Parrot, holding a tray of freshly baked sugar cookies cut in the shape of parrots and rainbows, looked at the adult that opened the door, who was supposedly the mother of the birthday kid. The music was so loud that it made the boy flinch but Xisuma was standing behind him and Spoke was right by his side holding another tray, so he couldn't really leave. His own pride disallowed that thought, anyway, because he and Spoke had decided to take Xanthus' advice and follow through with it.

"Oh, hello, Xisuma!" said the woman who answered the door, first regarding the voidwalker and then the two kids standing before her. She appeared a little awkward, probably because she hadn't invited them.

"Hello!" Xisuma responded, fatigue seeping into his voice. "The kids wanted to wish a happy birthday and we'll be on our way."

Peeking behind the host, Parrot noticed that the other guests, children and adults alike, weren't playing games nor smiling or laughing. Only the music played, loud as it was. The looks shot at them were ones of fear and unease. Parrot's mouth twitched into a frown, wings tucking into his back self-consciously. A pat on the shoulder reminded him what he was supposed to do.

"Here." he said, raising the tray. Spoke followed with his own. Eyes go from one to the other and then they're frowned upon.

"Thank you but... No offence but did you do something?" the question wasn't directed at them but rather at Xisuma. The poor guy could barely stand on his feet as it was; whatever he had done to rid them of the very murder-happy intruder had sapped all of the energy out of his body. Parrot shuffled his feet and lowered the offered tray, uncomfortable with the question, even though he wasn't the one being interrogated.

"Me? We were baking..."

That was obviously not what the woman was referring to. She looked at him with distrust, seeming to try and make sense of the situation. To their knowledge, Xisuma was the only voidwalker in the whole block, perhaps even the whole city with how rare they are. However, Parrot had observed that Xisuma was a nice man, forgiving and honest and so damn patient, always polite to the neighbours when they'd come across them on the way to school, even though the neighbours clearly avoided them.

"Did something happen?"

Parrot and Spoke looked at each other. Xisuma was playing stupid, like he hadn't just dropped them all into an unknown abyss that made their heads spin. They almost questioned if it had really happened too; they had never heard Xisuma tell a lie and that alone confused them. From an outside point of view, they looked like they were weirded out by the question, not that they were aware of the lie.

"My apartment was dropped into the void," the woman said, astounded that Xisuma looked as clueless as her. "Are you sure you didn't do anything? You are a good man but I know kids can be too lively at times..."

It was Xisuma's turn to be astounded. Parrot and Spoke exchanged a couple of looks, taken aback by the accusation. To think that Xisuma would, what, throw them in whatever space-hole he opened as punishment for holding a gun to his head a couple of times? That's an inconceivable concept; the man is too kind for that. Spoke was the one to come to the rescue, all puffed cheeks and an irked brow as he raised his tray up and thrust it forward, making the woman take a step back.

"We were baking," he said firmly with such determination that it appeared to force the lady another step back, "And we thought that bringing some cookies for you would be nice because it's rude not to wish happy birthday."

It was truly inspiring; so inspiring, in fact, that Parrot mimicked his friend's actions.

"Accusing Suma of something he didn't do is also very mean, especially when we've brought cookies."

They expected to be scolded, considering how insulting a host at their doorstep is impolite by social rules but Xisuma didn't say anything, seemingly at a loss for words. That's fine. Parrot and Spoke didn't care about social rules all that much anyway and that lady insulted them first, so it's a matter of honour at that point. Plus, Xisuma would never insult someone in their face, so they also have to do that for him... even though he would never approve of such improper behaviour.

"...I suppose you're right," the woman said, faltering under the intense glares of Parrot and Spoke. "I– Uhm, I'm sorry for accusing you. It caught us off-guard and one of the kids fainted–"

"I understand," Xisuma cut her off, voice struggling to remain even. "You were scared and I'm the only voidwalker in the area, so I see why you thought that. However, I can assure you that we were baking these cookies. What happened?"

Wisely, the man left out the part that he did... whatever it had been that he did. Parrot couldn't name it and neither could Spoke, even though he was the one attuned to shadows.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, I guess," the woman dismissed, then smiled kind of awkwardly. "Thank you for the cookies, boys."

"Hmpf!" Spoke turned and left, marching down the stairs, clearly offended by the behaviour of the adult. Parrot understood; he didn't like that smile of hers either.

"Good evening." without another word, Xisuma put a hand on Parrot's shoulder and guided him away. The door closed behind them with a faint click and his wings sagged with relief.

The next morning, the two wake Xisuma up at 5AM. No, this isn't revenge for scaring them so bad, no, of course not! It's just that... They have a lot of questions regarding that scare, especially after almost getting in trouble because of that murder clown and the neighbour. To say that the man is displeased would be an understatement.

Piling up on the bed, both Parrot and Spoke push him around in perfect coordination until he wakes up. He's annoyed, still half-asleep and mumbling something about it being too early in the morning to be waking up. A look at the alarm clock on the nightstand makes him groan and the boys cackle at their success.

"What is it?" Xisuma asks, less tired than he was yesterday night.

"It's morning and we have questions!" Parrot exclaims. The man groans in protest.

"I'm not going back to sleep, am I?"

Spoke successfully pushing him off of the bed, him landing on the ground with a loud thump, is the only answer they give him.

They move to the kitchen, where Xisuma moves through the motions of opening the blinds and making breakfast. Parrot and Spoke sit on one side of the table, looking at each other in silent conversation.

The questions are many. They have heard stories of voidwalkers from Red and Zam, stories where they are described as terrifying, despicable creatures who came from a different world. Obviously, those are just tales, something to use against children to spook them into obedience. Parrot has been living with Xisuma for a little over a month and he's having a great time! Spoke has been around for a week and a bit and while he was hesitant to stay at first, he isn't as cautious now. All of his friends were weary of the voidwalker Parrot kidnapped, actually.

After that meeting outside of school, though, they're all more relaxed. Xisuma is a kind man, perhaps a bit too kind at times, and they saw it too. He is nothing like the rumours and the bedtime stories and he proves it on a daily basis: walking both him and Spoke to school, going to work at a cafe, picking them up from school and then helping them with homework. Parrot doesn't know a lot of adults who would do that for a child that isn't theirs. His friends have told him the stories of foster homes and they have plenty to tell. Truthfully, running away was Parrot's best decision (and finding an adult who wouldn't call the cops on him like Xisuma was pure luck).

Xisuma does everything out of the goodness of his heart, with or without the threat of a bullet to the head. Parrot doesn't think a bullet could pierce that armour of his anyway and he would be lying if he said that he wasn't pleased with... that. No one has ever looked after him with the care that he is being shown by a man who is supposed to be naturally terrifying and malicious (as the stories go). The few times that he was allowed to go to school previously, when bullies appeared, he only had himself in his corner. Xisuma comes and deals with them now and the teachers reprimand them when he brings attention to the issue.

His life has changed for the better; for once in his life, he feels normal. Well, as normal as a kid with connections to a stabby-happy group of teenagers can be. He is grateful for the way Xisuma cares for him and now Spoke, whom he took in without much trouble. Yesterday, when Xisuma brought up how he loves his friend, Parrot had to think that Spoke isn't the only one for whom he feels that way: protection, safety, home. Spoke has always felt like home, someone to whom he can turn to and lower his defences. Now, there is a second person who shares the same traits... and he doesn't know how to feel about it.

"You pulled some crazy stuff yesterday," he comments offhandedly when a bowl is pushed in front of him, pulling the professional gun-dealer look that Red pulls so effortlessly. Xisuma hesitates for a second.

"I owe you an explanation," the man sighs, handing Spoke his own bowl before sitting down opposite of them. The boy's eyes widen with poorly hidden excitement.

"Yeah! I've been in a lot of shadows but no shadow looks like that!" he exclaims, sitting up, hands slamming on the table, though there is barely any strength in the action. "They're like sunglasses but whatever you did yesterday was completely black! I couldn't see a thing!"

Xisuma chuckles nervously. "That's what the Void looks like, mate," he begins, "And to put it simply, I created a portal to it."

The two of them remain silent. Spoke leans back in his seat, though the eagerness to learn is still present. Parrot drops the slice of fruit he just grabbed.

"What?"

"What's the Void?"

"Hmm, how do I explain this? Well, you've probably read enough comics to understand this..." he mumbles to himself, then turns his attention to them, "It's another dimension. It's where voidwalkers come from; where my parents were from–"

"You don't come from there?" Parrot questions.

"No, Xanthus and I were born here, in the Overworld– that's what voidwalkers call Earth, to put it simply."

"Right... but what happened yesterday?"

Xisuma raises his hand, signalling them to hold their questions a little longer. "I'll get to that. First, I want to explain to you two what the Void really is and a law that regards it. To start, voidwalkers have a natural connection to the Void; we are able to control it and open portals anywhere in the Overworld through it, sort of like teleportation."

Breakfast abandoned, they nod their heads.

"The Void is a moving maze. There is no sun, no light and it devours anything that doesn't belong to it; you could say that it has a mind of its own." –he halts for a second, seeming thoughtful– "Therefore, its reach can not be absolutely controlled. When I opened that portal, my intention was to contain it within the apartment but apparently, it spread beyond that limit,"

That woman's words ring in their heads. She had asked Xisuma if he had done something; she was referring to this ability. In the Void, neither of the boys could see the birthday candles, the cake, the other children screaming for help, trapped in its bowels.

"There is no oxygen in there, only the stuff that I breathe" –that explains the swimming vision, then, Parrot thinks–"Even if there is a voidwalker in the vicinity, the Void likes to feast on foreign lifeforms, which makes it very deadly if a normal human gets caught in it. This is why there is a law in place to prevent voidwalkers from opening portals within urban areas. We were all lucky that no one was lost yesterday..."

"So, we could have died?" Spoke meekly asks, the realisation slowly creeping up on him as his hands slide off of the table.

"I should have told the both of you about this," Xisuma sighs, "Things could have gone south if you had tried to move."

"Jaron has told us what to do when we get lost," Parrot says, "That's why we stayed put."

He said that to disregard any insecurity the man was feeling. Whether he succeeded is up to question, though. The look he is given is full of guilt.

"Parrot–"

"You saved us, that's what matters." he leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, wings splayed out but tense. The way his upper lip twitches signifies his annoyance with that look. "That clown was gunning for us and if you hadn't intervened..."

He doesn't like to think what would have happened if Xisuma hadn't intervened. He doesn't like to think what would have happened to Spoke or to himself. That clown certainly wasn't an ordinary clown, dodging two bullets with super fast reflexes and unthinkable flexibility. Who bends 90 degrees backwards whilst standing to dodge a bullet other than murderous clowns? That's right: no one!

And, sure, being thrown in the Void sounds scary and it was terrifying being in there, in a never ending abyss with only Spoke as a point of reference but compared to a murder clown, it's technically Heaven.

Spoke also leans back in his seat, mimicking Parrot's pose, though his expression is grim and troubled.

"I don't like what he said." he murmurs, barely louder than a whisper but in the silence of dawn, it's like a shout. Glowing eyes flick up to meet dim purple ones that look even dimmer behind that visor. "Did he mean... Was he going to kill you?"

You either pay in full or in pieces. He was definitely going to kill him. Parrot takes a deep breath at the realisation, trying to keep himself calm. Or– his wings flinch. The events of that warehouse on the docks plays in his mind like a kaleidoscope of colour and bad memories. Or he was going to take him and do... who knows what with him. The two of them could've been left without a guardian yesterday and it's just now dawning on them what they could've lost.

Xisuma meets Spoke's eyes with something akin to fear. "He sounded confused when you called out to me... It's almost like he was expecting a different–"

The name comes to Parrot's mind easily. Uncle Xanthus (–and he doesn't linger longer on the title. He doesn't want to explore what that means for him and his stupid avian instincts right now, in such a crucial moment).

"...He was looking for my brother." Xisuma sounds horrified, breathless by the admission of reality. Then, anger taints his voice, "My brother– that idiot! Xanthus, what have you done?!" with those words, he stands up, armoured hands slamming on the table with unreleased rage.

Parrot has never seen Xisuma lose his composure; he has never heard him outright call someone an idiot. It scares him. Spoke squeezes his hand and he squeezes back tighter. It's so easy to believe those tales of rogue voidwalkers, who are scary and violent and pull their victims into the otherworld, to believe that the next few moments are going to be agony and torture and– This man has never hurt them. Even that horrid experience in the Void was to protect them. So, Parrot sits there, brave with the comfort of his friend at his side in the face of something alien, wings tucked in meekly.

Xisuma's eyes are glowing, again, like they did a second before the Void had opened and swallowed them up. The Void doesn't open beneath their feet, however. The man looks at the side, then sighs and when he looks back at them there is poorly-hidden rage in his violet eyes.

"I need to call him."

He is gone without another word, booking it for his bedroom. Parrot lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"I think he's mad..."

Spoke raises an eyebrow.

"You think?"

Vague noises of arguing come from the hallway. Sighing, wings fall almost limp at his sides. "Do you think it was him?"

"Who?"

"The clown, do you think it was...?" –he waves his hand in a vague motion. Spoke hums inquisitively. "The assassin Zam told us about! That clown guy with the scythe and the 100 percent kill rate, remember?"

"Oh... Oh! Clownpierce, right?"

A gasp comes from the entrance of the hall and the situation is so dramatic that Parrot doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Xisuma is staring at them, looking like he's going to fall over at any moment.

"What?!" is the first thing he says and Parrot winces in sympathy for that idiot, Xanthus. "No, Xanthus, I'm not fine! Did you seriously borrow money from an assassin?" –a brief pause– "That's why you came here? You put both me and the kids in danger, what do you–"

Spoke looks at Parrot as Xisuma turns to walk back in his room, free arm gesturing wildly at no one in particular.

"So, there was no leaking pipe?"

Parrot, narrowing his eyes as if attempting to burn holes through the wall and Xisuma's back, hums. "Nope. Guess Xanthus isn't as innocent as he looks."

Spoke sweatdrops.

"Dude, that guy did not look innocent in the slightest."

"Yeah, you're right."

To say that the days after that horrible experience are dreadful would be an understatement. Nothing of the sort has happened again. Xisuma drops off and picks up the kids from school like normal, there are no mystery figures following him back home from work, no people he continuously bumps into; nothing. It's quiet and that's the worrying part. The quiet comes before the storm after all.

Still, there are no assassins in sight. Then again, assassins are silent; they could do their job easily without getting close and Xisuma would be lying if he said that he didn't check for laser pointers every now and then. He tries not to show his anxiety in front of the kids but they're smart cookies. They know what's going on now and they don't really appear to mind. Well, Parrot has hidden his gun under his pillow now and Spoke has taken the sharpest knives out of the kitchen to hide in the pillow cases around the apartment, so they have obviously taken their measures... even though Xisuma tries to tell them not to do that for safety reasons; waking up to one of them having accidentally stabbed himself isn't an experience he wants to live.

Oh, he did try to put the knives back in the drawers and knife block once but it didn't end well. When Spoke checked the hiding spots and found nothing, he freaked out, and Xisuma had to tell him that he'd put the knives back in their rightful place. He also tried to explain why they shouldn't hide knives between the couch cushions but neither listened to him. As much as they like to play tough, they're still kids, small and scared, and being forced into a confrontation with a two metre tall guy isn't the easiest to deal with.

Learning that Xanthus had taken a loan from one of the deadliest, most infamous assassins in the underground is also a lot to take in. Xisuma chewed him out and while he feels guilty about it, he doesn't want to have a repetition of the events. He can't help his brother pay back the money, since he doesn't make enough to be able to spare him a good amount and he told him that over the phone. He has two young children to take care of now and Xanthus' appearance in the apartment has already painted a target on their backs, so sheltering him is out of the question.

He feels awful. His brother needs him but he can't do anything to help other than talk to him. Prioritising the boys doesn't feel as right as it should and the whole thing is simply confusing. Even his boss picks up on his mood, which is a little cloudy when there are no customers to greet and serve.

Speaking of, the day is slow. There aren't many customers sitting at the tables and there aren't as many take-away orders. It's boring enough that he washes every glass twice and somehow finds the activity amusing. When the door opens, the bell chiming as it does, he turns off the tap and takes off the protective gloves to greet the person.

"Welcome, sir," he says, putting on his customer service smile and sits behind the register. "What can I get you?"

The man stands before the glass display of desserts and sandwiches, looking at every available item. Only white tufts of hair are visible from this angle. Then, he looks up at the menu of drinks and beverages, which is written on a chalkboard on the wall. It isn't a very long list but it's satisfactory.

"Um, give me a moment," the man smiles, purple eyes glinting in the light of the cafe.

Usually, Xisuma wouldn't comment on people's appearance; not when many have hybrid traits and unusual powers that go hand in hand with them. However, this man does pique his interest. White hair with just a few streaks of grey and violet eyes, dressed in a nice, lavender button up paired with a striped black and purple vest and black dress pants. He can't see the shoes but Xisuma would bet they're just as businessman-looking.

After the man tells him his order and pays, Xisuma asks for a name.

"Branzy." –and he scribbles it down on the cup. The man, Branzy, goes to sit at one of the tables closest to the front and pulls out his phone. He appears nervous, eyes flicking from the counter to the screen and his knee bobs up and down as he taps his foot. Xisuma, not wanting to be rude, turns to prepare the order.

It's when he's pouring the coffee into the designated paper cup that the door opens and three small, very loud humans enter the establishment. He almost spills the hot drink on the counter.

"Suma!", that's Parrot...

"Hello!", Spoke...

And then a voice he hasn't heard since the time he bumped into the group of teenagers outside of the Primary School. "Hi!"

Looking over the counter, carefully setting the coffee on it, he sees Pangi; the boy with the very sharp claws.

"Oh, hey boys!" he greets them, then he looks at the clock. It's well past the last bell, so hopefully, that means they didn't ditch last period. Oh well, he'll get a call like all the other times this has happened if they misbehaved again. "How was school?"

"Pretty good!" Parrot chirps, looking like he's in a very good mood. Xisuma hasn't seen him so elated in days. "We came here for cookies, by the way."

Rolling his eyes fondly, the man replies as he moves to the display case with a kitchen clamp. "Yes, of course. Which ones would you like?"

"All of them!" Spoke throws his arms in the air. Xisuma takes a second to think about it and in the end he elects to throw one of each in a bag.

"All of them it is," he says as he begins gathering biscuits from the displayed trays. "You know you have to do your homework, yes?"

At that, Pangi's little face lights up, bringing his clawed hands up to his chin. He looks at Parrot and Spoke, who smile back at him, and Xisuma watches the silent exchange with a twinge of curiosity. Parrot shrugs the shoulder off of which his school bag hangs to attract attention to it. Xisuma eyes it, raises an eyebrow.

"We thought we'd do it here with you, since you work late today," Parrot says in an indifferent tone. "Plus, Pangi wants to see what sort of homework we have at school."

"Ah, I see," he hands Spoke the neatly wrapped paper bag of cookies. "Are you thinking of starting school, Pangi?"

The poor boy looks like a deer caught in headlights: eyes wide like he's just heard the unthinkable. His claws bend under his chin, his mouth forming a wobbly line. Xisuma feels bad for busting him like that.

"Damn, don't bust him like that!" Spoke says, like he could hear Xisuma's thoughts. At the sound of the swear, Xisuma levels him with a patient look. They are twelve and they live with him; he's trying to teach them manners and they haven't reached the unwritten age requirement for swears.

"Spoke..."

The boy rubs at the back of his neck. "Sorry."

He nods at him. "Seat yourselves and I'll be over in a bit to help you out, alright?"

"Don't you have, I dunno, work to do?" Parrot raises an eyebrow, "Dishes to wash?"

Xisuma shakes his head. "I can have my break a little earlier. There isn't a lot of traffic anyway."

The kids shrug their shoulders, leaving to find a table. They sit at one of the square ones opposite of the purple guy and within a few seconds, the wooden surface is covered in books, pencil cases and– is that a tag chain? Kids still play with tags? Well, at least they don't have a bag full of marbles.

Pangi, as if he had heard Xisuma's inner monologue, brings a small bag of marbles on the table, excitedly showing the other two his collection. While he washes cups, Xisuma can't help but sulk about tripping on marbles for the following weeks; the kids will surely want them because Spoke likes colourful things and Parrot will want in on the fun. Even if Xisuma tried to tell them 'no', they'd either not listen to him or– ...They just wouldn't listen to him. Perhaps having them play at home during the night is a very appealing idea.

Happy chatter fills the monotony of the cafe's lo-fi music, almost completely drowning it out. If there were more than three paying customers, Xisuma would have asked them to keep it down but no one seems bothered by them. He is surprised to find that they are actually studying between rounds of tags and marbles –Parrot is loud with his reading, Pangi nodding along and trying to spell out some words, while Spoke uses the chain of tags as an abacus.

"Order for Branzy!" he calls out, setting the coffee on the counter before turning to grab a towel. Wiping down the counter will allow him to spare a bit more time with the kids, so he sets to do just that. The man comes up to the counter, grabs his cup but he doesn't leave like a normal person. Xisuma has the feeling he's being studied.

"Are the littles yours?"

"The littles?" he raises his head, meeting that violet gaze with his own. He looks where the man is looking, only to see the boys at their table. For a moment, he feels like they're annoying the customers. "I'm sorry, are they too loud? They're just a little excited about their homework–"

"Oh, no! No, no!" the man assures with a smile, raising his arms in a defensive gesture. "They aren't loud–"

As if to just prove him wrong, Pangi almost screeches in victory when he gets through a very hard word in the text that Parrot is reading. Regardless, Branzy's smile doesn't falter.

"Heh, they aren't annoying me or anything; I was just curious. I have never seen a child be that enthusiastic about doing homework."

Well– fair. Xisuma can't disagree. When he was their age, he didn't want to do his homework either. Parrot and Spoke certainly don't fit in with regular children in that category but they've been starved of knowledge for so long that now that it's accessible to them, they want to inhale it. They love learning new things and winning challenges. If only they liked studying History as much as the other subjects... He'll have them work on it at some point.

"They have their favourites." Xisuma dismisses and he expects the man to walk back to his table. That doesn't happen, however.

"I've been in the area a couple of times," Branzy says, "and I believe I've seen them hanging out with a group of shady characters."

Shady characters. Yeah, those two hang out with shady people a lot. Red is the most shady, Zam the most energetic and Jaron the most mysterious out of the members of the group he's met. The man couldn't possibly be referring to the children who haven't hit their growth spurt yet; it should be just the teenagers.

"Oh, they aren't bad," he says, even though this isn't Branzy's business. The conversation has dragged out a bit too much and he wants to end it to go on break. "I've met them and they're actually pretty nice."

"Are you guys talking about us behind our backs?" Parrot accuses, sitting up straight in his seat with his feathers puffing up, and eyes glaring. The dusting of feathers on his cheeks does nothing to soften his expression.

"Ah!" Branzy jolts, turning around so fast that Xisuma has to blink. "No! No. We, uh, we weren't."

"Yeah, sure." Parrot scoffs, easily seeing through that horribly-put-together lie. The boy was eavesdropping the whole time. "Whatever. Suma, we need help with grammar!"

That sweet angel of a boy. Xisuma can't thank him enough for giving him a reason to back out of this awkward conversation.

"Coming!" he answers to Parrot, who gives him a curt nod and turns away. Then, Xisuma regards Branzy. "Is there something else I could do for you?"

The man blinks as if lost. "Ah, no. Thank you for the coffee– I paid, right?"

"Yup."

"Alright, then. Have a good day, sir!"

With that, the customer walks out. That was certainly a weird encounter. Even the boys watch the guy go and Spoke goes as far as to slip outside for a moment to see where he's going. Xisuma shrugs it off. The good thing is that he wasn't a Karen; he was only worried about the boys hanging out with suspicious fellows and wanted to inform their parents –that's all well and innocent.

"Alright, boys, what did you need help with?"

"Your mum–"

Parrot shoves Pangi off his seat. Xisuma blinks, absolutely clueless. Spoke doubles over laughing. Pangi, blushing in embarrassment, quickly apologises and gets back in his seat.