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“Lucy, what do you need me for, dear? Did you- ah,” Linus yelped as his eyes landed on the kitchen ceiling. Lucy was crawling on all fours on the ceiling, like the lizards that Arthur had told him not to kill even though they were considered house pests. He looked over his shoulder to Linus down below, his irises glowing red. With a creeping grin, he turned his head even further until it was completely backwards on his shoulders.
Linus was not impressed. He should have known Lucy was going to pull something, especially after he insisted on cooking dinner all by himself. He cocked his eyebrows up, giving Lucy a knowing look.
As Linus expected, Lucy soon felt a sharp pain in his neck. His inhumanly wide grin broke, and his red eyes gave way to tears. He sniffled at the ache.
Linus could only sigh. “Such a flair for the dramatic. Come on down, I’ve got you,” Linus beckoned with his arms outstretched directly underneath Lucy.
Lucy gave away his grip on the ceiling tiles, landing squarely into Linus’s embrace. He attempted to turn his head back but was only met with a bolt of pain from his unmoving neck. He yelped, twitching in Linus’ arms.
”Hey now, we don’t want to hurt your neck any further! Seriously, we already talked about this, Lucy. Your godly powers, as godly they may be, are still restricted by your human body,” Linus lectured as he carried Lucy out of the kitchen and into the living room. Arthur, Zoe, and the other kids were chattering about when the pair entered.
”My word, Lucy, what have you gotten into now?” Arthur questioned with a stern look on his face. Lucy could only sniffle in response.
“It’s alright, I’m sure he already feels bad enough. Zoe, I think you need to take over dinner preparations tonight. This one’s a little out of commission,” Linus announced. Zoe chuckled and made her way to the kitchen, giving Lucy a light pat on the head on the way.
Talia and Phee were already next to Linus, closely inspecting the state of Lucy’s neck.
“How did you even get your neck to turn that far? Does it hurt? Do you need help putting it back in place?” Phee asked, fascination unbounded.
”I can twist it back for you. I just weeded out my garden, so my twisting muscles are still fresh!” Talia offered while turning her right hand on her left palm, as if twisting out a weed from the ground.
”Now, children, Lucy is in a little pain right now, so let’s give him some space. And thank you, Talia, but your dad and I will fix his neck ourselves,” Linus interrupted, settling down on the couch. The other children scooted over, allowing Linus the space to reposition Lucy. He was now sitting on Linus’ lap, body facing out, while his head faced Linus. Linus’ hands were cupping Lucy’s tear-stained cheeks. Arthur kneeled down in front of Lucy, hands bracing Lucy’s shoulders.
”We will slowly ease your neck back into position, alright? Tell us immediately if it hurts too much,” Arthur announced. Lucy nodded slightly, taking a deep breath in to quell his sniffles.
Linus placed his hands just below Lucy’s jawline, right above Arthur’s own hands. Arthur concentrated, focusing heat onto his palms and on Lucy’s neck. He gave a nod to Linus, who slowly started moving Lucy’s head back.
Lucy breathed erratically as Linus twisted his head back. Lucy could feel the rising resistance and pain from his muscles as Linus continued, but Arthur’s warmth subdued a large portion of the ache. Despite this, he had to stop Linus’ hands from moving several times in order to rest his muscles and not over-exert himself. Arthur continuously massaged Lucy’s neck, the ache disappearing with every pass of Arthur’s heated palms.
After half an hour of twisting, massaging, and encouraging coos from his dads, Lucy’s neck was fully reduced back into place. He smiled, feeling a sense of relief as he stared at Arthur’s adoring face. He hugged Arthur, who reciprocated and also pulled Linus into their embrace. Arthur felt a small “thank you” reverberate into his shoulder, and he kissed Lucy’s head in response.
Pulling away from the hug, Lucy attempted to turn his head back towards Linus, but the unmoving muscles of his neck just gave him another sharp ache. He got off Linus’ lap and swiveled round the balls of his feet instead, earning him a kiss on the cheek.
”Don’t make any sudden turns with your neck. You might end up hurting yourself even more. We will make a visit to the chiropractor tomorrow before your lessons, alright?” Linus instructed. Lucy nodded ever so slightly, careful to not exert his neck muscles.
Dinner was as lively as ever, with the Lucy’s neck being the butt of everyone’s jokes. Even Linus, the regular bad cop between him and Arthur, found himself chuckling lightly at Talia’s impression of the stiff-necked boy. Lucy grumbled in annoyance, albeit mostly feigned. After all, that’s how families always are.