Summer was definitely here when it came to Maple Grove. With the heat growing as the year progressed into July, all the windows in Willow Manor had been flung open to try and keep the house cool overnight - no mean feat when two people in the house generated heat through no fault of their own. Liv had grown used to sharing a bed with a hot husband during every season of the year, but it was nice to sleep with a gentle breeze cooling her skin, too. Thankfully, the children agreed with her, and with the night passing over them to bring the coolness of the morning closer, they were all sleeping through the deepest hours of darkness.
It was on one such hot summer night that the trauma two of those children had suffered before being rescued came to a head. Alexei Ilnarion Storm was, for the most part, a happy child. And why shouldn't he be? He and Maria had the best parents any child could want. He had a place to call home and a family to love him. He had everything any child could ever want or need, and yet, despite all that - just like Fliss and Maria - there were nights when nightmares haunted his dreams. Memories of the tragedy and torment he and Maria and the other children had suffered before S.H.I.E.L.D. had found and rescued them. They weren't the kind of memories that haunted the waking moments of the boy's days, but only came at night, unexpected and unwanted and terrifying.
For all her repeated declarations of being absolutely normal with no powers whatsoever, Liv had a peculiar sort of sixth sense when it came to her children. Perhaps it was Alex reaching out to her from his dreams, or perhaps she truly did feel when he needed her, but on this particular night, she was already at his bedside when he woke from those terrifying nightmares, there to gather him into her arms and hold him close against the horror those memories instilled in him.
"Shh, sweetheart, it's all right," she murmured, cuddling him close in the light from his empty fish tank. Empty, because Lir had been "accidentally" allowed to dive in and eat all the fish, so now it was nothing more than an expensive indoor pool for the growing water dragon in their midst.
He'd forgotten much of the terror he'd seen and experienced, or at least, he'd tried to forget. Surrounded by so much love and happiness, it was easy not to let such things dominate his waking thoughts, but nights were another matter. He'd woken with a scream caught in his throat, eyes wide with terror and sobbing with fear, clinging to his mother when he'd awoken to find her already there at his bedside. He was glad she was there, glad he didn't have to suffer through it alone, but too caught up in his anguish to speak just yet.
Rocking him gently, Liv gathered her son close to herself, tucking him onto her hip to carry him downstairs, determined that his bedroom was not going to become a place he associated with fear in the night. "It's okay, I'm here," she told him, over and over again, finally settling down with him at the kitchen table with the lights on, kissing his hair as she waited for him to calm down.
A faint scrape of claws warned her that Lir had appeared from Fliss' bedroom to find out what was happening. The water dragon was about the same size as Bella now, still not quite able to fly, but unaccountably attached to Alex. He came into the kitchen to lay his head in Alex's lap, looking up at the little boy through his whirling eyes in concern.
There were tears on the boy's face, and he was hiccuping from all the sobbing, but his mother's presence was a calming influence, and it wasn't long before he was scrubbing the tears from his face, one hand going to fondly scratch at the dragon's head. "Prosti, Mama," he told her, his voice ragged from crying. I'm sorry.
"Don't be sorry, sweetheart," Liv murmured to him affectionately, smiling despite her vague resentment at the dragon for hijacking her cuddle with her only boy. "You have nothing to be sorry for." She stroked his hair, her other hand gently wiping his face dry. "Do you want to talk about it, or not' You don't have to tell me anything."
He shook his head vehemently, as he always did when asked if he wanted to share his nightmares. It wasn't so much what he'd experienced himself, as what he seen done to others. It had made him what he was, however, pushing him past his own limitations to know what others were thinking without having to hear their words. "It's too terrible, Mama," he told her, pushing Lir gently away so he could climb into her lap.
"All right, love." Her smile didn't falter as she kissed his forehead, hugging him close as he climbed into her lap. She had never pushed him to share the terrors that sometimes woke him at night, and she never would, trusting that someday he would tell her of his own accord. "Would you like some milkshake instead?"
Despite the shadow of fear that lingered in his eyes, his face brightened at the prospect of a middle of the night treat, as well as a little time alone with his mother. He adored his sister, and he didn't mind sharing, but like most little boys, his mother was the center of his world. Nodding his blond head, he smiled warmly at her. "Da, Mama. Can I?"
"I wouldn't have offered if I was going to say no," she teased him softly, tucking his legs about her hips to rise and move over to the fridge, unwilling to let go of him just yet. Lir keened softly behind her, but she ignored him. They'd learned the hard way that feeding the dragon in the middle of the night resulted in a truly noxious bowel movement during breakfast. "I have something to give you, you know," she said conversationally, setting the little boy down on the kitchen counter to reach into the fridge and produce a carton of chocolate milkshake.
He giggled a little at Lir's reaction, knowing instinctively what the young dragon wanted. He had formed some kind of inexplicable connection with the dragon that no one could explain. "No, Lir. It will make you sick," he told the dragon, arms around his mother's neck before she set him down on the counter. "For me?" he asked, eyes wide, feet kicking slowly back and forth.
"Yes, for you," Liv told him, glancing at the little dragon as he curled up in the middle of the kitchen floor, wrapping his tail around himself comfortably. She poured out a small glass of the milkshake for Alex, sliding it along for him. "You don't have to have it, but I thought it might help. I found a very special music box a few days ago - one that plays an enchanted tune between 10 o'clock in the evening and 8 o'clock in the morning. And the tune keeps away night terrors and nightmares, and helps you sleep when you can't."
His took a sip of his shake, the coldness of it soothing the heat of summer. His eyes widened a little at the prospect of such a gift, though he thought it better to share than keep it all to himself. "It's magic?" he asked, uncertainly, sounding a little bit awed that his mother would have such a thing. Of course, it had to be magic; there was no other explanation.
"Yes, sweetheart, it's magic," she confirmed for him with a warm smile, sipping a glass of her own before putting the milkshake back into the fridge. "Do you want to come and sit with your feet in the pool" I won't tell if you don't." It wasn't often she indulged a night-time waking with quite such mischief, but between the heat and her concern for her little lad, it was excusable this once.
He sipped at his milkshake, before looking up at her with trusting eyes. "Will you come with me?" he asked, not wanting to be alone right now, the nightmares that were really memories still too fresh in his mind.
It was on one such hot summer night that the trauma two of those children had suffered before being rescued came to a head. Alexei Ilnarion Storm was, for the most part, a happy child. And why shouldn't he be? He and Maria had the best parents any child could want. He had a place to call home and a family to love him. He had everything any child could ever want or need, and yet, despite all that - just like Fliss and Maria - there were nights when nightmares haunted his dreams. Memories of the tragedy and torment he and Maria and the other children had suffered before S.H.I.E.L.D. had found and rescued them. They weren't the kind of memories that haunted the waking moments of the boy's days, but only came at night, unexpected and unwanted and terrifying.
For all her repeated declarations of being absolutely normal with no powers whatsoever, Liv had a peculiar sort of sixth sense when it came to her children. Perhaps it was Alex reaching out to her from his dreams, or perhaps she truly did feel when he needed her, but on this particular night, she was already at his bedside when he woke from those terrifying nightmares, there to gather him into her arms and hold him close against the horror those memories instilled in him.
"Shh, sweetheart, it's all right," she murmured, cuddling him close in the light from his empty fish tank. Empty, because Lir had been "accidentally" allowed to dive in and eat all the fish, so now it was nothing more than an expensive indoor pool for the growing water dragon in their midst.
He'd forgotten much of the terror he'd seen and experienced, or at least, he'd tried to forget. Surrounded by so much love and happiness, it was easy not to let such things dominate his waking thoughts, but nights were another matter. He'd woken with a scream caught in his throat, eyes wide with terror and sobbing with fear, clinging to his mother when he'd awoken to find her already there at his bedside. He was glad she was there, glad he didn't have to suffer through it alone, but too caught up in his anguish to speak just yet.
Rocking him gently, Liv gathered her son close to herself, tucking him onto her hip to carry him downstairs, determined that his bedroom was not going to become a place he associated with fear in the night. "It's okay, I'm here," she told him, over and over again, finally settling down with him at the kitchen table with the lights on, kissing his hair as she waited for him to calm down.
A faint scrape of claws warned her that Lir had appeared from Fliss' bedroom to find out what was happening. The water dragon was about the same size as Bella now, still not quite able to fly, but unaccountably attached to Alex. He came into the kitchen to lay his head in Alex's lap, looking up at the little boy through his whirling eyes in concern.
There were tears on the boy's face, and he was hiccuping from all the sobbing, but his mother's presence was a calming influence, and it wasn't long before he was scrubbing the tears from his face, one hand going to fondly scratch at the dragon's head. "Prosti, Mama," he told her, his voice ragged from crying. I'm sorry.
"Don't be sorry, sweetheart," Liv murmured to him affectionately, smiling despite her vague resentment at the dragon for hijacking her cuddle with her only boy. "You have nothing to be sorry for." She stroked his hair, her other hand gently wiping his face dry. "Do you want to talk about it, or not' You don't have to tell me anything."
He shook his head vehemently, as he always did when asked if he wanted to share his nightmares. It wasn't so much what he'd experienced himself, as what he seen done to others. It had made him what he was, however, pushing him past his own limitations to know what others were thinking without having to hear their words. "It's too terrible, Mama," he told her, pushing Lir gently away so he could climb into her lap.
"All right, love." Her smile didn't falter as she kissed his forehead, hugging him close as he climbed into her lap. She had never pushed him to share the terrors that sometimes woke him at night, and she never would, trusting that someday he would tell her of his own accord. "Would you like some milkshake instead?"
Despite the shadow of fear that lingered in his eyes, his face brightened at the prospect of a middle of the night treat, as well as a little time alone with his mother. He adored his sister, and he didn't mind sharing, but like most little boys, his mother was the center of his world. Nodding his blond head, he smiled warmly at her. "Da, Mama. Can I?"
"I wouldn't have offered if I was going to say no," she teased him softly, tucking his legs about her hips to rise and move over to the fridge, unwilling to let go of him just yet. Lir keened softly behind her, but she ignored him. They'd learned the hard way that feeding the dragon in the middle of the night resulted in a truly noxious bowel movement during breakfast. "I have something to give you, you know," she said conversationally, setting the little boy down on the kitchen counter to reach into the fridge and produce a carton of chocolate milkshake.
He giggled a little at Lir's reaction, knowing instinctively what the young dragon wanted. He had formed some kind of inexplicable connection with the dragon that no one could explain. "No, Lir. It will make you sick," he told the dragon, arms around his mother's neck before she set him down on the counter. "For me?" he asked, eyes wide, feet kicking slowly back and forth.
"Yes, for you," Liv told him, glancing at the little dragon as he curled up in the middle of the kitchen floor, wrapping his tail around himself comfortably. She poured out a small glass of the milkshake for Alex, sliding it along for him. "You don't have to have it, but I thought it might help. I found a very special music box a few days ago - one that plays an enchanted tune between 10 o'clock in the evening and 8 o'clock in the morning. And the tune keeps away night terrors and nightmares, and helps you sleep when you can't."
His took a sip of his shake, the coldness of it soothing the heat of summer. His eyes widened a little at the prospect of such a gift, though he thought it better to share than keep it all to himself. "It's magic?" he asked, uncertainly, sounding a little bit awed that his mother would have such a thing. Of course, it had to be magic; there was no other explanation.
"Yes, sweetheart, it's magic," she confirmed for him with a warm smile, sipping a glass of her own before putting the milkshake back into the fridge. "Do you want to come and sit with your feet in the pool" I won't tell if you don't." It wasn't often she indulged a night-time waking with quite such mischief, but between the heat and her concern for her little lad, it was excusable this once.
He sipped at his milkshake, before looking up at her with trusting eyes. "Will you come with me?" he asked, not wanting to be alone right now, the nightmares that were really memories still too fresh in his mind.