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Darius was slowly sipping his tea, trying desperately to focus on his scroll instead of the mess unfolding in front of him.
The mess in question was shoveling breakfast into his mouth, the food disappearing with terrifying speed. He really tried to give the boy as much space and freedom as a teenager recovering from military brainwashing should have. But the damn broke when Hunter tried to pour a whole cup of still-steaming tea into his mouth.
"You look like a hamster." The boy paused at that, cautiously looking up. Darius might have used a bit too much of his reprimand voice, shit.
"You know the food is not gonna disappear right?" He tried softer this time.
"Uh, sorry." No, that's not where Darius wanted this to go. He should be more careful with his words, they've been living together for a little over two months now and he still was learning how to navigate their relationship.
As much progress Hunter made with his friends, he still had problems with adults. Not all of them, mostly people with some sort of authority over him like, for example, Principal Bump or the Owl Lady. That, unfortunately, also included Darius, especially since he was his guardian now. Don't get him wrong, Darius didn't want Hunter to go around being disrespectful, but he thought that it would be good for Hunter not to cower beneath them.
"No, no. That's not what I meant. I just don't want you to make yourself sick. What's the rush?" Hunter seemed to relax a bit.
"We have a match coming up."
"Yes, I am aware." Darius made sure to keep up with Hunter's schedule as much as he could. "And that relates to you breaking the laws of physics at my table how, exactly?"
"We were supposed to train the whole day today. The rest have a day off from school today. I don't want to be late... or hungry," he said sheepishly, still putting food in his mouth, just a bit slower now.
"You know I can just pack you lunch right?" Hunter looked at him for a moment.
"Like a mission ration?"
Darius grimaced, "Yeah something like that I guess." He got up to make the sandwiches.
"Oh yeah. I think I know now, Gus gave me his lunch once when I was hiding at Hexside." Darius was glad Hunter couldn't see how his face soured even more now. He packed the sandwiches into a bag and threw in a pack of hex mix and a fruit. Trying to get Hunter to eat normally was one of the things Darius felt like he actually could do. The change from ration packs was a pleasant one so the boy didn't really protest, but he still had a hard time adjusting sometimes.
"Here you go." He set the bag on the table just as Hunter was finishing his drink.
"Thanks!" was the only thing he got before the boy was running out of the door.
"Wait, when will you be back?!" he tried shouting behind him but got no answer. Darius resigned to sighing and retrieving his forgotten tea before walking to his office. He also had some stuff to get done.
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It was getting dark. Hunter has been out the whole day, and as much as Darius believed in their determination to win the match the kids surely should be going home by now, especially since they had school the next day.
So where was his kid?
He could protest Eda's jabs all he wanted but even he had noticed how protective he had become ever since taking Hunter under his wing.
He was looking through the front window trying to see something that wasn't there, his tea and book long forgotten beside his armchair. That was it for a self-care evening.
One more look through the glass revealed only his under-eye patches starting to peel off. He sighed and trudged to the bathroom.
He was in the middle of washing his face when he heard the front door opening and then hurried steps to Hunter's room upstairs. He felt his muscles relax, and reached for the towel.
Minutes later he knocked on the wooden door to the kid's bedroom. There was some hurried shuffling, a thud, and a muttered curse, then a response.
"Just a moment!" He sounded out of breath. Darius furrowed his brows and wanted to ask but then the door opened slightly and a bright pink scarf poked out. It was hastily wrapped around the top of Hunter's head.
"Yeah?"
All thoughts had left him at that moment and the only thing he could muster out was, "What in titans grace do you have on your head?"
"Oh, this? It's a- it's our new uniform, that were- Uh testing out now, before the match."
"I thought your team's color was green?" He reached for the material and continued, "It doesn't really look uniform quality, maybe I could help find you guys something bette-"
Before he could finish there was a hand on his arm, stopping him from going any nearer. Darius looked at Hunter with raised brows and mouth slightly agape. It wasn't new that the boy would flinch sometimes but he never outright stopped Darius like that, because for the most part, he enjoyed touch and affection. Not only that was suspicious though, Hunter looked terrified looking at him with wide eyes.
"Uh, sorry. I just..."
"Are you okay? Did something happen?"
"No, nothing happened, everything is completely normal, just like usual." Yeah, Darius wasn't falling for that, and it must've shown on his face because Huter let out the most awkward fake laugh he ever heard. He just raised an eyebrow at that.
"It's nothing really," Huter continued subconsciously pulling the hat further down his head.
"It looks like something to me. If you don't want to tell me that's fine but I need to know you're okay." That seemed to get through Hunter's defenses because his shoulders dropped slightly.
"Okay, but you have to promise that you won't be mad."
"That doesn't-" he wanted to argue but one look at Hunter's face stopped him. "Okay, I promise."
The boy seemed satisfied with that because he started to remove his hat slowly. First, he saw the ears, then the forehead, hairline, and... grass? No, flowers??
"Wha-?" And there in front of him, Hunter stood hatless, cheeks red, and what Darius could only describe as part of a flower field on his head.
"Did you fall off your palisman headfirst into a meadow?"
"What? No!" Hunter looked offended.
"Well, then what is that on your head?" He asked bewildered.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't, it just happened"
Darius stopped to think for a moment.
"Can I?" he gestured to Hunter's head. The boy nodded tentatively. With this permission, Darius started examining his head. The flowers were growing straight from his scalp, and some of the hairs around them turned slightly green. Not Belos green, brighter - happier. Like the color of young plants that just started growing after the winter. It didn't look dangerous but he needed to make sure.
"Did someone hex you, did you drink a potion from someone?"
"No, just the lunch you gave me. And some water. We were playing and all of sudden Gus noticed my hair started turning green and then they started blooming and haven't stopped since." He pointed at the flowers.
"And what about that plant girl?" Darius tried to remember the name, "w- Willow? you two are close aren't you, wouldn't she do something like that?" He tried not to smile at the redness of Hunter's cheeks, he really did.
"No, she was just as worried as the rest. Even tried to do something with them, but apparently," he waved his hand at the flower a little exasperated, "they are stubborn."
Darius stood there for a moment thinking, then asked, "Do they hurt?"
"Not really, unless I'm trying to pull them out."
"Okay, go to sleep then, it's late. I'll try to find out something about that." He said as he ruffled Hunter's hair, being mindful of the flowers of course.
The boy nodded and shut the door behind him.
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The next morning when Hunter came down for breakfast he found Darius at the table, disheveled and sleeping on a pile of various books. He snuck past him quietly to make both of them some tea.