Chapter Text
Marius is another one of the friend group she meets later, though she hears about him in bits and snippets passed around, never his name, but the knowledge of another. Jonny starts to pack an extra sandwich, which he claims is for Nastya, though Carmilla knows her daughter far too well to believe that Nastya would eat food at school.
(Regardless, it’s a ham sandwich and Nastya doesn’t even eat ham. If Jonny thinks he’s hiding things from her he’s quite off the mark.)
It’s only been a few weeks since Raphaella showed up, which is quite short of a time for them to collect another friend, but right now they’re up to something and Carmilla doesn’t doubt that’s why they’ve gotten involved with someone new.
Why this someone new needs lunch, she doesn’t know, but it’s not her place to ask. A bit of extra groceries is far from the end of the world.
It’s only when she gets called in to take her son home that she meets him.
She’d been called by the nurse, this time, and not the office. Somehow, this felt disingenuous to the subject at hand, as Jonny simply doesn’t go to the nurse unless forced to. She can count on her hands the amount of times she’s been called for him being in the nurse's office that aren’t also related to fighting, and two of those times ended in a trip to hospital.
Apparently, he and a friend got scuffed up during an accident in PE, but if it’s bad enough to call her to pick him up over, something else must have happened.
She waits for Jonny to come out, partially expecting whichever other member of the band was also involved to come trailing beside him. Probably Tim, as they’d be the sort to get in a fight and then make up soon enough after to pass the whole thing off as an accident.
There is another person beside him, but it’s not one of the band. The boy is Jonny’s height, maybe a bit taller, with short brown curls and skin a few shades darker than Carmilla’s own. His right arm is in a red and black wrist brace, the limb held protectively to his chest.
Both of them look very banged up, most notably being the way Jonny is limping pathetically, a bruise already staining his cheek a deep purple.
Carmilla waves them both over, raising an eyebrow as Jonny smiles sheepishly.
“Hi mom…” he mumbles.
“Do we need to go to urgent care?” She asks skeptically, tilting her head.
“…no, mom.”
Carmilla smiles. “Then introduce me to this one, yeah?”
The boy bounces slightly, giving a little salute. “Marius Raum, at your service!”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Marius. I’m Dr. Carmilla, she and her please. Anything the other kids call me should be fine, but just Carmilla will also suffice.”
“He/they for me,” Marius replies, fiddling with the strap on his wrist brace.
“So, I’d like to know who exactly started it and what happened, but we can get in the car before that particular story needs to be told. Do you need a ride home, Marius?”
They nod, but Jonny interrupts. “Mom, their wrist is all messed up, can we go home first? Their parent is at work.”
Jonny grabs Marius’ uninjured wrist and drags him clumsily over to the car, still with a noticeable limp.
Carmilla follows at a more subdued pace, calling a warning to Jonny to not hurt himself more.
Once in the car and actually buckled in, she looks back at the two of them. “So what happened?”
“We were being too silly goofy,” Marius replies, waving his good hand flippantly. “No need to worry ‘bout it, Doc C. I’m used to it. My arm’s bad anyway.”
“Yes, sure, that’s what I’m sure you two have told the adults.” She rolls her eyes in amusement. “But there’s a reason Jonny’s not in the office again for fighting, and I’m interested in it.”
“It’s part of the Thing, mom,” Jonny says. “There’s a truce, cuz if we get caught then nothing’s fun anymore and we probably get suspended.”
Carmilla isn’t pleased by the idea that whatever they’re doing could get them suspended, but knowing her kids they’ll do it with or without her knowing, and she’d prefer that she be trusted enough to come to in an emergency.
She’s also not too pleased that her child has come home all bruised up and nobody, not even him, is labeled at fault for it.
At this point, it’s not a huge deal. It’s some scrapes and bruises. But if they’re taking this at face value, the excuses of kids unwilling to get in trouble, then what would happen if something genuinely concerning was happening at home or with peers? She doesn’t like the idea that a single lie can get the administration to drop it, just like that.
“Tell me the whole story, then, eh? I’m not ‘sus’, as you kids say, I won’t tell.”
Jonny groans dramatically. This is perfectly justified, and makes her laugh.
“I’m not gonna fuckin tell you if you say shit like that,” he groans. But Jonathan D’ville is a storyteller through and through, and she knows he can’t resist recapping every even mildly interesting event that’s gone on during a school day unless he’s been sworn to secrecy.
He manages to hold out for two more minutes, twitching and humming fragments of too many songs to count under his breath, before he finally caves.
“So I was just trying to have a normal fuckin phys ed class, right?” He begins, already with his story-telling voice in full swing. “It was football or something, I dunno, whatever thing I couldn’t do cuz there was too much running. So I was walking around the field and thinking and all that instead. Ivy wasn’t there, she’d had a meltdown earlier and needed a sec inside, and I figured that Marius was just skipping or absent or something.”
She doesn’t point out that the kids really shouldn’t be skipping class, because that would be redundant and Jonny would get upset about her breaking his all-important narrative flow.
“I was just doing whatever when I saw Zeus behind the smoking corner, you know the one where all the kids smoke and the adults can’t see-” Carmilla doesn’t know, but that checks out as a place to generally exist in a secondary school. She also greatly suspects Zeus is a code name “-and he was harassing Marius for… something?”
Marius helpfully supplies, “he found out about the school confessions instagram,” which doesn’t do much for her clarity but Jonny makes an understanding noise.
“So, he was harassing Marius for sullying his honor, and I stepped in because you don’t go around messing with a man of the underworld without Hades’ attack dog going after you, yeah? Men have been confronted over tamer transgressions, and Marius is my friend.”
Carmilla wonders who Hades is. Ashes, probably? Maybe Brian, if he was playing the bad guy this time.
“Zeus, however, is not a merciful foe, and his lot stick together like a pack of dogs,” Jonny continues, waving a hand. No kid his age talks like this, but Jonny’s always been her odd duck.
“So even though we got some hits, it was an impossible task, and we ended up here,” Jonny concludes.
“When you kids write an album about this whole thing, then you have to tell me about what all of this is actually doing for you,” she says. “But I’m glad you stood up for Marius. And Marius? I’m pretty sure a school confessions page is a bad idea, whatever it is, if it’s getting you in rows at the schoolyard like a primary schooler.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now, how about we go shopping? I’m sure your family won’t be happy about me stealing you away, we can pick up some extra groceries for penance. Do you need anything for your wrist?”
Marius shakes their head, a grin on their face despite the careful way they hold their wrist, the care of it speaking to pain.
“I’m fine, seriously. I’m just complaining a lot, being dramatic, y’know. It’s not, like, an actual problem. I’m used to it.”
Just because you’re used to it, doesn’t mean you should have to deal with it unassisted, Carmilla doesn’t add. She’ll let him keep his teenage independence.
She pulls into the Tesco’s car park, switching off the car. “Jonny, can you handle the groceries? If Marius is amenable, I’d like to speak with him here. If not, you two boys can go together, get, y’know, whatever other snacks you want.”
She doesn’t usually give the kids the shopping jobs, but she simply doesn’t feel up to it at the moment, and Jonny and Nastya, at least, enjoy the task.
The boys exchange a glance and Marius shrugs. “I’m good with that?” He says tentatively. “Yeah, sure.”
She nods to Jonny quickly sending him their grocery list by text, adding a note about getting some things for Marius at the bottom.
Jonny hops out of the car, his limp lighter now. She calls after him about taking it easy, and he just groans and mumbles something about overbearing parents.
She watches him, making sure he’s as okay as he seems. When she’s satisfied with that, she turns to Marius.
“I could have asked with Jonny in the car, I’m sure you know he wouldn’t care, but I thought it might be better to get you alone. I know Jonny’s been making you lunches- and that’s totally okay, we have more than enough food.” She adds reassurance after his face flickers with anxiety. “But I figured you might appreciate some pre-made stuff, if you were willing to help me out. We’ll stop by the house after this, and if you want, make some portions of honestly whatever food you’d be fine with eating for a few weeks. I can add whatever you’d like to the grocery list.”
Marius blanches, smiling nervously. “Ma’am, it’s okay. You really don’t need to.”
Carmilla points to herself, and to them. “You, and me, and your friends? We’re part of a community. And that means we help each other out. Right now, I’m the adult with the power to make you some extra dinners for the days your parents can’t, or whatever else you need food for. People did it for me when I was an unhoused teenager, and now that I have the ability, I’m going to be the one to help out.”
Marius bites his lip, looking like the child he is. He’s taller than Jonny, sure, but Jonny’s a tiny kid and Marius isn’t much better. He’s skinny a bit beyond that way that teenagers are when they haven’t quite grown into their skin, yet, and holds himself like he’s smaller than he actually is.
“My sister can’t have fish,” they say finally. “Zeze, my- my parent, fae will try to pay you back, I promise- when we can… I need a job, hah.”
Carmilla sighs. Can nobody accept some help without expecting a cost? (She knows she’s a fucking hypocrite, okay?)
“You don’t need to,” she says firmly.
Marius squirms. Finally, they ask, “can I have a hug?”
That, at least, Carmilla can do easily.