keep cutting slits into his shirts for them whenever he bought them...The downside is that most of his shirts had those slits. But now he stood there, staring at his suitcase. He wanted to unpack it, to settle in but a single thing stopped him from doing so. "Merlin, get off!" he hissed slightly annoyed but had no will to remove the rather adorable cat from the top of his suitcase.

Merlin, the lovable munchkin, was laying on his side as he stretched out his tiny limbs. He had grown so much since Devin had first adopted him, already being almost fully grown but was still as playful as ever. His eyes were closed as a purr rose from him, causing Devin to sigh even louder. "Merlin, please. I need to unpack." The cat did not move. Devin sighed as he leaned down, staring at his pet until he gave in and reached out, scratching the grey cat behind his ears as he so loved. "Why do you do this to me?" the young Autumn sighed but there was no hiding the smile on his face.

While the Winter days had gone fine, her parents had moved in, and it had been her nephew's first Christmas. Even then, Aleta noticed the absence of Devin the entire time. She had gotten him a gift, but didn't see him during the holidays. It wasn't too much, a maroon sweater. It felt pretty soft and looked around Devin's size. She had bought it on impulse and was slightly disappointed she couldn't find him on Christmas. However, Aleta assumed he had other things to do, so she would give it to Devin next time she saw him.

That being said, it had been almost a month since she had last seen him, and the spring student was growing increasingly worried about him. Devin may have his moments where he kept to himself, but not this bad... Did she do anything? It was by this time that she got tired of waiting for him to turn up. So instead, Aleta went looking for him. The first place she looked was the dorms. She had gotten his dormroom number from her brother, who had been the prefect before, so he knew Devin's room.

After a bit of explaining to Devin's Dormmates, they let her in. She wore her normal clothes, and in one hand was the christmas gift bag. It as cheesy, a cartoon snowman on the front with white tissue paper inside. Slowly, she knocked on his door, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Maybe if he wasn't here, he could be in the forest practicing? While she waited, Aleta began listing places where he could be besides his dorm, a thoughtful look adorning her face.

Devin had heard the faint murmer of his roommates talking but hadn't given it any thought until a knock rang from his door. He blinked, pausing in his petting of Merlin as he turned to look at the door. Who...? Surely nobody other then his roommates knew he was back already. Did one of them want to talk to him but why wouldn't they just open up the door an- His train of thought was interrupted when a faint flash of pain flashed though his hand. He yelped lightly in surprise as he turned to see Merlin gripping his hand with his tiny paws, his teeth lightly sinking into skin. It wasn't enough to really hurt or draw blood, just there to show his annoyance that Devin had stopped petting him.

"Bad Merlin," Devin grumbled as he shook his hand free of Merlin's grip. Checking the bite area, he was relieved to see that he was correct that no skin had been broken before he stood up. His tail flickered - still not having enough control to dismiss that - as he headed toward the door. He heard the sound of Merlin jumping off his suitcase to follow, circling Devin's feet as the young boy opened up the door. He froze when he saw who was on the other side. "Oh! Uh, hello Aleta." There was a faint blush on his face, very surprised to see her there and found he had no other words to say.

The door opened soon after her knock, much to her relief. Aleta was running out of places that he could be at in her list. A smile crossed her face when she saw him, glad to see his face. "Hey Devin, sorry to drop in. I missed you during Christmas, so I saved your present." She lifted the bag up, as to offer it to him. "It's not a lot, I didn't really know what to get you. I saw it in the store and thought you might like it." Aleta continued with a sheepish look. Should she have gotten him something better? In retrospect it seemed kinda lame...

Devin let his gaze shift between Aleta and the present, a bit relief - yet confused - that she hadn't taken notice of his lack of wings. It took a few moments, but a soft smile flashed across his face as he reached out to take the present. It was rather sweet of her to get him one and he felt bad that he didn't have one as well. Of course, he had been gone for the Holiday. "Thank you Aleta," he said before stepping back. "Do you want to come in?" He felt his room was the best place for them to talk. He spotted Merlin lean up to sniff at the bag with interest, his tiny paws hanging useless at his side. At least Merlin wasn't getting in trouble like he used to as a kit.

"Sure!" She looked down at the small cat who was examining the bag with interest. "Hey there, little guy." She cooed, crouching down toward the animal, holding her hand out to see if the little animal felt like sniffing her. "What is his name?" The dark haired girl made kissy faces at the animal, a smile crossing her face. In a baby voice that Aleta usually reserved for her nephew, she cooed at the cat. "Aw, you've got tiny wittle legs. You are so cuuute."

Devin smiled softly as he chuckled as Aleta took notice of Merlin. She really never had met Merlin since he had gotten her, did she? "This is Merlin," he said in a cheerful tone. "I got him a few months ago - I forgot I never showed him to you. He is a munchkin and a bit of a trouble maker." He raised his free hand to stiffen a laugh at her baby-talking voice. It had been so long since he had last really talk to Aleta, he forgot how happy just being around her made him be. Like a breath of fresh air or a ray of sunshine...He really had to hang out with her more, didn't he?

Merlin took notice of the outstretched hand of Aleta, blinking as he stared at it before he leaned forward to sniff it like she had been hoping he would do. It didn't take long for him to brush his head against her hand, clearly wanting her to pet him.

Devin, taking notice of this shook his head with a sigh. "Be careful with him - he may be cute but he doesn't like it if you stop giving him attention. He will softly bite you to get your attention. Hard enough to hurt, light enough not to break skin." Devin did have to give Merlin credit - the munchkin was a smart cat to know how hard to bite...Even if he did like being the center of attention when it was given to him and tended to get angry when it was stolen from him.

Aleta looked back up at Devin with a shining smile. "So Merlin is a gentleman too?" She joked, indulging the small cat in its wishes, gently petting his soft head. Aleta hadn't noticed how much she had missed spending time with Devin. The dark haired girl was not certain why, but a smile seemed ever more present on her face. "So where were you the past few weeks? I tried looking for you." The girl raised a brow, pausing for a brief moment in her rhythmic petting of the small kitten.

Devin frowned at Aleta as she joked but there was no hiding the tiny traces of a smile that tugged at his lips. However, the frown turned into a real one when she finally asked where he had been. He couldn't be surprised that she had taken notice of his absence at the school as he gave her a slight shrug. "I ended up heading home for the holidays," he explained as he rubbed his arms with his free hand. "I...Wanted to get some better control down of my gift and I felt like a few weeks with my father would be the best place. Beata is great and everything, but he understands a lot of what I am going though with my powers..." He drifted off, glancing down at Merlin.

Merlin had been purring rather loudly when Aleta started petting him but stopped as soon as he came to realize that she had paused in it. He frowned, reaching out with his tiny paws to get a grip but let out a squeak of surprise as Devin suddenly crouched down and pulled him away before he could lightly sink his teeth into her hand. "No biting her," Devin scolded lightly, gently laying Merlin on his stomach as the cat wiggled his tiny limbs in protest.

"Ah! Going home must have been fun." Aleta responded, sitting up once Devin had saved her from being bitten by the small creature. "Yeah, the person who can help the most is someone who has the same powers. It's cool your dad helped out!" She gave him a grin, side noting that maybe she was being too enthusiastic about it all. Her excitement felt automatic, she missed talking with him. "Seems like we both got to see our dads then~" She brushed away a strand of her hair, and pushed it behind her ear. The girl figured that she would be seeing even more of her dad nowadays, after all, they had dinner plans tonight.

Devin felt relieved that she didn't seem to phased by the fact that he had headed home without a word for the holiday. It was a great time, it had been so long since he had spent time just with his parents like that and even his sister had been home for Christmas. He gently stood up, allowing Merlin to get to his paws as he headed to his bed, listening to Aleta's words. Sitting down, he started to open up the gift she had handed him before blinking, his gaze suddenly snapping up at the mention of her father. "Wait, what? You got to see your dad as well?" His hands tighten on the handles of the bag as Merlin hopped onto the bed next to him with little trouble despite his tiny limbs. There was no denying it, there was a tint of worry in Devin's voice.

Was Aleta's father still in Rosebury? Would Devin get to meet him? If he did, would he like him? Was he the one that passed down his gift? If he did have an angelical gift he react badly like how Leo had reacted badly when Devin had first met him? Why was Devin so concern about this? He couldn't answer that so to hide his worry, he quickly focused on the gift as he took out the tissue paper before pulling out the sweater itself. He raised an eyebrow as he started to unfold it but the moment he caught sight of the snowman on the front, he stiffen a laugh as he grinned widely at it. "Oh, I love it!" Devin adored sweaters, always enjoying the loose feeling of them and having a cheesy Christmas one just made his collection complete.

The girl nodded along, pressing her lips together as he made a reach for the bag. "Yeah, my parents moved to Rosebury for Christmas in order to help out with Shepard." She explained nonchalantly, eyes shining as Devin got into his gift. His enthusiastic response was enough to send another bright smile through the room. "I'm glad you like it! I was scared it was going to be super cheesey..." She trailed off, face flushing.