Michael Guerin

It's been a rough week.

Michael's not back to the same state he was in a year ago after he'd been kidnapped, but he's still spending a lot more time in bed than awake. Magnus is gone and that's fine, it's whatever. He's been abandoned so many times before and it's not like they were best friends. It's just that Magnus helped him recover memories of his mother. He helped him create a plan for his hand, for kids in the future. He even found the doctor for him.

He hasn't really had someone like that in his life that he trusts outside of Alex and Caleb, and now he's just, he's gone. Asshole.

So he's been sulking, and yeah, he gets up to make sure breakfast is made and Luke gets to school, but then he goes back to bed instead of fiddling with the drones. He knows Alex is going to call him on it, probably soon, but it's like there's a thundercloud over his head that he can't escape, and it's just weighing him down and exhausting him.

He misses Magnus, and he's not sure what to do about it, other than curl up in bed with a book, trying to read the feelings away.

Michael's in kind of a shitty mood, which is his own doing, but still.

He has the same ever-pulsing, ever-present headache that always nags at him because he hasn't been drinking acetone or booze, but on top of that is a layer of frustration borne of the fact that every day brings them closer to the holidays and he has no good ideas for what to get Luke. He feels like he did himself in last year by making him the drone. How the hell is he supposed to top that? On top of that, he moved them all into the house and made the garage and...well, he's kind of lost.

It feels like it'll be a letdown if he gives Luke nothing but books and clothes this year.

Hence, headache equals a scowling alien sitting over a mug of hot cider that's doing nothing for him, as he flips aggressively through the latest toy store catalogue, trying to will inspiration to just strike, but nothing is happening.

Rough State of the Pups here, mainly because I have not done one of these in ages. I did a very, very, VERY stupid thing this year and took on four Big Bangs (three are done, the fourth is not), Yuletide, two holiday exchanges, and I did a NaNo project to finish a Red, White, and Royal Blue fic. It ate up, well, everything but the end is in sight, so I can put more focus on RP now. Which means, plans!

Michael Guerin: The most immediate plot for him remains that he's getting clean from both alcohol and acetone, which as a result means that he's a bit of an extra-asshole because he's not keeping it in check. So if you deal with him, he might be very terse. From there, his plot is going to shift both to power control (he really wants to get on top of the mindscape stuff) and then he's going to get his hand operated on to fix the scarring/damage from over a decade ago. He's probably not getting any posts before the end of the year, but come January he will start dealing with the medical needs.

Patrick Brewer: He's getting married! With Patrick, I'm trying to expand his friend circle. He's just so very normal, so I'm going to be trying to get him out there and meeting more, though I already love the connections he has. He does eventually want a house and a dog, but doesn't really know how to bring up those things with David, so that'll be sitting in his head for a while. I do think that after the wedding, I'll give him a canon update to home (he came from post-proposal and I'd love to bring him up to the finale). So his goal? Friends.

Nicolo di Genova aka Nicky Smith: I was so worried about him without Joe, but he's been so good about his purpose being his driver, plus he's been without the team for longer periods before so he is taking it upon himself to do good. I'm trying to get him meeting as many people as possible since his background gives him all kinds of walks of life. His immediate future involves a December item post where his longsword and one of Joe's sketchbooks turns up in a museum and he has to perform a heist to get his things back. Past that, he is going to look to start doing good deeds -- volunteering, cooking, vigilante work -- and eventually more people than just Klaus will know his secret (and Klaus will be getting a casserole for Nicky's reaction). Down the line, he will also be going back to school so he can argue a lot with professors. Also, I'd love canonmates of all types, gimme.

Future: With all the Big Bangs cleared in January (I'm aiming to have the last one done by January 2nd and edited soon after), Ben Hargreeves is next on the list! I need to get my reqs in order for December, but I don't think I will have a problem. There will be lots on the plate for Ben, including eating all the food he can, making friends who aren't Klaus, flirting with girls (badly), and trying to contain the eldritch horror in his stomach so that portal to another dimension doesn't fuck things up again.

His back fucking hurts.

It's the first thing that comes to mind. His back hurts and he's cold, with no body beside him kicking off heat. Letting out a sleepy whine, he turns to search for Alex or Bopp, not sure why they've both abandoned him so early in the day, but when he reaches for them, he rolls right onto the floor, hitting with a heavy thud. Grimacing, he pops up, hair a mess, and stares around the bedroom --

-- which is not a bedroom, but his Airstream.

"Fuck!" he lets out a shout of alarm, frantically searching in the mirror to see if his tattoo is still there. It is, shown off in his shirtless glory. He grabs at a well-worn t-shirt and his cowboy hat, jamming his feet into boots as he grabs his truck keys, shouting for Alex as he gets out.

"What the hell kind of noise are you making, kid?"

"Sanders," Michael says, gaping at him. "Sanders," he repeats, like he's still in disbelief he's seeing him. "You seen Alex Manes?"

"Not since those weeks you were bringing him around and expecting me to not notice," he replies wryly. "Should I be seeing him?"

Michael shakes his head, ignoring the way he's blushing like an idiot as he bolts for the truck, promising to be back for work later. He heads straight for town, driving past Alex's house, but there's no movement there. He goes to the bunker next, then the Pony. Maria hasn't seen him, and he's running out of places to go. He avoids Isobel and Max, mainly because he wants to see them desperately, but he needs to find Alex first.

The Crashdown is the last resort before he goes back to Alex's house and ends up camping outside of his house. He storms into the Crashdown, searching around him in a circle as Arturo asks if he's okay. "I'm fine," he says absently, "I'm just looking for...Alex," he says, and sees him as he turns to look at the entrance, heart pounding. "Alex," he says, advancing. "Alex, is it you? Are you my Alex?"

Michael's alive with energy by the time he gets home.

He's met another alien, there's a spaceship in town, and he's got a challenge facing him to help with the engine. That's not what's making him feel so exhilarated, though. It's that the Doctor offered him help in return, but Michael hadn't even hesitated to say that he didn't want it, realizing that it was true. He's giddy as he strolls in, dropping his keys in a bowl by the door. "Hey, Alex!" he calls out, "I'm home!"

He heads into the closet to try and find his toolbox, searching for his materials, forgetting where he'd put the welding torch.

Grabbing it, he whistles as he heads out to the Airstream to add the things, heading back inside so he can find Alex, every part of him giddy and bouncing as he seeks out Alex, eager to tell him about the epiphany he'd had. Finally, he finds Alex, and drops the toolbox. "Guess who I met today?" he teases, squeezing his shoulders as he sprawls on the couch, digging out his acetone flask to take a sip from it.

Michael's been irritable since he woke up and saw the date. June 14th.

The day that he and Max and Isobel were found wandering in the desert by the trucker. The day, for lack of better information, they chose to celebrate their birthdays. The day that they killed a drifter and Isobel started having her blackouts. He kind of hates this day. He slams drawers a little too hard, is too curt, and eventually excuses himself to go to the library where he can sulk in peace and not break down his engagement or his relationship with anyone in the process.

When he finally calms down (and he had to stop for an afternoon beer to help with that), he drives home, but freezes when he sees a glint of metal as he approaches the bungalow.

Getting out, Michael staggers to a stop, feeling something like uneasiness rising.

His Airstream is outside of the bungalow, and his truck hooked up to it.

The truck he lived in for years, the one he and Alex used to make out in the back of. The home he had that led to Alex giving him a place and the home he'd moved into as soon as he'd scratched together the money. They're here, and on his birthday. He wipes at his cheek when he realizes he's started crying, and he's not sure if it's because he's so angry at this place for giving him this kind of birthday present or whether it's relief to have these things here.

Fuck. Why doesn't he have better clothes?

Michael reaches for his glass of whiskey and knocks it back, throwing the sweater he's wearing onto the bed as he reaches for another one. It's cream colored and soft, but is it too casual? If he wears this, does he have to take off the jeans? He unbuckles his giant silver belt buckle, but leaves it hanging open.

Then he goes for the booze again, but stops because they're about to go to Luke's parent-teacher interview and if he shows up smelling of liquor, they might revoke the fostering papers. "Alex," Michael calls out to him, pleading. "Help," is a strangled, stubborn thing, like he doesn't want to admit that he needs help figuring out how to look like a respectable father figure and not just the town's dirty mechanic.

It's just never come up before.

When Michael had texted Caleb, he'd wanted him to go swing by the house and check on Luke, but then Alex had driven back to get him so they could look at the house and make an offer. Now, he's texting Caleb to get him to stick around at the house, wondering if Caleb thinks it's just little Michael and he's developed some kind of affinity and concern for Luke.

Even if he does, Michael is brimming with excitement and anticipation, because they just bought a goddamn house. Alex and Luke are out at a diner to celebrate, and Michael's heading back to give Caleb the news -- both about the house and about his return to adulthood, along with a heartfelt apology about what kind of an ass he'd been.

Lucky for him, he's had to make that apology before a time or two.

Alex got flowers to make up for it, but for Caleb, he grabs a box of pastries, heading back to the place and knocking (even though it's his home), ducking inside and smirking when he sees Caleb. "So, are former eleven-year-old dickheads allowed to talk to you?"

He got permission to take Bopp and go to the beach, because he'd promised that he'd meet Caleb there and Caleb would call if anything happened to him. It's been almost a week of him like this and Michael's pretty sure that much more and Alex is gonna have a nervous breakdown or something, because his fiance is gone. It's better if he gets out of the house.

He's come around to loving it, though. It really is home, in a way he hasn't ever had, and he grabs Bopp's leash, going running down the block towards the sand, beaming when he sees Caleb there, lanky and unmissable. He's breathless by the time he jogs to a halt, smirking up at Caleb.

"What's it like, being so tall the Eiffel Tower's jealous of you?" he quips, tugging a borrowed hat off because he's not cold. He's never cold, because he's an alien, and the whole 'keep warm' thing just seems overly worried. Once he's let go of Bopp's leash, she goes running and Michael lets out a cry of alarm. "Bopp! Wait for me!" he shouts, sprinting towards the surf.